Irwin hovered back to get a better view of the jagged crevice. Pyroflux was slowly flowing into it from what looked like nowhere, clattering down onto a few-mile-long stretch of crystal, parts of which were nestled in the walls and ceiling.
He could have moved in more, but he had quickly learned over the evening that it was best to slowly apply a layer of pyroflux over the crystals. Without that buffer, the flood of Pyroflux would just wash away the crystals he’d just transplanted.
A bit more… right, that should be enough, he thought as the layer reached about ten feet. With some focus, the flood of Pyroflux doubled, then tripled, and continued to increase. Within moments, the Pyroflux reached small sidepaths and began branching off. Some of the smaller crystals broke free and disappeared with it, but most of them remained.
Great, now to see what it looks like above ground, Irwin thought, feeling incredibly excited.
‘You three having fun?’ he sent to Luath, who he could feel was swimming through the depths.
‘This is great,’ Luath rumbled back in joy. ‘Some of those wyrms have been flooded out, and they can swim!’
Irwin blinked at that and, with a quick focus, sensed what Luath meant. A few of the giant wyrms were snaking through the newly filled Pyroflux caverns.
‘Well, have fun,’ Irwin said. ‘I’m going to continue above ground!’
‘We will come and check later,’ Luath replied. ‘First, I want to see how deep we can go!’
Irwin grinned, then moved himself from the depths above ground. He was hovering high in the mountains of his first soulcard, above a valley that was surrounded by trees.
For a few moments, nothing happened, but Irwin could sense the Pyroflux moving up rapidly, while at the same time it spread through the channels he’d made to connect with the other underground reservoirs. It had taken hours of his night, and as he knew that Scintilla and his children would be waking soon.
He moved his senses towards them for a moment, but they were still slumbering. He’d made sure to move them to a house on the other side of his soulscape, far from where he was busy, so they wouldn’t wake.
Still, he had to hurry if he wanted to finish in time.
“Ambraz, if you want to see, you should come now,” he said.
Ambraz immediately appeared beside him.
“Fine, fine. You don’t have to sound so excited. I’m sure there have been other times someone moved half a sea of Pyroflux into their soulscape.”
“Exactly,” Irwin said, grinning as he saw a gleaming wet layer appear on the bottom of the valley. It seemed to ooze up from every tiny crack and hole, and within moments, a sliver of pyroflux reflected the pale amber of the sky. It remained like this for only a while, as the influx began to speed up and the pyroflux rippled. Tiny waves began sloshing around as the valley began to fill up.
“Kid… how much Pyroflux did you actually move in here?” Ambraz asked softly.
Irwin hummed happily without answering as he rose further to stay away from the surface of Pyroflux. Ten minutes later, the valley had turned into a golden lake of Pyroflux that slowly settled in the center, causing even the golden edges and dark puffy clouds of ash to be reflected.
“Here it goes,” Irwin called out as he saw the surface begin to rise towards the first outlet.
He shot forward until he hung on the other side and watched with bated breath.
Wait, what about the kids?
He blinked as he watched the edge start to glisten, and he made a quick decision. Glow was already awake, while the others were still fast asleep, but he would probably only do this once…
They will forgive me, he decided as he flexed his will.
A moment later, a big, and five tiny bundles all curled up appeared next to him, together with a single, immensely surprised boy.
“Dad? What is going on! Are we under attack?”
Irwin felt a slight surprise at the shock he saw on Glow’s face, and he quickly moved the boy closer to him. A grunted murmur came from the others at the same time.
“No, but I wanted to show you something,” Irwin said as he pointed at the ledge where the pyroflux was starting to build.
“Everything is fine,” Ambraz shouted, moving towards Glow and sitting on his shoulder. “No need to worry!”
“Dad… what is going on?” a tired question came, followed by a startled scream.
Irwin reached out and plucked Mia out of the air, quickly doing the same with the others who started awake from Mia’s scream.
“Hotstuff, what…?”
