Irwin's Journey 491: A lack of training

Irwin stood in front of the Exit Portal, frowning. 

"Guildmaster, it will be fine."

Irwin glanced at the shadewalker standing beside him. It was one of the older members of the Shadewalker Guild, picked by Rinbus. He knew him only vaguely, having only seen him a few times. Still, the Centi had two soulcards, both made by him, and was one of the few that hadn't wanted to become a Crathan.

Budric? Irwin thought. He was not sure enough to use it.

"If you slow down the time dilation, I can move through and take a quick look," the Shadewalker said.

Irwin clenched his fists. He turned to the left, where sunlight poured in through a hole in the thick tower wall. Not for the first time, he spread out his senses as far as possible. He tried to pick up a trace of whatever had rushed through. 

His senses reached out across the small town that had grown around the Exit Portal Tower, mostly inhabited by guards. Until twenty years ago, those guards had been mostly Viridians, Oxarits, and Centi. Now, a few dozen Crathans burned like bright torches of soulforce. Like the other guards, they were soulcarded —a powerful group by Scour standards. Beyond the town, he sensed nothing but empty desert, for as far as his senses spread.

He pushed his senses further, hoping to find something. Perhaps it had been a scout, and he would try to return? Minutes passed by, and he sighed.

Futile. Whatever he was, he is long gone.

He turned his attention back to those who had quietly been waiting beside him. The old shadewalker and the other three leaders of the guards, one from each of the largest factions. An Ignitzian teleporter who had been stationed at Trunkle and hadn't been sleeping off the results of partying too hard. And Scintilla, who was glaring at the portal as if it owed her something. Probably the reasonably calm and stable life they had had for the last twenty years.

"There's the possibility that an army of Guidar is beyond there," he said, looking at the Shadewalker.  "You will need a fraction of a second to step into the shadows after you go through, and that's if there are any shadows to begin with."

A flicker of some primal fear moved through the shadewalker's eyes, and Irwin suddenly recalled his name. 

"Budrinar," he said. "You are right that we need to know what is going on, but this is probably a suicide mission."

"Which is why it's best I go now before Rinbus arrives and claims the right," the old Shadewalker said with a weary smile. "I can be replaced. Besides, I'm only going to live for maybe another hundred years."

Irwin wished what the man said made less sense. He glared at the Exit Portal, wishing that he could just go through and knowing that if he did, the Time Dilation of Scour would go crazy. Although they had closed tens of thousands of portals over the last hundred years, and closed more each year, by the most conservative estimates, it would take over six thousand years more. That meant the instability wasn't anywhere close enough for him to risk it. 

"Fine," he said, feeling weary. 

Things had been going so well. The worst troubles he'd had over the last thirty years had been some angry purists among the Viridians who didn't like the idea that people of one species changed into another. And now?

Budrinar moved to the exit portal, stopping before the edge.

"I'll try and go out and back in instantly," he said. "Guildmaster?"

Irwin grunted as he sped up his soulcard's resonance, rapidly stabilizing Scour and with it its time dilation. It took him only a minute, and a glance at his body on Eluathar showed Scour time was moving as close to merchant-time-normal as he could get it.

"Go."

Budrinar jumped in, vanishing in the dark, lightning-edge portal.

"And now we wait," one of the other tower guard leaders muttered.

--

"It's been an hour," Scintilla whispered, standing close to Irwin. "If he succeeded, he should be returning soon."

Irwin nodded.

Minutes ticked by, and slowly his sense of foreboding grew. Just as he was wondering what they should do if Budrinar didn't return, the old shadewalker stepped out of the portal. The old man stumbled, regained himself, and looked up.

"It's clear," he said. “But… there was something… I… I think I'd better just show you."

As he spoke, Irwin opened up his soulforce senses, scanning Budrinar. It took him only a moment to determine that the Centi before him was the same as the one who had entered the portal, and he couldn't sense any chains but the faint, lingering remains of the shattered ones he'd been born with.

