Irwin's Journey 511: Locked down

Authors note: Bit late, but had a lot of things to finish family wise yesterday so here is yesterdays chapter :)

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"This is amazing!" Hilbarin roared, standing at the prow of the Caldera, looking at the Portal Gallery.

Irwin grinned at the ancient man.  "You make it sound like you didn't enjoy being in my soulscape!" 

Hilbarin looked back at him, grinning madly. "Oh, that was great, but this is what I came for!" he said, waving at the seemingly endless corridor they were sailing through. A thick, brown, and gray bedrock layer covered large swaths of it, showing just how well this part of the barrier had held up against the storm. Only the occasional empty stretches that gave a clear view of the chaotic primal space showed that even here, the storm hadn't passed without effect.

I can't forget that only a few years have passed since the storm, Irwin told himself. To him, it felt ages ago, but to those from the eye of the Portal Gallery, it had been only recently. 

"You said you've been beyond that barrier?" Hilbarin asked, drawing his attention back to the here and now.

"Many times," Irwin said. "It's cold, and the soulforce beyond it is chaotic."

"So, now that this storm you told us about is gone, will the floor return everywhere?" Hilbarin asked, pointing at a hundred-meter stretch that was devoid of stone.

"That's going to take millions of years," Ambraz said, landing on Irwin's shoulder. "Perhaps even more. It's dust and matter that flowed from the portals and accumulated here."

"So, not something I'll ever get to see," Hilbarin said, sounding almost sad. "Did that storm clear out all the stuff, or are there areas that are like they were before?"

"The Wandering Verge should be largely unaffected," Ambraz said. "The worlds there were far older, and the ambient soulforce within the corridors far denser. Parts of the barriers may have dropped, but not a lot. Then there's The Tangled Core, which is unlikely to have noticed any of it, not to speak of The Center."

"Right," Hilbarin said, his eyes glittering with excitement. "The Wandering Verge is further that way, right?" he said, pointing in the direction they were going.

Ambraz began laughing, ignoring the ancient emperor's annoyed snort.

"Further, yes. If you mean a hundred years at this speed?" Ambraz said. "We are in what is called The Fringes or The Outer Leaves. You have to travel from this main branch to the next, through that, and probably a dozen more to reach the outer edge of The Wandering Verge. I don't know exactly how far it is, but the stories say that without a teleporter that can teleport across the Portal Gallery, it's not doable."

"Not doable, or just takes long?" Hilbarin snorted.

"Both," Ambraz replied, lips curved in a nasty grin. "To move between main branches, you have to pass through a very long stretch of soulforce devoid of Portal Gallery. Very few ships can survive a trip like that."

"The Caldera can? Right?" Hilbarin asked, patting the railing.

Irwin grinned as he sensed Ambraz's annoyance. He knew the Ganvil didn't think much of the rich areas of the Portal Gallery. Part of it was because his own homeworld had been on the fringes, and his people's entire history originated from here. The other reason was that the larger Smith's Guilds thought poorly of the Ganvils, seeing them as a cheat to quick power, and skill not earned.

"How much further till we reach Clearsky?" Hilbarin asked, leaning on the railing and staring ahead.

"A day," Irwin replied. "I could have moved closer, but Selinda said that her people have carded called Sensors that can detect most approaching entities, even shadewalkers. If I had gone closer, we would have probably gotten into trouble with their fleet."

"Bah, it's not like they stand a chance against you," Hilbarin snorted.

Irwin didn't respond, but left the Oxarite to himself at the prow. He'd tried to explain to the man that, as powerful as he was, there were carded people with abilities who would neutralize his. Hilbarin had merely scoffed.

I probably shouldn't have sparred with him and Brecka at the same time, Irwin thought. 

"Ships incoming!"

Irwin looked up at Rindiri, who was standing behind the helm. Her eyes were narrowed, and he clacked his tongue to shoot through the sound waves to reach her.

The rune map on the cabin wall behind her showed the corridors around them, and a glowing white dot moving straight at them. A group of three purple dots was trailing behind.

"They appeared a moment ago," Rindiri said. "The amount of soulforce indicates the first is a Simlari battleship. The others look to be one of the ships of the Chained. They seem to be chasing the Simlari. They are about a half hour out."

Irwin frowned, leaning forward. "Ideas?"

"The Simlari ship is probably a survivor, either of a lost battle or the harbor," Rindiri suggested.

Irwin hummed in agreement, examining the incoming dots before looking up over the almost empty deck. 

