11x03
Kormick hollered a warning, Savina shrieked, but it was too late: the rest of the party had walked into the quickrock, too, and everyone was sinking – slowly but inexorably.
"Honored Justicar!" cried Nyoko, close behind Kormick. He twisted his body to see her balancing like a dancer with one leg sinking and the other held above the surface, bent delicately, toe pointed. "Your hands?" she asked.
Kormick laced his fingers together and she put her free foot into his hands. Bracing herself, she backflipped out of danger, landing on solid ground. The movement drove Kormick deeper into the quickrock – But at least one of us will survive, he thought grudgingly.
He grabbed for a tree limb above his head, but it snapped off in his hand. "That one's dead," explained Savina, struggling nearby. "You need green ones. Like that one – and there – and there – " She pointed to several overhanging limbs, all helpfully out of Kormick's grasp.
Arden, however, followed her mistress's finger, grabbed a strong limb, and pulled herself up onto it.
There were blinking flashes as Rose and Twiggy fey-stepped out of danger. Kormick felt an old wistfulness for the magical skill he didn't possess. So many times that trick would have come in handy back at the Academy, he thought. The promise of so many pranks unfulfilled… and the promise of not drowning in this double-crossing rock…
Mena wrestled her legs through the rock by sheer force and slogged her way toward a tree until she could fall forward, grab a root, and drag herself out. "Walk out!" she yelled. "This is a ridiculous way to die! Walk!" Tavi lunged after her, pressing through the rock. Kormick did the same, aiming for one of the overhanging branches that Savina had indicated. The harder he pushed, the faster he sank, and it was close – I'm either going to grab that limb with my fingertips or miss by the length of my thumbnail – but he made it, grabbing the branch with one hand and hauling himself inelegantly up into the tree.
He jumped down to the ground and saw that Savina had lost at the same game – she'd tried to push her way toward a branch, but by the time she arrived, she'd sunk too deep to reach it. Kormick expected her to burst into tears, but instead he saw her swallow hard and then – incredibly – look around to check on everyone else. The dwarves were all in trouble. Thurran was near the edge of the danger zone, but he was too little to help himself. Nyoko climbed a tree close to him, edged out on a branch, and swung herself down until she could grab his hand and pull him out.
Savina called out, "Corani! There's a root near you! Reach for it!" Her tone was strong, even commanding, and Corani appeared to obey without thought. Kormick wondered what kind of mental resources the Alirrian priestess was channeling – not only is she not panicking, she's taking charge. He also wondered how he could help her, but he was on the wrong side of the quickrock.
Twiggy cast mage hand, and the infant dwarf floated out of Sertani's arms and into Twiggy's. Sertani, once she'd seen that the baby was safe, looked around for her own options. Kormick strode along the edge of the quickrock, grasped a likely looking tree trunk, and leaned out to grab her hand. He pulled Sertani to safety.
Across the patch, Tavi did the same for one of the toddlers while Arden made her way out across the tree limb that Savina could no longer reach. Hooking her legs over the branch, she swung down, grasped hands with her sinking mistress, and then squeezed her eyes shut with effort as Savina clambered up her body onto the tree branch, then reached down to help her up.
Nyoko, meanwhile, tied a rope to an arrow and fired it into the rock near Vorret, the middle-aged ex-slave. Nyoko bound the other end of the rope to a tree; then she began preparing a second arrow with a second rope.
Vorret, however, ignored the rope that had slapped into the rock next to him. Instead, he struggled to reach Romek, the oldest of the ex-slaves, who had sunk up to his waist and was muttering irritably at Romek in Dwarven – Kormick didn't know what the old guy was saying, but he had a bad feeling that it was something infuriatingly heroic along the lines of "Leave me, save yourself."
"Grab the rope!" shouted Mena, but Vorret shouted back and kept fighting uselessly toward Romek, sinking deeper with each motion.
