Irwin's Journey 525: Tight fit

“A quarter is heading this way! Everyone, get ready,” Irwin shouted, knowing his voice might be audible even to the Chained and not caring.

Hundreds of Shadow Oculithar, including one of the larger ones, were rushing towards them. Some kept flowing in and out of the shadows as they moved, crossing hundreds of feet in moments.

A little closer, he thought.

He stretched his aura and soulforce senses outward, easily wrapping them around the fleet that was currently pressed so close together that their hulls touched on occasion. His senses told him the Nocturna was much further away, out of reach of his Aura, meaning everything was going according to plan.

‘I am starting to wonder if I shouldn’t have gotten the Soulscape Projection option,’ he sent to Ambraz. ‘If he were going to be pulling in whole fleets, that would have been more useful.’

‘Kid, I would agree if we didn’t have the issue of those shields and the Shadow Oculithar,’ Ambraz said, sounding tense. ‘Ready?’

Irwin didn’t answer as he saw the nearest Shadow Oculithar appear a few dozen feet from the prow of one of their ships.

“Now!” he roared, pulling with all his power.

He groaned as he felt his soulforce dip by over a third, and at the same time, he felt a soft plop from his soulscape as the fifty-plus ships vanished from the Portal Gallery and reappeared there. A shoving, painful sense came from where one of the ships had been.

What was that? Irwin thought, his hands clenched.

His otherself showed that all had arrived fine, so what-

‘Kid, I think you almost pulled one of the Oculithar in,’ Ambraz hissed. ‘Yes, Greldo confirms it. One of those things was below the fleet. It’s looking around, disoriented.

Irwin tried to spot the Oculithar, but the swarm was swirling towards him, and he knew he had no time. One of the Shadow Oculithar reached for him, and he almost lashed out. Then, remembering Daubutim’s plan, clacked his tongue. He shot back, reappearing on the deck beside his friends a few moments later.

“Good job,” Daubutim said calmly, as the swarm of Shadow Oculithar seemed to hesitate. “Now, let's hope they don’t just head back.”

His friend was staring at the swarm of tentacles rushing toward them, not noticing that Irwin rubbed his head.

“You alright?” Greldo asked, making Daubutim look up, a flicker of worry moving across his face.

“Fine,” Irwin said. “No time.”

Daubutim’s eyes flashed in a red lightning storm, then he nodded. Lips pursed, he watched as the swarm rushed towards them.

“Here they come,” Greldo said. “Let’s get a mountain between us and those chained.”

Irwin felt his stomach sink as Greldo let the Nocturna drop by a dozen feet while banking it to the side, causing the nose to turn away. At the same time, he was using the speed of the falling to get them moving faster than they would have normally been able to.

Still hate that trick, he thought, recalling how Rindiri had done it on occasion.

As he thought about Rindiri, he wished she were with them. Sadly, she was still on Eluathar, and only Blade was on board the Caldera.

“Okay, as soon as we get out of sight, we need to deal with these things as fast as we can,” Daubutim said. “Remember what I said. No use of your aura or anything else that would draw the rest here. We don’t want to give that Twenty-Seventh Squadron a chance to split up and flee.”

“Since when do you repeat things so much?” Greldo shouted from his spot at the helm.

Daubutim looked at Greldo, raising an eyebrow. “Since people keep forgetting things.”

“Fair enough,” Greldo said, barking a laugh. “Well, we are out of sight. Irwin, ready to pull her in?”

“Ready,” Irwin said, watching how Daubutim took the helm from Greldo. He looked slightly uncomfortable, but Irwin knew he didn’t have to do much.

“Let’s do this!” Greldo said, vanishing into the shadows cast by the mountains.

Irwin pulled the Nocturna inside, the deck vanishing below his feet. As gravity took hold, he switched his bodies and triggered Surging Growth. With a flash of dizziness, his perspective of the world changed. The incoming swarm, the smallest of which had been the size of wagons, now looked no more than small flying barrels with tentacles attached.

They showed no sense of confusion at the lack of a fleet, but rushed towards him, though the single large one was lingering behind.

Irwin kept an eye on that one as he waited till the swarm reached him.

