As he absorbed the ghosts, Brontes raised a hand toward one of the windows. Liliana looked, at the same time that a rumble shook the tower. When she looked again, she found a row of large fangs covering the window. The beast had jumped up and was climbing the tower to answer its master's call. Before it could attempt anything, however, its huge monster body dissolved into the same black smoke as the ghosts. The monster broke apart, entered through the window and was absorbed by the child. Only then did Liliana understand.

—You were the beast— she argued —you killed those people... Who... What are you?

Brontes smiled. Then his body grew, he became a tall, skinny figure like a tree in winter. From a gray-skinned boy, he became a gray-skinned man with long, flowing greenish-black hair. His faded, weathered and scratched clothing showed details and decorations of someone of great status, though Liliana did not recognize the design from anything she had seen in her short stay in Nudo. His face was long, his eyes black, his mouth large and his teeth greenish.

—My name is Brontes, I was a sirivi in life— he introduced himself with a calm voice, always in control, —now I am nothing more than a spiteful spirit that feeds on innocent souls, like yours.

He raised his hand to one side. From it came the same smoke that made up the ghosts and the beast, but this time they took a slender form like him; a two meter tall pole, with a large curved extension at one end: a scythe.

He took a step toward her, raised his scythe. Liliana was exhausted, and even if she wanted to escape, there was nowhere to hide in that round, unfurnished room. On top of that, Brontes was very long and had a powerful weapon. Whatever she did, she knew she couldn't outrun him.

—Now I will devour you, Liliana.

He lashed out with his sharp weapon. Liliana only sighed, not even looking away. The scythe fell, but at that moment another person rammed Brontes and sent him to the opposite side of the room.

—Lili!— cried Erica.

She quickly reached out a hand and helped her to her feet.

—Erica!— Liliana called —You're alive!

She hugged her on impulse, relieved. Erica reciprocated with one arm, as she turned to stand between her companion and the vengeful spirit.

—Who is that guy?— she asked.

—He's Brontes. He's the beast— Liliana explained.

She expected Erica to be as startled as she was, but she only nodded her head. Carefully the brika broke away from her and moved forward to face him. Meanwhile, the long sirivi stood up and dusted off his ragged clothes.

—You will not surprise me again, Erica— he snapped at her.

—Why did you bring us here?— the brika asked.

—I just told your friend— Brontes swung his scythe with ease and assumed a relaxed combat pose, —to devour your souls....

Erica crouched down to support herself on the ground and shot her arms and legs towards Brontes, not giving him time to finish. However, the sirivi spun on his heel and sent her into the wall with her own momentum. Erica crashed face-first, fell and lay cringing in pain for a long time.

—You'll need more than that to take me out— said Brontes.

Erica stood up, still in pain. She wiped away a trickle of blood with her arm, aimed at Brontes and threw herself at him again. She lunged at him with a punch to the face, which he deflected with his scythe. She sent a kick to his ribs, but Brontes was quicker and pierced her supporting leg with the edge of his weapon.

The girl fell like a rag doll. She immediately examined her leg, terrified, but it was still there, intact.

—The more there is of you, the more soul there is for me. I wouldn't want to waste a soul as prosperous as yours.

Erica wanted to stand up and continue fighting, but her leg would not move. From the area where the scythe pierced her to the tips of her toes, she felt a horrible tingling, very annoying. Her muscles were unresponsive, it was as if her leg had decided to go to sleep. Then the scythe pierced her neck.

Erica collapsed on the cold floor, unconscious.

—Erica!— cried Liliana, worried.

She ran towards her, but Brontes' scythe got in her way. Liliana stopped in her tracks.

—Don't worry, she's just asleep— Brontes told her.

Liliana studied Erica from a distance. Her neck was clean, not a drop of blood in sight.

—What did you do?

—I'm a spirit, it's not that unusual— Brontes pleaded —When I cut people with this scythe, I can put them to sleep. If I cut off a limb, I put only the part I cut off to sleep, but if I cut through the chest, neck or head, the whole individual closes its eyes for a long time. It is very useful when it comes to hunting down the deluded who dare to break into my domain.

Liliana stepped back. Despite the situation, she was relieved that Erica was only asleep.

—So you can't kill us with that scythe?— she asked.

—Oh, no. I can easily cut you into little pieces, I just chose to put her to sleep to keep all her soul intact. I don't like to waste.

Brontes raised his scythe and proceeded to twirl it between his fingers, tossed it in the air and caught it smoothly with his other hand.

