Irwin's Journey chapter 23: Water and fire

"You said it wouldn't hurt," Irwin said shakily as he looked at Twintin, curled up in a ball on the ground.

She'd fallen unconscious directly after the reforging had completed, and Rachel sat next to her, stroking her hair. The other girl threw hateful glances at both Ambraz and Irwin.

"Well, it doesn't hurt that much," Ambraz said. "I keep forgetting you are children from a world where they don't teach you much."

"What kind of teaching could help someone with this?" Irwin hissed.

A shudder came from Twintin, and she stretched her arms in a sudden jerk, looking around with wide eyes. Snot covered her face, and her eyes were haunted.

"It's over," Rachel whispered. "You have an uncommon card now!"

Irwin saw she was trying to cheer Twintin up.

"It hurt so much," Twintin cried as she hugged Rachel. "It felt like my hand was stuck between a door, and someone kept closing it."

"Irwin, vines," Greldo hissed.

Irwin looked up and jumped to the door, waving his hand around. The cold air that came from inside made him shiver, and as the vines retreated so did he.

"Behind us," Daubutim called, and Irwin hissed as he turned around and jumped further into the room, where another bunch of vines rushed towards Rachel and Twintin. As soon as he moved, they stopped and retreated.

"They are becoming faster and smarter," Greldo said as he moved next to Irwin. "I hope she snaps out of it fast."

Irwin looked at Twintin and nodded. Her haunted screams played through his mind for a moment, but he shoved them away. As much as he wanted to give her time to deal with it, they would die if she didn't use her card. Taking a deep sigh, he stepped forward, and Rachel glared at him.

"Let her recover for five minutes," she snapped.

Irwin licked his lips. Five minutes seemed reasonable… but… was it wise? They had no idea what might happen in five minutes. He took a deep breath.

"Twintin, you need to start practicing with your uncommon card," he said loudly.

The girl shuddered and pulled back from Rachel, who was staring daggers at him.

"I don't think-"

Greldo stepped forward, but Irwin shook his head as he spoke. "I know it hurts and that you are scared. But if we don't get out of here, we will all die. Please look at your card, and see if you can connect with it!"

Twintin hesitated, and Rachel bent forward, opening her mouth when a dull purplish light illuminated the room. A card with a dull purple border and a few dozen raindrops hovered over her hand. Even from this distance, Irwin could sense the presence of the card, and for a moment, he wanted to try and use his Eyes of Blaze.

It only works on unbound cards, he reminded himself while Twintin wiped her face. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Yes," Irwin said. "Why don't you try it?"

Twintin didn't respond, and Irwin was about to ask again when she slowly got up and her face turned to one of focus. The card vanished as she cupped her hand, and a moment later, water dribbled from her hand, slow at first but quickly increasing. It was soaked up by the dusty floor like sponge, and she raised it, sniffing it.

"It smells so nice," she whispered before taking a sip.

Irwin couldn't help but swallow as he looked at the crystal-clear water. He could somehow see or feel that it was slightly colder than the ambient room temperature, and the idea of drinking it seemed heavenly. The water kept dribbling out, and Irwin stepped forward, pulling out his water container.

"Don't let it go to waste," he whispered.

Twintin looked at him, then his hand, and suddenly a bright smile blossomed as she nodded and took the canteen, tilting her hand above it. A clear stream of water poured from it, continuing for half a minute.

"Interesting, that is more water than there should be," Ambraz said.

The water stopped instantly as Twintin looked up at him, pale and startled.

"You hurt me," she whispered, shivering as she stepped away from the Anvil.

"Well, yes. But I also gave you an uncommon card," Ambraz snapped, sounding annoyed.

"Ambraz said you could drain the water from the plants," Irwin quickly shouted. If Twintin suddenly went back to being afraid and worried, they would be in more danger.

Twintin turned to him, eyes wide as she looked at her hand. "I can do that?" she whispered, turning to look at her card. After a few moments, her eyes widened and she nodded. "I can!" With a suddenly angry expression, she turned to the plants. Her card hand glowed a deep blue, and a second later, the plant she was looking at began gleaming with water that dripped to the ground. Within seconds it began shriveling, the vibrant green turning brown, extending out along the root.

"Incredible," Greldo said as he moved beside Irwin. "With this, we can probably reach the portal."

Irwin nodded.

