Irwin's Journey 421: Yilda's Faithfull

Ambraz roared as he slammed into the barrier around the ship, feeling it weaken.

"Break," he growled as he flung himself back, then at the ship's barrier again.

The beings on the ship didn't respond. Standing on the deck, they looked at him through the barrier with an almost tranquil apathy. They were of different species, all but one of which Ambraz had never seen before, but they had two things in common. 

They all wore the same tight-fitting, purple robe with a V-split at the front, and they all had a crystalline… thing embedded in their color bones. 

A brilliant purple, it looked like a cross between a very tiny Oculithar and an insect. It was clearly alive, as the main body pulsed like a heartbeat. The tendrils that spread out from it, thick at the base, continued into the chest and pulsed in tandem with the body. As horrid as that looked, the worst about the entity was its eye—a single, silvery slit in the middle. With a dark purple, almost black pupil, all of them were focused unblinkingly on Ambraz.

The soulforce resonances that came from the beings were atrocious, a sickly song of wailing agony that seemed to feed Ambraz's anger.

"Break," he roared.

He slammed into the shield and felt the drain on his own soulforce intensify. He came around a third time, unwilling to stop, when he felt a sense of horror permeate through his bond with Irwin. It lasted only a few moments but was enough to snap him out of his shocked rage. He only halfheartedly slammed into the shield, quickly drawing back as he tried to understand what had happened.

'Kid? '

There was no reaction, and he sailed back, his rampant emotions calming as he split his focus across the ship before him and his connection with the kid. At the same time, he tried hard to hold back the horror at what he had felt from Mor'vin during his final moments.

'Kid, what-' he began, only to fall quiet.

He shivered as his senses finally caught up, and he felt Irwin's state. Since his last rank-up, he'd gotten far better at sensing what was happening in his bond's soulscape, and he faintly felt Irwin's normal-sized self slumped down on the ground beside his house. 

His arm's gone…!

Ambraz floated further back, his wings rapidly draining his soulforce as he felt a tiny twitch of panic.

'I'm fine. You need to calm down!'

'I am calm,' Ambraz snapped. 'And you should tell yourself that!'

He clearly sensed the fury raging within Irwin. Still, he knew the kid was right. He was only calm when compared to mere moments before. In reality, his mind was a mess. 

Not that he could blame himself. The mere memory of what he had sensed, how the purple beam had eaten away, then eviscerated Mor'vin's soulforce-

How dare they?!

Ambraz felt his anger rapidly grow as he focused on Mor'vin's unmoving shell. It felt like a regular anvil, lifeless, soulless, and… wrong. There was no sign of Mor'vin's soulforce or soulskill. Almost as if something had ripped everything that had made the Ganvil what it was away.

Which was exactly what had happened.

You vile scum!

Ambraz's entire focus shifted back to the ship, and it took all his willpower to stop himself from trying to break through the barrier again. He couldn't waste any more energy on that. 

Not that he had to. An enormous shape shot past him, and Irwin's giantself rammed into the barrier. His gauntlets were wreathed with fire as they slammed down on the barrier, which looked small compared to his size.

The single double-handed hit caused a deafening boom, and the barrier, already weakened from Ambraz's own attacks, exploded into a swirl of soulforce that wasn't able to retain its form or function. Irwin's gauntletted fists continued down, barely slowed, and crashed into the deck, causing a second explosion. Wood splinters and dust billowed out while the robed figures were flung around.

A figure appeared beside them.

"Look out! The other one!"

Ambraz spun around just in time to see a ball of light hover before the other set of three ships.

'Kid, look-'

His words were cut off as he was forcefully yanked back into Irwin's soulscape. The final thing he saw was Irwin vanish from where he'd stood, then he was hovering beside Irwin's smallself, still slumped on the ground.

"What did you do?" he asked, quickly expanding his senses to feel what was happening in the real world.

-- The real world --

Irwin slammed his gauntlets down on the barrier, glaring at the horrid figures on the deck. The faces were still passive, but they had begun rushing around the deck, triggering runes.

The demonic creatures embedded in their chests were also doing something. He had no idea what, but whatever it was, he wasn't going to let them. 

He focused on his first soulcard and grabbed the barrier. His arms were easily able to reach around the sphere, and as his gauntletted fingers flattened against the barrier, blueish sparks rippled around them.

There was still no panic from the beings on the ship, but Irwin didn't care.

He started squeezing as flames wreathed around him. He pulled more and more soulforce into his flames, causing the brightness to increase from a burning forge to that of a small sun. The barrier below his hands dimmed rapidly, and it was barely three seconds later that Irwin felt the resistance disappear, and his hands slammed against the wooden hull. 

