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Irwin's Journey 390: Shattered consciousness
🕑 Added 2025-02-28 17:28:26 +0000 UTCCaptain Hyrmine felt her soulcards shudder as a wave of soulforce rippled out. The Atriguul's barriers were rippling like a pond during a hailstorm. On one side, the shape of the giant stood, holding something that was causing a screaming sound. It had to be an instrument, though she'd never seen one that looked like a piece of sharp metal. The sound was like a mix of one of the soulbirds she'd seen at a wandering circus and a scream of anger and rage. There was a song there, though the barrier was blocking most of the sound. Still, the way her soulcards kept resonating gave her an inclination of what it would sound like to others outside the shield.
"Captain, the shields are draining our soulforce reservoir! If we don't-"
Hyrmine glared at one of the shieldmenders, the only carded who were able to boost, regenerate, and control the way the shield worked. The lack of any serpent markers showed he was tribeless, and she held back a curse. Had it been one of the warriors of her tribe, she'd not have to even explain anything.
"Drain the soulforce from anything you need. Just keep these shields up!" she shouted. "Do I need to explain what will happen if the shield doesn't block that soulforce and sound explosion? Keep them up even if you blow out the runes!"
The man paled even more, which was impressive as he'd been close to the color of paper already. Still, he turned to his job, and Hyrmine glared back up at the giant.
Hyrmine knew she was letting her worry and anger overtake her common sense, but one look at what was happening beyond the shield should tell anyone they needed those shields.
Who are you? she thought, watching the giant dodge a tentacle. The attack was slower than before, and she saw that some of the eyes on the Oculithar were partially closed. Beyond that, it was hard to see anything, as the soulforce that she could barely see in the best of situations had become like a storm of teal, purple, gold, and fire, raging only just beyond.
"Xouzel, prepare another attack," she roared. "As soon as that attack stops, shield-blink and hit it with everything you have!"
There was no response, but she sensed the faint presence of a dozen shadewalkers near the edge of the barrier.
The shield all around them shivered in its entirety, and Hymrine flexed her own soulcards. She knew that, as the captain, she shouldn't attack, but she felt it hard to hold back her ingrained reflexes.
If I need to, I'll help them, she thought, wishing she could see what was happening beyond their own precarious situation.
--
Irwin grinned as he felt the Oculithar's soulforce shudder. The song he was playing could barely be called that. Instead, he was just flinging his fingers across the snares to generate the constant shocking of soulforce resonance, but it was working. As his soulstrum guitar howled, the movements of the two Oculithars slowed steadily.
Dodging was effortless now, but there was one problem.
He couldn't go full power.
As he dodged one of the slow tentacles, he glanced at the people protected by the Portal Guardian's shield. It had been a brilliant, stable barrier before he started. Now, it was rippling and unstable, and he actually had to hold back a lot after his first strum.
If he wanted to actually start damaging the Oculithar, he had to go all out, but if he did that, their shield would drop.
Perhaps I can start destroying some eyes, he thought as he ran forward, occasionally zipping across the soundwaves that were everywhere around him. The tentacles wrapped around the shield were only as wide as he was, making running across them difficult, but he did manage to reach the first eye. Without looking, he stomped his heel down on the face-sized milky disk.
His foot bounced back with surprising force, causing him to almost lose his balance. Taking a step back, he inadvertently strummed his fingers with a bit more force. The soulforce strings hum went up a notch. To the side, the shield rippled like it had been struck by a giant fist while one of the tentacles that had been moving towards him flailed sideways, slamming into the other Oculithar.
Okay, let's try that again.
Irwin stepped to the eye and split his focus slightly, a small part of him pulling on his first soulcard. Flame rippled around his foot as he stomped on the eye again. This time, he was prepared; the bounce barely caused an issue, and he left a slightly blackened indent. A high-pierced screech came from the center mass of the Ocullithar.
Another three stomps finally had the desired effect as he felt something pop below his foot. A spray of pale white ichor sprayed out while the Oculithar's screech grew to ear-rattling levels.
