Delve

Rain and Tallheart stood beside a high table strewn with chunks of metal and containers of various dangerous substances, along with a notebook and a few other pieces of equipment. The centerpiece was a wire rack holding a line of what Reason called ‘number one potion bottles.’ Those looked like stubby, flat-bottomed test tubes, which was appropriate, as that was how they were being used at the moment. Each contained a small piece of impure aluminum and a trial solvent, denoted by the label on the tube.

Rain had been watching the experiment closely but looked up as he sensed someone approaching. It was Ellis, using both hands to carry a scabbarded sword in front of him.

Ellis was a thatch-haired man—a teen, really, being barely older than Kettel—with a strong nose and a freckled face. Unlike Kettel, he’d had a formal job in Fel Sadanis before the Shift as an apprentice to his father, a farrier. Unfortunately, Ellis’s family hadn’t survived, which had led to him joining Ascension. It was a depressingly common story among the company’s members.

“Excuse me, Tallheart?” Ellis said as he reached the table.

“Hmm?” Tallheart rumbled, not looking up.

“I’m done,” Ellis said, holding out the sword.

“Hmm,” Tallheart rumbled, not as a question this time. He took a step back from the table and turned to face Ellis, then accepted the offered weapon.

Rain tilted his head. What’s this about?

Tallheart drew the sword, revealing it to be an Ascension standard-issue longsword, though that had already been obvious from the rough, monster-hide scabbard. Tallheart sighted down the blade, his face unreadable, then he ran a gauntleted finger along the sharpened edge. His gauntlets were enchanted to transmit physical sensation, something Rain was incredibly envious of, though the enchantment was broken in one of them.

“Hmm,” Tallheart said, twisting the blade to check it in the other direction. He then rapped the sword against the table, striking hard with the flat of the tip and watching as the metal vibrated.

“Acceptable,” he finally said. He resheathed the sword, then instead of offering it to Ellis—who was beaming like a child praised by a stern father—held it out to Rain. “Here.”

Rain tilted his head, then took the weapon. He drew the blade a few centimeters from its scabbard, closely inspecting the symbol etched into the metal: a stylized arrow above an arc meant to be the curve of the planet. Sweeping lines spiraled around the arrow, representing mana in motion.

The symbol of Ascension.

Jamus had designed it, and Tallheart had been etching it into all of their important gear so it could be identified if it ever fell into the wrong hands.

Rain looked at Ellis questioningly, trying to keep the disbelief from his voice. “You made this?”

“I didn’t,” Ellis said quickly, glancing at Tallheart. “I only repaired it.”

“Oh,” Rain said, letting the sword slide back into its scabbard. “This is totally my sword, isn’t it?”

“Mmm,” Tallheart said.

Rain smiled sheepishly. “Sorry again about that, Tallheart. I’ll treat it better next time.”

“Do not apologize to me,” Tallheart said, face impassive. “Apologize to Samson.”

Rain chuckled. “Yeah, I probably should.” He turned to Ellis, raising the sword slightly. “Great work. It looks as good as new.”

“Thanks,” Ellis said, still smiling.

“So, Tallheart’s teaching you?” Rain asked.

“No,” Tallheart rumbled, even as Ellis simultaneously said, “Yes.”

Rain raised an eyebrow, looking between them. Tallheart blinked slowly, then turned away without giving an answer, returning his attention to the table.

Ellis laughed. “Teaching might not be the right word. He gave me the sword and told me to fix it. No instructions beyond that. Still, he could have done it himself with a simple touch, thanks to those skills of his, so the only reason for him to give it to me would be so I could get the experience.”

“Sounds like teaching to me,” Rain said, grinning as he slipped the scabbard through a loop meant for it on his belt. He looked to the side, having noticed Staavo rapidly approaching. Myth and Reason weren’t with him.

Tallheart suddenly grunted, pulling one of the bottles from its frame. He capped it with his finger, then shook it vigorously and held it up to the light. “This one,” he said after a moment.

“Oh?” Staavo said, having reached the table. He grabbed for the bottle, but Rain’s shout brought him up short.

“Gloves!”

Staavo rolled his eyes but paused to don one of Reason’s insulated chemistry gloves before taking the bottle from Tallheart. He frowned, peering at the charcoal-colored liquid inside. “Looks like cloudy ink.”

