“If we want to just run off and live like hermits in the mountains, then I’d agree with you,” Koradan said, putting years of practice to good use at maintaining his patience. “But if we want to forge some kind of alliance with the humans, then we’re going to have to go above and beyond. Hey, heads up,” he said, seeing movement at the entrance to the mine. “Looks like we’ve got some progress.”
“Hey!” Best shouted from nearby, seeing Joen and Alti emerge from the mine. “Ho, everybody, we’ve got survivors!” A dozen or more people rushed over, including Charrice, Joen’s wife. She threw herself at him, and he returned her hug fiercely. When he pulled back to look at her, there were tears in his eyes.
“Raul, Vin, get over here,” Alti ordered. “There are more men coming out. We need a hand inside.”
Over the next half an hour, a slow trickle of men emerged from the mine. Ace, with a new, clean bandage on his face, courtesy of Lynette. Fen was carried or dragged out through the various parts of the passage, kissing Morgan fervently as he lay on the ground, a splint on his broken foot. The others were more or less unharmed, but all displayed an equal gratitude for once again being out in daylight – and a predictable wariness as they regarded the salases, standing off to the side.
No one seemed to quite know what to do about them, the apprehension of the freed miners reminding the rest of the villagers just how strange and daunting it was to be working with ‘demons’. Finally, the last of the rescuers crawled out of the mine, Lynette and Mitch coming last of all. They both noticed the strange standoff at the same time, and Lynette turned to Mitch and muttered a few words. Mitch nodded in reply, and Koradan wondered what they were saying.
But he didn’t have to wait long to find out. “I believe a few introductions are in order,” Mitch called loudly, waving his hands to get people to gather around. “And we now have eight more of our men returned to us, so can we have a round of applause for our guests and rescuers, the salases and their vreki!” He clapped his hands together eagerly, not waiting to see if anyone else joined in. Lynette did, almost immediately, and then Paul let out a cheer. He’d arrived sometime in the last half an hour, apparently having finished his chores in the vegetable garden. His enthusiasm cracked the last of the reluctance in the gathered villagers, and the smattering of applause turned into a rumble, then a thunderous din, with cheers and yells of appreciation echoing off the rock walls.
Letting go of Joen’s hand, Charrice dashed over to Rigolard and hugged him. Rigolard’s eyes went wide in shock, then he managed a bashful smile as he returned her hug. Charrice’s sister, Hazel, did the same to Sigmore, and then more people came over, shaking the salases’ hands and slapping them on the back. Joen was the first of the most recent rescue-ees to move, quickly overcoming his apprehension at their most unusual guests. He stepped over to Melowin, who happened to be standing closest to him, and offered his hand. “Thank you,” he said simply, shaking Melowin’s hand firmly.
Ace came next, then three more men, offering handshakes and heartfelt words of thanks. “We owe you a debt we can never repay,” Ace said, as he shook Koradan’s hand.
“Well, we’ve actually already repaid it,” Ann said haughtily, one of a small group who had refused to clap. “We fixed one of their dragons for them, in return for their help. So we don’t owe them anything.”
Ace looked surprised at the news. “Well, that’s… That’s good, if we’re helping them in return. Can’t say I’m not a little taken aback by the whole thing, but either way, I’m mighty glad to be free of that mine.”
“We’ve given them far more than we agreed to,” Ann said. “Food, and letting them invade our homes, and goodness knows what else they’ll want before they’re done.”
“I watched them move that slab of rock in there,” Lynette said, turning to glare at Ann. “And I can firmly say that they’ve done far more for us than we have for them. It would have taken our men a week to get the same result, and maybe not even then. A few herbs and a bed for the night is hardly fair payment for saving the lives of thirteen men.”
“With eight still missing,” Ann snapped, her voice thick. “My Dan is still down in that mine, and they’ve done nothing to help him so far.”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Hetti spoke up, also sounding shaken, “but that is a good question. I’m very grateful for what you’ve done for this village so far, but is there any chance of getting a passage open down to the lower chamber? Even if they didn’t survive, we should…” Her voice cracked, and she tried again. “At the very least, we should be able to give them a proper funeral.”
“That’s the next thing we’re going to tackle,” Koradan said, as the crowd settled down. “The vreki have suggested a plan to find out whether the chamber collapsed, or if it’s still intact. If it held up during the earthquake, then the next step would be to start clearing the ventilation shaft to try and get access that way. If you can give us a couple of minutes to work out a strategy, we’ll get started soon.”
The crowd drifted away, while Koradan turned back to his men. Ashd and the other vreki were waiting nearby, listening eagerly. “Ashd? Lign? You still up for this?”
“Lign says he’s good to go,” Rigolard reported.
Worth trying, Ashd said to Koradan.Need very quiet. Too many people.
“Ashd says it’s too loud for it to work right now,” Koradan told the others. “So how about we get the miners we just rescued back down to the village and send half this crowd along with them. They’re going to need food and a bath, and Fen’s going to need four men to carry him down the road. That’ll clear out most of the noise-makers.”
“I’ll take the other vreki off for a meal, then,” Sigmore said. “I know they’ll be quiet if we ask them to, but we may as well take the opportunity to feed them.”
A faint sound from nearby got their attention, and Koradan looked around to see Hazel loitering not too far away. After the young woman’s efforts in helping prepare meals for the salases, she’d been showing a slowly increasing curiosity in both them and the vreki.
“You’re going back down the mountain, are you?” she asked now, seeing she had their attention, and she eyed the vreki with a look Koradan couldn’t quite decipher.
“They need some food,” Sigmore explained. “We’ll pick up Bnaa in the village and head into the forest for an hour or so.”
“Oh, that sounds… um… a good idea,” Hazel said, her eyes darting back and forth. She shifted her feet, seeming nervous about something. “I was just wondering…” Koradan waited, not sure if she was going to object to something, or to offer some helpful advice. “Would I… I was wondering if I could maybe…” She looked up at Sigmore, more apprehension in her eyes. “Could I come with you? I just… I thought… I really want to ride a vreki,” she blurted out finally, her face flushing bright red. “I know Paul rode one yesterday, and I thought… I’m sorry if that’s too bold. I don’t want to make a fuss. But I thought…” She trailed off, hesitantly meeting Sigmore’s gaze again.
If Hazel had merely been excited about the idea of riding a vreki, Koradan would have agreed without hesitation. But the look on her face, along with a long,longstring of very similar incidents back in Chalandros, made him clamp his lips firmly together to stop himself from showing any reaction. Rodgard looked pissed off in response to the request – as usual – while Melowin was having a far harder time than Koradan resisting the urge to laugh outright. Sigmore, though, the smug bastard, was thoroughly accustomed to requests of this nature, and though it might have been a surprise to have one coming from a human, he took it in his stride, as he always did.
“I’d be happy to take you,” he said, with a reassuring smile. “You’ll have to ride behind me in the saddle. I can’t let you ride one by yourself. But you’re welcome to come, if that’s okay?”
“Oh, perfectly fine,” Hazel said, her eyes shining with excitement. “Wonderful. No problem at all.”
“We’ll get going then,” Sigmore said to Koradan. “Get Lign to bellow off the cliff if you need us, but otherwise, we’ll be back in about two hours.” He and Hazel headed off, Bel and Mergh in tow.
Once they were out of earshot, Rodgard made a gagging noise. “Great gods, did that actually just happen?”
“I’m afraid so,” Melowin said, sounding entirely resigned about it.
