Irwin watched as Elder Sigora drank from her large, heavy wooden cup.

"There, now you can drink without worrying I'm trying to poison you," she said, raising a leafy eyebrow.

I'd like to see you try, Irwin thought, thinking about his immunities to nearly everything poisonous, courtesy of his first soulcard.

Instead, he shrugged and looked at the thick, syrupy liquid in his wooden mug. The smell was earthen, and the color a black-speckled amber. It steamed as if it was hot, which it wasn't. Nothing about it was enticing. A quick look at Greldo showed his friend hadn't even touched the mug but was leaning back in his chair as if to get as far from the stuff as he could.

"You are definitely not a Viridian or any of our offshoots," Elder Sigora snorted. "Drink. It's good!"

Irwin hesitated, then raised the mug to his lips. It took a few seconds for the thick, viscous liquid to reach the brim and then his lips. His eyes widened as the honey-sweet, slightly spicy liquid dripped into his mouth. The black specs were some type of pepper as far as he could tell, and curiously, he bit down on one.

Elder Sigora took another sip before laughing softly.

"Told you it was good. Now, seeing as I've shared some of my last Gwegroot with you, how about you humor an old sapling and tell me what that card does?

Irwin was glad he was just taking another sip as the movement covered his slight surprise. He'd not expected Sigora to ask that, and after another sip, he lowered the mug.

"I think it might be best if we wait for Taben," he said.

Elder Sigora rolled her eyes and took another sip before snorting.

"Fine. I wouldn't want to get all excited for nothing anyway," she said. "Then, how about you tell me how a smith managed to survive for so long?"

Irwin had just taken another small sip, and this time, he couldn't stop himself from pausing. Elder Sigora caught it immediately, and a deep laugh came from her chest.

"Thought so! It's the only way you could move the Hearttree armor," she said, smiling widely. "I guess that explains why you are wearing it. You can remove the helmet if you want!"

Irwin saw Greldo lean forward from the corner of his eye. He put the mug down on the small knot-covered table. Although he didn't get a bad feeling from Elder Sigora, they were in her room, surrounded by her plants, and she'd just uncovered two of the things they'd been trying to keep a secret within ten minutes.

"Oh, don't look so distressed," Elder Sigora said, her smile widening. "I won't tell anyone! Though, I wonder… to move that armor as you are, without knowing how you are doing it, means you are at least a ruby-rank smith. Perhaps I can entice you to create my two nieces' heartcards?"

The elder hummed happily as she continued sipping her drink, watching Irwin with the same gleam in her eyes.

"Let's assume for a moment that I am a smith," Irwin said carefully. "Why would I risk reforging something in a city with Deadpact Mercenaries?"

Elder Sigora's mug stopped halfway to her lips, and she frowned.

"What do those Rootrotters have to do with anything?"

The memories of Glow being taken, the smiths being abducted and killed, and many other instances where the Deadpact Mercenaries had crossed his path flashed through Irwin's mind. He barely managed to clamp down on the surge of fury that threatened to engulf him.

Elder Sigora's frown deepened.

"They are the ones hunting smiths," Irwin said.

"They are also the ones that have attacked smaller harbor cities and worlds, taking all smiths and wiping out the other inhabitants," Greldo added.

Elder Sigora looked up at the fruit, but when they remained glowing a soft pale yellow, her eyes narrowed.

"Are they now…" she said, her voice holding a dangerous undertone.

The dense soulforce in the room began to move and flow as if some powerful entity moved within it. At the same time, a deep resonance came from Elder Sigora's cards. It lasted for only a moment, but it was enough to make Irwin's skin crawl. He stared at the old Viridian, realizing that beneath the facade hid a monstrous power. He knew she had five diamond-rank soulcards, but the resonance he'd just felt was enough to rival what he himself could do.

Elder Sigora took a deep breath before frowning.

"I… I'd hoped to keep him out of it. Why did you have to go and say something to anger me like that, smith?" she said, sounding worried and sad.

