"You know, I've never used portals like this."

"Is this safe!?"

Rebecca whooped as she slid down a slide through a portal, where she reappeared at the top of the slide, continuing downward in an endless loop.

"She is picking up a lot of speed…" Olivander waved a hand in her direction. "There, I put a protective ward on her. She's perfectly safe now."

"This seems like it might instill some bad lessons about how dangerous things are."

Olivander eyed him. "You've been spending too much time with Gregory. Don't be a stick in the mud, Cooper."

Olivander reversed his portals, and the little girl started going up the slide instead of down. When she slowed to a stop, Olivander closed his portals and she slid off the end of the slide onto the ground.

"Can I go again, Olivander?" she asked from the ground.

"How can I say no to a face like that?"

She fell through a portal, laughing as she started sliding once more.

Inside the manor, in a sitting room that faced the yard where the others were playing, Gregory was speaking with Gloria.

"I've checked everywhere," Gloria said. "She doesn't have any other family in the city."

"So what will happen to her?" Gregory asked.

"If no one steps forward to adopt her, she'll probably be sent to an orphanage. We have one in the city, and there's another one out in the country. I'm sorry, Gregory, there's really nothing else I can do."

"You can't take her in?" Gregory asked. It was a terrible thing to ask of someone, he knew, but Gloria was a wealthy woman, he couldn't imagine it would be a great burden for her.

"I know you're only asking because you care about her, but no Gregory. I'm barely home. I could and would take her in if I thought her life would be better being raised by house staff, but I don't think it would be. At an orphanage she has a chance to be adopted and find a family that will love and take care of her better than I ever could."

Out in the yard, Rebecca had begun playing fetch with Cooper, and Olivander was heading back towards the manor. Sous remained behind, using Olivander's ability to conjure various objects for Rebecca to throw.

"Maybe we can take her with us. I can ask Olivander when he comes inside," Gregory said.

"Gregory, she's a little girl, not an adventurer. She needs to grow up, get an education. All kinds of things that aren't going to be possible running around with you three."

"Yeah. I knew it was a long shot. What am I going to do?" he buried his face in his hands. He was afraid of telling Rebecca he was going. He had been a steady presence for her for the last few days. She hadn't opened up to him, but she also hadn't asked or talked about her parents. It seemed she was repressing it.

"Gregory, there you are. I might need your help. How high do you think you can throw a six year old?" Olivander asked, walking into the sitting room.

"What?"

"Nothing, you just seemed like you needed a distraction. What news do you have for us, Gloria?"

"I was just telling Gregory that she doesn't have any other family, in the city or otherwise. I think she might have to go to an orphanage."

"And you, Gregory, didn't like the sound of that? Probably tried to convince Gloria here to take her in, or somehow convince me to bring her along on our journey?"

"Were you listening to us?"

"No, because I didn't need to. Anyway, Gregory, have no fear! I have a solution!"

"And what is that?"

Olivander took a moment to conjure a portal.

"I'll be right back," he said, walking through.

Gregory looked to Gloria to see if she had any idea what he was doing. She just shrugged at him.

Gregory didn't know where the portal went, so he just stayed in his chair. He looked out into the yard and saw that Rebecca was now chasing the flying Sous around the yard, tossing things at him. He smiled at the innocent fun she was having.

"Here we are," Olivander said, stepping out of the portal.

A tall, familiar woman stepped out after him.

"Mom!?" Gregory said, springing to his feet and wrapping Helena in a hug.

"Gregory! It's so wonderful to see you. Olivander has been telling me all about your adventures. I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks mom!"

"Gloria, this is Helena Temerin, Gregory's mother. Helena, this is Gloria Westing, a friend and local aristocrat. She's been helping us try to track down Rebecca's family."

Helena broke off her hug with Gregory to surprise Gloria with a hug of her own. Helena wasn't as large as Gregory, but she dwarfed Gloria as she was wrapped up in a big hug.

