Irwin stared at the loud, storm-filled world around him and shook his head. Toxic fumes of green and yellow gases flowed across a landscape covered in fungi towers that swayed and creaked even though he couldn’t hear it over the howling wind. Insects roamed everywhere, letting themselves be dragged along by the stormy winds, and Irwin didn’t even dare breathe from the amount of tiny spores and other things he was sensing in the air. They actually reminded him of the Oculithar spores, even though he knew they weren’t the same.
He swept his soulforce senses outward as far as he could in the hopes that they were just in some massive swamp, and there was something better beyond, but a few minutes later, he knew that was an idle hope. Even most rank-three worlds didn’t have proper seasons, but at least those still had different types of nature. Rank two worlds? Those usually looked like a homogenized mess. This would have been fine if it had been a volcanic fire world, where heat and toxic fumes were the main issues. He could have moved fire elementals there, and those would have made it habitable for him and many others.
This?
A pit of toxic disease, he thought. No wonder they didn’t try to hide out here.
Flasufius was what the locals called it, though according to the maps, its official name was Flasufius Three, one of three Exit Portals in this minor branch. A rank two world, with the other two being rank one, it was technically hospitable… but only if you were immune to all diseases, poisons, acids, and willing to live in a world ruled by clouds of insects and constant storms.
A shame, Irwin thought as he struck at a fist-sized insect that flitted towards him.
With multiple narrow, well-defensible corridors to get here, it had been one of the best options from a location standpoint. A deep buzzing came from far away, and he looked up to see a dark swarm of insects as big as him approach across a fungi-covered hill. There was supposedly a small building here somewhere with an entrance to the Library, but if it had existed, it had long since been destroyed or covered by the fungi.
Should I see if they drop any cards?
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. As horrible as the world was, it was also rather stable, and the chances of any of the insects dropping a card would probably be one in a million. With how many there were, he could easily clear out a large swath and gain some, but they would most likely deal with insects, poison, acid, and perhaps disease. All card types that weren’t all that rare or desirable. Worse, it would mean he had to kill a lot of insects that technically hadn’t done anything.
Irwin turned around and jumped into the Exit Portal hovering behind him.
A long time later, he reentered the Portal Gallery, his soulforce senses showing the Caldera hovering nearby as he dropped down.
Irwin clicked his tongue, shooting through the soundwaves to reappear on the deck beside Rindiri.
“This is not it,” Irwin said as she looked at him. “It's way worse than the information we got.”
“A shame,” Rindiri said, as she began turning the ship. “It would have been nice to sit within the Dimarintsia River.”
“We still might, if Basil’s second world is any good,” Irwin said, crossing his arms as he split his attention for a moment.
Part checked on himself on Eluathar, finding that he was watching his children explain to some of their friends what they had seen and learned during the smithing classes he held within New Malorin. The other part checked with his giant self, still waiting near Mouxirvin, where Dahlia had yet to return from Exarg.
“Zarkon, right?” Rindiri asked as Irwin saw Blade move around the sails, examining things. They would be going at full speed again soon, as it would save time, and although not as fast as he could go, it was more fun than just shooting across the soundwaves all the time.
“Yes,” Irwin said as he recalled what Daubutim had told him. “It’s the least well-positioned of the three options, with more corridors leading to it and a wider one that leads straight into the Dismartinsia River branch. At the same time, it is more likely to be a world we can actually do something with. It is an icy hell, but Daubutim read through some reports he managed to get through Brazardian, and he says there are occasionally plumes of steam that burst out from below the ice. According to what we know, the people in the single town that should be there call them Steamdevils, and they fear digging down to create more. Daubutim thinks there’s probably a superheated area below the ice. If we can dig down and find it, we should be able to create a world we can live on. Even if we can’t, the Frozir have already proven they can be trusted and have also shown a great interest in the world.”
“They still want to leave Eluathar and find their own world?” Rindiri asked, eyebrows raising.
Irwin shrugged. “I mean, Eluathar is not theirs, and although they have their own region near the pole, it's small and has few resources. There’s also still not a single adjacent world that is an icy one.”
