Coll’s grin widened. “It was cool, wasn’t it? I learned it when I leveled up after fighting those white spiders near the red Core’s base. Been looking for an excuse to use it ever since.”
Benin pulled the tent from his pack and started to unroll it. “What’s it called?”
“Hammer Smash.”
“Subtle.”
“Want to see it again up close?”
“Ha ha.”
Benin looked up from the tent to see Coll raising his hammer above his head.
Shit, he wasn’t joking.
“No! Don’t—”
The hammer’s head connected with the ground with the force of a falling meteor. A geyser of grass, stones and clods of earth erupted as Hammer Smash’s shockwave blasted out, tearing vegetation from its roots in a widening circle from the point of impact.
Even though he saw it coming, it still knocked Benin to the ground when it reached him. He swore and climbed shakily to his feet, searching desperately for Pyra.
The emberfox had been quick enough to avoid the blast and was now standing twenty feet away, fur all on end, growling at the earth. Reassured that she was all right, he rounded on Coll—
—just in time to watch the earth swallow him.
Twenty-Four
Exodus
Corey
“The wagons are all finished. They’re ready, Corey. It’s time.”
“Young Ket is correct. The water is—”
A corner of the Grotto exploded. For a panicked instant I thought the river had broken through the wall to rush in and drown us all. Then a cascade of dirt, rocks, and heavily-armored human came crashing down into the badgers’ nest.
“What the hell, Coll?” I yelled, zooming over to inspect the damage to my ceiling. But I stopped just before entering the now wide-open space.
The day’s light was nearly gone, swallowed by the storm clouds as well as the encroaching evening. Still, I flinched as the sky’s gray illumination came pouring into my domain, as inexorable and unwelcome as the floodwater. The grotto was now awash in silvery light. I did not like it.
You’re going to have to get used to it, I told myself.
I edged out into the open space, cringing the entire time. I felt like a dormouse in a field as the hawk circles overhead.
No shadows. No shelter. How do surface dwellers not go mad beneath the weight of all that sky?
Roots poked out from the sides of the ragged opening, trailing down and grasping at the empty space like pale crooked fingers. I was no claustrophobe, obviously—far from it—but it was disconcerting to be reminded that most of the ceiling was just compacted dirt and rocks. It could have collapsed at any moment.
Or perhaps not. I glared at Coll’s hammer. “What did you do that for?”
“I just—”
“What? You thought, ‘Oh, it’s been nearly a full day since I fell through Corey’s ceiling, I’d better smash a hole in it and do it again!’?”
Thankfully, there’d been no gnomes nearby; most were in the village or the barracks, going about their travel preparations. The only thing Coll had damaged was the badgers’ nest.
Luckily all four of the stripy little beasts were elsewhere, having already been literally roped into helping. Bruce stood patiently between the yokes of the chariot, ignoring the commotion behind him as Gneil and the acolytes tried to maneuver the ark onto the two-wheeled carriage. Every time they were about to lift it in place, Bruce would bumble forwards a few inches, making the ark topple off the back of the chariot and beginning the whole rigmarole all over again.
It would have gone a lot faster if just one of them handled the ark. For some reason, though, all five of the acolytes insisted on sharing the load with Gneil in a classic case of too many gnomes.
If this is us being ready to leave, then gods help us all.
But since I was the only god in attendance, I forced down my doubts and fears and finally did what needed to be done.
Initiate Exodus?
WARNING: Failure to establish a new base while the ability is still active will result in the loss of all Faith accumulated up until this point.
Yes, yes, if I fail then we’re all ruined. I know, damn it.
But if I didn’t risk failure, I would guarantee our destruction. Despite my numerous legitimate concerns, it really was no choice at all.
Exodus initiated!
Time remaining: 960 hours
The effect was immediate. All over the Grotto, gnomes jumped to attention and began barking orders at the rest.
Warriors surged from the barracks, led by Hoppit. Some followed her into the village, but most split off into smaller groups. Graywall led a dozen of them over to the lumberyard, where they began assisting one of the sawyers in loading stacks of planks and woodcutting tools onto an open cart.
Hammer grabbed a heavy pack from a staggering juvenile, shouldering the burden herself as she marched from gnomehome to gnomehome, bashing her shield against each door to rouse the few still sleeping within. She then stormed over to the creche, disappearing inside and then re-emerging with a small child tucked under each arm. A recently matured female gnome followed her out, also hefting children; even if I hadn’t recognized her, her large frame and brawny shoulders marked her as Hammer’s eldest daughter, Nails, already grown to adulthood thanks to the creche’s accelerated growth cycle.
Though she was assigned as a nurse, not a warrior like her mother, Nails was a force to be reckoned with and had been ever since she was old enough to walk. More children followed her out of the creche like a gaggle of meek ducklings—a stark contrast to some of the other wailing forces of chaos currently getting under the adults’ feet.
The two farmers, Doug and Grimes, were shoveling soil from the shroomeries and flinging it into handcarts. Nails directed a handful of older children over to join them. The juveniles immediately began digging in the neighboring shroomeries with their bare hands, pulling out sprouting spores of all colors and shapes, and either tossing them in the wheelbarrows or dropping them
