Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin groaned as he leaned against the building, ignoring the dangerous moaning of the ruined stone. Excited shouts came from far away, and he guessed the rangers had found another group of imps. Either that or the people Daubutim sent to investigate the Terullian glyphs had discovered something new again.

"You should take a rest," Greldo muttered from where he lay against Coal's side.

"You know I can't. There's no way to know if what I'm doing to the world to stabilize it will stop if I fall asleep," Irwin grunted, rubbing his eyes. He was annoyed that Greldo kept asking, though he knew his friend was just worried. Either that, or he hoped it would fail, and they would be forced to leave.

"... You've been awake for over a week," Greldo muttered. "You can't be planning to stay awake until we leave here?"

"Just until Ambraz wakes up again," Irwin said, stretching his arms as he looked around.

Dozens of rangers were standing around them, ready to rush to any area that needed help. A movement from the side made him look up, and he saw Jort walk towards him, looking worried.

"Here we go again," Greldo muttered as he struggled up.

"Jort?" Irwin asked.

"Smith Irwin, sorry for disturbing you again, but the rangers south of the volcano found another nearly insane Brutal Imp," Jort said while he handed a thick stack of cards to Irwin.

Irwin barely looked at them before stuffing them in his dirty, smelly, and ripped jacket.

"Alright, lead me there."

A long time later, with another rip in his jacket, he sat back down beside Greldo. His friend was scratching Coal.

"Everything okay?" Greldo asked as his eyes traced him, lingering on the rip and some scuff marks on his arm.

"Yeah, there were two brutes," Irwin said as he showed two new Topaz-ranked cards. "It's a good thing that being a soulcarded gives such a large added amount of energy."

Greldo nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Still no soulforce added to your lake?"

Irwin shook his head. "It's either because I need a heartcard for that or because I can't use the imps anymore."

"Let's hope it's the heartcard," Greldo said. "If you need to use cards from now on, it's going to take you ages to fill another."

"Yeah," Irwin said, sitting down and rubbing his neck and the back of his head. He really wanted to sleep.

"Well, those people Daubutim sent left while you were away. They said they had copied every bit of those glyphs they could find. Jort also sent part of the rangers back, and as soon as those are settled on the new ships, they will be bringing them back to the homeportal."

"Homeportal?" Irwin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's what the Rangers are calling it now," Greldo said with a shrug.

"Well, I guess that makes sense."

They remained lounging near the portal, Irwin jealous as his friend kept taking naps.

Half a day passed until Jort returned with another group of rangers.

"So, time to leave?" Irwin asked hopefully as he looked at the ranger who had become the de facto leader of the rangers on this side of the portal.

"Well…"

Irwin groaned as he Jort shrugged. "We found another infestation with at least two hundred Imps…"

Irwin wished he could say he didn't care, but instead, he got up.

"Fine, show me where it is."

Three hours later, and even more tired than before, Irwin walked back to the portal and slumped on the ground beside Greldo.

"Over four hundred," he muttered, padding his bulging pockets.

"Imps or cards?" Greldo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Both," Irwin said. "I haven't counted yet, but I'd say we are nearing six hundred cards."

Greldo nodded, hands behind his head. "It sounds like so much until you remember how many we really need."

"Well, I'm going to take a dozen to make Daubutim's heartcard and perhaps another dozen for Lord Bron," Irwin said.

"Don't forget to take those that deal with shadow for me and six new ones for yourself," Greldo said with a grin.

Irwin nodded.

Time passed as he tried to stay awake when a sudden rustle came from his pocket, followed by a groan.

"Wu- what?"

"Ambraz?" Irwin asked as he quickly removed the Anvil from his pocket.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Ambraz snorted, his lips pressed together. "I don't know what a headache feels like, but I'm pretty sure I have one. I told you to harmonize the world, not attempt to reset the entire ambient soulforce in the entire continent!"

Irwin blinked as Ambraz's wings appeared, stretching out in a way that reminded him of someone stretching their arms.

"You did something I didn't expect anyone but a Worldanvil or someone with five soulcards would be able to do… you knocked me out," Ambraz said. "Kid, I need you to tell me exactly what happened when you formed your soulcard. Don't leave anything out, no matter how tiny."

Irwin stared at Ambraz, surprised at how serious he sounded. Somehow, it even managed to reduce his incredibly weariness, and after a few moments, he began talking about the storm and its magnitude.

"Please tell me you are exaggerating…!" Ambraz hissed as he spoke about how he was yanked through his soulscape.

"No. It felt like I was being ripped all across-"

"Not that! How big is your soulscape now?" Ambraz nearly shouted.

