"The others?" one called.
"The same way we'll all be if you don't get inside," snapped Mounteban.
As my eyes began to adjust, I saw how great stones had been piled to both sides of the entrance, amidst mounds of broken foliage. The passage had obviously been sealed and hidden, and only recently cleared. When we dismounted and ducked into its mouth, I noticed ropes leading from the beams supporting the roof.
Further in were the two disgruntled mules to which they were attached. Mounteban's companions were trying to drive them forward, with hard slaps to the rump and a stream of curses. One chose to understand and strained forward, shifting its prop a hand's length inward. The other dug in its hooves, baring yellow teeth in a stubborn grin. The first heehawed appreciatively and followed its example.
Shouts and heavy footfalls growing louder behind told me we hadn't evaded our pursuers. An arrow thunking into the rightmost beam confirmed it.
Saltlick stood hunched inside the entrance, staring straight ahead. I called his name, expecting him to ignore me. Instead, he looked down. I hadn't appreciated quite how badly hurt he was until then. A fresh gash ran down his cheek to his shoulder, bleeding freely, and other cuts nearly as bad covered his torso and arms. He'd given worse than he'd received, though; the knuckles of each hand were wet with blood. I pointed to the beam beside him, the rope hanging slack from it. He seemed not to understand at first. His eyes travelled to the mules and hung there.
Another arrow hurtled from the darkness, embedding itself with a wet thud in his shoulder. He didn't appear to notice.
"Saltlick," I pleaded.
He shook his head, as though waking from a particularly unpleasant dream. He looked at me, and back at the beam. Then he reached with one huge hand and shoved it aside, as lightly as if it were a bundle of twigs. The roof moaned, and sank visibly. Dirt showered down, followed by pebbles and then rocks as big as melons. A couple struck Saltlick, leaving scarlet welts in their wake. He didn't flinch, let alone try to move.
The recalcitrant mule, panicked by the noise and dust, reconsidered its position. It drove forward, hauling the second, already weakened strut along with it. The wood split with a crack like thunder, and the ceiling dipped further.
I caught hold of Saltlick's free hand and hauled. He gazed at me, or perhaps through me. I realised I couldn't possibly move him if he didn't want to be moved. Then abruptly he strode forward, dragging me with him. It was just in time. An instant later, the cave mouth was gone.
I stood blind and choking, amidst dust so thick that it almost hid our frail torchlight. The earth grumbled and trembled around me, even after the last falling rock had rolled to a halt.
Someone nearby heaved a sigh of relief, and a voice said, "Come on. We're not home yet."
I recognised it as Mounteban's, though it sounded strange in the soupy air. The torch glow, still indistinct and a murky orange, contracted and darkened. I heard feet and hooves nearby, receding with the dimming light.
"Wait!" I called, and for my trouble got a lungful of dust that set me choking again.
I was still clutching Saltlick's fingers. They were unpleasantly sticky, his own blood mingled with that of Moaradrid's men. I didn't let go. In that filthy gloom, even the company of a gore-stained, sulking giant was better than being alone.
"Let's get after them," I muttered, striving not to suck down more dust.
I tugged at his hand. I might as well have tried to shift one of Mounteban's obstreperous mules by pulling its ears.
"I know you're hurt, but staying here won't help."
"Did bad."
Saltlick, as usual, spoke as if the words cost him the kind of effort usually associated with climbing mountains or swimming oceans.
"All right, I shouldn't have left you. But I came back, didn't I? I could just as easily have made a run for it."
" Saltlick did bad."
I stared, aghast — a waste of a good expression, since our torches were nearly out of sight. "Are you insane? You saved our lives."
"Bad. Not hurt. Not kill."
"You were defending yourself! And me, and that fat crook Mounteban. Can't you even do that?"
It struck me that there was a real risk of ending my life debating morality with a giant in a pitch-black mine shaft while my air slowly ran out. My mother had often told me I'd talk myself to death one day, and I wasn't about to prove her right.
