"How many years?" Irwin whispered, staring at Ambraz in dumb disbelief. He recalled the things Ambraz had told them about the world-shattering, which seemed like ages ago now.

"Hard to say. We haven't seen portals all over, so more than two. But with three together? Less than ten," Ambraz said, landing on Irwin's shoulder.

All of Irwin's own troubles suddenly seemed tiny as he imagined the entire world exploding. They needed to do something! Warn the sorcerers? The nobles?

"Is there a way to find out how many years we have?" Greldo asked, interrupting his panicky thoughts. Coal was nuzzling his friend's leg, letting out a soft, worried whine.

"Not that I know… There's one way to figure out if there are over five years remaining," Ambraz said. "If we don't find any uncommon portals close together."

Everyone was quietly staring at the portals, then Daubutim grunted. "We need to hurry to my father and warn him," he said, glaring at the portals. Irwin could see his desire to go into the portal and close them, war with his father's teachings.

"You need to go into these," Ambraz said, suddenly fluttering forward. "They have only just spawned and should be as weak as common portals can be. But if we leave them, they will start resonating and send out surges. You don't want all those monsters here, right?"

Irwin blinked as he looked at the Anvil, as it licked its lips quickly. He just wants to consume cards. Not that he could blame the Anvil. He hadn't had anything to eat in… a very long time. Not that he seemed to really need it.

"How weak are we talking?" Greldo asked, looking at his card with a frown. "Because I can't enter those, and that means it's just Irwin and Daubutim."

"Well, they should be easier or just as easy as the training portal you were in," Ambraz said.

"That wasn't easy," Irwin snapped as he shook his head. "If those Imps hadn't died by just touching them with my flame…"

"Well, there aren't that many different types of freshly opened common portals," Ambraz said. "The chances of there being fire imp portals are one in four for each portal. Well… unless…”

"There are only four types of common portal shards?" Irwin asked as he frowned. Somehow that didn't seem right.

"No, but there are only four types of common portals that spawn in such small groups. Imp, Frozir, Galub and Nyzir. The thing is, if you find Frozir in one of them, there won't be any Imp portals."

Small? Irwin thought as he shuddered at the thought of larger groups of portals. Wait… Frozir? Like frost?

"Frozir are ice demons?" he and Greldo asked at the same time, and Irwin grinned weakly at his friend.

"Yes, and yes. Galub love using weapons and fight anything, even each other. Nyzir are horrible slippery little things that live in lightless world-shards," Ambraz said.

I wonder if the sorcerers know all this, Irwin thought as he listened to Ambraz explain things about the different beings they could encounter. He wondered what the people that were called upon the previous years, that had time to prepare, had been taught in the towers.

Ten minutes later, they moved in front of one of the portals, Daubutim with his shield and club out and a clenched jaw.

"You're sure about this?" Irwin asked, staring at the leftmost portal.

“Yes,” Daubutim said.

"It is for the best," Greldo said. "If it's one of those ice worlds, you'd be in big trouble. Daubutim can go in quickly, take a look, and jump right back out after he sees what type of world it is."

Irwin nodded, casting a glance at Ambraz. The Anvil had instantly shut down the idea of it going in but didn't want to explain why. He was starting to wonder if there was another reason Ambraz was sticking with him. Perhaps he didn't leave because he couldn't? He tried to recall if the Anvil had ever been far from him since they exited the training portal but couldn't recall a single time.

"Good luck," he said as he saw Daubutim step forward.

"Thank you."

The boy stepped into the swirling red portal and vanished.

"I'm glad we don't have to wait for an hour like with those training portals," Greldo said.

Irwin didn't respond, staring hard at the portal. Seconds ticked by, and at thirty, he was starting to get worried when Daubutim appeared in a flash of red. He stepped forward and stumbled. Irwin jumped forward, catching the much heavier boy and barely holding him upright.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It was almost completely dark in there," Daubutim grunted as he sat down, unsummoning his shield and club. "There was a shadow, and I barely blocked it." Then he looked at his arm. Three thin scratches had split apart his leather coat.

“Nyzir,” Ambraz said. "Good, three more chances!"

Daubutim shuddered but got up.

How can he just go right back? he wondered. But he kept quiet, as did Greldo.

