Irwin watched his brother groan as he lay on his back on the tower's basement floor.

"And you did this to yourself?" Bronwyn finally asked, pushing himself up on his elbows and staring at Irwin.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without Ambraz," Irwin said honestly.

The Anvil, which was standing in the center of the locked-down room, hummed, smiling widely.

Bronwyn grunted, then scrambled up and looked at his right hand. "I feel like it should be a shattered, mangled mess," he said, slowly making a fist.

"It's not true physical pain," Irwin said.

"I wonder if my cards felt that, and that's why it hurt so much," Bronwyn said before raising his hand. "You're sure I can't just slot my final card now?" he asked.

"I see why you are brothers," Ambraz snapped. "So impatient! No, wait till tomorrow at a minimum. The resonance of your cards is out of balance because they didn't match as nicely as they should. If you had just done as I said and removed those two cards to slot new ones, it wouldn't have been this hard."

"Probably," Bronwyn said as he grinned at the Anvil. "But I like my cards. They are a part of me!"

Then it's going to be a shock when you get your heartcard, Irwin thought. Unlike him, he couldn't get his brother an Ammolite or Diamond rank card, and as much as he wanted to wait a few years till he could, he knew they couldn't wait for that. As much as he was impressed by Lord Rhym and Sorcerer Uldrot if he had to trust someone with the power of a heartcard it would be his brother. He might need help killing the Bablibon, or worse, if he failed and died, his family would need someone powerful to protect them.

"Do you think you can share some of those cards so we can boost more rangers?" Bronwyn asked.

Irwin hesitated. He only had enough cards left to feed Ambraz to reforge two or three heartcards, depending on how hard it would become, and he needed one of those for Daubutim.

"Maybe a few, but I need most to make heartcards," he said. "If you have rangers that you trust I can reforge their handcards?"

Bronwyn hummed as he cracked his neck. "Yeah, that would help a lot. Most rangers are trustworthy, but some are only playing nice right now. That's because of everything that's been going on. I know some that we better not make any more powerful so it doesn't bite us in the ass later."

Irwin nodded as he thought for a bit. "Alright, I can do those. Just make sure not to mention Ambraz. All they will see is a simple anvil."

"Pfah! Simple Anvil? Ambraz snorted. "Even without talking, I'm far from simple!"

"Alright, I'll go round up my team," Bronwyn said as he looked at his left hand. "It's a shame you can't reforge my other cards."

"I know," Irwin said. "But remember, after you turn a heartcard into a soulcard you can start creating a new card."

"Yeah," Bronwyn said with a grin. "Let's talk about that in a few years when it actually happens?"

He walked to the door, then stopped. "Mother really said you should do her cards?"

Irwin shivered, then nodded. "Yes, and if I don't do it, she is going to try and find someone else to."

Bronwyn grimaced. "I don't envy you."

Irwin nodded as his brother left the cellar.

"So, you're really going to reforge the cards of all these punks?" Ambraz asked.

"We need them to get everyone to the portal location safely," Irwin said. "Besides, it will be good practice."

"Fine, but you should pick out the cards you want to feed me when we make your brother's card."

Irwin nodded as he thought about Bronwyn's Emerald sixth card. "Are you finally telling me what that sixth card we gave Bronwyn does?" he asked.

"Yeah! It will increase his mental resistance by a whole lot, almost to the same level as you have," Ambraz said, sounding content. "It's also able to blend together the rest of his cards."

That will be useful against the Bablibon, Irwin thought.

Happy, he took out his stack of cards and slowly began rearranging them as he waited for Bronwyn.

The day passed like a blur, and when he finally walked back to Bronwyn's house, his card was close to empty. He had reforged cards for eleven rangers, which took most of the day, then discussed with Bronwyn and the rest of ranger leaders how to get information on the Bablibon.

"You think they can do it without getting caught?" he asked as he examined the familiar sights around him, soaking in the nostalgic feeling. He knew he would soon be leaving again, and the planet would likely shatter after.

"I don't know," Bronwyn said calmly. "But we need the information. All three rangers that will go tonight have perfect night vision and better hearing and senses than me. They also have summons to scout ahead. If they can't find and track that monster, there's nobody here that can. "

"And in that case, we are going to have to go in full-force," Irwin muttered.

"I've sent the rest of my squad to Pulvir's Grave to investigate it thoroughly," Bronwyn said. "If we have any sort of luck, perhaps that's where the portal opening is hidden."

"That would be fantastic," Irwin agreed, but he had a strong feeling it was also unlikely to happen.

"Ambraz, how are my cards doing? Can I slot the sixth tomorrow?" Bronwyn whispered.