"We have a chance now, and should try to find the Linchpin and close the portal!"

Irwin and Greldo turned to look at Daubutim, who was near the entrance.

"If we leave, there will be a surge, and lots of people will die," Daubutim said, looking at them one at a time.

Irwin wanted to say he was right, wished for it, but then the face of his mother and brother came to his mind. If portals like this remained open, they would also die eventually. Maybe not from this one, but… if they closed it, they would likely get at least one card, maybe more. He recalled Tanya's words and sighed as he knew what they had to do.

"I don't want to stay here," Twintin whispered, but as Irwin looked at Greldo, he saw the same resolve set in there. To his surprise, Rachel moved to Twintin, putting an arm around the smaller girl.

"With your power, we have a chance. We can't leave this portal to surge… it might overflow Wignut. You remember what Tanya said, right?"

Twintin hesitated, staring at her hand, then the now darkened section of plants. "I remember," she whispered.

"Good, then let's see if we can find what is behind those plants," Irwin said. He didn't add that Olban might still be alive, because he didn't really believe that.

Twintin raised her hand again, and another section of plants began shriveling.

"I'll stay at the back, you take the lead," Irwin said as he motioned to Greldo. "You guys stay in the middle."

Twintin shivered but she walked forward, pale and with large, wide eyes. Ahead of her, the plants began flopping to the ground like empty sacks, those behind it also starting to turn brown.

Irwin kept his eyes on the door behind them, but there was no sight of the vines. Either they were afraid of Twintin and his flame, or it was too cold for them. As he gazed outside, he saw that a glistening white frost had begun covering the sections of the ground that he could see.

Even if we had wanted to, we might not have even reached the portal, he thought.

Ten minutes later, a wide section of plants had died, turning to brown sludge which they moved through and a square staircase appeared. It seemed to go straight up along the wall to the next floor.

"Should I keep clearing this room?" Twintin asked.

Irwin was surprised she directed the question at him, then thought for a second and nodded. "It might be a good idea to create at least one safe area here."

"Yes, and we might find the root of these plants so we can destroy them from there," Greldo added. He'd been quiet ever since Twintin had her card reforged, and when Irwin looked at him, he saw the boy was eyeing Ambraz.

Irwin suddenly heard his mother's words echo through his mind. Had he made a mistake telling the others about Ambraz? Did I even have a choice? He knew he didn't but, as he saw Greldo look at the Anvil, he hoped his friend would remain that.

They continued clearing the room, and eventually found a deep hole along one wall, with dark gray roots crawling out. Twintin began draining them of water, but it seemed the roots went deep because their decay was a lot slower. There were only a few bushes left with the luminous mushrooms, and they had left those so it wouldn't become completely dark. Still, compared to the dozens of mushrooms before, the few that remained and the silvery sheen from the moon outside were barely enough, and everyone but Irwin was looking around, jumping at shadows.

"What do you need to reforge another card?" Greldo asked.

Ambraz whirred around and stopped.

"Time. It takes energy, and I'll need a few days to regain it. Well, that or I could consume a card," he said as a dark metallic tongue licked his lips. "But that's probably going to be hard here."

"You eat cards?" Rachel and Irwin exclaimed nearly at the same time.

"Of course?" Where I'm from, there are so many commons… why wouldn't I? Eating one common means I can reforge another into uncommon. A great deal!"

Irwin frowned and looked at Greldo, who looked back.

"So, say we find a common-card in here," Greldo said. "You could reforge my card after eating it?"

"Yes," Ambraz said enthusiastically.

"Why your card?" Rachel asked, turning to Greldo. "Why not my card? It's much better than yours!"

Greldo blinked, then frowned.

"We don't even know if we will survive, let alone find a card," Irwin said quickly. "Let's just see what happens after Twintin kills that plant and what is upstairs."

The others remained quiet, but he saw Rachel occasionally look at Greldo and lock eyes with the smaller boy.

It took at least an hour before the massive root finally sagged into a soft pudgy mass. The ground was muddy with water, a lot running down the hole and creating a small waterfall. Irwin had filled his canteen, as had the others, and had drunk his fill, feeling a lot better. A couple of bites of his rations had helped with the hunger, and now he was just tired. Not that he or anyone else even suggested sleeping here. He probably wouldn't be able to even close his eyes.

