Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

"How much longer!"

Irwin looked up to see Scintilla pace around, the fire in her hair flaring up in agitation.

"No idea," he said, looking up and around.

They had returned to Canadensis over a day ago and were now sitting near the edge of the forest. A stream of Pyroflux gently rippled out from the tree line, moving toward the sea, gleaming a few hundred feet away. Tang had told them to remain here, as he had an idea of what to do, though he'd been unwilling to share said idea yet. He'd shared a few things with Irwin, telling him he'd need to head to the bottom of the sea and what he would have to do when he got there.

Thinking about that, Irwin focused on the Pyroflux, staring at the black, rocky bottom. He sensed the large amount of water in the golden liquid and slowly drew on the Sweltering part of his soulcard. It took a lot of focus, but after a few moments, a muddy bubble appeared at the bottom of the stream. Keeping it there cost some effort as it seemed to want to float up. Irwin increased the size until it was large enough for multiple people to sit in. When he was sure he had stabilized it, he finally released his control.

It better be a really good plan, Irwin thought, as he recalled the absurd size of the Earth Titans.

There was no way they were going to be able to fight one, even if they were weaker this far from the world's core. His own idea had been to draw them to one of the deepest caves, then use his soundwave teleport to move inside the Earth Titan's body as it destroyed the lure, but Tang had been against that. He'd said the Earth Titan would return to the depths right away to digest the lure's unfinished heartcard, and he would get stuck.

Irwin sighed as he continued to sway his feet inside the stream.

Scintilla let out a soft growl, and Irwin looked up, seeing her stare at the ground below her feet with a mixture of worry and annoyance.

"I still don't sense any worry from Ambraz," Irwin said, poking at the connection he had with the Ganvil.

Although distant and muted, he felt Ambraz's presence deep in the bowels of the earth. He could also point to where Ambraz was deep in the ground if he wanted to.

The fact that he could sense him this far away was something he wanted to talk to Ambraz about. Even though he'd been able to sense him for a long time, he couldn't recall if it had been this far before. Even on Granvox, Ambraz had never been more than a few city blocks away. Either something had changed, perhaps when Ambraz ranked up, or he had always been able to, and it was his own increased soulforce sensitivity that made this possible.

"Good, good," Scintilla said, still not stopping her pacing.

Irwin grabbed and squeezed her hand as she passed.

"They will be fine," he said.

Scintilla nodded, squeezed back, then resumed her pacing.

Irwin focused back on the stream of pyroflux. His bare feet were dangling in it, the liquid a nice soothing warmth on his skin. Embers rushed around, playing happily, and Irwin focused on his otherself for a moment. There, he was still playing with his own remaining three embers. Each had grown immensely from the moment he'd put them in his soulscape, and one of them was very different from the others.

Irwin's otherself focused on the smallest of the embers, noticing the differences in its face each time it shifted into its set form, which was happening more and more lately. Because they were just flashes, it was hard to see the differences, but Irwin had noticed the slightly wider jawline and thicker brows. There were also some other tiny things, but he knew what was happening. His currently youngest child was likely a boy, and as he thought about that, he couldn't stop from grinning. Although he loved all his embers, the idea of having only daughters had freaked him out at some point.

A splash of Pyroflux hit his otherselve's face, and he looked up to see one of the older embers giggle as she dove back into the large river.

Irwin's grin widened as he made a mock, angry roar, jumping after her. Her soulforce resonating voice giggled all around, as did the others, as he chased them, faking his inability to catch them.

Time slowly passed, and Irwin was both staring at the Pyroflux and playing with his three kids when he sensed something from Ambraz. Both of his selves paused, focusing on the sensation. It was like a wave of anticipation mixed with a tiny bit of fear.

He wanted to say something, then saw Scintilla still pacing around. He hesitated, then returned to simply sitting there, watching the Pyroflux without seeing it. He hated being unable to do anything. Even with all his cards and all his strength, there were still times and moments when he couldn't do anything.

As he waited, the anticipation from Ambraz kept increasing, and at one point, he'd been unable to sit still. Now, he and Scintilla were pacing along the stream.

"You two okay?"

