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The Stonemasons Outpost had such a beautiful view, and if it wasn’t for the urgency of the situation, Valere would have no qualms in joining her friends as they settled in to enjoy the scenery and the amazing dinner that Garl had set out for them.
“Has anyone seen Zale?”
The blank looks on her friends faces would’ve been funny, if it wasn’t so irritating that Zale had apparently been missing for the entire day. Valere sighed and rubbed at her forehead as everyone frowned in thought.
“I thought he was with you, Valere.”
“No, I haven’t seen him since breakfast.”
“Wasn’t he with you, Garl?”
“Nope, I’ve been helping Teaks pitch Mirna’s idea to Aksel…the shopkeeper seems to be coming around to it. I thought I saw him with Seraï…?”
“He was right behind me when we left the inn, but took off when the Elder pinned me down over his worries over Wentworth…”
Ah…yes. The Molekin Elder had been frantic the first time they’d returned to the Outpost after Wentworth had woken up…and while the other Molekin had taken their explanations with relief, the Elder would pester them each time they passed through. She understood why he wanted assurance that he and his people hadn’t failed in their duties and the Sky Serpent wasn’t causing mayhem and destruction throughout the world…but she was also growing irritated that he couldn’t bring himself to believe them.
Maybe she could ask Wentworth to make a visit; he had said he wanted to thank the Molekin for keeping their vigil over his sleep, and that the song had given him pleasant dreams.
Well, that was a thought for another time…
Valere turned to a frowning B’st, whose glass was making beautiful refractions of light across the cliffside from the setting sun. His pink cloud swirled as he thought, blue eyes shut to concentrate.
“I thought I saw him talking with one of the miners, but that was early this morning. It probably was right after he left Seraï.”
“One of the miners?”
“Hmm…yes. Though I don’t remember where he went after that. I was stopped by one of the craftsmen in regards to some of the instruments he’s been designing for me.”
Valere blinked at that, wondering what kind of instrument that B’st would design and how they related to him and his people—She shook herself. Not the time to be distracted.
“Do you remember which one?”
“Hmmm……no. I’m sorry, Valere.”
“Umm…excuse me?”
Valere jumped a little, turning to see one of the Molekin children hesitating at her side. He had his straw hat in his hands as he peered up at her, shuffling nervously as all their attention locked onto him.
“Um…er—”
Valere smiled at the boy, kneeling down so that she wasn’t looming overhead. His eyes widened and ducked behind his hat briefly, then peeked up and smiled shyly back at her.
“Umm—I’m Neale, Miss Solstice Warrior, ma’am…umm—ummmm—I heard you askin’ where your brother was…” the boy mumbled, glancing back and forth between the group and her. “I saw him go inta the mines after talking with Monte…”
“He did?” Oh, Valere was gonna kill him…just because they’d gotten stronger, didn’t mean they couldn’t run into trouble. Especially in a mine…
“Yeah…Monte was saying somethin' about some of the tunnels bein’ blocked again…”
“Thank you, Neale.” Valere smiled at the bashful Molekin. “You’ve been a great help.”
“You’re welcome!” Neale beamed at her, cramming his hat back on his head and running back towards the residential area. He turned back and waved back at them. “I hope you find your brother!”
Valere smiled and waved back as she stood. Garl hummed as he got up and took a step to stand beside her.
“Sooo…should we plan our scolding now, or just make it up as we go when we find him?”
Teaks burst into laughter at that, Seraï shaking her head as Valere fought down a smile. She turned back to look at where Garl had set up their meal, having borrowed a low table from the inn so they could enjoy the view and the last of the day together.
“This’ll all be cold by the time we get back…”
“Don’t worry about it!” Teaks beamed at her, already moving to cover the dishes and she motioned to Seraï to help. “I’ll go talk to the innkeeper, see if they have a way to keep this warm for us. I’m sure it won’t take you long, since you’ve already been through most of the mines already!”
“Yeah, go get Sunboy,” Seraï said, shooing them with a hand, “before he gets himself into more trouble.”
“I’ll come with you. I haven’t the chance to see the mines yet!” B’st declared with a smile, falling into step behind Valere and Garl. As they approached the entrance, Valere let her magic leak just a little bit more, knowing that as the day was lost they’d need the extra light; especially since she’d seen a lot of the miners leave the mines with many of the lanterns.
She hoped this would be quick.
*
It was not quick.
“Zale, you are—in so much trouble—when I get my hands on you—” Valere grunted as they all shoved against the teal amber pillar, wincing at the grinding noise it gave as they maneuvered it into position.
