Irwin's Journey chapter 27: Coal

"We need to rest," Irwin said.

His voice was ragged as he struggled onward through the mud. He could barely feel his toes, and he was constantly shivering. He longed to summon this flame, but the sky had darkened, and the rain stopped. If he summoned it now, any of the creatures that still screamed and roared far behind them would see the single bright light in the darkness.

"The forest?" Daubutim muttered.

He was stumbling along beside Irwin, looking no better than he was, Greldo still knocked out in his arms. How he could even carry the other boy for this long was beyond Irwin, but it was clear even Daubutim was almost done.

He glanced to the side at the dark, shadowy forest a few feet away. They had been walking for hours now and needed to rest. Steeling his ragged nerves, he turned and walked towards and then into the forest. He heard Daubutim stumble after him. The little light from the moon and stars vanished below the thick canopy, but Irwin could still see clearly. He sent out a silent thanks to his first card.

"Let's stay near the edge," he said, keeping his voice low.

Daubutim just grunted, and they continued deeper into the forest. The going was surprisingly easy, even easier than along the edge. Green moss and patches of grass covered the ground between the dark trees, damping his steps. Compared to the mud that seemed intent on sucking his boots solid, his feet felt lighter.

Perhaps we should travel through the forest edge tomorrow, he thought as he looked around.

The trees were sparse enough that he could see a few dozen feet ahead, and there was little undergrowth.

After fifteen minutes, a patch of bushes appeared in the distance. It was the only form of cover anywhere, and they headed toward it. When they reached the side, the top of the bushes towered over them, and Irwin wondered if there would be any animals inside. It was incredibly quiet around them, only the occasional distant rumble showing something was still happening back in the direction of Wignut.

Daubutim lowered Greldo to the ground, then stood there, panting with his hands on his knees.

Irwin didn't dare sit down, no matter how much he wanted to. He was afraid he'd not be able to get back up.

“I’ll… check… inside…” Daubutim said, straightening again.

"No, wait," Irwin said as he pulled Ambraz from his pocket.

The tiny Anvil fluttered up, and even without eyes, Irwin had the sense it was looking around. Then the Anvil whisked to Greldo, hovering above the boy.

"Hmm… hmm…" he hummed.

"What?" Irwin asked worriedly.

"He is dying," Ambraz stated. "His common card isn't strong enough to keep him alive."

Irwin stared at the sweaty, pale face of Greldo and swallowed.

"Can you help him?" he asked.

"The best I could do would be to reforge his card… but he might not survive the ordeal," Ambraz said.

Irwin blinked. Cards!

"Can you reforge cards that aren't slotted yet?" he asked as his hand went to his pocket.

"Of course. And a whole lot easier and faster, I might add," Ambraz said with a sniff.

Irwin pulled out the card of the hound, seeing Daubutim's gaze fall on it.

"Can you reforge this so we can give it to him?" Irwin asked.

"Well… to slot a card, someone has to be conscious," Ambraz pondered. "I might be able to wake him... He wouldn't like it very much, but it's better than dying!"

Irwin raised the card. "Please, reforge this and wake him."

"Well… I still need a while before I have enough energy," Ambraz said. "If you had another card for me to consume?"

What does he think cards are? Cookies? Irwin thought, anger bubbling up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Everything that had happened was slowly catching up to him, but snapping at Ambraz wouldn't be smart. Never bite the hand that gives, he thought, recalling a saying of his mother.

"I don't have any more cards," Irwin whispered. "How much longer till your energy is back?"

"Somewhere in the morning, it's hard to tell," Ambraz said.

Irwin stared at Greldo. "Will he live that long?"

"Maybe," Ambraz said.

"Dammit," Irwin snapped as he clenched his fists. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he looked at the plants.

"Can you see if there's anything in there or if we can safely hide?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"I'm not some scouting utensil," Ambraz muttered, but he whisked away into the bushes.

A few moments later, he rushed back out, hovering before Irwin. "Nothing in there but more bushes and some old nest, long abandoned."

"Follow me," Daubutim said as he got up and summoned his shield and club. "And try to carry Greldo."

