Daubutim remained calm as he listened to Jort describe their battle and how the three ships had rapidly started to overpower them. When Jort vividly described how their enemies had used a song to mess with Scariander, who had been starting to become lethargic, he saw Basil clench his fists, a vein popping up on his jawline. Anger flashed in his almost glowing silver eyes.

Ever since their fight against the Oculithar, where Basil and the old Chaos Whale fought together, they had bonded. Now, Basil and Scariander sometimes scouted the non-storm-filled regions of the branch, and Daubutim knew the powerful warrior would have likely gone on a rampage if something had happened to his friend.

As it was, he'd have to keep Basil calm. They had no idea who these people were, and they could just be defending themselves. If Basil wiped out three of their ships, things would become far more problematic.

He focused on Jort and asked a few questions about the number of people, types of skills, and other things, but Jort only had rough estimates. He'd expected that but tried not to show his annoyance as Jort described how his ranged heartcarded crew had begun focusing on the ship of the singer.

"We had barely managed to retreat after that when a purple-eyed bastard appeared beside me," Jort finally said, glancing at his stump. "I think he was a shadewalker, though I can't be sure. Either way, I barely managed to stop him from taking my head off, and he fled after that."

Daubutim sat back, quickly ordering the rather chaotic story, removing unnecessary parts, and finding a few holes.

"How far were you from Eluathar when you found the dead Chaos Whales?" he asked.

"Near the limit of how far we were to go, we would have returned in half a day," Jort said, shivering and glancing down at his arm.

"Sorry," the healer muttered without looking up.

"It's fine," Jort said. "I'm sorry for having you work on the other hand so soon."

"Well, it was only a hand last time," the healer said, looking up at him, some humor in her bright silver eyes.

Daubutim's thoughts began speeding up, and he knew the others would see a swirl of silver lightning in his eyes, but that was fine. Both of his friends knew what he was doing, and the rumors about it had spread far enough that he didn't think Sally the healer would be startled.

Sally Barklin, thirty-one years. One topaz soulcard and one heartcard, both specialized in regenerative healing, Daubutim thought.

He still made sure to keep abreast of all their new soulcarded, even though Trimdir and the others had begun increasing their numbers rapidly over the last few years. Having a steady influx of new cards was definitely starting to show.

He thought back on what Jort had told him and frowned as a thought came to him.

"Basil, how many of our scouting trips ever go to the maximum distance?" he asked, looking at Basil.

The man tapped his chin before frowning. "Barely any, and none in that direction."

Daubutim's mind began sprinting forward again, the world around him slowing down.

Was it possible these people had spotted their scouts and deliberately stayed beyond the edges of where they went? If that was true, it meant they had the advantage in information. That wouldn't do at all.

"Basil, I'll head back to talk with Lisbeth. We will need the Shadow Scouts to start scouting. Also-" he turned to Clarish. "Did you tell him?"

She shook her head.

"The storm is clearing up around the Glacial Area to the north-west. It might be over soon, and if that happens, we will lose part of our natural defense. I want you to prepare."

Basil's eyes flashed as he turned to Clarish. "Any idea how long till it stops?"

"None," Clarish said, before turning to Daubutim. "I presume you want me to warn Bron and the others?"

"Yes, if you could start with that?" Daubutim said, continuing before she could answer. "After that, head to Zegritar so he can warn the other Leafarit."

As his mind began connecting more dots and forming potential issues, his worry deepened.

"Also, tell him I'm expecting trouble. It would be best if he reduced his hunting in the offshoot worlds and started preparing more of his warriors to take up residence in the harbor."

Clarish, Basil, and Jort shared a worried look, but neither said anything. Daubutim knew they trusted him when it came to these things, and he felt a tiny twinge of warmth.

"Alright. Basil, Clarish. If you could get started," he said, focusing on Jort. "I'm going to need every single detail Jort can remember."

Jort groaned while the other two just bobbed their heads and left.

"Now, tell me. You said they had purple and blue eyes? No green?"

--

Just over a week after Jort returned, they had their second encounter with the unknown beings, and it proved that Jort had been right. They did have shadewalkers.

