“For fuck’s sake, not just a different species, but an entirely different world, and that bastard with the red fucking stripe down his chest is still getting all the attention.”
What happened?Ashd asked Koradan, having missed the nuances of the conversation.
Hazel is romantically interested in Sigmore,Koradan told him, keeping the explanation as straightforward as possible. Vreki didn’t form pair bonds, nor did they have any concept of a romantic relationship. Once every five years, a female vreki simply found a strong, healthy male, mated with him once, and then they went their separate ways. The female would lay an egg a week or so later, and raise the youngling by herself – sometimes with the help of female relatives, but alone, if none were available. The vreki had all come to accept the pair-bonding habits of many of the other Chalandrian species, but they were oblivious to the nuances of such relationships.
Human salas mate?Ashd asked, sounding confused.
Maybe, Koradan said, as non-committal a reply as he could manage.We’ll have to wait and see.As much as Sigmore had always enjoyed female company, he’d been firm about never making a commitment to any of his companions. His duties as a vreki rider took precedence, and he’d always made that clear to any woman who sought his attention.
Now, though, Koradan realised, they no longer served the Stone King. They no longer had daily training and guard duties. They no longer had to abandon friends and family to answer urgent calls for assistance in defending the kingdom.
But the humans were generally so antagonistic towards the salases. Hazel’s interest couldn’t be more than a passing curiosity, could it? And even if it was, Sigmore would never take such an interest seriously.
Would he?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Half an hour later, Koradan stood beside Ashd, feeling both hopeful and apprehensive. Ready? he asked his vreki.
Big boom, Ashd replied, swishing his tail eagerly.
“Okay, we’re good to go,” Koradan announced, raising his voice for the remaining humans to hear. They’d explained to them at length that they were going to need absolute silence to have the best chance of this working. The waiting villagers fell quiet, standing or sitting still, not moving other than to breathe.
Koradan nodded to Rigolard, who turned to Lign. The four of them were gathered around the ventilation shaft which had once provided access to the lower chamber, while the humans had been banished to the far side of the clearing – both to minimise the noise, and for their own safety.
Ashd settled down flat onto his belly and pressed his wide head firmly against the ground. He wriggled around a bit, brushing some dirt out of the way and making himself comfortable. Then Koradan felt the familiar, firm intrusion into his mind, as Ashd opened himself fully to Koradan’s perception. He felt Lign’s mind as a faded echo through Ashd’s mind, and back further, Rigolard’s presence.
Ashd confirmed his readiness to Lign, and Koradan braced himself. This was likely going to feel extremely strange, but it was necessary, if he was going to understand any of what Ashd could detect. He closed his eyes, focusing entirely on his vreki’s mind.
In a smooth, powerful motion, Lign raised his tail in the air and slammed it down hard against the bare rock just beside the ventilation shaft. A jarring boom echoed through Koradan’s mind, and at first, he was simply stunned by the sheer power of the blow.
But Ashd was far more prepared than Koradan was. Vreki used echolocation to fly at night, able to detect minute details on the rocky cliffs so as to make safe landings in the darkness. A nesting bird or a stray clump of moss could easily derail an otherwise flawless landing, and it wasn’t uncommon for young vreki to lose their footing and tumble off the cliff as they learned to use their formidable auditory skills. But as an aged and experienced battle steed, Ashd’s skills were as refined as it was possible for them to be.
What they were attempting now was a far different use for the vreki’s abilities. Sound could also travel through rock, and the idea behind their current plan was that a large chamber underground would create a different echo from the sound of solid rock, or even of a collapsed pile of rubble. And by attempting to locate and assess such a chamber, it could give them an idea of exactly where to dig, and whether the ventilation shaft would lead anywhere useful – or, indeed, if the chamber even still existed.
But Koradan had been unable to make any sense of the echoing sound, even as closely connected to Ashd’s mind as he was.
Again, Ashd said, and Lign complied, another thud booming through the ground as he slammed his tail down.
Can you find anything?Koradan asked Ashd, as the sound faded out. Was the vreki picking up on something that he was missing, or was Ashd as lost as he was? As far as he was aware, no vreki had ever attempted echolocation through solid rock before.
Maybe, Ashd said. Then, to Lign, he said,Again.
A third boom came… and by the mother of gods, there was suddenly a flash of light in Koradan’s mind, a strange, abstract image that he couldn’t have described if he’d had a thousand years to find the words. But it was there, nonetheless, shimmering in flickering golden light. The shaft was filled with rubble, continuing down a good ten metres. Surrounding it was solid rock, stretching out on all sides until the golden light simply faded out.
But at the end of the shaft…
Again.
He knew what to expect this time, opening his mind fully to the odd mix of sight and sound – the end result of Ashd’s automatic translation of the sound waves. There was a chamber. Perhaps two metres wide by three metres long, and a good four metres high. Beyond it, more rubble blocked a tunnel… and that was as far as Ashd’s senses could detect. But they had the information they needed.
Koradan waited, not wanting to cut Ashd short if he wanted to explore more details of the cavern. But a moment later, Ashd pulled back from his mind, and the dusty connection he felt to Lign and Rigolard faded out as well.
Hole in ground, Ashd said, both triumphant and strangely sorrowful.Dig? Far down. Too far? Too much dig?
“Don’t know, buddy,” Koradan said, giving him a firm rub along his nose. “Let’s talk to the humans and find out.”
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