Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith-Chapter 321: Circling the dead

It was quiet in the room as Rindiri waited for Scander to look up from the report he was reading. Rindiri had expected Castibal to start complaining as soon as they returned and came up with a lot of rebuttals, but it hadn't been needed. The annoying guy had simply handed Scander a paper, told him they were done now, and left.

"So… an unknown species," Scander muttered as he looked up. "We actually saw that Currant Hunter return with his tail between his legs. It's good to hear they got in over their head, and if those-" he glanced back at the paper. "-bue hairs… We are sure they weren't Yuurindi?"

"Definitely," Rindiri said. "There's no way Youritz would not recognize one of his own."

Scander nodded and looked at the paper again before putting it to the side. Rindiri wished she knew what was on it and if Castibal had detailed her desire to head in.

"While you were gone, we found out a bit more about who they are working with… or for.. Do you know the Holy Shadow Inn?"

Rindiri snorted. "Who hasn't? It's those weirdos who believe that shadow walkers are superior to any other carded. The lesser-known rumors are that they are a small branch of the number one assassin guild."

"Exactly, and the last part isn't just a rumor," Scander said, tapping on a stack of books on the side of his desk. "I did some digging, and the odd thing is, I could find a reference to them going back to the creation of Dimarintsia. Beyond that, it's hard to find more than references, but I did manage to get something that, apparently, not even those Librarians had. These are historical romance novels stolen from the collection of the Baroness De Loarante. Apparently, they are one of a kind. Now, before you ask, no, I haven't gone crazy."

Rindiri raised her eyebrow. She didn't for a moment believe Scander was crazy, but she was starting to wonder where this was going.

"I found out that the name of this obscure author was a pseudonym. The woman who wrote these was also a renowned historian whose specialty was the finding and building of the Langost Branch. I found her name while I was digging through some more recent history to try and figure out who owned that inn."

Rindiri looked at him, trying to keep up. "Alright, and how did you figure out she also wrote romance novels under a pseudonym?"

"Baroness De Loarante has been interested in what she calls 'the lesser known species', and those who explore the outer leaves," Scanders said, smirking. "I've known her for a while, and she has been helpful in the past."

Rindiri held back from shaking her head wearily. It was an open secret that Scander enjoyed dallying with many other species. "Alright, this is all well and good, but why is this so interesting?"

Scander's smirk turned into a full-blown grin.

"I'll not bore you with the details of these books, but most of the organizations she referenced in her stories are all real and very well documented… all but a group called The Shadows. According to her stories, they are an ancient organization of assassins, and apparently, to get in touch with them, you need to go to the Holy Shadow Inn."

"And the Currant Hunters are working with them for what? Having the Shadows assassinate people?"

"No, like I mentioned. It seems to be the other way around… apparently, the Currant Captain's Council has been working for someone inside that Shadow Inn for hundreds of years."

Rindiri leaned back, pondering what he'd said. It didn't make a lot of sense, but then again, she'd found little in this decadent cesspit of a city to make much sense. Assassins weren't known to have much ambition. They usually just lived for their job, and although powerful, they rarely stepped out into the open.

"So, it's likely that someone is behind those assassins, pulling the strings," she said.

"Yes," Scander said, leaning forward with gleaming eyes. "And although I don't know who they are, I do think what they are doing."

"Which is?" Rindiri asked, wondering what had him so excited.

"Using some of the links I found in these stories, I found a warehouse that is being used by these shadows," Scander said, leaning back. His eyes were gleaming as he stared at her. "Want to guess what I found inside?"

Rindiri raised an eyebrow. "The secret hideout of the Currant Hunters?"

Scander's eyes became positively predatory. "I found a group of a few dozen cardsmiths locked in cages, held in place by soulskill-dampening chains."

--

Irwin had his eyes closed as he focused on his surroundings. The wind was raging around him, trying to rip him from the mountaintop he was standing on. The sounds of The Concerto and everyone aboard came from the left, and he tried to tune them out. Much easier now that he wasn't aboard the ship, but he wondered if he should move even further away.

'A few are trying to climb up.'

Irwin opened his eyes and looked down at the tiny specs rushing around the base of the mountain. They were making lines in the snow and tiny clouds each time they tried and failed to rush up. Still, in a show of what constant mindless trial and error could bring, a small group had managed to find precarious hand-and-footholds and were now slowly climbing towards him. It would take hours for them to get to him at this speed.