“Everyone, look,” Irwin said, pointing at the distant wall.
“Oh… is that Pyroflux?” Ti said before yawning softly.
“Pyroflux?” Flux and Mia muttered as they held onto Irwin’s giant body.
Before Irwin could answer, the glistening edge ahead began to splutter as a faint mist of pyroflux grew above it. Then, without added warning, Pyroflux began spewing over the edge.
It started slowly, but rapidly picked up speed until an enormous waterfall shot out across the edge.
“By the First Volcano, how much Pyroflux did you even move in here?” Scintilla shouted above the roaring.
“Enough,” Irwin replied with a grin as he saw his children stare in awe at what was happening.
Far below, the Pyroflux fall crashed onto the rocky ground and into the rough channel he had shaped, and, faster than he could have imagined, a raging flow of Pyroflux began rumbling down the slope towards the next valley.
“This is insane,” Soot shouted, before nimbly climbing along his ear and onto his head. “Are you going to make a river?”
Not just one, Irwin thought, as he focused on the incoming pyroflux and began increasing the amount even more.
“Kid, what are you doing?” Ambraz called out, flying after him.
“You will see,” Irwin said as he hovered high above this section of the mountains.
“Look, there’s a whole lake over there now,” Mia shouted, pointing at where the first full valley was.
Irwin grinned as he looked down.
“There are more rivers! Look, there are two on the other side,” Flux called out.
“You might have gone a bit too far,” Scintilla said, leaning against his cheek as she stood on his shoulder. “When I said you could move enough pyroflux in here, I didn’t mean flood the entire soulscape.”
Irwin just laughed as he continued to look at the slowly spreading rivers of pale gold, while listening to his children shout in excitement.
Where the rivers reached other valleys, they stopped, filling them before overflowing and repeating the process.
“Irwin? What about your soulscape stability?” Ambraz asked, sounding slightly worried.
“There’s no effect,” Irwin said quickly, watching as a single river moved away through some valleys and towards the distant Aura hills. “I am keeping a close eye on it.”
“No effect, he says,” Ambraz muttered.
Irwin had become pretty good at waiting over the years, and gauging how long something took, but as he watched the Pyroflux snake through the mountains, creating pockets of gold, it almost felt like he was smithing, and he lost track of time.
I wonder if I should create a sea around the edges, Irwin thought, picturing his soulscape like a slice of land, floating within a sea of Pyroflux.
--
“What is he doing?” Zender muttered as he and the others stood before Irwin’s smithy.
The ground below their feet had been shaking and trembling for hours now, starting like something deep below the ground, before it sounded like a giant had begun roaring in the distance.
“Maybe a new form of smithing?” Ihrana asked.
Zender didn’t think so, but he was starting to believe that Sting had the better idea. The green bird hadn’t been interested in coming and instead decided to see Yort and Verd.
Seems like more fun than waiting here for a week, he thought as another shiver caused some pebbles nearby to slide down a short incline.
“Look!”
Zender turned around.
One of the Blademaidens was pointing at a distant hill. It was split apart as if cracked, and something sparkling and gleaming was moving through it.
“What is that…? Water?”
Nobody answered as they all watched the gleaming liquid spread towards the bottom of the hills they stood on.
“That’s pyroflux,” Ihrana said, her eyes widening as she walked forward. “He is moving pyroflux in here!”
Zender whistled as he walked forward and then began moving down the hill. Below him, a stream grew to a river that moved away into the distance.
“He can’t be moving it into his soulforce lake, right?”
The others didn’t answer, and Zender began running towards the river, wondering if something had gone wrong. Maybe Irwin was unconscious, and the process was still going?
They had just reached the river as Irwin appeared beside them, his giant form dwarfing them all.
“Zender, what do you think?” Irwin called out as he looked at the river with a wide smile.
“Captain, what if it flows into your soulforce lake?” Zender asked.
