Irwin's Journey chapter 25: Lost and found

"Ready?" Irwin whispered.

"Go," Daubutim replied.

The burly boy stepped through the door opening, his club in one hand and a shield in the other, sweat dripping off his face. The shield was similar to the one Rachel had used, with some noticeable differences. For one, it was larger, but more interestingly, there was an odd glyph at the front that had stumped even Ambraz. In the end, the Anvil had said it was probably just decoration, but he hadn't sounded very certain.

Irwin followed behind Daubutim, flame ready. A wall of vegetation sat in the room, and they waited and watched. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Irwin turned around.

"It's safe."

Twintin said nothing as she stepped into the room, not even looking at him. Her face was set, fear and anger warring on her face ever since she'd awoken and found that Rachel had been killed. Greldo followed her into the room before turning and keeping watch behind.

A blue glow came from Twintin's hand, and the vegetation began withering. She was glaring at it, and Irwin was ready to move if a silvery vine appeared.

Ten minutes later, the room was cleared up to the staircase, and they hadn't encountered any of the dangerous silvery vines. The normal ones had all stayed away at first, only charging when they reached their roots. Twintin had quickly ended them.

"I wonder if the staircase goes all the way up this time," Greldo whispered, and Irwin nodded. This was the third building they had cleared since Twintin woke and finally calmed down. The first one's staircase had been a crumbled mess after the first floor. It was also the last one they could reach while moving through the shadows.

The next floor was filled with more plants, but they only had to clear a little bit to reach the next staircase.

"Looks good," Greldo said.

Twintin sniffed, turning to Daubutim. "If we don't find anything this time, can we finally leave?" she asked, glaring at the boy.

"No." Daubutim said emotionlessly before moving up the stairs.

Twintin didn't respond, but the look she threw at Daubutim caused the hairs on Irwin's arm to rise.

It's a good thing she can't use that card on one of us, he thought as he recalled the moment Twintin had awoken. I still don't understand why she thinks it's our fault.

As he followed Twintin, he saw her fists were clenched so hard her tiny knuckles were white.

The next floor's stair was still usable, as was the one after. When they climbed that one, they entered an open area with a wall of vegetation around a bright patch. The sun and sky were visible at the top of the final staircase.

"I'll go check," Irwin said as he saw the others hesitate on the staircase. "Make sure you drink."

He got a grunted reply from Greldo and silence from the others. Twintin was staring at him, and he sighed and stepped into the burning sunlight. He'd tried talking with her, but she wouldn't listen.

The staircase led up to the roof, and as he stepped out of the small building, he looked around in wonder. Their building was far from the tallest around, but as impressive as the horizon of structures was, what instantly drew his attention was a set of three towering monstrosities that seemed to reach for the sun.

He walked on the edge, making sure to stay far enough away so it wouldn't break and cause him to fall down. With all of the crumbling corners and cracks in the wall, the whole building felt… fragile to him.

"Hey, look! There's someone on that building over there," Ambraz said, and Irwin spun around. The tiny Anvil hovered a few feet away. Next to them was a building that was a story lower, and he saw a blackened shape huddled next to the stair leading down.

It was hard to see what it was, but he thought he saw a glimmer on the ground next to it.

"Can you see what that is?" Irwin asked, trying to get a better look.

"Sure, I should be able to go that far," Ambraz chimed happily as he whisked away.

That far? Irwin thought. Did that mean Ambraz couldn't go further?

He pushed the question away as he saw the Anvil reach the other roof, slowing down. When nothing jumped forward, it lowered until it reached the shiny thing. Irwin saw him do something, then he turned and came rushing back with something dangling from his mouth.

As it got closer, Irwin started getting a bad premonition. When Ambraz reached him, he held out his hand in dismay. Olban's odd amulet, the golden locket with the eye on its front, dropped onto it.

"I think that's what's left of Olban," Ambraz said, sounding a bit sad.

Irwin looked up in surprise. Ambraz hadn't shown any reaction when Rachel had died. Had he somehow bonded with the boy when he wasn't looking?

"Too bad he didn't drop his card," Ambraz said with a weary sigh. "I double-checked, don't worry."

Right.

Irwin sighed as he inspected the amulet. Round and with hinges on the sides, it seemed meant to open, but as he tried, he couldn't find the trick to it. There was no keyhole anywhere, or a button or a little latch.

"Oh, don't bother opening that. Yilda's lockets don't open. People have been trying for a long time," Ambraz said.

"You know what this is?" Irwin asked, looking up in surprise.

"What? Of course! There's a lot of those stupid things drifting around, and bracelets and earrings."

