They arrived at the mines without issue. In trekking through the fields and forests of Carsovia, Eira was caught with a sense of the scale of the nation. For an empire that was touted as being large and rich
with manpower, there were such vast expanses of nothing. Of course, there were some regions of Solaris with very little—such as the Western Waste. But even that had main roads cutting through it. Wells made and maintained by Waterrunners for the travelers traversing the dunes.
This was nothing. No more towns. Or roads. Or—thank Yargen— patrols. Which meant there was a lot more she wasn’t seeing.
Carsovia was a scale unlike any she’d ever known, and it made the continent of Solaris feel so small.
Finally, in the timeframe that Adela had afforded, they arrived at the mines. They progressed slowly through the fields to a few boulders perched on a hillside. The cover would allow them to inspect the mine without risk of being seen from the patrols and watchtowers below.
Lavette stayed close to Varren, her arm around his shoulders. Without needing to be told, they all waited for him to be ready to peer over the boulders and get their first glimpse of the mines below.
The mines were a massive hole in the ground. It looked as though a star had fallen from the heavens and cratered the earth, down to its very core. The walls were stepped, descending far beyond their field of vision. It was difficult to make out details from their vantage, but Eira could see various towers positioned at different levels throughout. Plumes of smoke and dust rose from the work within.
“Well, that’s it,” Varren finally said. “The flash bead mines.”
“If you don’t mind sharing,” Yonlin started, “how is a flash bead made?
Does it come out of the ground as we know them?”
Varren shook his head. “It comes out as a crumbly rock called flash shale. We carefully break it down and then it’s pressed into a powder, as it can be unstable in its raw form. Using magic runes that have been passed down in the imperial family, it’s stabilized into flash beads—the little violent balls of raw magic you know. The whole process, beginning to end, is known only to the imperial family. Their most trusted lutenz and overseers take over at crucial steps, but the only ones with the full picture are the empress and her most trusted advisors.”
“How do you want to proceed?” Lavette pointedly asked Eira.
“I don’t think I get to make that decision alone.” Eira looked to her friends. “What do you all—”
Lavette grabbed her wrist before Eira could finish, staring her down. “We are going to need a leader in there. Someone to make decisions if— when chaos inevitably happens.”
“Everyone is perfectly capable of speaking for themselves and making decisions in good judgment.” Eira had learned her lesson from making choices one-sided. She wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
“Well, the first order of business would be getting in,” Noelle said, moving the conversation along.
“I could make a tunnel,” Alyss offered. “They’ll sense it,” Varren cautioned.
“From here, how far is the entrance Slip used to smuggle you from the mines?” Eira asked him.
“It’s down that way.” Varren pointed down the slope of a hill. “Maybe an hour or two?”
“How many people do you think we could reasonably sneak in?” “None.” His expression lacked all hope.
Helpful. Eira looked back to the mines and talked through her thought process to give them all an opportunity to object if they so chose. “I think we should have some people on the outside. By the time we get in, it’ll probably be evening. So those out here can position themselves closer once night falls. Moreover, I don’t think we should try to risk bringing everyone inside.”
“I should go,” Alyss said. She pushed away from the rock, looking Eira in the eyes. “I can be subtle moving rock around. And, even if there’s a risk of them sensing my magic, you need me there.”
“I’ll be good at suppressing fire,” Noelle said. “I’ll stay out here.” “Then Ducot and Noelle are offering support,” Eira reasoned.
“I think you could use me to get into a tight spot.” Ducot folded his arms.
“I didn’t think you’d want to be separated.”
He hesitated at Eira pointing that out, considering the implication.
“You should go,” Noelle said softly. “I’ll be fine. If everyone does their job well, I won’t even be involved in the fray. You’ll be at far more risk than I.”
“If one of us is to be at risk…” Ducot murmured to himself.
“I want to go in, too.” Yonlin stepped forward. “I want to see how the beads are made.”
