Irwin's Journey 510: Drained

Author note: Merry Christmas everyone! No chapter tomorrow because I'm not home, but hopefully another on Sunday!
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"So, that's what he meant," Irwin's giantself said thoughtfully as he looked up from the paper and glanced at the card in front of him. "It's cursed."

"That's an understatement," Ambraz grumbled.

Irwin nodded as he turned his attention back to the card.

Card: Hazy Healing

Type: Heat, Healing, Topaz, Cursed

Owner: -

The owner of this card gains the ability to increase the heat their body gives off while boosting the healing of all those within range of the heat. [Cursed] As the owner's body becomes hotter, it slowly damages itself.

Passive: Minor regeneration increase

Passive: Minor area regeneration boost

Active: Boost your body's heat to radiate outward, increasing the area regeneration

"Can you imagine what would happen if I used something like? Or if an Ignitzian slotted it?" he said, shaking his head ruefully. "Depending on how much damage this thing inflicts, it's suicide."

"This card is amazing," Ambraz snapped. "All we need to do is find a way to remove that cursed part. It's not like we haven't handled cursed cards before."

Irwin nodded as he thought back to the Titan Sliver card. Technically, that curse had been worse as it had messed with his mental state. 

"Well, do you have any idea how to start?" he asked, picking up the card and letting his soulforce senses flow across it.

The resonance was incredibly complex, but also slightly familiar. Parts reminded him of the other heat and fire cards that he'd worked with over the years, like familiar melodies and rhythms in songs he'd heard. There were also elements to it that he thought he recognized from his work with the few healing cards he'd had access to. Sadly, even though healing cards weren't as rare as teleportation cards or those that directly boosted soulforce and soulscape, they were among the most sought-after cards in existence. 

"Not yet, but I'm sure we can figure it out," Ambraz said, sounding excited. "Do you have any idea how useful this card will be?"

"I do," Irwin muttered, his lip curling up as he thought about the war that he knew was coming. "It will allow me to heal an entire ship of people if I'm lucky."

"Yes, no. What?" Ambraz said before snorting loudly. "Who cares about that?! It's a great way to bind some of the card types you have together! It is heat-based, which you have soulcards for, the healing is of the regeneration variant, which you also have in two of your cards, even if only minor, and it has area elements! Think about it! You could create a heartcard that links your steam and heat elements together with your body improvement. When we ever get to the worldcard stage, it will allow you to draw those elements together in a far more cohesive manner!"

Irwin felt his excitement grow as he listened to Ambraz's explanation. At the same time, he had the feeling that if Ambraz had hands, he'd be gleefully rubbing them together.

"It does mean we get another typing," he said, trying to dampen the excitement to useful levels.

"Bah! We just have to reforge this card a bit and focus on the regeneration elements! You have plenty of that in your soulcards already," Ambraz snapped, flying up and toward the wall still covered in papers with the different types. They were hung around in such a way to indicate what Irwin was planning to focus on for his eventual worldcard, even if that was still further away than he could foresee. 

"Look, regeneration," Ambraz grunted, hovering above a paper that showed his first heartcard. "Regeneration," he said again, as he moved to the third one before flying to the fourth. "Two of your cards have self-regeneration typings, one strong enough to even have it mentioned, while your third has the fire typing, which also matches." 

"Only my second card doesn't," Irwin muttered, joining Ambraz in front of the wall. 

"No, but that one has the second largest overlap with other cards," Ambraz grunted. "Soulforce. Besides, this just means we need to be on the lookout for a card that blends heat and soulforce."

"Or heat and sound," Irwin said, staring at the paper that showed his second soulcard.

