Irwin's Journey 461: Shaking

A day after he had arrived, Irwin stood in what he was told was the official Imperial treasury. Masses of metals and cards filled the chamber around him, though from what the Empress had told him, most were either useless or fake.

Not all, however. And Irwin slowly turned around, six cards already in his pocket as he scanned for more that had eluded the Oxarite cardreaders.

'Here!' Ambraz exclaimed as he rushed to the side of a crate with a clear top.

Irwin used his long legs to move after him, and as he looked down on the stacks of cards, he saw Ambraz's spark touch upon one stack.

'About halfway in the stick,' Ambraz said, as Irwin lifted the stack out.

It took him only a minute to find the topaz card with the image of a dark cloud.

'Below the Shadow Cloud,' Ambraz said, naming the card. 'It's useless as it is, as it only increases the density of shadows below cloud covers. However, we can easily reforge into a Shadow Cloud, a card that allows the summoning of Shadowy Clouds that move like normal clouds. Combined with other things, they can be used to move armies of shadow warriors across otherwise shadowless regions.'

Irwin hummed as he put the card in his pocket.

"You are really having fun, aren't you?" Hilbarin asked as the Emperor-to-be walked over. 

He had remained with the Empress for a while, leaving Irwin and Sandrihna here, while Rinbus and dozens of Magnetizion Shadowguards hid around the rooms. Seeing as he had returned here, Irwin guessed they had finalized the trap and the first steps.

" Sandrihna has been flipping through cards all morning, and it looks like she is perfectly fine remaining here for as long as she can," Hilbarin said, watching the Lady who was sitting in a distant corner, stacks of cards in front of her. Irwin sensed over a dozen shadewalkers around her, ready to pull her into the shadowrealm and protect her.

"It's interesting, looking at this many cards," Irwin said. "Even if most are useless."

"I never understood that," Hilbarin said, picking out a stack of cards and flipping through them. "If you can reforge cards, you should be able to make anything useful, right? Why some cards and not others?"

"It depends on a card's potential," Irwin said, as he poked a finger in the one Hilbarin was looking at. It showed a simple flower with three leaves. "This one, for instance, feels weak and slightly out of tune. It is only quartz now, which means that even without trying, I already know it will never be anything more than emerald, and even at that rank, it will be unstable. That means that if I were to have to combine it into a heartcard, it would become far more difficult. The same holds true for reforged cards. Some start good, but if the cardsmith that reforges them makes a mistake, the end result might be more trouble than it's worth. Beyond that, cards have a certain desired direction they want to go in, and if there are no other options for that card, it might mean it just can't be reforged into anything useful. It's just not worth the effort."

Hilbarin was quietly observing the card as he listened, then frowned.

"So, how do you know which ones are good?"

Irwin shrugged. "You need incredibly high soulforce sensitivity, or special cards that allow you to determine it."

'Or you just have to be lucky and be a Ganvil,' Ambraz said, landing on another crate. 'Bottom stack! It should be the last one, but it's really interesting.'

Irwin put the stack he had been absently flipping through down, waved at Hilbarin to do the same, and walked to the crate Ambraz had indicated. With Hilbarin's help, it took him a few minutes to unearth the one Ambraz had seen, and when he did, he blinked in surprise.

'Is this…'

'A shadowhound summon? Why yes, it is,' Ambraz said, sounding smug. 'And the best part is, it's only amethyst, which is the lowest I've ever seen one of those. Not unheard of, but definitely good.'

"What's that? Some summon?" Hilbarin asked, growing at what looked like a faint outlining of a tiny hound.

"Yes, one a friend of mine has," Irwin said as he stared at the hound. 

'I always wondered what it would be like to have one,' he thought. 

Ambraz let out a soft laugh. 'If you want a summon, I'd suggest a Chaos Whale.'

Irwin blinked, hearing Hilbarin ask him something, but not hearing what.

'Those don't exist, right?' he asked.

'Maybe, maybe not. You could ask the Derlin after you use the card,' Ambraz said.

