Irwin's Journey 422: Softly spoken

If we get this thing back, we need to have Mikarl take a look, he thought, the image of the man with his slowly healing hands flickering through his mind.

He landed on the deck so hard that the wood below his feet cracked dangerously, and the entire ship seemed to dip a few inches.

"Be welcome on the Bruyinde," the lizard man said, holding both hands before him, palms up. 

Irwin had no idea if it was meant as a greeting or just a sign to show he was unarmed, and he didn't care.

"Who, and what are you?" he said, pointing at the entity in the lizard man's chest.

'I'm Zeek.'

The faint whisper came from the chest. It wasn't sound exactly, but an intricate resonance from the ambient soulforce that became audible. 

That thing just drew in ambient soulforce and manipulated it like it was nothing!

Irwin felt shock run through him, and it took all his willpower to stop a sudden desire to change his course of questioning. 

No. First need to figure out what they are, why they were here, and why the others jumped down.

The thing called Zeek hadn't said anything else, though the lizard man's eyes had flickered to the railing, fear growling slightly.

"And what are you?" Irwin said.

'Girdaim,' the entity said. 'We are a symbiotic species that survives by bonding to other beings.'

"He can see that, Zeek," the lizardman hissed, both his eyes blinking independently. "He's a soulsucker, but not a bad one."

Irwin focused on the lizardman.

"Soulsucker?"

"What? You don't call them that here?"

Irwin frowned. "I've never seen anything like him before."

"You don't have soulsuckers in this branch? Well, that's a blessing from Yilda," the lizard man said, letting out a sarcastic, hissing laugh.

Irwin frowned.

Yilda…

"What does it mean that you're a soulsucker?" he said, focusing back on the Girdaim.

'It's a term some of my kind earned by misusing their abilities,' Zeek said. 'We don't have a stable soulforce like others, so we need to bind ourselves to something that does. If we do so, and we are stronger than our host or the host is otherwise occupied-'

"Sleeping or knocked out, he means," Poldixuz added.

‘-... yes. In those cases, we can take over their soulscape and wipe out their being.'

Irwin blinked, staring at the thing with a sense of disgust.

"You take over another's soulscape," he grunted.

'Not me,' Zeek said. 'But yes, many of my kind live like this, and it has gained us that name.'

"Zeek's not like that," Poldixuz said quickly. "There are two sorts. Those that steal a body, use it like you would a shirt or a pair of boots, and those like him, who are more like… talking pants?"

Irwin stared at the reptile man in disbelief

"Talking… pants…" he said slowly.

"Yeah!" Poldixuz said. "Though he also helps me not get sick, and I'm older than I should be, and-"

'Poldixuz…'

"- mental attacks don't affect me much, and-

'Poldixuz.'

"- I can sleep in my soulscape while he moves my body around, and-"

"I've got it," Irwin said, cutting off the reptile man.

The constant stream of chatter from the clearly nervous man had removed some of the tension, and he took a deep breath before looking at the entity called Zeek.

"Are you chained or unchained?"

Poldixuz's mouth snapped shut, his eyes widening. "You know about that?"

'Poldixuz is chained, but only ones. I am unchained,' Zeek said. 'The Guidar aren't able to chain my people due to our soulforce instability. The only benefit it has ever brought us.'

Irwin hummed as he glanced at Poldixuz before focusing back on Zeek. 

"You were sent here by the Guidar," he said. 

It wasn't a question, but he still waited to see how the two would react.

Poldixuz grimaced and seemed to deflate slightly.

'We were. We were part of one of the scouting forces sent to find another route into this branch,' Zeek said. 'Our orders were to take over the first portal world we came across and create a base. Then we were to send a message back.'

"We don't want to work for those monsters," Poldixuz said quickly. "Most people don't! It’s just… well…”

'Nearly everyone is chained by the Guidar,' Zeek said. 'Most-'

"Yeah! Not everyone is nice or anything," Poldixuz said, interrupting Zeek's whispered voice as he waved his clawed hands around. "Many wars and gruesome things and all that, but ever since they found the Gallery Corridors leading here, those Guidar have reasserted themselves."

Irwin frowned. "Explain."

"Oh, most people never saw or heard of them before," Poldixuz said. "Well, unless you became too strong. Then they would double- or triple-chain you. But most normal people never really saw them after their initial chaining. They never really interfered with things… at least not from what I recall. You just heard the occasional bit about some powerful family being wiped out. That stuff."

