This batch had been chasing him for weeks. They were remarkably dedicated. Franks didn’t mind the running and the fighting and the hiding. It kept him occupied until the next otherworldly invader turned up and needed to be dispatched.

Being a hideous monster, and having dealt with humans for several years now, he expected many different methods of attack, but a polite knock on the door was not one of them. Curious, he took up his sword, leapt down from the loft, and went to the door.

It took a moment to find the words. He had not spoken to anyone in a long time. “What do you want?” he growled.

“I come to parley.” The human on the other side shouted through the wood. “I wish to speak with the monster of Castle Frankenstein.”

He was not used to that. Most of his interactions with humanity consisted of them running at the sight of him, or the braver ones shooting at him. “Leave me be.”

“I have been told that you can reason as a man, so let us speak as men, face to face, under a flag of truce. As long as you do not attempt to harm me, my men shall not fire the cannons they have aimed at this place.”

He hadn’t known they’d brought cannons. He opened the barn door to tower over the seemingly fearless mortal on the side. “What do you want?”

“My, you certainly are ugly in person, but not nearly so hideous as the legends make you out to be. I am Lieutenant Colonel Kugler.” He removed his hat and bowed. “What shall I call you?”

“I have no name.”

“I thought as much, but saying monster over and over grows tiresome. Since my men have taken to calling you Franks, in honor of the location you were built, I shall call you that as well.”

He shrugged. “Fine.”

“Very well, Franks. I have come to offer you a proposal.”

“I won’t surrender. We fight, you die.”

The man laughed. He must have been touched by madness. “Not that kind of proposal, my gigantic terrifying friend. You must understand, I have not chased you across half the empire out of any sort of noble ideal. I am no Secret Guard, and even those fanatics have tired of testing you, and have declared that you must have a place in the Almighty’s plan. My men are simply here because we have been paid a large sum by the Landgrave to remove you from this county. It is no different than being paid to kill Russians on behalf of the Swedes or to stomp on the Jacobites for the British.”

He did not understand the humans’ use of money, because he simply took what he needed to survive, but it seemed to work for them. “You fight for . . . coin?”