—Now, this little adventure was a lot of fun, but it has come to an end. Say goodbye, Liliana.

Brontes raised his scythe to cut her in half. Liliana had no chance to dodge or block it. Erica was the only one who could fight him and she had been defeated. Liliana knew there was nothing she could do to stop him by force.

But maybe she didn't need to force him.

—I have a proposal!— she claimed.

Brontes paused, quizzical, but brought the sharp blade of the scythe to Liliana's neck anyway.

—What do you wish? It won't do you any good to stall, Erica won't wake up for several hours.

—I'm not stalling. I said I have a proposal, that means I have something that interests you.

Brontes smiled sideways, amused.

—Do you think you can offer me something better than your soul?

—Yes!— asserted Liliana.

The sirivi took his scythe away from the girl for a moment.

—Very well, I'll give you a moment to give me your proposal. Entertain me one more minute.

Liliana swallowed hard. Her life and Erica's depended on this negotiation. No pressure. However, she had good reason to think that everything would go well. That was her battlefield, where she could shine brighter than anyone else, where she would save them both from that monster and more.

With an accusing finger, she pointed straight at the spirit.

—You don't want to kill us, actually.

The sirivi's face went from certainty to confusion in the blink of an eye.

—What?

—You don't need to hide it, I know. Ever since we found you, even with your boyish appearance, you had a tremendous look of guilt on your face. You try to devour our souls because you have no choice, but deep down you don't want to do it, you hate doing it, you're sick of it. You want to escape this horrible cycle, but you don't know how.

Brontes tried to hold back a laugh, but it slipped through his lips and he finally let it escape. A short, loud laugh.

—What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke from your world? I'll devour your soul anyway.

—No, you won't— Liliana assured him —because you and I... You and I will be good friends!

—Friends?! Why should we be friends?

—Because you need us, you need me, specifically me— she told him —I know, I could see it. You're a lonely boy. You've been without company for a long time, that's why you didn't attack us from the beginning. You made up that whole charade with the boy and the beast to get to know us, to have fun with us, because you need someone by your side. But you don't need to be alone for the rest of eternity.

Liliana looked around.

—This tower, this shakma, you can't move far from here, can you? How far can you go?

Brontes pursed his lips, unsure.

—I...— he grunted —maybe it's true that I can't get far away, what of it? It doesn't mean I need company. I'm a spirit! Don't compare me to the living!

—That dead family we found you with, you wanted to befriend them, didn't you? But they had to go away and you had to stay here. You were sad, weren't you? They were the same species as you, it's to be expected that you wanted to get along with them. But in the end you killed them. You feed on souls to survive? Is that it?

Brontes gritted his teeth. Without looking her in the eye, he lowered his weapon. He didn't seem very happy with her conclusions.

—No... it's not my fault. I don't understand why I'm like this, I just... —he sighed— at a certain point I realized I still existed, even though I died thousands of years ago. I remember my life perfectly, but what happened between my death and the moment I regained consciousness is fuzzy. I only know that I can do some things I couldn't do when I was alive, like summoning this scythe, transforming or splitting. I don't need to eat or drink material things, but I am always hungry for souls. I don't know what would happen if I go many years without devouring one, but I can't resist it; the desire is more powerful than any addiction I would have had in my time alive. There are souls in the air, on the dirt, I can subsist on them, but they are hardly breadcrumbs compared to the feast that comes inside a living being. The immensity of the soul inside people makes me drool like a wild animal, like an apathetic and cruel beast. Do you understand, Liliana? In the face of this unstoppable desire, I am more like a force of nature than a man with whom you can have a dialogue. I need to eat you.

Liliana thought about it for a moment.

—So it's a necessity. On top of that you can't get out of here because you're anchored to this tower, isn't there any way to un-anchor you?

Brontes tilted his head to one side.

—Un-anchore? I would disappear. I need an anchor within this material world to keep me here.

Liliana gritted her teeth, trying to find a crack in his arguments to sneak into victory.

—An anchor? Can it be something other than this tower?— she asked.

—No, this tower is me— Brontes corrected her —this place is my anchor. I would need to travel to another place to anchor myself there. However, for that I would need to un-anchor myself from this place first. As soon as I do, however, I will disappear. I can move little by little, about a centimeter per year, but this is the best place around. There's no reason to move.

Liliana put a hand to her chest.

