Irwin ran after Sadita, wondering about the oddity of being wreathed in flames and likely being the coolest point in the surrounding area. As they moved, he'd experimented with extending his flame, and it was now billowing two feet all around him, draining away the fire within another ten feet. It sounded great, but it still meant he could only see a short distance around them.

"It's this way," Sadita said, pointing toward the wall of fire just slightly to their left.

It feels like walking through the mist, Irwin thought, focusing on his soulforce resonance to warn him of anything nearby.

A minute later, the flat area began sloping up, and suddenly, a towering black cliff appeared at Irwin's left. He glanced up, surprised to see that the flames didn't seem to be as dense, giving him a near-unobstructed view. The rocky black cliff rose hundreds of feet up, rounded outcrops of more stone jutting out like pustules.

"We passed the place where it happened, but there was nothing there," Sadita said, her near-whisper almost lost in the crackling of the fire. "I tracked their heat scent, and they are up ahead, in some fissure or cave that runs into the rock. There is just one problem…"

Irwin had a feeling he knew what, and a moment later, he was proven right.

"That giant hound is lying in front of the entrance," Sadita said.

Irwin focused ahead, but he still didn't notice any high concentrations of soulforce. Either the creature had no soulskill, which was possible, or it had some ability to remain hidden.

Not strange in these situations, Irwin thought, looking around.

It did pose a problem, though. He was reasonably sure of his ability to fight something that lived in fire, as the only fire-elemental-like beings that had proven immune to his devouring flame's power were the Ignitzians. It was possible the hound would be like that, but it seemed unlikely. And if it was, he still had more tricks up his sleeve. Thinking about his abilities gave him an idea.

"Okay, I'm going to bring you into my soulscape for a moment," he said, looking at Sadita. "I need to do something that won't take long, and after that, I'll bring you right back out to tell me how the hound reacted."

Sadita nodded, and Irwin put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into his soulscape. He sensed a little resistance, but before he could wonder about it, his soulforce overwhelmed it, and he only just saw the startled look on Sadita before she vanished.

Irwin focused on his heartcard, and a moment later, his soulstrum guitar appeared.

Holding his hand ready, Irwin hesitated. Was this even a smart idea? He had no idea what the hound could do besides teleport really fast and bite hard. His hesitation grew stronger as he looked around. Not being able to see anything was annoying and something he didn't have to deal with a lot.

What if I go there and try to move short distances through the soundwaves, he thought, before looking at the constantly clashing soundwaves and shaking his head. He'd barely move more than a few feet per burst.

Rapidly going over all his skills, he raised his soulstrum guitar.

Hounds have keen ears, he decided, before he began loading as much soulforce into the guitar as he could.

Within moments, the snares of pure soulforce began glowing, but Irwin knew he was far from the maximum capacity.

I hope the other Ignitizians aren't nearby, he thought as he felt the thrumming power below his fingertips.

Raising his hand, he looked around for anything in the soulforce, and when he saw nothing, he struck a cord.

A deafening explosion of sound and soulforce rippled out with him in the center. Cracks appeared on the wall beside him as Irwin played the intro to one of his kids' favorite songs. A screaming howl, filled with pain, reached him through the crackling fire, but another, more startling thing drew Irwin's attention.

The surrounding fire dimmed rapidly, and his vision cleared to show a few hundred feet around. It took him only a moment to realize what was going on- the soulforce explosion was blasting away the little fire soulforce that was in the surrounding area. With nothing left to fuel the fire, the flames in a quickly increasing area around him began dying down.

Within moments, the origin of the painful howl appeared as he saw an enormous dog press its head into the ground. It wasn't anything like Coal's sleek shape but a barrel-chested, thick-necked, black-eyed thing with a stubby snout. If it wasn't as large as a building, Irwin might have laughed at how comically round it seemed.

As he watched it, his otherself rapidly brought Saditata up to speed, explaining she would have to remain for a bit. The Ignitzian didn't seem to mind, still seeming stunned as she looked around his soulscape.

