Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin snuck forward, hammer in one hand, eyes constantly scanning for threats that might lurk deeper in the caves. The smooth, bumpy rock inside the tunnels was a stark contrast with the angular black edges of the outside.

Why is the inside of this place so different? he thought as he inspected a nearby bit of cavern wall.

He quickly found part of the oddity. Sand had been blown over the ages, filling the cracks of the dull brown rock. But that didn't explain the completely different coloring. The outside had been black, gleaming, and with sharp edges.

A dull roar from outside was accompanied by thunderous stomping.

Whatever Fleshgorgers are, they are now here, he thought, feeling a slight worry grow. Would those things follow them inside the caves?

"There are tracks of something going deeper into the cave," Greldo shouted above the deafening sound.

"I see them," Scintilla replied.

Irwin stopped, staring at the scuff marks that moved across the ground.

How are those tracks? he thought, not in the least bit surprised that both Scintilla and Greldo could see in the dark.

He focused on the tracks, but to him, they looked more like sand blown sideways by the wind. Still, he didn't doubt Greldo.

"Are they fresh?" he shouted.

Greldo ran past him and knelt down, inspecting the scuff marks before pushing the edges with his fingers. Then he got up and shook his head.

"I don't think so, but with all this shaking, the tracks have been damaged," he shouted back.

He was still in his transformed form, and Irwin shivered as he saw the razor-sharp canines.

"We have to keep going before they follow us inside," Scintilla roared, pulling Numili with her while she kept her sword ready in the other hand.

Yeah, run right into some other thing's lair, he thought.

He kept his worries to himself and continued ahead. Besides, if there was something in here, perhaps it would fight those loud things outside. According to Numili, there could be some kind of fire elemental creature here, and although he hadn't seen anything, the noise from outside or their shouting was bound to draw the attention of everything deeper inside.

I wonder if those things are afraid of Fleshgorgers, he wondered.

Two smooth corners and twenty feet later, it seemed the tunnel came to a dead end with an oddly curved ceiling angling down.

Shit! Did they have to go back? There had been no side branches…

Moving a few steps closer, he saw that the tunnel didn't stop but angled down at a ninety degrees angle. At the end was a dead drop of almost fifteen feet. Leaning forward, he thought he saw the tunnel continue on further.

"What now?" he shouted.

"We need to continue! If we reach the lower regions, the Fleshgorgers won't follow us," Numili shouted.

Irwin saw she had stopped shaking, and her eyes had regained part of their previous gleam.

"And you're sure you aren't bringing us to our deaths?" Greldo snapped.

Numili took a step back, shaking her head as she looked at Greldo with fearful eyes.

"What? No- I…"

Scintilla stepped forward and pulled her along. "It doesn't matter! We can't stay here. If those things swarm us, we are going to be in trouble."

"Why? Can't she just teleport us away?" Greldo shouted angrily.

Irwin blinked, then nodded. Right! She could just return them to Cinder Grove.

"I need a few more hours before I can teleport this many people again," Numili said, looking at Greldo and then quickly staring down at the ground.

Irwin saw Greldo mouth something angrily before he shook his head.

"Fine! I'll take the lead," he shouted before his hand flashed dimly. Then his shape turned dark and indistinct like a shadow, and he flowed down the slope like water.

Dammit! Irwin thought as he leaned forward, watching Greldo reappear at the end of the slope.

"It's clear, you can come down!"

Gritting his teeth, Irwin stepped forward and slid down the first bit of the slope before dropping down. He landed on a bed of soft sand, and this time even he could make out the tracks that led deeper down the tunnel.

A moment later, the two Ignitzions joined them, and they continued.

Twenty minutes later, they had descended almost as many tunnels, some just as steep, others more like slides. Some were so high that he'd been almost afraid the Ignitzions would break their legs, but neither Numili nor Scintilla showed any fear of sliding or dropping twenty or thirty feet straight down.

By now, the sounds outside had dulled down to a distant rumbling, but it had been replaced by something far creepier. A few minutes earlier, an odd sniffing had begun to become audible behind them. It was still far away, but as they continued down the winding tunnels that kept going down, Irwin couldn't help but clench his hammer tighter. According to Scintilla, Fleshgorgers were blind and tracked things based on scent.

As he got up from another drop down a steep slide, he looked up. There was no sight of the pursuers, which was confusing him. He heard the sniffing, so where was the thing doing the sniffing?

After waiting for a few seconds, he turned to Numili.

"We are going to need you to teleport us back out," he said.

"I know," Numili said.

Her whiny voice grated on Irwin's nerves, and he could hear Greldo growl ahead of him. He quickly turned and followed his friend.

As they went deeper, the temperature had continued to climb, as had the humidity, and by now, a thin sheen of moisture was clinging to every inch of him.

