Irwin and Daubutim were staring out across the bustling area around the town wall. The buildings inside the wall could barely be called done, with no second stories or door and window frames anywhere. Even then, the area beyond the wall was already being divided up into what one day would become the city. That would be long from now, though, as ...
2024-01-03 19:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post"You are sure this will work?" Irwin asked as he looked at Dianor.
"Not sure, but it has a high likelihood of getting most people there in time and alive," Dianor said.
They were standing on the massive wall beside the gate, looking down at the people streaming out of Coulwater Tower. They were all carrying as much as they could whil...
2023-12-30 20:11:46 +0000 UTC View Post"They are still in the closet, but they are hungry and thirsty and need to get out soon," Greldo said as soon as he reappeared.
Irwin nodded, thinking for a moment.
They were huddled in a narrow room below the castle with an opening down into the sewer through which they had entered and another door leading up.
Including him an...
2023-12-29 17:41:28 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin gazed in disbelief at the Slaughter Demon. It took him only a moment to recall who Tomeron was. The head of the Grinwron Merchant's group, which were the owners and controllers of Fiverion. How had Tomeron Grinwron found out that he was an Emerald Smith? Or that he was here!?
No, wait. Why is he even trying to capture me? <...
2023-12-24 20:30:27 +0000 UTC View PostGreldo closed the door as fast but quietly as he could before leaning with his back against the wall, trying to regulate his breathing. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek, but he barely noticed as he gazed at the closed door of the small storage room he was in. The stuffy smell around him overwhelmed his sensitive nose, and he felt another wo...
2023-12-23 19:31:57 +0000 UTC View Post"Do you think he was lying?" Moira asked as she looked from the wall across the plains to the distant hills. "It has to have been nearly an hour!"
She narrowed her eyes, trying to see anything in the hills. Her card gave her slightly enhanced eyesight, which was the reason she was usually atop here to scout for trouble and was granted one ...
2023-12-22 19:24:02 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin took a deep breath, then rose. "Then what are we still doing here? Let's go to Esterdon!”
Daubutim showed no intention of getting up but sighed.
"I know my cousin," he said calmly. "He will not accept our current leadership structure. He also very likely has more carded warriors than we do by now. If we go there, he will no...
Irwin stood next to Sultur Crevice, examining the stone staircase leading down into its depths. It was partially buried into the stonewall and had a high railing to prevent anyone from falling.
Hundreds of people were walking down it, a fearful quiet hanging over the group as they followed the rangers.
Greldo stood to the side, diggi...
2023-12-18 11:18:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
So, most of you are here for Irwin's Journey. However, I have a few more stories that I wrote! One of those, Minglings can be read here up to book three. Now, finally, book 2 is edited and ready to be released on Amazon! (Which took way longer than I'd planned)
So, for the 19e, I'll be putting up some promot...
2023-12-17 20:55:45 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin slowly woke to pain: a dull, throbbing anguish that filled all of him. Some came from his body, but most originated from his heartcard and soullake. He wasn't sure what woke him, but whatever it was had stopped now.
The softness below his back told him he wasn't where he'd fallen but in a bed, and feeling no restraints or cuffs, he g...
2023-12-16 21:20:30 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin roared as he struck the tree, feeding every ounce of kinetic energy into his ever-growing fire. He barely heard himself amidst the popping and cracking of wood and wood sap. He'd long since lost control of the fire, and the trees in all directions were ablaze, lighting up the world in a grand inferno.
"Left!"
He jumped sideways...
2023-12-15 21:53:18 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin jolted upright, a hammer appearing in his hand as he tried to figure out what had awoken him. Had something just poked him?
A soft laughter made him look up, and he saw Greldo standing a few steps away. He blinked away the sleep from his eyes. It wasn't Greldo who was laughing, though he was grinning. The laughter came from Ambraz, w...
2023-12-10 20:46:15 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin lowered Jort to the ground in front of the gate. The guards and rangers on the walls were calmly looking down.
"By Yilda I'm glad we are back," Jort whispered.
"Yes," Irwin said as he watched the door open up.
A familiar guard walked out, nodding at him.
"Irwin," he said before looking at Jort. "Jort, report."
"Alright, warn me if you see any Nyzir or Pale Imps," Irwin said as he gazed at the mass of Imps below them.
If it had been any other kind of enemy, he'd never have considered what he was about to do. Now, all he could think about was how much his flame had strengthened since he'd last used it on large numbers of Imps.
"What are you ...
2023-12-08 20:36:04 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin walked back through the narrow streets, his card back to a quarter full, but his head still pounding. He wished his healing and endurance would work against the overuse of soul power.
He had taken over an hour to scour the entire second floor, but no sign of the purple mist remained. That didn't mean there wasn't any, he knew, just t...
2023-12-03 21:17:53 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin took a deep breath, looking at Bronwyn, pinned by Ambraz, arms gripped around the Anvil's sides, and face stretched in a snarl as he tried to free himself.
"Is that even doable?" Irwin asked.
