Irwin's Journey 476: Black blood

Three days went by both faster and slower than Irwin wanted. By the second day, the headache was preventing him from sleeping or fully enjoying himself. It made it hard to keep his calm. When the others woke on the third day, he knew he would have to head back as soon as he said his goodbyes. 

"Kid, next time we shouldn't stay this long," Ambraz grunted. "Why force it?  Stay a day, and return a few more times. We have plenty of time."

Irwin felt every word of Ambraz enunciated with a stab of pain that seemed to try and penetrate from his head to his toes. The fact that all three of him felt it, and the pain of the parts living with a higher time dilation seemed to be compressed together, made it worse. 

"Yes," he said, taking a deep breath and trying his best to ignore the pain, failing miserably. "A day, one and a half at most."

As he muttered with Ambraz, the door to the kitchen was pushed open. Daubutim, tall, dark-haired, and lightning-eyed, walked inside. They had discussed many things over the last few days, while Irwin had given his friend some cards and books he'd collected. 

"The pain?" Daubutim asked, as he slid into a chair before him.

Irwin wanted to nod, held back just in time, and sighed. "Yes. I should have left yesterday."

"You should have," Daubutim agreed calmly. "But I can understand why you didn't. We do have to talk."

Irwin looked at his friend, wondering if he could bring up the patience to listen. 

I really should have cut it short at two days.

Daubutim put a small booklet on the table, sliding it to Irwin, who frowned at it before picking it up.

"In there, you will find everything we know about creating portal ships and runes," he said. "Based on what we have heard, we have made an assessment of what we will need to protect our borders. Try to create a Shipwrights Guild on Scour and have them build these, if you can."

Irwin put the booklet in his pocket, knowing that if he pulled it into his soulscape, the headache might make him vomit.

"Also," Daubutim said, looking at him seriously. "I know you are worried about the Guidar coming here, but don't let this force you to stay there just to keep Scour's time dilation as high as possible. Come here as many times as you can, and I'll prepare people for you to bring back. Every Eluathar Smith or warrior you can bring there and return with more soulcards will help us. Besides, if you can only bring a few people, you need to return with them, or they will be stuck there."

Irwin couldn't stop a grimace from spreading, and he sighed.

"Not exactly. When I am completely done there, I can bring them all into my soulscape together with my other body, and moving here will be-" he fell quiet as Daubutim shook his head. "What?"

"That's a gamble we shouldn't make," Daubutim said slowly. "I know it's the most logical outcome, but are we a hundred percent sure? I have thought about what you said all night, and there are other things that could happen. Your soulscape could move back slowly, taking a long time before you can move large amounts of people and material back here. Or… your soulscape could explode."

Irwin grimaced again, as it was something he'd worried about himself.

"Besides," Daubutim said, his steely face turning slightly softer. "I think you should do something else."

Irwin watched Daubutim, knowing immediately that his friend was going to say something he wouldn't like.

"There is a chance that Greldo ran into trouble with the Guidar. As powerful as he is,  you know firsthand just what even one is capable of. Who knows how many they send here?"

Daubutim's fingers spread on the table, and his eyes went momentarily fussy. It lasted for only a moment, then the lightning in them became a storm of activity. 

"You want me to go to the gas giant," Irwin said slowly, feeling an incredible weariness sink into his bones.

Daubutim looked up, his eyes calm.

"The last news we got from the central branches said that it isn't just the Langost branch being conquered. All of the Outer Branches are. If they have ships and carded in numbers to do that, they can easily overrun us. Even if you made every person on Eluathar a soulcarded warrior and brought armies from Scour, there is no way we can fight such an overwhelming force. Not with our numbers. We need another edge, and the only thing we know that might give us that is world cards."

"And the only one who can tell us more than we know is that titan sliver," Irwin said, taking a deep breath and feeling his headache increase another tiny notch.

"Exactly," Daubutim said calmly. "What you have already learned about them is incredible, and it will allow Trimdir and the others to start creating a set of cards that might allow someone to become the first type. However, Preganrúadh made it abundantly clear that even that is incredibly dangerous and highly unlikely to succeed. Besides, we don't have the cards to create another like you. Not unless you can learn how to create cardseeds like the cards you have."

