Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin roared as he struck the tree, feeding every ounce of kinetic energy into his ever-growing fire. He barely heard himself amidst the popping and cracking of wood and wood sap. He'd long since lost control of the fire, and the trees in all directions were ablaze, lighting up the world in a grand inferno.

"Left!"

He jumped sideways, trusting completely in Ambraz's warning. A massive nyzir-bull, its skin covered in gruesome blisters, purple smoke leaking out of it in tiny trickles, barged past him. It hit a tree headfirst, causing the charred outer wood to splinter apart, revealing the pale wood inside moments before the raging inferno licked it, turning it darker.

Hurry, hurry, Irwin thought as he jumped after the bull.

Irwin aimed for a hind-leg, striking it as hard as he could using the constant influx of kinetic energy the surrounding inferno was providing him. A deafening screech came from the demon as its leg was clipped away from under it, cracking like the burning trees. More purple mist oozed out of it, and Irwin jumped forward, striking the other leg. The nyzir-bull slumped to the ground, and Irwin focused his flame atop it.

He felt elated as he readied to finish one of the demons, only for another warning to ruin it.

"Incoming!' Ambraz shouted.

"Dammit!" Irwin roared as he jumped a dozen feet back.

Another nyzir-bull ran past him, angling its head to try and catch him on its horns, and Irwin slammed his hammer down, enlarging it. The dark horn creaked but didn't snap as it struck his hammer, bending dangerously before the demon shot past.

"That bloody chicken is still circling the fire!' Ambraz shouted. "You need to finish these things before the fire dies out!"

Irwin wished he could say Ambraz was wrong, but the fire born of his devouring flame seemed to hunger to grow, and over a dozen trees had already crumbled.

"How do I do that?" he shouted back.

He glared at the nyzir-bull with the broken legs as it slowly rose, its legs healing amidst a torrent of purple gas. Each time he tried to focus one down, the others came crashing in!

Noticing another bull heading towards him, he ran straight at it, and at the last moment, he created the most massive hammer he could straight in its path. There was a boom that was audible above the constant burning, and Irwin shrank the hammer. His kinetic energy was nearly full, and he used it to boost his flame, covering his hammer and striking the stunned, slit-eyed demon between its cracked horns. The eyes bulged out, and purple gas swirled from its ears and mouth.

"Again!'

I know, Irwin thought as he began pummeling the demon.

"There's one behind you," Ambraz roared.

Irwin was about to flee when he had an idea. He struck the stumbling nyzir-bull again, forcing it on its knees before jumping up and on its back. Turning around, he saw two more, one only a dozen feet behind him. They showed no sign of stopping, instead increasing their speed.

Irwin waited till the last moment before jumping up, right when the two nyzir-bulls slammed into their dazed sibling. At his highest point, he enlarged his hammer to the size of a door, coated it in fire, and dropped down like a meteor atop the three entangled nyzir-bulls. Feet first, he slammed into one of the three bulls, bringing his hammer down with two hands.

The nyzir-bull's legs gave out, and it smacked into the ground. Finally seeing a chance to rid himself of a few of them, Irwin let his flame burst out, catching all three of the demons while looking around.

"Where are the other four?" he shouted.

"Two are closing in from the left, but-"

"Hey, Irwin! You having fun here?" a familiar voice interrupted Ambraz.

Irwin turned to see Greldo and Coal standing a dozen feet away, next to a heap of ash and coal that had been a tree only minutes before. Now, it was one of the few places without raging fires.

"Greldo! I need you to distract the other-" Irwin began, just as two bulls burst through the raging fire, ripping half of the burning young tree out of the ground.

"Finish those. I'll take care of these," Greldo roared, any sign of hilarity gone as he ran towards the incoming nyzir-bulls. Coal sprinted past him, straight at one of the bulls.

He can't teleport without shadows, Irwin thought worriedly.

There was a shove against his hammer, and he quickly focused back on the three nyzir-bulls. The one he'd struck was flat on the grounds, its horns still lodged into its kind, while that one was bleeding pale white blood. The third one was pulling its horns free while purple mist leaked out of its wounds, circling around it and the other three.

They are healing each other, Irwin thought as he saw holes slowly close.

