Irwin leaned back in his chair, putting his drink back on the kitchen table as he looked at Daubutim. It was just the two of them there, as his otherself and Scintilla were on the way to Smelter. Her other body, together with their children, his mother, Trimdir, Tiscian, and a few others, were in his soulscape, leaving his home empty.
He had been alone, pondering what to do, when his friend had knocked on the door.
That was a few minutes ago, and by now he was looking in stunned worry at Daubutim.
“You want to go back into the library…” he exclaimed, his voice causing a slight vibration in the table.
“Not right away,” Daubutim said. “And not until I have at least a fourth soulcard. However, yes, after I have done that, I think it is time to find out what is going on there and what happened to Gelwin. Don’t worry, I will leave preparation so everything continues as it does now, even if something unforeseen happens.”
“Unforeseen? Like dying? Gelwin told us not to head back there because the Guidar sent people,” Irwin said, frowning deeply. “Besides, the Library has its own issues currently.”
“Yes, but this was all before we knew there was more going on in the Library,” Daubutim said calmly. “Listening to Gelwin’s warning could prove more dangerous than going there.”
“Fine, but send someone else. Someone they don’t know,” Irwin said. “A shadewalker, that can sneak around.”
“With the potential exception of Greldo, there is no shadewalker that can move through the Library without being spotted. In addition, only librarians are allowed in, and anyone else will get caught and punished. I am technically still a Librarian, even if only an apprentice, and that gives me the right to be there. Besides, I am the apprentice of Purntou Lesseron, who is hopefully still alive and well. If he isn’t, I know the pathways through the dangerous sections that Gelwin showed me, which will allow me to flee.”
Irwin watched Daubutim, sensing his friend had already made up his mind. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to push back where he could.
“Even if we just forget about the fact that you are my friend, and that I don’t want to see you hurt,” Irwin said slowly. “You are the one who makes sure everything is going well on Eluathar. Even if you plan ahead, and others are there to take over, losing you would set Eluathar back greatly.”
“Perhaps,” Daubutim said calmly, seeming unperturbed by his pushback. “But it feels like you forgot something. I have two bodies now, remember?”
Irwin blinked as he realized he had indeed forgotten that. So much had happened, and he’d merged so many memories together while with Exarg, that some had become buried under a layer of fuzziness.
Right, that was when I returned and handed body double cards to him and others, he thought as he leaned back.
“Alright,” he said, slightly confused. “Then why do I feel like you are planning for your potential death?”
“Because we don’t know what could happen,” Daubutim said. “It is possible that the Guidar sent something worse than the Shaidin to assassinate my Eluathar Body. It is highly unlikely, but not impossible. This is another reason I will head to the Library. Much information passes through the Library, and as soon as we have a proxy world to work from, we can finally make use of it. The Library has pathways to many worlds, and although there are limits to who is allowed through certain paths, it will allow us far more insight into what is happening across the branch. More information is always a good thing during war.”
Another line of his father, Irwin thought.
Daubutim continued after a moment.
“Gelwin appears to be gone, which means we need someone in the Library as soon as we begin building our new connection world.”
Irwin stared at his friend, slightly overwhelmed by the influx of information. It lasted for only a moment as he pulled a little bit more of his mental capabilities away from his otherself.
“That’s why you chose those worlds,” he said. “There are paths into the Library?”
“Yes. Each of the three worlds we are investigating has one,” Daubutim said. “Or had one, depending on if it was closed.”
Irwin thought about the things he’d just heard. He still wasn’t happy with Daubutim leaving, but he did agree that with a body double, it wasn’t too dangerous.
“If those doors are closed, can we reopen them?” he asked after a few moments.
“I don’t know. There’s scarily little information about The Library and its doors,” Daubutim said. “There is likely enough inside, but when I was there, I wasn’t privy to any. Which is another reason I am here.”
Daubutim hesitated, his eyes swirling brighter, and for a moment, his face went slack like it used to. Then it faded, and he shivered.
Irwin stared at his friend, wondering what else was going on.
“Can you move us into a safe area within your soulscape where nobody can hear us?”
“Not even my family?” Irwin asked, while wondering who he expected to overhear them in his kitchen.