Brecka was standing near the main cabin entrance, scolding Pur'am for something, while Selinda stood nearby, looking amused. High up, Blade was cleaning one of the sails.

This ship really is too big for so few people, Irwin thought. Perhaps he should bring some people from Eluathar?

"Everyone, we have a potential battle incoming," he said, his voice loud enough to be audible everywhere. "There's a Simlari ship being chased by three others. We are going to speed up and see if we can help."

Selinda turned to him, eyes wide, while Irwin signaled at Rindiri.

The Caldera had been flying forward at a steady pace, but it shivered as it began speeding up. It would drain some of the saved soulforce in the hull, but with Irwin and Ambraz there to power the barrier, none of it was really required for anything else.

Selinda came walking up, her eyes worried as she examined the map. Then she joined Irwin, looking ahead, wringing her hands. 

Irwin knew she was probably worried that it was the only survivor of a lost battle over Clearsky's harbor.

"Don't worry until we get clarity," he said softly. "It's possible that it's a part of a scouting force that was trying to head back and got intercepted, or any of a number of other things."

"I know," Selinda said, but she kept her eyes locked on the distant Portal Gallery ending.

As the minutes passed by, the map showed that the three pursuing ships were rapidly catching up to their prey. Selinda kept glancing over, her face turning pale and worried.

Irwin remained there, arms crossed, while Hilbarin joined them, his exuberance now tempered.

Close to an hour later, Irwin heard Rindiri hiss softly. He couldn't see anything yet, but he knew his first mate had far better eyesight than he did. That didn't mean he couldn't find out what was going on. Unleashing his soulforce senses, he projected it forward in a tight band. His eyes already picked up a tiny dot of soulforce in the distance, but as the rest of his senses caught up, he grimaced as he sensed what was heading their way.

"The ship is heavily damaged," he said. "There are twenty crew, one two-soulcarded, and a handful of one-soulcarded. Some of them are wounded."

He didn't add that the only reason he could sense that was that he could feel their soulforce slip away, which indicated they were dying.

Forcing his senses further back, his frown deepened as he sensed the pursuing ships.

"The three Chained ships are also damaged, and they have a few beings that are as powerful as a three-soulcarded on each ship," he said, cracking his neck as he walked forward. "They are also catching up fast. I'm going to bring you all back in my soulscape and head out, or the Simlari ship will be overtaken."

"It might be best if you leave us here," Rindiri said from the wheel. "If you need any help, it's easier if we are already out."

Irwin hesitated, then nodded as he felt Ambraz move into his soulscape.

"Fine. But slow down and only approach when you see things are alright. If I have to, I'll pull their ship into my soulscape."

He shared a look with Brecka before clicking his tongue and shooting forward.

'Kid, those chained might be only as strong as three-soulcarded, but there are at least two on each ship. If they have an ability that counteracts yours, things could still get dangerous.' 

Irwin didn't react, but he focused on his final soulcard, feeling his aura flare up around him.

'I know,' he said. 'Which is why I'm going to try and use one of the tricks we have prepared.'

'You want to overload them with your aura pressure to knock them out? Using it on the stronger ones might be a stretch.'

'Which makes me think this is a good moment to try it out?' Irwin said. 'There are only three ships. If need be, I can enlarge myself and break them apart. At a minimum, that will slow them down enough for us to get away.'

Ambraz didn't respond, but Irwin sensed his agreement. It was a good thing, as he didn't have time to discuss it. 

He reappeared mid-air, behind the Simlari ship. The three Chained vessels were larger than most he'd seen, and although they were heavily damaged, it was clear they were still able to fight. The one in the lead had a wide, purple sail that gave it a slightly faster speed than the others, and he saw the gleaming soulforce signature of a being with a soulskill as powerful as a three-soulcarded. It belonged to a short woman with purple hair and square, purple eyes.

Accenti, he thought, as he recognized the species as the first of the Chained beings he'd ever met.

The eyes narrowed on him, and he knew he had no time to wait. The ship was shooting forward as he was falling, and he'd land on the barrier shield around it within a few moments.

"Sorry about this," he muttered, before doing something he'd never done before.

He unleashed all of his soulforce pressure through his aura, causing it to ripple outward like a field that suddenly encompassed nearly everything around him. Only a few things remained, trying to press back against it. The strongest of the Chained, all of them suddenly locked in place, fought his aura.

'They are resisting, but it's useless,' Ambraz grumbled. 'They can't even move anymore.'

Irwin didn't respond as gravity finally caused him to slam into the shield that surrounded the ship. It rippled as he stood on it, and he felt a slight tingling in his feet. He had wanted to force them to open it up, but one look down showed that all but two of those on the first ship had fallen unconscious from the pressure he was exerting.

