Irwin's Journey chapter 6: Ragtag group (Patreon)

"Irwin, wake up!"

Irwin groaned, trying to turn and pull his blanket further across his shoulder. It didn't seem to budge, almost as if someone was holding it.

"A little longer," he moaned, feeling the aching muscles and knowing that if he fully woke, he'd be in for a bad time.

"No, you need to wake up! We need to group up, or we will be in trouble!'

Group up? Irwin thought sluggishly. Group up for what? Was it a sports day?

The sorcerer! With a jolt he moved forward, knocking his head against Greldo's, who had been bent over him.

"Ugh, careful!" Greldo hissed, rubbing his head.

Irwin ignored him. Where was that bearded warrior? Had he carried him to the towers?

"Where are we?" he muttered, looking around.

A wooden ceiling rose twenty feet above him, and long glowing poles pointed down in odd jumbled directions. Looking around, he saw he was in a massive hallway with two enormous arches on one end, the doors in them closing. He barely saw the dark mountains behind them before they shut with a dull thud.

Right, he thought as he looked around.

Hundreds of children sat, stood, or huddled together in the room. He saw the familiar faces of the children from Malorin talking with a group of what looked like nobles. The rest of the children were looking around awkwardly, some moving to others and starting up a conversation.

"In the common tower, or the Initiates Tower as they call it. But we don't have time for this! We need to find others to group with, preferably strong ones, or we will never survive," Greldo said as he pulled Irwin up.

Irwin's legs had barely any power, and he wobbled, almost dropping back down.

"Stop that, you have to stay standing, or nobody will want to group with you," Greldo whispered, looking at him with wide, worried eyes. "We need to look stronger than we are, or we will be in deep trouble!"

It's not that easy, Irwin thought angrily, his body feeling like a mass of pain.

He struggled to remain on his feet and finally found his balance. His body was screaming at him that he'd done it wrong, and he almost felt tears well in his eyes from the way his feet burned. He probably had blisters everywhere. It took all his flagging willpower to push the tears back and look around. Greldo was right. They would need a group.

"Look for those that are standing alone," Greldo whispered. "Everyone with eyes can see we aren't top picks, so we need to find those who have little choice."

Together they looked around the hallway, quickly finding those who stood out as they did. Most were weak and sickly, but not all. A tall, pale-skinned, teal-haired girl with a nasty scar across her cheek that looked like she'd been scratched in the face was glaring at anyone that dared come too close. Not too far from her stood a boy already taller than most men, only the youth in his face and lack of a beard showing he wasn't. He had a dull, dimwitted look on his face and seemed unable to process what was going on.

"The big one first?" Irwin said as he turned to Greldo. His friend seemed to be doing much better than him, seeming almost enthusiastic about everything that was going on.

"Good idea," Greldo said, pulling Irwin with him towards the tall boy.

"Hi," Greldo said to get the boy's attention, and the other blinked.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice slurred.

"I can see you are having a bit of trouble with what is going on," Greldo said, waving around, and the boy instantly nodded vigorously.

"It's confusing. Mum's gone. She said, go with the carded man- now he is gone. What should we do?"

Irwin and Greldo shared a look before Greldo continued.

"We need to create groups so we can go into the portals. We both have cards and are looking for four more. Do you want to join us?"

The big boy's shoulders slumped. "I don't have a card… the carded man said I'd get one here, but I think he was lying."

"I don't think he was," Irwin said. "But it might only happen after we group up. Do you want to join our group and find the other three?"

The boy shook his head, and Irwin felt his hope waver that the boy would join.

"Mother says I can't follow strangers."

"I am Greldo, and this is Irwin," Greldo said hurriedly, reaching out his hand.

The boy looked at it before shaking it incredibly carefully as if he feared breaking it.

"Daubutim Coulwoater," the boy said, his voice suddenly sharp, steady, and rehearsed, as if he'd said it a million times in a row.

If not for his dull look, Irwin would have thought he had been tricking them into thinking he was stupid.

"Now we know each other and are no longer strangers," Greldo said, nodding sagely. "So, we can group together, Daub."

Daubutim blinked, then slowly nodded as a dull smile came to his face. "Alright," he said. "How did you know people call me Daub? Are you a sorcerer too?"

Only Irwin's painful body stopped him from laughing at the look Greldo had, and he nodded. "Well, we all are now, aren't we? That's why we are here."

"Technically, not yet," a thin voice chimed.

Irwin looked to the side where a girl even smaller than him stood. If not for her sharp eyes, he'd have thought her to be barely eight.

