Everyone looked at each other, then Yogog stomped his foot.

"Please don't tell me that is what I think it is?" he snapped.

Another horn came, and this time it was a drawn-out call that lasted longer than was normal, and for the second time in a short period, Irwin turned and sprinted up the same staircase.

Outside, Viridians were rushing out of buildings, torches being ignited all around. Worried shouts came from the central buildings, while armed carded could be seen sprinting towards the main gate.

Irwin cursed as he followed them, heading to the main gate, then up to the lookout tower.

Why do I have to go here for a second time for something like this? he thought as he moved to the edge.

A mass of figures streamed towards them from the distant dunes. They weren't moving in any sort of ordered line like Balarn and the refugees had done, but instead ran towards them in a chaotic mess.

Irwin's eyes narrowed as he saw some figures disappear in the dunes while others popped up as they moved through the ground in rapid dashes.

Pale imps.

He felt his mouth go dry at the sheer quantity of them. In just this short time, he had already spotted dozens of Pale imps and thousands of regular ones.

Why are they attacking us now? Did they already know where we were? he thought as the image of the portal in the massive Heart Tree flitted through his mind's eye. Something didn't add up.

"Get everyone able to fight up on the walls," Crithann roared, his voice echoing out in almost perceivable waves.

Irwin took a step back, rubbing his ears to get rid of the sudden ringing in them. Then his mouth fell open as Crithann stepped over the edge, his rumbling voice rapidly turning softer.

"I'll be right back!"

Irwin sprinted to the edge just as Crithann hit the ground in an explosion of sand. The Viridian didn't even dust himself off but began running forward. Within moments, his arms and legs blurred too fast for Irwin to keep up with.

"What is he doing?" Irwin muttered, looking around.

Greldo, Yogog, and the others looked back with similar confusion and panic, but the Viridian guards let out a laugh. One of them moved towards them.

"Don't worry. Crithann is just going to buy us some time!"

"And how is he going to do that?" Greldo snapped. "There's an entire army of them!"

The Viridian didn't respond, just pointed at Crithann's figure as he dashed up the hill, leaving a trail of sand in his wake.

When Crithann reached the final hill before he would reach the incoming mass of Imps, he stopped and raised his hands.

Irwin narrowed his eyes.

What is he-

A blinding flash came from Crithamn's raised hands, and ripples of movement came from the surrounding sand. Dark roots shot up and out, spraying sand everywhere while flailing at the incoming Imps. They grabbed them mid-jump or stride, and some even ripped them right out of the sandy ground they were buried in.

"By Gelwin's beard," Irwin muttered as he saw the mass of roots and tendrils spread out in a wide line, stopping the first row of Imps dead in their tracks. The mass behind them faltered and began to pool together.

For a moment, it looked like Crithann would single-handedly stop the Imps, then a wave of fire flew from the back lines, striking the roots. Like dry kindling, they ignited and illuminated the surrounding area. It spread like wildfire, rapidly creating a sea of flames. The Imps seemed emboldened as they let out a blood-curdling scream and ran straight into it. Some of those caught by smaller roots managed to drag themselves into the sea of flame to burn off what was binding them.

Behind the line, Crithann turned and began running back. Behind him, the Imps continued burning the wall of roots to free those caught while a small number ran after him.

"That will buy us what… five more minutes?" Greldo muttered.

"Five minutes is sometimes all you need," Yogog said as he looked at Irwin. "Don't use your flame right away. As soon as they see it, they will focus on you. Wait until there's a large group of them somewhere, then burn them all in one go."

Irwin nodded, surprised at Yogog's sudden calm.

"Keep Coal out of it for now. He is good for small skirmishes, but he will be swarmed. Instead, keep him with you, and use that shadow card of your's to move to the back where those fire casters are. As soon as you see an opening, you can have Coal attack them," Yogog continued rapidly before turning to Scintilla. "I know you are Irwin's guard, but I need you to move with Greldo. Help him take out those ranged Imps, and if need be, get him out of danger."

Scintilla nodded, her eyes showing her surprise.

"You… seem to know what you are doing?" Greldo asked, his voice mirroring the surprise Irwin felt.

Yogog grunted as he looked around as if searching for something.

"Irwin, I'll find the Ignitzions and bring them to you. As soon as they are there, head to the main gate area and begin filling it with steam. I'll keep the rest near the other entrances and atop the wall."

Irwin nodded, quickly realizing what Yogog was planning. Below them, Crithann returned to the gate, which was opened to let him in.

Yogog sighed as he began walking to the staircase leading down. Just before he walked down, he turned back to them. "Also, be careful of those card nullifiers. If you get one around your wrist, run away as fast as you can."

