Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith-Chapter 302: Stink

Irwin leaned to the side as the old, completely metal-flying ship angled through a corridor at breakneck speed. The straps of the metal cabled harness dug into his shoulders and chest, but he wasn't even going to contemplate removing them. At these speeds, he was going to get hurled clear out.

Zender, sitting in front of him, in the spot beside the steering wheel, raised his arms and let out a whoop.

Irwin almost joined him.

"He really knows how to fly," he said, turning to Hind beside him.

"He is crazy about airship races," Hind said, lowering her head a bit. "He even won the burrow race two times in a row."

"And that's with this old, slow tub," Helm shouted without looking back. "The only reason I didn't win the next was that they started allowing faster, non-hauler ships!"

Irwin had no idea what that meant and didn't bother asking. Instead, he glanced at the ship as they shot through a narrow, almost pitch-black corridor.

It was almost entirely made of Firesteel, making it incredibly expensive on any other world and portal harbor he'd been, but it made sense. With the intense and still climbing heat within the burrows -which seemed to be a massive, chaotic maze of tunnels and different-sized caves filled with lava- any other metal would likely be prone to wear and tear. Not the Firesteel, rune-covered sixteen-foot-long ship they were on now. With wide panels to the side, Helm had already glided along the side of two lava streams without any noticeable damage.

"We are going to head to Tang's place," he said. "Normally, this is a trip of two days, but we are taking a shortcut through the sulfur caverns. It will be a few hours down, but we do have to pass through a corridor filled with a condensation layer of sulphuric acid, causing the occasional corrosive rain. I'll take you all into my soulscape for the duration. I've got a card that will protect me from the gasses and the rains."

"Sulphuric acid?" Irwin said, frowning.

"Don't worry, kid. Those gasses won't do you any harm, and in this heat, you will heal faster than any corrosion, if it can even affect you," Ambraz said from his shoulder.

"Oh?" Helm said, casting a surprised look back. "You've got a card for that? You'd make a great burrow miner!"

"Perhaps in the future," Irwin said, knowing there were many other things he'd prefer doing than flying through dark corridors all his life. "I'll take everyone in my soulscape so you can focus on flying."

"You sure? You only have one soulcard, and it's a large drain having that many people in it!" Helm shouted, pulling the ship in a tight turn around a corner. "It's not minutes but hours we are talking here."

"I can keep them in there for weeks if I have to," Irwin said, knowing he could probably keep them in for even longer if he wanted.

"Okay," Helm said, hesitating. He glanced back again, and Irwin saw him lock eyes with Hind.

"Don't worry, Dad. I have seen him carry far more people in his soulscape for a long time," Hind said.

Helm nodded, then shrugged. "Alright. Well, then, I won't complain. It's easier if I don't have to!"

The next few hours passed by in a rush of tight turns, steep drops, and the occasional brushes against lava when they had to go through corridors where the bottom was filled with the molten rock while yellowish gasses filled the rest. The first time that happened, Irwin looked at Zender worriedly, but the silvery Yuurindi looked fine, though a bit sweaty and hot.

Helm slowed down when they reached a dim, jagged cavern a hundred feet wide and twice as high. The sides were a forrest of dozens of feet-long rock protrusions. In the distance, the longest ones intersected, creating a hard-to-navigate mess of dangerous ridges and points. The only light came from thin streams of lava-flecked Pyroflux that clattered down from small holes and crevices.

"Alright, this is Shipgutter Fissure, and we are going to drop down into a tunnel at the back. It's about time you bring the others into your soulscape," Helm said as he slowed even more, slowly gliding between the dangerous, gleaming black points.

Irwin looked at the others.

"Everyone ready?"

"Yes, captain!" Zender said. "Do I get to see your daughters?"

Irwin blinked, then barked a laugh. "Sure. My soulclone is inside there, and I'll be showing you around!"

Zender's eyes gleamed at that, and Irwin reached out, taking everyone's hand in turn and drawing them into his soulscape. As he pulled in Hind, he noticed that her soulcard's resonance was still slightly off. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been, and he'd almost learned to ignore it, but as it was inside his soulscape, the slight dissonance was like a tiny irritant, constantly gnawing at him.

