Irwin quietly gazed at Balarn, talking with the towering, green, and orange-leafed Viridian.
Even though it was nighttime, he could see without trouble, and it was only in part due to his card's night vision. The pair of bright orange moons that hung in the sky cast enough light for everything to be bathed in a somewhat disturbing ruddy light.
Behind Balarn and the Viridian was a row of wagons that hovered a few feet above the dusty red ground, and dozens of other Viridians were climbing inside, causing them to sink and wobble slightly. Before each of the wagons hung a dark leathery winged shape that made Irwin think of two hands cut at the wrists and glued together. They were attached to the wagon by long chains, and instead of standing, the creatures hung in the air before the wagons, bobbing up and down as if they were in the water, while glowing fog came from a dark slit of a mouth.
I wonder how they see, Irwin thought as he couldn't find any visible eyes. He sighed as he examined the floating wagons, wondering if he technically shouldn't be calling them boats or floaters. If he hadn't been on a giant flying ship for over half of a week, he'd probably have been even more impressed.
"What are those?" he whispered, looking at Yogog and pointing at the flying beasts.
"Teinefola," Yogog said with a grin. "Really awesome creatures! I've seen a few carded that have a summoned one. These things are even able to fly through a volcano and swim in lava. The previous time we were here, I managed to get someone to take me for a ride."
"Six?" Balarn shouted, shaking his head. "But the last time-"
The large Viridian shook his head, grunting something Irwin didn't catch that made Balarn hiss like a forge bellow.
"Six soulshards per person?" Greldo whispered.
"It's because of the festival," Yogog snorted from beside them. "These guys are trying to profit from the fact that the portal is closing, and almost everyone in Chark is heading back to Cindergrove."
The tall Viridian snorted as he rose himself to his full height.
"No. Unless you plan to help guard the caravan against attacking monsters, it will be sixty soulshards for your group. If you don't like it, wait here until the full circle festival ends next year."
Irwin couldn't hear what Balarn responded, but the tower Viridian merely nodded. "I'll wait for a few minutes, no more."
Balarn turned and headed back to them, his face pulled in an uncharacteristic scowl.
"What's wrong?" Yogog asked.
"Don't play coy," Balarn snapped. "You heard Tragt. We are to pay sixty soulshards, and you know damn well I don't have that many."
Yogog let out a sigh, then removed a pouch from his bag. "How much do you have?"
"Thirty-two," Balarn muttered.
"What? Didn't Tensor give you anything more?" Yogog snapped. "I've only got twenty and a bit here."
"The previous year, it was two soulshards per person," Balarn hissed. "I got what he thought we would need. You know we need the rest for the charter."
Yogog sighed, then turned to the others, looking at Irwin, Monyque, and Nimdal and Syndal, the silent young and brown-eyed brothers.
"If you three have any soulshards, better hand them over. We need to get to"
Balarn slapped him on the head, causing him to turn around angrily. "Hey! What gives!"
"What Yogog means is that we are going to have to pay the traveling expenses together," Balarn said calmly. "The charter will reimburse you after we leave."
Irwin sighed and took out his final five shoulshards, and a few moments later, Balarn walked back, paying Tragt, who just nodded and let them on one of the wagons that still had room.
They had to wait for a few dozen more people, mostly Viridians before they finally set out.
Irwin watched as a rider mounted each of the Teinefola that was attached to the wagons. Then with a soft jolt, the wagon he was on pulled forward.
"Sit back and relax," Balarn said. "Tragt said that we are going to pick up a few more people from outposts, meaning the trip will take at least a week as long as we don't have any setbacks."
"A week?" Yogog grunted.
"Stop complaining," Balarn said as he nudged the other. "At least the heat doesn't bother you as much!"
Yogog groaned again, causing the others to grin.
Irwin looked around as the wagons floated through the small forest, then the town, and finally from beneath a double ring of massive Flaming Ashtrees that encircled the entire village of Chark. Beyond the trees, there was nothing but long stretches of red, dust-covered plains with towering black mountains in the distance. Only the brightest stars were visible with the two moons out, and as they reached the edge of the plain, the Teinefola began speeding up.
"We aren't going to fly up?" Irwin asked after a while as they remained roughly a dozen feet above the ground.
"Nah, there's all manner of nasty things flying up there," Yogog said, his eyes still closed. "As long as we stay close to the ground, they won't come down. They don't like the heat."
