Author note: So, I made a mistake last chapter with Tang. My work file said he had 4 soulcards, but he doesn't that was the first working version of him. He only had 2. So, I went back and changed that, and I might need to change some more of that later. Also, if this chapter and the previous feel a bit confusing because the move all over the place (Granvox, Scour) I know. I'm not sure if I should keep it like this or add the matching parts together in chapters when I do the rewrite. Feedback is welcome - how did it read?
Irwin walked forward, staring up at the ten-foot giant. He’d become used to being one of the tallest people in the room, but he didn’t even reach Tang’s shoulder.
It had been years since he’d sensed the man, but the pressure of just his two soulcards was impressive. Add to that that the first was merely an Amethyst rank, and Irwin could see how it would confuse other smiths.
“Irwin,” the giant rumbled again, the depth of his voice rivaling that of a Chaos Whale, and causing the entire inn to rumble. Plumes of smoke trickled out of his wide nostrils, while his eyes were like small pools of lava.
“Tang, it is good to see you,” Irwin said, accepting the hand.
Tang’s shake was powerful, and Irwin knew he was holding back. The thing was, as powerful as Tang was, he was held back by having only two cards at the rank he did, and Irwin squeezed. The giant’s eyes widened, and he squeezed back until the sound of metal being compressed sounded through the inn.
“You became bigger and stronger,” the giant said as he let go.
Irwin nodded, looking around at the suddenly much quieter inn. A group of musicians was luckily still playing on the stage, or it might have been completely silent. Still, the interest was clear, and Irwin instantly decided that whatever Tang wanted to talk about, if they wanted any privacy, they weren’t going to get it here.
“Tang, can I bring you into my soulscape?” Irwin asked. “It will give us a chance to talk-”
“By the Howling Volcano of Xir, please do,” Tang said, interrupting him so loudly that his voice caused a minor localized earthquake. Cups and glasses began shaking, and Irwin saw an Ignitzian woman behind the bar grimace as she managed to catch a bottle that had toppled from a shelf.
“Right,” Irwin muttered, pulling Tang into his soulscape in the area in front of his smithy.
He turned to Narios, who was moving to a nearby empty table, and quickly followed him. As he sat down, he struggled to have his aura clone talk with Tang. Between having one body here and another on Scour, it made it harder to split off another bit.
“I’m going to talk with Tang,” he said, looking at Narios. “I’ll be back when I can.”
“Take your time,” Narios said, looking around. “It will take a bit before things here have calmed down.”
Irwin sighed as he looked around the familiar room. Part restaurant and part inn, it had a large stage on one side where a small group of cardsmiths and musicians were playing right now. Dozens of different-sized balconies sat on the sides, people on them looking down, but not at the band. Seeing the eyes on him, Irwin leaned back, closed his eyes, and focused on an aura clone inside his soulscape.
-- Irwin’s Soulscape --
“This is…” Tang said, his voice louder than before, clearly not holding back anymore.
He stood with his hands on his hips, looking across the rolling hills at the distant sea that seemed to stretch forever.
“Yes,” Irwin said, knowing what he meant. He hovered beside Tang, a blue, slightly translucent version of himself.
Tang glanced at him, then back ahead. “Are all soulscapes supposed to be like this?” the giant Fiz’rin asked.
“No,” Irwin said. “Well, supposed to be? Perhaps, but they aren’t. It’s because of my cards and what they do.”
“What they do…” Tang rumbled. “And what do they do?”
“Mostly increase my soulscape size,” Irwin said. “I’m going to bring my other body here, so don’t be afraid, alright?”
“Your other body?” Tang said, looking at him closely. “You have more than one?”
“Yes,” Irwin said, as he felt his giantself flying closer. It was the only body still here, and the anchor was keeping everything balanced.
As soon as it was close enough, he unsummoned his auraclone and watched Tang’s eyes widen as he landed beside the giant, who only reached his waist.
“I… I never knew this was possible,” Tang rumbled as he took a few steps back and sat down on a boulder. His eyes were locked on Irwin, who sat down on the ground.
“What kind of cards do you have to make this possible?” Tang asked, his voice causing the nearby stones to jitter.
Irwin thought about it for a moment. He usually didn’t share much of what he had except with family and friends, but most people already knew he had more than one body.
Besides, I don’t think he would tell the Chained, he thought, scanning Tang and seeing nothing but confusion.
“I have two clone cards,” he said. “One gave me two parts of my mind, both in their own body, a normal-sized one, and a giant one. The other clone card doubled my bodies again.”
“Four bodies,” Tang said, his eyes dull. “What I would give for a normal-sized body.”
Irwin sighed.
‘You didn’t happen to figure out a solution for Tang, did you?’ he asked Ambraz.
