After a while, Lazarus got up.

"I think we can excuse ourselves now. This celebration promises to go well into the night and probably into morning too. We are not needed here anymore."

"Now, can we go home and log out?" asked Valentine is a long-suffering voice.

Constantine laughed at his friend's discomfort.

The large hall hushed as the three Ghost Lords stood up in unison. They had said their good-byes in private to the Overlord, Warlord and jaav ukon earlier.

Thalasis had given Lazarus a letter and a small box of powder for Isis.

"We are indebted to the Ghosst Lord Ississs. A ssmall token of gratitude to the human Priestessss. Tell her that her gift to me wasss invaluable and very much appreciated. It helped usss regain our sstrength and morale at the mosst crucial time."

Lazarus had accepted the Gift and promised to deliver it to Isis personally.

Jarrakg had taken Constantine aside too.

"Ghost Lord," he said gruffly. "Red Warlock ... I know the savage Barbarian is yours but please give this to her." He pressed a carefully wrapped bundle onto Constantine's hands. "A Gift from a warrior to another warrior," he added hurriedly afraid to offend the great spell caster.

"What's this?"

"It's a spear head I made myself from orc granite. It is unbreakable, very sharp and will make a great weapon. Tell her, Jarrakg thinks of her as a great warrior and ... and ..." the battle scarred Second In-Command trailed off as he ran out of words to express himself.

Constantine's jaw dropped and he stared in surprised at the silent orc for a moment. The orc had a crush on Kirana!! Wait, seriously? A mischievous smirk slowly formed on his handsome chiselled features. Oh my God!! An NPC had a crush on his sister!! He hoped with all his heart that Sophia was watching this on his ipad! He would never let her hear the end of this! Never!! Ha, ha, ha!

The tough orc was taking a huge risk showing such interest in the Barbarian and asking the powerful Ghost Lord for such a personal favour. After all, Kirana was supposed to be his lover ... ingame. But the great Red Warlock decided to be magnanimous, after all, Jarrakg was providing him endless fodder to tease his twin. What could be better than that?

"It is alright. I will convey your heartfelt message, yes?" he said with a straight face. An orc hopelessly in love was a funny thing indeed! Simtrixx was evil, yes? But he was going to be more evil!! What fun he was going to have with Sophia!!

Meanwhile Kasakh, the green orc had cornered Valentine. She had bonded with the Thief when he had shown her kindness and fed her delicious fresh meat. The Banished One's spawn had been all alone then and hunted by Mallarg's Imperial warriors. She had been starving, frightened and lost.

"Thank you Ghost Lord. You appeared at the right time. I was so lost when my Father died."

"No problem, Kasakh. You were a big help to us."

"Tell your wolf she is welcome here anytime. I will repay her meat a thousand times over and maybe she will forgive me for eating hers."

"What? A thousand times more?" Valentine grinned. "She will definitely forgive you. I only promised her three times more ... or was it five?"

"I forgive her!!!" a mental voice sounded in his head. "I like her very much!"

Valentine shook his head laughing. He could visualise Tania wagging her tail and bounding around excitedly.

The Witch had bid a tearful farewell to the Bello. Due to her naivety she had accidentally summoned the innocent monster into the orc realm. The confused Boss had gone on a panic rampage in the strange new world causing disaster everywhere she went. Her damaging actions ultimately got her confined to the Rings and the Witch was punished to a lifetime of caring for the creature until such time the Bello could be returned to her world. However, since then, the Bello had expanded her experience and exposure. She had had a revelation. Other worlds were not so bad especially if she had friends. Also, she had formed an attachment to the Dark One. She was willing to experience more strange worlds before returning to her own.

"I sshall missss you, Bello."

"Bel-lo," the purple Boss responded. She had forgiven the Witch for bringing her to the orc realm. After all, wasn't it here that she got to meet the human? She had saved him with her Annazzosh and now he was hers ... sort of.

"Bello, bel-lo." Her luminous eyes strayed to Lazarus; her tone became tender and velvety. "Chu-uuu ~~"

The Witch's gaze followed hers. "Yesss, I ssuppossse sso. He iss not like the othersss but I think it isss the other way around, monsster. He isss sstrong but vulnerable at the ssame time. You will have to take care of him."

"Bello?"

"Talk to hisss other creaturesss and friendsss. They will help you."

"Bello!" The Bello said and sashayed over to Lazarus.

At the Overlord's command, everyone in the great hall stood up. Luckily the Ghost Lords were on the elevated honorary dining dais or they would have been dwarfed by the orcs.

The scraps of chairs being pushed back, thumps of ale mugs onto the table, cheerful mutterings and noisy clanking of armour and weapons quietened down after a while.