He grabbed the ship, which, compared to his own size, was like a barrel. As gravity asserted itself, he dragged it down with him. The figures on the ship stopped what they were doing, grabbing onto anything they could while the pulsing of the runes on the deck began increasing. Irwin could sense them drawing in soulforce, both his own and the ambient soulforce. The resonance sounded like a grating screech of metal on metal, becoming louder with every moment.

Irwin instantly knew that if he hadn't been a smith, he wouldn't have known what was happening. Luckily for him, he was, and as he sensed the runes become unstable, he hurled the barrel-sized ship down. At the same time, he triggered his soundwave ability and vanished, reappearing hundreds of yards up and to the left.

The ship below him was spinning through the air, the sail ripped, figures flung away, and the runes pulsing with ever more soulforce.

"Brace yourself!" Irwin roared before triggering his teleport.

As he moved across the sound waves, he felt the shockwave like an odd oscillation in the few moments that he was teleporting. Then he reappeared and looked down to see only splinters and debris raining on the ground. 

Suicide attack, he thought.

He quickly looked around to make sure the Galadin ships were safe.

The Nocturna was a few hundred yards away, Greldo on the prow, diving alongside one of the Galadin ships that was rapidly descending. The prow had been shattered, and Irwin saw the crew jump across the gap between the two ships. 

Further away, the incoming reinforcements had reached the edge of the battle and were focusing on a few enemy vessels that circled The Concerto. They showed no sign of trouble.

A little closer, two white-sailed ships, now overtaken by Galubs, were chasing a third whit-sailed one. Doomblade stood on the prow, waving his sword around.

Less lucky were the two ships flanking the one he'd just smashed. They were rapidly descending, sails blown to shreds, their hulls riddled with cracks and tears.

Further out, three of the white-sailed ships were trying to get away, quickly distancing themselves from the battle. Even from this far, Irwin could sense the filthy resonance that came from the creatures embedded in the people aboard.

Each one was heading in a different direction.

"Greldo, get that one!" he roared, pointing at one of the ships.

He didn't wait to see if his friend would act but vanished across the soundwaves, rushing towards the furthest of the ships. 

Should I split up? 

He hesitated, then decided against it. His otherself was still highly unstable, and he had no experience with having both of his selves in one of his giant bodies, both outside. He could try and split his mind, but he had even less experience with that.

There's something else I can do, though, he decided with a grin.

--

A calm atmosphere hung over the ship as three beings stood side-by-side, staring at the harbor, quickly shrinking in the distance.

"That was the one we were warned about."

"Yes. We know."

"Can we contact the others?"

"Not with only so few of us. There is too much interference."

"He is chasing after us. Can we get away?"

"Unlikely."

"Prepare the detonation runes."

"Already started."

The conversation was calm, fast, and emotionless, the voices from the different species all sounding oddly hollow. None showed any facial movement as they spoke, their eyes unfocused as they seemingly gazed at nothing.

"Do you think this is an expansion or their entire base?" a woman with eyes like a wolf and oily fur asked. 

Her eyes were as unfocused as the others, but the single silvery eye on her chest glanced at the similar purple entity embedded in the figure beside it.

"If it is their entire base, they will have no chance against the Guidar," the lizard-like man said, his lipless mouth clicking softly as it spoke.

"Unlikely," a third said from the mouth of an Accenti. 

The woman's eyes were fuzzy as they stared at the beam, while the creature's single eye focused on a distant speck.

"That Shadeking is going to overtake Farley."

"Then they are dead, but atleast it increases our odds," the wolf-eyed woman answered calmly.

"Unless that Smith chases us."

"A fifty-fifty chance, then," the lizard man said.

"We need to decide what to do if none of us can flee…"

The voice held no emotion, but somehow, the creature embedded in the chest of a pale-skinned, long-limbed still conveyed a sense of worry.

"Look, the smith is at Leihm."

All of them fell quiet, their host bodies standing still like puppets as the entities in the chests watched a giant shape appear beside the distant ship. The boom that came after would have probably rattled the ears of anyone nearby.

"The question is now of utmost importance," the pale-skinned, long-limbed being said. "What do we do?"

It was quiet for a while, then the lizard-like host spoke up.

"We should unbind and hide in the ground below."

A shiver ran through multiple of the entities, their tentacles growing taut.

"If we get found by the Addled…"

Even though their hosts remained dull and emotionless, a sense of horror and foreboding came from the entities.

"If we go to the goddess like this, knowing we are the last to follow her command, she will not be pleased," the wolf-eyed woman said.

