Irwin's Journey 490: Age versus time

As soon as the world around Umbral returned, he spun around midair, taking stock of his surroundings. 

Almost a hundred feet above the ground, and-

His mind blanked for a split second. Something that rarely, if ever, happened, and that would have the others scold him for. Still, he wondered how they would deal with what he saw. 

Hundreds of young Oculithar corpses, most in a state of rapid decomposition. 

The moment passed, and he sensed the teleporter dropping beside him, his eyes showing not an ounce of panic. A world portal hung above and behind them, radiating soulforce.

Umbral kept his focus on Terlo as the two of them dropped down. It all took barely more than a few seconds, and as they hit the ground, Umbral watched to see how the telporter would react. Nearly all teleporters he knew had weak physiques, and he expected… something.

Terlo's legs cracked as he slammed down onto his hands, his head almost knocking against the ground. 

So, he is weak… Umbral thought, as he rose to his full height, his feet barely tingling and his legs no worse for wear.

He opened his mouth to speak, only to see the teleporter flicker in and out of existence. It happened so fast that Umbral wouldn't be surprised if only a Shaidin or someone equally sensitive would have noticed. 

What everyone would have seen, however, was how Terlo got up with a big smile. His legs were fine, and his clothing, which had been ripped, torn, and dirty, was now pristine.

Umbral took another step back, preparing his ability. 

"Whoa! No need to get aggressive! I mean, we are both in the same situation, right?" Terlo exclaimed, holding up his arms, his smile melting into a worried look. "How about we have a chat?"

Umbral stared into the other's eyes. The dullness was gone, replaced by a depth and sharpness that spoke of power and knowledge.

"You are a clone," he stated, still ready to act. 

"Yes, and you are a Shaidin. So?"

For the third time in an hour, Umbral felt his mind jolt in shock. The first time had been when he'd sensed that the man before him was a clone. The second time, due to all the dead Ocullithar around him. But this third time? It was the worst, and he felt a tiny sliver of worry along with the shock. He knew full well how much time had passed since his entire people had been eradicated. Nobody but the Guidar should have even the slightest memory of them, and yet….

"Right, calm down," Terlo said, stepping back, hands raised higher. "No need to get this angry."

Umbral couldn't help himself. He let out a hiss as he stepped forward. This thing even saw that he was angry? As visible as his emotions would be to his own people right now, there was no way anyone else should notice the same.

"Who are you. Speak," Umbral snapped. The amount of emotions he was showcasing was dishonoring his parents, and he reigned them in as fast as he could.

"Terlo! Best informant, teleporter, and most handsome individual this side of The Tangled Core," the teleporter said with a shameless smile as he bowed from his waist. "Also, I was under the impression that your people were… uh… extinct?"

Umbral stepped forward, spreading his hands threateningly. "Who. Are. You."

"Ugh, calm down, please," the teleporter said, rubbing his chin. "What is with you people lately. I just told you who I am."

Umbral prowled forward, knowing the other was playing a game—one he didn't want to play. As much as he was impressed by how the other had withstood the chains, he knew for sure those had been far too weak to bind him properly. The tricks he had used to ignore the torture only meant he was being understimulated. 

The question was, how much? Was it possible that he was able to do the one thing Umbral needed the most?

"How do you know of my people?" he said, changing his line of questioning as he managed to get a grip on his emotions.

"The Shaidin? Well, I read a lot?"

Umbral moved within arm's reach from the other, narrowing his eyes. If he knew anything more of his people, he knew what that meant.

"No? Well… Let's just say I'm older than I look," Telro said, eyebrows wiggling. "I know. Hard to believe."

"Can you break the Guidar's chains that bind me?" Umbral asked.

A flicker of something far different from the constant childish behaviour crossed the other man's face, and as it did, Umbral felt a tiny pulse of something weave its way across his body. It lasted for a fraction of a second before pulling back, leaving him stunned. Secrets upon secrets. How did he manage to push through the dense soulforce weave around him? It was near impossible, and one of the reasons the Guidar almost fell to his people.

"Me? No. But I wouldn't be the best informant if I didn't know who could," Terlo said, his smile widening. "The question is. What do you have to make it worth my while to tell you?"

"If you know my people, you know what we are capable of," Umbral said slowly, leaning forward. "I have been held captive for millennia, and all that I had was taken. There is nothing I can barter with except your safety."

Terlo's eyebrows rose rapidly. "Now, that's not exactly true now is it?" the teleporter said sounding thoroughly unafraid. He scratched his nose, seemed to almost debate picking it before stopping as Umbral felt his anger grow. "So, you might not have anything material, but you have a whole lot of knowledge. You know things barely anyone on this side of this Portal Web knows about."

Umbral didn't even feel any surprise that the teleporter knew that term.

