The Collapsing Tunnel - Chapter 10

 

10 – Ana – Tunnels along the Border

“This is a good team,” Ana thinks, “I just wish we were on the border and not pulled so far back.” The other scouts are slowly preparing positions to spring from, as the stone listeners track this latest incursion.

The scouts want to talk to break the tension, but even the youngest is too well disciplined for that. The small sound of gloved hands on stone, using the tapping code.

“More miners every day”

“Punished were released.”

“Same ones more than once.”

Ana looks around in the dark shadows only broken by the natural glow moss. No one will use lamps or glow pods until they need to.

“Silence” taps a Stone-listener. “Metal on stone”

They all pause. Mihru motions for his apprentice, Brakka, to slowly move around the area to try to feel the dimensions of the sounds.

The scouts silently shift positions to work without distraction.

 

“I wish Waad had been wrong.” Ana thinks, “When he and the elders briefed us, they warned that the dwarves were getting more bold and destructive.”

Ana signals Mihru, then taps “moving closer or away”?

He slowly nods his head. “Close,” he taps.

At that point, they all feel it — multiple sharp pings of metal on stone from below.

A mixed blessing.

Digging means no blasting.

But digging also means more than a couple ‘lone-wolf miners’.

Ana taps: “Stay alert. Stay silent.”

She climbs upward using her climbing claws, finding a narrow ledge above the tunnel.

Farther down, Dovren mirrors her, scaling the opposite wall. They nod to each other as they anchor in and ready their bows.

On the ground, Neshka, Tovik, and Rishan uncoil their bolos. Their extra nets, ropes, and tools sit just outside Mihru’s listening circle — close enough to grab, far enough not to interfere.

 

The digging stops.

A terrible stillness settles.

“Bruna, bless us all”, Ana thinks.

She taps: “Blast. Move back.”

She and Dovren sling their bows and plug their ears.

 

The cavern erupts.

The floor blasts upward in a shower of stone and dust. Even with their ears covered, the pressure slams into them like a hammer. A high, piercing ring fills Ana’s ears — like the meal‑time bell, struck too hard.

The team blinks grit from their eyes and readies themselves.

 

Light shines up from the hole as booted feet scramble on stone.

“Told you we’d blast through!” a dwarven voice shouts.

Ana nocks an arrow and nods to Mihru.

He lifts the speaking horn and calls down in clear, formal Durask:

“Do not enter. You are breaking the law. If you enter this tunnel, you will be arrested and detained.”

“It’s Durn’s Will!” someone roars back, followed by cheers.

“Give us the gold and we’ll go home!”

Mihru answers, voice steady:

“Bruna’s Holy Blood is not here. Do not enter Goblin lands.”

A different voice screams:

“They lie! They keep Durn’s blessings from you! Rise up and kill them all!”

The light grows brighter.

A lamp rises toward the lip of the hole.

Ana shoots it.

Glass shatters. The lamp falls, sputtering out.

“Arrows!” someone yells.

“Don’t fear animals! Durn protects you! Charge them!”

More light from the hole.

The first dwarf climbs out.

Tovik’s bolo snaps around him, binding arms and legs — but two more dwarves scramble up behind him, picks held like weapons.

“Keep moving! Bring more light! Show these animals Durn’s holy light!”

A fresh lamp rises with two more dwarves.

Neshka and Rishan throw their bolos, tangling two of them as Dovren fires at the lamp‑bearer.

“My hand!” a dwarf screams as the arrow pierces through his palm.

He drops the lamp, and Ana shoots it as it hits the ground, plunging the tunnel back into darkness.

“More light! More light!”

Tovik grabs a net and throws it over two dwarves stumbling out of the hole.

“Run! They’re too strong!” someone shouts from below.

“Cowards! Don’t fear animals! Durn will protect you!”

Ana drops from the wall, grabs another net, and leaps into the hole.

