Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"Remember what I said. Enter, follow me to the side, and put on one of the heat-resistant leaf shirts," Balarn said as he walked ahead of the others.

"You told them ten times already," Yogog bellowed joyfully as he led them toward a massive double door that sat inside the trunk of the tree.

Two slim, red-skinned women that walked behind them let out a burst of laughter, causing Irwin's mouth to go dry a bit. They had joined them during the second stop of the ship and introduced themselves as Ignalia and Hotzli. Wearing form-fitting leather armor covered by curved metal plates, and silver eyes, they looked every bit like the guards of Yogog and Balarn that they were. Something about them, the way they spoke, laughed, and moved, made Irwin have a hard time keeping his eyes from them.

A shove in his side caused him to glare at Greldo, who was grinning at him.

Yeah, yeah, Irwin thought as he sniffed.

"If they don't, they might fall unconscious from the heat," Balarn said. "We don't all have your ridiculous way with temperatures!"

Yogog turned, walking backward as he raised his hands. "I'm great, I know! But-" and he grinned at Irwin as he pointed both hands toward him. "I've been told you have a liking to the hotter side of life like me!"

Ignalia and Hotzli gazed at Irwin, their orange lips curving up to show sharp canines.

Irwin tried to keep his eyes from drifting to them and instead grinned back at Yogog. Over the last few days, he'd been hanging out with Yogog a lot, and he'd found he liked the man's rough and loud nature. He was always in for a laugh and willing to explain things in detail when asked. Besides this, he had a way with words and had entertained them all with incredible stories of his exploits during the trip.

Though if they are all true, Irwin thought as he turned to Greldo, who was looking ahead with sparkling eyes.

They were the only group to disembark and, as such, drew the attention of a group of guards. They were of a race Irwin had seen before, with bark for skin and leaves for hair. They resembled a mix between trees and men.

Viridians, Irwin thought as he recalled the information Balarn had given him.

They were the main people on Scour, as were the Urdwellan family who owned Scour. Although plantlike in nature and not the first thing he'd imagined would live in a hot, volcanic world, their species was capable of acclimatization to different types of environments. The guards in front of them were all roughly the same height as Irwin, which he knew meant they were under a hundred years old. The Viridians kept growing as they aged, and the oldest ones could grow up to three meters tall.

One of the guards moved forward, raising a sword before his face before lowering it with a bow.

"Honorable smiths. You are the last to arrive for this time's opening, and I would ask you to move with haste. The portal will be closing soon, and it would be sad if you had to wait here until it opens again."

Irwin blinked. The portal was going to close again? This was the first time he'd heard about this.

Balarn seemed just as stunned as he stopped and looked at the guard.

"It's going to close already? I thought the portal wouldn't close for another few months."

"Our message might not have reached all of the charters yet," the guard said. "It brings me great pleasure to tell you that Equator Grove has finally circled the world, connecting on the first southern front. Due to this, the portal to the Gallery will close for a short while. You come at a great time, as a great feast will be held at Cindergrove over the upcoming months!"

The silver eyes of the surrounding guards all seemed to shine brighter.

"How long will the portal be closed for?" Irwin asked with a frown. And why? he wondered.

The guard smiled at him. "There is no need to worry! It will open again within a few weeks Portal time. Perhaps a month at most."

A month?! Irwin thought as he shared a worried look with Greldo. How long did that mean they had to stay in there? Three thousand months?

"How- how long will we have to stay in Scour?" he asked, unable to keep his voice from rising.

"Ah, my apologies! I understand your worry, but the inside of the portal will open much earlier, of course! But because of the time dilation, there's a difference. You will only have to stay on the world for a year a most, perhaps a bit longer," the guard said, waving his hands.

Thank Gelwin, Irwin thought before blinking. Right... he was supposed to look for the ancient sorcerer, and he'd not even been able to warn Daubutim about that!

"Alright, let's head out," Balarn said, and the guards stepped away, opening the gates for them.

There was a massive hollowed-out cavern in the tree, and on a wooden elevation in the center stood a black portal with glimmering blue lightning rippling around its edges. There were a few guards standing near the entrance, but for the rest, the entire room was empty.

Balarn waved at the guards as he continued forward. When they reached the portal, he stopped, staring at them.

"Alright, take off your jackets, coats, and shirts and stuff them in your backpack. Only leave a shirt if you have to."

Irwin had known this would be coming and dropped his heavy backpack before taking off his thick coat. A chilly wind surrounded him, and he shivered as he stuffed it in his backpack. After a moment's hesitation, he left his pale white shirt on. A look around showed that most of the others had done the same, two of the guards even taking off their shirts.

