Irwin's Journey 454: Ghulnithair

Irwin lay on his back within the sprawling body of music-note trees that comprised a large part of his soulscape. Behind him, a familiar soft song came from one of his favorite trees. It was one of those he'd made together with the others back on Granvox. 

Not that he was thinking about that.

"Whatever we do, we have to help one of those groups," he muttered.

"Agreed," Ambraz said from his perch on a branch a dozen feet above Irwin's head. "Whatever we do, we need more time. You are able to reforge a single cardseed from scratch, but not reliably. With how long that took, we can safely assume it's going to take tens of years before you are at the point that you can reforge more than a handful every time you try."

"At which point I can start churning out high-quality cards," Irwin agreed, hands behind his head as he absently watched the canopy of dark, charred-looking leaves flow above his head. "Do I stay here for another long time and create as many cards as I can, or…"

"As long as you can," Ambraz agreed, though he sounded slightly sad. "You will see them again, kid. We both will. Besides, at least this time, you know they are safe."

"I know," Irwin agreed.

His attention moved to the body left on Eluathar, and from there, he observed the door, partially open. Behind it stood Soot, his face in a deep frown as he prepared to enter the room. It would take almost a day before he was in the room and closer, but Irwin was already incredibly happy to see one of his children. Soot hadn't changed one bit, which was logical, as to them he'd only been gone for a few hours. For him, it had been months since Scintilla and Zan had left, and when Soot had opened the door half a day earlier, he'd stopped mid-chat with Nimlarel and Lejiingi.

Now, his otherself was sleeping and he was enjoying some quiet.

Sadly, time, even on Scour, didn't wait for anyone, and it didn't take long for his otherself to wake up from a knock on the door.

--

Irwin grunted as he rose and glared at the door. Being half asleep and half awake was a great deal, and one of the things he had learned to appreciate most about his split self. However, waking up before he wanted to was still annoying.

He spread his soulforce senses, but his annoyance faded quickly as he sensed who was before the door.

He walked forward and pulled it open to look at Rinbus. The Accenti inclined his head instantly.

"Irwin, I came as quickly as I could."

"Good," Irwin said, walking out and closing the door to his small room. "Before I fill you in, tell me what you learned."

The two of them fell in lockstep as they headed towards the exit.

"Nothing you haven't realized," the Accenti ex-sect member said. "Zou was preventing Baytim's messages from going through, and Baytim warned the Empress where you were going."

"Yeah, I figured," Irwin said as he sat down in the small living room. "Did you find out why?"

"I did," Rinbus said as he sat opposite him. "Baytim's mother and some other relatives live on the edge of one of the Eternal Mines, and he is afraid that they will die when it overflows. He's trying to get the situation to return to normal."

Irwin grimaced. He didn't like the fact that Baytim had done stuff behind his back, but he didn't really blame him either. Still, it did mean that he couldn't trust the Oxarite merchant leader.

"Alright. I'll deal with that when we return. For now, how much do you know about what is going on here?"

Rinbus grimaced. "The Empress is here with the Teleporter. Lady Selderine came here with Findekon Bluefire and Nimlarel, but Nimlarel is now upstairs while Bluefire left after he had a small fight with Lady Selderine."

"Bluefire left?" Irwin asked, surprised and wondering how the Accenti had learned things that hadn't while just arriving.

"He went north along the desert, and if I had to guess, he went to Tuarlas. It is said that he and Hilbarin Deadslate are friends of sorts, and if he decided to leave Lord Sachindrian, that means there's only one place left for him to go. Lady Sandrihna."

"Right, the third faction," Irwin hummed. "I learned a bit about her from Nimlarel. Apparently, she's a cardsmith who isn't all that interested in leading her family but has no other choice?"

"That about sums it up," Rinbus agreed. "She's one of the Mountain Lords and Ladies without a heartcard, and being in the east, that means her faction is only really a faction because Deadslate went with her."

"If you had to pick one of the three, The Empress, Lord Sachindrian, and Lady Sandrihna, who would you say is best to lead the empire?" Irwin asked. 

He'd asked the same question to Lejingi and Nimlarel the previous day and had gotten conflicting answers.

"Not Sachindrian," Rinbus said immediately. "He will definitely cause more war. The thing is, neither of the other two is all that great. It's a badly kept secret that the Empress was pushed into her role and left most of the rulings to the Council of Steel. Sandrihna, however, has zero interest in ruling. She does her own city and family, but from what I remember from a few years back, she has zero ambition."

Irwin sighed. That somewhat matched with what he'd learned so far, though Lejingi had said that the Empress was probably the best choice, while Nimlarel had said Sandrihna would be better than the other two.