Card: Ethereal Nascent Soul Clone

Type: Soulcard, Ammolite, Sound, Soulforce, Forged by Irwin Roddington

Compatibility type-restrictions: Sound-waves, Soulforce-senses, Soulforce-expansion, Soulclone [singular], Utility Summons [multiple], Physical Improvements [Soulforce resistance, Sound-based resistance, Soulforce senses]

Owner: Irwin Roddington

A unique soulcard that causes your soul to split into a tiny fragment that grows independently. It will increase the power and regeneration of your  soulforce and the size of your soulscape. This soul has both its own mind and thoughts while still being the same as the wielder's. If one of the souls is destroyed but the other remains, your other soul will eventually reform. 

Passive: Gains a secondary nascent soul

Passive: Gains the ability to see and hear soulforce concentrations, resonances, and fluctuations

Passive: Greatly increased resistance to sound-based attacks

Passive:  Greatly increased ability to sense and manipulate soulforce

Active:  Summon a unique soulstrum guitar with strings that can be formed from soulforce. Lasts until dismissed or destroyed. [Soulforce]

Active:  Summon a booklet that can record resonances in soulforce and sound, recording them in music sheet form [Soulforce]

Active: Teleport across soundwaves up to a thousand feet

[Soulcard passive]: Immunity to soulscape infections and infiltrations 

"Or perhaps something to do with summoning," he said, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

"Sound…." Ambraz grunted, landing on his shoulder with a thud. "I don't know. You wanted to create a heartcard to merge the soulforce from this and the aura from your fourth, right?" 

Irwin frowned. "Yes, but with this card? Let's reforge it and see what we can make. Perhaps combining heat, soulforce, and regeneration is a better option. It would help blend all soulcards across at least one typing for each."

"You could use the steam as a mediator for the regeneration," Ambraz added.

Irwin glanced at the paper, currently one of those that had moved away from the rest, as it was a dissonant resonance compared to the others. He'd been thinking about it over the years and never managed to find a good solution. 

"Even then, it won't remove the fact that it is adjacent to water," he said. "That will also form a problem."

"Well, who said steam always has to be formed from water?" Ambraz grunted. "You've been whining about wanting your own Pyroflux in your soulscape, right? Why don't we try to create a steam card with heat and pyroflux? That would allow you to lose the implicit water typing."

Irwin's eyes widened at the realisation, and he quickly grabbed a paper, scribbled 'pyroflux steam' on it, and slammed it between his current steam typing and the other cards as a bridging type.

"Yes!" he said, suddenly seeing something appear, as types and pieces of his current cards began slotting together in his mind. "What about finding cards with pyroflux, steam, heat, and regeneration for all the other five slots?" he said, eyebrows shooting up. "Perhaps I can even create some form of regenerative pyroflux that people could bathe in or drink?"

"Drinking pyroflux would likely kill everyone but fire elements," Ambraz said, sounding amused. "Though I wonder what would happen if the regenerative effect were stronger than the damage."

Irwin grinned, then snorted as he pictured that.

"Should we wait till we reach Greldo? If he found more template cards, we can copy them a few times."

"No, no, definitely not," Ambraz exclaimed, sounding horrified at the idea. "This might be rare, but we have far rarer cards to copy already. We just have to prepare! Let's analyse it and see what we can deduce."

Irwin shrugged and moved back to his table. As he did, he absently noticed that the many people in his soulscape were gathered on one of the ships. Part of him wanted to go and join them, but it would mean creating an aura clone while he already had three things he was doing, each more important.

I'll find out about it later, he decided, focusing on the card.

--

"No, we need to move through this room or those foggy demons will catch us," Ti said calmly, shaking her head. 

"But there's nothing to fight there," Flux and Mia said at the same time.

"It's fine," Glow said, leaning over the board and pointing at a room a bit farther. "If we do what Ti says, we can go here! There's one of those bigger monsters here!"

"I still think we should call it a boss monster," Soot said, eyes glittering. "I mean, the big monsters are in control of the smaller ones, right?"

"Sure, but what do we call this?" Mia said, pointing at a giant figure in the room just before the cardroom. "The giant boss?"

"Big boss?"

