Authors note: How much detail do you guys want about what Daubutim is up to? I can leave it here, continue with Irwin and Greldo and eventually when he returns he can tell them what happened. (if he survives :O - Or I could show a little bit in every chapter? Or a full chapter of what he is up to? I know not everyone has the same opinion, just leave them below and if you all agree I will take some more time with him or less.
This feels more powerful than the regular Shadow Oculithar, Irwin thought as he sensed the powerful soulforce move through the shadows.
He reached out and grabbed the Oculithar that had tried to flee, mostly ignoring its antics. It wasn’t big enough to pose any threat to him, and he absently ripped it to pieces as he focused on the soulforce signature, which had stopped a few hundred feet away.
What is it doing? he thought as he ripped the central part of the Oculithar into pieces before moving it into his soulscape in the center of the volcano.
Hovering in his soulscape, one of his Aura Clones watched as the enormous chunk of flesh fell towards the molten rock like a small, jagged, bleeding boulder. Within moments, it began to sizzle and sink, while a thick, disharmonious soulforce resonance almost screamed as it exploded outward. More chunks followed in quick succession.
Irwin dropped to the ground as soon as the final part of the Oculithar was gone, the inferno that was his flame sanctifying the corridor of anything that might have remained. As he worked, he kept his gaze on the position where he felt the disturbance.
Either it's much smarter, or it's something else, he thought, as he slowly realized that any Shadow Oculithar that strong would have long since tried to attack him.
When he sensed no more tiny horrors in the resonance of the thin ambient soulforce, he pulled back his flame but remained in his giant form.
The fire had barely vanished when a familiar shape appeared mid-air, grinning widely.
“Greldo!” Irwin barely managed to keep himself from roaring at the top of his lungs, and even then, he saw his friend’s hands clamp on his ears as he grimaced. Then he felt his mouth fall open.
Why does he resonate with that much strength? It’s like an Ammolite soulcard…!
Stunned, Irwin released his Surging Growth while at the same time changing his giantself for his normal-sized body. He was about to beckon his friend down when a shadowy ship appeared high above the ground. Tiny compared to the Caldera, it had a black hull and dark sails. Just like Greldo, it radiated with far too much soulforce.
Runes? he thought as he sensed an oddly familiar resonance from certain areas.
Highly curious now, he clicked his tongue, and a moment later, he appeared on the small deck beside Greldo, who was still rubbing his ears and scowling at him.
“Remind me not to surprise you again,” his friend said.
“Sorry about that,” Irwin said as he stepped forward, feeling immense relief at seeing his friend again.
He hadn’t doubted he’d be fine, but it had been a year since they had last seen each other—a year that had kept him busy with all of his bodies.
Greldo rolled his eyes, grabbed Irwin’s outstretched hand, and as he did, Irwin saw a wide grin appear.
“I hadn’t expected to find you out here! How are things? Is Zarkon about done?”
Irwin snorted. “It’s been only a year. The first part of the city is growing rapidly, but it will take a few decades until we get it completely ready. Now, how about you explain to me why your soulforce feels so strong and different?”
Greldo’s lips curled up as he puffed up his chest. “What? You think I’d let you be the only one to have fun?”
Irwin snorted. “Your soulcards feel different, and the pressure from you… it’s like-”
“One of my soulcards became Ammolite? Why yes, how nice of you to notice,” Greldo said, his grin widening. “Remember that chunk of shadowrealm I found? Well, I found more, and there was this pressure building. At some point, I just… woke up and my soulscape was storming like when a heartcard turns into a soulcard, but then far worse than anything I ever encountered.”
Irwin gaped at his friend. He and Ambraz had been researching soulcards and how to change them ever since he had started searching for a way to help Tang. Based on all the things he’d been able to do so far, he’d been nearly sure there should be a way… but to upgrade a soulcard from Ruby rank-
No, wait… the pressure isn’t just stronger. It’s different somehow.
He leaned forward, his soulforce senses wrapping around his friend as he tried to find out what was different.
“Ah… right,” Greldo said, scratching his chin and still grinning like a madman. “The order of my soulcards also changed.”
Irwin opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Ambraz appeared on his shoulder.
“Rustbucket! That’s impossible!” the Ganvil shouted, shooting from Irwin and flying around Greldo’s head.
Irwin closed his mouth while Greldo let out a laugh.
“Stop laughing and show me!” Ambraz snapped.
Greldo blinked, then frowned. “How?”
“Move me into your soulscape already! Just be fast with summoning your soulcards, or my presence might cause some imbalance,” the Ganvil said, sounding excited.
Irwin saw Greldo look at him questioningly, and he shrugged.
Greldo hummed, then matched Irwin’s shrug, and a moment later, Ambraz vanished.
