Rindiri looked at the Sonata hovering behind them, feeling a tiny winge amidst the sadness she already felt. Her hands clenched around the smooth, wooden steering wheel of the much larger ship.

I hope Irwin won't mind, she thought before snorting. She knew he wouldn't. Like her, he cared about people, not things, and there was too much risk in taking the small ship along.

"Gonna miss that little tub," Dagger muttered next to her.

"Me too," Rindiri said before turning her attention to Kesdor.

The Ganvil was positioned behind her, on the prow, in its eight-foot high shape.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yes," the Ganvil grunted. "A better question is, can you guide us to Suiderfuix through this storm?"

"I can," Rindiri said, turning her attention to Youritz. An unspoken question moved between them.

"The ship is as whole as it can be, and everything essential is ready. Between the food we had and what was on the two ships here, we have supplies for half a year… If we ration."

"It shouldn't take that long," Rindiri said, focusing her attention on the runes in the steering wheel. Long ago, she'd have been beyond happy to sail such a fantastic ship. Now, all she wanted was to reach Suiderfuix.

As her fingers flashed across the runes, the ship surged forward toward the barrier and the still-raging storm behind it.

Suiderfuix first. Get enough supplies and, hopefully, a reward, she thought.

The ship breached the Portal Gallery, and the barrier around the ship flared to life, powered by Kesdor.

Then to Sesnanser.

--

As the fixed-up Currant Hunter ship, filled with Yuurindi and traumatized smiths, sailed deeper into the storm, a shadow creature flitted around the barrier. Its attention moved between the tiny vessel that it had been ordered to follow and the distancing ship. Barely sentient, it struggled to grasp what it should do. If the others of its kind had not faded due to the long time from their summoner, it would have been able to think clearly and perhaps understand the true goal of its mission.

Now, it just knew the order it had gotten.

It struggled for another while till the other ship had vanished. Then, the order it had gotten played through its decaying mind.

Stay with the ship.

The shadowy creature focused on the abandoned ship.

Had it known that its master had long since forgotten about it and its mission and was instead focused on something else, the creature might have felt some sense of annoyance.

Now, it merely remained where it was, waiting and observing.

--

Lasther slammed the unmoving body into the wall, the dangling head thudding against the stone with a crack. It was a testament to the durability of the powerful physique of the Loydin that it was still in one piece.

"So much energy to create a portal of that size," Lasther snarled, hurling the battered Deadpact Mercenary through the chamber and into the distant, reinforced wall. The runes on it flashed to life, dispersing the impact to prevent the body from crashing through.

Two other Deadpact Mercenaries stood to the side, flanked by two cloaked figures. The humans showed no visible reaction to the brutal death of their leader, but Lasther could almost taste the fear they exuded. The Loydin had merely said they failed when he'd snapped.

There was a chance that the Deadpact Mercenaries would attempt to flee again, and that meant he would have to kill a few. Again. No. He shouldn't have acted out. Even if not for the annoyance of dealing with these pathetic mortals, the energy he had wasted the last few weeks had been too much. It was just… hearing the dull idiot say they had failed without showing fear… how dare that feeble-minded-

Lasther reigned in his anger. A phenomenal effort, as he felt the tiny trace attached to what he desired fade more and more. The knowledge that he might be able to leave this backwater place as the one to have finally found a lead to the only species ever to manage to stop the Conclave in their tracks? The ones that could finally allow them to breach the physical planes…!

The human he was looking at flinched.

"Tell me how you wasted my time?" Lasther growled, glaring at one of them as he slowly returned to his smaller form.

The human swallowed, then quickly began recounting what had happened.

"When our ship moved through the portal, we arrived in the middle of the storm. The rune tablet you gave us said the target was on a direct course to us, so we readied ourselves. A few hours later, the tablet signaled that they would be in viewing range, but we still didn't see another ship."

Lasther glared at the human, wondering if he really was this stupid.

