One day he had attempted to break through for most of a night, and the next morning he couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. His ears worked fine and he could hear the sounds they were making, but he couldn’t process them into words. It had taken three days for his headache to lessen, and a day later he began to comprehend what people were saying once again. Ever since that day, he had only very carefully probed the space where he felt his identity was kept secreted away from his consciousness.
He pulled his thoughts away from his internal problems and opened his eyes. The smaller Goblin sat about a foot away from him, clearly uncomfortable.
“Do you have a name?” he asked, surprising the Goblin.
“A name?” the Goblin replied.
“Ha,” the larger Goblin said, sitting up from where he had been laying quietly, conserving his strength. “We are slaves. Slaves are not worthy of names.”
“You must be called something,” he murmured.
“Drog’atol,” the smaller Goblin said. “It means without will.”
“But you have will, you are here, alive because of it.”
“Yes, we are alive, but we are not free. What good is will if you cannot use it?” the larger Goblin said. “We are slaves until we are no longer chained and can walk into the hills on our own. Until then, we are nothing more than tunnel rats, like you.”
“I am not a tunnel rat!” he yelled, standing for the first time since the manacles had burned his wrists. Instead of the piercing pain that he expected as he jostled his chains around, nothing but a dull ache accompanied the movement. This surprised him enough that he didn’t register that the Goblins had taken a step back when he suddenly stood. Probing the outer area where the manacles covered his skin, he found that the flesh was very sensitive, but no longer on fire. He attempted to look under the manacles at the skin beneath, but found that his swollen forearms had bonded with the blood red material.
“Perhaps someday that will be true,” the smaller Goblin said, “but until that day comes, you are Drog’atol, like us. For that day to come though, we need food and water. We talked while you were asleep, and we don’t think that the guards took the day's rations with them when they ran from the quake. They shouldn’t be very far away. If the three of us spread out on the path, we should be able to locate them.”
When they began moving farther into the tunnel, he noticed that the Goblins were moving slowly in a crouched position with their hands out in front of them. It was then that he realized that they couldn’t see, and that there was no light. He wondered why it was that he could see things down here clearly for some distance without any light, and almost asked his companions about it, but a small voice in his head warned him against it.
It didn’t take them long to make it back to the area that had been set up as their work station for that day. Sure enough, the supply packs were sitting right where the guards had set them down earlier that morning. Their slow crawl through the dark made it a long trek towards the packs, and he had to pull the chain a little several times to get the other two to head in the right direction, but they eventually made it. He brushed a lot of rock debris and dust off of the packs before opening them to see what they held. Inside of the first pack was a container that held dozens of compact bars of food: their usual work rations. The other pack, however, held a half dozen packages that contained dried meat, some sort of biscuit, and several different kinds of dried fruit.
Hanging off the side of each pack was a large bladder. The one that hung on the bag containing the workers' rations contained water, and the other contained something that smelled sickly sweet. They each took several swigs of water before taking one of the lunches that had been prepared for the guards. The boy had never had meat that wasn’t thrown into some other dish, so he savored the flavor of each bite. The biscuit was much softer than any of the ones that they had ever been served, and he found that some of the fruit was much too sweet for his taste buds.
“Funny that it takes a cave in for me to have the best meal of my life,” he said to no one in particular.
“While this stuff is good after the things we’ve been fed for the past year, if this is the best food you’ve ever eaten, then you, my young friend, have yet to truly live,” the smaller Goblin said. The larger Goblin grunted in agreement as he ate from his second package of food.
They had just settled down to rest when a slight breeze rustled the boy’s hair, catching his attention. Looking around to see where the breeze might have emanated from, he noticed a square hole a few feet off the ground near the next bend in the tunnel. It didn’t take long to convince his companions that they should check out the vent, all of them understanding that it could be a potential way for them to escape.
As they neared the hole, two things became immediately apparent to him. First, that he would not be able to reach the shaft without some assistance, and second, that there was very little chance that the larger of the two Goblins would fit in the vent. He was still hiding the fact that he could see clearly in the dark tunnels, so it took them a little while to “locate” the source of the breeze. Once they reached the vent, he had the Goblins help him into the shaft.
There was only a couple of feet of chain separating each of them, so he was limited in how far he could go into the shaft, but as he moved into the air vent he realized that it was a moot point anyway. Several feet ahead, a large rock had busted through the roof of the shaft, likely shaken free by the quake. Half of the vent remained clear, allowing air to come and go, but the hole was much too small for any of them to fit through.
Keeping up appearances, he moved into the vent as far as he could before he felt the chain go taut, the rock that had busted through the top of the vent was just out of reach. The Goblins seemed nearly blind in the darkness, however, so he knew that he was close enough that the two would never know the difference.
“Damn,” he whispered, just loud enough for it to carry back through the shaft to his companions.
“What?” the smaller Goblin said, his voice coming from the mouth of the vent, likely being held up by the larger in order to give the chain as much slack as possible.
