"Ukl ron daghrba!"

Irwin looked at the green Demon, glaring at him, unsure what to do. One of the two was barely conscious, but the other glared at them constantly. A look around showed that the others were staring at him, expecting him to do something. He missed Greldo already.

"It sounds like the languages the sea-portal closing sailors in port speak," Daubutim said.

Sea portals? Irwin thought.

"Can you understand it?" he asked hopefully, deciding Daubutim was getting odder with every passing moment.

Daubutim frowned and poked the chained-up demon, causing it to grunt what was probably a string of curses.

"Something about my mother and a dog," he said, showing no reaction but a slight frown. "Gurgin tar," he grumbled, his tongue stumbling at parts.

There was a moment of stunned silence from both the party and the tied-up green demon, then the demon barked a laugh and rattled off a few quick, guttural sentences.

"What did he say?" Irwin asked.

"I don't know. It's too fast. I asked where it is from... I think. But I have no idea what it replied," Daubutim said.

He grunted something again, and this time, the green demon waited before speaking slowly and carefully. Daubutim nodded and replied.

For the next few minutes, the others watched as he spoke in short, halting words with the tied-up demon. Finally, he nodded and turned to Irwin.

"He says he's an Arwk, or Orkh, or-"

The green demon hissed and shouted, "Orc!"

Daubutim looked at it, then continued. "Orkh," he said, butchering the word. "He was caught during a raid or attack on the Imp city, which they call demon-children. He has no idea about being in a portal, but he knows about them. He wants us to release him so he can return home…"

Irwin saw Daubutim frown.

"What?"

"The sailors learned this language inside the sea-portal," Daubutim said softly. "It's a demon language. He is a demon from a portal."

Great.

Irwin looked at the tied-up Orc. Even dangling from the chains, it was two heads taller and probably four times as heavy as him.

Letting it go seemed like a very bad idea. Besides, even if they released the Orcs now, what good would that-

"Maybe they are the Linchpin?"

Irwin turned to Twintin, her soft whisper having interrupted his thoughts.

"I don't know much about these things, but perhaps…" she turned to Rachel. "Can you tell us what you were told about Linchpins?"

"I don't know much more than I told you already. The sorcerer said that most of the time, they are boss monsters that you need to kill or items like crystal orbs that need to be shattered," Rachel said slowly. "He did tell us that if there were neither, it was sometimes a special card or item that had to be destroyed. But that only happens in uncommon or higher portals."

"Nothing about it being freeing captives?" Irwin asked.

"No," Rachel said.

"Still, it was a good idea," Irwin said as he smiled ruefully at Twintin.

"So, what do we do now?" Olban said as he glared at the Orcs. "We've killed all the Imps in the tunnels and even those in this room, but if not this time, Jonathan will expect more progress when we go in again…"

A moment of silence hung in the room, interrupted by a few snapped words from the Orc.

"He asked that we release them again," Daubutim said.

Irwin took one look at him, then at the others. "I don't think we should."

The others nodded, and when he looked at the Orc again, he saw an angry glint in its eyes. It might not understand him, but it had definitely gotten what he meant.

"Sorry, but you are too dangerous," Irwin muttered before he quickly moved out of the cave. The others followed him while the Orc began shouting and raging behind them.

"What if the Imps hear him?" Olban hissed. "Perhaps we should kill him?"

"Or…" Irwin began as his mind spun. "Or we can use this to our advantage?"

His eyes grew wide as a plan rapidly grew.

"If Imps come and see what he is yelling about, we just kill them, and if it's too many, we stay hidden," he said.

"Yeah! That way, we can just kill them until the cavern is empty," Olban said with a predatory smile on his zit-covered face.

It probably won't be that easy, Irwin thought, but he didn't say that out loud. The others still looked rattled from the previous fight.

"Let's find a good spot to ambush any Imps that come," he said.

They hid in one of the side tunnels and readied themselves. The Orc continued roaring angrily, trying to free himself of the chains. It didn't take long for a group of seven Imps to appear, skulking down the tunnel.

Irwin prepared to ash them, wishing he hadn't released his flame. He'd instinctively dropped it when Greldo had been wounded, and now it had returned to its barely finger-length size. He wondered if they would do as well without his firepower. What if another one of them died?