“The metal is in the liquid,” Tallheart said, wiping his thumb on a rag and leaving a dark smear. “Get it out.”

Staavo snorted. “Did I start speaking in rhyme and wearing a high-collared coat when I wasn’t paying attention? And why is this warm? Did you heat it?”

“Reason is not here,” Tallheart said, ignoring the question.

“Yeah, because he’s actually packing like you’re supposed to be!” Staavo said. He turned grumpily to Rain. “The mayor is here again. Vanna says he’s being an officious bung and that she needs you to put the fear of the depths into him.” He looked back at Tallheart. “She also said to get the great antlered snail moving!”

Rain opened his mouth, but Ellis, surprisingly, spoke first.

“I highly doubt she said it like that,” he said to Staavo, then turned to Rain. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go pack as well. I just wanted to finish fixing your sword before I put away my tools. Let me know if you damage it again, and I’ll try to set it right for you. Now that Tallheart has given me permission to use his forge, I can deal with the small stuff.”

“Thanks, Ellis,” Rain said. “I’m happy to hear that.”

The young man nodded respectfully to him, then bowed formally to Tallheart before departing.

Rain gestured to the cluttered table. “I guess I’ll help you two pack this up.” He edged over to the notebook sitting there, then spun it to face him. “Which one is that, Staavo?”

“Potassium hydroxide, 50%,” Staavo answered, reading the label. “That means caustic potash, right?”

Rain nodded as he jotted it down. “Looks like Reason was right, so that’s one more point for Chemical Intuition. I could have sworn we’d need an acid, not a base.”

“We shall see,” Tallheart said, carefully taking the bottle back from Staavo. “This may be yet another false path.” He shook his head. “You should go help Vanna, Rain. The goat and I will deal with this.”

“Baa-aa-aa-ah,” Staavo said, mimicking the animal.

Rain smiled. Staavo really did look a bit goat-like with the white goatee he’d started wearing recently. He’d fully adopted his nickname, rather than trying to fight it. Rain laid a friendly hand on the old man’s shoulder as he spoke to Tallheart. “You’re probably right. I should go do Captain-y things. I’ll catch you two later.” He took his hand away and gestured to the test tubes. “I don’t think I need to tell you this, but be careful. Without Reason and me, there’s no Purify and no Fume Control. There’ll be nobody here to save you if you accidentally make chlorine gas or something.”

“Mmm,” Tallheart rumbled.

“Give us a little credit, Rain,” Staavo grumped. “We’ll be careful.”

Rain snorted, prepping an ‘I told you so’ for later, then left them to it. He wasn’t truly worried, not with them both being awakened and with healers on standby.

Vanna and the mayor were standing near the storeroom, so Rain turned his steps in that direction. Before he got too close, he paused to remove his helmet from the cord at his waist and slipped it onto his head. Then, he deactivated Winter and triggered his training overview.

Doing that helped slightly with his people problems, he’d found. With all of his pending experience purged, his presence was reduced from terror-inducing to merely smothering. It also helped if he kept his emotions neutral, so Rain closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, centering himself. If Staavo was to be believed, then the mayor was in for a good looming, but there was no need to get carried away. Satisfied, he opened his eyes and walked forward.

The mayor flinched as Rain’s presence washed over him, but the round-faced man quickly hid any further reaction. He pivoted away from Vanna, then fractionally inclined his head. “Ah, Captain. I was hoping to speak with you.”

Rain tilted his head, matching the mayor’s nod to the millimeter. “Mayor Graymond. Quartermaster.”

Vanna nodded to him, then spoke, sounding uncharacteristically vexed. “Captain. The mayor wishes to renegotiate our arrangement for the monster corpses.”

“I see,” Rain said. He pivoted his helmet so he was staring directly at Mayor Graymond, saying nothing. He let the silence stretch.

“Well,” the mayor said, struggling to meet his gaze. “We didn’t expect you to gather so much in such a short time. When I made that deal, it was reflective of how dire our situation had become. I’ve got the rest of the council screaming at me now, saying that I’m paying ten times as much as the food is worth.”

