"Hah! Says the dude who decayed into a bleepin' monster because he ate souls!" Nightmare laughed. "That's rich!"

"I made one poor choice and spent the rest of my existence paying the price. I doubt the same can be said about you," Herbert retorted.

"Wait… Herbert. I know that name. I've heard of you," I said, remembering conversations between Kailani and the other GASP members, back in the sanctuary. Herbert had been enslaved by the witches a long time ago.

"Yes. I was Ibrahim's," he said. "I've been free since I helped Harper's soul reunite with her body. But I haven’t been able to walk away from this war with the Hermessi. They're a threat to our food chain, as well."

"So you want to help because you don't want everyone to die and get reaped, thus leaving you without wandering souls to feed on? How noble of you." Dream chuckled. “I mean, in case of mass deaths like the ritual, there will be extra care for such a high number of souls. Chances are you wouldn’t find any scraps.”

Herbert shook his head. "No, that's just what I told the others to get them to help. They won't like me very much later, but I trust you'll keep that to yourselves for the time being."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Death will return, eventually. Whether it's before or after the Hermessi's ritual is completed, that is entirely up to Taeral and his allies," Herbert explained. "I'm merely looking to be here when she does come back, and I want her to see that I've done my best to help the living. I hope to gain some kind of favor with her, because she will certainly go after the ghouls once she has Thieron back in her grip."

I couldn't help but smile. "You're helping now so you can survive later, huh?"

"That's the plan. I'll loop my friends in at some point. Perhaps later. Now that they've fed, they should be easier to reason with," Herbert replied.

"How did you know to come here?" I asked.

The dried-up oasis was empty now, riddled only with the fallen ruins of its once-populated city. Red sand covered everything, dipping into what had been the bottom. Herbert glanced at it, then back at me.

"I've been asking around. You'd be surprised the kind of things that ghouls see, all over this universe and across all its dimensions," he said. "A rumor here, a question there… The Mirinin constellation came up a couple of times. The Spirit Bender's name and his presence here. It didn't take long for me to dig up the right information."

"Why are you here?" Nightmare asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like we're Death's favorites right now. Surely you didn't think we might put in a good word for you?"

Herbert sneered at him in a way that made my blood freeze. "I'm here to help you. I knew you were coming here, and I'd heard of what the Spirit Bender had done here. I knew of the specters. Don't fool yourself into thinking you mean anything of importance to me."

Nightmare's scythe hand twitched. I gave him a discreet nudge. "Don't be a jerk. It'll get you farther," I whispered, and smiled at Herbert. "Thank you for the assistance. I admit, you did help clear the area a bit."

"You're looking for the Time Master," he replied.

The three of us were all equally baffled. "He's here," Dream said. "You knew that, as well?"

Herbert shook his head slowly. "Not at first. I put two and two together on my way here, but that doesn't matter. I can smell him."

"Seriously?" Nightmare blurted. "How so?"

"I picked up his trail on Astram, shortly after you left. I may not have your power, but my nose still serves me well."

He walked over to the edge of the dried-up oasis, giving me a brief over-the-shoulder glance.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"He's down there," Herbert said. He padded down into the bowl-shaped hole, his claws sinking into the red sand. He stopped for a moment, sensing something beneath. Stretching his neck, he blew over the crimson dust, forcing it to scatter away and reveal… a dead Reaper. His throat slit. His eyes empty. Much like the ones we'd seen on Mortis.

"The Spirit Bender," Dream murmured, utterly disgusted.

Nightmare stepped forward and whispered another spell into his blade. He waved it around, and the red sand responded to his command, pulling back like a curtain and revealing dozens of Reapers—all murdered by True Death. I could now see where the Spirit Bender had gotten his material for the specters.

Pieces of their clothing were missing, as were their scythes.

"What the…" Nightmare mumbled, equally aghast.

Herbert sniffed between the dead Reapers and through the red sand, until he reached the bottom and started digging through it. Dream, Nightmare, and I watched in awe as he managed to bring out another Reaper. This one didn't seem dead. And I recognized the pocket watch still clipped onto his lapel.

"Is that—" I asked, but Dream beat me to it.

"The Time Master! Holy smokes, you found the Time Master!" she squealed.

We rushed down to join Herbert, and Dream took Time in her arms, carefully checking him from head to toe. His eyes were closed, so she gently pulled his eyelids apart, revealing dark galaxies of ancient origins. He was definitely still with us.

Nightmare kneeled next to him and Dream, his trembling fingers touching Time's face. "I can't believe it… He's here…"

"Herbert, I have to admit, I'm amazed," I said, giving the ghoul a warm and honest smile. "We needed a win. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Herbert sighed. "The Time Master is not in good shape, I'm afraid. Even I can tell."

I looked at Dream and Nightmare. "What is he talking about?"

Dream kissed her scythe's blade and moved it up and down the Time Master's body. Red dust fell from his curly, dark hair as she jostled him, trying to get him to wake up. Nothing worked.

"The Seals. Spirit put the Seals on him," Nightmare concluded, his brow furrowed.

"What seals?" I asked, even more confused.

Dream glanced up at me, and her expression filled me with a sense of dread—the kind I doubted I'd ever be able to overcome.

"The Seals of Agalor," she replied. "The Seals of Silent Sleep."

Whatever this was, I doubted it was anything good. What good was a Time Master if we could not use him?

Kelara

We brought the Time Master to ground level. Being surrounded by resurfaced Reaper corpses just didn't feel right. I stood on the edge of the dried-up oasis, staring at them, while Dream and Nightmare tried to figure out how to break the seals on their brother.

Herbert watched his comrades as they scattered and chased the few specters left in the area. It was such a stark contrast from earlier, when all the spirits had just wanted to hurt us. As soon as they were outnumbered, and many of them had been consumed by ghouls, their demeanor did a 180-degree turn. Not that I minded, of course. We clearly had bigger issues to deal with.

"Don't you worry you'll lose the other ghouls?" I asked Herbert.

He shook his big, deformed head. "They'll answer my call when it's time. I told you, we share a common goal," he said, and glanced down at the Time Master. "Do they know how to wake him up?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Don't guess," Nightmare said. "We know how. It's just not as easy as one, two, three."

Dream drew a line in the red sand with the tip of her scythe, around the Time Master's body. Her brother scribbled various symbols along the line, muttering spells under his breath.