"How bloody deep does this go?" he finally snapped.

"I don't know, but we should be near the end of the neck by now," Numili said absently.

Irwin stopped in place, causing Numili to bump into his back.

"What?" he asked as he turned, staring at her. "What do you mean, neck?"

Numili crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Why do you all have to be so angry with me? It's not my fault those Fleshgorgers are after us!"

"Yes, it is," Greldo snapped from up ahead. "Now, keep moving before they catch up."

Irwin gritted his teeth as he followed his friend.

"What do you mean, neck!" he repeated himself.

"I'm sure I told you this," Numili muttered.

"Numili," a threatening voice came from behind her.

"I did! I'm sure I did!" Numili said, her voice climbing in pitch.

"Answer me!" Irwin said, barely able to stop himself from shouting at her.

He knew it wouldn't help with anything but his growing unrest. Scintilla had warned him her cousin was weird, but she should have warned him she was insane.

"This is a vein in the neck of a dead Earth Titan," Numili muttered, barely audible.

Irwin gritted his teeth. He'd been afraid of that as soon as she'd said neck. There was a gasp from behind, but he ignored it as he felt Ambraz move into his pocket. A moment later, the Anvil managed to come out of his pocket and flit up to his shoulder.

Irwin looked at him, but Ambraz's mouth was turned into a stripe, and he said nothing.

Great, Irwin thought. If even Ambraz was stumped….

"And why are we here?" he asked quietly.

"To hunt its heart parasites," Numili said, her voice slowly picking up steam. "The rumors are, the first ones that find an Earth Titan burrow into their hearts and absorb part of-"

"You said it wouldn't be dangerous," Scintilla shouted from behind her. "You- you! I'm going to tell Mother when we get back!"

"What? No! It's not… not that dangerous," Numili retorted. "I just got a bit excited earlier. Besides, those Fleshgorgers probably won't follow us much further."

Irwin sighed, wishing he'd found some sidepaths that might lead back up.

"And why is that?" he asked wearily.

Numili muttered something that he didn't catch.

"Fantastic," Greldo shouted. "And it never occurred to you that if something called Fleshgorgers are afraid of those parasites, perhaps we should be too?"

Numili didn't respond, and they continued down.

"How large are these Earth Titans?" Irwin asked after they had descended another long vein.

"The smaller ones are two hundred plus feet, while the largest one ever recorded is just over twenty-one hundred," Numili said.

Irwin almost wished he hadn't asked. He tried to guess how much that meant they still had to continue and wished Daubutim was with him. His friend would have been able to tell them where they were, how far they'd gone, and how much further to go for the chest…

Wait, are these things humanoid?

"What do they look like?" he asked.

"Like really big fish," Numili said. "They live around the planet's core, but sometimes they come up. Nobody knows exactly why they do, but they can't survive up here because it's too cold."

"And what were those black rocks that we entered through?"

"The remnants of their horns," Numili said. She sounded incredibly happy to be explaining things, and as they continued, she began talking about the biology of the Earth Titans.

Irwin barely listened, focusing on following Greldo.

He had no idea how much longer they went down when Greldo flowed down another vein and did not respond right away.

Irwin was about to call down when Greldo appeared far below. Instead of shouting, he put his fingers to his lips, then beckoned them to come.

Irwin was about to move, then stopped and turned to Numili.

"Greldo says we have to be quiet. So, no talking," he said, staring at her.

Numili nodded resolutely. "I'm always quiet!"

Irwin stared at her stupidly, almost wondering if she was being serious. Then he looked at Scintilla, who was rubbing her head. His guard looked back up and then sighed.

"I'll keep her quiet," she said.

Irwin hoped she would be able to, then turned. "Wait until I'm all the way down, then count a hundred before coming," he said before sitting on the edge and letting himself fall down the tubelike tunnel.

It was too wide for him to touch each side, and as he reached the lower part, it began widening until he was free-falling. The first time he'd done so, he'd felt a weird sensation in his stomach, but after a few times, he'd gotten used to it.

He suddenly fell out of the tunnel into a larger area beside what looked like a wall. He caught a glimpse of a spacious area with a wall of flesh. Enormous, pale bones stuck out from parts while a tower of building-sized bones sat opposite it.

Flailing his arms to stay upright, he slammed into a thick layer of sand that cushioned his fall slightly. He knelt down with the fall, his legs barely straining. He quickly looked around and saw movement from the corner of his eye. A thin stream of sand fell down, and he instinctively looked up.

There were ridges running all along the dry flesh walls, the nearest one a foot above where they were. Looking straight up the chest cavity, at least that's what he presumed it was, he saw holes in the ceiling through which tiny streams of sand poured down. It fell straight into the area before him.