Irwin hissed. He'd somehow forgotten about those.

"Do they only stop us from using our cards? Or do they also stop the passive effects?" he asked.

Yogog shrugged. "Don't know. I've only heard about them, this is the first time I've seen them in use."

"Only the active effects," Ambraz said from Irwin's shoulder. "They were made to help carded that get powers they can't control."

Yogog nodded. "Good to know," he said before heading down. A moment later, Irwin heard him shouting for the Ignitzions.

Beyond the walls, the Imps had burned away the roots, and the mass that had been working on that was following the smaller group that had continued. The initial group would reach them soon.

"Well…" Greldo said as he turned to Scintilla. "Ready to do what we did back in the portal?"

Irwin blinked in surprise, then faintly recalled Greldo having told him some of the things he and Scintilla had done.

Scintilla hesitated, then moved toward him. "Be careful, hotstuff! I'll not be here to guard you."

"Just take care of him," Irwin said as he forced a grin. As the screams of the incoming army grew louder, he felt his stomach clench. He'd done lots of fighting, but nothing like this.

Greldo let out a forced laugh while Scintilla nodded, then they turned and moved to the side of the ledge.

"Irwin!" A shout came from below the staircase.

Irwin moved over and saw Yogog standing below, waving him down. Ignitzions were grouping together nearby. There were roughly thirty, and Irwin only knew one of them by name. Lasvirish, the leader of the Emerald Portal closing group. There was also another one with nearly perfect orange hair from which smoke leaked up. He'd seen her before, as she was the leader of all of the Ignitzions, but he had no idea what she was called.

"Time to see how much stronger I became," he muttered as he summoned his hammer.

--

Any moment now, Lasvirish thought.

The gate creaked as it bulged inwards from the constant barrage of attacks on the other side. A sudden crack appeared though she didn't really see it. It was only because of her Vibration Vision card that allowed her to sense movements that she 'saw'. All around her, a thick, heavy fog hung, obscuring everything. If she put her hand forward, she could barely see the fingertips.

Not that she minded. She shivered as the wet heat embraced her, the fire elemental energy that made up over half of her being, almost singing for joy.

If my sisters hear I've been enjoying water, they will never believe me, she thought, taking in a deep breath of the air that would destroy any non-fire-element lungs. She had heard Scintilla invite Irwin to the prime world, and she fully understood why.

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The door burst inward, and she shoved the sense of well-being away as she blurred into motion. Hundreds of Imps burst through the door, their crazed screams of rage cut short as they ran into the steam.

As she reached the first one, Lasvirish deftly stabbed her sword through its neck, ending what remained of its tormented life as pain-free as she could. Sensing it thud on the ground and shudder a few times before laying still, she sighed sadly.

May you find rest in the sun's eternal embrace, little cousin, she thought as she felt the Imp slide to the ground.

Without a moment's hesitation, she spun to the next, and within moments she left behind a path of dead Imps. Her heart clenched at the pain she was inflicting on things so alike some of her best friends, but there was no other way. They were no longer sane, just a mere mockery of the fun-loving tricksters they should have been.

May you all rest peacefully, she thought, wishing it would be different.

All around her, she sensed her sisters weave and spin through the mist, leaving a trail of dead in their wake. Most weren't as fast as her, unable to see as well, but with the steam suffocating the Imps, there was barely any resistance. A sheen of water sat across everything, while a sheen of wet blood covered her blade and parts of her arms and face.

As she passed through the gates, she noticed that the Smith -Irwin- was following behind them, and as he moved, the cloud of steam moved with him. It was rushing out beyond the gate faster than the Imp's could flee.

He's a monster, she thought as she sensed how wide the area of the steam was. Only a few of the hand-carded she knew had the power to do something like this. Whatever he was using, it had to be a Ruby rank card or perhaps even a Diamond, and even then...

Too bad that I didn't have the talent for it, she thought, thinking about the smiths and their eternal damned luck. How good would it be to be able to reforge the cards she needed and help her friends.

She continued killing, trying to supplant her sadness at the carpet of corpses. Eventually the entire cloud of hot gas was beyond the wall, and she and her sisters danced through the steam, Imp bodies littering the ground all around.

At some point, fire had started falling down on them, the Imps in the back making it reign fire, but neither she nor the steam cared. It only lasted for a minute before suddenly stopping again, and she could feel a distant rumbling.

Someone has to be fighting behind the line, she thought, wondering if it was the soulcarded Viridian. She shivered as she remembered the pressure he had exerted, which had been felt throughout the town.