The Overlord held up a fist. All followed his action. In one swift motion, he banged his fist onto his chest three times. The hall vibrated as his warriors followed suit in a show of respect to the Ghost Lords, saviour of their land and prince.

The trio bowed solemnly and saluted back in orc fashion.

"Honours to your houses human Ghost Lords! Farewell good friends. You are welcome here always!!"

"Gwar! Gwar! GWAR!!"

"BEL-LO! BEL-LO!" said the Bello raising several tentacles.

"And you too monster, now that we know you mean us no harm. You are welcome here too."

"Myutt, myutt?"

"No. You will be free as long as you don't go on a rampage." The Overlord wagged a thick grey finger at her. "We have a truce remember?"

"Myutt, myutt! Bel-lo!" agreed the Boss waving back a dainty human finger at the Overlord imitating him.

Everyone laughed. She thought it was a truce sign.

The Heroes took out a port each, setting the coordinates for the Portal. Lazarus took one of the Bello's human hand.

"Don't let go," he cautioned. "Or you will be left behind."

"Bel-lo." Her grip tightened in his. She was not going to be left behind. She was going to follow her human home. He had promised her.

Then the legendary humans shimmered and disappeared in a flash of light. They ported directly to the cave at the peak of the Forbidden Mountain where the Portal between the two realms was located.

They spawned in absolute darkness.

"Ugghhh ..."

"Myutt, myutt!!" cried the Bello in alarm.

"What's wrong?" came Valentine's nervous voice. He drew his sword in the darkness ready for an ambush.

"Light!" shouted Constantine urgently. A soft red globe formed immediately, floating above the Red Warlock's open palm. Slowly the mage light brightened and rose up above their heads illuminating their surroundings.

The Bello was holding Lazarus upright.

"It's o'kay guys. Nothing's wrong," said Lazarus embarrassed. "Ummm, I just got dizzy. Double porting with a huge monster isn't a good way to travel."

"Bello, bel-lo?" she asked steadying the Hero.

"No it's not your fault," the Assassin reassured the monster. "It's how the port works."

"Bello."

"Brrrr, let's go. I've forgotten how cold it is here," said Valentine.

Constantine nodded. He was eager to return to his Xico. "Ready? Let's go home!"

"Umm, guys? How do we activate the Portal from here? We don't have the Orbs."

Lazarus thought for a while. "I'll approach it. If I'm right, the Portal will respond to the Lifestone in me."

He approached the Portal carefully. A purple tentacle wrapped itself around his waist. She was not going to let him get sucked into the weird shaped hole alone.

As he neared, the Portal reacted. The empty space within the pentagon somehow darkened to pitch black and seemed to start spinning. The darkness moved slowly, picking up pace as it became fully activated.

"It's working," Lazarus said with a smile. "I wasn't sure, but it does."

"Don't look directly at it. Remember its hypnotic properties," cautioned Valentine.

"Bel-lo?"

"Don't worry. I've got you," responded Lazarus. She was now under his protection.

"Chu-uuu~~"

"Ready?" asked Constantine. "We cross now, yes?"

"Yeah. Constantine, you take the lead, then Laz and the Bello. I'll take rear guard."

The Red Warlock nodded. As the strongest Hero, he would be able to fend off any surprises that awaited them. Laz had to guide the Bello and keep her calm. The purple Boss would be nervous in a strange new land. It would not be a good idea if she was spooked. She might rampage again. Valentine's sword skills would keep them safe from any rear attacks. He would have to be alert when he was left all alone after his friends had gone through the Portal. Not all creatures in the orc realm were friends. The orcs had enemies too.

"O'kay. Be safe. Do not be sacred, my mage globe will last a while when I'm through."

The others nodded. All were alert and in battle mode. They did not want to be vulnerable when crossing.

"I go now," said Constantine and stepped through.

Lazarus and Constantine waited for a few seconds. Then Valentine signalled Lazarus.

"I think he made it safely. You and the Bello next."

Lazarus nodded. He tightened his grip on the Bello's human hand and pulled her towards the whirling darkness. But it was unnecessary. Several of her tentacles had holds on him, one around his waist and several more on various pieces of his leather straps and clothing. Valentine smiled at the nervous monster. She was pretty cute.

"Come. Do not let go."

"Bel-lo," she said in a small voice.

"I am here. I will not leave you," said the Assassin and they both disappeared into the pentagon.

Valentine stood all alone in the cold gloomy cave.

"It's been one crazy adventure in the orc realm. Crazy and exciting but I wouldn't want to come here alone."

The Thief took one last look around, shrugged and walked through the Portal. It would be good to be back in the human realm again. Tania was waiting for him.

Behind him, the floating red mage light started to dim. A few moments later, it blinked several times before winking out. The last traces of the human Ghost Lords disappeared completely leaving the Portal cave in the Forbidden Mountains shrouded in darkness once again.