They’d been startled when they’d entered the mine and taken the elevator down. Some of the caverns and passageways they’d traversed before were blocked off, either repurposed as storage and processing areas, or the paths were altered as the Molekin continued to dig for new veins of teal amber. Either way, the way forward that they remembered had been completely changed, and none of the teal amber pillars had been in the spots they needed them…
And much to Valere’s dismay when she’d checked her bag, Zale had apparently taken the Mistral Bracelet with him, leaving them with having to manually shove the various stones about to give them access to the “new” areas. Thankfully, this time they had B’st, and between the three of them, were able to maneuver the stones into position…it just took so much longer.
“It’s not so bad…” Garl panted, stepping back and wiping his brow with a handkerchief. Valere groaned, turning so that her back was braced against the amber as she tried to catch her breath. Their tall, glittering friend gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder, even as he contemplated the dimly glowing, green stone.
“Teal amber must have some kind of reaction to the wind magic the Mistral Bracelet has, if it slides so easily when the burst touches it…I wonder if Keenathan would be able to move these stones with his wind magic?”
Valere blinked, then sighed as she thunked her head against the glowing stone.
“We’re already so deep in the mine, we’ll lose a lot of time to backtrack and get him…Same for Seraï…”
“Then we just keep pushing forward!” Garl gave her a grin as he tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket. “I’m sure we’ll find Zale in no time!”
Valere couldn’t stop her smile at Garl’s optimism. She waved the two to the side, then backed up to get some momentum. She rushed the pillar, the soles of her shoes had enough grip to get the height she needed to could get her hands about the edge and pull herself up. B’st gave Garl a boost, with Valere hauling him up with a firm clasp on his forearm; then B’st bounced himself up like he was a ball, landing with an odd, bell-like chime instead of a splat like his round form resembled on impact. Valere couldn’t stop her laugh at his cheerful grin as she climbed to the next level—
—And stopped short once her glow finally revealed the passageway had collapsed.
Valere stared at the blockage of the tunnel, and pushed her hair back with a hand; she resisted the urge to pull at it in frustration. It looked as if some of the tunnel had caved in, the wooden beams at the entrance having fallen in a fitting cross pattern. There was a sign tacked to the foremost beam, and Garl waved Valere closer so they could read it.
The paper had a crude picture of a tunnel with a large red cross painted overtop of it, with little drawings of Molekin, a circular blob of green and brown, and an odd blob of yellow and red to the side. The figures all had frowning faces on them. Below the picture was a neat scrawl of familiar handwriting.
“It says that this tunnel system collapsed after the new tunnel was dug by the Bushtroo to get to the new vein of teal amber. It also says the other older tunnels that are connected to this one are off limits until they can be assessed.”
“And that’s Zale’s handwriting,” Valere sighed, “But what’s with the picture…?”
“It looks as if a child made it?” B’st leaned in to inspect the sign closer, and Garl snapped his fingers with a grin on his face. He patted the sign with a fond smile.
“Malkomud! The Bushtroo only really listen to him. He must have been helping dig the new tunnels when the other miners got worried over this passageway. They must have let him make the warning signs, and Zale must have finished them off for him.”
“But they have to be finished with all of that by now, I saw the miners going back to their homes after they finished for the day…why didn’t Zale come out with them?”
“…”
They all exchanged a worried look. Garl peered at the picture again, and shook his head.
“I don’t think anything bad happened,” B’st murmured in thought, his clouds swirling inside the glass. “I doubt the miners would have just gone home without telling us if something was wrong.”
“And look at the picture, it shows everyone outside the tunnel…” Garl frowned more, and shrugged helplessly. “How about we go see Malkomud? His Fort is accessible by that ledge now, and maybe he can point us in the right direction.”
Valere sighed, and turned to the ledge that Garl had gestured to. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more delays in finding her partner.
*
The entry to the Fort slid down with a grinding noise at Garl’s strangely patterned knock, and Valere tried to not fidget as it settled. There was an odd echo through the short tunnel to the room that Malkomud had claimed for himself, almost sounding like…giggling?
“Hey, Malkomud? Are you home?”
“Garl! Hello!” Malkomud’s piping voice called, “Come in! Are you here to play, too?”
Garl took the lead as they stepped through to the large cavern, but came to an abrupt stop as soon as he cleared the entrance. Valere didn’t have time to react, and immediately ran into his back, with B’st colliding with her.
“Oof! Garl, what’s wrong—?” Valere peered over Garl’s shoulder and nearly choked on the laugh at the sight before them.
Malkomud sat atop an enormous mountain of pillows, and waved at them cheerfully from his perch. But at the base of the pile, Rockie lay curled up atop something—something with a head of golden hair.
“Zale?”
The golden head twitched and twisted to look up at them, a sheepish look spreading on Zale’s face. He squirmed and managed to free an arm, waving halfheartedly at them.
“Hey, guys—oof!”
