The Shadow Fold, also known as "the Unsea" or simply the Fold, is a swath of darkness that suddenly appeared one day. It is a section of nearly impenetrable darkness that grows every year and contains volcra among other unnamed horrors. It was created by The Darkling. The Shadow Fold cuts directly across the Vy, a wide road that once stretched across the land connecting Os Alta to the port cities on Ravka's western coast. On maps, the Shadow Fold is shown as a long, narrow lake, a stain, and sometimes just a shapeless cloud. People who need to travel across the Shadow Fold, or Unsea, use a skiff, a ship-like transport that sails across the sand.
The Shadow Fold is first mentioned when Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev have to go through it with their regiment in the beginning of Shadow and Bone.