“It won’t. I’ve made a lake over there, and it should stop in a moment,” Irwin said. “I already ended the drawing.”
As if on cue, the raging river began to calm, the influx of soulforce weakening as if the source from which it had come had been cut off.
“I’m going to wrap up a few things and return to Smelter. After that, we will return to the Smokeblade estate. Your family should be there by then.”
The Captain disappeared before Zender could answer, and he glanced at his heatbond.
“Even after all these years, he still manages to do these surprising things,” he muttered.
“Let’s go and swim,” one of the Blademaidens shouted as she ran forward, quickly followed by the rest.
Zender groaned as he watched them start pulling off their tunics.
“I’ll head back,” he said, turning away. “Make sure to return in a few hours, or Irwin might move you out without your clothes.”
A round of laughter was all the answer he got, while Ihrana gave him a quick kiss before sprinting to her bladesisters.
It’s like he is trying to make the perfect world for Ignitzians, Zender thought as he walked away just as the first splash came from behind him.
--
Irwin appeared out of the soundwaves on a ledge overlooking the pyroflux sea. Initially, he had feared that he might drain it dry, but there wasn’t any change to it.
It’s connected to the other bodies, he thought, sensing the innumerable pathways that branched out from the seabed in the distance.
To the sea, it was as if he’d never been there. The same couldn’t be said for the crystal ceiling. Vast stretches of it had darkened, and the only reason it wasn’t worse was that he’d not taken everything from a single spot. Still, as he looked at the ceiling, he hoped the crystals would grow back…
Do crystals even grow back?
Irwin thought about it for a moment before deciding it didn’t matter. A quick check showed that his children and Scintilla were still playing near one of the rivers, while the blademaidens were swimming. He blinked as his senses gave him a bit too many details and quickly withdrew his attention. As he did, he sensed that Zender had also retreated into one of the temporary houses he’d made for them as they waited.
I am going to have to make sure I don’t just check everything everywhere, he thought, which made him think of something else. There were so many beings in his soulscape now that he had actually forgotten about one group.
He focused on another side of his soulscape, far from the upheavals that were occurring. The flotilla of Chained ships that were still in his soulscape and hovering above the desert seemed largely unaware of what was happening. He would likely be able to move them out soon, as Daubutim and Drinmal were working out a plan on where to bring those who would go with Drinmal. Most would be temporarily moved to a place on Eluathar, while the Accenti who weren’t interested in fleeing had chosen to be sent to Scour. Not that they actually knew what world they were going to.
Irwin shook his head, realizing he was getting sidetracked.
He looked at the reason he’d come to this small ledge.
Four small fire elementals were staring back curiously, their three gleaming eyes blinking slowly.
A bit like frogs, but then longer, he thought. Perhaps frogs crossed with snakes?
“Hey there,” he whispered as he sat down, sensing curiosity from the small beings. “Do you mind if I examine you a little?”
The creatures let out a soft chatter that Irwin was going to take as agreement, even though he knew they probably didn’t even know what he had asked. From what he could sense, they were just curious what he was.
He reached out and carefully put his hand beside one, which stared at his hand for a moment before jumping away from it.
Right…
He pulled back his soulforce senses, then wrapped them around the three fire elementals. One jumped up, changed into a streak of ash, and reappeared a dozen feet away, clinging to a boulder like a spider.
The other two remained where they were, though hesitant, and Irwin didn’t make any sudden moves. Instead, he focused on their soulforce resonance. Had it been years ago, before he’d gone to Exarg, he might have needed a long time to memorize their soulforce resonance. Now he just needed a short while. He summoned his Tablatures and two Aura Clones with Soulstrum guitars.
“Stay like that for a little while and just listen to the music,” he whispered as he began humming part of the resonance, changing it into a song. It wouldn’t be a perfect copy, but he didn’t really need one. Unlike the Ashbison, these were far less complex, and as long as he got a reasonable approximation, he would be able to create a Soulforce Construct.