"Knowledge seems something you already have plenty of," he grunted, taking a step back. "What exactly do you want?"

Terlo's eyes focused on his, and he could almost see the mind behind them debate with itself for a moment before coming to a conclusion. 

His outward control over his emotions is almost as good as ours…

As Umbral thought that, he felt a tiny stab due to how much he'd just shown his own. 

"What do you know of the Guidar and Galladin War?" Terlo asked.

The question caused ancient memories to bubble to the surface of Umbral's mind. 

"The one after they wiped us out," he said. "It was the first time they came to these main branches."

Terlo kept watching him, clearly not satisfied with the answer.

"I was awoken one time during it," Umbral said, remembering it faintly. "There were sixty of us left back then"- Umbral felt a stab of pain as he recalled some of the faces of those that had still been alive, "-and they sent all but those still alive here to deal with the Galladin's main fighters. All I know is that none returned. The Galladin were said to be almost as powerful as us, but had far greater numbers."

"And do you know what happened at the end of the war?" Terlo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Umbral watched the other, wondering how much he already knew. Was he giving away free information? No… something about the other told him he wasn't.

Fine.

"Yilda broke free and raged across the Portal Gallery for a hundred years… When she finally disappeared, the Guidar had blocked the only known entrance here as they tried to deal with her. The Galladin were nearly wiped out by then, and they had expected to return soon. However, someone on this side managed to somehow manipulate the barrier, and now it's only strengthening with time. From what I know, it is about as impossible to break as the Portal Gallery barriers."

"Ah, so you do know some things," Terlo said, his eyebrows rising. "Good. One thing is wrong, however. The Galladin weren't wiped out, or even doing that much worse than the Guidar. Though when the Guidar abducted Yilda, they did lose one of their most promising ways to beat them. Still, I guess in the end that worked out all right."

Umbral looked at the teleporter, then his gaze flicked around the Occulithar corpse-riddled branch, up at the Portal that hovered there quietly, and at the barriers. If someone had told him that he would be discussing ancient history, and that no living being here should remember in a place like this, he would have ignored them for being weak of mind. How things had changed.

"How can you possibly know all this?" he said, his hard stare returning to the teleporter. "You said you are old. How old?"

Terlo let out a soft laugh that didn't reach his eyes, and for a moment, Umbral saw a depth in them that made his back turn rigid as he felt like he was staring into almost bottomless pits.

"Age is not just how long ago you were alive," Terlo said softly. "It is how many of the events during that time you can recall without going insane. Not all people were meant to become as old as they do… Now-" Terlo's hand raised as his face warping back to one of almost guilless joy, and he poked his ear. "-if you would like to know who can help you with your little problem, here is my price. After you are unchained, you will go somewhere to help a world survive the onslaught of the Guidar."

Umbral felt a surge of hope when the other referred to a potential end to his eternal bondage.

"Your people saw the Portal Gallery as a disk, with colors representing height, right?" Terlo asked

"Yes," Umbral said, wondering when the other would stop surprising him.

"Good. You will go to the northern-most circle in the yellow area and find the Sickedor main branch. Infiltrate it and search for the minor branch called Dohar. In it, you will find a group of survivors. Assist them. They are slowly being overwhelmed by the encroaching Guidar. Like this branch, there is but one, so you should be able to deal with him easily. Find and train the best of them for the next hundred years."

"They are your people?" Umbral asked quietly, the timeframe barely bothering him.

Terlo sighed. "I can't answer that. Do we have a deal?"

"You will tell me who can unchain me, but how will I know this person will do so?" Umbral asked. "Also, I am bound to my current task. I am already stretching it by lingering and talking with you."

As he spoke, Umbral felt the tiny pressure from the chains as they reacted to his own knowledge that he should likely be heading into the Portal that led to Scour.

Terlo yawned before humming softly. He waved his hand, and a tiny gaseous form appeared above it. There was a slight resemblance to Terlo himself, though it seemed like it glowed from the inside out.

"If we make a deal, I'll give you this. It will allow you to resist your bonds for at least a few months to a year, depending on your own willpower. That should give you the time you need."

Months to a year? So the one I seek is… no. He could just teleport me somewhere else, Umbral thought.

"And if this person will help you?" Terlo said, his mood seemingly raised, though his eyes were still not reflecting the emotion.  "Oh, I don't doubt it. It appears he has already done the same for a few others, and he has reason to hate the Guidar, though not yet as much as your people do."

"If," Umbral said slowly, drawing out the word. "This person unchains me, I will go where you request of me. But you must know that going there will take hundreds of years, even at my fastest speed. Are you-"

"Planning to teleport you there?" Terlo said, his eyebrows raising up. "Of course I will! I'll teleport you as close to the Sickedor branch as I can."

