Aira's heart pounded in her chest, and she felt a surge of protective instinct for Li overwhelmihey had e too far to be discovered and captured now. It was such a stupid mistake to let their guard down and leave the door open. Still, the damage was already done, and they tinued following the men who vioted their home.

  As soon as the rangers ehe bunker, one of them reported to Korin. "Someone has been here and we don't know if they are still inside," he said. "But there are definitely signs of ret habitation. Be careful when you follow us. We'll explore more. e in, over."

  Luckily, befoing up to the roof, Aira switched off all lights in the bunker. But that didn't ge the fact that they had breakfast less than an hour before, and their kitware would still be warm. Not to mention that there were obvious signs of habitation in some of the rooms and halls.

  The only question was how fast these people would find a room with Aira's or Li's possessions.

  The rangers began their search, movihodically through the facility, their torches casting flickering shadows on the walls. Their footsteps echoed ominously through the halls. The smells of men who had been on patrol for days and had just e in from the cold were utterly alien ierile atmosphere of the buhat was sealed for turies.

  Aira and Li held their breath, listening ily as the rangers approached the room where they had carefully sorted and charged a stash of gadgets. Two women didn't see the faces of the rangers when they found the first stash of gadgets. But they could hear the cheerful sounds they issued. They were full of astonishment aement.

  That, however, was to be expected. While st aing the gadgets during the previous weeks, Li mentioned multiple times that such a colle of a devices was unheard of. At least i few decades, no one from Mountain View had found anything as impressive.

  "Look at this," one of the rangers excimed, his voice filled with awe. "These gadgets are in perfect dition! But they were ed and charged. Somebody was here quite retly. Be vigint!"

  "Elder's beard, you are right, Perrin! This truly is a treasure trove," another ranger agreed. "We o take these back to town. They'll be invaluable. Especially sidering the current state of events. And we should get the finder's share! Still, you are right, we don't know where are the people, somebody may still be hiding in the building."

  "Korin, are you ing?" Perrin asked over the radio.

  The rangers began discussing how to split their shares of the stash and what to do with these riches, their excitement palpable. They talked about returning with more people to safely transport the gadgets, seemingly not g that somebody may lurk in the shadows.

  Still, despite the apparent distraess of the intruders, Aira and Li exged a worried ghese people couldn't be allowed t back reinforts. The bunker and all their hard work shouldn't be promised.

  The situation ged dramatically when Aira heard footsteps behind them. It was time to act.

  She took a deep breath and stepped out of their hiding pce, her heart pounding. Aira k was a risk, but they had no other choice.

  But she had to try to unicate with the rangers.

  As she moved into the open, Aira tried to speak. The ease with which their versations with Li flowed these past days and weeks made her fet for a brief moment that in this world, she was an undead. She wasn't destio unicate with anyone.

  The rangers froze, their eyes widening in shod fear as they saw Aira. She raised her hands in a gesture of peace, trying to vey that she meant no harm. But all that came out of her mouth were guttural growls and rasps, the nguage of the undead.

  "Stay back!" one of the rangers shouted, raising his on. "Look at its eyes! It's an undead!"

  "I reize it," said the other one, also aiming at Aira. "That's Jorin's pet! Korin, do you read? There's an undead here! e in, over!"

  Aira's eyes widened in frustration. She o unicate. She had to make them uand that she wasn't a threat. But her attempts to speak only made the rangers mitated. They only heard angry growls. Unlike Li, they weren't prepared to decipher the shades of her r. Two men began to close in oheir ons drawn and ready.

  Just then, Li stepped out of the shadows, her hands raised as well. "Wait! Stop!" she shouted, her voice clear and fident. "She's not what you think! She just wants to talk, she isn't threatening you!"

  The rangers hesitated, their eyes flig between Aira and Li. "What the hell do you even mean?" said one of them. "We reize her!"

  "And we know you, Li," said Korin, stepping into the hall from behind. "Did you think you'd be able to hide from us forever? Why are you still s with this beast? What do you get from that? What sort of perverse panionship is that? Yrandfather would be appalled by that! Shame on you!"

  "By the roots, you don't uand!" Li excimed, "I've spent months with Aira. She's not like the others. She's smart, she deciphered aexts, and she's helped me uand things we'd never have known!"

  "So, that's the reason," said Korin, "you want to get all the power to yourself? You want to do what Garrick did? That won't work. Tara is doing a good job keeping order at Mountaihese days."

  "Tara?" said Li. "Is she on the ow?"

  "She is the cil," said Korin. "Thanks to you and your... friend. I tried to persuade her that you were just mislead by Jorin. But no, now I see that you were in it from the start."

  "Listen to me!" pleaded Li. "This help everyone. We don't have to fight!"

  "Look, we'll take the gadgets," said Korin. "All of us have guns now. Things have ged since you left. You won't be able to stop all of us, we are ready. So, better do it peacefully. And maybe I'll drop a word for you when I give my report to Tara. Fet this uhing. Help us."

  Despite Korin's fident words, the other rangers were nervous, their ons still raised and shiftiween Aira and Li. It seemed there was no hope to get out of this dead end peacefully.

  Aira growled softly, exasperated.

  And then, one of the rangers shouted, "Korin! This bitch is crazy! No one lives with an undead in their right mind!"

  His voice was filled with disdain and fear, fueling the tension in the room.

