When it was time to prepare for out next challenge, we removed our practice vests to go back to the locker room, and once we’d sharpened our swords, both Morgan and I put our emergency cylinders into our boots. Questers weren’t issued with shields and this quest involved fighting against zestonate merchants. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a knife in my boot just in case my sword was knocked out of my hand.
At exactly half a clock turn past set three, all eight of us stood in the front courtyard armed with our swords. Zurina gave us a marker setting in the Early Era year of +349 and we each set our pendant dials carefully. Zurina hadn’t given us any information about how many merchants we’d be facing or any specifics about the mine, but I tried to remain alert as we travelled through the painful darkness. This marker could be right in front of the mine entrance for all we knew…….
We weren’t dropped at the entrance to the mine, but we were close. The colours merged and the air patterns calmed as the pain faded completely away, and we stood on gravel in a shallow basin surrounded by thin trees. Papery bark hung in patches from the trunks of the trees, and the sky was bright blue above us, and dotted with thick, white clouds. The air was warm and dusty, and I could hear shouts and whistles coming from just beyond the rim of the basin. I guessed they came from the mine.
I looked at Morgan for direction and, not surprisingly, so did everyone else. He motioned to us to follow him and we crawled carefully up the side of the basin until we lay on our stomachs and looked directly down at the mine.
It had two entrances. These were narrow rectangular tunnels which were cut into the base of a thick, softly rounded, tree covered mountain. We’d all studied zestonate mines. I knew that the two tunnel entrances would be cut horizontally into the middle of the mountain and I knew they’d end at a large cavern which would be filled completely with zestonate. Zestonate was a slightly shiny metal that was what remained after a buried herd dragon decomposed under rock for at least a hundred turns. Beneath the ground, and away from the air, the dragon scales reacted with the rocks and a whole new metal was formed. The size of the deposit depended on the size of the dragon and one large dragon could change almost a whole mountain into zestonate. The metal was mined from the centre of the mountain and, as more and more of it was removed, the cavern inside would grow bigger and bigger. Zestonate mines were notoriously unstable and, unfortunately, they were known to collapse regularly. The glimmering metal was removed from the deposit very gently, with picks and it separated naturally from the walls of the cavern in thin shards about the size of an adult human’s hand. I’d learnt all this from parchments, but I’d never been to a mine and I wasn’t expecting what I saw below me.
Ten burly men wandered around on a cleared area at the front of the mine. They wore large curved swords on their hips and their chests were bare. Their heads were shaved and their leather pants and boots were covered in the glimmering metal dust that covered absolutely everything, including the faces of the small children who passed the bags of zestonate out of the mine. The children were roped together with cables, which were also made from the zestonate and I could see the shiny metal had been melted down into rough twine. Zestonate wasn’t normally used for twine, and I knew it would cut the children like razor wire if they moved against it too fast. The children’s wrists were shackled with iron bands and they were roped together in three assembly lines which stretched from the two mine entrances. They passed the full bags of zestonate along their lines and, as soon as they passed one on, they turned to receive the next. Two of the burly men shouted at them in a popular Early Era language as they worked. It was despicable…and disheartening…..
“I don’t think the merchants enter the mine at all,” whispered Morgan, and I let out my breath and nodded. The merchants loaded the bags of zestonate onto large, wooden wagons and the whistle signalled the children to pause while a full wagon was wheeled to a holding area and another was pushed quickly into its place.
The children were obviously slaves and I guessed they’d probably come from the city the zestonate was destined for, or from outlying tribes or villages surrounding this mine. I knew Zestonate was used by some Early Era races to make wire free electric lighting, but I also knew many of those races were wiped out by plague or feuding long before the Nomadic Era began. The technology and knowledge surrounding zestonate was lost early on in the time circle but, surprisingly, it had been rediscovered in the Natural Revolution Era around the twenty fourth century.
