After explaining to Greldo why they had come here, the other boy fell into a quiet reflection.

Not sure what was going on in his friend's head, Irwin began talking about some of the things that had happened to him and Daubutim, including their encounter with the Bablibon and their journey to Degonda. Greldo and Lamia, who also hadn't heard it before, asked a few questions, especially about the Bablibon and if it might have followed through the portal.

When Irwin finished, there was a long moment of quiet before Greldo turned to him.

"I'm coming," he said, stating it as a fact and seeming to leave no room for argument.

Irwin had hoped Greldo might come while at the same time not sure what to expect. They hadn't seen each other in what felt like years but was probably closer to months, and both had changed immensely. Besides, he and the others were going somewhere that was going to be dangerous, and as much as he was trying to suppress the fear of it, they might not all come back alive.

"Are you sure?" he finally asked.

Greldo stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "The world's going to shatter, there is little we can do to fix it, and you are going to try to do something about it. What else can I do? Remain here?"

Nobody answered, but there was a round of smiles and grins.

"So, have you got a plan to reach that portal then?" Greldo asked finally, a smug smile on his face.

Irwin rolled his eyes. He had no idea what Greldo was planning, but a fool could see he had an idea.

"Not yet," he said. "We were looking around to try and find some way when we had to save your sorry self from trouble."

Greldo's grin turned wider. "No? Well, it's a good thing I managed to find you before you got yourself killed then!"

Lamia snorted before letting out a giggle that seemed to surprise her as much as it did the others.

Irwin was about to comment on it when Daubutim scraped his throat.

"You know a way to the portal?" the tall noble asked, staring at Greldo.

"Of course I do," Greldo said. "I've been running around here for a while, and contrary to what most people think, the rangers are still scouting the ruins to try and keep an idea of what's happening."

"And you've been going with them?" Irwin asked.

"Me and Coal have been-" Greldo began before slapping his head and jumping up. With a quick look around, he stepped toward the largest empty area in the room. His card flashed, and a second later, Coal's massive form appeared. The side of his shoulder thudded into a drawer, and as he looked around, he jostled a chair.

"Calm down, you big lug," Greldo said. "It only took slightly longer this time. Now, lie down quietly so you don't break this place!"

Coal turned his burning eyes to the youth before doing as ordered, his eyes looking around curiously.

Greldo sat down beside him, his back against the hound's side as he looked at the others.

"Where was I? A right! So, me and Coal here have been keeping track of what's happening in the ruins. I know where the portal is, and I think I have a way of reaching it without dying in the process."

The others stared at him, Daubutim even leaning forward expectantly.

"So, tell us already," Lamia finally snapped, letting out an annoyed shrug.

"Just wanting to make sure you're interested," Greldo said, his grin widening.

He didn't change all that much, Irwin decided as he shook his head, before focusing on Greldo.

--

Lord Indoutor sat opposite the sorcerer Hult, wishing Uxin'tar was here to talk to his annoying ex-colleague.

Where is that geezer anyway? he thought as he looked around, letting Hult prattle on. He'd been telling him about a bunch of sorcerer's apprentices that stole something from him. Nothing interesting at all, just as he'd expected. Why can't someone else listen to his-

"Lord Indoutor!"

Hult's angry snap drew his attention back. "What?" he retorted, no less angry.

"Am I boring you?" Hult asked as he glared hard.

Yes. Indoutor thought, thinking for a few moments and finally deciding it would probably make the conversation last longer if he actually said that.

"You're looking for a bunch of apprentices that stole some magical anvil from you," he said, waving his hand. "Have you been looking around? There are more important things going around than some-"

A dull boom came as Hult slammed his hand on the table, causing a slight impression on the surface while the entire massive thing shivered.

Indoutor's eyes narrowed as he focused fully on Hult. His annoyed boredom was gone now, as he felt his deeply buried hatred for sorcerers bubble up. He'd managed to curb it around Uxin'tar, mostly because he looked ready to keel over and had left the other sorcerers, but he was damned if he was going to let this slide.

"Sorcerer Hult," he said slowly, as he leaned forward. "Do I need to remind you where you are? Or who I am?"

The tension in the room grew as the back of the sorcerer's hands began glowing softly, instantly followed by those on the backs of Lord Indoutor.

Do you think I'm afraid of you? Indoutor thought as he began pushing himself up.

The door to the luxurious room was shoved open, startling them both.

"Bah, what are you doing, you bunch of juvenile delinquents," Uxin'tar rasped goodnaturedly as he slowly hobbled into the room. "I'm gone for a bit and you act like you want to have a brawl that might destroy the entire tower?"

