by A F Kay
Lylan gave a quick laugh. “Look around. I think we’re a little past secrets. The last thing that should worry you is hiding your breathing.”
Sift looked at Lylan and then at Ruwen. “Even so, both of you promise to tell no one. Please.”
Lylan rolled her eyes. “That is the dumbest promise ever.”
Sift looked at Lylan, and after a moment, she nodded. “Fine.”
“Of course,” Ruwen said.
Sift closed his eyes again. He took a deep breath, held it for a second, and then exhaled slowly. He did this two more times. After the third exhalation, he immediately took a shallow breath and forced it out. He finished by holding his breath for five seconds, and then the pattern repeated.
Ruwen let Sift do the entire rotation a few times and then spoke up. “Does that help you move your Spirit?”
Sift opened his eyes and focused on Ruwen. “Not really.”
Ruwen’s face itched under the wraps, and he wished he could take them off. There had been nothing in the book about keeping the breathing techniques a secret, but it seemed everything related to Harvesting was shrouded in secrecy. Even his Suffocation Bracer made him invisible to hide the patterns of his breathing.
Secrets filled Ruwen’s life, and even here, he couldn’t reveal them all. But Sift was his best friend, and Lylan was right, breathing seemed like a dumb secret to keep here.
Ruwen remembered the description for the Fortifying breathing technique in the book A Worker’s Guide to Harvesting. Ruwen had found the book glowing with warmth, buried under piles of books in Blapy’s destroyed library.
Fortifying: The most used breath. Exhale sharply, emptying your lungs and minimizing the distance between Meridians. Take a short shallow breath immediately followed by exhalation. Repeat seven times, almost as if panting. Take three deep breaths exhaling slowly after each. Repeat from the beginning.
“Sit up straight. You’re slouching,” Ruwen said.
“Ruwen!” Lylan said, a touch of anger in her voice.
Sift sat straighter. “No, he’s right. The proper pose is important.”
Ruwen bit his lip under the face wraps. “I’m going to tell you another technique, but I want the same promise of secrecy from both of you.”
“Toss my dagger, you two are idiots,” Lylan said.
“I agree,” Sift said in a serious voice.
“Fine. Again,” Lylan said.
Ruwen described the breathing technique to Sift. “Have you ever seen or heard of that before?”
“No, but it can’t hurt to try,” Sift said.
Sift practiced the breathing method a few times with his eyes open. Then closed them and started the cycle.
After a minute, nothing had happened. Ruwen tried to bite his thumbnail, but the wraps covered his mouth.
Ruwen signaled to Lylan in Shade Speak. Close. Eyes.
Grabbing his shirt, Ruwen waited for Lylan to close her eyes. She understood what he meant to do and looked the other direction. Ruwen lifted his shirt just enough to expose the Spirit it hid. He moved closer to Sift, and the tendrils of Spirit curled outward, much of it touching Sift. The Spirit disappeared as soon as it contacted Sift’s skin.
They all sat like that for another few minutes. Ruwen thought Sift’s shoulder looked brighter, and he lowered his shirt. He tapped Lylan on the arm and she faced him. She still had one hand on Sift’s shoulder while her other hand pressed Sift’s arm against his chest. She leaned closer to Sift’s shoulder and then looked up at Ruwen, her eyes wide.
“It’s working,” Lylan mouthed.
Spirit oozed out of Sift’s torso and into his arm. After a few minutes, the entire area around the severed location had smoothed out, and the injury had disappeared.
“You can let go,” Sift whispered to Lylan.
Lylan leaned back, letting Sift go. Sift rotated his arm and winced in pain.
“It still hurts, but it's usable. Where did you learn that breathing technique?” Sift asked.
“In one of my books,” Ruwen said.
Sift nodded but didn’t pry further. “I owe you one.”
Ruwen smiled and stood. “More than one.”
Sift and Lylan stood as well, and Lylan retrieved the sleeve of Sift’s shirt. Sift held out his arm, and Lylan slid the sleeve up it. But when the pieces of shirt met, they didn’t reform like they usually did.
Sift pulled the sleeve back off and tied it around his forehead. “I’ll fix it once we get back home.”