"He's the same," Irwin said.

Budrinar didn't react, but waved his hand, causing a beautiful chair to appear in the sandy room. Its colors were extravagant, and beside it stood a small table with a partially drained bottle of something.

"This stood somewhere below the portal," Budrinar said.

Irwin walked forward, staring at the chair. He'd seen similar-style furniture before on his journeys, mostly on worlds inhabited by humans. Definitely not something from Scour, which ruled out someone having gone through from this end and leaving it.

"No sign of whoever put it there," Budrinar said. "It could be the one who came through, but… There was dust on everything, but not even a speck on the chair. Like someone had just sat on it a moment before."

"So, there's potentially a second one, and not a shadewalker or you would have noticed," the Oxarite guard leader, a brute of a man nearly as big as most Crathans, said. "Guildmaster, I suggest we increase the guard presence here and improve the strength of the barrier runes."

I wonder if that will be enough, Irwin thought. Those that had been there had been the best they could make, and that was with the best help they could get from Eluathar. The runes had been pierced as if they were nothing.

"Alright," he said. "We will be staying here for a few days, just in case something else happens."

There was a look of relief among the others. They remained there until some stoneshapers came to repair the hole, and more guards were stationed in the room. 

Eventually, Irwin and Scintilla moved into a temporary room.

Scintilla dropped on the bed immediately, letting out a contented sigh.

"Who do you think broke through?" she asked.

Irwin began pacing through the room, humming softly.

"I don't know," he said. "When we arrived, most of the soulforce signatures had faded. That which was left felt odd. If I had to guess, it wasn't handcarded. Ambraz might have been able to tell us more, but even if we got him now, it's too late."

"Are you going to hold back the opening of Blackglass?" Scintilla asked.

Irwin thought about it for a few moments. The opening wouldn't be for another year, though years were deceptively short if some passed in hours.

"No," he said. "Who or whatever made its way here will probably have made its move by then. If not, waiting for another year or even ten probably won't matter either."

They continued talking for a little longer, but eventually Scintilla fell asleep and Irwin sat in a chair, absently looking around the small room.

I wonder who it is, he thought, thinking back to The Invaders back on Igniz, so many years ago. Could it be that it was something like that? It made sense, but he would have expected Budrinar to have seen their ship.

A boring week of waiting and scanning later, Irwin and Scintilla returned to Blackglass. 

"Finally back, you brats? Been enjoying the sun and doing nothing?" Ambraz shouted as he flew around them. 

"Boring," Scintilla said, shaking her head. She turned to Irwin, rose on her toes, and kissed him before walking to the exit. "I'm going to do some sparring!"

Irwin watched her walk away, his eyes lingering on her long legs for a moment as he thought about the one thing they had been able to do while waiting. It hadn't been a complete waste of time.

"Okay, let's make some more Cardseeds," he said, turning to Ambraz. 

"Well, we'd better be prepared to be called back at any time," Ambraz said, letting out a snort. "If I were the one breaking through the Exit Portal, I'd have waited for you to leave before I went back through."

Irwin grimaced. "Let's hope you're wrong."

--

Umbral walked through the massive city, mingling easily with the throng of people going about their own business. He had learned over the past week that very few people cared if you wore a hooded cloak, and that the few people who had accidentally gotten a look at him had just asked what card he'd used.

He passed two Viridians, one with black, gleaming metal leaves and pupilless eyes. None of the surrounding people gave a reaction to the oddity.

Perhaps I should just ditch the cloak, Umbral thought. 

He hesitated for only a moment, then ignored the thought. His eons of training had taught him never to underestimate the option to hide his identity, even if it seemed useless.

"- Be serious!"

"I am! It's going to open up in less than a year."

Umbral slowed his pace, listening to two excited Oxarites walking ahead of him.

"You think we should go?" one of the two, a younger man, likely barely out of his teens, asked in a low whisper.

