Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith-Chapter 300: Smelter

"Captain, we should go to Smelter instead of searching for survivors near the outpost," Hind said, her eyes lingering on the distant city for a few more moments before she quickly focused back on flying the ship.

"Why?" Irwin asked, still trying to sense what Ambraz was hearing.

"The Bladematriarch is rapidly getting worse, and the council needs to know. Also, from what we heard, if Scintilla survived, she was carried away on The Underground Ashwinds, and those always bring everything to The Burrows or below."

"And The Burrows are close to Smelter?" Irwin asked.

"There's an entrance to them close to Smelter, and it's the safest option," Hind said.

Irwin felt the eruption of soulforce continue, and he hesitated for only a moment. Zender and Boohm were gaping at the distant city, and not for the first time, he wished he'd brought Greldo, even if he'd had to do so in his soulscape.

"Fine. Get us there," he said.

Hind didn't respond, and the airship continued ahead without any course corrections.

"Hind?"

"I'll keep this course and take another way there so nobody that's watching us knows we aren't heading to the outpost."

Irwin nodded, focusing back on the soulforce ripples.

"I'll check on the kids a bit," Ambraz said, and Irwin felt him jump into his soulscape.

I wonder what exactly is happening, he thought, before joining Ambraz by focusing most of himself on the part of him inside his soulscape.

--

Tiscian stood in the tower of the Bladeguards, listening to the rumbling. The distant pressure that she sensed with her soulcards kept growing and fading like the tides made her shiver.

"She will calm down in a bit," one of the guards said softly.

"Are you sure it was wise to tell her that Irwin and the others left?" Tiscian asked.

She managed to keep her voice and expression neutral, even though it took a lot of effort. Her anger was almost overflowing as she thought of the ridiculous decision to tell the Bladematriarch. Why couldn't they have just remained quiet and let her forget?

"Until the Counsel of Matriarchs decides on the course of action, we are the Bladematriarch's guards and last line of defense," the guard said, and Tiscian saw her eyes burn angrily. "It is our duty to keep her informed."

"Even if it exacerbates her issues?" Tiscian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is not on us to worry about those things," the guard said, but this time, she had the grace to look away.

Sure it's not, Tiscian thought, holding her tongue.

She could only hope that the other matriarchs would act. The sad truth was that she didn't expect it to happen. It had been years since the council of Matriarchs last gathered, and as the most powerful Matriarch and the one tasked with defending Igniz, the others would not quickly step up against The Bladematriarch.

It would be best if she'd just fade away in her sleep, Tiscian thought, carefully schooling her expression. She wished their ancestors hadn't decided to make a matriarchal position one for life.

--

Irwin looked around the dark, jagged gorge as they flew deeper down. The light from up slowly became faint, but far below, the orange glow of lava began growing near.

Hind flew the ship down nearly vertically, spiraling just slightly along the walls.

Besides Zender, who let out the occasional excited outburst, the rest of them were quiet. Irwin was still pondering what Ambraz had said. What did the Bladematriarch here have to do with Numili? Did that mean she was as crazy as Numili was?

It would explain some of what Ambraz sensed, he thought.

He absently watched a stream of lava bubble out from a fissure in the wall, dribbling down the wall. He didn't really need the extra light, but it would be useful for Boohm and Zender.

As they shot down, the temperature around them kept rising, and Irwin looked at Zender sitting behind him, starting to worry.

"I'm fine, captain!" Zender shouted, a wide grin on his face. "But Sting is hiding out in my soulscape, complaining a lot."

"Good," Irwin said. "Let me know if it gets too hot, and I'll place you in my soulscape."

"How can something be too hot," Boohm said, looking at the lava happily. "It's been years since I actually felt my pores open!"

Irwin stared at him stupidly, wondering what that meant. He didn't see anything odd about Boohm, and he turned back forward.

Even though Hind was making the ship fly so fast that they fell alongside the falling lava, it still took a while before they finally saw the bottom. Two seconds later, they shot out into an enormous cave, which Irwin couldn't see the sides of. It had to be many miles across, and a lake of lava covered in a thick layer of Pyroflux glowing brightly hundreds of feet below. Shadowy shapes were moving through it while pearlescent formations of coral covered the shallower depths. Parts of it stuck out, creating almost plant-like protrusions.

Rivers and streams of the thin, golden liquid ran to and from the lake, coming from and disappearing into hundreds of small and large openings walls. A single monstrous river flowed away from the lake, vanishing into the depths of the cave.