‘I… wait, is he in your soulscape?’
Before Irwin could answer, he felt Ambraz reach out through their connection, barely reach within range, and jump inside his soulscape.
That was new, Irwin thought, blinking as he realized Ambraz had just moved from across half the city.
“Tang!”
The giant Fiz’rin looked up as the Ganvil flew to him, growing in size slightly.
“Ah, the Ganvil. Did the purperion help?” Tang asked.
“Purperion? What… Oh, right! That was so long ago,” Ambraz said, sounding confused for a moment. “Yes. It helped a great deal, but that's not important right now. Can you focus on both your soulcards and let them sing as loudly as you can?”
What is he up to now, Irwin thought, sensing only excitement through his bond.
Tang was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. A roaring black fire rippled out from him, turning his granite-colored hair as dark as a shadow. At the same time, a dual soulforce resonance echoed out from him that clashed so hard that Irwin took a step back. He felt his headache grow as the dissonant songs vied for dominance.
‘Irwin, what is going on?’ Luath shouted from where he was drifting on the other side of the soulscape with the pod of wounded Chaos Whales.
‘Don’t worry, I am helping someone with a broken soulcard,’ Irwin quickly sent back, hoping that was what they were going to do.
“Kid, do you hear that?” Ambraz said, sounding incredibly excited.
Irwin grimaced, not really wanting to, but focusing on the two songs. It took him a while to push through the dissonance they created, but when he did, he heard something. It was unclear, like a song that jolted from one part to another, then again before almost looping back on itself.
They are unfinished, he realized, focusing on one of the two songs.
He knew that both of Tang’s cards were unfinished heartcards that he’d found in the bodies of Earth Titans on Igniz. How the man had survived slotting them, especially the first one, was a mystery to him, but as he listened to the disjointed song, he could feel where it worked and where it was both unfinished and sounded almost… brutally ended. Like a knife had cut off something that was already not as it should be.
It's like when he slotted it, he didn’t get all of the cards' resonance, Irwin thought, ignoring the headache as he summoned his Tablatures booklet and let it write down the songs.
Usually, he looked at the result after it was finished, but now he had it open in front of him and watched the lines appear as the resonance played out. The first soulcard came first, and the start of it wasn’t too bad, but a page in, the complex song lost coherence before turning into a jangled mess. Then it cut off.
I could fix this, Irwin thought, as he saw the remarkable similarities to his own first soulcard. It was like a sibling that had been born stunted and was now dying.
Wait… Is it actually breaking?
He focused on the first soulcard, trying to filter out the other one, and slowly he realized his first assumption was correct. The cards' resonance was changing… weakening and cracking along the edges.
“I guess I don’t have to explain why I am here then,” Tang rumbled, drawing Irwin’s attention away from the soulforce resonance. “When the Chained began attacking Igniz, those foolish Matriarchs finally stopped their infighting. They began acting in unison, but they were vastly outnumbered. They reached out to Smelter for the help of the Fiz’rin. The war eventually even reached me. I hadn’t wanted to get involved, but the idea of having a host of Chained assault my home felt even less interesting.”
Irwin had stopped focusing on the soulforce resonance, listening to Tang. The man had never spoken as much as this, and he realized he’d changed a lot over the years they hadn’t seen each other.
“So, I went through the Exit Portal and helped fight,” Tang said, staring into the distance. “I should have realized that was potentially problematic. As I used my power at a rate beyond what I’ve ever had to, something began to change in my soulscape. Two years after I began fighting, the barriers of my soulscape began cracking, while the soulforce in the soullake seemed to evaporate into soulforce steam that flowed outward.”
“Evaporate?” Ambraz exclaimed, sounding highly interested. “That shouldn’t be possible!”
Tang just shrugged and continued.
“A ship carrying Ganvils came from the northern areas during one of our patrols, and by then, I was barely able to function. The ship was trying to return to Granvox, and after we saved them from a small fleet of Chained, they agreed to bring me along. I was hoping that someone here could help me, but...”
Tang was quiet for a moment before continuing.
“Just like the first time I spoke with them, most of the cardsmiths either didn’t know or care. The only reason they even wanted to speak to me was that I had found some Ancestral Copperion.”
Irwin blinked in surprise at that, while Ambraz let out a snort.
Tang didn’t react to either. “I had hoped to find you here, even though I knew you would likely be elsewhere. Without a way back, I decided to go to one of the places I was told you used to come, and hope you would show up. It seems, for once, this worked.”
Irwin hummed thoughtfully.
‘His soulcards are both turning unstable. Do you think we can do what we did for Hind, but then with both of his soulcards at the same time?”