Irwin released his hold on his soulforce senses, quickly checking the Oculithar. All around him, the soulforce resonance appeared with a vengeance, colors, sounds, and impressions surrounding him like a storm that wanted to devour him whole. He pushed through, focusing solely on the beast below. The previously stable soulforce within the demonic beast was a cracking mess.
As a headache popped up from the barrage, Irwin quickly suppressed his soulforce senses and ran to the next eye. It might take a while, but as long as the Portal Guardian could-
The tentacles below him released the shield as the Oculithar pushed itself away. His feet pulled out from under him, Irwin toppled down, and he instinctively flung himself through the soundwaves, appearing atop the shield. The Oculithar was flailing slightly but speeding up as it moved away from them, already three ship's lengths away.
So far, for slowly whittling it down, Irwin thought. He looked around to take stock of the rest of the situation.
The Nocturna was flying away from the smaller Oculithar, which was chasing it with red, glowing eyes. Intermittent beams of red energy pulsed from its eyes, harmlessly striking the shadowy shield, while Coal's dark shadowclones flickered around the Oculithar. Like Irwin, they were constantly attacking the eyes, many of which had been turned into riddled, bleeding messes.
Far away, closer to the city, a cloud of energy vapor hung while the hundreds of ships kept blasting at whatever was inside. There was no sight of the Bigbelly, but Irwin sensed Ambraz's presence in the cloud, and he seemed unbothered by whatever was happening.
A blur from the side made Irwin dash sideways, reappearing to see the other of the two Oculithar pulling one of its tentacles back.
He was about to rush to it when something below drew his attention. He was stunned to see Captain Hymrine hover just below him, her face fuzzy through the shield. Her lips were moving as she shouted at him, and he stopped his fingers from striking the strings.
The sudden silence was shocking, but Hymrine's next should come through much clearer.
"Get the other one. We've got this!"
Irwin didn't bother asking if she was sure but turned to the fleeing Oculithar. Ichor was still leaking from its busted eye, but it seemed to ignore it as it was speeding up to the city.
Why is it going there? Irwin thought as he unsummoned his soulstrum guitar and dashed after it.
Reappearing in mid-air, he frowned. The Oculithar was heading in roughly the same direction as the small had gone too. His initial thought had been that they were going for the people in the city, to consume their soulforce perhaps. Now, he wasn't so sure.
Are they heading for the exit portal?
It would make sense. Most stories said that the giant Oculithar were prone to hovering around the exit portals and portal corridors. They were even able to exist in the space the corridors inhabited.
He zipped forward twice more, reaching the Oculithar and landing on its main body, in between the eyes it had plastered haphazardly on its front. The tentacles were angled back as if they were pushing it on, but as soon as Irwin appeared, it slowed down as two tentacles flashed forward.
Irwin's soulstrum guitar appeared instantly, and without having to worry about the nearby ship, he struck it as hard as he could. Part of him worried about the people in the nearby city, but he knew that if the Oculithar reached it, things would be far worse.
The incoming tendrils almost looked drunk as they flailed sideways, one hitting nothing but air, the other actually crashing into the main body, nearly hitting the Oculithar's own eyes. The Oculithar showed barely any reaction, its body shuddering as its tentacles began flailing around, occasionally letting out a torturous cry.
Irwin ignored them, increasing the power of the soulstrum guitar's strings as much as he could. Even without his enhanced soulforce senses, he could feel the monster's soulforce begin to crumble below him.
Seconds turned to minutes as the Oculithar seemed incapable of acting, and his tension faded.
I wish this would work against the bigger ones, he thought.
He was pondering if he should stop and try some other approaches so he could practice things when the Oculithar's eyes began glowing with an unearthly pale white light. The tips of its tentacles began curling inward while its soulforce began fluctuating. The pulses went from slow to faster than Irwin could count within the span of a few moments.
Irwin hesitated. What was it doing? Was it some ability it had held back, or was it-
A sense of danger flooded him, and Irwin didn't hesitate. He jumped into the soundwaves, following them away. He appeared a few hundred yards away, only to be buffeted by an explosion of soulforce that picked him up and shoved him away. His body spun around frantically, a soulforce-induced force hurtling him away.