Daubutim and Lisbeth stood in the large central tower of the harbor, something they didn't do a lot. Neither enjoyed being off-world without the other being with their children, but currently, they had little choice.

A tall, short-haired woman lay on the bed, her face pale from blood loss and overexertion over her skills.

Eumera, Daubutim knew. One of the strongest of the Shadow Scouts, a shadewalker with an emerald soulcard that allowed her to not only move through the shadows but teleport long distances like Greldo could. Sadly, she couldn't take anyone along as Greldo could, which was why she was the only one who had returned. The loss of that many shadewalkers was going to hurt them in the short run.

Daubutim glanced to the side at where Basil, Bron, and Lilinethe, the old healer, stood gathered. All of their attention was focused on the sole surviving Shadow Scout.

Bron will have to return after this, he decided. It was too risky having this many of their leaders here, especially if their enemies' shadewalkers were stronger than theirs were.

"They either knew we were coming or could sense us from very far away," Eumera said, her voice raw. "We had barely stepped out of the shadowrealm when they were upon us."

Lisbeth clicked her tongue. "You didn't sense them before that?"

Daubutim saw the well-hidden worry in his soulbond's eyes. He knew Lisbeth thought highly of Eumera, as she was one of the few shadewalkers who were able to give her a challenge when sparring. If she hadn't sensed anything, chances were, Lisbeth wouldn't have either.

"Nothing," Eumera said, looking pained. "I'm sorry, Lady Coulwater. We lost two of our numbers within moments, grabbed and snatched away, and when we tried to jump back into the shadowrealm, there was a force preventing us. There were more of them, and they were trying to capture us alive. I barely managed to run far enough to reach the edge of whatever was preventing me from going into the shadowrealm, and I teleported away as soon as I did."

She ran away in such a situation? Daubutim thought, picturing the scene. No. That felt far too easy. If the enemy shadewalkers were that much stronger...

He shared a look with Bron. Over the last few years, they had become good friends, and the worried gleam in the older man's eyes told him that he had also realized the danger. As his mind raced forward at blinding speed, Daubutim could come up with only a single action that might work, and it needed to be done right away.

He connected to Twyll, sensing his summoned raven within his soulscape, where he usually resided. The blood-lightning raven hated coming out in Portal Gallery—something about the electrical fields felt disgusting.

We might have spies around us, Daubutim said. Get ready.

There was a curious response.

I don't know, Daubutim replied.

Twyll's interest grew, and Daubutim focused on the others. They had barely moved as he'd been thinking at speeds far higher than any of them were capable of.

"Alright," he said, his voice loud enough to prevent anyone else from speaking. He turned to his wife, his face as emotionless as ever. "Take Eumera back home and see if you can speed up her healing. Lord Bron needs to chat with Trimdir, and I need you to speak with the others."

Lisbeth looked at him for a fraction of a second longer than she usually would, but he was glad there was no sign of confusion on her face. Just a bit of sadness as she sighed. She'd understood already, and he smiled. Her quick wit was one of the reasons he'd fallen for her.

"Very well. Make sure you don't stay here too long. The children miss you," Lisbeth said.

Daubutim bowed his head slightly, and a few minutes later, a guard carried Eumera back through the exit portal. Lisbeth glanced at him, and as she jumped to the portal, she smiled.

"Love you," she whispered just before vanishing.

Daubutim kept his emotions clamped shut and watched Bron and Lilinethe follow her until it was just him, Basil, and the guards.

He turned to Basil, who had been quiet for a while.

"I need you to remain here and guard the exit portal," Daubutim said calmly.

Basil nodded, walking before the portal and crossing his arms. "What are you going to do?"

"Check on the ship," Daubutim said, turning and walking away.

He closed the door to the exit portal room, leaving it unlocked and in such a state that he could open it with a pull if he had to. As he stepped away, he wondered how many of the enemy shadewalkers were currently observing him. Definitely one, but if it were him laying a trap like this, he'd have sent more. Enough so they could act if the enemy proved badly prepared. Perhaps a few had remained in the room with Basil with the intent of infiltrating the world, but he was fairly sure they would be unable to beat Basil. The towering former guard captain's cards made him a monstrous combatant.