Umbral felt the seed of hope burn brighter as he stretched out his hand, fingers with sharp nails outward. If this one knew his people, he would-

Terlo mirrored his move, handpalm up, and they pressed their nails against the soft, fleshy skin below it, hard enough for it to part slightly.

"I accept," Umbral said. "Now. Who do I need to find?"

Terlo's smile suddenly turned genuine, though a hint of something… sinister made Umbral's spine shiver.

"That's easy. The same one that nasty piece of work, Slaudi, told you to find, who is, believe it or not, also the person he has been searching for a while!"

Umbral almost felt proud as he managed to show no outward reaction, though part of him was stunned at how high his tolerance for Terlo's antics had become. Or whatever this being's true name was.

"The Amnathair?" he asked, wondering if he should feel cheated.

"Hah! He isn't really an Amnathair," Terlo said, before scratching his nose. "Well, I don't think so anyway. What I do know is his name, which should help you. Also, he's in there-" he waved at the portal "- somewhere. Look for the Cardsmith Irwin."

Umbral felt a jolt at hearing the name. He had heard it many times over the last few months of their journey with Slaudi.

"One of those potential Galladin?" he said.

"That's what they say," Terlo said with a grin. "Now, how about you take this and get going? I'll linger here for a few hours till you are back."

"Hours…"

"Oh, right. The time dilation in there is really amazing!" Terlo said, nodding happily. "Now, hup hup. Get to it!"

Umbral was stunned as the tiny gaseous copy of Terlo was tossed his way. He hesitated for only a moment before catching it instead of dodging it, and he felt it flow into his body, then straight into his soulscape, something that should be impossible. Instantly, the pressure of the chains that had been his constant companion for almost as long as he could recall faded. They didn't vanish, but it was almost as if they fell into a slumber. Umbral managed to hide his elation.

Perhaps being around this one will raise my control to another level… if he keeps surprising me, he thought.

He took a deep breath, then turned to the Portal. "I will be back as soon as I am unchained."

"Good, good," Terlo said.

Umbral didn't wait, but croached a bit, then jumped, shooting through the air faster than most things could. He heard a shout of annoyance from behind, likely due to the explosion of dust and debris he'd created. 

He didn't care, and as he struck the Portal, all he could think of was that perhaps, in a hundred years, he would be free to start hunting Guidar. Even if he failed to avenge his people fully, he would be a thorn in their side.

I'll find this Cardsmith as fast as I can, and he will unchain me. 

--

Terlo wiped the dust and sand from his face, spitting out some that had gotten into his mouth.

"Bah. Always so explosive," he muttered, before looking around. "Well, I'm definitely not going to stay here for however long this takes. Have fun, and wake me when you are ready."

As he finished talking, he flickered slightly, and a moment later, he blinked, looking around stupidly.

"Are you kidding me? I have to wait here, how long? Hours!? That's boring!" 

The voice was the same, but gone was the depth in the eyes. Instead, an annoyed look matched the disgruntled expression as Terlo walked to the nearest corpse and kicked it in disgust.

"Bah. Oculithar! Not even with a card… Whatever."

He flicked his hand, and a lounge chair appeared beside the body. He slumped down in it, putting his feet on a tentacle. Another flick of his hand caused a glass filled with a pale purple liquid to appear.

"I wonder how long this will take."

--

Irwin held back a yawn as he walked through almost completely deserted Trunkle Smithsguild. One of the three main charters, if one didn't count the original Smithsguild, which most people in this part of Scour didn't, showed the signs of the feast that had been held. 

A few people were sleeping off their overindulgence below the tables, which had been shoved to the side of the main hallway. Sand and puddles of spilled drink mixed with remnants of dropped food make the entire place look like a mess. 

It took him a minute to reach the staircase leading up, and another few to get back to his room. The door was the final one at the end of the teacher's private rooms, and was meant specifically for him. It was a custom that all main charters had enacted after Silverleaf did it first, leaving him with a private place whenever he came to one of the charters. It had bothered him initially, but after the last few years, he had gotten used to it.

"Finally back?"

Irwin smiled as he saw Scintilla push herself up from the bed, her eyes bleary as she rubbed them. "What time is it?" she muttered.

"Early morning," Irwin said as he kicked off his boots, flung away his jacket, turned around, and let himself drop on the bed. Sand scattered, and Scintilla cursed as she began coughing.

"Dammit, Hotstuff, what was that for?"

"You left me there," Irwin said, grinning as he prodded her in the side. "You could have stayed and backed me up!"

"What, and answer questions about smithing?" Scintilla grunted, cuddling up to his side. "Like I know how to answer those."

"How about by keeping more of those young smiths away?" Irwin said, pulling her close. 

"You were dealing with things just fine," Scintilla muttered.