Rain frowned. Something about the man’s tone seemed off. What’s his game? He shifted his gaze to Vanna. “We’re only asking them for what they find inside the monsters we’re providing them, right?”

Vanna nodded. “So far, they’ve given us three Cold, one Force, one Chem, and eighteen Tel.”

“That’s it?” Rain asked, mentally running the numbers. That’s not even close to what I was expecting. He shifted his gaze back to the mayor.

“There’s more to come, of course,” the mayor said, trying to seem outwardly unconcerned, though he was beginning to sweat. “We’re not quite done processing it all yet.”

Rain nodded, though his eyes were narrowed behind his visor. “Understood. What exactly are you proposing, Mayor?”

“Well,” the mayor said, glancing at Vanna, who was still scowling at him. He cleared his throat. “As Vestvall is granting you access to the crack and all of the riches therein, the council feels that it is only reasonable for you to give us half of whatever we extract, including the Tel and Crysts within the monsters you are providing.”

Vanna slashed her hand down sharply. “You asked us to deal with the crack because you couldn’t. You can’t suddenly change that and try to charge us for the privilege of protecting you. That’s not how it works! And half?! That’s insane!”

Rain held up a hand, motioning her to back down. Damn, she’s pissed. Just what happened here before I showed up?

He pivoted his helmet back to the mayor and let the silence work.

“Perhaps…four in ten?” The mayor said after a long hesitation. “Three?”

Rain kept staring, watching the man sweat. Finally, he shook his head slowly and spoke. “Ascension is here to help, Mayor Graymond, but we are not going to let you take advantage of us. An organization such as ours requires Crysts and Tel, just as you require food and protection. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, and the deal is more than fair as-is. It stands.”

The mayor heaved a resigned sigh. He suddenly seemed to relax, as if he’d been pretending to be more afraid than he was. “Well, it was worth a try.”

“See?” Vanna signed in hand-code, then gestured to the mayor. “Noble. Asshole. Fake.”

Rain allowed himself a smile behind his visor. “Since you are here, Mayor Graymond, we should discuss the evacuation of the city.”

“Evacuation?” The mayor said, suddenly incredulous. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Rain said.

A stubborn note entered the man’s voice. “We’re not evacuating. Not if that crack leads to the depths. Vestvall is poised to become the next City of Lights!”

Rain shook his head. “That isn’t going to happen. Aren't your people still dying in their beds?”

“Some,” the mayor said, waving a hand. “People die every day in winter. It is no worse now than it has ever been. We have the situation under control. We appreciate your help, but we don’t need it.”

Rain scowled, releasing his hold on his emotions. The mayor quailed, taking a step back, the reaction seeming more authentic this time.

“You do not have the situation under control,” Rain said, his voice sharp like ice. “Tell me, what will happen when your woodcutters have cleared the entire forest?”

“I…well… I thought your light bulbs…” The mayor licked his lips, looking to Vanna for help and finding none.

“We don’t have that many,” Rain said. The agreed-upon fiction was that the bulbs had been purchased, not made. “Even if we did, they would not work for an entire city. They have limitations.” For now.

The mayor was opening his mouth to protest, but Rain cut him off. “Xiugaaraa has a teleportation platform and easy access to Light Crysts. It is a hub of trade, and it is full of awakened. Vestvall, on the other hand, is isolated, especially now that Fel Sadanis is closed off. I’m sorry, Mayor, but your city is in the middle of nowhere, and the only awakened you have to rely on other than us are a handful of weak nobles and the Crimson Swords. I just don’t see a way for your dream to become a reality, not as things stand.”

“I…” the mayor began, then glanced away. “I will discuss it with the council.”

“Very good,” Rain said. “Do you require an escort back to the city?”

The mayor shook his head, then hesitated as if he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. He nodded to them, slightly more deeply this time, then spun and walked briskly for the exit.

“Thanks,” Vanna said watching the retreating form of the mayor.

“I wasn’t too hard on him, was I?” Rain asked.

“Not at all,” Vanna said. “I just wish you could have heard him before you got here. Between yesterday and today, he went from desperate mayor concerned for his city to greedy noble asshole, just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “The fucker fooled me. I don’t think he really cares about his people, other than the fact that they’re his people, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Mmm,” Rain said.

Vanna laughed. “That soul of yours comes in handy. I wish I had something like it.”

Rain smiled, shaking his head slowly. “You really don’t.”

He looked over at Ameliah, who was still speaking with Lana, the latter woman all wrapped up in a blanket.

I just wish I could turn it off.

Almost as if she had felt his gaze, Ameliah swiveled her head to look at him. She smiled, then waved, beckoning.

Rain blinked, then pointed to himself. Ameliah nodded. She spoke into Lana’s ear briefly, then the younger woman looked at Rain and nodded as well.

Huh.

“Looks like the girl wants to talk to you after all,” Vanna said. “What are you going to do with her, anyway?”

Rain shrugged. “I’m not planning to do anything with her. It matters what she wants, not what I want.”

“Naturally,” Vanna said. “Well, if you’re going to ask her to join Ascension, let me know first. Romer and I are due to have a discussion tonight about the admittance section of the codes. It needs work, and some of the townsfolk have been asking.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“Huh.” Rain removed his helmet. I suppose I should have expected that. He shook his head. “I wasn’t planning on recruiting her, but if she asks, well…. Anyway, I’d better go over.”

Vanna nodded, then walked away as Rain began heading in Ameliah’s direction. After tying his helmet to his belt, he took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair to straighten it. He hadn’t used any magic since he’d purged his soul, but he purged it again anyway, just in case. Here we go.

He could tell the moment his influence brushed against the two women waiting for him. There was a flash of connection between him and Ameliah as a party formed, or more accurately, as Rain became aware of it existing. Linksight had the same range as the effect of his damaged soul, more or less, while parties had no range limit as far as he knew.

It was a subtle feeling, Linksight, but he was so used to it by now that he was treating it like just any other sense—hearing, sight, smell, and so forth. Any revelations about the correlation between the new sense and the damage to his soul were old-hat at this point.

Unfortunately, Rain was also well used to the sudden, forced expression that formed on Lana’s face. There was no flash of Linksight from the young woman’s direction, but that wasn’t because she was unawakened or anything. It merely meant that Rain and Ameliah’s party didn’t include her based on everyone’s currently defined intentions.

She isn’t panicking this time, at least.

Lana’s expression grew even more strained as he continued his approach, and she shifted marginally closer to Ameliah, almost as if she wanted to hide behind her. Then, to his surprise, she deliberately stepped back away. As Rain came to a stop, she bowed to him, deeply.

“Captain Rain,” she said, not rising from the bow. “I am honored.”

Rain blinked, then looked at Ameliah, who seemed amused. A line from a movie ran through his head, and he smiled and raised his hands. “We don’t do that here.”

The woman peeked up at him from her bow, unease creeping back into her expression along with uncertainty.

“Bowing,” Ameliah said. “He means bowing. You don’t need to treat him any special way if you don’t want to, or any of us, for that matter. The only one you bow to is Tallheart. It’s a cervidian thing, and even then, it’s overly formal in most situations.”

“Oh,” Lana said, still looking nervous as she straightened.

Rain inclined his head to her, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you properly, Lana. Once again, my name is Rain.”

“Lana,” Lana said, glancing at Ameliah as if seeking reassurance.

Ameliah smiled back at her, then looked at Rain. “Lana and I had a little chat. Go on, Lana, say what you wanted to say.”

Lana flinched, looking away, clearly embarrassed on top of still being unsettled by Rain’s presence. “I, uh…”

Rain looked at Ameliah quizzically, but she motioned for him to wait.

Lana took a deep breath, then looked up and met Rain’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Rain blinked, honestly surprised. “For what?”

“For reacting to you…like I did. Like I am.” Lana said, glancing at Ameliah. “I was… It’s just that you…” she looked away. “Ameliah says it really bothers you when people…” She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I wasn’t calling you a monster before. When I felt…whatever this is, it made me think of the night of the Shift, and it just sort of slipped out. You’re not a monster, so… Sorry.”

Rain closed his eyes, feeling as if a weight was leaving his chest. He smiled at her genuinely. “Thank you, Lana. That means a lot to me.”

“See?” Ameliah said, rubbing Lana’s back. “I told you he doesn’t bite.”

Lana nodded. “You were right. It’s already getting better. I think I’m getting used to it.”

Rain breathed deeply, smiling as he watched the pair of them. Or it could be because I’m in a better mood. Thank you, Ameliah. Even if you put her up to it, I needed that.

Lana took a steadying breath, looking between the two of them before her eyes settled on Rain. “So, I guess you want me to tell you about Hegar?”

Rain nodded. “Please. If you can.”

“Hegar is…” Lana hesitated, then smirked and shook her head. “Hegar is an idiot.”

Rain blinked. “Well. I’m not sure what I expected you to say, but that wasn’t it.”

“He has no idea how women work, like, at all! He treats me like I’m his doll or something.” She shrugged aside the blanket, revealing the rough dress she was wearing. She gestured to it. “At first it was just jewelry and fancy clothes, not like this, of course. This came later. Anyway, he gave them to me and asked…told me to wear them for him.” She shook her head. “He had me dance and said that if he liked what he saw, he’d let me keep all of it so I…” She glanced at Ameliah, blushing. “I don’t need to give him all the details, do I?”

Ameliah shook her head, then looked at Rain. “I’ll cut right to it. Yes, Rain, it was basically what you thought. Hegar was using her for sex, but he didn’t force her physically. He used money and his status as an adventurer. She might have been able to say no, but she felt like she couldn’t.”

Lana wrapped the blanket back around her shoulders, looking down at her feet. Rain realized he was scowling and quickly clamped down on his emotions as Lana began to edge toward Ameliah again. Damn soul. He shook his head. “Do you want to get away from him?”

Lana hesitated, looking first at him, then at Ameliah. “You’re stronger than they are, right? Hegar and his friends.”

Ameliah nodded. “We are.”

Rain glanced at her. She sounds so certain.

“Then…” Lana said, bringing his attention back to her. She hesitated, then forced herself to meet his eyes again. “Please protect me from him!” she said in a rush. “I don’t know how he’ll react, but the other one, Skinner, he scares me. Hegar sees me as a bird in a cage, but that one…” She shuddered. “It’s like I’m even less than that. Like I’m just…meat. Hegar might…send him after me or something. To get me back, or…”

Rain clenched his fists, straining to keep his emotions under control. “We’ll protect you,” he said, looking at Ameliah. “There’s no question about that.”

“That’s right,” Ameliah said, wrapping an arm around Lana’s shoulders.

“Did the others do anything to you, or was it just Hegar?” Rain asked.

Lana shook her head. “Just him.”

“And did any of them do something like this to anyone else?”

Lana shook her head. “No.” She hesitated. “At least, I don’t think so. Not at the inn. Not while I was there.”

Rain nodded, then straightened himself up. “You can stay with us for as long as you’d like. You’re right, though. It will likely cause an incident when Hegar finds out.”

“You’re sure you can protect me?” Lana said. “If it’s going to cause a problem…”

Rain scoffed. “If it causes a problem, we’ll solve it. Who do you think we are?”

“You’re with the Guild, right?” Lana asked.

“Some of us,” Ameliah said, taking her arm from the woman’s shoulder. “But who we are has nothing to do with that.” She gestured at the line of sleds being tended by the white-cloaked members of the company. “We’re Ascension. It’s its own thing.”

“Okay…” Lana said. She took a deep breath. “I won’t get in the way, I promise. I’ll even make myself useful. It must take a lot of work to keep your cloaks so white. I can help you wash—”

Rain raised his hands again, cutting her off. “We don’t do that here.”

“I…what?” Lana asked.

“Wash,” Rain said, smiling softly. “Amongst other things.”

According to Jamus, Vestvall had been a mining town, back when it had been founded. The hills in the area had been rich in iron, leading to the growth of the settlement. Gradually, the nascent city had switched to a more agrarian focus as the easily-accessible iron was depleted and they were forced to support themselves in other ways. Amazingly, the city had survived this transition, rather than falling apart. There was no large river nearby, but there were a number of small streams and a stable aquifer, which combined were reliable enough to support the city’s population and the surrounding farms.