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No, if there were shadewalkers their own couldn't combat, there was a way to get them. Just hold out some bait, and they would likely be unable to resist.

He walked across the newly built dock toward where The Ruby's Revenge lay. Scariander was gliding in the distance, surrounded by the younger Chaos Whales. They had barely grown in the years since they had arrived, still only half his length.

Halfway between the last of the harbor buildings and the ship, the shadow of the tall tower behind them crossed the dock. Daubutim tensed, readying himself. This would be the perfect spot, far from the other guards, in the shadows, and out of the buildings.

For a fleeting moment, nothing happened, and his rapid mind was almost wondering if he'd been mistaken. Then Twyll warned him that something had appeared behind them. As well hidden and fast as shadewalkers were, his wife and the others had long ago learned that they were unable to get the jump on him. They were just far too slow.

Daubutim turned to lightning and reappeared two steps away, facing the other way.

Assess first, then act, he heard his father's cold voice speak across the years. He had learned to stop getting angry at it and instead just use the advice if he could.

Two pale men with purple eyes, hooded and armed with long daggers, stood behind him.

"You will come with us," one of them said in a highly accented version of the common language.

The words were drawn out, and so slow that Dauubtim could have spoken the entire sentence in the time it took one syllable to echo out.

Just two? No… he was sure there would be more.

He turned to lightning, appearing beside the shadow walker that had spoken so fast the purple-eyed man's eyes barely had time to widen. Twyll warned him that another two had appeared where he'd just stood, and Daubutim decided he knew what he wanted. He wrapped his large hand around the purple-eyed man's neck, clenching it shut so he couldn't shout, and coursed a large amount of lightning through the flesh.

The man's eyes widened in slow motion, his mouth opening while red lightning crackled between his teeth. Daubutim ignored it all and warned Twyll about what they would need to do. There was a reluctant acceptance, and Daubutim pulled the man along with him, which added a massive load to his card's ability.

A moment later, he reappeared at the exit portal door where he'd just left. He felt his stomach roil and his head throb from pain, but he ignored it all. Twyll had taken the worst of it. The man dropped likea dead weight in his hand, almost pulling him off balance, lightning crackling across his still form.

Daubutim groaned, knowing he had only a little time before the shadewalkers would follow him. He yanked open the door and ran inside, ignoring the rattling weapons and glowing energy as the guards prepared for battle. Basil stood in his golden form before the portal, a massive sword with the tip in the ground.

"So, she was followed," he said, angry.

"Close the door," Daubutim ordered as he ran forward. "There are at least three more enemy shadewalkers out there."

Behind him, the door was shut, and Basil walked up to him, looking angry.

"Wasn't that a bit too much of a risk?" he growled. "We kind of need you!"

"This was the perfect moment," Daubutim said, still trying to keep his stomach from heaving. "If we had given them more time to scout us, we might not have been able to trick them into overstretching. It had to be now."

"And what are you doing with that?" Basil asked, pointing at the unconscious man.

"Bron will return shortly with everything we need," Daubutim said, letting another burst of lightning rattle through the man to make sure he wouldn't wake up.

"Isn't it better to take him on-world?"

"No. We have no idea if they have teleporters that can move that far, and they could potentially teleport to his location," Daubutim said calmly. "Besides, Eumera said they were trying to get the others alive. That means they are either not willing to risk actions that can't be undone or are going to be interrogating the Shadow Scouts. Either way, we might have to return this one after we are done, and if that's the case, I don't want him having more information than needed."

Basil stared at him, then sighed as she shook his head.

"How you can think ahead that far is beyond me, but fine. You said there are three more?"

Daubutim nodded, and he watched as Basil walked ahead.

"Good, I'll see if they want to play. Perhaps I can capture another one," the fully armored warrior said as he reached the door.

"Wait till Bron is here," Daubutim said. "If you open that door now, they might just enter without us seeing."

Basil ground his teeth and crossed his arms.

