Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"Some kind of swarm summon," Captain Xi'balak hissed. "Probably meant to take out our sails. Too bad for them!"

Xi'balak raised his hands, and the air in front of him rippled as if a disk of water suddenly appeared behind them. It spread out and shot forward at blinding speed. The bats let out a startled screech, but except for a few on the edges, they were engulfed by the water sheet, and Irwin watched in awe as the sheet rippled, then wrapped around the bats in a tight cocoon, dragging them closer and closer together. A moment later, it plummeted down, vanishing with a loud rustle in the canopy.

"Let's see them try that again," Xi'balak growled. "How many are aboard those ships?"

Irwin finally took a look at the ships following them, and he gritted his teeth. All four of the ships were covered in tiny heatsigns, the distance causing them to blend together.

"Dozens, probably thirty to forty on each," he said. "But they are still too far to be sure."

"Great," Xi'balak snapped. "Well, they won't be far for long. They are bound to sacrifice one of their ship sails to catch and slow us down enough for the others to catch up."

"Don't you have a way to flee? You knew we might come across other ships," Irwin asked. He'd expected them to have some way to move fast enough to get out. Why were they even here if they didn't have a way to outrun enemies?

"Sure, one of my crewmen can teleport us all back to Sesnanser, but that means leaving the ship and the sails behind. I'd prefer not doing that," Xi'balak retorted, glaring at the incoming ships. "Trust me, if we didn't need to figure out what is going on here, I'd not have come, not for a hundred sails."

But we haven't even found anything out yet, Irwin thought. Then he recalled the flying crewmen Xi'balak had sent out.

"Did your crewmen return?" he asked.

Xi'balak grimaced.

"He did. The Galubs have taken over most of the Shipyard and are building fortifications and docks. From everything he saw, it looked like they were preparing to stay while expecting company. Luckily, there's no sign of them rebuilding the ships to create a small fleet," Xi'balak said before he frowned. "However, he did say they are building something inside the hull of the largest remaining ship. It would have been better if we could figure out what that is, but it's best we head back now. Between those four sails you found and the information, we have gotten enough."

Irwin nodded, but something about the way Xi'balak said that they had found four sails made him worried.

"You do recall that half of the sails are mine, right?" he asked as he looked at Xi'balak. As much as he wanted to help the captain and the people of Sensnanser, he had more important things to do.

Xi'balak nodded, but his plates scrunched together so much that only his eyes remained visible. "I know. Let's talk about this when we return," the captain said, sounding tired.

"Xi'balak, I am right in thinking I can trust you, right?" Irwin asked as he crossed his arms.

"You are!" Xi'balak snapped before letting out a weary sigh. "Fine… listen, The Daran has issued orders that all ships are to be used to defend Sesnanser. You will get one of the sails for your ship, but the others are to be put on any hull we have remaining, the ships then outfitted with a crew."

Irwin turned his glare away from Xi'balak, looking at the still-chasing ships. So far, none had shown any sign of overcharging their shield, and he couldn't make out the individual beings on it yet.

"And what does The Daran expect us to do?" he asked.

"They will probably offer you a guard mission," Xi'balak said.

"What if we reject the offer?" Irwin asked, glancing at Xi'balak. "We are here for another mission, and I'm not interested in getting into trouble for delaying that."

Xi'balak's face plates moved around, causing slight ticking sounds. "You should be able to leave if you do so right after we return," he said.

"But with only one sail," Irwin said slowly.

"I would suggest you do," Xi'balak said, lowering his head. "This is beyond my ability to change, and our deal is not deemed important enough compared to the order of The Dalan. I give you my sincere apologies."

Irwin sniffed as he focused on the ships.

Sure, and you only found this out now, he thought.

As he watched the ships, he saw one of them begin to shudder, the sail growing increasingly brighter. A moment later, it began outpacing the other ships.

"I will prepare everyone to be teleported and the ship to crash," Xi'balak said, sounding far calmer than Irwin would expect of a captain. He had the feeling that there was a large difference between how Xi'balak thought of his ships versus how Captain Xi'kroak did.

Annoyed, he glared at the distant ship. He wished there weren't so many people here so he could just throw a burning hammer at it. The problem was that if he did that, it would be way too simple for someone to connect the dots. A large metallic man with a battle hammer would probably not make everyone think of a smith, but if he showed his flame? Especially if someone recognized it as a devouring flame? Now, anyone searching for smiths, or him specifically, would definitely connect those dots.

Wait… do I have to use my flame? he suddenly thought, focusing on the rapidly approaching ship's mast.

It didn't look too thick or sturdy. He thought back to the crashed ships he'd been walking over only a short while ago, and from what he remembered, the masts were just wood. What if he just threw his hammer against it? He'd managed to throw a hole in a ship before.

"What if I can snap the mast?" he asked as he turned to Xi'balak, who had been walking away.

"If you can drop their mast, do it already!" Xi'balak shouted in surprise. "Why haven't you already done it if you can do that?"

"It's still too far," Irwin said.

"How close does it have to be before you can do something?" Xi'balak asked.

Irwin frowned, recalling his training back on scour. "Eighty feet, and I can start trying," he said.

"Eighty… alright, that's something at least! We will probably have some of the Nyzir boarding us by then, but we can deal with those," Xi'balak said before walking away and shouting orders.

Irwin continued observing the ship, waiting for it to get closer and wondering if any of those aboard would be able to stop his hammer.

"So, what are you going to do? Throw a hammer at it?" Greldo asked as he moved beside him.

Irwin nodded. "It should work as long as they don't block it."

"Block it? I'd love to see someone try that. Do you even appreciate how big and heavy that hammer is to someone not built like an anvil?" Greldo said, shaking his head.

"Who knows what's on that ship," Irwin muttered before glancing at Greldo. "Did you hear what Xi'balak said about the sails?"

Greldo's smile turned ugly. "Yeah. Bastards. So their word is only good as long as someone higher up doesn't disagree. They really remind me of the nobles back in Malorin."

Irwin didn't comment on that, knowing his friend's distaste for nobles far outstripped even his, bordering on hatred.

"Anyway," Greldo muttered. "Daubutim went downstairs to hide the sails. He should be back soon, and I'll tell him."

"Make sure to stay close to him in case those Nyzir board us," Irwin said. "Daubutim doesn't have a good body improvement card and no regeneration one yet, and if I recall from you, these things are quick and slippery."

"Slippery, sharp and deadly," Greldo agreed. "I don't know if they have different types like Galub's do, but if they have an equivalent of a five-horn, we would be in major trouble."

"Let's hope they don't," Irwin said as he kept his focus on the incoming ship.

Seconds ticked away, and soon, he began making out the dark shapes moving about. They walked fluidly, arms and legs bending in ways almost as if they didn't have bones.

"Why do I say these things," Greldo whispered, and Irwin could hear the fear in his voice. "I should have just kept my mouth shut, dammit."

"What?" Irwin asked worriedly.

"You know how I told you that Nyzir's look like snakes walking on two legs? Well, there's one over there that has a tail and two sets of eyes," Greldo said, and he swallowed. "I've never seen one of those, and that has to be a bad sign. Also… it's been glaring at you nonstop ever since I noticed it."

"Fantastic," Irwin grunted.

He tried to find the one Greldo was talking about. Although he could easily see the Nyzir now, no matter where he looked, he didn't see the one Greldo spoke about. Looking around, he saw Xi'balak standing in the middle of the ship, talking with two of his crewmen.

"Go and warn Xi'balak, then stay with Daubutim. I'm going to start trying to bring down their mast in a moment," he said.

Greldo ran away, and Irwin glared at the ship. It was roughly a hundred feet away, gaining so fast that it should be in range soon. As he prepared his hammer, he blinked. There had been a dozen Nyzir on the railing a moment ago, where-

Pain bloomed from his back as something razor-sharp pierced his armor and went an inch or more into his body. At the same time, Xi'balak shouted from behind him.

"Boarders!"

Irwin turned around, flailing his arm around, only to feel another stab in his waist. This time, there was no pain, and instead, he felt his card's kinetic energy fill up. A dark figure with small scales that gleamed wetly slithered back, having easily avoided his fist. It was looking back at him, and as alien as its narrow, snake-like face was, Irwin recognized the stunned disbelief in the narrowed eyes.

Irwin gave it a threatening glare, and the Nyzir took a step back. Irwin saw it cast a quick glimpse at its dagger, and as he looked at the blade, he saw it was covered in a thick green goo.

Poison? That won't work on me, Irwin thought. He didn't sense anything from the wound on his back, nor did he expect it to.

Casting a second threatening glance at the Nyzir, he looked behind it to get a grip on the situation.

The deck behind his attacker had changed to a chaotic battlefield. Xi'balak's crew stood near the main mast, surrounding one of them that was glowing while tendrils of light flowed out of it.

The teleporter.

A dozen Nyzir were jumping and dashing around them, wielding dull black daggers as they flowed in and out of combat. Even grouped together, the crewmen had no time to attack as all they could do was dodge their ridiculously nimble opponents.

Daubutim stood with his back to a wall, wielding two shortswords in a glittering, flashing display of skill as he kept two of the Nyzir at bay. Still, Irwin could see from the speed at which they moved that Daubutim would never be able to hold them back for long.

Before he could even wonder where Greldo was, his friend dashed out of the shadows near the wall, slashing at one of the Nyzir attacking Daubutim. Greldo's dagger sliced across the Nyzir's arm, but he didn't remain to take advantage and dodged to the side. He was just in time to evade a long, curved sword that seemed to appear from midair, followed by an arm, then a tall Nyzir with a tail. Covered in tight leather armor, it looked like a piece of living shadow.

"Irwin, take care of the ship before it rams us," Daubutim shouted.

Irwin cursed as he saw another Nyzir head towards his friend, but he knew he was right. He could see from the fighting that if more Nyzir arrived, they would be in trouble. He suddenly realized that the Nyzir that had attacked him was gone, and he frowned as he looked around. Were they afraid of him? Why weren't they attacking him?

Later, he thought as he spun the ship only to find it was now so close he could see dozens of Nyzir waiting at the railing, ready to board it.

Eyes wide, he took a step back, then dashed two steps forward, snapping his arm forward. At the last possible moment, he summoned the largest hammer he possibly could, at the same time exploding all of the kinetic energy he had built.

A startling boom echoed out as a hammer the size of a barndoor shot through the air, leaving ripples in its wake. The Nyzir at the railing dodged as the hammer blurred where they had just stood, a foot past the mast before crashing into the cabin area behind it, ripping the wood apart in an explosion of wood chips and splinters before careening out through the other side. There was a moment of stunned silence as the Nyzir stared at the destroyed remains of the cabin on the stern of their ship, which had mostly been obliterated.

Irwin couldn't help but grin maliciously at the sudden fear in the snake eyes of the Nyzir.

Again, he thought as he released the hammer which had been falling to the canopy behind the ship. It disappeared in a flash, and he stepped forward, hurling another at the ship.

"Stop him!" Greldo's scream came just as the hammer left Irwin's hand with a boom.

Irwin felt an odd sensation ripple around him that made his skin crawl. He jumped to the side, not even waiting to see if his hammer hit its intended target this time.

Midair, he felt razor-sharp blades cut his arms, neck, and back. His kinetic energy began building up rapidly, and he spun around with a growl.

Something flickered towards his face, and he pulled his head to the side, using kinetic energy. His neck cracked while the tip of a flexible black blade pierced the space his head had been before making an odd swishing motion and striking his cheek.

Irwin's heart skipped a beat, but the sharp edge left a painful bruise but failed to pierce the skin.

That hurt you-

The blade pulled back a bit before streaking at his face again so fast he could barely dodge it, again resorting to using some kinetic energy to make his movement an explosive snap. Then it came again, and before he fully realized what was going on, he was doing nothing but dodging, barely keeping up as the tip of the blade kept trying to take out his eyes. His neck turned sore within moments, his head throbbed, and the world started swirling.

The speed of it all left him with no time to even contemplate focusing on his other cards. Slowly, he began to get angry as the attacks continued.

Finally, when the blade pulled back for another attack, he found a tiny window, and using more kinetic energy to move his hand, he grabbed at it. His hand almost reached the blade before it pulled back far enough for him to see his attacker.

The taller Nyzir with the tail stood before him. One foot before the other, his body turned sideways, one shoulder pointing at Irwin.

"You will pay for destroying my ship," the Nyzir said softly.

Irwin didn't even bother listening. He knew it would attack him again in a few moments, and he wouldn't be able to keep up. Irwin pulled on his Sweltering skill harder than he ever had. Within a moment, the air around them grew fuzzy as tendrils of superheated fog rippled out. The ship's movement and constant wind blew some away, but as he focused and more appeared, he managed to keep it together. It was costing a lot of energy, though, and as it trickled away, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for a very long time.

The Nyzir that had been observing him suddenly hissed and stepped forward, blurring into motion. Its sword cut through a tendril, but as his hand touched it, the Nyzir let out a startled scream. It yanked its head back and dashed away.

Irwin didn't bother caring as he pulled more of his steam towards him.

"Greldo, get everyone below deck," he whispered, praying his friend's keen ears would pick it up amidst all the screaming and shouting.

"You sure?" a shout came, causing him some relief.

"Yes!" Irwin roared as he expanded the steam towards the Nyzir. Tiny bits and slivers of the steam were moving dangerously close to the fighting crewmen while the vision around him became hazy.

As the steam spread out, he sensed the Nyzir back up, then turn and move so fast he knew he'd never have seen the movement. Instead, he felt it pass through parts of the fog, heading towards the door leading down.

"Greldo, it's heading below deck!" Irwin shouted as he pulled as much steam between the Nyzir and the door as he could.

There was no response from Greldo, but the Nyzir let out a scream of pain as it passed through a thick amount of steam before vanishing through the door.

Irwin gritted his teeth as he sensed around with his steam. Daubutim and some of the crewmembers were gone already, and he saw Greldo appear and disappear rapidly, grabbing people and vanishing below deck. As soon as his friend was there, he shouted.

"Greldo!"

The shadowy shape remained this time.

"What?"

"That big guy is below!"

"I bloody well know! Daubutim is handling it. Just get rid of the rest, then come help!" Greldo shouted before vanishing again.

Daubutim is handling it? Irwin thought, shivering at the odd fear in Greldo's face as he had shouted that. Something was going wrong down there!

He almost wanted to rush down, but instead, he spread out his steam, covering nearly the entire ship.

By now, the Nyzir had figured out what was going on, and unlike the Galubs, they didn't just charge in or do something without thinking. Within moments, they had spread out across the ship, then began vanishing, likely back to where they had come.

Looking around and triggering his heat vision, Irwin found the ship, which was far in the distance now. The only reason he found it was because he saw heat signatures start to appear on it slowly, and a few moments later, all of those that had been on their ship were gone.

Why can they teleport back now, Irwin thought, but at the same time, he was glad they had gone. The muted sound of clashing swords came from the door leading down, and he wanted to help Daubutim.

He let the steam hang on the deck and ran to the door. As he was keeping the stream from entering, he stepped through the door and out of the steam, and as he did, he realized this was the first time he was leaving such a massive amount of steam after summoning it. He had summoned smaller amounts away from his body, but never such huge quantities.

Irwin hesitated, trying to determine if the steam cloud would remain or if he was going to lose control. Nothing seemed to happen, and he took another step down, then another. Shouts and sword clashing continued from below, and he quickened his pace to the staircase when he felt his heartcard's energy drain spike. Ten steps away from the steam, his expenditure doubled, and when he took another step, it doubled again.

By Gelwin's balls, why can't it ever be easy?

"Greldo! How are things?" he asked, refraining from screaming so he wouldn't alert the large Nyzir.

A burst of movement came from his side, then Greldo appeared. He was in his towering, hairy form and had a long cut across his cheek and forehead.

"Quick, you have to come," he whispered, his eyes wide in fear.

Irwin dropped the steam without thinking. "Go back to the deck after to make sure they don't return," he said. "And bring the crewmen back to sail the ship!"

Greldo muttered something as he grabbed his arm, then the world turned shady, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in the hold. The clatter of swords was deafening. Daubutim and Captain Xi'balak stood on each side of the tall Nyzir, and each time it attacked one of them, the other would try to catch it with no avail. Although their constant pressure kept the Nyzir from killing one of them, it was too slippery for them to wound, while the same couldn't be said for them. Daubutim's face was covered in scratches, and one of his eyes was closed, blood leaking out from it.

Irwin moved, using the massive amounts of kinetic energy bubbling in his body to propel himself through the hold. There was a dangerous cracking from behind him, followed by a startled shout by the crew, but he ignored all of it as he reached the Nyzir, reaching to grab it. The Nyzir moved its body out of the way, but Irwin had expected that. His foot stomped onto the Nyzir's foot, and it screeched, giving Irwin just the moment to grab its arm.

"Got ya-"

The Nyzir's arm seemed to plop out of its shoulder, while Irwin felt the foot he'd been standing on seem to flatten. Then the Nyzir flowed around Daubutim's blade, jabbed his own back to keep Captain Xi'balak away, and flung himself to the side.

Irwin was momentarily stunned as he looked at the arm he was holding, noting the fingers were still flexing and unflexing. Then he saw the Nyzir move. He tried to catch it, but it swirled around him, and as he turned, he realized there was a cracked hole in the hull from where he'd jumped. It wasn't any larger than his fist, but the Nyzir reached it slithered out of its leathery armor before turning into a long wrist thick tendril that flitted through the hole so fast Irwin only got halfway to the cracked hole.

"How…" he muttered before realizing something was touching his leg. Looking down, he saw the arm had folded, and the hand with long black nails was scratching his pants, tearing long cuts into it.

"Dammit," he roared, slamming the arm on the ground until it stopped wiggling. After a few more strikes, he dropped it and looked around.

Daubutim stood a few steps away; one eye still closed and a look of weary resignation on his face. Irwin swallowed as he stared at his friend's face.

"Is it… gone?" he asked softly.

Daubutim nodded and shrugged. "I think I know what type of card I'm going to need."

Irwin felt his stomach roil, but he ignored it as he forced a grin back. "No worries, I'm sure we will find some portals that we can farm.