'What? I thought those never answered questions?' Irwin exclaimed, frowning as he felt Ambraz's hilarity rise.

'No, mostly they don't, but we have something they want,' he said.

Irwin shook his head, completely confused.

"Tutor, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said. "Just trying to understand something."

Hilbarin was looking at him curiously, probably wondering what he was talking about, but Irwin focused back on Ambraz.

'Care to explain?'

'The Derlin put themselves in cards so they could survive the shattering of their world without dying or becoming Addled,' Ambraz said. 'When someone uses one of their cards, it releases the Derlin inside, which is the only way for them to get released. After that happens, they leave for the nearest exit portal and journey to… well, somewhere. Nobody really knows. But that's not important. What is important is that their only interest is other Derlin cards.'

Irwin sighed.

'We don't have any more of those,' he said.

'We don't, but the Viridian Elders most likely do,' Ambraz said.' We could tell the Derlin we know where more Derlin cards are, and that we want some answers for this information.'

Irwin slowly nodded. There was some logic to this. 'Alright,' he said. 'But we don't know exactly where they are.'

'I don't think they need exact details,' Ambraz said. 'If we just say, we know a city on this world that has at least another Derlin card, it might be enough. At a minimum, we can try, right?'

Irwin nodded as he pocketed the summon hound, moving it into his soulscape as he did so. Even though he probably wouldn't slot it himself ever, he had seen how powerful Coal was. Perhaps one of his children would want one, or Dahlia.

"So, how much longer do you think we need to wait?" he asked, turning to Hilbarin.

"No idea. The Empress said that Sachindrian spies should have told him the location of the Derlin card," Hilbarin said. "We also let slip that we will move the card and some others tomorrow morning, so… soon?"

Irwin hummed as he looked around the treasury. For a fake one, it held a lot of value, which made sense. The Emperors of old had used it to cover their real treasury for many years, and that would only work if-

The entire building shook, books tumbling down shelves while a few of the crystal covers shattered explosively.

Irwin instinctively spread out his soulforce senses, removing his hold on them and almost being overrun by a barrage of soulforce signatures. 

As his senses spread outward through the city and beyond, he felt people milling around, those who had been outside, rushing to the nearest shelter, while two of the larger buildings near where he was had begun shattering and toppling. Holes had been blown through the ground, floors, and levels, and now lava was shooting out in thick streams. 

Far below where the burning rock was raining down on the crumbling buildings, Irwin sensed something moving up.

Three powerful soulforce signatures were tunneling holes through the solid rock as if it were nothing, while behind them was a stream of smaller signatures. The first, easily as strong as a heartcarded, while the thousands crawling behind them ranged from being as strong as three handcarded to six, or even slightly more. Far deeper, he sensed a half dozen soulforce signatures move up behind the mass of beings that felt like they could belong to one or two-soulcarded beings.

"No. No, no no!" Hilbarin shouted. "We can't have another night of the Burrows! We don't have the defenses yet!"

The burly Oxarite let out a bellowing roar as he ran for the nearest door, while Irwin sensed many of the shade-walkers vanish. Those around Lady Sandrihna had dragged her into the shadowrealm and away, leaving only Irwin and a handful of Magnetizion Shadowguards behind.

'Kid, stay here!'

Irwin didn't need the warning, as he pulled his senses back slightly, focusing on the surrounding building. 

'What are the odds that Burrows start spawning exactly at this time and have nothing to do with what we are doing?' he asked, slowly turning around. He felt Rinbus move closer to him, constantly at his back, a mere two steps away.

'None. I don't believe it one bit,' Ambraz said, as Irwin felt him move around and search for something.

'I don't think so either,' Irwin said as another, slighter rumbling caused more things to clatter down, while a long crack appeared in the side of the wall. 

Spreading his senses slightly, he felt how the larger of the beings erupted out of the ground, taking what was left of the buildings above them down. Most of the Oxarite population in the surrounding area was rushing away, but not all. Thousands of soulforce signatures were running towards the noise, including the soulcarded and hearcarded Irwin had felt when he'd first reached the capital.