Irwin continued playing as he walked forward, and the fire-free area grew as he did. For the first time, Irwin got a clear view of the surrounding area- a blackened, scorched wasteland with nothing but stones and crumbling mountains. The cliff beside him continued for a few miles, dotted with crevices and holes.

Irwin was halfway to the dog when its piercing wails suddenly stopped. He froze, looking at the dog lift its head, thick black ichor oozing from its ears.

It's deaf….

The dog let out a thunderous roar; its pupil-less, completely black eyes were focused on Irwin. Then it took a step forward and stumbled, its head slamming into the ground. It jumped back up, looking around as if confused.

"Can't move without the fire?" Irwin guessed, his muttering lost in the storm of the song he was playing.

He watched as the dog took another step, shaking its head as if in denial, before glaring at him.

Irwin expected it to charge, but to his utter surprise, the building-sized monster turned, showing a comparatively short, stubby tail, and began running away. If the waggling movement could be called that.

He watched it continue down the hillside, stumbling and falling every few moments, heading in a straight line for the distant wall of fire.

Irwin slowly withdrew the soulforce from his soulstrum guitar before he finally stopped. The sudden lack of the song and the no longer present constant crackling fire created an eerie silence. He stared at the distant firewall, noticing the fiery soulforce slowly start to drift back.

It will take hours before it comes back this far, maybe longer, he thought, and after another look at the dog, he focused on the caves while telling Sadita to ready herself.

A moment later, she appeared, her eyes widening as she looked around.

"What did you do to the fire?"

Irwin shook his head. "Let's talk about that later. Where are Ihrana and the others?"

Sadita nodded, pulling out her blade and jogging further along the cliff wall until she reached a cave entrance. It was barely as high as Irwin's shoulder, and as she walked in, Irwin almost crawled as he followed her. He was glad it didn't last too long, as, after only a short while, the narrow tunnel brought them to a cave twice as high, allowing him to stand. The cave became larger further inside and split into two directions.

Irwin followed Sadita, who seemed to know exactly where to go.

"They are really far inside," she muttered.

"It could be they fled deeper when I started playing," Irwin said.

"Maybe," Sadita said, looking around with a frown. "But I'm smelling something weird in these caves."

"Weird, how?" Irwin asked, noticing how she raised her sword slightly.

He summoned his hammer while Sadita stopped and looked at the split ahead of them. The left side went almost straight down for a hundred feet, leading into a cavern with jagged rocks pointing straight up. The other path continued ahead before curving out of view.

Sadita was staring at the path to the left before shivering.

"Not sure. But there's something else alive down here besides us," she muttered before quickly taking the right path.

Irwin looked into the larger cavern, but he saw no more than the usual amount of soulforce.

I wonder what else lives in these fiery areas, he thought before following Sadita.

They continued through the tunnels that were leading them further down. What felt like ten minutes later, Sadita stopped in a cave, shaking her head.

"Why would they go so far? Even if they fled from your music, this is way farther than they should have?"

Irwin agreed, and after a moment of hesitation, his otherself called Ambraz. The Ganvil had still been sifting through their cards, angered by his inability to find any that could be forced into a size-altering one.

"What, kid? Is there trouble?"

Irwin smirked as, even in his current situation, he found it funny how Ambraz fell back on calling him Kid every now and again, especially as he had his own by now.

"Sadita says there's something else in these caves, and I want you to be with us so you can detect anything trying to jump us," Irwin said.

Ambraz sighed, then flew up. "Might be more fun than this, and perhaps we can find a new card," he grunted. "I've gone over them three times, and the-"

Ambraz moved out of Irwin's soulscape, landing on his shoulder while continuing to talk without missing a beat.

"-only ones that we could reforge to have size-altering are unslottable for you."

"What types?" Irwin asked as he saw Sadita look at Ambraz in surprise.

"Water and two forms of trees," Ambraz grunted. "Useless, if-"

Ambraz fell quiet, looking around. Irwin didn't bother asking what was wrong while Sadita moved a bit closer, her sword ready.

"There's a portal further down," Ambraz whispered. "One that leads to a shardworld."