Irwin struggled, trying to dash into the soundwaves, but whatever was pushing him was blocking his ability, and he felt his soulcards resonate oddly- almost as if pained. The world kept spinning, and he only caught flashes, but they were enough. He was being pushed toward the barrier.
Soulstrum guitar!
Irwin's hands clenched around his guitar, which hadn't been unsummoned by whatever the Oculithar had done. His connection to it felt faint, but it was there, and the strings were still humming with power. Trying to ignore his spinning body, he struck the snares.
Sound and soulforce blasted away from him, and for a moment, he sensed resistance- something was wrapped around him, spinning him away. Then, whatever it was shattered, he instantly sensed his soulcards screaming a warning.
Irwin triggered his movement ability, dashing back across the soundwaves. As he reappeared, no longer spinning but falling down, he felt his skin crawl.
A few hundred feet from him was the barrier of this section of the portal gallery, and behind, innumerable malice-filled eyes were staring at him. The nearest was as large as the Bigbelly, and as it watched him, Irwin saw a primal recognition. The enormous Ocuilthar saw him and… recognized something.
Tentacles so wide they wouldn't fit in many of the portal gallery sections he'd been at, wrapped around the barrier.
Irwin swallowed as he saw the soulforce storm beyond the barrier, blown away by a wave of a red-tinted, pitch-black pulse of soulforce unlike any he'd seen. His soulcards tensed, then almost seemed to withdraw within themselves, and only his heartcard pulsed with what he could only call defiance.
Irwin only noticed he'd reached the ragged, rocky ground below when it appeared in his peripheral. Then he struck it, his kneels buckling slightly and his feet stinging. He barely noticed as he stared in horrified awe at what was happening beyond the barrier.
The tentacles were tightening, and the blue lightning that had appeared when they had just arrived was nothing compared to the tree-sized bolts that rippled across the barrier now.
Irwin held his breath, almost expecting it to shatter. But as seconds passed, the barrier held, and after what felt like an eternity, the tentacles withdrew, the enormous eyes slowly backing up. When the final one finally vanished into the storm, Irwin swallowed and shivered.
As dangerous as the small ones had been, they were like a breeze on a summer day compared to the thing that had been beyond it.
The others!
Irwin turned around, looking back at the city. Everything was quiet, and he saw The Nocturna fly towards him. A distant little hill behind it quivered every so often while tiny shapes dashed across it, showing that Coal's shadowy selves were finishing up. The fleet of hundreds of ships, including the Bigbelly, now hovered near the Portal Guardian.
"How long was I standing here?" Irwin whispered.
"I'd say close to fifteen minutes," a voice croaked.
Irwin jolted and turned around to see Greldo look at the barrier. He was about to snap at his friend not to scare him when he saw how pale Greldo was, his hand shaking softly.
"How long were you standing here?" Irwin asked.
"Halfway through," Greldo muttered. "I was coming to help you, but as soon as I was here, my soulcards just… stopped doing as I want them to. Only Coal was still listening, and from what he told me, his own abilities were acting up. That… thing… forced me out of the shadowrealm. It felt like I was some unruly child, and it was just with its presence. What- Irwin, how are we supposed to fight something like that?"
Irwin swallowed as he looked beyond the barrier.
"I don't think we are… atleast not yet," he said.
"I thought we were doing great, killing those smaller Oculithar with little effort," Greldo said, turning to Irwin. "Those were nothing compared to that. Not even a comparison!"
"I know," Irwin said before another horrible thing occurred to him. "Were there cracks in the barrier again?"
"No," Greldo said. "And if there were, no more small ones came through."
"Good, let's head back then," Irwin said.
Greldo nodded, but he didn't make any move to leave yet.
"How did you blow that other one up?"
Irwin only now realized the reason he'd been blown to this side of the portal gallery section.
"The young Oculithar have really weak soulforce stability," he said. "I overloaded it."
"I take it you can't do that with the big one?"
Irwin didn't even answer, and after a few moments, Greldo sniffed and shrugged.
"Right. Well, let's head back. I'm pretty sure you are going to be talking with important people for the next day."
Irwin grimaced at the idea, then glanced at the barrier.
"Better than being near that thing," he said.
--
Tiny.
Tiny.
