Tovi glanced at the dog, who seemed to be just taking things in. A strange thought occurred to the Azyrean. Could Growl understand what they were saying?
◆◆◆
“Where is he sleeping?” Tovi lifted himself up onto one elbow when Klunk finally came through the door that night.
“Ha ha. You would never guess. He and Klik have curled up together beside the stoop. I suspect that your squirrel will benefit more than Growl.”
Tovi glanced across the hut at the sheet marking Mamaw’s sleeping area. He could hear her snoring lightly. “Klunk, you seem sad. I know that Growl is not exactly the pet you expected, but still, it’s not that bad, is it?” He kept his voice low.
Klunk dropped onto his pad and sat there, rubbing the side of his head. “It is not Growl that bothers me. He and I will be good friends, just like you and I are good friends. But tomorrow, I must speak to the chief about the crystals. I worry about that.”
“But why tell him? You didn’t use the crystal on Growl. Remember? It didn’t work on him. So the shard doesn’t have anything to do with it.”
Klunk grunted. “Maybe. But still, I have knowledge and I cannot keep that from my chief. It would be the same as lying.”
This was the first time that Tovi had heard the ogre speak this way. He started to argue. After all, in Pangrove, keeping things from parents was one of the things he was really good at.
The voice chose that instant to reinsert itself into his mind. “You must respect his decision. It is an honorable one and it is important.”
This was weird. He had a voice in his head while trying to talk to Klunk. Up until then, it had always come to him in his sleep. Okay. I know. But it still seems stupid to me. He hoped whatever was bouncing around inside him understood.
“Yes, it would seem so to you. But you are in his land, among his people. There is much you do not understand, so you must trust. Knowledge will come to you in time. He must speak to the chief. And you must be prepared for resistance. The chief will not readily accept what Klunk says. The time approaches when you will find yourself alone for a while. Watch, listen, and learn as much as you can right now. You will need the understanding later.”
Tovi’s heart raced. What did the voice mean? How would he be alone? Would Klunk not be his friend anymore?
If the voice heard the young Azyrean’s concern, it did not respond.
“Do you want me to go with you to the chief? I could help you explain.”
Tovi could feel Klunk’s smile, even if he couldn’t see it. “No. But thank you. This is something I must do alone.”
Out of nowhere, a completely disconnected thought shot through Tovi’s mind. “You said that I must go see Myhrren. When is that?”
Klunk’s voice came out weary. “In a few days, perhaps, we go.”
“Where is he?
“He is in the same direction as the mines—toward the rising sun. At least, that is what Papaw says. Mines are all day walking. Myhrren may be late afternoon but not all day.”
“Do I go by myself?”
Klunk chortled. “By yourself? Ha ha. That is a good one, Tovi.” The laughter subsided. “No. You go nowhere alone. Your squirrel is not big enough to protect you and the dogs and other animals are bigger than you. They would have you for a snack.” After a brief pause, he spoke again, “No, Tovi. I will take you—Growl and I.”
Chapter 63: Jarek
Jarek paced back and forth by the entrance to the small alcove where they had taken Corny. Commander West had spent a few minutes with him and emerged grim-faced. She returned to her own area without speaking.
When Virgil emerged, the Azyrean reached up and grabbed at his arm to stop him. “He’s going to be okay, right?”
The captain lowered his gaze and sighed. “Can’t say. Doc will do the best he can.”
“But he’s alive, yes? And he survived the trip back, so he must be getting better.” Jarek felt frantic.
“He’ll do what he can.” He started toward the far corner of the cavern but stopped and turned to face Jarek. “Get some food. And, Jarek, there’s nothing you can do. So get some rest and be patient.”
As he stared out across the people, he was struck by how they all seemed to be doing their regular routines. Some had plates of food while others leaned back against the wall drinking steaming liquid. And others were still doing chores. It was as if nothing bad had happened. And yet, inside that small chamber of the cavern, a young man might be dying. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
With a rare surge of courage, he stomped over to West’s den. Sticking his head in, he called out, “Commander, might I have a word?”
“Come, Jarek.”
He entered the small area, nodding and then bowing his head, in an attempt to show a modicum of respect. “It’s about Corny.”
“What about him?”
Jarek started to go on about it being his fault, but he’d already had that conversation and knew instinctively it would go nowhere. What bothered him was that this had happened at all. “I just don’t understand how this happened. He is supposed to be very good at what he does. How did the king’s men, assuming it was them, find him?”
She raised herself up from a sitting position. “It just happens. We are at war with them. Sometimes we get the jump on them. But sometimes they get their licks in. It goes with the territory.”
“But he’s just a kid. I mean, not a kid as like a child, but he’s very young. Too young to die like that.”
Her laugh came out with a measured dose of bitterness. “It may be hard to accept, Jarek, but the young can die just as quickly and as easily as the old. In war, death doesn’t discriminate.”