Damn addled, Irwin thought.

'I'll try for another half an hour, then move to a more distant peak.'

'Alright, kid. I'll make sure none sneak up on you.'

Irwin glanced at the Addled before focusing on searching for any small soulforce inconsistency. They had been out here for days now, and he was starting to wonder if he had overestimated his own abilities.

Roughly half an hour later, he shook his head and looked at The Concerto. "I'm going to check a bit further out," he shouted, knowing that Greldo would hear him.

He was proven right as one of Coal appeared next to him.

"That way first," he said, pointing in an almost straight line away from the ship and toward another mountaintop a few miles away.

Knowing that Coal would be able to follow him, he focused on the sounds of the wind, triggering his heartcard. He shot across the soundwaves and, roughly ten seconds later, appeared on another, much larger rocky outcrop. Even without closing his eyes, he could still hear The Concerto.

'I'm going further this time,' he said.

'Just make sure you remember how to get back in case you lose Coal,' Ambraz said.

Irwin wondered how he was supposed to lose Coal just as the hound appeared beside him.

"The sounds of The Concerto are still too loud. I'm going to do what we discussed and head out until I can't hear them," he said, looking at Coal.

Coal stared at him, then barked twice. It was one of the signals he and Greldo had discussed beforehand, and it meant - wait here, I'll come.

"Alright," Irwin said, looking around and trying to see if he could see any inconsistencies.

He didn't give it a large chance, as he'd found that his ears and senses were far more sensitive. Even if there was something, his vision only picked it up if it was strong enough or if he was close enough.

A few minutes later, Greldo appeared on the rocky outcrop beside him.

"Gelwin's nuts, it's freezing out here," he grunted.

"Not as bad as the permafrost," Irwin replied. "Everything alright over there?"

"Earila is behind the helm, ready to move if needed. I've got one of Coal's clones beside her, and he will bark and point where we are if we need them to come. One bark for come, it's fine, we found something, and two for hurry up, we need help."

"Alright, I'm heading to that one," Irwin said, pointing at a peak that was much farther away.

"Alright, see you there," Greldo said, vanishing.

Let's hope we don't have to go too far, Irwin thought.

Over an hour later, hundreds of miles into the seemingly unending Graboul's Teeth mountain range, Irwin stood on a flat, rocky ledge covered in old, powdered snow, his eyes closed. He couldn't hear The Concerto or any of the people on it anymore and hadn't been for the better part of the hour, but he still didn't hear anything else either. His worry was starting to grow. By now, he was wondering if there perhaps weren't any world portals out here. Was that why none had been found?

"Alright," he grunted, opening his eyes and looking at Greldo, who was leaning against the cliff, shielded from the wind by Coal. Snow was twirling around them, most of it from the small avalanche they had created when arriving. "Let's go on one more trip, and then we return."

"That's what you said four trips ago," Greldo snorted. "Where to?"

Irwin looked around. They had been going in an almost straight line further into the mountains, which would make it easy to find their way back, but he didn't see any singular mountain anywhere in that direction.

"Over there," he said, pointing to the largest mountain in the vicinity. It was far enough to look small, but towered over those around it, looking like a crooked tooth.

"Sure. Let's go," Greldo said, vanishing.

Irwin took a deep breath, then bellowed a single shout in the direction he wanted to go. He'd found that sound traveled easily in the mountains, unobstructed by other sounds or objects.

A few minutes and a single step later, he appeared on a slight, rocky slope. The ground below his feet almost thrummed, and at the distant bottom, near a valley, hung a dim swirl of soulforce.

What is that?! Irwin thought as a deep rumbling resonated through the thin soulforce, almost in tandem with the soulforce.

"You hear something?" Greldo asked, looking at him.

"Yes," Irwin said, not bothering to ask if he wasn't.

He'd long since gotten used to the fact that things that seemed impossible to miss were unperceivable to others. Even Greldo, who was far more sensitive than average, could only hear the things that almost reached his metaphorical ears.

"It's over there," he said, pointing at the soulforce swirl. "In the valley that borders that V-shaped outcrop."

"Okay, I'll go and check. Wait here."

Greldo vanished, leaving Irwin to stand there and watch the swirling vortex of soulforce. Something about it seemed… familiar.

'Can you come out and check this?'

