They continued for hours as the forest of giant trees continued seemed to continue without end. Soon, the three Ignitzions began looking weary. Their previous light and easy movements were gone, and their feet thudded heavily on the ground. Their breathing became laboursome and heavy, and one of them started to slow until she was only a few feet ahead of Irwin.

If this continues, they won't have the energy left to fight it, and I can't catch up, Irwin thought.

He considered throwing his hammer after the Imp but held off as he had another idea.

Still breathing as easily as if he was walking, he focused on his Sweltering Heart, sensing the instant reaction from the liquid in the ground and air as it heated up and turned to steam instantly. It began swirling around him and chasing him. He focused on the card, harmonizing as he'd been practicing. With some effort, he pushed it forward, keeping the steam thin. Looking around, a thin fog hung around him. Would it be enough? Only one way to find out.

He forced the steamy air forward to the three Ignitzions who were stumbling ahead of him, he covered them with it. For a moment, they barely responded, but he could still ever so vaguely make out their outlines.

I wonder how faint I can make it and still use it to detect things?

"Wha-? Ahh…. that's fantastic!" Ignalia groaned.

"I can breathe again," one of the others sighed.

All three began breathing differently, almost seeming to gulp in the air around them.

Irwin grinned as he kept the steam thin to conserve his and the card's energy.

It didn't take that long for the Ignitzions to start breathing evenly again, and Ignalia slowed down the run beside him.

"If we ever get out of here, you need to come to my world," she said. "I know I already said so, but this-. I don't know if your card works on Igniz, but if it does…"

Irwin grinned as they continued after the Imp, which was also breathing heavily by now. Even then, it hadn't slowed down in the slightest.

Irwin lost track of how long they ran, but the sun was lowering behind them, and it wouldn't be much longer before night fell. He'd had to unsummon and resummon his steam multiple times, and he felt a slight weariness from his card.

"There's something ahead," one of the other Ignitzions hissed.

Ignalia grunted, speeding up and away from him, followed by the others.

Irwin released the steam. It was gone within moments, thinning and dissipating behind him. Ahead of them, the Imp began slowing down, and Ignalia signaled them to do the same.

Shouting and screeching came from ahead, and Ignalia stopped with the others behind a tree, waiting for Irwin. As he reached them, Ignalia pressed her fingers to her lips.

"There's an army of Imps in front of us, and we are at least an hour or more from Gebladir's camp," she said.

Irwin frowned as he listened to the racket. From what he'd noticed with sound in the forest, they should be only a few hundred feet away.

"Won't that Brutal Imp warn the others?" he whispered.

"It only wished it was that smart," Ignalia snorted. "No, it's far too young to have regained any form of intelligence, and it mostly just attacks anything that moves."

Irwin looked in the direction of the sound. Should he head there? Check what was going on? With everything that had happened, the idea of just confronting an entire army of Imps didn't bother him that much. That was if his Sweltering Heart wasn't telling him it was about done for the day.

"I'll go scout ahead," Ignalia whispered.

"Alright, be careful," Irwin said.

Ignalia blinked at him in surprise, then grinned as she turned. "Don't worry. I still need to save Balarn."

She ran away lightly, and Irwin waited. The other two Ignitzions gave him the occasional glance, but none of them spoke as they waited.

Listening to the giggling and waiting, time passed, and slowly Irwin began getting worried. How long had she been gone? Minutes? Easily…

He was about to say something when a soft rustle came as Ignalia appeared from around the nearest tree. Irwin was about to sigh in relief when three more figures appeared behind her. He stepped forward, a hammer appearing in his hand, before calming when he saw they were Viridians.

Did she save some already? he thought. How?

Ignalia stopped before him, the three Viridians stepping beside her. They were nimble, lightly armored, and with dark green hair, designating them as at least adults. They also had daggers on their waist and no card-dampening bracelets.

"Smith Irwin," one of the Viridians whispered, bowing his head. "It is good to see you are still free."

"Thanks," Irwin said before turning to Ignalia.

"I found them, scouting the Imps," she said.

"Luck," one of the Viridians whispered hurriedly. "If we hadn't been moving to another location, you would never have spotted us."

"Quiet," the Viridian that had spoken first hissed. "It doesn't matter."

"So, what's going on?" Irwin asked.

Ignalia turned to the lead Viridian, raising an eyebrow.

