Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Irwin rode the soundwaves through the muted storm, every few moments dropping out as the soundwaves clashed together. Each time, he took one of the many present soundwaves to continue forward. In under ten seconds, he slammed into the red barrier that surrounded The Ruby's Revenge.

It's blocking me! Irwin thought as he took to the soundwaves and tried penetrating the ship.

Each time he did, he slammed into the barrier, which flared up brightly, and surprised and worried crewmen scrambled about below. Not finding a way in, he moved up the barrier, landing atop it.

"Grel, get me in there!" he shouted.

He barely finished the words when he felt something grab his arm, then the crackling lightning and howling winds dulled as if he had gone deep underground and the world turned into one of black, white, and muted colors.

Two dozen tough-looking crewmen were standing on deck, most looking up at the barrier, some staring out across the docks at the explosions still happening in the city.

Irwin felt himself pulled through the barrier, and a moment later, he dropped onto the deck. The sound of the storm beyond was almost as muted as in the shadowrealm, and he heard a few gasps and shouts of surprise.

Recalling the previous time and knowing there were likely more powerful carded on this ship, he didn't hold back. Using his kinetic energy to increase the strength of his voice, he roared as loud as he could.

"Surrender!"

There were yelps of surprise and screams of pain, but someone seemed to manage to keep in control.

"Dampeners on!" someone shouted.

Yeah, good idea, Irwin thought as both of his selves summoned a hammer in each of his hands. He wanted to see if they would remain if he'd already summoned them or vanish. With the two hammers raised, he quickly looked around. He'd expected to be attacked already, but to his surprise, except for the shouting, nobody had made a move yet. Instead, he saw the crew stare at him.

More shouts for dampeners came as five of the crewmen began walking towards him. Two Loydin towered over the others, rubbing their ears, but that didn't prevent them from glaring at him menacingly. None of them had weapons out, confusing Irwin even more.

"You!" one of them shouted, jabbing his oversized finger in Irwin's direction.

A dull blanket seemed to cover Irwin before he could respond, and Greldo and Coal appeared a few steps away from him. The comforting weight of his hammers still sat in his hands, but he knew what had happened.

"The shadowwalker!" a shout came from one of the crew, but Irwin ignored it.

The soulforce dampeners had been turned on, and with it, he saw something interesting.

Where first, there had been waves of colorful soulforce everywhere. They suddenly condensed into the crewmen around him. The soft, jumbled songs that were their card's resonances muted till they were almost gone, while everyone on the deck began gleaming with one or more mingling colors. He immediately knew that the strength of their glow was determined by the amount of soulforce they held, while their colors depicted the types.

While one of his selves noted all this, the other one was focused on everything around him, ready to act if needed.

Irwin had expected the Loydin to charge, but instead, they glanced at each other, and one of them took a slow step back. The other crewmen had encircled them, but none had even raised their weapons.

What is going on? Irwin thought curiously.

"You are that Smith Captain… Irwin?" the Loydin asked. "Why are you here?"

Irwin raised an eyebrow while Greldo snorted.

"What kind of question is that?" his friend said, his voice a low growl. "You were here waiting to attack us!"

The Loydin, who seemed to be the one in control now, looked at Greldo, then at Irwin.

"That's what Zirt and the Captain decided," he said before waving at the harbor to their side. "The Captain isn't going to be deciding anything anymore, and seeing as Zirt hasn't returned…. He's probably dead."

"He is," Greldo said.

The Loydin looked at him as if expecting him to elaborate, but when Greldo didn't, he just shrugged.

"Too bad for him."

Irwin hesitated before lowering his hammers. "Why are you still here?" he asked.

The Loydin crossed his arms, and the tension on deck lowered even more.

"The Captain's Lock, of course," he said. "Until the Captain is dead and gone, nobody can move the Ruby's Revenge. Zirt, as his named second might have, but until either both of them are dead or return, we are stranded."

That explains a lot, Irwin thought as he looked around and understood why they hadn't attacked him yet.

