Irwin's Journey 463: Execution

Hilbarin snuck forward, trying to ignore the raging battle behind him. The occasional shaking of the ground was a great cover for his not-so-subtle sneaking, and he glanced around at the others. He knew many of them; old lords and ladies that had once been in control of families and ridges, and now lived in the Capital in bored splendor, sometimes helping when needed. None had done battle for decades, but they had held up better than he had expected. 

Except for a few, he thought, remember the five bodies that they had left behind.

He didn't know exactly which ones had died, and that was something to find out later. For now, he had more important things to take care of. More people to take care of.

There she is, he thought as he glanced across the edge of the building. In the building next to it, Minerella was glaring at the battle in the distance, her sword stabbing in the wall as if it had done something horrible to her. Hilbarin saw the thin lips move, but he had no interest in knowing what it was about. What he wanted was only one thing.

She is going to tell me how Sachindrian managed to do this, he thought as he glanced around and signaled the others. 

Two of them had superior movement abilities, and he held up his hand, counted down from five while glaring at Minerella. When he reached zero, he jumped forward, across the edge, and towards her. Two figures appeared beside her, grabbing her hands. She moved instantly, ripping her hand free and causing one of the two figures to be hurled away and into a nearby wall. Sadly for her, as short as it had been, it was enough time for Hilbarin to reach her. 

He grunted as he slammed into the ground, shoved her back while grabbing her arm and neck. She let out a startled cry, which was cut off as he squeezed her wrist and throat.

For a single moment, Hilbarin pondered just ripping her head off. Then he recalled the Tutor's desire to examine her card.

Well, he didn't say he needed her intact.

Without a single hesitation, he moved his hand from her neck to her shoulder and pulled on her wrist with all the force he could muster. There was a scream of pain as he felt her shoulder and wrist give, then some ligaments tore. He hummed as he let go and grabbed her other side, repeating the process.

When he finished, Minerella was only standing because he held her upright, her arms dangling uselessly from her shoulders, swaying as if she had no control over them.

"No," she whispered, before screaming. "I want that card!"

Hilbarin sighed, staring at the woman he'd known for over forty years. He remembered suddenly the first time he saw her, arms around Stravin. The man had been alone for decades since his last partner had been killed in a Burrow attack, and had been grinning nonstop. Minerella had been young with a single hard card and nervous. 

"What happened to you?" he muttered, shaking his head.

If she answered, he didn't hear it as a screeching noise that made him thud on his knees. All around him, he saw people topple over until only he was left, not crumpled on the ground. When the screech finally stopped, he struggled to turn around.

The center of the ruins was enveloped in a mass of fire and flame, obscuring anything he could see. He had no time to be confused about the fire, though, as he saw a written mass of soil and ruined buildings start to tremble, and a flood of insectoids poured out. 

Great.

Hilbarin pushed himself up, ready to fight for his life, only for the flame to roll away like a wave, blowing away the thin fog he'd seen and covering the hole. A sharp popping sound came, which continued for a few moments before slowing to an occasional explosive clack. 

All around him, the soulcarded rose to their feet while the heartcarded remained in heaps. Those that moved were staring at the fire sea, clearly having as much difficulty grasping what was happening as he was.

"Look after the others," he ordered, his voice snapping the others out of their stunned awe and fear.

As they did, Hilbarin focused back on Minerella, who was standing a few steps away, a shadewalker standing behind her, holding her in place. She was struggling slightly, but seemed more confused than anything else. 

It took Hilbarin a split second to recognize Rinbus, Irwin's follower. He lowered his hands, watching the man grimace as he grabbed one of Minerella's arms, putting a dull, gleaming gray manacle around it.

"Nooooooo!" Minerella screamed, seemingly only now realising what was happening. 

The scream lasted only a split second, then she crumpled in a heap, her eyes awkwardly folded below her body.

"I need to stay with the Tutor," Rinbus said before vanishing into the shadows.

Hilbarin just stared at the spot he'd been for a moment, glanced at where the sea of flames still raged, before looking at Minerella.  His previous bout of anger flowed away as he heard Minerella, somehow muttering while unconscious.

"Card… I need it. Need it. Card."

The slurred words continued, and Hilbarin grunted, walked behind her, and moved in such a way that he could see both her and the sea of flames.