Raising his foot, he stomped it down on the shield only to find it was too strong to break without more force. A moment later, his hammer appeared in his hand, and he swung it down, the head growing to absurd sizes before it struck the shield. It lit up in a burst of bright purple light, then the area he stood on vanished, the shield unable to rebuild the drain he'd put on it. He could hear and sense the runes shatter and explode throughout the ship as he fell the final stretch, landing on the deck, which cracked below his weight.

The female Accenti stood a few feet away, eyes wide, skin pale, shivering as she fought the pressure that he was exuding. The soulforce resonance that wafted from her sounded like metal being pulled apart, a screeching, painful thing for Irwin to hear. 

'Pretty impressive that she hasn't fallen unconscious yet,' Ambraz grunted. 'Also, do you hear the dissonance in her chains?'

'It's horrible,' Irwin said, walking forward until he stood almost nose-to-nose with the woman.

"I know you can't help what you are doing," he muttered, wondering if she could even hear him.

He didn't know her, nor did he have any idea what kind of person she was. She could be a monster for all he knew. There was just no telling. But what he did know was that she, and the others on the ships still sailing forward, were chained by the Guidar to be worse than slaves. Slaves at least had the ability to run if the option presented itself. The Chained had none of that, as the chains binding their soulskill would hurt and kill them if they tried.

"I'm going to move you into my soulscape to break those chains," he said softly. "You will fall asleep after and wake up here."

There was no reaction, and he just struggled as he pulled the woman and all the others he sensed across the ship into his soulscape. He couldn't reach those on the other ships this far, something he could have done had he chosen aura projection.

The Accenti appeared in a closed room deep below the ground. Without the pressure of his soulforce pressing down on them, the two that were still awake had a moment to look around in stunned silence. Then they seized up as Irwin focused his entire power on the chains binding them. The last time he'd done this had been by breaking the Umbral's chains, and the Shaidin had taught him many things after.

One of which was that the faster he broke the chains, the easier, and the more power he used, the faster it went.

Irwin's otherself wrapped his soulforce resonance around the beings in his soulcape, then increased the resonance. It felt faintly like using a loud song to drown out many softer ones. All but two chains shattered instantly, and the two that remained lasted only a handful of seconds longer. Dozens of tiny steam-like bits of something shot up to his soulforce barrier, but he'd been ready for them this time. He seized them within his control, wrapped them in a barrier, and began squeezing his soulforce pressure around them.

There was a screeching scream, then the grayish soulforce-like energy dissipated like smoke.

"Are you trying to set some record?" Ambraz asked, floating beside him.

Irwin grinned. "No, but if we have to do this during a battle, I want to be as practiced as I can be," he said.

Still, he understood Ambraz's reaction. Everything, from the moment he brought the Accenti into his soulscape, to the moment when he just destroyed whatever the tiny gray things were that came from the chained, had cost only a few moments.

Humming happily, he moved the Accenti back onto their ship so fast that they likely wouldn't have understood much of what happened had they been awake.

The woman slumped to the ground, her head slamming into the deck with a crack. If she hadn't been as powerful as she was, he might have worried, but as it was, he guessed the deck might take more damage than she had. Besides, there wasn't a lot he could have done about that part.

He walked toward the railing and looked at the other two ships. One had three people resisting him, and he focused on them as he took a running leap and jumped towards the ship. Halfway there, he summoned his hammer, as small as he could, then hurled it forward. The last moment before it left his finger, he grew it massively, and it slammed into the shield. With a loud crack, it shattered, the runes likely having burned out completely.

Two men and an older woman stood shivering on the deck, and he was surprised to see that one actually managed to move his eyes to watch him.

"Hey there," Irwin said, looking at him. "Don't worry, you will feel a lot better soon."

--

Hinmai felt like he was standing in front of the group of Guidars that had chained him all those years ago. The pressure was all-consuming, and it felt like he was being squeezed from all sides. He couldn't move an inch as all of his power was used to try to remain conscious. Worse, he felt his soulforce drain rapidly, and he knew if this lasted for a few minutes longer, he'd fall unconscious like he knew the others had. 

All he could do was stare at the man towering over him. He was as wide as he was tall, with obscenely big muscles, eyes like the insides of a volcano, and hair like the metal brush he had used to clean the hull many years ago. He also recognized the face, even though he couldn't hear the words over the buzzing in his ears.