Indoutor didn't respond, but he saw Hult's eyes flickered to Uxin'tar before he leaned back, the glow of his cards dying down. Only then did Indoubor relax, withdrawing his own focus on his cards.

Uxin'tar shuffled to a chair before sitting down to creaking and grunts of effort.

"What took you so long?" Indoutor asked, unable to hold his annoyance out of his voice.

"Did you just see me walk in? It takes me a week just to get up these stairs," Uxin'tar said. "I told you to not put your welcome room on the top floor, didn't I?"

Indoutor blinked, then shrugged faintly, recalling a conversation like that.

"Elder," Hult began, only for the ancient sorcerer to look up with an angry glint.

"I'm not your elder, boy. Now. What is this about a magical anvil?"

Indoutor barely held back a groan. Seriously? He had to hear this again?

Leaning back, he ignored the sorcerer's prattle as he thought back to the scene of Orwin charging the Tardel. He'd never seen anyone hit one of those things with a hammer, let alone hard enough for it to be stunned. He had dealt with them one on one himself and knew exactly how tenacious and voracious they were. If someone had told him before that someone without a rare or better carded-greatsword could take care of one of those monsters, he'd have had them locked up for a week. He knew that the body improvement card that caused him to grow and change his skin tone had something to do with it, but still… he knew of a dozen people with cards like those, and he didn't think any could strike with that much force.

And those flames… first from the eyes then around himself and the hammer, he thought. Was that a single card? If so, it had to be very-rare. He'd never heard of anything below that doing so many things.

Four cards… I'd say one for the hammer, one for the skin. That leaves the flames and the eyes. Probably two cards unless he didn't show all he has.

After a few moments, he began with one of his favorite pastimes. As he replayed the fight in his mind, he knew his cousin's main weak point was his speed, and he began coming up with ways to take him out if he had to. It took him only a few minutes to find at least a dozen, mostly ranged or with superior speed.

"Lord Indoutor, would you care to weigh in?" Uxin'tar said so loud he had to cough right after.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lord Indoutor frowned, annoyed at the disturbance, as he saw the two sorcerers look at him. Hult seemed annoyed, while Uxin'tar just stared at him with a smirk.

"About?"

Hult hissed, but Uxin'tar silenced him with a hand gesture.

"If we are to go to your cousins and demand to inspect them to find the anvil Hult says was stolen from him," Uxin'tar said.

Indoutor frowned. Were those two old fools still going on about some stupid Anvil? Besides, what if Orwin had taken it? He was part of house Coulwater until someone proved the opposite, which with Caldangen fallen, could prove difficult. No. He shook his head. If he let some stupid sorcerer try and grab things from one of his cousins, what would his men think? That he'd lay down to some sorcerer that came barging in?

"No," he said, taking delight in the darkening face of Hult. "I'll go and ask them about it tomorrow, but neither of you is to make a move. Clear?"

Uxin'tar just nodded, and Hult was surprised to see a slight smile on the wrinkly old face.

Hult's mouth opened, and he seemed ready to argue, so Indoutor quickly rose.

"Enough. I've got other things to take care of now. Uxin'tar, has Jondir returned from the mission you send him on?"

"Not yet, Lord.

Bah. Thinks he can just use my men for his own needs, Indoutor grunted.

"Fine. Send him to me as soon as he returns."

"Yes, Lord."

Indoutor took a last look at Hult before leaving.

As the door closed, Hult hissed.

"Why didn't you-"

Uxin'tar leaned forward, a dull glow erupting from him that covered both of them, causing a slight silence to appear all around them. Hult fell quiet, his face turning slightly pale.

"Don't bother them. Understand?"

Hult nodded reluctantly, and the oddly glowing light turned more intense while a shivering pressure came from all around, making him flinch.

"Good. Then I suggest you head back to your own tower and tell the new tower Lord or Lady that she is not to bother me again. Or I'll pay you all a visit."

Another nod, then the light and pressure vanished, and Uxin'tar rose.

"I'll not be seeing you out," he muttered in his cracking old voice, slowly walking out and closing the door behind them.

As soon as he was gone, Hult struck the table again, and a long crack appeared across its length.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," he whispered.

--

The day had passed by quietly as Irwin and the others mainly remained in their rooms, only leaving to get more food. They had begun planning how to leave, taking more food than they needed and putting it in their bags.

When the sky slowly darkened, Irwin got up.

"Better try and get some rest," he said before turning to Daubutim. "Are you sure you can wake up at the set time?"

