Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin stood at the prow, steam roiling behind him and fanning out. It was already covering the back of the ship, and with every second, it spread out further and further.

Ahead of him, a wall of ships was closing in. Some were leaning against each other, looking more like flying wrecks than ships capable of crossing the Portal Gallery. Others stood a few dozen feet apart. They were aligned bow to stern, three or four enough to block the corridor in the width, depending on the ship's size. Eight uneven rows stacked together left only a few small openings, none large enough for a ship to pass through.

Although many of the sails were broken, enough remained workable to create a constant thin ripple of soulforce to expand from them.

A hundred feet before the makeshift flying wall stood a small fort of wood made from broken ships. Hundreds of tiny heat signatures were milling about while ripples of soulforce told Irwin they were actively using skills. A single, sturdy-looking tower was built in the center, reminding him of the town Doomblade had built. Four ships hung near it while a few more hovered a few feet above the ground.

"If a surge of Addled makes their way here, they are going to get wiped out," Rindiri shouted.

In the center of the blockade, one of the ships suddenly jerked forward, picking up a little speed and angling sideways. It made a sharp turn, and Irwin saw a familiar figure stand on the upper deck. Although he couldn't see it, he figured Greldo was laughing as he pointed the ship toward the wooden fort below. As soon as the ship was heading almost straight down, Greldo's figure vanished, and Irwin quickly found him on another ship.

Time to get going, he thought as he turned and ran up the ladder to the upper deck.

"Hide inside," he said as he took over the wheel. "Stay together with Zender and Earila. I don't think any Nyzir are going to make it inside, but you never know."

"I'll be fine," Rindiri said, running to the ladder. When she reached the end, she looked back at Irwin. "Be careful out here, Captain."

"I will," Irwin said.

Rindiri nodded, then dropped along the ladder and sprinted to the cabin, disappearing inside.

Alone on the deck, Irwin forced his soulcard to work overtime. A faint mist spread out ahead and around him while the thicker steam was trailing behind them like a massive plume. It cost a lot of energy to move it forward and around the ship, but he had plenty. Within ten seconds, the ship was surrounded by a thick steam that felt pleasantly warm against his skin. The mist further out was rapidly compressing together, turning into more steam, and the sounds that had been coming from the fort turned muted.

A loud crash came from the fort, followed by muted screams of anger and panic.

That's the one, Irwin thought as he stared ahead.

The world had turned into a deep white, with a swarm of tiny heat signatures where the fort was and faint waves of soulforce from the barrier. The hole where Greldo had moved three ships out of the center was like a target in the middle, while a fourth ship was moving away. A second crash came as another ship slammed into the fort.

Seconds turned to a minute, then two, as he closed in on the barrier and another ship crashed down. When the steam covered over half of the width and height of the corridor, he stopped pulling in more, focusing only on increasing its density and heat. A quick check of his soulforce told him he could keep this up for half an hour, longer if he didn't have to move.

His sight of the wooden fort was blocked as he flew over it.

So, if any are going to try and move, they will do it now, he thought.

He had barely thought of it as he sensed a ship sail into the steam from below. A split second later, muffled screams of pain came from below. The ship instantly angled to the side and back down, and moments later, it vanished from his vision.

"Guess they didn't like the heat," Irwin said, grinning at the hole in the barrier.

Another ship was moving away, but unlike the others, it was just going straight, crashing into the one beside it, shoving it away. Greldo's heat signatures vanished, then reappeared on another ship, but before he could move it, Irwin saw two more heat signatures appear next to him.

The Nyzir had arrived.

Heat signatures began appearing and disappearing, Coal's much larger and hotter one standing out among the others, and it took a while before Greldo managed to get the ship moving. As it slowly flew forward, shoving against another and pushing it sideways, enlarging the hole, Irwin knew what he would have to do. He was now only a hundred feet from the barrier and closing in fast. The steam wrapped around the ships, and he sensed their slight movements.

"It's wide enough, but we might clip the top," Irwin shouted.

"Captain, use the keel," Rindiri shouted from the cabin. "We can repair that and the hull later, but if we damage the sails or the mast, we are in trouble."

Irwin knew she was right and angled the ship down. He stopped moving the steam, causing The Sonata, which had previously been moving along with it, nearly invisible, to pop up clear as day. Now, with a near-perfect sense of The Sonata and the hole, he knew they were going to smash into the mast of one of the other ships. Still, it would give him plenty of room above.

"Hold on!" he shouted. "Greldo, get over here!'