Thirty seconds later, Daubutim stepped back out of the second portal, this time calm and without wounds.

"The same. This time I didn't look but jumped back out," he said, shaking his head as he walked to the final of the portals.

"Such rotten luck," Ambraz snapped. "Those are the hardest of the common portals!"

Daubutim didn't respond but simply stepped into the third portal. Again time passed, but at thirty seconds, there was no sign of Daubutim, nor at sixty.

"Do you think he got caught?" Greldo asked, staring pale at the portal.

Irwin gnashed his teeth. Should I go in and check? I can't just leave him… what if he needs help? He took a hesitant step forward just as Daubutim appeared. He had a nasty bruise on the side of his face, but there was no fear in his eyes.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. There was a smaller version of those Ork, and it was about to shout," he said as he cracked his neck. "I managed to kill it before it could, but he struggled. Then I had to wait to make sure nothing appeared. There were some things wandering by the door, but none had entered yet. We should hurry inside before they find the body."

"Which are those?" Irwin asked Ambraz.

"Galub. How many horns did that one have?" Ambraz asked as he flitted to Irwin's shoulder and sat down.

"One. And a shortsword which it didn't know how to use."

"Good, those are the weakest! It's not as ideal as Imps, but the best of the other options!"

Irwin turned to Greldo, who was taking a step back, suddenly seeming lost. As he saw Irwin look, he squared his shoulders and nodded, but he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes.

There's not really another option, Irwin thought with a sigh. He turned and walked towards Daubutim, who jumped inside.

"Good luck," Greldo called from behind him.

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Irwin looked back, seeing the slightly terrified look on Greldo's face. He forced a smile and raised his hand in greeting. Then he jumped into the portal.

The familiar cold struck him as a dark, star-filled area surrounded all he could see. It was clear without any odd monstrous tentacles and lasted for a split second before he exited on the other end.

He stood on a dirty, paved floor with a small green shape lying before him in a puddle of green liquid. Daubutim was standing next to a dark wooden door in the left wall, closed with a knob and no visible lock.

"What took you so long?" he whispered, looking at Irwin with narrowed eyes.

"What? I jumped in a second after you," Irwin replied, noticing a wooden cabinet against one wall with three straw-filled beds next to it.

"It's the time-dilation," Ambraz whispered. "It's not completely random, but close to it. How long were you in here when you killed that thing?"

Daubutim blinked, his eyes suddenly sharp. "Almost two hours."

"You were gone for barely two minutes," he whispered before looking at Ambraz as he recalled what the Anvil had told him.

"Not bad, almost sixty times? That's far above average," the Anvil said, suddenly sounding happy. "That means this is a reasonably large and stable shard world."

"They aren't all the same size?" Irwin whispered.

"No, no. The training world was tiny, or perhaps smaller. I didn't get to see enough of the other one, but I think it was probably also tiny, perhaps a bit bigger."

"And this one?"

The Anvil hummed. "Either small or medium."

And what does that mean? Irwin thought, annoyed with the terms he had no reference for. His annoyance must have been obvious because Ambraz sniffed.

"Tiny is home to roughly a thousand creatures. Small ten thousand, and medium fifty thousand."

Irwin's legs gave out, and he sat on the ground with a soft thud, staring at the Anvil. How were they going to close a portal with fifty thousand monsters? All of Malorin wasn't even half that!

After a second, he looked at Daubutim, who was dumbly staring at Ambraz.

"How are we going to kill fifty thousand demons?" Irwin whispered as he looked at the black portal hovering almost at the back wall.

"What? What is wrong with you people," Ambraz whispered. "Why would you have to kill them all? You just need to find the Linchpin and kill the stronger monsters for cards!"

"As if it's that easy-" Irwin snapped his mouth shut as he heard footsteps from somewhere behind the door.

"Glib big trouble! Fat-boss no like wait," a sly voice muttered behind the door.

"Good. Glib big dummy," another came, and the door began opening.

Daubutim stood behind the door, beckoning Irwin with wide eyes.

Irwin pushed himself up and snuck towards Dautubim as fast as he could, the edge of the door following inches behind him. The noisy stomping made more noise than his scuffles, but his heart was in his throat as he put his back against the wall. The door continued heading towards them, then suddenly stopped. Looking down, Irwin saw it had hit Daubutims toes.