Irwin nodded slowly while Ambraz chimed in.

"It matches what those Acentii told us. The Guidar rules from the shadows, or something like that."

"And why are you here?" Irwin asked, staring at the two. "Also, why did the others on this ship jump down?"

"Oh, those were Faithfull," Poldixuz said with disgust. "You know. The bad soulsuckers!"

Irwin frowned as he recalled the soulforce signature of the others. He couldn't deny the difference between those and Zeek. Still, even then, Zeek felt horribly… wrong to him. As if his mere existence was a mistake, like a card on the edge of shattering.

"You were traveling with them? Why?" he asked.  

'My people are split… The Faithful are the dominant force, and anyone who doesn't agree with them is destroyed,' Zeek said. 'We were just hiding. You can find atleast one like me in most groups, sometimes more.'

Irwin examined the two beings, wondering what to make of their story. He didn't feel like they were lying, and it was clear that Poldixuz wasn't some mindless zombie. More so, from the way he interacted with Zeek, it didn't look like a facade. Still, they were part of the Guidar army, a force sent here because the Guidar were searching for their people.

"What other orders did you get?" Irwin asked. "Besides making a forward base."

"We were told to search for a powerful cardsmith that was bigger than normal," Poldixuz said, looking pointedly at Irwin. "He was supposedly in this sidebranch, though from what we heard, he should have been a month or so from the entrance."

So, Lasther did manage to send a message back, Irwin thought, gritting his teeth. Wait, they were supposed to send a message back! Did they? 

He took a step forward, his eyes narrowing. "Did you or one of the others send a message back? And how?"

"We didn't!" Poldixuz said, taking a careful step back. "The Girdaim need way more to do that."

'What he means is that my people can send messages to each other as long as there are enough of us present,' Zeek said. 'The longer the distance, the more we need. We had two groups for that, with some redundancy, but you caught us off guard.'

Irwin frowned, feeling only marginally better.

'You would have noticed,' Zeek said. 'Sending a message would create an incredible disturbance in the soulforce, and even those who usually can't sense it would have been able to feel.'

Irwin stared at the being for a while, deep in thought. He knew Daubutim would be here eventually, taking over the interrogation, and he'd asked most things he had to know right now—all but one.

"Why did you surrender?" he asked.

"So you wouldn't kill us?" Poldixuz said, eyes wide and incredulous. "We wouldn't have a chance against someone who-"

'What Poldixuz means,' Zeek said, his soft voice barely managing to interrupt Poldixuz's, 'is that we didn't come here to conquer or capture anyone. We just took the first opportunity to get away from the Guidar.'

"Exactly," Poldixuz agreed. "We are explorers! Trying to find a place without Guidar."

Irwin blinked, feeling a weary recognition settle in. 

"For…?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Our people, right?" Poldixuz said.

This seems to be a recurring theme, Irwin thought as he slowly exhaled. 

The Acentii, the Ganvils, his own people, the Galadins, even the species that had lost their homeworlds. 

Everyone is searching for a safe place to live.

"Don't even think about offering them to stay with us," Ambraz growled. "We already have way too many different people! Anymore, we are bound to get into trouble. Besides, those soulsuckers are grating to the senses!"

"Wasn't planning on it," Irwin said. "We know way too little about them, and who is to say they aren't lying?"

“So… uh…” Poldixuz said. "We've been really forthcoming, right? Answer all your questions. Think you can just… let us go now? We promise we won't tell anyone you are here!"

Irwin looked at the lizardman in disbelief. Was he joking? A few moments passed as he realized that Poldixuz wasn't joking.

"I don't think so," he said.

"Oh… that's a shame," Poldixuz grunted, sounding both sad and slightly annoyed.

Irwin prepared himself for the duo to act, but the lizardman just stood there, biting the inside of his cheek.

'So, can I ask what your plans are for us?' Zeek asked.

"You are going to be brought back to the harbor and answer more questions," Irwin said, slowly relaxing again.

"More questions?" Poldixuz muttered. "Well, you just do those then, Zeek."

Irwin saw Zeek's single, silvery eye glance up and narrow.

'And after answering all those questions?' Zeek asked, focusing on Irwin. 'Will we be allowed to leave?'

Very unlikely, Irwin thought, but he didn't say anything. 

Apparently, he didn't have to.

'I see… Is there anything we can do so that we can be let go? Eventually?'