"There are Wyrms over there," Greldo whispered, pointing at the wall of flesh.

Irwin shivered as he looked at the opposite wall. The same oddly moving bumps he'd seen above ground moved across the wall in odd patterns. As he swallowed, he saw Wyrms drill out of the wall in multiple spots. The flesh seemed as dry as leather, but there was the barest hint of a wet sheen on the edges.

There goes the hope the Fleshgorgers might fear these things, he thought.

A wyrm with a head the size of a barn door punctured the wall almost straight ahead. The round, teeth-edged mouth swung around twice, showing them the murky red insides before pulling back.

"Enormous," he whispered.

He absently noticed that parts of the enormous wall of flesh seemed unmarred by holes. Either the Wyrms had only just found the Earth Titan, or it hadn't been here that long.

They only seem to dig around the central area, and this way… Irwin swallowed as he saw holes moving along the side towards the spot they were sitting on.

Turning further, he froze as he saw holes right behind him. A quick look showed no movement, but that didn't make him feel secure. Looking up to the hole they had fallen down, he saw many more holes. The vein they had come through was much bigger, but as he looked at it, he shivered.

Are these veins? Or…

A bit of movement drew his attention, and he saw Scintilla on the edge, looking down, sword in hand and waving. She seemed ready to jump or Blink down at a moment's notice. Numili was on the other side, constantly looking over her shoulder and then back. Her face was pale.

Shit. The Fleshgorgers!

He quickly beckoned them while stepping to the side.

"Where can we hide?" he whispered as he looked around.

"I don't know, but I'm not going to summon Coal here," Greldo replied. "I don't know how he is doing after what happened before. So we better find a place because fighting all these is out of the question!"

Irwin nodded as he looked around. He stared at a massive Wyrm burrowing out of the distant wall. It stopped when its head was a few feet out, wiggled about, then pulled it back.

Fire… he frowned as he recalled how the wyrms had exploded. Why had that been? Shouldn't these things love heat? It was sweltering in here, even by his standards!

A thud came from behind, and he spun to see Scintilla letting go of Numili's hand. They were standing there, and Scintilla was swaying slightly, showing she had used her Blink again.

Numili's mouth opened as she looked around, Irwin felt his heart skip a beat.

"So-"

Irwin stepped forward and clasped his massive hand over her mouth just as she began talking. The sound of her voice echoed through the hollowed-out chest cavity, and Irwin felt his skin crawl. The sounds of munching Wyrms stopped, and as he looked around, he saw the Wyrms had vanished. Bumps were moving down and sideways towards them.

"You fucking-" Greldo began, only to stop as a deafening roar came from above them.

"Wyrms hate fire?" Irwin hissed, biting the question at Numili.

Her eyes had gone round, her face pale, and she quickly nodded. Irwin felt her begin to speak.

"Whisper!" he ordered.

Numili nodded again, and Irwin looked around. The nearest bumps were speeding toward the ground nearby. He removed his hand from Numili. Even if she shouted, it barely mattered anymore. The damage had been done.

"They like heat, but too much causes them to explode! The bigger they are, the" Numili whispered quickly.

"Where can we hide!" Irwin asked, ignoring her upset look. At the same time, a plan began forming.

"The heart, but-"

A bump reached the ground two feet away, and Irwin yanked Numili away. He saw movement from the corner of his eye just as he triggered Eyes of Blaze. A torrent of fire surged forward, striking the ground. Instead of instantly exploding, the rocky flesh barely reacted. It just turned orange a little.

The skin is to-

A hole appeared, and he saw a flash of the head of a wyrm before a fountain of blood and gore exploded out of the hole. For a fraction of a moment, he gazed at it in stunned surprise; then, a vomit-inducing sickly sweet scent wafted over him.

A deafening roar came from above, and Irwin pulled Numili further away from the hole.

"Where is the heart?"

Numili looked around, then pointed at the hole-riddled wall on the opposite side.

"It's inside there. The Wyrms are circling it!"

"Let's go!" Irwin shouted as he pulled her along while running to the other side. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight.

"Gelwin's balls," Greldo shouted as he sprinted after him. "You do realize this is taking us toward the creepy burrowing worm monsters?"

Irwin didn't respond, but as soon as he reached the path leading around, he stopped. Scintilla was a few steps away from him, her sword in her hand and a grim look in her eyes.

"What's your plan?"

"Take your cousin and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Can you keep those Wyrms off until you reach that big hole?" he said as he pointed at one of the holes opposite them. The edge led passed it, thought they would have to jump to reach the edge.

"Yes, but not for long," she said. "If they start coming, then I can't swing my blade."

"I'll be there soon," Irwin shouted as he turned.