If need be, I can always try to fill in the parts I don’t know, just like with the plants, he thought.
A bit over two hours later, he had a rough sketch when Ambraz interrupted him.
‘Kid, you probably need to go back. It’s been over half a day, and Helm and the others might be worried.’
‘I only want to get the resonance of these little ones, then we are heading back,’ Irwin replied.
‘If you continue like this, it will take another two days to get something good enough. Why don’t you just move them into your soulscape? You can always move them back later.”
Irwin hesitated as he looked at the three small frog-like fire elementals. They had been mostly sitting there, seemingly hypnotized by his song, sometimes letting out a soft chirping rattle. The idea of moving them away didn’t sit well with him, especially as it wasn’t really needed for anything important.
‘Kid, they are just little animals, nothing else. There are thousands within a few miles from us…’
Irwin sighed as he thought about it for another moment before deciding Ambraz was right. He rose and moved all three into his soulscape, deep within a cave that wasn’t all that different from where he was standing, with crystals on the ground and a small pool that led to the larger underground areas.
The three beings jumped around for a moment before they inspected the crystals curiously. To Irwin’s surprise, they began licking them, and as they did, he sensed their soulforce increase slightly. It lasted for a few moments, then one of them let out a croak and jumped into the pool, swimming around.
Right, time to go, Irwin thought as he looked around before clicking his tongue.
--
An enormous eye opened up, staring at the spot Irwin had just stood. A muddled mind pondered for a moment just how powerful the being that had just abdicated with some of the young had been. Still, it sensed no malice in it, and it could still faintly sense the young… they were alive, though it couldn’t determine where they were.
Moving slightly, it caused some of the crystals that grew from its back to crack and fall off, and he sensed some of the others nearby react. Their soulforce resonance grew active now that nothing dangerous remained behind, though they were all alert. If any of them would sense anything, they would quickly return to dormancy, slumbering so deeply they were nearly indistinguishable from the rock and ground around them.
The creature moved around slightly, not caring that a large section of crystals had been scraped clear a mile away. There was a near infinite amount of crystal, and it stretched out a dozen feet long tongue, wrapped it around a single chunk, and jerked it from the ceiling and into its mouth. It crushed it with thick jaws, barely noticing that it had caused a small torrent of crystal fragments to rain down on the ground below, causing hundreds of tiny versions of itself to rush out and begin crushing it.
A minute later, its eyes closed as it went back to rest. It had fed and wouldn’t need to feed again for a few days.
The cavern slowly calmed again as the others returned to sleep, leaving barely any indications there had been any movement before, their soulforce resonance completely gone.
--
“This is the last,” Scintilla said.
Irwin held back a sigh as he accepted another massive armful of bags and moved them into his soulscape.
“That’s what you said an hour ago,” he said.
“Yes, but I forgot I’d bought these,” Scintilla said with a wide grin. “And no complaining. These are Crackle Roots, and I can crumble them into a powder and use them to spice up dishes. Remember? It's that crunchy stuff.”
Irwin didn’t remember, but he believed her anyway.
“Hind is heading this way,” Ambraz rumbled, sounding bored.
Irwin couldn’t blame him, as they had been wandering around to buy or get the things Scintilla had already bought. He watched Hind and Helm approach from across the street.
“So, ready to return?” Irwin asked.
Hind didn’t react, glanced at her father, before looking back and sighing.
“Irwin, I… my father and I have decided that we want to stay here. Although we love…” she drifted, then shrugged. “This is our home, and if they need help, we want to be here for our family and friends.”
Irwin guessed he should have seen it coming, but he was still surprised. That said, he knew he might have done the same thing if he were in their shoes. There was, however, a small problem.
“Can you move us into your soulscape for a moment?” Helm asked.
Irwin just nodded, and a moment later, the three of them appeared beside one of his Aura clones.
Hind sighed, then pulled her hair slightly.
“We won’t tell anyone about Eluathar,” she said.