"I don't know," Irwin said honestly. "But answering all our questions would be a good first step. Beyond that, as soon as the war is over, I guess there would be no reason to keep you."

"Uh… what about when the Guidar armies arrive here? Can we flee then?" Poldixuz asked.

Irwin blinked.

"You expect them to come here?" he asked.

"Definitely! The Seltern Armada is gathering on the border between this branch and the Zaidol Branch- that's the one we came from. It will have to move through this area, so…"

The calm Irwin had felt before rapidly vanished as his hands squeezed into fists.

"When will they come here?"

'It depends on whether one of the other scouting forces will find a way, but the last I heard was that they had all hit dead ends,' Zeek said. 'It should take another few months before the armada is completely assembled, and then it's close to a year to reach those mountains we passed.'

A soft, metallic screech echoed out as Irwin's fists clenched even tighter. Poldixuz flinched, taking a hesitant step back.

"So, worst case, they will be here in one and a half years," Irwin muttered.

"Depends on what kind of years they are talking about," Ambraz said.

"How do you determine what a day and a year are?" Irwin asked.

"Uh, the Guidar introduced something they call Portal Gallery Time," Poldixuz said, shuffling his feet. "There should be an hourglass in the captain's quarters."

"Alright, let's-"

A soft thud came as Greldo appeared on the deck beside him. Poldixuz jumped back, eyes wide.

"Shadeking!"

Greldo let out an annoyed groan, turning to Irwin.

"I've gotten most of what was going on, arrived a while ago," he said. "I'll go get that hourglass."

Irwin opened his mouth to ask his friend something, but Greldo was already gone. He sniffed and focused on Poldixuz. "What did you mean by Shadeking?"

"Am I wrong?" Poldixuz asked, sounding confused. "He's a shadeking, right? I saw him move a ship through the shadowrealm!"

"We don't know that term here," Irwin said, though he had a reasonable idea what it meant based on what he and Greldo had learned from Gloom.

"Oh… well, shadewalkers, where we are from, have different strength rankings," Poldixuz said, scratching the side of his jaw, which caused an odd ticking sound due to his scales. "I don't know the ins or outs, but I know that the strongest are Shade Kings and the Shade Ruler or Shade Emperor… not sure if those last two are the same."

Greldo appeared before Irwin could continue asking, a square, crystal artifact seemingly forgotten in his hands. It showed a set of rune-like characters of which one side was constantly changing.

"Do you have many of those in your branch?" Greldo asked.

"Shade Kings?" Poldixuz said, turning to Greldo. "One on each Shadeworld, I imagine. I have no idea if there's more than one Shade Ruler or Shade Emperor, but I do know there is at least one."

"How? Did you meet him?" Greldo asked.

"What? No! I know because the Guidar are still hunting her," Poldixuz said. "You really don't know what a Shade King is? But… you can move an entire ship through the shadowrealm! I've heard only Shadow Kings and Queens can do that."

Greldo groaned, shaking his head.

"Please tell me I don't have to become some kind of king…"

Irwin snorted, taking the crystal object from his hands.

"Is this that hourglass?"

'Yes, and it shows the time and its passage,' Zeek said. 'I'd have to know more about your passage of time to explain it, but-'

"No need," Irwin said as he examined the odd crystal. It had four sets of two runes, with only the right ones moving reasonably fast. The set beyond changed after a short while, and he nodded. "Daubutim will be able to figure out what to do with this."

He turned to Greldo, who was still bemoaning his potential elevation to being some noble.

"Grell, you already knew you were going to be some sort of shadowrealm nobility," he said. "It'll be fine. Now, let's head back. Also, do you have any idea why there are still three enemy ships just hovering there?"

Greldo let out a theatrical sigh before nodding.

"Yeah, Basil woke up long enough to explain it. Apparently, those are Acentii who want to surrender."

"Acentii," Irwin hummed, turning to the two. "Greldo, can you get the Noctura out so we can move over there? I'll take care of this thing."

Greldo nodded and vanished. A few moments later, the sleek black vessel appeared alongside as if materializing out of thin air.

"Can you get over there on your own?" Irwin asked.

Poldixuz examined the distance and nodded. 

"Alright, move there," Irwin said.

Poldixuz took a few steps back and then dashed to the railing so fast Irwin had a hard time tracking him. He jumped up, one foot on the railing, then propelled himself forward with such force that the railing creaked dangerously. The reptile man sailed across the twenty or so feet gap with ease, landing on the Noctura's deck with a quick roll. 