His worry was ungrounded. The others jumped in with far less fear than he had expected, and with openings aplenty, a minute later, the last of the Imps crumbled into black sooty chunks and his flame was back to its fully charged state. Only Daubutim had been cut on his arm, but it was a surface wound, and they all had some of those by now.

Perhaps Olban is right, and we can keep doing this until the cavern is empty, Irwin thought.

An hour later, they were sitting together, waiting. Another four groups of Imps had come, and they had killed all with little effort, but the last one had been half an hour ago. The Orc had stopped shouting, and Irwin was wondering if they should start themselves. He hoped they didn't have to, as it meant the Imps would better understand where they were.

We should have killed many of the imps by now... right? he thought, gazing at his arm-long flame.

"I wonder how many cards we get if we finish this training portal," he muttered. It was something he'd wondered about before, but it had seemed so unlikely so far.

"One common card for each of us," Rachel said. "Though, it's highly unlikely that we manage in a single day."

"One each?" Olban shouted before covering his mouth with his hands. "Sorry," he whispered.

Everyone glared at him, and Irwin sighed.

"Let's go to another place just in case the Imps heard you."

He led them to the opposite end of the tunnel system from which most of the Imps had seemed to come. Huddled in the tunnel, with Olban keeping an eye on one and Daubutim on the other side, he looked at them.

"Listen, I know it's highly unlikely that we will find the Linchpin," Irwin said. "But we have two more chances after this one… I think we should try to find it."

"I agree," Daubutim rumbled immediately, causing the others to look at him in surprise. Daubutim didn't react to their sudden interest but looked at Irwin. "With more cards, we have a larger chance to survive the eventual portals we will need to close."

"It could also mean that we get captured and tortured to death for a day," Olban said, suddenly pale and shivering.

"I think we should try," Rachel said. "Even if the chance is really small, with another card on each of us…"

Twintin shrank into herself but nodded. "I'll help."

Irwin looked at Olban, who bit his lips before nodding reluctantly. "Fine, but if we get into trouble, I'm running away and hiding for the rest of the day."

Rachel snorted derisively, but Irwin nodded. Whatever Olban had gone through wasn't something he'd want either."

"Okay, but don't run if we are winning," he said with a slight smile.

"So, how should we do this? Just continue shouting and draw their attention?" Olban asked.

"Yes, let's try that for the time being. I think we have been here for about half a day, so we-"

"Eight hours, twelve minutes," Daubutim said dully. When the others looked at him in surprise, he shrugged. "I'm good with time and numbers."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Can you tell us when we have an hour left?" Irwin asked. "That gives us time to rest and clear out as many Imps as possible while leaving time to investigate the central room."

Daubutim nodded.

"Alright, let's continue then. Who is going to shout to draw them in," Irwin asked.

Nobody responded, and Olban looked at him as if he was stupid.

"Fine… I'll do it," Irwin said, barely able to hold back his annoyance.

--

Irwin lay on his back, looking at the tunnel roof. He was dead-tired, and his back hurt like crazy from being kicked by an Imp, but they were still alive.

The Imps had initially come in groups of four to ten, but their groups had grown in numbers after a while. Eventually, they had to flee, hiding in the tunnels for two hours while a patrol of nearly thirty Imps searched for them.

When they finally stopped, a few remained near the entrances, probably as some form of warning system.

"So… we barely scratched their numbers," Olban said from the side, his voice grating on Irwin's calm.

"Daubutim, how much time do we have left?" Irwin asked, ignoring Olban.

"Two hours and forty minutes," Daubutim said dully.

He's like those clocks in the crafter's district, Irwin thought.

"We need another plan," he said.

He'd tried to come up with something, but between being tired and hungry, he'd drawn a blank. He wished Greldo was here, if only to keep everyone a bit more upbeat. Perhaps they should just give up on this run and try again next time. They should have made a lot of progress.

"Let's just rest until the next run," Rachel said, echoing his thoughts. "If we keep going and return all tired, we will have to rest when we enter again. That would waste time we could use to kill Imps."

There was a mutter of agreement, and deciding he agreed, Irwin leaned back and closed his eyes.

He must have fallen asleep because he woke as he fell through the air and landed on the tiled floor of the tower.

"Much better," Jonathan said, grinning at them from the side. "If you keep this up, you might be picked by Mouldir!"

Irwin flinched. Was that even what they wanted? It wasn't... right? He slowly got up and moved to Greldo, who was sitting at his customary spot against the wall.