"There's a rock near him!" cried Savina, pointing, and then shouted instructions to Romek in Dwarven. The elderly dwarf turned, but the rock was several feet away, and his exhausted face showed resignation, not determination.
Arden jumped from the tree she was in and landed in the next tree over. She stepped out on a limb that Kormick, thanks to Savina's earlier tutelage, could guess was brittle.
"No, Arden!" cried Twiggy, seeing the same danger. "That branch is no good!"
Arden ignored her. "Dame Mena, please tell Vorret to take the rope. I'll get Romek." She eased her way farther out over the quickrock until she was almost over Romek's head.
Mena translated, and Vorret darted his eyes from the rope, to Arden, to Romek, unsure – but at least he'd stopped struggling.
Arden lay down along the branch, grabbed hold with her legs and one hand, and extended her other arm to Romek. He raised his hand to grasp hers. The branch gave a crack as it took his added weight, but it didn't break. With a strained cry, Arden tugged, Romek grabbed her arm with his other hand and pulled, and – another crack – suddenly they were both on the shivering branch, and somehow it hadn't broken.
Nyoko shot ropes to all the remaining dwarves, who pulled themselves to safety. Vorret hauled himself out, and with that, they were all standing on the edge of the danger zone, covered in quickrock that was drying and flaking off like gravel.
Kormick and Twiggy scouted the edges of the quickrock patch, and everyone helped pile up rock cairns to indicate its danger for future travelers. Bet the Questors will whine about us giving away the surprise death-trap, Kormick thought, but he had to believe that any self-respecting Questor would rather be killed by a sycamore in a fair fight than dragged helplessly underground to eternal oblivion.
They camped nearby, too tired to travel farther that day. Kormick, Nyoko, Savina, and Twiggy went foraging, although Savina held back briefly, her eyes on Tavi. "Do you want to come, Tavi?" she asked.
"I'd better stay with Rose," he said. Savina nodded with transparent disappointment, the poise she'd commanded during the crisis now absent. Ah, youth, thought Kormick, when nearly drowning in traitorous granite is so much less agony-inducing than the presence of a young man of ambivalent intentions.
Rose looked sad when Kormick, Tavi, and the others left. She still looked sad a few hours later, when they returned with new ingredients for the chef Mertal's creativity. Kormick was both unsurprised and unimpressed. If Rose was going to refuse to consider the merits of his Good/Bad chart, he wasn't going to argue with her. Like Savina, she was a teenager. She had unreasonable priorities.
Mena, however, foolishly dove right into Rose's misery. "How are you holding up?" she asked, as they all settled around the campfire that night.
"Well enough." Rose stared into the fire.
"What's bothering you?" This question earned Mena an "isn't it obvious?" gaze from Rose. "Of course, I know," continued Mena, "but what is it specifically, tonight, and how can we fix it?"
Rose shrugged. "I am simply concerned about the costs."
"What costs?" demanded Kormick, forgetting his resolution to leave the unreasonable girl alone. "Do you not remember the chart? The only cost was the spring. Or are you seriously suggesting that I move 'dead derro' over into the costs column? Because I must disagree with you on that point."
"They were still living beings," said Rose.
"But they asked for it," Kormick heard Arden mutter to Twiggy. He agreed, but Mena silenced him with a look and turned to Rose.
"There was no way there wouldn't be costs," she said. "Sedellus doesn't allow free wins. And doing nothing would have had a greater cost."
"I knew that," answered Rose, "but I didn't understand it. Now I can't stop thinking – how much worse will it get?"
"I don't know," said Mena. "But my promise to you stands."
What promise? Kormick wondered. Judging by everyone's suddenly raised eyebrows and curious looks, he guessed he wasn't alone in wondering.
Rose, however, offered no further clues. "That's something," she said.
"It won't come to that," Mena declared. "You have a goddess on your side, don't forget. And this group of good people is on your side. That says a lot for you."
Rose nodded and fell silent.
