Tal chuckled.
Bradok shot him a questioning look.
“She’s not the easiest person to get close to,” her brother said. “Your timing is bad too. Are you sure you want to try?”
Bradok laughed. It seemed like such a strange question in light of all that was happening. He looked Tal in the eye and nodded.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Tal said. “Rose is a real beauty who’s been chased by many a dwarf. It’s just that she’s a hard person to love. And I have no idea what this disease is going to do to her.”
Bradok lowered his eyes at the reminder.
“Rose never got the message that she’s a girl,” Tal continued with more spirit. “She wants to be the best at everything, do everything for herself. Most men want to feel like their woman needs them, and Rose doesn’t want to need anyone. In the end, she drives everyone away.”
Bradok nodded.
“Hey, there’s a passage back there if anyone cares,” Corin’s voice rang out, interrupting his thoughts.
He’d forgotten that the compass had pointed to one of the walls and that Corin had gone to investigate.
“The crystals have grown over it, but there’s definitely something back there,” Corin said. “I’m going to get Kellik, and together we’ll smash it open.”
“Good job,” Bradok said.
“What’s he doing?” Corin asked, pointing at Tal.
Tal was filling several canteens with the water from the moonwell.
“I figured I’d maybe soak Rose’s bandages in this,” he said, holding up the canteen. “If this glow-water really is blessed, it might help. I don’t see how it could hurt.”
Bradok rose and trailed after Corin. The Daergar had found Kellik, and the pair were making their way to the side of the chamber. As Bradok approached, the smith swung his hammer and shattered one of the smaller crystals that bulged out of the wall. A few minutes of heavy work, and Bradok could see that there was indeed a small opening behind the transparent wall.
Over the next half hour, the three of them took turns swinging the massive hammer and clearing a wide enough passage to admit the survivors. Bradok broke the last crystal away, sending it clattering across the stone floor in glittering fragments.
Panting and wiping the sweat from his face, he handed the hammer back to Kellik.
“That’s really something,” Kellik said, staring down the dark hole. “Everywhere we go there are secret passages. I wonder how long this one’s been hidden here, how many dwarves have gone right by it?”
“No telling,” Corin said with a weary shrug. Then he turned to Bradok. “It’ll take a few minutes to get everyone ready to move on. Why don’t we send someone ahead to scout the territory?”
Bradok took a long pull from his waterskin before he nodded. “I’ll go,” Thurl said, close behind them, startling Bradok.
Bradok hadn’t been aware of the dwarf’s presence. Coughing and spluttering, he spat water all over Corin and Kellik.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Bradok gasped. “Sneak up on me like that.”
“I shall wear a cowbell from now on,” Thurl said, a devious smile on his face.
Bradok pulled one of the resuscitated glowstones from his pocket and handed it to Thurl.
The thin assassin smiled more normally. “I prefer the dark,” the Daergar explained. With an unexpected swiftness, he stepped into the tunnel and darted into the blackness.
“He gives me the creeps,” Kellik said, passing Bradok back his waterskin.
“He wouldn’t be much of an assassin if he didn’t,” Corin said with a chuckle. Bradok laughed too.
As he took a drink from his waterskin, however, Bradok heard the sound of running feet. He swallowed quickly as Rose appeared.
“You’d better get over here,” she said then turned and hustled back to the center of the chamber.
Everyone seemed to be gathered around Tal, who was kneeling over someone Bradok could not see.
“It’s Lyra,” Urlish Hearthhome said as Bradok and the others arrived. “Xurces thinks it’s time. She’s going to have her baby.”
“Baby?” Bradok asked dumbly.
“Xurces?” Much echoed from Bradok’s left. “What’s that strange man doing anywhere near that sweet girl?” “Xurces is all right,” Corin said.
“Easy for you to say,” Much growled, clearly dissatisfied.
“One side,” Bradok said, pushing his way through the crowd.
He came up to where Tal was kneeling and immediately wished he were anywhere else. Lyra lay on the ground, breathing in great gasps. Xurces knelt by her, holding her hand and whispering comforting words in her ear. Tal had Lyra stripped below the waist with her legs splayed apart. Worse, he seemed to be doing something that Bradok was sure would get him slapped if he ever had tried it with a girl.
“She’s not ready,” Xurces said after a minute, withdrawing his hand. He pulled his cloak off and threw it over Lyra’s legs for modesty’s sake.
“What’s the timetable?” Bradok asked, trying to sound knowledgeable and sophisticated.
Tal rose, wiping his hands with a towel, and led Bradok a few paces off.
“She’s exhausted herself,” he said. “Her body is trying to expel the baby so it can use all of its resources to keep her alive.”
“She’s had a full night’s rest,” Bradok said, not understanding.
“That’s not going to be enough, I’m afraid,” Tal said worriedly. “She’s seriously overextended herself in the last week. She needs several days of rest at least, to have a chance.”
“We can’t wait here that long,” Bradok said, not even bothering to consult the compass. “Our food supply is running low.”
“We could carry her,” Much suggested.
“She’s not one of the children,” Bradok said. “How can we carry her?”
“That’s easy enough,” Much explained. “We take the lantern poles and a cloak and make a stretcher.”
“How do we attach the poles to the cloak?” Tal asked.
“Come on,” Much said irritably. “Just wrap it around the poles then fold it over on itself twice. Her body weight will keep it from slipping. The least we can do is try.”
Bradok stared openmouthed at Much. His old friend had many hidden gifts and talents.
“I picked up the idea from some humans during my travels,” he continued. “Once you make the stretcher and get Lyra in it, we just need four dwarves to carry it. Have them roll up their cloaks for padding and carry the poles on their shoulders.”
Bradok and Tal exchanged looks that said plainly that they had no better ideas.
“Get to it, then,” Bradok said, patting Much on the arm.
Much flashed a wide smile and hurried off to get the lantern poles. Bradok started to turn away when Tal caught his arm.
“Speaking of humans,” he said. “I’m worried about Perin.”
Bradok looked around and spotted the big human sitting with his back against the wall, apparently taking deep breaths as though meditating.
“What about him?” Bradok asked. Perin was one of the few survivors that Bradok never heard any complaints from. He was always around when they needed him, always polite and helpful.
“I don’t think the air down here is good for him,” Tal said.
Bradok gulped a few breaths but didn’t notice anything unusual about the air. Like most dwarves, Bradok could smell mine gas or detect foul air from almost a mile away.
“Maybe the air is a bit stale, but-” he began.
“That’s just it,” Tal interrupted. “Dwarves are denizens of the underground. Our lungs can handle all kinds of thin or tainted air, even gas for a while. Humans aren’t that robust.”
Bradok gave Perin another probing look.
“All right, keep an eye on him,” he said, not really sure what they could do about Perin’s problem if Tal’s theory were correct.