‘I don’t understand why they don’t flee,’ Ambraz grunted. “They are like a flock of birds attacking an earth titan…”

Irwin didn’t answer, but summoned his Aura Gauntlets around his hands, and like swatting a mosquito, struck out at the nearest group of Shadow Oculithar. Three dodged it with a rapid movement, but one wasn’t as lucky. He felt something crack below his hand, then a black streak slammed into the mountainside, causing a soft tremor. He almost expected it to explode in a mist of blood, but the Shadow Oculithar bounced twice, still moving.

Irwin slammed his foot down on it, feeling more cracks, while one of the Oculithar reached his side. Before they could touch him, he triggered his newest cards, causing his body temperature to surge up while at the same time summoning his flame.

Fire roared to life from his skin, surging outward in a rapidly expanding wave that blanketed dozens of oculithar. Instead of igniting, their flesh seemed to bubble and turn a dark gray as a deafening screech rattled Irwin’s eardrums.

‘Ugh. I think the others probably heard that,’ Ambraz said.

Irwin didn’t answer, seeing the smaller Shadow Oculithar fade into the shadowrealm, showing they did have some sense of self-preservation.

I don’t think that’s as safe as you want it to be, Irwin thought, unable to sense Greldo moving, but noticing one of the Shadow Oculithar reappearing almost immediately, all but one of its tendrils seeming ripped or cut off. It fell to the ground with a distant wet smutch.

The swarm of larger Oculithar began floating back, while the largest one still hovered behind them. Something about the way it acted made Irwin worry, and not wanting to give them any chance to flee, he reached for it, shaping his fire and flame. Dozens of flame tendrils shot away from his gauntletted hands, moving faster than the Shadow Oculithar could move. At the same time, he fed his flame, and the billowing cloud of bright yellow and orange fire that had already stretched over a hundred feet around him expanded outward like a flood of water.

--

What is going on? Captain Baksi thought, watching the distant mountain. It was shaking, stone sliding from the side as if a giant was shaking it, and a bright glow edged its sides.

“Captain..?”

Captain Baksi jolted as Hunbik appeared beside her, so absorbed had she been in the sight.

“What?”

“Some of the other Captains send a message that they want to follow that fleet in the hopes of having more of these fiends chase them,” her navigator said. “What are your orders?”

Baksi stared at the distant mountain, then shook her head. “Are they crazy? We have no idea what is going on there! Besides, their fleet vanished. Vanished! Who knows if it was even there? It might have been an illusion!”

“That’s what a few of the orders said,” Hunbik muttered. “But… captain, two more of the Anchor Point Shields are starting to fail. Even with some of those fiends gone, we aren’t going to survive much longer. Each one that fails increases the pressure on those that remain, and-”

A deafening scream interrupted Hunbik, and for a moment, Captain Baksi only heard a soft whine. All other sounds were distant and muted, but she barely noticed. All she could do was stare at a large tentacle that was flying across the mountain, flames licking around its sides. She saw the mountainside tremble as it hit, though the sound was still gone.

What… did they do? she thought, swallowing back bile.

They had managed to kill a few of the larger ones, but it had taken half of their build-up energy. The fleet she’d seen had been too small for anything like that. Let alone for the explosion to rip apart the tentacled fiend.

As the sounds returned, she saw Hunbik rub his ears, a thin trickle of blood flowing from them.

She grabbed his shoulder, causing the man to jerk in fear, but she held her grip. Focusing on her soulskill, she let a stream of healing energy flow into him. A few moments later, Hunbik nodded.

“Thanks, captain.”

“Tell the others that we are not going after that fleet,” Captain Baksi said. “They can do whatever they want, but I’ll take my chances.”

As she spoke, she saw the native fleet slowly sail back from around the mountainside, and her heart skipped a beat.

“They are luring them,” she whispered, taking an involuntary step back. “ Something behind that mountain is waiting and killing them.”

“I… we don’t know that, captain,” Hunbik whispered. “It could just be an energy buildup attack like what we have?”

“None of their ships or fleet had one,” Captain Baksi whispered, looking up to see another section of the tentacled fiends shoot away to the smaller fleet. This time, there were more, but none of the largest ones.

She heard Hunbik say something but ignored it, watching closely as the monsters flew towards the distant fleet. They had almost reached them when the entire fleet vanished, a single ship remaining that rapidly fled again.

“This… is not good,” she whispered. “If they can kill them this easily, and flee this easily.”

She turned to Hunbik, who was gaping at the swarm of Oculithar chasing the distant ship around the mountain.

“Send a message to the others. We are going to change course and head deeper into these mountains. If they want to stay here and hope they can reopen that exit portal, they can do so, but I am not risking my family’s battleship!”