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Ambraz plopped on his shoulder before he even finished.

"That's…" the Ganvil began before falling quiet.

"It's what?" Irwin asked.

"I'm not sure. For a moment, I thought I sensed Chaos Whales, but now…"

Irwin recalled the songs, sounds, and resonances of the chaos whales but didn't see what Ambraz was saying.

I wonder if my sensitivity will increase enough to rival Ambraz's when I finish my next soulcard, he thought.

"Call me if something happens," Ambraz said. "I need to entertain the little ones. Soot keeps coming up with dangerous games, and if I don't-"

Irwin felt Ambrz jump into his soulscape, but the Ganvil kept talking as if nothing had happened.

'- keep an eye on him, or he will get his sisters in trouble again.'

Irwin sighed, knowing the trouble Ambraz meant.

Soot, his third son, was way more adventurous than all of his other children and had managed to get himself, Zan, and Ti lost in the lowest regions of the caverns below Irwin's soulscape volcano. Although there wasn't anything dangerous there, they had found an empty cavern, and he'd decided to climb up the side to splash into the Pyroflux lake below. The two girls had followed him up, and Zan had gotten stuck as she slipped into a narrow crevice. Irwin's otherself had gotten her out as fast as he could get down, but by that time, Zan had panicked as the duration of being outside of a hot enough environment had started causing physical harm.

It's a good thing they haven't solidified yet, he thought, though that part had Scintilla somewhat worried.

"You are not going to believe what's down there!"

Irwin jumped back with a start as Greldo appeared a few feet away, shouting enthusiastically.

"Ah… sorry," his friend said before walking forward and grabbing his arm. "Let's go!"

The world around them changed into a shadowy, darker representation as Greldo drew him into the shadowrealm before shooting down along the mountain.

What did he see? Irwin thought. Greldo would have told him if it had been dangerous, so that left all other options.

They flew along the side of the mountain until they dipped into the valley, and Irwin's eyes shot wide. Four very young and small Chaos Whales were circling the bottom of the cavern, and the unmoving corpse of a larger one lay there. The body was mangled by long gashes that Irwin recognized as being made by Oculithar, and the Addled were gnashing on its hide, trying to burrow in. Some were even trying to worm their way through into the closed mouth.

They shot down until they hovered above the massive corpse. Its size was massive enough to cover a large section of the valley, and Irwin guessed it was atleast half a mile long. As he inspected it, he heard a soft crooning. It was a dirge sung by the young Chaos Whales. They, like the large one, had many, luckily shallower, wounds. They were exuding a palpable fear.

Irwin looked at them for a few moments, the dirge making him feel their sadness and worry. How long had they been here? Their wounds looked to be healing, and a quick glance back at the corpse showed how much it was already putrifying.

Greldo remained above the corpse for a bit before shooting to the nearest ledge. As soon as they reappeared, he grinned excitedly.

"There's going to be another card in there!"

Irwin grimaced, thinking about the -as of yet- useless heartcard that he'd found on the Earth Titan back on Igniz and was gathering dust in his soulscape. Locked away so its resonance wouldn't cause any issue with his own soulscape, it was too powerful to slot for anyone that wasn't a smith or already had multiple soulcards. Worse, he had no idea what it even did, and Ambraz said that they wouldn't until they were ready. Ready, in this case, meant when he had his handslots back and could reforge the heartcard down while using the excess soulforce inside it.

Let's hope this one is less useless than that one, he thought.

"Okay, you could be a bit more enthusiastic than that," Greldo said.

"Remember that Earth Titan card?"

Greldo seemed to deflate instantly, and he grumbled as he glared at the Chaos Whale corpse.

"We need to do something about these young ones," Irwin said, looking back up at the Chaos Whale babies. They were barely the size of a small cart, and he wondered if they could extend Nim'ron's barrier so they could fly within it.

"There's little we can do," Greldo said. "They are way too big to take along, and I don't think it would look very normal if we brought them along to Dimarintsia. Besides, someone would probably kill them for their cards."

Irwin grimaced. "Yeah. Let's see if we can deal with those addled first."

'Ambraz, we found something!'

Ambraz plopped out of his soulscape before he could say anything soothing and let out a happy cry.

"That's fantastic!"

Irwin shared a look with Greldo before turning to Ambraz.