"Fine," he muttered.

Daubutim looked at the figure on the ground beside him. It shouldn't take too long for Bron to return with soulforce dampening manacles. Until then, he would have to keep him sedated. He sent another pulse of lightning through his captive, causing some purple blood to leak from his mouth. Worried, he quickly pried it open, only to find the man had bitten his tongue with a row of very sharp teeth.

Purple blood? I wonder who they are, he thought, going through his nearly encyclopedic knowledge about the types of species that could be found in this part of the portal gallery and coming up with nothing. Purple eyes could have been Yuurindi, but those had angular pupils and red blood. No, from what he knew, there were no species with purple blood and purple, blue, or green eyes.

It took almost two hours for the portal to flash and Trimdir to appear. The muscular, bald smith held a vicious-looking hammer while his silver eyes flashed around, calming him as he saw no threats. A small Ganvil was perched on his shoulder, projecting a sense of pressure. He had a thick leather belt on his waist with multiple manacles dangling from it.

"So, you actually managed to grab one," Trimdir said as he stomped forward, staring curiously at the unconscious man. He reached to his waist to take two manacles before kneeling and clamping them around the man's wrists.

Daubutim held back a sigh of relief. He'd been slowly starting to tire out from constantly using his card.

A minute later, Bron and a dozen others began pouring out of the portal. Before he spoke, a barrier pulsed out from Bron, and as soon as it appeared, the others with him did the same. The barriers overlapped, creating a pulsing area that felt like razor-sharp fragments of glass or ice swirling through the air. It would prevent nearly everything from passing through, including shadewalkers.

"Finally!" Basil snapped as he looked at the others. "I'll go and see what happened out there."

Daubutim knew he was mostly worried about Scariander, but he didn't say so.

"Be careful," he said.

Basil grinned wickedly, and his armor reappeared around him while he grew a foot. With one hand, he shoved the door open, waiting. Daubutim was pretty sure he'd hoped that someone would attack him. When nothing happened, he snorted and strode out.

"We really need to get more lightning cards," Trimdir snapped, shaking his head as he looked at Daubutim. "You are too valuable to risk yourself like this."

"He had no other choice," Bron said as he moved beside them. "Lisbeth has gone to warn the others, and Bronwyn has been notified. He will join the defenders on the other side, as will Zegritar. The other Leafarits have begun assembling their most powerful warriors, pulling them back from hunting for cards. We should have a full defense up soon, after which Zegritar will come through to strengthen this side."

Daubutim quietly rose to his feet, staring at the figure below. Still knocked out, and perhaps for a while with the lightning he'd subjected him to, he knew they would need to get answers. Luckily, with Bron and the others here, the chances of him answering weren't too bad.

"How strong is he?" he asked, looking at Hou'dor, the Ganvil on Trimdir's shoulder.

"The equivalent of someone having a topaz rank soulcard and heartcard," the Hou'dor said after a moment. "That said, there's something odd about his soulskill. It's not like the one that gives us handcards, but similar in some ways."

"Then let's wait for him to wake up and give us some answers," Daubutim said.

--

Irwin yawned and stretched, making sure to move his arms sideways, forward, but not up. He didn't want to hit the ceiling again, as closing the hole had been annoying.

"How long till its our turn?" he asked, looking at Ambraz, resting on the nearby shelf.

"Roughly an hour left," his friend muttered, sounding as weary as he did.

Irwin smiled. That meant he had some time on his hands! He channeled more soulforce into shrinking, which had started to feel like a bottomless pit. A full day and nearly all of his soulforce shrank him only a fiftieth of an inch. Still, they had a few weeks left before reaching Suiderfuix, meaning he could shrink a bit more before he needed to create his next heartcard.

Pushing himself up, he shuffled through the shadowy hallways and back up.

Laughter and the clatter of weapons echoed out from somewhere in the hull, and he guessed Fuchsia and Klatzi were practicing again. As he reached the deck, he saw Gloom sitting at the prow, legs crossed and arms on his knees. He was staring into the shadowy world around them, making no sound.

