Slowly, all the colours started to vanish, as if someone flooded everything with black paint. The shape began to twist and became sharper, more pronounced. The sky darkened, the air grew colder rapidly, the sudden wind got stronger, ruffling her hair and howling like a wild beast. Iris blinked several times, looking around. Colours were not coming back. All the hair on her body was standing on end, and a cold sweat covered her body. A sudden ominous feeling of impending doom flooded her mind, and she shivered.

After a few initial seconds of shock, she realised that while Jayden and Myrica disappeared, Marcus was sitting right next to her, still holding her hand in a firm grip. She turned to him, but he was looking around, his expression a mixture of shock, disbelief and awe.

'I'll be damn, but you did it!' he gasped. 'You did it, Iris!' He stood up, not letting go of her hand and pulling her up with him. 'This is unbelievable!' His head was snapping from one side to another, his mouth parted in awe, like a child that visited the harvest festival for the first time.

Iris grunted. 'Shouldn't we get back now?'

'Let's take a quick look around,' said Marcus walking toward nearby trees and dragging her behind him. He reached out his free hand to touch the whirling shadowy tree. It was constantly moving like it was dancing to some music they couldn't hear. 'There is a dense substance to it. It's not made of shadows. Curious,' the old man mused, stroking his chin in thought.

Iris looked around, her nerves tense as strings in armed hunter's snares. Everything on this side looked like Shadows and were constantly moving. She noticed that the light they accumulated was hanging in the air, a few steps behind them – a stain that was a little bit brighter than its surroundings. Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she snapped her head in that direction. But she could see nothing but flowing branches of trees and bushes.

Marcus was still mumbling to himself and touching everything around them, clearly mesmerised by the otherworldly landscape. But something foul was nearby. Iris could sense it. Her head was throbbing painfully, and her hands started to shake uncontrollably. She looked around, trying to spot any incoming threat.

'Marcus, we need to go back now,' she urged him, tugging on his hand. 'Something is coming.'

'Hm?' He looked back at her for the first time since they entered the Shadow Realm and his blue eyes snapped to attention. 'You can feel it? How? What do you feel?'

'I don't know!' she said, her voice trembling on the verge of panic. 'There's some... presence moving toward us. Strong. Malicious.'

'Let's go back then,' Marcus nodded. 'Take a deep breath and take us...' but before he managed to finish the sentence, a Shadow broke away from the nearby tree and crashed at him, knocking him to the ground.

The beast shrieked, its jaw opened far wider than it should be possible, showing rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth, some black fluid dripping from its mouth. Marcus was thrashing around, his hands squeezed at the monster's neck, trying to keep the jaws away from his face. But the beast was strong enough to pin him down with all its weight, moving its head wildly and trying to sink its teeth into the flesh.

Iris screamed in shock. For a couple of seconds, she was just standing there, frozen in place, not able to move a muscle. Marcus grunted in pain, and she snapped out of her stupor. She reached her hand toward the pulsing light. Nothing happened. Panicked, she narrowed her eyes, trying to focus, but all her efforts were useless. It seemed the light remained on the other side of the Veil.

Marcus screamed as the creature finally managed to sink its teeth in his arm. Iris gasped when she saw the blood pouring out of it. Her body trembling, she fell on her knees and started to feel around on the ground, looking for anything substantial to grasp. After a few seconds, her fingers clasped on something long and thick. Fallen branch, probably. It seemed sturdy enough to be used as a mace. She jumped to her feet, and with a wild scream, she smashed her makeshift weapon at the monster. The beast hissed, and its jaws lost their grip on the old man's arm.

Its head turned to Iris, eyes glowing red, wolf-like snout snarling, exposing bloody teeth. Iris didn't stop to admire the strange creature. She was already swinging the branch from over her shoulder, putting all her strength into this one strike. The monster shrieked in pain when it got hit and swayed on his feet, staggering back.

Iris didn't waste any time. Once the beast was off Marcus, she was already on her knees, clasping her hand on his bloodied one.

'I want to go back now!' she shouted, even though she knew it was not necessary. It was her mind that was doing the job. She felt a tugging sensation, and the colours started to sip into the landscape, while shadows seemed to pale and withdraw.

But before the dual vision became one, movement caught Iris' attention. She turned her head just in time to see the beast charging at her at full speed. The only thing she managed to do was to shield her head with a raised arm. She felt a penetrating chill exploding at her wrist and expanding up her arm. She was thrown to the soft grass by something heavy that was still attached to her arm, thrashing wildly.

She screamed and opened her eyes to find a distorted shadowy figure crushing her to the ground. It looked nothing like the beast they saw on the other side. It was a swirling mass of darkness, coiling, and changing shape. Iris felt a glacial aura surrounding the creature that was biting into her skin like a pinprick of a thousand needles.

Iris heard someone shouting. The next moment the blinding light pierced the Shadow, and it disintegrated with a painful shriek. Shocked and confused, she was lying on the grass, looking into a grey cloudy sky, breathing heavily. They made it back. Thanks, Lord Sun!

'Iris!' she felt hands on her as someone was prompting her to sit. She shook her head and focused her eyes on Myrica. 'Are you all right?'

'I think so...' she said. Her arm was throbbing, so she looked down. The skin on her wrist was fiercely red, like when she was working too long outside during winter and not wearing gloves. Curiously, there were no bite marks. 'My arm...'

'It's a shadow touch,' said Myr, taking her hand gently and examining it carefully. 'Fortunately, it did not hold you for long. It could be much worse otherwise.' She stood up and offered her a hand. 'Come, let us check on Marcus. I think his wound is grimmer than yours.'