"Even if we could, we wouldn't be able to create large numbers of cards like those," Ambraz said, finally weighing in. "Some of Irwin's cards were incredibly difficult to create."

Daubutim glanced at him and nodded before focusing back on Irwin.

"Even if we use all our resources, and you stay on Scour, these odds are too low," he said. "We need all the information on these World Skills that we can, and the only other source we know is that titan sliver."

"You do recall it said we should return after the next great war, right?" Ambraz asked.

Irwin saw Daubutim freeze before turning to Ambraz with a look of incredulity that lasted for a mere moment. 

"Yes. I recall," he said.

Irwin knew that without his constant headache, he'd have laughed as he felt Ambraz's slightly smug satisfaction at the joke.

"Even if it refuses to speak to you, you can harvest more template cards," Daubutim said. "Also, if Geldo and the others safely reached the gas giant, Dahlia will have been in an even stronger time dilation bubble than Scour. She might have learned to create shadow cardseeds and other useful things. Also, there's a final thing… when you go there, I need you to bring some people from Eluathar there. Enough to create a city and a stable population."

Irwin leaned forward, faintly noticing that although the headache wasn't leaving, talking with Daubutim helped him take his mind off it.

"You want to create a second home there? You do know Mudball and the others aren't exactly hospitable to everyone."

"I know," Daubutim said. "Which is why I would like you to bring Rindiri and two of her people with you this time."

Irwin leaned back in surprise. He'd not yet seen his friend and old navigator in a long time, at least from his point of view. The last he knew, she was with the rest of the Yuurindi that had stayed, readying themselves to receive cards from him that would change them so thoroughly that they would become a new species. One that would allow them to break from the horrors of their reproductive biology and short life spans.

"There have been a few of her Yuurindi that have joined the Volcano Academy," Daubutim said. "So, if you can bring her and one, or even two of them, it will allow us to do two things at the same time."

Irwin felt a wave of joy at the prospect of bringing his old friend, but at the same time, he worried about the thing that prevented him from bringing his own family there. It must have shown, because Daubutim continued softly.

"I know you are afraid Scour might shatter, or its time dilation could run amok," Daubutim said. "I spoke with Rindiri, and she is willing to take the risk."

"They will have to remain in Irwin's soulscape until we can create their heartcards, perhaps even until those are done and they get their soulcards," Ambraz said. "That means we won't be able to return until that is finished."

Irwin remained quiet, watching his friend and knowing the calm noble had already understood this. 

"When will she be here?" he asked.

"She's waiting nearby," Daubutim said. "As soon as you have said your goodbyes, she will be here."

Irwin tilted his head, looking at the ceiling. He knew he could probably bring Rindiri and two of her people. They had weak soulforces and resonances, which would also help keep them in his soulscape. He had experimented a bit with cards for them, but due to all the other things, he didn't have the exact one he thought he would need. Besides, he would need to make something he could recreate nearly perfectly at least three times for now, and more later. 

"Why don't Aunt Rindiri and those other two bring someone in their soulscape?" a high-pitched voice piped in.

Irwin froze, his eyes moving to Daubutim, who had spun to stare at one of the cupboards in the kitchen. 

"Soot?" Irwin asked, putting a hand on his forehead. If he didn't have a headache already, he would have had one now.

The cupboard was pushed open, and a small, young Ignitzian boy crawled out, grinning widely.

"I fell asleep here yesterday," he said.

"Sure you did," Irwin replied, rolling his eyes and regretting it immediately as the room spun around him. He felt two small hands on his arm, and looking down, saw that Soot stood there, looking at him worriedly.

"Dad? Are you okay?"

Irwin smiled as best he could, putting his hand on his son's head. "Just the pressure from being here. I'll be fine when I return."

"You should go back soon," Soot said, his worry growing. 

"I will," Irwin said, smiling sadly. "Now, what did you just say?" he asked, knowing perfectly fine what he had, but wanting to distract his son.

Soot's eyes widened. "Why doesn't Aunt Rindiri keep some people in her soulscape? Wouldn't that mean you don't have to move them?"

"It would," Irwin said. "But most people can't keep their soulforce resonance stable when they have others in their soulscape. That means that it will be harder for me to move them around. Those that can keep their own soulforce resonance stable are already so hard to move, it barely matters."

