Perey seems unsure if his current circumstances (trapped on another planet in t e middle of an inhospitable desert) counts as 'good shape' but doesn't say anything. Clearly it wouldn't be polite.
In any case Euler leads the way toward the caves.
It is tough going. The landscape is alternatingly hard and rock, or soft with sucking sand. Cautious of further watchers, Awenasa naturally leads them into gullies and away from ridgelines. The Shoanti doesn't notice anyone else out in the wastes, but such maneuvers are second nature to her. This may not be her home, but Awenasa knew how to move in wild places, to travel unseen and unheard. The best of her people could pass directly below a hunting eagle and not disturb it.
Still, all that training doesn't make scrambling over rocks in a dry heat any easier. The only comfort is that the arid wind sucks any sweat off of them, the instant it forms. Awenasa is glad she prepared thoroughly and has plenty of water for everyone, sharing it as required. Even with Euler. Refusing him moisture in these conditions would be just as deadly as an axe blow to the neck.
Finally, with much exertion, they reach the location Euler is leading them too (and was Awenasa's second personal choice). It is a set of vast towering pinnaces of stone, hundreds feet high, made of weathered red stone. Walking up to them Awenasa at first things they are artificial, made by the hand of man but dismissing it instantly. The huge piers of rock are far too large to be constructed. Must be some trick of the light.
The land around the towers of rock is hard stone, topped with hard packed earth. No plants or growth here (not that this place had much of it anyway, this desert was barren even by her standards). Oddly Awenasa sees no tumbled rocks or boulders scattered around, no sign anything had fallen from the huge piles of stone looming above. Strange, but they do cast gigantic shadows, even in early afternoon sun.
Euler leads them to the very base of one of the gargantuan formations, crossing the ground with familiarity. Rounding the corner, Awenasa can see it. A black square on the ground, where it falls away into nothing. It isn't the helpful cave mouth she had been expecting (or hoping). Instead it is a steep shaft leading downward, at any angle more suited for a ladder then walking. The outer edge is clean and clear as if it was hacked out of the ground yesterday, but Awenasa's sharp eyes can see the walls inside are crumbling and full of handholds, ledges and probably sliding stones.
It would take some climbing.
The rock formations are impressive and Awenasa takes a few moments to take it all in. People back home would never believe her description of this place, if she could even do it justice with words. "Are these rocks common to desert?"
She approached the hole in the ground with some trepidation. This was not what she would have preferred but honestly she would have been surprised if this would have been easy. She was pretty confident in her own climbing abilities but the others may need some help. She pulled out her rope and looked for a place to tie it off to make the climb down easier.
"We go down. Rope help."
Euler first seems confused by her question but then glances up at the soaring turrets of rock rising hundreds of feet above them, black outlines against the milky white-blue sky. The sunlight beats hard on them, giving them a halo of shimmering waves that dance and distort. Making them almost seem alive.
The prospector shrugs, "These are the only set near town, but I hear there are others. Big , aren't they?"
Then the man blinks at Awenasa's other words. "You say 'we'. You don't mean me, right? I'm not going into that tunnel. Gods only know what is down there!" The man edges away from the hungry black mouth that vanishes into the depths of the soil.
"These are the only set near town, but I hear there are others. Big , aren't they?"
"They impressive. Would like to know lore about them. Do desert people come here?"
"You say 'we'. You don't mean me, right? I'm not going into that tunnel. Gods only know what is down there!"
Awenasa stares at Euler for a few moments before stating, "I say we, I mean we. You come under my protection or you stay here in heat, tied up. I not let you go to tell town, tell Ely, I out here. You choose your fate but I can't let you go, not yet."
Euler looks at Awenasa and then back at the dark cave. "But...but there are monsters down there. I don't care what you are trying to steal but it's crazy to go down into the caves. Everyone knows that! We'll get trapped or lost or..." He trails off at seeing Awenasa's implacable face. Clearly there is no way out. The man lets out a sigh and says, "You are going to get us all killed."
Maybe.
Awenasa secures the rope and debates briefly about the order. She would like to go first but having Euler at the back seems unwise. The prospector might get cold feet and beat a hasty retreat back up. Perey volunteers to bring up the rear and that (combined with Awenasa's long reach) seems enough.
Grabbing the rough rope with a tight grip, Awenasa begins to half-lower, half walk down into the cave. Instantly her world becomes cool and dark, a soft breeze whispering past her. The cave's mouth is perfectly square, as if a artisan had punched it out with a hammer and die. Just inside the sharp edge she finds the floor is a steep incline of stone, crumbling and jagged. Peering down in the gloom the Shoanti guesses the floor was once smooth (if steep) but has become broken through long years of neglect. This was more like a path, or even a road, once. Long...long ago.
After only a short distance the cavern becomes dark as night, the entrance behind them a glowing door of whiteness. The air inside is dry and scented only of dust and rocks. No moisture or mold that Awenasa can tell. As the endless night engulfs them, she hears Perey mutters something.
Suddenly, in his hand, a rock is glowing bright as a torch, sending out unwavering rays of golden light. "This should help." Now lit, they continue down the steep incline, Awenasa leading the way, trying to avoid sending the rough stones into an avalanche.
Down, down, down. The incline seems endless, the sloping roof always just above her head, the walls just out of reach. Awenasa sees no art, no carvings into the rocks. Just that same perfectly formed tunnel, marred only by the rough and uneven floor. She is happy for the rope, without it she would have slipped long ago, sliding down into endless blackness.
