Then the Shade-Leader asked if I still can use the Brownie as before or if I have another. Sorry, I can’t use it since I’ve sealed it into two nested boxes and I don’t have a replacement. Immediately two of the five shadow-jumped and I saw them appear at the Brownie Tree and then at the Fairy Tree and then back – nothing. Brownies seem to have all survived the night and Fairies sleep in large flowers which didn’t open yet. The Drows suggested they go to the Shimmering Veil and take a look – they’ve crossed it before and came back fine. All seven of us walked to the first Veil Portal we’ve discovered – to the World that gave us Phil the Monster. Technically, six of us walked and Fizz flew for a while and then just landed on my shoulder. Shade-4 turned his Stealth on and I was overjoyed to notice that I see his soul through his Stealth much better now. Thank you, Level-19! I saw the Veil give off a tiny ripple then a minute later again and the newly-revealed Drow assured us there is absolutely nothing there. The mess we’ve created is still untouched, the doors are shut and there’s no sound coming through them. We started our leisurely walk to the next Veil and then I heard a mental scream for help in a voice I least expected. It was Mr Slime – a nasty man from the second World that we’ve been in contact with.

I dashed to the second Veil, stopped and reached out to Mr. Slime. The only way I could have returned him to his World was by making him into a Zombie. The guy died having fallen into our World through the Veil which kills almost any living thing. However I suspect the Designers of the Worlds didn’t account for Zombies and at least for now I can send my “protegees” between the Worlds quite easily. We have threatened Mr. Slime that we’ll come in-person to collect our fee for saving him – 25 sets of clothing. The “fee” is minuscule for his highly developed World and I was hoping that they’d actually throw in lots of goodies – I’ve mentioned to them we need blankets but I expected a lot more for the Polite Respectful Neighbors that they’ve tried to kill by sending a Dragon to our World. Now I felt him being utterly terrified right across the Veil.

My Shades froze next to me awaiting orders. I took over Mr. Slime’s body and looked around. He was in the large Hangar adjacent to the Veil on their side. This is where they’ve shoved the cage with the Dragon into and inadvertently caused a disaster by cutting away a piece of the wall to slide the cage in and bringing down a part of the upper floor. Now he was surrounded by about two dozen teens in similar uniforms, the doors were sealed and the room was getting filled with some yellow gas. Some were panicking, some were convulsing on the floor and several have been dying. I started grabbing those souls and returning them into the bodies making the kids into Zombies. Could I’ve revived them? Yes, at this point I could. However a freshly-revived person would need to breathe again and there’s this strange poisonous gas in the room. I can easily send my Shades into the gas – we don’t need to breathe – but that would've not helped the kids. If we carry them across the Veil, they’ll die the moment they touch it. So ironically, turning them into Zombies is the only way to save them. Twenty seven kids. I’m exhausted. I’ve actually gotten some Mana from the Shades making sure to leave enough for shadow-jumping. Suddenly it’s getting crowded on our side of the Veil. Since I have to use Mr Slime’s body I am not really aware of what’s going on around mine. However the Shades seem happy with the newcomers so I finish Zombifying all twenty seven, order Mr Slime to pick up one of them and march through the Veil to our side. I’m spent. I break off and order the Shades and the new arrivals – the Humanoid Assassin group under the command of my former classmate Val – into the Other World. Get the kids out and outside of the Cave. I never get tired of watching them move – I felt the wind blow past me and by the time I’ve slowly reached the entrance to the Cave, I saw Dr Nectar dashing between her patients laid out on the pebbles. Welcome, kids, to the first Sunrise of the rest of your (un-)life.