"Alright, then I need you to do something," he said, looking at Rinbus. "Find out who would be better suited to rule. Try and find one of those Lords or Ladies that will keep the peace."

Rinbus's face pulled into a grimace, but he nodded. "You are thinking about backing a fourth party? Wouldn't it be best to just do it yourself?"

"I have too many things to do, and if there's one thing I agree about with Lady Sandrihna, it's that I have zero interest in being in charge of anything. Let alone an empire," Irwin said. "No, we need to find someone who can and wants to rule the empire and who is actually capable of it. I'll back them, make a few of their followers heartcarded to give them enough leverage, and then I'm going to return to my own issues."

Rinbus smiled wearily as he rose from his seat. "Very well, Irwin. It might take a while, but I'll see who I can find."

Irwin nodded. "In the meantime, I'll do what I am actually here for. Though I bet I'll be asked to chat with Lady Selderine soon."

A few minutes later, Rinbus was gone, and Irwin was walking with Teacher Lejingi through Flamerock. Many of the Ignitzians they passed took a moment to stare at him, but Irwin didn't care. 

"So the Blademothers were fine with me going to the Flame Elementals?" he asked.

"Yes, especially when I said you had agreed to make two heartcarded," Lejingi said. She glanced at him quickly. "You still will, right?"

"I will," Irwin said. "But you have to vouch for them."

"Of course, and I already know who," Lejingi said, her grin widening. "One is my older heatsister, and she's probably going to be a Blademother in the near future. The other is the head of the town guards. I've known her for a long time, and she lives to help others. She was actually teased for it long ago, but she's probably the single best choice."

Irwin smiled at her excitement.

"How is Nimlarel doing?" he asked.

"Fine! She's successfully slotted her third card, and she's now letting them settle. It will probably take a few days before she can try combining them. She's incredibly excited, but I made her promise me that she would wait so I can be there for it," Lejingi said.

Irwin nodded, though he heard Ambraz grin softly.

'Yeah, you are supposed to have someone there just in case,' the Ganvil said. 'Remember your first time?'

Irwin held back a snort.

'I recall you pushing me.'

'Exactly! Imagine if you'd waited,' Ambraz said, the tiny spark that was him flying smugly before Irwin.

Irwin didn't answer, but chatted with Lejingi until they reached one of the castles on the edge of Flamerock. Ignitzian guards at the entrance let them through the gates without even asking what they were doing there, and a short while later, they stood before a towering wall where the castle was built against the volcanic mountain. Elegant images were carved out around a ten-foot-high doorless entrance, and a constant flow of sulfurous air blew out from somewhere in its depths.

A bored-looking Ignizian with simple armor and two slightly curved short-swords resting on her hips leaned against the entrance wall. As soon as she saw them approach, she moved forward with a wide grin.

"Sister, you were right! He's definitely hotter than molten metal!"

Teacher Lejingi turned pink, glaring at the woman walking towards her.

"Feijia, I told you to behave!"

The other Ignitzian's smile widened as she stopped before Irwin, examining him quietly. Irwin was impressed by how in sync her six cards hummed together. They all dealt with only three types: either body improvement, fire, and two were nearly identical swordshort summons.

"I'm Feijia, our little Teacher's elder heatsister," Feijia said. "And you are the one who is going to finally allow me to progress to a heartcard?"

Her eyes sparkled as they spoke, but Irwin got a sense of an underlying worry and tension.

"Lejingi says you are trustworthy and will use it well," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I take it she is right?"

Feijia's smile faded, and on the drop of a hat, she turned serious. 

"With a heartcard, I can help stop the overflow, and if I manage to grow it to a soulcard, for as long as I live, I'll help prevent the horrors of the Burrows from reaching my sisters."

The sudden change in pace took Irwin by surprise, and he hesitated only a moment before nodding.

"Good. I'll make sure to help you as soon as I can," he said. "Though it would be best to see the lava cavern first."

"Lava cavern? Sister, did you not tell him the name?" Feijia asked, the corner of her mouth curling up slightly. "I was told you have a heatbond with one of our kind, so you should know how we do things. Right?"

"I do," Irwin said, trying to keep up with the quick changes.

"Well, let's go and show you around Heatbond Caverns," Feijia said as she turned around and sashayed through the entrance.

Irwin blinked as he watched her carded sword swing in tandem with her hips. Then he turned to Lejingi, who was staring at the ground, face pink.

"Sorry."

Irwin rubbed his head, wondering if he was about to see something he didn't want to.

"It's fine. Let's just follow her."

