"No, you can't come," Irwin said as he put his hands on his hips and glared at Ib.
"I'm really good at fighting, and I have a card that's going to be of great help," she said. "Besides-"
Before she got another word out, Rindiri grabbed her by the neck and pulled her back, shoving her into her seat.
"Enough! Remember what I told...
2023-11-11 21:09:05 +0000 UTC View PostMonique stayed in her cabin, looking out at the two Da'xi crewmen who were being carried down. Their plates were charred and covered in scratches while pale white blood oozed from between the edges. She shuddered as she heard their ragged coughing and didn't even notice when someone stepped up beside her door.
"The captain wishes to see yo...
2023-11-10 19:35:38 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin spread his senses, focusing on his heartcard's resonance, which had turned as still as a lake, and time slipped by almost unnoticeably. It seemed to do so whenever he tried to locate another portal. After a long time, when he was certain he sensed nothing, he released his focus and opened his eyes.
He gazed over the railing at the wa...
2023-11-09 18:43:52 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin stuffed his book back in what remained of his jerkin. He'd hoped that Daubutim could read it, but in the end, even he couldn't read the Terullian script.
"It actually attacked the teleport canal?" Rindiri asked.
"Yes. The thing wrapped some sort of shadowy tentacles around it and tried to shatter it," Irwin said while holding b...
2023-11-07 21:26:54 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin's heartbeat shot up as crackling lightning bolts appeared inside the monstrous maw before him. With a jerk, he brought his hammer up, enlarging it to as big as it would go. It barely covered his body in time to block a barrage of arm-length lightning bolts that slammed into it.
For a split second, he felt a tiny sense of relief. Then...
2023-11-06 21:30:42 +0000 UTC View Post"Do you think he will be alright?" Zender whispered, glancing down at Ib, who was staring at the portal from beside the cabin door.
His sister snorted. "How should I know? I don't know what Irwin's cards do, but he looks strong enough, so I guess he should be fine?"
Zender saw her gaze drift to his hand. She snorted again, turned, an...
2023-11-05 15:21:26 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a hushed quiet, and Irwin saw everyone's full attention was now on him. Even Ib, who had been pretending not to care, was looking at him curiously.
"So, although we don't know if we can actually enter the portal we have found, we might eventually find others," he said.
There was a surprised snort from Bendi, while Rindiri l...
2023-11-04 20:10:04 +0000 UTC View Post"What?" Irwin whispered, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.
He and Daubutim were as far to the back of the cargo hold as they could go, leaning against the wall and whispering to make sure Brinni didn't hear them. Perhaps he'd not heard his friend correctly?
"If you go inside and find portals to shardworlds, come back ...
2023-11-04 14:31:22 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin looked at Bendi, unsure what to say. He knew that the world he was supposed to be from was far from where they were now, but he had no idea on which side of Dimarintsia it even was! He quickly decided that the best thing would be to say he didn't know. Besides, he was supposed to have been very young when he left, right?
"I was very ...
2023-11-03 16:58:26 +0000 UTC View PostIt took Irwin a while to regain his clarity, but when it did, he wondered why none of the others had come up. He'd almost expected Greldo to be watching him, noting something about his singing skills.
Locking the steering wheel, he headed to the cabin, but before he could reach it, it swung open.
Greldo looked at him, his silver eyes...
2023-11-03 10:26:40 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin leaned against the railing, quietly listening to Rindiri. He was still shocked by what she'd told him and unsure how to react.
"How do you know they died?" he asked softly.
Rindiri didn't answer right away but continued looking ahead. Irwin was about to leave, guessing she wanted to be alone when she began talking.
"Every...
2023-11-02 19:35:48 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin lay on his odd bed with high edges that prevented him from rolling off in case the ship had to make a sudden move. He'd been on the deck for a long time, but now it was his time to rest. Rindiri and Daubutim were on deck together with the girls while he, Greldo, Bendi, and Zender could rest.
"Brinni is far up on the sail," Ambraz whi...
2023-11-01 18:20:43 +0000 UTC View Post
EDIT: So, I still don't really understand it, but NaNoWriMo officially also now supports existing stories, so I'm going to be joining NaNoWriMo with Irwin's Journey! Added it on the site! It will probably take a few days for me to find my groove, but I'll attempting one chapter per day. If I end up short I'll be splitting them into two - so, cha...
2023-10-31 20:07:45 +0000 UTC View PostWhy did he just run like that? Monique thought as she sat at the table in the crappy tavern, staring at the drink before her.
"Honorable Smith, is there something more we can do for you?"
She looked up at the Da'xi, taking a moment to recall the Captain's name.
"Captain Xi'balak, are you sure there is no ship that can ...
2023-10-29 20:44:12 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin stood on the dock with Xi'balak, watching four guards carry off the third and final sail, which technically should have been his backup.
Their return trip had been fast and without further incident, which was a pleasant surprise. Although the three remaining ships had followed them for a few hours, none of them had dared overload the...
2023-10-28 18:36:30 +0000 UTC View Post"Some kind of swarm summon," Captain Xi'balak hissed. "Probably meant to take out our sails. Too bad for them!"