Irwin gazed down at his feet, not sure if the news should make him happy or sad. It did surprise him, as it meant one thing. "Is this moon unstable?"

"Not nearly unstable enough for this," Ambraz said. "It's only a rank two, so it's never too stable to begin with, but the gas giant is. Just being near it should keep this moon mostly intact for longer than either of us will live…"

"Then how?"

"I don't know," Ambraz said. "But it might be best to find out. It's not the first time we've seen portals appear when they shouldn't…"

"Perhaps we can go through and get some cards?" Sadita asked.

Irwin nodded, but his mind was on Scour. Back then, portals had begun appearing in the world even though they shouldn't.

And the only overlapping thing is me, he thought as he turned to Ambraz.

"It could be the people abducting Smiths, the Invaders, or… Guidar?"

"Only one way to find out…"

Irwin grunted as he turned to Sadita. She had been watching them with a frown, probably trying to understand what they were on about. Although the Blademaidens had been told about many things, Irwin had decided to keep the fact that the Smith abductions were likely due to him and his people to himself. If they somehow got separated, the chances of this spreading were too large.

"There's a large chance that the mercenaries abducting smiths know about me and a much smaller chance that they have some way of finding me," he said.

Sadita's eyebrows shot up. "And you think they can create portals to where you are?"

"Maybe. It's hard to say," Irwin said. "But it's best to imagine that they can."

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"So… what do we do now? The others are down there somewhere," Sadita said, pointing ahead in the direction they had been traveling.

"Now, we are going to sneak ahead and see if we can figure out what is going on. With some luck, it's just a fluke portal," Irwin said. "If not… well, if not, we might have to run or fight."

"Run?"

Irwin smiled sadly at the combination of disbelief and disappointment in Sadita's voice.

"We have no idea what's down there. If there are too many, we need to get the others here. With Greldo, Scintilla, Helm, Hind, Zender, and me, we should be able to take on a lot of problems," Irwin said.

"What about us?" Sadita asked, gripping her sword hilt and squinting.

"If we all go here, you will need to guard the ship with Earilla," Irwin said.

He could see her start to protest, so he raised his hand. "Let's see what is happening before we create problems."

Sadita seemed unhappy at being cut off, her lips pursing and her eyes narrowing to slits, but Irwin didn't mind. He waved ahead, and with a snort, Sadita turned and walked forward.

Not knowing what is going on, this isn't the time for gentle hands, he thought as he summoned a second hammer, shrinking both to allow him to wield them in these somewhat tight quarters.

They continued ahead for another twenty minutes, the slope getting steep to the point of nearly becoming a slide. Sadita stopped when they reached a long ledge bordering a seemingly bottomless pit. The only reason Irwin knew it wasn't was that he could now see the sharp outlines of a portal in the ambient soulforce- a soulforce that was now far denser than it had been.

"It's below," Ambraz whispered.

Irwin was about to say he saw it when he noticed Sadita cock her head and frown. He held his breath but couldn't hear anything but the soft melody of the ambient soulforce resonance. Tuning it out quickly, a deathly quiet hung in the air. He waited calmly as Sadita turned her head around as if trying to locate something.

"I hear voices," she whispered. "And there are Ignizians down below here."

Irwin scanned the rest of the cave, which had two other paths leading out, one seemingly going further down and the other, larger, at the back. The floor was nearly fully dominated by the pit, with a small path around it, no wider than the ledge they were on.

"Ambraz…" he whispered.

"Yeah, sure. I'll go and scout again," the Ganvil grunted before whisking down the bottomless hole.

"What if they see him?" Sadita hissed.

"The chances are very slim, and if they do, they can't catch him," Irwin said, trying to sound as confident as he could.

And if they do, I'll just drop down, he thought, unsummoning one hammer and enlarging the other one to be as big as his own body. If he had to, he could increase it almost ten times over and drop down like a meteor.

They waited for a short while, and Irwin was glad he could sense Ambraz through their connection. Although they couldn't talk through it, he could sense the calm mind telling him all was still well. He also felt when Ambraz's anger spiked, and he readied himself. The moment lingered, then the anger turned to sadness, and he felt the connection strengthening again.