Irwin hummed and looked at the ship.

"This thing could have something dangerous if I bring it into my soulcape?" he asked through his otherself.

"No, I don't sense anything, and if there was something dangerous, it would have to emanate soulforce," Ambraz grunted. "Besides, I don't think there's anything that could really harm you there that you couldn't just evict out."

Irwin nodded and pulled the ship into his soulscape. Before gravity could even assert itself, he snapped his fingers and teleported across the sound waves.

I hope we didn't lose too many people, he thought as he landed.

--

Zeek watched the smith appear with a soft pop, the soulforce around him roiling like a storm in a glass of water. It lasted for only a moment before it returned to normalcy.

"What happened to The Bruyinde?" Poldixuz asked him through their shared soulscape.

"He pulled the ship into his soulscape."

"What?!" 

Zeek didn't respond, trying to ignore his host's growing emotional distress. 

Instead, he focused on the two men as they spoke near the helm. The ship was moving forward much faster than he'd expected, and he knew that it was of better quality than The Bruyinde or any of the ships in their fleet. It wasn't nearly at the quality of the great warships he knew the Guidar employed, but it was definitely at the top of what the entire army could offer.

And then there's that ship, he thought, focusing on the ship that had been able to withstand the entire barrage of their small fleet. 

He could sense the incredibly stable soulforce from its deck. Either it was a person, or a soul artifact with an ability he'd never seen before. Whatever it was, he felt slightly wistful as he sensed the stability of the thing within the ambient soulforce. None of his kind would ever have that. Not in this Portal Gallery.

As they continued on toward where the battle had long since stopped, he saw that a handful of their ships had survived, captured by the battle-hungry horned beings that had blocked their progress at the mountainous Glacial Area. There was no sign of the other ships of The Faithfull, nor did he sense any other surviving Girdaim. Still, as he glanced at the ground below, he knew he couldn't be absolutely sure any hadn't burrowed down.

"Are there any more of your species that survived?"

Zeek shivered as he glanced up to see the Cardsmith watching him. Just looking at him felt like looking into the sun of his and Poldixuz's homeworld.

"I don't sense any," he said. "But if there are, you would do best to destroy them immediately. That way, they won't have time to spread their spores."

The smith frowned, his rigid, dull metallic face like that of a stoic statue. "Explain."

"My people reproduce with spores, like fungi," Zeek said.

The smith just looked at him in a way that made it clear he was to continue.

He wondered how much more he would need to share to get a modicum of trust. Probably everything. 

"We reproduce like… mushrooms," he said, feeling a slight distaste at the comparison. "If our mycelia are compatible, we can create more of us. There are always atleast a few in each group who could reproduce, and that means some will have fertilized mycelia. Imagine it like a cloud of dust-like particles that can bond to most weak creatures. Insects, sometimes small mice. I know this section of the Portal Gallery has only become lifebearing for a short while, but if any of those lifeforms have made it out of the worlds, my people could start spreading."

The cardsmith frowned at him, worry clear in his eyes. 

"Will they be able to infect my people?"

"Not immediately," Zeek said. "We are very fragile in those early states, and most of us don't survive even in the best of circumstances. Then it takes many years for us to grow into adults, and even then, we can't really bond to a powerful host unless it is either weaker than us, mindless, or severely wounded."

The smith quietly watched him, and Zeek wondered what he was thinking. He'd been surprised at the ease of their conversations so far, but he decided that was likely because they had never dealt with his species before. Otherwise, there would have been far more fear and loathing. The fact that he was reasonably stable compared to others of his kind, and his and Poldixuz's bond only enhanced that, was likely part of it. Not that he hadn't seen the momentary looks of disgust when his instability flared up.

"You seem uncommonly willing to share details."

"I don't want to die, nor do I want Poldixuz to die," Zeek said.

Technically, he didn't want anything, atleast not very strongly. Most of his emotions came from Poldixuz, and it was his hosts' overstimulated emotional responses that were helping him act as he was. Still, the emotions seemed to be helping him out, something he'd noticed many times over the years.

"If you don't do anything dangerous and keep answering our questions, there's no reason to kill you."

Which is exactly what I was hoping for, Zeek thought. Now, let's hope those Acentii don't complicate things.

Half a day later, his hopes were shattered.

"You can't trust them."

Poldixuz let out a weary sigh, and Zeek couldn't agree more. 

