Irwin's Journey 489: Inhuman stubbornness

Irwin lay in bed, looking at the simple wooden roof above. With his soulforce senses stretched out, he could sense the small community of Blackglass moving all around him.

They had returned to his smithy in the bowels of the earth the day before, right after Scintilla had fought and lost to Brecka. 

It had been obvious from the start. Brecka had two soulcards and far more practice with her new body. 

Irwin knew it had bothered Scintilla. Before he and Brecka had moved to Scour, the ex-Onyxian had been unable to even touch his heartbond. Now, things had changed the other way. Scintilla had dealt with it by asking Brecka to practice with her every day, something the other was more than happy to do.

"I spoke with Earilla," Scintilla said, as she moved around the room, finding her clothing.

Irwin propped himself up on his elbows, only to have his mouth drop open slightly as he saw her reach her arms above her body to get her shirt on. Besides getting slightly more muscular, the change into a Crathan had also come with an increase in her roundings, and Irwin found his eyes drifting while his mind replayed the evening before.

It took him a full minute to remember she'd asked him something, and by then, Scintilla was grinning at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

"What did Earilla say?" he asked with a slight cough.

"She will be joining us next time," Scintilla said, rolling her shoulders. As she did, Irwin saw how she rubbed her arms and legs. It was something she'd been doing a lot over the last few days.

"Why didn't she go with us this time?" Irwin asked. "I know to her it's only a few weeks, but Rindiri has been waiting for years now."

"She has been trying to get one of her friends to join her," Scintilla said. "Apparently, she's really close. Her friend already agreed to turn into a Crathan, but she is uncertain if she wants to be here."

"Tell her that if she doesn't like it, I can take her back two or three years later," Irwin said.

"I did, but she said two or three years is still a very long time."

Irwin wanted to say it wasn't, then stopped himself. Years ago, when he was young, he had felt the same, hadn't he? Months seemed as long as years, and years seemed to last forever. It was only in the last decade that he'd started to learn just how fast a year could pass.

"Well, she is welcome to join," he said.

Scintilla turned to him, looking more serious than before. "What would you say if I did make this my eventual form?" she asked, splaying her hands out.

The question came out of the blue, and for the second time that day, Irwin felt his mouth drop open. 

"Why?" he finally managed. "I thought you didn't want to?"

He wasn't sure how he felt about the question. Initially, he would have said it was her choice, but that he preferred her as she was. Now that he had seen her in her new form, he felt he wouldn't mind either way.

"I didn't before, and I still don't know about the whole egg thing," Scintilla said, examining him closely. "But…"  She hesitated, looking at herself, and flailing her arms. "I've never felt this… real before. It's like my body is more solid. More… I don't know. Just more real!"

"Do both of you think like this?" Irwin asked hesitantly, thinking back to Scintilla's main body.

"Yes," Scintilla said without hesitation. "We had a long talk about it… or well, more like a long think? It's so weird. Either way, we have made a list of things I am going to try to get a better feel of it. Which brings me to something else… I have a question."

Irwin raised his eyebrow. "Which is?"

"I want to explore this cave, below it, and the desert outside. You said you wanted to have a small outpost closer to the surface and eventually create a city up there? I can do that. See if I can find demons and other things."

"For cards?" Irwin asked.

"That too," Scintilla said with a smile. "But I want to test this body. See what it can do."

"That wasn't the question, though," Irwin said after a few moments.

"I… know. You will be practicing for most of your time," she said, looking slightly worried. "The question is, if you are okay with it?"

Irwin felt his mouth open again and snapped it shut before it had a chance. "Why would I mind?" he asked.

Scintilla seemed relieved, then smiled. "I don't know, pretty eyes. Perhaps because you might be worried about me?"

Irwin stared at her, then let out a loud snort. "Would that have stopped you?"

"It might have," Scintilla said, suddenly serious again.

Irwin was caught off guard by that, realizing she was serious. He looked at her, his senses flowing over her and feeling her powerful soulcard, Leafbrand. She only had a single soulcard, something he wanted to remedy before he eventually left to find Greldo, but even then, she was already strong enough to fight one or two soulcarded. That said, he couldn't say he wasn't slightly worried. There were more soulcarded on Scour now than there had ever been, and not all liked him. That was of little concern to him, as he doubted even the strongest few together could actually harm him, but to her?

He hesitated only a moment, then shook his head. The desert above them was months or more away from any of those nobles, and even then, none knew about Blackglass. Even if they did, they still wouldn't know where it was. 