Footsteps from behind made him look around to see Greldo walk toward him. He didn't need to be behind the helm, even if he usually was.

"Can you please go and practice with him again?" his friend asked.

"He's still unable to talk with you without bowing and scraping?" Irwin asked.

Greldo let out a miserable sigh. "No. It's horrible for both of us. The only improvement I've seen so far was after you practiced with him two days ago."

I guess there goes my idea of some relaxing reforging, Irwin thought, nodding at his friend.

"Sure."

"Irwin? Thanks."

"It's fine," Irwin said, walking toward the Nyzir and dropping down beside him.

"So… no improvement?" he asked.

Gloom's eyes opened, showing his dark pupilless eyes, and his to-wide mouth pursed into a line.

"It feels like I should sit beside him, constantly making sure he is alright," the Nyzir said. "I know you said you can't help … Greldo…" the word came out as as strangle, showing how much the Nyzir had to force himself to not call Greldo Liege. "But I don't think I'll ever be able to resist this if he doesn't learn to stop exuding such massive force."

Irwin looked around, wondering what it must look like to Greldo and Gloom. Both had told him the area around the ship was surrounded by schools of fish, and apparently, there were even some that hunted the smaller ones. That, combined with the flowing chunks of shadowy vegetation, made Greldo call it his portable shadow swamp, which had made Gloom laugh for the first time since they had met him.

"He won't be able to practice that until we find a Portal Gallery section that is intact enough for us to stay there for a while," Irwin said. "For now, did you try what we discussed?"

"Yes, I did what you said: try to remain away from him while just sitting here, but I have to say-" the Nyzir's oily voice turned harsh. "This meditating is not for me. It is as boring as the Fifth Hellpit!"

"Alright," Irwin said, not interested in finding out what the Fifth Hellpit was supposed to be. "I take it you want to try what we did a few days ago?"

A flicker of fear passed across the Nyzir, but he nodded.

"Yes," he said.

Irwin recalled his reaction after the first time, and he guessed this showed just how much the Nyzir wanted to be clear of the involuntary compulsion.

Irwin took a deep breath as he started pulling on his own soulforce, letting it leak out of his soulscape.

Like everyone else, he usually kept it inside because it was a waste to pull it out like this and nothing more than a show of brute force. Now, however, that show was exactly what he needed, as he began increasing the pressure in the area around him.

Gloom let out a muted growl, and he began shivering where he sat.

--

Brecca stopped mid-swing and jumped back, lowering her massive bat to the ground. Her gaze was drawn up at the enormous pressure building above deck.

"Oh, he is doing it again," she shouted excitedly.

"Ugh… this is going to be annoying," Nisziz muttered from the side. "Fine, all of you go and sit with me."

Brecca grinned as she saw Fuchsi and Klatzi hurry to the side of the small room. Fuchsia was rubbing her arm, which was starting to bruise from her belated dodge.

"This is going to be awesome," Brecca said as she dropped to the ground beside him, still looking up.

"Awesome, she says," Fuchsia muttered. "I still have nightmares from the first time!"

"Imagine having to be Gloom," Klatzi whispered, shivering. "That would be horrible! I think I'd teleport away as far as I could."

"Quiet, you three," Nisziz snapped. "Focus on remaining calm, try to keep your soulcards and heartcards from resonating along with Irwin's. This is great practice for if you ever come into a high-rank battle with more powerful carded."

"Like Irwin and Greldo?! Why would I want to do that?" Fuchsia whispered, her eyes wide in abject horror.

Brecca frowned at the scared reaction. Didn't she know that it was best to know how to be strong?

Before she could say something, Nisziz spoke up.

"Sometimes you might not have a choice," the older of the two Ignitzians said.

As if to underline her words, the massive force from above increased exponentially, and Brecca focused on it, feeling the resonance echo with her cards. Unlike what Nisziz said, she knew she didn't need to stop her cards from resonating. To her, it felt like a sibling of her own cards was singing a loud, emotional song, and it took all her effort not to get up and swing her bat around in a frenzy.

One day, I'm going to get that strong, she thought.

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