“Not even them,” Daubutim said.
Irwin stared at his friend, curious about what was going on.
Fine, let's see what else is happening, he thought.
With a small flex of his soulforce, he moved Daubutim into his soulscape, in a room far below the ground where he normally housed his problematic items. He created an Aura Clone next to him, glad he’d at least slept a bit during the night before.
“Okay, what is so dangerous that you can’t have anyone else hear?” he asked.
“Before we start, I have some questions,” Daubutim said, his eyes swirling pools of lightning. “You know more of cards than I do. Can you imagine a soulcard that would allow someone to create hundreds of thousands of connections across the entire Portal Gallery? Like portals that allow teleportation.”
Irwin barked a laugh, shaking his head. “A single soulcard? No. I can’t even imagine a soulcard that would allow a single teleportation location across the entire Portal Gallery. Across one main branch? Yes. Probably, if it's the best card for the job. Better would be two or more. Teleporting across the entire Portal Gallery? Probably it requires a set of six cards.”
Daubutim seemed unsurprised. “Good. What about a worldcard?”
Irwin opened his mouth, then closed it again. Could a worldcarded be strong enough to do that? He had only met Exarg so far, and he’d seen him do some impressive things, but… Exarg was the weakest type of Worldskilled right now. Locked to a world. From what he knew, his own soulscape was already bigger than Exarg’s had been. He focused on his own soulscape, trying to imagine what it would be like when he was ready to make his worldcard. Now, what if his entire set of soulcards had been focused on teleportation, soulforce stability, and soulscape size…
“Perhaps,” he said slowly. “But not all worldcarded are equal. Exarg told me that even back in his day, there were differences in what the worldcarded could do. Some of those that weren’t locked down were monstrous combatants, able to go toe to toe with even the giant Oculithar and other monsters. Perhaps if one focused only on creating connections…”
He stared at his friend as he realized what Daubutim was implying.
“You think The Library’s doors are created by worldcarded… Wait, you think that The Library is actually the world of a worldcarded?!”
Daubutim stared at him, then let out a soft sigh.
“This Portal Web that we call the Portal Gallery is old. So old that I couldn’t even find a date when it was created or found. Over the course of its history, beings have lived that were likely more powerful than any others in their millennia-long lives. Even Exarg told you there were Portal Webs so old they held ruins predating any of his species. Just because the Portal Gallery we are in now was new in those eras doesn’t mean all were. Where did all of those beings go? Yes, most will have died, either through combat or merely due to the immense passage of time. Some could also be deep in slumber, either never waking up or not for a long time. But all of them? Even if only a single one like you is born in a thousand years, in each main branch, that still means tens of thousands in just that span of time. Across a million years?”
Irwin stared at his friend in wonder. He’d told him most of what had happened while he was at Exarg, only omitting most of the cardsmithing-related things. Why was he surprised to find that Daubutim had found something that he hadn’t noticed?
“You might be right,” he said slowly. “But, they will have had the same problem others have who live so long. They go crazy from the memories, or become so bored they end it themselves. Still, I guess you are right. Some might have survived….”
As he spoke, Irwin knew that what he was seeing was almost the same as Daubutim had already said, and he fell quiet.
“Yes,” Daubutim said. “From what we have learned, even if physical immortality is possible, at some point, a lot of beings have problems of the mind that cause them to eventually die. However, statistically, with this many beings, some should still be alive. Even now. So, knowing this, where are they?”
Irwin created a pair of deep chairs, which he put down, then sat in one, almost absently.
“So, you think they are hiding in plain sight?” he muttered.
“The Library is incredibly large, but the distances don’t match with how far they are in the Portal Gallery. Moving from Fiverio to here by ship would take months. Doing so at the library, walking, also costs months. Even if the Library were a straight line, which it isn’t, and the portal paths are a winding mess, this is too fast.”
“When did you learn all this?” Irwin asked, trying to recall what he knew of the Library.
“Partially from the books you brought from Brazardian, the rest from Captain Drinmal. The library also has entrances within Guidar space, though, like ours, only from worlds. No path ever leads from the Portal Gallery to the Library. Which is another reason I’m starting to believe it might be something to do with a worldcarded.”