Daubutim rose, moving to his room. "Of course."

Irwin shared a look with Greldo.

"I'll stay here with Coal. He will wake me when you come out of your rooms," his friend said as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Irwin wondered how it would feel to sleep against a massive dog's body, then he turned and saw Lamia staring at him. She was fidgeting, but as soon as she saw him looking, she smiled quickly and hurried into her room.

Now what? Irwin wondered as he moved into his own room.

He was surprised at how easily he fell asleep, and when someone softly knocked on the door, he shot up right away, looking around. From how ruddy the room looked, he knew it was dark outside, and he quickly got up. He'd gone to sleep fully dressed, except for his boots, which he quickly put on before walking out of his room.

The others were already sitting around, though Lamia and Greldo both looked around bleary-eyed.

"I hate waking up in the middle of the night," Greldo muttered.

"Isn't that normal?" Lamia whispered, rubbing her head.

Irwin didn't say anything, but he saw Daubutim shake his head as he stepped before them, staring at Greldo.

"Alright, get yourself awake and ready. Chances are there will be guards nearby, and-"

"Ugh, I know," Greldo whispered. "I've done this before, you know?"

Daubutim didn't seem the least bit deterred.

"Yes, you have told us. But you seem barely awake, and as you said, if we do it now, it's likely nobody will see it coming."

"Are we really sure Indoutor wouldn't just let us leave?" Lamia asked as she hung across the chair's armrest.

"No, but if we ask, any potential surprise of us leaving will be gone," Daubutim said.

"Right. Just asking."

Irwin moved beside Greldo, nudging him. "Good luck."

"No worries," Greldo said as he got up and began stretching his arms, then his legs.

After a few moments, he moved to Coal.

"Sorry buddy, you've gotta go in again. But after we get out of here, you can run around for a while!"

I wonder how the hub-world handles summons, Irwin thought as he saw Coal roll its eyes before yipping.

A flash of dim light later, the room was down one massive summoned hound, and Greldo pulled the hood over his head. Another card, his third and one he had just said helped him get around, flared up for a moment, and a dim shadow seemed to wrap around him.

"Where did he go?" Lamia asked, her voice slightly higher than before.

"I think he's still there… look, the shadow," Daubutim replied.

"That's so awesome," she whispered.

Irwin saw Greldo look at her, a proud grin on his face.

"Yeah, pretty awesome," Irwin said as he stared straight into his friend's eyes. Greldo looked up, and his eyes widened. He stepped to the side, and when Irwin followed him with a grin, his face fell, and he shook his head. Irwin saw his lips move in a silent curse before he turned. Irwin expected him to open the door or something, but Greldo stepped into the dim shadow next to the door and vanished.

It's like what that Slaughter Demon did, Irwin thought. Or at least close to it.

As he thought about that, he suddenly wondered if that was where Greldo's card came from. Did he go into a portal with more of those horrible things? That couldn't be… right? Just one almost ended them all!

"Do you think he will be able to do what he said he would?" Lamia asked as she moved beside him.

"Yes," Irwin said, nodding. "I don't believe he would have said so otherwise. Either that, or he changed a lot from the last time we saw him."

"He is from the same town as you?"

"Malorin, yes," Irwin said.

"Was it a nice place?"

Irwin blinked, turned to Lamia, and saw a tightness in her face, as she clenched her hands.

She's afraid.

It somehow surprised him. She knew what they were going to do... so why would she be... then it hit him. Sneaking out of a tower near one of the most dangerous places on the peninsula before making their way into the ruins of a dangerous demon-filled city riddled with portals was scary. It wasn't odd that Lamia was afraid. The odd thing was... Why wasn't he afraid?

"Orwin?"

He smiled at Lamia and shrugged. He'd worry about his own lack of fear later.

"It's nice enough, but me and Greldo, we were from the poorest part of town. Most of the things I remember were not having enough food to eat, being tired from helping my mom or-"

He almost added, angry at the world for how weak my body is. As he closed his mouth with a snap, he raised his arm, clenching his fist and looked at the corded muscles running across his lower arm. It was probably thicker than his leg had been only a year ago.

"Sorry, I didn't want to remind you of bad things," Lamia whispered.

"No, no! Not bad," Irwin said as he grinned. "Just remembered something. If I told you what I looked like a year ago…"

"Well, I remember how skinny you were when you came to Trimdir!" she snorted.

"Yeah… try and imagine me from back then with half the weight," Irwin said. He knew he was laying it on a bit too thick, but seeing Lamia smile made him feel better.

She frowned, then saw him grin and shook her head.