“There’s a big rock blocking half of the shaft, I’m coming back out.” Following his words, he began to inch backwards, trying to kick the chain behind him as he went so that it didn’t get bunched up under his body. It took him about twice as long to get out of the shaft as it had taken him to crawl into it, but he took a deep breath when his feet landed on the tunnel floor. He had realized in those few moments of being in the shaft that he was not a fan of such a cramped environment, and the comparatively large mining tunnels were a welcome relief.
“Well, I don’t think he could fit into the vent anyway,” the little Goblin said, motioning towards the larger. “So, it looks like we are stuck waiting until they open the tunnels up again.”
The boy nodded before realizing that his companions probably couldn’t see the motion. “You are right, and at least we know there is air coming into the tunnels still so we won’t die from the air becoming stale. Let’s head back to the rations, since we have nothing else to do but wait.”
Chapter 9
Insights
Year: 3045 AGD
Month: New Year
Second Firstday
Serenity Valley
Shawnrik felt as if he were starting to get used to the incredibly precise time schedule of the Institute as the now familiar hum coursed through his body. The morning routine had taken on its own set pattern as well, broken up only by the amount of time Verrian stared blankly at the floor before gathering his things for the morning shower.
The last Eightday had been rather rough on Verrian. His body was not yet used to the amount of physical activity that he had been subjecting it to, and it was complaining accordingly. Taking Eighthday off seemed to have helped him recover some of his fire, but Shawnrik was worried that his new friend would burn out within a few Eightdays.
They had the morni
ng to do whatever they wanted, since neither of them had anything on their schedule, so by silent agreement they ended up spending their time before lunch in the main library. Shawnrik had only first seen the inside of the multi-storied building a few days before, and he couldn’t help but stop and marvel as they walked through the front doors.
The main room contained shelves as far as the eye could see, and each one was filled with books on various subjects; this room probably held more knowledge than every other library on the face of Terrazil combined, and there were two more floors just like it! Approaching the front desk to sign in, Shawnrik couldn’t help but be in awe of the little gray-haired old man who sat behind the desk. A small plaque sat in front of the man that read Travis Augustus – Head Librarian.
“Any new development in the world of books?” Verrian said as he picked up the pen-like instrument and signed the slightly inclined screen that faced toward the boys.
“I doubt there has been any true development for the last thousand years, young Mr. Smith. I’m sure one could say much the same about accounting, heh?” the old Librarian replied.
Shawnrik had the feeling that these two had said much the same thing to each other every day for years now, and they both viewed it as some sort of ritual or tradition. Shawnrik thought it was a little silly, but the pair seemed to enjoy it so he kept his mouth shut.
“And how are you this fine Firstday, Mr. Larston? How are you finding our humble little center of learning?”
“It is amazing, Mr. Augustus, I’ve never even heard of the like.”
“That’s good—it means we’ve been doing our job right, and our students have been keeping their mouths shut,” the Librarian replied, a slight wheezing laugh escaping from the man.
“I still don’t understand all of that yet, but I sure am glad for the opportunity. I’ve only been here an Eightday and I’ve already learned so many things. The world became much more complex when I stepped through that hole that appeared in the obelisk in Tranquility Mist.”
“We call that hole an aperture, and the world is just as complex as it ever was, the only thing that has changed is your view of it, as it has continued to shift and change for me for the last eighty-six years. If something doesn’t happen that makes you change your view of the world every few months, that probably means you aren’t living it right. At least, that’s what my granddad always used to tell me. I’ll save you boys from the thwack on the head that used to come with it, though.” Another wheezing laugh escaped the old Librarian’s lips and his gaze wandered for a moment, before regaining its razor focus. “Now, what are you boys up to today?”
“We have the morning free, and since this is the most interesting place around, we thought we’d come expand our horizons,” Verrian said as he started moving around the large desk.
“Most interesting place, huh? If I were a young man, I’m sure I could think of quite a few more interesting places that I’d rather be.”
“Yes, well, last I heard the girls’ dorm is still off limits, so we’ll just have to settle for expanding our horizons this morning,” Verrian quipped, which sent the old Librarian off again, his wheezing laugh following them down the aisle.
Verrian found a book on the various practical applications of engineering and began skimming through its pages. They had begun Basic Engineering the previous week, and the little man seemed to be taking to it like a Griffon to a Shaper. Shawnrik found the subject interesting, but he didn’t feel like he needed to go out of his way to learn more about it than they were going to in class. He was, however, very interested in both Mythology and History.
Going over to the terminal, Shawnrik typed in Mythology, and a list of hundreds of books appeared on the screen. He sorted the books by those most checked out, and found a few titles that sounded interesting to start with and headed off to see if he could find one of them. He felt like he had only been looking through the books for a few minutes when Verrian poked him and said it was almost time for lunch. As he once again realized the amount of information he had yet to learn, Shawnrik sighed, picking out a book to take with him and putting the others on a shelf for the library staff to put back in their proper places.