He gritted his teeth. "I've had just about enough of you," he roared as he funneled all of his energy into his flame and struck the one below the hammer twice before focusing on the only one still able to cause him direct issues. Three strikes made it sway, and a fourth snapped its left horn off.

Irwin alternated striking them, keeping them down while his flame rippled around them. A quick check showed him he was only halfway through his energy, as he barely needed any energy to create kinetic energy.

I need to figure out why heat and kinetic energy work so well together.

The lingering thought vanished as one, then two of the demons slumped on the ground, heads down and blood pouring freely while the purple gas burst out and surrounded the third one.

"Not happening," Irwin snarled as he continued pounding, but this time adding every ounce of kinetic energy into his flame, which became a swirling mass of yellow and orange with a core that was almost solid white.

The purple gas held out for a few moments, and then it erupted from the charring bodies, forming a larger skull-like shape.

"Master! Don't let me die! I'm useful," a high-pitched voice screamed.

Is it calling for the Bablibon? Irwin thought as he continued pounding away, his flame so hot all vegetation below them had burned away, and the sand was slowly liquefying.

"Master! Please!" the skull screamed again as its edges rapidly burned away.

Then there was a soft crack, and the skull shattered, the purple gas burning away in a final whoosh.

Irwin stopped, hammer raised, his breath slowing already as he quickly inspected the bodies that were rapidly turning to coal. As soon as he was sure there was no more gas or movement, he turned around, searching for Greldo.

He didn't have to look far.

Greldo was dashing through the blackened trees in an area the fire had left, easily evading two of the nyzir-bull demons that were trying to catch him. Coal kept dashing in, biting and ripping into them, but the purple gas kept healing them.

"Greldo, over here!" he shouted.

Greldo turned and sprinted his way, looking annoyed. "These just don't want to die!"

"As soon as they are down, move away so I can flame them," Irwin shouted.

Greldo ran beside him, closely followed by the nyzir-bulls.

I wonder why those purple things don't just run or warn each other, Irwin thought as he summoned a hammer, tripping the bull. He smirked nastily as they slammed into each other before crashing into the ground.

A short while later, he stepped away, barely out of breath, and dropped his flame. The intense heat had turned everything around him to cinder, and with the fires spreading further away, he was standing in a small, blackened clearing with only a few of the hardier stumps remaining.

"You know, I thought you were joking about burning the forest," Greldo said as he walked over with Coal beside him.

With the fire gone, neither showed any issue with the dry heat, which wasn't a surprise. As hot as it was here, it was nothing compared to what they had encountered before.

"Well, it's not like we need it anymore," Irwin said as he scratched his short beard. "When Giard shatters, Gloomforest will be gone."

"Yeah, and the fact that it's a horrible place that got thousands of people killed doesn't hurt either," Greldo said, grinning.

"Not to rain on your parade," Ambraz hissed. "But that Bablibon is moving around the edge of the fire."

"That's the thing I can barely hear above the fire? Gelwin's nuts," Greldo cursed as he looked around. "I'd rather not fight it until there's some more shadows, if you don't mind."

Irwin nodded as he looked around. "How is Malorin doing?"

"No idea. I can't teleport too many more times," Greldo said. "Besides…" he moved closer to Irwin, lowering his voice until it was barely audible above the crackling and raging a few dozen feet away from them. "My energy is getting dangerously low. You?"

Irwin focused on his card, noticing it was just below a third, very slowly filling back up. He frowned, not sure if that would be enough.

"It's coming," Ambraz shouted while Greldo spun around.

Irwin felt his skin crawl as he turned to see a familiar, horrifying demonic bird burst through the flames, its eyes locked onto him.

"Low on energy! Low, low," the Bablibon screeched, sounding more insane than Irwin remembered. "Your smell is tantalizing! Feeding on your heartcard will be all that I need to recover!"

It burst forward so fast it turned into a blur, the charred ground spraying behind it in a cone.

Irwin barely had time to raise his hammer and enlarge it before the bird slammed into him. His hammer shook from the force while he was forced a dozen steps back as the Bablibon rushed across the top and bit down with its curved beak. Irwin released his hammer, unsummoning it as he jumped back. Strengthened by his Kinetic energy, he flew dozens of feet back while the Bablibon lightly landed on its feet.

