Irwin stood next to Sultur Crevice, examining the stone staircase leading down into its depths. It was partially buried into the stonewall and had a high railing to prevent anyone from falling.

Hundreds of people were walking down it, a fearful quiet hanging over the group as they followed the rangers.

Greldo stood to the side, digging into the soil, his arms up the elbows blackened by the soot.

"There we go," he said as he pulled his arms out, grinning at Irwin. He held up a tiny nut before pocketing it with the others he'd dug out.

"Tell me again why you are bringing that?" Irwin asked.

"I'm sure we will find a world, either adjacent to Eluathar or somewhere else on the Portal Galery, that has a shortage of trees," Geldo said as he joined him. "I'll plant these there so we have a place with a tiny bit of Giard left."

Irwin watched Greldo curiously, wondering why he cared about trees.

"Don't give me that look," Greldo said, raising an eyebrow. "It just feels like a shame to take nothing meaningful!"

"Irwin, Greldo!"

They looked up to see that only Bronwyn remained at the top of the stairs, waving them over.

"Well, let's get out of here," Greldo said as he headed towards the staircase.

Irwin nodded and took a final look around the blackened wasteland before following his friend down.

The staircase was long, at least three hundred feet, and led close to the bottom of the crevice. Down there, in the torchlit darkness, a massive section of the wall had been ripped open, revealing a chamber with a portal. People were streaming in one at a time, whispering fearfully, holding hands with loved ones.

Irwin's family was standing nearby, Bronwyn's deep voice constantly telling the people to hurry and continue.

Irwin smiled at his mother, who seemed only mildly impressed by the whole ordeal. He turned to the entrance, examining the walls.

"Was there a door like the one we found near Degonda?" he asked Greldo.

"Apparently, it was buried by a landslide, and Basil had to break them out," Greldo said. "It's a good thing that chicken was dead by then."

Yeah, Irwin thought as he thought about the purple gas thing. He'd told Greldo and his brother about what had happened but couldn't wait to discuss it with Daubutim.

"I'll head to the other side to help with getting people situated," Greldo said.

"Alright, I'll see you in a moment," Irwin said.

Greldo nodded, then moved to the head of the line. Nobody seemed to mind at all as he cut in and stepped into the portal.

It took a while before the last people stepped into the portal. Bronwyn had to tell their mother things would be fine and that, yes, they would come right after her before she would finally go, leaving the brothers alone in the torchlit darkness.

Bronwyn sighed as he cracked his neck, and Irwin stepped up beside him.

"You know something?" Bronwyn said, gazing deep into the portal.

"What?" Irwin asked curiously, looking at his brother, who seemed deep in thought.

"I'd always imagined going to Kasadiron and finding out what happened to father," Bronwyn said softly.

"Kasadiron?" Irwin said, looking at his brother in surprise. "That's where we came from?"

"Mom never wanted to tell us, but what use is there in hiding it now," Bronwyn said. "I was young, and she thinks I didn't remember, but I do."

Irwin didn't speak, quietly watching his brother.

"Back when we still guarded the wall, I asked around, but nobody knew anything about it. Kasadiron is just too far away," he said. "I'd thought if I went there, perhaps I could figure out something, maybe find father's family?"

"Is there any?" Irwin asked, feeling his curiosity grow.

"I don't know, but there should be, right?" Bronwyn said, looking up. "I mean, unless they were all killed, which sounds weird."

"Did you try…"

"Talking with mum about it?" Bronwyn laughed. "Yeah, twice. The first time, I was told not to ask things I didn't want the answers to, and the second time, she nearly had a breakdown."

Irwin flinched. "Perhaps some people from Kasadiron made it to Degonda. I'll ask around in a few weeks."

"Yes… but I think it's more likely that they went to Esterdon," Bronwyn said. "Are we still going to get the people from there?"

"Definitely," Irwin said. "Just because Indoubtor is a power-hungry noble doesn't mean all those people deserve to be left behind. Besides, I'm hoping to find a few friends of mine there."

Bronwyn raised an eyebrow, then he looked at the portal.

"Well, enough chitchat. Let's go through it before the people on the other side, mostly Mom, freak out!'

He took a deep breath, waved at Irwin, and jumped through the portal.

Irwin took one look around, then followed him.

--

"Do you think the captain will return soon?"

Zender looked at Brinni, who was sitting on the lower branches of the tree. Trinn sat protectively beside her, and the three of them were looking at the portal. The area had significantly changed over the last weeks; the ground flattened and was then covered with stone by carded stone shapers. Pathways led away from the wide square before it, with stone pillars beside the path. Each had the names of the towns in that direction on them, with some information.