"Go and practice. Find us a good spot for an outpost, preferably in some mountainous area," he said. "If you find a card you want reforged, let me know. Or if you know what you want, I'll see if I have one."

Scintilla's smile widened even more, making full use of her slightly wider face. 

"Brecka said you wouldn't mind, and I'm glad you didn't change while you were here," she said. "She's going to be here in a few days! Also, if you have a card that has the frost-fire type, that would be great."

Frost-fire, Irwin thought, thinking about her current soulcard and nodding slowly. It would be interesting to see how that would mesh with her Crathan card. 

'Do we have any frost-fire cards left?' 

Ambraz's reaction was slower than before, and when it came, it sounded like he had just woken up.

'Ugh, you two finally stopped? Kid, warn a Ganvil next time, alright?'

Irwin felt his cheeks heat up slightly.

'It's fine, I should have remembered from the last time the two of you had time together,' Ambraz continued. 'Frost-fire? We have a few, but nothing amazing. It's one of those very specific card types. We do have plenty of fire and frost cards, though, so I'm sure we could reforge some. Good practice, as it's partially out of your comfort zone.'

"Ambraz says we have a few of those," Irwin said.

"Could you tell me about them later?" Scintilla asked, tightening her belt. 

She had finished getting dressed in the clothes she'd borrowed from Brecka, but they were clearly a size too large. The simple pair of wyrm-leather pants and a matching tunic hung around her. Only the pale, sandy-colored shirt seemed to fit decently.

"I'll have to find some better clothes and some armor," Scintilla said absently, before looking at him. "Or is my skin enough?"

Irwin snorted. "Yes, but you want armor anyway. Otherwise, you will be naked after each long fight. Clothes get torn and slashed apart too easily."

"I wouldn't mind if it were just the two of us," Scintilla said, giving him a long look. 

Irwin felt a smile creep up on his face.

'Oh no you don't! I've just had to go in an emergency slumber yesterday,' Ambraz growled. 'At least get me and the others out of here before you start that!'

Ambraz's outburst made Irwin sigh. 

"I need to draw some soulforce from the lake," he said, waving outside. "Move Ambraz and the others out."

Scintilla shrugged. "Can you introduce me to Nimlarel first? I'm sure she can help me get some clothes and other things."

Irwin rolled out of bed and started searching for his own clothes. 

When he finished, the two of them walked through the bedroom, hallway, and into the smithy. 

"How long till we head back?" Scintilla asked as she walked through the storefront and inspected some of the cards.

"As soon as we can, three months at most," Irwin said. "It's about time we increase the number of Crathans. I left a lot of cards with Daubutim, and I'll be making even more. After those are all used up, I'll be extending the time again. Why?"

"So I can plan what to do," Scintilla said, putting her finger on a display case that held an emerald rank card depicting a wide-bladed sword. "What weapons do Crathans use? Swords? Hammers?"

Irwin tried to recall if he had seen any tendency for one weapon, only to realize he'd not really paid much attention to those things. 

"No idea," he said. "Except for a few of the Accenti, most were Yuurindi, and from what I know, those mostly fight with their carded abilities. Why?"

"I think I'll teach them how to wield the queen of weapons," Scintilla said, summoning leafbrand. Usually, the blade was around thirty inches long, but this time it was almost double.

Queen? Irwin thought, before watching Scintilla flow through a few stances.

Scintilla swung the much larger-than-normal blade around with apparent ease before looking at him.

"Besides cardsmiths, the reason you are creating an entire species is because we need warriors, right?"

Irwin nodded slowly.

"Well, carded abilities are all well and good until you come across a powerful soulcarded with a soulforce dampening skill, or one immune to your type of attacks," Scintilla said, raising Leafbrand, smiling at it before looking at Irwin. "It's much harder to be immune to a blade in the gut."

"Then I guess you have a lot of things to look forward to," Irwin said, smirking. "Exploring, killing demons, teaching Crathans. It almost feels like you are afraid of getting bored."

Leafbrand vanished, and Scintilla walked forward. 

"Well, I have to do something while you are busy reforging cards, right? Now, how about we get something to eat before you drain that lake?"

Irwin snorted, then turned to the door.

"Right, meet Nimlarel, eat, then drain the lake," he said. 

Scintilla leaned against him, smiling with flickering eyes. "And perhaps after that I can drain you?"

Irwin felt his mouth go dry.

Scintilla laughed as she pulled him to the door.

This is definitely better than being here alone, Irwin thought, letting her pull him along.

