Irwin sprinted as fast as he could, ignoring Lamia's worried shouts from behind. He heard Daubutim's voice turn to a storming roar as he began ordering people around with way more fervor than before, but he paid barely any attention to it.

All he could think about was the only link to Malorin, to his home, was ahead of him, and he needed help. A tiny part of him was yelling at him that he was acting suicidal, but he ignored that too.

Besides, Coal can hold back two by himself, he thought as he scanned the happenings ahead, forcing himself to come up with a plan.

If Coal could hold them back, that meant an uncommon summon was strong enough to hold two of those things at bay. With his Coperion Body, Eyes of Blaze, Hammer and flame, he should be fine holding back at least one.

The two Tardels were making hit-and-run attacks on the larger hound, and Irwin could see Coal wanted to chase and kill one but had to hold back or risk the second one pouncing on the riders and, by extent, Greldo. He scanned the riders, including the downed one, but still couldn't recognize his friend. There were two rangers, both wearing a hood, a robed female sorcerer that made him frown, and three guards, one with a helmet.

It has to be one of those two rangers, Irwin thought, gripping his hammer.

The Tardel that had ripped apart one of the cindermares let out a deafening roar as blood streamed down its maw. The other Cindermares had backed up while their riders were shooting arrows and bolts into the oncoming demon. The dismounted rider was shoving his hand forward, and what looked like bolts of air propelled from his hand, slamming into the Tardel, which seemed unaffected.

Thick-skinned. I'll try with Eyes of Blaze first and follow with a hammer, Irwin thought.

The Tardel roared and rushed the riders, who scattered, while Coal let out a roar of its own, blocking one of the Tardels it was facing that jumped towards a ranger. For a moment, it looked like the Tardel would miss them, then its body jerked midair, and it lurched into the rider, knocking the Cindermare on its side. The guard screamed, his leg pinned below the animal, while the Tardel roared again, clawing and biting the struggling Cindermare. One of the Cindermares was sprinting away, straight at Irwin, and he saw a pale-faced, wide-eyed guard spurring the animal on while the first Tardel sprinted after it, blood still running down its maw.

Fine, Irwin thought as he focused on Eyes of the Blaze, willing out a long thin beam of roaring fire that rippled out in front of him, passed the startled guard. The Cindermount dodged sideways just as the beam struck the Tardel. The demon's eyes widened at the last moment, and it flung itself sideways, causing the fire to rip into its flank. The thick brown hide rapidly darkened, then the demon rolled away.

Whatever it had planned, it was too late. As it scrambled up, grunting angrily, Irwin reached the monstrous thing. This close, he realized how much bigger the thing was, almost the size of a fully-grown Charbull.

No going back now, he thought, as his flame erupted from the back of his hand. With adrenaline driven willpower, it rippled around his arm, shoulders, down his other arm, and around his hammer in a flash.

Without slowing down, he leaned to the side and swung the flame-wrapped hammer into the side of the barrel-sized head. There was a loud crack as the Tardel stumbled to the side, barely managing to keep its footing. Noticing there was no more than a scratch and an indent, Irwin clenched his jaw, jumped after the demon, and brought his hammer down with all the power he could.

The demon's head bounced off the ground as its front legs gave out. As Irwin raised his hammer, the head turned up, and two glowing green eyes the size of his fists glared death at him. Seeing the glow increase, he barely managed to step back as a burst of green energy rippled across the Tardel's body.

As his mind spun rapidly, Irwin stepped forward and slammed his hammer down again. If he turned and ran, he'd be in trouble, which meant he had to keep the thing down until the rest came to help him. Seeing the Tardel snarl, he jumped to the side, dodged the gleaming teeth, and struck it on the side of its jaw. Teeth the size of daggers snapped, parts flying away as the Tardel howled in anger, but Iriwn ignored it, hitting it again and again. If he let the thing catch its footing, things would go much worse for him.

Dodging back and around while striking again and again, he wished he could see where the others were. What the hell was keeping Daubutim? As seconds passed by, strike upon strike landing upon the struggling Tardel, he thought he heard shouting, but he didn't have the time to look. If he gave the thing even a single opening, it was probably going to jump him, and he had no interest in wrestling with it.

After what had to have been minutes, one of his strikes hit a section of skin that had been repeatedly struck before, and the charred skin cracked apart. The Tardel shivered, the gleam in its eyes dulling slightly before it tried to bite Irwin's leg.

More fire! He thought as he pulled his foot back and struck the Tardel's head away.

Pulling all he could from his flame, Irwin wreathed his upper body in it, realizing he should have equipped his grappling gauntlet. If he could have jumped on top of the thing, he could have burned it and struck it at the same time.