"Real boss!"

"How about we see if we can survive this first," Ti said, waving away her siblings' horrid naming ability.

The six of them were sitting in the kitchen, surrounding the gift Irwin had given them, fully absorbed, as they had been for weeks now.

"They are learning a lot of tactical thinking from this," Scintilla said, leaning against Irwin.

The two were sitting at the other side of the kitchen, watching their children play.

"That and working together, planning around opinions," Irwin agreed, putting an arm around Scintilla. 

He pulled her Ignitzian main body closer, knowing he'd miss parts of that when she eventually did as she was planning.

That's years from now, he told himself 

"So, how far are you from Clearsky?" Scintilla asked softly.

"A few days," Irwin said. 

"I still wonder if it was a good idea to go there," she said, smiling worriedly. "What if you find a Guidar fleet there?"

"Then we will have to deal with it," Irwin said. "The more other places survive to resist, the better it is for us."

"Very true, but don't get a big head and think you can just do everything," Scintilla said, raising an eyebrow. "I know you are powerful, but remember Lasther? He wasn't even one of the powerful Guidar, and he was still dangerous."

"I definitely have a big head," Irwin retorted as he thought about his giantself. "But I will be careful. If I think we can't handle it, I'll flee."

"How are the others doing?"

"Rindiri has mainly been flying the Caldera around my soulscape, both happy with the size, and complaining that it's not big enough," Irwin said with a grin. 

Scintilla jabbed a finger in his stomach for the bad joke, which he ignored as he continued.

"Hilbarin and Brecka have been sparring a lot, and I've got the feeling those two are bonding very quickly," Irwin said, faintly sensing the two laughing and rinking within the house he'd made in his soulscape. 

Bonding might be an understatement, he thought. He quickly moved his attention away, something that was easier said than done when he could sense and feel anything going on in his soulscape with nothing but a thought.

Still, it wasn't fast enough to miss the joy in Brecka's eyes as she listened to Hilbarin talk about one of his many adventures.

He wondered for a moment what would have happened if Hilbarin hadn't been a hundred times as old as his sister. From what he knew, the two hadn't really seen much of each other back on Scour, at least no more than the occasional moment. Besides, Hilbarin had been together with Sandhrina back then, leaving little chance for anything more. 

It's a shame he's this old, he thought, wondering if he could convince the ancient Oxarite to let him shatter his last heartcard. He could probably create something that boosted his longevity a whole lot more, like what he'd done for Flowrishin.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Scintilla whispered.

Irwin quickly schooled his expression. "Oh, nothing. Selinda is mostly hanging around Rindiri and Blade, while Pur'am is still trying to find my hidden cardstash, as he calls it."

"Pur'am," Scintilla grunted, rolling her eyes. "That Ganvil is a menace! How are you ever going to find someone for it to bind to?"

"I have no idea, but I'm happy to let Ambraz deal with that," Irwin said.

Scintilla hummed, hugging him closer. "As long as he doesn't ask me to try cardsmithing again."

Irwin blinked, staring at her in surprise.

"He asked that?"

"Yes, a few months ago," Scintilla said.

Irwin tried to calculate when that would have been in Scour time and failed miserably. Still, he grinned at the image of Scintilla telling him to get lost. As much as she enjoyed seeing and hearing him work, she had no interest in smithing.

"He didn't ask the kids, did he?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"Not from what I've been able to tell," Scintilla said, before she frowned. "I did notice Soot hanging around him a lot, but I think that was more because they both enjoy messing around.

Irwin glanced at their son, who was currently laughing at something Mia had done. 

That would not be good for this world or the entire Portal Gallery, he thought, shivering.

They continued chatting until the kids had to go to bed, after which they moved to their own. 

"What about that cursed card?" Scintilla mumbled suddenly, sounding half asleep.