The roaring from above was closing in rapidly, showing that whatever those Fleshgorgers had been doing, they had been taking it slow. At the same time, dozens of bumps were moving toward him, the dry flash cracking under the strain.

Fine, let's give them some more incentive, Irwin thought as he focused on the nearest bump.

He focused his Eyes of Blaze in a tight beam, and as he held it on the spot of a bump, the fleshy ground turned a dark red almost instantly. For a moment, nothing happened, then, like the first time, the bump opened, and he saw a flash of a Wyrm just before it exploded.

What hadn't happened before was that two other bumps nearby rushed toward the same spot.

He held his attack on that spot, and a moment later, there were two more explosions. The putrid scent became thicker, and the roaring above louder.

Taking stock of the energy he had left, Irwin knew he could use the ability eight or nine more times, depending on how long he held it.

Gritting his teeth, he began exploding more of the Wyrms.

When he reached the sixth one, the scent was so thick he could almost taste it, and he decided that should be enough. As a secondary benefit, most of the wyrms had begun moving toward the areas he'd heated up.

Taking a final look at the vein or hole or whatever it was, he still saw no sign of the Fleshgorgers.

Slow, slow, he thought as he turned and sprinted toward the edge.

He saw the others standing inside the wyrm hole. He barely crossed half of the distance when a roar made his eardrums rattle. A moment later, something massive slammed into the ground behind him. Looking up, he saw Greldo's face turn rigid, eyes growing wide. More roars, muted by comparison, came from the hole above.

Right, that's really motivating, Irwin thought as he tried to increase his speed.

He heard heavy footsteps behind him, but they didn't seem to chase him. Instead, after a moment, he heard a crunching sound. At least one thing went according to plan. Whatever those things were, they definitely wanted Wyrms, and he hoped they would be to busy eating and hunting those to bother with them.

When he reached the hole, he jumped up against the wall, and two pairs of hands grabbed him and tried to pull him up. He barely noticed the help, instead pushing himself up.

"Why did you wait?" he asked.

"Not sure your fat ass could get up here," Greldo snapped.

Irwin turned to look at the Fleshgorgers and almost wished he hadn't. A six-legged, overly muscled dark red demon was standing before one of the holes he'd made. Its head was split four ways, both horizontally and vertically, and a mass of tendrils was dragging bits and pieces of Wyrm flesh into the gaping maw. The crunching sound came from somewhere inside its body.

An annoyed bellow of rage came from above, causing the thing to look up and roar in return at the second one seeming stuck in the tunnel.

"I guess now we know why they were so slow," Irwin muttered as he backed up and followed Greldo.

Far ahead, Scintilla was running with Numili, and they quickly chased after them. There were dozens of smaller holes both in the ground, roof, and sides of the tunnel while the temperature and humidity continued increasing. A hundred feet of curving tunnel further, Numili began pulling on Scintilla's hand.

"Stop! It's here! Here!"

Irwin stopped, looking at the wall she was pointing at. There weren't any holes in it.

"What is? The heart?"

"Yes! If we can get there, we will be safe!"

"And how do you suppose we get in there?" Greldo shouted, pounding his fists on the wall. As he did, there was a soft sizzling sound, and he yanked his fist back.

"That's hot!"

Frowning, Irwin carefully put his hand on the wall. He felt a heat not unlike a forge fire. At the same time, he noticed that what looked like stone felt softer, almost pliable. Pushing it, he managed to dent it slightly.

"It's soft! Maybe you can cut it with your sword?" he asked, turning to Scintilla.

The Ignitzion nodded as she stepped forward and sliced her sword across the rocklike flesh. It slid down without any apparent effort, leaving a deep, three-foot-high slit behind.

"Backup!" Scintilla said as she stepped before the wall.

The others barely jumped back when she began slicing at the wall like a maniac. Chunks of thick, heavy flesh began sliding down.

"Clear it out so I can continue!"

Irwin jumped forward and grabbed a chest-sized slab of meat with the intention of hurling it away. He barely managed to lift it, and as he dragged it back, he grunted with the effort.

"So heavy!"

"This thing is like you," Ambraz said.

Irwin looked at the Anvil with a surprised grunt before quickly grabbing another slab of heavy meat.

"If we cut you in your normal form, it would be somewhat similar. These things have Coperion Bodies."

Irwin shivered while Scintilla continued slicing.

"I'm through!" she shouted as she stepped back, kicking at the wall of flesh. There was a dull thud, and she grunted.

Irwin jumped forward and kicked at the wall. The entire midsection slid away, and as he stepped after it, he saw they were in a much smaller area.

Purple-red cables of rock wound away from a massive heart that hung in the center of the chamber.

As soon as his gaze fell on it, Irwin felt an intense hunger.