“No you don’t.” Olivin had a note of scolding for his brother.
“What if I could bring the information back to Meru? What if the minerals needed are in our home, too, and Qwint can help us make beads with their knowledge of runic magics? We could all stand a much better chance against Carsovia.”
“I’m not letting you take that risk,” Olivin declared. Yonlin snorted. “That really isn’t your choice.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you both should stay,” Eira said. Separating the brothers seemed wrong. She couldn’t—wouldn’t make him choose between defending her and his brother. “Like Noelle’s flames, Lightspinning is better for us at a distance.”
After a bit more debate among all of them, the final parties were decided. Lavette, Cullen, Ducot, Alyss, and Eira were all led by Varren away from the rocky outcropping they’d been hiding behind. Noelle, Olivin, and Yonlin stayed behind to offer what support they could, assuming they could position themselves properly. The plan when they left was for them to take over the southmost tower—the one closest to the road—that way they could catch up with Eira and the others after fleeing.
But who knew what would happen?
That unknown was something Eira had to sit with as they made their way down through the woods. The landscape shifted, becoming rockier as
they descended in altitude. The trees grew a bit smaller, struggling to gain roots in the hard earth.
Varren knew the way without hesitation or doubt, as if he had traveled it many times…even though he had probably never crossed through this forest from this direction. Fate pulled him back to where he’d escaped his worst nightmare.
Finally, he came to a stop before a cave entrance, chest heaving despite their walk being a relatively easy pace.
Eira rested her hand on his shoulder, patting it once. “Thank you for getting us here. You should go through the forest to the town. Get a ship ready for us.”
“I’ll take you inside.” His voice quivered.
“You’ve taken us far enough,” Eira said gently but firmly. “We’re going to need that boat for when Adela comes to collect us by dusk tomorrow.” She let her eyes drift to Lavette, hoping the woman heard her.
Go. If we’re not back. Go and get yourselves home, was what Eira was really saying.
Lavette must have heard. “Thank you,” she whispered. Then, stronger, to Varren, “I think Eira is right. And since she’s letting us make our choices, I think we should go.”
Varren still lingered. “Are you sure?”
He wanted to go. It was in his tone. His eyes. The way he held himself. But he still forced himself to stay. Varren must have been one of the bravest people Eira had ever had the pleasure of knowing.
“I am. We’ll be fine,” she said.
“That way.” He pointed. “Head straight and don’t look back. You’ll get to the town without issue. We’ll meet you all there.”
She smiled and nodded one last time before the two went off into the woods.
“You sure that was wise?” Ducot asked softly. “He knows these tunnels.”
“We have you and the most talented groundbreaker I know. We have a man who can sense the slightest of breezes. And my skills with ice. I’m not worried about navigating through a tunnel or sneaking through these mines.” Eira exuded confidence. She didn’t want her friends to be afraid or worried. The last thing they needed was hesitation. “So let’s go.”
“Now? Do you want to wait for nightfall?” Cullen asked.
Eira shook her head. “I might not be worried about navigating the tunnels, but I also know it might not be fast to do so. I’d rather get through and then stay hidden until night than risk being held up and emerging at dawn.”
“Seems sensible,” Alyss agreed.
“Alyss, you take the lead. I’ll be right behind you. If I need to widen your channel again, I can.”
“It’d be magnificent if you could do it permanently.” Alyss batted her eyelashes.
Eira chuckled. “Perhaps someday.” Adela could maintain sorcery across the known world with little more than a thought. Perhaps it would be possible for Eira to one day pin a channel open—or closed—with little more than her mind. “But I’m not there yet.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Ducot, you’ll be behind me. If we need you to scout ahead, you can get between our feet and then take front,” Eira decided. “Cullen, the rear.”
Alyss fearlessly led the charge into the vine-curtained and damp cave. It was cramped and impossible to walk anything more than single file. The tunnel pitched down, and very quickly all light vanished.