“Yes, Captain!”

Baksi didn’t watch Hunbik run to the communications runes, but stared at the now-empty mountain. Waiting. Less than half a minute later, the tremors returned, a pale gray cloud covering the slopes, which she knew were small stones and pebbles dancing in the air. The fiery glow returned, and she shivered.

Who did they even ask us to attack? she thought, feeling a shiver as the chains tightened around her.

--

Irwin tossed the tentacle away as he wiped his gauntlets on the mountainside.

Did I get some in my mouth? He thought, tasting something vile and spitting on the ground. He saw a tiny sliver of something dark amidst his spittle and felt disgust.

A soft thud came from his shoulder, and he saw Greldo had arrived.

“Okay, you really shouldn’t squish them like that,” his friend said, looking at him worriedly.

“I didn’t plan to, but if you could stop them from showing up in front of my face, that would be great,” Irwin replied.

Greldo snorted. “Do you have any idea how many of those things there were? Even with Gloom and Coal here, and with my increased strength, we still can only kill them so fast.”

Irwin sighed, unsummoning his gauntlets and wiping his mouth.

“I know,” he muttered. “How many are left?”

“Less than we killed just now, but all of those big ones. I think those are smarter,” Greldo said.

Irwin nodded. “Good, then let’s get there and try the next step of Daubutim’s plan.”

“You are sure you can’t just crack the shields and pull them in?” Greldo asked as Irwin walked up the mountain, wiping the flesh and blood from his chest and arms. It barely helped, mostly just smearing it around.

I wish this stuff would just burn so I could clean myself, he thought.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “Perhaps if there was one of the big ones?”

“Well, Coal says they did split up. Two of those bigger ships, the battleships, and about sixty normal ones are flying away, while the rest have taken up position around where the exit portal to Mudball was,” Greldo said. “From what Coal is telling me, it seems they are trying to open the exit portal, but there’s no way they can manage in any reasonable time.”

“What about the bigger Shadow Oculithar?”

Greldo sighed. “Two are following the split-off group, each with a few smaller ones. The rest are with the main enemy fleet.”

Irwin grunted, giving up on trying to clean himself.

“I’m switching,” he muttered.

Greldo vanished from his shoulder, and Irwin pulled the Nocturna from his soulscape before switching to his smaller body. His otherself took over his giant body and moved it into the volcano and into the lava. With some luck, the scorching heat would clean off the blood and chunks of flesh.

“Time for the next step,” Greldo said, taking over the helm from Daubutim.

“Good,” the noble said, looking at Irwin. “How is your soulforce?”

“Mostly refilled,” Irwin said. “But the Ancestral Coperion is more than half drained. It will take me a few weeks to refill that.”

“It is plenty,” Daubutim said, his eyes swirling red. “How far is the smaller section of the fleet?”

“Coal says it's reaching the end of the valley and will be moving away within a few minutes. You want to get those first?” Greldo asked.

“Yes. It will give Irwin a chance to test those Anchor Point Shields,” Daubutim said, looking at Irwin. “Can you draw us in, intercept the fleet, and eject all of our fleet in between them and their getaway point?”

“I can. I’ll place you on the Concerto so you can coordinate with Xi’kroak,” Irwin said, turning to Greldo. “The Nocturna?”

“I’ll bring her into my shadowrealm pocket,” Greldo said.

Irwin sensed a shadewalker rush out of the depths of the shadowrealm, and he focused on the spot beside Greldo only to see Gloom appear. The elder Nyzir nodded at Irwin before turning to Greldo.

“Master, those big ones seem to be up to something. They have drifted away from the main group. A few of them are partially in the shadowrealm.”

“Don’t call me master,” Greldo muttered, seemingly distracted and in a way that showed he’d said the same thing far too many times.

Gloom didn’t react, while Irwin and Daubutim waited to see what Greldo could sense. Even from this far, his shadowrealm abilities were better than those of anyone they knew.

Seconds ticked by, when Greldo’s eyes widened, his skin turning incredibly pale. He stumbled back.

“They are summoning something! I can sense it, they are… singing!”

Irwin recalled the behemoth of an Oculithar they had seen long ago, its mere movements enough to cause waves of soulforce that crushed barriers, ships, and harbors.

He swallowed, turning to Daubutim.

“How long till it’s here?” Daubutim asked.