"Teleporter! You're the thing I smelled," the Bablibon hissed as it dashed towards Greldo.

Irwin felt his heart skip a beat. There were barely any shadows! If Greldo had to dodge far away, the shadows needed had to be connec-

Greldo vanished into the Bablibon's shadow, appearing behind it together with Coal. The massive hound jumped forward, landing on the Bablibon's back. It bit down into the bird's neck while the Bablibon began jumping and shaking to get him off.

"Let go, nasty bound-hound," it screamed as it flung itself on its back, causing Coal to vanish and reappear a foot away.

Irwin was running forward already, focusing on his Sweltering ability. As dry as the air was, he'd learned back on Scour that there was always some water in the air, and he wasn't disappointed. Steam swirled around him as he rammed his shoulder into the Bablibon's body, shoving it away. Then he focused the steam around its head, turning it as dense as he could.

"Mind the steam," he shouted as he struck at the Bablibon's leg with a flame-engulfed hammer. Before it could connect, the Bablibon jumped to the side, its head jerking out of the cloud.

"Annoying," it screamed, dashing a few steps back. It easily dodged Greldo and Coal before attacking them, aiming at Greldo. "I'll get you first!"

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Irwin shot after the Bablibon with a kinetic-energy-enhanced jump while the bird began humming and singing.

"Careful, it's using its soul skill," Ambraz shouted.

Irwin felt something pressed hard against his mind. Tendrils of thoughts and emotions seemed to try and wriggle their way into his mind. Just as he felt the barrier his heartcard had created begin to shatter, the foreign tendrils were violently shoved away by another force.

"Bloody hells, it has an empowered, active ability!" Ambraz shouted from his pocket. "Hurry, I'll keep it out of your mind for as long as I can!"

Irwin felt his skin crawl as he saw Greldo standing still, zoned out. His silvery eyes were blinking stupidly at the incoming Bablibon. Irwin hurled his hammer at the bird, using enough kinetic energy to cause a loud boom as it shot out. Just before the Bablibon could bite Greldo's head off, the hammer struck it in the side of the head, causing the bite to miss and the bird to flip over mid-air, colliding with his friend.

Greldo was thrown back, shaking his head, while Coal stood a few steps away, shivering and shaking.

Irwin reached the Bablibon just as it scrambled back to its taloned feet, and he grabbed its head, wrapping his arms around the beak to keep it closed. Then he burst out in flames, causing a throaty screech that was muffled by the closed beak.

"Don't let go," Ambraz grunted, strain evident in his muted voice. "Kill it!"

The Bablibon began shaking its head around, but although Irwin was dragged left and right, his immense weight wasn't something easily flung about. He almost stumbled as the Bablibon tried to drop itself to the ground, but unlike Coal, Irwin held his footing, suddenly carrying the entire bird. The Bablibon's massive talons slammed into his legs and back, the razor-sharp tips destroying the leather and cloth before scratching across his skin.

Irwin struggled to keep his grip as he felt immense pain begin to well up from his back as the claws pulled gouges through the top layer of his skin. As the pain increased, the world around him began getting a purple hue while a soft giggle sounded out.

"Master, master! I'll kill him! Don't toss me aside like the others; I'll be useful!"

Dammit, I'm being infected, Irwin thought as he used a burst of Kinetic energy to keep hold of the bird.

His flame, burning brightly around him, was draining his energy faster than it should, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for too long. He looked up at the distant fire that led deeper into the forest.

If I can reach that, he thought.

He took a step forward, then another, struggling to keep the Bablibon under control.

"Where are you going? To the fire? No, no!"

Irwin ignored the insane laughter, and all he could do was pray Ambraz could keep up whatever he was doing. For a moment, he thought about using his Kinetic energy to jump toward the fire, then he pushed it away. If the Bablibon escaped his grasp due to the jump or the landing, he'd be back to square one.

So, step after step, he walked towards the fire. As he did, the world slowly turned more purple while his card's energy dropped from a third to a quarter full.

When he finally reached the edge of the flame, he had barely a sixth left and was having difficulty seeing. The Bablibon had stopped struggling, and he was now dragging its limp body forward.