They don't have enough to stop them without sustaining heavy losses, he thought.

He kept his senses spread, trying to ignore the slight headache from the constant soulforce signatures, searching for the attackers he fully expected to come. In the distance, he sensed how the different Oxarite soulcard and heartcard signatures began surrounding the three areas. The insectoids didn't hesitate, but spread out like a wildfire, attacking whatever they saw.

Within moments, soulforce signatures of both sides began fading away, as the first casualties were made. Almost immediately, Irwin sensed the ambient soulforce begin to pulse and grow in density.

'If those three queens burst out, they will need help,' Ambraz said. 'But if I were whoever had planned this, I would wait exactly for that moment.'

Irwin didn't answer, but he crossed his arms, kept his soulforces senses sharp, and waited.

It took almost five minutes for the three queens to burst out. Even if Irwin hadn't been able to sense their soulforce signatures, he would have known they had arrived.

A piercing screech managed to reach even the deep vault they were in, while more cracks appeared in the ceiling and walls. Hundreds of the weaker Oxarite soldiers winked out instantly, their soulforce signatures wiped out just like their lives.

'Keep it together, Irwin. If we leave now, we will miss our shot,' Ambraz said. 

'We don't know if it's even Mineralla who will show up,' Irwin said, as his anger began bubbling up. 

So many Oxaritse were dying, and he had to wait here. They didn't even know for sure if this had been planned, and if it had been, by whom. It might have been another noble, or-

'There! I sense something moving towards us,' Ambraz hissed. 

Irwin frowned, trying to locate what his bond had found, and failing. All he could detect were the shadewalkers that had remained and Rinbus. 

'Where?' 

'Don't focus on soulforce signatures,' Ambraz said. 'Whoever is coming is somehow hiding theirs. Focus on the ambient soulforce in the third hallway up, something is disturbing it as it moves to the staircase.'

Irwin focused on the area Ambraz had indicated, but it still took him a few precious seconds to find it. When he did, he was shocked at how minute the disturbance was. If Ambraz hadn't told him where to look, he would never have found it.

'What is that?'

'No idea, but it doesn't feel like only a single person,' Ambraz replied.

"We have incoming," Irwin whispered, knowing the people in the shadows would be able to hear it.

There was no response, and Irwin waited quietly as the disturbance in the ambient soulforce reached the large double doors. He stood twenty feet away, ready to move depending on what would happen.

The doors cracked and split open as a thunderous boom rattled whatever had not yet dropped to the ground from the previous shaking. 

Irwin lowered his arm, which he'd raised to block his eyes from the splinters and dust, and he saw three figures move forward through the duscloud. He still didn't sense any soulforce, but he did sense the shadewalkers move forward while only Rinbus remained with him.

A soft coughing came from a small Onyxian woman with bright eyes and her hair tight in a ponytail as she walked out of the dust cloud. She froze as she saw Irwin, but before either could do or say anything, six shadewalkers appeared all around her. Two grabbed her arms, while the others held blades to her throat.

"Ohhhh, look at that," the woman crooned with a soft, sweet voice. "You all waited for me? Shouldn't you be… I don't know? Saving people?"

The other two figures blurred forward, but Irwin had no plan on letting them do anything. He used the sound waves from the woman's words to rush forward and position himself between her and the shadewalkers and the incoming figure. As he reappeared, he saw two spearheads flash towards him, held by two lanky Oxarites with short hair and dark-blue metal masks hiding their faces. A single slit showed their silvery eyes behind it.

Irwin moved with instincts born from many conflicts, summoning his Volcano Titan's Gauntlets and grabbing both tips in a single move. There was a screeching of metal against metal, and he was surprised at the strength the two were able to use. That said, it was far, far from enough, and he increased his grip, yanking both spears away.

He fully expected them to disappear, unsummoned by their wielders, but instead the two jumped back as one and raised their hands. Irwin barely had time to be surprised as golden lightning licked around their fingers. A split second later, multiple finger-thick columns of lightning struck his face and chest, causing him to jolt. The result, however, was likely not what the two had expected, as Irwin's hands clamped shut with far more force than before, crushing the spears.