“I am glad my people had handslots,” Rindiri said as she looked at her hand, angling it so the light gleamed on the copper-like skin. “Imagine having to be locked as a species like they are. If the Frozir had handslots they could have become a Crathan subspecies like my people and lived in far more places.”
Irwin didn’t answer, remembering how hard it had been initially for Rindiri to agree to the change. To her, with all the time she’d spent on Scour before the time dilation had weakened to a nearly normal level, thousands of years had passed.
A day later, Irwin stood at the helm as the Caldera shot through the Dimarintsia River. The minor branch, its bottom completely filled with water, still seemed as endless as before, even at speeds that rivaled scouting ships.
He was pondering a card Ambraz had found when he was drawn to his otherself. Daubutim was talking with him, explaining that Basil had reached Zarkon, or Zalirki One, as it was officially called, and the world was exactly what they needed. Frozen, abandoned, but with a town they could start from and an entrance into the Library.
“We don’t have to open any more random portals,” he said, looking to the side where Rindiri and Scintilla sat with stacks of books, flipping through them as they hoped to find a world Daubutim had missed.
“Thank Yilda,” Scintilla grunted, dropping the book in her hand and leaning back, lying down on the deck. “Zarkon is good, then?”
“Yes. Basil said it's cold enough to freeze his nuts off, but it has clear skies, and no sign of Chained fleet.”
Rindiri snorted as the books around her began vanishing, pulled back into her own soulscape, where she stashed her collection of navigational material.
“So, you are going to get us there then?” she asked as she got up, reached down, and pulled Scintilla up.
Irwin held back a sigh and just nodded. “It will be much faster.”
Scintilla walked towards him, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a tight squeeze and a kiss.
“At least you don’t have to talk with Flagrian and listen to her complaints,” she said with a slight smirk.
Irwin raised an eyebrow. “Well, you could just allow her to teach the kids before they finish their schooling in New Malorin.”
“Nope,” Scintilla said. “I couldn’t get her to promise me she wouldn’t use her specific teaching style, and that's not something you can do together with anything else. Besides, she still has her hands full with Rewahr and the other guards.”
Her hands full, Irwin thought. That’s one way of putting it.
“Well, good luck,” he said, giving her a quick kiss before moving the Caldera with Scintilla, Rindiri, and Blade on it back into his soulscape.
He let himself fall down towards the enormous expanse of water for a few moments before clicking his tongue and shooting towards where he knew their new world would be, a trip of a few weeks even at the speed he could move.
I wonder how Greldo is doing, he thought.
--
Greldo shot through the shadowrealm, sensing the Shadow Oculithar vanish behind him, still at the enormous tendril that he’d finally dropped. It wouldn’t have fit the corridor if it had been there physically, and he wondered what would happen if any of the chained fleet tried to move through.
I’ll have to remain here for a while to check, he thought, slowing down to a stop, the first he’d had in months.
Minutes passed, and when no Shadow Oculithar showed up, Greldo felt the stress he’d sensed for months finally start to abate.
‘Keep an eye on things,’ he told Coal as he moved into his shadow pocket.
Dahlia looked up from where she was staring at a booklet beside stacks of cards.
“Finally!”
She rose up and almost ran to him, hugging him while sighing contentedly, while Yuul’rish flew around their head, humming happily.
“Everything worked out?”
“It did,” Greldo said, enjoying her closeness before stepping back. “Still nothing?”
Dahlia sighed, shaking her head. “I have no idea what my other part is doing, but either the time dilation is completely gone, and she doesn’t know, or something is happening.”
“Let's assume she is close to something,” Greldo said. “How are things here?”
Dahlia knew what he was talking about and grimaced.
“Gloom has been keeping an eye on those two, and so far they just wander around a bit.”
“He didn’t try anything… right?”
“No,” Dahlia said with a grin. “I spoke with him, and he said he would prefer his people to go extinct over being mixed with the Slughir. You might want to talk to him, though.”
Greldo nodded slowly as he sensed Gloom and the two snake-women on the edge of the island, near the swamp.