Something appeared in the steam next to him, followed by a scream of pain that rattled his eardrums as something thudded on the deck behind him. It vanished a moment later.

"Greldo, there's Nyzir on the deck," Irwin shouted just as the keel of The Sonata struck the mast. A tremor ran through the ship, and he heard dangerous cracking and snapping noises.

Irwin clenched his teeth, hoping they wouldn't get any large holes. If they did, the ship's ability to hold heat inside would be crippled, to the point that they might have to repair it before they could even cross any of the cold areas between portals.

The Sonata began jerking sideways as it seemed to get snagged on something, and Irwin struggled with the helm to keep it going straight. For a second, he feared they were going to be stuck, then a ripping sound came, and they shot forward through the hole.

With a massive grin, Irwin pulled on the steam to keep them covered in it as they shot out into the wider corridor that would lead them to head to the main branches, Granvox and Igniz.

He continued sailing away from the barricade for ten minutes, spreading a thin layer of steam outwards to make sure they wouldn't crash into the ground or barriers. When they were far enough, he began pulling in the steam, releasing most of it until only the ship was covered.

"Greldo, get ready," he said. Then he spread the steam outward, reading himself to pull it back in if Nyzir began popping up everywhere.

The whiteness around him disappeared, and the deck of The Sonata reappeared, glistening wet with trickles of steam rising up.

Greldo appeared beside him.

"We did it!" he shouted, grinning at Irwin. "You should have seen those ships crash into that fort!"

"No Nyzir?" Irwin said, unable to hold back his own smile.

"It's clear. You can drop the steam," Greldo said as he looked around at the walls of pale steam that surrounded the deck.

Irwin relaxed, releasing his control of the stream, which immediately stopped following them while starting to thin rapidly. They shot out of the steam into the bright world of the Portal Gallery. The energy barriers were angling away from them towards the mile-wide stretch, which would lead to a few branches that spread out in different directions from the main branch. The rightmost one would lead to Fiverion, but they weren't going to be heading in that direction.

Far in the distance, a single, sleek, dark-red ship hung in the center of the corridor. With gleaming black sails, it looked fast, deadly, and unlike any of the ships Irwin had seen so far.

"Damn," he hissed, causing Greldo to turn and look in the direction he was.

"Okay… that ship is twice as long as ours, and I can see a dozen silver-eyed people on deck, well-armed and staring right at us," Greldo said. "Oh… and two of them are looking straight at me, so they can see us as well as we can see them."

"Rindiri!" Irwin shouted.

There was a rustle from the cabin as the doors were shoved open, and the older Yuurindi sprinted out. She looked up, then turned towards Irwin's pointed finger.

"Currant Hunters…" Rindiri hissed, turning around and sprinting to the ladder, then to Irwin. "Let me take the helm!"

Irwin jumped sideways, looking back. The steam had vanished, and the breached barricade in the distance stood out like a mess of tangled wood. Four ships were speeding after them, while another was flying through the hole. A few more were visible behind the hole, seeming ready to come as soon as they could.

"Are they enemies?" he asked, turning back to see that the ship had begun moving, turning its side towards them.

"They are mercenaries that work for the highest bidder," Rindiri said as she began moving the ship to the side and up, then back forward. A few seconds later, she did the same thing. It didn't seem like any sort of evasive maneuver.

"What are you doing?" Irwin asked.

"I used to sail with a captain that had served aboard a Currant Hunter, and he shared a few things," she said.

"One of those guys that can see me is making weird gestures with his hands," Greldo shouted.

"Describe them!' Rindiri said.

"Hand up with the palm up, then on its flat. Now he's waving it like the tail of a fish?"

Irwin saw Rindiri's eyes narrow.

"Raise your hand, palm up, then flip it with the palm down and lower it a hand length!"

Greldo did as she said, though Irwin could see the confusion in his friend's eyes.

"They did the same symbol, and… he is making two fists and knocking them together! That looked pretty aggressive."

"Sacumira's Verdict. They are ordering us to turn around behind them and join in destroying the incoming Galubs," Rindiri hissed, turning to Irwin. "Captain… if we don't do as they say, they can destroy us before we can get a hundred feet further."

Irwin clenched his fists, looking back at the seven Galub ships chasing after them. "There are seven of them! If we do this we are going to take a lot of damage," he grunted. "Are you sure we can't evade them?"

"Impossible," Rindiri said, looking at him. "Worse, if we did succeed, they would put out a bounty on us, and all of the Currant Hunters we cross paths with will attack."