"When we didn't see anything, the shadewalkers you sent with us began searching for a trace of them. When the target on the rune-tablet moved past us, we still saw nothing, and when only two of the shadwalkers returned, Ca-" the human's eyes flickered to the unmoving shape before swallowing. "The Captain decided to head back after that…"

Lasther held back his desire to drain both of them of all their soulforce and focused on the two hooded figures flanking them. He knew both of them, useful tools cultivated by his predecessor before he took over.

"Master," one of the shadowy figures whispered. "I found one of the others. He was torn to pieces, drifting in the shadowrealm. The target must be moving through the shadowrealm with a powerful shadowwalker."

Useful but stupid, Lasther thought, holding back his desire to scream.

"Yes, I would assume so," he snarled. "The target is heading here, and I will soon lose the ability to trace him. Get everyone ready and spread out across the likely places someone would enter the city. "

The two hooded figures nodded and left, leaving the two humans behind.

"Head to your headquarters and relay a message," Lasther said. "I expect all efforts to be expanded to find the smith Irwin when he reaches Dimarintsia."

The human nodded and slowly backed up. As he reached the door and was about to leave, Lasther hissed, causing the humans to freeze.

"Tell what remains of your leadership that if they try to flee again, I will kill them all."

"Yes, Master Lasther," the human whispered before turning and sprinting away.

Lasther listened to him leave before turning to another door that led away to his private quarters. He would need to meditate and regain his soulforce.

Sensing the tiny spec of himself move closer. Laughter bubbled up out of him as if forced against its will.

You think you are strong enough to contest with me, Galadin spawn? You will find out just why your ancestors required dozens of their strongest to fight a single one of us!

--

"It's not stable enough," Ambraz said, flying away from Nisziz.

Irwin saw the Ignitzian's fists clench, but she didn't say anything.

"How much longer?" Irwin asked, knowing it was what she wanted to know.

"It will take over a week at her current pace before her soulscape has healed enough to be able to integrate another handcard," Ambraz said, landing on Ambraz's shoulder.

Niszis took a deep breath, then sniffed. "Can we wait till I can get cards to allow me to wander out of the heat?" she asked.

Irwin looked around the room, ignoring it as he saw what his otherself saw - the distant spec that was Dismarintsia. They were hovering many miles away from the city, behind the barrier, and all he could see was a blurry shape. Greldo, however, said he could make out a lot of details, his vision not obscured while in the shadowrealm.

A little while before he brings us back, Irwin thought, wondering what Greldo would be able to tell them.

He focused on Nisziz, who was still watching him. His desire to continue warred with his common sense, which eventually won. Though barely.

"We will wait," he said.

Nisziz smiled before getting up.

"Then I will continue practicing," she said as she walked out of the room, quickly followed by Klatzi.

Irwin stared at the door, his thoughts wandering all over the place until returning to the thing that had occupied him for over a week.

How did they find us, he thought, picturing the ship Greldo had dodged roughly a week ago.

With dozens of three- and four-soulcarded warriors and seven shadewalkers, it had only been Greldo's greater ability in the shadowrealm that allowed them to get away as easily as they had.

"Stop pondering, kid! It's not healthy!"

Irwin blinked as Ambraz flitted to his face, then back.

"If you are wrong, they will be waiting for us," Irwin said.

"Wrong? Bah! Have some trust. I guarantee you that the trace the Guidar left is gone," Ambraz said.

Hard to be sure if you didn't sense it until it shattered, Irwin thought.

"What's with that face?" Ambraz sniffed. "The only reason I even sensed it is because of my incredible sensitivity."

As worried as he was, Irwin couldn't hold back a snort. Ambraz landed back on his shoulder, and this time, his voice turned serious.

"Irwin, I know it's hard to believe, but trust me. I felt the trace break apart, and there's no way a similar trace can remain here without me finding it."

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Irwin felt a tiny voice in his mind whisper -what if it's not a similar trace- but he pushed it down.

"I trust you," he said.

Ambraz snorted but didn't say anything.

It seemed only moments later that his otherself felt Greldo turn and shoot back into the depths of the storm. It took another hour before they reached the small section of Portal Gallery.

