“I can show you,” Mitch said, hopping up. “It’s over here.” He led the way across the gorge to an area where the rock wall curved backwards in a wide arc. The dirt was shallow here, and Koradan could see the remains of a wooden support that had been built over the shaft. Two of the beams had been split by falling rocks.
It looked like there had been a wooden hatch over the shaft at one point, though it had now been crushed, and Koradan grabbed the pieces and tossed them aside. Ferns had overgrown, covering part of the opening, so he ripped those away as well. Then he peered downwards, into the gloomy black. “Hard to say either way,” he said eventually. “It’s too dark down there to see what’s happening.” He leaned closer. “Hello!” he shouted down into the shaft, then listened carefully to see if he could hear anything. There was no reply.
“Can anyone hear me?” he tried again. Still nothing.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything one way or the other,” Mitch said, perhaps making an attempt at being optimistic. “If the shaft has partially collapsed, they might not be able to hear us.”
“Is the shaft this wide all the way down?” Koradan asked. At the surface, it was a little over a metre wide – more than big enough for a human to fit inside.
“It narrows a little near the bottom, but it’s big enough,” Mitch said. “Or, at least, it was before the earthquake. We used it to lower buckets of supplies into the mine. Just food or water, or a new pick, if someone’s broke. Much quicker than the men traipsing all the way back up the tunnels.”
Koradan nodded. “All right. Paul and I should get back to Varismont. I’ll tell them what you’ve told me, and we can start planning how to rescue everyone else. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming we should start with the men in the main tunnel?” They would be easier to reach, at the same time as there being a greater chance that some of them had survived.
“That’s right,” Mitch said. “So, um… we just stay here for now, I guess?”
“For now. But we’re doing everything we can to clear the road, and I’ll be back with more food and water as soon as possible.”
“Do you want us to start clearing the rocks from the entrance?”
“Probably better if you didn’t,” Koradan said. “The entrance is still unstable and I don’t want anyone getting crushed if any of that rubble comes loose. But if you want to do something useful, gather as many planks as you have available. And ropes, nails, hammers… whatever you’d use to build supports within the mine. Once my men get up here, we’ll start clearing a way through into the main tunnel, and we’re going to need to be able to reinforce the roof to stop anything else coming down on us.”
“Got it,” Mitch said.
“We should get going,” Koradan said to Paul and Ashd.
“I could stay here,” Paul said. “I could help get the supplies ready.”
“And if I go back to the village without you, your mother is going to gut me with a broom handle, and then the chances of us rescuing anyone else become a lot slimmer,” Koradan said, only half joking.
Paul sighed, clearly unhappy with being dragged away from the main action again. “It’s not that bad,” Koradan said sympathetically. “We’ll be back here before you know it.”
“Yeah, but… I’m not a child,” Paul said – probably a sentiment he’d expressed many times before.
“I know,” Koradan said. “And I’d hazard a guess that by the end of all this, your mother will see that. But for now, I need you to come with me.”
CHAPTER NINE
Lynette watched as Koradan’s vreki soared over the village, his black wings stretched out like leathery sails. They were nothing like birds’ wings, she thought, with their smooth contours and sleek feathers. A vreki’s wings were rough, knobbly things, well suited to demons who had somehow escaped from hell and beguiled an entire village into catering to their whims. Ashd swung to the right, sweeping over the tops of the houses, and Lynette caught a glimmer of blue in the vreki’s sleek, black scales as the sunlight glinted off them. Odd, how a creature so fearsome could also be beautiful.
No, they were not beautiful, she scolded herself. They were beastly, demonic things, and the sooner they’d finished their job and got the hell out of the village, the better.
Still seething with rage at Koradan for having taken her son up the mountain, she strode towards the western edge of the village, knowing that Paul and Koradan would have to come back this way. Then she waited, where the neat gardens of the village gave way to the bushier scrub that led up to the mountain, arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. Soon enough, she saw the pair of them coming, Koradan marching along like the soldier he was, Paul flitting about and waving his arms as he recounted some story or other. She loved her son from the bottom of her heart, but right now, the sight of him just fuelled her already furious waves of anger.
“Lynette,” Koradan said, as they arrived at the village entrance. “I was hoping to speak to you. And before you ask, Paul is safe and… Fucking hell!” He darted backwards as Lynette picked up the fire poker she’d brought with her and swung it at Koradan’s head.
“You fuckingasshole!” she shouted, taking another swing. Koradan dodged that one as well, but with no weapon of his own, he was clearly on the back foot. “I told you I would kill you if you took Paul up that mountain, and by the gods, I. Will. Kill. You.” Each word was accompanied by another vicious swipe.
Koradan darted backwards, looking around frantically for some kind of weapon. But he wasn’t likely to find one here, Lynette thought smugly, with nothing more available than the villagers had used to try and defend themselves last night.
Koradan grabbed a broom from outside the nearest house and used it like a makeshift polearm, deflecting her blows. Fuck, he was strong, Lynette thought, feeling her poker vibrate as it struck Koradan’s broom. Even with just a wooden shaft, she could feel it all the way to her elbows. What the hell would he be like with a sword in his hands?
Off to the side, Paul was yelling at her, asking if she’d lost her gods-damned mind, but she ignored him. If she had her way, he’d be locked in the house until he was fifty as punishment for running off like that.
“You come tomyfucking home and think you can ask formyfucking help, and then run off with my son? If I have to chase you all the way back to hellon footthen I will do it, youmotherfucking son of a bitch!” Even in her rage, Lynette was aware that Koradan wasn’t fighting back. He was blocking her blows, with all the speed and skill of a seasoned warrior – and if anyone should know what that looked like, then she should – but he wasn’t even attempting to hit her back. And somehow, the knowledge that he was merely toying with her drove her anger even higher.
Finally, Lynette had to pause. Sweat was dripping off her, her arms aching, her breath coming in ragged puffs. She let the poker drop, bending over to catch her breath. “I hate you,” she growled at the demon, enraged all over again by the way he was obviously trying not to laugh at her. “What’s so fucking funny?”
Koradan dipped his head in a meek sort of gesture. “You remind me a great deal of my brother’s wife. She was a courageous woman, deeply devoted to her family.” His eyes grew sadder. “She was killed when a group of ragions attacked the palace. She stood between them and her children for an entire half an hour before they finally killed her. She would have liked you. Your courage is admirable.”
