"How do you know my real name?" said a voice from the dark shadow in the cell.

"There's no time to explain," Lily said as she stepped forward and grabbed at one of the bars of the cell door in a death grip, she pulled with terrifying strength. Her face was twisted with anger and her jaw was clenched. The metal groaned in her hold, veins popped on her forearm. And I could see a clear bulge forming under her sleeve. Then something inside the lock of the cell door snapped and whimpered before Lily yanked it open.

A man stepped out of the shadow. He was slightly taller than Hopper and had dark brown hair and a thick beard of the same color. He was slender and slightly slouched in his moleskin jacket and trousers. Hopper took off his jacket and gave it to the man. "Put this on, good sir," he said. "We wouldn't want to have the pedestrians report a man dressed like a convict walking around the city."

Hammer still looked quite puzzled and a bit baffled with the entire situation but didn't question Hopper's reasoning. He put on the jacket that the man offered and looked at the rest of us.

Lily's wrath reserve seemed to have been restored by then, she pulled out a card from her pocket and summoned the massive frog. We got on the creature's back before she made the large amphibian leap right up to the roof of the C-wing prison building. The next leap that the frog made, took us past the perimeter wall of the prison.

Fortunately there was no one around while we landed. So no one saw four people getting off a big frog before making the creature disappear and walking off into a dark alleyway.

Hammer was still visibly perplexed by the sequence of events that had just unfolded. I felt lucky since I had gotten used to the weirdness of this world and this new life quite quickly. Hammer had probably been part of a bit more conventional side of reality. So, his brain was still busy processing everything.

When we arrived in the back alley, Asmod and Smokewell were already waiting for us by the cul-de sac at its end.

"I'm surprised it was quicker than expected," the cat said, smoking on her pipe.

"I hope no one followed you all?" Asmod said as he handed Hopper's hold all back to him.

"I'm positive that no one did," Hopper said and opened his bag. He pulled out a long coat from within and held it towards Hammer. "Put this on, good sir."

Hammer absently took the coat, his eyes were intent on the black cat that was taking another leisurely puff of opium from her pipe. The befuddled look still hadn't left his face. But he decided to remain quiet. After he put on the coat, Asmod offered him an enchanted mask to hide his real face. The rest of us took off our masks to reveal our real faces.

Then with a sigh or relief we left the alley and walked back into the street, blending into the crowd of pedestrians. In a silent, secretive voice, Hammer said, "Um, can anyone tell me what really happened just now?"

"You became a free man, Mr. Hammer," Hopper said. "That's what happened."

****

We took a tram to the dockyard and once we got off, Lily brought up the matter of everyone's interest. "So, are we getting paid now?"

"Not yet," Hopper said. "There's some time for that."

"You still haven't told me what's going on," Hammer said.

"We did. Also, can't you figure out what's going on?" I said.

"Yes, yes I get it. I'm free now," Hammer said. "But why? Why me? And why does this man know my real name? I wasn't even arrested under my real name."

I frowned when the rescued inmate brought this up. Now this was something suspicious. If he really was arrested when he was living under an alias, he could've simply used his real name to escape the law enforcement. Why had he let himself get arrested and serve his sentence? Also, why did he even need an alias in the first place?

That made me wonder if there even was a payment waiting for us at the end of this thing. I couldn't help but feel like Hopper had tricked us in some way.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I'll answer all your questions," Hopper said as he led us towards a steamboat. "But first we need to leave the city before the Internal Police calls for any kind of help."

****

We took the steamboat to Stonebarrow city which was another hundred and eighty miles from Pallport. It was going to be near dawn by the time the boat came ashore. I took a deep breath and organized my thoughts.

We had succeeded in rescuing Hammer but the man had a wary look on his face and he kept stealing glances at me and my companions suspiciously. But Hopper was the one he kept looking at with narrowed eyes and suppressed scowl.

Even though the other man seemed fairly unbothered by the attention, it was quite visible that Hopper's entire demeanor had gotten more guarded since we had sailed off from Pallport. I readjusted my satchel on my lap. I had two more bottles of Abyssal beings I'd collected from the graveyard. I'd liberated the one that I'd used at the prison soon after he had served his purpose. I felt a bit reassured that I still had two left.