"He'll be back soon," Zender said. "He's probably waiting till all of his people are here before coming!"

"Okay," Brinni said, turning back to look at the square and the mass of people moving away from it and towards the end of the square.

I need to learn how to read that language, Zender thought as he watched the stone pillars again. He knew they were an idea of Daubutim, and there was an explanation on them that said what village did what, who had gone where, and what people could expect if they went to one.

Time passed, and after a while, the square was empty, safe for a small group of people watching the portal intently. The familiar and tall shape of Daubutim had joined them, and he was quietly talking with an old woman. Greldo stood a bit to the side, patting his massive hound's neck. A dozen silver-eyed guards, rangers, and two Daxi crewmembers stood nearby, talking softly.

"Perhaps he had to do something else?" Brinni asked.

Zender ignored her and waited calmly. Finally, after another few minutes, a burly, hairy shape, more bear than man, stepped through the portal.

"Bronwyn, why did it take so long? Is everything alright?"

Zender watched the older woman limp forward and berate the bear.

That has to be his mother, he decided, only to see Captain Irwin step out of the portal. His previous leather armor was gone, and all he was wearing were the odd leather trousers Zender had seen before and a simple pale shirt that loosely hung around his massive frame. No boots, no bag, no armor.

Something definitely happened, Zender thought, wondering if he could ask Irwin to tell him what.

"There he is," Brinni said, sounding incredibly happy and excited.

As much as he'd expected the captain to return safely, Zender also felt a slight relief.

Now, let's hope that means we can leave here soon, he thought, taking a look around.

As much as he enjoyed being in such a world, there was barely anything to do. The towns were no more than collections of rapidly built houses with walls surrounded by flattened areas, and the tiny harbor town beside the river didn't even have ships yet. No, he wouldn't mind going out exploring, but for that, they would need the captain!

"Let's go and say hi," he said as he climbed down the tree.

--

Irwin stepped out of the portal, and the first thing he saw was his family. His mother was talking with Bronwyn, and the others were smiling at him. Then he saw Daubutim, his single eye swirling with red lightning and an uncharacteristic grin on his face.

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His noble friend immediately walked forward.

"Alright, step out of the way. I'll move the portal to the final waypoint right away."

Irwin did as asked, surprised at Daubutim's apparent rush. He moved a few steps away from the portal and waved at his mother. "Go with Bronwyn and Greldo to one of the towns," he said. "I don't expect anything bad to come through, but it's best to be safe."

His mother frowned, then looked at Carla and Drum before nodding. "I expect you to come and see me before you go running around again!" she said.

Irwin smiled and nodded, sharing a look with Greldo. His friend nodded, and Irwin knew he'd make sure his family would find a safe house close to others of Malorin.

As they walked away, he heard a soft cough, and he saw Zender walk towards him. The boy's eyes were filled with curious excitement, and Trinn and Brinni were a few steps behind him.

"Welcome back, captain," Zender said.

"Zender," Irwin said, examining the boy. He looked good, well-fed, clean, and energetic. It seemed being in a real world was good for him. Still, it was evident from his fidgeting that he wanted to ask things, and Irwin grinned.

"Stay back a bit. We can talk later," Irwin said, turning to where Daubutim was walking around the portal, changing the runes that surrounded it.

When Daubutim finished, the portal flashed brightly before returning to normal.

Irwin summoned his hammer and was surprised to see that the purple runes that covered it were a bit brighter than they had been.

Must be due to the increased soullake, he thought as he walked over to his friend.

Daubutim looked slightly worn out as he stepped back beside Irwin, his massive icy blue, two-handed sword appearing in his hands.

"Are you alright?" Irwin asked softly, watching the portal closely in case something came through.

"Yes. Lord Bron has been a great help, although I was surprised at how easily he accepted me taking the leadership," Daubutim replied before glancing at him. "I had hoped that you could return faster, but Basil said you were heavily injured?"

Irwin grimaced. "I vastly overloaded my heartcard, cracking its foundation."

"I've never read anything about that," Daubutim' said worriedly. "Is it alright now?"

"It's perfect again," he said, deciding to tell Daubutim the details when there weren't people listening. Some things were best kept a secret. "What happened that I needed to return so fast?"

Daubutim's eye narrowed, the swirling red lightning becoming blinding for a moment. He turned to the guards that stood at the edge of the forest.

Irwin had noticed them, slightly surprised at how easy the Giardians and the Daxi seemed at each other's presence.

"Send for Basil," Daubutim ordered.

One of the rangers bowed, turned, and dashed across one of the pathways.

"We need to talk in private," Daubutim said before calmly focusing his full attention back on the portal.