"There are things living here that don't like heat?" Greldo asked. "How?"
"Don't ask me. I'm no scholar. Just be happy! Outside of the great groves, the most dangerous things are either up there or inside the volcanos. So, as long as we stay away from there, it should be fine."
Should be? Irwin thought, wondering why that felt a bit too uncertain to him.
Hours later, he was duly staring at the seemingly endlessly rolling plains of ruddy sand. Far in the distance, a dark line was approaching, not high enough to be a mountain range or even hills, but different.
The line continued to come closer, and at a certain point, he could make out long black pillars of what looked like dark, gleaming stone. Some were cracked and knocked over, but most stood towering in the air like twenty to thirty-foot fingers pointing at the stars.
"The Fingers of Lasairean," Balarn said as he leaned back beside Irwin.
Most of the others had fallen asleep, still not used to having to rest during the day, and only he and Irwin were awake in their wagon.
"They look like stone but gleam like metal," Irwin said as he watched the moonlight gleam on their surface, causing them to look like black burnished flaming metal.
"They are made of obsidian, though nobody really knows how they came to be. According to what I've heard, they were here way before the Urdwellan family took over this world," Barlarn said softly. "I've only heard of them, but there are a few outposts here. It's a useful building material, and not all people that came to this world enjoy staying in the Viridian's groves."
An hour later, they had been traveling for over six hours, and the moons were at the far end of the horizon while a dim glow was cropping up on the other side. The first of the twenty-foot pillars of obsidian were directly ahead of them, and the Teinefola began slowing down, dropping back to a foot or two off the ground and continuing at a walking pace.
As they reached the first part, Tragt, who was manning the first wagon, rose to his full height, shouting some commands. Over a dozen Viridians jumped off the wagons. Cards flashed on the backs of dark-skinned hands, and weapons appeared in some hands while armor covered that of others.
"Help me wake the others," Balarn said. "It seems Tragt is expecting at least some trouble."
Irwin leaned over and shook Greldo awake, followed by some of the others. A few minutes later, everyone was sitting up, some groggily rubbing their eyes as they looked around the towering pillars of obsidian.
"There are two types of nasty things in this area," Yogog rumbled as he sat with his head in his hands. "A sort of worm that is able to burrow into these bloody pillars and attack anything that passes by, and some sort of stone elemental that mimics rocks on the ground."
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"There's way more than just those things," a soft voice said, and everyone looked up to find a guard climbing up their wagon almost without noise.
With short green leaves for hairs so dark they were almost dark, and the silver eyes of a heartcarded, the young female Viridian immediately moved to the side of their six feet wide wagon, a foot on the edge as she scanned the surroundings.
"Seeing that you are from the Portal Gallery, I take it you haven't been here for almost a hundred years. Besides the Wirmrin and Ryocketin, you are talking about, there's now a dozen other dangerous things," she whispered.
The caravan slowly hovered onward, the towering pillars around them causing an odd echoing sound. Within moments they didn't see anything beyond a few dozen feet, with gleaming black surfaces blocking all angels. The lead wagon led them through a winding path.
By now, there was a sense of danger and foreboding hanging around the wagons, and Irwin saw that guards were standing with drawn weapons on everyone. He also noticed that their wagon was the only one with only a single guard.
A scream, loud enough to cause Irwin's ears to pop, caused him to grip the wooden railing in a start. He triggered his Eyes of Blaze, but most of the world was dozens of tints of orange and red, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to see anything moving like this. The wagons began slowing down even more until they came to a halt, and people began moving around.
"Well, crap," their guard whispered, while her hand gleamed and a long-handled ax appeared in her grip. "If you have any armor or weapon cards, I'd suggest you summon everything you have because we are about to be waylaid by a pack of Screequanoxes."
Irwin immediately stood up, his body growing half a foot as he triggered his Coperion Body. He'd been on edge and had ready for anything, and in a split second, his hammer appeared in his hand.
All around him, he saw the others summon their things while Greldo moved to the side of the wagon. Before anyone could stop him, he leaped down, and as soon as he hit the ground, Coal appeared.
"Get ready, boy, we've got trouble incoming," Greldo snapped as he stepped close to the hound.
"That's one nice Daemon Hound," Hotzli whispered from the side. "I didn't know those existed in other worlds!"
