Chapter 11: Rinse and repeat
Consciousness returned slowly to Irwin, starting with a rock poking in his shoulder and a slight pain in his back from how he lay, half propped up. Something was wrong. He'd slept! And not just for a few minutes or even an hour.
His mind cleared up, and despite the fact that he'd been lying on the rough ground, he felt much better than before. Not great by any means, but better. Besides the pain in his back and soreness in his arms and legs, his lips were parched. He should probably be afraid and worried about Imps, but the calm, whispering voices nearby showed nothing was wrong.
The faint sulfurous stink of Imps still hung everywhere, so they were still inside, and he considered getting up. Then the conversation registered, and he pretended to be asleep a little longer.
"No, I told you five minutes ago, let him sleep until he wakes. As long as no Imps come, we are fine here. There is no reason to rush this."
Greldo sounds exasperated, Irwin thought, curious to see who had asked. He tried to recall, but he hadn't been paying attention before.
"How can he even sleep in this horrible heat? He's even lying a few feet from one of those stupid cracks! Are we sure he isn't, like, unconscious?" Olban replied, sounding annoyed.
"I checked an hour ago, and he was fine. A bit hot, but that's no surprise," Twintin whispered.
Wait, she touched me while I slept? Irwin thought.
He must have been exhausted or perhaps partially unconscious? Usually, he would wake up if someone even entered his room, let alone touched him.
"But… we've been here for a really long time," Olban whined again, his whispered voice rising and falling. "Just because those Imps didn't come when he said, doesn't mean they won't come soon! We need to plan what to do, someplace to hide!"
There was no response, but Irwin didn't move. He had no good answer, but he agreed, though not with the hiding part. He thought about what Lady Yrinta had said. If they showed they had reached their limit, they were to be sent back to their room. Though trying to kill more imps and search for the Linchpin was one way of dying, finding a place to hide this time and after that another five or six times was barely any less dangerous.
As he let his mind wander, he felt the memories of dying trying to resurface and draw him in. He quickly pushed them down, not interested in spending whatever little time he had to deal with those now.