"Think? I know we should!" the other, who was of the same age, shouted. "Didn't you hear what Beath said about the cards that come from Blackglass? You have the chance to find one that is made by the Renegade Guildmaster himself!"

"Really? But I hear the Elders aren't too happy with people going there…"

"Bah. Who cares what they think?" the excited one said, though he lowered his voice.

Clearly, you do, Umbral thought, keeping quiet. Although the language they spoke here was still the same, he had gotten a few curious questions about his accent. 

The two continued debating, and, hearing nothing of interest, Umbral sped up and continued his wanderings of Cindergrove. 

It had taken him a week to reach it, the largest cluster of soulforce signatures he had been able to detect. It had been like a beacon in the distance, making it hard for him to sense anything else. 

Now, another week later, he had only managed to explore a tiny fraction of the city, but he had already learned a wealth of information. The most important thing was that his target had made massive waves, making it easy to locate him. Or at least, know where he was likely supposed to be. The issue was that nobody seemed to know where this Blackglass city was, except that it was well hidden. 

Which means I'll need to wait for a year or find it somehow, Umbral thought as he slipped between two Viridians in silvery armor that radiated a power that had surprised him on his first day. By now, he'd learned that they were called Elders, and although they had surprising strength, their senses were not much better than the weaker beings in the city.

Half a day of wandering later, he had learned a great deal of things, though most weren't useful. What was useful was that he'd gotten all the confirmation he required to know that in a year, the perfect window to find the Cardsmith would arrive. 

He made his way back to the empty building he'd found in one of the districts near the top, near the edge.  It had taken him days to find it, and to his surprise, very few buildings were actually empty in the massive city. So unlike what he was used to… had been used to.

So, almost a year, he thought, focusing on the way his bindings felt. They were still incredibly loose, but he knew that if he waited too long, they would likely tighten again. One of the consequences of that would be him being forced to search for the Amnathair. Even though he knew it was very likely the smith, Irwin, this wouldn't matter to his bindings. Luckily, there was an easy way to fix this.

Moving to the center of the room, he glanced at the tiny runes he'd drawn across the walls. They would prevent anyone too powerful from realizing the building was empty and doing something about it. Others, placed throughout the surrounding area, would warn him if someone too powerful approached. Sitting down, crossing his legs, he closed his eyes and began slowing his breathing and vital signs. 

Ten months should be a safe bet, he decided. 

His movements slowed until even the sandy dust in the room stopped swirling from his breath and began settling. 

--

Irwin hummed happily as he walked through his smithy. Over the last hundred years, it had gone from a clean, new place to one that was lived in and filled with memories. Most were small and inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but from the new shelves and cluttered closets that stood within the more spacious shopfront, to stacks of purified metal bars, and the new door that led to the large warehouse for ore and finished products on the side, they all meant something.

As did what would happen in half a year. 

The opening of Blackglass City was today, and that meant that half a year from now, he and Scintilla would be holding their first of a set of longer timeskips. He'd barely been occupied with the day-to-day of the Crathan Empire, even if he was technically the ruler. The council of guilds was what really kept everything running, and with Rindiri and her daughter, Earilla, Rinbus, and Flowrishin among them, as heads of their respective guilds, they were doing both a great job and keeping to their goal.

A goal that was closing in rapidly, Irwin knew as he walked out of his smithy. Dozens of ships were flying around, mostly cargo-barges that were moving ore and other minerals to the teleportation tower that led up to Blackglass City, the sprawling city that had been built high above on the surface.

He rarely went there, but when he did, he was always surprised at how much it kept expanding. By now, it was likely among the ten largest cities on Scour, having grown exponentially from the influx of people and merchants wanting to get their hands on either the superior cards, Rindiri's Ships, or to join one of the guilds. 

"Think there's going to be any trouble?" Ambraz grunted. 

Irwin shrugged. "If there is, we will deal with it."