“I’ll go and do that now, and we can talk more later,” he said.
Dahlia gave him another hug, then Greldo moved through the shadows, reappearing beside where Gloom stood with the two Slughir nearby. The trio reacted very differently, with Gloom turning around and bowing, and the two Slughir dashing back a few steps before almost collapsing on the ground.
Greldo sighed as he glared at Gloom.
“So, explain to me again why they are here?” he asked, trying to ignore the two bald, snake-women who seemed to be groveling on the ground. “And don’t bother trying to tell me it's because of information.”
“My Lord, it is information,” Gloom said, lowering his head again. “I want to know if any Touhiri came to the Langost branch.”
Greldo blinked, trying to recall who those people were before grimacing. Right, the ones they said were dangerous and pretty.
He glanced at the two Slughir, the only survivors of the fleet they had encountered a few days ago. Coal’s shadowclones had examined the area afterward, finding no survivors and a handful of cards that he’d brought back.
What am I going to do with them?
“You two, tell me if there are any other fleets this far out.”
Both Slughir looked up and began talking through each other, causing him to grimace.
“Not together. You,” Greldo said, pointing at the one that seemed least horrified.
“None, Lord,” she said quickly. “The captains brought us here because it gave us the ability to hide from the chains as we still fulfilled the last spoken orders we had.”
Greldo cocked his head. “Which were?”
“To head to the Langost Branch, find and bring back any cardsmiths we could find.”
“Wait, you weren’t part of the regular fleet?” Greldo asked, surprised.
“No, Lord. We were part of some of the smaller fleets that were required to search for more experimental materials.”
“Experimental…” Greldo said, feeling his anger grow. “For who?”
The two Slughir shivered, and he tried to rein in his anger. “We don’t know, Lord! We were just told to do so and return them.”
So, the blood cardsmith abductions never stopped?
Greldo grunted, turning to Gloom, who seemed preoccupied.
“So, are there any Touhiri here?” he asked.
“We don’t know, Lord. At least no large numbers, however, there are some captains who have the tendency to bring some.”
Of course they do, Greldo thought, staring at the two and wondering what he should do with them.
“You said, one of the fleets,” he said. “How many more are there?”
“I don’t know, Lord. At least two, but probably more.”
I’ll have to tell Irwin about this so he can warn Daubutim, Greldo thought.
“Are these fleets also Slughir?”
The two shared a quick look before seeming to hesitate.
“Answer me.”
“No!” both shouted in tandem. “Our people usually don’t get chosen for missions to outer-edge branches like this.”
Outer-edge…
“Why not, and what do you mean by usually? This war isn’t that old yet… Did the Guidar send out forces to other main branches?”
The woman’s lipless mouth opened and closed as she seemed to struggle with what to answer. She eventually seemed to decide to just start at the end.
“Yes, Lord. They send out forces to many branches that are on their edges,” she said. “There are many other main branches that haven’t been fully subjugated, mostly because they are very lowly populated or populated with species the Guidar have no interest in.”
Greldo noticed that she seemed almost jealous as she said that, and he could understand why.
“Do you know more about those other branches?” he asked, getting an immediate shake of a head as a response.
“No. Only the captains might have been able to tell you.”
And those are dead.
“So, why are your people usually not sent to outer branches?”
“Because, Lord, we have the tendency to disappear. My people live in swamps and on worlds that many others can’t or won’t inhabit. Due to this, and our tendency to reinterpret our orders in a way that suits us… Well…” she didn’t continue but merely shrugged.
Greldo barked a laugh, turning to Gloom. “Are you sure these don’t fit? It feels like this would be a good match.”
“No, thank you, my Lord,” Gloom said, his face showing no emotion.
“Fair enough. Now, what am I going to do with the two of you… Perhaps we should start with getting you to someone to unchain you.”
Greldo saw the two snake-women look at Gloom in confusion, then at him.
“We already are, Lord.”
“What? How?” Greldo asked, while Gloom let out a rare laugh.