They must have gone a few hundred yards when Awenasa sees something among the tumbled and crumbling stones. Something dark and soft...leaning over...an old shoe. Not only that, but a set of footprints alongside it, leading downward, quickly lost among the gravel.
Clearly they are not the first people to pass this way.
As Awenasa descends, she can't help but think how strange this world was. She didn't really like caves because she preferred the openness of the Plateau and the outdoors but she had been in enough caves to know that this ground was not normal. She thought it strange because she had come across so many things that appeared manmade but at the same time almost became wilderness because of disuse.
The water she had encountered when she first met the desert people, part of the city that was abandoned to giant moths, the strange canal, the too perfect rock formations, and now a cave that seemed like someone made a path through the ground. And none of the locals seem to remember how things once came to be. Their shamans and story-tellers were failing their people by losing the verbal history over time.
She nods her thanks as Perey causes light to bloom in the dark. She was just beginning to think about stopping to light a torch but his light is much better.
When she sees the shoe, she holds up her fist to the side to stop the others from continuing. She turns and motions at them to stay and to be quiet.
She then moves forward quietly to get a better look at the scene. She crouches near the footprints to try to determine if she can tell how long ago they were made.
The tunnel is quiet and dark, shadows dancing on the walls as Perey comes to a halt behind her. The scent of dust fills her nose as well as....smoke? Old smoke, very faint. Crouching beside the footprints, Awenasa leans over them, careful not to block her limited light. It is hard to tell time underground, without wind or rain to disturb things. They freeze in place and time. Awenasa knew caves that had paintings on the walls older then her Quah's ancient stories, that seemed as bright as they had when first painted.
Still, she guessed this shoe and the marks were old but not ancient. A few years perhaps? Awenasa also saw a slight scrape in the wall, where someone slipped and grabbed at the stone. The shoe, and the marks, made her think not of villagers (or prospectors) but of the desert nomads she had met. Yes, it would be their robes that left these marks, and the worm-riders shoes had seemed like the one lying her.
Not today, but recently, nomads had been here.
Satisfied that they aren't in immediate danger, Awenasa stands and dusts her hand off on her pants. "Desert nomads. Not villagers. Still need be careful but footprints old.". Part of her is relieved that the footprints belong to those who know how to survive in the wilderness and not lost lowlanders. It makes her think that these tunnels may be sound rather than unstable.
"Wonder why they come here." If she wasn't so focused on finding a way to free the children, she would have tried harder to follow the prints and figure out why the desert nomads would come down here.
She looks at Perey and Euler to make sure they are good to continue. "We keep going."
"Who knows?" Euler says, obviously not impressed with the previous visitors. "The desert people are strange." Seeing Awenasa's disapproving face in the dark, the prospector quickly adds, "Not bad. I know better then that just....they are a strange people."
Which was probably fair enough, the Shoanti probably seemed a strange people to outsiders too. Even if, of course, they weren't.
They kept descending the steep shaft down into the earth. Awenasa's rope runs out, but luckily the slope has shallowed somewhat and the ground less broken. It is possible to walk now, if one goes carefully. They descend further, and Awenasa guesses they are a few hundred feet under the sunbaked soil above. It is cool and dark, with no sound save their own. Awenasa is actually surprised they haven't seen any bats but realizes perhaps this planet doesn't have them?
Finally, the shaft levels out entirely and opens up into a wide space. For a moment it is just a featureless black void, swallowing up Awenasa's senses. It is like standing on the edge of a black dream, endless and strange. And then Perey lifts up the rock and light suddenly fills the space.
What strikes Awenasa first is the size. It is a big space, easily big enough to hold a hundred men and women (or more). The vaulted ceiling, sheer walls and smooth floor were all made out of stone, somehow perfectly cut from the rock around them. In one corner, a heaping pile of rusting old machinery stood, darkly surveying the room like a fallen giant, casting hulking shadows in Perey's shifting light.
The rest of the room though....Awenasa caught her breath. In an instant she knew what this was. A holy gathering place for the desert nomad people. The walls were covered with painted murals, daubed on by hand or a crude brush. Rubble had been cleared away from the floor to make room for fire pits or dance circles. Wooden totems stood about, some nearly as tall as she was. What were clearly shrines of some time dotted the space, many strung with colorful bits of cloth.
There were many entrances leading out of the room, but all were barred with simple wooden barriers, covered with bones or skulls. Clearly the nomads did not venture past this room.
Awenasa's eyes widen in awe as the contents of the cavern come to light. The strangeness of the walls and the machinery are curious enough. This is unlike anything she has ever seen in nature which suggests it is purposefully done, but how would anyone carve out something this size? It seems impossible to the Shoanti.
But it is the rest of what the cavern holds that stops Awenasa in her tracks and even causes her to take an involuntary step backwards. "This is, or was, a holy place for the desert nomad people. Touch nothing. We shouldn't be here...but I no choice." It is as if the Shoanti is convincing herself to continue.
"Wonder why they choose this place?"
She focuses on the blockaded tunnels that exit this place. It's as if she is trying to come to a conclusion herself before turning to Euler, "Which one lead to town?"
"Maybe they wanted to get out of the sun." Euler says mildly, walking around and investigating things. Unlike Awenasa he seems more interested in the old piles of tangled steel and glass heaped in the corner, poking and prodding the ancient machines. "I wonder how they worked...."
