Hunter watched as his friends reunited with their families. Amity ran to her father. Gus surrounded his dad with illusions. He stood with Willow in the archives, looking for her dads. He kept an arm around her. Willow was fretful. Hunter hated seeing her like this but he loved having her this close. Then he saw Gilbert and Harvey. He almost regretted pointing them out to her, but the look on her face was worth it. Then, Hunter was alone. He didn't have anyone searching the crowd for him. His heart sank. A hand fell on his head and rustled his hair. Hunter turned to tell them off but behind him, Darius stood with Eber on his shoulder. Hunter didn't know why, but a great joy fell over him. Darius leaned forward but then pulled back and rested his chin between his thumb and his finger.

"What is that?" Darius pointed at Hunter's shirt. Hunter forgot he had been wearing his handmade wolf shirt for the last week.

"Oh!" he said. "These are creatures called wolves from the Human Realm. They hunt in packs at night."

Darius smiled. "Is that where you were while the Collector was raining hellfire down on the Boiling Isles?"

"Yeah," said Hunter. "I went through the portal with Luz and my friends after we fought Belos."

Darius' jaw dropped. "You fought Belos? I thought you were in Bonesborough!"

"We had to! Kikimora took Luz to the head and we had to save her."

"Well, at least you stuck together," Darius grumbled.

"Were you…? Were you worried about me?"

"No, I was a puppet in the archives."

"So was I for a little bit." Hunter smiled. "And I still felt worried."

"I'm just…" Darius sighed. "Glad to have you back."

Hunter wrapped his arms around Darius' waist. "Me too."

Darius held his hands up. "What… is this?"

"Just go with it," said Hunter. Darius placed his hands on Hunter's shoulders and they stayed like that for a while until Eberwolf got Darius' attention.

"Oh, right," said Darius. "Hunter, there are people here from all over the Isles who have no idea what to do. They need direction and Eber and I are perhaps the only non-corrupt representatives of the old government that can bring some semblance of order to this spectacle. In the meantime, I need you to take Flapjack to resistance headquarters and stay safe. We'll meet you there when we're done." Darius could see the pain on Hunter's face. He knelt down. "What is it?"

"Flapjack, he… he didn't make it," said Hunter. "But it doesn't matter anyways. I want to help!"

Darius' expression turned from worry to satisfaction. "Of course you do."

"What can I do?"

Darius stood. "The most important thing we can do is get these people home so life can return to normal, but we need transportation. Eber, use your magic to call any nearby transport worms here." Eber nodded and jumped off Darius' shoulder. "Hunter, we need drivers. Search the crowd for anyone with a transport worm license and ask them to help."

"What are you going to do?"

"We have no idea what effects the draining spell or the Collector's magic could have had on our bodies. I'm going to find as many members of the Healing Coven as I can to figure that out and set up a first aid station. We'll set up at the bottom of the staircase leading out of the archives."

"Got it." And with that, Hunter took off into the crowd, renewed with purpose. Darius stood for a while, smiling until Hunter disappeared. Then he frowned. He had much to do.

Hunter worked through the crowd, calling out for transport worm drivers. It took him a few minutes to realize there weren't many here — if any at all — but he wasn't about to give up. Darius needed drivers and Hunter did not want to disappoint him. After the better part of an hour, despair began to set in. He sank against an archive wall. This feeling was all too familiar to Hunter. Memories of coming back to Emperor Belos empty handed surfaced in his mind. Hunter remembered something Amity said to him once: 'There are people out there who won't make you feel worthless.' But was Darius one of those people? Hunter did not know; he'd never failed Darius before. As Hunter thought, he realized it didn't matter what kind of person Darius was. Hunter didn't want to fail him.

"Hey there, squirt." A woman's voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see a teal demon standing over him. She had a beaked maw with three tendrils dangling from her chin — a dorsal fin on her back. A pair of horns curved over the top of her head and pointed out to either side of her body. She wore a sailor's shirt that was too big for her and baggy, grey jeans. "I hear you're looking for drivers?"

"You can drive a transport worm?" asked Hunter.

"Done it for 25 years."

"Great! Head witches Darius and Eberwolf are organizing transportation back to the cities and towns, but we need as many drivers as we can get!"

The demon thought for but a moment. "I'll go get my coworkers."
"Fantastic! Meet us at the bottom of the staircase!" Hunter took off to go meet Darius.

At the bottom of the staircase, Darius spoke with Hettie Cutburn, head witch of the Healing Coven, while casting swathes of abomination slime into the air to make several large tents. Several other Healing Coven members worked around them, setting up instruments and gathering medical supplies from wherever they could find them. The look on Darius' face while he was talking to Cutburn made Hunter uneasy, like a mixture of anger and shame.

"Darius!" Hunter called. Darius' face immediately brightened as he turned to the young witch. "I found some drivers. They should be coming down the stairs any moment." Hunter scanned the stairs, eventually spotting the demon he had spoken to. "There she is!" She was flanked by a witch and another demon.

