Book One: Rise of the King

Chapter Fourteen

 Eli slept all the next day and was finally roused by Anna for breakfast with about thirty-six hours of sleep under his belt. She insisted that he bathe before he joined them. He was brought a tub, soap and a razor. He enjoyed the bath but hurried out when he smelled food cooking. After the morning meal he dressed in the clothes his mother had brought from the forest for him and they met the others at the council tent, as they were all calling it now. It was some time before Gray bothered to get everyone's attention. He knew there was a lot of catching up to do for Eli with Clea, Nate and Charlie. He didn't want to cut into that, but there were matters that needed to be discussed.

When everyone had seated themselves, Katara brought in beverages. She waited to be dismissed, her gaze lingering just a breath longer than necessary on Gray. He didn't let so much as a muscle twitch, but Eli was watching and knew immediately that the girl was Gray's dirty little secret, as one might say. Still, he wouldn't say anything. That was Gray's business, after all. "Eli brought us a map from Mahas. I've studied it over and over and the whole business seems pretty clear cut to me." Gray began the meeting. "I've been considering our plan. I would think there has to be a third exit, further up the mountain because they're not taking the material they're mining out the front way or down along the river exit. It's not shown on the map, though, so I would say it's safe to assume that it's going to have to be something we have to find."

"Are you saying we've to go back?" Eli asked, not looking forward to that.

"Mahas will have to, and I don't want him to go alone, but it doesn't have to be you that goes with him." Gray answered. "You've done your bit for king and country for now. One of the other Guard can go."

"The Guard?" Daniel asked.

"The Night Guard. That's what Clea and his men call us." Charlie answered.

Gray held up the rock, passed it around for everyone to see. "Tell us about the rock, Eli."

"They're beating these big chunks of rock out of the walls, then taking them to a conveyor that's hauling them up to a room where some other guys are breaking the rock open and finding these crystals. I don't know what they are or what they are for, but I know this is what they're taking out of there." Eli informed them.

"You know," Charlie said, looking at the rock, brow furrowed, "I've seen this before. Can't put my finger on it, but I know I've seen it."

"No idea?"

Charlie concentrated, his eyes moving as if he was going through a catalogue in his brain. Slowly he shook his head. "No, but I bet it's in one of those books in the library back in the forest."

Gray took a long draw off his cigarette. "While we let that rest for a moment, let's move on. I'm thinking of going on a recruiting campaign with Dad. I plan on taking Horse and riding south until I hit the ocean and then swinging back up along the river until I find someone. If that doesn't work, then I'll head north and try it there. We know that a few weeks ago there was a good sized camp still hiding out on the ocean because one of the guys who'd been there showed up here with his family. Since they suck with numbers, there's no way to tell how many people there might actually be, though."

"How many more warriors do you think we need?" Nate asked, wondering how large a force his brother was looking to amass.

"Well, from what I've gathered from the information that Eli brought back and the way we've fought with the Gauran before, my guess is that we need a minimum of three hundred, but I would feel more comfortable with five. That number isn't just for fighting, though. We're going to need a guard to protect the refugees that are rescued from the mine. That many people will need a lot of protection and we can't be sure of how many Komeh or Gauran are in the mountains. I would rather have too many people than not enough." Gray answered.