"He's coming back," he whispered when he sensed Ambraz return.

Barely a minute later, Ambraz whisked out of the depths and landed on his shoulder.

"Why can things never be boring?" he whispered. "You were right. There are Deadpact Mercenaries below, and they have captured the Ignitzians. I only saw three, Ihrana one of them, but…"

Irwin heard the worry.

"What happened?"

"Two Ignizians are dead, strung up to the wall," Ambraz whispered.

A strained gasp came from Sadita, and Irwin felt his own anger grow.

"How many?"

"I saw more than ten, but they have dug out a small cavern system in the wall opposite the portal. It's the same type of portal as we saw back in Scour," Ambraz said. "There were three Nioxs, each with at least three soulcards. From what I could tell, they are likely Ruby rank with full body improvement cards."

Irwin gritted his teeth as his mind spun. He wanted to go down and kill them, but three of those… as strong and fast as he was, he knew someone with three body improvement soulcards would likely overpower him. Perhaps he could suffocate them, but then there was the chance that one of them had an ability to counter it.

If they are here, they can only be here for me, he thought, his hand clenching tight around the handle of his hammer. That means they know some of my abilities.

"Okay," he hissed, turning to Sadita. "I need you to find a good hiding spot and remain here. I'm going to teleport back and get the others. We need more firepower for this."

"They might kill the others," Sadita exclaimed, glaring at him.

"And three Niox that powerful could probably kill both of us," Irwin snapped back. "Especially with an unknown number of extra problems. "

"How long till you get back?" Sadita asked.

Irwin hesitated. If Greldo had returned with Scintilla and wasn't too weary, he could go back with Irwin, and they could gather the others in his soulscape. He should be able to return in ten minutes, then thirty minutes for Greldo to get him back…

"Probably close to two hours," he said, gritting his teeth as he realized that might be far too long. If Ihrana died, Zender would be heartbroken.

"They will be dead," Sindata snapped. "I'm not waiting here that long."

Irwin licked his lips as another idea came to him.

"How strong are the Blademaidens still up there?" he asked.

Sindata's eyes widened, and she nodded.

"Yes, bring them and Zender! We might be outnumbered, but not by a lot!"

Irwin took a deep breath, then nodded. "Alright, I'll be right back."

"Kid, I'll stay here," Ambraz whispered, flying away from his shoulder and causing Irwin to pause.

"What?"

"I can warn her if someone gets close, and if need be, scout more," Ambraz said.

Irwin hesitated for only a moment before nodding. They had little time to lose. Who knew when those Deadpact bastards would start stringing up more of their captives?

"I'll be back soon," he said. "Do not, under any circumstances, attack on your own!"

He didn't wait for a reaction but turned and clicked his tongue, shooting across the sound waves up through the caverns.

It took him over ten minutes to reach the surface, mostly because he almost got lost twice. But when he did, he was glad to see the fires were still far away, and his initial assessment was likely too low. It might take days before the fire returned to where he was.

Letting out a bellow, he shot toward the distant border.

Halfway there, he had to cross a small area that hadn't been cleared of fire yet. He burst out of the wall half a mile later, spinning around. It took him a moment to see the others, Zender pacing around while Greldo and Scintilla were chatting with two dozen Blademaidens.

Scintilla brought more? How?"

"Over here!" he shouted before shooting across the sound waves and landing a few feet from the group.

"Irwin! What is happe-"

"No talking," Irwin shouted, rising to his full height as he looked around. The wounded Ignitzian was gone, and he quickly counted twenty-five Blademaidens, Scintilla, Greldo -who looked weary to the bone- and an anxious Zender.

"Those bloody Deadpact mercenaries found us, and they have a portal below a mountain in the fire region. They captured Ihrana and the others and have already killed two Blademaidens," he said, ignoring the shouts of sadness and fury. "I'm bringing you all into my soulscape, and we are heading back. I'll explain more while you are there. Now, close in around me!"