Darius held his beard between his fingers. He looked to Hunter. "Hm. This is good but it's not enough. There are hundreds of people here that need to get to dozens of cities. We need more."

Hunter looked down at Darius' feet. He felt hollow. Somehow, failing Darius felt far worse than failing Belos.

Darius turned his attention to the drivers. "What's your name?" he asked the teal demon.

"Oh, you can call me Sweety, sugar," she said.

"Sweety, do you know of any other drivers here?"

"Unfortunately, these are the only ones I know. I came here with Melbourne on the Day of Unity." She gestured to the puppeteer demon on her left. "And we just happened to run into Myrkul after the Collector freed everyone."

"I got zapped by one of the Collector's goons back in Latissa," said Myrkul.

"I did see a few airships still intact around the skull," said Sweety. "Maybe you could convince some of the Emperor's lackeys to pilot those for you?"

Darius thought. "That's not a bad idea for getting people to the furthest towns — or on top of the left arm — but they're not big enough to move this many."

As they spoke, Hunter felt more dour and useless. He turned out to the body of the Titan. From the base of the skull, he could almost see the entire island. It was a large, expansive land, easily traversed with a palisman, but arduous and deadly without one. He looked to the left arm, now reaching up into the sky. He wondered what Belos was reaching for. Darius finally noticed Hunter's mood and turned to him, but the eruption of Eberwolf from the ground with a swarm of transport worms took his attention.

"Eber!" said Darius. "We've got a problem! There aren't enough drivers here to operate these things!"

"Maybe we don't need drivers," said Hunter. Everyone looked to him. "Eberwolf can control these things with beastkeeping magic, right? So all we need are beastkeepers."

"And we have plenty of those lingering around from the Day of Unity," said Darius.

"Eber, gather up the Beastkeeper Coven," continued Hunter. "Sweety, you and your friends need to show them the basics of operating these things. I'll start planning routes and Darius, you organize the people so they get on the right worms without causing chaos."

Everyone looked to Darius for confirmation. He just said, "Don't look at me! You heard the man! Get moving!" After Hunter had planned the routes and explained them to the beastkeepers, he took over crowd control from Darius so he could focus on his business with Hettie. Hunter asked Gus to create signs in the air to direct people and Willow to create queues with plant magic. It took hours, but before the sun had set, they finally got everyone home or on a transport worm there. Amity had already left for the Owl House with the Collector, so Sweety, Melbourne, Myrkul, Alador, Odalia, Augustus, Perry, Gilbert, Harvey, and Willow took the last worm to Bonesborough. Before Willow boarded, she spoke with Hunter.

"Why aren't you coming with us?" The joy in her face was still plain as day, but a hint of sadness had nestled in too. When she looked at him, it made Hunter feel warm.

"We're going to Clavicassle with the people from there, to make sure they get home safe." Hunter couldn't help but turn up the corner of his mouth. "Darius says there's a lot to be fixed before life can return to normal and I'm going to help him. It might be awhile before I can come to Bonesborough to visit."

"Well, I can't wait to see you again." Willow leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, before blushing red and boarding the worm.

Hunter stood there, stunned and red-cheeked, as the worm wiggled away. Darius brought him out of his stupor. "You ready?"

Hunter shook his head. "Yeah." He looked behind Darius at their fellow travelers. "Where's Cutburn?" he said, noticing the Healing Coven missing from their numbers.

"She went to Kneecapital. The Healing Coven had the best facilities there before the Day of Unity. She's going to use them to research our problem." "Do you trust her?" "No, but I don't know anything about healing — and she's the greatest medical mind on the isles. If anyone can figure out the potential side effects, it's her."

The company traveled down the rugged stone of the neck, where they were attacked by several hairless slitherbeasts. Darius held them off. They were smaller, but just as ferocious as their knee-dwelling cousins. One of them navigated Darius' field of abominable defenses and pinned him to the rock. Hunter used his newfound abilities to send the beast tumbling down the jagged stone while Eber used his bestial form to scare away the remaining predators.

"Where did you learn to do that?" asked Darius as he dusted himself off.

"Let's just say, Flapjack taught me."

"I've never heard of such a thing. You must have had a powerful connection with him."

"Yeah, we were close." Hunter smiled.

"You know," said Darius. "It's okay to be sad."

"I am sad," said Hunter. "But I'm also so happy he found me."