Irwin looked at the locket. Olban had made a big deal about it, as had the sorcerer, and it didn't seem like a stupid thing.

"Who's Yilda?" he asked.

"Nobody really knows," Ambraz said, sounding bored. "Her stuff has been around forever, but nobody really knows what it does or what it's for. There's a library somewhere on Ten'ur Dihlan dedicated to collecting her artifacts, but even they don't really know what they do."

"Tenner Dillan?." Irwin tried, stumbling over the odd pronunciation.

"Ten'ur Dihlan," Ambraz correct him, landing on his shoulder. "It's not important. To get there requires someone with a Legendary teleportation or gate card, and I don't expect to find any here."

"Where is here anyway? And where are you from?" Irwin asked something that had been playing through his mind for a while.

"Here? I have no clue. The card-smith entourage I was with got ambushed during a stabilized portal world investigation, and that stupid sorcerer found me. At first, he was super hyped, thinking I was some legendary artifact, then he just stuffed me into that fake world as a power source. The gall of that beardy!"

Irwin wondered who the sorcerer was that had found Ambraz, then recalled something Lady Yrintha had said about Gelwin's elemental practice portals.

"That … beardy. Do you recall what his name was?" he asked.

"What? Name? Yes… something like Glehn or Gwin," Ambraz said with a snort.

"Gelwin?"

"That's it! Wait, you know him?"

Irwin blinked. That meant Ambraz had been in there for hundreds of years! Legend said Gelwin had vanished over two hundred years ago after saving the peninsula from a legendary portal.

"Irwin, you alright?"

Greldo's voice echoed up, and Irwin looked around. Asking Ambraz questions would have to wait for now. First, they had to find the Linchpin and close this portal. "I'm fine, still searching," he shouted as he began scanning around.

The most obvious target would be the massive towers, but as he looked down, he saw large packs of dogs roam the streets. They seemed small from up here, and he wondered what they were doing. Did they need food? Perhaps they fought the silvery vines or each other?

When he couldn't find anything as obvious as the tower, he headed back to the stair but stopped just in front.

"Ambraz, do you have any idea where the Linchpin could be here?" he asked, kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Probably in one of those big towers or perhaps absorbed by the strongest of those hounds. It could also be below ground with one of those silver vines," Ambraz said slowly as if contemplating his options.

Irwin nodded and headed down the stairs, where he saw Greldo peak around the corner, his face partially red from the overexposure to the sun.

"I'm fine. Go back in the shadows," Irwin called as he hurried back down. He suddenly felt bad for having worried the other.

When he reached the group, he found Twintin glaring at Daubutim, who was just looking at him with his dull expression.

Now what happened, Irwin wondered, but a quick shake of Greldo's head kept him from asking.

"So, did you find anything?" Greldo asked.

Irwin cringed as he remembered Olban, and he carefully pulled out the odd locket amulet. "Olban made it to the roof somehow, but the sun still got him," he said softly.

"Ah," Greldo said as he stared at the amulet curiously. "How did you…" Then his gaze went to Ambraz, and he just nodded.

"There are three much, much bigger buildings that way," Irwin said as he pointed toward one of the walls. He thought for a moment about what Ambraz had told him, then kept it to himself. If the Linchpin wasn't in the building, they would just have to search elsewhere, but it was the safest option right now. Hopefully.

If there's nothing horrible in that building, he thought.

"Alright. How far are they? Can we reach them without alerting the hounds?" Greldo asked while Daubutim looked up, seeming interested. Twintin was quietly staring at him, making him uncomfortable.

"No. We will have to wait for the sun to set, then go before it gets too cold and those silver vines creep up," Irwin said.

"What if we get lost and can't find the portal again?" Twintin asked with a soft and shaky voice.

Irwin saw her anger had faded, her eyes wide and her face pale as she looked at him.

"We will mark the sides of the buildings," Irwin said as he raised his flame. "That way, we can always find the way back!" He tried to sound as sure of himself as he could, even though he wasn't.

"But the surge hasn't happened, and it has been half a day," Twintin said. "If we wait till night, we can just as well go out and.." she stopped as a soft rumbling came from outside.

"It's always like this," Ambraz said from Irwin's shoulder as he sprinted back up the stairs. "There's this saying from one of the world shards I was at once; it's bad luck tempting fate, for she's a fickle one! Always liked that."

Irwin ignored him as he rushed back up the roof and looked around. In the distance, a towering column of dust was rising into the air. The remains of a building that had collapsed crumbled against another that shook dangerously.

"What…" he began, then faltered.

A gust of wind blew a section of the dust away, revealing a hound so large that it made the others nearby look like tiny puppies. It stood partially up the still-rolling rubble, chewing on something long and silvery. More importantly, it stood partially in the shadow, seeming fine.