The world around him returned to focus as the distant, muted, roaring storm returned with a frenzy. Irwin felt Ambraz move out of his soulscape and join them while Greldo was humming thoughtfully. He frowned as he rubbed his bearded chin, but didn't say anything.

"So, what did you see?" Irwin asked.

"It's pretty much twenty times bigger than the biggest port we have seen," Greldo said after a while. "More potential entrances than I could count… and it looks like there was a war."

"A war?"

"I don't know, but a part of the harbor city was ripped to pieces, like by a massive explosion," Greldo said before looking up with a grimace. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were already here and used one of your tricks to blow up an entire district."

"What about the rest of the city?" Irwin asked.

"Massive, old, and it reminded me a bit of Malorin," Greldo said. "I saw lots of people just aimlessly wandering around, and there are dozens of shipwrecks all around the base of the mountain. There's a forrest some distance away, with what look like abandoned towns all throughout."

It wasn't a surprise to Irwin that there was a forrest around the city. It had been there for a long time, and with the temperature stable, it would have been odd if there hadn't been.

"So they aren't allowed one world," he muttered.

"I told you, kid," Ambraz said, sounding weary. "Dismarintsia is one of the few rank four worlds, and it is home to more nobles and guild charters than everything but Suderfuix."

"Well, we need to figure out a spot to enter the city," Greldo said. "I saw hundreds of shadewalkers flit around the places one could enter."

"That's good," Ambraz said.

Irwin needed only a moment to realize what he meant, and he began nodding in agreement.

"So, even if they knew where we were, they don't know exactly where."

"Exactly," Greldo agreed. "From what I can tell, there are plenty of places left to enter the city, but…"

"But there might be others watching than just the shadewalkers," Irwin said. "You are still sure you can get us unseen?"

"Definitely," Greldo said. "Although I don't know that there are more powerful shadewalkers around, perhaps even some in this city, I don't believe there are any so powerful that they can move around without me detecting."

"Then you are going to have to get us inside and steal the disguises," Irwin said.

"Good, let's head out!" Greldo said, seeming excited by the prospect of infiltrating one of the largest cities of the branch.

"We can't yet," Irwin said. "Nisziz needs a week before she can slot a handcard."

"Ughhhhh. We need to wait here for another week?"

"What's another week?" Irwin said with a grin. "Besides, you can keep practicing with your new shadowcard."

Greldo groaned, but he walked forward.

"Fine, but first, I'll go and scout ahead for a few days. But first I want a nap," he said, grabbing Irwin's shoulder.

"Perhaps I should start asking rent," Irwin said with a grin.

"Sure, and I'll start requesting payment for being a shadow coach," Greldo replied.

Irwin laughed, then pulled Greldo inside.

"I think it's the Passionate subtype," Ambraz said, causing Irwin to blink in surprise.

"The cursed titan's card Emotive subtype," Ambraz said. "I think it's Passionate or some form of that."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's not just your anger but your joy that seems to come easy these days," Ambraz said.

Irwin thought about what had just happened, but he couldn't see what Ambraz had done. After a few minutes, he shrugged.

"Well, whatever it is, I'll need to deal with it," Irwin said as he pulled out his hammer.

He stepped into the stance that Crithann had taught him long ago and began walking and spinning through the movements of the hammer forms.

"Ugh, are you going to train again?" Ambraz grunted.

Irwin didn't answer, and the Ganvil vanished into his soulscape. Alone, Irwin continued what he'd been doing for the last few weeks, and every time they reached a new spot to rest. Incorporate his new abilities and strengths into the hammer forms he knew.

--

Fuchsia fumbled with the bag as she maneuvered through the narrow corridor that led to her house. Debris and rubble lay strewn everywhere, making walking turn into climbing every few feet, but she didn't care. At least she had a house. Her's had been in one of the few areas of the Rabble District that had survived the explosive battle that occurred months ago. Many of her friends and acquaintances hadn't been as lucky and had either died or been forced to relocate.

Not that that was a hard thing to do. With people in the poorer districts dying of starvation every day, finding an empty house was easier than it had ever been.