Irwin almost jumped a foot in the air as Boohm walked out of the forrest.

"Damn you, can't you let us know you are coming?" Scintilla shouted, a hand over her chest and breathing heavily.

"Uh…. I did. Twice," Boohm said, scratching his jawline.

Zender walked behind him, carrying a large wooden plate with food on it.

As soon as he saw the food, Irwin's stomach let out a deep rumble that seemed to reverberate through the surroundings and made everyone stare at him. He ignored it, walked to Zender, and took the plate with a grateful nod.

"Any idea how long this will take, Captain?" Zender asked.

"No idea," Irwin said, sensing Ambraz still as filled with anticipation as he had been for the last few hours.

Sitting down, with the plate on his knees, he beckoned Scintilla, and a moment later, the two of them were rapidly devouring the large meal.

"Sahroot has been somewhat anxious," Boohm rumbled. "He's afraid you are going to draw dozens of Earth Titans here and get the entire place destroyed."

Irwin glanced at the lure, leaning against a nearby tree.

"It should be fine," he said. "Ambraz was sure he could prevent that from happening."

As he said that, he wondered how the Ganvil was even going to do that.

"Anyway, we will place the lure in the sea," he continued. "This, according to Tiscian, should cause the Earth Titan to turn lethargic for atleast ten minutes as it gets used to the Pyroflux. I'll head inside it to free the embers inside, and you just have to make sure it doesn't sink back to the bottom, or it will dig back down and vanish."

Boohm stared at him, then raised an eyebrow. "And how are we going to prevent it from sinking? You do remember how big they are, right?"

"No idea," Irwin said. "Tang said he had an idea for that."

"I still don't like it that you are the only one to go in," Scintilla said, chewing on a red, finger-sized root that Irwin knew would burn the inside of any regular human's mouth out.

"I'm the only one who can get out of there without issue, and there's going to be a lot of parasites inside," Irwin said, raising his hand and forming a small cloud of steam above it. As it condensed into his hand, he drank it before it could evaporate.

"I know… and I still don't like it," Scintilla said.

They continued eating when a splashing sound came from the stream. Irwin and Scintilla froze, looking at each other, hope in their eyes. As Scintilla tossed her plate to the side and got up, Irwin focused on the soulforce and sensed Mia's familiar resonance. Taking a relieved breath, he put the food down and rose just as Scintilla jumped into the stream.

"Mia, you are back!" she cried.

"Momaheat, Uncle Ambraz say he back in two hours," Mia piped happily. "We found last ember!"

Two hours? Irwin thought, confused as he sensed Ambraz's expectation and fear shooting through the roof.

"That's great," he said, watching Mia as she was being hugged by Scintilla. "Did Ambraz say anything else?"

"No. He said he not need Mia help," Mia said, sounding slightly sad.

"Don't worry, little one. Ambraz will be fine," Scintilla said.

Irwin watched them, then turned to Boohm and Zender.

"I'm going to bring the lure to the sea! I don't know where Tang is, but as soon as you see him, tell him we only have two hours left!"

"I'll head back to town in case he is there," Zender shouted, turning around and sprinting into the forest.

"I'll stay here," Boohm said.

Irwin nodded as he picked up the lure, turning to Scintilla.

"You are staying here?" he asked as he walked to the Pyroflux stream.

"No. Mia and I will go into your soulcape," Scintilla said.

Irwin smiled ruefully as he jumped into the stream, and a moment later, the other three embers shot out into the stream, letting out happy screams as they saw Scintilla and Mia.

"If something bad happens, that would mean it happens to us all," Irwin said.

Scintilla's eyes widened, and she took a step forward.

"Irwin! We discussed this!"

"I'll be back with our fifth child," Irwin said, ignoring her. He drew the massive lure into his soulforce, feeling its presence instantly destabilize it. "Don't worry!" he shouted before using the soundwaves to vanish from where he'd been.

He reappeared above the sea, hundreds of yards from the coast.

She's going to be angry, Irwin thought as gravity took hold of him.

Stolen novel; please report.