Irwin frowned while Greldo sat up straighter.

"Someone is running this way," he said, looking worried.

"Don't worry. That old fool won't do anything," Elder Sigora said, letting out a weary sigh. "Just open the door, will you? I'd hate for him to break it down again."

Again? Irwin thought.

Greldo jumped up and ran to the door. By now, Irwin felt a heavy thudding vibrate through the ground and chair. Greldo opened the door just in time for a truly massive Viridian to barrel inside. Short, nearly black leaves poked up from a rough, bark-skinned head while two glowing, angry orange eyes scanned the room.

A pulsing power flowed from him while the air in the room moved with a wind that hadn't been there before.

Irwin stared at him, feeling stunned. The second Viridian also had five diamond-rank soulcards, and the power he was exuding caused the ambient soulforce to swirl around as if agitated.

"Who do we kill?" the Viridian growled, his eyes flicking between Greldo and Irwin before seemingly dismissing both.

"Calm down, you old mossback," Elder Sigora snapped. "We aren't killing anyone… yet."

As angry as he seemed, the last word seemed to surprise the other Viridian. He blinked lazily, then glanced at Irwin and frowned.

"Him? What could he have done… No, that makes no sense. What then?"

"Just sit down. I already put a cup down for you," Elder Sigora said, pointing at the mug that should have been for Greldo.

"Oh, Gwegroot!" the Viridian exclaimed.

Instantly, the pulses of soulforce that were rippling from him disappeared, the spry movements stopped, and he lumbered forward, thudding into the chair Greldo had vacated moments earlier. He took the mug with a wide smile.

"So, what's the occasion? I thought you had said we wouldn't be drinking anymore until the storm stopped?"

Irwin leaned back, realizing he'd been tense to the point of triggering his kinetic energy. Behind them, Greldo closed the door, moving to one of the other chairs.

"Didn't I tell you to remain calm?" Sigora asked.

"Yes, yes. But you were in trouble," the old Viridian said, smiling as he took another deep drink.

"I wasn't in trouble," Sigora said. "I was just a bit upset."

"About?"

Irwin saw a flash of sadness and worry cross Elder Sigora's face, and she seemed to hesitate before sighing.

"Roark, stay calm, alright?"

The old Viridian stopped drinking and glanced at Elder Sigora. There was a clear question in his eyes.

"Don't overdo it," Elder Sigora hissed. "You know you are-"

"Tell me what is going on," Roark said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Sigora sighed.

"He told me who is responsible for hunting the smiths and for the slaughter of the whole distant worlds."

A strong wind began moving through the room, causing the leaves and vines to rustle.

Irwin felt a deep resonance within Roark, and a pulse of soulforce rippled from him, causing all surrounding ambient soulforce to ripple around as if caught in a storm.

"Who."

The word seemed to echo from all around them as if the wind itself whispered it.

"Those Deadpact Mercenaries," Elder Sigora said.

Roark just nodded, but merely looking at him made Irwin feel like he was staring at a dangerous predator, slowly waking.

Irwin watched him, then Sigora, and slowly, a realization set in. He might not need to fight the Guidar by himself.

"It's not just them," Irwin said.

The two elder Viridians turned their attention to him, and Irwin shivered. He'd been around a lot of powerful people before, most notably when he was at the Golden Friction Academy back on Granvox, but none had given him the feeling he was getting now.

"There's a demon called a Guidar hiding in the city, posing as the leader of the Holy Shadow Inn," he said,

Elder Sigora's eyes narrowed, but Roark snorted.

"Lasther? I warned him not to do anything!"

"You knew?" Irwin snapped, eyes wide.

"That he was a demon? No. But I knew he was hiding something," Roark said as he glared into his cup. "There's only a few in this city that could cause problems, and we had a short discussion after the storm started to all refrain from causing issues."

"How did you learn about all this?" Elder Sigora asked, taking a sip of her own cup. "Did they try to capture you?"