That answers that question, Irwin thought as the blood drained from his face. "How likely is it that the Linchpin is inside that?" he asked.

"Oh… I'd say almost guaranteed," Ambraz whispered. "I'm starting to think the girl might be right."

Irwin watched the massive hound for a few moments longer, then turned and sprinted back down the stairs.

"We need to get out of here," he said. "Let's head to the portal and hope there are no hounds blocking our way."

"But-"

Irwin shook his head as he interrupted Daubutim. "A massive hound just toppled one of the buildings, and Ambraz says the Linchpin is probably inside it. There is no way we can kill that."

There was a moment of shocked silence, then Greldo grunted something.

"He's right. Let's get out of here," he hissed.

Twintin didn't wait for them to change their minds and began heading down the building. Irwin had expected some kind of, I told you so, but there was nothing.

Daubutim, however, was frowning as he followed them, staring at his club and shield.

"There's no way you can beat it with those," Irwin said.

They reached the lower floor without much trouble, but when they headed to the exit Twintin yelped as she came to a sliding halt. The others moved next to her to find a pack of hounds in front of the door. The sun had reached the edge of the building, and there was no way out.

"We should have left when we could," Twintin cried as she fell to her knees.

Nobody replied, and after a few moments, Irwin sighed and looked around. "Let's clear this room completely so we don't get ambushed and wait it out. We'll leave as soon as the sun sinks low and the hounds leave."

Twintin didn't respond, sobbing softly, and Irwin grit his teeth. For a moment, he wished Rachel had survived instead. At least she wouldn't have broken down like this.

"Twintin, let's go," he said, holding in his temper. She didn't respond, and he raised his voice as he snapped her name.

She shook as if hit, but this time she scrambled up, wiping her tears, and glaring at him.

"You're a bully," she hissed. "I thought you were nice, but I was wrong!"

Irwin suddenly felt very, very tired. "I'm not a bully," he said as he looked at her. "But we need to clear this room if we are to wait here till night. Do you want those silver vines to find us?" It was a low blow, and he regretted it as her face contorted in panic. Still, she needed to move!

"Fine," Twintin whispered, turning to the plants.

They continued clearing the room, finding and dispatching the root system that was hidden in a corner. Nobody suggested checking for silver vines, and instead, they sat down at the opposite end of the room.

As he kept watch, Irwin was relieved when the hounds finally rushed away from the entrance. A moment later, a shadow fell across it.

"Let's go see," he said as he got up and moved to the entrance. Greldo followed him, and he didn't bother asking the others. Daubutim had been quiet all of the rest of the day, only answering with a short yes or no, while Twintin hadn't spoken at all.

Outside the building was another square, with streets leading away, deeper into the ruined city. The shadows had pulled back far from the entrance, and the hounds weren't anywhere near anymore. They paced through the area in the distance, in front of the street they had to go through to return to their initial starting point.

"We will have to wait for that street to go dark, then we can head back to the portal," Greldo said.

"Yeah," Irwin said as he took a look over his shoulder. The other two were still not showing an interest, and he frowned. "I'm starting to worry about what will happen when we exit the portal."

Greldo leaned against the door entrance, wiping some sweat from his face. "Because of Daubutim?" he whispered.

"A little," Irwin said. "But more so with Twintin. She blames us for what happened with Rachel."

"It's not our fault," Greldo whispered softly. "If we had gone with her, another one of us would have died."

Irwin nodded, though he wondered if they might not have had enough time to run back then. Or perhaps Rachel would have been able to block the attack better had she not been so focused on them. He didn't speak about his worries, instead looking outside.

"When you were on the roof, she tried to get Daubutim to leave with her."

Irwin blinked in surprise. Then he shook his head. "How was she even going to get to the portal?"

Greldo didn't answer, and Irwin resisted looking at the girl. They remained at the entrance, quietly staring outside, both lost in their own thoughts.

A movement in a wide street to the right caused them both to look over, and as one, they stilled and held their breath. The giant hound was padding forward, followed by a dozen smaller ones barely coming to its chest. Everywhere it passed the other hounds, they backed up, lowering their heads.

Don't come here, don't come here, Irwin thought as he watched the hound reach the corner, praying for it to go anywhere but forward.

The hound slowed and looked around. Irwin saw its glowing red eyes passing over the entrances of the nearby building as if scanning for something. Feeling his hair stand on end, he didn't think but stepped back, pulling Greldo with him. Then he gazed at the entrance, still holding his breath.

Nothing happened, and as quietly as he could, he breathed out.

A dull growl echoed across the square as the sound of soft padded feet headed towards them.