"Lord Gebladir Urdwellan is waiting for the right moment to strike back at these filthy demons," the Viridian said, his eyes radiating anger. "The three of us have been responsible for keeping an eye on this one."

"Is it the Ruby Portal?" Irwin asked.

"No, an emerald one. The Ruby portal isn't too far from here, perhaps an hour by foot."

By foot? What alternative is there? Irwin thought before realizing what the other must be talking about.

"Are there any teleporters around?" he asked.

The Viridian grimaced, shaking his head. "No, those are still moving around groups to close the smaller portals that are still appearing. We still haven't found why those keep opening up everywhere. All we know is that they only seem to appear inside the Grove."

Irwin nodded. So what should he do? He could go and see Lord Urdwellan…

"Can you show me where we are compared to Lord Urdwellan and the other portals, including the ruby one?" he asked after thinking for a few moments.

The Viridian scout lowered himself and jabbed his finger in the soil. "If we are here-" he jabbed four holes in a triangle shape with a dot in the center -" these are the portals. The central one is the Ruby one."

After a moment's hesitation, the Viridian poked nearly opposite to where they were now. "This is where our camp is. Though we move it around," he added hastily.

That looks weird. Almost like a pattern, Irwin thought as he looked at the triangle with the central dot.

"It's how we found it," the Viridian said. "The Elders have hypothesized that the Ruby one in the center is somehow the reason for the other three, while those are the ones causing the smaller ones to appear."

"They are right," Ambraz snorted as he flitted from Irwin's shoulder while the Viridian jumped back in startled shock. "I've seen something like this before… it's a way to attach a major world shard to a stable farming world or to combine major worldshards together to keep them from drifting off into-"

The Anvil stopped talking, then snorted.

"Never mind. I've never heard of it being used in a stable world like this… It should be impossible, but… Whatever! What matters is that this is both good news and bad news. When did the third portal appear?"

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The Viridian was staring at the Ambraz wide-eyed, then swallowed quickly.

"We don't know exactly, honorable Anvil of the Gods," he said.

"Bah… fine. Well, that means soon a fourth, fifth, and sixth portal will appear here-" Ambraz lowered himself between the three Emerald portals, creating three new indents and creating a second triangle overlapping the other. "If that happens, even more low-rank portals will begin appearing."

"How is that good news?" Irwin asked, gazing at the Anvil.

"No. That's the bad news," Ambraz grunted. "The good news is that all you have to do is go into the ruby portal and find the linchpin there. Destroy or kill it, and all of the portals will disappear."

Irwin nodded. That's what he'd been planning to do anyway.

"That… might be a problem," the Viridian said.

The others looked at him, and he grimaced.

"There is a large amount of Imps around there, and they have built a fortress similar to the one around the exit portal to the Portal Gallery. Worse, they have captured loads of monsters from all across the desert and have them chained up there."

"Like Screequanoxes?" Irwin asked.

"Yes. Screequanoxes, Wyrms, Ryocketin, and even Emberions," the Viridian said. "It's insane. They have some sort of force fields to hold whole swarms of them! I've never heard of cards that can do that."

Emberions… Irwin thought as he recalled the cloud of tiny fire elementals. Of all the fire beings he'd met, those had been the only ones not afraid or harmed by his flame. Instead, they had seemed to enjoy it.

"Incoming!"

Ambraz's shout made Irwin jump and trigger his Coperion Body. Looking around, he saw nothing. No charging Imps, no dangerous demons or monsters. Just confused Viridians and Ignitzions.

"Below us," Ambraz snapped, and Irwin gazed down while summoning his hammer.

"Pale Imps," Irwin grunted as he tried to see them. There were no bumps or tremors, nothing that-

The soil around him burst open as four figures sprang up, clawed hands grabbing his arms and legs. He saw the flash of metal and struck at one, dragging the other, holding his arm as if it were no more than a ragdoll. At the same time, he jerked his arm away from the third one.

There was a sickening crunch as the Pale Imp's face crumbled below his fist, and it flew half a dozen feet away. Before the other two could regain their senses, Irwin reached for them, grabbing them around their throats. Both had bracelets in their hands, and with little effort, he lifted them up, slamming them against each other. Metal dropped from their hands and was about to crush their necks when a dull voice interrupted him.

"Smith, stay your hand, or your friends die!"