Kormick hollered a warning, Savina shrieked, but it was too late: the rest of the party had walked into the quickrock, too, and everyone was sinking – slowly but inexorably.
"Honored Justicar!" cried Nyoko, close behind Kormick. He twisted his body to see her balancing like a dancer with one leg sinking and the other held above the surface, bent delicately, toe pointed. "Your hands?" she asked.
Kormick laced his fingers together and she put her free foot into his hands. Bracing herself, she backflipped out of danger, landing on solid ground. The movement drove Kormick deeper into the quickrock – But at least one of us will survive, he thought grudgingly.
He grabbed for a tree limb above his head, but it snapped off in his hand. "That one's dead," explained Savina, struggling nearby. "You need green ones. Like that one – and there – and there – " She pointed to several overhanging limbs, all helpfully out of Kormick's grasp.
Arden, however, followed her mistress's finger, grabbed a strong limb, and pulled herself up onto it.
There were blinking flashes as Rose and Twiggy fey-stepped out of danger. Kormick felt an old wistfulness for the magical skill he didn't possess. So many times that trick would have come in handy back at the Academy, he thought. The promise of so many pranks unfulfilled… and the promise of not drowning in this double-crossing rock…
Mena wrestled her legs through the rock by sheer force and slogged her way toward a tree until she could fall forward, grab a root, and drag herself out. "Walk out!" she yelled. "This is a ridiculous way to die! Walk!" Tavi lunged after her, pressing through the rock. Kormick did the same, aiming for one of the overhanging branches that Savina had indicated. The harder he pushed, the faster he sank, and it was close – I'm either going to grab that limb with my fingertips or miss by the length of my thumbnail – but he made it, grabbing the branch with one hand and hauling himself inelegantly up into the tree.
He jumped down to the ground and saw that Savina had lost at the same game – she'd tried to push her way toward a branch, but by the time she arrived, she'd sunk too deep to reach it. Kormick expected her to burst into tears, but instead he saw her swallow hard and then – incredibly – look around to check on everyone else. The dwarves were all in trouble. Thurran was near the edge of the danger zone, but he was too little to help himself. Nyoko climbed a tree close to him, edged out on a branch, and swung herself down until she could grab his hand and pull him out.
Savina called out, "Corani! There's a root near you! Reach for it!" Her tone was strong, even commanding, and Corani appeared to obey without thought. Kormick wondered what kind of mental resources the Alirrian priestess was channeling – not only is she not panicking, she's taking charge. He also wondered how he could help her, but he was on the wrong side of the quickrock.
Twiggy cast mage hand, and the infant dwarf floated out of Sertani's arms and into Twiggy's. Sertani, once she'd seen that the baby was safe, looked around for her own options. Kormick strode along the edge of the quickrock, grasped a likely looking tree trunk, and leaned out to grab her hand. He pulled Sertani to safety.
Across the patch, Tavi did the same for one of the toddlers while Arden made her way out across the tree limb that Savina could no longer reach. Hooking her legs over the branch, she swung down, grasped hands with her sinking mistress, and then squeezed her eyes shut with effort as Savina clambered up her body onto the tree branch, then reached down to help her up.
Nyoko, meanwhile, tied a rope to an arrow and fired it into the rock near Vorret, the middle-aged ex-slave. Nyoko bound the other end of the rope to a tree; then she began preparing a second arrow with a second rope.
Vorret, however, ignored the rope that had slapped into the rock next to him. Instead, he struggled to reach Romek, the oldest of the ex-slaves, who had sunk up to his waist and was muttering irritably at Romek in Dwarven – Kormick didn't know what the old guy was saying, but he had a bad feeling that it was something infuriatingly heroic along the lines of "Leave me, save yourself."
"Grab the rope!" shouted Mena, but Vorret shouted back and kept fighting uselessly toward Romek, sinking deeper with each motion.