"No progress yet," Irwin said, staring at the ceiling. "The resonance songs we have created all have the same issue of removing the regeneration part together with the curse. Still, I'm sure we are close. Perhaps a few more weeks, and…"

He fell quiet as he sensed Scintilla had fallen asleep.

A few more weeks, he thought, closing his eyes and moving his attention into one of his other bodies as he let this one sleep.

--

Skylar focused on the distant fleet, angrily humming as his hammer thrummed in his grip. Swirling golden clouds grew around him, filled with burning bolts that seemed to blur the line between lightning and fire.

"We are ready, Master Skylar," Skylady Aery, one of the remaining fleet commanders, shouted in a perfectly modulated and pitched voice.

Skylar immediately began singing, his voice booming like distant thunder, while the golden clouds surged forward. They rolled down from where he stood on the ship's deck, growing with every second. At the same time, Skylar felt the soulforce he'd gathered for weeks drain away like he had a hole in his soulscape.

It will be enough, he told himself, trying to push away a growing worry. I will not let them chain us!

Seconds turned to minutes as the golden thunder and firestorm reached the distant fleet, and by then, less than half of his soulforce remained. 

"Their shields are breaking," Skylady Aery exclaimed as she walked up beside him.

Skylar didn't have the luxury of looking at her, but he knew her eyes would be gleaming pools of morning mist, her face as battle hungry as it was beautiful. He'd never enjoyed being around her and the other more warlike members of his species. Still, ever since the Chained had started attacking them, he had found his previous annoyances far less important.

A tremor ran through his distant connection to the storm, and he knew it meant they were trying to resist it. He hoped that whatever they tried would fail, as it had the two smaller fleets he had managed to dispatch in the previous months. He couldn't see what was happening by now, as the entire horizon was flooded by miles of golden clouds, streaks of fire igniting on the ground below, while scalding lightning bolts drilled holes in the ground and the barriers of the fleet alike.

Another minute passed, and he felt his soulscape scream at him, almost drained bare. 

"It needs to fall, or we need to attack," Skylar croaked, ignoring how his voice sounded like that of the lesser vocally gifted races. 

"What? But it's not enough," Skylady Aery whispered.

I can see that, Skylar thought, his hands on his hammer-handle cracking as he squeezed.

Hold on, hold on, he told himself, trying in vain to find more soulforce.

Just as he felt the last of it flow into his soulcard's skill, one of the shields in the distant fleet flared up and exploded in a shower of blue and purple sparks. Instantly, a chain reaction occurred, and the outer line looked like a crystal sheet struck by his hammer. 

Sadly, it wasn't enough, as he fell to his knees, his hammer disappearing and his connection to the distant storm vanishing. Without his soulforce to feed it, it began to fade away, the storm clouds clearing up and showing a heavily damaged fleet. Heavily damaged, but not destroyed.

"Their three biggest ships survived," Skylady Aery shouted, running away from him. "Boost all shields! Lightning batteries release full power and attack!"

Skylar felt his vision swim, and he wanted nothing but to sleep. Sadly, he knew there would be no time for that. He pulled himself up, looking to the side where two younger Simlari stood, watching him worriedly.

"Soulforce," he whispered. "Now."

The two jolted and ran forward, putting their hands on him, and he instantly felt a trickle of their soulforce flow into him. It was like the thin mid-summer misty rainfall, barely enough to wet the dry earth of the floating islands. 

"Perhaps if you had allowed us to give you some earlier?" one of them whispered, staring at him.

"What you give me is less than what a second requires," Skylar muttered back, shaking his head. "Besides, I told you two. If I try this while channeling my soulcard, it will drain you two dry within a moment, leaving you dead."

The two younger Simlari shared a look, and he knew they still didn't believe him. It didn't matter.

As they tended to him, he watched how the fleet closed in, their own fleet arrayed before them. Even with what he'd managed to destroy, they were outnumbered two to one.

We should have focused more on our own fleet, he thought, recalling his old mentor and the only other cardsmith among his people, Aurella's warnings. Thinking of her inadvertently made him think of his own apprentice, and he sighed.

