Thiswas gold.
It wasnot all in coin, though this made the majority of the plunder.There weregolden rings studded with gems.There were gilded breastplates, the lacqueredpommels of swords.There were entire piles of jewelry, including necklaces,bracelets, cuff links, brooches, earrings, and medallions.There were goldentiaras, coronets capped with garnets and emeralds, furred coats glimmering withamethyst.There were towering stacks of furniture, thrown messily into a pile,each of the wardrobes and bathtubs and coffers and uprooted thrones shiningwith the unmistakable tint of golden wealth.
BesideIsaac, Zaria’s eye reflected the golden light.Her tawny fur glowed like wheatupon a field.
“Callin’it now,” she said.“I’m the best pirate there ever was.”
Withhis eyes adjusting to the dim torchlight, Isaac was beginning to see the end ofthe chamber.The room was square, a quarter mile in width and length, and theteeming wealth seemed to cover most of its area.It would’ve taken him weeks tocount it by hand.A fleet of skimmers would struggle to stay buoyant with sucha bounty in their holds.It was more coinage than all the mints of the regioncould produce in a decade.
“Isaac.”
On thefloor, or what little of it he could see, there were murals adorning theconcrete, the colorful paints dull and faded with time.He could see figureshauling coins and jewelry to the feet of colossal figures, giants in bulkysuits with striped flags and helmets made of glass.The gods cast a swarm offlies upon the faithful.The tiny motes burrowed beneath the skin, and wingsgrew from the worshipper’s backs, great plumages made of feathers and wax andgold.
“Isaac.Look here a moment.”
Zaria steppedin front of him, a glimmer of gold outlining her form.The cutlass in her handshone like the sword of an angel.“Quite a sight, huh?”
“Sure.”
Therewas a pause.
“Look,”she said.“I know we said all them things about savingthe world, and being righteous, and whatnot.I’m glad we did.I like stoppingevil cunts from raising giant monsters as much as the next lass.”
Heremembered blood flowing over black robes.
“Butthis....”She waved in both directions.Each time, her hand gestured over adifferent sea of gold.“This is pretty big, is it not?”
“Sure.”
“Look,love, I know you’ve ...suffered recently, but where’s allthem fancy words of yours?Surely you’ve got one.”
“Repugnant,”Isaac said.
“Thatdon’t sound fun.”
“Itmeans disgusting.Abhorrent.Offensive to the sense.”He kicked a loose coinalong the cement.“It means a lot of people died to make this treasure.”
“Nodifferent than usual, then.”
Hescratched the sutures on his arm.
“Look,”she said.“It’s a crying shame, is what it is.It’s a stupid pile of metalthat’s just gonna fall in the hands of your wizard masters.We went through allthis trouble, and now we gotta let our payment lie ‘cause it’s too much to haulby hand.”
Isaaclet his vision roam over the coins.There were many currencies, each of themadorned with faces and sigils, engravings and flags.He only recognized a fewof the mints.
“But,”Zaria said, “here’s the thing.Gold is heavy.It’s heavier than steel is at thesame size.It’s got more—what do you call it—thickness to it, I suppose.”
“Density.”
“They’reheavy, love.Speaking from experience here.Coin feels like rocks in your pack.You hear all them pirate tales of men dying in thedesert ‘cause they wouldn’t drop their shiny pebbles.That’ll be us, if we trythe same.”
“Canyou please make your point?”
Shegestured out to the hoard.“I’m countin’ a lot of gems out there.Diamonds,sapphires, rubies the size of your cockhead.Some types of crystals I don’teven got names for.Now, gems often got more thickness than gold, but they’reworth more.Value for weight, if you get my meaning.”
Isaacshifted on his feet.
“I’mthinking,” Zaria said, “that we pinch as much of them crystals as possible,till we’re spillin’ rainbows at every step.Then, once we climb from this tomb,and abscond through the wastes, I can ply my trade asa thief, get us in contact with fences and the like.Turn it back into properrichness.”