Perey seems nervous but calms down after he finds a set of ceremonial drums in a corner. The presence of music seems to indicate civilization to the smaller man and he surveys the instruments minutely (but does not touch them).
"Different kind then back home," he declares, "But not very different. I could play them, I think. Although I'm not sure what kind of hide they used....I wonder how they sound." He might have patted it except Awenasa gives him a withering look.
She might be willing to break laws and rules of the villagers but clearly this is a place of the spirits and a wise person did not tamper with such beings.
Using the tunnel out as a guide, Awenasa quickly figures out which door would lead back tot he village. Assuming it is straight and flat (which she doubts) it would be about a two hour trip back to town, and the canal.
Awenasa frowns at Euler's casual comment. It was possible but she doubted it. Anywhere her people considered sacred had a better reason than personal comfort. Seeing the prospector's interest in the hunk of metal she asks, "That not person, how work?"
The Shoanti sighs when she sees Perey flinch at her look. "Consider what would happen if you touched something considered sacred to the quah as an outsider. I protect you from doing something they consider unforgivable."
Turning her attention to the exits, she chooses one that she figures is the best bet for leading back towards town. She pulls off a board or two blocking the opening. "We search this way. Be alert."
"I'm not really sure." Euler says, not looking away from the heaping pile. "It is a machine...." Sensing the word might not mean much to Awenasa the prospector adds, " A tool that can work. They use similar, but much smaller ones in Maro, or so I heard. If you could somehow get this going, it would be worth a fortune in the Hivemarket..." The man sighed and shrugged, "Just makes you wonder how they built all this. Magic, maybe."
"But how would they know.." Perey says plaintively, but keeps his hands to himself.
It doesn't take much to remove the blockage from the door. Clearly the seal is more metaphysical then real. Awenasa hopes her own spirits can prevent whatever death curse might be headed her way. Surely the local nomadic spirits would understand? She is on a good mission, not one to desecrate.
The tunnel runs off into utter blackness, walls and floor smooth and sharp, as if they were just recently cut. The air is cool and dry, without much scent. Perey carries his light and asks the obvious questions, "How far do we go today?"
Euler hangs back, wary again after his wonder at the chamber behind. "There are monster in there. You plan to fight all of them?"
Awenasa's brow furrows at the word machine. Euler's explanation doesn't help her much. She had never seen a tool like that before. "Tools not work on own. Tools used by people to do work. That not look like it helpful at all."
She glances at Perey when he questions. "They know like I know."
She pulls off one of the boards, "Even this may upset them so we keep moving. Trust they not follow."
Once in the tunnel, she runs her hand along the smoothness of the walls. She is almost overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. If she allows herself to think about how this was all made or even that she was on a different world than her home, it would paralyze her. This is why she keeps focused on the task at hand.
"I wanted to go as far as finding a way to the mines. Once we start, we can't stop. Need way in and way out before doing anything."
Awenasa stops and motions at Euler to hurry up. "How you know there monsters? You been in tunnels?" She cocks her head to the side as if trying to determine if Euler knows something or if he's just assuming things. "We be quiet and quick. No plan to fight but I fight what I need to fight."
"Not these tunnels." Euler stammers, "But I have been done a few old caves and stuff. Just looking for traces of fossils. But everyone knows monster live in places like this. They dont' were you re from?"
The prospector isn't wrong. Awenasa knew the deep places of her homeland were home to some unpleasant creatures, although few bothered humans. The Shoanti did not spend much time underground except for a few holy sites and that was usually done as a group, the entire quah. Still, Awenasa knew the best way to avoid trouble was to be quiet and keep moving.
Moving down the tunnel is an disquieting experience however though, even for her prosaic outlook. It is not physically difficult, certainly not after the grueling time in the sun above. The tunnel is smooth and flat, with barely even a crack in the floor. Cool and dry, the air is merely dusty but actually a pleasant temperature. No..it is the silence. The pure, perfect silence that presses on her. As if someone the weight of the tons of rock overhead are being loaded on her shoulders, crushing her. Every footfall, every breath, even her heartbeat seems a transgression in the endless quiet.
Awenasa takes the lead, Perey in the middle with his shining rock, and Euler reluctantly taking up the rear. The Shoanti isn't happy about the arrangement but she has no choice. Perey needs to be hear her to shed light, and Awenasa has to go first.
Still things seem to be going well.
Until they aren't.
Suddenly without warning Perey's light goes out. Utter, total blackness engulfs the tunnel, as final as if Awenasa had gone blind. In the confusions he hears a soft thumping sound and muffled shouts, barely audible. Then, loud pounding footsteps running off into the dark. After a second, something soft hits her foot, as if someone had kicked a bag toward her.
If Awenasa hadn't been trained as well as she had, she may have panicked. The deafening silence is oppressive enough but adding the sudden absence of light and one may feel robbed of their senses and become fearful. But Awenasa is Shoanti.
Her mind quickly flips through possible scenarios. She doesn't hear any screaming so she doubts they were attacked by any monster, at least one that was non-human. Based on the fact that Perey's light suddenly went out, she had heard sounds of a scuffle, and the sound of fleeing footsteps, she concludes that Euler probably attacked Perey and ran off.
However, she needs to be sure and not just assume. Therefore, Awenasa uses her remaining senses to gather more information. She strains her ears to try to hear better, she inhales deeply to smell her surroundings, and she squats down to feel what hit her foot.