Irwin nodded, wondering what was going on. He wasn't too worried, though. If something terrible were happening, Daubutim would have planned things differently.

A short while later, Basil arrived. He was fully armored up, and as soon as he arrived at the gate, he summoned his massive greatsword. It was similar to Daubutim's, though dark instead of blue and even bigger.

"Welcome back! You look much better than the last time I saw you!"

"I feel much better too," Irwin said.

"Basil, protect this place and make sure nothing comes through. It is connected to the waypoint portal near Esterdon," Daubutim said. "I need to talk with Irwin and bring him up to speed. We will return before dark."

We will? Irwin thought.

Basil just nodded. "Of course, Lord Daubutim! Lord Bron asked if you could see him before you left."

"We will head there now," Daubutim said before turning and walking towards the same path Basil had come from before. It was a dusty, rocky path, wide enough for a cart, and some had already gone over it from the trails he saw.

I wonder how they got carts here, Irwin thought. They must have taken them apart and reassembled them here…

He nodded at Basil before following along with his friend. Zender and the others were following from a good distance but decided it was alright for now. There were things he wanted to ask them, and he probably would have to do that soon. If Daubutim was leaving before dark, he had a strong feeling he'd probably be joining him.

The road they were taking led up north, towards the edge of the forest, and as they reached the end, he saw a distant wall. It wasn't anywhere near as high or wide as the one around Malorin, but for something that hadn't been there only a few weeks ago, it was incredible. The road widened as it closed in on it, leading to a surprisingly well-made, sturdy-looking gate.

"Impressive," he said, meaning it.

"The cards you left are being used very well," Daubutim said. "We have some six-carded builders that are able to change both stone and wood very easily. The only bottleneck now is that they run out of energy too fast for what we need. Do you have any more cards left?"

Irwin thought about the last stack that he'd fed Ambraz and sighed ruefully. "No. But Bronwyn should have a lot of cards from the final battle we had near Malorin."

Daubutim looked at him, his eyes flashing red. "Tell me what happened while we walk?"

"Sure," Irwin said.

He quietly told Daubutim what had happened from the moment he arrived at Malorin to the battle with the Bablibon. Zender and the others snuck closer as they listened in, and Irwin smiled as they gasped and awed as he described the battle.

"You are sure it's dead?" Daubutim asked when he finished.

Irwin hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, but I presume there's always a chance that some part of it hid somewhere."

Daubutim hummed before nodding. "I'll ask La'suna to move around the Malorin town. If anyone can pick up on it, she can."

Irwin nodded. "So is that what we are calling the town? Malorin Town?"

"For now," Daubutim said. "Both the people from Malorin and Degonda seemed happy with it for now. Those who came from other places and fled there are talking about creating new towns away from the larger places, but they will have to wait. We are still finding new and dangerous animals, and until we are sure the rangers can clear out anything too dangerous, we will stop at four cities."

"Four?" Irwin asked in surprise.

"New Malorin," Daubutim said, waving back in the direction of the forest. "I'll have them focus on woodworking and training rangers. I'm planning to ask your brother to take charge, at least for now."

Irwin grinned. "I'm pretty sure they will create a council with the ranger captains, but most of those seem to listen to him."

Daubutim nodded. "Good. Now, New Degonda," he pointed ahead, "is where we currently have the most people, and it's where Lord Bron and I will be staying. Portal Keep, which is more of an enormous castle that we are building- or going to build, around the exit portal. Basil is in charge of keeping it safe, though currently, he's getting a lot of help from Captain Xi'kroak."

Irwin hummed thoughtfully. "Are the Daxi creating a settlement anywhere?"

"No," Daubutim said, shaking his head. "I've asked them to wait till we find the first adjacent worlds and then will get one of those. For now, they are located near Portal Keep, and I'll give them a small district when that finally grows to city size."

Irwin looked at Daubutim, unable to keep from smiling. "You really are made for this, aren't you?" he asked.

Daubutim looked back, frowning. "Perhaps, though sometimes I envy you."

Irwin's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

"After everything is settled here, you will be heading out, exploring the rest of the Portal Gallery around us while I'll be here, dealing with our new world."

Irwin watched Daubutim, unable to see any resentment, anger, or sadness. Still, he sighed. "If you want, we could ask Lord Bron to-"

"No," Daubutim said. "Gelwin, and you are right. I don't hate this work, and with my abilities, I'll be able to do a better job than anyone else we have. At least at the start."

They quietly walked for a while before Daubutim continued.

"The final town, hopefully soon to be a city, is Tréanbá," Daubutim said, causing Irwin to look up in surprise. Daubutim pointed to the left. "It's North, built near the river we found, and after everything is going alright, I'll be going there, leaving Lord Bron to guide and lead New Degonda."