"And fight them?" Irwin asked quietly. He didn't really want to, but perhaps he wasn't going to have a choice.

"Every Currant Hunter has a three soulcarded or higher captain and a one or higher soulcarded First Mate," Rindiri said with a grimace. "As strong as you are, your specialty isn't ship battle. Theirs is. They would destroy us."

Irwin took a deep breath, then released it explosive. "Fine! Do as they say."

"Greldo, copy his movement. Both fists together and look him in the eye. If he nods, nod back!" Rindiri quickly ordered.

Irwin watched Greldo do as she said. A moment later, Greldo looked back at them.

"That red-eyed one nodded, and now the crew is running around… raising two more sails!"

Irwin saw what he meant, surprised to see two long, narrow sails be pulled from the prow along the side of the ship. Two horizontal masts jutted out of the sides of the ships, then angled up. A moment later, the ship began speeding up.

"Hold on!' Rindiri shouted.

The Sonata turned left while, at the same time, it began rolling to the right until the deck was almost vertical. Irwin was holding the railing, barely able to hold his feet on the deck as Rindiri pulled The Sonata in a tight curve. As fast as they were moving, the Currant Hunter shot forward, closing in so fast that it passed them before The Sonata managed to complete the turn. When Rindiri finally turned the deck back as it should be, the Currant Hunter was moving to the left of the barrier, already two hundred feet ahead of them.

"How fast are they?" Irwin muttered.

"Currant Hunters are among the fastest privately-owned ships on the Langost Branch," Rindiri said. "Anything faster belongs to one of the City Enforcer squadrons."

Irwin looked at her in surprise. He'd never heard of any of the things she was talking about.

"So, what exactly do they want us to do?" Greldo asked as he walked up beside them.

"They are going to hit them first, from the left, and they want us to come in and intercept any of the ships trying to get them from above," Rindiri said before turning to Irwin. "Do you have enough energy to cover us with steam, leaving a pocket for me and still throwing your hammer?"

Irwin sensed his remaining soulforce and nodded. He had only used a fifth at most, and although the ambient soulforce here was barely existent, it was there, so he was very slowly recovering energy.

He focused on the water vapor in the air and began drawing in the mist around the ship.

"Greldo, don't go anywhere near their ship, and only attack the Galub ships we are engaging," Rindiri said as she looked ahead. "Otherwise, you might get caught up in-"

Her words were cut off by a dull-red beam of solid light that burst from the Currant Hunter with a deafening boom. The Currant Hunter was pushed a few feet back right as the beam struck one of the incoming Galubs vessels. It snapped the mast in half, causing the sail to fold and tumble to the deck. The ship immediately began sinking down, while Irwin saw heat signatures vanish from the deck.

"What was that," Greldo whispered.

"A combined soulcarded beam attack," Ambraz hissed from Irwin's pocket. "These guys can't be messed with! If that hits us, even Irwin is going to be in trouble!"

Irwin swallowed, very relieved they hadn't tried to do something like attack or run.

The six remaining Galub ships were spreading out, two continuing towards The Sonata, while the others began spreading out, trying to enclose the Currant Hunter.

Irwin noticed six heat signatures surrounded by dense soulforce shooting from the Currant Hunter towards the nearest Galub vessel.

"They are attacking them," he said.

"Two of those guys look like you," Greldo said, wide-eyed. "They are wider and thicker, almost like metal elementals wrapped in armor. There's also a Kraniox among them."

Irwin felt his mood take a nosedive as he recalled the bare-chested, horned beings with white facemasks. The last time he'd seen them was when some had come to try and abduct him back on Scour.

The Deadpact Mercenaries, he thought, hoping those had nothing to do with this.

The two Galub ships were almost on them, and he angrily forced the steam around them to ripple into a dense cloud, compressing it so thick that a shadow covered the deck.

"Greldo, tell the others to make no reference that I'm a smith," he said, turning to Rindiri. "That goes for all of us. I'm back to being Captain Irwin. Ambraz, stay hidden until these guys are gone."

Greldo nodded and vanished while Irwin turned and ran to the front of the ship.

He knew that holding the steam and throwing his hammer with kinetic energy while rippled in flame would cost him far more energy, meaning he didn't have a lot of attacks.

"Greldo, as soon as you are back, prepare to take care of any Nyzir that show up," he shouted.

Then, he made a throwing motion aimed at the incoming cluster of heat signatures and soulforce ripples. At the last moment, he summoned his hammer, propelling it forward with kinetic energy while wrapping it in fire. The pale steam was suddenly illuminated in bright orange as a mass of fire hurled away from the ship through the steam, leaving a narrow corridor behind that rapidly closed.