"Not if he had been conscious," Ambraz said. "But I've been checking, and he is only physically resisting. Whatever that thing is doing t...
2023-12-02 20:30:05 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin watched his brother groan as he lay on his back on the tower's basement floor.
"And you did this to yourself?" Bronwyn finally asked, pushing himself up on his elbows and staring at Irwin.
"I wouldn't have been able to do it without Ambraz," Irwin said honestly.
The Anvil, which was standing in the center of the locked-do...
2023-12-01 20:10:13 +0000 UTC View Post"Don't worry, I've had my fair share of pain," Bronwyn said calmly. "If there's anything you can do to make me stronger so I can protect Carla, Drum, and Mom, I'll do it. Even if those silver eyes aren't really my thing."
"Don't worry," Irwin said as he grinned. "I'm sure Carla won't mind."
Bronwyn snorted before shaking his head. "S...
2023-11-30 21:18:29 +0000 UTC View Post"What's your name?" the lead ranger asked, riding beside Irwin.
Irwin hesitated for only a moment before responding. "Irwin."
There was a moment of silence. Then the rangers began talking all at once.
"You're Bronwyn's brother?"
"That's impossible! Look at him! Bronwyn's brother was a runt!"
"Bronwyn's almost as big...
2023-11-28 21:26:11 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin instinctively searched for heat signatures as he scanned the pile of massacred creatures, finding none. Each body, no matter its size, was cold and dead.
"What does something like this?" Myda whispered again. They aren't even eaten!"
Irwin looked at the bodies, absently knowing that if he'd come here before having been to Scour...
2023-11-26 21:42:35 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin stepped out of the tower, exchanging a quick greeting with the guards beside the door. Twyl was quietly sitting on his shoulder, and he barely noticed she was there.
As he walked towards the alleyway leading to Trimdir's smithy, someone came walking out, staring at him intently, almost as if he'd waited for him.
"Orwin!"
...
2023-11-25 21:31:06 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin watched the three figures clad in robes sitting beside Lord Bron. One was an older man with a brown and white beard and kind eyes. The other two, young men and women, almost looked like siblings with light brown hair and eyes. Something about their faces gave Irwin the idea that they might be related to the older man.
Their brown rob...
2023-11-24 20:24:30 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin and Trimdir walked through the narrow paths of what had once been the outer area of Degonda and was now almost the center.
Although narrower, Irwin recognized the path they were moving along. It was the one he'd taken many times when he was learning smithing at Trimdir's smithy, and it should lead to the crafter's square.
"How ...
2023-11-23 21:03:13 +0000 UTC View PostDeep in the forest, Sairadi slowed down, her cloud form returning to her physical form. They were surrounded by dense undergrowth and trees with vines climbing up along their trunks, many winding around branches to connect the trees, causing barely any sunlight to filter through.
To Irwin, everything looked ruddy, but he knew it would like...
2023-11-21 21:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostDaubutim followed a few minutes later, and Irwin was surprised at the light his eye provided in the previously dark room. He'd been seeing everything in the usual red and yellow dark vision he had, but as soon as Daubutim came, a pale red light flooded the room, causing shadows and darker patches.
Daubum's face warped to one of disgust as ...
2023-11-19 20:03:51 +0000 UTC View Post"Done."
Irwin blinked as the single word ripped him awake from the daydreaming semi-sleep he'd drifted off in. Daubutim sat at the table, head in his hands, elbows on the table, and the book shoved to the side.
"Are you alright?" Irwin asked.
"Fine," Daubutim muttered. As he looked up, face pale and drawn, Iwin saw that his eye...
2023-11-18 17:21:02 +0000 UTC View PostWith a familiar jarring sensation, the world was ripped away, replaced by a wide, purple corridor and the sense of falling. Irwin looked around, noting the tube-like barriers around him were so dense that he couldn't see anything behind it. He guessed there was space, but who knew for sure? This portal was connecting two worlds that, if he would...
2023-11-17 19:54:55 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin stood in his cabin, looking at Xi'kroak and his mate, wishing the cabin was larger and that he had a desk like he'd seen in Xi'kroak's cabin. It felt crowded with just four people: Xi'kroak, his La'suna, and Greldo.
"Captain Irwin, let me start by saying your fear is ungrounded," Xi'kroak began as soon as the door closed. "We are not...
2023-11-16 20:19:06 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin barely noticed the stench coming from him and the dangling bodies; all his attention focused on Daubutim.
His friend had slid the ruby card in and was now sitting there with his eye closed, his hands jerking and vibrating occasionally.
"I wonder what it will do with him," Irwin whispered softly.
"It's going to allow him t...
2023-11-14 20:36:12 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin sighed happily as he lowered his hammer and stared at the green-bordered Emerald card.
"That went better than I had hoped," he said, picking it up and examining the card's simple image. It displayed a shovel standing upright on the ground.
If any of the smiths back on Scour knew he'd spent so much effort taking a simple utility...
2023-11-12 19:40:33 +0000 UTC View Post