The moment Mitch hit the portal, the breath was knocked out of him and he regained that terrifying sense of floating blackness. But this time, he was more prepared for it.

He felt himself hit the ground again, but this time he was met with nice, soft grass. His heart was still pounding from the chase with the monster and the encounter with the two strange demons, and he was still out of breath from running and traveling through the portal.

Lifting his head, he looked around and realized he wasn't back in the forest with the fire creature. Instead, he was on a hill, a portal right behind him. In the distance, he could see the village below, and up ahead was ShadShine castle.

Mitch felt a wave of relief, now that he actually knew where he was. Then, he collapsed into the grass, unconscious.

≪≫

Jason closed the large castle doors behind him, and let out a small sigh. He'd just gotten back from reporting the latest news on the strange portals to Adam and Ty. Unfortunately, there had been no new news.

He turned around and spread his wings, preparing to take off to do more investigation. But something made him pause.

A little farther down the hill from the castle, a new obsidian structure had popped up. And it certainly hadn't been there when he'd entered the castle.

Jason quickly made his way to the new structure. There was no purple stuff in the center, unfortunately, but there was a demon collapsed on the ground in front of it.

"Mitch?!" Jason exclaimed, recognizing the young demon.

No reply. Jason got down on his knees for a better look, and realized Mitch was out cold.

"M-Mitch!" Jason exclaimed. He looked around, but nobody else was around to help. He turned back to Mitch, and quickly picked him up, carrying him bridal style back to ShadShine castle.

≪≫

Mitch woke up in his bed the next morning. It took him a moment, but he soon remembered everything that had happened yesterday. The last thing he remembered was escaping the two strange demons back through the portal. Had they not followed him?

Mitch got out of bed, got ready and hurried out the door. As he turned the corner of his house, he collided with Jerome.

"Ow..." Mitch hissed, wobbling backwards slightly. He was still a bit sore.

"Mitch?" Jerome asked excitedly. "I was just coming to check on you! You're awake!"

"Yeah," Mitch replied, regaining his balance. "Um, what happened?"

Jerome paused. "Well, I was told to bring you up to ShadShine castle when you woke up, so Adam and Ty can explain everything there."

Mitch blinked. "Oh, okay."

One walk up the hill and into the castle later, Mitch and Jerome knocked on the large doors and entered the room where Adam and Ty usually stayed. It was the highest room in the castle, the room with the table and two chairs. Jason was there, too, standing behind the table between Adam and Ty.

"Mitch, glad to see you're okay!" Adam greeted as the two young demons entered.

"Um, yeah," Mitch replied. "Um...Jerome said that you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Ty nodded. "We need to ask you a few things. And, we might as well tell you a few things, too."

"Have a seat," Adam said, and with a slight movement of his hand, two golden chairs appeared behind Mitch and Jerome. Both obeyed and sat down.

"Alright, so, tell us everything," Adam said, leaning back in his chair.

"Uh, alright," Mitch started, and explained everything to Adam, Ty, Jason and Jerome. The strange fire creature, the forest chase, the portal, and the two weird demons in the castle.

When he finished, Adam, Jason and Ty simply exchanged looks. His heart sank for a second. Did they think he was lying?

"This," Adam declared, "Is worse than we thought."

"What?" Mitch and Jerome exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yep," Ty sighed, closing his eyes. "It's our turn to do the explaining now, I guess..."

Everyone watched Ty for a long moment, waiting for him to start.

Ty opened one eye. "It's our turn to do the explaining now, I guess."

"You're hopeless," Jason sighed, taking the hint. Yet, the loyal friend of Adam and Ty cleared his throat and began to inform Mitch and Jerome of the bigger story behind the situation.

"A couple of weeks ago, the Castle Guard and I discovered the first portal during an expedition in the Snow Biome, which is north of ShadShine castle. However, the portal must have been destroyed from the other side, because none of the purple, portal-y part was in the center of the obsidian ring."

"We didn't think too much of it, but these rings have begun to appear more and more around the Overworld, the closest one to the village so far has been the one just outside the castle. I'm sure you saw it on your way here. It's the one you came out of after you escaped those demons, since I found you there."

"We're not too sure on how the portals work, but a couple of days ago we saw one of those fire-like creatures that you were attacked by for the first time, and saw it enter the portal. We didn't dare venture in, but the portal soon closed after it entered."

Jerome raised his hand.

"Uh, yes?" Jason asked.

"So, if Mitch went in through the portal in the forest and came out through a portal in that weird castle, then went back through the same portal, then why'd he come out through the portal here?" Jerome asked.

"Good question, but I think I have an explanation," Jason said. "You see, when you enter a portal in this world, I think it will transport you to any other portal in the other world. But it's always a different portal, just in the opposite world. So, that would explain the fire monster or the two demons chasing Mitch through either portal. They must have came out a different portal if they tried to chase him."

"Then what about Mitch coming through a whole new portal?" Jerome asked again.

"I think that along with the chance of entering through any random portal, there's also a chance you could enter through a new portal that appears anywhere in the world. That would also explain why portals are popping up at random throughout the world," Jason replied.

"Hmm, so you said there were two demons on the other side if the portal, right?" Adam asked Mitch.

"Yeah," Mitch nodded. "They said their names were Simon and Bodil. I didn't recognize them at all."

"Were they...tough-looking? Scary?" Ty asked.

"Not really," Mitch shrugged. "At first they were, but one guy was wearing a watermelon on his head."

Jerome snorted.

"A...watermelon on his head, huh?" Ty blinked.

"There was a watermelon patch near one of the portals we found, actually," Jason piped up. "A lot of the melons were broken and smashed, maybe he got it from there."

"Or, just watermelons in his own world?" Adam suggested.

"Maybe they don't have watermelon in their world. We hardly know anything about it, after all," Ty said thoughtfully. He paused remembering that Mitch and Jerome were still there.

"Okay, um...for now, nobody is allowed into the forest," Ty said firmly. "Not until we solve this issue. We'll have an actual announcement made tomorrow."

Mitch tried to hide his disappointment. He wasn't being punished. It was for safety measures.

"Oh, and maybe try not to tell everyone about what's been happening?" Adam requested as Mitch and Jerome got up to leave. "We only told you because you had a right to know, but we're trying to keep all of this on the down low."

"Sure thing," Jerome agreed, and soon he and Mitch were out the door.

"Ohh boy," Ty sighed, putting a hand over his forehead.

Adam made the golden chairs disappeared with a quick hand gesture. "He mentioned the demons talking about a Devil, right?"

"A Devil's castle," Jason confirmed. "And it certainly doesn't sound like ShadShine."

"I know," Ty sighed. "Let's hope a Devil isn't our threat."