Irwin hesitated and looked at Greldo. His friend shrugged, and Irwin guessed he didn't have any reason not to tell them either.

"I can't tell you everything," he began, only for the fruits to glow red. Irwin snorted. "Fine, I could tell you, but I'm not going to." He quickly continued when he saw both elders frown at him. "I was attacked by the Deadpact Mercenaries when I was on Scour, and after that-"

He quickly told them about the few times he'd met the Deadpact Mercenaries, what he knew about their attacks, and how they had attacked him and his children. He kept everything to do with Eluathar and the Galadin to himself. As much as he felt like the two elders seemed trustworthy, as most Viridians he'd met had been, there was no way he was going to speak about that. The chances of Lasther or anyone else hearing his words might be tiny, but it wasn't worth the risk.

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The two elders asked him a lot of questions, especially when he explained how he'd saved some Viridian smiths.

"You say you brought them somewhere safe, but you aren't willing to tell us where?" Sigora asked.

"No," Irwin said. He glanced at the fruit. "The risk isn't worth it. They are safer there than they would be here, and it is safer for them if I don't tell you."

The fruit didn't react, and he let out a slight sigh. Roark and Sigora stared at him as if they doubted it, even though Sigora's fruit showed no reaction.

"Taben and Ralk are here," Greldo said, his voice loud in the moment of silence.

The two elders turned their focus on him, and Irwin held back a sigh of relief. He was starting to get annoyed by their constant questioning.

"Then we will continue the rest of our discussion later. For now, I would like to see what that card is, that you have the sense I would give up one of the cards in my treasured collection for it."

So she does have a card, Irwin thought.

Five minutes later, the door opened, and Taben walked in. He froze as he saw the four people who were waiting for him, and when the door was closed behind him, his bark skin paled slightly.

"It is good you are here, Taben," Elder Sigora said. "Now, sit down and tell us what card that he has!"

Taben's eyes flitted from Irwin to the elder and back.

"Elder, I… see you found Elder Sigora already?" he asked as he quickly walked forward and took the final seat, putting him between Roark and Irwin.

"She found us," Irwin said, while Sigora snorted.

He expected her to correct Taben and tell him he wasn't any elder, but she kept quiet.

"Elder Sigora, the card Elder Rodd has is called Lesser Everburning Oak," Taben said, his excitement rapidly growing, overtaking even his initial awkwardness.

Roark let out a hiss while Sigora's eyes gleamed.

"I thought I recognized the tree," she said, her smile widening. "Now, I agree that would be a card I would want. However, what I am willing to trade for it depends on the quality."

Taben blinked. "I… forgot to check," he muttered, lowering his head.

Irwin almost felt Sigora's gaze, and he pulled the card from his soulscape, handing it to Taben.

"Thank you," Taben muttered, his eyes glowed, and he focused on the card. It took a bit longer this time, but after a short while, his eyes widened so far that they seemed ready to roll out of their sockets.

"It's a h… hun… hundred percent," he mumbled before looking up. "Reforged… by some smith called…"

"Very good," Elder Sigora said, her voice interrupting Taben's mumbling. "Keep the name of that smith to yourself, young one. Now, hand me the card and go see what your brother is doing. Also, tell Meira to come here."

Taben was still staring at the card.

"Taben!"

The younger Viridian looked up, his eyes wide. "Yes?"

Sigora snorted as she repeated herself, and Taben quickly returned the card to Irwin before sprinting away.

As soon as the door shut closed, Elder Sigora looked at Irwin.

"Did you reforge this?"

Irwin didn't answer, but it seemed he didn't have to.

"Good," Elder Sigora said, her eyes gleaming even brighter. "Alright, we can make a deal. This card and the reforging of my nieces' heartcards," she said, leaning forward. "In exchange for any of my body resizing cards."

Roark rubbed his chin as he looked at the card in Irwin's hands, but he didn't show as much of a reaction as his fellow Elder.