Irwin thought for a while as they walked. "What about the Frozir?" he asked when they were only a few hundred feet from the gate.

"They are here, in new Degonda, and will stay here until we find them a proper adjacent world," Daubutim said. "Lord Bron and Satiya work well together, and…"

Irwin heard Daubutim hesitate, a confused look on his face.

"What?"

"Well, she and Lord Bron seem to be bonding," he said.

Irwin blinked, and then his mouth fell open. "You mean…"

"Yes. Elder Gum'dil'ran is incredibly annoyed by it, but there's little that he can do."

Irwin stared stupidly at the gate ahead of them. "Is that even possible?" he muttered.

"Oh, definitely," Daubutim said. "What's more interesting is that from what I know, that probably means that if they have any… offspring, those will have the soulcarded skill."

Irwin whistled, shaking his head in disbelief. "What about the other Frozir?"

"There are a few younger females that will eventually be of egglaying age," Daubutim said. "So they will be fine, I presume."

Irwin quietly continued ahead, slightly lost in his thoughts. When they reached the gate, he noticed it was modeled after the ones in the previous Degonda, with a small door inside the gate that was opened to let them in.

He saw two serious-looking guards step aside and bow at Daubutim.

"Lord Daubutim, welcome back," one of them said.

Daubutim nodded, looking around. "Thank you, Guard Sanders. Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing, my lord," the guard said, seeming not in the least bit surprised that Daubutim knew his name. "The crafters returned from Tréanbá and have started building up the crafters square and the central keep again. At their current speed, they will finish in a month."

"Good," Daubutim said, nodding as he walked through the door and inside the walls.

Irwin followed him, looking around curiously. The wall was the most finished of all things, with small houses, all with a single story but seeming made to have more. Everything looked only half finished, but it was bustling. People were walking around, carrying wood and stone, while children were playing nearby. Everyone he saw seemed happy, and although many were still showing the long malnourishment they had suffered, the energy they used showed they were eating properly now.

As they walked through the city, many people greeted Daubutim, who greeted them back, all by their names. The central castle was different from what Irwin had seen before and far from finished. Gaping open walls, unfinished towers barely twenty feet tall, and a semi-finished central area were being worked on by a group of handcarded workers.

Still, it was clear that the final castle would be more open than the one he knew from the old versions of Malorin and Degonda. It would have multiple entrances, which all seemed to border the large square in the center of the town. Crafters were everywhere, wood splinters and dust all around as they worked the massive trunks and branches that lay in great heaps. A familiar clanging made Irwin look up to see a smithy.

Trimdir's Smithy, it read on a sign above the door.

"You can speak to him later," Daubutim said. "Let's go to Lord Bron first."

Irwin nodded, and he followed Daubutim into the unfinished castle. They passed workers expanding the walls and placing doors until they reached a more finished area. An open chamber with a balcony, most of which seemed finished, sat in the center of the unfinished castle, and Lord Bron was walking around a large, rough table. There were none of the high-quality carvings that Irwin remembered, but Lord Bron was smiling, his eyes gleaming as he prodded pieces and wrote on a book beside him.

He looked up as they walked towards him and smiled. "Smith Irwin," he said, smiling broadly. "What do you think of what we have done since you were gone?"

"Very impressive," Irwin said, smiling back.

"Lord Bron, can you raise your barrier? We need to speak," Daubutim said, causing both Bron and Irwin to turn serious again.

A barrier appeared around the room as Lord Bron beckoned them to the nearby table. When they all sat, Irwin looked at Daubutim.

"I went to talk with Gelwin," Daubutim said.

Irwin looked up in surprise. How had Daubutim done that? Didn't he need to move through the portal for that?

Daubutim looked at him and nodded. "Yes. I redirected the portal for a short while before moving it to Malorin. Things on Giard are becoming worse rapidly, and I needed to ask him questions."

"What did he say? Is he coming here?" Lord Bron asked.

"Gelwin told me that Lamia and a few others went through the portal to Esterdon," Daubutim said calmly.

Irwin's eyes widened, and he leaned forward as Daubutim continued.

"He had no knowledge of what happened to them after, but he warned me," Daubutim said, his eye swirling with red lightning. "Our usage of the portals is destabilizing Giard at a rapid pace, much faster than he had anticipated. We currently have just a bit over sixteen hours to get the people from Esterdon through the portal and here."

"What? That's impossible!" Bron exploded.

"We have no choice in the matter," Daubutim said calmly. "Gelwin's body was breaking down as I spoke with him. I had the feeling it was out of his hands."