Burn Together

**Burn Together** is a side-story in The Universal War. It follows a group of ex-guards from Lyonus as they unravel the conspiracy behind the Von Shaft kingdom.

## Plot Summary

The scene opens on the ex-guards on board a ship with Ortega Pinkman, Reid Lancaster, and Anabelle Cursley. A flashback shows Brosnan Titus begging Reid not to go, but he insists.

The group arrives in Roamsen, Ortega leads them to the gates of Runehartz. Runehartz is abandoned save for a couple of people milling about endlessly. In cold blood, Ortega murders the four people in the city, and then heads toward the building in the center of town. The door is sealed, and unable to open it, Ortega screams in the night. Reid uses the Numbers and the door opens.

The group enters the house and a console sits blinking idly in the center of the room. Enraged, Ortega shouts in the night. He is in disbelief. He was sure that the secrets would be inside this room. The terminal starts to beep, and Reid approaches it.

Edison notices that a small timer is ticking down behind the terminal. The timer is at ten minutes. Reid types in the Numbers, and the timer resets to 108. Augustus is called away by Ana. She has a bad feeling about the terminal and asks him to go outside with her.

After another thirty minutes passes, Ortega tells them that they will let the terminal count down in order to see what happens when the clock reaches zero. Nelson realizes that Augustus has been gone with Ana for a long time so he goes outside to look for him. Nearby, Augustus hangs from a tree. His throat has been ripped out and his eyes are missing. In the tree, someone has scrawled, "Go home."

Nelson turns around to warn the others, but Ana turns the corner. Her dress is stained with blood. The blood and tears on her face have mixed to make it look as if she's crying blood. Nelson goes to assist her, but just as he grabs her, he feels a sharp pain in his chest. A knife runs through his heart, and as he looks into Ana's eyes he realizes that he's been tricked. The life fades out of his eyes.

Inside, Ortega gets worried about his brother. He steps outside the door and sees the two hanging from a tree. He goes back inside and barricades the door. Reid warns him that it may be because of the terminal that something is trying to stop them. They wait for the timer to get to zero.

The timer is at just nine minutes. The door explodes in a blinding light and Ana steps inside. Her fangs bare and she attacks Ortega. He gets the advantage and goes to stake her, but she puts him in a trance and makes him attack Edison. Edison is impaled by the stake.

Using his extreme focus, Reid breaks the charm on Ortega. Ortega questions Ana, asking her who she is. Ana reveals herself to be Venetia Runehartz, the oldest member of the Runehartz clan, and the protector of the terminal. At just one minute, Venetia has no time left to play, so she attacks Reid. She rips through Reid's throat, and then she watches as Reid attempts to Entwine with Ortega. She stops the transfer, and using a new incantation, she binds his soul to black and banishes him from the Mortal Coil, killing Reid once and for all.

Ortega distracts Venetia with information about Goemon Von Shaft and Anastacia Runehartz, but Venetia reveals that Goemon has been killed. He attacks her one last time, but she grabs him by the neck and kills him.

In the closing scene, Venetia approaches the terminal. The door to the building opens and someone fires a weapon at Venetia, causing her to collapse. Standing in the doorway is Alvera Runehartz. Venetia mutters, "I don't understand," just as the clock on the terminal hits zero. This is later revealed to be a disguised Anastacia Runehartz, putting an end to Omega once and for all.

In the epilogue, Edison wakes up in a forest "surrounded by fire." He is in The Consequence.

## Character List

* Brosnan Titus
* Reid Lancaster
* Ortega Pinkman
* Nelson Pinkman
* Edison Bukkav
* Augustus Brinch
* Venetia Runehartz
* Anastacia Runehartz