Indeed, Marcus was still lying on the grass, which was already stained red with his blood. Jayden was kneeling beside him, his hands already glowing with light, ready to heal.

'Marcus!' Iris knelt next to him. Her stomach clenched at the sight of his painful expression.

'I'll be fine, girl,' he said. 'Jayden is already on it.'

It was true. It took only a few moments for a young mage to close deep bite marks on Marcus' arm. The old man sat up and sighed.

'I must apologise, Iris. I acted like a complete novice out there.'

'It's not your fault,' she said.

'Of course, it is. I didn't believe it was possible. I was surprised, and my scholarly side took the better of me back there.'

'Can you reveal what exactly happened?' asked Myr, her arms crossed at her chest. 'We only saw you two disappear. One second you were sitting here with us, and the next, you vanished.'

'Well, Iris has done it indeed. We crossed to the other side,' Marcus said, his voice again full of hardly contained excitement. 'Jayden fetch the others. I want them to hear it too. Iris, we need to practice more, so you can effortlessly cross from one side to another.'

'But it's dangerous!' she protested. 'That monster almost killed us!'

'That's why on our next attempt, we will be sure to take Kara or Arlo. We won't let ourselves be surprised again.'

They spent the rest of the day jumping between the realms. Once Iris discovered what was needed to trigger her ability, it became easier to perform it every time. After their first unlucky excursion, they made sure to take some armed help each time. When the Lord Sun was slowly rolling towards the western horizon, they already managed to do five jumps between the realms and were ready to do another one, but Myrica put a hand on Marcus' shoulder.

'I think that is enough for today,' she said, her voice gentle but firm.

'The Lord Sun is still up. Surely, we can make one more try,' the old man protested. 'We are nowhere near fluent yet, and....'

'I said it is enough,' the huntress interjected and gestured to Iris. 'Look at her. She is so exhausted she is swaying on her feet. It will bring us no value if she faints, and you get stuck on the other side. What she needs is rest.'

Marcus sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking at Iris. 'You're right. Of course, you're right, Myr. Let's rest now. Tomorrow morning, we start again.'

Iris sighed, relieved. She didn't want to complain, but Myr was spot on. She was so exhausted as if she were marching through the forest all day long without a break. They got back to the cave before the sky turned dark completely. Kara and Arlo were busy preparing a meal while Myr sat Iris in front of the fire giving her a waterskin.

'You did well today,' she said. 'Now rest and regain your strength. We will need it again tomorrow.'

Soon Marcus and Jayden joined them at the campfire.

'Let's sum up what we've learned today,' said Marcus. 'I say it was a very productive day. And full of surprises. I know you are tired, Iris, but bear with me a little while longer while I sort through what we know.' Iris nodded. 'You can consciously step between the realms. But for now, you still need the light as a trigger for your ability, correct?'

'Yes. It's not like I'm using it anyhow to do the step itself, but it feels like I need something to stimulate my senses to reach my source of magic.'

'That's all right. We can work easily with that. But stepping back to our realm – you do that just by instinct, as there is no light in the Shadow Realm.'

'I guess so,' Iris nodded.

'Next, you can take others with you, as long as they have physical contact with you.'

'Yes.'

'Is it harder when you are jumping with more than one person?'

'It's hard to say. So far, we only tried with three people. I don't think it made much difference.'

'Fair point. Tomorrow we must experiment with the number of people you can take with you and see if it puts more pressure on you. Ideally, we want you to be able to transport all of us to the Shadow Realm and back. Any other thoughts?' Marcus asked, looking at his companions.

'Do we know if there is any constrain on how long she can stay in the Shadow Realm?' asked Jayden, looking at Iris. She noticed he didn't have his usual scowl when he talked to her. He looked more curious, intrigued even, by her new, unexpected ability.

'I'm not sure, to be honest,' she admitted. 'We only made short jumps today.'

'And how did you feel while you were out there?' asked Myr. 'Was it any different than being in our realm? Did you feel any physical discomfort?'

Iris considered it for a moment. 'Now, when you said it, it felt different. It's colder there, and the air is like... more oppressive? But I'm not sure if it's because of the place itself or because of the Shadows. Every time we encountered the Shadows, my head was throbbing, like my body was warning me about something dreadful that was coming.'

'We will have to experiment with the duration of our trips too then,' said Marcus, rubbing his chin in thought. 'I also felt physical discomfort while we were out there. It may be a natural occurrence, as we are not the natural inhabitants of that place.'

'The Shadows,' said Jayden, looking at Marcus. 'Your wound was as if you were attacked by something physical. How come? I have never seen the Shadow leaving such marks. Only the one Iris has,' he gestured at her still red wrist.

'Oh, that is a fascinating point,' said the old man, his eyes sparkling. He did love his science. 'In the Shadow Realm, those creatures have a physical form. Only when they cross the veil, they become the Shadows as we know them. While we are on the other side, we can hurt them with all physical weapons that would not work on our side.'

'Huh, it is like a mirror effect then,' mused Jayden.

Iris tried hard to follow along with their academic discussion, but her eyelids suddenly became incredibly heavy, and she had difficulties sitting up straight.

'All right, you need to lie down, this instance,' Myr put an arm around Iris' shoulders and herded her toward the nest of blankets. 'Rest now, young one. I will wake you when the food is ready.'

Iris didn't register the last words, as she was already fast asleep .

Picture by nandn from Pixabay