“They are born shadewalkers, my Lord. Your presence superseded whatever those filthy Guidar did. A few days after they were here, their chains shattered.”
Greldo stared at Gloom, then at the two women, and finally snorted.
“Seriously? I thought those chains were supposed to be unbreakable? We found two ways to break them in a few years, and you are all still bound? This makes no sense!”
“I…” one of the women began, before falling quiet.
“What? Just speak,” Greldo said, getting annoyed by their behavior.
“There have been many legends of people breaking the chains… I know from my people’s own stories that it is not impossible, but that the Guidar usually sent one of their extermination ships. It is why they destroyed our world and that of the Accenti.”
I should have guessed that, Greldo thought,
“Fine. So you two are unchained,” he muttered. “What do I do with you?”
“Just keep them as part of your growing shadow realm slice, my Lord,” Gloom said. “You will need people to deal with small troubles as it grows. Especially with your next rank increase imminent.”
Greldo froze, then slowly turned his gaze on Gloom.
“What?”
“They aren’t as useless as they appear, my Lord,” Gloom said, seeming worried. “However, if you want, I can just get rid of them for you?”
“No. The other thing,” Greldo snapped. “What do you mean, my next rank increase?”
“Do you not sense it, my lord?”
“Stop calling me my lord and bloody answer the question!” Greldo snapped, barely holding back a roar.
“The slice of land, and the presence of the giant crab, has pushed your shadow realm sliver to the edge of what your soulforce can hold, so it's tethering at the edge of growing,” Gloom said, talking rapidly, his face even paler than usual. “It is causing your souflorce purity to grow rapidly, and from what I can sense, your main soulcard should rank up soon, taking your soulscape and shadowrealm sliver with it.”
Ambraz was right, Greldo thought, as she focused on himself, noticing nothing of the tension. He did feel stronger, and he did notice that his soulforce seemed easier to control. A quick check on his soulscape, a place he rarely went, showed odd cracks around the edges of his soullake, and the liquid soulforce seemed to have actually lowered.
Wait, didn’t Irwin tell me about this? His soullake grew at some point and also had the cracked walls!
“How long?” he asked.
“A few days at most, my lord,” Gloom said quickly. “If I had known you didn’t sense it, I would have warned you much earlier.”
As they spoke, Greldo saw that the two snake-women had been watching curiously.
“Great. Well, you figure out what to do with these two. They can stay as long as they don’t do anything stupid, and stop calling me Lord. I am Greldo, or if you really have to, call me Captain—” he waved at the Nocturna, which lay far in the distance, a tiny dark speck.”
“I… fear that might be a step too far… Captain,” Gloom said hesitantly. “They are even more influenced by your presence than I am.”
Greldo groaned, glaring at the two snake women who stepped back. Their movement was odd, almost as if they lacked bones.
“Captain… got it? Not Lord! I am no noble!”
“Yes, Captain,” both women managed to croak out at the same time.
“Good,” Greldo muttered, looking around before shaking his head.
I hope Dahlia’s otherself returns fast, he thought.
“I am going to talk with Dahlia, then we are going to head out with the Nocturna to continue our journey and find more small Shadow Oculithar.”
“Yes, Captain,” three voices called out, not all as easily.
--
The small thing hid as best it could, which meant poorly. It had learned to hide in the depths, but that didn’t work here. Everything was equally deep, and the pressure of the warm one was oddly spread out. It still barely understood how it had even come here. It also had a faint memory of existing around an innumerable number of identical things like itself, The Swarm, then a tantalizing smell. It had followed the swarm to a new world. There was only feeding, while the big, dangerous ones lived around them, something snatching them up and causing the swarm to disperse. Feeding brought growth, and at some point, it had stopped being one of the swarm and was pushed out.
Memories beyond that were clearer. It had been one of the bigger ones, snatching up the swarm if it came too close, constantly running from bigger ones, hunting smaller ones, or those too weak to defend. The feeding had seemed unending, and then it had made a mistake. It barely recalled what, just that it had to flee down, away from the feeding world, to the ordered world. The world of small warmth. It had hid in the nooks below the big shelled one, which had initially sent the smaller one after it. Constant chasing, then moments of respite, and it barely noticed something within it was changing.