Irwin clicked his tongue right when more lightning appeared, and he reappeared behind the two men. They shouted and jumped sideways, but Irwin dashed after one through his sound waves and struck him in the side of the head. There was a sickening crunch, and Irwin dashed after the other one, kicking him through the room, through the remnants of the door still swirling with dust, and into the room beyond. 

Everything had happened in a split second, and as Irwin spun around, he saw Rinbus stand behind him, arms clenched around the neck of a fourth figure. 

"Tutor. A little help. Please," Rinbus growled, visibly struggling to hold the hooded figure. 

Irwin rushed forward and put his gauntletted hand around the figure's head, his massive fingers encircling the top of his skull.

"Stop resisting, or I'll squeeze."

Irwin's deep voice was laced with anger, and his slight squeeze seemed enough as the figure froze.

His hand on the head, Irwin finally sensed what was happening to their soulforce signature. The man he was holding was using a heartcarded skill that was masking it.

"Stop your skill," Irwin snapped, slowly raising the man up and out of Rinbus's grasp, his grip tensing slightly.

There was a slight squeal of pain, then the man's heartcard stopped whatever it was doing, and Irwin suddenly sensed both him and the woman. The other two figures lay motionless on the floor with no soulforce signature, showing he had struck too hard for them to survive.

'Kid! Her soulcard, it's-'

"Wait,' Irwin said, as he stared at the man. 'One thing at a time.'

He hesitated slightly, then unsummoned one of his gauntlets and, as gently as he could, slapped the man's head. The man grunted and went limp, and although his soulforce resonance faded, it didn't go away completely.

"Tie him up," Irwin said after a few moments, handing the unconscious man to Rinbus. "And make sure he can't get away."

The Accenti shadewalker nodded quickly, dragging the man to the side and taking out a pair of soulforce nullifying manacles to tie him up. Irwin waited until they clamped shut before turning to the woman, who was observing him with a hungry look.

"So, you are that mysterious cardsmith?" she said, her lips curling in a seductive smile. "Why don't you help me out here? I'm sure I can find a way to repay you."

Something about the way she said it, and everything about the haunted look in her eyes that was both icy cold and burning crazy, made Irwin shiver.

"I don't think so," he said. "Stop the Burrows."

"Stop? How would I do that?" she asked, her eyebrows curving up in surprise. "No, I think you'd best get going and help them before the dangerous one arrives."

"What do you mean?" one of the Magnetizion Shadowguards snarled. "How did you do this?"

"So many questions," the woman said. "I didn't do anything. This was all Lord Sachindrian's plan. And what I mean is that he managed to find a way to aggravate one of the queens! Isn't that impressive? One little Oxarite Lord managed to sneak all the way down into the Empire's most heavily guarded Eternal Mine, far beyond where you ever went!"

Irwin shared a quick look with the Magnetizion Shadowguard that had spoken while he extended his soulforce senses further down. It took him only a few moments to feel a massive soulforce signature burrow its way up, following in the trail of the others. Whatever it was, the pressure radiating from it was easily as powerful as a three-soulcarded, but there was something else. The soulforce signature was far larger than that. Worse, behind it came a seemingly infinite stream of smaller soulforce signatures.

'What is that?' Irwin asked, staring down.

'... Kid, I don't know, but I'm afraid we are going to have to find out if our guess on how you can switch to your giant body is correct,' Ambraz muttered. 'If not, you will have to flee.'

Irwin swallowed as he turned back to the woman, whom he was pretty sure now was Minerella. His desire to go and help was growing by the second, but he knew he couldn't leave without scanning her card. Focusing his senses on it, he instantly saw what had surprised Ambraz. Something about it was completely wrong. It was more a soulskill than a heartcard. More singular, with a highly condensed soulforce resonance. Purer than anything he had sensed before. He also had a good idea how to replicate it...

'It's as if she only has a single handcard, six times,' he whispered to Ambraz, who he felt was still examining her.