Pausing to listen Awenasa hears scuffling at her feet, of something rubbing against the rocky floor. And..is that muffled shouting? Not muffled from distance, but as if someone had a cloth gag struck in their throat. A choked, quiet sound. She smells nothing, except dust being kicked up....wait, what was that? A faint animal smell, of something alive and warm blooded. Not quite human...
Awenasa squats down and puts out her hand, feeling like a blind woman trying to find a missing coin. Her hand touches something warm and...alive. It has a strange texture, like a canvas bag. It squirms under her hand, a writhing mass. Strange, uneven jerks. It rolls and spasms away from her, moving a few inches away into the darkness, as if recoiling from her touch. It seems somewhat large, almost...Perey sized?
Slipping into Shoanti, Awenasa speaks into the darkness. "Perey? If that's you, quit moving. Let me help you."
She tries again to get ahold of whatever she had felt moments before. "I can't find you if you keep moving."
She gropes around for what she hopes is Perey, trying to find the warmth.
Awenasa's words go unanswered, seeming to fall into the endless black void around her. Silence reigns except for the muffled sounds of something rolling around on the floor.
Awenasa listens carefully, and then with the speed of a snake, reaches out and snatches...whatever it is.
It is hard to grip, and feels strange under her. It is like she is holding....Her confusion suddenly gives way to realization as she tries to pull the mystery object toward her. It is a living bag of somekind...with Perey inside!
It is flesh, thin but strong, streached out over the bard, cutting him (and his light) off. Instead the bard is still kicking and trying to break free but his struggles seem to be fading as the ...thing strangles him. Awenasa quickly runs her hand over it, but does not find a head or anything other then smooth, bat-like skin.
Awenasa's pulse quickens as she realizes that Perey is trapped and appears to be suffocating. She needed to free him and fast.
But what was she dealing with? She tries to think back to the many stories she had heard over the years.
Nothing comes to mind so she becomes desperate to just destroy whatever it was. Keeping ahold of what felt like skin that was encasing Perey, she attempts to tear it open and free him.
In the blind darkness Awenasa has no idea what she is doing but one thing is clear. She needed to get Perey out of...whatever he was stuck in. Not wanting to risk the knife, she seizes the rough, burlap-like skin with a firm grip. Knotted knuckles dig into the strange beast, the flesh warm against her own skin. Underneath she can feel Perey squirming feebly, like a child hiding under a blanket.
Still gripping tightly, Awenasa takes a breath of the dry tunnel air and jerks it apart as hard as she can. The skin is tough and stringy, and for a horrible moment the Shoanti thinks it'll defeat her, but then it suddenly gives way, like rotten cloth. The rip isn't large but it is enough. There is a sharp gurgling hiss of surprise and pain, and the thing writhes away from her grip, slipping into the endless darkness.
But darkness no longer, as the stone Perey enchanted falls free, still burning brightly. It lights the tunnel, revealing Perey lying cold and still on the stony floor of the cavern. His neck and face are covered with bite marks, torn skin bleeding freely. Awenasa doesn't have time to see more, because at the edge of the light she sees movement.
A shifting shadow, rippling in mid-air, like a cloak given life. Billowing in an unfelt breeze, Awenasa can just make out a dark greedy mouth, studded with white teeth. Without warning, it lets out a horrifying moan, a deep bass that echoes through the tunnel. Awenasa feels her hair stand on end and feels even her iron hard will wavering.
Awenasa wants to know that Perey is alive but doesn't have time to attend to him as she catches sight of what almost killed him. At least she hopes that the almost part was true.
She resists the urge to cover her ears as the thing let out a horrifying noise. It takes all her will to not grab Perey and flee. She has enough presence of mind to know that they wouldn't get far if she did. She needed to put this thing down and quickly.
Before springing into action, she nudges Perey with her foot. "Perey, you need to wake up."
The gleaming white teeth made the creature look like it was laughing at them, mocking her. Even though she is shaken by the noise that still seemed to reverberate through the tunnels, she knows she has to act in order for her and Perey to survive.
The Shoanti charges the living shadow intending to finish what she started. She focuses all of her might behind a punch to its face as she aims for what is easily seen, which is its teeth.
To be afraid is not forbidden to Shoanti. Indeed, it was dangerous to be so reckless as to not feel fear when facing an enemy spear, or a savage duststorm. No, what is forbidden is to slink away or to desert one's quah.
So Awenasa doesn't. She leaps toward the strange creature and smashes her hardened fist into what passes for a face. She feels bones crack under her knuckles as she lands a solid hit, one strong enough to fell an ox.
But this is not an ox.
The beast recoils from the hit, but does not retreat, or even vanish into the inky universe of utter darkness that surrounds them. Instead it hovers on the edge of sight for a moment, as if sizing up Awenasa. Was she worth the fight? Was the silent, still form of Perey worth fighting her over? Awenasa has time to wonder...was this a beast hunting for food or was it a thinking being that killed for other reasons?
Then, she spots something at the edge of her field of view. Movement, coming up the tunnel behind her. Glancing quickly the Shoanti spots a sight that chills her blood. Another shadowy beast, identical to the one in front of her, is coming from behind! Still twenty feet away, is barely detectable at the edge of Perey's Light Spell, but it is gliding quickly toward her.
The one she punched is still, fluttering in mid-air, like a horrid nightmare of a child's broken kite.
Awenasa's heart skips a beat as she sees another of the creatures approaching. She had assumed that the sound it had made was to try to scare her but maybe it had been to call for reinforcements. Could she fight two of these things? Granted the tunnel made it easier than if she was in a larger cavern but if one of those things got ahold of her like it had Perey then they would both perish.