It was about an hour’s hike north from Vestvall to where the crack had opened. The chasm was in a rocky area scattered with the abandoned mines of the city’s youth. The aquifer didn’t extend below the hills, which was fortunate in one way, as it meant the crack hadn’t filled with water, but it also meant there was little point in digging a well at the site of their new camp. Mlem would have to arrange for barrels to be brought in from Vestvall.

Rain wasn’t that concerned about it. Melted snow would be sufficient for tonight, at least. Water was just one of many things that he needed to think about when planning out their new camp. After all, they might be here for a while.

At the moment, he was standing at the edge of the crack, looking down. The bottom was perhaps a hundred meters below him at this particular spot, and it was shaded from the afternoon sun by the steep walls. Shapes could easily be seen, moving in the darkness.

“Didn’t you just put more torches down there?” he asked, glancing at Ameliah, who was standing beside him.

“Yes,” Ameliah said.

“Damn Fire Eater,” Rain said. He rubbed at his chin, considering.

The company had already put in a reasonable amount of work at the bottom of the fissure, at first with picks, and then with Geomancy thanks to Ameliah and Corrin. The floor of the chasm had been clogged with large boulders and shards of rock that had tumbled down from above. Now, some of that had been broken up, revealing flat stone in some places and loose gravel or tumbled rocks in others. The crack was far too large for them to just fill it in, even if they’d wanted to. The only significant improvement so far had been digging out the ramp of scree that had been allowing even the least dexterous of monsters to escape. Now, you’d need a rope if you wanted to get down there.

“What are you thinking?” Ameliah asked as Rain continued staring into the abyss. “You aren’t going to jump, are you?”

“What?” Rain asked, looking at her. “Why would I…oh, you don’t mean that. You mean a superhero landing and a massive fireball to deal with all the stuff crawling down there.” He laughed. “No, that would be stupid. We can deal with them later.”

Ameliah smiled at him.

“You know,” Rain said, looking back at the chasm. “I’m not even afraid of heights anymore. I was for a little while, after…” he glanced at her, then back at the chasm. “After I almost died in that darkness lair. Now, though, with Force Ward, my fancy underwear, and Tallheart’s wonder ring, I’m pretty sure I could survive dropping from, like, orbit. Terminal velocity isn’t that fast.”

Ameliah nodded. “You might be right. Warn me if you’re going to test it. Somebody will have to dig you out of the crater.”

Rain snorted. “Ha.” He spun away from the crack, walking toward where the sleds were huddled together in a line. The whole company could be seen there, busily unpacking, with the exceptions of Jamus, Val, Lago, and Tahir.

Rain had asked those four to stay the night in Vestvall to assist with the defense and any injuries that occurred—and to keep a discreet eye on the Crimson Swords, of course. They were in range—barely—of one of their few emergency message scrolls if there was an issue on that front.

He was still uncertain that the four of them were really needed for the defense of the city. With Ascension camping right on the source of the strongest monsters, Vestvall would be having a much easier time of things. Still, stationing a healer there made too much sense to ignore, and he wasn’t about to strand someone back in the city all on their own.

Rain shoved aside his worry, knowing that there was no end to it, then rubbed his hands together. “Okay, so I was thinking we should just make camp up here rather than down below. Do you think you could even out the edges of the crack and fortify them somehow? Like battlements, maybe?”

“I can try,” Ameliah said, Rain hearing the crunching of her footsteps as she moved away from the edge to join him. “Melding stone takes time. You’re thinking about farming the crack, aren’t you?”

Rain snorted, looking at her. “We seriously need to stop calling it the crack.”

“Why?” Ameliah asked, smiling innocently.

“Because until we do, Carten isn’t going to stop telling fart jokes. That’s why. The man is like a child trapped inside a gorilla.”

“That’s a kind of monkey, right?”

Rain nodded. Technically an ape, but common only has one word for both, so whatever. “Staavo says he saw one in the jungle around Xiugaaraa, once.”

Ameliah nodded. “Right. Anyway, we’re farming it, right? The orifice?”

Rain snorted as Ameliah tried to keep a straight face. “That’s even worse,” he said. “Please don’t use that word around Carten unless you want him to start using it too. And yes, we’re farming it. The higher-level monsters will drop more Crysts, and if we really dig in up here, it will be like hunting sheep in the farmer’s barn.”

“Not shooting fish in a barrel?” Ameliah asked.

“It’s the same idiom, might as well use your version,” Rain said smiling. “Besides, it’s just you and me. Staavo’s the one who’s the most fun to annoy.”

Ameliah snorted. “You’re such a troll.”

Rain laughed and gave her a thumbs up. “Anyway, during the night, we’ll let stuff build up down there, then just clear it all out before morning. Once it’s day, we can work on flattening out the bottom more and digging through to the next layer. I’d like to send a party exploring down the mineshaft where we found the Crimson Swords to see where it goes. They must have been in there for a reason. There are a lot of other mines around that we should check out too, and collapse as needed.”

Ameliah nodded, then knelt to fiddle with the laces of one of her boots.

Rain walked back toward the chasm behind them and looked across it, considering. It isn't THAT wide. If we’re here long enough, maybe we can try to see if we can rig up a way to cover it with something. With the sun blocked, we could use the light bulbs to control monster spawning. Really optimize the hell out of it.

Reaching into a pouch, he pulled out the depth gauge and flicked it open. In Vestvall, the needle had been pointing steadily to three, and it had dropped to two as they climbed up into the hills. When he held it out over the edge, however, the needle immediately jumped up to five. At the bottom, he knew, it would get up to ten in some places. I wonder how deep it goes. He flicked the gauge closed and slipped it back into his pouch. He’d have to ask Mlem to hunt around Vestvall and see if he could find another one. The one he had only went up to twenty, and the needle tended to get stuck.

Stepping back from the edge, he took another look around at the snowy hills. “How long do you think we’ll be here, Ameliah? Do you think we’ll be able to get everyone out, or should we wait until spring?”

“It’s hard to say,” Ameliah said, joining him again. “While I’m dealing with this, you and Vanna have to deal with the mayor. Of course, everything changes if this really does reach all the way to the depths.” She gestured down to the bottom of the chasm. “Just so you’re aware, Geomancy gets harder the deeper you go. Apart from the fact that there’s more iron than usual in the rock around here, if we actually get to the point of finding deepstone, it could become really slow going, even for me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rain said, nodding.

“I was thinking of using Tallheart’s smelter to filter out as much pure glass as I can,” Ameliah said. She nudged a rock over the edge, watching as it tumbled into the darkness. “Or quartz. It depends on what the rocks around here are made of. I’m not good enough with precision Geomancy to tell.”

“What do you want the glass for? Light bulbs? We can’t make too many without giving away the secret.”

“I want a ceiling for our camp this time,” Ameliah said. “I’m tired of getting snowed on. As long as it’s molten, I can shape either glass or quartz with Earthmolding easily enough. Some flat panels shouldn’t be too much trouble, and during the day, a ceiling made of glass would trap heat. You know about greenhouses, right?”

“That is an amazing idea!” Rain said. “Tallheart can use all the iron around here to make some steel rods to hold it all up—or aluminum, if he and the others figure it out. Say, do you think you could make walls out of quartz too?”

“Why?” Ameliah asked. “I was thinking of giving people more privacy this time, not less.”

“The outer walls, I mean,” Rain said. “One, it would be really cool, and two, it would let us see anything coming without having to hang out on top of the walls all the time. Quartz should be strong enough to hold back most monsters, though maybe not a Stumper.” Rain gestured extravagantly. “Ascension would have its very own crystal castle.”

Ameliah snorted. “Don’t get carried away. The walls are just going to be dirt or gravel like always. Melding stone takes a lot more mana than just breaking it or moving it around, especially without melting it first.” She held up a hand. “Yes, I know, the smelter. A few hundred panes of glass are one thing; thousands and thousands of solid bricks are another. It only works so fast.”

“Way to kill my dreams,” Rain said, smiling at her. “It’s okay. I wasn’t being serious. A crystal castle would be way too ostentatious.”

Ameliah smiled back. “Just a bit.” She looked around, then cracked her knuckles. “Okay, I’m going to get started. I was thinking of making two big rooms this time, one for the company’s general use, and one to host anyone from the city who comes out here to trade with us. I’m going big, and I’ll have to break some of this rock, so I’ll actually need a bit of mana from you, I think.” She paused, then grinned at him. “First things first, where do you want our room to be?”