Irwin stood on the rocky peak of the mountain, looking at the wide open space before them. Far in the distance, he could only make out a dark line. He knew it was the barrier, but right now, he was just enjoying looking as far as he could without staring at the next mountain.

As he let his eyes wander, he thought about the last week of traveling. Shortly after setting out, it became clear that Greldo's already incredible speed had improved even more since he finished his soulcard. Zipping along the shadows cast by the mountains, Irwin had found it harder and harder to keep an eye on his surroundings. As soon as he focused on something nearby, all he saw was a blur of gray and white. In the end, he'd just begun looking forward.

Ambraz had woken up a few hours before they reached the end of the Graboul's Teeth mountain range. Before Irwin had been able to ask anything, the Ganvil had yawned, muttered something about overeating, and promptly fallen asleep.

This time, however, Irwin had felt that it was a regular sleep, so, as he was absently looking out across the vast empty tundra, he wasn't surprised as he sensed the Ganvil waking up.

"Ambraz is waking up, so it's about time to make that shadow card," Irwin said as he looked to the side.

Greldo was standing there, staring off into the distance.

"Good! Also, I really like being able to see more than a few hundred feet."

"Not a fan of mountains?" Irwin asked teasingly.

"No."

Irwin grinned as he felt Ambraz wake up. He waited for a few moments till he pulled him outside.

"Ugh… can't a Ganvil wake up on his own time?" Ambraz grunted as he flew around.

Irwin searched for any differences, but he couldn't find any.

"No rank up?" he asked.

"What? Of course not! I'd need way more of those blocks for that. It just took a while to digest. Though I have to say, I could get used to it," Ambraz said, letting out a contented sigh. "So, how long was I out?"

"Almost a week," Irwin said. "We reached the edge of the Graboul's Teeth and have been waiting so we can create Greldo's next card and fill Nisziz's soullake before we continue.

"No rest for the beautiful," Ambraz muttered. "Fine! Let's make some unheard-of shadowcard!"

Irwin grinned as Ambraz landed on the flattened area before him, resizing to his large shape. The large scar on his top and side stood out, though Irwin felt it had faded ever so slightly.

"You sure you don't need another nap?" he asked, hearing Greldo grin.

"Bah! May I remind you that you have a tendency to fall asleep as much as me?" Ambraz said before humming thoughtfully. "Then again… I could always sleep more."

Irwin shook his head, knowing when he was outmatched. He pulled the shadowcard from his soulscape, turning to Greldo.

"Strength and power?" he asked.

He got a sharp nod, and Irwin focused on Ambraz. He'd been analyzing the card for a while and had come up with a basic soulforce resonance song for the initial part. It wouldn't help long, as these unfinished heartcards had a tendency to become a chaotic mess fast, but he still explained his plan to Ambraz.

"Let me hear it," Ambraz said.

Irwin nodded, and a few moments later, he was humming softly as his soulstrum guitar's haunting melody resonated out in a quiet song.

"Got it," Ambraz said after he'd played it twice.

Irwin nodded, focused on the card, then hit it with his hammer. Soulforce rippled out, this time unimpeded. As much as he'd love to hold it for Ambraz to snack on, he'd need all his attention on the reforging part.

The shadowcard's soulforce was a dark, airy mass that moved around almost like liquid. It was unlike the soulforce he was most familiar with, fire and metal. Still, he'd had some practice with shadow cards over the years. Enough that, as he focused on its resonance, he began finding the patterns. As he continued singing, changing his pitch a bit, he started picking out the parts of the card they would need—strength, power, and control.

When he was sure he had the direction planned out, he struck again, and the heartcard's soulforce flooded out. Unlike with the smaller, regular cards, the shadowy tendrils all seemed to have their own slight deviations in the resonance, and as Irwin sang, he felt a few of them start to resonate out of tune, creating an imbalance.