The hammer, now coated in as much fire as he could produce while burning as hot as he could make it, slammed into the Tardel's head again. The heavily damaged demon let out a weak grunt as it made a halfhearted bite in his direction. Irwin struck again, but his front foot slid sideways in the soft slick mud, and he barely managed to catch his balance. His hammer glanced off the skin, drawing a long dark streak of bubbling brown skin before thudding into the side of the eye.

The Tardel yanked its head sideways, letting out a whimpering screech, and Irwin jumped after it, striking again and again. Slowly the demon's movements stopped, and with a final overhand slam, Irwin saw a crack run across the center of its charred head. Dull fluid gushed out of the cracks; there was a final sigh as the Tardel slumped down, unmoving.

Taking weary steps back, Irwin drew in ragged breaths as he watched the thing to make sure it wasn't faking it.

"Orwin! Step back so I can decapitate it!"

Irwin blinked as he looked up and around. A group of guards was standing a good distance away from him, most watching him in awe. Now that he had snapped out of his frenzied hammering, he realized that he'd heard shouting before but had been ignoring it to focus on his enemy.

Wait, what about the other things? Irwin thought as he turned around, searching for the other two Tardels. Both lay in a heap, hundreds of arrows sticking from their bodies that were sliced apart. One had its face ripped apart, and both had their heads chopped off, both lying in a large pool of blood. The bodies of two Cindermares and one guard lay nearby.

The giant hound, Coal, stood behind them, flanked by one of the rangers who was staring intently at him.

"Orwin!" Daubutim snapped.

Shaking his weary confusion away, Irwin lowered his hammer, dropping the fire as he stepped back through the dark wet patch of mud. Daubutim stood nearby, two-hander in his hands, staring intently at the unmoving Tardel. Irwin moved away further as Daubutim finally rushed in. Two steps from the Tardel, he slowed and brought his sword down in a massive overhand strike striking the neck.

There was no twitch or sound from the Tardel, but an incredulous muttering came from the guards.

Daubutim continued chopping until the head slid away from the body. Only then did he step away, lowering his sword and his guard and turning to Irwin.

"You could have waited," he said calmly.

"And risk them being overrun?" Irwin replied as he unsummoned his hammer and strode towards Daubutim. "Besides, everything turned out fine, right?"

Daubutim shook his head, but Irwin saw that the corner of his mouth was twitching.

A heavy thud of feet made him look up, and he saw Coal -wait is that really Coal?- trudging towards him, a ranger to his side.

"When I heard that Lord Daubutim Coulwater had been spotted here, I thought I'd find you here," a familiar voice said as two gloved hands pushed the ranger hood back, revealing a pale face, the patchwork beginnings of a beard split by a huge grin. "Though I almost thought I'd been mistaken… right, Orwin?"

Irwin couldn't stop the wide grin from spreading as he walked towards Greldo. Below the shaggy beard, the thin scars running across his cheeks and face that looked like he'd been clawed by a giant bird, he recognized his friend.

"Yeah, that's a long story," he said.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Two steps from Greldo, a soft growl made him stop, and he looked at Coal.

"Coal… you grew," he said, unable to come up with anything more intelligent.

"Like you're one to talk. We had some… fun in a portal," Greldo said. His grin was replaced by a pained look before returning to a smile so fast that Irwin almost thought he'd imagined it.

"More portals?" Irwin said, acting as if he hadn't seen it." Well, you're going to have to tell me all about it!"

Greldo nodded as he inspected Irwin, his gaze lingering on the back of Irwin's now completed full-hand.

"We definitely have to talk," he said as he shook his head in disbelief.

Daubutim moved beside them.

"We need to get out of here. The blood might draw in more demons, even if we are this close to the tower," the lordling said as he inspected Greldo. "Besides, I'll need to explain my actions to my cousin."

Irwin flinched, realizing he might have gotten Daubutim into some trouble by acting as he had.

Greldo moved a bit closer. "Make sure you keep an eye on that sorcerer," he whispered. "Rumors about a young man with an anvil that can take cards up ranks are spreading throughout the sorcerer's tower."

Irwin gritted his teeth, keeping himself from looking at the sorcerer. "So, Twintin survived?" he whispered.

Greldo nodded, but his eyes flashed a warning.

Irwin felt his elation at seeing his friend dampened. As if they needed any more trouble.

"Let's talk later," Daubutim said as he turned and moved back to the guards that had kept their distance. The Cindermares stood in a small group to the side, the sorcerer in the center, looking at Daubutim and Irwin with clear gray eyes.

Irwin beckoned Greldo, who nodded before turning to Coal.