Irwin frowned, but to his surprise, Ambraz replied in a soft affirmative whisper.

"They seem to be adjusting much faster than I had thought, so it should be fine. Let me look again tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Sure!" Bronwyn said, grinning brightly.

The rest of the evening was filled with talking, laughing, and joy and Irwin was surprised to find a rudimentary bed in the large kitchen. If it was the bed or the busy day, he didn't know, but he slept well that night.

After a short breakfast and a chat, he and Bronwyn returned to the tower basement, which Irwin had now more or less claimed for himself.

"So, can I slot it?" Bronwyn asked excitedly.

"Ugh, so impatient," Ambraz said. "But, to my surprise, yes. It should be fine now."

Brownyn whooped, pulling out the card and holding it above his right hand in a single fluid motion.

Irwin sighed and crossed his hands as he watched the card sink into Bronwyn's hand.

A few moments later, Bronwyn laughed. "It works like you said! I can sense Irwin."

"Of course I'm right," Ambraz muttered.

"So, what do you feel?" Irwin asked curiously as he watched his brother walk around, looking up at the ceiling.

"I'd say emotions, but that's not entirely correct," Bronwyn said. "It's more that I sense the general idea of emotions. I can't exactly sense if you are happy or angry, at least not yet."

"No, no. You won't," Ambraz said. "This is just a byproduct of the card's real skill."

"Well, it's great," Bronwyn said with a grin. "It will allow me to detect things way before I see them!"

"How wide is the range?" Irwin asked, happy at seeing Bronwyn this enthusiastic.

"I don't know, but I can feel the people moving about above us, so at least twenty feet."

They continued for a short while before Bronwyn turned to Ambraz. "So, how long till I can safely form my next fullhand?"

"Tomorrow should be fine," Ambraz said, and Bronwyn's grin widened. "Alright, I'll send you the next group of rangers!"

Irwin nodded wearily but laughed as Bronwyn nearly skipped up the staircase, which looked odd for such a massive man.

The day passed like the first, though Irwin was wondering if Myda and Clarish had safely arrived at Degonda. It should take them a day, with Clarish needing to rest in between teleports.

The next day started the same, with Bronwyn forming his second full-hand without a hitch. Like with his reforging, Irwin was impressed at how little Bronwyn showed of the intense pain that came with the difficult act.

"Finally," Bronwyn muttered.

He visibly struggled to stand, swaying slightly in the center of the cellar.

"I'm going to catch up to you soon," he said, smiling at Irwin.

"Are you alright?" Irwin asked, feeling slightly sick at the pain Bronwyn had gone through. He was starting to realize that with people you love, it was better to feel the pain yourself instead of seeing them have it.

Bronwyn grinned, his face slowly regaining some color. "I'm so happy you are back!"

"You had better," Irwin said, forcing the sick feeling away as he clapped his brother's shoulder. "Otherwise, I'd be sad!"

The two brothers laughed and chatted as Bronwyn recovered from the ordeal of forming his second fullhand. As he did, Irwin also slowly regained his clarity. When Bronwyn finally walked to the exit, he turned to Irwin and focused on Ambraz, nestled on Irwin's shoulder.

"So… how long till a heartcard?"

"Two or three days would be best," Ambraz said. "You are going pretty fast."

"Two it is," Bronwyn said before turning and running out of the room.

"I take back what I said," Ambraz hissed. "He has even less patience than you!"

Irwin could only smile as he waited for the first ranger to arrive.

Midway through the next day, just after he had finished reforging another ranger's cards, Bronwyn came running into the room. The young female ranger was still lying in a crumpled heap on the ground but quickly struggled to her feet, wiping her face.

Bronwyn didn't even look at her, and Irwin saw from his face that something bad had happened.

"One of the scouts finally returned," Bronwyn said, gritting his teeth. Then he turned to the female ranger. "Melli, head back up and get yourself together. We are expecting trouble!"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Melli shakily ran to the door, still wiping her face as she did. "I will, Bronwyn," she croaked, and Irwin wondered if she would even reach the top of the stairs without falling unconscious.

Bronwyn had his head cocked, listening until Melli was gone.

"The other two scouts were killed," Bronwyn hissed as he slammed his fist into the wall beside the door, causing a soft rumbling and cracks to appear. "Slither barely managed to return, but his summon was destroyed. He's unconscious now, but he managed to tell us a bit before. He found the Bablibon digging into the northern part of Sultur Crevice!"

Irwin frowned. He knew little about the details of the Gloomforest, but everyone, including he, knew about Sultur Crevice! It was a long gorge that ran from the center of the Gloomforest up to the north and was filled with a whole host of dangerous monsters. There was a standing order that no ranger was to go within any distance of it out of fear that they might draw those demons to Malorin.