“Where did that creature go?” Lylan asked.
Ruwen turned around and looked where the mangled wolverine had been, ten feet away. It had disappeared.
Chapter 6
Ruwen, Sift, and Lylan found the creature a minute later.
The wolverine had dragged its body to the severed head, and then over to the hand discarded by Lylan. The wolverine’s head sat a foot from the body, and its eyes tracked them as they approached. The body used its stump and hand to press its torso back together.
“That is really disturbing,” Lylan said.
The severed hand used its fingers to crawl closer to the head as if it meant to protect it.
Ruwen shivered. He didn’t feel bad for the creature, as it had attacked them, but this deathless existence seemed almost cruel. The mangled body reminded him of Juva, which reminded him of Slib.
Ruwen turned toward the area the wolverine had started from.
“What about this thing?” Lylan asked.
“Leave it,” Ruwen said, facing his friends. “I don’t think we can kill it anyway. It lost all its Spirit, so it will probably take a long time to heal.”
Lylan nodded and Sift stared at the creature with a blank face. He rotated his arm a few times and then turned away.
“You okay?” Ruwen asked Sift.
Sift shrugged. “Dying is part of the cycle to reach perfection. If we get stuck here, my soul will never grow.”
“You’re sad you can’t die?” Lylan asked.
“It’s complicated,” Sift said.
“Now you sound like me,” Ruwen said.
“No reason to be insulting,” Sift said as a little of the sadness left his face.
“Listen, if we get stuck here, I promise I’ll find a way to kill you,” Ruwen said.
“Thanks,” Sift replied, a small smile appearing.
“You’re both idiots,” Lylan said as she strode between them.
Ruwen and Sift followed Lylan as she made her way to where the creature had started. As Ruwen approached the wall, body parts appeared, scattered in a radius ten feet across. Whimpering came from one of the smaller pieces.
A sick feeling in his stomach, Ruwen kneeled and turned over the oval-shaped grey mass. Half of Slib’s face appeared: one eye, his nose, and mouth. The back of his head had been sheared away along with one eye and ear.
The eye locked on Ruwen. “It hurts,” Slib said.
Lylan covered her mouth and Sift looked like he might get sick. Ruwen’s stomach clenched, and he gently put Slib’s face down. A tiny part of Ruwen felt satisfaction at the bully’s pain. Slib had caused a lot of physical and emotional pain for Ruwen. Not only that, Slib’s current state resulted from deserting the group. He only had himself to blame for his predicament.
But Slib, no matter his faults, didn’t deserve this. Most of Ruwen’s rage at Slib had already turned to pity. And seeing the teenager like this dissolved the rest of the anger. Slib, with all his faults, was still a living thing that deserved respect. Not the casual dismemberment he’d received.
“I know. We’ll help you,” Ruwen said.
“It hurts,” Slib repeated.
Ruwen just nodded and took off his cloak. He carefully placed Slib’s partial face in the cloak and then picked up the other pieces nearby. Sift and Lylan joined him, and in a few minutes, they had piled all the smaller pieces in the cloak. Sift picked up Slib’s torso and two legs.
Folding the cloak up at the corners, Ruwen carried Slib like a sack of
apples. With his free hand, he carried Slib’s other arm. As the three of them made their way back to the tunnel, they stopped for Nak. Lylan retrieved the two pieces of the assassin, and they returned to Hamma.
Hamma stood as they approached and stepped in front of Juva, so the man couldn’t see the group approach.
“I’m not sure he should see that,” Hamma said.
“It hurts,” Slib said, his voice muffled by Ruwen’s cloak.
“Slib?” Juva shouted, trying to get up.
Hamma immediately turned and pushed the House Captain back down. “Stay still.”
Juva nodded but strained his neck to see around Hamma.
Hamma stood and stared at Ruwen’s cloak. “Uru help me. Is he still alive?”
Ruwen gently set his cloak down, and Sift and Lylan did the same. Slib lay in a small pile. Nak in another.
“Slib?” Juva asked again.
“Captain?” Slib asked. “Help me! It hurts!”