  Li's heart raced, but she remained resolute. She took one more step forward, her hands trembling slightly as she raised them in the air.

  "By the roots, you've got to believe me," Li pleaded, her voice trembling but resolute. "Aira's not like the others. She's sharp as thorns when it es to figuring out old tech, and she's been helping me uncover knowledge that could be us all. We don't have to be ehere's a way we work together!"

  It wasn't going anywhere. If anything, it was getting worse. Aira had been in situations like this one multiple times during her career as a Mystiforcer. ons may be different. Worlds may be different. But wheed, people always did stupid things. She had to act, and fast. She had to protect Li.

  Aira had learned how the guns worked from the books she read. And Li had filled in some details about the modern ons of their world. She khat each gun tained gunpowder in its ammunition, and with her training over the past few weeks, expl the inner ws of small items and devices, Aira knew precisely what to do.

  Taking a deep breath, she focused her Energy Manipution skill on the rangers' ons. Aira sent precise bursts of energy towards the gunpowder hidden within the ammunition. The room filled with a sudden, sharp crack as the bullets ihe guns exploded, rendering the ons useless and causing the rao yelp in surprise and pain as the shockwaves traveled through their arms.

  Twers fell to the floor, unscious or worse, their faces covered in blood from the bst. Two more staggered, disoriented by the sudden shod the ringing in their ears.

  Korin, fury etched across his face, shouted, "That bitch! They were right! Li, you've gone mad!"

  He took a menag step toward Aira, balling his fists. But then, he hesitated, realizing the odds were no longer in his favor.

  Aira, sensing the danger of leaving the rangers alive and able to report back, quickly sent Li a voice message, "We o deal with them. Otherwise our base is promised."

  Li, her eyes wide with distress, turo Aira and pleaded, "Please, don't kill them. You didn't kill Korin's squad before. Don't do that now. They're just following orders. There has to be another way. They are just rangers like I... was."

  While the intruders heard what Li was saying, they couldn't know Aira's answers. And the undead's growls didn't help to discharge the situation. The rangers exged fused gnces, unsure what was happening or what to do .

  Korin wasn't fused, though. His face was red with anger, but at least it looked like he wasn't injured during Aira's attack. Taking in the whole tableau, he g his fallen rades, then at the two cussed members of his team who were slowly regaining their bearings. With a growl of frustration, he seemed to make a decision. Stepping forward, he helped to pick up the two disoriented rangers, supp one of them with his shoulder.

  "Let's get out of here," Korin barked at the others, his voice rough with anger and pain. He g Li with disdain. "You aren't even a traitor," he said. "You are not human anymore. And we'll treat you accly."

  "And don't fet to pick up Talihe arch," he barked at his rangers. "Three heavily wounded people orol. How are we going to eve back?"

  He gred at Li o time as if searg for any humanity left in her. Not finding her up to his standards, Korin turned ahe se, along with other members of his team. They moved slowly, supp their injured rades.

  Aira watched them go, her mind a whirlwind of flig emotions. It was hard to deal with Li's incoheren situations like this. The woman uood quite well that rangers wouldn't let it go. Aira accepted Li's plea for mercy, but she also khe danger of allowing the rao return to Mountain View with the information about their base, the location of the entrao the bunker, and its treasure trove of a gadgets. The situation recarious, and Aira had to find a way to protect their secrets and lives.

  Sensing Aira's iurmoil, Li stepped closer aly touched her arm. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice filled with gratitude. "I know that wasn't easy, not by a long shot. But we'll figure something out. We'll watch the shadows, set up defenses, and find a way to keep our base safe without spilling any more blood."

  Aira nodded, feeling herself ered. "I don't think it is even possible. They are angry and humiliated now. And they are sure there are only two of us. We o get prepared," she said through Li's headphones. "They'll e back with a rger force, and we have to be ready. What's even worse, we could solve this problem by removing these few people. But now, I'm afraid, the price will be much higher."

  "What are you saying?!" Li said. "By the Elder's breath, I won't attack them! Those are my people!"

  "If you have listened carefully to what Korin had to say," Aira expined, "he doesn't think the same way about you."

  Li nodded, deep in thought. Her face ged with shiftiions. It started with ahat swiftly turned into fear, which was in turn repced by despair. "Fine. I'll help you protect the bunker," she said. "But, Aira, I'm putting my roots down on this—I won't let it end in a bloodbath. We save as many lives as we , even if they don't see me as one of their own anymore."

  Aira nodded in agreement. "It was our mistake that we got so soft and fot to close the door. From now oake all precautions. And we o pn other security measures and traps. We 't allow them to siege the facility. I'll survive, but you still need food and water."

  She looked at the signs of the ret fight. There was some blood spttered where the most injured rangers stood when Aira attacked them. And a bit further away, a couple of bsted-off fingers y on the floor, propelled by the explosion.

  "What are they going to do?" sent Aira to Li's headphones.

  "Likely the undead iion protocol," said Li. "They'll return to Mountain View, call the cil... Or whatever repced it. Maybe they will tae of our allies, other towns. Korin’s too stubborn to let this go. We've bested him twice already."

  "How much time do we have to prepare?" asked Aira.

  "Four days to get back to town," said Li. "A couple of days te everything. Four days baot less than nine days. Maybe two weeks if they decided to send a call to the allies."

  "Good, nine days is plenty," said Aira. "Let's not waste any time."