"Wah? Glib get shanked?" one of the voices shouted, and rushing steps entered the room.

"Left," Irwin heard Daubutim whisper as the large boy shoved the door, stepping forward and summoning his club and shield.

Two of the green things, Galub, were next to the one Daubutim had killed. Each had a single horn on their left brow, a short leather tunic that seemed stained and molded, and a rusty sword on a belt at their waist.

"Carded!" one of the Galub hissed as he began getting up.

Daubutim was faster, and before it could draw its weapon, he'd struck it on the side of its head with his club. A raised arm came too late, but instead of dropping down, the Galub demon let out a strangled grunt, putting a hand to its head. Daubutim didn't wait but continued hitting.

As Daubutim jumped the first demon, it took Irwin a fraction of a second longer to shove his growing panic down. But as Daubutim's first strike hit, he summoned his flame and jumped forward. The second Galub had gotten up and was pulling at its short sword as he reached it. Its teal eyes widened in shock, and it abandoned its effort, striking for Irwin.

Wrong, Irwin thought as he shoved his hand-long flame into the incoming arm.

The Galub's eyes turned huge, and it sucked in a breath as its mouth opened for a scream.

It never came. A hand slammed across it while an arm wrapped around its neck. Then it was clutched against Daubutims chest as it struggled with wide-open eyes of panic.

"Grab the sword. Kill it."

Irwin shuddered at the coldness in Daubutim's words, but it helped to clear his mind. He grabbed the struggling Galub's sword, pulling it out before the demon could react. One step back and feeling the cold metal handle on his hand, he stabbed forward. It was a clumsy attack, but the Galub had no way to dodge. The rusty point of the twelve-inch shortsword thudded into its leather tunic, but as Irwin's weight came behind it, it punctured through, sliding deep inside the Galub's belly. The demon let out a gurgle behind Daubutims hand, and green blood leaked from between his fingers.

"Kill the other one," Daubutim ordered.

Irwin swallowed and turned to the second Galub. It lay on the floor, green blood on the side of its head, but with a slowly rising chest. Walking forward, Irwin was about to stab it when he hesitated. They had no knowledge of this place, and this thing might be able to tell them things.

"Shouldn't we interrogate him?" he hissed as he put the sword against the Galub's neck.

Daubutim didn't respond, and Irwin looked up to see the confusion in his eyes. He still held the Galub in a stranglehold, but its struggle was dying down quickly.

"Ambraz, can we get this thing to tell us things about this world shard?" Irwin asked.

"Maybe… but you would need to threaten it somehow," Ambraz said. "It might work if you cut it a bit, then tell it you will let it live if it tells you all you want to know."

Irwin's blood ran cold as he thought about torturing something living. He licked his lips, not caring this time.

"Yes. Keep it alive, but put the sword on its throat," Daubutim said from behind.

Irwin swallowed and put the blood-covered sword tip on the unmoving demon's neck.

Daubutim dropped the other Galub and removed its belt before tying it around the downed one's arms. A few moments later, he used the other two belts they had to tie its legs at the ankles and the knees. Finished, he grabbed one of the swords.

Irwin saw him examine it, holding it in a few positions and slashing and stabbing with it. He knows how to use these.

A dull groan came from the Galub, and Daubutim grabbed it by the arm and pulled it to the far side of the room.

"If it tries to scream, I'll kill it. Ask it the questions," he said.

Irwin nodded, looking at the Galub. Its eyelids were fluttering open, its eyes rolling oddly in their sockets.

"Can you hear me?" Irwin whispered, prodding the Galub with his sword.

The Galub's eyes suddenly focused on him, then widened in shock. Its mouth opened, and Irwin raised his sword to its face. "Don't scream, or he'll kill you," he whispered as he pointed at Daubutim.

The taller boy had already raised his sword for a killing blow, only stopping when Irwin had done so. Now he was glaring at the Galub.

"No! No kill poor Gak," the Galub whispered. "Gak no shout! Gak live, good Gak!"

Irwin looked at the demon, trying to figure out if it was really this stupid or if it was toying with him. It didn't seem to be, and they had talked somewhat like this before. Deciding to try something, he lowered his sword slightly.