He hadn’t intended to get into a philosophical debate. Something about the entire incident bothered him, in a very practical way. “I know, I know. I guess what I’m worried about is how it happened. Corny, of all of them out there,” he gestured toward the outer cavern, “he’s supposed to be a master at getting in and out of places, getting things, without being caught. Then, all of a sudden, on this particular job, he gets into trouble. Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe wrong place, wrong time. Just a random chance encounter. On the other hand, I understand he was searching around the old mines. If you and Burns came up with the idea of finding crystals there, perhaps Wyndred’s people had the same notion. That would explain why the patrol was there. The truth is we just don’t know. No one other than you, Burns, myself, and the captain knew what he was doing. So it didn’t get leaked from here.”
A wave of nausea swept over Jarek. He had never considered the possibility that someone in the group might leak information—might be a spy. Who could it be? Virgil used to be in the king’s service. Maybe he still had ties and some amount of loyalty to the king. What about Burns? She told a good story about her family but maybe it was all made up. If so, he’d been feeding her information all along. And she didn’t seem very upset about Corny. But, then again, neither did Virgil or West. Nobody seemed upset.
After leaving the commander, he found his way to an isolated corner of the cavern and plopped down. Staring at the rock walls, glimmering with the reflective light of the flickering torches, he felt powerless. West had been clear that he, Jarek, had information that the king wanted. And yet, every time he confided in anyone, he could be talking almost directly to the king. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut.
“You okay?” Burns dropped down beside him.
His suspicion intensified. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”
“Really? You don’t look fine.”
“A long day. That’s all.”
“I hear you. How’s about we go over a few things tonight? I had some ideas that maybe we could throw around.”
An inner voice screamed, NO! “Maybe tomorrow. I’m tired and my thinking is off.” It seemed as good an excuse as any.
“Whatever.”
◆◆◆
A vigorous shake brought Jarek out of his trou
bled sleep. “Hey, wake up.”
He blinked his eyes a few times. The torches were low and the light dim. “What?”
“Get up. Corny’s awake. Wants to talk to you.”
Jarek sprang up. “I’m awake. Yes. Is he okay? He’s going to be fine, right?”
“I don’t know anything. Captain Virgil just told me to come get you.” The face belonged to a woman Jarek had met once before; he thought her name was Molly.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” He straightened his tunic and strode out across the cavern toward a small, darkened side chamber.
As he approached it, the captain stepped out of the shadows. “He’s conscious now. Looks like he’s going to be okay, but he’s got a long road ahead of him. He took an arrow in the upper leg and a heavy blow to his right shoulder. He’s not going to be running around the countryside for a while.” The faint torchlight flickered on the grim face. “Anyway, he wants to talk to you.” He stepped aside and gestured toward the opening.
Jarek entered slowly, trying not to stumble over anything or step on Corny. As his eyes adjusted to the low light in the space, he could see the wiry human lying on a pallet, covered to his chest with a gray cloth sheet.
He opened his eyes and tried, unsuccessfully, to raise his head. “Jarek. There you are. Thanks for coming.”
Jarek slid down beside the young man. “You had me worried. I thought you were in trouble. And here you are, just slacking. Ha ha.” He hoped levity would cheer the young man.
Corny put a hand on Jarek’s arm. “You gotta promise me you won’t talk about this with anyone, okay?”
“Of course, but what? Talk about what?”
The wounded young man stared at the Azyrean for a moment. “Jarek, those guys were waiting for me. They didn’t just happen along. I wasn’t in the mine for five minutes when they jumped out from all around. I ran and almost made it without getting hit or anything, but some guy caught me at the entrance with one of those big war hammers and knocked my shoulder outta whack. And then I took that arrow, just as I was getting into the brush. If I hadn’t found that small cave, they woulda finished me off for sure.”
Jarek stared at the man, his worst fears bubbling up. “What do you want me to do?”
“Two things. First, don’t talk to anyone about this. And I mean anyone. Second,” he reached over beside his pallet and retrieved his bloody trousers. Reaching into the pocket, he took out a small package wrapped in cloth. “Here. You might find this interesting.”
Chapter 64: Jarek
The weight of forced silence fell heavy on Jarek. When Corny had asked him not to tell anyone, it seemed a reasonable request given what the young man had experienced. And keeping that confidence should have been easy. But it wasn’t. To be sure, he didn’t have enough ongoing contact with Virgil, Commander West, or most others to matter.
Then there was Burns. How could he not talk to her? The back and forth banter—ideas and challenges—this is how they hoped to find answers. He could not do it alone. But it was more than that. She had said it—they were friends. He couldn’t just cut her out of everything.
He pulled the small package wrapped in cloth from his pocket, the one that Corny had said he couldn’t discuss with anyone. Unwrapping the cloth, he turned the dull crimson crystal over in his hand, looking at it from different angles. Holding it up to the sun, he could see that the light would not penetrate through the crusty, opaque coating that obscured most of the crystalline structure. He caught glimpses of the brilliant red inside through a couple of bare spots. But before he could do anything, he would need to clean the surface completely.