The ambient soulforce density skyrocketed, growing almost as dense as that on Eluathar, and Irwin watched in awe as the red and orange nebulous fog coalesced into clouds that floated just below the ceiling. Mixed with the dark fumes that trickled across the black rock, looking around, he could almost imagine himself on the surface of a world during a dark, starless night.

"Finally home," Hind said as she leveled the airship in a tight curve.

She pointed deep into the cave, beyond the monstrous river.

"We are going to follow the great divide to god's plunge," she shouted. "From there, we need to go down from the upper layer all the way to the fourth, where we will find Smelter."

Irwin was glad to see how happy she seemed, and as she flew the ship lower and lower, Hind began humming a soft, deep song.

What Irwin guessed was half an hour later, they began hearing a distant rumble. Far in the distance, billowing clouds of illuminated, glowing golden fog shot up in the air.

What is that? Irwin thought as he leaned forward. His eyes widened as he finally saw what was ahead. The cave floor seemed to just end in the distance, and the river plunged down, roaring as it did.

A waterfall, Irwin thought, slightly in awe. He knew it probably didn't have that name here, as it wasn't water, but he didn't know another name for it. This was also the largest one he'd ever seen, the others barely a dozen feet high.

Hind flew over the billowing clouds of Pyroflux steam before shooting down again.

Irwin gazed ahead, realizing he could only barely see the bottom, far away, and only because of the faintly glowing Pyroflux where it crashed into something.

How much further down are we going to go? he wondered.

Hours later, the small airship rapidly flew over the massive river, which continued after each waterfall.

They were in a cave just as large as the first, but by now, the temperature was so high that Zender had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He insisted he was still fine, but Irwin kept a close eye on him.

A city sprawled along the banks of the Far off in the distance. With rounded purple and violet roofs atop buildings that seemed dug out of the stone, it gave Irwin an incredible cozy feeling. Three thin outliers of The Great Divide river ran through the city, ending in a small lake of Pyroflux on the other side, where more of the pearlescent coral grew in large clusters, some sticking tens of feet out of the lake.

"Captain, welcome to Smelter," Hind said, her voice filled with joy.

She turned to them, grinning so wide her eyes turned to slits. "My people don't get a lot of visitors other than the very rare Ignitzian trader, so don't be surprised if you draw a crowd."

She focused on Irwin. "Well, maybe not you, captain."

Irwin wasn't surprised and nodded happily. The Fiz'rin would likely be more interested in Zender and Boohm instead of someone who looked like them.

As they drew closer to the city, Irwin noticed there were no guard towers or guards, for that matter.

"Why are there no defenses?" he asked.

Hind barked a laugh. "Defences against what? The only things that could cause any trouble can't cross The Great Divide, and even if they did- there's only a few things that could harm one of us, and those don't venture this high up."

High up? Irwin thought, looking at the distant ceiling as he recalled just how far they had already gone down.

"We aren't even a percent of the way down to the mantle of the world. Although the burrows are called the lowest level, in reality, they are far larger than all the layers above it combined, and there are tiny outposts and towns so far down they call this the surface," Hind said with a laugh.

Irwin watched her as she smiled and guided the ship towards a central square with a few of the pillars to hold ships. They were slowing down a lot, and by now he saw lots of people look up at them.

They really do look like me, Irwin thought as he watched the Fiz'rin, most wearing simple leathery tunics made of the same material as the one he was wearing. There were a lot of children running around, and as he saw them, he quickly focused on his own daughters.

His other self had been constantly hovering nearby, looking at them as they explored. The small ember, so small he could hardly think of it as an Ignitzian yet, had already visibly grown a bit, and he sensed the familiar resonance from the tiny being.

Irwin turned his attention back to the real world when Hind landed the airship against the side of a pillar a dozen feet above the dark paved ground. She grabbed a thick, oddly flexible metal cable, tied it around a loop in the side, and hopped over the edge.

"Well, let's go," Irwin said as he shared an amused look with Boohm.

"Got it, Captain," the Onyxian rumbled as he jumped over, followed by Zender and then Irwin.

As he landed, the slabs of black rock didn't budge from his weight, though the loud thud did cause a few of the surrounding Fiz'rin to look at him oddly.

Hind was still smiling as she beckoned them to follow her.

"Let's go and tell the council we are here," she said. "I'll need to tell them about what happened, and they might be able to tell us more about what happened with the invaders."

Irwin fell in line beside her, and Hind led them through the city.

"They really do look like you, Captain," Zender whispered from behind them.

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Hind laughed, shaking her head as she looked at Zender. "It's the other way around, but yes. Did you think the other Fiz'rin didn't look like me?"