We need to fix that last bit with her following card, Irwin thought.

"Climb up in front," Helm said.

Irwin unclipped the metal harness that had strapped him in the seat and quickly climbed over the low edge into the seat that Zender had occupied before. As he strapped back in, Helm pointed into the distance.

"See that?"

Irwin followed his finger, noticing a yellow plume rise up from a distant, surprisingly round hole in the ground.

"Hind said you were on Scour, right? Did you ever come across Parasitic Wyrms?"

Irwin shivered as he recalled the Wyrms from Clour.

"I think so," he said. "Good small, pop from too much heat and the small ones try to drill into your body."

"Exactly those," Helm said. "Well, they aren't just on Clour! They live inside Earth Titans like parasites, and my guess is those things fly between worlds somehow because I've heard of both Earth Titans and Parasitic Wyrms on many worlds."

Irwin looked at Helm in surprise. "Did you travel the Portal Gallery in the past?"

"No-no," Helm said, as he grimaced as if the concept didn't appeal to him at all. "But, when Hind didn't return, I began researching for a way to find her."

Helm stared ahead, seemingly thinking about those times. He slowed even more as they approached the yellow plumes.

"I quickly learned that I didn't have the proper cards to join as a mercenary. However, I managed to find a group of mercenaries who needed someone with expertise in dealing with Drill Wyrms. They were going to one of the Viridian-controlled worlds, and I decided that it might be exactly what I needed to start making my way to Granvrox."

The ship began descending toward the yellowish plumes, and as they closed in, Irwin saw just how deep the round tunnel down was.

How big are the Wyrms here, he wondered, recalling the times he'd gone down into the bodies of the Earth Titans.

"If you get into trouble, just grab my shoulder and don't resist when I pull you within my soulscape," Helm said. "If you see any wyrms, warn me immediately. I take it you know not to slash them apart? If you have to kill them, use blunt force to prevent more from rushing toward the scent of blood."

"I know," Irwin said.

His other self quickly told the three Embers that he had to leave. They didn't mind as they swam around the upper layer of one of his mindscape's lava rivers, trying to communicate with Hind, Zender, and Boohm. As soon as both of Irwin's selves were in his body, he summoned two lang-handled hammers, making sure to keep them small enough to be easy to handle.

"Oh, you have a weapon summon?" Helm said as they descended into the plumes.

Irwin sniffed and almost gagged at the disgusting smell.

"Yeah, it's not too pleasant," Helm said, letting out a little cough.

As they descended deeper, it became increasingly difficult to see anything but plumes of yellow smog, and Irwin wondered how Helm could still see anything.

At least he had the advantage of sensing and hearing the ambient soulforce, and with his vision rapidly becoming arm-length, he started focusing on it more and more. His perception of time began slowing down as the temperature rose, the sounds turned muffled, and he could barely see Helm beside him.

What felt like hours later, Helm leveled the ship. A very faint tapping became audible in the distance, though Irwin couldn't tell how far away it was.

"Alright, the acid rain will start soon," Helm said.

Irwin steeled himself, wondering what it would feel like. A few moments later, he learned: like sharp needles piercing his skin. It instantly brought back memories from long ago, on Giard, when he'd been incredibly weak to the cold.

Rising his arm to inspect a drip of pale yellow, fuming liquid that had landed on it, he saw his skin turn dark and greenish as it ran down. It lasted for only a moment, then the green faded and his natural color returned.

"You alright?" Helm asked.

Irwin looked up to see that the drops were gliding from him in the same way, leaving slowly lingering trails of dark green on his skin. Helm showed no reaction to the painful sensation.

"Fine," Irwin said, sniffing as he wiped a drop from his forehead. "Feels like ice."

Helm hummed. "Ice? I've heard of that, but it's hard to believe that it can be so cold that liquids turn to solid."

"Yeah," Irwin said. He wiped another drop from his cheek, the stinging sensation making him annoyed. "How long did you say this part is?"

"We will be going in and out of these areas, but all in all, two hours," Helm said.

Irwin nodded as he looked at the ship. "Wouldn't it be better to create a roof on these ships?"