Ignalia and Hotzli, however, just grinned, not even taking off their armor. Yogog left his sleeveless jacket on, though he did unbutton the front.

When everyone was done, Balarn nodded.

"Yogog, Ignalia, Hotzli, and I will go first, and you will wait for exactly three seconds before going in as fast as you can," he said. "Remember. You can't wait any longer because otherwise, we are going to have to wait for a long time for you there… and it's really hot."

Ignalia and Hotzli let out a pearly laugh before jumping through without waiting, followed by a roaring Yogog. Balarn sighed as he jumped in.

Irwin and the others quickly grouped before the portal while Irwin began counting down out loud.

“2… 1… Now!" he said.

Everyone jumped, and he and Greldo followed as the last two.

The world turned black, then red, and he was hurtling through another corridor towards a distant spec. Around him was a black nothingness with a red nebula ahead of him. The slight cold dissipated, leaving nothing. Not hot. Not cold. Just… normal.

Time passed slowly, and with nothing else of interest, Irwin kept looking at the nebula. As he came closer, he saw that it was a massive fire burning in the middle of the blackness.

He kept looking for odd things, perhaps monsters. Greldo had told him a bit more about what he'd seen, enormous demonic things with too many eyes that somehow radiated something that still kept his friend up at night.

Just more of those tiny moving specs, Irwin thought as he looked around. He didn't really want to see what Greldo had, yet he couldn't keep his curiosity at bay.

A long time later, he had no idea how long, he saw a shadow move through the fiery nebula to the right, and he focused on it. It moved rapidly, almost like a fish below the water, dashing around before it suddenly rushed towards him. As it closed in, six eyes burning golden fire appeared in the shadow before an enormous head shot out. It hovered before Irwin, all six eyes focusing on him, while a fiery haze was exhaled from a narrow slit, white teeth flickering deep inside.

Irwin didn't move, unable to even look ahead to see how far he was, instead staring back into those six eyes, each so large they seemed like ponds of liquid gold.

A shiver came from his hand, and he felt one of his cards begin to resonate. Weak at first, it became stronger and stronger until he felt like he himself was shivering. Without his conscious will, his Coperion Body suddenly triggered, something he hadn't even known could be done while moving through a portal corridor.

The golden eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Irwin felt something… touch his mind. It felt almost like his cards did when he focused on them, but then as strong as a raindrop compared to the sea. It lasted for a few moments, then as suddenly as the monstrous being had appeared, it pulled back into the cloud, leaving just a tiny sense of curiosity in Irwin's mind. The resonating of his cards lasted for a few more seconds before fading.

Irwin sucked in a ragged breath, then another as he turned his head forward. He barely saw that he was a few seconds from reaching the tunnel's exit, instead trying to deal with what had just happened.

That wasn't what Greldo saw, he thought as he shivered, the golden eyes seemingly burned into his mind.

He barely managed to regulate his breathing when the black wall at the end of the portal tunnel slammed him into his face. With a jarring suddenness, his body stopped rushing forward. Instead, like before, he continued forward as if he'd simply taken a step inside a door opening.

The darknes vanished, replaced by a shadowy area with beams of bright light coming in through oval windows. He stood on a dark floor with a thin film of red sand on it, with mat white walls around him with an opening ahead.

A comfortable hazy heat surrounded him, and he took a deep breath, a dry heat reminiscent of the forges at Trimdir's filling his lungs. The stress and fear he'd felt mere moments ago rapidly faded as if melting in the heat.

"Irwin, move!"

Irwin jerked awake, looking up and to the side.

A worried Balarn was beckoning him from beside a wall filled with shirts attached to hooks. He was wearing one himself, a pale orange and yellow shirt of what resembled neatly stitched leaves, the ends pointing down. The smith's face was red, sweat slowly dripping down his face. There was no sight of the others.

A soft thud was followed by a surprised gasp as Greldo appeared next to him.

"By Gelwin's beard, it's hot here," Greldo hissed as he looked around in a slight panic.

"Over here!" Irwin snapped as he grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards a worried-looking Balarn.

He remembered what the smith had told him about the heat, and now he knew it wasn't a joke. To him, it felt like a hot summer day, a lazy, comfortable sensation, and he knew that meant Greldo would be in danger of falling unconscious due to the heat.

"Quick, put this on," Balarn said as he handed them both a shirt.

Irwin helped Greldo out of his backpack and into the shirt, and as soon as the thing passed over his head, Greldo let out a weary sigh.