Irwin felt a massive dip in his energy from using all of his soulcards abilities together, but when a dull boom came from ahead, and he saw multiple heat signatures hurled away, he knew it had been worth it.

As he readied another hammer for the second ship, something appeared in the thin steam around him, and he jumped sideways. A gleaming blade flashed past him while a tall Nyzir dropped to the deck. It was only briefly surprised, then dropped down and slashed out so fast Irwin barely managed to summon a hammer, blocking the strike. A dull clang came, and then Coal jumped out of the shadows, biting at the Nyzir, only just missing it.

As they both vanished, Greldo reappeared. "Deal with the ships. I'll handle the Nyzir!" he shouted before vanishing again.

Irwin took a quick look around, then forced himself to focus on the ships. From the remaining heat signatures and the soulforce ripples, he saw that the one he'd hit was drifting off to the side. The other one was angling around them.

"Captain, what are the other ships doing? Do we need to intercept anything?"

Irwin cursed. He'd forgotten that Rindiri couldn't see anything, and holding back on throwing his hammer, he looked around.

Two Nyzir appeared a few feet from him, dashing across the deck, while Coal appeared behind them, snapping at them with his massive jaws. Before the Nyzir could dodge, Greldo appeared from the side and decapitated one before the remaining Nyzir disappeared. Greldo and Coal vanished after it, leaving a twitching Nyzir body a few feet from Irwin.

Irwin looked back up and searched for The Currant Hunter. He saw it immediately, a blazing mass of heat and soulforce, sailing between two of the Galub ships. Of the five, two were already gone, and a third was sinking rapidly.

"I'm not sure they really need our help," Irwin shouted with a frown. "They have taken out three and are about to get rid of another one."

Why did they require our help if they can just clear out ships like rats? he thought. Was it just so that they wouldn't leave? And why, if they were this strong, hadn't they just blasted the barricade?

Questions for later, Irwin knew, as he focused on the ship nearby. He hurled his hammer, and just like the first time, there was a loud, rattling boom followed by heat signatures tossed away. As the ship began sinking rapidly, Irwin looked around to see that the Currant Hunter had dispatched one more ship while the final one was making a run for the barricade.

"I'm dropping the mist," he shouted.

Greldo appeared mid-air a dozen feet away. "Alright!" he shouted, vanishing before he hit the ground again.

Irwin released his control over the steam, and a moment later, and for the second time that day, they flew back into the bright light of the corridor.

Far ahead and to the side, the Currant Hunter was following the final Galub ship while the others either crashed into the ground below or were in the process of it. Small shapes were running towards the barricade, showing at least some of the Galubs had survived.

A beam of red lit up the corridor as the final Galub ship was destroyed before even getting close to returning to the barricade. Before the debris could even fall, the Currant Hunter took a sharp turn back to them.

Irwin walked towards Rindiri, wondering what Greldo was doing.

"It didn't look like they needed our help," Irwin said softly.

Rindiri shook her head slowly. "I don't believe they did… You should prepare for a lot of questions. Also… its possible they are going to offer you to join the Currant Hunter initiation class. If they do, make sure to decline them as nicely as you can."

Irwin grimaced as he saw four figures fly ahead of the Currant Hunter, moving at three or four times the ship's speed.

"Greldo," he whispered.

A thud came from beside him as his friend appeared. "That tall Nyzir is being annoying and flitting around the ship. We are trying to capture it, but-"

"Later," Irwin hissed just as four figures appeared above their deck, staring down.

He immediately saw what Greldo had said before. Two of them were hulking, coppery-colored elementals with dark, nearly black metallic hair and silver eyes. It wouldn't surprise him if people thought he and they were of the same species.

A Kraniox hung beside them, while in their center stood a humanoid of a species Irwin hadn't seen before. With ears that ended in sharp-looking edges and a smiling, tooth-filled mouth, it gazed at Irwin with bloodred eyes.

"Two Loydin and a Kraniox. The leader is an Emnonriz," Rindiri whispered.

"Indeed I am," the red-eyed humanoid said in a loud, boisterous voice. "I'm first-mate Zirt of The Ruby's Revenge, requesting permission to come aboard, Captain…"

Odd name for a ship, Irwin thought.

"Irwin. Permission granted," he said while trying to ignore the elemental's piercing gazes. He had the strong feeling this was going to be a bad talk.