Impossible, Irwin thought as he looked at Greldo, almost as big as him.

Daubutim, however, had begun pushing into the ticket, and feeling hopeless, he knelt beside his friend. His legs were shaky, and he didn't even know if he could get up alone, let alone with something as heavy as another person. Arms below Greldo, he struggled but managed to pull him against his chest, almost falling backward from the weight. Then, without giving himself the time to doubt what he was doing, he rose to his legs.

He swayed, the weight almost pulling him back down, but he was standing.

How am I standing? he thought.

Only half a year ago, they were required to move training equipment to another room. He'd been next to useless then, unable to even carry a light sack half this size. Was the special card already working its magic? But that takes months! Pushing his confusion away, he focused on moving.

A step forward almost caused him to fall over, but he managed to hold his balance, and step by step, he walked to the opening Daubutim was creating. The taller boy looked up but seemed unfazed by him carrying Greldo.

Yeah, typically, people can do this without it being a big thing, Irwin thought. If he hadn't been so tired, and Greldo hadn't been dying in his arms, he might have enjoyed the moment. Now he just wanted Daubutim to hurry up. He struggled after Daubutim, who held branches out of his way while using his greater bulk to press further in.

"A bit to the left," Ambraz said.

Some stumbled steps and directions later, and Irwin almost fell forward into the small lair. It was too low for Daubutim to stand, and at most six by six feet, but Irwin was ecstatic as he put Greldo down. As soon as he saw his friend's sweaty face and heard his ragged breathing, his joy at finding a safe area vanished.

"Can we do something to help him?" he asked, looking at Ambraz.

"I'm not a healer," Ambraz replied as he hovered over Greldo. "I'd say, try and have him drink plenty of water?"

Irwin nodded and took his water flagon from his bag, noting the large tear on the side. Only some of his rations remained, enough for two days at most. Of course, he thought with a sad sigh. Not like he had needed those…

He managed to get a little bit of liquid into Greldo's mouth, but if it just all ran back out or not, he didn't know. Putting Greldo in a comfortable position, he sat down next to him.

A yawn made him look up, and he saw Daubutim sitting nearby, his eyelids drooping, but his gaze constantly moving around the surrounding plants.

Irwin shivered as a cold breeze managed to find its way through the surrounding bushes. I wonder if I can cast my flame without it being seen, he thought.

"Ambraz, can you go outside and check if my flame is visible from the outside?"

"You're really using me like some kind of utility card," Ambraz said snippily before rushing away through the bushes like an anvil-sized, giant bee.

Irwin waited for a second, then summoned his flame, keeping it up for a few moments and relishing in its warmth.

Ambraz returned quickly, hovering beside him. "I don't see anything, but if you leave it up, there might be creatures that can sense the warmth. Though I'm not sure those even exist in this place."

Irwin looked at Daubutim, who just looked back bleary-eyed. Shivering again and still unable to feel his toes, he summoned his flame and kept it close to his body.

"I need to rest," Daubutim said as he yawned. "Wake me if anything happens or when you can't stay awake," the last bit sounded sharp in the voice that Irwin had begun to associate with what Daubutims father sounded like.

"Alright," he said, not minding too much. As cold as he was, he wanted to get warm before he could even contemplate sleeping. Besides, with some luck, the small den would keep the warmth.

Time passed slowly as his body warmed, the heat of the flame driving the cold from his bones. At some point, his toes began tingling uncomfortably, growing more painful before becoming better. Irwin checked on Greldo every so often, but the boy didn't show any signs of improving. It worried him a lot, but there was nothing he could think of to help.

To distract himself, he tried getting some more information from Ambraz, which was only partially successful. The Anvil knew innumerable things about cards, crafting, and other worlds, a concept Irwin had a hard time wrapping his head around. However, as the Anvil droned on and the den turned cozy and warm, Irwin's mind turned fuzzy.

"You should wake him," Ambraz suddenly snapped in front of him. "I've been talking to you for twenty minutes, and I don't think you heard anything."

Irwin blinked, then yawned so wide that his jaw popped before moving to Daubutim. He shook the large boy awake. A strong hand clenched around his throat as Daubutim's eyes snapped open, a cold, dumb look in them. It faded within a moment, and the hand dropped away.