"There's a rock near him!" cried Savina, pointing, and then shouted instructions to Romek in Dwarven. The elderly dwarf turned, but the rock was several feet away, and his exhausted face showed resignation, not determination.
Arden jumped from the tree she was in and landed in the next tree over. She stepped out on a limb that Kormick, thanks to Savina's earlier tutelage, could guess was brittle.
"No, Arden!" cried Twiggy, seeing the same danger. "That branch is no good!"
Arden ignored her. "Dame Mena, please tell Vorret to take the rope. I'll get Romek." She eased her way farther out over the quickrock until she was almost over Romek's head.
Mena translated, and Vorret darted his eyes from the rope, to Arden, to Romek, unsure – but at least he'd stopped struggling.
Arden lay down along the branch, grabbed hold with her legs and one hand, and extended her other arm to Romek. He raised his hand to grasp hers. The branch gave a crack as it took his added weight, but it didn't break. With a strained cry, Arden tugged, Romek grabbed her arm with his other hand and pulled, and – another crack – suddenly they were both on the shivering branch, and somehow it hadn't broken.
Nyoko shot ropes to all the remaining dwarves, who pulled themselves to safety. Vorret hauled himself out, and with that, they were all standing on the edge of the danger zone, covered in quickrock that was drying and flaking off like gravel.
Kormick and Twiggy scouted the edges of the quickrock patch, and everyone helped pile up rock cairns to indicate its danger for future travelers. Bet the Questors will whine about us giving away the surprise death-trap, Kormick thought, but he had to believe that any self-respecting Questor would rather be killed by a sycamore in a fair fight than dragged helplessly underground to eternal oblivion.
They camped nearby, too tired to travel farther that day. Kormick, Nyoko, Savina, and Twiggy went foraging, although Savina held back briefly, her eyes on Tavi. "Do you want to come, Tavi?" she asked.
"I'd better stay with Rose," he said. Savina nodded with transparent disappointment, the poise she'd commanded during the crisis now absent. Ah, youth, thought Kormick, when nearly drowning in traitorous granite is so much less agony-inducing than the presence of a young man of ambivalent intentions.
Rose looked sad when Kormick, Tavi, and the others left. She still looked sad a few hours later, when they returned with new ingredients for the chef Mertal's creativity. Kormick was both unsurprised and unimpressed. If Rose was going to refuse to consider the merits of his Good/Bad chart, he wasn't going to argue with her. Like Savina, she was a teenager. She had unreasonable priorities.
Mena, however, foolishly dove right into Rose's misery. "How are you holding up?" she asked, as they all settled around the campfire that night.
"Well enough." Rose stared into the fire.
"What's bothering you?" This question earned Mena an "isn't it obvious?" gaze from Rose. "Of course, I know," continued Mena, "but what is it specifically, tonight, and how can we fix it?"
Rose shrugged. "I am simply concerned about the costs."
"What costs?" demanded Kormick, forgetting his resolution to leave the unreasonable girl alone. "Do you not remember the chart? The only cost was the spring. Or are you seriously suggesting that I move 'dead derro' over into the costs column? Because I must disagree with you on that point."
"They were still living beings," said Rose.
"But they asked for it," Kormick heard Arden mutter to Twiggy. He agreed, but Mena silenced him with a look and turned to Rose.
"There was no way there wouldn't be costs," she said. "Sedellus doesn't allow free wins. And doing nothing would have had a greater cost."
"I knew that," answered Rose, "but I didn't understand it. Now I can't stop thinking – how much worse will it get?"
"I don't know," said Mena. "But my promise to you stands."
What promise? Kormick wondered. Judging by everyone's suddenly raised eyebrows and curious looks, he guessed he wasn't alone in wondering.
Rose, however, offered no further clues. "That's something," she said.
"It won't come to that," Mena declared. "You have a goddess on your side, don't forget. And this group of good people is on your side. That says a lot for you."
Rose nodded and fell silent.