"No," Zender said, shaking his head. "But it's something else to see so many in one spot. Are all of them as powerful as you?"

"No," Hind said, her smile widening. "I'm not very strong at all."

Irwin watched Zender's eyes widen, and he couldn't blame the kid. Hind's physical strength was second only to his, and that included Boohm and the Granitions.

I wonder if there's any here that are stronger than Crithann, he wondered.

It had been a long time since he'd been able to have a friendly bout with someone that he didn't have to hold back against.

As they continued through the city, Irwin was stunned to find that he wasn't all that tall for a Fiz'rin. Where he was usually the biggest everywhere else, he noticed he was merely slightly above average here, with a few gigantic copper or golden-skinned Fiz'rin towering a head or more above him. Somehow, it made him feel more normal, and as they continued through the city, garnering only the occasional odd glance, he realized something. He liked it here. Within minutes of arriving, he felt more normal than he had in a long time, able to likely fade in the masses if he wasn't with the others.

Walking through the streets that were made for people even bigger than him, listening to the calm chatter of the city and the distant sounds of the river, he felt at home.

I wonder if it's because of my card, he thought, focusing on his soulcard.

He wasn't surprised that it was contently resonating, but he did blink when he felt the surrounding ambient soulforce resonate with it. Focusing on the soulforce, he found that there was even more in the streets than in the air above the river.

I wonder if we can get them to make an enclave on Eluathar, he thought suddenly.

After letting him enjoy the sensation for a while, he pushed his sudden wave of daydreams away. He didn't know anything about the other Fiz'rin yet. They could all be unfriendly, aggressive people.

His soulcard rippled with what Irwin could only call annoyance before setting again, and the strong sense of belonging faded slowly, though not completely.

"Alright, this is the Council Building," Hind said.

They had reached the edge of a small square with a beautiful fountain in the center. It resembled two Fiz'rin, a man and a woman, standing back to back, hands raised as if to fend something off. Pyroflux was bursting from their palms, clattering in the pond below while a faint golden mist drifted away.

"It's midday, so they should still be here," Hind said, turning to him. "Captain, unlike the Igniz and your people, we don't really hold much value to rank. Although the people we are going to meet are technically our leaders, that isn't what makes them special. Among my people, we only really care for skill and power, and the people we are going to meet are either the best or among the strongest of all Fiz'rin."

Irwin wondered how that was any different from having designated ranks. They were still supposed to treat them with respect, just for different reasons. Still, he merely nodded.

"We will behave," he said, glancing at Boohm while raising an eyebrow.

"Course, Captain!" Boohm said, quickly pulling his gaze away from the swaying hips of a powerfully built Fiz'rin woman walking with a few others.

Zender grinned, but as he did, a group of four young Fiz'rin girls came running up to them, stopping before him.

"Hey! Are you a mutant?"

"Did you get a really special card?"

"Are these your parents?"

"You aren't from around here, are you!"

"Where are you going to live?"

"Do you want to come out with us tonight?"

Irwin almost barked a laugh as Zender inched back a bit under the barrage of questions, staring at the girls. They were almost as tall as Zender, athletic, and, if they aged like humans, probably fifteen or sixteen years old.

"I… These aren't my parents," Zender said, seeming to snap out of his surprise.

Before he could answer more questions, Hind stepped forward, frowning at the girls.

"Didn't your parents teach you not to bombard someone with questions?" she asked, crossing her arms. She seemed to hesitate, taking a quick look at Zender, who was looking at the girls with curious excitement, before continuing. "If you want to chat, come over to Saquer Street three after the third bell. You can find us in Balind's Stonery."

The girls shared an excited look before smiling at Zender and darting off into a nearby street.

Boohm let out a hearty chuckle as he struck Zender's shoulder hard enough to cause the comparatively slender boy to stumble forward.

"Looks like you are going to have some fun!"

Hind frowned at Boohm before turning to Zender.

"I hope you don't mind, but it's common for our younger ones to be outgoing and assertive. If you feel uncomfortable, just say so, and I'll take care of it later."

Zender shook his head, then his silvery skin turned a bit darker. "No, it's fine," he said before frowning. "But they don't expect anything from me, right?"

"Expect… What? No!" Hind said, and this time, she blushed before snorting. "Kids!'

Shaking her head, she looked at Irwin and gestured to the building.

"Let's go before they leave for the day," she said, walking across the square.

Irwin followed her, walking beside Zender, who was looking around in pure wonder.

"You alright?" Irwin asked.

