Irwin's Journey chapter 11: Rinse and repeat (Patreon)

Consciousness returned slowly to Irwin, starting with a rock poking in his shoulder and a slight pain in his back from how he lay, half propped up. He'd slept. And not just for a few minutes or even an hour. As he fully woke, his mind was clear, and though his back and side hurt from lying on the rough ground, he felt better than he had, though his lips were parched. He should probably be afraid and worried, but the calm, whispering voices nearby showed nothing was wrong.

Still rocky, so we didn't return back out yet, he thought as he thought about getting up. Then the conversation registered, and he pretended to be asleep a little longer.

"No, I told you five minutes ago, let him sleep until he wakes. As long as no Imps come, we are fine here. There is no reason to rush this."

Greldo sounds exasperated, Irwin thought, curious to see who had asked. He tried to recall, but he hadn't been paying attention before.

"How can he even sleep in this horrible heat? He's even lying a few feet from one of those stupid cracks! Are we sure he isn't, like, unconscious?" Olban replied, sounding annoyed.

"I checked an hour ago, and he was fine, a bit hot, but that's no surprise," Twintin whispered.

Wait, she touched me while I slept? Irwin thought. He must have been incredibly tired then. Usually, he woke as soon as someone even entered his room, let alone touch him.

"But… we've been here for a really long time," Oblan whined again, his whispered voice rising and falling. "We need to plan what to do."

There was no response, but Irwin didn't move. He had no good answer, but he didn't feel like dying again. That meant they needed to show Jonathan progress but get kicked out without dying. As he let his mind wander, he felt the memories of dying to try to surface and draw him in. He quickly pushed them down, not interested in spending whatever little time he had to deal with those now. Perhaps, never, would be a fine time for that.

As he tried to relax, he focused on the other things that had happened, and now he wasn't under constant threat, he noticed a few things. First off, his flame didn't just need to be on his finger, and it grew from killing those Imps. Second, those Imps had seemed incredibly sure that the fire wouldn't harm them, but instead, the flame easily killed them, seemingly… eating them?

He wasn't sure, but something like that. Besides that, their blood definitely burned, and the others had gotten a few blisters while he barely noticed. Another benefit of his card, it seemed. So, how many of those Imps could he kill and keep increasing his flame? How large could it get?

As he lay on the ground, a plan began forming in Irwin's mind, and finally, when it crystallized, he knew it was time. Taking a deep breath, he got up, looking around. The others were lying away from the single exit while Greldo sat near it, peeking outside.

"Finally awake?" Oblan whispered, wiping his gleaming, sweaty head. "How can you sleep in this heat?"

Irwin ignored him and looked at Greldo. "Did you sleep? How long was I out?"

"I did, and I have no idea. Shorter than a day, that's for sure."

"Alright, than, I think it's time to come up with a plan that will let us kill as many Imps as we can without dying."

"And how do you  propose we do that?" Oblan asked.

The others were all looking at him, and Irwin swallowed -hard with a mouth dry as dust- before laying out his plan. "We go into one of the tunnels and find one that doesn't end in a dead-end, like this one. There has to be one, with so many paths in that-" he pointed at the tunnel. "When we find one, we go inside and make enough noise to attract some Imps. We ambush them, grab their weapons and hide in the tunnel. If a few come to see, we kill those. If there are too many, we remain in hiding or move further away until we get clear."

"Simple, yet effective," Greldo said. "I like it."

Oblan seemed hesitant, but with nobody against it, a few minutes later, they were moving through the main tunnel, scouting the dozen or so tunnels leading away.

Ten minutes later, they sat in one of the tunnels, staring back at the main tunnel.

Over half of the side tunnels led to simple caves like the one they appeared in, but the one they were in now connected together with others, creating a winding maze of tunnels, some of which led to more dead ends. Two of those ended up in the massive cavern Irwin had seen during his second time here, but there were enough routes that it made for a good place to flee.

"Alright, I'll go there and shout," Irwin said, looking around hopefully. Nobody else offered to go, so he crawled back, his legs heavy and painful.

This better not go wrong, he thought as he took a breath.

"Arghhh," he shouted, cringing at how stupid it sounded. Still, the giggling and laughter stopped instantly, and he waited for a bit as he stared into the main entrance. A minute later, three Imps snuck around the corner. Irwin turned around and raised three fingers at Greldo, who nodded.

He steeled himself and looked back around the corner to find the imps halfway toward him. He must have made some noise because two snapped their yellow eyes on him, and he balked. Turning around, he ran back to the others who were hiding around the corner.

He jumped next to Greldo and held his breath as he heard the footsteps close in. Even though it was his plan, and he'd killed a half dozen of the Imps by now, he still felt his heart skip a beat when the Imps giggled.

"Don't hiiiiiide," a voice hissed.

Irwin didn't answer, nor did anyone else, quietly waiting for the first Imp. As soon as one appeared, Daubutim stepped forward and struck its head while everyone except for Twintin jumped on the others.