--

As it had many times before in Irwin's life, time flowed unbiddenly. Days passed, turning to months, then years as he reforged cards, tried and failed to create a cardseed for his soulclone, and enjoyed Scintilla's company. 

Around them, Blackglass grew in spurts, changing slowly as he was there, then jumping forward years each time he returned from Eluathar. The number of Crathans went from a few thousand to tens of thousands, and eventually, the recently changed that Irwin brought from Eluathar accounted for only a small number of the new members of the fledgling species. Children roamed the safe depths of Blackglass, growing into adults who only knew stories about their parents' origins.

Although there were some small issues, the worst of which was a Burrow appearing next to Silverleaf, which Irwin personally took care of, people spoke of a time of unprecedented peace.

As fast as time on Scour passed, just as slow did it flow on Eluathar. Time there seemed almost frozen. Weeks crawled by until three had passed.

Three weeks on Eluathar, and almost an entire week for the Portal Gallery.

--

"You will bring him there," Slaudi snapped, glaring at the long-haired man before him. Pale, his clothes torn and soiled, there was little left of what must have once been a gaudy appearance. 

And yet… the pale eyes that looked back at him were devoid of fear, and filled with what could only be called annoyance, as if he were a parent scolding a child.

"And I'll ask you again," Terlo said, before clearing his throat and spitting on the deck before him. "What's in it for me?"

Slaudi pulled on the chains binding the human, watching how he dropped back to the deck, writhing and flailing. This time it lasted for over a minute, but when Slaudi stopped, the obnoxious man simply struggled back to his feet, staring at him as if he'd been merely pushed over.

How is he able to do this?

Slaudi glared at the man, letting his skill flow through him, searching for any reason that he could resist this much. Did he really need to spend the time to fully chain him? It would take months, and mean he couldn't do anything else!

Only three soulcards. Even if he tries something, there's no way he can even scratch the Shaidin, he thought, shaking his head.

"You will do what I say, or I'll start that pain and leave you with it for an entire day!"

The man looked at him, but there wasn't even the tiniest flicker of fear in his eyes. Instead, he slowly raised his finger, stuck it in his nose, before flicking a tiny, disgusting yellow blob beside the deck he'd spat on.

"That would only waste your time and mine. You are asking me to teleport something across this entire branch. I'm merely suggesting you give me something for my effort."

Slaudi glanced around. Most of the chained were trying hard not to look, but those that did were staring at the new captive in clear awe and disbelief. A few steps to the side, all three Shaidin were staring at the man with unreadable faces.

Slaudi turned back to Terlo, wishing he could just kill the obnoxious teleporter on the spot. Why did he have to deal with something like this? Worse, he knew the man was right. He didn't want to spend the time to bind him, and didn't have the time to bring the Shaidin all the way to… what was that portal world called again? Scour? 

"Fine…" he said slowly, unable to keep the desire to kill the other from his face. "And what do you want?"

"Oh, that's easy," the man said, smiling brightly. "Remove the chains off course!"

Slaudi wanted to scream, but instead he took a deep breath, pondering if he should just use the chains to hurt him for a while. 

"No," he snapped. "Try something else."

"Oh, come now," the man said. "We both know that's the only thing I want. Well, that and a promise to leave me alone in the future, but I guess that's not going to happen. Remove my chains, and I'll bring him wherever you want. After that, I'll just leave, and you will never see me again."

Slaudi was about to laugh, wondering where he even thought he could flee, when he realized something. There was a tiny glint in the man's eyes… something that told him that yes, he would be able to leave, and no, he would never see him again.

I am older than his entire family line, Slaudi thought, his hands gripping tight.

He pushed his anger down, knowing he didn't have the time for it. Between his orders to deal with the potential Crathanathair, using the Shaidin for his own goals, and dealing with the remaining resistance on this annoying branch, he had other things to do than deal with a single teleporter. 

He gnashed his teeth, then made a decision.

"I'm going to leave you with that pain for an hour, and see if you still feel like this," he snapped. "Then we can talk."

Before the man's eyes could even widen, he dropped to the ground, flailing and shouting, spittle flying from his mouth.

Slaudi looked at it for a few minutes before glancing around at the chained aboard his ship. A few were staring at the scene, but most didn't even dare. Although he hoped Terlo would break, he had the feeling it likely wasn't happening. No, the main reason he was doing this was to suppress any potential seed of rebellion his actions might have sown.

When a bit over an hour had passed, Terlo lay like a wet heap on the deck, shaking and shivering, unable to even scream. Slaudi stopped the chains from harming him, hoping to get a better response.