"Wa- Yes, I'm fine, Captain," Zender said, nodding vigorously. "It's just… This is the first time anyone has shown an interest in me like that. You know how the other races think about-" he hesitated, looked around and continued in a whisper. "About Yuurindi. Well, besides home, but that doesn't count. This is the first place I'm not being looked at with either fear or loathing!"

Irwin walked next to him, pondering about what Zender had said. He knew part of it was because the girls likely didn't even know about Yuurindi and just thought of Zender as a young Fiz'rin with some really odd card that made him look different. Still, he wasn't going to tell Zender that. The boy was sharp, and he likely already knew this. But if he didn't, Irwin felt it was best to let him enjoy it.

"Well, I don't know how long we will stay here," Irwin said. "But after we find Scintilla, we might return for a while."

Zender nodded enthusiastically, his gaze wandering the streets filled with people, seeming ready to run off and explore them. It reminded Irwin of how he'd met the young Yuurindi in Sesnanser, which felt like an eternity ago. He'd been roaming the streets on his own, trying to earn enough soulshards to eat.

I wonder how Rindiri is doing, Irwin thought as he followed Hind into the building.

They entered into a spacious chamber with a large desk to one side. A bored-looking Fiz'rin man was sitting behind it, reading through a stack of papers. As they walked in, he quickly looked up, looking relieved.

"Hi there, what-"

He fell quiet as his gaze focused on Zender, then Boohm.

"You aren't from around here," he said, rising and focusing on Hind. "You look familiar, though."

The man had a surprisingly deep voice, and Irwin wondered if he ever sang.

"Hindrica Oredelver," Hind said, shaking the man's outstretched hand. "I was here a few years ago."

The slight squealing of metal clamping on metal echoed through the room, and the man's eyes widened.

"Ah, right! Oredelver's daughter," he said before frowning as he examined her. "You look surprisingly well. Didn't you have some issue with your soulcard?"

"It was fixed," Hind said.

"That's good, but I think…" the man's frown deepened as he thudded away from the desk and moved to a large bookshelf. He walked along it, muttering to himself until he found a book and pulled it out.

Hind waited quietly, and not sure what was going on, Irwin did the same.

"Hind… Hind… right, here it is! Hind Oredelver. Registered as missing while traveling the Portal Galery," the man read, looking at her. "It says here that your father came multiple times to ask for someone to search for you. "

"Father is back?!" Hind exclaimed as she jumped forward, her eyes wide.

"He... yes?!" the man said, quickly flipping a few pages back through the back. "Ah, yes. It says here he was lost in the depths below the burrows for a year. Well, I'm glad to tell you then that he is back."

Hind looked stunned as a wide smile slowly spread across her face.

"You can go see him first," Irwin said, looking around at the few chairs standing against the wall. "We can just wait here for-"

"No," Hind said, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. "I can go and see him after this! It will only be a little bit more time."

"Alright, let's hurry up then," Irwin said.

Hind nodded as she focused on the other Fiz'rin, who'd been quietly waiting.

"Is the council in? I just came from Obsidian, and I have important news about the Bladematriarch and the Portal Galery."

The clerk, for that was what Irwin guessed the almost nine-foot-tall, burly man was, shoved the book back and nodded.

"They are in. Give me a minute, and I'll warn them you want to talk to them," he said as he turned and strode to one of the doors leading out, closing it resolutely behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Hind stared at the door. She fidgeted, and as the seconds turned to minutes, she became more and more anxious. Finally, she glanced at Irwin.

"Captain, I really need to see my father. He must be worried sick, and…"

Irwin nodded, looking at the door, then at her.

"Do you want to go right now?" he asked hesitantly.

"No! It can wait five more minutes, but if they have a lot of questions about the Portal Galery and the storm…"

"I can tell them. But how am I going to find where you live?"

"I can go with her and then return here," Zender said, perking up.

Irwin looked at him for a bit, slightly worried he'd get into trouble when Boohm snorted.

"No worries, Captain. I'll go with him and keep him safe."

Irwin sighed, realizing that in the worst case, that meant he'd be here answering a ton of questions on his own.

"Fine," he said, turning to Hind. "Let's see what-"

The door was shoved open, and the clerk came back in, waving them forward.

"They will see you right away!"

Hind immediately walked forward, Irwin right behind her. The door led into a large ante-chamber with a table that would fit twenty people easily. Right now, five people were sitting on one side, stacks of paper, books, and even maps arranged before them. Three men and two women, each putting something down or shoving something away as they focused on Irwin and the others.