The battle between the two titanic forces lasted for close to five minutes. When it finally stopped, and the flame sea whisked out, Hilbarin wasn't surprised to see the Tutor slowly rising from the motionless body of the enormous Insectoid. His eyebrows shot up as he saw him snatch something from the body.

A card? I wonder what that could be? he thought, as the others around him began excited, whispered conversations.

"Alright," he snapped, turning around. "Half of you stay with the unconscious. The rest of you, go around and get as many cards as you can and bring them to me. Don't you dare try and hold out…"

The lords and ladies, slowly recovering from the previous half an hour -had it only been that short?- seemed ready to react, and Hilbarin raised his hand, pointing at where the Tutor stood, head back and seemingly slowly recovering.

"You wanna go and explain to him why you kept some of those cards?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "No? Or ask him for a heartcard for one of your descendants? If not, move."

He didn't manage to put as much anger in his voice as he thought he should, but it seemed enough. A few of the old lords who had been in control of the most powerful Mountain Ridges decades ago divided the others, and a moment later, the lesser lords and ladies were running away, some using movement skills.

Hilbarin remained where he was, one eye on Minerella, the other on the Tutor.

I guess now we know how he is going to clear out the Deslote Stretch.

--

The days after Irwin stopped the surge from running rampant throughout the Oxarite capital were far calmer, though highly annoying. 

Every day, he had been examining Minerella's card while she was imprisoned within a small room. If it wasn't him there, a group of guards was present, leaving her very little time. What had started as something Ambraz had thought would only take a day or two quickly took over a week, and only halfway through the second did Ambraz finally call out the thing Irwin had been hoping for.

'Alright, I'm done.'

Irwin took a step back from where Minerella was glaring at him. 

Her arms were still not fully healed, but she could move them slightly, though the manacles bolted to the ground weren't helping. She'd screamed and hissed at the start, but a few days in, she had calmed down enough to answer some of Hilbarin's questions. Not that any of her answers had pleased the Emperor in waiting.

'Tell me we can finally go back to Cinder Grove?' Irwin asked.

'We can,' Ambraz replied, sounding weary and annoyed.

'Finally willing to share what is happening?' Irwin asked.

'Yeah,' Ambraz muttered. 'Let's move to your soulscape.'

Irwin felt him move into his soulscape, and a moment later reappear in the smithy where his giantself was slowly working through the nearly two thousand cards they had gained.

-- Irwin's Soulscape --

"So?" Irwin rumbled.

He scratched his chest where dozens of faint marks were all that were left of the thousands of tiny holes that had been poked into his body. Most had faded, but a few lingered still. They would likely all disappear soon, as each morning he woke with fewer.

"So, we should be glad we haven't tried giving someone identical cards yet," Ambraz grunted.

Irwin frowned, putting the tiny stack of cards down. Struggling with it was annoying, even if he could use his soulscape control to do much of the moving.

Ambraz began flying around softly, his lips pursed.

"Minerella has six identical cards," he said. "Not nearly the same, but identical as in templated. I have no idea how the Derlin did this, but the result is the same. The six cards making up her heartcard are identical copies."

Irwin didn't react, as he already knew this, but the annoyance from Ambraz showed the other wasn't done.

"Things get worse, though. From what I can tell, the Derlin from the card she used must have templated this card while it was in her hand because they have no combining bonus. Probably because the cards can't overlap, though I am not sure, as I've never seen that before. Now things get really odd. It put those five new cards into her hand and reforged them into a heartcard that is simply the same as one of those handcards, but bigger. After that, it filled her soullake and helped her somehow turn her this ridiculous heartcard into a soulcard."

Irwin had expected some of that, but having it all laid out like that made him shake his head in wonder.

"If Derlin can do all that, how come they haven't become one of the most powerful factions?"

"No idea. What I do know is that it's not a good idea," Ambraz said, grunting as he landed on the table. "She has barely any natural resonance inside her soulcard. Perhaps no more than a single handcard should. I never knew, but from examining her soulcard and comparing it to yours, it seems that the soulforce generation of a soulcard actually comes from the slight counter resonance that originates from parts of the different handcards used to create a heartcard. You know how her song was clean and soft?"

"I noticed," Irwin said, crossing his arms. "It was very nice to listen to. Not forceful at all."

"Yes, well, it seems that there is a buildup of soulforce due to some of these resonances. It's a delicate balance. The wrong resonance, or too much in a certain direction, and the card becomes locked in its progress or even dangerous to slot. Too little or none, and the soulforce regeneration is lacking. Understand?"