Soot frowned. "What if there was someone as strong as you? Could you move them into your soulscape?"

Irwin frowned, pondering it before nodding. "Not now, but normally? Yes, if they don't resist and try to keep their resonance low."

"And what if they have twenty people in their own soulscape?"

"I probably wouldn't sense it," Irwin agreed, staring at his son. "But I can't move someone that powerful into my soulscape now, and if I could, I could easily move all the people they would have myself."

"Ah," Soot said, his shoulders slumping. 

"It was a good idea, though," Irwin said, ruffling his son's hair. "And if you have any others, make sure to tell me."

Soot frowned in a way that made Irwin think of his mother and his brother, which meant it was probably what he looked like when deep in thought.

"What about that story you told me about?" Soot said slowly. "When you moved the sleep Ganvils?"

Irwin was about to say it wouldn't matter, then stopped. The headache was making it harder to think, but slowly an idea formed. If he moved them, then they would go to sleep, but it wouldn't help. But what if they were fast asleep when he moved them? Would there be a difference?

"That… is not a bad idea," he said, slowly, turning to Daubutim. "Do we have someone who can put someone into one of those fake deathsleeps for a day?"

Daubutim was already up before he finished talking. "I'll be back in twenty minutes," he said, moving to the door and pushing it open. A blur of red lightning lit up the room, then he was gone.

Irwin focused on Soot, who was smiling so widely his lips might hurt.

"That was a great idea," he said, pondering whether he should get up or remain seated. He went with the latter and smiled at his son. "Can you get the rest awake and here? I think I'll be leaving in an hour or so."

Soot nodded, turned around, and dashed away and through the door.

"If it helps, it won't be a great difference," Ambraz said softly. 

Irwin shrugged. "Even if we can bring only a single one more with us, it will be useful."

When Daubutim returned, Irwin was sitting beside Scintilla with his children on his lap and shoulders. Ambraz had returned to his soulscape, costing him all of the soulforce that the ancestral coperion had refilled and some more, while increasing his headache by another bit. 

Daubutim walked inside, followed by three people, of whom Irwin recognized only one. That said, he was happy to see her.

"Rindiri," he said, forcing himself to smile through the pain. 

"Captain, it's been a while," Rindiri said as she walked up to him. "I hear we need to hurry, so I'll make this quick. Don't worry about us, alright? If Scour ends up shattering and we die, that's life. We are all three willing to take the risk."

The other two Yuurindi, both young women, stood beside her, bowing slightly.

Irwin felt Scintilla's hand clench around his below the table. She knew he didn't like this, and with the constant pain, it was hard to articulate why. So he decided not to.

"Alright, then I'm going to bring you into my soulscape," he said, hugging his children one at a time before putting them down. All of them seemed to want to say more, but they had no time. Irwin gave Scintilla a long, lingering kiss before stepping away. Mia and Zan were giggling to the side, while Ti stood beside them, looking as calm as ever. His three sons stood side by side, all looking like they wanted nothing more than to come with him.

"I'll be back in a week," Irwin said, smiling at them.

"But for you it could be a year," Zan said, her eyes tearing up. 

"I'll be fine," Irwin said with a smile that took all his effort. He quickly turned to Scintilla. "When I return, I'm going to bring you the cards you need for your next heartcard."

"I'll be ready," she said, giving him another quick kiss.

Irwin hugged his mother and brother before walking to Daubutim and the unknown, older man. 

"This is Ghale," Daubutim said. "He has a card that allows him to do what we discussed."

"Then let's hurry," Irwin said, looking at Ghale.

The man turned to Rindiri and the other two, motioning at the ground. "Normally, I would tell you to lie on a bed, but we have none," he said. "Please lie on the floor."

The three Yuurindi did as asked.

"You will feel my soulforce try to manipulate you. Please don't resist," Ghale said, while Irwin felt a slight trickle of soulforce flow from him and across the three Yuurindi.

Rindiri frowned, then yawned, while the other two blinked lazily before closing their eyes. It took a few moments longer for Rindiri to do the same, then they became incredibly still and unmoving.

Ghale took a staggering step back, swallowing.

"She… is rather strong-willed," he muttered, motioning at Rindiri. "But it worked."