"Stop moving! Stop moving! Master will discard me if you don't stop moving!" the voice screamed.

A burst of purple surged around Irwin, and he suddenly realized that what was blocking his view was the purple gas that was surrounding him. He'd feared for a moment it was due to his eyes.

His energy dipped down again and praying that Ambraz could hold it, Irwin finally stepped into the edge of the roaring sea of flame. A panicky scream came from the gas, which wavered slightly.

The Bablibon jerked as he pulled it into the fire, and Irwin felt his kinetic energy refill rapidly. Using the newly found energy to feed his flame, the drain on his card lessened, but only slightly, showing his assumption was right. It wasn't just his use of his flame draining his energy, but either his healing factor or something else that was blocking whatever the purple-mist demon was doing.

A stupid thought came to him as he trudged deeper into the burning forest.

I wonder what those purple-mist things are called.

Shoving it away, he kept walking until he was in the center of a raging fire. Then he stopped, focusing all his energy on trying to crush the Bablibon's skull.

--

Greldo shivered as the foreign entity was finally forced out of his mind under the combined assault of him and Coal.

"You blood nasty bird," he roared, shaking his head and looking around.

Coal stood a few steps away, looking at him worriedly.

"Thanks, Coal," Greldo said as he sent a wave of gratitude to his friend. Without the hound, he knew he'd have been in far greater trouble, either falling into some slumber or worse.

"Now, where is Irwin," he muttered as he looked around.

There was no sight of his friend or the Bablibon, but as his worry grew, he heard the high-pitched screams of rage far off into the flaming inferno that was Gloomforrest.

Well, what remained of it, he thought as he ran forward.

Closer to the edge, the roaring of the fire was drowning out nearly every other sound, and all he saw was a distant shape, warped by the heat.

"Irwin!" he shouted. There was no response, and he growled, taking a deep breath and roaring his friend's name at the top of his lungs. "IRWIN!"

"I'm here!'

Hearing the response, Greldo let out a sigh of relief.

"Head to Malorin and help! There's nothing you can do!"

Yeah, I know, Greldo thought as he glared at the flames. He hesitated. Irwin's shouts sounded weary and strained, and he wished he could go and help.

Finally, after staring at the fire for another moment, he turned to Coal, patting him as he told him what he wanted him to do. Coal reluctantly agreed.

"Coal will stay here in case you need help!" he roared. And so I can come if needed, he thought.

"Alright!" came the weary response.

Taking a final look, Greldo turned and ran away from the flames. I've gotta get a card that allows me to move through fire after my handslots open up again, he thought.

As soon as the blazing flames were far enough for shadows to be everywhere, he shot forward. A bunch of un-moving Nyzir demon shapes lay beyond the open area of the forest where he'd killed them, but he ignored them. Taking a deep breath, he teleported back to Malorin, draining his card even more.

--

Time ticked by slowly as Irwin held onto the Bablibon. Only its occasional shudders told him it hadn't died yet, while the howling and giggling around him was slowly weakening.

Just as he was feeling his relief grow, the purple mist flared up.

"No! Master, please! I can still do this!'

Irwin frowned as the Bablibon's legs began jerking and jolting. He clenched the bird tight, but it suddenly crumbled into black chunks of soot.

"Nooooooo-"

The long, high, pierced wail was cut off, and Irwin's hair stood on end. What was going on?

"Such a good vessel," a deep voice drawled. "It took me hundreds of years to find and grow it, and you've just ruined it!"

As the voice continued, the body in Irwin's grip was burned to dust while a mass of purple gas began spinning around him. Two purple eyes appeared, glaring at him. The flames beyond the mass of gas were shoved back violently, the temperature lowering.

"How are you going to pay for this, vile little Galadin?"

Irwin felt something push against his mind while a moan came from his pocket.

It's not a Bablibon, he thought, panicking.

His mind spun as he tried to figure out what was going on and what to do. His hammer appeared in his hand, and he was about to strike the ground to feed his flame when something caused his hand to stop. His body shook violently as he felt a foreign entity's grip on his mind, freezing his movements.

"Silly low-rank Ganvil. Do you think you can block me? Return when you are a Worldanvil, then try again," the voice said.