Irwin looked up in shock, then froze. Ignalia, one of the Ignitzions, and two of the Viridians were standing unmoving, daggers on their throats and chests. All of them had thin metallic bracelets around their wrists. Card-nullifiers. The still form of one of the Ignitzions lay still on the ground, while the Viridian that had done most of the talking was nowhere to be seen.

A pale Imp stood behind the others, two daggers loose in his hands as he glared at him. Its eyes had a crazed sheen to it.

"If you move… if I see any mist, fog, or fire," he hissed. "We might die, but so will your friends!"

Irwin frowned, looking at Ignalia.

"Don-" she began, only for a black mailed hand to latch over her mouth and the dagger to press hard enough on her neck for blood to ooze out of a cut.

"Well?" the Imp growled, its voice rising in pitch.

Irwin remained frozen, staring at the others, then at the Imps as his mind spun around. He barely noticed the two struggling Pale Imps in his hands. It was a good thing they didn't have the Card Nullifiers, or he'd have been in deep shit.

What should he do? If he didn't fight… then what? He couldn't let himself be taken. He needed a way out! Searching around, he didn't see Ambraz anywhere… Was that a good thing?

"Smith…" the Imp hissed.

Irwin took a deep breath, then glared at the Imp. If it was just him… just him, he would have done what it said. But it wasn't just him. The memories of Giard, his mother, his brother, and all his friends flooded his mind for a moment. He was about to act, summon his flame, and hope he would be fast enough when another idea came to him.

Steeling himself for rejection and the action he'd have to take in that case, he looked into the Imp's eyes.

"You seem to know what I can do… Let my friends go, or I'll burn all of you to ash," he said, lowering his voice in a way he hadn't done in a while. It boomed out, deep and metallic due to his Coperion Body's physique.

"No," the Imp growled, but it must have seen something in his eyes because it took a small step back.

"If we do that, we'll get killed," it grunted, frowning.

Its eyes rolled oddly in its sockets for a moment. Then they snapped back, and it continued to glare at Irwin. It had happened so fast that he might have missed it if he hadn't been staring into the Imp's eyes.

It wasn't at all the response Irwin had expected, and his worry grew. How insane were these Imps by now? He took control of his cards, readying himself, then hesitated. As much as he knew he had no true choice, he didn't want to have to force this. But what other choice was there? He couldn't let them bring him into their-

His thoughts stopped, then it took all his willpower to keep a nasty grin from surfacing on his lips.

The Imp's eyes narrowed, and he saw its gaze flick to the others as if suddenly not sure what to do.

"I will go with you, but if you try and put one of those bracelets on me, I'll burn you," Irwin rumbled. There was a muffled cry from Ignalia, but he ignored it.

The Pale Imp let out a panicky giggle before looking around at the others.

"One chance," Irwin grunted. "If I come with you, perhaps you can capture me, but if you try to put a bracelet on me, I'll burn you and take my chances that I'm fast enough to save my friends!"

As he said it, he knew he meant it. His flame froze the Imps before they burned, and if he could hit them fast enough, they wouldn't be able to harm anyone.

A deadly silence hung in the air for long moments before the Pale Imp sucked in a breath, stifling a giggle and making it sound like it choked.

"Alright… fine, come with us, smith! But not movements, or-"

"You threaten me one more time," Irwin growled as his anger flared up. "And you see what happens!"

The Imp backed up, raising its daggers, hesitated, then nodded.

"This way," it said, waving in the direction of the giggling and chattering.

Irwin moved forward, shoving the two Imps he still had by the neck away, causing them to stumble and fall. He looked at Ignalia and saw her look at him, and he could almost read her thoughts.

What I'm doing? he thought as he focused on the Imps around him. If they gave him any moment, he'd act.

Either I fight now, and you will likely die. Or I'll go into their camp and see if I can force an opportunity that will allow me to kill them and save you!

As he walked, the Pale Imp remained nearby, constantly vigilant.

"How did you find us?" Irwin growled, more to keep the other talking than anything else.

"You are so loud. What did you expect," the Imp snapped before letting out a dull giggle. Irwin noticed how its eyes went from the crazed look the normal Imps had back to a creepy clarity.

"What do you want? Why are you capturing smiths?" Irwin asked.