Helm snorted. "First of all, that's a waste of soulshards and good firesteel. Second, nobody else takes these routes. You are the only one besides Lava and me that I know of who can actually breathe this stuff."

"Lava? That's your brother?" Irwin asked, recalling how Hind had mentioned her Uncle Lava on multiple occasions.

"Yeah. Don't be surprised if people ask if you are related to him either," Helm said. "You somewhat resemble him. A bit smaller, but with the same build and eyes."

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A piercing screech managed to worm its way through the dense blanket of gas. It caused Irwin's teeth to ache, and he quickly looked around for whatever it was. He thought it came from behind him, but he couldn't be too sure.

"Ah…" Helm said, sighing wearily. "I guess it was a good thing we took this route."

"Why? What were those?"

"That's the sound one of the more annoying of insects down here makes," Helm said. "Luckily, they rely on smell, just like most of them, and this stuff-" he took a hand from the steering wheel and waved it through the thick mist. "-blocks it. That's how I found this route."

The screams came a few more times, but as they descended further down, they became ever fainter until finally vanishing entirely.

"They were more persistent than normal," Helm muttered. "I wonder what has them all riled up."

"Those two invaders… or Scintilla?" Irwin suggested.

"If I were those invaders, I'd stay far away from the hives these belong to," Helm said. "Unless they are a whole lot stronger than I was led to believe, they wouldn't survive the encounter."

They continued flying, and as Irwin felt more drops land on his skin, he began getting thinking. These drops had to hold water… perhaps he could manipulate it?

Focusing on his soulcard, he felt the added drain between holding everyone in his soulscape and having two hammers out. Still, as soon as his sweltering skill appeared, he felt the dense amount of water in the fog around him. It was almost like steam, but there was something else, something he couldn't control inside. Focusing on the steam, he unsummoned his hammers and began pushing the steam away.

"What! Something is-" Helm shouted, falling quiet as the thick yellow fog was shoved away from them, creating an almost clear area a few dozen feet around the ship. "Irwin?"

"Sorry, I didn't think of this before," Irwin said as he took a deep breath.

The drain on his soulforce was pretty strong, as the alien matter within the dense gas was making it far harder to manipulate, but no longer smelling the stink more than made up for it.

A drop fell down from his hand, then another.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

"You sure this is better?" Helm asked as slowly rain of painful acid began raining down on them.

Irwin gritted his teeth, pulling the dense gas to the side. As he did, the ceiling above them became visible, and it glistened with a layer of yellowish, green moisture. Drops fell, but far less than before.

"Alright, that is better," Helm said. "That's a pretty useful skill, but how many active abilities does your soulcard even have? Or is this from your heartcard?"

Irwin was about to answer when something moved inside one of the holes they passed, and in the blink of an eye, an arm-length wyrm shot out and toward him. Irwin struck out, summoning a hammer as he let go of his control over the steam. The ship dove back into the fog ahead of them while a thud came from Irwin's hammer as he struck the wyrm. There was a pop, like something splattering apart.

"That's not good," Helm hissed as the ship increased in speed.

Something dropped onto the back of the ship, and Irwin pulled on his soulcard, shoving the gasses away to reveal another wyrm slithering along the side of the boat towards them. The metal where it passed had turned rough, and Irwin hurled his hammer at it, knocking it down only for three more to drop on the ship.

"Can you clear out this stink in front of us so I can see better?" Helm shouted.

Irwin pulled on his soulforce, his soulcard humming as he drew from it more than he had in a long while. The dense yellow gas in front and around the ship was shoved back violently, creating a V shape that tapered slightly. The tunnel became visible, and dozens of wyrms appeared from holes all around it.

"Not good," Helm snapped as he increased the ship's speed.

Irwin felt the drain on his soulforce increase rapidly as he had to keep the area around them clear.

"I can't keep this up too long," he shouted.

"At this speed, it won't take much longer," Helm shouted back.

Irwin gritted his teeth, hoping not to long would be long enough for his rapidly depleting soulforce to keep up with.

He kept knocking the wyrms away, and minutes ticked by when Helm cursed and slowed down so hard Irwin almost toppled backward.