Bronwyn sighed, turning to Irwin and shaking his head. "He said that the monster was talking to itself as it was digging, seemingly completely insane. It kept mumbling and singing about finding 'it' before going to take revenge."

"Finding what?" Irwin asked.

“No idea,” Bronwyn said. "Slither began convulsing after he spoke, then fell unconscious. You should have seen him. He looked completely out of it, almost attacking some of the guards. He's got a nasty cut on his chest. It should be healing, but-"

Irwin jumped forward. "Was there purple fog leaking out of it?"

Bronwyn's face paled, and he nodded.

"Quick, bring me there!"

To his brother's credit, he didn't bother asking what was going on but just turned and sprinted out of the basement, up the tower, Irwin close behind.

They ran up out of the cellar, past the entrance, and then up another staircase to a room filled with beds. A few rangers were fussing around a one on which a still, moaning figure lay.

"Get away from him!" Irwin shouted as he saw thin tendrils of a familiar purple mist drift up and congregate around the ceiling.

The rangers stepped back, looking at him in confusion and surprise.

"Do as he says, out of the way!" Bronwyn roared, causing all of the rangers to jolt and scramble to get away from the body on the bed.

Irwin jumped forward, his flame surging around him with the same angry hunger it had shown before. As soon as it appeared, the purple mist reacted, drifting away as if sentient and afraid. Irwin focused his control, and his flame flared outward in bowl shape. Within a moment, it had created a container around him, the bed and mist, blocking off its path to escape.

The stone ceiling turned black as the fire pressed against it, but Irwin ignored that. His eyes were on Slither's body lying on the bed. A long wound moved from his cheek down his neck to his chest, and more of the purple mist was slowly flowing out of it.

There's so much more than before, he thought, compressing his flame. As soon it touched the purple mist, he felt the same draining sensation he'd noticed when dealing with the charbull while his flame seemed to want to explode with all of the intensity it had.

If I need more energy because there's more mist, I'll run out before I finish, Irwin thought, paling as he increased the heat of his flame and shrunk it until it hung above the bed, containing the purple gas. He kept a little barrier around the bed, but only tiny bits of purple mist were still leaking from the body.

"What are you going? You are doing to kill him!"

Irwin ignored the shouts as he heard his brother intervene. Instead, he focused fully on thinking of a way to clear out the purple gas. With the Charbull, it had been easy as it had been fine with his flame, but if he used it on Slither, the ranger's body would turn to ash. Besides, he might not have enough energy by a long shot.

"Irwin, what are you doing?"

"That charbull I found had the same stuff, and it was killing it," Irwin shouted, and as he did, he finally connected the dots. This is what's killing everything in Death Forest!

Did that mean it was contagious? Only some of the creatures had been visibly wounded. Most had seemed unharmed!

He spun around, noticing the rangers were staring at him, some with worry, others seemingly angry. For a moment, he didn't see anything odd, but then he saw one of the angry-looking rangers shake her head, rubbing her neck.

"You, are you feeling sick?" Irwin snapped, pointing at her.

His question caused the rangers to focus on the woman, who seemed stunned at the sudden attention.

"No, I… Just a bit of a headache," she said. "But you-" she shook her head, her voice turning angry. "You should leave him alone! You are hurting him!"

Something about the way she said it seemed off, and Irwin flicked his eyes to Bronwyn before focusing on the ranger.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

From his peripheral vision, he saw that his brother was slowly stepping in between the rangers and the exit, frowning worriedly as he blocked any potential escape.

“Because… because…”

The woman shook her head, frowning as she suddenly rubbed her nose. Her hand came back, streaked red, and Irwin felt his hair stand on end.

"What is- Is going…" the woman muttered before shaking her head and staring at Slither, her eyes rolling oddly in her head. "Leave. Him. Alone," she suddenly barked, taking a shaky step forward. "You are hurting him!"

Everyone in the room could immediately see something was completely wrong now, and the other rangers began backing up. Within moments, they had spread around the large room, staring at the woman, some with bows in hand.

"It's contagious," one of the rangers with a raised bow whispered.

There was a soft giggle came from the bed behind Irwin.

His heart skipped a beat, and Irwin spun around to see Slither slowly push himself up on his elbows. The purple cloud above him was forcing its way back through the fire and into his body, pouring in through his nose.

A high-pitched, crackling whisper came from the lips as they slowly pulled into a grin that began splitting the corners of Slither's mouth. "Found you! I found you! Master will be soOooOoo glad!"

