Wyndham and Shanahan waited as things went on without them. She wanted to go back to her apartment and just hide under blankets until she was ready to face the world again.

Shanahan kept an eye on the part of the hex they were using, walking a perimeter determined by how far he felt he should be away from Wyndham.

The factions gathered. They had seen Grandview and his lieutenants several times. Wu Chi Masters had arrived and set up their own guard. Master Yuen and his assistants talked with some of the newcomers, but Wyndham had no idea about what.

One Shaper arrived. He talked with Grandview. He didn't seem as angry as the old Master Carver, but it was clear he wanted some kind of concession over what had happened.

Wyndham wished him the best of luck with that. Emil tended to only give something when he could get two other things back.

She hoped they wouldn't have to fight it out with the Shapers over what had happened. She had spotted Shanahan squinting at the stone armor. His hand had remained wrapped around the grip of his rifle as he watched the Shaper. Her companion relaxed when the other man disappeared.

She supposed she should be happy that her partner would never abandon her. She had picked him for that quality, among the other things she needed. She only had herself to blame that he had killed Gaunt, Goreman, Vassily, and Klaschikov. Would she still be alive if she had picked someone else?

She doubted it.

There were people in the city that would fight, but they wouldn't do the things Mister Shanahan would do without thinking about it. There would always be some kind of doubt of the rightness of their cause.

“There are a lot of Weapons and Wu Chi coming and going,” Wyndham said.

“Probably want to lay out the problem to both factions before they decide on what they want to do,” said Mister Shanahan. “Not our problem until after the talk is over. I have a feeling Grandview is going to send us back down to the dragon farm to see what we can do.”

“We don't have to do anything else,” said Wyndham.

“There's still the problem with the Shapers,” said Mister Shanahan. “That can be used as leverage, and we know that when they have a space guy, he'll be able to reach us in New York. We need to sort it out long enough to get ready for them to come after us.”

“He would have to be exceptional,” Wyndham said.

“It only takes one to cause us a lot of trouble in our world,” said Mister Shanahan. “We need to get them to let us go, or kill them all and let some other faction sort their hex out.”

“I don't want to kill them all,” said Wyndham. “But I don't want to be answering their demands for the rest of my life. This has already taken longer than I wanted, and I want to leave.”

Mister Shanahan said nothing. He agreed with the sentiment, but he wanted to at least have a cover where they could leave without being called back because something else was going on.

At least none of the dragons had cut through his improvised door slam. That would be a pain with the number of people running around. He didn't want to be shot in the back while he was trying to help save the day.

At least they knew they weren't considered threats to Grandview. It was doubtful he would let them live if he did.

Wyndham wondered if Emil was going to propose a strike against the dragon farm with his weapons and support from the Wu Chi. She doubted they would need all the weapons for something like that. The Phoenix setting fire to everything should be enough.

The fact that there might be more cities under the hexes might be enough to cause the two factions to try to root everything out. How many dragons waited to cut to the surface? How many people would they lose to the monsters?

She was tempted to offer their services as monster hunters just to forestall any threat from the mole riders. The fact that Mister Shanahan might not see her way was the only thing that made her pause.

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“Should we get involved in this?,” she asked. She needed to know what he thought. She knew he wasn't going to volunteer anything.

“Let's see what they want to do before we stick our hands in,” said Mister Shanahan. “They might not need us when things are done.”

Or they might expect the partners to stick around and handle everything while the factions sat back.

That would be another problem to be handled since it was tying them down with an obligation when there wasn't any.

Buildings went up to house the factions. A central hall was placed down so the groups could hash out their plans. A kitchen appeared to feed everyone with food shipped in from local farms to both hexes.

“The Shapers are back,” said Shanahan. He nodded at the group in stone armor. He noted the two he had wounded were among their number. “We might need to defend ourselves before things are done.”

A set of stone buildings grew opposite the other two factions, on the other side of the meeting hall.

“It looks like they were invited,” said Wyndham. “I can't remember a time when Emil would agree s to something like this.”

“There is a possibility he didn't want to crack the other hexes if he decided to kill the frogs,” said Mister Shanahan.

“I'm thinking he didn't want the other two factions declaring war on him while he tried to sort this out,” said Wyndham.

Mister Shanahan didn't disagree with the sentiment. The master weapon seemed more than capable of handling any one other member of another faction. That didn't mean he could handle all of them at the same time.

That didn't mean that Grandview couldn't handle them either.

“Master Yuen is coming for us,” said Wyndham. “It looks like we're about to find out what they want from us.”

“Blood and sweat is what they want,” said Mister Shanahan. “All I have to give them is more lead.”

“Try not to kill everybody,” Wyndham said. She brushed off her clothes and armor as she looked at the approaching Wu Chi.

Mister Shanahan grunted. She couldn't tell if he was assenting to her demand.

“How are things, Master Yuen?,” said Wyndham.

“We're going to have a meeting in a few minutes to figure out what we want to do,” said the Wu Chi. “The faction leaders asked for you to come up to the hall so they could discuss your status.”

“I'm not making a chain of deals,” said Wyndham.

“The grandmaster would like to talk to you in person,” said Master Yuen.

“Really?,” said Wyndham. “Why?”

“He doesn't leave his home much,” said Yuen. “I think he wants to meet you to see if you are as good as your reputation.”

“Mister Shanahan is the muscle of this partnership,” said Wyndham. “I can't do anything without him.”

“The grandmaster would like to meet him too,” said Yuen. “I think he wants to see the kind of person Grandview views with caution.”

Mister Shanahan waved for him to go ahead. It would be good to have things go smoother than what they had dealt with already.

“He's in an office set aside for him,” said Yuen. “After your talk, The Shapers want you to stand on charges for what you have done to them.”

Mister Shanahan simply kept walking. He would be glad to talk to them if it kept them from trying to get at Wyndham. He wondered how well that would go in either direction.

It wouldn't be the first time he had dealt with someone who thought they were untouchable. They had underestimated what he would do to get even. He knew Grandview wouldn't make that mistake, but the Shapers might.

The trio walked into the meeting hall. They were disarmed to keep them from doing to the grandmaster what they had done to the Master Carver.

Yuen knocked on the door to the office. A round table with seats for the people to be involved in the planning sat at their back. A table with a paper model of the underground sat beside it. People would have to move to get a good look at the model.

“It is open,” said a cracked voice inside the office. “Come in.”

Master Yuen pushed the door open and waved for them to enter. He pulled the door shut.

“Please sit,” said the oldest man Shanahan had ever seen. He wore the white of the paper masters, and a smile in a sea of wrinkles. He waved at two chairs in front of his table. “It is a pleasure to meet two people who have aided the Wu Chi as much as you have.”

Wyndham sat, wondering if this is where they were told they weren't going to get paid for services rendered.

Shanahan remained standing, hands in his pockets, as he studied his enemy.