Before he could worry, Ambraz's voice joined his, as the voice began letting out an odd grunted song. The words seemed to have no meaning, which wasn't odd. The oddity was the constant fluctuations in the pitch of Ambraz's voice. Irwin had never heard anything like it, and if he hadn't been preoccupied, he'd have listened in stunned silence.

With Ambraz taking care of the odd outliers, Irwin quickly fell into a familiar rhythm. Strike, then struggle to keep the soulforce from leaking away or overpowering his own soulforce resonance. A familiar fight against the card's own innate desire, imprinted on it as it was created, pulling out only those parts Irwin wanted.

Everything was going mostly according to plan until he reached the halfway point. Most of the soulforce was resonating as he wanted it, heading in the direction or path he wanted, when he sensed it change… Irwin compensated, but a few moments later, the same thing happened.

Why does it keep drifting? he thought, gritting his teeth as he slowed down, drawing out the time between his hits so he could try and figure out what was happening.

The card's image before him was slowly forming, the shadowy outlining now showing a shadowy form of a tentacle. It radiated a sense of power, and it was exactly what he'd been aiming for. The problem was that every time he pushed the card forward, the resonating song changed in pitch, and he had to change his song. The card's resonance didn't seem intent on leaving the path through the forest of possibilities, but… it kept changing, and Irwin had no idea why.

As he reached the end of drawing it out, he struck and felt the pitch of one of the parts of the song drop in pitch, causing a slight imbalance in the song. His otherself quickly changed part of the melody he was playing to keep pulling it in the same direction.

Irwin knew he was going to finish the card and that it would be a great card, but… it felt like some external force was interfering with what he was doing- pushing it ever so slightly.

He struck again, and another part of the song changed, and he compensated.

What is doing this, and why does it keep going lower and lower? Irwin thought.

He continued striking, slow and steady, to make sure he didn't make a mistake, and when he finally began reaching the end, he felt annoyed. Usually, he loved reforging, especially these types of cards, but now it was as if someone was meddling with what he wanted.

As the image wrapped up, Irwin saw that the tentacle-like image had changed, and it took him a few moments to realize what he was looking at. Wrapped in what looked like liquid-flowing shadows, it was a rough shape, more of an outline.

"Is that a Chaos Whale?" he muttered.

"Yeah, and before you ask, that wasn't me," Ambraz grunted. "Look around."

Irwin looked up and froze. Coal's shadow clones stood everywhere, filling the ridges, slopes, and area around him. Greldo sat on a rock behind them, resting his forehead on his hand while staring at Coal, who lay before him.

"Grell?"

Greldo looked up and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I don't know what came over him. He just wouldn't listen."

Irwin licked his lips as he looked at Coal, then at what had to be a hundred or more shadowclones.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Coal summoned all of his shadowclones and began… Ugh, I don't even know how to explain it," Greldo grunted. "It was like he was howling into the shadowrealm, and all of it around us was vibrating. He said he was following his instincts, doing what you had been doing with the Chaos Whales?"

Irwin saw the shadow Coals disappear, and he turned his attention to the card on Ambraz's back. It had stabilized beautifully, and the bright ruby-red border glimmered while the shadowy image inside seemed to move.

"Ambraz…"

"Don't ask! I have no idea," the Ganvil said. "Now get that booklet out… this card is…"

Irwin grabbed his book and put it on the back of Ambraz while Greldo moved closer.

A moment later, the booklet flared up, and Irwin quickly flipped to the last page.

Card: Shadowswimmer

Type: Ruby, Shadow, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Owner: -

The owner of this card has become partially native to the shadowrealm, gaining the ability to move through it effortlessly and control the shadows like only a native can.

Passive: Greatly increased agility and speed while in the shadows

Passive: Absorb soulforce while within the shadowrealm

Active: Bring objects into the shadowrealm at a reduced cost

"What?!" Irwin snapped, re-reading the card before turning to Ambraz. "That active…"

"Shouldn't be on the card," Ambraz finished his sentence. "I know. Also, just so you know, this card is one you two should never talk about."

Irwin frowned in surprise, but Greldo was nodding as if he understood what Ambraz meant.