Drinmal knew this much? Irwin thought.
“So… there aren’t going to be any Guidar in there,” he said slowly.
“Very unlikely, but we can’t be a hundred percent sure,” Daubutim said. “There’s one more thing. Yilda was a free-roaming worldcarded, and she vanished overnight after doing something to the worldportals throughout the entire Portal Gallery. Besides it being almost impossible to comprehend, there is something odd about it. Whatever she did either killed her in the process, forced her to move through one of those world portals, or somehow made it so she can’t move freely. Either that or, for whatever reason, she has been hiding. If she has been hiding and if The Library is the world of another Worldcarded, there is a chance we can find information on her there. Probably hidden in a way that only those who know about worldskilled can find.”
“You think Yilda might still be alive and hiding somewhere,” Irwin said slowly, thinking about the conversation he’d had with the Girdaim. Had Daubutim gotten new information from them?
His friend seemed to read his mind.
“I learned some things from Killi and Mach,” Daubutim said. “The Girdaim are a curious species. Did you know they actually gravitate towards symbioses, and the current main branch of their species that forces their hosts into mindlessness is learned behavior? They have runes on their world that show a highly civilized species. I digress, I spoke with them and learned a lot about the Library. They had a lot more useful information than Zeek did.”
Irwin thought quietly about what he’d heard before summing it up as best he could.
“So you want to wait till we determine which world we are going to choose, then find the library door and go inside with one of your bodies? To find information about the Guidar, the current state of our branch, and about Yilda?”
“Correct,” Daubutim said.
Irwin frowned. He hadn’t ever expected Yilda might still be somewhere, and even now he doubted it, but… if she were? She had more knowledge of the Guidar than anyone else they knew, and if even half the stories were true, she would likely be more than happy to help them.
“And you want to go soon?” he asked, starting to connect more dots.
“Yes, but before I can, I need my next soulcard,” Daubutim said as he raised his hands.
Irwin was surprised to see that Daubutim had all but a single handslot filled. He also only recognized two of the cards, Anthem of the Havoc Tempest, which was the first card he’d given Daubutim, and the second one, which was a body double card. The third, fourth, and fifth were not made by him, but he sensed something familiar about them…
“Are those soulforce improvement cards?” he asked as he leaned forward, focusing his soulforce senses on the cards.
Where did he get those? he thought. Any cards that dealt with those things were immensely rare, even to him.
“This one,” Daubutim said, tapping the third card. “It is a gift from Trimdir and Hou’dor. It is a ruby-ranked card that binds lightning and soulforce stability. The other two both deal with soulforce and soulscape stability. One came from the insect world, the other was found by Basil and Saring during his hunts. Trimdir duplicated both and gave me one of each.”
“How…?” Irwin asked, shaking his head in surprise.
“Trimdir has learned to split cards as you do and has been slowly creating more soulforce stability cards. It’s a slow process as he can only turn one into two, and it takes him hours and a day to recover. However, he’s been doing a few a week for nearly a year.”
Trimdir is able to split the cards? Since when? Irwin thought.
He focused on Trimdir and let his soulforce flow around his old mentor and first smithing master. He immediately sensed that he, too, had new handcards, which, together with his first soulcard, showed he was actually a card ahead of Daubutim now.
Why didn’t he tell me, Irwin wondered, crossing his arms.
Daubutim let out a soft laugh, which drew his attention, causing his friend to just raise his hand.
“We are not keeping secrets from you, if that is what you are fearing. However, as my father always said, one should not bother the busy with less important things that might distract them. You were and are busy with far too many things that currently only you can do. It is why Dahlia is working on the shadow typed cardseeds, Emeril on utility and weapon summon cardseeds, and Trimdir on splitting cards as he works towards a cardseed that deals with soulforce or soulscape empowerment. Although the immense number of cardsets you gave will assist us for years to come, we will eventually run out again. When we do, the time dilation will be mostly gone, and we will need to be prepared. This is why Endil is currently training with some of the Crathan smiths, who have learned to make their own cardseeds.”
Irwin stared at Daubutim, then his eyes drifted to the table. He thought about what he’d been doing, and he knew his friend was right. It wasn’t like he’d had the time to do everything.