Irwin thought about it for a few moments before nodding. "Go on."

"Alright. So, because she has no resonance except that of her first card, she generates barely any soulforce on her own. It was confusing, you know? At first, I thought it was due to the specific card she has, but it's not. Her card allows her to drain soulforce from others, but she generates as much soulforce as a one-carded."

Irwin sensed a curious interest mixed with weary resignation from Ambraz as he spoke. He seemed impressed and disgusted at the same time.

"But I sensed resonance," Irwin said, recalling what he'd felt from Minerella. The soulcard had felt pure, and the resonance song rather beautiful.

"She's doing that herself," Ambraz said. "It's why it weakens when she is unconscious or asleep. She is forcefully resonating her soulcard, which probably helps her regenerate more soulforce. Now, this is also part of why she is going crazy."

Irwin leaned back, shaking his head as he tried to follow. "So, she is going crazy because she is resonating her own soulcard, or because there's no resonance inside it?"

"Both," Ambraz said, sounding annoyed. "It's very difficult to explain, but I believe there was something wrong with her before she got that card. That said, her first card made it worse. Do you remember how your cards changed you?"

Irwin nodded, recalling how the Titan Sliver card had been one of the main culprits of that. 

"I remember. I don't think I will ever forget."

"Right, well, every card changes whoever takes it slightly. Normally, this would be so minute that it barely registers, but because Minerella has six identical cards, they amplify this," Ambraz said, raising in the air and floating around again. "Normally, if she'd gotten other cards, their resonance would have mixed with her first card, changing it. Then, when a cardsmith had reforged all six into a heartcard, the new heartcard would have been different again. The result would have caused any single card's changes to personality and emotions to become largely neutralized. That's why your anger reduced so much."

Irwin tapped on the table. "So, does that mean if we shattered her soulcard and removed every part of it, she would return to normal?"

"No," Ambraz said. "Her mind is broken, and to get this far, she needed to have something wrong with her in the first place. Breaking her soulcard now will either kill her or shatter her mind completely. The same for trying to balance it out with another heartcard. Any heartcard she gains will cause such a powerful counter resonance with her existing one that it will cause her soulscape to tear itself apart."

Irwin sighed as he rubbed his head. As much as he disliked the Oxarite for what she'd done, knowing that she wasn't fully to blame made him annoyed. 

Is this how things always are? he thought to himself. Nobody is fully to blame, and we are all victims of circumstance?

Ambraz snorted loudly, likely having sensed his somewhat sad introspection.

"Kid, you can't save everyone, and not everyone deserves to be saved. Minerella slotted her first card herself, chose to use that Derlin card, and then decided what she would gain. After that, she did what she did. If her mental issue had been that she was too happy, she might have just become a constantly laughing and upbeat crazy person. If she had a tendency to be sad, she could have been crying nonstop. In her case, she had a tendency for either killing or searching for power, or something else. Whatever it was, there's nothing we can do about it anymore."

Irwin took a deep breath, then exhaled explosively. "I know," he said. "I was just wondering if anyone evil starts that way or not."

Ambraz snorted. "Useless thinking. What does it matter if someone started evil when they do evil now? The best you can do is kill them quickly and not hate them for it if you find out."

Irwin couldn't stop a snorted laugh from escaping as he looked at his bonded friend.

"And what if someone is evil and we can fix what made them that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Situational," Ambraz said. "Some you fix, and if they do well after, nice. Perhaps they can make up for some of the things they. In other cases, the chain reaction of letting them live would cause more bad things, and it's best to end it then and there."

Irwin stared at his friend in surprise. Ambraz was right. Why should there be one solution for everything? He slowly nodded, thinking about Ambraz's words and the many evil people he'd met. Would he really have wanted to save someone like Uxin'tar? Or Scander?

Wait, why do Guidar do what they do? he thought.

Feeling a headache pop up, he shook his head, pushing the worries away.

"Such a headache," he grunted.

"Exactly," Ambraz said. "No sense thinking about it! Now, let's continue to Minerella and her manual resonating, alright?"

"Yes," Irwin said, shaking his head again to clear it and focusing on what they had been talking about.

"So, because Minerella is amplifying her soulcard's resonance, she is amplifying the already intense negative effect on her mental state. The more she resonates it, the crazier she becomes. If she drains people, she probably becomes slightly better again, but the more she tries to regenerate her own soulforce, the worse things become."