She hopes that she had walloped the one hard enough that it would think twice about coming after her, even with back up.
The Shoanti does what she had been taught regarding any wild animal one encountered where one couldn't easily escape without confrontation, she made herself look as intimidating as possible.
She steps into a readied stance to show that she is prepared to strike and makes herself look as large as possible. She glares at the two creatures and wills them to leave.
Awenasa stared down the rippling, injured beast with a glare as hard as steel. It was the look of someone who would not back down and would, even if conquered, go down fighting. To an animal it described a meal not worth fighting for and for something smarter...an enemy better left alone.
Clearly the beast had no expected this, and it hovers silently, confused. Behind her, the second creature pauses, flicking in the air like a flag on a gusty day. Silence fills the space, a pregnant pause only dimly lit by Perey's fallen stone. Awenasa wonders how long that spell will last, before utter night returns. She might not be able to defeat these two in the light. In the dark, she would be entirely lost.
And yet...nothing happens. A question starts to rise in Awenasa's mind. Why not? She could understand the one she attacked being hesitant, no creature like pain. But why was the second not falling on her from behind? Or at least moving closer? Or casting that horrific moan? Maybe they did hunt together in a pack? Was it a rival, perhaps?
Or was it even real?
Awenasa looked harder at the second, suspiciously cautious creature. As if fog parting, her vision cleared around it. It was a fake! It was a magical mirage, conjured up by spell and wizardry. The Shoanti still only faced one enemy.
Awenasa went through a maelstrom of emotions on the inside even though her exterior remained stoic. Surprise and dread at the thought of being flanked by two of these creatures, worry for Perey and her survival, acceptance of having to fight to the death, and then relief accompanied by anger when she realized the second creature wasn't real.
She whirled on the injured creature, her eyes flashing. No more tricks. Even though she was pretty sure it couldn't understand her, she felt the need to voice her anger. "You want me then come get me!", she growled. "But you will die along with me." Reminiscent of a coiled snake ready to strike, Awenasa stared down her present nemesis.
Awenasa's challenge rings out into the endless void of the underworld, echoing off the smooth, carved walls. Even if the hovering beast in front of her can't speak Common, her intent is clear to any predator, sapient or not. If it wanted Perey, it would have to go through Awenasa and she would not die easily. No Shoanti did.
For a long moment the rippling creature eyed her, mouth agape. Awenas braced herself for anything. A sudden leap, an engulfing grasp, a blast of magic. Who knew what this thing could do?
And then, without fanfare, it flipped over and vanished into the endless gloom of the tunnel, without a sound.
It was gone.
It takes all of Awenasa's self-control to stay in her readied stance and watch the creature leave. She needs to check on Perey but doesn't want to turn her back on that living shadow until she was sure it was gone.
The moment she is certain it is gone, she crouches down beside Perey and checks him for a pulse. She looks for any signs of bleeding and seeks to put pressure on whatever wounds she can. "Perey, can you hear me?" She is moments away from shaking him roughly to try to rouse him from whatever harm that thing had done to him.
She is unsettled as she tries to help Perey. Not only out of concern for his well-being but also because Euler ran away. She has no doubt that he would immediately return to town and try to garner whatever favour he could with Eli by informing on her plans. She fears that their timeline suddenly got very tight. She may not be able to take the time to scope out a route and then come back another time to get the children. This may be her one opportunity to get them out. She can't help but secretly hope that that engulfer found Euler in the tunnels to eliminate her problem.
She tries again to rouse Perey.
Perey is quiet for a long time, enough time for Awenasa's fear to rise. She crouches in the dark silent tunnel, hands grasping her friends shoulder tightly. Surely this isn't how his story ended, in a dirty tunnel on another planet? With no one to sing his name?
Perey coughs and Awenasa lets out a silent, thankful sigh to the spirits.
The pale man's eyes open slightly, then he blinks. "What was that....what happened?" His voice is weak but clear, quite audible in the echoing tunnel. He shudders as memories apparently start to come back to him. "There were teeth...or claws.." Perey looks down at himself and winces. Awenasa can't help but agree, it wasn't a pretty sight.
His neck, shoulders and upper torso are covered in dozens of cuts and slashes. While each one is not very serious all joined together, it creates quite a network of torn skin, ruptured muscle and blood. Quite a bit of blood. It is like Perey just picked a fight with a very large and very angry cat.
"It is gone?" Perey croaks, "Did you kill it...whatever it was? It wasn't Euler, was it?" He tries to look around but jerks to a stop with pain. "Is he still here?"
Awenasa lightly punched\s Perey in the arm, "Don't worry me like that."
She looks over his many injuries, "Do we have bandages? Can you move?"
"I don't know what it was but it engulfed you and almost suffocated you. I made it realize that we were more trouble than it was worth to get a meal. It's gone."
At the mention of Euler, she spits on the ground in disgust, "He ran away like the lowlander he is. Probably straight to Ely to try to win his favour."
"I might be able to chase him down but I'm not leaving you and you can't move that fast." She gives him a serious look, "You need to speak truth, Perey. Do you need to go back? Only you know how serious your injuries are."
The way Awenasa sees it, they have two choices. Return and lose their window to find a way to get the children out this way or continue and run the risk of losing Perey. It may have been an easier decision if Thak was with them but he wasn't. Personally she didn't like either option.