"Better for you to head back for a bit," Greldo whispered as he rubbed the massive hound's jawline. There was a surprisingly soft whimper. "I know you don't like it, but you wouldn't like it in the tower either. I'll summon you as soon as I'm in a room large enough."

Irwin was surprised at the intelligent way Coal looked at Greldo before lowering its head. Greldo sighed and turned as there was a flash from his hand. Coal vanished, leaving behind nothing but large imprints in the muddy ground.

"He doesn't like it when I unsummon him," Greldo said as he followed along with Irwin.

Wondering what that even meant, Irwin nodded. He saw Lamia near a few of the guards, and as soon as she met his eyes, she ran forward.

"So, this is that friend of yours?" she said as she looked at Greldo.

Irwin nodded while Greldo stepped forward, hand outstretched. Lamia gripped it, and Irwin saw a slight gleam appear in her eyes while Greldo grunted in surprise.

"Greldo."

"Lamia, as you heard," Lamia said, the corners of her mouth turned up.

As they let go, Irwin shook his head as he saw Greldo shake his hand.

"Don't break my friend right after I find him again," Irwin said as he began following the large group of guards and rangers.

The Cindermare riders moved up beside them as they walked.

"Greldo, thanks for saving us back there," the other ranger, a man with a brown and gray beard and pale green eyes, said.

"No problem," Greldo replied in a short, brusk way. He merely glanced at the man before continuing forward.

Wondering what that had been about, Irwin noticed that the gray-eyed sorcerer was staring at him with unabashed interest. It was hard to decide how old the man was, but the tiny lines along his forehead and cheeks showed he had to be thirty at least.

Not sure what to do, Irwin merely nodded before focusing back ahead.

Why is he here… Irwin wondered. Somehow, he had the feeling it wasn't just to ask for help. Could he be here because of Ambraz?

I shouldn't have told them at that time, he thought, not for the first time berating himself for his actions. They had seemed reasonable at the time, but now, in hindsight?

They continued on quietly until they reached the gate, which was still closed. The guards were trickling in through the smaller door while Irwin heard a heated conversation on the other side. He couldn't make it out, but he did recognize Indoutor's voice. When they were up and moved through, he saw Daubutim stand to the side, staring emotionlessly at Indoutor.

"And there's my other cousin," Indoutor snapped as he glared at Irwin. "It's a good thing you took down that thing by yourself, Orwin, or you could have cost me a dozen guards!"

Irwin frowned as he moved closer. With Coperion Body still active, he towered over Indoutor, and he saw the other's eyes narrow angrily.

"I needed to save a friend," Irwin said as he looked at Indoutor. "I'm sure you would have done the same in my situation."

Indoutor frowned his mouth opening, then closing. After a few moments, he snorted. "Not if saving a friend's life could have cost the lives of so many others," he said.

Countering his words, Irwin could see a slight approval in the other's eyes.

He isn't wrong, though, Irwin thought as he looked at the nearby guards. What would he have done if his outburst had caused some of them to die?

"At least now I have a better idea of your capabilities," Indoutor said, drawing Irwin's attention back to him.

"I'd never have thought that Ondrist would father someone as capable as this," the Tower Lord added before he turned back to Daubutim, eyes narrowing.

"Nevertheless, cousin, don't order my men around again. Especially for a suicide mission. As nobody was harmed, I'll let it slide this time… just don't do it again."

Indoutor stared at Daubutim for a few moments. Daubutim didn't seem affected by the berating, quietly looking back.

"Good. As long as you understand," Indoutor finally said with an annoyed shrug. Then he turned around and strode toward the sorcerer. Irwin heard him mutter, not this guy again, under his breath as he left.

Irwin frowned. Did Indoutor know the sorcerer? He took a step forward to listen in when a hand held him back. Looking to the side, he saw Greldo quickly shake his head before moving his chin to the tower.

"How about you show me your room," Greldo whispered.

Taking another look at the sorcerer, Irwin slowly nodded.

"Right, let's go catch up," he replied.

He turned, drawing Daubutim and Lamia along with him. As they left, he had the feeling someone was watching them, but a quick look around didn't reveal anyone looking their way.

A short while later, they walked into the shared room between the bedrooms, Irwin carrying a plate filled with bread and four steaming bowls of soup.

"Why do I get the feeling you've been living a much easier life than I have?" Greldo said as he moved to a chair and dropped into it, looking around while shaking his head.

"You get what you deserve," Irwin said as he placed the food on the table.

Greldo let out another snort while Lamia laughed. Daubutim ignored them, taking a bowl of soup. The others copied him, and for a short while, the only sound in the room was that of people eating.