"You are hoping we will kill Nralt," Greldo exclaimed, mirroring Irwin's own conclusion.

The Loydin barked a laugh, shaking his head.

"No. I hope that if we work together, we can kill him," he said. "We heard about you, but there's no way the two of you can match up to him. Not without help!"

A few of the crewmen had begun turning their attention back to the town, where explosions still occurred.

We need to stop him before he kills everyone, Irwin thought, but the obvious fear of all those present told him he needed to find out a bit about the Captain first.

"What kind of cards does he have?" he asked.

"Four soulcards and a bunch of handcards," the Loydin said.

"He is faster than any of us and almost as strong as me," the other Loydin chimed in.

The first one ignored him. "He has one body improvement soulcard. Then there's that orange liquid he can create, which explodes on contact. I've seen him destroy entire buildings with it, but he can also coat himself with it. If anything touches him, then it will start eating through their skin."

Irwin wondered if that would even work for him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to try it out.

"And his other cards?" he asked.

"Nobody knows," the Loydin said before shaking his head. "Always was bleeding secretive about it. The only one who might have known was Darkix, but the Captain ripped his throat out."

"Great," Greldo grunted.

Irwin saw that his friend hadn't dropped any of his wariness. Keeping one of his selves on high alert, he lowered his hammers a little more, frowning at the Loydin. He heard the crew of the Ruby's Revenge start to whisper as most seemed to turn their full attention back to the harbor town. That said, Irwin saw the occasional glance, and he knew they were still ready to move if either he or Greldo did anything.

"Alright, and what do you suggest we do?" he asked.

"Wait till the Captain tires himself a bit on the rabble, then wait till he comes back. As soon as he moves on the deck, the dampening runes will prevent him from using anything but his passive abilities."

"At which point, all of the people here will be dead," Irwin said.

The Loydin looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Who cares about that?" the raider said. "And even if you do, there's no other way!"

"Sure there is," Greldo said. "I can lure him here."

The Loydin shook his head angrily. "We need him to waste as much strength so we actually have a chance!"

"As if destroying some starving people will do that!" Greldo snapped back.

Irwin could hear Greldo's pent-up anger, and he couldn't blame his friend. Besides, the Loydin might want his help, but he had other plans. Greldo had made a deal to help Ulaan, and for that, they needed the ship. Right as he was pondering on what to do, a hushed silence came from the crew.

"He's coming," someone whispered.

He'd barely spoken when two buildings close to the docks exploded into a shower of splinters, and Nralt crashed into view. His shark-like skin was an unhealthy shade of pale, his eyes rolling around oddly, and he had a powerful sense of wrongness to him that Irwin could almost taste on the-

His soulforce… it's all wrong!

Irwin shuddered as he saw the soulforce ripples, ragged, the edges seemingly tearing as if they were being torn to shreds. He couldn't hear the soulforce due to the dampening field, but he was sure that if he could, the song would be horrible.

Greldo suddenly looked up, then around with a frown, and Irwin was about to ask what it was when his friend shook his head minutely. An unsaid message moved between them and Irwin quickly refocused on the Loydin.

"Are you sure we should fight onboard?" he asked.

The Loydin had turned pale, his eyes on the Captain that was now stalking towards them.

"If we don't, he will kill us without effort," he rumbled.

"Alright. If we help you, there will be a price," Irwin finally said. "We want the ship."

"What?" the Loydin hissed while a few of the crew turned back to glare at Irwin.

Nralt was now a hundred feet from the ship, sometimes stopping and shaking his head before continuing forward.

"If you leave us here, we will be as good as dead!" the Loydin said.

"Don't act so surprised! You can't expect us to just help you," Greldo shot back. "Besides, you lot have been hunting smiths…"

"You can't stop him on your own!" the Loydin hissed, not denying the allegations.

"Might want to hurry up," Irwin snapped.

"We… we want one of the other ships, and you need to get us and that ship to another harbor!" the second Loydin growled.