A flood of interest came from Ambraz. ‘It’s what I am pondering, but there’s an immense risk. If we fail, Tang will die, and it won’t be nice. Also, we can only do it when your otherself is back here, because we will need to do it in your soulscape with full focus.’
‘If we don’t, he will likely die,’ Irwin said, sensing just how unstable the song was.
‘Yes, but he could live for a few more years, perhaps upwards of ten.’
Irwin nodded, turning his focus on Tang, who was looking back at him.
“It is interesting to be around someone this much bigger than I am,” the Fiz’rin said. “It makes me realize what others must have felt when I was around.”
“I know the feeling,” Irwin said, thinking about Exarg.
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should somehow find a way to bring the message in a positive light, then decided against it. Over the years he had lived, he had found that most people preferred to just be told how things were instead of beating around the bush.
“Tang, I have bad news, and potentially some good. Currently, you are dying,” Irwin said.
“I know,” Tang said as calmly as if someone had told him that water was wet.
“There might be a way for me to stop that and fix your soulcards at the same time,” Irwin said, feeling a slight weariness as the next few words left his mouth. “However, if I fail, you will die immediately and painfully.”
Tang held his gaze, then raised a thick, bushy eyebrow.
“Irwin, you know what situation I was in when we last met,” Tang said, his dark eyes widening and gleaming as his words held a hunger that reminded Irwin of someone.
“You know what I asked of you. Pain? Pain is fleeting, and death just means the end of pain. The only thing I care about in what you said just now is that you see a chance to fix what ails me,” Tang said, his voice now so loud it would likely hurt the ears of regular carded.
“The rest doesn’t matter!”
Irwin watched him, and he suddenly realized where he’d last seen this hunger, this desire.
It’s like when Undiri spoke with Rindiri, he thought, recalling the time the two had stood before his door and had their final conversation.
The elderly Yurindi had said different words, but the passion and desire as she’d spoken them had been nearly identical. A desire Irwin wasn’t sure he could fully understand yet. He’d never been in a long state where he would die.
“Okay, then I’ll start preparing,” he said, realizing he didn’t even know exactly how to do what he wanted. “Also, it might take a while before I can get there. Shall I bring you back, to-”
“No!” Tang grunted, shaking his head. “If it is all right with you, I’d like to stay here. At least for now. I’ve been trying to walk around without breaking things, speak without causing issues, for way too long. Just being able to shout is amazing.”
Irwin grinned as he thought about it, then he looked around. Behind them was the massive building that was partially giant-sized for his giantself, and thus too big even for Tang, or regular-sized, and thus too small for Tang.
Long ago, that would have meant he’d have to ask Ambraz to create something. Now?
He focused on the nearby hill, picturing what he recalled of Tang’s home. He only recalled that it had looked like a giant workshop, with barges and other things strewn about, but that was enough. He pulled in the soulforce around him, focusing it on the location.
“How…?” Tang muttered as matter began to appear as if out of nowhere.
Ten minutes later, a simple workshop sized to a ten-foot giant sprawled across the nearby hilltop, and Tang stood beside Irwin.
“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I would love to be alone for a while. I haven’t been alone for too long,” Tang said, staring at the building.
“That’s fine. If you need something, you can find me there,” Irwin said, pointing at his own much larger smithy. “Don’t be startled if you see a Chaos Whale flying around, alright?”
Tang let out a croaking cough, staring at him as if trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. Then he just shook his head and walked towards the house.
“Thank you,” he rumbled, before vanishing inside.
-- Scour --
Lirai let her fingers trickle across her Soulstrum Guitar, the sound echoing through her tiny room.
A knock on her door made her stop, and she stared at the door only a few feet away from her bed. She knew who was there, could sense his soulforce resonance beyond the door. She also knew why he was here.
The knock came again, no louder than before.
Lirai pushed herself up and unsummoned her guitar before moving to the door. Her hand hesitated before removing the latch, and she pulled the door open to see Sinturkal.
So different, she thought, watching his chain and metal armor, sensing the dense soulforce within it. Combined with his short hair, he looked barely anything like the young man she’d gotten to know over the last ten years.
“I almost thought you wouldn’t open the door,” Sinturkal said, scratching his chin.
“I didn’t expect you here after you left without even saying goodbye,” she said, crossing her arms. “That was almost two years ago. Didn’t even leave a message.”
Sinturkal stared at her, not looking away, and after a minute, Lirai was the one to turn her gaze to the ground. She knew it wasn’t his fault, and he’d likely been taken away by his Aunt Lejingi. Worse, they had had a fight a few days before, and she knew he wasn’t happy with her leaving.
“You are going to leave in two weeks?” he asked.
“Yes, after the competition over the Chaos Whale cards,” she said, looking up again.