Irwin remained quiet, watching Greldo for any signs of problems, while sensing Ambraz’s excitement spike through their bond. He fully expected Ambraz to reappear, but instead, he suddenly exploded back into his own soulscape.
Greldo’s eyes widened, and he looked around. “He just vanished, and-”
“It’s fine,” Irwin said, sensing Ambraz rushing to where Tang was talking with a group of Crathans. “He returned to my soulscape…”
He hesitated, then sent an auraclone after Ambraz before turning back to his friend.
“So, your soulcards rearranged?”
“Yes. My Scion of the Naicht went from being my third soulcard to being my first, and also became Ammolite ranked.”
Irwin stared at his friend, trying to imagine just what it meant that this had happened. He’d been able to redo heartcards before, by unbalancing them and shattering them so he could reforge them, but this? The sheer complexity of the resonance patterns made it completely impossible for him to even contemplate. A single soulcard was a locked resonance pattern that sat within the soulscape like a key in a lock, both the lock and part of the door’s entire reality. A tight, perfect fit. Now? The shadow cards of Greldo had somehow removed the keys from their locks, changed the soulscape to create a new set of locks in different places, and reslotted them. All without blowing his friend up.
“Dahlia had the same look when she figured it out,” Greldo said. “She and Juul’rish have been trying to understand the details, but they weren’t even completely sure my soulcard had become Ammolite yet.”
Irwin nodded, as part of him was also listening to Ambraz ask Tang dozens of questions.
I wonder if it's only possible with exactly the right set of cards, he thought as a sudden idea came to him.
Perhaps it would require the resonance song of the entire soulscape to be moved in a certain direction so that it could interact with a stronger force within the same resonance type…?
But then that would mean having to prepare the cards beforehand, he thought, barely seeing his friend as his mind tried to wrap itself around having to create a symphony of multiple soulcards, each already insanely complex, in such a way that they created an overarching pattern. He didn’t even notice how most of himself began pulling together, working on the problem when a sudden realization hit him.
It’s like a worldcard!
How had he not seen it? The overarching patterns of the soulcards were like a symphony of multiple songs, creating a unified pattern within a soulscape. The complexity was staggering, and as he imagined using an external factor to influence them, he shivered.
“Uh… Irwin?”
Irwin blinked, realizing he was standing a foot from Greldo, who was staring at him intently while his soulforce senses swirled around his friend in a tight whirlpool.
“Right,” he grunted, stepping back and quickly creating another Aura Clone within his smithy, which began writing down notes of his thoughts just now.
“So… am I alright?” Greldo asked, looking slightly worried.
“What? Yes, you are fine,” Irwin said, staring at his friend again and wondering if there was any way he could reproduce what had happened on a smaller scale.
Perhaps, but not without months or even years of preparation.
Noticing Greldo’s worry, he quickly shook his head and grinned.
“Never mind that. Just tell me the details of what happened. Everything you remembered!”
Greldo sighed, and a thin stack of papers appeared in his hand.
“Dahlia wanted the same thing, and she said you would likely want to know,” he said, handing Irwin the papers. “So I wrote it down.”
Irwin glanced at the first paper, then quickly moved them into his smithy beside the Aura Clone. If he read it now, he’d likely be lost in thought for the foreseeable future.
“I’ll get them back to you when I am done,” he said.
“No need. Those are yours,” Greldo said, before he put his hands on his hips.
“Now it's my time to ask questions. Did I just see you rip apart regular Oculithar? How did they even get in here?”
Irwin sighed as one of his headaches of the last year was pointed out to him. It managed to push away some of the excitement he was still feeling.
“They were. We don’t know exactly how many, but some managed to move in during the Great Storm,” he said, spreading out his soulforce senses to check if he’d definitely cleared out every remaining bit. “Basil and Scariander found one while they were scouting the area surrounding Zarkon Harbor. Scariander sensed something odd, and they headed out farther than planned, finding it in the ruins of a fleet of merchant ships. Luckily, it wasn’t too big, and the two were able to kill it. They found the logbooks of one of the navigators, and apparently, more had been roaming around that area.”
“Great,” Greldo said, shaking his head. “So, we don’t just have those bloody shadow-tentacled bastards to deal with, but there’s even the regular ones.”
“Not a lot,” Irwin said, though a part of him wondered if it was really true. “From what Daubutim has been able to piece together, there shouldn’t be more than a handful. These two were actually the only ones we managed to locate, and we only managed that because Luath is even more sensitive than Scariander and was able to find them. If those logbooks are true, there are more in a branch a few weeks' travel away. According to the logbooks, they stay there and only sometimes set out, but no reason was given as to why.”
“Great…” Greldo said. “So, let me guess. That’s the next thing we are going to handle?”
Irwin grinned, nodding. “It's a good thing you are back, or I would have had to go in by myself.”
