While young mage Tim Hunter hides out at the Inn Between Worlds, a delegation of Lords from each realm meets to decide what to do about the Wild Hunt. a savage group of mythic hunters let loose from their age-old prison.
Cupid and Psyche, last seen in issue 28, run through the Okefenokee swamp, trying to evade the Wild Hunt. They slay Psyche with arrows, and Cupid is filled with sadness. He loved her, and her connection to the modern world, which he could only pretend to have. He does, however, believe in love.
The members of the Compact, rulers of the various extradimensional realms such as Zeus and Auberon, gather in London to discuss the Wild Hunt, which they had imprisoned 2000 years ago. They want the gates between realms, which were opened by a great magical storm, closed again.
One seat on the Compact, from the hell lords, has a new owner--Barbatos, who bought it with the souls he harvested from Brother Hugh's death. A group of Wobblys welcomes the Compact into a manor.
At the Inn Between Worlds, Joh and "Mary" talk about how long they've been there. Time works differently, but Tim/Mary wonders if it has been years.
Accasbel the owner tells Tim to help one of the customers, an old friend. He calls himself Drunk. He says Accasbel's ale is no good, and that he can improve it by spitting in it. Mary refuses the ale, but when he spills it on the floor, a vine starts growing from the ground. Accasbel asks Drunk to brew a special batch of ale for him, which he hasn't done for a long time.
The Compact Lords go in the house and meet Tim's Other, who claims to be the original Tim. He says he opened all the gates between realms to free everyone. They ask him what he wants in return for opening the gates, but he doesn't care. He's not afraid of the Hunt. He says that he didn't just create the storm, he is the storm.
Tim makes the others all disappear except for Barbatos. He remembers Barbatos, but Barbatos doesn't remember him--because as we find out later, this is the Barbatos from this time, and the Barbatos that we saw before is the Barbatos from the future. Tim sends him away as well, in anger.
Zeus and Auberon talk briefly; Auberon doesn't say anything, but is wondering about Tim, who he doesn't know is the Other.
Barbatos, back in Hell, tells Hauptmann that he now plans to seduce the Other and get his soul and power.
The Wild Hunt allows Cupid to undergo a Challenge fight in order to avoid death. Cupid agrees, and says there will be no weapons in the fight.
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