“Man… Chaos Whale cards,” Sinturkal said, whistling. “I wish I were good enough to win one of those. Can you imagine going into combat on the back of a Chaos Whale?!”
I can, Lirai thought.
Teacher Irwin had made it clear that the best twenty of the cardsmiths would get a Chaos Whale card, and she’d reached the nineteenth spot during their private competition a few weeks ago.
She also knew she couldn’t let him know. Teacher Daubutim had made it clear that they were to keep everything they had learned to themselves for as long as possible.
Thinking about the tall, lightning-eyed warrior who had been teaching her and the other cardsmiths things about Eluathar and what they would have to do, she frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Sinturkal asked. “Don’t tell me you are going to be allowed to join the competition?! Wasn’t that only for those who remained behind?”
“Oh, it is,” she said. “I just wish I could have joined.”
It wasn’t even a lie, as she did want to join. Just not exactly for the same reason.
“Do you want to go out and eat something?” Sinturkal asked. “I’ll only be here for two days, then I need to head into the Portal Gallery.”
“What? Why?” Lirai asked, eyes widening.
“I’ll be heading out on a ship for a training mission,” Sinturkal said.
Lirai hesitated for only a moment. “Alright, let's have a bite, and you can tell me what you have been up to the last two years.”
“I’ll tell you what I can,” Sinturkal said, causing her to frown.
Since when did things change so much that we can’t tell each other things, she thought as she closed the door and followed him out.
--
Irwin watched the competition quietly, his mind more preoccupied than he wanted to. The excited talking from the three hundred cardsmiths in the rows below him passed by him, as did the useless shouts of support from those watching from the other areas of the massive stadium.
I wonder if they are able to move through solid matter even now, he thought, as he thought about the enormous stone and metal they had moved across where Scour’s ancient Librarian portal had been.
Ever since his otherself had heard about the Librarian issue, he and Daubutim had tried to validate that it had never been reopened. They still didn’t know, and a week ago, they had finally completely locked it down. Now, a special branch of Blackglass Shades was tasked with keeping a constant vigil on it.
A thunderous roar made him look up, blinking blearily as he saw two cardsmiths stand in the center of the stage. Both Crathans had just been crowned the victors, after having reforged a pair of diamond-rank ninety percent cards, the only two among all those there.
Irwin knew there were more cardsmiths who could do it, but these were the best of those willing to bond with a Chaos Whale.
Still weird how some didn’t want to even think about it, he thought, as he glanced at a distant row where some other cardsmiths sat.
“Don’t bother,” a soft voice came from his left, and Irwin focused on Flowrishin.
“They don’t understand what you are offering, and won't until a few years from now,” she said. “It’s a shame I didn’t have a lot, or I would have loved to get one, but I know both of those two. They will do fine.”
Irwin nodded before watching her for a few moments. “Did they try to reach Orlefa or Rotin again?”
“Oh, they did. I’ll take them out of my soulscape in a few days when you leave, and I’m sure that will cause another commotion,” Flowrishin said. “But you were right. There are a few elders in Cindergrove that aren’t too happy with you.”
“Don’t care,” Irwin said, rolling his shoulders. “Besides, they should be happy just how much like a Viridian those two still look. Still surprised me how they didn’t change in a similar way as the others.”
“Well, every Crathan subspecies is different from you regular Crathans,” Flowrishin said. “The Yuurindi retained their purplish highlights and purple fire, while the Centi sometimes have square eyes and a different build. It’s not too odd that my people retained their leaf hair, right?”
“I guess not,” Irwin said, as he watched the two Crathans accept their price and slot the cards.
It didn’t take long for them to walk back towards the training area of the three hundred, and when they arrived, Irwin saw that most of the musical cardsmiths were chattering excitedly about the matches.
“Can I have your attention for a moment?” Irwin called out, causing the entire group to fall quiet instantly.
“Now! We have two days left until we leave, and you have all shown you are capable of the next stage of your practice. So go out, say goodbye to those you haven’t said it to yet, and find some more things you want to bring. I will see you in two days when we leave.”
His students began grinning and chatting again, some waving at him, others shouting a goodbye as they rapidly spread out.
“So, what are you going to do in the next few days?” Flowrishin asked.
“Rindiri asked me to get back to her. She made changes to the Caldera, and also wants me to start bringing the fleet into my soulscape,” Irwin said. “Beyond that? Probably rest and eat.”
“Good, then meet me at my grove when you are done with that,” Flowrishin said. “It's about time I showed you my new cardseed.”
Irwin spun on his heel, staring at her eyes wide. He’d asked her when he arrived and a few times after how it had been going, and she’d always blown him off.
“I’ll be there in half a day,” he said, as he watched her walk away.