Hamma immediately turned and pushed Juva back down again. Ruwen joined her.
House Captain Juva’s eyes were wild, and he struggled to sit up. Ruwen grabbed Juva’s cheeks and turned his face until their eyes locked. “We found Slib. It hurt him like it did you. We will fix him. If you continue to struggle and delay your healing, we will leave you here. Do you understand? We will leave you both.”
After a few seconds, Juva’s body relaxed, and he nodded.
Ruwen let go of Juva. “Good. You need to rest.”
“But he’s in pain,” Juva whispered.
“He won’t die,” Ruwen said. “We’ll do all we can for him.”
Juva nodded again, his eyes glassy. Juva’s actions toward Ruwen had been terrible, but Ruwen couldn’t deny the man was loyal.
Ruwen strode back toward the cavern and motioned Hamma, Sift, and Lylan to join him. When they grouped at the end of the tunnel, they stood in a circle.
“What happened to your arm?” Hamma asked Sift.
“Nothing. Why?” Sift said.
Hamma put her hands on her hips. “Because you keep touching it, rolling your shoulder, and your sleeve is around your head. Do you want me to look at it?”
“You should let her look,” Lylan said. “What if we put it on backward?”
Sift’s eyes widened, and he stretched his arm out, turning it back and forth.
Lylan shook her head and flicked the side of Sift’s head. “Stop it. Do you think I’d put it on wrong?”
Hamma turned to Ruwen. “Sift lost his arm?”
“Big wolverine sliced it right off with its tail,” Ruwen said.
“How did Sift heal so fast?” Hamma asked.
Ruwen stared at Sift, who had both arms stretched out in front of him, squinting as he compared their length and orientation. Lylan had one arm across her chest while the other hand gripped her temples. Ruwen forced his smile down.
Ruwen cleared his throat. “Spirit healed him. It also allowed the wolverine to injure us. Which is why we need to make some decisions.”
Hamma waved a hand in front of Sift’s face. He dropped his arms and looked around at everyone. “What?”
Ruwen shook his head. “Long story short, Io has been here before, and Rami got a glimpse of what is waiting for us outside,” Ruwen said. He left out the part that he couldn’t let himself get injured, and that he too had been here before as a baby. “She thinks it’s imperative that I level my Harvesting to level twenty before we leave. It will give us some type of advantage.”
“How long will that take?” Lylan asked.
Ruwen shrugged. “That’s the problem. I don’t know. But I think we should at least stay here a while and let me try. It would give Juva and Slib time to heal.”
“Are you taking them with us?” Sift asked, his voice neutral.
“That is a group decision. But they might be helpful,” Ruwen said.
“Well, at least they can’t kill you here,” Lylan said.
“Let’s make that call when we’re ready to leave,” Ruwen said.
Everyone nodded.
Lylan looked at the cavern. “Where are we going to do all this?”
“You and Sift are the most qualified to answer that,” Ruwen said.
Lylan crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Not a tunnel.”
“Right, too narrow,” Sift said. “What about the lake?”
“No second exit,” Lylan said.
“True, but we have the same problem in here,” Sift said, pointing at the cavern and rubbing his shoulder. He realized what he was doing and glanced at Hamma. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he dropped his arms to his side.
“You should let me look at it,” Hamma said.
“It is fine,” Sift replied.
Lylan rubbed her forehead. “Without another entrance, it is dangerous to stay here. We might be better off risking outside. At least we could run.”
Ruwen liked the security of the dungeon, but Lylan’s points were valid. Not having another exit could be catastrophic if attacked again. But he didn’t know for sure how many entrances there were into the dungeon.
“Give me a second to think,” Ruwen said.
Fractal? Ruwen asked.
Yes.
How many paths are there in and out of the dungeon?
Three.
This shocked Ruwen. Where are they?
Path you came be one.
Two is falling water cave.
Three in water floor.
Ruwen thought about Fractal’s responses. The first one he knew about and the last one might be where the creek that ran through camp originated.
Can I fit through the underwater exit? Ruwen asked.
Not current shape you be.
He liked his current shape and didn’t want to be smashed into pulp just so he could ooze through cracks in the rocks. That left the cave by the waterfall.