"Yes. Gak good," he said. "If you- Gak, tells me everything I want, I'll only tie you up and leave you here."

He saw a frown on Daubutim's face but ignored it for now as the Galub began nodding fervently. Its tiny horn flashed, and Irwin saw the sharp point on it. He'd have to be wary of those things if they had to fight them again.

Not if. When, he reminded himself.

"Yes, Gab tied! Gab give words!"

Irwin blinked, then nodded, suddenly not sure what he had to ask. He looked around at the room, the door, and the furniture.

"Are we in a city?" he asked, almost hoping they weren't.

"Yes, yes! Great city of Thero," the Galub said, nodding his head.

"Do you have a map?"

Gab gaped at him, shaking its head. "What, map? Food? Gab no have food. Gab hungry."

"How do you know where to go in the city?" Irwin asked.

Gab shrugged, or tried to, which looked odd tied up. "Gab knows. Gab go where Gab go."

What? Irwin narrowed his eyes, trying to understand what the thing meant.

"No angry! Gab show where you want go!"

Irwin saw Daubutim shake his head, and he agreed. Taking this thing along would be a great way to get killed.

"Ask it who the strongest Galub are and where they are," Ambraz whispered from his shoulder.

The Galub's pointy green ears wiggled, and its eyes focused on the Anvil. A glimmer of greed grew in his eyes.

"Shiny metal!" he hissed. "Metal for food!"

Irwin ignored him and raised his sword a bit. The Galub instantly focused on the tip.

"Gab, who is the strongest here?"

"You!" Gab whispered, fear on his face.

"And outside of this room?" Irwin asked, starting to get annoyed. It felt like talking to the four-year-olds when he had to watch them back in school.

"Doomblade Hardswing," he whispered with awe. "He slay ten carded!" Then Gab seemed to realize what he'd said and closed his mouth.

That name can't mean anything good, Irwin thought. He hoped that this Doomblade Hardswing wasn't the one who was or had the Linchpin.

"Where is Doomblade?" he asked.

"He at top of city, with females," Gab said, sighing. "Gab like females."

"How many Galub are in this city?" Irwin asked, and Gab looked up, startled.

"What Galub? I Gab!"

"No, you and them. You are all Galub," Irwin hissed, starting to lose his patience.

"We no Galub. We people," Gab said resolutely.

"You're not people. We-" Irwin held his tongue. There was no use debating with this thing. Taking a deep breath, he wondered what else they needed. Food, water. Weapons. Cards!

A minute of a struggled conversation later, he found that food and water were only to be found on the higher levels of the city and that they were now in the lowest layer. Weapons were held by individual Galub, and the stronger ones simply took better ones if they wanted them.

The most interesting thing came when he asked after Cards.

"Doomblade keep Cards from carded! Collect them!" Gab said, nodding fervently again.

"Oh! That sounds good. How many cards does he have?" Ambraz asked as he fluttered up.

"Flying metal!" Gab whispered in awe.

"Yes, yes. I'm awesome, I know. Now, how many cards does this Doomblade have?"

"Many! Very many!" Gab stated. Then he frowned. "Need fingers to show."

Irwin stared at the Galub for a moment, then sighed and raised his hands with all fingers up. "This many?"

Gab's eyes went wide. "How you know?"

Irwin shook his head in disgust and turned to Daubutim. "Let's tie him up. I don't think he can help us anymore right now."

Daubutim frowned, then stepped forward. His hand flashed, his club appeared, and he struck Gab on the side of the head. There was a dull crunch as the Galub slumped to the ground with a slack expression. Blood poured from its nose and ears.

"What-" Irwin began, then stopped as he saw Daubutim stare at him with a frown.

"This thing is a demon. It will kill everything it sees when it goes outside and will show no mercy."

Irwin blinked, then looked down at the dead Galub. Daubutim was right, and he knew it, but he couldn't shake a feeling of wrongness. "It might have been able to tell us more if we knew what to ask," he said.

"There are more here," Daubutim said. "It's too dangerous to stay here. If someone walked by and he shouted, we might die."

Irwin took a deep breath, looked at the dead Galub, and finally nodded.

"You're right. Fine. Now what?"

"Now we find out how to steal those cards from that Doomblade demon," he said.

"Great plan," Ambraz whispered enthusiastically.