Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith-Chapter 270: Into the storm

Irwin's growl was drowned out by the howling winds and crackling lighting as he struggled with the helm. With a powerful pull, he turned the helm further to the left, straining against the winds. The Concerto leaned against the wind, a bubble of pale energy around it battered by torrents of rain and the occasional burst of lightning. Massive waves of chaotic soulforce rippled around, pouring in from the split-apart barrier, their screeching dissonant songs of frenzy like a cacophony of crazed screaming and out-of-tune music.

Come on, come on! Irwin thought, trying to will the ship to move.

Both of his selves were there, one part paying attention to the small pushes and signs of the ship, the other focusing fully on steering. Without this, he knew he'd never have been able to guide the ship that was being shoved and pulled in all directions all the time.

The deck below his feet finally turned, and with too little distance to spare, it began moving away from the rippling, barely functioning barrier it had been careening towards.

Irwin's knuckles were white from tension as he steered the ship back to the center of the corridor. Taking a deep breath, he looked around. Greldo stood at the front of the deck, holding on to Hou'dor's massive shape as he scanned the distance. None of the others were on deck, though one of Earila's Faerits sat in Irwin's pocket. If needed, she could teleport in to help him.

"How much further?" Irwin shouted.

"I can see the bend," Greldo roared without looking. "Ten more minutes at this speed!"

Please don't be another dead end, Irwin thought.

A heavy shove came as the wind pushed them to the side, and his worries disappeared in the background as he resumed his fight for control.

After what felt like forever, he saw the bend in the distance, the hole in the top of the barrier turning to a thin tear. Just before he reached the bend, the storm slowed slightly. Still loud and dangerous, it was now within the ability of Hou'dor and the others to withstand. The constant pulling and pushing slowly stopped, and the constant deafening roar faded to a more manageable howling, like the storms back in Malorin when he'd been in his bedroom.

Irwin's smaller-self took a moment and wallowed in the flash of childhood memory while his main-self kept his focus on the ship.

He guided The Concerto along the slight bent and into the, by comparison, calm branch. As he did, he looked to the side where the remnants of a torn-apart branch were no more than some remnant barriers that led off into the depths of the pitch-black storm. Both the top, bottom and left sides were already mostly destroyed, with a section of the right wall showing that a long branch leading to a rank two world had been there at one time.

The Concerto glided forward, the deafening racket finally calming as they distanced themselves from the massive destruction. A crack line moved along the top of the corridor's barrier, lowering to the side and bottom far in the distance. Beyond it, the roiling chaos soulforce storm hung,

Greldo was still at the bow, staring into the distance and showing no sign of imminent trouble. That meant that, at the least, they had a breather.

"Earila, you can come up and take over for a while," Irwin said.

The Faerit, pale blue and translucent, zipped out of his pocket and onto the deck to his side. There was a crackling of energy, and then it was gone, and Earila stood there, pale and wide-eyed. The door of the cabin opened on the main deck, and Irwin heard the others walk out. He stepped away, letting Earila take the helm, then cracked his neck, feeling some of the tension leave him.

"Do you think we can go this way?" Earila asked, looking at him hopefully. "No more of these horrible storms?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't bet on it," Irwin said with a weary sigh. "We are still at least a month from home."

Earila nodded while two of her Faerit appeared, one on each shoulder. They began rubbing against her cheeks in an attempt to calm her.

"Captain!'

Irwin turned to Hou'dor, noticing the Ganvil's mouth was turned into a scowl. Greldo wasn't looking at him, but from his tense posture, Irwin knew it couldn't be good.

"Call me if anything is wrong," he said, forcing himself to smile at Earila.

She nodded, and Irwin turned and looked at Hou'dor. Then he shot along the abundant soundwaves that he felt all around, reappearing beside the Ganvil. Greldo still stood there, now clutching the railing as he examined the distance. His face was pale, and there was little to be seen from his usual optimism.

"And…?" Irwin asked worriedly.

"No good. A few miles away, the barrier is almost gone," Greldo said, squinting as he somehow looked through the dark, chaotic storm ahead of them. "There's no sign of how far that is yet, but there's only a single sliver of barrier left."

"Dammit," Irwin hissed angrily.

Another dead end. They had been running into more and more of those as they closed in on the outer reaches of the branch. This one would have led to Tulpil, the Harbor where they had found Boohm, and it was the last of the larger harbors till they would head to the backwater branch that led to Sesnanser. It was also the place they had hoped to find information or an up-to-date map with the corridors and branches that were still traversable.

"We are only days from Tulpil," Irwin said as he put a hand on Hou'dor's edge. "Could you keep us in one piece if we had to move through that?"

"We can keep the ship in one piece, but it's going to be hell keeping it in one place," Hou'dor said. "If you thought that just now was bad, in there, we could be blown hundreds of feet away from the corridor at any moment."

