They stopped both vehicles and gathered around as fast they could. It was likely still dangerous out there in the growing storm, but this wasn’t an occasion they could let slip. Thankfully, the van was larger than the Cadillac, so Rory had a few inches of more space when everyone piled into than he’d had in the car.

“This is a general recording that is being broadcasted repeatedly to all the surrounding areas,” the announcer said. “For those who are unaware, the world has been invaded by beings from a different dimension called the Otherworld.”

“Hey, that’s the reporter,” Miles said, correctly recognizing the woman’s voice. “Liz!”

“Shh.” Sue swatted his arm.

“These Otherworlders are attempting to uproot human society and eradicate humanity,” Liz continued over the radio. “I repeat, the invaders are trying to destroy humanity. Many towns and their populations have been decimated, many villages have been wiped off the map. The death toll is uncountable. Even the capital of Dwellmont has been compromised.”

Rory swallowed. His body was slowly beginning to hurt again, as though echoing the pain in Liz’s words. He had suspected it wasn’t just Hillhard affected by the apocalypse. But hearing it so plainly stated hammered home how dire the situation was for everyone.

“All hope is not lost, however,” Liz continued. “Alongside these alien creatures, we also have a magical new boon called Sigils. They grant us mystical powers and allow us to fight back against these Otherworlders with the help of a material called Mana. With this new power, we are gathering together to fight back. We are turning the tide. I repeat, we are turning the tide.

“But we can’t do this alone. Already, many have arrived, and our numbers have grown threefold since the apocalypse began. We must band together and pool our might, intelligence, and resources if we are to stand a chance. We must combine our shared desire to persevere, to rise beyond the challenge of these monsters, to reclaim our rightful position at the peak where we belong. We will be victorious. We will triumph.”

There was a large cheer in the background. Rory’s focus was fixed so hard on the radio, he should have been able to bore a hole through it and see what was happening wherever the broadcast was coming from.

Liz’s voice cut off his thoughts. “So, this is a call to everyone, to all those who have fought or hidden or somehow managed to survive so far. Come join us in Mirrorend. We have gathered. The best, the brightest, all those who intend to never surrender against the tide of the Otherworld. A haven, a fortress, a home. That is what we will grant you. We want you. We need you. Come, join us.”

More cheering followed, which faded until the broadcast cut off. The momentary silence that followed the long speech was as brittle as thin glass.

To the surprise of no one, Trish burst it. “Was that even real?” Her voice sounded pained, as though she really ought not to be talking but was forcing her words out anyway. “Here we are, barely alive, and there’s this newscaster explaining how they have a freaking army tucked away in Mirrorend?”

“It’s not impossible,” Dez said. “Some folks are good at responding to a crisis. Mirrorend has a strong veteran population. Those guys know how to handle situations like this.”

Allen nodded. “I grew up in Mirrorend. Town is austere as anything, but very tight-knit. Makes total sense why they haven’t been able to kill everyone there yet.”

“It also sounds like they’ve been pulling people in from other places,” Viv said. “Wonder if they’re the ones who organized the evacuations.”

“We can reach it in a few hours, right?” Sue asked. She nodded at Evelyn. “After we get everyone from the bank?”

Ned peered at the dashboard. “There’s enough gas in the tank to get us there and still have some left over. The last I remember, the Cadillac had enough too.”

“Wait, are we actually considering going that far?” Trish asked.

“Where else are we supposed to go?” Sue said. “It’s not like there’s enough people alive here to make a stand. We only haven’t been killed yet because of luck, Rory, and the fact that we’ve kept moving. We have to go.”

“And what about all the monsters along the way, huh? What, are we going to magically skip over them all? You got a Sigil that can do that?”

“It’s better than sitting here until we all get killed.”

Trish growled. “You think I’m just going to lie back and let these things do what they want, huh? After they destroyed my home? After—after they killed my family?”

“Unlike you,” Sue said, her voice vicious, determined to get the last word in. “Some of us do have things to live for.”

Trish snarled, but Viv cut in. “Enough! Ned, Miles, get the cars ready. Our objective is rescuing Evelyn’s family from the bank. Once we’ve done that, then we’ll worry about what comes next.”

It was a good thing Viv had spoken up in place of Rory. As much as arguing was counterproductive to what they needed to accomplish, he couldn’t have contradicted Trish. It was all too easy to imagine Viv dying the same way Trish’s family had.