"Don't give me that blank look! Don't you remember the-"

"Aurorium!" Irwin exclaimed, his gaze shooting back to the corpse.

"-Aurorium… Right," Ambraz said.

Irwin hummed thoughtfully as he looked at the corpse, and as he did, he noticed something. A sort of tiny resonance, barely noticeable and almost hidden below the dirge of the young Chaos Whale.

"I.. hear something," he muttered.

"What? I don't… oh. Soulforce?" Greldo looked at him.

"It's a portal," Ambraz said, almost breathlessly. "It's a few feet to the left and roughly on the same height as the top of that dead Chaos Whale."

"That's why they were here," Irwin said. "The old one was looking for safety."

"Or hoping to find more of its kind," Greldo agreed. "Can you sense what rank it is?"

"It can't be that high," Ambraz said. "Either rank one or two."

"Good. Let's get the heartcard, clear out these addled, and get the others over here," Greldo said, clapping his hands.

"Can you get us in there?" Irwin asked, pointing at the massive corpse.

"Of course, I can," Greldo said. "How do we get rid of this many addled, though?"

Irwin thought for a moment before turning to Ambraz.

"When we got the heartcards from those Earth Titans, there was this powerful pulse that erupted out. What do you think will happen if these addled are inside its body when that happens?"

"One of two things can happen when we take that heartcard," Ambraz replied. "Either the soulforce has already dissipated too much, and there will be little more than a loud resonance as it rushes out into this near void we are in."

Irwin looked around. There was barely any ambient soulforce here, atleast compared to any place near a portal. It wasn't as bad as he'd seen, but that was just because he had no trouble with the cold.

"Or what we had before," he added, nodding his head.

"Exactly. So, if you plan to lure them all inside, take that heartcard, and move back out, then you might want to recall that if it only recently died, you will be unable to use your cards while inside."

"I know," Irwin said, recalling full well the horror of being inside the Earth Titan. "But this time, we don't have anyone to save. Also, we would know soon enough if we land on its back, right?"

"That's easy enough to check," Greldo said.

Coal and one of his shadow clones appeared, and a moment later, the clone jumped over the ledge, vanishing midair.

Right, that would work, Irwin thought as he quietly watched the corpse.

A few minutes passed, and then Greldo exhaled. "Alright. It managed to get inside and, from what I recall of the other times, about halfway to the heartcard area."

"Good," Irwin said. "Then this is what we are going to do-"

--

A dull thud came from where Ambraz caused an explosion of gore to spew from the tunnel he was in.

"That's the single most disgusting thing I've seen… this year," Greldo said, covering his nose and mouth.

Irwin didn't dare react as he wanted to keep his mouth closed. Although his sense of smell wasn't as good as Greldo's, he had no interest in getting any more of the foul corpse stink into his mouth. They stood ankle-deep in a coppery, bloody muck that covered the bottom of the vein they were in. The rest of the blood had spilled out across them when they had punctured through to get as close to the thick skin as they could.

Ambraz came flying out of the tunnel, covered in goo.

"Alright, I might have gone a bit too hard," he said, landing on Irwin's shoulder, which was covered in blood and grime. "There are a few small holes leading to the outside, and I saw a few already ripping it open."

As he spoke, Irwin heard the growling and snarling from the dug-out tunnel.

"Okay, let's go as close as you can get us," he said.

"Finally," Greldo muttered, grabbing Irwin's arm and pulling both of them into the blissfully scentless shadowrealm.

Irwin lost track of where they were going within moments as they shot through the chaotic maze of veins until they reached what Ambraz had said was one of the lungs. From there, they shot through another vein until they suddenly jerked out of the shadow realm. Irwin barely managed to keep his footing while Greldo let out an annoyed groan.

Irwin felt how his cards were almost struggling against some external pressure, and he almost wanted to run back so he could use them again. Instead, he held his ground, waiting for Greldo.

"Thought we weren't there yet," his friend said, walking a few feet back. A moment later, Coal appeared beside him while Greldo shuddered. He grew a hand's length while dark fur grew all across him. He instantly put his hand on his nose, moaning loudly.

"God, this smell! It's horrendous."

Coal whined softly, and Irwin felt a bit of sympathy for them. He recalled how horrible Hind's malformed heartcard had sounded to him, even though nobody else could hear it. If Greldo's nose was even half that much better than his, with what he was already smelling, it had to be some form of torture.

