Marcus walked out of the bedroom to find that only Tasha had woken up. She gave him a nod as he made his way towards the kitchen. He started making breakfast for everyone. Tasha simply watched him but did not join to help. Made sense. She had just arrived. Marcus had doubts she would be able to cook what the demons had provided them.

  Once the breakfast was ready, Marcus covered everything and set the table. The others were still not awake and Marcus wondered why.

  “You have settled in quite nicely”, remarked Tasha.

  Marcus frowned at that. He replied, “I know. I am not happy with it either. But until we find a way out of this fucking damned place, I will play house to the best of my fucking abilities.”

  Tasha gave a short laugh, “Nothing wrong with that. However, I do want to talk about what progress you have made about getting out of here.”

  “Nothing. I thought about getting out of the sewers. However, I could find no access point to the sewers in the castle. At least, an access point through which we would fit through. The drainage system is too good and I don’t know where the maintenance access is. I have explored most of the castle except for the areas we are not allowed to go to.”

  Marcus looked at Tasha who nodded at him to continue.

  “As I told you yesterday, initially I started to read in the library to find a way out of here. However, I got lost in the books and got distracted. I got complacent and as you said before, I settled here nicely. This is fucking wrong. I need to find a way out of here.”

  “And is the onus of finding an escape route on you only?” asked Tasha.

  “I know you can help. However, the others seem to have given up. And I can’t ask them to help more than the support that they have been giving me. False hope is also not good”, said Marcus with a sigh.

  “I brought you here with a mission. Help the adventurers trapped here escape Twarftha and get back to Una. And you are simply taking steps to ensure that. You consider that false hope?” asked Tasha softly.

  Marcus laughed, “What are you? My fucking therapist?”

  Tasha shook her head, “No, I am here. And I am going to help you now. With me here we can escape this place fast. I have a plan.”

  “So, getting caught was part of your plan?”

  “No, I wanted to use the demon attack to whisk you away but that failed. I encountered Lucifer and he is definitely way stronger than me.”

  “Ok, so what’s the plan?”

  “Breakfast. Then a bit of research for my sake. Do you remember the circle on Una? The demon portal?”

  Marcus raised an eyebrow, “You are also thinking of using that to go back?”

  “Wait, what do you mean also? Don’t tell me. You already thought about that?”

  Marcus shook his head, “I had this thought this morning. I never considered this before. I was going to research that portal today. Find out how it was cast and whether we could replicate the spell or not.”

  “Well then. What are we waiting for?”

  “I want to eat breakfast.”

  Tasha laughed. They finished their breakfast fast. The others still had not woken up. Marcus found this weird. He looked inquiringly at Tasha who gave a sigh.

  “The others will wake in a few minutes after we leave. I put a simple sleeping spell on them. I wanted a private word with you.”

  “Here or some other place?”

  “This is private enough for now. I have put another spell so that prying ears would not hear what we are going to say.”

  “And what are we going to say?”

  “You performed magic when you were captured.”

  It was not a question. It was a statement. Tasha knew. And it seemed that she had questions about it.

  “Yes?” said Marcus.

  “How did you do it?” asked Tasha tilting her head towards the left, “Did you have the potential to cast spells before you came to Una? Did your latent magic activate when you arrived on Twarftha?”

  “Interesting questions. I am afraid I don’t have the answer which you may like. I discovered by accident that I could do magic on Twarftha. I am practicing in secret though, trying to figure out what I can do and how long I can cast spells before trying out.”

  A look of shock passed on Tasha’s face, “You have been practicing on your own?”

  “Yes”, Marcus looked confused, “Should I have not done that?”

  Tasha shook her head, “If you knew magic before Una and you remembered how to cast it, then it is okay. However, if you rediscovered it on Twarftha, then you need guided instruction. Experimentation on your own has a high chance of leading to your death.”

  “Wow! Fucking wow! Just-” Marcus groaned and rolled his eyes. He could not believe how careless he had been. Then Memory spoke to him.

  Don’t fucking listen to her. You are fine. Keep using magic. You will be fine. Just pretend to take her advice. You know magic. I am simply giving you information slowly so as to not overload your brain.

  Marcus snorted as he realized that of course it was Memory. How could he forget? It was Memory that had given him back his magical powers and had told him that he would do it slowly. Now he was reminding him of the fact. Was Memory getting concerned about Marcus’ well being?

  Of course you fucking idiot. I need you alive and back on Una.

  That explained Memory’s concern.

  Marcus said to Tasha, “I will wait for some guidance then. However, I get the feeling that we should not waste time. The more time we spend here, the more we will get comfortable with our scenario. I wish to get out of here fast now. Do you have any more questions?”

  Tasha frowned, “Not at the moment. But we will circle back on your magic usage. Keep it minimal for now and only in case of emergencies. Got it?”

  Marcus agreed with Tasha. Then they got up and went out of the room. Tasha again reassured Marcus that the others would wake up in a few minutes after they had left and he did not need to worry about them. Marcus still worried a bit.