Irwin frowned, then looked around. "It feels like it's about from there-" he pointed at the distant buildings, then to a tube-like pillar of rock that had been forced out of the ground towards the foot of the volcano. "-to that thing."

"..."

"..."

Ambraz was staring at him with his mouth wide open, revealing his slablike teeth, while Greldo had pushed up, looking nearly as stunned.

"Mine is barely large enough to hold that building," Greldo muttered, pointing at a large building to the side of the square.

Irwin looked at his friend in surprise. His soulscape had been bigger than that, even when he'd only just gotten his heartcard. Much bigger even. Just his soullake had been at least the size of the entire square if he had to guess.

Ambraz took a deep breath before exhaling explosively. "Tell me what happened, step by step," he muttered.

Wondering why his soulscape was so different, Irwin continued telling Ambraz everything that happened. When he spoke of how his card had exploded, Greldo let out a gasp.

"That's normal," Ambraz said, sounding distracted. "The crystalized soulforce in the card is why the barrier around your soulscape looked like glass, and the stronger it is, the more difficult it will become to look through it. It's also a way to guard your mind against mental attacks."

Irwin shivered as he thought about people attacking his mind. He knew of those cards, some of which could force someone to do things against their wishes, and he was glad they were usually removed from circulation by the Mission Centers.

He continued talking, describing how the mountain had appeared. When he was done, Ambraz was quietly watching him. As time ticked by, Irwin wondered if he'd broken the Anvil.

"Ambraz?"

"I need to see this for myself," Ambraz said with a deep sigh. "I need you to bring me into your soulscape."

Irwin shared a stunned look with Greldo.

"I can do that?"

"Normally, you would need more soulcards for this," Ambraz muttered. "But it's a power and control thing. You've always had good control, and if everything you just told me- You didn't lie, right?"

"What? No," Irwin said. "How do I even-"

A sensation as if someone was knocking on his mind made him look around in surprise. It took him a second to realize it had to have been Ambraz, but even he could barely believe the oddity of the sensation.

"What did you just do?"

Another knocking sensation came, though Irwin knew it wasn't exactly the right way to describe it.

"Something difficult, strenuous, and normally only done by Ganvils of rank five or higher," Ambraz muttered, sounding strained. "Go into your soulscape and see if you can feel where I'm at. When you find me, knock back, and I'll start humming. Try to follow along, and we should be able to make this work."

Irwin looked at the Anvil for a short while before turning to Greldo.

"Try it. I'll keep you safe," his friend said.

Irwin nodded and, with zero effort, stepped into his mindspace. Surprised by the ease of it, he hovered there, wondering what he should do now.

A soft pounding came from the furthest side from where he was.

It's almost like someone is knocking on a door, he thought as he sped toward the source of the sound.

A small shape hung behind the glass, and he faintly recognized Ambraz. There was another knock, and he was about to knock back when he stopped.

How do I even knock without arms…

Besides, before gaining his soulcard, touching the barrier meant being kicked out of his soulscape. Had that been changed?

Well, let's just try. If I get kicked out, I'll just ask Ambraz.

Hesitating only for a moment, he rushed forward, knocking into the barrier with his mental… body? He didn't know what to call what he was now, but that didn't stop him from slamming into the barrier. It felt as if he'd slammed headfirst into a wall, and he tumbled back amidst a deep boom that resounded throughout his soulscape. Even though it took him a few moments to regain his bearing, the glass was still shivering.

"A bit too much, maybe," he muttered.

After a few moments, a soft hum came from the other side of the glass, and he felt the glass barrier in front of him softly resonate along. It was the same hum Ambraz had shown, and wondering what would happen, he began humming the same tune. A painful disharmony came from his soulscape as the tiny inconsistencies in the hum seemed to cause the barrier to shiver.

He quickly corrected it, but it took him a few tries before he had it as even the loudness had to be identical.

As he hummed along, the glassy area before him became translucent, and he saw Ambraz there, lips pursed in a tight line. Dark shadows moved far in the background of what looked almost like the chaotic starry sky beyond the Portal Gallery barrier.

Ten seconds later, the completely translucent circle of glass began shivering, followed by a tiny sense of unease and pain as something struck it. Then Ambraz hovered before him, shaking and shivering.

"Damnit, kid! How strong is your… barrier…"

"..."

Ambraz fell quiet as he hovered past Irwin. "You weren't kidding," he whispered.

Irwin didn't respond, incredulous that someone else was in his mind. How did that even work?

"Kid?"

"How is this possible?" Irwin blurted.

"I don't know! You did it," Ambraz snapped as he flew forward towards the mountain.

"No! How are you actually in my mind?" Irwin asked as he sped after Ambraz.