Tiny, but….
No true thoughts passed through the entity as it moved back into the chaos, only emotions and instincts.
Familiar?
Yes…
Dangerous?
No… But- a powerful, ancient memory of others surged through the entity.
Furious hatred bubbled up for a moment before fading as fast as it came.
The condensed essence had stopped it from getting to the tiny familiar sense. It had been able to pierce the essence, but its weak offshoots had been unable to reach the cause and destabilize it.
As the entity moved further, the chaotic memories tried to bundle together and form coherent thoughts. An instinctive thing to do. Long ago, it had been able to do it… but now-
Knowledge without thought and barely any self. The storm's constant attacks were like pinpricks on its skin. Its memories told it that long ago they had been painful, but that was so long ago that the memory didn't matter.
Memories, instincts. Pain. Hunger.
Little more mattered to the entity as it flowed away, some of its eyes never leaving the brightly burning essence. Inside was the entrance. The pathway to… what?
Rage flowed through its entire being, and when it left, it took the faint desire for coherency with it.
The entity hovered there, sensing hundreds of smaller ones moving around. Hunting. Attacking. Each other and the tiny things that had begun to appear recently.
A flicker of consciousness emerged from within the ancient, muddled lethargy of hate and pain. Like millions of branches suddenly blowing one way in the wind, a mind pulsed for a single moment-
It approaches.
-the consciousness vanished, the single thought echoing through the chaotic cavernous mind before disappearing.
The entity flowed back, not noticing the hundreds of smaller ones that had stopped moving, fully focused on it, or the ripple that moved outward through the ambient soulforce.
--
"You think you can just come here, draw that monster's attention back on us, and just act like nothing happened?"
Irwin cocked his head sideways as he looked at the Granitian before him. He was still not sure exactly what was happening. He'd just suddenly be stormed at by the man, who he'd start angrily shouting at him. What wasn't helping was his surprise that the Granitian's obsidian black eyes actually looked down on him as the man had to be atleast a foot taller than he was. Something he'd not encountered in a while, and that made him wonder exactly how large Granitians could become.
The man's eyes narrowed as if he expected Irwin to do something.
"Answer me!"
Irwin ignored him and looked around, noticing that the other people who had been waiting for their arrival were staring at the Granitian with looks that ranged from sadness to annoyance, and none moved to stop him.
The deep sadness he saw in the eyes of a female Granitian was probably the only reason he was still calm.
Something moved for his head, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed the towering Granitians' hand.
"I demand-"
Irwin squeezed, his patience suddenly gone. He felt the rocky skin crack between his fingers, and he quickly released a little pressure. Still, what was left was enough to cut off the man mid-sentence.
With eyes bulging, the Granitian man slowly sank to his knees, one hand clasped over Irwin's, trying in vain to free his other arm. Irwin knew he should probably be angry at being so suddenly attacked, but he was both weary and confused. Besides, compared to the enormous Oculithar's presence, the raging man seemed mostly harmless.
"What's going on?" he asked, looking at Captain Hyrmine, who stood beside him, glowering at the Granitian. "And who is this?"
"This is shipwright Aarth, one of the three best carded ship crafters on Urlar and probably in the entire Langost branch," Captain Hyrmine said.
She seemed to want to say something else, hesitated, and sighed.
"I know this looks horrible, but can you please not hurt him? Ever since his son died during the first Oculithar attack, he's…"
"Let. Go."
Irwin turned at the Granitian, who had managed to force himself back to his feet. His face was warped in anger and pain, and Irwin sighed.
"If I let go, how about you stop talking and walk away," he said. "I have no idea why you are angry with me, but I have nothing to do with those Oculithar."
The Granitian gnashed his slate-like teeth before grounding out, "I'll leave."
Irwin sighed and let him go, ready to grab him again, but the man only glared at him before turning around and thundering away. The other people who had shown up made sure to keep out of his way. The female Granitian grimaced at Irwin, then mouthed something he was pretty sure was 'thank you' before turning and running after the towering man.