Daemon Hound? Irwin thought, pretty sure it had a different name.
"We found it on a shardworld," he said, stepping to the other side of the ship beside Balarn. The silver-eyed smith had a battle hammer of his own in his hand, massive and likely meant for two hands, though he had it in one hand. A tiny blue flame hovered above his other hand, causing Irwin to do a double take.
Blue fire? he thought as he stared at the tiny flame for a moment.
"Frostfire," Balarn grunted. "Sadly, not useful to cool things down."
Irwin just nodded as he looked around.
"Three from the east," someone shouted.
Where's the east?" Irwin thought as he looked around. He had no idea what to expect from the monsters, beasts, or demons on other worlds.
"Behind and to the left," Greldo shouted, and Irwin whirled around, noting that the others on the wagon did the same.
It took him only a second to see a dark, dull brown-red shape dash from behind a pillar. With the bottom of a lizard, a top that looked almost humanoid, it was slightly taller than him. A dozen or so oddly positioned metal plates seemed to grow from its body-like armor. They had yellow eyes that seemed to burn from within, black slits for a nose, and a gaping mouth with wide, serrated teeth.
Not that big, Irwin thought as he saw two more racing around the edge. Somehow, from the reaction of the guards, he'd expected something… bigger?
"Be careful of their claws. They are sharp enough to slice stone, and they can jump high and far," their guard said as she took a deep breath. A card flashed on the back of her hand as she made a slicing motion at the nearest Screequanoxes, and a silvery blur flashed through the air. It moved insanely fast, just before it was going to hit the monster's head, the monster pulled its head to the side, causing it to miss by an inch.
As if the attack was the trigger, fiery bolts, curved blades, and silvery arrows shot from the different wagons, streaking at the incoming three monsters. However, like the first one, the Screequanoxes dodged almost everything, and only two silvery arrows managed to graze one. Even then, they left only dark markings on the thick hide and caused the one struck to let out an ear-popping screech.
"Quick, bastards," Yogog shouted, sounding excited. "Let's see how quick!"
Irwin felt the wagon sway as Yogog jumped out and on the sand.
"Yogog, you bloody-" Balarn growled.
"I'll keep him safe," Hotzli said as she somersaulted nimbly out of the wagon and sprinted after Yogog.
"More from the other side!"
Irwin hissed at Greldo's shout, and he turned to see four more of the things run towards the side Greldo was on. He was sitting on Coal, one hand pointed at the incoming monsters.
A quick look around showed that Tragt and his main guards stood at the front, and more of the monsters were coming from that side.
They surrounded us? How smart are these things… he thought before he summoned his flame, causing it to wrap around his upper body and infuse his hammer.
"I'll help on this side," he grunted as he hopped over the edge.
"What? Irwin, what are you-" Balarn snapped from behind, but then he landed on the soft sand, his massive weight causing his feet to sink a few inches deep.
"What are you doing down here?"
Irwin looked up to see two Viridian guards looking at him. Both had axes in their hands and silver eyes.
"Non heartcarded people should stay in the wagon," one of them snapped.
"Just want to make sure my friend is alright," Irwin said as he moved a few steps forward to stand beside Greldo.
"So… I guess these training worlds aren't very safe?" Greldo said as he looked ahead.
"Any good ideas?" Irwin asked as he focused on the nearest of the monsters.
"They can dodge fast, but they aren't running all that fast," Greldo said.
Irwin nodded, wondering how that was going to help.
A little bit closer, just a bit, he thought. Then he triggered Eyes of Blaze as the nearest of the monsters was in range. The entire area suddenly turned brighter as two wrist-sized columns of fire erupted from his eyes, ripping through the air. The Screequanox screeched as it moved its upper body to the side, but it couldn't prevent one of the beams from striking its arm. As if it was struck by a hammer, it was knocked to the side, its four legs jerking sideways. Then it struck the ground and slid forward.
"Nice," Greldo said. "But-"
The brown-red monster scrambled back up, letting out a much deeper scream this time.
"-I don't think they mind fire much."
Yeah, Irwin thought as he sighed. I was afraid of that.
“My turn,” Greldo hissed. "Coal, roar."
Irwin barely had time to raise his hands to his ears as the massive hound raised its head. A deep, low howl came as what looked to be ripples of air erupted from its maw. They spread out like a cone so fast that not even the Screequanoxes managed to dodge. As soon as it reached them, their squinty eyes flashed wide open, and their clawed hands raised to their heads, coming to a sliding, tumbling halt.