  Marcus and Tasha made their way towards the training ground. Tasha remembered that the other adventurers had come through the portal into the training grounds when they had arrived on Twarftha. Tasha wanted to see how the portal runes looked on Twarftha’s side. She said she remembered how they looked on Una and Marcus found himself surprised when he remembered how they looked on Una.

  They reached the training grounds to find the demons at the end of their training practice. Marcus wondered how much time had they spent in the morning that they were this late. The others except Tamara would not be happy. They spent their mornings usually training with the other demons.

  Marcus was right when some of the other demons inquired with Marcus as to what the other adventurers were up to. Marcus told them that they were still sleeping mostly. The demons looked surprised and then laughed that yesterday’s excitement was too much for the others and they were still sleeping it off. Marcus agreed with them with a laugh and proceeded to join Tasha who had continued to walk while Marcus talked with the demons.

  “You have made friends”, observed Tasha.

  Marcus replied, “Tim, Thalia, Shania and Selena have made friends. I have not trained much with these demons.”

  “Is it wise to train with them?”

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  “And what else is there to do?”

  “Hmm.”

  Tasha continued to walk towards one end of the training field and Marcus followed. An area was cordoned off with a fence-like structure. There were a couple of guards standing around it. They tensed when Tasha and Marcus approached.

  “You are not allowed here”, said one of the demons.

  Tasha waved her hand and all of the guard demons froze. She stepped up to the fence and looked inside. Marcus examined the demons. They seemed to have been petrified, their eyes staring straight, unblinking. They did not seem to have any notion of what was going around them.

  Marcus came up to Tasha and looked at Tasha. She was still watching inside the fence. Marcus did the same. There he saw the same circular pattern and runes that he had seen on Una.

  “It is the same”, Marcus remarked.

  “Yes it is. I had expected something different but no matter.”

  Tasha stepped away from the fence and gestured to Marcus to do the same. She positioned herself in front of the demon who had stopped them and asked Marcus to stand in the same way he had before she froze the demon. Marcus complied to the best of his ability.

  Tasha waved her hand again and the demon unfroze.

  “Did you not hear me?” he said with an angry tone, “You are not allowed here.”

  “Why? What is over here?” asked Tasha in a teasing tone.

  The demon’s eyes narrowed in anger, “Go away before we use force on you.”

  Tasha raised her hand, “Alright. We are going. No need to get aggressive. I was just curious.”

  She started walking away from the demons. Marcus looked at the demons, then back at Tasha and started to walk beside her.

  “Well, what now?”

  “Now, Marcus Blank, we will go to your favorite place on any world.”

  “Library?”

  “Yes”, grinned Tasha, “The Library.”

  Tasha and Marcus went to the library where they were joined by Tamara.

  “I had a feeling I would find you here eventually”, said Tamara as Marcus and Tasha approached the library.

  “I am not that predictable”, said Marcus.

  Tasha chose not to say anything and simply looked at Tamara with an inquisitorial glance.

  “I am here to help. I know you are trying to find a way out of here. I am not going to put my hopes on the Game Masters negotiating us out of this predicament. How can I help?” asked Tamara eagerly.

  Tasha explained to her about the portal and told her to help them find any literature that would help them. Then all three of them entered the library. Marcus found Linguis sitting at her usual spot and gave her a small smile as he entered. Linguis looked at them as they entered and gave a start. Then she relaxed at Marcus’ smile and waved him over.

  Tasha and Tamara left towards different sections of the library as Marcus made his way towards Linguis. Linguis was looking a bit nervous. Marcus wondered why.

  Linguis said, “Are you feeling alright, Marcus?”

  Marcus shrugged and said, “As fine as I ever can be. Why do you ask?”

  “My father. Well. I was a bit worried after you had met my father yesterday. You passed out after all.”

  Marcus froze when he registered what Linguis had said.

  “Lucifer Morningstar, the King of Demons, is your father.”

  Linguis nodded and did not say anything. She was looking at Marcus carefully.

  “How?”

  “Well, you wish to know how demons reproduce?”

  “What? No! I mean you look nothing remotely like him. I mean. You are… You… And he is… Him?”

  Linguis laughed at that, “I will give you a couple of books about demon reproduction and genetics. That would help you. We neither reproduce like humans nor our children have similar outer characteristics as our parents. Are you interested in knowing more? I really have books I can recommend.”

  Marcus waved his hand, “Maybe at a later time. I am thinking of reading something else today.”

  “And what would that be?” Linguis asked with anticipation.

  Marcus wondered if he could trust Linguis after all. He had developed a good rapport with her over the days, but she was Lucifer’s daughter after all. Marcus decided to take a gamble.

  “Do you know how the adventurers came to Twarftha from Una. Through the portal that was created in the training ground which linked the two worlds. I want to know how that was done. What was the spell used in that case?”

  The smile left Linguis’ face as she heard what Marcus had to say. She said, “Why?”

  “To replicate it, Linguis. I may or may not care about others but I need to get back to Una and I want to explore whether I can do that.”