Some drifted closer, seemingly wanting to talk with them, but Irwin waved them off as he turned to Hyrmine. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry about that," Captain Hyrmine said. "The first Oculithar that showed up came a day after one of the merchants, and rumors began circulating that they drew it here because it was chasing them. Aarth… well, I think he needed someone to blame for his son's death. He is tribeless, and very few people are capable of handling him when he gets angry."
Irwin sighed, shaking his head. He recalled how he'd felt when he feared something had happened to his own son, Glow. He couldn't rightfully say how he'd have reacted if the roles had been reversed.
Still, that didn't mean he was just going to let the man rage and cause issues.
"Well, try and make sure that he leaves me and my people alone," he said. "I'll try and be as calm as I can, but if he attacks some of my crew, I can't promise things will go as gently as just now."
"I'll make sure to have someone keep an eye on him," Hymrine said.
Irwin nodded, sensing Ambraz's presence close in. Turning around, he saw the Bigbelly approach the docks beside the Artriguul, which he'd found out was the name of the Portal Guardian class ship. Greldo and the Nocturna weren't anywhere in sight yet, but he didn't worry that Greldo could take care of himself.
He might be checking for cards, he thought, recalling their short conversation after the enormous Oculithar had left.
"I'll be heading to the Bigbelly," he said. "Please tell the people I need to talk to that I'll be ready for them in a few hours. I need to look after my own people first."
"Of course," Captain Hyrmine said.
Irwin nodded and turned. He heard someone shout something at him, but he ignored it, instead using those soundwaves to shoot to the Bigbelly.
Comments
Not Me
You described some of the emotion that should be conveyed, which is an important addition for art direction. And you chose one specific option rather than muddying the waters with multiple like me.
Sean T
Just dropped a review to help tip things back hopefully! For the book cover, not sure if this will be a good idea but I'd love to see something that captures the scene of exploration in the portal gallery. Maybe something from the perspective of seeing a portal in the distance from the helm or front of the ship? The reason being that I've been a bad reader and to this day I'm still kind of not sure if I'm visualizing what the portal gallery looks like correctly. Mentally I'm thinking ships are floating in the sky since portals grow on the tip of trees? And that the landmasses stretches like a fractal or leafy veins which are surrounded 360 by the portal gallery barrier? Or maybe I've completely missed the mark. But anyways, how about a cover with Irwin on a ship looking towards something in the distance. That something could be approaching the scour portal or leaving/approaching a port to a city like Fiverio. To match the previous covers that has Irwin in it, maybe make it look like a camera shot from right behind Irwin standing in the front deck, so you see the back of his head and see what he's seeing in front? Ohh after writing this, just realized it's similar to one of Not Me's suggestion.
Govir Drauka
Wait what? I always heard Steve Irwin pronounced as Er-win. Hmm, don’t know I’ve ever really heard anyone with “authority” say it though.
Carrarn
Will give it a reread tommorow and fix it up a bit
Not Me
There's a couple big inflection points - where Irwin actually starts to inhabit the broader world beyond Giard, and where Irwin starts boating around to other portal worlds (i.e. Scour) - where he discovers the breadth and scope of the Portal Gallery. So the portal to Fiverion makes a lot of sense, especially since you haven't used any portal imagery in the covers so far. The Fiverion chapters are actually sort of quick, it's a bit of tying up loose ends with the sorcerer, shifting from Daubutim/nobility-centric society to smith-centric society, and getting firm footing for a "getting stronger to save Giard" training arc on Scour. The other possible point to get a snapshot is when Irwin first gets a good look at the Portal Gallery, seeing the branches from the city or the deck of a ship. Although story-wise, that might be a bit of a spoiler to the reader and perhaps a bit more of a Book 5 or later thing for when he actually gets around to sailing around the place. A shot of Scour would probably make sense if the book spends most of its time actually on Scour, but I kind of like the idea of seeing a big portal more. Maybe the Viridian settlement on Scour would be a better shot than the first arrival on the planet, since it's clear we're in a different place than the first couple book covers.
Antony Claughton
This bit: The entity hovered there, sensing hundreds of smaller ones moving around. Hunting. Attacking. Each other and the tiny things that had begun to appear recently. Implies they hunt each other, as well as something that has just appeared. Presumably some element of the Guildar forces are moving outside the barriers.