"That.. yes!" the first Loydin agreed. "If you do that, we won't resist!"

Irwin could see right away that neither was planning to actually abide by that, but their time was up as the ship suddenly shook.

The crew was backing away from the gangplank as Nralt came stalking up. His eyes were rolling around, but each time they crossed someone, they seemed to sharpen.

“Kill… kill…. Kill…" he whispered.

"Get ready," the first Loydin hissed. "We'll need to pin him down and-"

Nralt reached the deck and turned into a blur.

Irwin had expected something like it, and he took a step back to stand beside Greldo as two of the crewmen dropped to the ground with their necks torn out. The typing color in their soulforce drained abruptly, and a grayish mass of wrongness hung above the deck.

As soon as he saw it, Irwin recognized it. He'd seen the same before, just slightly different.

It's like the purplish fog inside the Bablibon!

"Grab him!" the Loydin shouted, and both of them ran forward, trying to pincer Nralt.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

They ran far faster than Irwin had expected of either while the crew on the deck fled up the sail and into the cabin like rats.

Irwin was hopping on the ground, rapidly building his kinetic energy and glad that wasn't seen as an active ability by the dampening runes.

"Is Coal fast enough to grab him and hold him down?" he hissed quickly.

Nralt dashed out of the way of the two Loydin, kicking one and cannoning him into the cabin's wall, which cracked but didn't shatter.

"He says he might, but if that thing hits him… I don't know," Greldo whispered back.

"Help us!" the talkative Loydin roared as he jumped after Nralt, missing him.

"I'll try first," Irwin said as he put the two hammers on the ground and flexed his hands. "If I miss, have Coal try. I'll grab him when I can."

He waited for Nralt to blur towards the Loydin, hitting him hard enough to hurl him across the deck and against the railing that cracked dangerously. Irwin jumped forward, using his kinetic energy to move as fast as he could. As he reached Nralt, stretching his hands out, a thick scent of rot assaulted his nose. His fingers touched Nralt. Then, the crazed man blurred to the side and around him. He felt something knock against his back with enough force to cause him to stumble, followed by a second that made him take a step forward. His kinetic energy surged up, filling his body to the brim.

"Killllll!" something screamed behind him as he turned.

Irwin turned, only to see Nralt blur around him. The two Loydin jumped forward, but Nralt dodged them, landing a few steps from Irwin.

He's too fast! Irwin thought, feeling the worry fade slightly.

As fast as Nralt was, so far, he hadn't done any damage, and the punches in Irwin's back left only bruises. He did wonder why Nralt hadn't had his sword out. Perhaps he was too insane to use it?

"Irwin!"

Irwin looked up to see Greldo and Coal dash forward, both moving fast. Nralt let out a frustrating howl, spittle flying from between his teeth, then moved to dodge. For a fraction of a second, it looked like he'd easily dodge Greldo and his summon. Then, Coal moved so fast that he turned into a black blur, intercepting Nralt.

Irwin was running as Coal slammed into Nralt, biting down at his shoulder. Time seemed to slow as Greldo and he rushed to Coal. In the span of a breath of time, Nralt struck Coal a dozen times, blood and fur flying around.

"No!" Greldo screamed right.

Irwin reached them, and this time, he managed to wrap his hand around Nralt's wrist. He felt a yank as the insane Captain tried to rip free, but he managed to hold on and put his other hand on the arm, yanking him close.

Nralt spun, and Irwin felt his heart skip a beat as he closed his eyes just in time. Sharp nails scratched across the sides of his nose as he yanked his head to the side. He held on with one hand and grabbed the hand that was trying to poke his eyes out.

As soon as he did, he ripped it to the side, feeling a powerful resistance, far more than he'd expected from the Captain. As his kinetic energy kept building from the tension, he tried to rip the arms from their sockets, but it was as if he was pulling on cables of metal. He didn't believe for one bit that the Loydin were stronger than Nralt. Either they had lied, or the Captain's strength had increased with his insanity. Safe from having his eyes poked out, he opened them and just had time for a strangled curse. Teeth dug into his shoulder, piercing through his leather tunic and the metallic skin below with ease as Nralt bit down on him like a beast.

