Chapter 93: Among Us

Rook tapped his fingers against the desk. "The immediate problem remains. We’re trapped underground, and leaving means passing a Seventh Rank that has already learned every route toward the Forty-Second."

He looked around the room.

"I can’t fight it. None of the Reapers outside can fight it. I also doubt our dear Manager has been hiding enough strength to clear the tunnels herself."

She sighed. "If I could kill it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation."

"Who could?"

"Closest one? The Manager of the Eleventh."

Rook became quiet.

Mara looked between them. "Shouldn’t you be as strong as she is? You’re both Bastion Managers."

The Manager leaned back in her chair. "Titles aren’t awarded through one method. Some Managers earn the position because their Death Imprints make them powerful enough to defend an entire Bastion. Others are chosen for leadership, experience or abilities that keep the Bastion functioning."

"And you?"

"Resourcefulness."

Rook looked toward the supplies outside. "That means someone decided you were good at surviving problems they couldn’t solve."

"That is an unflattering way to describe it."

"Is it inaccurate?"

She considered the damaged records, the trapped Reapers and the Seventh Rank waiting above them. "Not entirely."

Mara gestured toward the stone wall. "Your ability looked powerful. You walked through solid rock and raised a barrier across the tunnel in seconds."

The Manager smiled. "It was impressive, wasn’t it?"

Rook groaned quietly.

"The problem is speed," she continued. "Moving through stone requires concentration, and changing a large amount of it takes time. Most experienced Reapers can evade anything I raise from the ground. A sword reaches me before a wall finishes forming."

"Abominations are easier?"

"They’re easier to predict. Many charge directly toward whatever they want. Give me enough stone and preparation, and I can trap anything up to the higher Ranks for a short period."

"A Seventh?"

"The barrier I raised lasted six seconds. A personal record for me"

Mara remembered the sound of it breaking behind them. "That answers that."

"The Manager of the Eleventh is different," the woman said. "Her Death Imprint was built for combat, and she has survived long enough to refine it beyond what most Reapers could endure. If anyone within reach of this region can challenge the creature outside, it would be her."

"And she isn’t here," Mara said.

"No."

Mara sank back into her chair. "Then we’re in the same position. A Seventh Rank is herding people into a repaired Bastion that somehow crossed half the Underworld. We don’t know who fixed the Beacon, why the Bastion moved or why the creature keeps bringing people here."

She looked toward the office window, watching the figures moving beneath the pale light.

"What if it’s feeding something?"

Everyone turned toward her.

Mara’s eyes moved from one face to another. "Did I say that out loud?"

Rook pushed away from the desk.

Frederick straightened. "Explain."

"The creature isn’t eating anyone. It brings Reapers and wandering souls down here, then waits outside. Maybe it isn’t hungry. Maybe something inside the Bastion is."

The Manager looked toward the closed door.

Rook lifted his coffin onto his back and secured the chains. "I need to inspect the Bastion."

The Manager rose. "For what?"

"Anything that shouldn’t be inside Beacon light. Abominations, altered souls, hidden passages. Whatever might benefit from having hundreds of people trapped in one cavern."

"We already searched."

"You searched for the person who repaired the Beacon. Now we search for something being fed."

Vanessa stood as well. "I can do it faster."

The room fell silent again.

Her Death Imprint could sense Abominations across a wide distance. Inside the cavern, one activation might reveal every creature hidden beneath the streets, inside the damaged tower or beyond the walls.

It would also reveal Vanessa to them.

Rook looked through the window toward the settlement. "Using your ability inside a trapped Bastion poses several obvious problems."

"It also solves many."

"If something is hiding here, you’ll tell it exactly where to find you."

"I’ll know where it is too. And so would we."

"That exchange is less impressive when the other thing is stronger."

Vanessa folded her arms. "You wanted to search every building and tunnel. That could take days. We don’t have enough supplies for everyone already here, and the creature outside keeps bringing more."

Frederick approached the map. "How far does your detection reach underground?"

"The stone reduces it. I should still cover the entire Bastion if I activate near the Beacon tower."

"And the Seventh Rank?"

Vanessa’s confidence weakened slightly. "It will sense me."

"It already followed our group here," Mara said. "Doesn’t it already know you’re inside?"

"It knows Reapers entered," Rook replied. "That doesn’t mean it knows Vanessa’s exact position or ability. Once she activates, it will."

The Manager studied the tunnels marked around the Seventy-Second. "Could the creature enter the Bastion if it wanted?"

"It tore through your barrier without slowing much," Frederick said. "We should assume it can."

"If it wanted to enter," Rook added, "it probably would have done so already. That doesn’t make provoking it a good idea."

Vanessa moved beside the window. The pale Beacon light fell across her face as she studied the Reapers outside.

"The Seventh Rank keeps weaker Abominations away," she said. "We saw no signs of anything nearby after it entered the forest. If I use my Imprint now, we aren’t likely to draw a swarm."

"And if Mara is right?" Frederick asked.

"Then whatever is inside will know we found it."

Rook looked at her. "You say that as though it’s helpful."

"It means it might move."

"That’s usually when things start killing people."

"We don’t have much choice," Vanessa said. "If something inside this Bastion is waiting to feed, finding it before it begins seems preferable."

The Manager crossed toward the map and rested both hands upon the table beneath it. Her eyes followed the settlement’s streets, the damaged Beacon chamber and the sealed passages leading farther underground.

"How long do you need?" she asked.

"To activate the Imprint? A few seconds. Understanding what I sense could take longer."

"Can you distinguish the Seventh Rank from anything inside?"

"If they’re separated by enough distance. Something powerful may drown out the weaker signatures."

Rook examined the map. "The Seventh is above us and outside the main cavern. Put Vanessa near the center of the settlement. The distance should help separate it from anything beneath or beyond the Beacon."

Frederick nodded. "We position Reapers at every entrance first. No one activates anything until the streets are cleared."

The Manager remained hesitant.

Outside, someone struck a damaged blade against an anvil. The ringing metal passed through the office and faded across the cavern. The people trapped beneath the Beacon continued repairing equipment, dividing powder and preparing for a threat they could neither identify nor escape.

Finally, she nodded.

"We inform everyone before we begin. Wandering souls stay inside the central buildings. Every capable Reaper takes a defensive position around the Beacon square, and the tunnel guards seal the inner entrances."

Rook looked toward Vanessa. "If you sense anything, you tell us before attempting to locate it more precisely."

"I know."

"You have a history of deciding more information is worth the risk."

"It usually is."

"Not when the information is how quickly something can reach you."

The Manager moved toward the door. "Argue while we prepare. Vanessa activates only after I give the signal."

She opened the office and called for the nearest Reaper.

Orders began spreading through the Seventy-Second.

The workshops stopped first. Weapons were gathered from the tables, damaged or otherwise, and carried toward the central square. Doors closed along the outer streets as wandering souls were moved closer to the Beacon. Guards left the supply rooms and took positions at every tunnel leading into the cavern.

Within minutes, the settlement understood that something might already be inside with them.