Still, even that motivation possibly didn't excuse the ploy I fell back on. "Saltlick, if you don't come with me then who'll stop Moaradrid going after your family?"
He was moving almost before I finished the sentence. Running, I could just about keep up with his strides. It was a nerve-shattering business, with the constant risk of tripping and the passage creaking as if at any moment the rest might collapse. The space quickly narrowed, until Saltlick was jogging along crouched almost double, nearly blocking the scant light ahead. I could have reached from wall to wall by stretching my arms.
When it opened out again, I stepped into light so bright that I had to shade my eyes. I realised after a moment that it was only the torches. We'd caught up with Mounteban, his companions and the rebellious mules. They stood waiting in a small chamber, though after the confines of the passage it seemed vast. A contraption like a high-sided cart rested on a plinth in the centre, chains running in clusters from its beamed roof up into the dark. I decided it must be some sort of lifting platform.
Mounteban called, "Please, don't hurry. We only lost five of our best men saving your worthless hides."
It didn't seem politic to point out that I'd only needed saving because he and Estrada had sent me into the jaws of death. I stepped onboard, and Saltlick followed. Mounteban pulled on a cord and a bell clattered far above, the echoes reverberating frantically back down to us. We lurched upward, with a groan of timbers. The platform had been built to move ore or contraband, perhaps even men and mules, but full-grown giants were a new challenge, one it obviously didn't relish. Our progress was painfully slow. With nothing to see but damp, mottled rock and my gloomy companions, I considered giving up to the weariness creeping through my body and mind. It seemed an age since those hours of peace and quiet in my little cell. I thought of it longingly, and my eyelids drooped.
I was jolted out of half-sleep by the whole carriage rattling, end to end. We'd arrived in another, larger cavern. I couldn't tell if it was natural or man-made, but it was huge, with half a dozen exits leading off in every direction. The ceiling rose high above us, and then dipped off sharply towards the edges, like the roof of a pavilion. The cave was being used principally as a storage area, crates and barrels piled against the walls filling most of the space not taken up with the lifting platform and its mechanism. Light came from torches in plinths spaced around the walls. A couple of dozen men had turned to watch our arrival, all of them arrested in the midst of some chore: polishing weapons, oiling armour, or packing rucksacks and saddlebags from the sacks and boxes.
Marina Estrada stood with folded arms at the entrance of the lifting platform. "You made it," she said.
She sounded both glad and weary. If she'd been bedraggled when I'd last seen her, she now looked as if a strong breeze would break her in half. It had clearly been a trying night.
I wasn't about to make it any easier. "We made it, all right, no thanks to your hare-brained…"
Mounteban shoved me aside, hard enough that I nearly ended up in the dirt. The look of disgust he cast in my direction would have rotted wood. "I lost them all, Marina. I hope your scheme was worth that. I hope he was worth it."
He stormed past and disappeared into a passageway, followed by two-dozen sets of astonished eyes.
Estrada let out a sigh more like a shudder and said, so softly that she couldn't have meant for anyone to hear, "But you did make it."
She turned to me. "Nothing's ever worth the sacrifices." She shook her head. "Castilio understands that… or he will when he's had time to calm himself. You did well, Easie Damasco.
"
"I had no choice."
"If there's one thing I've learned over these last few days, it's that there are always choices, even when every one's terrible." She looked towards Saltlick. "Master Saltlick, isn't it? I'm honoured to have you here, and saddened by what you've had to endure."
Saltlick held her gaze for an instant, and then hung his head. There was something so dignified in her manner, just for that moment, that I couldn't tear my eyes away. Then the exhaustion took over her again, like a wave devouring an elegant pattern drawn in sand. Once more, all I could see was a woman in urgent need of a good night's sleep.
I could tell from her expression that there was scant hope of that. She turned to the motley crew lounging about the cave and called, "These tunnels will be in Moaradrid's hands by dawn. Everyone muster outside in ten minutes. Pass the word."
