"Hold him," Numili screamed.

"Kid, fight it! Don't touch that piece of meat!"

"Numili, what is going on?"

Irwin was confused. Why were they all shouting? He took a shaking step forward, and as he did, his cards rang as if he'd struck them with a hammer. As they did, he felt a disharmony that hadn't been there before, something that seemed to threaten the cohesion of his left hand. Trying to rip apart the bonds he'd created when his left hand had become a full, combined hand.

As the echoes of the ringing faded, a sense of worry came. It was his first card. He could feel it amidst the ripples of the not-a-sound. It was shaking, shivering, and the hunger…

His card hungered!

What is going on?

He barely finished the thought as the ringing faded again. Now the ringing wasn't there, he couldn't sense the same thing as before, but he felt a tightness. And the hunger grew. A hunger nearly impossible to hold back.

"Hold him!" Ambraz roared.

Hold him? Why? Wait. How long had he been staring at the heart? A pale mist, almost like morning fog, hung around the heart, spreading out and dissipating. Where it touched him, he felt a clammy wetness while the heat increased further.

"Irwin, help!"

Irwin shook. What? Who needed help?

He wanted to look away from the heart, but he couldn't. He couldn't pull his gaze from its dull red surface.

A dangerous growl that held a deep, seemingly insatiable hunger erupted from somewhere out of his sight.

"Greldo, wake up! If you touch the heart, you will burn up!"

Irwin felt a shiver run down him. What was going on? He needed to-

Greldo stepped forward and into his view. Numili was holding onto an arm, trying to hold him, while Scintilla stood before him, her hands against his chest in a seemingly useless attempt to stop him from stepping forward again. Greldo's body was shaking and shivering. His eyes glowed, a burning gaze locked onto the heart. Drool leaked from his lips.

Irwin wanted to blink as a blurry form flitted in front of him, almost seeming ready to strike him in the face. His eyes didn't cooperate, staying locked on the heart. The hunger became stronger, but he fought it down, trying to take control of himself.

"Irwin, snap out of it! If he touches that heart, he will burn up!" Ambraz shouted.

"If he manages to take the remaining heartcard energy, there will be nothing stopping the Wyrms," Numili screamed.

I need to help! Irwin thought.

He tried again to rip his gaze from the heart- attempted to hold the hunger at bay. The harder he tried, the stronger the hunger became, and with a suddenness that was jarring, it seemed to cross a threshold.

Before he could stop himself, Irwin took two steps forward.

Passing Greldo and the others, he was now only two steps from the heart. Each step caused a loud boom, the dissonant resonation of his cards increasing. He felt cracks begin to appear where the cards in his left full hand had combined.

"Kid-"

Irwin ignored Ambraz as he sucked in a deep breath. He had to stop himself, or his cards were going to break apart, and he knew that would be very- very bad. Using every ounce of willpower he had, he held his breath and focused on his cards, on his first card. The sensation he got from it was as if it was rebelling, as if it wanted to grow, to increase but was locked down by the bonds of the other two. He tried to pull it up, but it began resisting him.

You are MY card, Irwin thought as he ignored everything around him. He had gone through too much, done too much to just let it all fall apart from some stupid mission.

Exhaling explosively, he let out a dull roar of pent-up rage, the first sound he'd made. He focused on his other cards, which were shivering. His hammer fell in his hand, and as it did, he sensed a slight bit of relief. His Coperion Body was still active, and without waiting, he focused on his Eyes of Blaze.

As its secondary effect activated, his vision turned ruddy, and the massive heart became like fog. The outline of a card appeared in the center of it, the edges were broken and fractured. Slowly, it seemed to dissolve into mist.

As soon as he saw it, a jumbled mess of information appeared.

Card: Heart of Sweltering Heat

Type: Heartcard, [Incomplete, Dissolving]

Owner: ?

Active: ?

Passive: ?

Passive: ?

Passive: ?

He ignored it, unable to deal with it as he focused on his first card, his Fire-sensitive Body. With a final tug, he forced it to appear above his hand, something he'd been able to do ever since combining them.