A minute later, Irwin stood, a hand-long flame above his clenched fist, staring at the three dead Imps.

"We can do this," he whispered before looking at Greldo. "We can do this!" he said again, somewhat louder.

"Let's show these Imps what we are worth," Greldo added with a grin.

How long they continued their trick before the Imps realized what was happening was hard to decide, though Irwin guessed it was over an hour until a group of a dozen began prowling the tunnels to find them. The group hid, moving from tunnel to tunnel until the Imps left again. The fact that Irwin had burned all of the bodies probably helped. By this time, he'd killed over a dozen Imps, and his flame had turned into a raging flame as long as his arm. The others couldn't remain near him, but he only had to touch an Imp for it to instantly turn to ash.

They repeated their trick four more times, and by the end, even Twintin had managed to get a kill, although it had come at the cost of a long laceration on her arm. Not that anyone was unharmed.

"I wonder how much longer we can stay here," Irwin whispered wearily. He was sitting with his back against the wall, trying to catch his breath while holding his flame away from his body. It hovered hungrily above his hand.

"It didn't grow anymore," Greldo said from a safe distance away, inspecting the flame.

Irwin nodded, slightly annoyed by the fact that the others were quietly standing there, waiting for him to catch his breath. Even Greldo, who was almost as scrawny as him, and Twintin, seemed able to keep up. It was just him… again.

"Give me a few more mo-" Irwin began as the world around him jolted, and he saw a flash of the room outside the portal before he slammed into the ground. The flame on his hand was gone as he pushed himself up and looked around at the others. Only Greldo was on the ground. The rest had managed to retain their footing.

"So…" a soft voice came, and Irwin froze as he looked around to see Jonathan examine them one at a time. "You," the sorcerer said as he pointed at Rachel, "must have some very good skills to get them through an entire portal this easily. You didn't find the Linchpin, but you managed to clear out a great number of the enemies. I'm impressed, though I guess it makes sense for someone who managed to survive where the rest of her group died."

Rachel was looking at him with wide eyes, but before she could say anything, Irwin coughed. He had wondered how to explain their success, and this had been one of the things he had come up with. Jonathan suggested it was a great stroke of luck.

"Yes, Jonathan, she is amazing. We couldn't have managed without her." He managed to make his voice as sincere as he could.

Rachel blinked, then shrugged, just looking at the ground. Irwin saw that her ears were turning red, and he had no idea if it was because she was ashamed. It didn't matter, as Greldo and Olban quickly agreed. Jonathan was looking around, and Irwin feared he suspected something, so he scraped his throat.

"Jonathan, why don't we get hungry or thirsty in there? We've been inside there for so many hours now," he asked, hoping to distract the sorcerer.

Jonathan turned to him and scowled. "I told you before. These rooms are created by the crafters from the fifth tower. It's magic!"

"Incredible," Irwin muttered, only half meaning it. He could see right away that Jonathan had no idea why they didn't need any food, but he wasn't going to call him out on it. "Thanks," he said instead.

Jonathan just snorted. "I'll give you ten more minutes of rest before you go in again. You and you," he pointed at Irwin, then Greldo," have four more attempts, while the rest have five."

Nobody answered, but Jonathan didn't seem to care as he was nodding at the door, a sly smile on his face.

He's planning something, Irwin thought, shivering at the thought that Jonathan could do something even worse.

Then he sat down and rested his back against the wall beside Greldo. They sat quietly, resting and waiting until Jonathan had had enough and pointed at the portal. Irwin sighed as he got up.

I wonder why anybody would want to stay here of their free volition, he thought, deciding that he'd take any cards he could get, even common, until he had five and then go back home.

The next attempt went roughly similar to the one before, and they used a lot of time to rest. They did find out that Twintin had a knack for crawling around unseen and unheard, and though shivering in fear, she'd become the one to scout ahead to relieve Irwin and his lack of endurance.

They went in again, though Jonathan had seemed less impressed with them. Irwin didn't really care, and they went through the motions again, ending up with a long rest in a good hidden corner of the tunnel maze. When they exited on that run, Jonathan had been frowning and asked why they hadn't made any progress compared to the previous attempt. They lied and said they were having a hard time finding the Linchpin. Jonathan hadn't cared and told them they had better show more progress, or he'd toss them in one at a time until they did.

When they went in again, they tried harder, resting less and attempting to clear the Imps from the tunnel system. Everything continued as the previous three attempts until they reached a  large, torch-lit cave that seemed to mark the end of the tunnel system.

"There's a dozen in there," Twintin whispered as she crawled back, her face pale as a sheet and tears running down her face. "And… and…" she wiped her face with her smeared sleeve. "They are cutting into two of those green demons. That's why they are laughing."

Irwin shared a worried look with Greldo before looking back at Twintin. Rachel had crouched beside the much smaller girl and was stroking her hair and whispering words of encouragement.