"I'm not here to answer your questions," the Imp screamed, raising its dagger while its yellow red-pupilled eyes flashed brightly.

Irwin narrowed his eyes, picturing how he'd grab the Imp and bathe it in his flame. As the previous time, something must have shown on his face because the Imp jumped back.

"Why…?" Irwin asked again, trying to add as much of a threat to his voice as he could.

The Imp shook its head, continuing ahead slightly faster than before.

A shame, Irwin thought.

He had the feeling that if he had some more time, he'd be able to get the Pale Imp to tell him more. Which was odd. Balarn and Greldo had said the other Imps took a lot more convincing.

Walking with captives was far slower than normal, and it took them a while to reach the edge of the Imp camp.

As he stepped around the tree, Irwin felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of the massive wooden rampart ahead. There was a gate in the middle, and hundreds of Imps moved over it while he heard more behind it.

At least it will be easy to fill with fog, he thought.

There was a startled cry from ahead, and a moment later, a winged Imp, bulky and with gritty black scars across its chest, landed before them. The gate behind it opened, and Imps began streaming out while the Winged one began chittering in their own language, and Irwin hissed.

"Talk so I can understand, or the deal is off," he snapped.

The Winged Imp glared at him, then back at the Pale Imp, giggling nervously.

"The smith… we couldn't put them on him. It's the one they want… Irwin? And-"

"I can see," the Winged Imp snapped in a horrible accent. "Shut up! Why did you bring him here if he's not wearing card nullifiers?"

So what they said was true, Irwin thought as he felt his skin crawl. They were looking for him!

The Pale Imp looked at the others worriedly, then shrugged. "We caught his friends… the information was-"

"Shut up! Is your mind gone already?" the Winged Imp snarled before rattling something off in its own language.

Wait, what is he saying? Irwin was about to act when the Winged Imp stopped talking.

The Pale Imp was looking at the Winged One, and Irwin saw a tiny flicker of anger in the yellow and red eyes, and then it was buried.

"No…" the Pale Imp muttered.

"Moronic, near-dead, addled," the Winged Imp growled, stomping its feet. "After this is done, I'll send you back to the main shard for reeducation!"

The flicker of rage appeared again, and this time, it burned bright, but still, the Pale Imp said nothing.

Everything was happening so fast that Irwin barely had time to react at the start. Now, as he was calming down, he frowned. It wasn't just the Pale Imps that were acting idiotic… didn't Greldo say they had sounded smart before? He focused on the Winged Imp, and he noticed the burning red eyes swirl around oddly for a moment before settling back.

"At least you are able to hold your temper… Now. What deal does he speak of?" the Winged Imp screamed.

The Pale Imp quickly explained what had happened while Irwin listened. He was watching the other Imps that had remained near the entrance.

Something… is really wrong here. Are they turning Addled right now?

Irwin frowned. That couldn't be right. How could they even be capturing Smiths and concocting plans if they were?

His moment drew the attention of the Winged Imp, and it turned its crazed glare at him.

"And you… I've heard about you! You care for your friends! Well, we have more of those!"

Irwin stiffened. Did he mean Balarn? Or Greldo? No… Greldo wasn't here. Unless they had captured him, and- He stopped thinking as the Winged Imp took a metal band from its waist.

"You will put this on, or-"

"No," Irwin snarled, as his worry for his friends was replaced with anger.

He took a step forward, focusing on his cards, barely holding back from using them.

"You will bring me to my friends, or I'll tear this entire place down with you in it," Irwin snapped.

The Winged Imp glared at him, shaking its head. "You are bluffing! Put it on!"

Irwin took a deep breath and focused on his Sweltering Heart. Turning his attention to the Pale Imps, he prepared to attack them with his flame and Eyes of Blaze.

"Let… him… in…" a deep, lumbering voice caused the world around him to shake.

Shocked and surprised, Irwin held back as he looked at the fortification ahead of him. There was no sight of the origin of the voice.

In front of him, the Winged Imp's mouth snapped closed, and he shuddered. The crazed and confused look in its eyes cleared up, and it looked around in confusion. Then it turned to Irwin, who reeled back from the intelligent and malice-filled gaze. Gone were the confusion and insanity. A quick look to the side showed that the Pale Imps were looking at him with clear, appraising eyes.

This isn't good…

"Follow me," the Winged Imp said before turning and heading towards the gate.