"I'm Twintin, and I want to join the group to," she said energetically. "I've got a card!" She waved the back of her hand at them so fast that Irwin had no idea what it was.

He shared another look with Greldo, who shrugged, for some reason letting him decide.

"Alright," he said, though he wondered what she was going to do. He had thought he would have been the physically weakest, and he'd have to rely on the others, but now? Now there was someone who seemed even weaker than him.

"Okay, so two more," Greldo said. Irwin could see his friend was happy, probably due to how fast they had found two others.

Two bad that one is too stupid to hold a sword, and the other too weak, he thought, wondering how they were ever going to survive a portal.

He followed the other three, more than happy to let Greldo take the lead as they moved around the ground.

Ten minutes later, they had found a fifth. Olban, a fat boy with zits across his face with a voice so shrill, it hurt the ears. Still, he had a body-enhancing card and one fit for fighting. Oddly was probably the most equipped to enter the portals. All around them, groups of children had begun moving to the other side of the hall, where a few adults, probably sorcerers, were watching the proceedings.

"No."

"You can't stay alone," Greldo said, looking at the scar-faced teal-haired girl with a frown. "We are supposed to group together and-"

"I don't care," the girl snapped. "I don't want to go with other people. I'll do it by myself!"

Irwin gazed at the girl who was glaring at them and finally shrugged. "Let's just go, Grel. She doesn't want to come-"

"So! It seems you've all finally finished gathering," an exceptionally loud and annoyed-sounding man blared from the other side of the room.

One of the two sorcerers, a brawny man with two long handles swords that sat in scabbards along his shins, stomped forward. His arms were beyond normally long, and he had one hand on the pommel of one of his swords. He waved around and growled.

The other sorcerer, holding a long quarterstaff, jogged after him, whispering something.

"No! No more waiting! I'm done with waiting! A dozen common portals changed to uncommon yesterday, and twice as many are going to change today," he snapped at the other. "If this continues, the both of us will be over our ears in very rare portals by the end of the week!"

The other sorcerer shrugged and followed the louder one to the center of the room.

"Beyond that door is a hallway with stairs leading to rooms that hold up to six people! Each has a symbol on the door. Go there and bring your gear if you have any! There's bedding for those who need it. You have one hour to yourself, then a two- three- or four-carded will come to pick you up, depending on the number of cards you already have. For those with two cards or more… don't get cocky! You were all chosen because you have only common cards, and the people getting you will have uncommon or better! Don't piss them off, or they are allowed to put you in your place!" At this he glared at the nobles, who made up over half the group. "Got it?"

There was a soft muttered but halfhearted consent, but it seemed enough for the sorcerer.

"Good. I'm Mouldir, the master of this tower. For as long as you don't have uncommon cards, you will be here. As soon as you get one, you will be recognized as sorcerers and moved to the second tower. Don't expect that to happen anytime soon, though. Most people never find an uncommon because they only rarely drop in common portals. Now, this tower is called The Card Grinder… I don't feel like explaining why to those too stupid to understand it by its name. Let's just say that if you want to be one of those that survive till they find five cards, you must train, train, train. If you don't?" Mouldir slit his finger across his throat with a nasty smirk. Then he turned around and stomped away, waving his hand at the door. "Get to your rooms, punks."

"Are all these sorcerers this angry," Greldo whispered.

"I hope not," Irwin replied.

"I'm not going with you," the girl snapped suddenly. "I don't care what that- that… sorcerer said!" With a glare at Greldo as if she held him accountable, she moved through the room to the door.

"Just let her go. Let's get a room before we end up with nothing," Irwin quickly said as he looked around.

"We had better," Olban said as he scratched open a zit on his chin, wiping what came out on his pants.

Irwin shuddered as he moved towards the door. He walked like an old man, his legs barely able to hold him, and he was glad when Greldo moved closer, putting an arm below his elbow to help him along.

"Are you two already like that?" Olban asked as his eyes widened while he licked his lips.

"Like what?" Irwin asked as he gazed at the boy, already regretting having him on their team.

"You know," Olban said as he made an odd gesture with his fingers. "That!"

Greldo shook his head, his ears getting red, showing he had at least some idea what Olban meant. "No, we are just friends. Now let's go before we…" he fell quiet as a group of five nobles and Clarish moved past them, shoving past the group ahead of them. A tall, blond boy was about to say something when his gaze landed on the apparent leader, and he froze. The group hadn't even noticed, and as they walked away, the boy's shoulders slumped.