That's one of the cardsmiths they wanted us to capture, he thought, as he felt darkness creeping in around the edges of his sight.

The cardsmith's lips kept moving, then he smiled, and Hinmai felt a pull on his entire being. He tried to resist, but failed, and a moment later, he stood in a dark cavern. Ruddy light flowed in from all sides, though he couldn't see where it originated from. All he knew was that the pressure was gone for a mere moment.

He opened his mouth to ask something, only for another pressure to take its place. A pressure not on him, but on something that had been part of him for over two hundred years. Chains wrapped so tightly around his soulskill that he could barely see where they started and the skill ended. Chains that had seemed timeless and permanent for most of his life. Chains that suddenly cracked.

It happened in the blink of an eye. They were there one moment, and only crumbling gray chunks remained the next.

Hinmai didn't understand what was happening, but he knew one thing. As the chains faded, with it vanished the pressure that had been a permanent companion. A force disappeared that had impressed upon his will and self, and told him what to do and feel. Gone.

He faintly sensed that he was going unconscious, and he barely triggered his soulskill in time. The next moment, he was back on the deck of his ship. Sounds returned, something crumbled on the deck. The pressure was still there, but it felt different. Less oppressive, as if the lack of chains made it a lighter burden to carry.

"Well, I'll be back in a bit," the cardsmith said, only to blink as his eyes landed on Hinmai. "Oh? You aren't going unconscious?"

Hinmai stared at him, his mind numb. What should he say? What had even happened? Seeing the eyebrows raise questioningly, he quickly swallowed.

"My soulskill allows me to ignore sleep and retain mental stability at all times," he said, glad he managed to keep his voice level. 

"Oh! That is useful. Listen, I have to unchain that final ship. Can you prepare the others for when they wake up? I'm sure it will be somewhat disorienting. Then I need to talk with the ship you were chasing and hope I can reason with them."

Hinmai nodded, trying to make sense of what he'd just heard.

"Unchain," he muttered, tasting the word. He'd heard it before, of course. In wishes and fantasies. Things younglings talked about when they thought nobody could hear. He had done so long ago himself, but it was impossible.

Impossible, he thought, feeling the almost startling freedom of his mind and soulskill. There was no sign of the chains, not even a lingering presence. 

"Ah, are you alright?"

Hinmai nodded mechanically, looking at the towering cardsmith.

"Can you unchain everyone?" he asked, unable to keep the question from floating in his mind. 

"As in all Accenti?" 

Hinmai just stared at the figure. How did he know his people's name? How did he do what he'd just done?

"Probably, thought it might be a bit more difficult if there's a Guidar actively trying to stop me. Now, I'll return after I do the last ship."

Hinmai just nodded, watching as the cardsmith ran away before jumping from the deck with such force that the entire ship bounced down a few feet. Hinmai dropped on his hands and feet before slowly rising back up, swaying as he did. He looked around to find the others all on the ground, unmoving. He could sense their soulforce, which told him they still lived, and he saw the other two ships. The one they had been chasing was far in the distance, heading towards a ship with a black hull and burning red sails. It radiated more soulforce than any ship he ever had, almost like bones hidden below the skin of a Chaos Whale.

"Snap out of it," he muttered to himself, shaking his head as he looked around. 

Still, he barely managed to gather himself when the aura pressure vanished. He looked around in confusion when the smith returned, this time appearing out of thin air. 

"So, you are the only one that managed to remain conscious, so I guess you are going to have to be the one that goes with me to explain to the others," the cardsmith said. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused," Hinmai said, seeing no sense to lie and talking as much to himself as to the giant. "Free. Scared?"

"Uhhh… scared? Why scared?"

"Scared that I'm dreaming. Scared that the chains will return, or that I'm found by the Guidar again," Hinmai said, shivering.

"That makes sense," the giant muttered. "Well, don't worry. I don't think you will be chained again anytime soon."

Hinmai just looked at him, his mind still in shambles. He didn't even try to back up as the smith put a hand on him and grinned.

"I'm going to take you along, don't worry."

The next thing Hinmai knew was that the world changed to a soft song, and then he stood on another deck, surrounded by pale giants, the smallest a head taller than him, with dark hair that seemed to drift up and around.

"Irwin!" a melodious voice cried out.

Hinmai looked up to see one of the silver-eyed storm giants they had been fighting for months run towards the smith, eyes wide with joy.

So, I guess that's what he is called, he thought. 

Part of him hoped they would ignore him for now. He needed way more time to gather himself. Hours at least. Preferably days or weeks. Ignoring the eyes locked on him, he sat down, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes.