Aether Engineering

Chapter 40

Hydrabridge

The Voidlands North of Maston

When Kate had been left alone, she knew she would have to support the others in any way she could. Unfortunately, there was little she could do. Lira led them across the bottom of the chasm, and into a long tunnel.

The heat began to gather quickly. Torches were spaced closer together to provide more light. The noise was incredible. Not only did Kate hear the deafening sound of pick hitting stone, but she also heard the constant talk of workers as they moved around in teams.

The tunnel was full of traffic. Runners were constantly passing them, carrying jugs of water, refreshments for others who were hard at work. Multiple carts filled with stone were being pushed by small teams along the wooden track that had been built into the ground. Everyone Kate could see looked exhausted even though the shift must have just started.

When they finally arrived at the end of the tunnel, Lira quickly helped to put her in a group with a handful of experienced miners who showed her the ropes. Kate quickly found that while the work was relatively simple, there were plenty of tips and tricks that made the process of breaking through rock easier.

The rock they were digging into had already been fractured, and Kate didn’t have to wait long to find out how. Soldiers weren’t just standing around doing nothing. They would rotate shifts, each disappearing further down a thin branch of the tunnel where heat would soon pour out of.

Kate was confused as to what was happening until one of the miners in her group explained it to her. “They’re using fire to weaken the stone. Makes it easier on us.”

So physically exhausting was the work, Kate couldn’t imagine trying to dig through the rock without it having first been weakened. As time passed, Kate was reassigned to help run water for her group. She was shown the way to a nearby spring.

On her trip to the spring, Kate realized that regardless of whether she was digging or carrying water, she was under constant watch. Soldiers were always present for mining operations. They were far outnumbered by miners, but they had placed themselves in clever positions so as to keep an eye on everyone. There were plenty of moments where she left the sight of one of the overseers (as she had learned the miners cynically called them). None of those moments were anywhere close to where metal was actually being mined or handled though.

During the night, Myles had come up with a plan to distract the guards along the wall. From their experience two nights ago, they knew that Lenas, the officer in charge of the security of the wall was very cautious. It would be a serious challenge to get over the wall without being detected.

They already knew that evoked wind mana could be used for detection. That would make it difficult to sneak out without a plan. A distraction could potentially work, but none of them had wanted to bank on any distraction they created being enough to get Lenas to make a mistake.

The plan they had eventually settled on was to hitch a ride concealed in one of the wagon caravans that brought the mined metal out of the town. If they hid under the metal, the guards probably wouldn’t be able to perceive them with their wind mana.

The problem with the plan was that the wagons were kept under guard. Fortunately, Silas had picked up on a particular detail from his discussion with Lira. She had told him that her least favorite job was guarding the wagons as Lenas would make use of those guards to supplement those patrolling the wall in the event of monsters trying to attack the town.

The solution they had come up with was to use the stormbird core they had taken to create an aether construct that would shoot out water mana. With any luck, the wagon guards would be drawn away, thinking the water mana was an attack by some monster. The three of them would then sneak into the wagons and pass through the gates unnoticed.

With Rufus’ men being the ones put in charge of the caravans once they left Hydrabridge, it stood to reason that they would be able to talk their way out of any hostilities as soon as they escaped.

In order to make the aether construct, they would need metal. Myles had made designs for most of the basic metals that would serve their purposes, but he wouldn’t be able to etch runes properly into any but the softest metals. That meant that they needed to get their hands on either some basium or channium.

Kate was eager to get her hands on the metal while Myles and Silas were in the depths, where presumably the roots that Rufus had spoken of were located.

As the hours slipped past, Kate kept her eyes and ears wide open, looking for a way to get her hands on the metal she needed. Her first thought was the pickaxes, but while their heads were metal, they were made from a far harder metal than they could work with. Besides, the pickaxes couldn’t be taken from a workstation.

Halfway through the day, Kate heard an enraged shout come from behind her. One of the new miners she had come in with was holding a broken pickaxe in his hand. It looked like the wooden shaft had broken. He was looking at his hand, eyes slightly moist. A large splinter looked to have penetrated deep into his hand.

While one of the miners in the man’s group helped him remove the splinter, their runner took the broken pickaxe and walked back down the tunnel in the direction of the chasm.

“Would it be alright if I took another shift as runner?”