“I can’t sense it yet, but I will be able to as soon as it's anywhere close,” Greldo said.

“Warn us as soon as you sense it,” Daubutim said, turning to Irwin. “Get us to the split-off fleet.”

Irwin took a deep breath, then pulled Daubutim into his soulscape and onto the deck of the Concerto. He felt, almost at the same time, the deck of the Nocturna disappear beneath his feet, while Greldo vanished with it.

He didn’t hesitate but switched to his giant body, triggered Surging Growth before clicking his tongue and vanishing across the soundwaves.

--

“What are they doing?” Captain Baksi muttered, staring at the six remaining bigger tentacled fiends. They had pulled back and were now somewhere in between where she was and the larger fleet that had remained.

“Captain, Captain Temerin just sent a message. He says there’s something heading our way across the soundwaves!”

Baksi frowned, looking up at the only other battleship that had followed her idea.

“Did he say what?”

“No. Just that it's big and fast!”

By the damnable Chainers, what is going on? Baski thought, feeling her curse cause a tightening of the chains. She ignored it, tapping her fingers on her crossed arms.

“Captain! Behind us!”

Captain Baksi spun around, and as she saw what was behind them, her mouth fell open. A gigantic figure stood on the mountainside, while the fleet of native ships hovered just behind him.

“Slow down!” she screamed, her voice picked up by some of her crew to be made audible to all of her small fleet.

So they are attacking us? she thought, feeling a growing panic. Had she made the wrong choice? They were far from the others, but she’d not expected this. They didn’t look like illusions…!

A tremor ran through the shields, and an alarm she hadn’t heard in ages suddenly began screeching.

“Aura attack!” one of her crew shouted.

She looked at the group of a dozen that stood near the back mast, where the defensive runic inscription tablet stood.

If the alarm went off, it has to be-

“Rank two attack! Growing fast!” the same crewmember shouted, his eyes locked on a set of runes before him. “Rank three!”

Captain Baksi felt like screaming. Why?! First, they were gathered to attack this main branch, something she wished she could have been excluded from. Then they were forced into a large force, attacked by tentacled monsters, and haunted for days, and now this!

“Stabilizing half to rank four!”

“Rank four…” she muttered. “Which of those ships is generating it?” she shouted.

“None, captain! It seems to be coming from that giant!”

Captain Baksi almost stumbled as she felt her eyes drawn to the enormous figure. He had to be over two hundred feet tall, and he was generating this?

It has to be from his size increase; there’s no way he can hold up something like that longer than our barrier can hold, she thought.

Still, as she thought it, she saw the fleet behind him spread out slightly, bright energy starting to glow from tiny dots arranged across their decks.

“Incoming!” she shouted, just as a blinding array of attacks shot across the distance, striking their shield.

A tremor ran through her shield, and she looked up to see that the attacks hadn’t just struck the shield. Two of the smaller tentacled monsters had been obliterated, while many more had lost tentacles.

“Captain… Do you think they are here to help?” Hunbik asked, standing beside her.

Captain Baksi glared at her navigator.

“Do you think they would have used an Aura attack if they were?” she snapped.

Hunbik had no time to respond, as the giant vanished only to reappear in front of the barrier.

“FIRE!” Baksi shouted, knowing that Temerin would be calling the same order.

As her order echoed out, she watched in horror as the giant summoned a hammer the size of a ship, swinging it down towards the barrier.

It will hold, she told herself as it struck.

A sound like a bell echoed out, while the powerful ship below her shuddered. The bright shield, a deep purple before, had dulled significantly.

“Shields down to a quarter! Two more of those and they are down!”

Captain Baksi felt her legs almost give out, and she barely managed to grab onto the railing. All around her, the close to two hundred crewmen of her ship were hurling attacks. Some reached the giant, but they seemed to harmlessly bounce from his dark golden skin.

The shields wouldn’t hold. Not after the last few days, she thought. So this is it?

She shivered as the hammer came down far faster than first, while a fiery aura surrounded it. The giant’s face, stoic at first, seemed to show a slight panic.

“Perhaps he can’t do more than this?” Hunbik whispered. “Just break the shield, like some of those-”

Screams came from all across the ship, and Captain Baksi slowly looked around.  Why were her shadewalkers all rolling on the ground? Was she going crazy? One of them, an older man with pitch-black hair and eyes like coals, stumbled towards the ladder leading up, but she could see he’d not make it up. She jumped forward, grabbed the ladder, and slid down.