Antony Claughton
I felt the cut to Aarth attacking Irwin felt very disjointed. You don’t know where they are, how they got there, who is with him. Just jump into the verbal attack. Didn’t feel right.
Not Me
Happy to help! The exo-Portal Gallery Barrier ecosphere is probably not one that we'll pass through, but it's always interesting to think deeper into what makes the world the way it is, even if we're only getting glances.
Carrarn
Book three starts when Irwin and the others set out for the towers where they find the portal that leads to Fiverio. Its where they first meat Uxin'tar and Indoutor (Daubutims cousin) - As I said, it will likely end when they are somwhere in Scour - I don't know exactly where yet.
Carrarn
Book three starts when Irwin and the others set out for the towers where they find the portal that leads to Fiverio. Its where they first meat Uxin'tar and Indoutor (Daubutims cousin) - As I said, it will likely end when they are somwhere in Scour - I don't know exactly where yet. Each book is about 150k words, meaning at 1.5 mil words if people keep liking them on Amazon it will be atleast 10+ books
Carrarn
It's like Steven "Irwin" is pronounced - at least that's how it is in my head. That said, seeing as its a book with words you can read it anyway you like :)
Carrarn
You are pretty close on some of your assumptions there - even better, you actually gave me an idea for something. I'll not give away which was what, but thanks! :)
Not Me
Given some of the details of what Oculithar are like, I wonder what the outside-portal-barrier ecology is like. They're apparently high-power, intelligent predators with nonzero resistance to soulforce effects as adults, but with a very wide field of vision. But as juveniles, they can be hurt by soulforce. Broad vision (as opposed to focused vision) suggests that there are predators that are larger yet, or that they're predators that hunt in space more complex than 2D space - most land animals can't exactly move straight up on a whim. But Oculithar has a ton of eyeballs, even to the detriment of its toughness, so either those eyeballs are worth more as offensive (eye beams!) or tracking tools (different spectrum sight?), or they are a massive defense against some bigger fish that's too powerful for armor or flesh to resist (some sort of spectral super-predator that freezes when you look at it?). Or Oculithar have only very recently become the "big fish" in this evolutionary space and the eyes that served them in some other niche have yet to atrophy. Soulforce weakness as juveniles suggests that they're not going to nest or spawn in soulforce-rich portal space, at least not without somehow hollowing it out somehow. And their historic rarity suggests that that's probably not the case, unless there's a bunch of reports of collapsed branches and dried-up portal worlds that we're not seeing. But soulforce resistance as adults suggests that there's other things out there that do conduct soulforce attacks on adult Occulithar, even if it's just other adult Occulithar jockeying for space. They're octopoid, which gives them really good ability to hunt slow and hardened targets, but they're still fast enough to small fish. Regular octopodes often go after shellfish and the like, ships are probably a bit spicier but probably not too far out. But I wonder if the real prey is something like Portal Gallery tree acorns or something - Occulithar can crack barriers on their own and it wouldn't be insane to think there's other nascent Portal Galleries out there that just never made it because they got eaten.
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter! :-)
Nicholas Del Rossi
hold up is Irwin's name pronounced (Are Win) or (or win)? i have been thinking it was (are Win) in my head but just remembered Steve Irwin's name was pronounced with an (or) sound.
Not Me
Thanks for the chapter! Which are the starting and ending chapters of book 3, approximately?
Nicholas Del Rossi
A lot, can you tell us when the third book begins and where it reaches to, so I know what can be included? I was about to suggest a scene of Irwin smithing in his small farm that faded into a background of his big form singing, and playing the guitar in his soul scape.
Carrarn
Hey guys, been getting some questionable 0.5 star ratings on RR lately - no reviews, just ratings, so little I can do about it. Could I ask if anyone that hasn't rated the story on RR yet give me some love there? The rankings help more people find the story and I've been seeing a noticeable dip in readers the last few weeks starting with those ratings. All that aside - I'm working on the cover of book 3 and having some issues deciding what to even work on. I'm thinking either the moment where Irwin and the others reach the big portal that leads them to Fiverion, or perhaps when he reaches Scour. Any ideas?
