Free The Dark Ability by D.K. Holmberg Page B

He laughed, and the sound bounced strangely off the walls. “Now they might leave me alone.”
    “Thanks.”
    The boy smiled. “Your own fault. Warned you to be careful. Small nuggets. Avoid the song. The mines are full of finds like you had today. Let someone else be the one to make them. You’ll earn enough if you’re careful.”
    “Why haven’t they been found by others?”
    He shrugged, skittering along the ground on hands and feet, his eyes darting around the darkness making him look wild. “How should I know? Bad luck, probably. Great Watcher doesn’t want them found?”
    Was he right or was there another reason? And did it matter? He still hadn’t decided if finding lorcith would please or anger his father. What lesson did he intend for him to learn? If he mined more lorcith like today, would he survive another attack? He shifted and the pain in his back shot through him again. He bit back a cry.
    “Let’s see it.”
    “See what?” Rsiran asked.
    The boy moved up to him. This was as close as he had ever come when not around the other miners. “See your cut. What did they use? Knife? Shovel?”
    “Pick, I think. Couldn’t see.”
    The boy nodded as Rsiran slowly turned, letting the boy look at his back, knowing he needed to know how badly he was injured.
    The boy lifted his shirt slowly. Crusted blood clung to it, sticking to his back, and Rsiran winced as the shirt lifted away. Small fingers worked along his back. There was a sudden shot of pain, and the boy jerked his hand back and dropped the shirt.
    “Sorry,” he said.
    Rsiran turned carefully. “So?”
    The boy bit his lip and shook his head. “It’s deep. Probably needs stitching. And it’s too dark to tell if it’s infected. You’ll need a healer. No physicians here or down in town, though there is local woman who dabbles in healing most end up seeing. You’ll have to show one of the Towners your back before they’ll get you to the healer, but they will. Can’t have someone dying in the mines.”
    Rsiran nodded. “And no foreman until morning.”
    The boy shook his head. “Nope. The mine is locked until morning. At least you won’t have to worry about ignoring the song from the ore tomorrow.”
    Rsiran grunted softly. “There is that.”
    “Try to rest. I’ll watch for you tonight.”
    Rsiran looked at him. The boy was thin, his hair scraggly and long, an outcast as much as he was but in a different way. This was his protection. “Thanks.”
    As he curled up on his blanket, careful to keep pressure off his back, he saw the outline of the boy crouching out of reach. For the first time since he had been in the mines, he fell asleep quickly.
----
    T ossing and turning , Rsiran dreamt he was back in Elaeavn. Rather than dreaming of his home or his father’s shop, he dreamt of the ocean, the waves crashing along the bay, and of sitting in a tavern. Distantly he was aware of pain and darkness. It seemed a strange song sung quietly in the background, but he couldn’t make out the voice.
    When he awoke and saw the dimly lit cavern, the single lantern barely giving enough light to the far reaches, he felt empty. The boy rested nearby, sleeping with his arm nestled under his head and one of the blankets now balled up under one arm. Rsiran always thought he looked young, but lying helpless and snuggled into his blanket, he wondered how old the boy actually was.
    Rsiran pushed himself up, wincing as pain streaked down his back. He felt hot and sweaty. His shirt and thin blanket were soaked. How late was it? Usually he struggled so hard to fall asleep that he awoke to the morning whistle. Now, other than an occasional snore, the cavern was silent. Everyone slept, resting as peacefully as possible on the hard ground.
    The air was still and heavy. He felt none of the usual soft breeze that seemed to blow steadily through the tunnels and wondered what that meant, if anything. The stink of sweat hung over everything, cloying at first, but now