He stared at the tiny private sloop that Rindiri had given him, contemplating for a moment whether he should use it. Then he shook his head and clicked his tongue. 

He blasted across the soundwaves, reappearing a few moments later on the other side of the city and on the lowest balcony of the teleportation tower. Lowest it might be, but it still gave him a great view of the cozy city that had been built along the banks of the lake, and along and inside Volcano Forrest as the locals had called it. 

Spreading his senses, he felt the throng of people on the top level, while the pulsing of the teleportation runes showed it was active and ready.

"Let's go before we are late," he said.

Ambraz barked a laugh. "Like they would start without you."

Irwin clicked his tongue in response and shot up and around the balconies. A moment later, he reappeared on a platform surrounded by a milling mass of thousands of Crathans, those lucky enough to have gotten a place here. Many more were on the lower floors, hoping to catch a glimpse of the people who would be arriving.

As the wave of chatter and laughter closed around him, Irwin felt someone grab his arm, hugging it tight. Looking down, he saw Scintilla. 

"I was about to go and send someone to find you," she said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. "Cutting it a bit close, pretty eyes?"

"I had to grab something at the last moment," Irwin said, which was technically true. The real reason he hadn't been here earlier was that he had learned over the years that he despised these large gatherings and events. 

Scintilla rolled her eyes, knowing full well what his reason was.

"Irwin, I've got shadewalkers spread out everywhere."

Irwin turned to Rinbus, who was standing with Nimlarel, who was holding their youngest. As Irwin looked at them, he sensed the tiny burning soulforce within Nimlarel's stomach.

"Don't start," Rinbus said, letting out a weary sigh. 

Nimlarel slowly glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "We waited for twenty years this time," she said.

Irwin barked a laugh, while Scintilla let him go and walked to Nimlarel. 

"You are pregnant again?" she asked, eyes wide.

"What do you mean, again?" Nimlarel replied.

"Well, you know-"

Irwin quickly took a step back, tuning out the two women who got along splendidly but seemed to enjoy bickering as much as they enjoyed sparring. 

"Do you expect any trouble?" he asked, looking at Rinbus.

"Not really," the man who had become one of his friends over the years said, trying hard not to ignore his and Irwin's heartbonds as they began discussing whether children needed two or three siblings. "Are you going to tell them to start soon? I'd prefer not to draw this out."

Irwin looked around, noting that many people were watching him. 

"Rindiri should be here any moment," he said.

He'd barely finished his words when two people appeared beside him on the platform. Rindiri hadn't aged a day since she'd become a Crathan, while Earilla had grown to be nearly as tall as her mother. Seven Frozen Flame Faerit either clung to tiny hooks attached to her jacket or sat on her shoulders, while a large green bird landed on the ground beside her. 

"Captain," both women said, nodding at him.

"Soulforce Singer," the bird, Sprig said in a deep, songlike voice. 

Even after all these years, Irwin still hadn't gotten used to the title Sprig and the Parealion people had given him. 

"How are things up in the city?" Irwin asked.

"Bussy," Rindiri said as she moved beside him, while Earilla grinned as she joined Scintilla and Nimlarel. The three had bonded greatly over the years.

"Everything is ready, and I think starting sooner is better," Rindiri said.

Irwin nodded before looking around. He saw some of the guards near the main teleportation circle perk up, and he nodded at them before raising himself to his full height.

"Alright," he said, his voice booming out and drowning out the chatter. As if on cue, everyone stopped talking, turning to him. "After almost a hundred years, we are going to open up Blackglass City, and by extension, Cavern City, to the other empires and the merchants. I know you have all been incredibly excited by this, and some have wished it had happened sooner; however, you all know why we had to wait. Now, most of the people of Scour know that some of us are not from here, so besides opening up the teleporters and shipping lanes, you can discuss things freely."

A moment of awed quiet came from the people on the top layer, something he had expected. Besides having officially named the cities, something he'd never really done and left to the others, he had just dropped a bombshell on most of them. That said, the council had known this would happen, and with many worried about what might happen in case things leaked, this should take away their worries.