Irwin crossed his arms, glaring at the storm and trying to decide what to do. There was one option, but he'd prefer not to take it.

"That's too dangerous," he said after a few minutes. "We will have to head back and take one of the other routes."

"There's no guarantee that any of those are better," Greldo said.

"I know," Irwin said, knowing what would come after and wishing he could come up with a better alternative.

"You should let me go…" Greldo said, looking at him. "This place is reasonably safe, and the head of the storm is far away, so it probably won't get worse."

Irwin was about to say something, but Greldo interrupted him.

"Even if you have to leave this place, there will be one of Coal's shadow clones here, so I'll be able to find you again."

"There is no guarantee that Tulpil's Harbor is still there. It could have been blown away…" Irwin said, knowing it was a weak argument.

"Yes, but if it's there, we can get valuable information on which of the corridors and small branches managed to hold up against the storm," Greldo said. "Without that, we could turn around and run into another broken corridor."

Irwin wished his friend wasn't making so much, sense, but he was. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled explosively.

"Ambraz, how long would it take Greldo to reach Tulpil?" he asked,

"I'd say one day, maybe two, if he has to move around stuff," a muffled response came from his chest pocket.

Ambraz slowly slid out, then flew to his shoulder.

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"If you are going to do this, you can't go alone," the Ganvil said, turning to Greldo. "You practiced what I told you- right?"

Greldo snorted. "Yes, though I still don't like having that pratler in my soulscape."

Irwin grinned. "He's not that bad," he said, looking at the Cabin door.

"You'gyn!" he shouted.

There was a moment's silence; then the other Ganvil flitted out of the door and across the deck towards them.

"Captain?" he asked.

"Greldo is going to go to Tulpil and try to get information on the surrounding area," Irwin said. "You ready?"

You'gyn's lips pressed together. "I… yes. You are sure we can't send one of the others?" he muttered.

"Who do you suggest?" Ambraz replied in mock curiosity laced with sarcasm. "Me or one of the other bonded smiths? You know very well that wouldn't work- or do you mean one of the rank zeros who wouldn't be able to do anything useful? You can't be talking about Hou'dor and the others, as with even one gone, this ship is going to be gone before they return…"

"Fine! I know already," You'gyn replied. "You don't have to rub it in!'

"Then stop asking stupid things," Ambraz snorted. "Now go and enter Greldo's soulscape. Remember what I said: go hibernate until he wakes you! Don't you dare-"

"Yes, yes! I know it costs him soulforce, which he needs if I'm awake," You'gyn exclaimed, flying to Greldo and landing on his shoulder.

Irwin watched curiously as Greldo closed his eyes, and the soulforce that hung around him fluctuated oddly for a bit. Then You'gyn vanished, and Greldo shivered before looking up at Irwin.

"Feels so horrible. I don't understand how you can just have all those Ganvils and people in there for so long."

"That's because his soulscape is larger and far more stable than that of yours and of anyone else," Ambraz stated.

Greldo didn't respond but turned to Irwin.

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"I'll head down, eat and drink my fill, then head out. If I don't return in a week, go and find another route."

Irwin clenched his fists, trying to come up with a better way. The last month of traveling through the exceedingly more broken down and dangerous Langost branch and its innumerable side branches and corridors played through his mind, and he knew there was none. Not if they wanted to reach Eluathar. They had run into dead-ends and had to sidetrack too many times already.

"Alright," he said." You had better return, though!"

"I wasn't planning on letting you have all the fun by yourself!" Greldo replied.

They looked at each other for a moment, then clasped hands.

"Be bloody careful out there," Irwin hissed.

Greldo nodded, then vanished.

Irwin stared at the empty spot, then turned to Earila. "We are going to remain here for a while! Put the ship on anchor as far from the barriers as possible!"

Seeing the nod, he looked around again before focusing on the storm in the distance.

--

Greldo was rushing through the now persistent shadows in the corridor; the only benefit the storm was granting them- well, him, really. The Ganvil in his soulscape felt like a splinter in his eye, a constant annoyance even while he was in hibernation, but compared to the heavily muted roaring of the storm, it wasn't too bad.

The broken part of the branch was rapidly closing in, and as it did, he slowed down. As he'd seen before, only a sliver of the barrier remained, and he still didn't see the end. Only when he reached the border of the true chaos storm did he see a part of the corridor far in the distance that still gleamed with all its barriers. It was at least a few miles away, and the only reason he could see it was because his vision wasn't hampered by the shadows. Even then, it was hard with the flashes of light from the lightning and the odd glowing areas and ripples, which Irwin had told him were the strongest of the soulforce occurrences.

As much as the storm was raging around and in front of him, he sensed nothing but the occasional shivering in the shadow realm.

I wonder if it's possible to become so strong that you can take a ship along in the shadow realm, he thought.

He flowed forward, crossing the threshold where the barriers still protected the corridor into what was essentially chaos-space. The drain he felt increased, almost doubling. He went further in, staying close to the barrier, then experimentally moved a bit further from it. Instantly, the drain on his card increased exponentially, and he rushed back.

Coal sent him an annoyed message, and he agreed with him. No moving away from the barriers, no matter how small and weak they appeared to be.

He shot forward, moving further into the center of the storm. The drain increased slightly but never increased beyond three times his usual, meaning he knew he would be safe to go forward for at least two days before he had to turn back.

Time lost its meaning as he crossed the first divide, and when he finally reached the the small patch of intact corridor, he saw it was barely a few hundred feet long before being reduced back to no more than a narrow section. In the distance, he saw another section of the corridor, which was also small.

I wonder why parts remain, he thought.

They had passed sections that had been completely obliterated before, so why did some parts remain as they did here? Was it because of the size of the corridors or the size of the branches they connected? Maybe the power of the nearby exit portals?

Half a day passed when he slowed down across a nearly complete section of the corridor that was almost a mile long. The barriers were completely whole, the only ones he'd seen in a day, but it didn't take a genius to figure out why. A deep singing came from three massive beings as they slowly flew around a spot that seemed as unremarkable as anything- with the exclusion of it being in the exact center of the one-mile strip of the corridor.

So… that's what Chaos Whales look like, Greldo thought as he stared at the three ship-sized creatures.

With multiple eyes on each side, they seemed focused on the spot they circled, showing no sign they had spotted him. He hoped it remained that way. As much as Irwin had told him how benevolent they seemed to be, they were also big enough to swallow him whole.

'Yeah, I know,' he said, grinning at Coal's remark. 'They do look like very big fishes.'

He glided closer to the furthest barrier wall before slowly closing in on the Chaos Whales.

Now, what are you three up to here, he thought.

Looking up and around, he saw no sign of any more of the beings, and as he closed in even more, there was nothing on the ground below where they circled.

I wonder if there's a portal over here, Greldo suddenly thought, staring at the air.

He tried sensing the odd fluctuations he knew had to be there, but the muffling of the shadow realm and the still-present roaring storm made it impossible to hear anything. For a moment, he thought about waking You'gyn to ask him; then, he shoved the idea away. Doing that would cost him energy that he needed for other things.

Keeping a close eye on the Chaos Whales, he moved past them, and when he was on the section beyond them, he felt a slight relief. Still, as he took a look back, he wondered if the Chaos Whales were the reason for the fully stable section of the portal gallery or if it was the thing they were circling.

I'll have to see what Irwin and Ambraz think, he thought as he focused on the remaining trip and shot forward as fast as he could.

Another half a day passed, and as the corridor remained its broken self, he started getting worried he'd have to head back with nothing to show for it. Then, far in the distance, he saw another whole piece of the corridor.

The closer he got, the more hopeful he became, and as he crossed the threshold into the whole corridor, he saw there was no seeming end to it yet. Even better, the barriers seemed more powerful the further it went.

Hours later, he let out a mental shout of joy as he saw a distant harbor perched atop massive trees. Although it was partially destroyed, as if a massive giant had torn parts of it and hurled it around, it was very evidently not abandoned. The barriers were gleaming with more power than he'd seen in any section so far. Hundreds of ships hovered around the Harbor, many lashed together, while some had even landed on the towering trees. Beyond that, the docks were all filled to the brim.

Greldo felt an odd sense of joy at seeing Tupil's Harbor. It had been the second one he'd seen after Fiverion, and back then, he'd thought it was so massive. Now he saw it for it was: a small city harbor, barely large enough to have every necessity.

Scanning the ships, he felt a tiny bit of worry grow as he noticed two familiar ships.

Currant Hunters, he cursed.

As if to mock him, a shadowy trail distanced from one of the two ships, and another shadowwalker headed toward him. From the trail it pulled through the shadowrealm he knew it wasn't as powerful as he was, but that also meant the other knew he was stronger.

Greldo slowed down, as did the other, and then they hung before each other.

Now what… you do know we can't-

He fell quiet as Coal exclaimed in surprise that something was sending him a message. Greldo quietly listened as his friend regaled him with it, and then he frowned.

Come with you to the ship and talk with your captain? Yeah… I don't know about that.

'Reply that I'm not heading to any ship but that I'm willing to share news in a neutral spot,' Greldo said.

Then he flexed his card and dashed around the other, shooting toward the Harbor. A quick look showed it was hurtling after him, but within moments, he'd created a sizable gap. Coal sent him a sense of hilarity before telling him the other would follow him to talk.

'Great, let's see what has been going on here,' he thought as he shot toward the city.

He was surprised to see a few more shadowy trails, though none anywhere close to his in power. Then he reached the docks, and he saw people walk around, many with hopeless and weary resignation on their faces. Crewmen of ships on crates, playing cards while a row of tables stood beside a building, surrounded by others seemingly attempting to drink away their time.

Now, where is that Inn, Greldo thought.

It took him a bit of time to find the Orange Hearth, and the first thing he saw was that the area seemed almost the same as before. The Volcano Tree still stood in the middle, producing wafts of heat, while a lot of Ignitzians and Viridians sat at the tables, chatting mutedly.

A tall, burly Viridian stood before the door that led into the inn, leaning against the wall and seeming tired.

Greldo looked around and saw a nice shadowy corner. As he reached it, he noticed that the trail was still with him, and he warned Coal to be ready as he stepped out of the shadows. As the warmth surrounded him and he breathed the clear air, he felt a trickle of joy—he'd been in the shadow realm for almost two days, and he was glad to feel his own feet again.

His eyes were focused on the other shadowy trail, and a moment later, a slim woman appeared before him, glaring at him with the silvery eyes of a heartcarded. Her hair was a tangled mess of dark curls, and she wore a tight-fitting dark leather armor.

"Do you have any idea how much energy it costs to chase after your insufferable ass?" she snapped, taking a step forward.

Greldo raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. "Nobody asked you to chase me."

"What, and get chewed out by the captain? No, thank you!" she snapped.

Greldo couldn't hold back a snorted laugh. "Well, sucks to be you. Now, what do you want?"

"You came here through the shadows, without a ship, from a direction where nothing has been found for months! What do you think I want?" the woman growled. "When that bloody first-mate saw you, I thought he was going crazy! Where did you come from? Did the gallery regenerate? Is it possible to reach safety?!'

Greldo looked at her for a moment, noticing they had begun drawing attention from the nearby tables. Most had fallen quiet, staring at them, and more followed.

"No, it's not safe. We were caught by the storm and have been trying to find a way to safety," he said, telling the story they had agreed on. "The path to the central worlds is completely gone, the part leading to The Dimarintsia River ripped apart. So with no other choice, we are trying to reach another place."

The woman's eyes narrowed as she glared at him, seeming to try to figure out if he was telling the truth.

"Well, if you do reach here, you aren't in for a better time," a rumbling voice said.

Greldo looked up to see the Viridian bouncer had moved towards them and now stood with his arms crossed, looking at them.

"We barely have enough food, and the only reason the barriers here are as strong as they are is that the soulcarded are pumping soulforce into this section. It won't last. If you can find another place to be, I'd suggest that."

Greldo looked at him, wondering if he was being helpful or just didn't want more mouths to feed.

"Whatever," the woman snapped. "You need to come to the captain, he will want to ask you questions."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Greldo said. "I'm only here to find maps or information on the corridors that are still whole to see if we can get here."

"Do you have any idea who the captain is?" the woman hissed. "If you want any help, you had better-"

"Sibil, shut up," a new voice snapped, causing the shadow-walking woman to snap her mouth shut and look up.

Greldo did the same, and he saw an Ignitzion waitress standing there, glaring at the woman.

"I've told Zirt to keep away from my inn," the Ignitzion said angrily. "Don't think I will just accept his meddling lying down!"

Zirt? Greldo thought as he tried to keep himself from showing a reaction.

He recalled that name. It belonged to the first-mate from the first ship they had come across when breaking through the barricade. He could vividly remember the way the soulcarded on board had blown apart the ships chasing them. What were they doing here? Had they remained here to clear that barricade and the Nyzir?

"Vrishia, I am not here for you or to meddle," Sibil said. "He came from-"

"I heard you the first time," Vrishia snapped. "Now, get out of here before I get angry!"

A soft swirling haze began hovering around her while her yellow-orange shoulder-long hair began swaying, fiery sparks erupting all across its length.

"I… fine. Just don't come crying to me if Zirt comes!" Sibil snapped before vanishing in the shadows.

Greldo followed her as she hovered away, hung near the entrance, then probably saw him watching and dashed away.

"Is she gone?" Vrishia asked as she moved beside Greldo.

"Yes," Greldo said, looking at her. "Thanks for that."

"No problem. Why don't you come inside and repay me by telling me what's going on out there?" Vrishia said as she walked away.

Greldo followed her, noticing the silent mass of people watching them. As he stepped into the inn, the temperature rose, and he saw a lot of Ignitzions sitting around, looking at them with evident curiosity.

I see why Irwin enjoyed it here, Greldo thought.

He was led to a free table, and Vrishia sat down in front of him while a waitress put a large flagon and a few glasses down.

"Now then, how are things out there?" Vrishia asked as she poured them both a glass.

"Crap," Greldo said as he began telling what he could about the situation beyond The Dimarintsia River.