  Linguis looked at Marcus for a long time. Then she said, “There is no escaping my father. There is no escaping the Game Masters. That spell is useless. Are you sure you want to go down this path?”

  Marcus was not surprised to find anger and bitterness in Linguis’ voice. He asked, “What path?”

  “The path where you try to escape from here and my father captures you and…”, she stopped her voice breaking.

  Marcus looked resolutely straight into her eyes and said, “Linguis I can’t stay here. This is not my planet. Neither is Una for that matter but I get a feeling I am supposed to be there. Now, I can either ask you for help and you help me or you report this to your father and I will try to escape in secret. However, if your father wishes to keep me here against my will, then he may as well kill me. Because I am not going to give up on getting out of here.”

  Marcus could see that Linguis had teared up. She simply wrote something on a sheet of paper and handed it to Marcus. Then she stood up and almost ran out of the balcony.

  Portals by Gemini Flintlock

  I will not tell my father but you need to take me with you.

  “Thank you, Linguis”, mumbled Marcus, “However, you did not tell me where I can find this book.”

  Marcus turned to find Tasha standing over him.

  “What did you tell her?”

  Marcus relayed his conversation with Linguis to Tasha and gave her the note. Tasha started after Linguis. Marcus raised his hands in exasperation and started to search for the book Linguis had mentioned. While searching for it his mind went to what Tasha was going to do to Linguis. He hoped that she would not consider her a threat and spare her. He may have been naive taking the gamble with Linguis.

  He met Tamara while searching for the book and recruited her help. It took them about an hour of searching but they finally found the book. It was Tamara who found it and brought it to Marcus. They sat together to read. Marcus quickly found the spell that they were looking for.

  Marcus did not like what he was reading. The spell used by the demons to portal from Twarftha to Una was called the [Sacrificial Portal]. Marcus read its description.

  [Sacrificial Portal]

  Sacrifices living beings to open a portal between two points. The two points can be anywhere in the Universe. The mana required to travel depends upon the distance between the two points and sacrifice provided for the same.

  Then there was a description about how to prepare the ritual circle for the spell. The materials for preparing the circle were ghastly, requiring blood and some body parts of creatures that Marcus had not heard of.

  There was a description on how to draw the ritual circle and how the ritual circle looked. Marcus identified what he had seen on the training grounds on Twarftha and in the forests of Urtor. It matched with the drawing of the ritual circle of the book.

  Even though Marcus did not like it, he read in detail everything that was provided about [Sacrificial Portal]. He did not like it. He was sure that they would not be able to use it to escape Twarftha. Even if they could use the ritual circle already prepared on the training grounds, he was not sure how many sacrifices he would need to make to teleport the seven of them from Twarftha to Una.

  Tamara was also disgusted with the spell and was now leaning back with a thoughtful expression on her face. Marcus decided to read the rest of the book. Maybe there was a portal spell in the book which they could use and which would not require such heavy sacrifice and disgusting materials.

  Tasha came back at that time.

  “I have taken care of Linguis”, she said to Marcus.

  “Is she alive?” asked Marcus hesitantly.

  Tasha snorted, “Of course. I just had a talk with her. It seems that you have made an ally of her.”

  “And about her condition.”

  “I made a deal. I hope the Game Masters of Una help me maintain it.”

  “Will it be a risk?”

  “Of course it will be a fucking risk. But it is a risk you chose to take when you told her your plan. I simply hope it was worth it.”

  Tamara was looking between the two of them with slight confusion. Marcus explained to her what had happened and she nodded.

  “Foolish”, said Tamara, “But I understand why you did it.”

  Marcus then gave the Portal book to Tasha and explained to her what he had read about the [Sacrificial Portal].

  Tasha frowned as she said, “I don’t think we can use the same methodology. It means that we will have to go back the way we came. This time with lots more people with me. For that we need to get out of this city.”

  “So, back to sewers?”

  “Only if we get out of this castle. And we need to think of something fast.”

  “Why is that?” asked Tamara.

  “Because I feel the shift in energy of this planet. I have a feeling Rauros and Leyda are going to come back for further negotiation. And I wonder what will happen if they find me captured too.”

  Marcus looked at Tasha with horror as he understood what she meant.

  “Fuck”, he said, “Do you have a plan of some sort?”

  Before Tasha could reply the doors of the library opened and a large number of demon guards swept in led by a demon lord which Marcus did not recognize.

  The demon lord said, “Found the rest of you. Come with us. Lord Lucifer demands your presence.”

  Tasha said politely, “May I ask what this is pertaining to?”

  “The Game Masters of Una have come back for further negotiations. Lord Lucifer wants all the prisoners with him when he negotiates. And no talking. There will be dire consequences if you do so”, the demon lord said with a devilish grin on his face. His pointed teeth added a terrifying effect when he grinned.

  “Come now”, he said in an urgent one, “I do not like to keep my Lord waiting. And neither should you.”

  And they were led with the devil guards to the throne room. Where negotiations were going to take place between Lucifer and the Game Masters of Una. Exactly the situation that they wanted to avoid in the first place.

  They were fucked.