“I’m going to make a sort of railing in the wall,” Alyss said. She quickly lowered her voice as it echoed across the cramped space around them. “That way, when we have to rush back, we can use it as a guide.”
“Good thinking,” Cullen praised from the back.
Running her hands along the walls—her right in the divot Alyss was making and the other flat against the opposite wall—Eira sent her ice skittering over the rock with her left hand, quickly evaporating it so it didn’t interfere with anyone else’s power. She could feel the other pushes and pulses of magic as her friends worked to get their bearings. Alyss moved slowly and methodically. The ground beneath them groaned and shifted as she smoothed out any tripping hazards without risking the overall integrity of the cave.
Eventually, they reached a fork in the path. As they came to a stop, the sound of their breathing was loud in the deafening, cramped silence of the cave. All their magic continued to pulse.
“Thoughts?” Eira whispered when it seemed like everyone had stopped their inspection.
“We’re too deep, still. I can’t sense any fresh air,” Cullen said.
“I think the vibrations are coming more from the right,” Alyss reported. “Ducot?” Eira glanced back, even though no one could see in the
darkness.
“On it.” A shift in the air around him. A pulse of magic. And the sense of his presence behind her was gone.
The sound of squeaking faded to the right. They waited with bated breath until he returned.
“Right’s the way,” Ducot reported. “Alyss, mind if I take the lead?” “By all means.”
Nearly three hours of slow going later, the first sign of light nearly blinded her. It was a streak of orange that bled through a crack in the wall ahead. The crack ran diagonally from the ceiling to their hip.
They each paused as they passed, peering through to get a tiny sliver of the room beyond. Crimson stained the walls, lined with chains, telling stories of horrors that none of them whispered a word of as they passed. Another room followed, a workshop of sorts with armor and flashfires laid out. Less bloody, but it still held hints that the laborers hadn’t performed their work entirely willingly. Eira’s stomach churned over, growing more ill with each glimpse they got of the mines of Carsovia.
Her thoughts lingered with the people cramped in a bunk room. They hung on the distant shouts and commands—unintelligible, but meaning still perfectly clear. She imagined a young man growing up in this brutal place, being born into it. Knowing nothing but these cramped tunnels and the horrors they held…yet wanting to help anyway.
Slip.
She’d been hoping they’d run into the man. But the tunnels were void of his presence. Perhaps he was so good at staying hidden, he could do it from them as well. Maybe at that fork in the road, the other path led to his personal home.
Maybe he’d finally left this place, claiming the freedom he’d helped so many others gain for himself.
Or…misfortune had finally caught up to him.
Yet, the thought of him and his resistance in these tunnels filled her with an odd reassurance. If the tenacity of hope could persist here, even among these people who—by Varren’s accounts—were jailed and condemned to forced labor for little more than allegedly upsetting the wrong people at the
wrong time…then hope could persist anywhere. Resistance against corrupt powers would always be lurking in the shadows, waiting for a spark.
After two more forks and much more arbitrary decision making, they reached an exit, at long last. They slipped through a crack into what seemed like a dead end of another tunnel, the entrance hidden in shadow. Alyss pulled her hand from where it had sunk into the stone, ceasing making her line right on the edge. Barely visible. But they knew it was there.
“If we need to get back in a hurry, find this spot and follow the line,” Alyss whispered. They all nodded.
“What next?” Ducot asked.
“What do you think?” Alyss looked to Eira.
“For the time being, I think we should split up,” Eira said. “What?” The word was pure shock falling from Cullen’s lips.
“I know, it’s risky. There’s strength in numbers. But there’s also more of a chance for us to stand out. One or two of us can slip in with the rest of them.” Eira had been debating with herself over and over what the best course was. “We just need to find the man in charge, kill him, and take his right foot back to Adela.”
“Gruesome.” Alyss grimaced.
“She always has had a thing for theatrics,” Ducot said dryly.