"Grel!" Irwin roared as he tried and failed to pull Nralt away from him. Although he was taller, spreadeagled as he was he couldn't do anything.

A hairy arm wrapped around Nralt's neck, forcing it back, and Irwin held back a scream of pain as the teeth ripped a mouthful of his flesh with it. Two hands wrapped around Nralt's arm below his, then another two on the other side, and he saw the two Loydin begin pulling.

"Start stabbing him!" they screamed.

For one moment, Irwin feared the crew wouldn't just start stabbing Nralt, then swordpoint and spears began jutting into Nralt, who was screaming in rage, foam around his lips. Jabs continued to pelt him, but to Irwin's disbelief, his anger only seemed to increase.

Does he have some sort of regeneration? He thought, his worry growing.

"I've got him! Strangle him!" one of the Loydin roared, looking at Irwin.

"He's way stronger than you think!" Irwin roared back, feeling how little the Loydin was actually contributing. "Stab him in the eyes!"

The spear that had been stabbing Nralt flashed across his shoulder and almost did as he ordered. In the last moment, Nralt managed to drag his head to the side, pulling Greldo along with him.

"Hold him still!" someone screamed.

"I'm trying," Greldo roared.

The spear missed again, then the swords joined in, and finally, one found Nralt's left eye, jabbing down. The insane Captain let out an eardrum-rattling scream as he began bucking even worse. It took another minute before the spear finally found his second eye, and this time it pierced far deeper. For a moment Nralt spasmed, then the spear sunk in further and Irwin felt Nralt slump down.

"Don't let go," he hissed, while Greldo nodded. They waited as the crew continued stabbing, and finally after a few moments, one of the swordsmen put his blade atop Greldo's arms, against the throat, and nearly bisected Nralt.

Irwin let out a breath of relief and he watched as Greldo nodded. Although he didn't see anything, and the horribly mangled soulforce inside Nralt seemed to be leaking out and away, he still only let go of one arm, stepping to the side and readying himself to act.

Only when Nralt's head was removed from his neck did he let go. Greldo dropped the body, jumping back.

"Kill them!"

The Loydin's voice came just as he jumped across Nralt's body, arms outstretched to grab Irwin.

Irwin had expected something, but even then, the double cross came fast, and he reacted instinctively, kicking out. He released all his kinetic energy as his heel struck the Loydin's chest, and with a dull boom, the rough copper-colored metal man was hurled back and across the railing. With a final scream, he vanished into the storm.

There was a moment of stunned silence, then the second Loydin that had gone for Greldo growled in anger.

"Get them, or we will all die!" he roared.

Irwin exploded forward, colliding with the Loydin before he could get to Greldo.

"Sibil, now!" Greldo shouted.

Irwin, one of his selves fully invested in pummeling the Loydin, felt a moment of confusion with his other. Sibil wasn't here, was she?

Like a surge of power, he felt the dampening runes' effect vanish, and he didn't even hesitate. Grabbing the Loydin, he pulled him along the sound waves and then dropped him outside of the ship before shooting back. He landed on the deck and saw dozens of Coal's shadow clones jumping between the crew, snarling and biting at them. With the strongest of the Ruby Revenge's crew dead, Irwin saw that those remaining weren't even able to give Coal's clones any real trouble.

Besides that, he saw that Greldo had grappled with a person near the steering wheel and was now holding him down. Irwin looked at his friend, mimicking a shout, and Greldo vanished into the shadows.

"Surrender!" Irwin roared as he clapped his hands loud enough to create a boom that caused the deck to shudder and a stunned silence.

Greldo reappeared, grinning.

"Thanks for the warning- I'd be deaf otherwise!"

Irwin just snorted as he felt an itch in his shoulder. Rubbing it, his hand came back with his own thick, coppery red blood.