Irwin grimaced at the horrid dissonance in the drawn-out word, and he took another step back as he watched the body of Slither spasm while the head remained motionless except for the abhorrently wide grin on its face.

"Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him. Don't-" A dull smack came from behind, and Irwin took a quick look to see Bronwyn standing beside the female ranger, who was now on the ground.

A trickle of purple smoke circled up from her, and Irwin moved his flame before even thinking, splitting a portion of it, which flashed through the air and blocked the stuff from reaching Bronwyn, who jumped back in shock. The tiny bit of purple mist began flitting about in the fire, searching for a way out.

"Fire, fire, burn so bright, sadly it's worth all but shite," the voice behind him sang in its horrid voice, and the tiny purple offshoot ripped through his flame, shot passed his head and back into the body of Slither.

Many thin arrows of purple smoke slowly formed in front of the wide, open mouth aimed at everyone in the room. Irwin flared his flame, increasing the heat of the barrier just as they shot forward. When they hit his fire, the tips turned dull, but he felt his energy reserves begin bleeding rapidly.

"Useless fire," the thing inhabiting Slither's body snarled.

Its body jerked and spasmed in a sitting position, arms too far behind its back for any normal person to be able to achieve.

"Bronwyn, we need to get-" Irwin began, only for a deafening scream to drown out his words.

His mind shook, and his vision warped and rippled. The scream lasted for only a moment, but during it, for a fraction of that moment, he lost control over his flame, and the scream turned to laughter as the purple mist arrows shot out of the cylinder of fire.

"No!" Irwin shouted. He wanted to turn and help Bronwyn, but he knew that what he really needed to do was end the root of the problem.

Angrily, he flared his fire as hot as he could, no longer caring if Slither was still alive somewhere. He couldn't let this continue! Clenching his fists, he let his flame erupt with the heat and rage as had been trying to break free. The air in the room instantly felt like the inside of a furnace. In the center of it, the body of Slither began jerking around, arms flailing at the fire with a look of hatred pointed at Irwin.

"No, no! Bad fire! Bad!"

Irwin kept the fire as hot as he could before quickly turning to see if Bronwyn was alright. His eyes widened as he saw that all of the rangers were shaking their heads, looking pained and confused, while behind them, in the door opening. Bronwyn stood with both hands on his head, grimacing.

“Ir… win… it’s… in… my… mind….” Bronwyn said, exhaling furiously between his utterings. His beard and hair curled from the heat while sweat oozed across his face.

Irwin wanted to run forward when he felt Ambraz struggle out of his pocket and flit towards Bronwyn.

"Kid, you need to burn it all! It's some sort of mind virus," Ambraz screamed as he slammed into Bronwyn, turning into his large form and knocking the bearlike man out of the room before landing atop him and pinning him down. "Do it!"

Irwin spun back around, noticing the rangers were bleeding from their noses, ears, and eyes. Worse, they were slowly turning their gazes on him, and he saw a purple hue in all their eyes.

"Kill the fire!" the thing inside Irwin howled from where it was still rocking and convulsing in the midst of the fire.

Irwin saw the rangers, as weird as they were, were still breathing, and without holding back, he drew on his Sweltering skill. Within moments, a clean white mist formed around him and in the room, and he shoved it outward, hoping it would hold back the rangers so he could focus on the main problem.

The rangers struck out against the mist in a seemingly unconscious rage, but as soon as it covered their heads, they began clawing at their necks. Irwin hesitated for only a moment before leaving them inside and turning to Slither.

The ranger's body had warped into a mangled mass of burned leather armor and charred flesh with pale bones sticking out. Only his face was the same as before, the horrid smile still there as it screamed at Irwin.

"Fire bad, mist bad! Bad. Bad. Bad! BA-" it screamed, the last word so loud that it cut off midway as the thing controlling Slither ripped the man's vocal cords. Even then, the final cry hurt Irwin's ears, and he knew it might have been audible all throughout the city.

Please don't come up here, he thought, afraid of what might happen if more rangers came only to be infected.

Slither's body collapsed, the body suddenly burning up rapidly as a cloud of purple gas formed above it. It was a hundred times as much as from the Charbull, and Irwin knew he was never going to be able to burn it. His card was already a third-way drained, and although it seemed willing and hungry to attempt the task, Irwin knew better.

"Ambraz, I need help," he shouted, trying to intensify the flame as the cloud began pushing against its prison as if trying to test it.

"What do you expect me to do?" Ambraz shouted back, panic in his voice.

"I don't know! I don't have enough energy to burn this much!" Irwin shouted.