He managed a deep breath before slamming into the surface. A welcoming heat surrounded him, and as he sank down, the surrounding light began turning from its previous red, orange, and yellow to a pure pale gold tint. A few feet down, he took the lure back from his soulforce, shuddering as he sensed just how fast having it there for a few moments had destabilized it.

Fish-like beings, some the size of his hand, pale and partially translucent, swam around him. Among them were others ten times bigger, dark gray, and with four eyes. He'd eaten both and knew one was a predator, while the other ate the tiny fruit that grew from the subsurface plant life. There were more fish, but those didn't go this deep.

As he sank further, he felt a pressure start to push on him from all sides, his eardrums squeaking. It was as if something was pushing them inward. Remembering what Tang had said, he closed his nose, blowing gently, then slightly harder. There was a pop, and then the pressure was relieved.

Wondering why that was, Irwin had to do it twice more before he finally reached the bottom of the sea. The ground was covered in rocks and boulders, some more reason additions, and others smoothed out by being there for a long time. Plants, mostly dark swaying tendrils, grew from between the cracks, while patches of pale sand were covered with the pale white rocky outgrowths that grew up from the sea and along the walls.

Thudding down on a spacious, semi-flat rock, Irwin enjoyed the view for a moment. There weren't as many fishes here, but he did see some swim among the plants while a strong current was carrying debris and tiny bits of plant matter around.

He only looked around for a short time before focusing on his task at hand. By now, he felt far more out of breath than he'd expected. He knew he could hold his breath for close to an hour, but he was already feeling at his limit.

I wonder how Tang knew all this, he thought, focusing on his sweltering card. Now that he was closer, it wasn't as difficult to sense the water inside the surrounding Pyroflux. Pulling it out, he began creating a ball of steam around himself. At first, it wasn't too hard, but as he tried to make it denser, he sensed a massive pressure start to push back, while it took a lot of effort to stop the steam from shooting up to the surface. That said, he felt the pressure around his body slowly dissipate, gravity reasserting itself. He sensed everything within the small area around him, which was good, as it was now so dense that he couldn't really see anything. Just soulforce resonances, golden ripples all around him.

The first thing that told him he was almost ready was when he heard something wet dripping onto a solid surface. A few moments later, he felt the last of the Pyroflux pushed away.

This should be it, he thought.

He very slowly opened his mouth and carefully tried to breathe. A trickle of hot, wet steam ran into his lungs, and almost instantly, he felt a sense of relief.

"He's going to have to explain how he knew how my card worked," Irwin muttered.

The sound of his voice echoed hollowly around him as if he were in a cave.

He raised the lure and ran his hand along the runes as Tisican had told him. For a moment, nothing happened, and he suddenly wondered if they shouldn't have checked if the bloody thing still worked. Then, the central, broken, and unfinished heartcard began pulsing with a bloody red light, indicating the first step was starting. The runes along its edge were slowly starting to glow, and Irwin settled in to wait. Tiscian had said that it would take close to an hour for it to finish.

Irwin watched the edge for a while before focusing on his surroundings. He hoped Tang would be coming soon and wondered what he was planning to do.

The hour passed excruciatingly slow, and when the last rune finally glowed, Irwin growled. The constant pressure on his steam cloud and the drain on his soulforce were starting to get annoying.

"About time," he grunted.

Still, as he examined the rune that would commence the second step, he hesitated for a moment. Tang had warned him that it would hurt.

How bad can it get? he thought with a grimace before steeling himself for what might happen.

Taking a deep breath of steam, just in case his control over his card would drop, he put the lure down on the ground. Then he pressed the rune.

A blaring tone resonated from the heartcard, causing Irwin to flinch. It sounded like metal screeching across a rough surface and began rapidly increasing in volume.

Part of Irwin knew that it wasn't a real sound, but he still couldn't stop from putting his hands over his ears and letting out a pained moan.

Within seconds, the sound went from a screech to a deafening, all-encompassing wail that Irwin felt drilled through his very bones and soul. His soulscape began faintly counter-resonating almost instinctively, but it didn't seem to do anything. As he stood there, pain suffused his entire body and mind.