As he turned to the door, he realized that Twintin was frowning at the hole.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw something glow down there," she whispered, causing everyone to turn back to the hole in alarm.

Twintin seemed unconcerned as she stepped forward, sloshing through the muddy water, and looked into the hole. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "There's a card in there!"

"Hah! Prophetic," Ambraz shouted.

Not possible! Irwin thought, but he was moving before he realized it. Stepping next to Twintin, he looked down. It was dark and shadowy, but far down in the hole, nestled amidst the sludge, he saw the edge of what looked like a card. It was a dull gray, showing it was a common, but even that was enough to make his heart beat faster.

Ambraz whizzed in front of him, a wide smile on his Anvil face. Then the lips became a flat line. "That's not a card," he said, sounding almost cheated.

"What do you mean?" Irwin asked as the others joined next to him. He quickly looked up and around, but there were no vines anywhere. He focused on the card's edge, but from what he could see it looked like his had done, it even glowed slightly.

"Watch," Ambraz said, and before Irwin could respond, he whisked into the hole, down past the sagged roots. He was almost at the card when he suddenly reversed directions, rushing back up.

"Whups!"

A shudder came from the card, and the ground burst apart as a dull gray vine shot after Ambraz, a glowing card lodged into its tip.

"Look out!" Rachel shouted as she pulled Twintin away, while the others stumbled back.

"Incoming," Ambraz shouted as he shot out of the hole. "Burn it!"

Irwin blanked, then stepped forward and held his flame above the hole. The gray, silvery vine, as thick as his arm, burst through the flame with black char marks across its top. The tip split apart into fours, showing razor-sharp teeth and a wet red tongue, and a high-pitched screech made Irwin stumble as his ears suddenly rang. White spots danced before his eyes, and he barely jumped back with the flame in front of him as the gray vine shot at him again.

Irwin felt his body almost move without his volition as he landed, crouched, leaned left, and blindly jabbed his flame forward. A tiny part of him knew that only a few days before the speedy movements would have been far beyond him. Something soft and wet clenched around his hand and wrist, then piercing stabs of pain erupted from his lower arm. Dulled by shock, he watched the vine where his hand, wrist, and lower arm had just been, shivering. Its teeth had partially dug into his flesh, and he felt a scream of pain and fear bubble up.

Then something moved next to him, and Greldo, pale and with fear-filled eyes, grabbed the vine a foot from Irwin's fist and clenched it while pulling it back. The teeth scraped across his skin, but Irwin didn't complain as he tried to pull his hand back.

"Wait!" Daubutim stepped forward, calm and steady, as he put a hand over Greldo. "Look!" He pointed at the head of the vine.

The skin all along it and further back were rapidly turning dark, the skin bubbling as steam rose from it. An orange flame erupted from the side, then another, and as the three looked, the head began sagging in as it melted, and Irwin's flame appeared through.

Greldo let go and stepped back as the vine split apart at the spot Irwin's flame hovered above his fist.

Irwin sat down with a thud, staring at the remainder of the head, lips, and teeth still around his wrist. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he tried to pry it open. The jaw was like a solid metal clamp, and he couldn't use much force with one hand, though he did succeed in making the teeth scratch deeper into his already profusely bleeding flesh. Greldo ran next to him, grabbed the jaw, and pulled it open with a rip.

Irwin jerked his hand back, unsummoning his flame as he cradled the hand against his chest. A wave of cold instantly cleared his mind, as the air from the doorway and the cracks in the walls washed over him, no longer held at bay by his flame. He grunted, grit his teeth, and held out his hand. It took him a moment to summon the flame, the cold already causing him to shiver violently. As soon as it appeared, the cold almost seemed to flee, and he held the flame closer as he warmed again.

"Are you alright?"

Irwin looked up at Greldo, who was sitting next to him with worry on his face. Somehow, the other boy's instant reaction to help him instead of running warmed him as much as his flame did, even letting him ignore some of the pain.

"I'll live," he said, trying to sound tough.

Greldo let out a relieved hiss and set down, staring at the blood running down Irwin's hand.

"We need to wash and bind that," Daubutim said as he looked at Irwin's arm. "If it gets infected, you will die."

Irwin shivered even with his flame, and Greldo let out a snorted laugh. "No mercy," he muttered, staring at Daubutim with a smirk.

"What?" Daubutim asked, confused.

Greldo looked at Irwin and shook his head wistfully.