"It's the second passive, isn't it?" he said, his eyes gleaming hungrily.

Irwin read it again, then frowned. "I thought you could already do that?"

Greldo shook his head. "No. If I go on my own, I can remain in the shadowrealm for a long time, but there's still a cost. Having that removed and instead giving me the ability to regain my energy? I…"

Greldo almost reverently reached out to the card while a deep, almost content growl came from Coal.

"Yeah, you did well," Greldo muttered before looking up. "But next time, make sure to warn us!"

Coal snorted, a plume of superheated air rippling from his nostrils.

Irwin saw Greldo roll his eyes.

"What?" he asked, seeing Greldo focus on the card.

"Coal said that I should trust your crafting skills a bit more," Greldo said, grinning at Irwin.

Irwin barked a laugh, and Coal grinned a mouthful of razor-sharp feline teeth.

"Just make sure to remember what I said," Ambraz said. "Also, we are going to need to get you a card that will allow you to hide it. If we don't, the assassin's guild is probably going to put out a permanent bounty on the three of us to find out where you found the card and how we made it."

Greldo snorted as he put the card above his left hand. Then he looked up with a wicked smile, letting the card go as it began shining and slowly sliding into his handslot.

"Let them try. With this thing, I wanna see who among them could best me in the shadows."

It took a few minutes for the card to disappear, and when it did, a beautiful, dark outlining of an inky darkness with a hidden shape appeared. Without having seen it before, Irwin knew he'd never recognize the shape for what it was- a Chaos Whale.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Or shadow whale, he thought, before focusing on his friend.

"I wonder if you can bring the sloop into the shadows now," he said.

Greldo closed his eyes, and Irwin knew his friend was searching and linking up with his new card. He moved to a nearby rock and sat down.

I guess we should do one of the control cards after this, he thought. That would allow Greldo even more control. As he pondered, Coal suddenly got up and vanished, a moment later followed by Greldo.

Irwin saw the ripples of something moving through the soulforce, but it was so fast that they were gone before he could blink. Wondering what they were up to, Irwin settled in to wait, his otherself bringing Nisziz and Klatzi up to speed.

--

Greldo moved through the shadows in a way he'd never been able to before. Unlike before, there was no tension, no sense of having to force anything. Instead, the shadows around him seemed to wrap around him invitingly, and as he blurred forward, he sensed a joy from Coal as his summon sped up and spun circles around him.

'Well, thanks for telling me I was slow before,' Greldo sent to his summon.

Coal sent back a sense of joy so strong that Greldo almost felt it for him. He'd always known that Coal had been held back by something, but he'd never realized it was his own limited abilities within the shadows.

He stopped near the edge of the shadows that he'd been moving through, looking across the ten-foot gap at where it continued. Normally, he would have just continued, allowing himself to shoot out of the shadowrealm, across the gap, and back in later. Now, he felt he could do something else, and he focused on the shadows around him, forcing them to do what he wanted.

The shadowrealm seemed almost happy as the shadow in front of him began stretching toward the other side. As soon as the light touched it, Greldo felt a massive drain on his soulforce, and he shuddered. Still, he didn't let up, watching the shadowy line cross the bright divide until it touched the other side. Then he shot forward, his shape seeming to shrink or thin as he whisked along the hair-thin trail of shadow that defied the normal rules of nature. As soon as he was on the other side, he let the shadowy tendril flick back.

Okay, so that's still something I need to work on, Greldo thought as he focused on his remaining soulforce. He could probably do this a few times or pass a greater divide, but he already knew that the further he forced it, the more expensive it was. Still, as he hovered there, he could already slowly feel his energy come back.

It's faster here, he thought, somewhat surprised.

Coal sent him a message, and Greldo looked around before shooting toward a cave nearby. He stepped out of the shadowrealm, and as he returned to the real world, he almost felt sad. The shadowrealm had been the perfect temperature while feeling safe and secure. Now, even though he was in the shadowy cave, the cold of the area made him long for the embrace of the shadowrealm.