"Sorry," Daubutim said dully, rolling on his back and rubbing his face. "Bad dream."

Irwin's heart was beating as fast as the summer festival drums, and he swallowed. "Can- can you take the watch?" he muttered.

Daubutim pushed up and nodded, then frowned and looked at him. "I have weird dreams… next time, kick my leg. It's what my brothers did." A look of distant pain in his eyes caused Irwin's worry to dissipate, and he nodded.

What kind of dreams are those? he wondered.

He lay down and closed his eyes, wondering if he could even fall asleep.

--

"Irwin, wake up!"

Irwin surged upright, bumping into something hard that cursed. His eyes had a hard time focusing, and for a moment, he saw three Daubutims. Then they converged, and he saw the big boy rub his jaw, staring at him stupidly.

"I'll kick you awake too next time," he muttered.

"Sorry," Irwin said, seeing a dull red light filter through the top of the bushes.

A dull groan caused him to jerk upright again, and he saw Greldo, arms flailing weakly around.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. He just started muttering and groaning," Daubutim said as he crouched to Greldo. "He needs to be quiet, or he will draw monsters."

Irwin joined him, noting that he wasn't as cold as the day before.

"Ambraz, how much time do you need?"

"Not long, I'm feeling it fill up. Perhaps half an hour," Ambraz said as he whisked above the boy.

Irwin gritted his teeth as he saw Greldo's hands clenched together, the skin ripping apart, and blood trickling down. Even if another card would keep him alive, he wondered if his hands would ever be the same again. They would have to find a carded-healer, but those were almost as rare as flying Anvils.

No idea what to do, he just did what his mother did when Brownyn had a fever dream a few years ago. He took the only other shirt he had from his ripped bag and poured some water on it before pressing it against Greldo's head.

It seemed to help somewhat, and after a few minutes, Greldo calmed.

The thirty minutes were some of the longest Irwin knew, and when Ambraz finally lowered himself to the ground, he felt hopeless.

"Alright, I'm ready! Put the card on top," Ambraz said as he turned into a larger version of himself.

Irwin didn't hesitate, yanked out the card, and put it on Ambraz flat surface. Then he stepped back.

A bright flash and a loud thud came from the Anvil, reverberating through the small enclosure.

Irwin stood erect as he looked around, his skin crawling. If there was anything nearby, there was no way it didn't hear that. Another flash came from next to him, and he saw Daubutim had summoned his club and shield. He summoned his flame as another flash boom came.

The thudding continued for what seemed like forever but was probably only a hundred beats. Then there was a red glow from the top of Ambraz.

"Done," the Anvil stated.

Irwin could hear the pride in his voice, but he had no time for that. Instead, he held his breath, listening for anything. A distant squeal, like a pig being slaughtered, came, followed by another.

"Something heard," he whispered, turning to Ambraz and snatching the card from his metal surface.

A beautiful purple edge sat around the image of a dangerous-looking hound. Sleeker than the previous, it had four gleaming eyes, and somehow Irwin had the feeling it wasn't as small as the hounds he knew from back home.

"Are you sure you want to give this away?" Ambraz asked. "It's called Cinder Hound, and it's a fire hound. It would mesh well with your existing cards."

Irwin hesitated only for a moment, then knelt next to the pale, sweating, and shivering Greldo, grabbing his hand. He almost let it go as he felt the dry, gritty flesh. "Yes, I'm sure," he said, putting the card on the back of Greldo's blackened hand. Nothing happened.

"I need to wake him. Get ready," Ambraz said. "Place his hand on me."

Memories of what had happened to Twintin rushed through Irwin's hand. He forced them away as he gently put Greldo's hand on the side of Ambraz.

A shock seemed to run through the boy, and he gasped as his eyes fluttered open.

"Greldo, accept the card," Irwin whispered as he kept the card on Greldo's hand.

Greldo's eyes swirled in their sockets, and he let out a painful moan.

"Greldo!" Irwin snapped, patting the boy on his cheek, then again, harder.