A bright light appeared above one of his outstretched hands, and a startled shout came. His card hung there, shuddering and shivering, but as it appeared, the hunger became muted, and Irwin felt he had regained some control over his body.

"Irwin? What are you doing? You have to stop-"

A growl of fury came, and Scintilla was hurled forward. Her head slammed into the heart with a crack. The outlining of the card began fading faster while Scintilla coughed as she slumped down.

Greldo stepped into view, Numili pulling on his arm uselessly, screaming for him to snap out of it. He showed no hesitation as he stepped towards the heart, and Irwin acted on instinct as he swung his hammer to swat Greldo away.

With a sickening crack, his hammer hit Greldo's shoulder, flinging him away. With an insane effort, Irwin finally pulled his gaze from the heart, looking at where Greldo lay on the ground against the wall. He was still snarling and slowly getting up.

I need to hold him still, bind him or-

An idea came to his muddled mind.

"Ambraz, hold him there! Sit on him but don't crush him!"

The Anvil let out a burst of laughter as it flitted towards Greldo, appearing above his back. A burst of light came, and then Ambraz's larger, working from thudded down on Greldo, flattering him to the ground.

"Don't hurt him!" Irwin shouted with a sudden burst of panic.

"He is fine," Ambraz snapped.

Irwin nodded, feeling the nearly unstoppable desire to look back at the heart. Instead, he turned to Numili.

"What the hell is going on?" he snarled, tightening his grip on his hammer.

Numili took a step back, her lips shivering. "The heartcard, it was almost completed," she said, shaking her head. "It's leaking energy, causing any compatible card to… to," she shook his head.

Irwin's mind spun. "Compatible, how?"

"Don't even think about it, kid!" Ambraz shouted. "Even if you survive, and your card doesn't shatter into a thousand pieces, absorbing that energy will contaminate your own cards! All the purification we've done will have been for nothing!"

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Irwin gritted his teeth. For a fraction of a second, he'd thought he might be able to increase his cards.

"What if I slot it?" he asked, staring at Ambraz and forcing himself not to look at the heart. He wasn't sure he'd be able to pull his gaze away a second time. Greldo was lashing out and around, growling and hissing like a feral beast.

"You don't have a complete heartslot. You might be able to, but you will be stuck as a one-soul-carded from that point on," Ambraz shouted.

"So what do we do then?" Irwin roared back, feeling his control slipping.

"Wait, can't we purify it? Reforge it?"

Ambraz's metal mouth fell open, revealing his dull teeth.

"Are you insane? You can't even reforge a ruby card!"

"But you can!" Irwin shouted back.

"If I had a hundred cards worth of energy, and-" Ambraz stopped talking.

Irwin could almost feel the Anvil's attention turn to the heart.

"I… we could try!" Ambraz shouted. "But you are going to have to pull that card from the heart!"

"No!" Numili screamed. "If we do that, there will be nothing holding the Wyrms back! Look!"

Irwin forced himself to look at what she was pointing at, and he felt his heart skip a beat. A monstrous Wyrm head loomed behind them in the entrance they had created. Its lips were rolling forward and back, causing the massive teeth to point outward, then inward in a constant, almost hypnotic pattern.

Irwin shivered, trying to come up with another plan. There had to be something they could-

"How long till you can teleport?" he asked.

"What? I- at least an hour," Numili shouted.

"As long as we keep Greldo still, is there anything that could hurt us?" Irwin asked as he forced his entire body to turn to keep his back toward the heart.

"What?" Numili asked again, seemingly confused. "No!"

"And you can teleport us anywhere?"

"No, I'd need more energy to get us all the way back, and-"

"Can you teleport us out of the Bloodstained Desert and someplace without wyrms?"

"Yes," Numili said, nodding.

"Good! Then look after Scintilla," Irwin ordered. "Ambraz, we have an hour to prepare! After that, we are going to grab the heartcard, teleport to safety, and try to reforge it!"

"Kid… you are crazy, you know that?"

Irwin didn't respond, keeping his focus on the Wyrm. He found that staring at the horrifying visage helped him resist turning to stare at the heart.

"Tell me what to expect," he ordered.