I could have made some while I was with Exarg, he thought after a moment. It would have meant a few thousand fewer sets, but that would have been manageable.
“Perhaps,” he finally said, looking at his friend. “But next time, please tell me anyway.”
Daubutim held his gaze for a moment before answering. “Very well.”
“So, why the final empty slot?” Irwin asked, deciding to change the subject. He would ask Trimdir later how things had gone, and why he’d not told him about this the last time they spoke.
“A failsafe, for if my current set is lacking something,” Daubutim said. “I was wondering if you and Ambraz could suggest the best card and then gift me another heartcard.”
“Of course we will,” Irwin said, focusing on Ambraz, who was with his other self.
The Ganvil appeared almost instantly, a wide grin around his head.
“So, memory boy! Finally ready for your second soulcard? You need to hurry up before you get left behind.”
“I know, but I am not planning on doing so right now,” Daubutim said calmly. “I do have something to show you.”
He removed a small booklet from his pocket and put it on the table, flipping it open.
Irwin leaned forward curiously, pulling it towards him with Ambraz landing on his shoulder.
“Oh, you have planned three soulcards ahead?!” Ambraz called. “These are very different from what you initially said you wanted.”
“Yes,” Daubutim said slowly, turning to Irwin. “I need to continue preparing, but my request is that you help me find my final card for my next heartcard, fill my soullake, and then help me with my next heartcard before I head into the library.”
“Into the… are you crazy?” Ambraz snapped.
“He has two bodies,” Irwin reminded him, ignoring Daubutim’s raised eyebrow.
“So? There are still abilities to force entrance into a soulscape of a weaker being through those,” Ambraz grunted before falling quiet. “Right. That’s why there are cards dealing with mental resistance among those you are suggesting. Ugh.”
Daubutim rose from his chair, and Irwin followed him, leaving Ambraz to mutter over the booklet while the two of them reappeared in his kitchen on Eluathar.
“How are your mother and the others doing?” Daubutim asked, remaining on his feet.
“Good,” Irwin said. “Mom and Tiscian are bonding nicely, and Luath, Sarha, and Mikili have been flying around with the kids.”
Daubutim nodded as he headed for the door before stopping and cocking his head. “Just to be sure, you didn’t forget about Undiri’s Fiery Connection, right?”
Irwin felt a slight shock run through it, but he merely grinned.
“No, I didn’t,” he lied, trying and failing to keep a straight face.
“Good,” Daubutim said without showing any reaction. He turned around and waved over his shoulder as he walked away. “I’ll be back tomorrow evening.”
Irwin let out a soft laugh as he shook his head.
Undiri’s card… he thought, feeling his good mood drop slightly.
He’d almost completely forgotten about it.
I guess that’s what you get if you do too much, he thought, getting up to get himself a drink.
Even compressed together, he’d lived through a hundred years or more since those times. With a bit of focus, he pulled the card into his hand, a small quartz card and one of three. Daubutim had one as a backup, and he had two. One to template, and the other to give to Tiscian.
I wonder what she will think of it, he thought.
----
“I can’t believe how long it’s been,” Hind said, looking across the prow as the ship descended into the third layer of Igniz, miles below the ground.
Helm navigated the ship in a sudden, tight arc around a corner, laughing uproariously.
“By the Ancient Stones, how I have missed this,” he shouted.
Irwin and Scintilla sat in the row behind them as they sloop shot through the caverns at a speed that made Irwin glad he was both strong enough to survive any collision with the walls and able to move anyone into his soulscape to keep them safe if that did happen.
When they finally reached the giant cavern, and a clear view of Smelter, the sprawling city, Irwin’s eyes were instantly drawn to the Great Divide river it bordered. It, together with the sea a few layers lower, was where the largest bodies of Pyroflux known to him were.
Done with his conversation with Daubutim, he pulled more of his attention towards this body and hummed thoughtfully. How much could he take without it being a problem? He could easily move the entire river into his soulscape… perhaps even the sea, but just stealing it all sounded like a bad idea.
“There’s another sea a few layers down that is about ten times the size of the one you saw,” Scintilla whispered. “At least, that’s according to the legends. You could probably drain some of that.”