"Teleport him," he ordered, feeling filthy for just how much he hoped the human would do as he said.

Terlo shivered, then slowly clarity returned to his eyes. He pushed himself to his feet, wiping hair from his face.

"Sure, after you remove the chains," he said, his voice ragged.

Besides his anger, Slaudi felt impressed by the other. With the chains binding him, the man shouldn't be able to use any of his cards. That meant he wasn't using any of them to fake or dodge the pain. He was somehow just withstanding it… It could be because he had passive effects, things the chains couldn't prevent, but this much?

"Fine," Slaudi snapped. "I will remove the main chain, and you should feel it unravel. Teleport him to the Scour portal, and wait there until it is gone."

Before the horrid man could react, he spun on his heel, pointing at one of the Shaidin. "If he tries anything, kill him."

"Yes," the Shaidin said emotionless.

"Oh, I won't try anything," Terlo grunted. "Now, the chains?"

Slaudi hissed, then focused on the bindings around the others' soulscape. Although wound around him by one of the chainbinders that had captured him, only a Guidar could normally change or remove them.

And that anomaly, Slaudi thought, thinking about the Smith, Irwin, who had still not been found. Another headache to deal with.

"Hold still, this will take a few minutes," he said.

--

Umbral watched as the interesting man faced off against the Guidar. Even without looking, he knew his brethren were doing the same, likely as impressed as he was. 

How is he able to use his soulcards while bound? he thought.

It was a good thing none of those present could read his expressions. He knew he was showing far too much enjoyment at how this… Terlo was tricking the Guidar.

I wonder if he would be willing to tell me how he is doing this, Umbral thought. Part of it had to be because the chains binding him were meant for a much weaker individual, but even then… The filthy Guidar wasn't even noticing that he was being played. In all his long life, Umbral had never seen anything like it.

And that he actually thinks he's dealing with a human…

Examining the man, he noticed the multitude of tiny mistakes compared to how humans should be. Eyes that blinked too fast, pupils that looked hollow, and a speech pattern that seemed almost… rehearsed and bored.

"There, the main chain is unwinding," the Guidar snapped, glaring at the man. "Teleport him to Scour, and make sure I never see you again."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the not-a-human said. He smiled, and Umbral almost snickered as he read the true meaning of what his words implied.

I wish I could be there when he catches… Slaudi… 

Umbral rarely used the Guidar's individual names, preferring to think of all of them as the filth that had wiped out his entire species. Only if he had reason to believe one would be killed did he make an exception, and although he had no idea when or how, he had the feeling this Slaudi had just made a mistake he would come to regret.

Terlo walked up to him, his eyes still hollow, though a glitter sat deep within them. Almost as if he was hiding deep within himself, and only a tiny bit of the light of his mind pealed through a thick curtain.

"Ready to get away from this moldy heap of rotting wood?" 

Umbral nodded, having a strong feeling that he meant Slaudi, not the ship.

"A man of few words? I like that. Let's go," Terlo said, putting his hand on Umbral.

It took the Shaidin all of his self-control not to strike. It wasn't just because he despised others touching him, either. What made it profoundly hard this time was what his senses told him.

He is a clone…

His thoughts were scattered as the world around him changed into golden, crackling lightning.

-- 

Rubini rushed through the halls of Trunkle Smithsguild. She hadn't been back for a decade now, mostly working on growing her own small charter. Still, little had changed. The second-largest smith guild still covered a tenth of Trunkle City, and hundreds of prospective smiths roamed its hallways, hoping to become the next Irwin.

He's actually coming here again, Rubini thought, as the image of their mysterious Guildmaster popped into her head. 

Over the years, he'd barely shown up, but each time he did, he had awed everyone, teachers and students equally. Now, with the hundred-year anniversary happening soon, he had promised to be here as he had a few years prior when Silverleaf had celebrated its own one hundred-year anniversary.

That, however, wasn't the only reason she was as excited as she was. 

Ahead of her, the door of the elite section of the Portal Closers appeared. It sat at the back of the room that housed the Portal Closing Guild. Although technically still part of the Cardsmiths Guild, it had grown to be largely independent and was almost as large and influential as the Cardsmiths Guild. Providing the bulk of all cards, it had gone from being a Guild that only the desperate and needy joined to being a prestigious occupation.  

It, along with the Shipwrights Guild and the Shadewalkers Guild, was part of what people called the New Guilds now, with their influences having slowly crept beyond their initial borders to be felt as far as Cindergrove, many months of travel away. 