"There might be no lifeforms roaming these lands yet," the lizard-man said. "It looks fresh, and the portal likely opened only a few decades ago."

"Then we die of starvation," the pale-skinned one said. "Would you prefer angering the goddess?"

None answered as they watched the battle of the other two ships far in the distance.

"The smith has almost destroyed Leihm's shields," the wolf-eyed woman said. "Decide."

"Unbind," the pale-skinned one said.

A few voices echoed her, including some of those currently working on the runes.

"Surrender," the lizard-man said, causing all eyes to snap to him.

"Explain," the wolf-eyed woman said, her voice and face emotionless but somehow exuding surprise and confusion.

"From all we know, these people are less murderous than those we know, more like the Acentii," the lizard-man said. "If we provide them with information and follow their rules, they are not likely to wipe us out."

"Those hosts are resonance sensitive," the wolf-eyed woman said. "You know how those species feel about us."

"It is a risk," the lizard man agreed. "But you have seen the amount of Addled that roam these branches. There has not been a proper culling in hundreds of years if any has ever been done. Must I remind you what happens if an Addled finds you?"

There was a moment of silence, then the pale-skinned one moved close to the railing. "I vote we drop, but let those who want to stay."

"And risk them revealing information?" the wolf-eyed one said.

"A small risk," the pale one replied. "He-" a pale digit pointed at the lizard-man. "-will not reveal anything worrisome. He knows barely anything."

There was a moment of quiet, then all but the serpent-man moved to the ship railing.

"The smith is coming. We must leave."

All but the wolf-eyed one leaped over the railing without a word, and a few moments later, only two entities still remained on the deck.

The two entities embedded in the chest stared at each other calmly.

"Good luck," the wolf-eyed one said before leaping over the railing.

Left alone, the serpent-man walked forward, the eye in its chest tracing the falling forms. 

"Fools."

The entity in the chest let out a formless chuckle while its resonance changed slightly. The horrid sense of dissonance and wrongness faded somewhat, though not completely. 

"Go join your fake goddess."

The body shivered, and a moment later, the hazy look in the serpent-man's eyes retreated, the vertically-slit eyes blinking as the lipless mouth edges pulled down in disgust. The cheeks pulled, the face puckered, and the lizard man spat across the railing.

"Those Yilda Faithfull scum are disgusting," he hissed, his voice filled with hate. 

"They are," a voice echoed from his chest. "Now, prepare. That Cardsmith is not going to be happy to see us, so we need to figure out how to convince him we aren't soulsuckers."

"Well, technically, you are, Zeek," the lizard-man snapped as he turned and glared at the glowing runes. "Let's deactivate those before we get an accident."

"Agreed. Make sure to use the minimum amount of power," the being called Zeek said, ignoring the initial remark." I can feel those chains tightening."

The serpent-man sighed as he walked to the leftmost rune and put his hand above it.

"I know already."

--

Irwin frowned as he reappeared out of the sound waves, instantly falling down.

The ship that had been fleeing had stopped moving, hovering quietly in the air as if waiting for him. Only a single soulforce resonance was present, and unlike the previous ones, it was far less… disgusting. He could still hear and sense something wrong with it, though, but that was nothing compared to what he felt from below the ship.

Dozens of bodies, tiny specs from this high up, lay there, each very faint as if they were trying to hide. Sadly for them, his sensitivity made it so they stuck out like tiny sparkling purple stars on the ground.  Worse, he could sense them… doing something. 

Almost as if they were trying to hide by burying themselves in the ground.

He glanced at the ship, no longer moving and with just the single soulforce signature. It didn't show any sign of leaving, but if he waited too long, who knew if he could still sense those others?

He heard his otherself and Ambraz agree and let gravity keep pulling him down.

-- Irwin's Soulscape: slightly earlier --

Ambraz hovered beside Irwin, part of his attention on the real world and his bonded smith. He was wailing on another ship, the barrier rapidly weakening while Greldo was somewhere else, stopping another.

"The third one is fleeing," the Ganvil growled, holding back his desire to head out and stop it himself.

"It can't get away fast enough," Irwin muttered. "I'll grab it soon enough. But first-"

He moved his hand, and a moment later, an identical body, but with two arms, appeared beside him. The new Irwin opened his eyes as the other one closed his.

"Much, much better," Irwin muttered, stretching before examining his arm. "I wonder how long it will take my first soulcard to regenerate my arm."

"Weeks, perhaps longer," Ambraz said, seemingly not paying much attention. "What does it matter? You have plenty of bodies now."

