'But that's... impossible!' said Myrica. 'There are hundreds of them!'

'It isss only the onesss that we know.'

Sam walked over to the map and tapped one of the dots, placed at the lower border of the map. 'This is our world, so-called Light Realm. As you can see, the only known connection is to the Shadow Realm. So, answering your question, Iris, if the passage between those two were blocked, that meant we were cut out from all other realms too.'

'That wasn't a very wise move, then,' snorted Arlo.

'Even in timesss of our greatessst and mossst honessst cooperation, the Realmfarersss were exceedingly rare. Humansss were never experienced travelersss. I'd guessss they probably never ventured farther than third or fourth intersssection,' said Alaife tapping the dot not far from the Light Realm.

'How is it possible you have so many of the realms mapped so accurately then?' asked Iris.

'They received the Realmfarers from all of the realms,' Sam said. 'Some of them have civilisations that are far more advanced than ours, and crossing the worlds was like breathing for them. Once they visit the Shadow Realm, they exchanged knowledge, and that's how this map was created.'

'I don't want to be a downer,' Jayden said, his arms crossed. 'But from what you told us, I would expect this place to pulse with life and visitors from all different worlds.' He waved towards the map. 'Meanwhile, your library looks like an abandoned ruin.'

'That'sss becaussse we are not the civilisssation we once were. Coming here isss no longer sssafe for outsidersss. And ssso they ssstopped coming.'

'That is a lot for us to consider, but for now, we have more pressing concerns,' grunted Marcus. 'If we won't stop the Great Inquisitor, there would be no one to prevent our civilisation's destruction. The situation is bad enough as it is, with our Lord Sun's power diminished.'

'Is it that bad?' Sam asked.

'Yes, it is. All Mages have been made outlaws and are sacrificed so the Inquisitor can gain more power and get rid of any opposition.'

'Yeah, it doesn't sound good.'

'So, how come he can use it and not get corrupted himself?' Jayden asked.

'That's curious indeed.' Sam rubbed his chin. 'Can the Grand Inquisitor use the Light Magic?'

'I don't think so,' Marcus said.

'How is he fulfilling his part of the alliance then?'

'That's quite sssimple, Massster,' Alaife said. 'The Light human provides the Shadow with does not necessarily have to be his own.'

'Oh, I didn't know that. Huh. Clever,' Sam admitted. 'So as long as he provides his Shadow counterpart with a steady supply of Light, he can wield the Shadow Magic without corrupting himself?'

'To the extent, yes.' The Shadow nodded. 'Although, asss alwaysss, there isss a breaking point. The corruption isss the resssult of accumulated Ssshadow, that exceeds the amount of Light in human'sss sssoul. Once this happensss, the body isss ssslowly dissssolving. For Ssshadowsss it isss a mirror effect. Unfortunately, in our cassse, our tolerance far exceedsss human capacity. I did not hear about the Ssshadow that dissssolved due to excessss of Light. We go mad, of courssse, becoming a forever ssstarved monster, but I don't think it killsss us.'

'Can we somehow break the alliance? Cut the Grand Inquisitor off his power?' asked Marcus.

'The pact may only be broken by the onesss who forged it,' Alaife said. 'Unlessss one ssside no longer exisssts.'

'So, in short, we must kill at least one of them,' Arlo concluded. 'I'm not surprised.'

'I don't think they will just break the pact willingly.' Marcus scoffed. 'Can we hunt down this Shadow here?'

'I don't think that's wise,' Sam said. 'Just like your Inquisitor in the Light Realm, Brath is important here That means no one even getting into his part of the realm if they value their life.'

'But he can be killed, right?' Arlo asked, crossing his arms. 'We fought the Shadows on our way here. They bled, and I'm pretty sure they were not moving when we were done with them.'

'Those you faced were merely wild animals.' Sam scoffed. 'It's like you would compare a wolf with the Ancient Wyrm. And I mean, in size and power.'

'Ssshadow Magic is not working here the sssame asss in your realm,' Alaife added. 'It'sss part of our world itssself. The more powerful entitiesss can easssily usssse your sssurrounding No one I know of can ssstand againssst Brath here at this point.'

The silence fell, and then Myrica frowned and asked, 'Here, as in the Shadow Realm? What if we pull it to our world? If he draws his magic from his surrounding, would he still be so powerful?'

'You're right, Lady of the Foressst.' Alaife nodded. 'He would ssstill be powerful, but not invincible, asss your world is governed by different rulesss, that the magic respondsss to.'

'Also, the Shadows can't die here,' Sam said.

'What do you mean?' Kara asked. 'Those Shadows back in the forest looked pretty dead to me.'

'Their bodies were destroyed, yes. But their essence is not disappearing. It will take a while, but they will form a new body soon enough. They are as much part of this realm as the landscape. They never really go away.'

'But that doesn't make sense,' Kara protested. 'I've seen the fear in the eyes of the Shadow I threaten. The sentient one, not the beast one. It was honestly terrified I'm going to kill it. Why would it be if it's not dying?'

'It'sss a complicated isssue, Lady Nightingale. We do not ceassse to exissst, yesss. But we can feel pain, fear and all other emotionsss alien to . Asss long asss we have a body, we accumulate knowledge and experience, and it made usss who we are. But when this body isss destroyed, our conssscience exissst only on the baressst level. Once we reform, we need to ssstart everything over again. Do we ssstay the sssame perssson then? It isss hard to sssay.'