Irwin tried to hit the ground, forcing his energy into his flame, but slowly, the control over his body was being wrested away. A mutter came from his pocket, but he couldn't hear it.

"What?" he croaked.

Ambraz tried again, louder and barely intelligible. "-rds."

Cards!

Irwin stopped trying to hit the ground and quickly moved his other hand to his pocket. The movement seemed to catch the entity he was fighting with off-guard, and his fingers reached his pocket before they froze.

"No. I don't think so," the drawling voice said. "I'm going to have to take over your body for now. It's nowhere near as useful as the Bablibon's, but using it to kill all of the Galadins here should make me feel much better!"

The entity's words made Irwin's anger flare up, and he drew deep from his heartcard. The energy was getting dangerously low, but he instinctively knew he'd lose if he gave up now.

His fingers moved into his pocket as slow as if he were pushing through tar, but he managed to grab the entire stack of cards.

"Strong will, strong card," the voice muttered. "But not-"

Irwin roared as he pulled the stack out, forcing every bit of energy he had into his flame to try and shove the thing away. The hold on his mind snapped for a moment as Ambraz joined his effort. It was all he needed, and he shoved the cards into the pocket with Ambraz. As he did, his pocket ripped open, a weight falling along his leg as Ambraz grew to his working shape. The foreign entity reasserted its hold on him, though, wrapping around his mind.

"No, no!" the voice said again, a tiny bit of worry evident now. "Some young soulstealer will not… not… stop it! How are you resisting me?"

Irwin growled, unable to move and not sure what the thing was talking about. Then he felt something hot wrap around the hand with the cards, dragging them from his hold, and a moment later, a familiar crunching came.

"You stupid Ganvil, I'll-"

Whatever the entity was about to say was lost in a deafening shout.

"Shut up, bodyless scum!" Ambraz roared, the anger in his voice so strong it was close to hate. "Think you can just try and take over my mind? I'll show you who is weak!'

Irwin stumbled forward as the hold on his mind vanished.

"Kid! Use this and burn this pile of shit gas!'

A torrential wave of energy surged into Irwin, flooding his card. He could almost feel it strain and buckle under the energy, and without holding back, he fed it to his flame. Even then, the purple cloud that surrounded him held out.

"You can't keep this up!' the voice shouted before it began cursing at Ambraz.

Irwin ignored it as he felt his heartcard strain under the burden of energy. He summoned his hammer and began pounding on the ground while steam began forming high above the sea of flames as he tried to find an outlet for the energy and prevent his heartcard from shattering.

Dammit, Ambraz, how much energy did those cards give you? Irwin thought as he felt his flame spread wider and wider, far beyond his senses.

--

Greldo looked up from the dead Nyzir. He was standing in a narrow alleyway as a distant roar rose in intensity. His card was so low on energy that he only had a single teleport remaining. He was saving that in case he needed to go to Irwin.

Irwin, what are you doing? he thought.

He took a quick look around before he moved through the shadows and straight up while asking Coal what was going on. He got a jumbled message about running away from a sea of flame.

Up in the sky, he saw a towering inferno cover the forest. A single rotating column of flame sat in the middle, and even from this far, he saw all the nearby trees had turned to blackened stumps.

What are you doing? Greldo thought, unable to comprehend the energy needed for what he was seeing. Irwin had been almost out of energy before!

Should he go there now? He hesitated, then shook his head, telling Coal to tell him if anything changed. Then he turned to the city and moved toward another Nyzir trail in the shadows.

Don't die, Irwin!

--

"Stop it! If you stop, I'll tell you something useful," the purple being that looked vaguely like a tall Imp pleaded. It had congealed out of the mist mere moments before.

"Do you think we are crazy?" Ambraz roared back. "You are just saying that to make us stop!"

"Of course I am!" the being howled.

Irwin ignored them as he continued feeding his flame. It had long since stopped growing hotter or denser, but keeping it at this level was costing every ounce of energy Ambraz was providing, and he feared what would happen if the flame turned any weaker.

A soft crack came, and the purple being's left arm crumbled as it yelped.

"Don't be hasty! You want to keep the remnants of these scummy Galadins alive, right?" the being shouted.