Instinctively, he tried to shove the pain and discomfort into his otherself, but it failed. A tiny bit of him that wasn't fully absorbed by the painful resonance sensed that his other self, slightly protected by not being out here, was managing to keep the steam cloud around him.

Time seemed to lose meaning as the resonance deepened and became stronger, as did a stretching pain from his body and soulscape. At some point, Irwin felt the ground below his feet shiver and shake, but he barely noticed.

--

"Momaheat, why angry?"

Scintilla took a deep breath so as not to snap, then looked at Mia.

"I'm not angry, just very worried," she said as she stared at the massive swirling mass of Pyroflux in the middle of the sea. Trickles of steam were rising out of it, and it had been going for close to an hour now.

A soft tremor in the ground made her look at the sea in worry.

There was no difference, and then a soft snapping and cracking sound came from behind her. Turning to the forest, she heard a low thudding coming from deep within. Putting Mia back in the Pyroflux, she rose and shared a worried look with Boohm.

"It sounds like someone is coming here," Boohm rumbled.

Scintilla just nodded, watching as the trees in the distance began swaying, the sound of something crashing through the forest increasing. She lowered her stance, her hand automatically going to the sword that no longer rested on her waist. Finally, something came into view. A long, dark metallic tube larger, dwarfing even the larger trees.

Below it, Tang was lifting it up as he ran forward, his hands clasping the tube above his head. The metal tube looked almost comically big as he carried it, while branches and even small trees snapped as he continued toward her.

What is that?

Scintilla walked forward, locking eyes with Tang.

"Where were you?" she asked. "And what is that?"

"It took longer to get this thing here than I thought," Tang rumbled, not slowing as he continued forward, then passed her.

Scintilla began running next to him, trying to understand what was going on.

"I'd expected my skyship could lift it, but it crashed halfway, so I had to carry it myself," Boohm rumbled.

"What is it for?" Scintilla shouted over the loud thudding.

"I'm going to use it to keep the Earth Titan away from the bottom as long as I can," Tang shouted.

Scintilla looked at the massive tube, then back at Tang, and shook her head. "It's big, but there is no way it's going to do anything against an Earth Titan! It wouldn't even be a splinter!"

"Which is why I'm not going to hit it with it, and why I told Irwin to head into the sea," Tang shouted. "How long has it been?"

"Close to two hours," Scintilla shouted. "That means Ambraz will be here soon if everything goes alright."

"That fast?"

Tang let out an angry grunt, and to Scintilla's surprise, he began spreading up, racing across the beach towards the sea. She had no idea how he was even balancing the massive thing. Perhaps it wasn't as heavy as it looked?

She followed him to the sea, then watched as he ran inside, causing a massive splash of Pyroflux. As he got deeper, his speed began slowing until all Scintilla saw was a massive V shape that slowly vanished.

"By the Infernal Crevice, why can't we just fight things with swords?" she grunted.

"Momaheat? What's Infernal Crevice?"

Scintilla flinched, then quickly turned to the stream a few dozen feet away, seeing Mia partially crawled out and looking at her curiously.

"Nothing, little one! Now, let's head back further away from the sea. I think your father and Tang are going to do something dangerous."

--

Ambraz shot through the earth, spending more soulforce than he usually did to reforge even the most difficult cards to rip through the rock and earth. His senses kept him away from the occasional ore veins.

The earth around him was rumbling and cracking as it had for nearly two hours, and he sensed the angry Earth Titan in his wake. It had long since stopped chasing him, now heading straight for where Irwin was.

Hold on, kid, he thought as he felt Irwin's agony. He'd heard it was supposedly painful, but he'd expected it to be alright due to what Irwin had already gone through in his life. If it wasn't, he feared what would happen when he reached him. As sensitive as Irwin's senses were, his were still superior.

As miles turned to yards, he steeled himself.

The rock burst away ahead of him, and a high-pressure stream of Pyroflux slammed into him. At the same time, a cacophony of horrifying screeches caused his mind to go blind.

Barely able to think from the blinking pain rippling through his entire being, Ambraz was shoved back a dozen yards before the soulforce resonance was far enough for him to recover.