The entrance led to a spacious hallway that sloped down slowly, and at the end, there were multiple paths leading down. The walls had tiny engravings and images carved out into them, most depicting young Ignitzians.

The path they took was the central one, and as they continued down it began winding around itself.

"Normally, we would use a movement technique," Feijia called out. "But the flame elementals asked us to refrain this time. Something about them wanting to sense your approach?" 

Irwin saw her turn around slightly, looking at him as if expecting him to explain.

"No idea," he said, spreading his soulforce senses out and down.

The soulforce resonance within the corridor and all around it was higher than average, but as he reached further down, the soulforce began increasing rapidly to the point that he could barely feel any details except a massive pressure.

It took another ten minutes and multiple circling of the winding path till he could make out any details, and what he felt wasn't good.

'Do you sense that?' he asked, slowing his pace slightly.

'Yes. A lot of soulforce pressure,' Ambraz replied, and he surprised Irwin by moving back into his soulscape.

Irwin frowned, trying to gauge the exact scale.

'Soulskilled beings… at least a few?'

'More like a few dozen or one or two very powerful ones,' Ambraz replied.

'I'm starting to wonder if we should not go down,' Irwin said as he slowed down even more, almost standing still.

He ignored Lejingi's curious look, frowning as he tried to detect more of what was below.

'I don't sense any malice,' Ambraz said. 'It's more as if something is curious.'

'That doesn't mean it's safe,' Irwin began.

"Don't worry! They won't harm you."

Irwin looked up to see Feijia turn around, smiling at him. "I guess as a cardsmith, it makes sense that you can feel them, but you don't have to worry. They aren't bad, but they just very much dislike anyone who isn't a fire elemental-type creature. From what I understand, they came from a place where anyone who was not a fire element attacked them on the spot. It's why they are highly territorial and the only reason we haven't been overrun by any Burrows."

"Lejingi said they actively fight the Burrows?" Irwin asked.

"They do, but only if they try and move up anywhere within what they feel is their territory," Feijia said. "And, before you ask, we can't build within their territory. Although they enjoy our presence, they refuse to have anyone within their territory."

Irwin nodded, spreading his senses down and probing for what he could.

'It's two strong ones, and at least ten that are soulskilled, or close,' he said. 'What do you think?'

'Go down,' Ambraz said. 'I feel no malice, and as strong as they are, if you go full-size, they can't prevent you from escaping if they try something. But… I feel they won't. I'm actually curious now. What world did they come from? Or are they from around the core of this world?'

Irwin hesitated for only a moment longer before continuing forward.

Feijia smiled and continued ahead, and for what had to be at least another hour, they walked further and further down into the depths of the volcano. The temperature rose as they descended, and Irwin's senses began picking out ever more details. When they were closing in on the end, he had a reasonable picture of what and who was down there. Two powerful beings, at least comparable to a three soulcarded, and eleven one soulcarded. 

'It's odd… why such a big gap?'

'Perhaps they had only two strong ones when they arrived, and the others are those that managed to progress?" Ambraz suggested.

Irwin hummed thoughtfully as he followed Feijia through a large, cavernous hallway that led to a wall with a single, twenty-foot-high archway in it. Thick yellowish mist flowed out of it, curling around the edges of the pathway and creating a foot-thick blanket in front. Beyond it, glowing red, orange, yellow, and white clouds of fiery gas floated around, making it impossible for Irwin to see much besides a dense soulforce signature and heat everywhere.

Approaching the door caused the temperature to go from lethal to nearly everyone, to so hot that he wondered why the flame elementals even worried. Nothing but other fire elementals or similar beings could survive moving here.

Well, perhaps shadow or metal, Irwin thought.

Feijia stopped at the doorway and looked at him. "Just to be sure, and seeing as you show no issue with the heat yet… You are very much a fire elemental, right? I don't sense any issues yet, but if you have any doubts, you might wanna return now."

Irwin stared at her, then rolled his eyes.

Seriously. Now she asks this?

He took a deep breath, his lungs had zero issues with the toxic fumes, and walked through the doorway into a vast underground chamber. It almost felt like he'd moved into another world altogether. Thick streams of lava poured out of the sides of distant hills and walls, while enormous stalactites and stalagmites poked out from where the ground and ceiling met. Multiple Pyrofluc rivers flowed across the hilly, rocky, and cavernous landscape, while thick clouds of yellowish gases moved around in layers. 