"Gotta be careful," he said into the cave. "Don't want to get addicted."

Coal snorted beside him, then sent the same message.

"Yes, yes, stop pushing," Greldo growled as he touched his new card.

Although it only showed a single active ability, he sensed the ability it granted him, and as he reached out, he snatched a long, curved blade from the shadows. It was as dark as the depths of the night, with shadowy smoke drifting away from its edges, but as Greldo swung it around, he felt its weight. He knew he wouldn't be able to use it beyond the shadows, but he also knew that there were shadows almost everywhere. To have a place without lights would require lights everywhere, and if he did find a single shadow there, it would be so dense and strong that the shadowrealm would be powerful beyond belief within it.

Slashing the blade across the rocky side of the cave created a dull scraping sound and left behind a thin, few-finger deep cut.

"This will do very nicely," Greldo whispered before changing the blade into a dagger and then a few other items. He quickly found that he needed a strong mental image to create the item, or it wouldn't form, and an attempt at a bow failed miserably. The bow formed, but when he tried shooting an arrow, the arrow vanished immediately after leaving the bow as he lost control. Trying to throw a dagger had the same result, and only with absolute concentration did he manage to create a small sword a few feet away from him.

Staring at the thing, hovering there while a slight headache began building, Greldo snorted and let it vanish.

"Alright, let's head back," he said as he flowed into the shadowrealm without effort.

Shooting back to where he sensed one of Coal's clones, Greldo grinned as he began pondering the options his new card gave him.

--

"It is awesome!"

Irwin jumped as Greldo appeared before him. There had been barely a flicker between him noticing the ripple in the thin ambient soulforce and Greldo appearing before him, and as he saw Greldo's grin widen, he groaned.

He's going to be trying to jump-scare me again, he thought.

Greldo began rapidly explaining what he could do and demonstrating summoning blades.

"It's good that at least one of us has a good new card," Irwin said, almost feeling a bit jealous.

Greldo snorted. "You just need to fix that sizing issue, and you will be fine!"

"Sure," Irwin said, rolling his eyes. "Now, how about you stay here and guard me while I finish up the other things we need to do?"

Greldo grinned as he disappeared, then reappeared a short distance away.

"It became easier to teleport too," he said.

Irwin hesitated, then looked at him curiously. "How much easier?"

"Not enough to teleport between worlds," Greldo said quickly. "But I think I can probably teleport across any place on a single world with little effort. I just need to sense the shadow, that's all."

"Wait, you can sense shadows on the other side of a world?" Irwin asked, his mouth dropping open as he looked at his friend in stunned surprise.

"No, no! But…" Greldo grinned. "Coal's shadows can move a lot further now, and I can teleport to a shadow they are in."

"A bit like what Earila can do with her Faerit. That will be useful when we reach Dimarintsia," Irwin said as he nodded thoughtfully. "Now, I'm going to prepare to fill Nisziz's soullake."

"Go for it. I'll keep an eye on things," Greldo said.

Irwin hummed as he walked to the nearby rock wall. A shallow cave with a narrow opening sat behind it, barely large enough for him. Luckily, that wasn't the plan. Ambraz flew forward, blocking the opening while he summoned steam and filled the area.

"If some of that soulforce remains, make sure to keep it together," Ambraz said, sounding happy. "I wouldn't mind another snack!"

--

"Heatmom, do you think Dad is doing alright?"

Scintilla lowered her sword and looked at Mia, who was breathing hard from her blade practice. It had been weeks since they began their journey, and so far, the growing boredom among her children had proven the hardest to manage. She dearly missed Nisziz, as her Bladesister would have had them training hard to prevent the boredom. Now she had to do it, and even with Zender and her other Bladesisters helping, Soot, Glow, and Mia were starting to become highly annoying. Part of that was because they were cramped in the tiny ship, but another part was because they were worried about Irwin.

"He will be fine, Miamore," she said, hiding the grin as her daughter flinched, then glared at her.