The thing that was the cloud either heard him or picked that moment to attack as it blasted straight at him, struggling violently against the flame. Irwin hissed as he felt another large chunk of his card's energy drain away.

He didn't know what to do, feeling the fire's desire to rage grow almost exponentially with his loss of energy. Seconds turned by as the purple cloud billowed out, struggling against the ever-increasing heat of his flame. The wooden beds caught flame, and he knew the rangers wouldn't be able to survive either. A part of him hoped they would have suffocated, just so they wouldn't have to be burned alive. The purple cloud had shrunk by a third, far more than he had expected, but his energy was down to his last dregs. There was no way that he was going to make it.

"Ambraz, I'm almost out of energy! I need something, a plan, energy, anything!" Irwin shouted.

"Dammit, I'm not some-" Ambraz shouted before suddenly falling silent. "Wait! Try hitting the ground and using your kinetic energy to feed the flame!"

Irwin had no idea how that would work, though he had seen that he could increase his kinetic energy by using his flame. Could that work the other way around? He dropped to his knees and slammed his fist against the floor. Splinters of stone were ripped from the block while kinetic energy surged into him. He cinched as he felt the tiny cost to his overall energy, but the kinetic energy it gave seemed far more. If he could feed that into his flame, he would at least last longer!

The kinetic energy was a volatile, energetic thing that wanted to be released, and he sensed that it did seem to resemble his flame, if only due to its volatility, but how was he going to use it? He tried to move it, but it only flowed through his body, searching for an out.

As seconds ticked by, so did his energy, and he was about to turn and flee, hoping he could lure the thing away from Malorin and save his mother and Carla, when an idea came to him. His hammer! When he'd needed to release his kinetic energy buildup, he'd found that his hammer could take it, and he could also coat it in flame!

As he thought about it, he summoned his smithing hammer, coating it in the tiny bit of flame he could squeeze out while holding back the purple fog. The kinetic energy flowed towards the hammer as if having found a release valve, and as he sensed both the flame and the kinetic energy, Irwin tried to combine them in his hammer.

A dull thrum came while his fingers vibrated, and the flame seemed to squeal in delight as new energy was fed into it.

It works! Irwin thought as he took a step sideways and slammed his hammer into the wall. It cracked, splinters shooting out, but he didn't care as he felt the kinetic energy flow into his hammer and increase the flame's heat. If he had to, he'd bring the entire wall down!

As he struck the wall, eventually knocking out whole head-sized blocks of stone, the purple cloud began going ballistic. With the still increasing heat, it was actually visibly melting away, and although using his kinetic skill did cost him a little energy, it granted him far more for his flame. He wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, but it would extend what he could do by a factor of ten!

Burn, you stupid cloud! Irwin thought as he glared at the purple cloud.

When only a sliver remained, it reshaped into an image that faintly resembled a skull with a third eye socket. The mouth area was pulled in an absurd grin that was shouting at him.

"I can't hear you," Irwin hissed, and the skull snarled at him.

He continued striking, and suddenly, the purple cloud smiled viciously at him. A moment later, it dissipated rapidly, the remaining parts of it finally burning away. Irwin kept the flame up, and only when he felt the flame's anger slowly weaken did he let it flow away.

"Irwin, quick!"

Irwin blinked, feeling incredibly drained as he looked around. Five charred bodies lay around the edges of the room, while the beds were nothing but charred remains. Large black streaks of soot covered everything, and as he turned, he saw Ambraz.

Bronwyn!

Irwin ran forward, kneeling down beside his brother. His face was warped in a snarl, and a sheen of purple covered his eyes.

"That thing did something to him," Ambraz hissed.

"We have to help him," Irwin said, shaking his weary head. He only had a tiny bit of energy left, and he knew that if he had to fight now, he'd be done for. Staring at his brother's warped face, he wanted to hit something. "What can we do?" he asked.

Ambraz grunted. "There's only one thing I can think of, and it's risky. We reforge his cards to a heartcard. The increase in power, especially if I boost his last card, should help."

Irwin grunted as he heard a shout. Looking up, he saw a ranger peak around the corner of the staircase to his side.

"Don't come up!" Irwin bellowed. "There's something here that infects people! It came from the Shadeforest!"

The ranger paled, then nodded and ran back down.

Irwin turned back to his brother, then to Ambraz. "How are we going to do this if you're on top of him?"

"What does it matter?" Ambraz snapped. "All I need is for him to touch me! Get out your cards and get ready!"

Irwin rose on shaky legs, staring down at his brother, then realized what he would have to do. Reforge a heartcard, something he'd only done once, and this time with barely any energy left.

Don't worry, I'll get you that card, he thought as he clenched his jaw and summoned his hammer.