The guards around them and those on the ship immediately began firing again, and this time a barrage of attacks struck the three Screequanoxes while a dull roaring came from the front showing the other sides of the wagon were fighting too. Purplish thick blood appeared on the thick hides, but the pain seemed to startle the Screequanoxes awake as they let out piercing screeches of their own while running forward again.
Covered in deep gashes and wounds, Irwin thought they seemed even angrier than before. Still, the blood and gore, combined with the raging battle, was causing his own blood to boil. He gripped his hammer tighter as he stared at the incoming monsters. They were a lot smaller than things he'd killed, and even if they were faster, he was sure he could take one!
"Not bad. We'll take care of it now," one of the guards grunted. "Forward!"
Irwin and Greldo watched as the half-a-dozen leaf-haired Viridians charged forward. As they reached the first of the monsters, they began moving in rapid bursts of movements, far faster than anything Irwin had seen before. Still, their axes seemed to merely graze the three Screequanoxes.
"Are we seriously just going to wait here," Irwin asked, taking a few steps forward.
"We don't all have metal skin and muscles that belong on charbulls," Greldo snapped.
Irwin nodded, staring at the rapidly moving guards. He knew from his own training that they were highly trained and fast, and he felt a growing desire to see how he'd do against the lizard-like demons.
"We are going to have to fight at some point, why not start now! At least we aren't alone and can see how strong these things are," Irwin said.
He watched as two of the guards ganged up on a Screequanox, slicing at the same limb but failing to cut it off.
"Besides…" Irwin said as he looked at his friend. "They look like they can use a hand!"
He took a deep breath and began running forward.
"Seriously," he heard Greldo grunt from behind him. "You need to get me some better cards!"
"Will do," Irwin shouted as he sped up, aiming for the nearest Screequanox. He reached it just as one of the guards made a double backflip to dodge the beast's clawed attack.
I really could have used a grappling gauntlet, Irwin thought as he saw the claw streak by, wishing he could have just gripped it. Instead, he sped up a bit more, noting that the monster seemed to brace itself.
Yeah, good luck, Irwin thought as he barrelled into the only slightly taller thing. He felt like he had rammed into a solid wooden door, coming to a near standstill, his teeth rattling. A dull cracking from inside the thing's ribcage was accompanied by a gust of racing air as it stumbled back two steps.
Irwin stepped after it, striking it full in the face with his hammer before it could recover. Another dull crack was followed by a cough. A cloud of purple blood mist spread out from the Screequanox's mouth as it stumbled to the side, its eyes rolling around and the front of its face battered apart. Irwin didn't stop, following up with hit after hit as he felt his blood boiling hotter and hotter.
--
"Seriously," Greldo grunted as he watched Irwin bring the massive lizard demon to its knees. "I thought I was supposed to be his guard?"
As he watched the battle, he thought back to his time in the Fiverio underground arena. He'd been fighting the other three-carded back there, and although some had been pretty powerful, between Coal and his stealth card there, he'd won almost everything. This? He wasn't cut out for this…
His eyes kept looking around for any potential trouble, but from the loud booming laughter on the other side, it seemed Yogog was having a blast.
Coal whined softly, and Greldo sighed.
"I know, boy, but you know if one of those things comes here, I can't even hide."
He sensed a desire to fight in his friend, underlined by the desire to protect him, and it remained. He'd not really expected anything else.
As the fighting continued, he noticed how Irwin began moving towards the second monster while the guards gave him some space. It didn't take long before they let him batter one of them to the ground again before jumping on its back and slashing it apart.
He really did become good at this, Greldo thought as he looked around. The fighting at the front of the wagons had died down already, and the towering shape of the Viridian wagon leader was moving towards them. He was carrying what had to be two-handed battle axes for any normal person, one in each hand.
When he reached Greldo, he looked at Coal, then at him, and nodded.
"Good. I'm glad to see someone was ready to guard the wagon in case one made it past us," Tragt grunted.
"Of course," Greldo muttered before focusing on Irwin, who was hammering the final lizard to a pulp.
Of course… Greldo thought as he turned back to the battle in front of him, holding back a disgruntled sigh.
He had better get me a body improvement card, or I think I'll just stay in the city.