"That would make you the size of a twelve-year-old. Don't trick me!"

Irwin flinched as he realized that was exactly what he had looked like back then.

A soft thud came from the shadows beside the door, and Irwin looked up just in time to see Greldo reappear.

"We're in trouble," Greldo hissed. "Hult is missing, and there are guards looking to find him. I trailed after a group, and they said Uxin'tar had ordered them to find and capture him."

Irwin frowned. "Do you think you can still sneak us out?"

Greldo shook his head. "Not with guards everywhere."

"This isn't good," Daubutim said as he stepped forward. "If we can't sneak out now, there is a constantly greater likelihood of my cousin acting in a way that will be problematic."

"What if we say we are going to help find that sorcerer?" Lamia said from the side, causing the three young men to look at her.

"Well, you know him, right?" she asked as he pointed at Greldo. "You could say that you might be able to track him, and we are there to help in case he acts up. The guards, they've seen what musclehead over here can do-"

"Hey!" Irwin exclaimed.

"And with Lord Coulwater with us…?"

"That's not a bad idea," Greldo said, looking at Lamia appreciatively.

Irwin agreed, and as he stared at Daubutim, he saw his friend's eyes flicker from dull to sharp rapidly, showing he was trying to work through something.

"What-" Greldo began, but Irwin raised his hand, putting his finger to his lips.

"Wait a moment."

Greldo frowned but ignored him, waiting for Daubutim to work through whatever blockade he had. It took almost half a minute, then Daubutim looked up.

"It's a good plan," he said. "Even if we can't find him, we can use it to say that we are going to look around the outside because you found a trail. Once outside, we can use the cover of darkness to leave. The problem is, we can't take our bags because that will make the guards suspicious. Stuff food in your pockets."

Greldo whistled, staring at Daubutim.

"Alright, let's go right away," Irwin said as he headed to his bags, removing food and other things and stuffing them in his pockets. He ended with a flagon of water that he hung from his belt before moving to the door. The others had finished, and there was a sudden tension as he saw they all realized they were moving out.

"Daubutim, can you take the lead?" Irwin said.

Daubutim moved forward with a curt nod, and the others followed after him.

It was quiet and dark in the clean corridors as they walked down the luxurious area of the tower they had been placed within. Simple lighting stones sat at regular intervals, something Irwin still had a hard time believing.

As they reached the lower floors, loud footsteps, and voices were heading their way. Curbing a corner, a group of four guards stopped as they spotted them, but Daubutim continued, seemingly unperturbed.

"Lord Coulwater?" the lead guard asked, and Irwin saw him frown as he gazed at him and the others.

"Squad leader," Daubutim said calmly. "I've heard there are troubles with the sorcerer that we saved this afternoon?"

"Yes, Lord," the guard said, seemingly surprised. "But there is no need to worry. We will find him soon. Lord Indoutor said that everyone should remain in their rooms until-"

"Yes, Squad Leader," Daubutim said, interrupting the man with a sharpness Irwin knew had to be instilled by his father. "However, I have the ranger here that traveled with the sorcerer and reason to believe that he can locate him. So, we are going to search around until we find and apprehend him."

The guard turned pale, and Irwin saw the others look at each other in worry.

"Yes, my Lord, but the sorcerer might be dangerous…"

"My cousin, Orwin, is with us," Daubutim said, waving behind him. "I'm sure you have seen or heard about his feat yesterday?"

Irwin blinked, not sure how he felt when he saw the four pairs of eyes trail on him, nor when he saw the nods of approval. He managed to keep his face blank and nodded at the guards.

Daubutim stepped forward as if he was going to go through the guards. "Now, Squad Leader, good luck with your search. If we find the sorcerers, we will make sure to create a loud racket so you can find us and him. I'd suggest you do the same, and we will come to your aid as fast as we can."

The guard hesitated, then stepped aside.

"Please be careful, Lord Coulwater," the man said.

Daubutim nodded as he walked by him and down the staircase. As the others followed him, Irwin heard Greldo and Lamia whispering.

"I never saw him act like that!"

"He's a lord. What did you expect?"

"Hush," Irwin whispered as he hurried after Daubutim down the staircase.

They moved past another few guards, but Daubutim only had to talk a few times before they reached the outside of the tower. As they moved through the city towards the gate, Greldo moved beside Daubutim, acting as if he was using a card.

"Do you think they will fall for it?" Lamia whispered.

"Probably," Irwin whispered back.

--

As they continued along, none of them noticed a pair of pale gray eyes glaring at them from a nearby roof.