Several hours after setting off, the tower was coming closer and closer into view. I was sat beside Fire, who was staring out of the carriage window, looking towards the small town ahead of us in the road; little more than a collection of houses.

Amanda was leant back, staring at the ceiling with great impatience and boredom. There was something about her pale skin that seemed almost corpse-like; it unsettled me a little. Her clear blue eyes also had something a little too clear about them.

Warnado wasn't faring much better than her in terms of energy; if anything, he was doing worse. The visible portion of his chin was twitching uneasily. It was as if he were struggling to find words.

I'll be honest, I was in a similar situation. I wouldn't willfully talk to Fire, I had no clue what to say to Amanda, and I wasn't sure how to say what I wanted to Warnado.

He was a kid; he was vulnerable, but at the same time he was also excessively powerful. Knowing someone who could actually find someone to guide him in his magical training, and also having taken in someone barely older than him before, I felt I had something of a duty to take him under my wing.

Besides, his world sounded like a right fiasco of a place; things seemed to finally be calming down in the Sane Realm. He'd fare much better with us.

However, at the same time, I felt concerned that if I phrased it the wrong way, I'd cause all kinds of offence. Normally, I wouldn't give a shit about who I pissed off, but this was different.

"So," I decided to set about matters of business. "We need to get our message straight. We have no idea where we are, we just want to go home. We have the Eye, The Entity can have it as long as they return us home safely - and don't kill us and all. Anything else we can use to perhaps negotiate?"

Warnado looked to Amanda uncertainly, but she shook her head. I garnered from this that she was almost certainly withholding something, but I got the impression she was going to be less than cooperative here, and determined that I should let it drop for the moment. Note: for the moment.

"We should try and gain context. We don't want to get involved in something that could bite us in the ass in the end," Amanda stated, now looking at me gravely.

"The question is, do we really want to get involved in The Entity's affairs?" Fire broke in, in all his eternal wisdom. "He seems to be a powerful man - creature - thing, but they often have powerful enemies. We don't want to affiliate ourselves too closely with him."

He didn't even stop squinting out the damn window. That infuriated me.

"That's a very nice way of thinking, Fire, but we also need to bear in mind that as far as we know, he's the only one to really have control over travel between worlds."

"Perhaps, but we should still clarify that."

I couldn't disagree with that. However, what did bother me was that he suddenly opened the carriage door and stuck his torso out so that he could squint down the road.

"What on earth are you doing?" I practically gasped it.

"There's a fight up the road," He muttered.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt, and the Endlings on the back began to run forward. I looked to Warnado, and something seemed to have lit up about him. Something to do I suppose - to focus on. He mustn't have intended to find Amanda here, and there was certainly more to the story there. I'd have to ask him about it.

Fire and I both hopped out, with Warnado and Amanda following soon after. Suddenly, I felt ambitious; here was an opportunity to ingratiate us with the Entity, and to get us out faster.

The Endlings were forming a ring around the edge of the forest, assessing the situation coolly.

I caught a glimpse of a small wooden house off the side of the road - clearly a ramshackle and cobbled together wee thing - with two large stone pillars breaking through the roof. You could hear the sound of swords on the wind, and shouting. I ran up to the dog-faced creature eagerly, ready to earn our route home.