Irwin almost stopped to listen. This being seemed to know things about Galadins and Ambraz. Then he shoved the thoughts away, continuing to strike the ground. Still, something must have shown.

"Yes, yes! I can tell you what's hunting you! I've been looking around, and nobody remembers. If you let me go, I'll just take over some nobody in the city and leave! You'll get information, and- Will you stop already?!"

Irwin didn't. Instead, he continued pounding away. There was no part of him that believed anything the thing was telling him wouldn't cause him far too much trouble. It would probably try and kill him if he gave it a single chance.

"Tell us first, and we will consider it," Ambraz shouted.

Irwin didn't believe Ambraz was serious, but he hoped the entity did.

"Are you crazy? If they find out, I tattled…"

Then why are you suggesting it? Irwin thought as he struck the ground, sand, and pebbles flying away.

"Well, then you will just have to die!" Ambraz shouted.

"Come on, don't- No, wait! I'll tell you if you stop!" the entity screamed as both his legs vanished in a mass of rapidly burning gas. As it did, the column of purple gas that had been there shrunk until it was only a few feet in diameter.

"Tell us now, or just go and die, you ugly purple fart!" Ambraz roared.

As he did, Irwin sensed the energy coming from the Anvil lessen minutely. It was barely noticeable, but compared to the continued deluge of seemingly bottomless energy from before, he still noticed.

He struck as hard as he had before, hoping the being wouldn't.

"Stop! I'll speak. Just stop!" the thing screamed as its torso vaporized, leaving behind only a head inside a rapidly shrinking ball of purple gas.

"Bah, you're just lying," Ambraz shouted. "Do it, kid! Finish this fart!"

Irwin could sense the underlying message: hurry up. We are losing momentum.

Without conversing anything, he continued striking the ground, the flame melting away the soil of the pit he was standing in.

"You will all die," the entity suddenly screamed, its voice filled with rage. "Evil soul stealers, you will be killed, your souls used for sustenance, and-" With a final, ear-rattling scream, the skull burst apart, leaving behind a few motes of gas that were rapidly burned away by the flames.

Irwin struck a few more times while he felt the energy rapidly dwindle. Five strikes in, a tiny seed of purple gas ripped out of the ground and rushed up, only to be caught in the flame and burned away.

"That's the final piece of it," Ambraz said, his voice suddenly so weary Irwin could barely hear him. "I'm going to stop now… prepare for a very painful time."

Irwin unsummoned his hammer and flame just as Ambraz flashed and turned to his tiny form. The tiny anvil didn't move as it lay on the bottom of the blackened pit of partially molten glass. Worried, Irwin took a few steps forward.

Then, the energy stopped.

It was as if he'd gone from being able to breathe to suffocating. His heartcard shuddered, seemingly close to collapsing. The mass of energy it had been guiding had strained it to bursting. Panicking, Irwin quickly grabbed Ambraz and stuffed him in his pockets before he collapsed to his knees. A dull pain grew from every inch of his body, mind, heartcard, and soullake.

Gripping the sides of his head, he felt his consciousness flag as he held back a scream of pain.

There was a soft voice from beside him, inaudible through the growing pain. Then, there was blissful unawareness.

--

"Dammit, Irwin…" Greldo muttered as he hopped from one foot to the other, the still-glowing ground burning through his soles. His friend was lying there, his armor almost completely gone, blessedly his smithing trousers having somehow withstood the onslaught of fire. He'd been screaming in pain for a while before going unconscious, but now he seemed alright. Just... asleep? Hopefully?

For a moment, he thought about trying to teleport them back, and then he shook his head. His card was close to drained, and if he did that, he'd be in the same state as Irwin while there were still enemies in the city. No, this place was safer.

"Go to Malorin and hunt and kill all the Nyzir you can," he said, looking up at Coal, who was standing in the ten-foot-deep pit. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm pretty sure there's nothing here, and I don't think the Nyzir will want to come here."

The hound snorted, then howled softly before vanishing.

Greldo continued hopping until finally finding that Irwin was less hot than the ground.

"Sorry about this," he muttered as he sat down on Irwin's wide back.

I wonder how you managed this, he thought as he looked up, picturing the scorched wasteland all around.