When they reached the sweeping cliffs of the left clavicle, a flock of harpy-vultures descended on them. Full of confidence, Hunter rushed the flock, taking a few vultures out of the sky. They surrounded him and swarmed him, pushing him back to the cliff's edge where he lost his footing. Eberwolf jumped onto the back of a harpy and used his magic to soothe it. He divebombed off the cliff to catch Hunter just before he hit the Boiling Sea below. When they flew back up, Darius pulled the creatures out of the sky from below and Hunter blasted them from the air. The harpy-vultures fled and the company made it safely to Clavicassle before morning. Clavicassle lay in ruins, buildings and homes upended by the movement of the Titan, but the lights were on. Scarce groups of people moved through town — rebuilding what they could — even in the dead of night. When the company entered the town limits, there was reunion. Friends reunited. Families woke up to greet their loved ones. Darius, Eber, and Hunter found a room at an inn that was mostly intact. "What now?" asked Hunter as they moved the furniture back into place.

"Now we rest," said Darius.

"Rest? But there's so much to do!"

"Hunter! We've been awake for nearly twenty-six hours." Darius knelt down to Hunter and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's time to sleep and regain our strength for tomorrow. We're going to need it. Dream of nice things. That girl was pretty. Think about her."

"Who? Willow?" Hunter blushed.

"Yes, Willow," said Darius. "Think about how good it will be to see her again when all this is over." Darius released Hunter and fell onto a bed next to Eber, who was curled up on a pillow. "Please, Hunter…" he drolled. "Please… sleep…"

Hunter stood in the middle of the room, now the only one awake in it. He considered Darius' words and clambered onto the other bed. He tried to sleep. He tried to think of Willow, but he could only think about the people outside, working day and night to rebuild their home. He only thought of the image of Clavicassle from afar. It rested on the Titan's broad shoulder, which now sloped up like a mountain. At its peak, an impossibly tall and unbearably wide spire shot into the atmosphere. He only thought of the people up there and whether they had survived at all.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. He focused in on a little green slime hopping up to the window and out onto the street. He bolted upright and rushed out of the inn. It all felt too familiar. Out on the street, he saw it hopping away towards the arm. He ran after it, through the pines that separated Clavicassle from the shoulder, but it was too fast for him and it reached the shoulder joint before him. It wriggled inbetween the bones and, once inside, expanded. It grew to cover the humerus, the radius and ulna, and finally the hand. It animated the arm to move once again. This time downward. The palm rocketed to the abdomen and Hunter knew where it was going. It hit Bonesborough with incredible force. He could only stand and watch as all of his friends — his home — were reduced to nothing. The shockwave spread across the Titan's body, hitting Hunter and waking him up.

It was morning. Hunter heaved to catch his breath, wiping the sweat off his brow. He clambered out of bed, fighting the blankets to get free. The room was empty, aside from him. He stumbled over to the window and looked out over Clavicassle. The sun was almost in the middle of the sky. It was late. Hunter hurried out of the inn to look for Darius. He burst down the streets until he spotted him talking to an older demon. "Darius! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I'm sorry," Darius said to the demon before turning to Hunter. "I wanted you to sleep as much as possible. It's going to be a long day."

He turned to speak with the demon again but Hunter interrupted. "I'm fine. I can handle myself. I want to help!"

Darius pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hunter! I'm trying to negotiate with the head of the town council so we can get trade routes back up. So the towns can help each other rebuild! You're not helping." Hunter fell silent. Darius turned to the demon again. "I understand your concerns but maintaining trade with Acrom and Latissa will help you regrow faster in the long run."

The demon sighed. "I'm not exactly concerned with the long run right now. My people need relief now. If we waste time maintaining our exports, we won't see that."

"Latissa should be mostly unscathed." Hunter interrupted again. "And they have strong trade relations with Bonesborough, which should also be mostly intact. Latissa is a large population center and Bonesborough is a trade magnate. They can get you relief supplies you can't get out here. It would be wise to do business with them as soon as possible."

Darius and the demon gawked at Hunter's brazenness for a moment. "I'm so sorry," said Darius.

"No," said the demon. "He's right. I'm thinking too small. There are supplies we need that we can't get on our own. We'll send envoys to Latissa and Acrom, along with what's left of our surplus."

"We'll be happy to escort your envoy to Acrom," said Darius.

"I would appreciate that," said the demon. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to. Ainoch! Gather some witches to prepare the brambolives for travel." The chairwoman left them to direct her people.

Darius grabbed Hunter's arm. "What were you thinking!"

Hunter's face contorted. "What? She agreed to reestablish trade, didn't she?" "That's not the point. The Boiling Isles are in a very tumultuous situation right now. Things are delicate and we need to proceed with tact. You spoke out of turn. If she hadn't kept a level head, negotiations would have been through." "Whatever." Hunter glanced sidelong. Darius sighed. "Get ready. We're leaving as soon as the envoy does." The small caravan left Clavicassle a few hours later. The road to Acrom was short and uneventful. Everywhere, splintered trees and bludgeoned beast corpses littered the surroundings around the path. At one point, Hunter spotted a dead witch dangling from a tree. They arrived after dusk to a scene of utter devastation. Acrom was completely destroyed. The humerus razed the half of the town that rested on it when it shot into the sky. The debris falling off the left arm demolished the rest.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us," said Darius.