There was a rustle as everyone ran forward, some placing hands on his shoulders and arms, and Irwin closed his eyes, sensing the many resonances around him. With a yank, he pulled in the first batch, then the second, and a moment later, he stood on his own on the plains as his otherself began explaining what had happened.

The influx of foreign soulforce resonances was rapidly destabilizing his soulscape, but Irwin knew he could hold them there for at least another few hours, perhaps up to a day.

Turning around, he shot into the firewall.

Those Niox are going to rue the day they came here, he thought, feeling his anger grow. And they will tell me all I need to know!

--

"Do you think everything will be alright?" Zan whispered to the others. They were gathered in the living room, sitting at the table and looking at each other worriedly.

"Of course! There's nothing here that Dad can't beat," Glow said, grinning widely.

"Or Heatmom," Flux said, nodding in agreement.

"How long will it be," Soot muttered, lying with his head on his arms on the table.

"Don't worry," Mia said. "I'm sure you will get your card soon!"

"Easy for you to say," Soot muttered. "I feel like a little kid next to you all."

"You are a little kid," Glow said, grinning as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, we will protect you!"

"Protect me from what?" Soot snapped. "A horde of Scaledmonkeys? Besides, with Hind, Earilla, and the Blademaidens, what's going to happen?"

A deafening explosion rang out from outside while the walls shuddered and the cups on the table danced- one falling over and spilling the water everywhere.

"What…"

The door swung open, and Boohm ran inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Alright," he snapped, his eyes wide and a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "All of you, down in the cellar right now! I will die before anything happens again!"

The kids looked at him, a sense of trepidation slowly settling in. Then Flux jumped up.

"Let's go!"

He grabbed Zan, whose hands had begun shaking, and pulled her along. The others quickly scrambled up to follow him, though Glow moved to Boohm, who was glaring at the door.

"Boohm, what is going on?"

"There's bloody-" he snapped his mouth shut, seeming to catch himself. "Glow, go down and make sure to close the door. Hind and the others are fighting with a group of mercenaries. Earilla is rushing to the ship to warn Helm and the Blademaidens there. She will hold the ship while they return."

"Heatmother? Dad?" Glow asked, his face going slightly ashen.

"They will be back, but maybe not in time," Boohm said, looking at him. "But don't worry. There's no way I'll let anything happen to any of you."

Glow swallowed, then took a step back. "Can't we help?"

"Not yet… but if you have your blades here, bring them down with you," Boohm said.

Glow's knees wobbled, but he remained standing. He nodded, then turned and ran down.

Boohm watched him go, then looked around the room. Shouting and clatter of weapons came from outside, and he backed up to the center of the room.

"Nothing to put in front of the bloody door," he rumbled, cracking his neck. "Fine. Let's see how they like some Randaboohm on their head!"

His figure flickered, and then he was wrapped in a thick, angular set of armor, his head hidden from view by a helm that seemed glued to massively thick shoulder plates. Two thick clubs sat in his hands, and as the sound of fighting closed in on the door, he slammed them together.

--

Irwin shot through the caverns until he recognized the final slope. Then he stopped, hands on one of the walls, and sensed Ambraz. It took him a moment. Then he found him rushing towards him.

Trouble?

Irwin quickly warned the others, then pulled out Greldo and Scintilla. There wasn't enough room for the others yet.

Greldo summoned Coal, and both of them vanished in the shadows as soon as Coal's massive form filled the tunnel. Ambraz appeared from below, his lips a tight line.

"Did Sadita do something?" Irwin asked, sensing the deep worry and fury in Ambraz's mind.

"Kid- these aren't all of the mercenaries! They sent a raiding group out, and they were heading for our little homestead!"

Irwin froze, his heart skipping a beat. Then he shuddered and jumped backward. With every jump, more people appeared on the ground before him until everyone was out of his soulscape.

"Ambraz, how many are in that group?" he snapped.

"One more of the Niox and two dozen mercenaries," Ambraz growled. "They were gloating at how it would be more than enough, even if you were half as strong as the rumors."