It was remarkable how they snapped to attention, as though lightning had darted the length and breadth of the chamber. In a few seconds, it was empty.
Estrada turned back to Saltlick and me and said, "You can't rest just yet, I'm sorry. What I told them is true; this refuge is lost to us. I've a proposition for you both, but I think you should hear what I have to say to the others first."
"Based purely on your record so far, the answer will probably be no."
"Perhaps. I can't force you this time. All I ask is that you'll listen."
"Well, I'm a little dizzy from blood loss and starvation. I'll do my best."
I thought Estrada smiled, though it was hardly more than a flicker. "There's food in those crates. We can't take it all with us, so help yourselves." She pointed to one of the cavern's numerous exits. "Just head that way in ten minutes time, and see if what I say makes sense."
I was too mesmerised by the thought of food to be sarcastic. I nodded instead. Estrada paced away, not in the direction she'd indicated but towards where Mounteban had gone.
I began to inspect the crates, glad that their arguments and politics were none of my concern. There was food, sure enough, and in abundance: bread, cheese, fruits and vegetables, goat meat, mutton, even a couple of live chickens dozing fitfully in a cage. There were butts of water and urns of wine, as well as a few bottles of some sour-smelling liquor.
Estrada was right, it couldn't possibly all be removed. It had evidently been gathered in a hurry, with little forethought. Most of the fresh goods wouldn't last another day. I settled for some of the less stale bread, a strong cheese that had stayed good within its husk of wax, and a few strips of dried meat. Such basic fare seemed to have become the staple of my diet lately, and it was pointless trying to fight it. There was a wooden cup beside one of the water butts; I filled and refilled it with wine, washing down every few mouthfuls of food, until I started to feel light-headed.
The entire meal had lasted perhaps two minutes. The average ravenous dog dines with more delicacy than I did then.
Once I felt I had my immediate physical requirements taken care of, I turned my attention to Saltlick. He hadn't moved since Estrada had spoken to him. "Will you stop moping! So you slapped about a couple of people who were trying to kill you. You'll get over it. We can go and rescue your family and everything will be fine."
Saltlick looked up. "Rescue?"
"Why not? But you need to keep your strength up. There's some dried grass piled in that corner, why don't you tuck in?"
Saltlick nodded profoundly, and followed my advice. His steps were almost sprightly as he crossed the cavern, and I wondered what had happened to change his mood so drastically. Whatever it was, I was pleased to see him plunge into his meal with gusto. He'd lost enough blood to fell an ox, and was still leaking from a couple of his more formidable wounds. He'd be no good to anyone if he dropped dead from exhaustion. If our fates were entwined, as it increasingly seemed they were, I wanted him as healthy and as much in one piece as possible.
While he ate, I took a minute to hunt out some new clothes. I discarded the ragged leather armour, which had already begun to chafe, and traded it for a plain hempen shirt I found in a sack of similar garments. After some thought, I traded the cloak in too, for a heavier one of indistinct grey. That done, I set to cramming as much of the remaining food about my person as I could, including a strapped wine skin that I slung over one shoulder. Estrada hadn't set any conditions on her generosity, so neither would I.
All the while, handfuls of Estrada's ragtag troop appeared from passage entrances and wandered past, in the direction she'd indicated. The parade was over by the time I'd finished, and Saltlick had turned to guzzling from an upturned water butt.
"Come on," I said, "It looks as though the after-dinner entertainment is about to begin."
The tunnel was short and ended in a wash of amber light, which resolved into a mixture of torches set on tripods and the first pale glimmers of dawn. A wide open area lay beyond, stretching on into an overhang that jutted from the mountainside. It was a stop upon the north-south mountain road. The trail was visible, snaking away in both directions, and this entrance — like the one far below — had evidently been hidden and only recently reopened.