She lands on the ramp and casts the net over two climbing dwarves.

Boots thunder as dwarves flee away from where they came.

She pulls the net tight, scanning the shadows.

A faint silk‑on‑stone whisper brushes her hearing — but the ringing from the blast makes it impossible to place.

“Did someone go up?” she yells.

“Only the ones we captured!” Tovik calls back.

Then — a wet, gurgled gasp.

 “What happened?” Ana shouts, putting out the last of the lamps and dragging the netted dwarves up the ramp. They struggle, but the silk holds.

“Dead dwarf,” Dovren says, voice low. She kneels beside the dwarf with the arrow wound.

“How?”

“Throat slashed.”

Ana’s irritation spikes. “Who has a blade?”

Every scout shows empty hands, nets, or rope.

Ana’s stomach sinks.

“There will be an inquiry. The Peacekeepers will not like this.”

They all nod.

A soft chuckle echoes from the dark.

Ana stiffens. Someone else is here.

But they have six live captives and a body to bring to the border.

She taps to Neshka: “Intruder in shadows. Stay. Watch.”

Neshka nods and helps haul the captives to their feet.

“We’ll wait for the tunnel‑sealers,” Mihru says. Brakka nods beside him. “Any notes for them?”

Ana answers: “Some escaped back down the tunnel. Seal it well.” Then signs: “Stay vigilant. Enemy nearby.”

“Understood.”

Anger and frustration churn in her gut. No one should have died. She blows the whistle — the sharp note echoing down the tunnels — then taps loudly: “Violators captured. Meet at the border post. One dead.”

A whistle answers from the border, followed by taps: “Meet you there.”

For once, Ana hopes it’s Kavran and Dulmir on duty.

She needs a familiar face. Someone who will listen.

At the border post, the lamp‑light is bright and blinding. The scouts all pull on their eye‑covers.

They bring the captives to the borderline — still bound in goblin rope ties and nets, and place the dead body on the ground, as a dwarf with Senior Peacekeeper rank steps forward.

“What happened?” he asks.

“They attacked us!” a dwarf yells. “They killed Helmir!” another shouts. “They’re hiding gold!” “They’re forging coins!”

“Quiet, you lot!” Senior Peacekeeper Hurn snaps. Then, switching to Mishikwe, he asks Ana, “What happened? How was he killed?”

Beside him, Peacekeeper Lora is already moving through the captives, removing the goblin ties and replacing them with metal manacles. The clink of iron is sharp and solid.

Ana answers in Durask, “We don’t know. He was wounded by an arrow, but we found his throat cut, and none of us have blades.”

One of the dwarves snarls, “The priest was right! They kill us and lie!”

“Enough,” Hurn growls. “One more word, and Peacekeeper Lora will gag each of you.” He turns back to Ana. “Continue your report, Border Scout. And where are your barkskins?”

“We didn’t have time to take notes,” Ana says, the heat of her frustration rising. “They used blasting powder and picks to breach our tunnels. We have a sealing crew repairing it.”

Hurn scowls. “Notes are important. Did you record the time or the exact location of the breach?”

Ana bristles. “Senior Peacekeeper, we have prisoners. They violated the border. They have mining equipment. What more do you require?”

Before Hurn can answer, Lora cuts in, voice clipped but controlled. “We don’t have enough manacles. We’ll need help transporting them to headquarters for processing.”

Ana looks to her people. Dovren and Tovik nod. “We have two volunteers who can assist,” Ana says.

“She’s the one who killed Helmir!” a miner shouts, pointing at Dovren.

Hurn’s eyes narrow. “You’d better accompany us anyway, so we can get this sorted out.” He turns to Ana. “The rest of you can go. We’ll tell you when to be at the Hall of Disputes.” Then he gruffly checks the metal manacles, tying the remaining prisoners together with Border Scout rope.

Ana meets Rishan’s eyes — wide, anxious — and then steps back into the shadows.