As he met their calm gazes, Irwin got the feeling that they were very old. Something about the way they looked at him, the calmness they excluded, reminded him of Gelwin. The soulforce held within them was also intense and resonating so powerfully that he was surprised nobody else could hear it.

"Hello, Hind," one of the women said as she rose from her chair, smiling widely. "It is very good that you returned!" She was almost as tall as Irwin, though much more slender, and had a long ponytail that looked like burnished bronze.

"Great grandmother, Jiretta!" Hind shouted, hurrying forward and giving the woman a hug.

"Have you seen your father yet?"

"No, I'll be heading there as soon as I've told you what I have to," Hind said.

The woman's eyes narrowed, but she simply nodded and sat back down.

"It must be very important then," she said. "Does it have something to do with those invaders and the destruction of Barrenrock Outpost?"

Hind walked back to the center of the room, looking at all of them. "I know a bit about that, but first… The Bladematriarch's mind erosion has started again. While we were there, she had three outbursts-"

Three? Irwin thought, trying to recall when the third had been. Had he missed that?

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"-and each seemed worse than the previous. I was told to warn you that it is likely that she will need to be restrained soon."

The man beside Jiretta frowned and watched Irwin and the others. His eyes were nearly completely black, with a golden ring in the middle filled with what looked like fire held inside a crystal orb.

"Hind, might I remind you that these are not things you should be so casually speaking about? Perhaps you should introduce your friends… Especially the one that looks almost exactly like us." At that, he gazed at Irwin.

Irwin felt a wave of pressure from him as what had to be five soulcards seemed to scan him, and he instinctively pushed back. Although he immediately sensed that he'd lose a direct confrontation with just soulforce, he managed to hold back whatever the man was doing, causing his eyebrows to rise.

"You are very powerful for someone with just a single soulcard," he said. "You also have incredible control… you are a cardsmith, aren't you?"

Irwin nodded, not sure how to respond. The man had just used brute force to scan him, but he was also one of the Fiz'rin leaders.

"Don't mind Marble," Jiretta said, elbowing the other man." I've told him many times that we don't use those ancient ways anymore, but he-"

"Doesn't care!" Marble said, crossing his arms. "With everything going on, I'm not going to take any risks, and the boy isn't hurt! Besides, it gave me a good measure of what he is. Strong of will, with great control over his soulforce. He's not one of those idiot brute force smiths, but one that uses one of the more finesse-based ones. From what I saw when he entered, he could sense our power pretty well."

The Fiz'rin, who Irwin guessed was pretty ancient, stared at Irwin for a moment before focusing on Hind.

"So, back to my question. As nice as this kid looks, why is he here? Don't tell me you've fallen for him?"

"What? No!" Hind said, glaring at Marble. "He's the Captain of the ship I came here on and the smith that fixed my card. I've been traveling with him and his crew for a while, and I trust him. He's not here to cause trouble but to find his Ignitzian mate."

"Which still doesn't tell me who he is and where he is from," Marble said.

Irwin noticed that none of the others seemed inclined to interfere, just quietly observing what was going on.

"I found a card called Coperion Body and used it and some others to form my first soulcard," he said. "Somehow, when I finished, I looked like this."

"That's… interesting," Jiretta said, elbowing Marble to stop him from talking. "Would you be willing to tell us a bit more of the original cards you had?"

"What? Are you telling me you want to start making fake Fiz'rin?" Marble asked, focusing on Jiretta. "Why?"

"No," Jiretta said. "But knowing how he came to resemble us so close, closer than ninety-nine percent, might help us learn more about ourselves."

Marble shrugged before looking at Irwin.

"What were you before this?"

"Human," Irwin said, which he knew wasn't completely true. Noticing one of the other council members, a heavy-set man frown, he shrugged. "Well, almost human," he amended.

Marble shared a look with the other man, who nodded.

"Well, almost human. Now that we got that out of the way, how about you and those other two wait outside."

Hind raised her hand, but Marble just snorted. "No. I understand you trust him, and I might be inclined to agree, but this isn't something for outsiders. Besides, you need to talk to your father. After we speak, he can return and tell us where he's from and what you have all encountered in the Portal Galery."

"Grandma?" Hind asked, staring at Jiretta.

"Although I don't like it, Marble has a point," Jiretta said, turning to Irwin. "I'm sorry, but would you be so kind as to wait outside until we are done?"

Irwin nodded, actually agreeing with them. If he'd had someone arrive at his world, he was sure Daubutim would have acted the same, as would Bron and the others.

He beckoned Boohm and Zender and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. The last thing he saw was Hind's apologetic face.