Greldo made a gagging sound before walking back toward Irwin.

Irwin waited for Greldo to reach him before he continued down the vein.

"We really need to figure out a way to keep the use of our cards in dampening areas," Greldo grunted.

"I told Irwin the same thing. It doesn't work like that," Ambraz said.

"Then how does it work?" Greldo said, his voice nasally from how he kept his nose closed.

"Cards manipulate the fabric of reality with their soulforce. Those that strengthen you do so within your body, which is guarded by your soulscape, and it's hard to interfere with those. However, the abilities that work outside your body require your soulforce to manipulate things outside of your body. If there's too much non-ambient soulforce or non-attuned soulforce, your soulforce can't do that. It just can't exit your soulscape or body," Ambraz explained calmly.

"Can't we create a barrier around our bodies or make our soulforce strong enough to push the other soulforce away?" Greldo asked.

"Sure. You just need to become stronger than a Chaos Whale," Ambraz said, his metal lips curving up in a snarky smile.

"Is that even possible?" Irwin asked curiously and was glad with the conversation as it helped him ignore the horrible smell.

"I don't know," Ambraz said. "A worldanvil like my Brazardian is probably able to use his abilities within a few feet of his body. Gynerigon, who is probably the most powerful entity that I've met, should be able to do it even further, though I have no idea how much further."

"Alright, so that's going to be a no," Irwin said as he remembered the pressure Brazardian soulforce resonance exerted. As insane as it had been compared to his, it was nothing compared to any of the Chaos Whales and Earth Titans he'd come across.

"Perhaps we just need to become bigger," Greldo muttered.

Irwin looked at his friend. "What do you mean?"

"Well, everything that's strong is really big. You said that Brazardian was massive, right? Well, the Chaos Whales are enormous, as are the Earth Titans. Perhaps physical size has something to do with how much soulforce you can hold?"

That would explain why Tang is so strong, Irwin thought, recalling how powerful the low-ranked soulcarded was.

"Ambraz?"

"Again… do you remember I told you once I don't know everything?" Ambraz said, sounding annoyed. "I've got no idea. It makes some sense, but then the question is, does temporary size increase work? Because if it doesn't, would it matter? Or do you think being a mile high for the rest of your existence would be fun?"

"You'd have to live either on a world and stay there or remain here and live beyond the Portal Barrier," Greldo said thoughtfully.

The two of them kept walking, thinking about it.

Sadly, because they couldn't move through the shadowrealm anymore, reaching the final chamber before the heart took them a long time. Massive like a cavern, it was filled with congealing blood, and as Irwin stood at the edge of the lake, looking at the tunnel they had dug out on the other side, he clenched his teeth.

"I wonder if there are people trained to do these things in the other main branches," he muttered.

"Probably," Greldo said. "Why? Thinking of a change of occupation?"

Irwin almost gagged, then jumped into the blood lake, trying to keep his head above the slimy, still-warm liquid.

"Not in a million years," he mumbled through clenched teeth.

It took them longer than he wanted to reach the other side, a low ledge that sat below the hole Ambraz had drilled into the flesh hours earlier.

Irwin climbed up next to Greldo, who had reached it faster than he had, and wiped the blood from his face as best he could.

"Don't bother," Greldo said, glaring at the blood. His fur was matted and wet from blood, and he looked horrible.

They continued into the tunnel until they reached the final part of the coronary vein that ended at the heart chamber.

Irwin hummed thoughtfully as he stomped toward the round, sealed-off entrance. It resembled the one he'd seen in the Earth Titans, and as he ripped it open and looked inside, he saw the same tendril-wrapped fleshy outcrop with the heartcard embedded inside. A dense soulforce filled the room, and the heartcard was thrumming with power.

Either Earth Titans and Chaos Whales are the same, or they are related, Irwin thought.

He searched the room for any trouble, then turned to Greldo. "You still feel okay?"

"No desire to storm inside and devour it, if that's what you mean," Greldo said.

"Then I'm grabbing it, and we can head to the spot where our cards work and wait for the addled."

Irwin moved inside, took a quick glance at the tendrils, and then ripped them apart. Even with his prodigious strength, it took a few minutes, but eventually, the chunk of flesh began coming free. As he pulled it away to get a better grip, a small nugget of a grime-covered black metal appeared. It was lodged into the side of the flesh.

"Aurorium."