“Hello! Can you hear me! We’re in here!”
The sound was coming through crisp and clear, and Koradan held his lantern up, trying to see where there might be a gap in the rubble. “Over here,” the voice called again, and Koradan heard a rock skitter down, far over on the left side. He headed over…
“I see someone’s hand!” Paul yelped. He darted over, tossing a few rocks out of the way, then he was grasping the man’s hand. “Hey, it’s Paul. Lynette’s son. Who’s in there?”
“Paul? Oh, thank the gods. I’m Joen. And we’ve got Rex, and Ace, and…” He rattled off a list of names, and Koradan was shocked and exhilarated to learn that there were eight men, all alive and well.
“Are you hurt? Is anyone injured?”
“There’s a few injuries, yeah,” Joen said. “Happened when the ceiling came down. Ace has a nasty gash on his face where he got hit with a rock. And a boulder landed on Fen’s foot and we think it’s broken. He can’t walk on it. And Rex broke his finger. But what we need most right now is water. Gods, we need water. We haven’t had any in… How long have we been down here?”
“It’s been a little over twenty-four hours,” Koradan told them. “It’s late afternoon, the day after the earthquake.”
“Wow. It feels like longer.”
“We need to head back to the surface,” Koradan said, “but we’ll be back very soon. I’ll get some water and some men to come and clear this rubble.”
“Thank you. Wait… Who are you?”
“My name is Koradan. I have four men with me. We’re soldiers who were in the area.” He deliberately kept the details to a minimum, not knowing how his true identity would affect the men on the other side of the wall. For the moment, they probably had enough things to worry about without adding demons to the list.
“Well, thank you. I’m sure there’ll be a fine reward for you for getting us out. Oh, and when you come back, bring some lantern oil,” Joen said. “Ours all ran out hours ago. It’s pitch black back here.”
“I’ll bring some down,” Koradan said. “Sit tight. We won’t be long.”
He led Paul back up the tunnel, holding back the urge to scold him for running off. It had been a foolhardy thing to do, but with the discovery of not one but eight survivors, he was fairly sure the reprimand would fall on deaf ears.
They both squeezed back through the low gap, Paul going first, then they picked their way along the low passage back towards the entrance. But just as the first hint of daylight appeared around the last corner, Koradan heard an ominous creaking sound. “Stop. Shit, what was that?” He grabbed Paul, pulling him to a halt. He lifted his lantern, looking around carefully.
A low, rumbling sound filled the tunnel. Unfortunately, Koradan wasn’t familiar enough with caves and mines to be able to tell just how big a problem the sound meant. Still, they’d been careful to fit supports along the newly excavated passage every few feet, so it shouldn’t be-
“Look out!” A shower of dust tumbled down from the ceiling, and Koradan shoved Paul out of the way, both of them landing on their knees in the cramped space. A crack appeared in the ceiling, in between two support beams, and Koradan hung back, debating whether to wait and see if the rocks settled, or make a run for it. If the ceiling came down, they could either be trapped on the wrong side, or risk being hit if they were underneath it at the time.
“Uh… Koradan!” He looked around seeing Paul’s wide eyed look at he stared at the ceiling. The crack was getting longer, and it was extending backwards, down into the tunnel.
“Move!” Koradan yelled, scuttling forward and dragging Paul with him. Moving quickly when they were both bent double was almost impossible.
“There’s more dust coming down up ahead,” Paul called, and Koradan saw that it was true. One of the support beams groaned and shifted, then the middle of it sagged as a slab of rock detached itself from the ceiling. The beam wasn’t going to hold.
Without a second thought, Koradan rushed forward and jammed his shoulders underneath the beam. “Move. Get past me,” he ordered Paul, already feeling the weight of the rocks bearing down on him.
“No, I’m not going to-”
“Get out of here,” Koradan snarled. A loud, cracking sound came from the beam. Paul dived past him, sliding on his knees, then scurrying along on all fours. Okay, he was out of the way. Now Koradan just had to figure out how to get out of here without the whole ceiling coming down on top of him. If he moved from beneath the beam, it could collapse. If he stayed here and more rocks came down, he wouldn’t be able to hold them all. Outside, he heard Paul yelling for help. Perhaps he should just wait another minute or so until backup arrived…
A sharp snap echoed through the narrow tunnel. Koradan felt the rocks above him shift. Then suddenly, his knees hit the ground below him, something hard struck his head, and he blacked out.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Koradan could hear shouting.
He tried to take a breath and found it nearly impossible. His chest was being crushed by something. He could manage to take small, rapid gasps, but it felt like half his body was being slowly flattened by a great weight.
Where was he? Why was it dark? He blinked, hoping to clear the fog from his eyes, but it had no effect.
A firm but gentle force pushed at his mind.Alive?Ashd demanded.
I think so. Can’t breathe. Something heavy on me.