Right, the bite, he thought.

His second-self began using his flame to heat up the area to speed up the healing while his main-self looked around.

Most of the crew had given up, with only four standing near the gang with their weapons raised, sitting below a blueish barrier. One of them, a short woman with curly green hair, had her hands up and was glaring at Irwin. She had a long, jagged scar running across her left cheek that barely missed her left eye, pulling up the corner.

"Either you surrender, or I'm going to throw you overboard," Irwin snapped.

"Let us leave!" she said.

"To do what?" Irwin replied, suddenly more than done with the whole situation.

The women blinked, then looked at the others. "We… will try and upgrade one of the ships to get us out of here," she finally said, sounding semi-certain of herself.

Irwin wanted to disagree, then looked at the ships drifting near the harbor. Some had been knocked away during Nralt's rampage, while a few others were hovering as far from Sesnasner as they could without reaching the barrier.

"You can do that?" he finally asked.

The women hesitated for a bit, sharing a look with one of the others before nodding. "Yes. If I take a few of those sails, I can boost the defense and move the runes to-"

"You can manipulate runes?" Irwin asked, stepping forward, unable to keep the surprise from his voice.

He knew only a bit about runes, but he did know one thing. Those who could draw runes required both special cards and knowledge, both of which were kept hidden by the major guilds and noble families. The more special the runes, like those required to power the ships or create the defense barriers around them, were usually hidden in the materials of the ships by those who placed them. Only a few more common runes had leaked out, and even those were rare. Being able to manipulate them was already an incredible feat.

His sudden reaction caused the women to step closer to the gangplank.

"Only a little," she said.

Irwin shared a look with Greldo, wondering if she was lying to draw his interest. If she was, it was working.

'Kid, if she can, we should take her with us,' Ambraz said in his mindscape. 'Even Brazardian knows only a bit about them, and even if she can only manipulate them, it could be invaluable back on Eluathar.'

'Yes. But bringing a crewmember of Currant Hunters there could cause trouble,' Irwin said.

Still, as he thought about it, he didn't disagree with Ambraz.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The woman's eyes narrowed, and she took another tiny step back, her heels now touching the gangplank. The rest of the crew was staring at her.

"Carilla," she said. "And if you're going to offer me a spot on your ship, I'm going to decline. We were going to leave when Zirt took over, and now that he and the Captain are gone, I think it's time to evaluate my life choices."

Irwin hummed, staring at her. "You know I'm a smith, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Carilla stared at him quietly.

"How long would it take for you to teach someone what you know?" Irwin said.

Carilla snorted, then caught herself and shrugged. "It depends on what they know and what you are offering."

"I can reforge your cards or create you a heartcard," Irwin said, ignoring the sudden silence and sucked-in hisses all around.

To him, it was an offer easily made, but he knew for many it was something hard-earned.

Carilla suddenly seemed far less certain as she shared another look with the three around her. All of them were human, or close to it, and younger than many others. Carilla looked at Irwin, then seemed to steel herself.

"If you extend that to my friends, I'll teach you whatever you want to know," she said. "But you have to promise us safe passage to another harbor!"

"Deal," Irwin said.

He knew there was a small chance that Carilla was a bad one, as Sibil had told them that she'd not liked to be around any of the other crew. If that was the case, he'd just have to have Daubutim take care of them. He was sure they wouldn't reject living on a rank-six world, even if they wouldn't be allowed off it for a very long time.

Not that they have a chance with the storm right now, he thought.

"You need a sailcleaner?" a shout came form the other crewmen, and a moment later, shouting filled the deck.

Irwin glared at them, shaking his head. "Do any of you know how to work runes?" he roared, causing everyone to fall quiet and Greldo to hiss.

"No? Then you are going to get off this ship right now!" Irwin snarled.

There was a stunned silence, and he heard some mutters about their personal things.

"I'll throw everything onto the docks before we leave," Irwin shouted, silencing them again. "Now get off my ship!"