'I see. That can be inconvenient,' Marcus said.

'To sssay the leassst.'

'So, if the Shadow comes over to our realm and is killed there with Light Magic, it stays dead, correct?' Jayden asked.

'Yesss, Young Master.'

'If we want to get rid of the Shadow Magic that is spreading in our world, we need to either kill the Grand Inquisitor, surrounded by all his minions or drag the big bad Shadow to our side and kill it?' Arlo asked, scratching his head. 'That's a tough one.'

'Well, that's more than we knew so far. We need to give it some thought and devise a plan.' Marcus straightened his back. 'I say we wasted enough time dallying here. Let's head back to our realm and discuss the details further.' He extended his hands toward Iris. 'Are you ready to take us home, Iris?'

'You can't crossss from here,' Alaife said.

'What do you mean we can't?' Iris asked, frowning.

'Thisss place hasss an ancient protection ssspell, rendering all realm crossssing futile in the vicinity,' the Shadow explained. 'You can try and ssse for yourssself, Lady Realmfarer.'

Iris narrowed her eyes and looked at Marcus, who nodded encouragingly. She took a breath and closed her eyes, letting her senses roam free to find the connection that would take her home. But there was nothing there, which was odd. She never had problems with moving back to their realm. It was pure instinct and worked as soon as she wills herself to return. But not this time.

'Huh,' she mumbled, opening her eyes. 'You're right. I can't do this.'

'It's nothing to worry about.' Sam shrugged. 'All we need to do is leave the palace and walk some distance towards the forest.'

'Why would you even have such a spell now?' Marcus asked, looking at Alaife. 'You said no one is travelling between the realms anymore.'

'It'sss not sssomething that can be easssily undone. Thisss place wasss always our main centre of knowledge ssso we had to protect it from unwanted intursssion. The ssspel wasss ssso potent it holdsss even now, after all the centuriesss that passsed.'

'Well, I said we'll get going then,' Sam said, not trying to hide his enthusiasm.

'Ssso, you're leaving usss then, Massster,' Alaife said with a wistful tone, barely louder than a whisper.

Sam, halfway to the door leading out to the corridor, stopped in his tracks. His shoulders slumped a bit. He turned back to face the Shadow, silently standing there. 'Alfie... I...'

'It'sss all right, Massster. I knew you'd leave usss eventually. It wasss an honour to ssserve you.'

'Oh, Alfie.' Sam sighed and trotted back to the strange creature. He hesitated a moment but then put his hand on Shadow's arm. 'Don't get all teary on me now, old pal. I will be forever grateful for your aid and for what you've done for me. I'll never forget. And hey, now we have a real Realmfarer with us! Maybe if we finish this whole business with an evil Inquisitor, we'll come back here to visit you!'

Iris was watching the exchange in awe. It was so strange and yet oddly comforting. She no longer perceived Alaife as some terrifying otherworldly creature. They reminded her more of an elderly servant, disappointed to be left behind by his beloved master. Now their red eyes were glowing brightly with a hope that they could see him again.

'I'll be waiting, then, Massster,' Alaife said and bowed their big head.

'Sam,' Kara said stepping forward and putting her hand on his shoulder. 'The pact you have with... Alaife. You must break it before we leave. Otherwise, you'll be corrupted once we enter our realm.'

'That isss fair point, Massster. Ssshal we withdraw our oath?'

'Not yet, Alfie. Not just yet.'

'What do you mean not yet?' Myrica asked with a dangerous tone in her voice. She looked at Sam with narrowed eyes. 'You said you needed the Shadow Magic to survive here. We will not need another corrupted man on our side!'

'Hold your horses!' Sam raised his hands. 'We can withdraw our oath at any moment, right, Alfie?'

'That isss correct, Massster.'

'So, I'm thinking. It could be useful to have someone who is immune and can counter the Grand Inquisitor's magic, wouldn't you say?'

The uncomfortable silence fell. There was undeniable logic to his words, and yet, letting anyone willingly leave the corruption unchecked felt wrong.

'You can't be serious!' Kara protested. She took his face in her hands, making him look straight into her eyes. 'You can't do that, Sam. Look at you! You already look like half of a man. If you keep this magic in you, it will destroy you! And I can't... I can't go through this again!' she finished with her voice breaking. 'We'll find another way. You don't have to do this!'

'Nightingale, my love.' Sam gently covered her hands with his. 'It will be all right. It's not happening instantly. We'll have plenty of time. I promise you if it goes too far, I'll drop it right away, ok?' He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly.

Iris felt her eyes sting a bit at this heartfelt scene, but before she could blink them away, a sudden piercing pain erupted in her head. She screamed and fell on her knees as her legs buckled under her. She lifted her hands to her temples, but the pain was so intense it was blinding.

'Iris!'

She felt hands on her and heard a distant voice, but she couldn't discern who was speaking. All she could think of was the throbbing pain pulsing in her brain. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the pain slowly subsided, and her vision started to clear.

'Iris! Talk to me!' Marcus was kneeling next to her, his face pale and full of concern.

She shook her head trying to get back all her senses. The pain was still there, throbbing angrily in a rhythm with her pulse. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. 'Something... is coming,' she croaked, her mouth suddenly dry. 'Something big.'

At the exact moment, there was a commotion at the entry to the library. Iris managed to lift her head to see a Shadow gliding hastily towards them.

'Alaife!' the creature hissed, its voice high pitched and panicked. 'Brath and his minions are here! They've got the palace surrounded!'

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