Dream of a Vast Blue Cavern

Chapter 13: Rockfall: Larc

 Well, there was a tiny relief. Larc had not heard from Casser's group for several days, and she had worried immensely about them. Hali saluted and Larc returned her salute curtly. It was strange to think of the guildless being able to join society. It made her just a little bit uncomfortable. “Report, Scribe.”

 “Yes, Lady Larc. Prince Casser sends word that the people have reached a narrowing of tunnels, about one half-day’s travel from here by raihan. He believes that there is something larger behind them, wider tunnels or perhaps even caves.”

 “Why does he believe that?”

 “He says there are drafts and water-flows through the rock that indicate a wider space, Lady. He has ordered the people to tunnel a way through the narrow tunnels to the other side.”

 Larc let a whuff of breath hiss between her teeth. Tunneling by hand was a dangerous business. Icers could manipulate rock so that it remained stable, so that widening a tunnel created a denser, stronger bed of rock. When humans tunneled with tools, they weakened the walls, opening fractures and dislodging loose rocks. Casser had only a few Icers with him, and if Larc recalled correctly, they were not much better suited to work with rock than she. He must truly believe that there was something worth the risk on the other side.

 Hali continued. “There have been several small cave-ins, my Lady, and a few casualties. But he is determined. He asks that you send any Icers you have to spare to the people, to assist them.”

 Larc clenched her teeth. There were no Icers to spare. The ones who were not fighting were resting, conserving vaerce, trying to stave off exhaustion. Still, if Casser continued to tunnel by hand, he could cause a huge rockfall. She would have to send Icers to him.  

 “Feed and water your animal, then meet me back here,” she commanded Hali. “Get yourself a ration, too.”

 Hali saluted and led her beast away, stroking its long nose. The raihan’s glowing white hide was covered with grime and sweat; she must have ridden it hard. Larc would have liked to give her a fresh beast. But there were as few raihan to spare as there were Icers.

 Larc poked her head into five different sleeping caves, waking the Icers within. Terean was the highest ranking officer she chose—he had been promoted from Scout to a Luten—and all five were strong in their abilities with rock. When they were up and crowding the narrow tunnel, she explained their orders. They looked askance, but even Terean did not question her. Hali returned, saluted again, and mounted her raihan. Larc stood in the tunnel, watching them fade out of range of the icelight, until she could see only a faint glow from the raihan, beyond the dark shapes of the Icers. Hopefully the risk was worth it. Perhaps there would be something other than empty caves on the other side of Casser’s digging. Something to justify the hole that would be created in her defenses.

 Larc went to the storeroom next for her own ration. Two Icers guarded it, and a few human warriors within organized the food and handed out strictly rationed portions. They had slaughtered and purified the few wild molebear they could find in the outer tunnels. Glace and his scouts had found an old fungal cavern above the mines; though it was no longer cultivated, the fungus had continued to spore. She had ordered a scribe to calculate out the rations and how long the food would last, and the results were not encouraging. They had days, rather than weeks, before the army could not feed itself. Casser could not be faring any better. He had taken all of the breeding cababar with him, but the stress of being moved around was preventing them from breeding.

 The ration today was a piece of tunnel-fungi the size of her fist and a thin strip of molebear. Larc tried to savor her only meal of the day, but she could not keep her mouth from chewing and swallowing too fast. The food hurt her shrunken stomach.