"How far did you get?"

"Cleared the tunnels and tried to clear as many of those Imps in that central cavern."

Greldo's eyes widened, and he nodded. "And those green things?"

"Orcs, apparently, and Daubutim can speak their language a little," Irwin said.

Greldo looked at Daubutim, who was sitting a few feet away.

"Weird."

"Yeah."

Irwin noticed that Jonathan was looking at him intently, and he faked resting, closing his eyes as he lay back. When Jonathan forced them back in, Irwin and Greldo were the first to enter. As soon as they were back in the small cave, Greldo turned around.

"You got really far," he said, sounding excited. "I was out almost a minute before you and saw the symbol fill in. You cleared the training room halfway!"

The others appeared behind them, catching most of what Greldo said.

"That's incredible," Rachel said excitedly. "We… my previous group, we only got to a tenth of clearing it."

"That means we have a chance," Irwin said as he suddenly felt a hunger to continue. They could get more cards if they cleared it and found the Linchpin!

"Let's go and clear these tunnels," he said, grinning at the others.

Roughly three hours later, according to Daubutim, they looked at the three Orcs in the room. They had gone so fast that the Imps had only managed to kill and deposit half of their playthings.

"He knows nothing else," Daubutim said as he returned. "But he wants to be let free."

"What if we release them and have them help us kill those Imps," Greldo asked, focusing on Irwin.

"I don't think we should. Look at how they stare at us… almost as if we are prey," Rachel whispered before Irwin could respond. He agreed with her, though.

"Let's keep that for if we don't manage by ourselves," he said. "We have one more shot after this…"

"Do you think Jonathan is going to force the rest of us back in here if you two can't join?" Twintin asked, holding Rachels' hand.

"Yes, definitely," Greldo said. "Don't even think he won't."

"But-" Twintin began, her face pale.

"It's fine. We can do this without Irwin," Olban said, puffing out his chest. "We just have to draw in smaller groups."

Irwin didn't say anything, but he didn't think they would have any chance.

The others didn't seem as certain either, and as they walked towards their next goal, Greldo moved up beside him. The Orcs were shouting behind them, three strong this time, and he wondered if that meant more Imps would come.

"What do we do when they are back in?" Greldo whispered.

Irwin shrugged. "Rest?"

"You think we have a chance?"

Irwin wanted to say yes right away, then thought about it, recalling the size of the main cavern. Even with all of the Imps in the tunnels, and a lot of them from the city, they had only cleared half of them in their previous attempt.

"Maybe," he finally said. "But we definitely have to try!"

With three Orcs shouting, they didn't have to wait as long for the Imps to come and investigate. They were able to kill seven groups before the Orcs stopped shouting. After that, Irwin and Greldo took turns calling near the entrances, luring in another eight groups. Everything seemed to be going well until Greldo went for another group but ran back immediately.

"We've got trouble," he whispered, beckoning to follow him. A few moments later, they were taking turns looking around the corner at a large group of Imps amassing on the other side of the bridge.

"I think we pushed them too far," Greldo whispered. "There's over a hundred there, most of those that remain if I counted right."

"Let's hide until they go back," Olban whispered. He was fidgeting at the back of the group, his hand covered in a thick, gleaming coat of gunk that was the effect of his card.

There was a round of agreement, and everyone quickly moved back into the bloomy tunnel system.

When they reached the next intersection, Twintin muttered something.

"What?" Greldo said as he turned, eyes widening.

"Why don't we release the Orcs," Twintin said, looking at the ground as if fearing too much attention. "If we wait until the Imps are almost there, the Imps will go and kill them first… Then we double back and enter their city to find the Linchpin."

"And be killed like rats when they return," Olban hissed, pale and sweating.

It's not a bad idea, Irwin thought as he stopped walking. Even if only to give them time to find the Linchpin. Even if the others didn't find it, he had the idea that they would likely need to enter again in two weeks for more training.

"You can't seriously be thinking of going there," Olban whispered, staring at him.

"It's a good idea," Greldo said before Irwin could, nodding slowly. "It will give us a chance to search for the Linchpin."

"What if it's one of the Imps that just came here," Olban snapped. "Whatever… I'm not going there! If they capture us, they…" he shivered and fell quiet.

"I'll come," Twintin said, and Irwin smiled at her gratefully. Then again, it had been her plan.