—What if you anchor yourself to me— she asked —you can feed on my soul every day. We living beings have a lot, don't we? That way you will be able to subsist and moreover you won't be alone, what do you think?

Brontes was taken aback for a moment.

—You want to be my anchor?— he pleaded, puzzled.

—Can't I?

Brontes opened his mouth as if to say no, but gave it another thought.

—Now that I remember, through the ages some warriors have come to take me as their "munima". They wanted me to anchor myself to them.

—And what did you do?— asked Liliana.

—What do you think? I devoured them all— he answered with no qualms.

—Oh, well, that's too bad— Liliana mused —But we can do that! You can attach yourself to me! You can get out of here! We can go see the world together! All the worlds!

Brontes let out a chuckle, amused.

—What... What's wrong?— asked Liliana nervously.

—It's the first time someone proposed me to anchor myself to them as a gift, all the others tried to fight me or simply demanded it.

Liliana put a hand to her chest.

—I... I'm no warrior— she admitted— But I assure you we'll have a good time together! It's not very polite to say it oneself, but I'm good at dealing with people. With me you won't be bored!

Brontes snorted with disdain.

—That's all?— she pleaded.

Liliana froze. After all their exchange, she hadn't expected such a reaction.

—All you have to offer me is friendship— the spirit continued.

The girl stifled a panicked scream. She took a deep breath, steadied herself and clasped a trembling hand so that it wouldn't be too noticeable. She looked down at the floor.

—I couldn't convince him— she said to herself.

She needed that to settle. She didn't like the idea, but she would have to accept it.

—But at least... —she pleaded— at least, please let Erica go— unable to help herself, tears of terror began to run down her cheeks— she is a good girl, she is kind and sincere like no one else. Please let her go, at least her.

Brontes sighed, dematerialized the scythe and looked at one of the windows.

—I never turned down your offer— he observed.

Liliana's eyes widened in bewilderment.

—I am dead. Gold and land are worthless, but friendship... that's a gift that could be useful to me. Besides, if I don't like you, I can always devour you from the inside and remake my shakma.

Liliana wiped away her tears. Her face went from surprise to euphoric hope.

—So are we going to be friends?— she asked.

Brontes fixed the collar of his ragged coat.

—I'll anchor myself to your body, young lady. You have convinced me. Let's see if your short life will provide me with entertainment.

The spirit approached her, drew his scythe again and pointed the tip straight at her chest.

—From today until the end of time, our souls will be bound to each other. You will give me your life and your company. I, in return, will give you my protection and my control over the dead. Betray me and your soul will be devoured without hesitation. Keep your part of the bargain and you will have a faithful ally. Anchor me to this physical world, my new hostess. Open your soul to the beast.

A moment later, the scythe disappeared, absorbed into Liliana's chest. Then Brontes began to dissolve into the black smoke from before, same as the room they were in and the rest of the tower, all flying straight into her chest. That smoke, the broken souls Brontes had devoured, fluttered around as they traveled toward her. They blocked out all traces of light and enclosed her in pitch black.

---------------------------------------

Liliana opened her eyes again. She was lying on the rock-hard floor. She did not know when she had lost consciousness or how long she had been asleep.

The second thing she noticed was a handle sprouting from her chest, about thirty centimeters long. On closer examination, she realized that it was the beginning of Brontes' scythe. It was sticking out of her chest as if it were going through her, only on the other side there was nothing. It didn't hurt either. Curious, she took it in her hand and slowly pulled it out. The long handle extended several centimeters, past a meter. Liliana had to use both hands to pull it out. When the handle passed two meters, the angle of the scythe changed, the girl knew she had reached the blade and turned it ninety degrees to continue pulling it out. The blade was curved, long and wide, but it did not protrude from her chest as if she were pulling it out of a solid window: she noticed that it materialized as she pulled it out.

Finally, she managed to pull out the tip and saw herself with the scythe in her hand. It was huge, two meters high, with the blade a meter and a half long. It was black and solid, but it weighed as much as a pencil. It was so light that she could grasp it with two fingers from one end and handle it with ease. Across its entire surface ran lines of a faint green glow, as if it had veins.

—Brontes?- Liliana called out to him.

"Here I am" she heard.

She looked around just in case, but his voice sounded as if he were somewhere else, not in a cave, not even close, but inside her.

"Right now your soul and I are sharing your body" the spirit explained "but my point of connection is your chest. Look at it".

Liliana looked and found the point from where she had extracted the scythe. There was a mark, a black tattoo in the shape of a deformed diamond. It took her a while to recognize it: it was a fang, the symbol of a beast.