"That's really good," he whispered as he took a few deep breaths. "Like standing below a tree, out of the direct sun."

Irwin grinned as he pushed Balarrn's offered shirt away.

"No need, he said. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" the smith asked. "There's only one free shirt, and that's what you get here. Beyond this, you need to pay for them."

Irwin blinked, then stared at the offered thing. "I could give mine to one of you?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

Balarn smirked, looked at him finally, seeming to realize he really didn't need it, and put it back.

"They don't allow that. It's one per person, and if they find you give it away, you get a fine. Why do you think there weren't any shirts outside?"

"How would they even find out someone gave theirs away?" Greldo asked.

"They might not, but trust me, it's not worth the risk," Balarn said.

Irwin saw the smith look at him with obvious jealousy, and he couldn't help but grin. When Balarn frowned, he quickly looked around. The longer he was standing here, the more comfortable he felt, and he realized something.

There was no more time pressure!

At least… not for a long while. Instead, he could now try and become a ruby rank smith, think about reforging his hammer card, Greldo's cards, and-

He turned to his friend. "We need to see if we can find a quartz card that offers heat resistance! You already have Coal, so I'm sure we can find something that will combine with the ones you have."

Greldo nodded vigorously before looking around.

"Where are the others?"

Balarn grinned halfheartedly as he wiped his head with his arm. "Time goes really slow here compared to outside. The others arrived almost an hour ago and are inside the local tavern to cool down. Yogog is with them, while Ignalia is waiting outside for us."

"Let's go then," Irwin said, staring outside. The bright light streaming in through the windows really made him curious about what it would be like outside. If it was warm here, it would be hot there!

"No guards?" Greldo asked as he walked towards the opening.

"Up there," Balarn said as he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

Irwin and Greldo looked back, and both blinked in shock. A long reptile was hanging from the back of the wall, its heavily lidded eyes focused on them. Covered in dark gray scales with black edges, it looked like it had been made out of ash and Coal.

"What's that?" Irwin whispered.

"Lavaturq," Balarn said as he stopped before the opening. "They can breathe fire that makes our forges look like a fireplace."

"Just like Irwin," Greldo said with a grin.

Balarn looked up in surprise. "You can breathe fire?" he asked.

Irwin shook his head, tapping beside his eyes. "With my eyes," he said as he focused slightly on his Eyes of Blaze until his eyes turned slightly red.

Balarn whistled before turning ahead.

Irwin followed his gaze and saw they were standing before a long path covered in red sand. Ruddy stone buildings that seemed covered in a thin layer of dust stood all around. All of them were two stories, with the top one having a rounded roof that gleamed bright white. He saw a canopy of red and orange stick out behind them.

Those should be those Flaming Ashtrees that Balarn spoke about, he thought.

"You coming, Balarn?" a musical and familiar voice rang out from the side.

Irwin saw Ignalia stand next to them, a bit away from the wall and in the middle of the burning sunlight. She had a raised eyebrow as she stared at the bearded smith.

"You know it takes me a while to get used to this again," Balarn grunted.

"Uhuh," Ignalia said, gaining her a glare from Balarn.

Irwin took a step forward. A warm breeze flitted around him while a glow warmed his head and shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the bright, almost white sun standing in the sky.

"Don't look into it too long, big guy," Ignalia said.

Curious, Irwin turned his gaze away from the burning orb and saw Ignalia stare at him. Her silver eyes were a bit wider as she nodded. "Unless you have some card that gives you some very special eyes, looking into it too long can make you go blind."

Irwin blinked, wondering if his Eyes of Blaze would count, then deciding it wasn't worth it to try it out.

"You said you had a good card for heat, but you seem to have even less trouble with the heat than Yogog," she said as she moved closer and gazed up at him. "Perhaps you should come and visit Escorinte in the future! If you like this, you will love it there."

Irwin cocked his head. "That's your world?"

Ignalia nodded, a wide smile on her face. "It's a beautiful place, with lava seas, burning trees, and so much life you wouldn't believe it!"

A world hotter than this, teeming with life? Irwin thought. He shook his head. Who was he kidding? He might not have believed it a year ago, but after everything he had seen?

"Can you two stop standing there, chatting as if it's not as hot as an oven here?" Greldo grunted before turning to Balarn. "You said something about cooling down in a tavern? That sounds good right about now."

Balarn nodded, a weary smile on his face. "Yeah… let's see if we can make it in one go."

He took a deep breath before he began to run towards the other side of the street. "Follow me."

