Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
“Heavy for puny humans, you mean,” brags a Taurian, and flexes his bicep. The others snort with amusement.
I clear my throat.
They look over at me, startled, and the one flexing his arm immediately lowers it. Raptor just gives me an utterly amused grin. “Yeah, not all humans are bad. Some of them are rather adorable.”
“Oh gods, you’re just as bad as the rest of them,” I say, waving a hand as if to shoo him off.
They laugh again, and Hawk points at the largest boulder. “We’ll start there. Who’s got the wand?”
Osprey pulls it free and holds it against the tunnel wall, drawing a massive circle. As he does, it lights up and creates a portal. Sunlight spills in from the portal, and on the other side, a bored-looking repeater jumps to his feet and straightens the black sash on his shoulder. He’s standing in what looks like a rock quarry, and as I watch, the portal seems to tilt, facing what looks like the edge of a gigantic hole.
“Ready over there?” Osprey calls.
“Ready—send through as you please. The portal’s in place.”
Osprey turns back to Hawk. “There we go.”
“All right. Let’s get moving. Be on the lookout for signs of a man-made collapse. Scorch marks, unusual debris, or even broken artifacts.”
“You think this was deliberate?” Raptor asks.
“We’re going to rule it out” is all Hawk says.
I shiver at that and jab my hand again.
Raptor glances back at me, no doubt making sure that I’m all right. I give him an overbright smile and step back as the Taurians gather around the largest boulder, debating how to maneuver it. “If we pull it free, it could cause more of a rockfall than already exists,” says Osprey.
“If it does, then this tunnel is no use to us anyhow. Besides, I’ve never met a Taurian who got bested by a mere tunnel collapse.” Hawk’s words are challenging, meant to fire them up.
Raptor just rubs his hands together. “Let’s earn ourselves some coin, aye?”
Twenty-Two
Raptor
Gwenna’s presence is quiet and unobtrusive as we haul rocks from the collapsed tunnel and shove them through the portal to the quarry. Her silence is a bit unusual to me, but perhaps she’s just not used to being around so many loud Taurians in their element.
For all that it’s hard work, I enjoy clearing tunnels. It’s one of the rare occasions when multiple Taurian artificers are called together, and we’re all close friends. Hawk talks about his students and what it’s like to be a master for the first time. Gyrfalcon brags about the latest find his Five made, Osprey provides sour commentary to deflate Gyrfalcon’s ego, and Shikra is silent, but he always is. He’s a hard worker, and I catch him smiling at a few of Osprey’s terrible jokes, so it’s not as if he’s miserable.
They rib me about my fledgling sash, but I know it’s all in good fun. They can’t know the real reason why I’ve been busted down, so I just joke that I got caught with my hands where they shouldn’t be, and when Osprey opens his mouth to make a crass joke, I point at him and silence him before he can offend Gwenna.
Not that I think she’d be offended. It’s hard to know what will bother her and what won’t. I do know we wouldn’t be making these kinds of cracks in front of Hawk’s wife, Sparrow, or any of the women who work as nestmaids. Gwenna seems like she has a tough hide and can take a joke, but I also know she’s alone in a tunnel with five Taurians, and that can make anyone uneasy.
The rocks don’t crumble as we pull them free, and the ceiling’s collapse isn’t nearly as bad as we thought it could be. The farther we dig, the more the rocks turn into what look like old bricks, common for the endless ruins in the tunnels. Sure enough, once the broken bricks are cleared away, the cause of the cave-in is determined—a new shaft has opened above, the now-removed ceiling leading into what looks like another open chamber. It’s a siren call to an artificer, and all of us are eager to explore. “Could be something good up there,” Gyrfalcon says. “If someone wants to lift me up, I can take a look.”
“Can’t,” Hawk says. “Our orders are for clearing the tunnel alone. Excavating and artifact hunting are for the team that comes in after us.”
“You’re no fun.”
“It’s because I’m in charge. You don’t get to be fun when you’re in charge.”
I chuckle at that, and glance back at Gwenna. She’s still holding the oil lamp in place, the canteens at her feet. At my attention, she gives me a small, seemingly distracted smile. Maybe she’s growing tired. We’ve been here for a while now, and a Taurian’s strength is many times greater than a human’s, especially one with a smaller stature like her. “Let’s save the fun for some other time,” I drawl, turning back to the others. “Some of us want to get dinner soon.”