Irwin stretched his senses out to the three immobile shapes and, starting with Rindiri, pulled on them. Like with Ambraz, he felt a rush of soulforce leave him, but luckily, it wasn't as much as with his bond. Still, when the last of the three vanished and reappeared in his soulscape, his soulscape was nearly drained.

Irwin sighed in relief, walking to the door that led to the room he was slowly starting to despise. Pulling it open, he looked back at his family and friends.

"I'll be back soon, be good to your mother," he said, smiling at his children, before closing the door and staggering to the bed. He lay down, pulled his aura clone back into his soulscape, and almost instantly felt the pressure on him fade like mist in the sun. The headache was still there, but he could feel it had stopped increasing. Instead, the tiniest edge was already fading from it, enough to make him sigh in relief.

A look around showed the three comatose Yuurindi.

"They should wake up in an hour or two," Ambraz said, landing on his shoulder. "Just leave them here for now and head back. The sooner you can reset the time dilation, the better."

"You will have to stay here for a bit," Irwin said.

'I know,' Ambraz said. 'I'll be fine.'

Irwin hesitated for only a moment, then focused on his body that was still on Scour, waking his otherself. As it woke, the part of him in his soulscape closed its eyes and fell asleep, the first sleep he'd had in days.

Sadly, the headache wasn't physical, and as his otherself woke, the sense of being enveloped by the burning liquid that was pyroflux was overshadowed by the still constant feeling of having daggers slammed into his head. The distant rumbling that echoed through the pyrflux made it worse, and he almost closed his eyes to go back to sleep. 

Need to change the time dilation first, he thought to himself.

Glancing around, he saw that the ancestral coperion pond was far emptier than he had anticipated. Still, there was plenty inside to refill what he was missing. He focused on it and drew from it for a few minutes until he had enough to do what he had to. By then, the headache had become marginally less again.

I hope it will be gone faster than it took to appear, Irwin thought, before spreading his senses. Everything around him seemed to be the same as when he'd left it over two days ago, and Mouli was still hovering before the entrance, while the rest of the elemental fire snakes were distant sparks of soulforce moving around as they always did.

'You could take a short full sleep,' Ambraz said.

Irwin stared at the floor of the cave, pondering it before deciding Ambraz was right. With the time dilation high, he had all the time in the world. He focused on his sweltering card, pulling a cloud of steam around his head. Pushing away the pyroflux caused some effort, but eventually, he had a bubble of steam. Taking a deep breath, he sighed contentedly.

"Mouli," he whispered, knowing the fire snake could hear him. "I'm back, but I need a rest. I'll be staying here for a short while longer."

There was no spoken answer, but a wave of soulforce came from the entrance.

I'll take that as a yes, Irwin thought as he dispelled the steam and closed his eyes. 

'If Rindiri and the others wake before me, tell them what is going on, alright?'

'I will, now go and rest!'

Irwin smirked at the slight worry he felt. Then he closed his eyes, and like his otherself, he fell asleep almost instantly.

--

"Two from the side," Greldo shouted as he spun around on the deck, seeing two more charbull-sized Oculithar move through the shadows towards them. 

Dozens of clones from Coal intercepted them within the shadowrealm, mauling into the tentacles as soon as they reached Greldo's domain.

"How many more are coming?" Dahlia shouted from the other side of the deck, slicing around with her long dagger.

Greldo more sensed than saw her cut clear through a tentacle that reached for her neck. Another flitted from behind her, and he might have worried if he didn't have a near absolute sense of where everyone was. He wasn't surprised when Gloom appeared as if out of nowhere, his movements fast and oily, slicing apart the offending limb before slipping between the others and stabbing his long, black blade into the main body of the odd Oculithar.

"These should be the last ones," Greldo replied as he scanned the surrounding shadowrealm, feeling nothing but fearfully hidden shade creatures and the five remaining shadow Oculithar. He flexed his domain's powers, cracking down even more on the unwanted guests, slowing them down as much as he could, and making life easier for the others.

Dozens lay sprawled on the deck, with a few of Coal's shadow clones slowly fading among them. 

'No need, just kill them,' Greldo sent to Coal. 'There's no way to interrogate them. They are mindless.'