The runner for Kate’s group looked at her sympathetically. “Sure thing.” The man grinned, patting her on the shoulder as she left, voice full of encouragement. “Your body will get used to it eventually.”

Kate couldn’t help but feel a little bit of guilt. She could easily tell that the man’s body had not grown used to the work. A slight twinge of pain came to her through her affliction whenever he swung the pickaxe. If anything, his body was slowly breaking down from the repetitive motion and physical effort.

Kate followed the other group’s runner out of the tunnel. When they strayed from the typical path runners took, Kate glanced around herself. Seeing nobody, she followed, sticking to the shadows as best she could. Kate quickly realized how out of her element she was down here. She had learned to move carefully and largely undetected through the voidlands but moving through a mine filled with soldiers and other miners was a harder task.

Kate was quickly discovered by a soldier who was guarding a cart, one of the same designs they had seen carrying metals up to the surface on their way in. He nodded amiably to her, and Kate returned the nod, trying her best to look like she was supposed to be there. Kate almost managed to round the corner before he called out.

“Hey.”

Kate turned around, feeling a hint of dread. “What is it?”

“Are you one of the miners they’re reassigning to the channium vein?”

Kate paused awkwardly, looking at him blankly. “I’m new here.”

The soldier moved towards her. “You were told to get a new pickaxe, right?”

Kate realized that was likely the only reason she would be headed this way. “Yes.”

The soldier smiled at her gently. “They’ll be sending you to the new vein they just uncovered. Rolance wants the metal out as soon as possible. When you get there can you deliver a message for me?”

Kate felt her palms grow sweaty, hoping the message wouldn’t be important.

The soldier continued talking and Kate nodded at the right moments. She wasn’t listening too carefully. She knew she would never actually deliver the message. Besides, she was noticing two important details. The first was that the soldier wasn’t commuting mana. Kate knew that was typical. Even at the academy, their group had been an unusual case for training to constantly commute mana, even in situations that seemed safe. The second was that the cart behind him wasn’t empty. It was filled about a third of the way with metal, metal that based on the soldier’s account was likely channium.

A grim plan began to form in Kate’s head. If she could sneak up on the soldier, his lack of commuted armor meant she could potentially knock him out with one blow. From there, it would be a simple matter of concealing a chunk of the metal until she could give it to Myles.

Kate took a breath, giving one final nod to the soldier and followed in the footsteps of the runner with the broken pickaxe.

The process of grabbing a pickaxe was fairly simple. She wasn’t required to sign out the pickaxe or anything. A soldier posted near the equipment asked for her reason for grabbing it, but her simple lie, inspired by the cart guard’s line of thinking, was accepted without serious thought.

Kate moved quickly, stashing her new pickaxe behind a stack of wooden crates just outside the cart guard’s field of vision. She would need it to be sure she would succeed in knocking the guard out in one strike. If she failed to do that, his commuted armor would protect him from further blows, and she would be caught.

After stashing the pickaxe, Kate continued her water run. After all, she didn’t want to be gone for a suspicious amount of time when she was about to knock someone out.

Kate spent her next shift with the pickaxe in a state of constant concern. She began to realize how many things could go wrong with her plan. Her pickaxe could be discovered. The cart could be moved.

Kate did her best to keep those thoughts out of her head. She focused on digging her way through the rock, swinging the pick over and over again. The repetitive work didn’t help to make time pass faster, but eventually her turn as runner came again.

Kate found the pickaxe exactly where she left it. The guard was looking straight ahead. Kate recognized the look he had and couldn’t believe her luck. He was delving. Kate supposed he must’ve been bored from doing nothing but standing by a cart all day.

Kate crept up to him carefully, being careful to stick to the shadows, out of his line of sight. He would be focused on delving, but Kate doubted he would be completely oblivious.

As she drew up behind him, Kate braced herself then swung. The metal pickaxe hit the guard directly in the side of the head. A flash of intense pain hit her, and she fell to all fours, grabbing at her head. A wave of nausea rolled over her. It took all of her concentration to avoid throwing up the meager meals she had been given.

A moment later, the pain passed. Kate slowly pushed herself to her feet. The guard was out cold. Kate moved over to the cart and grabbed two chunks of metal from the top. She hid one behind the crates where she had stowed the pickaxe earlier. The smaller chunk, Kate slipped into her pocket. She wasn’t sure if the smaller chunk would be as easy to work with, but she didn’t want to take the risk of the larger piece being discovered.