"Oh, wow, uh, thank you. It's lovely to meet you," Gloria said, awkwardly returning the hug.

"Sorry, we're huggers," Helena said. Movement out the windows caught her attention. "That must be her."

"Why are you here, mom?"

"Gregory, you just saw me bring her through a portal. This can't be that hard to figure out."

"Mr. Olivander told me about this little girl, and I said we would be happy to help if Gloria couldn't find her family."

"Wait, when did he tell you all that?"

"After we stopped by the guild hall yesterday, I went to Demering to see if your parents would be interested in helping."

"Hold on, we can just portal back to Demering whenever we want?"

"Well, I can. You're on an adventure, Gregory. It would defeat the point if you could just return home any time."

Suddenly, small moments popped out in Gregory's mind. Olivander unhappy about sharing a room with Gregory. Olivander pulling out way more of Timothy's jerky than he could have possibly carried. Olivander mentioning that he had to tell Timothy about some new food he had eaten.

He just stood there, staring at Olivander with an open mouth and furrowed brow.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Now that I've broken Gregory, let's say we go outside and meet Rebecca."

Gregory shook himself out of his disbelief as everyone else left the room.

"Hey Greg!" Fezzic said, walking out of the portal.

"Fezzic!" scooped up the goblin in a huge hug.

"Ok, that's enough," Fezzic choked out.

Gregory let him drop and the goblin coughed.

"Sorry."

"No, I should be used to it by now. Your family is great, but they do love to hug. They're also all giants."

"We should go outside. Did you hear about Rebecca?"

"Just a bit."

Gregory told him more about her as they went outside to catch up with the others.

Olivander introduced Helena and Rebecca, and the two of them sat down in the grass to talk.

"Fezzic!" Cooper trotted over and sat down in front of the goblin.

"Coop! It's good to see you!" Fezzic pulled a bone out a pouch and tossed it to him. Cooper crunched it gratefully.

"How do you know Cooper!?"

"Oh, we go way back. Well, a few weeks at least. Olivander brings him by some nights for dinner with your family."

"He does WHAT?"

"Gregory, keep your voice down. You're interrupting Rebecca and your mother."

"You've been bringing Cooper home but not me? I thought we were on an adventure!"

"And the point of any good adventure is to do new things! Having a family and having family meals is something Cooper never experienced. It's good for him."

"Agreed. Do you have any jerky, Fezzic?"

"No, but the portal is still open, we could go grab some?"

"Hold on," Olivander said. "That portal isn't for jerky runs. Besides, I have some things I need you to look at Fezzic. I would have dropped them off last night, but you were away."

"Sorry, bud," Fezzic patted Cooper on the head. "Yeah, I was doing some work at my new shop in town. Whatcha got, Olivander?"

Olivander produced a series of tubes containing what looked like bits of blue meat and blue liquid, as well as some small notebooks.

"Take a look at these and let me know what you find out. I have also provided you with some notes about domains. These samples come from an unusual heart at the center of a domain that popped up here in Serin. And I have this," Olivander pulled out what looked like a small clay tile.

Fezzic took the vials and notebooks stashing them away in his own dimensional bag and then took the tile. He examined it carefully.

"Interesting. Not something I'm familiar with though. I assume you have something specific you want me to figure out?"

"As clever as always, Fezzic. I would like to know what kind of stone that is, and any other properties you can figure out. I've looked at the tile a little and have determined it's completely stable."

"So it won't blow up if I try to take a sample off?"

"Precisely. But, as you probably read in the item description, do not store it in a dimensional space."

Fezzic tucked the tile into a regular pocket in his vest.

"Now can we talk about how you're a traitor and a liar?" Gregory asked.

"I'm neither of those, and I won't stand for the slander, Gregory."

Gregory glared at him.

Rebecca started laughing, and it diffused some of his annoyance.

Helena stood up and helped Rebecca to his feet, and they walked over.

"Rebecca has decided she wants to check out the ranch," Helena said, smiling at the girl.