Irwin shivered as he thought of his children, then turned to the others. Everyone was staring at him, and Zender was pale and shivering.

"Captain, I-"

"We are going in right now," Irwin hissed. "I need to go back, and for that, I need Grell, but without the two of us here, you can't do anything. Greldo, grab me and rush through the base they have below."

A figure blurred before him, then he was in the shadowrealm, shooting down at breakneck speed. Irwin tried to push his worry down.

Boohm and the others should be able to hold out, and we don't know if they are even there yet, he thought. Besides, they won't kill them if they find them. They are worth more alive.

He tried to convince himself as they appeared at the bottom of the crevice. The portal hovered to the side while some stone tables stood in a dug-out alcove. Square tunnels led into a few rooms. Three Niox sat at a table, chatting softly and laughing every so often.

"-see the face of that bloody Smith! He'll never believe we found him in his hideout."

"I've told you before, the real prize is this gas giant! There are bound to be more moons around it. As soon as we take care of this mission-"

Irwin barely heard them, his attention on the four Ignitzians that were strung up on the wall. Dangling from metal chains, their bodies were cut up and lifeless. There was no sign of the others.

His vision changed as Greldo flew them into the tunnel, and Irwin saw a flash of some other mercenaries. Most were either lounging around or walking around. Two Ignitzians, one being Ihrana, were tied up in a backroom, their eyes dull and down.

Greldo hovered there for a second, and Irwin realized what he was thinking. He glared at the single guard, who was openly staring at the two Ignitzians, his eyes gleaming with bad intentions. Greldo drifted behind him, and a moment later, Irwin felt himself drop from the shadowrealm. He grabbed the mercenary, putting one arm around his neck and a hand across his mouth, then squeezed as hard as he could. There was a soft pop, and the body went limp.

"Smith… Irwin?"

Irwin jumped toward the bars, noticing the soulforce nullifying bracers on the two Ignitzians. He growled, then knelt next to them.

"They are going to our base!" Ihrana said, her eyes wide with fear. "We couldn't stop them!"

A shout came from the hallway, and Irwin put his hands on both Ignitzians. "I'm putting you in my soulcape. Get ready."

He didn't wait and pulled them in, ignoring the little resistance. Then he turned and looked at Greldo, who was standing behind him.

"Go now, or…?" Greldo growled, his body covered in fur and his canines flashing in the flickering light of the torches.

"Get us up. I've got an idea," Irwin hissed.

"Don't worry. We will be in time," Greldo said before taking him back into the Shadowrealm.

Within seconds, they rushed back out and up, and Irwin felt relief when his feet hit the ground again. The group was still standing, but Scintilla had her sword out, and her eyes promised murder.

"Alright, we have two of the Ignitzians. They killed the fourth one," he said, looking at Zender. "Ihrana is alright, and she's safe."

Zender's shoulders slumped down, and he nodded.

"Let's head back," Scintilla hissed, but Irwin shook his head.

"They don't know we know they are here, but if they find their captives missing, they will," he said. "The three Niox are sitting together outside. I'm going to bring you all into my Soulcape, and then I'm going to drop down on top of them and play my guitar. If they don't die outright, I'll summon all of you, and we will clear them out. As soon as those three are gone, Greldo, Scintilla, and I will head back. The rest of you clear these tunnels in case we need a place to hide out."

Irwin waited for two seconds. Then he pulled the others back into his soulscape. He only left Greldo out, nodding at him.

"Keep an eye out," he hissed. "If things go bad, I'll pull them in my soulscape, and you get us out of there."

"Always," Greldo said.

Irwin summoned his Soulstrum guitar and ran to the edge of the crevice. He didn't see anything, but he recalled where the table had been, and without stopping, he jumped over the edge. From the moment they had arrived, scouted the base, freed the two Ignitzians, and returned, only a few minutes had passed, but everything seemed too long to him, and as his anger flared, so did his soulforce. His soulstrum guitar's snares flashed to life, and as he saw the table appear below, Irwin slammed his hand down on the snares.

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