"What?" he snapped, struggling to remain on his feet. Turning around, he saw a three-foot-wide wyrm head poking out of a larger hole, starting to block up the tunnel ahead of them. Without holding back, he hurled one hammer forward, enlarging it just as it left his fingers and using kinetic energy to increase its explosive speed. It caused his soulforce to dip even lower, but as the hammer slammed into the wyrm, pale-white ichor sprayed everywhere as a part of it was ripped off.

The ship almost jumped as it shot forward again, and as they passed below the hole, Irwin prepared himself to hit again. It wasn't needed as there was no sign of the injured wyrm, though chunks of flesh and chitin still slid down some, landing on the deck.

A slight headache began thudding in Irwin's head, and he decreased the size of the area around the ship.

"Irwin?"

"We need to get out of here," Irwin shouted.

Helm grunted and increased the ship's speed.

With a hammer in each hand, Irwin locked his feet below two of the seat edges to prevent himself from falling out as he began swatting and knocking away the wyrms.

When his soulforce dipped so low he couldn't hold hit, he began using a single hammer while the pocket of clarity around them shrunk more and more until it was only enough for him to see the wyrms.

Helm was shouting at him to keep it up, but Irwin barely heard the words.

Finally, as his vision was becoming blurry they shot out of the tunnel, the yellowish gass cloud and into a large cavern with space all around. There were still wyrms partially danging from the ceiling above them, but none close enough to cause issues.

"Alright, we are clear," Helm shouted.

Irwin slumped into the chair, unsummoning his hammer, releasing all control over his sweltering skill, and quickly warning the others. A few moments later, everyone appeared one at a time, back on the ship.

"Captain, are you alright?" Hind asked as she leaned forward.

"Tired," Irwin rumbled as he leaned back and closed his eyes. His head was pounding, and even the tiny drain of his children in his mind felt painful. Perhaps they sensed this, or it was a coincidence after playing with Zender for hours, but all three embers cuddled up together in the depths of the lava lake and fell into a deep slumber. A little of the tension faded from their presence, and Irwin rubbed his head.

"Is it safe for me to take a nap?" he asked.

"Yes," Helm said. "I'll wake you when we close in-"

Irwin didn't even hear the rest as he drifted off.

--

Hind suppressed her worry as she watched Irwin's head roll with the banking of the ship.

"Don't worry," Helm said, looking back at her. "He's going to be fine. Just a bit worn out from overuse of his soulcard."

"Keep your eyes in the front," Hind snapped, and as she did, she realized she sounded just like her mother. She only had faint memories of her, but there were some things she remembered, like her snapping at her father. "Also, couldn't you have done something?"

"No. When those wyrms began popping up, I had to do all I could to get us out there before his soulcard bottomed out," Helm said.

Hind looked at the back of her father's head, knowing he was probably right. Still, as she glanced at Irwin, she felt ashamed. She owed him a life, not danger and death.

He would have gone here even without us, she told herself, recalling the stubborn look the Captain had gotten every time they talked about Scintilla.

She turned away and looked out into the darkness. Although she could see faint red outlines, and some of the lava from below helped, to her, it was still far to dark for her liking. She knew her father and Irwin could see much better, partially thanks to their cards, she preferred the lava-filled top layers. Everything in and below the burrows was just not fun, nor had it been for as long as she knew.

Which wasn't the only thing.

As she thought back to walking through Smelter, she realized that although she was happy to be with her father, nothing had changed. Everything was exactly the same as she had remembered, and as she thought about Eluathar and the other places she'd been to, she realized something.

I enjoy being out there and exploring.

It surprised her immensely how fast the conclusion had come. Shouldn't she have been here for weeks or months before she'd felt like this?

Glancing at Irwin, she wondered if she would be allowed to continue traveling with them. They hadn't discussed it, and perhaps the Captain thought she'd want to stay here. As soon as she pictured that, she frowned. That was part of it—the idea that she'd have to remain here after this. With the storm out there, who knew when normal travel would resume? It could be years or decades!

"You okay?"

She looked up to see her father glance at her over his shoulder.

"Eyes forward," she said, and felt a warm joy at his familiar grin and quickly turned her head.

"I'm alright," she said. But now I have to worry about telling you I'm not staying here.

--

Irwin woke as something jabbed his shoulder, and he quickly looked around, blinking awake.