He heard shuffling toward the entrance of the cavern and turned to see Burns coming out. “Hey Jarek. How you doing this morning? I hear Corny came to last night. Good thing.” She slouched down beside him, her back to the exterior wall of the cave.
He slipped the stone discretely back into his pocket and shrugged. “Yeah. Good thing.” He kept his right hand in his pocket, toying with the package that the thief had given him, careful not to bring it out into plain view.
“You ready to get started again?”
Jarek pondered the question. Was he? Corny had not actually sworn him to complete silence—only with regard to what happened in the mine. Well, also the crystal that Jarek kept secret. “I guess.” But how could they really start talking about the beams, the crystals, and the portals if he couldn’t even mention the thing in his pocket. After all, that’s what they’d been waiting for.
Burns grimaced and shook her head. “Too bad he wasn’t able at least to bring something back. Did he say anything about what he saw inside the mine?”
So, it came to this—was he going to lie? “Not much.” Not really a lie. More like an understatement or misleading information.
“Oh well. I guess that, once he’s up and about, they’ll just have to send him back to try again. I don’t know that there’s anything else we can do without at least a sample.”
Jarek shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know what happened to him, and he was lucky. Next time….”
“We all take chances. We’ve been through this already. If we wanted to play it safe, we wouldn’t be here.”
“We’ll just have to think of a different way, that’s all.” But there was no different way. The fact tore at his heart.
About mid-morning, CeCe emerged from the cavern into the bright morning light. She had evidently returned from her intelligence operations sometime during the night. “Hey, you two.” She sauntered over and stood, turning her gaze from Jarek and Burns to the swamp. “I heard about Corny. Glad that he pulled through. I wish he’d told me where he was going. Those areas can be teeming with the king’s men. I could have told him that. He’s lucky to have made it out alive.”
Jarek started to engage in the conversation. He had a lot of questions about what had happened and, as he understood it, CeCe and her network of spies probably had most of the answers, or at least more than anyone else here. But Corny had sworn him to silence and that applied to CeCe too, he assumed. He opted for a safe, if trite response. “Yeah, I’m relieved he made it out.”
Without looking down at the two, she started to probe. “Hopefully, it was worth it.”
Jarek shrugged but remained silent.
“Did he manage to get anything at all—crystals or at least some useful information?”
“I’m not sure what he managed to get. I suppose that whatever he saw or learned, he’ll share it with the commander.” Lying and avoiding were tiring endeavors. Jarek felt as though he were continually walking around spike traps, trying to avoid stepping on something fatal.
“What about you? Are you doing okay?”
Jarek nodded. “I’m fine, I guess. All things considered.”
“You two come up with anything else? Any new ideas?” CeCe had turned to face the pair, her eyes narrowed.
Burns chimed in, saving Jarek the irritation of having to couch his answer in vagaries. “Not yet. But we’re working on it.”
“I’m headed back out into the field at first light tomorrow morning. Anything you can give me would help. Hopefully, I can get a line on what you need.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and strode back into the cavern.
Alone again, just the two of them, Burns stood and stretched. “She’s right. It’s going to be a while before Corny can go scavenging again. Maybe CeCe can find something. After all, she does have a large network out there.”
Jarek stared into the swamp, feeling as if every word he said and every move he made was like trying to pick his way through the muck and mire into which he stared. He couldn’t go on not trusting anyone. This is not how things are supposed to be. Jarek closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. This ends now.
Chapter 65: Jarek
Jarek put his hand on Corny’s shoulder. “I need to talk to you if you’re up to it.”
The young man had gained some color in his face and the occasional smile bro
ke his solemn demeanor. He shifted on his pallet and pulled himself up to lean against the cavern wall. “Sure.” He craned his neck to look around Jarek and out into the main area. The smile faded, to be replaced by a worried look. “What’s on your mind?”
“Look, we can’t keep this a secret. You know that. Even if you forget the work I’m doing and my need to talk to Burns, if there is a traitor or spy among us, keeping quiet isn’t going to make them go away.” He locked gazes with a clearly troubled Corny. “We need to talk to someone, maybe Commander West.”
A look of terror flashed across Corny’s eyes followed by one of mere caution. “I know. But I’m not sure about this. I trust the commander for sure. But you know she’s going to have to do something and that means that she’ll talk to the others. And then it’ll be out there.”
Jarek smirked, quite unintentionally. “It’s already out there, Corny. Everyone knows you were attacked. Maybe they don’t know or suspect about a spy or anything like that, but, still, this is not something you can just hide from.”
The injured human fell silent and turned his gaze from Jarek to the wall across from him.
An idea popped into Jarek’s head. “Tell you what, why don’t I go to West and just talk about my suspicions, without mentioning anything you told me. That way, at least I can get a sense of what she’s thinking.”
Corny’s eyes had taken on a glazed, faraway look. “Yeah. I guess.” The words came out soft, as if he had been defeated.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise you.” Except that Jarek knew that he could not make any such guarantee.
◆◆◆
Jarek stuck his head into the small side chamber that was the commander’s area. “Commander, may I speak with you?”
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