"Did you see anything else? A bigger Imp, or something… something that could be the Linchpin?" Irwin asked lamely.

Twintin shook her head, tears rolling down her face again, then she turned to Rachel, hugging her tight.

The bigger girl held her and looked at Irwin as if he'd done something wrong. Having no idea what, Irwin still mouthed sorry then turned to the others. Daubutim was silently staring at him with his dull eyes, quietly waiting until someone would actively ask him something. Irwin still couldn't get rid of the feeling that the boy was more than met the eye, but he hadn't caught him on anything yet. Olban was rolling his right shoulder, grimacing every so often, and seemingly totally uninterested in Twintin's plight.

"This should be the final room, so if that thing isn't here, we will have to go to the main chamber," Irwin said.

"I don't think it will be here," Orlan piped, his voice cracking at the final word, and she scowled, trying to scrape his throat. "It would be too easy," he added as the others looked at him. "Think about it. From what we know, initiates usually get a few weeks of introductions and training before they are allowed into one of these. Also… I don't think they would normally force them inside constantly. This is a good way to get us killed, which is probably why they went out and got twice as many of us."

"He's right," Greldo whispered with a sad sigh. "It sucks, but they need to replace a group of initiates with half a year of experience within days… it wouldn't surprise me if they are finding more children as we speak."

Irwin tried to imagine the sorcerers returning to the towns and cities to get more people and wondered how they would react. They wouldn't agree… would they?

"Let's go clear this room," he said as he shivered and raised his hand. A maxed-out flame hovered above it, and he wished again that he could throw it, but no matter what he'd tried, it just didn't want to move from his hand.

He snuck towards the entrance, and a quick look inside showed Twintin had been right. Almost a dozen Imps stood around some racks in the middle of a room. Two of the green Demons were tied up, wads of some fabric stuffed in their mouth as the Imps walked around them, slicing into them with their daggers or beating them with the blunt end.

"The left one has a testicle left," one of the Imps hissed, and one of the green Demons' eyes widened as he moaned through the cloth. The Imps began chattering loudly, giggling.

Irwin felt his skin grow cold, and he almost vomited, barely holding back. Twelve Imps were more than they had attacked so far, but there was no option to leave them. It was obvious now that Jonathan wanted to see constant progress, and he didn't want to be tossed in here alone. The image of himself strapped to one of those racks almost made him turn and run.

We can do this, he thought as he grit his teeth. They had killed a group of six Imps before without much trouble. Even if this was twice that many, their plan should work in these narrow tunnels. He looked back and motioned the others to get ready, and as soon as everyone was in their positions, he licked his lips.

"Hey, leave him alone!" he shouted before stepping back and running down the tunnel.

"Another one! Get it!" a voice piped from behind him as the giggling stopped.

Irwin dashed around the corner of a side entrance opposite Daubutim and Rachel. On the other side of their side entrance were the others. They waited until the footsteps were almost on them, and two Imps dashed into the tunnel Irwin had vanished in. He sat, crawled low in the corner, and stabbed his flame at the nearest one, trying to hit both but failing. It didn't matter. Daubutim's club slammed into the surprised and unsuspecting Imp, cracking its head like a walnut.

Irwin's maxed flame ashed the Imp in under a second, just in time as three more ran in. On the other side of the tunnel, he saw Greldo and Olban use their daggers to hold back the Imps that were now clustered far too close together in the narrow tunnel. He moved his flame sideways, like a wobbly, fuming blade, and touched two of the three Imps just as Daubutim hit one of them.

His eyes widened as the third Imp screeched and struck at him, but Rachel stepped forward, catching the dagger on her shield. She grunted from the effort as her shield was slammed into her chest.

"Daub," Irwin hissed, but it wasn't needed. The taller boy struck at the Imp in a frenzy, and as it fell, the other two turned to ash.

We can do this, Irwin thought, just as a cry came from Greldo. He looked up to see his friend stumble back with a dagger lodged in his leg. Irwin jumped forward, waving his flame at the clustered Imps, while Daubutim and Rachel stepped out after him, shoving and hitting the Imps.

Clustered as they were, the Imps were more in each other's way than helping, and a few seconds later, the final one fell to ash. The group didn't even look at them and gathered around Greldo, clutching the dagger in his leg, muttering incoherently.

"It hit an artery," Daubutim said dully, causing Irwin to look up in surprise. The boy was staring at Greldo's leg and shrugged. "He has half a minute left."

"Can we do something?" Irwin hissed.

"I don't know. I don't remember everything the teacher said," Daubutim answered, not sounding all that bothered.

"It's fine, he will be back with Jonathan, and he won't even have to wait that long," Olban said.

Irwin knew they were both right, but as he saw Greldo's face turn white, eyes roll up, and slump further down, he wished he could do something. Instead, he could only hold Greldo's hand until it turned limp. He sighed as he looked at Greldo, then got up and saw the others were ready behind him.

"Let's go find out what those green demons know," Irwin said.