The book that he left the library with was called A Time Before. From the little that he had been able to read, it seemed that the author believed that the majority of the races that lived on Terrazil were not native to this world but had instead come from some other place. After all of the new things that Shawnrik had discovered over the last Eightday, it wasn’t as crazy of an idea to him as it might have been a year before. If nothing else, it would make for an interesting read.
Shawnrik and Verrian finished lunch quickly and went back to their room to drop off their books before heading towards the far western edge of the campus for their afternoon class. Today was the day that they would start the only class of the term that only happened once an Eightday. It was, however, scheduled for the entire afternoon, so it took up the same amount of time per week as most of their other classes. Neither of them were quite sure what to expect from Martial Arts; Shawnrik understood the basic concept behind the idea, but he didn’t think he had ever met anyone who thought of it as more than a hobby.
A steady stream of students were heading in the same general direction, and it soon became apparent that they all had the same destination in mind. Stepping onto the field that took up a large portion of the western end of the Institute's campus, Shawnrik was amazed at the amount of people present; milling about the field were several hundred students. Among them, he noticed several older individuals—a couple of which he recognized as Instructors at the Institute—but there were some that he had never seen before.
The group of boys that he and Verrian ended up next to was talking about how great of a place to meet girls this was. Apparently, the instructions were not divided by gender so there was the potential for close contact. Shawnrik was just thinking about how stupid they all sounded and how he wouldn’t let a girl distract him from something that might be important to know, when something gently touched his elbow, sending a pulse through his body.
“Hey Shawn,” a familiar voice said.
Turning around slowly, Shawnrik found himself looking down into a pair of lovely brown eyes. “Hey Olivia,” he managed to reply after a short pause.
“I was hoping to catch you after the ceremony on the first day, but you disappeared.”
“Yeah, it was kind of a crazy night. We decided to head back to the room as soon as we were dismissed.” Shawnrik found that he was suddenly unsure what to do with any part of his body, but instead of fidgeting like his body seemed to want to do, he held himself rigid.
“We?” Olivia replied, her right hand moving several stray hairs the color of chestnuts back behind her ear.
“Oh! Right,” Shawnrik said, suddenly remembering that his roommate was indeed standing right beside him. He also noticed in that moment that there were several other girls with Olivia. He moved aside a little and motioned to Verrian. “This is Verrian Smith, my new roommate. Verrian, this is Olivia Little.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Little,” Verrian said, with enough formality that Shawnrik almost laughed and Olivia arched an eyebrow.
“Please, call me Olivia. Mrs. Little is my grandmother.” Several of the girls tittered at that. Motioning towards her companions, Olivia began her introductions. “This is Rebecca, Vivianne, Sara, and Syranna.”
Rebecca was the shortest of the group and was just shy of five feet, but her blue eyes and blonde hair made her stand out. Vivianne was of an equal height to Olivia, standing a good five inches taller than Rebecca. She smiled shyly as she was introduced, hiding behind her long brown hair with her hazel eyes still managing to shine through. Sara was the largest of the group at just short of six feet. Not only was she much taller than the other girls, she seemed to be in much better shape. Shawnrik was sure that Sara would be highly intimidating to most men, with her short cropped black hair and amber eyes only add
ing to that image. Syranna stood somewhere between Sara and Olivia in height, and her most distinguishing feature was the points of her ears; Shawnrik was fairly certain that she was a member of the Guardian Elves. Her light brown hair framed her thin face well, and her green eyes seemed to glow of their own accord from between her long brown locks.
Verrian looked from one girl to the next like a rabbit ready to take flight at any moment. Shawnrik realized that all of the girls were attractive, and his friend might indeed bolt at any moment. He placed his hand on his roommate's shoulder to give him some support, and he felt Verrian relax slightly under the pressure.
“Sara is the only one of us that has any real kind of martial arts training, though Syranna is an amazing shot with a bow. I figured after what happened the summer before last that it might be a good idea to know how to protect myself, and they thought it sounded like a good idea, too, so here we are!” Olivia said. She spoke quickly and had to catch her breath when she finished.
If Shawnrik didn’t know any better, he might think she was nervous. He was just about to ask if she was ok when someone struck some type of handheld cymbal at the other end of the lawn. He noticed several of the boys in the next group over giving him and Verrian dirty looks as they made their way over to the main group. When he caught them doing it, however, they all seemed to find more interesting places to look. Shawnrik didn’t know what their problem was with him and his roommate, but he wasn’t going to let it bother him.
Once everyone settled into place, a woman who looked like she might bend bars as an afternoon activity stepped in front of the assembled students and faculty. From the slope of her brow and the pink not-quite-red tint to her eyes, Shawnrik thought that she might have some Orc blood in her. He couldn’t see any hair on her body at all, and her light brown skin looked slick, like some sort of oil had been rubbed on it. When she spoke, her voice had an edge to it that told him that she wouldn’t be repeating anything she said again anytime soon.
Vitiosi Dei (Heritage of the Blood Book 2) Page 14