Further out, she noticed more of the Imps were starting to flee, but the steam just moved too fast. It began streaming forward, away from the gate and toward where she sensed the disturbance. The Imps beyond the cloud began to flee, but she sensed the tremors of hundreds of feet as the Viridian defenders moved to intercept them.

If this continues, we will be fine, she thought, though she couldn't push away a sense of unease. Part of it was the sadness she felt at so many dead Imps, but there was something else.

As they headed further from the city, she felt a sudden tiny vibration deep in the ground. Surprised she focused on it. For a short moment, she didn't know what she was feeling, then it suddenly made sense. An image of a dozen Imps rushing through the ground below appeared, clearing up as they closed in to the top soil below the Smith.

"Watch out!" she screamed as she turned and began running back.

There was a moment of silence, her sisters looking around in confusion. Then a group of Pale Imps burst out around the Smith.

No!

Lasvirish felt her skin crawl as everything seemed to move in slow motion. Two of her sisters were also rushing in to move to help, but neither she nor them would make it in time. The Imps were already there!

She sensed the vile resonating of the card-nullifying bracelets appearing with the Imps as they activated them, ready to slap them on the Smith.

Anger at herself for not predicting this was mixed with fear as she realized how far she and the others were from the city and how many Imps were still around the steam cloud. If the Smith's steam cloud would vanish, they would be in danger!

As her fear grew, the Smith reacted, and the moment of slow motion turned to a blurry stream of movements that caused her to gasp in surprise.

The Smith spun around, spinning a massive hammer around as if it weighed nothing, battering some of the Imps away. At the same time, a burst of fire sprung up from his skin, covering his body and extending a foot out from it. The pale area around him colored yellow and orange, and Lasvirish froze in her movements. The Imps that were struck by the fire stopped moving before dropping to the ground. As they did, she could feel them slowly fall apart into tiny specs, then they vanished from her vibration vision.

What… What was that? she thought as she backed up, her fear of not being able to reach the wall with her sisters supplanted by something far more terrifying.

She had never in her life feared fire of any sort, but as she sensed the crackling heat around the Smith, she barely dared breathe. She'd always been sensitive to the fire elements that permeated the world around her, and she could feel it being sucked into the flame. It almost felt like it was devouring the heat, pulling all of it from the Imps, leaving them a mere husk.

One moment a dozen Imps were ready to render him powerless or worse, the next, the metallic-skinned Smith stood alone amidst a cloud of black ash and chunks that littered the ground around him.

How… what? Lasvirish thought. Absently she heard fearful screams from all around, and she vaguely knew some of the Imps must have sensed what she had. Many began fleeing in earnest now.

"Head back through the gate!"

The Smith's voice ripped her out of her startled reverie, and she looked around. None of her sisters seemed to have noticed anything, and they were finishing off the remaining Imps in the steam. Only a few straggler Imps remained, though she felt more back at the city, fighting with the Viridians.

"Smith Irwin?"

Lasvirish grimaced at her elder sister's voice and its implied question. The fear she felt, mixed with the anger, caused her carefully schooled uncaring to vanish, and she almost screamed in rage. A year ago, this had been her group. Only because that ugly little Embriz had managed to barely scrape by and get her eight sword did the elders decided to make her the leader.

"Move!" the Smith roared, and Lasvirish forced the growing anger back where it belonged. It wouldn't help unless she managed to get either her eight swords or become a heartcarded.

Still, when she sensed none of her sisters move, she couldn't hold back.

"Move," she shouted.

As her hesitating sisters immediately heeded her order, she felt a tiny bit of pride. They had zero losses, an incredible feat, for having killed hundreds if not more enemies.

I wonder what he has planned now, she thought.

--

Irwin took a few deep breaths, looking around the battlefield. Imps littered the pale hills around him, and he felt a pang of sadness at the occasional Viridian and Ignitzion. Greldo stood in the distance, Coal at his side, a weary look on his face. All around, small groups of Viridians were killing the remaining pockets of Imps.

He had dropped his steam when he and the Ignitzions joined up with the Viridian defenders before going after the Imps. They were badly organized, and without their backline, which had been obliterated by Greldo, Coal, Scintilla, and, surprisingly, Crithann, they were barely able to resist.

No concept of surrender, he thought as he grimaced at the bloodiness of it all.

He didn't bother moving to any of the imps because if he did, they would scatter out of fear. As much as he'd tried to hide it, all of them seemed terrified of his flame.

He remained alert, sometimes running at some Imps if they threatened to group up again, though most were gone.

Time passed slowly, but when the horizon finally turned red from the rising sun, he was surprised that it was only now becoming morning.

"Scintilla is returning," Greldo said.