Barely thinking clearly, he drilled into the wall to the side. As soon as he did, the Pyroflux started pushing him from behind, and this time, he drilled up under an angle.

Dammit, this is going to hurt!

This time, when he broke through, the ground behind him exploded up, and he was shoved back while the horrifying resonance rippled through him. Better prepared, he managed to recover enough to stop his uncontrolled rolling across the seabed floor.

This… would… make… a great… weapon, Ambraz thought, his mind seeming to go blank every few moments.

Far ahead of him, he perceived the odd oval cloud of steam. The edge was constantly shimmering as the pressure of the Pyroflux tried to crush it, and if Ambraz hadn't sensed him, he'd never have known Irwin was inside.

The lure's resonance was causing the ambient soulforce to ripple and oscillate. Seeing it, Ambraz forced his own soulforce to start resonating counter to the lure, and although it only helped a fraction, it was enough for him to be able to think properly.

Why is he still there? Ambraz thought, racing forward.

The first warning he had that the Earth Titan was almost there was the sudden sway of all the plants.

What th-

The dust on the seabed rose up in a single motion as the entire seabed began tilting and shaking. Some of the larger, pale-white rocky outcrops of vegetation collapsed, parts crumbling down as tiny debris spread around.

The horrifying resonance wasn't letting up, making it almost impossible to sense anything, but Ambraz knew what was going on. He shot forward while all around him, groups of fish-like beings fled away in all directions. Powerful currents were trying to shake him around as Ambraz rushed to Irwin.

Okay, that lure needs to go!

He shot into the steam cloud, crashing two feet from Irwin's foot as the pressure suddenly vanished while the lure's intense scream increased in power.

Ambraz blinked as his mind kept winking on and off. He almost thought he was groaning when he realized it was someone else. Forcing himself back in the air, wobbling as he did, he saw Irwin. The smith was standing with his hands clenched in fists, thick, coppery blood dripping from his ears and nose, his face contorted in pain.

Ambraz wanted to curse, but he could barely think straight. Glaring at the lure, he forced himself forward, ramming it with as much force as he could muster. He'd expected it to shatter or turn off, but instead, it slid away, out of the steam cloud, causing the resonance to dampen by a good bit.

Instantly feeling better, Ambraz flew to Irwin, landing on his shoulder. He didn't even bother to try to talk, but jumped into his Smith's soulscape.

As the world appeared around him, he froze.

The normally quiet soulscape was filled with a storm, winds howling around while plumes of dangerous yellow and black smoke rose from the volcano. Irwin's other self hung above his soullake, arms spread out, and eyes closed. The Pyroflux rivers were foaming and overflowing, while the house they had built had cracks in the wall.

Dammit!

Ambraz shot forward, struggling against the gale that tried to shove him away. Being flung sideways, then back, he shouted, but his voice was lost in the roaring of the storm.

Forcing himself forward, it took Ambraz precious minutes to finally reach Irwin, who was inside a tiny bubble of calm air.

"Kid! Snap out of it!"

Irwin's eyes snapped open.

"Am..braz…"

"That thing is here, and it's going to eat you if you don't move! Create a counter-reference to the lure. Feel what your soulscape is doing, and copy it! It will help!"

Irwin's eyes glazed over, and Ambraz had to repeat himself twice before Irwin nodded.

One arm lowered, and the Soulstrum guitar appeared.

"Need… to drop… steam," Irwin croaked.

"Go for it! You don't have to stay much longer!" Ambraz shouted.

Irwin nodded, and as both hands dropped, they immediately began strumming across the strings. An odd, dissonant sound came out, and in any other situation, Ambraz would have groaned his displeasure, but not this time. Irwin's eyes instantly cleared up, and he looked at Ambraz.

"Don't come out! It's here!"

--

Irwin's eyes snapped open as he was spinning across the seabed, his leg and shoulder slamming into the rocky ground. Nearby, something incredibly massive was swirling above and to the side of him.

Flailing to get himself upright, he managed to grab the edge of a fissure, holding himself in place.

Staring up, he got his first unobstructed view of the massive Earth Titan, and he froze.

It looks like a Chaos Whale…!