'Not as if. It's exactly like that,' Ambraz said thoughtfully. 'Better lock her up before she does something funny.'

Irwin nodded, examining the soulcard for a few moments before clearing his head.

I wish I could pull her into my soulscape, he thought, knowing that would be the safest spot to keep her. As it was, he walked forward and removed another set of manacles from his soulscape. 

"Hold still," he ordered, grabbing her arms and putting the manacles around them.

She had been looking curiously, but not very interested, but as soon as the first manacle clamped around her wrist, her eyes snapped wide and her mouth fell open.

"What! No! How!"

Irwin didn't bother explaining, quickly snapping the other shut.

"She can't use her abilities now," he said, looking at the Magnetizion Shadowguards. "Still, it would be best to put her in a cell with blocking runes.

The Magnetization Shadowguard that had spoken before nodded as he looked at the others.

"We will guard her with our lives, Tutor," he said. "What will you do now?"

Irwin sighed as he looked at the place where he sensed the battle happening.

"I'm going to clean up this mess of a Burrow," he said. "Rinbus, stay with them and make sure she doesn't get free."

Irwin clicked his tongue and moved across the sound waves, rushing towards the battle.

--

Rinbus stared at where the Tutor had stood moments before, not sure what to do. Brecka had told him to stay with the Tutor and guard his back, a good thing it had proven, even though he was sure the Tutor would have been fine without his help. Now, however, he had gotten other orders… 

"I'll send two of my men with him."

Rinbus turned to the Magnetizion Shadowguard, who seemed to be the leader, feeling instant gratitude as he saw two of the others vanish. He sensed them move across the shadowrealm and away.

"Thank you," he said.

"Stop ignoring me," Minerella Silverspring howled, snarling at them.

Rinbus stared at her for a moment, wondering when things would stop surprising him. He'd always heard about the seven in stories, but ever since following Irwin, he had met nearly all of them, including the Empress. Now, he had seen how Irwin, the Tutor, had easily thwarted a plot that still confused him.

"If you help me, you can do more than look," Minerella whispered, staring at him intensely.

"No thanks," Rinbus muttered, glancing at the remaining Magnetizion Shadowguards.

"Where do we go?"

"Just follow us," the leader said.

Rinbus nodded, and a moment later, he was following them through the shadowrealm. They moved through the fake treasury, up through the Empress's estate, towards one of the central pillars. 

As they continued forward, Rinbus frowned.

Where are we going? This is in the direction of where the Empress is…

A minute later, he felt the three Magnetizion Shadowguards drop out of the shadowrealm inside a room he'd been to before. It was a simple waiting room, with a single door that led to the Empress's private chambers. Feeling his worry grow, Rinbus hesitated. Something was wrong. They were supposed to go to the-

He dashed sideways through the shadowrealm, barely dodging another shadewalker. Two others appeared, and he shot away, circling slightly just to see the Magnetizion Shadowguard's leader removing the bracelets from Minerella's wrists. Then he was through a keyhole, rushing away with three others on his tail.

I need to get to Irwin!

--

"He got away…"

Minerella glared at the Magnetizion Shadowguard, then sniffed.

"It doesn't matter. Find me that Derlin card! And put those on the Empress, while you are at it!"

"My Lady… Vaidara is still with the Empress. If we try to capture the Empress, she will just teleport them away."

Minerella held back her anger, staring at the door behind which her heart's desire lay. One more Derlin card and she would become powerful enough to do anything she wanted. 

As she thought it, she felt a sudden shiver of doubt. The power she had felt from the Tutor had been overwhelming, far more than anything she'd ever sensed from anyone. Far more than-

She cut off her thoughts from going to that dark place and took a deep breath.

"If she has the card on her person, I want it," she hissed. "There are four of you. Move through the shadows and grab them both. Hold them for as long as you can, and I'll take care of Vaidara."

She saw the Magnetizion Shadowguards share a look, but luckily for them, they moved to the door, vanishing before she could get angrier than she already was.

One more and I'll be full, she thought. A full soullake, and a Derlin card!

She ran to the door, holding back from laughing. She was so close!