Greldo cursed and followed him while Irwin looked at a laughing Ignalia and jogged after them.

They had to recover inside a shadowy door opening twice before they reached a large building with dozens of trees around it. It almost looked like a tiny forest, and as soon as they walked inside, the temperature dropped noticeably.

Greldo groaned as he let out a weary sigh while Irwin turned to a heavily sweating Balarn.

"So this is why you said most people live by night and sleep by day here," he said.

He'd barely seen anyone out, the red-dusted streets empty except for a few running people with shirts like the one Greldo was wearing.

"It is, and it's why we are going to go and see when the next caravan is before finding a few rooms and turning in for the day. You guys are going to need to get used to that, at least until we reach Cindergrove City."

They continued towards the building, and as they stepped inside, the temperature lowered even more to what Irwin imagined was probably roughly the same as the smithy during the evening when all of the forges were low.

"There you are!" a thunderous shout from Yogog came, and they looked up to see the rest of the group sitting around a round redwood table with glasses and a large pitcher of water.

As they joined them, Irwin saw Yogog staring at him before nodding happily.

"You weren't kidding about your cards, Irwin," he said. "I guess that means you're the one going with me and Hotzli."

Sitting down, Irwin took a free glass and poured himself a glass of water. He took a sip and sighed. The crystal-clear water tasted heavenly. He downed the glass before pouring himself another one. Yogog's eyes shot up when he finished his second one in a single gulp before pouring a third one.

"You're going to have to spend a lot of soulshards in that case," Balarn said as he leaned back with his own glass, taking small sips. "Irwin has the tendency to drink a lot!"

"Yeah… well… hey kid, you do know water is kind of expensive here, right?" Yogog said. "It'll be better when we reach Cindergrove, but you might want to limit yourself a bit. Unless you have way more shards than I'd thought?"

Irwin stared at his glass, already half empty again, then at the now mostly empty pitcher and sniffed. He felt like he could finish two of those pitchers, but after thinking about his very limited amount of soulshards he placed it down and leaned back. He noticed a relieved look on Yogog's face and surprised ones all around the table.

"Sorry. I'll have to get used to that," he said.

Yogog barked a laugh, though Irwin thought it was kind of forced this time.

"It's alright. It just means you are going to have to work a bit harder to get the shards to pay for the luxury."

"Aren't there people with water cards that can just create more water?" he asked.

"Sure there are, but unless you can find someone with a Diamond one, preferably heartcarded, there's no way they can make enough water for this place, let alone an entire city," Yogog said. "There are people that have tried to earn cash by doing that, but there's not that many people with lots of soulshards here. It's a bit of a backwater place both as it's on a side branch of a branch of the Gallery and well… you did notice it is bloody hot here, right?"

Irwin nodded, then leaned back as the others slowly resumed the conversations they had been having. The smiths were talking about the different types of cards they would focus on, and Irwin wasn't surprised to hear that, except for Yogog, the others would mostly plan to stay in the city.

Yogog shared that the caravan would leave the next day, mostly due to the nearing festivities, and it would be the last one for a while.

They stayed chatting for a while when a young bark-skinned, greenleafed woman came from a backroom.

"Hey there! I'm really sorry, but we are going to close for the day now. Do you want me to show you to your rooms so you can rest?"

Balarn rose, downing the rest of his glass before staring at the others.

"So, as we will have a dangerous and long journey ahead of us tomorrow, I'd say we should all go and get as much sleep as we can. I know you are all going to have issues with sleeping during the day, but try your best!"

There was a round of murmurs, and then they all got up and followed the young woman to the back and up a flight of stairs. To Irwin's relief, they got more rooms this time, and he and Greldo got one to themselves. Apparently, the prices here were far more reasonable than even on Fiverio.

When the door of the small square, white-walled room shut, Irwin lay down on his bed. It was pretty dark, with the only window in the room shuttered and closed.

"I hope the trip is going to be uneventful," Greldo said as he moved to the center of the room. With a flash, Coal appeared, looking around curiously. Then it keened at Greldo, who rubbed his head.

"Sorry you had to be in there for such a long time, buddy, but there just wasn't any room on the ship!"

Coal snorted, then bumped his head into Greldo's head.

"No, no playing. Stupid as it sounds, we need to sleep now. We are going to leave in the middle of the night… though I think you are really going to enjoy this place. It's pretty similar to where we found you!"

He's right, Irwin thought as he lay back and closed his eyes. The heat of this world wasn't all that different from the second portal he'd ever been in.

"Good luck sleeping," he said as he rolled over.