"Can I still see Gregory? And Cooper?" she asked.

"Of course you can!" Olivander said. "You just let Helena know if you want to see him, and I'll bring you to him!"

She cheered and ran over to give Gregory a hug.

They spent a little more time together, and Helena and Gloria prepared Rebecca to leave. They ultimately didn't know how she would adjust to life outside the city, but Gregory knew that his family would be a welcoming and supportive home.

A little while later, they waved goodbye to Rebecca and Helena as they walked through the portal.

"Thanks for doing that, Olivander," Gregory said.

"I knew how much it meant to you, and I like her. This way she can get the love and support she needs from responsible adults that don't teleport people to unknown destinations. As much as I would have loved having her along, we are not good role models."

Gregory couldn't help but agree.

"I am very responsible!"

"Responsible? Maybe responsible for chewing my favorite shoe." Olivander said.

"I forgot about that."

"It was yesterday!"

Fezzic cleared his throat, interrupting the exchange. He had learned to expect that kind of thing when Olivander was around.

"What are the three of you going to do next?"

Gregory and Cooper looked to Olivander.

"The restrictions on movement should be lifted tomorrow, so we'll depart in the morning. We're still heading south, and Du'la'melio is our next stop."

"Nice. I've never been there, but I hear the dungeon is fun."

"If you want you can give it a try! I promised Burtrum I'd portal him down when we arrive so he could try it again."

Gregory glowered at Olivander, but he didn't notice.

"That would be great! I'll let you know if I find out anything about the things you gave me, but it'll probably be a few days."

"No rush. I'd rather you do a good job than a quick one."

Fezzic gave Gregory a quick farewell pat on the back and Cooper a pat on the head.

"Take care, guys. I'm glad to see how well you're both doing, and you too, Olivander. It seems like just the other day when you guys dragged me out of that mine. I'm not sure what I would have done without you."

Fezzic passed through the portal, and Olivander finally allowed it to close.

* * *

Amegnon looked out over the battlefield from a high cliffside vantage. The battle was taking place on the low plains of the Astravian kingdom's northern border. The Verenci, invaders from the north, claimed that the area, up to the very cliff where Amegnon now stood, was their land and now they were trying to take it by force.

When he returned to the capital from Serin, he had found the rituals Olivander mentioned, but he was summoned by the Queen before he was able to make use of them. Queen Astravian had told him of the invasion from the north. He was to travel to the border and secure it by any means necessary. The land meant nothing to the Queen. No one lived here. It was about strength and the appearance of strength.

"Arch-magus, sir. We're all set for a full retreat, as you requested."

"Excellent, give the word now."

A man with huge flags waved them in a specific pattern.

Almost in slow motion, the mass of Astravian soldiers pulled back, some of the Verenci pursued, but as Amegnon had hoped, most of them began celebrating their victory.

No doubt some would be confused as to why the Astravian army was retreating, but it was too late for them.

He cast out his awareness to the ritual he had manifested just a few short feet underneath the battlefield. He was used to channeling mana into rituals, so this was a little different for him.

He summoned his grimoire and connected with the ritual.

"I call upon the Elemental Realm of Fire, bind your power to me."

Immediately he felt the connection establish. Then he pulled.

Down on the battlefield, power flooded the area. After a few seconds, blasts of fire shot up from the ground. They scrambled to contain the magical assault. They had their own powerful magicians, and they cast great barriers that protected the soldiers. The Verenci army began trying to organize a retreat of their own.

Amegnon continued pulling power through. He didn't slow or modulate the flow. He didn't worry about balance. Why would he?

Soon, they could feel the heat all the way up on the cliff, miles away. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was noticeable.

Then it cut off as abruptly as it had come.

Amegnon's connection to his ritual was severed.

Down on the battlefield, three quarters of the enemy army was swallowed by a shimmering dome of magical energy.

Amegnon idly wondered if the new dungeon that spawned would be worth clearing.