"Go back?" Something flashes in the small man's eyes at this, a potent mixture of fear and determination. "No, you can't go back because of me." He shakes his head, "I'll be fine." he tries to stand, which he only attempts for a few moments before sinking back down to the rocky floor with a pained wheeze.
"Maybe not fine..." He says but then adds fiercely, "I won't hold you back." he glances around the empty black tunnel, before settling on something. "Go on without me. I'll wait here for you." Seeing Awenasa's face he urged, "I can heal up while I wait, and I can make light. I doubt anything will come back this way after we had that big fight."
"This is your best chance to save those kids. I don't think Euler is a bad person but I think this Ely person has a great deal of power, and hears things. If Euler warns him...the whole plan might fall apart. He might even have the sheriff arrest you!"
Awenasa studies Perey in silence. She admires his conviction but she also weighs his words against their situation. They are in agreement that going back would be detrimental to their mission. However, could she really leave him alone? And what about her? She has not been on her own since leaving her quah and the one time she had been away from her companions, she had needed rescuing - not that she would ever verbalize these thoughts.
As she considers everything, she knows that Perey is right. Her continuing on alone was their best chance to save the children. Even if she didn't like it,
In a flash, she draws her knife and hands it to him hilt first. "Just in case, take this. You're more capable than you think."
Then she begins to dig a torch out of her pack. "Since I can't make light, I'll have to do this the regular way."
"I would think sound carries down here so yell if you need me. Otherwise, the next time we meet I will have the children with me."
Bravery takes many forms. In ballads, of course, it is usually charging ahead in battle or tackling a fierce monster bare-handed. Surging ahead of the tribe, caught up in a blood fury.
But Awenasa knows it takes a very different type of bravery to accept being left behind, in the dark and silence. Would she be able to do so? To let a friend go ahead with the task at hand, to put herself in such a spot? Awenasa did not know, but she did know Perey was a very brave man.
Perey takes the blade, only a trace of a tremor in his grip. The blade gleams in both his magical dazzling light and the orange flame Awenasa soon kindles, the smell of smoke overpowering the dusty must of the tunnel. It makes her think of long nights around campfires, a bit of comfort. Still, she now cannot linger.
Perey gives her a Shoanti salute and Awenasa heads off into the long dark.
Alone.
It is like trekking into a dream, a world without shape or sounds. Formless black on all sides, reaching out into infinity and yet bounded by stone walls. It is the worse of both worlds, claustrophobia and being exposed. Lack of sensation and over heightened senses. Still she ventures onward, driven both by duty and by a desire to help these children. Even if she has never met them, they tug at her heart. The Shoanti respect children above all else, seeing in them the future of the world. What sort of society would mistreat their children?
She marches onto down the tunnel. Helping her is that it rarely branches and most side tunnels are smaller or blocked of old rockfalls, choked shut. Her way seems clear.
Finally, after what seems like miles to her tired feet she find something new. So far the walls had generally been smooth, cut by some magic or skill unknown to the Shoanti explorer. Now they marred with rough gouges and divets, clearly caused by pick axes or hammers. Rubble littered the ground, gravel left behind. Old iron rings are hammered into the walls, surrounded by soot stains.
Old torch holders, surely. People must come this way.
And ahead, when she strains her ears, she hears...sounds. Muffled and distant, but the sound of metal clanking and rocks rumbling. Faint, but real.
Awenasa returns Perey’s salute before departing. She can’t help but think that it is surprising that Perey had become more Shoanti during their journey away from the quah than he had during his years living in the quah.
The silence is oppressive and surprisingly lonely. Thankfully she has a clear goal before her or else it would have been tempting to turn back. Just when she begins to think that it was going to take longer than she had thought, her environment changes and she sees signs of activity. This is closely followed by sounds of activity.
Awenasa contemplates extinguishing her torch and leaving it in one of the holders close to where she’s be exiting back into the tunnels. Moving forward, the light from the torch would be too noticeable. She would have to be as stealthy as possible if she wants to get close enough to determine how many men she would need to deal with before freeing the children.
Awenasa creeps forward, straining her ears for noise. Sounds can play tricks on someone in these tunnels, she has already discovered. Some quiet things travel far in the silence, while others are strangely muffled. So the Shoanti moves slow, pausing often to listen. She can't help but think of a deer in a meadow, constantly freezing and looking around, ears twitching. A deer's ears would be useful.
The sounds slowly get louder. The sound of people at work. Picks digging stone, shovels scraping, the occasional rumble of gravel sliding. There are words mixed in too, but too faint to make out clearly. A squeak of a wheel needing grease, the creak of old ropes streached taut.
Awenasa finally puts out her own torch at a corner and waits for her eyes to adjust. Slowly, ahead, she can make out the dull orange of lights. Less active then torchlight. Probably some sort of covered lamp. She is still too far to actually see anything, which a tunnel makes tricky. If she can see them, whoever is beyond very well might be able to see her.
Awenasa is painfully aware that each step she takes makes her vulnerable to unknown foes. However, she also can't stay where she is. The imprisoned children wouldn't magically find their way to her. Her only path is forward.
Having extinguished her torch and leaving it in one of the holders attached to the wall, she moves slower in the dimness as she tries to not make any noticeable noise.
She creeps towards the squeaking, creaking, and voices. All the while she keeps an eye out for a good perch in which to observe whomever or whatever was making noise. All of her training causes her to observe what she is up against before bursting in.