Rory had no idea what he would have done if something like that came to pass.

But then, Rory realized he needed to get out of the mindset of his retirement. The universe had seen fit to shove responsibility upon his shoulder, and he wasn’t about to bow even an inch under it.

“We’ll make it through this,” he said, raising his voice. “We won against the Thunderclaw Knight, didn’t we? We’ll beat the rest too. We’re only going to grow stronger, we’re only going to get better with our Sigils. We’ve got this.”

Dez nodded. “Don’t lose your hope. That’s all we really got. We will fight our way to survival.”

No one else responded, but Rory felt the atmosphere lighten somewhat. He found himself watching Truck, who had started licking the van’s wall. Occasionally, the donkey would shoot Rory a look. There was a glint there, one that both frightened and relieved him. Truck was being entertained. He wasn’t sure if that was good thing or not.

They rearranged themselves back into the vehicles, Sue and May now staying in the van while Evelyn had taken their place in the Cadillac.

“You think we’re at least five-and-a-half kilometres away?” Rory asked.

“Definitely,” Ned said.

“Good.”

“Why that specific number?” Viv asked.

Rory explained about the Sigil the Knight had wanted him to Weave. “We need to keep our distance. That thing is worse news the closer it gets.”

Viv tutted, frowning through the windshield as though she could see the Knight in the distance.

Just as the van’s engines rumbled to life, a piercing screech went up in the sky over them. Rory’s heart leapt to his mouth. It couldn’t be the Thunderclaw Knight, but something else had come to attack them.

Viv thumped the van’s wall. “Go. Go!”

They burned their tires as they screeched off. Ned and Miles were driving the engines as hard as they could, the furious rumbling scaring Rory with their intensity.

That didn’t deter the monsters. They attacked viciously, scratching both sides of the van. Rory moved away from the wall as a hook-shaped claw gouged a tiny rent.

Everyone was going crazy inside the van. While Mikey and Jerome had thrown themselves down, cowering with their heads covered, Viv had summoned her red sabre to slash at any claws that pierced the van’s walls. She wasn’t making much progress. In front, Sue had pushed May down and summoned a barrier on her side of the passenger seat.

Staggering upright and holding onto the front seat for balance, Rory looked ahead. The gloom of the downpour made it difficult to see, but some of the monsters flew through the area illuminated by the van’s headlights. What he saw made his skin try to crawl right off his body.

He had a hard time getting a proper look, but the few specifics he got were terrifyingly familiar. The monsters were large reptilian bards, wings like that of a bird larger than a hang gliders. Fine scales covered their thin torso, their pointed heads ending in a sharp, hornlike beak.

Pterodactyls. That’s what the creatures reminded him off.

Up ahead, the creatures were trying to perforate the Cadillac in the same fashion they were attacking the van. Dez was throwing out fiery blasts while Trish screamed and chopped with her axe if any monsters got too close. But it wasn’t enough. Even in the shadows of the thunderstorm, Rory had no trouble seeing the dozens surrounding the vehicles.

“I can’t shake them off,” Ned said.

He screamed and swerved the van hard as a creature hit the windshield, leaving a heavy crack. Ned righted it quickly, but they had lost track of the other car. He cursed.

“Just try to keep driving,” Viv shouted, stabbing her sword straight through the roof. A monster shrieked into the storming wind. “We stop, and we’ll be in a lot more trouble.”

“Holy mother of—” Sue cut herself off as she went at a loss for words.

Something had clamped onto the van. Something as large as a crane, with a vicelike grip that crumbled the roof like a tin can, claws almost as big as Rory himself spearing through the van’s walls.

Everyone screamed in unison as the van lifted right off the asphalt. They were thrown around like ragdolls, wind and rain hammering into the interior. Rory remained somewhat standing thanks to his grip on the front seat. With the enormous monster flapping its gigantic wings, the van undulated up and down, coming close to the ground before being lifted up again.

There was nothing for it. The others were down, and it was up to Rory to step up.

Keeping a grip on the seat with one hand, Rory raised the other high and activated his Weaving. The burst of white lines attacked the van’s roof and started dissolving it, but it didn’t get enough to create a Sigil.