--

Time passed excruciatingly slowly as he constantly had to resist turning. Between that and the increasing thirst, he had done nothing but listen to Ambraz, drink as sparingly from his flask as he could, and listen to the constant roaring of the Fleshgorgers. Greldo's constant roaring and flailing hadn't stopped one bit, and he was still pinned below Ambraz.

"There's dozens inside now," Scintilla said as she Blinked back into the room and moved to stand beside him.

"Then let's hope they stay hunting those wyrms and leave us alone," Irwin said, glaring at the Wyrm in front of him.

"I'm ready!"

Numili's voice sounded like a balm to his pained ears.

"Finally! Alright, you two know what to do," Irwin said as he took a deep breath. "Ambraz?"

"I'm ready, but… are you sure you can do this?"

Irwin didn't respond. He had no idea if he was ready, but from what Ambraz had told him, this was too good of an opportunity to miss. Even if none of them could use it, if he could reforge the card, it would fetch a ridiculous price during the upcoming auction.

Still… as he looked at his first card, still hanging above his hand and screaming in hunger, he felt his heart rate surge. If Numili hadn't been here, he'd have never even thought about taking this risk.

"Numili, begin! Scintilla, get ready to grab onto Greldo and Blink as soon as we reach the other side," he said as he took a deep breath and gripped his hammer as tight as he could. Then he activated Eyes of Blaze. Seeing the stupid card might help.

"Ready. And hotstuff? Be careful!"

Irwin forced a confident grin on his face and nodded. He waited until he saw the dark smog that entailed Numili's teleportation pour in from the side.

Here we go.

Giving the Wyrm one last glare, he turned and jumped before the heartcard could begin to influence him. In one smooth motion, he released his first card and swung his hammer down with all his strength. His hunger surged as he saw the hazy card, then his hammer struck the side of the heart. Scintilla had warned him, but even then, it felt odd to see the stonelike material dent instead of crack. The heart shuddered, and the card wobbled oddly.

"Now, kid!"

He dropped his hammer and pressed both of his hands against the heart. There was a surging hunger from his first card, and it buckled as if it wanted to rush out of him and consume the heartcard.

Can't let you do that just yet, Irwin thought as he focused on his other card and forced a resonance on his first one. It felt a lot like card reforging, though usually, it wasn't his own cards that were acting up.

Below his hands, the degrading heartcard lurched and slowly began moving towards his hands.

"Wyrm!" Numili screamed, then slashes and screeches followed.

Irwin hoped Scintilla could hold back the Wyrm. If she couldn't, Numili had been told to teleport them all away.

A sickeningly wet splosh followed something wet, striking his back. It almost shattered his concentration, and only the sight of the foggy card a few inches from his palm helped him stay in place. As the liquid dripped down his back, dozens of thunderous roars came from the main room. It sounded like all of the Fleshgorgers were going crazy.

"Irwin, hurry!"

Irwin gritted his teeth.

A sudden release came as his first card stopped rebelling and began working in line with the others. Instantly the heartcard jumped forward, and Irwin yanked his hand back.

"Ambraz!" he shouted.

The card seemed to hesitate with its border against the heart, then it began oozing out. Instantly a gush of fog rushed out, almost like an incredibly fine rain.

A burst of light was followed by a rapid movement, then Ambraz, in his tiny form, appeared in a flash before him. He snatched the card between his teeth just as Numili's teleportation fog engulfed them. Instantly the loud roaring vanished, as did the screaming of wyrms, and there was only Ambraz hanging before him.

"Whot, whot! Twhis bwoody cward is whot!" the Anvil spluttered.

Irwin noticed that Ambraz's teeth were slowly turning a dull red.

"Hold on! It shouldn't be as long as-"

The world reappeared, and he stumped two steps forward. Dozens of surprised shouts came, and a look around showed they were in a tiny hamlet with a single vast tree. A dozen small yellow and white houses with red leaf-covered roofs stood around it, while a white, almost gleaming wall encircled them and the tree. The only non-white or sandy yellow thing was a dark, wooden gate.

