He unclenched one fist to point a shaking finger at the Core. "That's the life of a rogue mage. That's all I have to look forward to. I've lost everything—because of you. The least you can do is listen to our warning before you kick us out too."
His last words echoed around the otherwise silent cave. Drained by his outburst, Benin folded himself into a cross-legged seat and dropped his head into his hands.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he felt a presence at his side. He lifted his head.
He'd hoped the emberfox had come to comfort him, but no. It was the sprite. She drifted like a stray spark to settle on his shoulder.
"You did what was right, and you've been punished for it. I'm sorry." Her voice was gentle. "There's nothing I can say that will make your burden easier to bear, but I will say this: thank you."
He snorted. "For what? We arrived too late to help defend this place, and the red Core was destroyed by its own denizens. You didn't even need us. It was all for nothing."
"You got here just in time to stop that kobold stealing my gem," interjected the Core, albeit grudgingly. "If Coll hadn't fallen down here at that exact moment, all would have been lost."
And there it was. Coll had saved the Core. Tiri had saved the two of them.
Benin had done nothing, saved nobody. Things would have worked out exactly the same had he chosen not to ruin his prospects by coming back here.
"Everything happens for a reason," said the sprite, as though she'd read his mind. "Don't dwell on decisions past, or they'll haunt your present and sour your future. Trust me."
"Things'll turn out all right, Ben," added Coll. He patted the badger beside him, which had finally gotten tired of attacking his boot and fallen asleep instead.
"There, there, etcetera," said the Core. "But seriously... are you sure you weren't followed here?"
Benin shrugged. "I didn't see any pursuit. And I've spent a lot of time looking over my shoulder."
"It's true," said Coll. "Yesterday he almost broke his ankle in a rabbit hole."
"You said the Guildmaster is looking for me, and the gnomes aren't safe. Care to enlighten me?"
"You mean like we were trying to do before you went all crazy and told us to leave?"
"Yep!" said the Core brightly. "But first, can you fetch me those rocks from the bottom of the hill? Ris'kin will show you where to put them."
Sixteen
Tremble
Corey
Though still slightly tempted to feed the mage to my boulderskins, the humans had convinced me of their intentions enough for me to dismiss my god-born creatures, which I'd called to the Grotto the instant they arrived. Nine forrels, three whipfish, two boulderskins and the glorious Octavia II now turned around and trundled back to their posts, much to the relief of the three forrels always stationed in the Passage just around the corner.
I'm watching you. One wrong move and I can bring them back here in an instant.
I didn't say it out loud; I didn’t want another lecture from Ket about how rude I was being. Down at the shrine, though, Ris'kin's gaze was fixed on Benin. When he noticed this, she made a V with her forefingers, pointing them at her own eyes and then at Benin.
We're watching you, I amended, chuckling silently. It was nice to have Ris’kin back on my side.
The mage gulped, ducking his head and placing the last stone back in its place on the shrine. I sent Ris'kin a mental high-five. She flicked an ear in smug acknowledgment.
"Are you quite finished tormenting our guests?" whispered Ket.
"Well..."
She tutted. "Please be nice. It may have escaped your notice, but we're pretty isolated here. We need all the allies we can get."
"Fine, fine." Then, raising my voice so the others could hear me: "But I'd love it if our 'allies' would tell us more about this mysterious 'threat' before we all grow old and die."
Benin protested hotly about how I'd been the one causing the delays. When I maintained a lofty silence in the face of his complaints, he subsided, grumbling, and started rummaging through his pack.
As he pulled out papers and items, some of the nocturnal gnomes crept closer to investigate. As one, they gasped when he shook the first alchemical globe to life, and watched avidly as he placed half a dozen of them around himself.
"Would've thought the least you could do was have your little guys bring me some torches or something," he griped.
"They're not your servants," I shot back. "Anyway, gnomes don't bother with torches up here. They have shadevision. As long as there's some remnant of natural light—which there always is—they can see just fine. Unlike some inferior species I could name," I added.
"Racist."
"Mole-eyes."
"Soooooo," said Ket loudly, "what are those papers? May I see?"
After scowling at my gem for a moment, Benin relented. He separated the pieces of paper and laid them on the ground for us all to see.
There was silence for a few moments.
"I can't read it," I admitted.
"Me neither," said Ket.
Wait, what?
I'd never had the opportunity to learn the human language in my former life, so it made sense that these papers were indecipherable to me. But Ket should be able to read them. She had been human before she'd become a Core.
Hadn't she?
Benin's eyebrows were raised. "I guess my incantation only covers verbal communication. Interesting." He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "I should be able to make some adjustments to include the written word as well... probably..."
He held out a hand. Coll handed him a nub of charcoal, and the mage started scribbling on the paper, tongue poking out from between his teeth in concentration.
I sighed impatiently. Scanning the Grotto, I caught sight of Binky. He'd scaled the west