Fuchsia's stomach growled loudly, but she ignored it as she did the clenching. As she scaled a piece of smooth gray stone debris that belonged to the building in the street that had been beside her, she saw the door to her house. It was still closed and hidden well by the other debris that had fallen against and atop the row of interconnected buildings. Nothing looked wrong, but she still moved forward carefully, constantly triggering the pulse from her card to detect anyone nearby.

There was no reaction, and when she reached the door, the only living entity her card could sense was the one in the basement of her house. She quickly unlocked the door and slipped inside the cluttered hallway. Boxes stood stacked along the side, giving only someone of her small stature the ability to move past, and even then, with difficulty. Not that she cared. Each box she'd painstakingly taken from the ruins of the Rabble District might allow her to trade for her next meal.

Just thinking about food made her hungry, and she quickly slipped through the hallway, into the equally cluttered room, and toward the narrow staircase that led down. As she did, she finally relaxed her hold on her second card. Her previously black, shoulder-length hair turned a dark purple, and her blue eyes turned square and a dark green.

"Fuchsia?" a weary, weak voice called out.

"It's me," she said as she reached the bottom of the cellar and unlocked the door. Sneaking inside the cozy but small and dimly lit room, she looked at one of the two beds that stood against the wall. The man in the bed looked like he had no right to be alive- one eye closed with a deep cut running across it and the left side of his nose, and bruises and scrapes on each visible part of his skin. Only his soulcards were keeping him from dying.

"How are you feeling, Scander?" she asked, smiling at the man who had at one time caused her heart to quake.

"Did you get any news?" Scander whispered, his single good eye focused on her.

Fuchsia wasn't surprised that he didn't answer her. Ever since she'd found him clinging to life, buried among the remnants of his ship, he'd changed. The smooth-talking man was gone, replaced by one who cared about only one thing.

"Rumors," she said, continuing before he could tell her to. "Apparently, one of the Currant Hunters managed to survive, though nobody agreed on which one. The Deadpact Mercenaries have spread out across the edges of the city. They have put out a bounty for any news about a Fiz'rin Smith."

As she spoke, she put her bag on the small table, pulling it open to reveal dried fruit and vegetables and two thin slices of fish. Just watching them made her mouth water, and she quickly filled two plates with a portion.

"Someone managed to sneak into the Old District, and when the patrols caught him, they ate him," she said, putting a plate on Scander's lap.

He took the fork in his remaining hand, and her eyes drifted to the stub of the other one. He'd lost all of his limbs except for his right arm, his eye, and wounds across his back and chest. How he had survived the blood loss was still beyond her.

"Nothing about Lasther?" Scander hissed.

Fuchsia held back a sigh and shook her head.

"No more than that, the Holy Shadow Inn has increased its presence throughout the city."

"What? Explain."

"Sussie from Borders Cardshop says their shadewalker-detecting runes kept going crazy last night," she said. "Asking around a bit more made it clear many shops had the same thing happen."

Scander was staring at the food while Fuchsia ate hers, and only after a few minutes began eating. Every few bites, he flinched, but Fuchsia didn't say anything. Then he asked the question she'd known would come and the one she wished he'd stop asking.

"Did you find anyone else alive?" Scander asked.

"No. Every Yuurindi that was in the city has disappeared," she said.

Scander's face didn't change, but she saw the pain in his eyes.

"I shouldn't have done it," he muttered, the hand with the fork lowering to his plate.

"You need to eat to get your strength," Fuchsia said before focusing back on her own food.

Scander was quiet for a while before he began eating again. For a few minutes, they continued in silence before Scander sighed.

"You need to find that smith," he whispered.

"What? The Fiz'rin? Why?"

"If the Deadpact Mercenaries are searching for him, that means Lasther wants him. In that case, he might be the one that devil was searching for, and I'll give my last eye and arm before I'll allow him to get anything he wants," Scander growled, and for the first time in a while, a dangerous glint came to his eye.

"How am I even going to find him before they do?" Fuchsia asked.

Scander grinned softly. "If he managed to stay out of Lasther's hands for so long, he wouldn't be caught so fast. Better, if he is not coming through the normal paths, he knows someone is looking for him. That means there are only a few places he can come through that Lasther's shadow hunters won't think of."