“I do not care if I’m the one to kill him. This is all our task. If any of you have the opportunity, do it,” Eira said plainly, continuing to glance up the tunnel to see if there were any signs of movement. “We all do what we must to survive and meet back here by dawn.”
“And what if we haven’t killed him by then?” Ducot asked.
“We should head back. I’d rather face Adela’s judgment than Carsovia’s, and the longer we stay here, the more at risk we are for it.” Eira wasn’t sure if she could convince Adela to help them if they failed in her task. But it was still the preferable option, given all they’d seen.
“You have a point,” Ducot muttered. “All right. I’ll go on ahead. Good luck.” Ducot stepped and shifted into his mole form, scampering up the tunnel.
“We should probably stagger ourselves…I’ll go next.” Alyss went to leave.
Eira caught her hand. Alyss’s bright green eyes swung back to her and Eira didn’t want to let her friend go. She wanted to tell her to stay here and
stay safe. But instead she said, “Please be careful. I want to read that story you have to tell.”
Alyss nodded and put on a brave smile. “Trust me, I’m not letting it go unfinished.”
With that, she was off.
“How long do you think we should wait?” Cullen whispered.
“Maybe a few more minutes.” Eira continued to stare where Alyss had gone. “Do you think this is the right decision?”
“You’re right to trust us all. We can look after ourselves. And…I don’t think we have a choice.” Cullen trailed his fingertips down her arm to take her hand in his.
She smiled slightly and leaned into him, leeching off of the brief second of comfort he could give her. Cullen wrapped his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly.
“I hope this is the right approach.” Lavette’s final stare was scorched behind Eira’s lids.
“We’re going to be fine,” he insisted. “Don’t think like that.”
Eira nodded. She knew such thoughts were unproductive. But doubt and fear were resilient foes.
“Besides…” His tone shifted, prompting Eira to pull away slightly and tilt her face up toward his. Cullen’s hand gently caressed her cheek. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Not now, not ever.”
Rising to her toes, she pressed her lips gently against his. Heart in her throat, there weren’t words in that moment. Even if his sentiments were nothing more than beautiful lies and they both knew it, they were what she needed to keep her bravery.
“Stay safe, Cullen,” Eira whispered against his mouth. She leaned away, looking up at him through her lashes. “We have unfinished business, you and I.”
He smirked. “I look forward to it.”
Eira turned, leaving him behind and starting up the tunnel. It connected to another tunnel, no sign of Alyss or Ducot. She could head upward or down. Instinct told her to go up…logic told her down.
The way Carsovia was mining resembled a spiral, tendrils of tunnels spinning out from the main core—probing deeper for veins of their precious minerals. That meant the majority of the activity would be at the bottom.
Her theory proved correct as she quickly heard the chipping of tools against hard stone.
Shadows moved on a far wall. Eira ducked down against a large crate, pressing herself against the side. Two knights passed, both armed with flashfires. Eira gathered up the dust and dirt, coating herself in grime before continuing. On the other side of the crate was a pickaxe. Eira grabbed it, slinging it over her shoulder.
She went in the direction the knights had come from, and eventually the tunnel curved around, opening to a large, flat cavern. One side was open to the giant hole they were digging straight into the earth. But she was so deep that she couldn’t see the upper rim. The fading light hardly reached here.
Men, women, children, all labored in the smoke and dust of the cavern. Chipping at the walls. Clawing out thin sheets of rock—the size of a palm to a sheet of parchment—and delicately placing them in central basins on tracks that spilled over the distant, open edge of the cavern. Guards were positioned in the center of the room, overseeing the operations. Armed once more.
When they were looking in the opposite way, Eira scrambled down the side of the ramp that emerged from the tunnel. Rock and dust skittered down with her and she quickly turned toward the wall. Holding her breath. Waiting. Hoping…
A hand closed around her shoulder. “I don’t recognize you.”