Irwin nodded as he leaned back, pushing the idea of stealing a sea’s worth of Pyroflux to the back of his mind as he looked at Scintilla.
“We need to ask your mother if she can and wants to slot one of those cards we got when Undiri died.”
Scintilla’s eyes sharpened, clearly being yanked into the hear and now.
“I… forgot about those,” she muttered, rubbing her head. “Stupid. I actually thought about them a year ago! Say, Hotstuff, is this an effect of becoming a Crathan that you forgot to mention? Bad memory?”
Irwin grinned as he pushed his shoulder against her’s.
“No, that’s just your normal way of being.”
“Right! And I take it you remembered? Didn’t need anyone to remind you?”
Irwin grinned. “Might have just had a talk with Daubutim.”
Scintilla let out a soft laugh just as the ship shot down in a steep incline towards one of the harbors.
“Well, let's find a good place to eat while Helm and Hind look around, and then we can ask my heatmother how she would feel about always knowing where I and the others are.”
Irwin grinned as he leaned back, dragging her close as the sloop shot down before skimming over some roofs towards one of the largest squares that also doubled as a sloop harbor. As they landed on a free dock, barely long enough to stand on with a ladder to the side, Irwin noticed two large Fiz’rin appear within his soulforce senses and near their square.
“I think we might have some company,” he said as he leaned over, noticing a familiar face on the largest of two. As if sensing him watching, the man he knew was the minder Lava, and uncle to Hind, looked up, staring back at him with eyes that were almost identical to his except for a small divot swirl in the bottom.
“Yeah, I would expect them to come and see what I am doing back,” Helm rumbled with a laugh as he got up and ignored the dock altogether, just hopping over the edge. “Brother!”
Irwin saw Lava’s grin widen as he stepped back to get out of the way of the giant metal man slamming into the ground before him.
“Don’t worry, Captain, they won’t cause too much of a fuss,” Hind said as she laughed happily. “Though I have a request. Could you check where Brecka is? I promised her to show my home city, and well-” she waved her hands around with a wide grin.
“I’ll see where she is,” Irwin said as he already felt his otherself move away from the kitchen.
“Thanks! Now, let's go and see what has happened in our absence,” Hind said, hopping over the edge of the ship as her father did.
Irwin glanced at the same position, only for Scintilla to grab his arm.
“No! If you do that, it will cause a small earthquake and probably shatter the ground and topple this pillar,” she said, pulling towards the regular way down.
Irwin let out a fake, sad sigh, following her down.
“Don’t worry, at least there will be great food here,” Scintilla said as she began sniffing. “Also, remind me to gather as many ingredients as they will sell us for back home.”
“I will, just make sure you leave some for the rest,” Irwin said.
Scintilla laughed and muttered something that Irwin was rather sure wasn’t agreement.
They continued down to find Lava, a young man who looked very much like him, though smaller, Helm, and Hind talking and laughing. All around, other Fiz’rin had been watching curiously, which Irwin knew made sense. There were rarely people here that they didn’t know, and as much as he and Scintilla looked like Fiz’rin to others, regular Fiz’rin saw the difference without issue.
“I remember you,” Lava said as Irwin and Scintilla walked beside them. “The one that saved Hind.”
Lava reached out his hand, and recalling the last time he’d met him, Irwin made sure to squeeze along with the others, even outdoing him a bit.
“Hah! Never trust someone with a weak grip,” Lava said, letting out a happy laughter, and being far more outgoing than Irwin remembered.
I guess things were a bit different back then, he thought, recalling how the purple-blooded invaders had been there and the previous Bladematriarch of Obsidian was causing issues. Still, there’s war now…
Deciding to ask about that later, he looked at the young man.
“This is my grandson, Karash,” Lava said, before turning to Helm. “We were just out working the mines when I saw someone barrel down like he was trying to set a record.”
Helm grinned, and after a quick round of greetings, Irwin and Scintilla followed after the others.
“Food, then find a place to sleep, then we talk with Tisican,” Scintilla whispered.
“Deal,” Irwin agreed, his stomach rumbling slightly.
As he followed the others, he couldn't help his mind drift back to Daubutim.