Fuchsia felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at Scander, his eyes gleaming and the familiar grin on his face.

"Where?" she whispered.

"The Bottomdwellings."

--

Irwin watched through the shadows as they closed in on the barrier. The massive city behind it was slowly growing in clarity, but little could have prepared him for the sheer scope of the city as Greldo dashed through the barrier and into the large section of the Portal Gallery surrounding it.

The city covered an enormous mountain peak and looked like a mushroom as the top expanded out beyond the peak. Part of the city trailed down the mountain, but it became thinner and less dense the further it went, while barely any was visible near the foot, though Irwin saw dozens of shipwrecks with just a glance.

Multiple shipyards and harbors dotted the city as buildings did another, but each harbor was larger than any Irwin had seen. District sprawled across it, those at the bottom of the mushroom and lower, flowing down the base of the mountain, looking gray and dull compared to those much brighter on the top and the sides. It was easy to see what the poor and rich areas were.

As they closed in, Greldo began lowering towards the base of the mountain. The section there looked older and broken down, and as they closed in, it became clear it had been deserted for a long time.

I wonder what he discovered, Irwin pondered, recalling Greldo's wide grin.

As the first of the dilapidated building tops began streaking by, Irwin saw the lack of any people, and he wondered if that was why Greldo was taking this path. As they continued forward, Greldo began slowing down as they approached a construction that dominated the section of the mountain, more a castle than a building. Part of it had been destroyed, but Greldo slowed until they slowly glided through the shadows and into the building. It looked odd and foreign, with towering statues of humanoid species Irwin hadn't seen before.

The walls had become mold-covered, and patches of the ceiling had dropped down in parts, but as they continued deeper, through corridors and down spacious staircases, the building became less destroyed.

Finally, ten minutes later, Greldo stopped in the chamber with a thirty-foot arched dome filled with statues of armor that led to a destroyed double door with a wide staircase leading up.

The world settled around him, and Irwin drew in a breath of dank, dusty air.

Greldo was looking at him with a grin before pointing at the staircase.

"Alright, why are we here?" Irwin asked, looking around.

"That leads up to an old part of the city that goes all the way to the top. The entrances are almost all destroyed, but many narrow corridors continue," Greldo said, grinning. "They end up in nearly every section of the lowest regions of the city, and I haven't seen a single shadewalker anywhere near them. It's filled with vagrants."

Irwin nodded as he looked at the door, somewhat impressed with how long Greldo must have searched to find this place.

"Alright, and why didn't you just bring us further up?"

Greldo hummed as he walked to one of the eight-foot-tall statues of armor that stood to the side. A dark gray metal with rings of something that resembled black wood, they had helmets with a slit-like visor that looked almost one piece. Irwin followed him, wondering what he wanted. Inspecting the statues, he realized they weren't actually statues but armor. Seeing Greldo grin at him, he turned to his friend, then back.

"You can't be serious… They are probably rusted shut and filled with Yilda knows what!"

"I check them," Greldo said, his grin widening. "They are locked airtight, and after opening one, I went inside, and there's nothing there."

Irwin took a deep breath as he walked to one of the armors and stood before it. It was a bit taller than he was, but not a lot.

"You want me to actually grow so I can fit this."

"Yes," Greldo said. "There are lots of poor people up there walking in these things, and before you ask, it's mostly those cloud people, the Simlari. I have no idea why, but it would make for a great cover."

Irwin tapped the armor, and from the sound, touch, and resonance, he was pretty sure it was Whispersteel, which explained why the Simlari would wear it. It was light, durable, and had an oddly pleasant natural harmony.

"What about you?" he asked as he began inspecting the armor.

"I've found a storage that we can enter where I can get a set of nondescript leather mercenary with a cloak," Greldo said. "It's near one of the larger merchant squares, and there's plenty of odd characters walking around."

Irwin found that he could rotate the pliable, woodlike rings to disassemble the armor.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'll put it on like this and see if I really need to grow for this."

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