Chapter 95: To Scour
Irwin followed the others, keeping an eye on Greldo. His friend seemed rattled by their travel through the portal, and after crossing half of the dock, he nudged him.
"I thought we were going to be on a ship," Irwin said, hoping to distract Greldo.
Greldo blinked, then looked at him and gave him a grateful smile. "Yeah… me too. Can you believe it? Those things are flying! Do you think it's a card or something else?"
Irwin saw his friend barely hidden tension and worry and wondered what he had seen during his travel through the portal. It had to have been something horrible. He suddenly recalled when he'd gone through a normal portal long ago, and he'd seen… something in a flash of a second.
Seeing Greldo's hollowed look return, he quickly painted a grin on his face. "Don't know, but if it is, I want one."
"It's soulwood," Yogog said as he turned around and began walking face backward. "There are worlds where every living thing is some form of a plant, and there are Trade Federations that specialize in finding either shard-worlds or farm worlds like that. Tools, ships, and wagons made of that stuff are special, to say the least!"
Irwin blinked in surprise as he gazed at the ship. So the wood was what was floating?
Yogog barked a laugh and spun back around, answering a question from the female smith.
Irwin saw that Greldo was gazing up at the ships in wonder, and seeing his friend slightly better, he did the same thing.
Chains of thick black metal hung from the prow, locking the ships to beams while thick bridges connected them to the dock. People were moving around, walking from and to ships in lines, some carrying massive chests. Most seemed normal but mixed in with many beings that reminded Irwin of demons, though he didn't see any of the ones he'd encountered before. The most impressive ones resembled the guards that had stood around the portal when they entered. Wearing an odd, bone-white mask with slits for eyes and with a single massive horn on their forehead, these, however, were bare-chested, two heads taller than even he was, and incredibly muscular.
Irwin felt someone grasp his arm and pull him around slowly until he was looking at Yogog, who had a forced-smile on his face.
"Don't look at them too long," he whispered. "If they think you are challenging them, they are going to come over, and we don't want that."