Irwin looked up to see Scintilla appear on the nearest hill. The sandy valley below was covered in Imp bodies and Viridians helping their wounded. Crithann stood on the other side, looking out for any potential stragglers.

A red blur rushed across before appearing beside him. Scintilla appeared, then stumbled, and Irwin reached out to grab her arm.

"Thanks," his guard said as she smiled at him wearily. "Going that far really drains me."

She looked as bad as Greldo, and Irwin couldn't help but be grateful for his Sweltering Heart card. Even now, he could probably fight for hours if it came to it. Maybe more.

"The Pale Imps have fled to one of those stone growths to the far west," she said. "I waited after they disappeared in a cave, but they didn't return while I was there."

"You sure they didn't see you?" Greldo asked.

"Pretty much," she said, leaning on Irwin some more.

"Alright, let's go and meet up with the rest," Irwin said as he tried to ignore the sense of her body against his. "This is pretty much done."

An hour later, they were back on the watchtower with Crithann and Yogog. The Viridians had returned within the safety of the walls, and Irwin and the others had been debating what to do.

"Are you sure?" Yogog asked.

Irwin could see the worry in the other Smith's eyes.

"Don't worry. You saw how they reacted to my flame," he said with a grin. "We know where they are, and they will be as tired as all of you. The chances of them expecting someone to show up now are probably zero. Besides, Scintilla will be with me, so I'll be able to get out if I have to."

"If you can keep her awake," Greldo said.

Irwin grinned and looked at his friend only to see him pointing at the Ignitzion seriously. She was leaning on him to the point that she would looked like she'd fall if he let her go.

Irwin frowned. Should he wait? If he did, the chances of them bringing Balarn away through the portal would grow exponentially. Besides, it would give them time to regroup and prepare…

"I'm fine," Scintilla said as she shook her head, pushed herself away and raised her head. "With the sun up, I'll get more energy!"

Is that how that works? Irwin thought as he looked at her, then at the sun. It was crawling up the sky, the heat it gave off already blistering the desert below.

"We will go, and if she doesn't feel better when we get there, we won't go inside," he decided.

He saw Greldo frown, and he sent him a reassuring smile.

"I'll come with you," Crithann said in his rumbling voice. "I don't expect any more immediate threats, although everyone should watch out for Fleshgorgers. They might be drawn here by the large amount of blood and gore."

"Alright, let's go," Irwin said, feeling even better now.

"Make sure you don't get caught," Greldo snapped.

"I won't," Irwin replied. "Keep this place safe!"

After a bit more banter, the three of them set out. It quickly became clear that Scintilla was too weary to keep running, but before Irwin could even worry about it, Crithann picked her up. Without a care in the world, the massive Viridian increased his speed until Irwin could barely keep up.

Scintilla directed them to where they had to go, and it took them what Irwin guessed was nearly half an hour to reach the towering stone outcrops. A stark contrast with the pale sand, the hundred feet tall dark rocks reminded Irwin of the stone that had ended up being an Earth Titan. Dozens of holes sat across it, and there was no movement anywhere.

"This is it," Scintilla said as she hopped down from Crithann's shoulder.

She wasn't kidding that the sun would give her energy, Irwin thought. Then again, as he stretched his slightly sore body and felt the sun heat it up, he felt far less tired than he had before. Surprising, as he had just spent the last half hour sprinting.

"Let's go," he said. "There's no way we can sneak up, but if we go fast enough, even if they see us, they probably won't have time to react."

As they ran towards their final destination, he thought about what they were to do and was glad Scintilla was there to get him out if needed. Then he realized something.

"How will you get out if we encounter trouble?" he asked, turning to Crithann.

"They will not be able to stop me if I wish to leave," Crithann rumbled, his eyes glistening with anger. "But I hope they try."

The sand turned to a dark stone slope, and as they moved further up, they had to climb over and through rough outcrops until they reached the entrance, Scintilla pointed out. It was a dark, wide entrance to an even larger cave, and as they walked inside, an odd stench assaulted Irwin's nose.

"What's that?" he whispered, disgusted.

"Imp shit," Scintilla said as she looked almost sick. "Such filthy things! To defile the place they live!"

"They have almost fallen, and are nearly Addled," Crithann rumbled, seemingly unconcerned about how far his voice would carry. "The weakest among them have gone so far their rational thought is gone. That's why they attacked us as they did…"

So that's what would happen with the people of Giard if nothing changed, Irwin thought as he recalled the crazed Imps attacking them.

"Let's go get Balarn," he said before blinking. "And Relinda," he added after a moment. Nobody deserved to stay down here in this shit.