You have the assistance of a dragon,Wreylith pointed out from her rooftop perch, apparently monitoring Syla’s thoughts—and the conversation.
I’m most appreciative of that,Syla replied silently.
“I’d guessed it might be on the hill somewhere,” Oyenar said. “But in a tiny hidden cave, not a mine where dozens of people work.Hundredsif you count everyone in the area involved in the packaging and transportation as well as the extraction.”
“When the shielder artifact was placed many centuries ago, the mine was relatively minor and only one level deep,” Syla said. “People used to climb in and out via a rope. They used the same rope to pull out buckets of salt. It’s always been a precious commodity for humans, but until the gods moved most of humanity to these islands, the population in this area wasn’t significant. At the time, there were a couple of miners with artistic streaks who carved some of the original statues and reliefs as they removed the salt, and the shielder is behind one of the sea god, which I unfortunately divulged to the stormers. They don’t know which level it’s on, but they’ll probably figure out that all the deeper levels would have been carved out in later centuries.”
“Let’s hope they’re not bright enough to guess that,” Oyenar said. “And spend their time wandering lost on the lower levels. Don’t they get their salt from salt licks? Like animals? They might not know anything about mines.”
“I wouldn’t assume they’re dim,” Syla said dryly.
“I suppose you’re right. As far as I know, there’s only one access point to the mine. That’s advantageous and will make guarding it simpler.” Oyenar touched one of the maps attached to the wall. It showed an aerial view of the lake and the nearby processing and entrance buildings. Another map offered a cross-section of the mine itself with five levels, all extending horizontally outward from the central shaft with the lift cage.
“The passages are longer than I would have guessed.” When Syla had visited the mine before, it had only been on the top level with the ancient carvings and the shielder chamber. “It looks like they extend out under the lake. Is that right?” She eyed the direction marker in the corner, then looked at Tibby.
“You might need a geologist for a detailed consultation, but the lake is presumably supported by solid caprock above the salt dome that created Prominence Hill as it formed long ago.” Perhaps guessing the reason for Syla’s surprise, Tibby added, “The lake is long and wide but shallow, only about ten feet deep in most spots, and the first level of the mine has more than fifty feet between its ceiling and the surface.”
“So, none of the water has even gotten into the mines?” Syla asked.
“Not that I’ve heard of. That would be disastrous. Salt, after all, dissolves in water, and the pyramid-shaped pillars that hold up the ceilings on each level are made from salt that the miners left behind to act as supports.”
Syla bent forward and gripped her knees, a thought trickling into her mind, though she almost rejected it outright. If she created irreparable damage, it would be more devastating for the Kingdom than for the stormers.
“The magically protected chamber isn’t made out of salt, right?” Syla asked. “They were all designed to be impervious.”
“That’s right.” Tibby squinted at her. A notion of what Syla was thinking? “The artifacts themselves are nearly indestructible too, save for from other magical items, such as gargoyle-bone blades. As we’ve unfortunately recently learned.”
“So even if a shielder were immersed in water, it would keep working?”
“Oh, most assuredly. If you remember your history on the matter, the Harvest Island volcano erupted even as the gods were establishing our kingdom. The original chamber was breached and first flooded with seawater and then magma, but the shield around the island remained up. When the gods extracted the artifact to move it to a new location, it was, at least according to the scribe detailing the event, fine. After that, the gods put more magic into the chambers to further ensure their safety from geological events.”
Oyenar frowned. “Why would our artifact chamber beimmersedin water? What are you thinking, Your Majesty?”
Syla straightened but held up a finger and looked at Aunt Tibby instead of answering. Oyenar wouldn’t like her idea, and if it wasn’t feasible, there was no point in pursuing it anyway. “When you were talking about your work here, you said you used your magic to make drills, right?”
“Among other tools, yes.” Tibby sounded wary. Yes, she’d already twigged to Syla’s idea.
“How fast could it cut through… did you say fifty feet of rock? Rock and salt, I guess.”
“It could vary a lot, depending on the material, and, of course, the width of the hole, but it could drill anywhere from one to twenty feet an hour.”
“That’s… quite a range.” But, if the stormers gave them enough time, it could be doable, especially if a team started right away. The deed might be done before the enemy even arrived.
“Operating machinery is in line with my talents, so with the help of my power, it could go faster.” Tibby waved her moon-marked hand. “But I don’t know how we’d set up to drill downthroughthe lake, if that’s what you’re thinking. You’d need a stable platform. You couldn’t set up a drill on a barge.”
Syla scratched her cheek, feeling her engineering knowledge inadequate for this plan, but Tibby hadn’t yet suggested it wouldn’t be possible. “What if you set it up below and drilled upward? There must be various types of excavating equipment already down there, right?”
Each level, she recalled, was cavernous. Wouldn’t there be plenty of room to set up machinery?
Tibby hesitated, then nodded. “Drilling upward… might be possible, and it would be easier to hide what we were doing. But Syla, this could destroy the mine completely. Forever.”
“Would it also protect the shielder forever?”
“Until someone invented a technology or magic for swimming underwater, I suppose.”
“A new mine could be started elsewhere on the hill, couldn’t it?” Syla didn’t know if the salt dome Tibby had spoken of filled all of Prominence Hill, but if it accounted for a great deal of it, wouldn’t there still be salt left down there untouched?
“I suppose.” Tibby didn’t sound enthused by the plan, and her gaze had shifted to the maps.