Greldo shook his head. “I am not even back yet, and already there’s work to be done. Well, fine. How are things at Zarkon Harbor then? Did we connect the Central Registrar yet?”
“Not yet,” Irwin said, shaking his head. “Daubutim’s otherself isn’t back yet, and we have decided to wait for that.”
“Daubutim isn’t back from the Library?” Greldo asked, a slight worry on his face.
Irwin sighed, resisting the urge to rub his head. “No. It’s been half a year, and his otherself is also starting to get worried because there’s no connection between the two.”
“There’s not? How is that even possible?” Greldo asked.
Irwin shrugged and stared out across the charred wasteland. “We have no idea…”
The two were quiet for a few minutes, then Greldo sniffed.
“I am sure he will be fine. Besides having powerful soulcards, he is one of the most resourceful people I know. So, what are we going to do? I would prefer seeing Zarkon first, but if you want to check why those regular Oculithar are staying at the spot…”
Irwin stared at his friend, hesitated, then shook his head.
“Let’s head to Zarkon first. You have been traveling for years and need a break, and I am sure Dahlia and Scintilla will want to see each other. Let me move you into Soulscape City so you can see them.”
“Into what?” Greldo asked, looking highly confused.
“Ah, right,” Irwin said with a grin. “I forgot you didn’t learn what the people have begun calling the city in my soulscape yet.”
“That’s… a bit odd for a name, right?” Greldo said.
“My own fault for not giving it a name before everyone started calling it that,” Irwin said with a weary sigh.
He pulled on his friend, sensing far more resistance than he ever had with anyone except for Brazardian.
Greldo appeared on the outskirts of the city with another of Irwin’s Aura Clones next to him.
Irwin saw his friend’s eyes widen before Greldo barked a laugh.
“Here I thought I was slowly catching up.”
Irwin glanced at the city, with towering buildings close together, many connected by bridges, and tens of thousands of soulforce signatures moving about.
“Well, at least I can show you the islands I now have,” Greldo said before he could say anything. “For now, how about you show me around?”
-- Seven months earlier --
Daubutim stepped out of the other end of the Library Portal, ready to move. He had no idea what to expect, and thus expected everything, his mind running as fast as it could.
This is very different from the Fiverio entrance, he thought.
Ahead of him was what likely had been a pristine wooden floor, now ripped apart in places that showed the dark gray stone below. The small chamber he was in likely had a few shelves sometime in the past, but those had been reduced to splinters while the door ahead of him was gone, only some stone hinges remaining. Dust seemed to hang still in the air, though he knew it was just moving incredibly slowly. Behind it, he could see a sprawling, shadowy room with nothing moving.
Although the speed at which his mind was running now was a massive drain on his soulforce, he knew it was his safest bet.
Nobody in the room, and no footsteps in the dust, so nobody was here since whatever happened, he thought, as he moved his body, which, although much faster than most things, still felt slow to his lightning-fast mind.
Stepping forward, he saw a red hue tint the entire room and all beyond as the light of his lightning illuminated everything.
I wonder if there’s a way to move at the speed of light, he thought.
He’d had the same curious thought before, and like those times, he ignored it as he stepped out of the room and looked around. Whatever had happened had left all of the massive chamber in ruins, tables and chairs no more than splinters blown into the corners, while all doors except for a few far away were gone. Four layers of balustrades, all with now doorless frames leading to rooms where he saw dark-purple square portals.
No movement, he thought, scanning the entire room carefully.
When he was sure there was nothing there, Daubutim knew it was time to go through the room and see if he could figure out what had happened. A battle between very powerful handcarded, probably even heartcarded, had happened here, but he didn’t expect it to have been someone soulcarded stronger than he himself. Had this been done by someone of his power, the room would have been completely annihilated.
He walked forward, slowing his mental speed and movement until he reached a pace that would allow him to react without draining his soulforce.
Two minutes and three seconds later, he had moved down the staircase, through the central area, and reached the entrance that seemed to lead further into the library.
This isn’t right…
Daubutim stared through another, smaller room that had been as destroyed as the one he stood in, only to find three corridors led into the Library. Books on the shelves showed no signs of damage, but that wasn’t the issue.
There shouldn’t be any corridors with books here yet.
Although he’d not been here, he knew of these areas and read about them. There were large areas around the portals that, according to one of the books, were created when a new portal appeared, allowing the construction of living quarters and many other things for the people living here permanently.
He snuck forward, ready to speed things up if he had to.
A leg drew his attention. It splayed out from below the ruins of a table, and closer, he saw it was a human leg covered in familiar leather armor that had been ripped. Long since dried up, blood covered the ground and the leg, and as he knelt and peered under the wreckage, he saw the rest of the body… all but the head.
Purple blood, and Accenti armor. The chained got this far?