"I think it's too dangerous," Daubutim muttered, causing Olban to look up with a grin. "But I'll come too."

Olban wilted, and Rachel just shrugged when Irwin looked at her. "Let's find that Linchpin," she said.

"I don't think we have to release the Orcs," Greldo said. "All we have to do is get them to shout again. That cave is all the way at the other side of the tunnel system, and I think it's a better idea not to run back here."

"I can do it," Twintin whispered, her face turning pale. "I'm the fastest and quietest."

Irwin was about to ask her if she was sure, then swallowed the words. Of course she wasn't. Who would be?

"Alright, just go to them and throw a rock or something," Greldo said. "We will wait at the nearest entrance."

Twintin looked at them, then dashed into the tunnels.

I hope she will be fine, Irwin thought before sneaking away through the tunnels. They had to double back twice, as the Imps had entered behind them and spread out, but after a precarious moment inside a dead-end tunnel, they reached the end of the tunnel that led out into the central cavern.

"They aren't shouting yet," Rachel whispered.

She'd constantly been looking over her shoulder, and Irwin had almost thought she would double back on several occasions.

"She will be fine," he whispered, ignoring Rachel's glare.

"What do we do if she's caught?" Greldo whispered.

"What does it matter?" Olban hissed. "She will just be back after we return."

"After being tortured," Rachel snapped back.

"It was her own idea," Olban muttered, but even he didn't seem to buy his own words.

A minute later, the Orcs began roaring and shouting, and the sounds of battle echoed through the tunnel system.

"Did she free them?" Olban asked, getting no response.

I hope she's fine, Irwin thought as he suddenly and vividly recalled the times he'd been killed by the Imps.

Ten minutes later, he was about to tell them they were going to search for Twintin when she showed up. She was breathing heavily, blood streaming from a bruised cut on her head, but she was smiling widely.

"The Orcs didn't hurt me," she whispered as soon as she saw them, smiling. "They even helped me get away when four of the Imps blocked a passage! They are really strong."

"Strong enough to win?" Irwin asked as he got another idea.

"Not that strong," Twintin said as she wilted. "I think they are going to die fighting..."

"Then we are wasting time," Greldo said. "Let's go. The Imps won't be there for a long time."

Everyone hesitated, looking at the bridge beyond the tunnel's safety, and then Irwin stepped forward.

I'm the weakest one. Why do I keep going first? he thought before shoving his worry away. There was no sense complaining now.

As he stepped onto the bridge, he felt incredibly exposed, walking out into the open and away from the tunnels that he felt had been his whole life for months. He knew it wasn't that long, but it felt like that for some reason.

The shuffling footsteps from behind told him the others were at least following him, but he kept his eyes forward, looking for any signal of Imps. He saw a few movements, but there wasn't any shouting yet, and he hoped those that remained didn't expect anyone to actually go towards them.

The bridge ended on a massive, rocky outcrop that sat like a pustule on the side of the stone pillar. Smaller, crumbling ledges and bridges hung between them, and dozens of large buildings were suspended from the sides.

As he closed in, Irwin saw odd scratch marks and tiny symbols etched in some parts.

Did someone carve this entire thing from the rock?

He snuck across the small open area before the nearest entrance.

"Let's go and search through the buildings," he said.

"Are you stupid?" Olban hissed back. "Anything worth holding will be in the most guarded building!" He pointed up at a building with a single path a hundred feet above them that hung partially between two of the pillars. "If there's anything here, it will be there!"

Irwin gritted his teeth at the other. He'd barely wanted to come, and now he was calling him stupid?

"Calm down, he's right," Greldo whispered.

Irwin took a quick, deep breath to release the tension and fear building up. He had known what to do in the tunnels, but here?

"Okay, this way," he said, moving along the building toward the nearest way up.

"No, that won't get us there," Olban whispered loudly. "That would lead us away from where we want to go. We need to go there!" He pointed at a path that seemed to go away from the tower they needed to reach, but as Irwin was about to say so, his gaze followed the path and noticed it curved around the chaotic paths above to eventually lead to a platform next to the bridge and the building.

How did he see this so fast? he thought before deciding it didn't matter.

"Alright, fine," he said, staring at Olban, who blinked and paled. "Lead us there. You seem to know how to get there, so go!"

Olban swallowed, looked at the others all staring at him, then puffed out his chest weakly.

"Right, follow me."