Heart desired

//Chapter 49//

I didn't had to walk for that long before I came to a dead end. I could see that before a long way, but I still went near that wall to make sure it really was a dead end, not an illusion or a mirage. Before, I would not have suspected anything because of the insfi stones. Since I could get past them, I doubted those. I can't be the only one to figure that out in all these thousands of years.

I touched the wall. I could identify the marks made from pickaxes, hammers and chisels, just like the tunnel walls. Those did not feel new, since a layer of dust coated my fingers as I touched them.

Since there was nothing to see anymore, I went back. I was sure I could go there before Resh, since I did not walk for that long before I met the dead end.

I was wrong. He was already there when I took the last turn. I didn't speak till I got closer to him. The echoing in these tunnels were strong. "My way is a dead end." I said. "Yours?"

"A T-intersection." He replied. "I went along the right arm. Didn't have to walk ten steps before coming to an end. Since the time was up, I came back."

Zone poked his outside. "Guys, how is it?"

"We'll be back in five minutes." I said, flinching at the echo. It was too damn loud. He nodded and went back in.

"Let's go." Resh whispered. Our footsteps were light so they did not echo that much through the tunnel. Otherwise it would loudly announce our presence to any potential enemy before we could even see them.

We went along the ledt arm. I made a mark on the wall with my dagger before stepping in to the path. If we ever het lost in these tunnels, we needed to find our way back. Resh gave me a approving smile.

"So, did you and Savin worked things out?" Resh asked, whispering. I looked at him, almost laughing. I did not take him as a gossiping boy. I guess we could not judge a book by it's cover.

"Somewhat." I said. "I still haven't apologized to him for leaving him without telling anything. We decided it could wait till the mission is over."

"Huh." He said. "Look at him, he is all over you. And you are the same. Look at you smiling as soon as I mentioned his name."

I grinned. "That's because we are in loooooove~" I said, messing around with him. He rolled his eyes to the back of his head. I almost laughed out loud.

We both quit talking in the next moment. A faint noise came from the tunnel ahead. I signalled Resh.

We crouched against the walls and slowly proceeded ahead, sticking to the shadows. With every step, the noise became larger and larger. Soon, we heard a man yelling, and a sound of a whip among the sound of rock breaking and debris falling.

"Stop slacking!" He yelled. "Or none of you will get anything to eat!"

I looked at Resh. We were at least hundred feet away from our tunnel. It seemed we have finally reached a working area in the mine. There was a sharp turn to the left and right. The sound was coming from left. There was a small mining cart near the entrance. We crouched beside it and peaked in.

At least twenty elves were working, facing their back to us. There was a pile of insfi stones on a pannier. The air is thick with dust. Two bright lights were attached to jagged walls of rock. All the men were working hard, their backs bent and muscles straining as they chip away at the walls, sweat glistening on their dirt-streaked bodies. I felt a ache in my chest. These elves were all my people. And I could see all their thin bodies under the rags they were wearing. And there were bloodied cracks on the back of almost every one of them.

Several women crouched on the floor, collecting fragments of broken stone into panniers. Their movements were mechanical and the faces were expressionless. I knew that look very well from the last time I was here.

There was an inspector standingnear the entrance, a few feet away from us. He holds a long, cracked whip in his hand, which was dripping with blood. His dark leather coat is stained with the dust of the mine, and his boots are planted firmly on the uneven ground. I hated these type of people with a fake superiority among the weak. I hated people who beat up others more than that. They didn't know the true meaning of a life and how much it cost to end a single life.

Near his feet lwas a slave, his face bloodied and swollen. Torn rags cling to his thin frame, and bruises bloom across his back and arms. I guessed that he was the one that was just whipped. His breathing is shallow, each gasp rattling painfully in his chest. The inspector's boot nudges the man's shoulder, eliciting a weak groan. I gritted my teeth. Resh put a hand on shoulder to hold me back.

"Get up," the inspector growled, unfurling the whip with a slow, deliberate snap. The other miners kept their eyes down, hands moving steadily as if they were deaf and blind. Their blank eyes stayed the same.

The man looked up, and I tried not to scream. He saw us, but he didn't scream nor point towards us.

I knew this type. He was a willing slave, just like Lovey and others. He got up slowly and bowed once before returning to his work.

I looked at Resh. We retreated back to the way we came, staying low. There was a chance of someone coming to collect those carts. And we had to inform others about our findings.

We retraced our steps. Zone was already poking his head out. When he saw us, his face turned grim. "Where were you? You told us you would be back in five minutes. It had been thirty minutes!"

"No, it has been only twenty eight minutes," Resh said, going back to our tunnel. I followed.

We all gathered up and started planing our stealing mission.