Xi'balak raised his hands, and the air in front of him rippled as if a disk of water suddenly appeared behind them. It spread out and shot forward at blinding speed. The bats let out a startled screech, but except for a few on th...
2023-10-27 19:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin and Daubutim walked across the dock bright-eyed and smiling, while Greldo and Bendi followed behind bleary-eyed.
"How can he be this… awake!
"It's his card. You'll get used to it."
Irwin ignored Greldo and Bendi as he looked ahead. Three ships were moored and not the same as he'd seen the previous day. The furthest was ...
2023-10-22 18:29:33 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin looked from a short distance away as Zender knocked on the door to an old, dilapidated building. The boy had said his presence might startle his mother.
They were as far from the docks as he had been, and all of the buildings here were old and poorly maintained, covered in thick layers of fungus.
Zender was waiting with his arm...
2023-10-21 20:21:53 +0000 UTC View Post"-don't know, but Zender should be back with the guards soon."
"I still can't believe you destroyed that entire house."
"Stop laughing. It cost me over four-hundred soulshards!"
The voices continued, and Bendi woke slowly, his head throbbing painfully. His well-honed instincts of years living outside of the law kicked in before...
2023-10-20 19:10:08 +0000 UTC View Post"Alright, let's see what they have," Irwin muttered.
He pushed open the door and stepped into a surprisingly clean and well-maintained shop. A few people moved around the room, looking at items on overfull tables or objects behind crystal-covered wall cabins. To his surprise, there was even a cabin filled with dozens, if not close to a hun...
2023-10-15 19:37:28 +0000 UTC View Post"No, Irwin isn't able to talk to you," Balarn said calmly. Monique stood before him, hands on her hips and her eyes spitting fire.
"So it's true? He left?" she snapped, glaring at him.
Balarn was taken aback by her reaction. He had hoped to keep Irwin's absence a secret longer, but Monique had somehow figured it out. He didn't know h...
2023-10-14 20:37:32 +0000 UTC View Post"Leader Irwin, thank you for saving my ship!"
Irwin calmly looked at Captain Xi'kroad. The inhuman being was covered in even more blue plates and holding two broad, heavy-looking short swords. He didn't have any visible injuries, but behind him, his crew were helping each other bandage wounds, showing they hadn't been as lucky. Thin, bluis...
2023-10-13 19:10:08 +0000 UTC View Post'The Langost branch, therefore, has been deemed a waste of effort by most of the important Merchant and Explorer's groups. Thus, until a level four or above hub-world is found, it is unlikely that any but the smallest groups continue exploring from its fringes. To those who read this, my advice would be to relocate to the Casadir branch, whi...
2023-10-08 19:44:14 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin glared across the ice crystal-covered wooden railing.
Wind, piercing and cold, blew into his face, and he snorted out two massive plumes of superheated air.
Three weeks of this, he thought, wiping some water from his arms.
The cold was intense, but the advantage of his Heartcard had shown itself within minutes of...
2023-10-07 20:15:54 +0000 UTC View PostHey guys!
So, as some of you will know, I always participate in NaNoWriMo each November and nearly always write some new/different story.
Last year, that meant the start of Irwin's Journey, my current (and all-time) most popular story. Because my other story at the time, Kernstalion was soon to end, I had the space and time to contin...
2023-10-07 11:11:21 +0000 UTC View PostAs Irwin and Greldo walked through the district, Daubutim mutely stomped after them. They came across only a handful of people and not a single smith. A sense of fear hung over the entire area that Irwin hadn't noticed when he'd arrived the day before.
When they reached the gate that led to the general district, he saw Ichela leaning again...
2023-10-06 19:42:00 +0000 UTC View PostIrwin stepped out of the main smithy building and into the courtyard. It was getting dark outside, showing just how long they had been talking. Even then, Balarn had remained. He was still discussing and planning with Ichela, and from what Irwin could tell, it might last the entire evening.
Cracking his neck, Irwin sighed.
Sorry ...
2023-10-01 19:06:20 +0000 UTC View PostA week flew by in relative quiet, with Irwin spending most of the time practicing with Greldo. Most of it was teleporting with ever more accuracy around the room, while some dealt with his own card and learning how to control his kinetic energy.
The only noticeable event was a four-day delay at the dock of a small, nondescript planet. They...
2023-09-30 19:50:05 +0000 UTC View PostDaubutim stood silently beside Gawarn, ignoring the excited muttering. All around, smiths were gathered, some still arriving, having only just heard of the order to come to the central area of Tensor's smithy.
After another few minutes, Tensor stepped forward and scraped his throat. Instantly, the gathered smiths quieted down, all of them ...
2023-09-29 19:01:49 +0000 UTC View PostEdit: Based on feedback from you guys, I've edited this chapter and added the Emberion payoff. This file now has 2 chapters, which will be fixed during editing. Due to how the sorting of these chapters works, I had to add the next chapter in this same chapter. During editing, this will be split up differently so we don't get a 6.5k chapter. I'll...
2023-09-24 14:42:37 +0000 UTC View Post