Irwin couldn't help it, but he grinned, then laughed. The pain was nauseating. Its combination with the stress was playing with his mind, but he held his head back and laughed louder. He felt someone bend something around his arm, and when the thing was pulled tight, the burst of pain stopped his burst of hilarity. Wiping his eyes from both the pain and the laughter, he looked up to see Greldo, Rachel, and Twintin staring at him worriedly. Daubutim was quietly binding his wound, seemingly unperturbed by his turning insane.

"Sorry," Irwin said as he waited for Daubutim to finish. Then he got up and saw Ambraz hover around the remains of the vine.

"No card?" he asked.

"No, but this thing is interesting! There are metal particles in its skin," the Anvil said.

"Shouldn't you be worried about him?" Rachel snapped, pointing at Irwin. "I thought he was your friend?"

"What? Him?" Ambraz stuttered. "Yes, but he'll be fine when the sun comes out."

Irwin blinked, then blinked again, and suddenly grinned. Right! Rapid regeneration!

"Well, I think we should stay here for now," Greldo said. "It's not too hot, we have plenty of water, and there are no plants. It might be better to wait for the morning to continue."

Irwin was surprised he didn't ask what Ambraz meant, and doubly so when Rachel just stared at him, then his hand, and finally moved to a corner with Twintin, huddled close together.

Daubutim moved a little closer to the door to keep watch while Greldo and Irwin inspected the vine. There was no card, the one on the head was nothing more than a fleshy growth that had been greatly damaged by his fire. Finally, they too sat down, and as the night continued and the cold increased, they all began gravitating closer and closer to Irwin until they sat in a circle, huddled around him, shivering even with the warmth of his flame.

Time passed slowly, and as the pain from his arm worsened, he had little trouble staying awake. When he finally saw a dim glow from outside, only Daubutim was still awake, the rest huddled around him, snoring softly.

"After we are done here, you should come with me to my father," Daubutim said. There was a deep crease on his forehead, and Irwin could almost struggle with his words.

Irwin shivered and wrapped his right hand closer around him. "Why? And when do you mean?"

"We close this portal, then go to my father's estate," Daubutim said. "News of him," he pointed at Ambraz, "will somehow get out. People will try to steal him."

"Hah, let them try," Ambraz snapped from his perch on Irwin's bony, thin shoulder.

"And your father won't?" Irwin asked, ignoring the anvil.

Daubutim's eyes widened, and he almost got up. "Never! My father… my father would give up anything to do what he thinks is right…" he looked down at that and sighed. "No. My father and mother would protect you... if…"

"If Ambraz reforges cards for them," Irwin said slowly, realizing what Daubutim wanted. He expected anger, but to his surprise, he only felt weary resignation.

"Yes," Daubutim said shortly. "That way, we can help close stronger portals and prevent great suffering."

"What about the others and the sorcerers?" Irwin asked as he looked at the red glow creeping up from outside.

"The others are welcome," Daubutim stated as if there could be no doubt. "The sorcerers… We need to flee from them?" he sounded confused as he looked at his hands. "I don't know. I am not … good… with these things, not like my brothers. If Dianor was here, he'd know what to say."

Irwin looked at the large boy, shoulders slightly drooping, and felt sorry for him. Not something he'd ever thought he would feel for a noble-born.

"Let's talk about this after we manage to find the Linchpin," he said, really wanting to talk with Greldo and get his opinion.

Daubutim nodded and silently waited until the red almost reached where they were sitting. Then Irwin poked Greldo, who woke with a sucked-in breath and a strangled cry.

"What?"

"Don't worry, it's all okay," Irwin said as he struggled to get up. His shivering had stopped, but he felt a cold sweat on his forehead, and the skin around the mottled, red-stained bandage was dark and puffy. It reminded him of the inflammation his mother had in her foot a year earlier. Not a good sign.

"I need to go outside for a bit," he whispered.

"Alright, I'll come with you," Greldo said, yawning as he got up. "Did you sleep?"

"No," Irwin said as he moved towards the entrance. The vines had left somewhere when the sun came, but shadows covered most of the area beyond the building and around the others he saw. The portal quietly hovered there, and he suddenly felt a strong urge to run in and through. Then he shook it off.

First, let's see how well this greater rapid regeneration thing works, he thought as he stepped out of the building, feeling the temperature rising slightly.