I watched the children who stood forlornly in their lines. They were dressed only in rags and their skinny little frames and hollow looking eyes told the story of their harsh existence. I pressed my lips together and Morgan glanced at me before he motioned for us all to follow him back towards the marker.
“Evangeline and Imogen; you’re to take the three men around the wagons. The one with the head scarf has an injury to his left leg; use this,” he said quietly, and they nodded. “Caz, there’s a group of four of them standing together towards the smaller tunnel. The man with the scar on his face is left handed; he’s yours. His left hand is missing a finger so his grip will be off,” said Morgan, and he turned to Dominic and Seth. “The other three men in that group are for you two. One of them is very drunk. He’s the one leaning against the tree trunk, but watch the other two, they’re strong and agile,” said Morgan, and he turned to Erin. “The younger man at the wagon is for you. He’s the lookout and he’s the furthest from here, so I’ll get you to circle round this ridge and take him first. You’ll be our signal to attack,” said Morgan, before he looked at me. “You can have the smaller of the two at the assembly line Livia, but when you’re done, you’re to come straight back here; do you understand?” he asked me sternly. He sounded like Zurina and I stared at him. I didn’t mind if he took charge of our plan of attack, but he didn’t have to speak to me as if he knew what I was thinking. What I was thinking was none of his business.
“Whatever you say, Morgan,” I said, too sweetly, and he frowned at me and glanced at the time on his pendant. “We’ve been here ten minutes already,” he said, and he nodded to Erin who left us to circle around the edge of the ridge. Morgan followed me to the top of the ridge and when he crouched beside me, I ignored him.
“We don’t have time for heroic acts Livia,” he said quietly, but I didn’t look at him. I heard him let out his breath. “I’m not going to help you,” he muttered, and I shrugged.
“I didn’t ask you to,” I said, as I heard a shout that was nothing to do with the bags of zestonate. Morgan didn’t have time to argue with me then as we ran from the edge of the ridge.
The merchants were strong and their swords were sharp, and I heard the clash of metal all around me as we attacked. Our advantages were many though, and I was surprised by how easily we overpowered the men. Our swords were made of superior metal and we’d fought against tutors far superior with a sword than these merchants. We could jump and turn easily and we could use our hand to hand fighting skills as well. I broke the neck of the man who fought me when I was able to knock his sword from his hand, and I used my combat moves then instead of swordplay. I knew Morgan watched me as he fought and, as I let the limp body in my arms fall to the dust, I glanced at him too. He frowned as he plunged his sword awkwardly through his opponent’s chest and I knew he’d narrowly missed being wounded himself so he could try and catch me before I entered the mine.
I ran as fast as I could towards the closest entrance.
“Livia,” shouted Morgan, and I could tell he was furious, but I didn’t care. This mine was about to collapse on top of innocent children. They had no means of escape and I wasn’t about to stand aside and watch them die.
“These children will die,” I shouted, and as I glanced behind me, the bodies of the other merchants lay scattered about in the dust. I caught a glimpse of Dominic shaking his head at me too, but I still didn’t stop.
There were two lines of children coming from the tunnel in front of me and th
ey’d stop handing their bags of metal to each other when they’d seen us run down from the ridge. They looked at me with hollow eyes as I used my sword to cut quickly through their zestonate ropes and they stared at their freed limbs in shock as I ran straight past them into the dimly lit mine.
“You’re going to make a habit of this aren’t you?” shouted Morgan crossly, as he ran into the mine beside me. I ignored him. I didn’t have time to answer him as we cut the next lot of children free with our swords. “I’m only helping you because it’s your birthday,” he shouted, as we ran further into the mine, and I did manage to smile at him then. He glanced at me crossly and shook his head, but he continued to cut the children free from the line on one side of the tunnel while I cut them free from the line on the other side. When we freed them, we shouted to the children in the same language the merchants had used and they ran towards the mine entrance as fast as they could. There was no time to free them individually. They ran from the mine still roped together in groups of two and three, and I heard the wooden beams that lined the tunnel creak and groan under the pressure of the mountainside as we ran even further into the depths of the mine.