As soon as the roof was sufficiently weakened, which hadn’t taken a lot of Weaving, the gigantic monster tore off the van’s top half.

Once more, everyone screamed as they landed hard on the ground. The impact slammed Rory to the vehicle’s floor, agony bursting like small bombs across his back.

Rory didn’t see what happened next, but it was all too obvious. Ned had lost control of the van when it dropped, and he crashed it through the trees. Rory’s ears cringed at the crashes that followed, the heavy crack of trees and snap of branches hurting his ears as they barrelled through the woods. The headlights went off and darkness descended.

At some point, the van came to a stop. There was only so far it could go in the dense thicket Ned had driven it into.

It should have been the worst possible situation. The monsters should have attacked with renewed fury now that they were sitting ducks. But though the shrieking reaved through the air outside, none of the flying creatures descended on them.

“Everyone,” Viv hissed. “Out with as little noise as possible. You two.” She nudged Mikey and Jerome. “Help me with Rory.”

“I’m fine,” Rory mumbled.

“Quiet, you.”

Somehow, they managed to get out of the car without alerting the monsters. Jerome and Mikey carried Rory deeper into the thicket, Ned, May, Sue, and Viv following closely while keeping watch on the sky above. At least the wooded canopy defended them against the rainfall. After a lot of rustling and some small snapping, Viv called a halt.

The noise of the monsters drew closer. They were surveying the area to find, bouncing screeching cries off each other in some kind of horrid communication. Soon enough, they found the van. There was some experimental scratching and pecking, but having found nothing satisfactory, they flew off.

Of course, they waited just to be sure. Rory was surprised the monsters hadn’t sniffed them out, but maybe the rain was messing with their olfactory senses.

“It’s got to be the other car,” Jerome said after a while. “You can hear ‘em.”

Viv nodded in the gloom. “Hopefully, they won’t crash into anything.”

Rory wasn’t sure how hopeful he could be, considering there was a gigantic monster roaming the skies. His heart still hadn’t settled down after the encounter.

Viv went ahead and checked the van to make sure there were no monsters lurking. She even used her red sabre to see if any responded, which Rory cursed as a foolhardy decision, but there was nothing. Their coast was clear.

Sadly, the van itself was stuck. It took several minutes of heaving from Ned, Mikey, Jerome, Viv, and Sue to free the van from where it was held fast between two trees.

May stayed with Rory. He smiled weakly at her, unsure if she could see it in the gloom, and strangely, she smiled back. That’s when he noticed there was no sign of Truck. Rory groaned as he looked around, but the donkey was nowhere to be seen.

“You seen Truck anywhere?” he asked when they started carrying him back to the van. It was less of a struggle to get the words out. Evelyn’s golden bandages were doing well.

“The donkey?” Jerome glanced around. “Now that you mention it, no. Sorry man, but it looks like he’s gone.”

It made sense. Of course, the donkey would get himself to safety, though it felt a little like he’d abandoned them in the time of their greatest need. Rory chided himself for thinking he could depend on an Otherworlder who was only here to be entertained.

“Let’s get going,” Viv said. “I’m sure the donkey’s fine, wherever he is.”

Too true.

Rory was surprised the van worked without trouble. Ned was able to get it working easily, though there was a rattling sound deeper inside its engine that scared him a little. But it, and the wet press of the rain, was easily smothered by the relief of not meeting any more of those horrid flying creatures. They journeyed on, safe.

“I think I see a pharmacy up ahead,” Evelyn said. “I recognize it. We’re almost there.”

Despite the situation, there was a note of trepidation in her voice. They were closer than ever to her family.

“We should stop then,” Viv said. “Need to rendezvous with the others.”

Ned slowed the broken van to a stop, and they headed inside serenaded by thunder and lightning. Rory was just glad to be able to half-walk there, and to not be in the rain anymore.

“How do we find the others?” Ned asked.

Now that they had finally assured some safety for themselves, Rory’s worry about the others pressed in hard.

“I can send a signal, with my sabre,” Viv said. “Though that might attract other kinds of attention too…”

Thankfully, they didn’t need to go to any lengths. The door to the pharmacy swung open, letting in a wash of cold, wet air and alarming them all, but it was only the others. Dez’s group had arrived. They were bedraggled and exhausted, but Rory smiled anyway. What mattered was that they were alive.