Lynette paced across the clearing, fighting back the nausea that had been plaguing her since midday. She’d barely eaten lunch, passing her leftovers to Paul, and then she’d spent the afternoon worrying, needlessly checking her medical supplies, and waiting for there to be any progress at the ventilation shaft.
It was now two and a half days since the earthquake. Thirteen out of the twenty-one trapped men were free. That was a good result, right? Even if they didn’t manage to free anyone else, they could at least say that they’d…
No, stop thinking like that, she scolded herself sharply. There was still reason to hope. Koradan and his extraordinary vreki had found a cavity beneath the shaft. Mitch and his team were working feverishly to clear the rubble and make contact with the men. There was no point assuming the worst until they had definite confirmation.
She reached the cliff face at one side of the clearing and turned around, set to walk back again… but she was forced to pull up short as she turned and came face to face with Koradan. And as she peered up at him, it was startling to realise just how used to seeing him she’d become in the last day and a half. His jet-black skin and the one horn rising from his head seemed oddly familiar now, rather than scary or intimidating. Lynette felt yet another surge of unease at the realisation. But instead of baulking at it, as she had before, this time she dared to linger on the reason for her own discomfort. The truth, if she forced herself to face it, might hurt, but continuing to hide in a lie would only hurt more in the long run.
“Are you all right?” Koradan asked her, his eyes roaming over her face. No doubt she looked a fright, hair unkempt and full of dust from being inside the mine, dark bags underneath her eyes, and worry lines etched almost permanently into her skin by now.
“I’m fine,” she told him – the truth, as far as it mattered. “It’s the men down there that are in trouble. If there’s poor ventilation, they’ve probably died from lack of air by now, but if they haven’t, they’re going to be at risk of dying from dehydration. We need to get water to them. How much longer is it going to take to clear this shaft?”
“They’re more than halfway down. Melowin and Rodgard are helping move some of the heavier rocks, and then it’s a case of shoring up the walls to stop the shaft collapsing in on itself. I know it takes time, but if we rush, there’s a good chance we’ll end up making things worse.”
“I know. I know.” Lynette put a hand over her eyes, trying to blot the entire day out. “I’m not blaming you, or anyone else. I just want… I can’t help imagining what they’re suffering down there. I think I’d go mad if it was me, trapped underground.”
Koradan’s expression took on a quizzical edge. “You’re terrified of being trapped, and yet you willingly went into the mine this morning to help the men we were freeing. That takes courage. I’m impressed.”
“I’m not nearly as brave as you think I am,” Lynette said, looking away. “There are all sorts of parts of life that I keep running away from. You and your men are just one of them. Pacing back and forth here for the last hour, I’ve had a good long think about-”
“THEY’RE ALIVE!” Mitch’s yell from the far side of the clearing got the attention of every single person waiting near the mine, and as one, they all dropped what they were doing and rushed over. A flurry of questions were launched at Mitch, no one able to hear themselves over the noise, until Rodgard finally yelled for silence.
“Quiet! If you want to know what’s happening, you need to shut the hell up!” Rodgard was covered in dust, his hair looking grey and the red streaks on his chest nearly invisible beneath the heavy coating. The salases had been working in turns all afternoon, only taking breaks because there wasn’t space around the shaft for them all to be helping at once.
“Alti was down in the shaft,” Mitch reported, as soon as it was quiet enough to be heard. “He heard tapping. And a voice. Is that right?” Mitch asked, turning to Alti.
Alti was standing at the top of the shaft, a harness fixed about his hips. The miners had rigged up a tall tripod over the shaft, with a pulley attached to the highest point to allow a man to be lowered into the shaft. “I heard Ben,” Alti said, sounding breathless, his face red from exertion. “He said there were…” He stopped, his voice cracking. He took a deep breath, then another. “He said… there are seven men alive.”
Lynette froze, as did every other person around her. Seven more men, all alive, and gods willing, able to be rescued.
And one man dead.
“Who…?” someone asked, not quite able to finish the question.
“I don’t know yet. It’s really hard to hear anything,” Alti said apologetically. “There’s still a lot of rock in the way.”
“So is that one man definitely dead, or just missing?” someone else asked.
“Right now,” Mitch interrupted, before the conversation could be derailed, “the thing we need to do is open an access point to the chamber so that we can pass water and lamp oil down to them. And then once we can have a proper conversation with them, we can find out if anyone’s injured, and exactly what the situation is down there.” He studiously avoided referring explicitly to the dead man. “We’re not going to get the entire shaft cleared before nightfall, but if we can get them some water, we buy ourselves time. Just like we did with the men in the main tunnel. So Ann, Sue and Hazel, round up some water canteens, some food, and a jar of lamp oil. Gren, you’re replacing Alti on the rope. He’s due for a break. Raul, Vin and Pesh, we’re going to need more supports cut to length to shore up this shaft. And Rodgard, do you want to swap with someone yet?” One of the main things the salases had been doing was handling the rope that raised and lowered the man working in the shaft. With their size and strength, it made it a far easier job for them than for any of the human men.
“I’ll take over from Rodgard,” Koradan said.
“No, you won’t,” Rodgard said immediately. “Your shoulder won’t stand up to it. You pulled a muscle this morning.”
“It’s fine,” Koradan started to say, but Sigmore interrupted him.
“I’ll take over from Rodgard. I haven’t had anything to do for the past hour, and it’s driving me nuts.”
That seemed to end the conversation, and everyone hurried off to do their part. Lynette made a beeline for Koradan. “What’s wrong with your shoulder?” she asked. Part of her haste was concern for a patient, but she would willingly acknowledge that a larger part was just a desperate need to have something to do while they were waiting for news from the mine.
Koradan rolled his eyes. “It’s a minor muscle strain. It’ll be fine by tomorrow.”
“Let me put some salve on it,” Lynette ordered, already searching through her bag for the pot. “It’s got ginger and lavender in it. It’ll ease the pain.”
“It’s fine. Really,” Koradan said. “I’ve had far worse injuries-”
“There’s no point arguing with her,” Paul said, appearing at Koradan’s elbow. “Once she hears someone’s injured, she’s like a hound on the scent of a fox. She just won’t let it go.”
“Come over here. Sit down,” Lynette said, not giving Koradan a chance to object. With a shrug, he did so, sitting with his back to her. “Which shoulder is it?