“Cap…tain… something… is coming,” the man grunted, his eyes rolling in their sockets. “Pressure… shadows…”

He pitched forward, his slamming into the deck coinciding with a deep boom and a cracking sound.

Baksi looked up to see that the barriers were gone, the remaining swarm of fiends, thinned by the attacks of the other fleet, surging forward.

That’s it, she thought, watching one move towards the outer line of ships, knowing there was nothing they could do anymore. They had been drained, and-

The world changed.

One moment, she was inside the portal gallery, the barrier high above, and mountains all around, while a swarm of tentacled fiends rushed down on them. The next moment, she stared at a stone wall, the screaming gone. The sway of her ship, gone.

“What… what?” she muttered, standing on swaying legs.

There was a squarish shape in one of the walls, roughly the size of a window, and as she got up, a blueish figure appeared in the cell with her. It took her far too long to realize it was a smaller version of the giant.

“No need to worry! You are inside my soulscape right now, and I will help you with our chains soon. For now, please stay calm.”

“Who are you?!” Baksi shouted, only for her voice to echo hollowly in the now-empty room.

She stared at the wall, then rushed forward, staring outside to see a hallway beyond.

A prison? He said I’m in a soulscape? How is any of this possible…?

Baksi remained at the entrance for only a few moments before turning around to see that there was something that resembled a bed on the other side. It looked like it was made of stone with sand covering the inside.

“Who makes a bed of sand?” she asked, before feeling a wave of weariness settle over her. Swaying on her feet, she moved to the bed and sat down. “What is going on…” she whispered.

--

Irwin switched his body, landing beside Daubutim on the deck of the Concerto. He felt a slight, dull throbbing from having pulled in all of the ships just now. Although none had been strong enough to resist by themselves, the totality of it, including the two biggest ships, had drained over half of his remaining soulforce.

Little of that mattered, though, as he saw Greldo appear on the deck, face pale before he slumped to his knees. Irwin ran forward, kneeling beside his friend. Greldo’s eyes were swirling, and he seemed barely able to stay awake.

“It’s here. Get us out, now,” he whispered.

Irwin looked up at Daubutim, then at the distant fleet. They had planned to get them all, but besides his soulforce being too low, he had no idea if they could even break through the shield. It had taken him all his power to shatter this one, and there was no way he could break the stronger one fast enough.

“Bring everyone back in your soulscape and flee,” Daubutim said.

Irwin nodded, shivering as he spread his senses and aura. He felt a pressure bubbling up from all around him, almost pressing down on him like a giant. It made him feel tiny and weak.

‘Can’t get them all in a single time,’ he grunted to Ambraz, pulling the nearest ships of the Eluathar fleet into his soulscape. With the deck ones again dropping away from below him, he clicked his tongue and rushed along the other ships that had drifted apart.

Each time he reappeared, the pressure was bigger, and as he pulled in one of the last ships, he saw hundreds of Shadow Oculithar appear all across the mountain range.

‘Kid! HURRY!’

Irwin shuddered as he felt the panic flow through his connection with Ambraz, and he shot forward. There were two ships left, and he reappeared between them, yanking them in with no regard for the consequences.

Finally done, he looked around. It was as if a cloud was forming across the mountain range, and thousands of Shadow Oculithar were appearing everywhere. Some were enormous, larger than the ones that had been there. The remainder of the Chained fleet hovered within the middle. Their shield was dulling under a constant assault, but Irwin knew there was nothing he could do. If he tried to go there and pull in what he could, he would drain even more soulforce, and worse, he had no idea if he could even get away from what was coming.

‘Kid! Don’t just stay here and look! RUN!’

Irwin clicked his tongue and rushed off, knowing that the fleet behind him was doomed.

At least I kept one of my giant bodies on Mudball, he thought, knowing that if he hadn’t, the chances of returning there would have likely become zero just now.

He reappeared above a mountain, minutes later, staring back in the distance he’d come. A single tentacle lay in the distance, having crushed entire mountains and seemingly barely fitting below the barrier.

Irwin stared at it quietly, not sure what to think. There was no way the fleet of Chained had survived.

‘What do we do if that thing ever finds Eluathar?’ he thought, rubbing his face.

Ambraz didn’t respond, but as Irwin told Daubutim, his friend merely cocked his head with a thoughtful expression.