Unnumberable small pinpricks of condensed soulforce were like tiny stars, as fire elementals of all kinds floated, drifted, and swam around. Far to the left, a sprawling mass of lava faded away in the distance. It almost looked like it had slowly dug deep into the rocky wall beside it, creating an overhang, and below it, things swam through the thick layer of lava, causing V-shaped trails, some small, others large.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Teacher Lejingi asked from beside him. "Many of my sisters wish they could stay here for longer, but sadly, we are only welcome for short interludes."

"It is," Irwin agreed.

'Kid, I think there used to be a portal here, look at the far left! There's a very odd hole in part of the ceiling and the wall.'

Irwin looked at where Ambraz was indicating, but it took him almost a minute to find what his friend was talking about. Still, as soon as he saw the large oval hole that was partially carved out of the ceiling and the wall adjacent to it, he knew Ambraz was right.

'So, that means they likely did come from another world,' he said. 'But if the portal is gone, that means their world has shattered.'

'Exactly, which poses a slight issue.'

It took Irwin only a moment to realise what Ambraz meant.

'How close to becoming Addled were they…?'

He glanced at the central area of the region. It was a series of black, volcanic rocks submerged in a small lake of pyroflux from which all other rivers snaked to or from. The two strongest soulforce resonances Irwin had sensed since arriving at Scour were hidden in a cave below the top of one, and as he sensed them, they started to move. Each was even more powerful than the Eldertree in the Dwaelen Grove that he had met. 

"Feijia, how normal are those two?" he asked, staring at the distant lake where two tiny. 

"Normal? What do you mean?"

"When you talk with them, are their reactions calm, or…"

"Most of the time, yes," Feijia said. "One of them has the tendency to talk loudly, but that's it."

"Alright," Irwin muttered before preparing himself. "Then let's go meet them."

--

"He's strong! Stronger than others!"

"Yes, yes. He is. But stop being so worried. Don't you feel it? He has one of the Origin Flames, and a strong one at that. I think it drains heat!"

"Worse! That's worse! He could-"

"But he won't."

"But he could try-"

"But he won't."

"You say that now, but-"

"Igg, calm down. Remember what we talked about. This cardsmith will be able to help the little flames, and what is good for them is generally good for us."

"Yes. They are pretty."

"Exactly, and they are going to need to grow stronger for what is coming."

"They are coming! I don't like it! We should-"

"They won't be here for another few spins. Calm Igg. Calm."

"Yes. Right…”

The two beings flowed forward through the pyrofluc, one calm but worried, the other tense and high-strung.

"What if he-"

"He won't," the calm one said. "Igg, do you want to remain behind?"

"No! What if-"

"He won't, Igg. He won't. Why don't you go and rest? I can take care of this."

The one called Igg hesitated, circling the other.

"But what if you need me? I am strong."

"Yes, you are, but so am I. Even if I were wrong, he can't hurt me. I will hold him, and you will help. But that won't be necessary, remember?"

"Yes… no… I… Preg? What should I do?"

"Sleep, Igg. Sleep and I'll wake you in a few days when you feel better."

"I… I…. Alright."

One of the two beings snaked back down along the bottom and into their dark cavern deep below the surface. 

Preg watched his sibling vanish, feeling a stab of pain.

Igg, if only we could have gotten you out sooner. Perhaps I could have done things differently?

There was no answer. There never was, and Preg turned around, propelling his powerful body up towards the new one. He'd sensed the disturbance in the underground streams when the portal had opened, and he'd felt tensions rise in the molten depths. The war down there was heating up again, and would like to spill back up. Part of the reason was the portal, part of the being now waiting for him above. 

Had it been a few thousand years ago, he might have kept Igg with him, ready to fight. Not anymore. Igg's mind was loosening every year, and as it did, his strength grew. Long ago, Preg had been the stronger of the two, but now? Now he wasn't sure if he could hold his sibling if he had to. 

As he breached the surface, he kept his head low above the glistening pyroflux. His mere presence and breathing would heat up the air, and the tiny flames couldn't hold that. It was why he couldn't enjoy their presence, not like the young, but he had long since come to grips with this. Besides, the young were not so young anymore.

His soulforce brushed against the small group of those who had progressed the furthest, feeling the three who took care of nearly all of the daily happenings. He and Igg hadn't had to do more than protect them for many years now, and not even that was needed unless a Queen moved closer. 

You will do well when we burn out, he thought, brushing against the current leader of his people. She was older than most, but to him, she was but a tiny spark, merely a few thousand years old, born on this new world.

--

Irwin felt his mind go fuzzy as the smooth black, snake-like being broke out of the surface of the pyroflux, hovering a dozen or more feet above. Its head was slightly angular, and it had six golden, snake eyes, three on each side.