Then the hunter had stopped, though why it was unclear. No more chasing.
Another long time passed, and it was trying to understand what to do. Going up was dangerous, but without feeding, it could only grow slowly.
The confusion had grown when the feeding world and the ordered world had moved into an even more ordered world. A world that was oddly warm. Warm like the one who controlled it. Then there had been movement, fighting, and dangerous screaming as the largest ones had gone insane for the food that was moving.
That was long ago now, and the food was gone.
No.
The thought was faint and bubbly, but it was correct. The food wasn’t really gone. The feeding world was gone, but there were large dead ones strewn around, being eaten by the ordered ones. The warm ones.
Initially, it had wanted to chase them away, but somehow it didn't seem right. Right was something it had learned while listening to the pale warm one. The lesser warm one. The one who walked with the smelly ones. The one who bowed for the big warm one. Called him Lord.
Lord meant something, though it wasn’t exactly sure what. Ancient memories seemed to be bubbling far away, just out of reach, promising it to explain what was wrong, but with it came a risk. A risk that it would lose the change it felt. The order within it.
It stretched its tentacles out towards a chunk of a big one and quickly ate it. As it did, it sensed the soulforce change within it, becoming ordered. Ordered like those around it. Ordered like it.
A mental push came from the big shelled one, reminding it of the oldest memory it had. The moment when it had suddenly been, and immediately been chased away from the depths. The depths of the disorder…
Little strange one… Eat less of that, and more of this.
The thought wasn't its own but came from the shelled one, and with it a direction. Smaller ordered ones. Warm ones. They did look tantalizing, and smelled better than the meat of the big ones. They did eat it, and he could sense the soulforce change far faster within them.
It hesitated for only a moment, then noticed something -a fish- move nearby, drifting from its school. It shot forward, used its tentacle to engage it, and quickly ate it.
A warm flow of ordered warmth came from deep within its stomach, stretching across its limbs. More change came with it, and it quickly opened an eye to examine its own skin. It had gone from pitch black to gaining a purple hue. It quickly closed its eye in case something attacked, using its soulforce senses to look around.
There!
It found another fish and shot forward. Consuming it brought more warmth and change, and its thoughts became clearer. Another thing came with the change… a sense of wanting to be closer to the warm ordered one. Perhaps if it changed more, it could go there and bask in its orderly presence?
More food. More warmth. More order.
It shot away, not noticing the presence of the big-shelled one, following it, and projected a sense of amusement.
--
Gloom glared at the distant wall, the shadowrealm beyond it seemingly ever more like a disgusting thing. He hadn’t noticed initially, nor in the few decades after, but as time progressed and the Lord’s shadow sliver grew to look more like what he recalled. It wasn’t anywhere what it should be, but if this continued?
Eventually, the shadow realm might exist again, he thought, seeing something flicker past in the distance.
What?
He frowned as he saw something dash after a fish. For a moment, he thought it was a shadow Oculithar, then he saw the purplish skin, the longer, more nimble tentacles. The little thing reminded him of a Scathfada, though something about its shape was off. Perhaps he just recalled wrongly? It did feel like something was wrong with it, but his soulforce senses couldn’t exactly pick it up. Perhaps it had just eaten too much of the Oculithar?
He watched it catch another fish, eat it, before an eye opened. It glowed a red that was almost identical to the Lord’s and Coal’s, and positioned too much on the tentacle.
Not a Scathfada but something like it?
Another few fish later, the sense of wrongness was gone, and he noticed that its shape was more like what he expected of Scathfada. Not exactly the same, and the eyes still wrong, but with the wrongness gone, he ignored it.
I need to find a way to get those two to understand the proper way to serve the Lord. He will soon become increasingly more powerful, and this should cause more of the shadowrealm to be drawn here.
The mere thought made him almost forget about his own goals. It took him a few minutes to regain his own clarity of mind. By then, he’d fully forgotten about the little shadow squid.