Greldo's gaze focused on him, filled with panic and pain, and Irwin squeezed his hand. "The card! Slot it!"

There was a single moment of clarity and a flash of light, then Irwin breathed a sigh of relieve. The card sank into Greldo's hand and a new tattoo appeared. Unlike the common one, this one was clearer, and the lines had a slightly purple hue to them.

"Wheeeeeeeeere are you hiiiiiiiding?"

Irwin's heart almost stopped as a high-pitched, squeaky voice came from outside the ticket. He let go of Greldo's hand, and it flopped on the ground. The boy's eyes had closed again, but Irwin barely noticed. All his attention was on the footsteps that moved a few dozen feet away from them.

"I know yourrrrrr therrrreeee," the voice drawled.

A slight motion made him look at Daubutim, who had his fingers in front of his lips and was looking at Greldo. Irwin nodded, crouched as silently as he could, and put a hand over the unconscious boy's mouth.

The footsteps continued moving, passing around the ticket for a while before slowly moving away.

Even though it was quiet, Irwin didn't move, and Daubutim was no less on edge. What he guessed had to be five minutes later, an annoyed sigh came from the same place.

"Mussst have fled already," a high-pitched voice said, sounding angry.

"No matterrr, sisterrr, we will find something to feeeeed soon," another voice crooned, slightly deeper. "Let's leave this infernal forrrest. The others have chased those mammal'sss out of their hidey holes. Perhaps we can play with some stragglerrrrrs!"

The voice turned softer as two sets of footsteps led away.

What were those? Irwin thought as he shivered. And what did that one mean? Hidey holes?

He and Daubutim remained quiet for at least ten minutes before the taller boy finally relaxed. "Don't speak," he whispered so softly that Irwin could barely hear. He nodded and sat down, removing his hand from Greldo, and inspecting the boy.

He was still pale and sweaty, but the shivering had stopped.

He seems slightly better, Irwin thought, hoping he wasn't fooling himself.

A few hours later, as the sunlight filtered through the top of their hiding place, Greldo drew in a ragged breath. His arm flailed, then stopped, and he tried to push himself upright.

"Stay still," Irwin whispered. He didn't think the two monsters were still around, but he wasn't interested in finding out he was wrong.

Greldo's eyes focused on him, and he nodded and slowly lay back down. "Water," he whispered.

Irwin nodded and got his container, which was dangerously light, and held it against the boy's lips. Greldo eagerly drank, licking his lips when Irwin removed the now empty flask.

"What happened," Greldo whispered weakly as he raised his hands.

Irwin saw his eyes go wide with shock and horror at the sight of his mutilated hands, and he flicked his fingers, drawing Greldo's attention.

"Look at the back of your left hand," he said.

Greldo's eyes widened as he looked at the second tattoo. Its greater detail was apparent, though it had faded from its initial clarity. What's more, the flesh around it was a healthy color, seemingly having healed.

"I thought that was a dream," Greldo whispered, pulling his hand closer. His eyes turned unfocused, and then a wide smile crept on his face. "I'm going to summon it," he whispered.

Irwin's eyes widened, and he was about to stop him when a flash came from Greldo's hand. Darkness wafted from his hand, merging into a hound-shaped cloud the size of a regular dog. Then the darkness faded like steam, and four curious eyes stared at Irwin from a sleek head.

"It's beautiful," Greldo whispered, and the hound turned to him, putting its head on Greldo's chest. The boy's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "No, I won't die. I've just hurt my hands, see?"

He can talk with it? Irwin thought as he looked at Daubutim, who was staring at the hound.

Irwin inspected the hound and shook his head in wonder. If it was this big when it was first summoned, how large could it get? And what if it got gigantism? He suddenly felt sad that he hadn't kept the card to himself. Then he mentally kicked himself. It wasn't the right card for his left hand, and besides that. It wasn't worth losing his friend over. He smiled as he watched as the hound sniffed, then licked the back of one of Greldo's hands.

The hound suddenly sat up and cocked its head. It slowly turned its head around before staring at a spot of greenery and letting out a low growl.

"Coal says there's fighting that way," Greldo whispered.