The quiet was shattered as people cheered; the sound crashed over him for a moment. Irwin let them continue for a few seconds before raising a hand and speaking over them with ease.

"Now," he bellowed, waiting for a moment for things to settle. "Open up the teleporters!"

A flash came from the massive runic circles that covered most of the floor, and a moment later, groups of people began appearing. Most were wealthy merchants, cardsmiths from other charters and cities, or nobles, and Irwin knew none of them. One group, however, the closest to his platform, was composed of many familiar faces.

"Look at Hilbarin's face," Ambraz said, the hilarity obvious. "He can't believe what he is seeing!"

Irwin didn't respond, knowing it wasn't all that bad. He'd told the Oxarite emperor what to expect, and although he'd held some things back, he- 

Irwin felt a tiny flicker of something that drew his full attention. A soulforce resonance unlike anything else he'd felt before, and without hesitation, he spread his senses out like a wave. He knew it would cause some people some confusion or worry, but he barely cared.

'What was that?'

'I don't know, but it's… gone?'

Irwin frowned as he spread his senses further, covering the entire Blackglass Cavern. There was no sense of the soulforce signature he'd just sensed. Which meant it had either teleported away or was hidden from his senses. The latter was difficult, but not impossible.

"Irwin?"

He saw Scintilla and the others look at him, all hilarity and joy having gone.

"There was something or someone here just now," Irwin said, as he scanned the crowds. "Now it's gone."

Rinbus vanished without a word, though Irwin sensed him move through the shadows, appearing beside another shadewalker. Within seconds, shadewalkers began spreading around.

"Emperor Irwin! I'd been expecting something amazing, but besides what I'm seeing, there's even some trouble?"

Irwin focused on Hilbarin, mostly because of being called Emperor. The burly Oxarite was walking towards him amidst a few dozen other high-ranked nobles and people he knew from the Oxarite and Viridian empires. Many were glancing around, and Irwin felt their own senses spread far and wide.

"Something or someone just entered with the first teleporters," Irwin said.

Hilbarin's eyes narrowed and glanced at a person beside him. Tall and slender, he looked different from most Oxarites, and Irwin knew he was one of Hilbarin's offspring. A great-great-grandchild or something. 

"Bair?" 

The young man's eyes narrowed, and Irwin felt an intense pulse of soulforce senses spread from him in a resonance that was unfamiliar. 

'Oh! The kid has a scryer-type card!'

Irwin's eyebrows shot up. He had only read about those types of cards, as they were as rare as some of his own cards. They let people sense more than just soulforce resonances or physical presence, but allowed them to sense past events by somehow reading the ambient soulforce.

Bair frowned. "A man was with the main teleporters left of us…then he just vanished. It can't sense where he went, only that he arrived. It's almost as if the ambient soulforce had no more hold of him after that."

Irwin held back a curse, his mind spinning for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"If we can't find him now, it's best to continue and wrap this up," he rumbled. "Let me give a short speech, then we will go to the restaurant."

A round of nods came from the people present, and Irwin turned to the crowd. It was clear that barely anyone had noticed anything amiss, but a few more powerful and sensitive smiths were watching him curiously.

I wish Greldo were here, Irwin thought, knowing his friend would have likely been able to find the man.

--

Umbral stood below the canopy of the trees, his presence so small it didn't disturb even the tiniest bit of the ambient soulforce. Only when he sensed the sprawling mind withdraw and heard the distant voice resume talking, did he let out his pent-up breath.

Irwin is far more powerful than the Guidar belief, he thought. But he's definitely no Amnathair.

He slowly lowered himself into a seated position, pondering what he'd just sensed. The soulforce aura that had tried to pinpoint him had been among the more potent he'd sensed, but it had felt…  unrefined. Almost as if nothing but brute strength had been used. 

And he lacks training.