"What? Oh, that! I told you, didn't I? After you gain a soulcard, you can bring other people into your soulscape. Normally, that takes years of strengthening your soulscape, but well…"

Ambraz hovered above the mountain.

"Your soulscape is the size of that of… well of a Worldanvil, at the minimum. Maybe larger. I've only heard stories about things like this, and usually, those carded had specific cards to expand their mindspace."

Irwin hummed as he followed Ambraz, who was counting as he sped from one side to the other.

"Okay, so it's roughly half a mile in diameter… which is… absurd? Stupid? Incredible?"

"Is it a problem?" Irwin asked, noting that Ambraz didn't sound all that happy.

"What? No! It's just that I don't like not knowing why it's like this."

Irwin shrugged, or at least tried to perform the mental disembodied version of a shrug.

"Perhaps it's because of the Purperion or my growth cards?" he asked. "Or is it normal for people with Ammolite soulcards?"

"Your growth cards could help, but not this much. Still, I guess that's possible… either that or the other things you mentioned," Ambraz muttered. "Sadly, these are things that I don't know much about."

"What about the way I expanded it by consuming the Imp's soulforce?"

Ambraz didn't respond, muttering to himself as he sped around the soulscape for a bit.

"Well, I don't know! But I think we should figure it out," he said.

Irwin nodded, staring at his own soulscape. He noticed that the mountain seemed more sturdy than the previous time he'd been there, while the fire had filled some more cracks, filling tiny crevices at the base of the mountain.

"So now what do we do?" he asked.

Ambraz snorted and turned to him. "Now we go back out and leave this blasted world. You've got plenty of cards to help your friends. After that, we need to head to Granvox. You soulscape is going to make it a whole lot easier to get some rank zero Ganvils safely here!"

"I don't know how I feel about just letting anyone in here," Irwin said, feeling worried.

"What? Why not! There's nothing they can do to you in here. It's more the other way around. If you wanted to, you could squash anyone that came in here unless they were far more powerful than you!"

Ambraz's words made Irwin feel a lot better, though he also wondered if that meant that he could do the same to the Anvil.

"Can I force someone out?" he asked.

"What? Wanna try it on me, do you?" Ambraz shouted.

Irwin grinned.

"I'd prefer it if you let me stay in here," Ambraz said, landing on the top of the mountain and staring around.

"What? Why?" Irwin said.

"Because when you get even stronger, you can pull me physically in here," Ambraz said. "Normally, soulscapes are much smaller, making that very uncomfortable, but this looks nice. Reminds me a bit of Granvox."

"Okay, but why do you want to stay in here now?"

"Because from here, we can protect each other. Besides, Ganvil's don't get soulscapes until they reach rank five. There's also some other benefits that you will find out about later."

Irwin hummed, wondering what Ambraz meant with that, before deciding that it didn't matter.

"Alright. But I think we should leave now," Irwin said.

"You can…" he stopped talking as he saw Ambraz turn translucent and unmoving.

Get out yourself… Right, let's just leave. I want sleep.

As he closed his eyes, his return to his body felt slightly more difficult than the step into his soulscape. He could feel the chaos of the ambient soulforce all around him, but with a slight push, he returned.

Opening his eyes, he saw Greldo look at him worriedly.

"We should leave," Greldo said.

The worry in his voice made Irwin push himself up and look around. He saw nothing, but Greldo was moving to the portal already.

"What's going on?"

"I think some of those Imps turned into Addled," Greldo said. "I've been hearing-"

A piercing scream ripped through the silent ruins, and Irwin jolted as he spun around to find the source. There was no sign of anything, but he knew Greldo was right.

"Right, let's leave before we get attacked inside the portal corridor," he said, stepping back towards the portal. "Ambraz, you ready?"

"Yes! Quick, leave!"

Irwin didn't need another hint, and he jumped after Greldo and into the portal.

The world turned black for a moment, then he was careening through the corridor. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw Greldo ahead of him. He was about to shout to his friend when he froze. He felt something. Something horrible and familiar…

There's something out there, he thought as he slowly looked to the side.

Far away in the depths of space, a massive dark… thing was lurking, and as he looked at it, horribly familiar eyes opened.

Oculithar!

Irwin shivered. He should have remembered that they hung out around worlds close to shattering! As he watched, the massive thing unwound and began closing in.

"A bloody Advent of Cataclysm! You are joking with me," Ambraz shouted. "The world's song! Do it like you did to stabilize the world!"

Ambraz's scream drew Greldo's attention, and Irwin saw his friend jolt and spin midair ahead of him, but he had no time for that.

An oppressive pressure pushed down on them, and he could almost feel the barrier around his mindspace creak. Ambraz was humming the song, and he quickly resonated his soulscape with the same melody and tune.

He didn't know what he'd expected, but not that a pale, barely visible fiery red and golden spherical field surged out of him in all directions. It buffeted the corridor's walls, and as it did, the lightning and energy rippled before hardening. All around him and far in the distance, a thin mist hung.

"What is going on?" Greldo shouted.

Irwin didn't react, watching in horror as the massive tentacles surged forward and around the corridor. The previous time, he'd managed to speed his way to the end before it got him, but they had only just entered. It would be way too long before they reached the other way!

"Louder!" Ambraz shouted.

Irwin cursed and increased the power with which he was resonating his soulscape. The golden mist that suffused the corridor became denser just as the tentacles wrapped around the corridor.

"By Gelwin's balls, what is that?!" Greldo screamed.

Irwin barely heard him as he watched the tentacles squeeze the energy barrier. A sense of being crushed caused him to gasp, but the barrier held.

"Don't slow down and don't stop, or we're worse than dead!" Ambraz screamed.

Irwin wanted to respond but couldn't, his throat squeezed shut by the horrible sense of pressure. All he could do was keep his soulscape resonating.

More and more tendrils wrapped around the corridor until all he could see was a dark mass of overlapping flesh.

The pressure continued as they hurtled towards the end, and time began to have little meaning to him. At some point, Irwin realized this was the second time in a short while that his sense of time was gone as he was battling something.

Then the pain came. It was a dull throbbing in his mind at first but quickly increased until it was a blinding sense of agony. Part of him knew he was screaming, but he couldn't stop it.

--

"What is happening to him?!" Greldo roared, trying to make himself audible about Irwin's almost nonstop booming howl. He was clasping his sensitive ears to prevent his eardrums from bursting.

"He is stopping that thing from crushing this portal corridor," Ambraz shouted.

"Can't you help him?"

"NO!" Ambraz roared back with such anger and pain that it shocked Greldo. "Neither of us has enough soulforce to help him!"

"What about the cards?" Greldo screamed.

"Useless now!"

Greldo gritted his teeth, staring up as his friend, his face contorted in agony, mouth open so far he feared the corners of his mouth might split.

"Will he survive?" he shouted, feeling his stomach clench.

"He will if he can hold out! And so will we!"

Greldo gritted his teeth until his canines hurt, but there was nothing that he could do but wait and endure.

He didn't think he had ever been in a corridor that seemed to last this long. When he finally saw the end coming, he wanted to shout at Irwin that they were almost there.

"We need to flee as soon as we are there," Ambraz shouted. "Get everyone on the ship and get as far from the portal as we can!"

Greldo shouted an agreement, then struck the end of the portal, eyes closed. A moment later, he opened them as he stumbled into the room. Dozens of rangers were moving about, some looking at him in surprise, but he didn't care. He turned, and a moment later, Irwin stepped out of the portal only to immediately slump down into a heap.

Greldo jumped forward, ignoring the surprised and worried shouts as he grabbed Irwin and pulled him away.

"We need to leave," he shouted. "Come help me carry him to the ship! Hurry!"

The rangers moved almost immediately, many jumping forward and helping him as they dragged Irwin back out of the room.

"What is going on?"

"He weighs more than a charbull!"

"Why are we fleeing?"

Greldo shook his head. "There's some kind of monster attacking the barrier!" he shouted.

Ambraz flew past them, and Greldo heard him shout as he flew towards the ship.

"Rindiri, get ready! An Advent of Cataclysm is crushing the portal corridor!"

There was a sudden silence, followed by panicked shoutings.

A horrible minute later, they finally managed to pull Irwin aboard The Sonata, and as soon as the last ranger jumped on deck, the ship ripped itself free of the ropes binding it. It surged up and away while a dull rumbling came from behind them.

Greldo took a quick look at Irwin, but he was lying motionlessly on the deck.

"What happened?"

Greldo looked at the upper deck where Rindiri was looking at him.

"One of those things Irwin saw before attacked the corridor portal," he shouted.

Rindiri stared back in disbelief, then shook her head and focused on the ship.

They were barely at the mountains when a whine came from behind. Staring at the distant shanty town and lone tower, Greldo saw the tower's top crumble inward. He quickly turned his face away, eyes closed, but even then, he saw the blinding light. A thunderous explosion followed, and then something shoved The Sonata forward.

Greldo slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the whiteness as he stared back. The town, the tower, and a large section of the mountain below were gone, while dark dust hung high in the air, spreading outward.

Well, I guess we won't get to go there for more cards, he thought.