And besides that, I'd learned certain valuable things about the liberation ritual. Firstly, I learned that I could contain them after separating them from their source. In order to do that I had to make a single job deal with them--in this case I'd asked the abyss to wait inside the bottle until I asked them to come out and do what I asked them. And I would only ask them to do one thing and after that I won't make them go inside the bottle again.

Secondly, the abyssal beings had their full physical forms because I had extracted them from the corpse itself and not a personal belonging. I still had the theory that maybe I could extract abysses from a single remain of the corpse and not the entire thing. Maybe the resulting abyss might be weak but that was still just speculation. What I was certain about, however, was the fact that I could extract an abyss that had a full body by committing the ritual on their corpse. And they were capable of some semi-impressive feats. The abyss that had been guiding me was like a ghost that could fly at super speed and was capable of turning invisible.

The last thing that I learned was that I could command them mentally. So the liberation ritual probably connected the abyss with me temporarily until they finished a job for me. I could hear their voices and communicate with them telepathically. That had also allowed me to set them free even though we weren't face-to-face with each other.

I pulled out my journal and noted these things briefly. Later, I would transcribe them in my hexonomicon. The act of writing makes a witch's capability to carry out that ritual much stronger. And I wanted to master the liberation ritual. Once this was all over, I would go back to studying other rituals in my hexonomicon and sorting through Old Elsa's other memories. I made a brief note of that too and closed the journal.

Then I leaned back on the bench and looked up at the stars as we kept sailing.

A few hours passed. Conversation was minimal. When the night grew colder, Hammer spoke up. "I finally remember who you are." He was regarding Hopper with a piercing gaze.

"Took you long enough," Hopper said, tipping back his top hat.

"I wanted to make sure you were whom I thought you were," Hammer said. "And if you remember me as well as I do you, then you know that I think everything a lot more objectively than you or the people you work for."

Hopper was silent for a while. Smokewell, who had been asleep on Lily's lap opened her eyes with a snap as if she hadn't been asleep at all. Asmod and Lily were throwing a curious stare at the two men.

"For your information, I don't work for them anymore, Mr. Hammer," Hopper said.

Hammer scoffed. "That's rich, did you finally learn that they were all just a bunch of dim-witted buffoons?"

"I learned that and something a bit more unsettling. One of the reasons why I resigned." He looked at Hammer and held his gaze. "That's why I decided to come and rescue you."

Hammer scowled at the man. "If you think I believe that you came to rescue me out of guilt then you are still as dim-witted as you were back then. I know this boat is headed for Stonebarrow. My bloody home. I'm certain my family is offering some kind of reward for anyone who brings me back."

"Okay wait a moment now." I interrupted with a wave of my hand. "Would you mind telling us what is going on?"

Hammer looked at me with the face of a man who had just had a glass of fine wine only to realize someone had taken a piss in it. "This man didn't tell you why he brought you along?" he said. My oblivious expression was enough to answer his question. "I figured that much. Well, for starters, I'll tell you that this man, who just helped me get out of prison, is the same man who had arrested me."

I raised an eyebrow. Lily's mouth was agape. Smokewell and Asmod were still curious but obviously intrigued.

"Why was that, Mr. Hopper?" Lily asked.

Hopper's eyes narrowed. He glanced at the other passengers before speaking in careful voice. "Our friend William Hammer here had gained quite some notoriety," he said. "He was on the Inquisition's watchlist. He was trying to prove the green blood theory was false. I had to do my duty and arrest him for his heretical thinking and his aim of trying to propagate such thinking."

That made my head spin for a second. I looked at Hammer. "I think you would find it interesting to know that now Hopper has admitted that the green blood theory is false."

From the look on Hammer's face, it was obvious that his head was spinning too now.

Then all eyes turned to Hopper. Asmod leaned ahead and asked the question that each of us had in our mind: "What are you even playing at, Hopper?"