Irwin looked at his friend and grimaced as he felt the barely contained anger. 

"Can you tell me what happened to you?"

Ambraz took a deep breath as he felt his anger grow again.

"That attack breaks down soulforce," he hissed. "Eats it! Mor'vin… his entire being was eaten alive. He… his screams." 

Ambraz shuddered as he tried to push away the sounds Mor'vin had made. 

"Be glad you couldn't hear it," he whispered.

Irwin swallowed, his eyes widening as he looked at his one-armed body on the ground.

"What about me?"

Ambraz smiled sadly. "You are fine. Your soulscape is far too big and dense. I would have been fine, too, because of our bond, but Mor'vin? He had no soulbond, no smith. Without that stability…"

Ambraz sighed, his attention on the outside, where Irwin was still battering against the shield of the second set of ships.

"Those things on the ship, there is something very wrong about them," he said. 

Irwin nodded. "I know. That thing in their chest. Is it some kind of living entity?"

"Definitely some type of demon," Ambraz grunted in agreement. "It's hard to say without examining them up close, but I think they have taken over those bodies."

"The resonance is horrifying," Irwin grunted. "It feels like the soulforce from those people is being changed. Do you think we can remove them somehow?"

"I don't know," Ambraz said, watching Irwin's giant self destroy the other ship, ripping it apart while his flames surged around. "But even if you did, we can't risk it. If they can take over bodies, we need to make sure none make it onto Eluathar."

Irwin hesitated, but Ambraz felt his giantself erupt with more flames, causing the final one of the figures to be incinerated to ash.

"We can't save them all."

Ambraz nodded, and they were quiet as Irwin's giantself teleported across the sound waves, rapidly catching up to the final of the three ships that had been fleeing.

It took only a short while, and when Irwin arrived, Ambraz hissed.

"They are trying to hide under the ground."

"I see," Irwin agreed. "What do we do?"

"Kill them," Ambraz grunted. "They are beings who are willing to take over the bodies of others and are part of the Guidar army. If we start trying to save them all, it won't end well for us."

Irwin sighed, then nodded.

-- Real-world --

Zeek's single eye was locked onto the giant smith, shooting down the ground. The amount of soulforce pulsing from him was far more than he'd expect from someone in such a backwater place. Not just that, the way it was pulsing with pure symmetry, purity, and beauty made the tiny part of him capable of emotion feel something. Jealousy.

It didn't last long as the emotions from Poldixuz drowned out his, the reptile-man's body flooding with adrenaline.

"He knows they are there," Pildixuz hissed.

'Of course he does,' Zeek replied.

"Do you think he will capture them?"

'No. Just watch.'

Poldixuz snorted but didn't react.

They watched as the smith reached the ground, and a sea of flame rolled away from him, scorching the mud and stone-covered ground. The fire incinerated the bodies that had been there, unmoving and mangled from their fall. That barely mastered tough, as the hosts had been dead already.

What Zeek was more curious about was if the smith could sense the Yilda Worshippers digging into the ground. A moment later, his curiosity was sated as the smith landed on the ground, and a wave of soulforce rippled out of him. The ground began shaking and bucking, fissures appearing as an area of a few square miles seemed to try to rearrange itself in another shape. A hammer the size of a small building appeared in the smith's hand, and as if not satisfied, he began striking certain spots in the ground.

Zeek couldn't sense the others, but if he had to guess, they were probably being crushed.

"What kind of monster is he…" Poldixuz muttered. "How many abilities can a single person have? This is as bad as those Guidar!"

Zeek felt the anxiety in the reptile-man grow to fear, a rare occurrence with all he had been through.

'From what I can sense, he is over a third into creating his worldskill,' Zeek said. 'He is probably only a bit away from getting his proto domain.'

Poldixuz's thick green tongue licked his lips, his fear deepening. "No wonder they wanted him. Do you think there are more like him here?"

Zeek didn't respond, but he knew what Poldixuz really wanted to know. Did Zeek think these people the Guidar had sent them to find and capture or kill had any chance of killing the Chainers?

'They would need thousands just like him,' he said. 'And even then, the chances are slim. No, don't ever believe anyone can win from the Guidar. Our best hope is still to find an unknown World Portal and leave this Portal Gallery.'

Poldixuz's hand moved to his chest as he frowned.

"You said there should be one here… but how would we even find it? Let alone- would they even let us leave? On a ship at that?!"

'We just have to prove useful,' Zeek replied. 'With me here and you being only once-chained, we can easily tell them what we know.'

"And that will be enough?" Poldixuz muttered before his eyes widened.

'I don't know, but we will find out now. Here he comes. '