Sneaking in tunnels is hard work. What Awenasa wouldn't give to be outside, on a mountain night. There she would be confident in her ability to pass noiselessly. She could sneak right up on a pack of lowlanders and steal the coins from their pockets. But underground was a different matter.
She inched forward, more by feel then by any other sense. Her fingertips brushed the rocky walls, noticing there were far more gaps here, irregular portals, the edges rough as if animals had chewed them. The noise ahead grew stronger and Awenasa went even slower. She was preparing herself to crawl forward (how many times had she snuck up on a deer, sliding on her belly?) when the point quickly became entirely moot.
There was a corner and Awenasa carefully peeked out. What she saw startled her.
A large chamber opened before her, four or five men tall and wide as a town square. Pillars of rock stood among it, holding up the roof. Unlike the tunnels so far, everything had a rough, raw look to it, clearly hewed out by pick and shovel not the magical machines that fascinated Euler over.
Lamps were hung here and there, glass sided squares that sent steady streams of light. Not wood, some other fuel that Awenasa did not know. Among the shadows cast, Awenasa saw people. Three taller ones that were clearly adults, and a dozen smaller ones. Children.
All the children were at work. Carrying heavy basket full of rock, wielding picks and hammers, others picking through piles of rubble. She couldn't see many details at this, but they had the slow, steady work that spoke of misery and repetition. It reminded her of the slave workers she had seen in a few towns during her time with the Wanderers.
But even those lowlanders never worked children.
Awenasa immediately begins to scan the chamber and analyze her options. She sees three guards but she doubts that they are properly trained to fight. But she is uncertain about whether she can take them all out before one of them could call for help.
Her eyes fall on a bell in the middle of the area. That could be a problem if she can't act quick enough.
Her other option is to try to separate the guards and take them out one by one; however, once one disappeared then they would probably raise the alarm. They didn't look that smart but she can't afford to be surprised.
What she does know is that she can't stay here all day weighing her options.
Finally she decides to try to incapacitate at least one of them first and then deal with the bell second, then finish off the other two. Painfully aware that time is against her once Euler escaped, Awenasa takes action.
She purposefully scrapes her feet against the floor in a way that suggests someone is trying to be stealthy but made a mis-step, and then waits to spring on whoever comes to investigate.
Awenasa ducks behind the corner and scrapes her boots against the rough stone floor, a calculated mis-step. She waits......and waits. Nothing happens. Finally, she (against her instincts) peeks around the corner again and sees...nothing has changed. The guards still lounge about, keeping an eye on the toiling children. Clearly she overestimated her foes.
Probably for the best but she would need to do more. This time , after withdrawing from sight, she stamps her foot against the stones several times. To her, it is a obvious as a red flag in the blue sky. But again, no response. Eventually Awenasa is forced to grab a loose hunk of rock and literally bang it against the side of the tunnel.
At the cracking smash, she finally hears a response.
"Who is over there? Pekir? No one is working the south tunnels today, how did you get over there. Damn you, kid, you trying to escape? Get out here or you'll taste the whip." After a moment, where Awenasa waits and tenses herself, the voice says, "All right, you little whelp. You'll regret it!" Awenasa hears the heavy tramp of feet on stone.
A bow-legged man rounds the corner, holding a lantern in one hand, and a whip in the other. His eyes widen in shock when he spots Awenasa, mouth slack jawed. But Awenasa has the upper hand and gets the first move.
Use it wisely!
Awenasa cringes as she has to make an incredible amount of noise to get the attention of the supposed guards. This amount of noise could have meant death when fighting against the Ulfen.
She waits like a predator ready to pounce on their unaware prey. The fact that her prey had every intention of whipping a child fuelled the intensity of her attack once her rounded the corner.
Springing forward almost silently Awenasa brought the full weight of her anger, disgust, and frustration of the last few days down on the head of the slaver before her. For that was what he was, complacent in the slavery of children.
Awenasa lets her hate flow through her and she hits the bow-legged man on the head with a blow more associated with hammers then fists. She actually feels the skull bend under her blow a bit, denting it. For a moment she worries about killing the man but shrugs it off. Probably not great loss either way.
She is more concerned about catching his falling body to prevent more noise. The Shoanti manages, although the man is heavier then he looks, and reeks like stale wine and old leather. Awenasa is gagging by the time she manhandles him into a bit of a corner, all silently.
Still, the man's constant stream of curses defeat her since almost at once, his colleagues notice the silence.
"Oi, Frek? What's going on? The kid to much to handle?" A voice shouts around the corner, a mixture of contempt and concern. 'Or is he wedged in some small place? Should I get the hound?"
It is only Awenasa's mastery over her physical body that keeps her from vomiting from the stench of the man. Clearly it was never his intention to ever sneak up on someone.
As soon as she hears the other guards questioning Frek's silent and prolonged absence, Awenasa knows she doesn't have much time to act. She needs to neutralize their ability to call for help, incapacitate them, and prevent them from releasing the hound. Even though she wasn't overly concerned about a hound, she didn't want to harm an animal whose only fault was having a crappy owner. She had no doubt it was horribly mistreated to make it mean and violent.
Her first order of business was to make the bell unusable. The second was to take care of the guards before they could run for reinforcements.
Awenasa takes a breath to center herself before bursting into the cavern and running straight at the alarm bell and body checking the pole. The force of her attack pushes the pole over and causes the bell to fall to the ground and unable to raise an alarm.