"Heatmom, please don't call me that!"

"Why not? It is your name," Scintilla said, knowing she was being mean. She fully remembered when her mother started using her true name the first year, and it annoyed her to no end. Still, it would also be a good way to distract her.

"I don't want to use it," Mia muttered. "It's too long and annoying."

"It's a great name," Scintilla said. "And my Bladesisters took great care in selecting it for you."

Mia scowled, glaring at the floor of the large sparring cabin.

"What about Dad?" she muttered. "I had a bad dream about him…"

Scintilla's hilarity faded, and she walked to her daughter. "What kind of dream, little one?"

"He turned into some enormous giant, too big to fit in the Portal Gallery or in a world, and he had to stay outside and couldn't come back," Mia said, sounding sad.

"That won't happen," Scintilla said, putting an arm around her daughter. "Even if your father's card causes issues, he will find a way to fix it."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely," Scintilla said before stepping back. "Now, why don't you give me that blade, and you go and see what Galowil is doing?"

Mia snorted, then grinned as she muttered Glow's full name.

"Don't laugh, Miamore," Scintilla said, causing her daughter's hilarity to stifle.

Mia sighed, then handed the sword back and rushed out of the large ex-cargo space that had been retrofitted for sparring and practice. When she finished, Scintilla's smile faded, and she looked at the wall.

You better be alright, she thought, picturing Irwin and feeling a tightness in her chest.

--

"Hold it! Hold it!" Ambraz roared.

Irwin barely heard him, struggling to keep the massive amount of fiery soulforce at bay. A tiny sliver was stuck to Nisziz's chest while her body lay on the ground, heels thudding on the ground, her face warped by pain.

Things had gone so well at the start. Irwin had pulled her into the small pre-heated room and had begun reforging the partially fire-based Chaos Whale card. He'd found it a lot easier to hold that soulforce at bay, and when he'd moved it towards Nisziz, her soulscape had reached out to draw it in.

Then, things went wrong.

Her soulscape had begun pulling in all of it at once, and within a few seconds, blood had started pouring out of Nisziz's nose and ears. Irwin had tried to stop it, but the soulforce had seemed intent on flowing into the single space it could go. Now he was caught in a three-way split; his hand raised to strike the card, one part of him using his own soulforce to contain the chaotic soulforce that poured out of the card, and the rest of him trying to stop the same soulforce from blowing up Nisziz's soulscape.

"It's almost full," Ambraz shouted. "You need to cut it off!"

Irwin wanted to shout that he couldn't, but if he did, he'd have to stop singing. The barrier he had around the soulforce was creaking as he tried to direct more of his attention to stop it from touching Nisziz. The resonating song of the card began fluctuating, and he knew he had to continue forging it, or the card would explode.

Irwin struck down, and as he did, another wave of soulforce flooded into the container he'd created. Immediately, the amount funneling into Nisziz doubled.

"STOP IT!" Ambraz roared.

Irwin growled amidst the song, acting on instinct as he released the barrier around the soulforce. At the same time, he wrapped Nisziz in a new one, cutting off the funnel of soulforce that was still flooding her. The barrier barely made it as the soulforce surged out of the two-foot-wide container, creating a miniature storm in the small hollowed-out cave. It wrapped around Nisziz, who had stopped moving. Irwin had no time to check if she was alive as the mass of fiery soulforce started slamming into the barrier he'd created. Within moments, it began weakening, and Irwin poured in more energy.

"Finish the card, fast!"

Irwin wanted to shout that if he hit it again, more soulforce would surge out, but he knew there wasn't another option. If he didn't continue reforging the card, it would shatter, and the subsequent explosion might not kill him, but it definitely would end Nisziz.

Feeling pressure from all sides, the fury that had seemed too distant began bubbling up again, and instead of pushing it down, Irwin channeled it into his song and soulstrum guitar.