Irwin wanted to say something else when he sensed her fall back asleep. He hesitated, then decided to just leave her to it. As weary as he was, he knew he would be fine even without sleep soon enough.

Absently, he looked at Scintilla's left hand, which lay on his chest. Like her right, it was filled with cards, both combined into a fullhand. Technically, she was ready to get her next heartcard. Had been for over twenty years now. She just hadn't made up her mind yet if she wanted to, or if she should stay as she was. 

Irwin himself had told her many times it was her decision, but he knew she had already decided. It was their children who kept her from following through. 

I'll tell her again that I can just give her another Crathan card, Irwin thought as he let his soulforce senses spread out. She needs her second soulcard. 

His senses flowed from the building and over the building like his steam clouds could. The ambient soulforce, however, showed him both more and less. It showed him the soulforce of those around him, and how it flowed around the buildings, the city walls, and the forest beyond. 

A hundred years…. 

He had a hard time believing it. He knew he had only lived through a bit over forty of those, having used the time dilation during his times on Eluathar to speed through the rest. Still, it meant he was what… seventy? Eighty years old? 

I don't feel that old, he thought, thinking about everything he had done. 

One thing he noticed was that much of the travel through the Portal Gallery, and his many long months of Smithing blurred together. Perhaps that was it? He also found he had a hard time really recalling many of the details. Only some specifics flowed out.

'Dammit, Kid, what are you thinking about now?' 

Irwin almost laughed out loud as he sensed Ambraz's annoyance. Even after all these years, the Ganvil still called him kid.

'Wondering how old I am,' Irwin replied, honestly.

'Who cares? You aren't even a hundred years old yet,' Ambraz responded, followed by an annoyed. 'If you really wanna know, there are carded who can determine it based on your soulforce resonance.'

Irwin pulled his soulforce senses back, focusing on Ambraz. The other's remark barely surprised him anymore. He'd long since learned that there seemed to be a near infinite number of skills the cards gave, with even more tiny permutations.

'How is Frisyuustis doing?' he asked.

'Still annoyed only three of his offspring were among the top twenty,' Ambraz said, sounding proud. 

'So, you will be heading back tomorrow?'

'Miss me already? I've only been here for a few weeks.'

Irwin grinned, knowing Ambraz would sense his hilarity at the remark.

'One more jump home, then we open up Blackglass for the other,' he said, not bothering to respond.

'I can't wait for their reactions,' Ambraz replied. 'Especially that old rustbucket's should be priceless. Remember his reaction when he learned over five thousand Oxarites were now Crathans?'

'I remember,' Irwin replied. 'I also recall how much you gloated.'

'Yes, well, it was well deserved,' Ambraz said. 'Hilbarin has gotten way too comfortable over the years.'

'I think he would disagree. Besides, he actually said he might live there for a while,' Irwin said. 'It would give the younger generations more space to pick up the slack.'

'Bah! He is just bored and annoyed that not a single one wanted to take over his job,' Ambraz grunted. 'Did you hear if Salezina would be there?'

Irwin sighed as he thought of the previous empress, someone few of the new generations even knew about. Hundreds of years had passed since she'd been in charge of the Oxarite empire, and for nearly all of those years, she'd been wandering Scour. 

'Vaidara was here yesterday, she said they would definitely be there.'

'Good,' Ambraz hummed. 'She still owes me two cards.'

Irwin rolled his eyes, wondering how Ambraz could bother with that. They had so many cards now.

'I can sense that, you know?' Ambraz said, sounding annoyed. 'You won't let me eat the good ones, and those are the ones that taste best. She owes me two, and I've been looking forward to it for a while now!'

Irwin frowned. 'What did she offer?'

'Not telling! Or you will just say what they should really be kept or used for, and I'll have to be magnanimous and agree, and that will mean I can't eat them. Best to just keep it to myself.'

Irwin held back from responding that truly good cards were rare. Before he could ask anything, he sensed Ambraz get distracted.

'Gotta go. Frisyuustis wants to wager something!'

Irwin felt Ambraz's attention move away. 

A minute later, he wondered if he should just get up and do something useful. His otherself was reforging a card, both aura clones softly playing on Soulstrum guitars. They were far better than they had been, but he also knew they would never reach the level to create cardseeds. 

Spreading his soulforce senses out again, he was about to scan the city when he felt someone rush through the Smith's building, heading towards the teacher's area where they were.

He slowly moved Scintilla away, rolling out of the bed and moving to the door just as the person reached his door. A knock came just as he pulled open the door, and a guard stepped back in surprise. Then she shook herself, bowing slightly.

"Guildmaster! There was news from the Exit Portal tower. Someone or something came through and broke the containment. The teleporters and shadewalkers tried but failed to keep track of it."