Images from deep in his inherited ancestral memories floated up as he saw similar creatures fight across a black night sky, biting into Oculithar. The memories rushed by so fast that when they were gone, he was left gasping, barely understanding what had happened.

'Kid?'

'Fine… I'm fine,' Irwin muttered. 'Ancestral memories… Just….’

He shook his head as tiny fragments of knowledge cropped up, leaving him with a profound sense of awe as he stared up at the being above him. 

He didn't know everything about it, or even as much as he would want to, but what he did know was that it was ancient. 

'I think these are called Ghulnithair,' he said. 'And they lived during the same time as the Titans and the Chaos Whales.'

'Great! Why do we keep running into these things,' Ambraz grunted. 'Are they at least nice ancient monsters?'

Irwin nodded as he looked up at the ancient behemoth hovering before him. 

'They should be.'

--

Preg felt Igg's presence fade, showing his younger sibling had fallen into his healing sleep. Not that it healed enough anymore. 

What to do, he thought as he focused on the three figures that lay before him.

Two had backed up to get out of reach of the large cone of pale yellowish fumes he was breathing out, hiding behind one of the pillars, but not the odd one. With eyes that faintly reminded him of something, that one was calmly returning the favor, observing him. Oozing a comforting heat, he showed no reaction to a heat that even in calmness could melt many types of rock, nor the vicious fumes. 

At least he is calm.

"Hello, young one," Preg rumbled, trying his best to keep his voice soft. The young ones were always so fragile, even those who felt as strong as the one before him.

"Greetings, Ancient Flame. Thank you for allowing me to be here."

How does he know this?

Preg lowered his head, staring at the tiny being before him. Its soulforce felt familiar… It smelled like something from long ago, and he tried to recall what it was. A memory… a fragment? It was so far away that it felt like an ancient pebble buried below a planet's worth of magma. 

How can he be familiar?

Preg lowered his head, sniffing the soulforce. The scent, combined with how the small one spoke. Even its budding and incomplete soulforce aura created tiny tremors in the surrounding matter, not unlike his own did.

"Are you not a young one?" Preg asked, carefully.

"Compared to you, or even some of the others, I am only just ignited," the odd being said. "But I have memories… memories like you. Memories not my own, but from those whose steps I follow. My name is Irwin, the First Volcano Titan, and I follow in the steps of the Amnathair."

Preg raised his head before he could stop himself. Images of times long gone flooded his mind as he recalled for a fleeting moment when he was but a youngling, living under the care of his elders in a time when beings of size and power that dwarfed any he had seen since roamed the Portal Galleries and all its worlds. When the elder beings still held sway, not relegated to mindless, dead remnants and echoes of the past.

"Volcano Titan…" he whispered, shaking his head slowly, causing drops of pyroflux to spray around. "Crathanathair?"

"I… yes. That would be what I would have been called long ago," the tiny being -Irwin- said.

Preg lowered his head, taking a deep breath, finally placing what he was smelling. Something ancient, familiar, and part of the pinnacle. But different. Younger, and …. Broken? No. Still unfinished. Growing then.

"Why have you come here, tiny unfinished flame from the distant past?"

The tiny being looked confused for a moment, then its eyes lit up.

"I have found myself in a little predicament. I need a way to refill my soullake as I try to complete myself more. But I am not just here…"

Preg sniffed again, focusing on something else this time, and he finally sensed the imbalance around the young one. His true being wasn't fully here. It felt as if he was pulled between places, not unlike what he'd seen some others do. However, it felt strained, beyond its control.

"I can feel it," Preg rumbled. "But building upon this foundation, if it is so far apart, will cause cracks. It would be best to gather yourself."

The tiny being's face fell, and Preg knew enough of the small beings that dominated the current era that he was disappointed.

"Why would you rush things?" Preg asked, honesty confused. "You have all the time in the world, especially here."

"You are right… I was just hoping to see my family a bit sooner."

Preg smelt and felt the longing and hope radiate from Irwin. It was faint, but to his keen senses it was like a cry for help. 

"I fear I can not help you with that," Preg said with a sigh. "But you may remain here for as long as you need to refill your soulforce. However, I would ask you to do something for me in return."

"I… what can I do to help you?"

Preg sighed as he looked around, smelling the soulforce and the many other things. He had been here since he and Igg had fled from the burning remains of their world, carrying as many of the unhatched young as they could. Ever since, they had guarded and nurtured, but Igg… he couldn't remain here. Not much longer. But that was fine. The tiny being before him could help him; he knew it.

"I need your help to reopen a portal away from here," he said. "Before my brother loses himself."