Irwin was quiet for a while, wondering if the Derlin that had given her the soulcard had known this. Then he had another thought.

"Does this mean we can't give someone six identical cards?"

"Yes and no," Ambraz said, making Irwin roll his eyes. "We could, but only if we add other resonances during the heartcard reforging process. This way, we can fix the issue, though it's going to be a while till we are good enough to do that. Any cardsmith who can't do that should never give someone six identical cards. Even if it's not their first soulcard, the intensity of what happens will likely still make them go crazy. Just not as fast."

Irwin sniffed. "So, if we put in other resonances later, doesn't this defy the point? Why should we even give someone six identical cards in the first place?"

"We shouldn't," Ambraz said. "The best would be to template a card at Quartz or Amethyst and then reforge it into different versions. They will be the same, but not identical. From all I have been able to learn, this will cause plenty of resonance, and might even be better than six random cards."

Irwin frowned. "Okay, so let me get this straight. Minerella is going crazy because the tiny emotional effects of her handcard, which shouldn't be any problem in any normal case, are amplified because it was copied. Then, because the heartcard was identical to that, but bigger, this effect was amplified even more. Now, on top of that, when she resonates her soulcard, it amplifies it another time, which resulted in her going crazy really fast?"

"Yes," Ambra said with a snort.

Irwin watched the cards in front of him, sensing the thousands of tiny differences between even the two insectoid summon cards he had been looking at. The images were nearly the same, the things they did were nearly the same, but the resonance was not even close. Still, he knew that if he gave both cards to the same person, they would cause a beautiful resonance, especially if he reforged them to be more the same. During his entire life of cardsmithing, which felt like most of it by now, he had tried to make cards resonate. He had always believed that the only reason was to make them more stable, and so people could slot more than a few without the cards shattering. 

Now he learned there was even more to it. 

The resonance helped stabilize the person's mental state and increased the soulforce regeneration.

As he pondered this new knowledge, another idea popped into his mind.

"Do you think we can find the perfect resonance amount to increase the soulforce generation?"

"Probably, but that might mean the card doesn't do what someone wants," Ambraz said, landing on Irwin's shoulder. 

Irwin sighed. Right. Reforging was hard enough as it was. If he also had to try and get the resonance between six cards exactly right just to improve the soulforce regeneration, it would have to come at the cost of something else.

Still, it can't hurt to try sometimes, he decided.

"Anyway, we are done with her," Ambraz said. "I have the resonance of her card, and if we ever get to the point where we can create cardseeds easily, we can create something similar. But for now, I would love a change of scenery. I'm sure the students are missing you!"

Irwin nodded, and after a moment picked up the tiny stack of cards he'd been looking at before. 

He hesitated, then put it back down. He wasn't in the mood to sort them now. Instead, he turned to where two cards lay to the side. Both were ruby-rank, but that was where the similarities ended. One was a summon with slightly above average soulforce that he'd gotten from the queen he had killed. The other showed a plated, razor-sharp limb, balancing on its point. The soulforce flowing from it was triple that of the other, and in the top echelon of any Irwin had ever seen.

Now, what should I do with you? he thought.

-- Real world --

Irwin ignored his otherself and Ambraz as they began discussing the odd card, and looked at Minerella. Her eyes were filled with hate as she glared back at him, but now that he knew part of the reason, he largely felt sad for her. The fact that she was barely able to speak made it worse.

I wonder if we can do this the other way around, he thought. If he knew beforehand that someone had a mental issue that would cause horrible things, could he create a heartcard that fixed that somehow?

He stared at her for a moment before turning around. 

As sad as her situation was, there was little he could do to help her, even if he wanted to. Besides, he knew the Oxarites wouldn't even let him if he had wanted to, which he didn't. 

Hilbarin had been clear. After Irwin was done, Minerella would be tried by the current Empress and the Steel Council and executed. Even Lord Sachindrian's faction had happily agreed.

Irwin frowned as he recalled that event. 

To everyone's surprise, Lord Sachindrian himself had shown up a day after the surge, massively injured and with a semi-shattered heartcard. According to him, Minerella had been behind everything and had tried to kill him when he tried to stop her. 