Where are you, Selinda?  

As his mind slowly began spinning again, Skylar started as a dozen lightning bolts ripped through the air, striking against the already damaged enemy fleet and its shields. One shattered, the ship inside exploding in a shower of splintered wood and other things. Before any sort of outcry of joy could come from his homeworld's fleet, purple, blue, and dark green streaks and bolts rippled back at them. The subsequent explosions rattled his hearing, a painful experience. But as his hearing returned, the screams of pain made him wish the explosions had continued.

A moment later, he was obliged, as new explosions rang out on both sides. Shields flared up, the sky burned, and moments later, more screams came.

"To the railing," he managed, as he put his arms around the young Simlari.

They carried him there, and he watched as the two fleets met. The ship he was on was one of their strongest, and it was flying up and over the ensuing battle, heading for the three largest enemy ships.

This is going to end badly, he thought, focusing on his weaker soulcards and raising his hand, shooting out a thin bolt of red and golden lightning.

The ensuing battle lasted over half an hour, and by the end, his worry was proven right. 

Skylady Aery stumbled towards him, her eyes fuzzy from overuse of soulforce. 

"We lost half the fleet," she muttered. "But we won."

There was no joy in her voice, and Skylar felt none. 

Half of the fleet, he thought, as he looked at the burning wrecks that lay on the ground below. 

"We need to return," he grunted. "Perhaps they won't send another fleet this big."

Aery didn't respond but just turned away. They both knew it was wistful thinking. Their few conversations with the other surviving factions told a picture of fleets ten times the size of what they had just fought. If even half of that came, they would be lost.

An hour later, they limped back into Clearsky Harbor. A handful of damaged ships were being actively repaired, and soon dozens more would be added. None would likely be fixed in time.

Skylar slowly walked with Skylady Aery across the dock. Neither spoke, lost in their own thoughts, when a figure appeared in front of them in a swirling blue gust of wind. 

"Cardsmith Skylar, Skylady Aery, the Etherlord requests that you join him," a pale-skinned, stormy woman said. Her eyes were silver pools, her face narrow and tight, while her dark hair floated around her head as was common to their people.

"We are ready," Skylar said, knowing the request was only that. Even if he had wanted to, denying it was not an option.

The woman stepped forward, clasped their arms, and a moment later the world blew by. The sensation lasted a few seconds, then Skylar appeared on a deep blue floor in front of an enormous set of crystal windows. Ten-foot crystals that radiated silvery light stood in the middle of the room, with dozens of people walking around, fiddling with smaller crystals. A tall man stood a bit further away, arms crossed.

Skylar didn't hesitate as he walked to the current warlord of his people, chosen when the Chained appeared.

"Etherlord?" he asked, knowing the man hated pleasantries or anything else that wasted his time.

"A ship is approaching from the southeastern channel. Twice as large as our biggest warship, and it's radiating more soulforce than the entire fleet you just fought," the man said coolly. "I know you are still recovering, but I want you to take the Skydin and intercept it. Know that some of our Sensors believe your apprentice, Selinda Galeborn, might be aboard. We expect it to be one of those Battleships the Ganvils warned us about. If that's true… we need you to stop it."

Skylar blinked, his mind a mess. The Chained had captured Selinda? How? Last he heard of her, she had been far to the south, leaving with a fleet for a corridor that potentially led to a new Main Branch. 

"How do you expect us to do that?" he asked after a few moments.

"I will send the seven of the Windsquadron with you."

Skylar licked his lips, wishing he could say no. The Windsquadron was a group of fanatics who believed that the Chained were a challenge sent by Yilda. 

"I'll leave at once, Etherlord," he said.

"And Skylar? If you have to, flee. The Windsquadron will cover you in any way possible."

They will try a suicide attack, you mean, Skylar thought, but he merely bowed and left.