Tell me about the exit by the waterfall, Ruwen said.
Cave tunnel long. Touch deep diggers.
Do you mean it reaches the mine?
Yes.
While not ideal as the mine was hours away, it at least provided a way out.
Is it safe? Ruwen asked.
Cave empty. Nowhere safe.
He had gotten used to that. Thank you, Fractal.
Welcome you.
“I have an option,” Ruwen said.
“Where did you just go?” Hamma asked.
“Do you realize how much you zone out?” Sift asked.
“Where did you find this option?” Lylan asked.
Ruwen raised his hands, not comfortable talking about the details. “Too many questions.”
Lylan narrowed her eyes. “Is this related to Nak calling you Dungeon Master when he came out of the water?”
“You heard that?” Ruwen asked.
“We all did,” Sift said.
Ruwen looked around at his friends. “I might have formed a little attachment to the dungeon before we got shoved into this realm.”
“A little attachment?” Lylan asked.
“Are you like Ky now?” Sift asked.
“Can we talk about this later? That’s why I didn’t bring it up. We have other things to worry about. There is a cave behind the waterfall –”
“I told you!” Sift said.
“Where does it go?” Hamma asked.
“The mine, I think. Which would take hours,” Ruwen said.
Lylan pinched her chin. “Hours in a tunnel is plenty of time to meet trouble. In the worst case, enemies would surround us.”
“Outside the dungeon is too dangerous?” Hamma asked.
“Yes, right now,” Ruwen said.
Sift turned to Lylan. “We are better hidden behind the falls.”
Lylan nodded. “It concerns me we don’t know the actual exit. Only that it meets the mine.”
“We were all just there,” Ruwen said.
“That helps,” Lylan said. “The length of the tunnel almost disqualifies it as an exit.”
“How a
bout this,” Hamma said. “We go to the cave. Then scout the tunnel to see how viable an escape route it is. If it’s too dangerous, we reevaluate. For all we know, Ruwen will only need two minutes to level his Harvesting.”
“That is wise,” Lylan said. “I agree with Hamma.”
“Can your dungeon tell us if anything is approaching?” Sift asked.
Fractal, would you be able to provide a warning if anything came near us?
Home maybe. Digger tunnel no. Fractal weak still.
That’s okay.
“Not really,” Ruwen said.
Sift rubbed his shoulder and then stopped and looked at Hamma, quickly dropping his hand to his side. “Then, Hamma’s approach is best. Plus, there is always treasure behind a waterfall.”
Chapter 7
It should have taken fifteen minutes of brisk walking to reach the far end of the lake. With all the injured, it took them an hour. The beach stopped when it met the rear wall of the cavern, and Ruwen couldn’t see a cave behind the waterfall. Standing this close, the sound of the falling water crashing into the lake overwhelmed his hearing. He kneeled and touched the lake. The frigid water probably meant glaciers fed the falls.
Fractal, I don’t see the entrance, Ruwen said.
Underwater cave begin.
Ruwen sighed, knowing he would have to swim. He gently placed his cloak containing the smaller pieces of Slib on the ground. Thankfully, the sound of the waterfall had drowned out Slib’s cries of pain.
The others, seeing him lower Slib, put their own burdens down. Hamma lowered House Captain Juva, and Lylan leaned Nak against the wall. The assassin, while not healed, had at least been able to mend himself enough to walk. Sift placed Slib’s other three body pieces on the ground.
Ruwen signed in Shade Speak to Lylan and Sift. Entrance. Below. I. Scout. Both nodded at Ruwen. He placed his mouth next to Hamma’s ear and shouted. “Stay here. Scouting entrance.”
Hamma placed her mouth next to Ruwen’s ear and shouted in return. “Be careful.”
Ruwen smiled at Hamma to reassure her. Blapy’s level four had been the last time he’d been in a lake. The Coiled Lightning Rings had almost killed him, and the Octorse had been ferocious. Ruwen remembered dropping quickly to the lake bottom because his Baton of a Thousand Uses weighed too much. He unclipped it from his waist and placed it next to his cloak.