Irwin frowned. Although it wouldn't be much of a problem for him to reforge two heartcards, it felt like he was getting the worse end of the deal. If it weren't that he needed the card so badly, he'd try to negotiate a better deal. Perhaps two cards?

He woke his otherself, who reacted groggily, before telling it to try and wake Ambraz. He didn't expect it to work, so when the Ganvil didn't react to any shaking or shouting, he wasn't too surprised.

Elder Sigora leaned back and frowned, probably wondering why he wasn't answering.

"You won't get a better deal," she said. "My cards are rare, easily comparable to those the richer nobles have, and those wouldn't give you such a good trade."

"I will need to see your cards first," Irwin said.

"Of course," Sigora said.

The vines to the side of the wall began rustling, and a dozen of the finger-thick branches unwound from each other. Behind was a set of shelves lined with books and other things. One of the vines wrapped around a box before lifting it up and out and slowly carrying it through the air before depositing it gently into Sigora's waiting hands.

As all this was happening, Irwin watched the resonance of her cards, which was echoed by the vines that covered everything. Initially, he'd thought that she was controlling the vines, but that wasn't it at all.

Those vines are created by her soulcard…

"Are you going to slot the card?" he asked curiously.

"No, the card is going to Meira," Elder Sigora said as she opened the box and looked into it. After a few moments, she took out three cards, which Irwin noticed were all diamond-ranked, before leaning forward and handing him the box.

Wake up, Ambraz!

Irwin's otherself began shouting and shaking the anvil louder while Irwin scanned the nine cards that still remained in the box. Although he was able to scan them and understand most of what they did, it was only high over. What he needed for this was-

'Dammit, brat! I'm tired!'

Ambraz's voice made Irwin's otherself let out a relieved sigh. A very short conversation later, Ambraz was brought up to speed, and he quickly changed his tune.

'Oh! Those are awesome! How many did you say we could take?'

"Just one! Now, help me decide which-"

'The third one from the left, the topaz one!'

Irwin blinked as he focused on the topaz card. It showed three hands, one clear, while a hazy layer behind it showed one five times the size, and a tiny spec in its palm showed one a-fifth the size. Like the others, it was a hundred percent, and he had the feeling it hadn't been reforged yet. It also felt less powerful, which might be because it was one of the three lowest rank cards.

"Why not the fifth or sixth ones?" his otherself asked, as Irwin focused on those. Both were also topaz, but they showed figures- one large and one small.

'Because those only allow you to decrease, and it's a temporary active. The one with the hands allows you to trigger a size change based on the amount of soulforce used. It will let you become both bigger and smaller and keep the size until you use it again.'

Irwin nodded halfway through as he stared at the card.

"Right now, it's only the hands?" he guessed.

'Yes, but we should be more than able to change it to one that does the entire body.'

Irwin hummed as he scanned the other cards before taking out the card with the image of the three hands and handing the box back.

"Oh, the Gentrils Hand? Are you sure? The amount of soulforce required to make any noticeable size change is immense," Elder Sigora said, though she was already closing the box, seeming happy by Irwin's choice.

Irwin just nodded, knowing that Ambraz would never have him pick a useless card.

"How did you manage to get that many perfect cards?" he asked. "And all growth."

"If you live long enough, eventually you pick up a thing or two," Sigora said as she let the box return to the place it had been before. As the vines pulled back, Irwin saw the edges and corners of more boxes.

"What else do you have?" he asked curiously.

"I am more than willing to discuss more trading, but let's finalize this one first," Elder Sigora said, staring pointedly at the card in his hand.

Irwin nodded, leaned forward, and handed her the card. He'd barely put his new card in his soulscape for his otherself and Ambraz to gush over when there was a knock on the door.

"Those will be my nieces for the second part of our deal," Sigora said.

Irwin looked up, not sure what to think. He'd not expected her to want him to reforge two heartcards now, especially not after the reforging he'd done before.