A howl was his response as Coal's real self appeared behind one of the remaining Oculithar right as it was busy ripping apart one of his clones. Greldo spent another bit of his soulforce as he made the Oculithar freeze just long enough for Coal to rip a large chunk from its body, then another.

As the dark blood, so unlike all the other Oculithar he'd seen, dripped on the pockmarked deck of the Nocturna, he gritted his teeth. His beautiful ship was being damaged so much again. 

"Card," Gloom shouted, snatching something from mid-air as the last of the Oculithar finally dropped to the ground.

Greldo scanned around, just to be sure. When there was no sign of life from the tentacled demons, he let out a weary sigh and dropped on the deck, breathing raggedly. His focus on his domain faded, but not so much that he couldn't sense Coal sending what remained of his shadow clones around to check for any more attackers. 

"So…" he said, looking around. "Who wants to be on clean-up duty today?"

"I'll start cleaning," Gloom said, appearing beside him. 

Greldo sighed, seeing Dahlia roll her eyes at him as if to tell him he'd known Gloom would act like that.

He really makes jokes difficult, Greldo thought.

"It's fine," he muttered. "We will all have to do it. But first… Koudi? You okay?"

There was a slight rustle, then the door that led below deck was shoved open, and the old woman looked outside. Her red eyes showed no reaction at the sight of the masses of blood and gore. It might be because the blood was black, and the flesh black, gray, or pale white, but Greldo doubted it.

"Great," she muttered, walking forward and sniffing. Her grimace told Greldo all he needed to know. 

"All of you stay put, I'll clear out those disgusting things," she said as she walked forward. Her eyes burned a bright, bloody red, causing the dark, shadowy spots in her eyes to grow more prominent.

I really liked them better when they were silver, Greldo thought, shaking his head as he remained on his spot.

Dahlia thudded on the ground beside him, nudging him with her shoulder. 

"Do you think they will stop for a while now?"

Greldo snorted, looking at a thick nick in the main mast. "I hope so, but I doubt it."

"Yeah…" she said, shaking her head and finally summoning her dagger. "I hope we are the only ones having to deal with these things. Without you slowing them down and making them visible..?" She shuddered.

"Even without me, they will be fine," Greldo said, not sure if he even believed that. 

They had dropped Irwin off almost half a year ago now, and for the last few weeks, they had been annoyed by the small, odd Oculithar.

"Gloom, still no idea what they could be?" he asked, looking at the pale-skinned, black-eyed Nyzir.

"No, my Lord," Gloom said, kicking one of the long tendrils overboard where it was rapidly devoured by the fish-like shadow creatures that inhabited Greldo's own part of the shadow realm. "As we spoke about, they are clearly Oculithar."

Yeah, but smaller and able to move through the shadow realm. Even my own, personal domain! Greldo thought, feeling more annoyed about that last part than the rest.

He quietly watched Koudi move around the deck, smelling the change in the air as she passed, knowing she was clearing out more than just the tiny Oculithar larva.

It took a while for her to finish, and by that time, the Oculithar bodies had begun to stink up the place.

"Right, let's clear this stuff out," Greldo said as he forced himself up.

Half an hour later, the deck was as clean as it would be until he found the energy to manipulate his realm and clean the remnants. 

If only this stuff had been normal, it wouldn't have been this hard, he thought as he glared at a patch of black, tar-like blood smeared across one of the sails.

"Don't worry, we will clean her back up," Dahlia said, putting an arm around him.

Greldo put his own arm around her waist and walked them both to the helm.

"A few weeks and we will reach the portal to Mudball," he said. "I can't believe how much time we lost."

"It's not like we could have anticipated the Guidar had come this far already," Dahlia said, her voice weary and sad. "The last time we were here, there was nothing. Now half of the branch seems theirs."

Greldo glanced at her, knowing she was hiding her worry. Her worry for her father, and the world she'd grown up in.

"Don't worry," he said, copying her words from moments before. "As soon as we get what we came for, we will head to Granvox."

Dahlia nodded, her usual calm nowhere to be seen, as it hadn't been for the last two months.

Greldo hugged her closer, using one hand to hold the helm, continuing forward and hoping they wouldn't have to take a detour again.

Perhaps we should just push through next time, he thought, gnashing his teeth.