He hesitated, then carefully began lifting the different debris away from the table until he could free the body. A quick inspection left him with nothing but a headless body. No other wounds, and no papers. Another minute and a few seconds later, he found a long, narrow sword, its tip cracked and dangling.
Daubutim stepped away from the body and looked around.
This happened either months or even years ago, he thought, staring at the library corridors and shook his head.
First, he had to update himself and Irwin.
Reaching out to his soulscape, he felt a shiver run through him as nothing responded. He knew it was still there, could feel his soulscape as he always had, but when he tried reaching it, nothing happened. Focusing on his otherself, the same thing occurred.
“Ohhhhh, I sensed that!”
A distant voice screamed through one of the corridors, the voice multifaceted and too high-pitched.
Daubutim moved instantly, the speed of his body and mind rocketing back to their maximum as he ran back through the smaller room, into the big one, up the stairs, and back to the chamber that led to Zalirki One’s portal.
He reached the portal, stepped forward, and barely managed to bend his body away as a flare of black lightning rippled from the portal’s edge and straight at his face. He dashed two steps back just out of reach from multiple tendrils of lightning that flung around so fast that he knew anyone slower would have been impossible to evade them.
Daubutim’s eyes narrowed as he ran around the room’s walls to the other side, and tried again at the back of the portal. This time, he was expecting it, and as the black lightning rippled from the portal, he easily dodged it.
Which was the only good news. Staring at the portal, he tried connecting to his soulscape again, failing as badly as the first time.
Something is here, it might be doing this, and it knows I am here, he thought, his thoughts rushing at max speed. Need to leave a message for anyone coming through…
He shot back into the room, grabbed a table, and dragged it into the room. He raised his hand, summoned his sword, and froze. If he could summon his sword?
A bright red bird with lightning rippling across its feathers and through its eyes appeared on his shoulder.
‘I am locked here! Tell them not to send anyone through,’ Daubutim sent to Twyll.
The raven replied, flapped its wings, and… remained where it was.
‘No, I don’t know why you can’t return,’ Daubutim thought back, rapidly using the tip of his sword to edge out a message in the wood before putting it against the wall where anyone could see it.
Portal is blocked! Don’t reenter or the lightning will hit you. There is something here that can sense you if you try to enter your soulscape. I am going to search for a way out of here. -- Daubutim
Then he ran through the door, knowing he had to hurry. His soulforce was dipping dangerously low, already over half gone, and he had no idea if he had to fight. He sprinted through the chamber and towards the intersection of the library corridors. Knowing the voice had come from the left one, and having no idea where he had to go, he ran in the opposite corridor.
Two steps in, he knew something had changed.
Daubutim slowed and turned around, and where there should have been a small, destroyed room, the corridor lined with bookshelves now continued towards a distant intersection. He walked back, but nothing changed. Worse, as he looked around again, the corridor he had seen before was different. Not a lot, and most people might not have noticed, but with his memory, he saw it instantly. Standing still, he slowly turned his head back, and again the corridor behind him had changed, and looking ahead, it had changed.
‘I don’t know what is happening… but it definitely isn’t good. Keep watching where I am, and don’t blink.’
Daubutim slowly turned his head again, using his ability to watch through Twyll’s eyes to see two things at the same time. To his utter surprise, nothing changed, and as he looked back again, the same corridor was there. However, when he looked back to where neither of them had watched, it had again changed.
‘If we don’t look, it changes. Keep looking behind us,’ he told Twyll as he examined the books to his side. Recognizing none of them, he wondered if what was happening was specific to this part of the corridor or was happening everywhere.
Should I stay here and keep looking around until I find something I recognize?
There was no answer, nor had he expected one, but two things his father used to say played through his mind.
Don’t run rashly into an unknown situation, but it’s also never a good idea to remain somewhere when an unknown adversary might know where you are…
Deciding the latter might be more dangerous, due to his rapidly decreasing soulforce, he began walking forward, towards the next intersection, while letting his speed drop slightly.
He went left at the intersection, into a corridor with pale-spined books with black letters that went on for sixty-odd feet, and ended in another intersection. A quick check showed he recognized neither the books nor the language.
Time flowed slowly as he continued ahead, constantly taking the left hand, turning around twice if he hit a dead end, and finding that this solved the dead end nine out of ten times. None of the corridors was the same, and he recognized nothing. That was, until, after seven hours and twenty-four minutes, he reached an intersection and looked left.
A familiar corridor with a wooden doorpost and threshold that he’d seen once before made his hair stand on end. It led into a corridor where only a single, black book stood on the otherwise empty shelves that lined the corridor.
This is where I led Uxin'tar…
Daubutim stared in dumbfounded silence at the corridor he had never imagined he would ever see again, his eyes locked on the book. He knew what it was, or what was in it. A Soulghyst. A horrible ancient entity that none of his research had helped him understand.
An entity that had answers to many questions…