The zestonate lights above us flickered on and off, and I heard a loud crack as I cut more of the children free. I shouted frantically and they ran for their lives as we neared the edge of the zestonate deposit. It was deeper than I’d expected and I knew we were running out of time. The children in the second tunnel would surely die.
“Put down your picks and run. Run; the mountain is falling,” I shouted, as we reached a large cavern of shimmering, metal shards. Children a little older than the ones we’d freed in the tunnel picked wearily and steadily at the shimmering metal and it fell in thin chunks from the cavern walls. Other children gathered it into piles with their bare hands, and still others, put it into the hessian bags that were then were handed up the line. These children turned to us as we slashed and hacked at their ropes with our swords.
“Get the hell out now!” Morgan shouted to a half starved, hollow eyed boy who stood in shock beside his shattered rope. He stared at Morgan for a second before he turned and ran like a startled hare.
The mine work lights flickered again and we slid down the rocky path which lead to the bottom of the cavern as we freed child after child from what was soon to become a shimmering tomb. There was another loud crack from the direction of the tunnel and Morgan looked at his pendant before he took my wrist firmly and pulled me firmly away from the last of the children. These children were bound by a rope which was attached to a giant, iron loop and the loop was attached with bolts to the cavern floor. I couldn’t reach them though and I could only throw my sword to these children as I screamed at Morgan and clawed at his hand.
“Stop. Let me go. They’ll die,” I screamed, but Morgan hauled me determinedly from the cavern as he dragged me ruthlessly through piles of zestonate shards. I tried to fight his grip but he swore at me, and he continued to swear over and over as he dragged me determinedly up the rocky path. He climbed steadily towards the exit tunnel and he refused to look back at either me, or at the children we’d left behind. I saw the children below me though, and they were reaching for my sword as I sobbed and choked on my hysterical tears.
Morgan had an iron grip around my wrist now and, as we reached the tunnel, he stubbornly refused to loosen that grip. He shouted and swore at me some more and he demanded that I run with him……. and with the tears streaming down my face, I ran……and the tunnel creaked and cracked and groaned above us as I heard the sound of small steps behind me on the rocky tunnel floor.
Morgan ran faster as the lights flickered again and we could already see the light of day ahead of us when the ground shook slightly. A few of the wooden boards around us cracked and I tripped as the ground trembled menacingly below my feet. Morgan dragged me along for at least a length before I could get up again and I sprinted for the daylight beside him as my heart pounded heavily in my chest.
The sunlight hit us suddenly and the first thing I saw was Caspian running from the second tunnel behind a large group of children whose severed ropes hung loosely from their wrists. Caspian dropped his sword and looked up at the sky before he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. The ground shook again, and when I turned around, I covered my mouth with one hand only as Morgan still hadn’t let go of my wrist.
The last of the children ran from the mine behind us and I trembled with relief as a hollow eyed boy silently handed me my sword. It was only then that Morgan let go of my wrist and he put his arms around me as I sobbed into his shoulder. All had been saved, and as I managed to take a shuddering breath, there was a very loud crack that came from deep within the mountain.
The mine collapsed at set four exactly, and a hollow, echoing rumble was followed by a cloud of shimmering dust which burst from the two mine entrances and billowed out around us into the air……..
“Come on! I’ve got your bags, but they’re going without us if you don’t come now,” shouted Evangeline into the silence, and we turned to see her standing at the edge of the embankment with her hands on her hips. Caspian, Morgan and I left the children behind as we ran up the embankment towards the marker. The children would have to find their own way home, but I wasn’t worried. There was safety in numbers, and I was sure they’d find their way.