"You'll be able to materialize my scythe from this point. Remember that I'm there too, so handle it carefully."

Then, to her surprise, the same scythe took possession of her arm and came up to her chest to thrust the tip in. With that, the whole weapon vanished, as if Brontes pulled it from the other side.

"Wow, I didn't know I could do that!" admitted the spirit.

—Hey, don't go doing anything weird now!— pleaded the girl, frightened.

"Do not worry. I'll only take control of your body if there's an emergency" he assured her.

—Oh... thank you— Liliana said —and for giving us a chance, too. I assure you we'll have a good time, you and me.

"Yes, I hope so" replied the spirit.

Ready, Liliana stood up and looked around. They were in the same cave where they had seen the tower. In fact, they were in the same spot where the tower used to be, only the tower was nowhere to be found. Liliana knew it had been sucked into her chest, but she still found it hard to believe.

Erica was lying a few meters away. Liliana approached her to check her injuries, but she had nothing but a bruise on her face, from when she hit the wall by herself. Liliana smiled, relieved.

—How many times am I going to have to watch you while you sleep?— she demanded.

She carefully settled her down, put her own legs as a pillow and fixed her hair so it wouldn't bother her. Erica slept like a log.

Liliana sighed. The three of them were alone in that immense cave.

—Well, at least we have time to get to know each other— she said to Brontes.

"That's true" nodded the spirit.

They went on to tell each other their respective stories. Since they were from different worlds, there was a lot to tell. Liliana immediately wanted to know what Brontes' life had been like, but he insisted that she tell him her story first, so she did. She told him about her world, her country, her family, her lifelong best friend and her time at Nudo. He, in turn, explained a bit about his life.

Brontes had been a monarch in his world; he had reigned over a small kingdom on the edge of a continent. For that very reason, not many merchants passed through his lands, making them less prosperous than other countries and powers in his world, but the quality of life of his subjects was always relatively good. The people were dedicated to working the land, generating products and from time to time fighting wars with neighboring countries. Brontes was always strict with his governors and nobles, he was known as a grumpy king, but that led him to finish many projects that helped his people. He told Liliana that in his world spears were the most popular weapons, but that his kingdom had been built from peasant revolts, so the commemorative weapon of royalty was the scythe. That way, legends said, they would not forget their origins. That was the reason why Brontes was a master in the use of the scythe. On the other hand, the image of the beast had drawn him from a type of monster feared in his world, horribly powerful creatures that destroyed everything that came near their territory.

Liliana remembered the elegant but shredded clothing he had shown her in his adult form. She wondered if that was how he had looked at the time of his death.

—How old were you when...— but she paused, not quite sure how he would take it.

"I was entering old age" he indicated "I was about 57, I think".

—Was it in a war?

"No... no, that wasn't a war. The same thing happened to us as to you; suddenly strange creatures appeared that we didn't know, beings with technology superior to ours. They spread like fire across the world, conquered us and brought us here to use us as slaves. I managed to free myself, I tried to lead a revolt, but they killed us all".

Then Liliana realized: Brontes had not been able to move in all that time since he was killed.

—Was it here?— she asked.

"The landscape was different, back then" Brontes remembered "but yes, it was more or less around here. My body must have been scattered over the land, my soul stayed more or less together, for some reason. Maybe it was my will for vengeance, maybe some souls have something that allows them to stay conscious through the ages, I'm not sure. When I came to myself, I was already inside this shakma, anchored to this earth and hungry for living souls. That was about three thousand years ago".

—Three thousand years?!— jumped Liliana —And how long ago did you die?

She never thought she'd get to ask that question.

"I don't know" he mumbled "I'm not sure".

—Erica and I are looking for our families— Liliana told him— we can go visit your world, see how your people have progressed...

But then Liliana realized a fatal mistake: she didn't know if the kingdom of Brontes was still standing. Most likely it would have ended with the invasion. Even without the influence of the nonis, there was no way their civilization would have lasted that long.

"Someday" Brontes mused "though there's no hurry".

—Sure, sure!

"Let's find your family first, people are more fragile than worlds, after all".

Liliana smiled.

—Thanks, I knew you were a good boy.

Brontes said nothing for a few seconds, he didn't know how to respond. In the end he just changed the subject.

"Try to rest, Erica should wake up any minute".

Liliana saw no reason to object, so she lay down next to Erica and rested.