"I guess those are the top dogs," Olban said, way too loud.

The blond boy turned and gritted his teeth as his eyes landed on Olban.

"That's Gailrich Daybrin, youngest son of the warden of Graimarin, largest of the remaining cities. Don't anger him. He is not known for his humor," he said before turning.

"Well, that sounds like a fantastic person to keep far, far away from," Olban said as he grinned widely at Irwin.

Irwin couldn't agree more, and despite his appearance, he found himself liking the zit-faced boy. He, to, had no interest in getting on anyone's bad side, let alone something worse than a normal noble.

The group moved through the building, and Irwin looked around in wonder. The hallways were far wider than what he was used to, the ceilings probably ten feet tall or more. As small as he knew he was, he felt even smaller as he walked through them, and when they reached the massive room with dozens of stairs leading up to the different levels, he shared a look with Greldo.

"Makes you feel small, doesn't it," Olban said, seemingly uncaring about the looks he got.

"Not really," Daubutim said dully as he looked around. "It looks like the castle back home, although not as nice."

What? Irwin thought as he looked up at the tall boy shambling beside him. He was one, almost one and a half heads taller than him, and gazing around dully, seeming unimpressed. Where is he from if he thinks this is normal?

"Let's go here, "Greldo said, heading towards the far-right staircase that led up to one of the middle floors.

Irwin groaned as he saw the many steps, his legs already burning painfully.

I hope we at least have nice beds, he thought.

After a few minutes of stair climbing and moving through two hallways, they stood before a room with its door open. A symbol of two carrots sat above the door frame, etched in the stone.

So big, Irwin thought, while Greldo whistled.

The room was four times as big as the living back home, and there were three beds on both sides. A table with six chairs and a small fireplace with what looked like a teapot hanging above it.

"Ugh, it's worse than our summer cabin," Daubutim muttered as he walked inside, then he moved to the left and took the first bed.

Irwin looked at him dumbly.

"Maybe he's a noble?" Greldo whispered from the side before pulling him along to the other two beds on the left. Irwin followed dutifully, taking the furthest bed. It was longer than his cot and wider, and the blankets seemed thick and soft.

"No," a voice snapped from the other side of the room.

He looked up and found Olban standing before the middle bed while Twintin was wagging a finger at him and pointing at the bed closest to the door. "You don't get the bed beside me. Go over there!"

"But-" Oblan began, his whiny voice going up in pitch.

"No! You smell bad, and I don't want you to be the first thing I see when I wake up," Twintin said, stomping her foot.

"Just do what she says," Greldo snapped from where he lay on his bed, arms behind his head. "I want to rest a bit before we have to go back."

"Fine," Oblan said as he walked back, shaking his head.

Irwin sighed as he lay down on his bed, marveling at how soft it and the blankets were.

"Can someone get the fireplace going?" Twintin asked.

Oh no, Irwin thought as he felt his body tremble at the prospect of getting up. Then Greldo's voice shattered his hope that someone would offer to do it the normal way. "Irwin?"

For a moment, he wondered if he could pretend to be sleeping, then Twintin chimed in. "Please? It's cold here."

No it's not, Irwin thought, but he got up with a groan. As he swung his rebelling legs over the edge of the bed, he hesitated to put his weight on his feet. He should probably pull off his boots soon and look at the damage. Gritting his teeth, he got up, feeling like he had rocks in his boots.

Twintin was staring at him from the opposite bed, huddled below the blankets with her clothes on apparently, and staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. Daubutim was lying on his bed, eyes already closed, and Oblan was picking at the zits on his face again. Greldo gave him a big thumbs-up before closing his eyes with a content smile.

"Fine," Irwin muttered.

Wasn't Greldo supposed to be his friend? Annoyed he moved towards the fireplace and saw there was already wood and kindling ready. It took barely any focus to get the flame to appear above his finger, and he held it at the kindling, which instantly ignited. Within a moment, the bigger wood was also burning -much faster than it should, from what he knew- and he waited for a few moments for his hands to warm. Then he turned around to see Oblan and Twintin staring at him with wide-open eyes.

"You have a fire card?" Oblan asked, licking his lips. "That's awesome! Is it Fire Dart? I've heard of that one but never seen it! Can you throw it?"

Irwin was about to say he couldn't, then blinked and blinked again.

"I don't know. Never tried," he said, looking at his finger.

If it's not a common card… what can it do? he thought as he held back the desire to try it right then and there.