"Headteacher Rubini."

Rubini nodded at the guard, and it took her a moment to remember who he was. When she recalled he had been one of Julla's students, she had already entered the room. The spacious area, more an inn than a gathering room, had a large bar at the back and two levels. Most of the elites of the Portal Closers Guild sat at the ground level, while the higher row of balconies was reserved for the teachers.

Where is-

"Rubini!!"

Rubini groaned as she heard Julla's roar, and she looked to the back of the room to see her friend waving at her from one of the balconies. 

She tried to ignore the curious gazes of some and the interested looks of some of the others. Especially the other Oxarites seemed to debate approaching her, and she increased her pace, quickly making her way to the stairs. The guard at the bottom merely nodded, but Rubini barely noticed. A moment later, she was at the top, and two strong arms pulled her the last bit and into a warm, but also bone-crushing hug.

"I've missed you! Why didn't you come to see us more often?" Julla said, holding her for a moment before putting her down. 

Rubini cracked her neck and rubbed her arms as she glared at her friend. She had long since gotten used to her friend's changed appearance, more massive, more muscular, and with flames licking around her hair. A part of her still didn't understand why Julla had gone so far as to change into a Crathan, or even fully understand how a card could do that. Even after all her years of cardsmithing, having risen to become a ruby-rank smith and having even been able to create a cardseed successfully, the idea that a card could do that baffled her.

"Maybe because you seem to want to crush me each time we see each other?" she said, her eyebrows creeping toward her hairline.

"Come now, it's not that bad," Julla said, smiling wider and pulling her to the table she had been sitting at.

"The others will arrive later," she said, sitting down and pouring herself and Rubini a mug of something steaming and spicy. "How is your charter coming along?"

Rubini looked at her friend, noticing a happy glint in her eyes, and sighed.

"Pretty good. I've got twelve students now, two of whom will probably be going to Silverleaf in a year or two. That should get me a larger number of cards to work with as a reward," she said. "With no competition, and most people not interested in traveling to the large charters, I've got work lined up. At least a card or two a day."

"That's great! Did your success rate improve?"

"A bit. I succeed about half the time now," Rubini said, smiling widely. "And that's at topaz rank!"

She was happy to see Julla's eyes widen in surprise. It wasn't unrealistic either. Even most of the teachers couldn't get that good, and except for the best of the best, most cardsmiths couldn't even get a fifty percent success rate on quartz cards.

"You really are doing great," Julla said, and Rubini saw a slight wistfulness in her eyes. 

"What about you?" she said quickly. 

Julla shrugged. "I'm training the ruby-rank Divers now, and-"

"Divers?" 

"Ah, right, I guess you weren't here for a while," Julla said. "That's what some people were calling them in Silverleaf, and it's sort of spread. There's even talk about renaming the guild to the Diver Guild, though some people don't like it."

Rubini leaned back, wondering where the term had even come from.

"Either way, I've actually been thinking of quitting the guild," Julla said, her joy fading slightly as she stared into the distance. "I've done nearly everything, and the chance of going beyond training the Ruby-ranked Divers is so small."

Rubini wasn't sure what to say and just stared at her friend. They hadn't spoken in a while, and now she worried she'd missed something.

"What would you do if you quit?" she asked softly.

"Probably head to Blackglass," Julla said.

Rubini felt a slight panic at that. Like many, she'd been stunned when the existence of a new empire came to light fifteen years ago. Especially because nearly all those living in it were Crathans. There was, however, an issue. It was a very closed-off place, and people were only allowed in when invited. As far as she knew, the only one she knew personally who had gone was Julla. If her friend went there permanently, seeing each other would be even harder, if not impossible.

"Oh, don't look so worried," Julla said. "From what I've heard, The Guildmaster is going to open up the empire starting next year. According to what Brecka told me, they were waiting for something that is now finished. If that doesn't happen, you could always do what I did…  It would increase your ability to reforge cards."

Rubini shook her head immediately. They always had this discussion at least one time when they met, though this was sooner than most of those times.

"I like who and what I am," she said. "Anyway, did you learn anything else?"

Julla seemed to want to argue, then deflated and shrugged. "Not really. I heard The Guildmaster is going to be leaving for longer periods again."

"Back to his home?" 

"That's what the rumors say," Julla said. 

They continued chatting for a while longer, and as they spoke about less important things, the atmosphere quickly improved. 

I wonder if I should go and check out Blackglass if those rumors are true, Rubini thought at some point.