Estrada stood on a small stage of crates near the southern end of the clearing, with her back to the mist-sodden void of the Castoval. Perhaps two hundred men were arrayed before her in clumsy ranks. They wore a haphazard variety of armour and carried an equally diverse range of weapons, from swords and bows to more eccentric choices. One had a blacksmith's hammer hoisted over his shoulder; another leaned on what was clearly a pitchfork.
I estimated that two thirds of them were professional militiamen or guardsmen of some degree. Of the remainder, some were barely old enough to be away from their mothers, and others looked too decrepit to remember who their mothers were. Presumably these were irregulars and volunteers who'd been caught up in the retreat or recruited from Muena Palaiya. One other enclave stood out, a tough-looking mob with no hint of military discipline, who I figured for cronies of Mounteban's. Mounteban himself was near the front, staring up at Estrada with an expression I couldn't read.
Saltlick and I fell in on one flank, just in time.
"Friends," Estrada said, "I'm not here to comfort you."
That didn't strike me as a very promising beginning.
"I'm not here to tell you we're winning. I'm not here to tell you we're safe. We were defeated two days ago, in what may prove to be the decisive battle for the freedom of the Castoval. Moaradrid will soon find his way here, to our place of retreat. Therefore, we must abandon this as well.
"I don't want to offer you hope. It's dangerous to hope when we may all be dead soon, and our loved ones enslaved by a monster who despises everything we value. Because understand, if we can't find a way to drive out Moaradrid that's what will happen. He and his barbarians won't go away. They won't leave us alone. There'll be no good end to this — unless we make it for ourselves."
This was met with a vague murmur of agreement. As popular as the sentiment undoubtedly was, it was hard to take seriously when you looked around at the "we" in question.
At least Estrada had anticipated this. "We're too few now. We'd be outclassed and outnumbered, even against a fragment of Moaradrid's strength. So we run, without shame. We separate. We hide, if need be. If a final battle must come — as it must — we will choose the time. We'll choose the soil it's fought on. Because it's our soil, in our land.
"Until then, you have two missions. You must stay alive, and you must find others who'll fight for their home. We will go to every town and every village in the Castoval. We'll ask everyone we meet if they want to stay free, and what they'll risk for it. And they will join us. Because Castovalians have never worn a yoke, never called any man master, and they won't begin to now!"
A weary cheer arose this time.
I wanted to join in, but the noise stuck in my throat. I'd never been one for crowds, or noble causes for that matter. This one seemed more doomed than most. Could an army of well-intentioned peasants succeed where the combined garriso
ns of every town in the Castoval had failed? It seemed less than likely.
Estrada and Mounteban had been right about one thing. I'd only seen the war from my own small point of view. I certainly hadn't given much thought to what would happen if Moaradrid triumphed. The reality was like ice water splashed in my face. One phrase from Estrada's speech had lodged like a splinter in my mind: there will be no good end. That seemed undeniably true, for me at least.
I stood deep in thought as the assembly dissolved around me. I was vaguely conscious that Mounteban and Estrada were separating their shabby force into small bands, appointing leaders, setting destinations and meeting places. How many would simply go home? Was oppression by a foreign warlord truly worse than leaving your family to go hungry while you threw your life away in a hopeless battle?
I lost track of time. At one point, an old man dressed in a grubby, bloodstained poncho offered to clean and sew my wounds. I looked at him, confused, and then pointed to Saltlick. "It's him you want."
"You've been bleeding," he pointed out.
"He's been bleeding more."
The surgeon did as instructed, and I sank back into my fugue.
It was Estrada who eventually roused me. I realised that she was standing in front of me, that she was talking, and that she'd been doing both for some time. I tried to focus on what she was saying, and found it beyond me.
"I'm sorry," I said, "I haven't been paying the slightest attention."
She stopped, and looked at me with vague concern. "Are you ill?"
"I don't know. Possibly."
"You aren't badly hurt."
I thought about it. "No, I suppose not." Speaking to someone was helping to dispel the gloom that had fallen over me. Now I just felt phenomenally tired. "What were you saying?"
"I was asking for your help."
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