“I know, but what if they capture someone you love?” Scintilla said before Irwin could.
“I have a suggestion for that,” Helm said. “We both have a slot left. Can you give us a body double card? We can leave one of our bodies here, and it will also give us the ability to save our friends and family if it's needed.”
Irwin nodded slowly, as his mind went over some of the things he’d discussed with Daubutim what felt like ages ago.
“We can do that,” he said. “But I am going to have to ask that you stay in one of the major cities on Eluathar.”
“That’s fine,” Helm said, while Hind nodded, grimacing. “I am sorry to cause trouble, Captain, but-”
“No, it’s fine,” Irwin said, waving it away. “It is not your fault that we are in a war with the Guidar. Just remember to be really careful with what you do. Besides, this isn’t all bad. It will give us another way to stay in contact with Igniz.”
“Not just that,” Scintilla said slowly. “We could even reinforce the planet if the Exit Portal gets breached. One of you could move Irwin here, who can then move an entire army in to help.”
Irwin saw a look of relief on Hind’s face, and he smiled as he summoned body double cards to his hand.
“Here, if you slot these now, you can sleep off the effect in my soulscape.”
Both Fiz’rin accepted the card, then Hind hesitated.
“Captain, did you manage to reach Brecka?”
Irwin grimaced, sensing his otherself was distracted with other things.
“No, but I’ll go there in a moment,” he said, sensing his otherself extricating himself from a conversation with some cardsmiths. “I’m sure she will want to come and see this place, and you can move her back with that card.”
Hind nodded before moving to the couch opposite the one her father had lain down on. Irwin watched for a moment as they slotted the cards and fell unconscious.
“As soon as they are conscious, we are heading back to Heatmother?” Scintilla asked.
“Yes.”
“Good, then I just thought of a few more things we should get while we are here!”
Irwin snorted, then laughed softly.
“More food?”
“Well, I have to make sure to keep you happy,” Scintilla said with a wide grin. “Also, I was thinking, can you plant any of the food plants in your soulscape?”
Irwin perked up, instantly interested.
“I can, if we can find any living ones,” he said.
“Good, I’ve heard of the right place!”
--
A busy day later, Irwin was shooting through the soundwaves, racing towards Smokeblade Estate. They could have taken a sloop, but it would have taken longer, and it saved Helm a trip back and forth. Brecka had been more than happy to join Hind at Smelter, and she’d been left behind there, while one of Helm and Hind’s body doubles had returned to Eluathar, likely to discuss with Daubutim.
Not bad, just over two hours, Irwin thought as he landed on the final ledge.
Above him, the fiery sky expanded in every direction, with a flowing river of fiery particles winding through a dark cloud of ash.
‘Kid, I think I’ve found the card that will help Daubutim.”
Irwin stopped just as he was about to click his tongue.
‘Great! What kind of type is it?’
‘Nothing too special, just a body improvement one. However, it has a slight affinity with lightning, which will help blend the other parts of his card.’
Irwin hummed, nodding slowly.
‘You can be a bit more enthusiastic! It took me hours to find one with lighting, and I also found four of the cards for his new heartcard!’
‘You did?’ Irwin asked, as his curiosity grew. ‘What are they?’
‘One is a card that we need to sideways reforge to get immunity to mental intruders, just like the one you have,’ Ambraz said, sounding excited at the prospect. ‘Then there’s one that will be almost exactly like what he asked for. An active skill that can think words on a page, not unlike what I can do.’
Irwin nodded, recalling having seen it on Daubutim’s wishlist.
‘We might get into trouble with typings,’ he pondered out loud.
‘Not when you see what else I have found,’ Ambraz said with a grin. ‘I’m afraid you are going to have to spend one of the templates on a card.’
Irwin was about to ask what for when Ambraz let out a soft laugh.
‘Get us back, and I’ll show you! Now, I need to start preparing for the song!’
Irwin felt him fade away, and he sighed, more than a little curious now.
Great, let’s get back.