Coal's clones began snarling and biting at the crewmen, and within moments, a stream of people left across the gangplank. As soon as the last was gone, Irwin used the winch to draw it in.

"One thing," he shouted at the crewmen who stood lost on the shore. "If I hear you harm the people in this town, I'm going to feed you to the Chaos Whales!"

"If any survived," Greldo whispered.

Irwin held back a grimace, glaring at the crewmen until they began slowly walking toward the ruined town.

A soft thud came from the deck, and Irwin saw Sibil stand there, staring at Carilla, who looked back with narrow eyes.

"Are we going to have a problem here?" Irwin asked.

"Not from me, Captain," Sibil said quickly.

"Do you know them?" Irwin asked.

Sibil shrugged. "I didn't have a lot to do with Carilla, but the other three were with the new recruits. I spoke with them a bit, and they were nice enough. They just didn't want me around because I'm a shadowwalker."

Irwin raised an eyebrow and saw the three younger men turn pale.

"My first mate is a shadowalker," Irwin said. "You might want to get over your troubles with them. Immediately!"

"They won't cause any trouble," Carilla said quickly while the three men shook their heads.

They better not, Irwin thought as he turned to Greldo, who was grinning at the men in a way that made it look like he was going to eat them.

"Can you go and check if there's anybody hiding away below deck somewhere?"

"Way ahead of you," Greldo said, looking at Irwin. "Coal's been going around from the moment we killed Nralt, and there's nobody left."

"Alright. Then let's get this thing away from the harbor and beside The Concerto," Irwin said as he turned and began walking to the helm. "After that, we can find out how Ulaan is doing."

"What are you going to do with the Ruby's Revenge?" Carilla asked as she slowly walked forward. "Captain," she added belatedly.

Irwin stared at the town, seeing no movement besides the crewmen still trudging towards it.

"That depends on how many are still alive in there," he said as he grabbed the Ruby's Revenge's helm, noting it was easily as well-made as The Concerto, with a similar set of runes in the center.

As he got the ship moving, he took a look at the barriers and the raging storm beyond it. Two Chaos Whales were flying around in a close pack.

Wait, weren't there three? he thought.

--

Half a day later, Irwin stood before the bed in which Ulaan lay. The man was pale, and his hands shook on his bedding as he seemed to stare out into nothing.

"I'm sorry," Irwin said, feeling more tired than he had in a long time. "Greldo and Sibil searched the town twice more and didn't find any more survivors."

Ulaan shivered but didn't respond. Greldo had said that he had wanted to save the people of Sensanser, but now barely a hundred were left out of the almost four thousand that had been there. According to a few of the survivors, Nralt had targeted them as if he knew where they were, and those that survived had either been on the ships or on the outskirts of town.

Ulaan looked up, his eyes red, and Irwin felt sorry for the man.

"Without me and my old friends-" Ulaan's voice broke, and it cost him a bit to recover and continue.

"Without us, there is no way out of here. Even with that ship… they aren't powerful enough to guard it. What will happen to them?" he asked, his voice dead.

Irwin tried to smile reassuringly. He'd discussed what to do with Greldo, Ambraz, Hou'dor, and Esther and come to the only conclusion. Either they had to leave them to die, go and bring them to Fiverion and risk a lot, or bring them to Eluathar. Eventually, they decided on the final option, though the logistics proved to be far more difficult than Irwin had wanted.

"We are going to bring your people along to our home," Irwin said. "It might be a bit of a troublesome journey, but it's the only chance they have."

Ulaan blinked, and a tiny bit of life returned to his eyes.

"Will they be safe?" he asked.

"If they survive the journey? Yes."

Ulaan nodded, and his eyelids slowly lowered. A few moments later, he was deep asleep, and Irwin walked out, finding Greldo in the hallway.

"Sometimes I get the feeling that all we do is find people to bring back home," Greldo muttered.

"Yeah, well, let's see if we can reach it first," Irwin said as he began walking towards the ladder leading up.