Greldo let out a terrifying howl, which was interrupted, and as Irwin spun around, he didn't see his friend or Scintilla anywhere. Only Numili was sitting on her hands and knees, drawing in ragged breaths. A dozen confused-looking Viridians stood near a few of the buildings.

"Numili, where's your house?" Irwin shouted.

Numili staggered up, looking around with bleary eyes before pointing to a small hut on the edge of the town near the wall. Irwin grabbed her arm and dragged her toward it, hoping the Viridians weren't going to say anything.

"Numili, are you alright?"

The deep, rugged voice shattered his hopes, and he saw a towering Viridian with red and brown leaf hair stomp towards them. His bright green eyes were on Numili, and he looked worried.

"I'm fine, Crithann," Numili said.

Irwin saw her force herself to stand up straight, then she gazed at him.

"Irwin, you can just go inside! I'll be there after I explain what's going on!"

That wasn't the plan, Irwin thought, but a quick look at the towering Crithann made him decide he'd talk to her about that later. Instead, he nodded and ran to the building she'd pointed at. Ambraz was flying above him, and he saw a few of the Viridians look at the Anvil.

The small cabin's dark brown door wasn't locked, and as he jumped inside, he saw walls lined with bookshelves and a bed in the corner that held more. A table with two chairs stood in the center with a few forgotten cups.

He slammed the door shut, jumped forward, and dragged the table aside.

"Ready," he shouted.

Ambraz grunted a reply, and with a flash, he landed on the ground. A bright flash later, he had turned into his working size, the card now a tiny, foggy thing between his red teeth.

"Twake it-" the Anvil grunted.

Irwin nodded, licking his dry lips. Now came the hardest part.

Taking a deep breath, he readied himself, then snatched the card. It was like picking up a hot coal, and he almost screamed and tossed it.

Rushing to move it on top of Ambraz, the careful melody his cards had been vibrating in shattered, and he felt his first card's energy surge to the card in his fingers.

"Blasted, bloody, painfully, hot-" Ambraz cursed, but Irwin ignored it.

Just as his first card's energy was going to reach the heartcard, he dropped it atop Ambraz and jumped back, breathing raggedly. The surging hunger of his first card dissipated, almost as if it lost interest as soon as the card touched Ambraz.

Irwin sighed at the release of the tension and examined his fingers. They were painful, but a quick look showed they were just a bit ruddy.

"It almost reached it," he whispered, shuddering.

"Almost doesn't count for anything," Ambraz grunted. "My teeth hurt!"

Irwin nodded as he gazed at the foggy card. The temperature in the room was rising rapidly.

"Alright… let's start before this thing draws all of the wyrms to us," Ambraz said.

Irwin nodded, summoned his hammer, and stared at the card.

"Just like normal?"

"Just think of it as a normal card," Ambraz said. "I'll take care of the rest."

--

"Little ember, are you sure you are alright?" Crithann rumbled as he gazed at Numili.

"Yes, yes! I thought you were supposed to respect my privacy here," Numili said as she pouted at the treeman, twice her height.

"This is true, but only if what you do does not threaten Grianfál."

Numili's pout deepened as she looked up. "Why would me being here be a problem?"

"You are not a problem," Crithann rumbled as he smiled at her as if she was a child. "But the thing your friend was carrying is going to cause trouble if it's not taken care of fast. Is he trustworthy?"

A loud clang rang through the town, followed by a musical hum that raised and lowered oddly.

Crithann's eyes widened slightly, and he looked at her hut.

"A cardsmith… we haven't had one here in over a hundred years," he rumbled, a wistful look on his face.

"Yes! And he's really great! I'm sure if you help us now, he'll be able to help you out later," Numili said.

The old Viridian gazed at her, his barkskin unreadable as another loud clang came, and the hum deepened.

"Fine, but I'll hold you to that," he said as he turned. "I'll handle the Wyrms until he is ready."

Numili gaped after him, then stomped her foot and turned to glare at the hut. A dangerous gleam appeared in her eyes for a moment.

"That was my card," she whispered.

Then a shudder rang through her, and she blinked, looking around stupidly.

"Where's Scintilla?" she shouted worriedly before running towards the gate. "Scintilla!"