Neither the Empress, Hilbarin, nor the Steel Council believed the wounded Lord, but they hadn't been able to find any proof that Sachindrian was involved. Investigation of his Mountain Ridge showed that most of those he had trusted had been killed, which, according to Sachindrian, had been done by Minerella. Minerella herself had been incapable of answering questions about it, and with Sachindrian currently busy trying to reclaim his own Mountain Ridge, the Steel Council had voted to let things rest.

Irwin grinned as he recalled Hilbarin's reaction. The Emperor-to-be had punched a hole in a wall before explaining to Lord Sanchindrian that if he as much as looked at something the wrong way going forward, he would be tried for contempt of the Emperor and imprisoned in his estate at the Capital for the rest of Hilbarin's rule.

'Let's go and say goodbye to Hilbarin and leave,' Irwin said.

'Make sure to tell him he still owes us more cards!'

Irwin's grin widened as he felt his previous worry fade. 

--

Days turned to weeks as Irwin returned to the school and resumed teaching his class. Flowrishin had done great in his absence, but Irwin had noticed how happy his students had been to see him back.

Still, as time flowed by, his desire to see his own children grew larger, especially after his sons had left the room back on Eluathar. 

Little of note happened besides the throning of Hilbarin, the execution of Minerella, and the surprising choice of the Empress. 

"So, we are finally going?" Brecka exclaimed, slamming her cup down at the table and staring at it with barely concealed annoyance.

"We are," Irwin said, turning to where Salezina Silvzeronvein, the previous Empress, sat smirking at Brecka. 

"You are still sure about your choice?" he asked.

"Yes. I have lived nearly my entire life in control over everything but myself," she said. "It is time I find a path for myself."

Brecka let out a sniff. "Right, and so you choose to follow Brother? How does that give you control over your own life?"

Salezina smiled. "I have seen how your brother acts," she said. "Those who follow him are freer than nearly all others. Besides, I want to see the worlds beyond."

Irwin rose from his seat, looking around the room where those who would join him had gathered. 

Blademother Nilish sat at the back, her eyes flickering with excitement. A little to the side, Headteacher Flowrishin, and Teachers Uvaran, Borekliff, and Sandrax sat together, watching quietly. The only teacher here that wouldn't be coming was Lejingi, who would remain at the Adumn Estate in case Frisyuustis sent word he was ready. The rank seven worldanvil had been working on creating new Ganvils for over a year now, and it had quickly become clear to Irwin just how much more powerful Ambraz was even now. Even at rank seven, Frisyuustis needed far more time and soulforce to create his first batch, even if he was going for quantity over quality. 

At the end of the table, Vaidara and Nimlarel had been quietly whispering. The two teleporters had bonded over the last year, due to being the two strongest teleporters around. Not the only ones, as Irwin had helped Hilbarin by creating six heartcarded teleporters. They weren't as strong as the other two, but having more than one had been a great boon.

"Alright," Irwin said as the others rose. "Let's go outside and move to the Deslote Stretch. Are you two ready to teleport us all?"

"We are," Vaidara said. "I'll bring the Ignitzians, while Nimlarel will take the rest of you."

Nimlarel nodded in agreement, and a few moments later, they were outside in the courtyard of the Adumn Estate. Close to seven hundred Ignitzian blademaidens were waiting for them in groups, while a group of Viridian wood and stoneshapers stood with them, looking slightly nervous.

"As you all know, we are going to be teleporting to a tree on the outskirts of The Deslote Stretch," Irwin said, drawing everyone's attention. "It has been scouted over the last few months, and Rinbus will be waiting for us with the most recent news. Once there, I'll be moving to the center to draw the reaction our appearance will bring, while you create a secure perimeter and a safe haven. Are there any questions?"

Irwin didn't expect any, as they had discussed this at length before, and they didn't let him down. 

"Nimlarel," he said, turning to the slight Oxarite. 

She walked towards him, the dress that she wore leaving her shoulders, arms, and back bare. Ever since her scars had faded, she'd begun walking around in ever more revealing clothes, and only Brecka's timely warning had made it so she'd stopped before causing issues. Even then, as she stepped beside Irwin, smiling up at him with her dark eyes, the constant cloud around them vibrating, Irwin held back a sigh.

'I really have to ask Brecka to talk to her again,' he thought as he took a deep breath.

"Teleport us," he said, nodding at her.

"Yes, Tutor!"

A shadowy cloud burst from Nimralla's eyes, and a moment later Irwin felt the soulforce ripple around them, pulling him and the others with them.

One more step, and then I can head back out, he thought, clenching his fists.