"I have had a rather trying morning," Irwin said. "If you want the best result, it would be better if I had some rest."

Elder Sigora stared at him for a while before nodding. "Fine. You can use my bed."

Irwin's mouth fell open while Roark let out a startled grunt.

"Sigora?!"

"Oh, be quiet. It's fine. Or do you think I'll let him leave here with a two-soulcarded shadewalker? If he ends up fleeing, I'll never get another chance to have a diamond-rank Smith to reforge those girls' heartcards.

Irwin looked at the elder Viridian, lost for words. How did she know he was a diamond-rank smith?

"I wouldn't flee," he muttered, but Sigora just sniffed.

"I didn't get this old by taking risks. Go and take your sleep. The bed is through there. I'll wake you in a few hours."

Irwin stared at the hallway, then at Greldo, who looked ready to burst out laughing. He finally sighed as he got up, deciding that this at least meant he would have a quiet rest. Probably.

"Thank you."

--

Many hours after the first commotion, a deep hammering sound resonated through the Autumn Slumbers Inn. Most guests had left by now, and those with rooms had been warned there might be a bit of a disturbance.

"Sigora, are you sure about this?" Roark asked in a low voice.

"I am. Although I have no idea who or what this Rodd is, I can tell you he is a great cardsmith," Sigora replied. "He's the one that reforged the card he traded me, and it was ruby and perfect. Besides, don't tell me you haven't felt the soulforce pressure that he exudes?"

Roark didn't answer, keeping his focus on the door of Sigora's room. The two of them and the shadewalker, Greldo? - had moved into the hallway to give the smith some privacy. They both knew how testy cardsmiths could be when working, and neither wanted to disturb the difficult process of creating a heartcard- let alone two in a row.

"I still don't agree with your proposition," Roark rumbled, crossing his arms as a sudden burst of wind rustled the leaves on his head. "We should just head out to those Deadpact rotworms and deal with them."

"And risk the chance of the others interfering?" Sigora said, raising an eyebrow. "There's still just two of us, and as powerful as Rodd is, I don't think he can stand up to any of the others."

"So what then? We wait till the storm is done and watch them flee and hide in their little holes, evading punishment?"

"My main goal is to get our people to a safe world and you back to one with a Hearttree," Sigora said, looking at him, a slight worry in her eyes.

"Bah! Don't you dare worry about me, little springtime. I'm old enough to know how far I can push this old trunk of mine."

"Oh, you old leaf whisperer? And who had to carry you back four years ago?" Sigora said, frowning.

"No idea. Can't remember those things," Roark said, his face turning into a mask of barky wrinkles as he smiled.

"Bah. We will take what we can get and save our people," Sigora whispered.

--

Cute, Greldo thought as he listened to the distant conversation.

They probably thought he couldn't hear them through two walls, a floor, and a few dozen feet of wood. Sadly for them, the air vents and carrybeams carried enough sound for him to pick up their entire conversation easily. The only thing making it harder was the constant resonance and thrumming of Irwin's reforging process.

As he filtered through the song to listen to the thousand-year-old Viridians flirt while discussing how to handle the Guidar, he took another sip of the drink Taben had given him. The two younger Viridians were sitting at a table nearby, whispering excitedly about what was happening.

A good while later, and ten minutes or so after the music had stopped, Greldo put his empty glass on the table and looked up at the door that swung open.

The two brothers looked up just as Roark walked in.

"The smith's done. Got and see what he made," the hulking Viridian said, waving at Taben. "The smith said he wanted to do some more reforging, and he would come down as soon as he was done."

Greldo nodded, not that he'd needed the warning. He'd heard Irwin's conversation with the two ancient Viridians. Instead, he waited for Taben to turn away before looking at Roark.

"Elder Roark, do you have a minute?" he asked.

The Viridian looked at him, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"What do you want, hairy one?"

Greldo snorted a laugh. "Ask some questions and perhaps make a little trade of our own, leafy one."