If you want to be wild, let's be wild! he snarled in his mind, grabbing the card's resonance and ramming it in a direction he knew it didn't want to go into. He ignored the resistance, increasing the power of his own resonance, feeding his barrier as he let his anger run wild.

Seconds and minutes condensed into a single flow of hitting, singing, and forcing the card into a path. Irwin barely realized what he was doing until he finally struck the final blow, and the card shimmered. The conscious part of him knew it wasn't even close to a hundred percent. The card was only just stable enough not to shatter, but at the same time, there was something odd about it.

He didn't have any time to watch it, though, as he stood in a raging storm of chaotic soulforce that was still actively trying to enter into Nisziz.

"Leave her alone," Irwin snarled.

"Kid, draw her into your soulscape and prepare!" Ambraz shouted as he shrank to his small form, causing the card to fall to the ground.

Irwin ignored it and jumped forward, grabbing Nisziz through the barrier and yanking her into his soulscape, hiding her in a cavern far below the ground.

For a moment, the storm of soulforce rippled around him as if searching; then it slammed into him with the force of a hurricane. Irwin growled as he felt the soulforce try to ripple into him. For two seconds, he worried about what might happen. Then, a jolt went through his left hand, and his cursed card began pulsing. The chaotic soulforce let out an almost joyful resonance as it funneled into his left hand.

Irwin braced himself for the pain, but it never came. Instead, he felt his body go warm as his sole handcard sucked the chaotic soulforce away faster than he could follow. Within a few moments, half was gone, and he felt an intense itching across his body. As the final bits of soulforce drained into his seemingly bottomless handcard, Irwin shivered.

The intense itching was horrifying, and he slammed his back against the wall, rubbing it to relieve a spot between his shoulder blades, while his nails dug across his arms and face.

"Irwin, are you alright?"

Irwin looked at the entrance where Greldo was looking at him, eyes wide with worry.

"Itch!" he said, scratching his neck.

"You've got a soulforce overflow!" Ambraz shouted. "Use your card before you explode!"

Irwin hissed as he looked at his left hand, only now noticing the rapid pulsing and the sense of impending shattering.

"What about my soulscape?" he shouted.

"A problem for later," Ambraz snapped back. "Use it!"

Irwin held back an angry roar as he released his hold on his cursed card. As soon as he did, he felt his body grow, and he realized the mistake he had made. He jumped forward just in time as he felt his back scratch the top of the ceiling. Then he slammed into the ground.

The growing lasted for a few seconds, and when it finally stopped, Irwin felt a sense of contentment from his card.

"Yeah, don't get used to it," he grunted as he pushed himself up. Rising to his feet, he saw Greldo stand a few steps away, looking up worriedly.

"You're as tall as a tower…"

Irwin sighed as he looked at his hand, sensing the rapid growth in his soulscape.

This is going to suck, he thought, as he forcefully stopped the active ability.

The pain slammed into him like a meteor, and everything turned dark.

--

Greldo stood a few steps away, looking at Irwin lying on the ground. He'd crushed a boulder when he fell and had been shrinking very slowly. Ambraz had vanished, probably to fix Irwin's soulscape.

"Let's hope he can shrink some more," he muttered to Coal. "I'm not sure I can bring him along like this."

Coal sent an image of more cards to get a third heartcard, and Greldo sighed as he sat down.

It took hours before Irwin finally shrank back to roughly his previous size, and a few moments after that, Ambraz appeared.

"He's stabilized," the Ganvil grunted. "But I'm afraid it's going to take a while before his soulscape recovers."

"So, now what?" Greldo asked. "Do we wait here?"

"No use," Ambraz said. "We have over two months of travel left, or less, with your new speed. Let's just set out."

Greldo sighed as he got up and grabbed Irwin's arm.

"You two really should stop going unconscious every chance you get," he said.

"Duly noted," Ambraz snorted before vanishing again.

Greldo shook his head and pulled Irwin into the shadowrealm, feeling the increased effort it cost.

Well, let's hope we don't get into any more trouble before we get to Dimarintsia.

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