Hind was looking at him from the row of seats behind him, pointing forward.

"Dad says we are close to Tang's place."

"A couple more minutes," Helm said. "One thing… don't be worried about him, alright? One of his cards changed him a bit. He's slightly bigger than usual."

Irwin blinked, then shrugged.

"Thanks for the warning," he said, focusing on how he felt- which was a lot better.

His soulforce was half refilled, and his headache was gone. His otherself quickly shot through his soulscape, heading to the lava lake to check on the embers. Surprisingly, all three woke up as he approached.

A wave of emotions, almost like questions was pushed toward him by the two who were further along.

"Yes, I'm fine again," he said, smiling as he watched the two tiny embers swim before him. Looking through lava was near impossible, but their soulforce was a bright beacon and resembled their physical forms almost perfectly.

One of the two larger ones sent another question, and Irwin replied, feeling slightly sad.

"No, but we are on our way to look for her."

A trio of sad emotions hovered around him for a bit, but they only lasted for a short while. Soon, the three began swimming around, playing along the narrow rock formations at the bottom of the lava lake.

I wonder if I can create some of that Pyroflux and bring some of those fishes and vegetation here, he thought.

Sensing Ambraz hovering above the lake, Irwin shot up and burst out, flinging molten rock around.

"You were able to create those instruments," he said, waving at the piano that stood, almost forgotten, near the shore. "Can we create Pyroflux here?"

Irwin sensed his otherself in the real world, landing near a large excavation site with a towering structure to the side.

"That's a good idea, kid!" Ambraz said. "You want to create a better place to play for the embers?"

"Yes! Then we can bring some of those fish and plants here," Irwin said.

As Ambraz and he began plotting, his other self climbed out of the ship and looked around.

The land was barren, with broken rocks and stone everywhere and a quarry that was atleast sixty feet deep. A haphazard but large construction was built partially around it, and as Helm led them towards it, a large door to a working area was flung open.

"He's big…" Boohm muttered, and Irwin could only agree as a towering behemoth stepped through the door. He was almost as wide as the door, his shoulders and head seeming almost attached to each other with no neck, and his long, gleaming gray hair hung down to the middle of his back, some parts of it spiking outward.

"Helm!"

A deep rumble came, the name drawn out, causing it to sound like a distant volcanic eruption.

"Tang! Good to see you! Look who finally came back," Helm shouted.

Irwin marveled as they closed in. Tang was over two heads taller than him and Helm and easily as heavy and wide as both of them combined.

I wonder what card he has, Irwin wondered.

"This is Hind, your daughter?" Tang said, turning around with alacrity that defied his bulk and slow tone. He stepped forward, then bowed down until his head was at the same height as Hind's.

"It is very good that you are back. Your father almost went and did something foolish to go out and find you," he rumbled slowly.

Hind's eyebrows rose, and she turned to her father, who let out a soft laugh.

"Now, it wasn't that bad! Besides, we are not here to have you make fun of me in front of my daughter. We are out here to search for one of the Ignitzians. Did you hear about the demonic invaders?"

Tang rose back up and frowned, his eyebrows touching in the middle.

"Just some rumors. Tell me about them… but come in first."

Tang walked back to the door, and Helm followed him.

"Alright, but we don't have much time. I actually came here to ask you to help us find the Ignitzian, and-"

"I understand," Tang interrupted him. "But that might be a bit more difficult than you think."

Irwin followed behind Helm into a rubble-filled room. A bed slab large enough for three of him stood far in the back, but that wasn't what drew his interest.

Statues and stonework stood everywhere, many unfinished and all covered in dense amounts of runes.

Only a single statue stood in a well-cleaned area, and it represented a tall Fiz'rin woman, her head held high as she seemed ready to strike at someone with a hammer covered in runes.

Tang moved to a stone-carved sitting area, swiping an assortment of stone fragments, ore, and unfinished carvings away with his massive arm.

"Kid, look to the side!"

Irwin blinked as he looked around, trying to spot what got Ambraz so excited. It took him only a few moments to find it- a mask of beautiful purple metal with slits for eyes.

Purperion, Irwin thought, just as Ambraz shouted the same thing in his mind.

"Purperion!"