He glanced around the crowded room, which he knew was on the outskirts of the harbor. It was filled with close to a hundred Acenti and twice as many guards. Most were seated around the edges, and all were wearing chains.

I'm glad they didn't chain us, Zeek thought. Even his emotionless self couldn't help but shiver at the prospect of having what little control he had over his and Poldixuz's soulforce be locked away. It would probably result in his immediate death.

In front of them stood Cish'ranzina, the previous leader of their scouting force, chained as the others of her kind. 

She was glaring at Zeek while a small group was watching them. The Cardsmith, Irwin, as he'd found he was called, the Shadow King Greldo, the one who'd had someone shattered one of their ships and seemed capable of controlling Chaos Whales, Basil, and a five-horned demon called Doomblade. The latter had been almost hungrily staring at him, which Zeek could sense, confused Poldixuz, and thus him as well.

"Cish'ranzina, Zeek is not with the Faithful," Poldixuz said, raising his hand in a gesture of annoyance. "I've just explained that!"

"So? Soulsuckers are all the same. They steal someone's soulscape, drain their soulforce, and can take control over their host at any moment," the Acenti snapped, her purple eyes narrowing. "And don't call me that. I'm Cish!"

The golden-armored warrior, Basil, stepped forward, and although he looked weary and wan, Zeek could feel the pressure emanating from him. 

"Could you two please stop bickering? I didn't ask if that thing can be trusted. I don't trust any of you. You attacked us."

Cish nodded, though her glare remained on Zeek, who tried not to look back. Keeping his eye on other things, he caught Irwin and Greldo sharing a meaningful look. Had Cish said something odd?

"Well, Daubutim is arriving soon," the smith said before he could try and figure it out. "As soon as he and the others arrive, Greldo and I are heading out."

Zeek felt a wave of worry from Poldixuz and, with it, the desire to speak up—a sensible thing to feel. The cardsmith seemed far less hostile than the others, especially compared to Captain Cish. The other Girdaim had banded together to usurp her control, and now she seemed to hold it against him. Hoping this Daubutim was any friendlier seemed like a bad plan. The problem was, what could he do to keep the smith here until things had calmed down?

"You are still going to stay here, right?" Basil asked.

So they weren't here initially? That explains why they didn't just stop us before, Zeek thought.

"Yes. Until we figure out what happened to our scouts, it's best I stay here for a while."

'I can answer that,' Zeek said instantly, sensing an opening.

Everyone turned to look at him, though he saw Cish's jaw clench, her eyes glittering dangerously.

'Captain Cish'ranzina had the few shadewalkers we had with us scout ahead and take them out.'

The Acenti visibly flinched, then grimaced at the raised eyebrows. Zeek couldn't determine how the others felt, but he saw Basil's eyes narrow dangerously.

"It is just standard procedure," Cish said, wringing her hands. "I… I have no excuse."

Zeek could see her struggle to hold back what she likely really wanted to say. They were sent to take over the town and hadn't known the situation would become as it had.

Cish's next words, however, managed to stun Poldixuz so powerfully that it took Zeek a few moments to shrug it off.

"I can understand that you kill me, but please be lenient on my crew," Cish said, bowing her head. 

The room remained quiet, making it easy to hear as the door was shoved open.

Zeed saw a tall man with eyes like silver lightning walk into the room. His presence was powerful, but there was also something sharp and different about it. 

"Lord Daubutim," Basil said, walking forward. "I'm glad you made it. Will the others arrive shortly?"

"They will not. It's too dangerous to have them all here," the man said in a calm, emotionless voice. "Bronwyn filled me in when he returned. Now, tell me everything as quickly as possible."

This is their leader…? Zeed though. He focused on the man, sensing he wasn't as powerful as The Cardsmith or even The Shadow King, but not that far behind the latter. From the little they had gathered of how the card ranking worked, he guessed he had a soulcard and a heartcard. 

He listened as the others rapidly brought him up to speed in a way he'd never seen before. Each of them spoke at the same time, their words mingling in a barely understandable chatter. They didn't speak slowly either, but seemed to want to outdo eachother in who could speak fastest.

Daubutim seemed perfectly fine with it, and when they finished, he just nodded, his eyes swirling like miniature silver storms.

"I see," he said. "Then I have one question first.

He turned to Cish, then Zeed and Poldixuz, eyes emotionless as he observed them.

"What do you know of the plague?"