When Irwin removed the last of the thin, meatless soup from his bowl with a bit of the dry bread, he looked up to find Greldo staring at him.

"What?"

"The way you eat this makes someone believe it's the best food in town," Greldo said. "I'd hoped there would be some better chow here, but I guess it's the same in all of the towers."

"You have been to more than the sorcerer one?" Irwin asked as he leaned back.

"Most of them," Greldo said as he nodded. "I have been keeping an eye on Twintin and the other sorcerers while running around, looking for any rumor about the two of you."

Irwin flinched as he suddenly felt guilty. He'd never put much effort into searching for Greldo, no more than asking Daubutim to keep an ear out with the merchants.

"How did you hear about us?" Daubutim asked as he looked up from his half filled bowl.

Greldo sniffed. "Those sorcerers have people in every tower, listening in on things. As soon as you two showed up, it took them less than an hour to know everything that had happened."

"Is that why that sorcerer came here?" Irwin asked.

"Hult… is problematic," Greldo said. "He is probably one of the four most powerful individuals in Esterdon and a nasty piece of work."

Irwin frowned. "He didn't do much against those Tardel."

Greldo looked up, grimacing. "He could have easily dealt with them if he'd wanted. I've seen him take care of a true Difflor demon before."

"On his own?" Irwin asked as he leaned forward.

"Sucked the air out from around the thing, holding it in place with some sort of tendrils and suffocating it to death."

There was a moment of silence before Lamia cursed.

"Bloody sorcerers. If he could have helped, those two guards didn't have to die," she hissed.

"Not sure if you have noticed, but sorcerers don't really care much for the rest of us," Greldo said before snorting. "Almost as bad as nobles. Present company excluded."

Daubutim didn't respond, while Irwin nodded slowly.

"So, Orwin… what's that all about?" Greldo asked.

"We had to find a good reason to come here and have Daubutim's father help out," Irwin said. "Then Lord Bron of Degonda decided to keep us there to help him deal with all those portals…"

Irwin noticed that Lamia was looking at him oddly, and he shrugged. "Let's just say I was born with a different name."

"Not that much different," Greldo snorted. "Are you going to keep that name… or?"

"What happened to you? You were gone when we exited the portal," Irwin said, ignoring the question. He wasn't ready or willing to think about that right now.

"After the two of you went in, I waited for you for a while, but more and more demons began roaming around. At some point, a pair of Night Hags picked up my scent, and I had to flee."

A vague memory of odd voices talking around a bush replayed through Irwin's mind, and he shivered.

"Luckily, I managed to reach this group of survivors from surrounding towns, led by Tanya of all people! I was lucky that she didn't recognize me, but when I found Twintin among the apprentices trailing around her, I decided to stick around and keep an eye on them. I joined the rangers, which was easy as they needed every hand they could get, and we made our way here. After that…"

Greldo looked at the wall as if he was seeing something else. "There wasn't a way to leave, with all those surges everywhere, and we had said to meet here. And seeing as you are here now, I guess I made the right choice."

Irwin nodded, wondering if the group Greldo had found was the one they had brought the little girl to. For a moment, he thought about asking Greldo, but then he shoved the idea down. It didn't matter if he had, and he couldn't do anything about it anyway.

"We couldn't get here any sooner," he said, slightly guilty again.

He wondered if it was really true. He might have been able to flee on a few occasions, but between Trimdir and learning card reforging, he had just... forgotten about it.

"Don't worry about it," Greldo said as he rubbed his hands together.

Noting the gloves, Irwin licked his lips. "Your hands?" he asked quietly.

Greldo stared at his hands as if he was only just realizing what he was doing and dropped them in his lap.

"I can use them," he said bruskly before looking at Lamia. He seemed to hesitate, looked at Daubutim, then back to Irwin, and narrowed his eyes.

"Do you still have that thing?"

Irwin nodded slowly, his mind spinning. Lamia knew he had a mysterious Anvil, but he hadn't ever told her about Ambraz. He also wasn't going to until he was in the hub-world and sure that it was safe, which meant maybe never.

"Of course! I know how you feel about me having a utility anvil card, but you know how much it hurts to remove one," Irwin said. "Besides, it has its uses."

Greldo's gaze flickered to Lamia. Then he let out a laugh. "If you say so."

Irwin grinned, glad Greldo was quick on the uptake.

"So… why did you come here?" Greldo asked, his smile fading and a serious look returning. "And don't tell me it was because of my pretty face."

Irwin crossed his arms, and as he did, his Coperion Body stopped working, causing his body to shrink.

Greldo leaned forward, his eyes widening. "That's one nice trick," he grunted. "Card?"

"What else?" Irwin said as he rubbed his hands. "So… about why we are here."