The library was there indeed. It was bigger than anything Iris saw in her entire life. There were rows upon rows of shelves, all full of books, ancient tomes covered with dust. Iris couldn't see where the room ended. There were a few Shadows carrying books and searching through the shelves, but when they entered, they shied away, hiding in the darker parts of the room. Thanks to a partially collapsed wall, it was bright enough to see around them comfortably.

'That's impressive indeed,' said Marcus. 'What sorts of books are those?'

'All sorts.' Sam grinned. 'This place was originally a library, the biggest one in the whole Shadow Realm! I couldn't believe my luck when I found it. Alfie, why don't you tell them about it?'

'Alfie?' asked Marcus with raised brows.

'Well, that'sss a nickname Massster Samuel gave me,' said the Shadow, the note of disapproval ringing in his voice.

'Can't help it. Your name is simply weird,' Sam shrugged. 'You should consider yourself lucky. I could come up with much worse nicknames, you know. Lanky? Bauble head? Scrag?'

'I take Alfie, then, Massster.' The Shadow sighed. They turned to other humans and continued. 'Sssince the dawn of time, we were collectorsss of knowledge. It wasss our belief that information isss the mossst potent power of them all. All conflictsss originated from disssparity of knowledge and missscommunication. We ssstrived to be the centre that provided other realmsss with the meansss of progressss and development.'

'That's... far from what we were taught about the Shadow Realm,' said Marcus, rubbing his chin in thought.

'That isss underssstandable consssidering our sssociety degenerated many centuriesss ago.'

'Degenerated how?'

'I can explain,' interjected Sam. 'Your hissing, Alfie, can be annoying when one is not used to it. It's connected to the Shadow Magic and how it's influencing the Shadows themselves. As you probably know, for a human to use this type of magic, it is necessary to force a contract with the representative of the Shadow Realm. Have you ever wondered what the Shadows were getting out of this deal?'

'Our understanding was that the Shadows seek the Light that was part of gifted human's soul,' said Marcus.

'That is correct, although it's not that simple. In ancient times, when the Realmfarers were many and venturing between the realms was nothing unusual, the contracts were about far more than just carving for light. The participants didn't exchange a significant amount of their souls like the Order had always taught us. It was just enough for humans to command the shadows on the most basic level that enable them to venture through the Shadow Realm. In exchange, the Shadows got the small particle of the human soul. That enable them to understand our dialects and perceive the knowledge of our Realm we acquired as a culture.'

'Do you want us to believe the goal of this unholy union was pure knowledge sharing?' asked Myrica raising her brows.

'It wasss indeed, Lady of the Forest,' said Alaife.

'All those books...' said Jayden. He was walking along the closest shelves, tracing his fingers gently on the heavy, leatherbound spines. 'Most of them are in the language I've never seen.'

'That isss correct. Thisss is the collection we were gathering sssince the beginning of time, from all of the realms.'

'Realms?' asked Iris. 'What do you mean realms? Is there more than two of them?'

'But of courssse, Lady Realmfarer. I do not think that dissscovering them all would be ever possssible.'

The silence fell, and everyone was looking at the Shadow with a mixture of shock and disbelieve.

'It seems we forgot a lot since the fallout of inter-realms relations,' said Sam.

'What kind of fallout could possibly eradicate the truth?' asked Marcus, frowning what creating deep wrinkles on his forehead.

'The kind that led our kind to itsss doom,' said Alaife, their voice barely louder than a whisper.

'Concluding from your reaction for me using the Shadow Magic, you must be aware of the corruption that happens to a human who dabbles too much in this now restricted art?' asked Sam.

'Yes, no one who used it survived long enough to justify it,' said Marcus. 'It's corrupting the soul, our inner Light, taking it over. Our bodies can't survive that.'

'That is correct, of course. Now, ever wonder what happens to the Shadow who assimilate too much Light?'

The silence fell, and humans only exchanged perplexed looks. No one ever considered the Shadows as a conscience being, not mentioning wondering about what was happening to them after feeding on human's Light.

'Well, it is pretty similar to what's happening to us,' continued Sam. 'The small exchange that was customary in the old days didn't have lingering effects on either side, but it also didn't provide with any significant power. Unfortunately, both sides became greedier.'

'It all ssstarted insssignificantly,' said Alaife. 'Sssome of the Ssshadows ssstarted experimenting with exchanging more power with humansss. From all the realmsss we knew, your essssence alwaysss tasssted the sssweetessst for us. But it wasss alssso like what you call a drug for usss. The more we consssumed, the more we craved it.'

'The effects are also like those of drugs,' added Sam. 'The more exchanges happened, the less stable the Shadows became. It's like giving away your soul, one little part at a time. Until the only thing left is this savage hunger, devoid of any traces of conscious thoughts.'

'Why would anyone do that then?' asked Iris. 'If it meant losing yourself in the process?'

'The anssswer is pretty sssimple, Lady Realmfarer. More power. Not all of our kind agreed with our drive to ssshare all our knowledge openly with other realmsss. Quite the opposite. Ssssaying we ssshould ssstrengthen our defencesss in cassse of a hossstile intrusssion.'

'Those radical fractions were getting more supporters,' continued Sam. 'They started conducting more and more experiential exchanges with humans. From all the known realms, our Light was amplifying the local power the most, so it was a logical choice. But unfortunately, things got out of control quickly.

'The Shadows became wilder with every exchange, to the point where the large group went on a rampage, forcing their entry to our realm. Of course, it was in a severe breach of the treaty between our worlds. The Light Realm suspended all relations with the Shadow Realm, which led to further outbursts of violence from corrupted Shadows. One incident led to another to the point of all-out war.'

'How is it possible we haven't heard about it?' asked Jayden with his arms crossed.

'It happened centuries ago. The Veil between the realms has been reinforced, and all Realmfarers were forbidden from crossing.'

'Let's say all you told us is true,' said Iris. 'What I don't understand, though, is why all the Realmfarers disappeared too? If there is, as you said, countless realms out there, why have they ceased venturing to different places?'

'Oh, I think it would be easssier to ssshow you,' said Alaife, a sudden excitement in their usually neutral tone. 'Follow me if you pleassse.'

They led them deeper into the room, passing countless shelves and stacks of books, till they arrived at the back wall of the chamber, which was almost intact. The grey bricks were entirely covered by something that was a vague mixture of cloth and parchment. There was a complicated network of dots and lines drawn all over it.

'What, on Lord Sun's radiance, is that?' asked Marcus, though his tone suggested he had pretty solid supposition on what it was.

'It'sss a map of the known realmsss, of courssse!' exclaimed the Shadow.

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