Closer to the tower, the meadows had been torn up. Ugly scars of dirt and rocks ran in five lines radiating into the rubble.Collapsed tunnels,Jentt thought.
Another point in Eklor’s favor.
Again, though, it could all be a show staged by Eklor to hide the truth.
“You really think his army is buried under there?” Stran asked.
“You really have to ask that?” Jentt said.
“Fair enough. Let’s prove those tunnels are as empty as his promises.”
At random, they picked one of the lines of dirt. Assuming that the machines and soldiers had returned to the chamber at the end of the tunnel, then the best spot to dig should be at the end of the line, farthest from the tower. “Here?” Jentt suggested.
“Sure.” Stran swung his shovel off his shoulder and planted it in the churned-up dirt. “You use speed, and I use strength? Winner buys lunch?”
Jentt grinned. “You’re on.”
They activated their talismans and began.
Dirt flew. Rocks were tossed. Jentt felt sweat pour off his body. He felt his muscles strain. He inhaled the dirt-saturated air, and he had never felt more alive. Beside him, Stran was shifting massive amounts of earth but at half his speed. Jentt pushed himself harder, faster. He flew, his shovel a blur.
At last, they reached bedrock.
“Halt!” Jentt called.
He slowed himself. His body still felt like it was vibrating.
“Tired?” Stran said.
Jentt grinned back. “Never.” He turned in a circle to look at the hole they’d dug. They’d cleared enough that they were well below the level of the meadow. Deep enough that they’d reached what had been the floor of the chamber. The air was cooler within the shadows of the hole, and it smelled like rich earth. “See any monstrosities?”
“Not a one,” Stran said.
Heaving himself out of the hole, he got to his feet. Several dozen guards from the wall were there, spread in a semicircle, gawking with mouths dropped wide open.
“No trace of Eklor’s army so far,” Jentt reported to them. “You’re witness to this.”
Starting with one, then spreading to the rest, the guards applauded. Jentt and Stran exchanged glances and started toward where they knew the next tunnel used to be. Trailing behind, the guards followed, jovial, joking back and forth, happy not to find any horrors.They don’t get it,Jentt realized. The fact that nothing had clawed its way out of the earth to attack them wasn’t a good thing.
If the army wasn’t here—either broken or intact—that meant it was somewhere else.
The question was where.
He didn’t know what Eklor had planned for his army, but it didn’t take a genius to know it would be bad for Vos. And for their dreams of a peaceful future.
Determinedly, Jentt and Stran began digging out the next tunnel and chamber. They’d promised Kreya they would search as thoroughly as possible, and that was exactly what they were going to do: remove every excuse, rationale, or argument thatEklor could make. Force Grand Master Lorn to withdraw his protection.
As the hours passed, their audience grew in size as more guards gathered to watch, cheer, and make bets on who was the more effective shoveler. And as the hours passed, they still found no trace of any inhuman soldiers.
It was late into the night of the third day when they began on the fifth and final tunnel. Stars speckled the blue-black sky, and many of the guards carried lanterns so that both they and the two diggers could see.
And that was when they found the remains of Eklor’s army.
Jentt hit the first crushed soldier with his shovel.
“Stran!” he called.
His friend jogged closer. “Everyone, clear this dirt!”