We made it to the marker with two minutes only left to set our pendants. My hands were still shaking slightly as I turned my dials and Morgan took my pendant in his hand when I was done. He checked my settings for me before he handed me my bag of zestonate, and he ignored the presence of the others in our group then as he took my hand gently in his and spoke to me quietly.
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let you die in there. Any other day; sure, but not today, on your birthday,” he said, as we walked into the centre of the marker. I looked into his eyes and he grinned.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry too,” I said just as quietly, and when the temperature dropped and the mountain disappeared, Morgan still didn’t let go of my hand……
I thanked Caspian for his help as soon as the air patterns settled. I fell into step beside him as he walked towards the front door of the quest house and I watched Morgan deposit our zestonate bags with the others. Apparently, the marker guards were taking them to Aldiris in the morning.
“I guess we changed history before it became history,” Caspian said to me, and I grinned.
“I’m glad you were there today because if you weren’t, you would never be able to be…..is that right?” I asked him, and he nodded slowly and looked pleased.
Caspian, Morgan and I had to resharpen our swords in the locker room seeing as we’d used them to cut zestonate cables, but we waited until the bench was free. The others returned their boots to their lockers and cleaned their bloodied swords at the bench while I washed my face and hands at the locker room sink. I guessed I had shimmering dust in my hair. It was all over my clothes, and all over Morgan and Caspian too. When the others left to practice combat against Dominic next door, I cleaned my sword carefully and sharpened it carefully too before changing my boots and returning my emergency cylinder to my locker. It was almost a quarter clock turn to set five when I finally sat down on the wooden bench and closed my locker door. Morgan, Caspian and I left the locker room together and I followed Caspian towards the front of the house.
“What are you doing now?” Morgan asked, as he fell into step beside me.
“I’m going to wash all this dust out of my hair. It’s not too long now until the evening meal and I want to have time to dry it,” I said, as we walked slowly up the stairs.
Caspian disappeared into his room and I’d already turned towards mine when Morgan took me by the arm.
“The others are still next door. Why don’t you let me listen to this music cartridge you smuggled into the house while nobody’s around,” he said quietly, and I hesitated before I glanced behind me. I frowned but there was no noise coming from the ground level of the hous
e.
“Alright, I’ll get it,” I said reluctantly, but Morgan followed me into my room.
“Don’t get it. I’ll listen to it in here. I don’t care about Zurina’s rules,” he said quietly, and he folded his arms and looked impressed as I lifted the corner of my mattress to retrieve the cartridge.
“I’ve put a crystal energy disc inside so I’m afraid it’s impossible to play it softly,” I warned him, as I unwound the head phone cords.
“I’m sure if you can handle it, then I can too,” he said dryly, and I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you then,” I said, and I put the headphones in his ears and turned the music on. He put his hands up to his ears immediately and frowned instantly, and after a minute or so, he looked at me with a mixture of pain and disbelief.
“How can you stand this? It’s hurting my ears,” he said loudly, and I covered his mouth quickly with my hand and pulled the headphones from his ears by the cord.
“You’re talking too loudly. Someone will hear you,” I whispered, as I tried not to laugh. Morgan grinned.
“What else do you keep under here?” he asked me quietly, and he raised his eyebrows as he lifted the corner of my mattress.
“Nothing,” I said innocently, as I put the cartridge back and Morgan let the mattress fall back into its place.
“So, your treasured contraband is a cartridge of truly unbearable noise which you think is music,” said Morgan slowly, and he was laughing uncontrollably now. I nodded and I was laughing now too.
We looked at each other and Morgan stopped laughing suddenly while my smile faded just as quickly. The light was fading also and it was deadly quiet in the house. We stared at each other and Morgan leant towards me slowly. As I felt his breath against my cheek, I closed my eyes……and when Morgan kissed me……time ceased to exist. My heart pounded in my chest and, as a warmth like no other filled the empty spaces inside me, I suddenly knew what it was that I’d been longing for, when I listened to my twenty first century music in the middle of the night…….
TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) Page 24