Awenasa charges out of her tunnel with the speed of a champion sprinter, covering the broken ground at a speed that dazzled the eye. She leapt rubble, deftly skidded across bare rock and dodged pillars of stone. Around her she heard shouting and cursing but, for now, she ignored it, making sure she kept her footing on the tricky terrain. Unless someone was about to tackle her, she could deal with them later.
In short order she arrives at the bell and, without pausing, slams into it with a shoulder. It is a heavy awkward construction, heavy metal set into a timber frame, but the Shoanti's momentum is enough. With a creak and a crack the bell tips and falls over onto the rocky floor, giving a muffled clang of metal.
Awenasa takes a breath and looks around. She is in the middle of the large cavern now, the light dim and dancing. Shadows flicker everywhere. The children seem to have fled, and she seems alone with the two larger men, who seem completely bewildered by her sudden attack. They recover quickly though, one of them saying, "Whoever you are, you picked the wrong place to rob. Get her!"
The two close in on her, but Awenasa's attention is distracted by movement. Glancing at a broader tunnel leading onward, she spots two more men running out of it, armed with the clubs. More worryingly, some animal is between them, straining at a heavy chain.
A dog....sort of. It was a dog shape, but the skin was green and shiny, reminding Awenasa of the seals she had seen at Sea. Worse though, it was dotted with oozing pustules and warts, weeping green slime. A huge set of gaping jaws hung down, riddled with misshapen teeth, slicks with yet more slime. Despite it though, the beast did not seem sick, and indeed was straining to come at her. A green light flickered in the eyes.
Awenasa half sighs and half growls as it becomes clear that her efforts have been wasted in trying to eliminate a way of raising an alarm. Apparently yelling is good enough. She should have just quietly snapped all their necks.
But now was not the time to debate about what may have been. She needs to free the children and she needs to do it quickly. She doesn't like how exposed she was in the cavern. If she gets back into the tunnels then at least she can't be surrounded. And of course they have a pus hound.
Awenasa begins to move. She runs like the wind towards where she last saw the children. "Children, to the tunnels!" she orders. "You no longer slaves."
The Shoanti does what she can to get the children moving, all the while making sure she keeps herself between the children and the men.
Awenasa shouts but sees no children. She wonders if they are already running deeper into the caverns, in all directions. To be fair, she can't blame them. After...years of this treatment, how can they trust anyone?
Still, at least they aren't getting in the way. Meanwhile the men come at her.
The man holding the hound seems to be the leader because he waves the rest back and says, "Get her, Rip!" Rip, the foul looking hound gives a gravelly baying howl that echos off the rocks and then bounds toward Awenasa, froth dripping from it's jaws.
But Awenasa is wise to animal tricks, and even as a kid playing with the dogs of her quah. Whatever this thing was, it fought like a dog anyway. She twisted away and the snapping teeth catch nothing but air. The three hang back, clearly not wanting to get too close to the mad hound.
A possible advantage for her, they have no bows or ranged weapons.
She has no doubt that the creature released on her would cause most residents of this town to turn tail and run. But Awenasa is not most people and she prepares herself for the inevitable fight.
Lucky for her, but unlucky for Rip, it came to her and so she didn't even have to move to meet it. Trusting in her training, Awenasa releases a flurry of devastating blows on the creature. The last hit she aims for a more sensitive area of the hound's head to make it think twice about attacking her again.
The first punch bounces harmlessly off the thick slick hide, but Awenasa gets her eye in after that. Her next two punches land solidly on the beast's skull hard enough to crack it. It gives a feeble bark and then collapses onto the stony ground like a pole-axed cow. A dribble of scum oozes from the open mouth, staining the gravel.
Sudden silence fills the cavern as Awenasa faces the three men who suddenly seem a great less interested in fighting the Shoanti. The leader who released Rip narrows his eyes. He turns to one of the others, "Bobbo, go back and tell the Boss. Better he here about it quick." Bobbo, one of the men runs off back down the tunnel, happy to be moving away from Awenasa.
The leader shifts back toward Awenasa. "So...what are you after? The fossils? We don't keep that many here, you know. They get carried up to the Big House throughout the day. Still, you can take what's here, for all the good it'll do you. Ely Piggrich will hunt you all the way to Maro if he needs to. Ely will never allow himself to be robbed."
But the man shrugs, "That said, I won't stand in your way if I don't have to." He takes a step back, keeping a wary eye on the Shoanti.
Awenasa scowled at the men while watching them warily. "I'm not here to rob and I care nothing for your rocks."
"You say you not stand in my way so take the rocks you have to your boss and leave this place. I will leave shortly after you do and no one gets hurt."
Her voice matches her steely glare, "Leave. Now."
She takes a few steps to get a better look at whatever side tunnels she can see where the children may have run off to. Her voice softened and she projected so that her words could be heard throughout the cavern, "Children, it is safe now. The slavers won't hurt you anymore. You can come out."
The man looks ready to argue with Awenasa's ultimatum but then glances at the dead trollhound oozing on the stony floor. Finally the thug leader shrugs, "Fine, but a word of advice. I'd get a move on. Ely isn't the type to forgive and forget. It'll be more then dogs after you." With that the man waves to his companions, who retreat back up the main tunnel leading away, presumably toward the surface.
The Shoanti turns to the side tunnels and calls out to the unseen children. Silence greets her for a long moment until finally she spots a small figure from behind a rock. An older boy, she would guess twelve or so, pokes out a head.
"Who are you then? And what are you doing?"