Chapter 205: Death and new beginnings
Irwin slowly woke to pain: a dull, throbbing anguish that filled all of him. Some came from his body, but most originated from his heartcard and soullake. He wasn't sure what woke him, but whatever it was had stopped now.
The softness below his back told him he wasn't where he'd fallen but in a bed, and feeling no restraints or cuffs, he guessed he was safe. His mind was fuzzy, and it took him a few moments to sort through what had happened. A twinge of worry for Ambraz filled him.
We both keep falling asleep after we use too much energy, he thought.
A slow, mental examination of his body told him he wasn't seriously wounded, though there was a dull pain in his back, which was mostly hidden below the pain of his heartcard. Knowing that he couldn't do much if he got up, he remained where he was.
Feeling the change in his soullake, he focused on it, and his consciousness reappeared above the massive lake in his mind. As soon as he saw it, he froze. The edges of his lake had crumbled outward, the potential size of his lake growing by a bit. What surprised him even more was that the lake's soulforce was half-full, the silvery liquid having crawled up the steep slope surrounding it.
Why did that happen? he thought, trying to remember if he'd felt any soulforce feed into him. Was it from burning the purple gas or because of the energy from Ambraz?
Above the center of the lake, his heartcard hung, and Irwin grimaced as he saw tiny cracks running across it. Moving closer, he hung before the massive card. Tiny drops of soulforce were oozing from the unmarred areas, leaking into the cracks, and as he watched, a tiny one shrank and closed.
Thank Gelwin they are healing, Irwin thought before gently floating around his soulscape.
He'd never really taken the time to look around, so while trying to ignore the pain, he floated towards the edges. The area beyond the lake was a rocky plane that ended like portal corridors did, with an energy barrier. This one, however, was so dense that he couldn't look through it at all. The barrier led up in an inverted bowl that mirrored the lake below, with his heartcard hovering high above.
Part of him knew he was procrastinating and that he should wake up, accept the pain, and check on the situation. But he felt a deep fear of what he'd find: people dead, his family lost, and-
Irwin shuddered, his fear growing so fast that he couldn't stop it anymore.
Fine, let's see what this world took from me in the end, he thought as he stepped out of his soulscape.