Daniel stood on one of the walkways leading throughout the Brighttree estate. Something similar to wheat grew in vast fields on either side of the path, and Daniel couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic at the sight of the plants blowing in the wind.

‘I miss it, back when the worst thing I had to worry about was repairing the supports in my caves. It was tedious work, but damn if it wasn't peaceful,’ Daniel calmly thought. ‘I just need to keep working. No use worrying about things I can’t change. I just need to take this one step at a time.’

Daniel took the iron card out from his pocket, and it shimmered in the midday light. Breath of None, no matter if this plan for the deck worked out or not, this was something that he’d needed to add.

Daniel applied the card next to where A Sane Man’s Burden rested and willed it to join his deck, then watched as it faded into his skin, becoming iron grey ink depicting a man sitting underwater.

The effects of the card was instantaneous as Daniel became aware that he no longer needed to keep breathing. It was a strange feeling, he could still breathe if he wanted to, and that’s what felt natural, but if he stopped then he didn’t feel any ill effects from doing so.

Daniel looked back out at the flowing field of wheat like plants. How different would he be when he finally made it back to earth? Would he still have flesh and blood, or would it all be replaced by one card or another. Did it even matter?

Daniel thought it over, and couldn't come to an answer.

After a while longer spent watching the plants, Daniel activated Flicker Between Worlds and felt the calmness of Limbo replace his reality, but that calm didn’t last long as the spot where A Sane Man’s Burden rested on his body began to heat up. It wasn’t burning to the touch or anything, but it was a noticeable heat, like a towel fresh out of the dryer wrapped around his arm.

In the next instant an unseeable pressure weighed down on Daniel. He frantically looked in every direction and found what he was looking for high up in the sky.

It was giant, more so than anything he’d seen thus far from this world. The sky in Limbo was always a dark black color and this thing almost seemed to sink into that darkness as it seeked to fill it in its entirety.

The thing had more eyes than Daniel could count, and they twinkled like stars in the backdrop of the dark sky. They shined down in his direction, oppressively observing his actions before eventually moving off of him as it moved lethargically through the sky. The second its gaze moved off Daniel the pressure he’d been feeling disappeared.

Daniel almost laughed when it just stopped paying attention to him, not that he could laugh in Limbo, but the thing in the sky had looked at him like it'd found an interesting bug and then immediately lost interest.

Whatever the thing was, it was big, it was dangerous, and it didn’t care that he was here.

‘And that’s perfect,’ Daniel thought with a grin. Whatever that thing was, it was very likely that it was going to keep any other gods from interfering in this place. And if it didn’t care that he was here, then it probably wouldn’t care about what he planned to do.

Daniel took stock of himself, and found that he really didn’t need to breathe, even in this place. That was the whole reason he’d got the card, but it felt nice to get confirmation that it worked in Limbo.

With that Daniel looked down at the ruby orb and found three cracks running through it, two of which were leaking a purple liquid.

Dropping the orb, Daniel pulled out the orb’s instruction manual and idly flipped through it before landing on a short passage.

Three cracks, two leaking violet liquid: The space the orb is inhabiting is under the effects of a geas card of legendary level or higher. Do not break the geas under any circumstances, as punishments for breaking these sorts of cards are both difficult to initially handle and rapidly increase in difficulty with continued infractions.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

‘Interesting,’ Daniel thought. A geas was a rule imposed by a card, and the one here was clearly meant to inhibit breathing. And if Daniel was a betting man then the giant thing in the sky was the thing causing it. It’d probably been there all along, obscured until he’d gotten his hands on A Sane Man’s Burden.

Daniel watched whatever the thing in the sky was drift aimlessly for a while, content to just sit up there, before stepping out of Limbo and back into the Brightree Estate.

The cool breeze of the real world felt good on his skin in contrast to the stillness of Limbo, and Daniel smiled brightly befor noticing Trill, Pavel’s sister, standing not to far away on the path looking pissed. She had her hands on her hips and was looking at him like she’d just caught him doing something he shouldn’t have.

“Where pray tell did you just disappear off to?” She asked, her tone angry.

Daniel smiled, “I'd tell you, but your brothers told me that I shouldn’t disclose aspects of my card.”

“I know what your dimension card does, you idiot. I have a surveillance card targeting you in case one of the other noble houses is actually dumb enough to try something, and you may find it surprising to know that you disappearing from reality triggers the card.”

“Ooh,” Daniel said, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed. “Sorry about that, but if you’re going to apply a surveillance card to somebody, maybe let them know ahead of time?”

Trill tsked and turned to walk away, but before she could Daniel called out to her.

“Hey wait up for a minute, I got a favor to ask you.”

===

Daniel and Pavel watched a small steel cage that held a single gold coin in it. Card enhanced wire mesh kept the coin from slipping through the spaces between the bars and Pavel whistled as he stared at the coin.

“I think I just saw it move,” Pavel whisper yelled towards Daniel.

“No you didn’t,” Daniel said while shutting all the doors to the small room they were in. It’d been about five days since he’d asked Trill for that favor, and he was honestly surprised that she’d delivered the coin so soon. He’d had just enough time to finish all the books that he’d wanted to read, including the records from the previous owner of Mimics of Stone. The guy had used the card to make a few hundred or so mimics that for lack of a better term had melded into a stone dragon.

Stone dragons existed in this world, apparently, and looked like someone chiseled a dragon out from a chunk of granite, but the mimics hadn’t quite been able to match one of those creatures in strength. That definitely wasn’t saying they were strictly worse though.

Daniel walked over to where the table the cage sat on and picked it up. The ‘coin’ sitting inside vibrated slightly, and Daniel could swear he heard it growl for a second, before he eventually just shrugged and moved over to Limbo.

Like always Daniel’s location in Limbo took on a lot of the properties from the real world, but the only one he cared about in this case was that the doors to the room were closed in the real world. If worst came to worst and the tiny mimic pretending to be a coin busted out of the cage Daniel could rest assured that it wouldn’t be able to make it out of this room. The fact it was still acting calm after entering Limbo was a good sign. Most records on mimics said they’d give up their disguise the second they thought their life was in danger. Suffication wasn’t expressly listed to cause that behavior, but he was willing to bet it would.

Daniel set the cage down on the now chitinous table and walked to the far door, which opened after five or so seconds before slowly closing as Daniel stepped through it.

Changes in the real world affected Limbo. That was obvious from as far back as his fight with Douglass, and Daniel could still remember the sights of trees toppling whenever the spector had missed an attack against him.

Daniel stepped out of Limbo and found Pavel there waiting on the other side of the door with an expression of interest.

“So how'd it go?”

Daniel glanced back at the locked door and grinned, “Pretty good so far. It held its disguise, which is a good sign. I’ll go check on it in a day or so to see if it’s still alive, and if it is then I’d say I’m in business.”

The overall plan was simple, at least on paper. First he'd make sure that mimics could survive in Limbo before committing to Mimics of Stone. If they could, then great. He’d make as many mimics as possible and toss them into Limbo. Mimics had a natural sense of comradery, and some kind of hive mind or minor telepathic behavior that only worked with other mimics from what Daniel could tell. That was one of the few ways he could explain hundreds of them working together and forming into a dragon for the last cards owner.

Either way it didn’t matter how it worked, just that it did. He’d coax them into forming into a walking fortress. Something that could follow him around in Limbo while he walked in the real world. It'd keep him alive in case the city ever fell, while giving him the homefield advantage.

Besides. who wouldn't want a whole fortress in their back pocket?