Roark roared with laughter as he moved towards the table. He towered over it, the chairs, and Greldo but didn't seem to care and simply sat down on the ground. Even like that, he could still look Greldo straight in the eye.

"Now, whatever could you be wanting to trade, little shadewalker?" Roark asked. "And more importantly, what do you have that might make me want to trade with you in the first place?"

Greldo grinned, looking forward to the bartering that was about to come.

--

"You are sure you don't need more rest?" Irwin asked.

"I'm fine. Perhaps I should ask you the same question?"

"I'm fine. Those were only ruby-rank heartcards, and they were so incredibly inline that the cards almost reforged themselves," he said, shaking his head as he recalled what had to have been the easiest heartcard creation he'd done so far.

"The benefit of focusing on a single type," Ambraz grunted.

Irwin took a deep breath as he removed the card he'd traded for from his soulscape.

"You are sure we only need to make it ruby rank?" he asked.

"It will be fine," Ambraz said. "When we create the heartcard, it's going to allow us to combine this card's reforging with the titan one.

"What if that one tries to remove the shrinking element?"

"It can try, but it will fail. The best it might be able to do is make it so you only retain the ability to get back to a regular size, and that's fine. Right?" Ambraz said.

"Right," Irwin said as he put the card on Ambraz's warm surface.

As Ambraz began humming, Irwin joined him. The last thought he had before focusing fully on what would hopefully be the card to fix the titan card issue was if he should put another card in the third slot first.

Then he struck down.

--

Lasther wiped the blood from his fists and lower arms as he looked around the room. It had been beautiful and neat only a short while ago, but now it was in disarray - blood stains spattered across the walls and ceiling while body parts littered the ground.

"That should do," he grunted as he bent over and grabbed the two Niox heads from the ground.

He kicked open the door, not bothering to remove the beam that two of the former leaders of the Deadpact Mercenaries had blocked it with. Instead, he snapped the beam and the door in half, causing it to shatter inward and pelting the room beyond in wood and metal.

Zug'zir, the third and final leader of the local branch of the Deadpact Mercenaries, stood in the middle of the large training room with two dozen Deadpact Mercenaries behind him. None had their weapons out, not that Lasther would have cared if they had.

"Now, did I make myself clear?" he snapped, hurling the two Niox heads forward, causing them to bounce from the ground as they landed in front of Zug'zir. "From now on, you will do exactly as I tell you to. No more running around and disobeying me."

"Yes, Lasther," Zug'zir said, his voice a deep grow, his face hidden behind his own scarred, white faceplate.

"Master Lasther," Lasther snarled as he stalked forward, his not-yet-cooled bloodlust causing his power to rip from his control. His body grew two feet, his horns shooting out of his head, and he only managed to keep his tail from ripping through the backside of his pants.

"Yes, Master Lasther," Zug'zir said, his voice an octave higher while the other Deadpact Mercenaries stepped back.

"Good. Now go to the Currant Hunter base and tell them they will do as I tell them, starting now. They are to join you and create a cordon around the Viridian district. If any of their captains disagree, kill them."

"Yes, La- Master Lasther," Zug'zir said.

Lasther watched as the Niox and the rest of the Mercenaries backed up without turning around until they reached the door before quickly leaving.

Weakwilled, easily frightened, pathetic mortals, Lasther thought, bringing his power back under control, causing his body to return to his fake identity.

A shadewalker stepped out beside him, and he looked up.

"Are they still there?"

"Yes, master. They have not left the Autumn Slumbers. After a few hours, the smith has started reforging nonstop."

Lasther frowned, wondering what the Fiz'rin was up to.

"Make sure they can't leave. If that shadewalker tries to bring them away, you are to engage with all forces!"

"Yes, master."

The shadewalker vanished, and alone, Lasther laughed softly.

Now, I'll just need to make sure the others don't interfere, and I'll finally be able to leave this backwater shithole!

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