Rockie gave an irritated grumble, and shifted, lifting one foot and placing it on Zale’s head. His head was mushed partially back down into one of the pillows, as Rockie proceeded to start grooming the pinned Solstice Warrior. Zale’s complaints were muffled by the pillow, his one freed arm flailing.
Valere collapsed with laughter, clinging to Garl’s arm and shoulder as she watched her partner get an impromptu “bath.”
“Is this where you’ve been all this time?” Garl could barely keep the laughter out of his voice, striding forward and managing to distract Rockie with scratches under her chin. The salamander gave a happy rumble, and Valere and B’st took advantage of her distraction to kneel and start working Zale free from where he was pinned.
“Zale was helping me with placing the warning signs up, after he helped Monte with his problem,” Malkomud said, sliding down the pillow pile and joining in giving Rockie scritches. “Then Rockie wanted to play, so she picked Zale up and brought him back to our Fort.”
“She swallowed me and dragged me here, you mean…” Zale grumbled as they managed to get him free to his waist. Valere lost her grip on his arm as another laughing fit took over, landing hard and rolling backwards onto her back. She remembered his shocked face back when Rockie continuously targeted and “swallowed” the poor Blade Dancer back when they’d fought the salamander. And if she really kidnapped him, Valere could easily imagine Zale’s startled face when Rockie “swallowed” him again.
“And we had a lot of fun! Zale helped me make this mountain, and I won climbing it!” Malkomud chirped with a smile, beaming at the group as he continued to pet his salamander. “Rockie really likes you, Zale!”
“Yes, I know, Malkomud…” Zale sighed and wriggled forward, grunting when Rockie shifted atop him as she reveled in all the attention she was getting. “Just wish she didn’t enjoy pinning and grooming me so much…”
“I’m—I’m s-sorry, Zale!” Valere laughed even harder as he gave her a glare, wiping at the saliva smeared through his hair. B’st chuckled and managed to pull him fully free of the salamander, who finally realized that her “toy” was escaping. Rockie gave a disgruntled rumble, shuffling forward and mouthed at Zale’s legs. He gave a startled yelp as he was dragged backwards, but Malkomud placed himself between the two.
“Rockie, that’s enough playing. Garl and Valere are here for Zale.”
“Thanks, Malkomud.” Zale groaned as he pushed himself up into sitting on one of the cushions, wiping once more at his drenched hair and face. “Ugh…gonna have to take a bath after all this…”
Valere wiped at her eyes, grinning at her partner. He gave her another irritated look, before it slowly turned sly. She sat up in alarm, trying to scuttle backwards as Zale lunged forward with his slime-smeared hands.
“No, don’t you dare! Zale!” Valere yelped as he managed to pin her down, wiping his hands on her face and hair as they wrestled. B’st and Garl’s laughter echoed in the cave, the Golem grinning as he waded into their scuffle. Zale squeaked as B’st grabbed and lifted him off of Valere. Rockie gave a questioning chirp at the sound, eyeing the Blade Dancer with an even more interested look, wriggling excitedly behind Malkomud’s restraining hands.
“Oh, no…” Zale whispered, staring down at the eager salamander from where he dangled in B’st’s hands. Malkomud and Garl both carefully placed themselves in front of the wriggling Rockie, hands up like they could stop her from getting to Zale.
“Rockie, no!”
“Ooof!”
There was a chime of glass as B’st was bowled over by the overexcited salamander, and a yelp from Zale as Rockie picked him up in her mouth once more. He dangled horizontally in her mouth, pushing and kicking ineffectively to get free. The salamander gently tightened her grip on him, and Zale produced another, drawn out squeak. She excitedly romped about the cavern, each bound producing more squeaking from her captive. Garl, B’st, and Malkomud immediately gave chase, which only encouraged the salamander more in a game of keep-away.
“Rockie, put him down, please!”
*squeak*
“Oh, dear!”
*squeak-squeak-squeak*
“Ooof! Help!”
*squeak-squeeeaaak*
“Hold on, Zale!”
Valere curled into the pillows with a high pitched cackle as Rockie evaded her friends, tears leaking from her eyes as she wiped at the slime Zale had smeared on her. She’d get up and help in a minute; she needed this after the stress and frustration he gave her today.
*
It was dark when they finally exited the mine, and Zale took a deep breath of the cool air, smiling up at the moon overhead. His hair was sticking up in odd places from the saliva had dried on him, and Valere grimaced at the crunchiness in her own hair from where Zale managed to wipe it on her. Malkomud hummed contentedly where he rode on B’st’s shoulders, the Golem happily giving the young Molekin a ride when he’d eagerly accepted their invitation to dinner.
“Sorry, guys, I didn’t realize how late it’d gotten…”
“Well,” Garl laughed as he clapped a hand on Zale’s shoulder, “it’s not like you had much of a choice in the matter, right?”
“Not really…Rockie wouldn’t let me leave the Fort, so I just gave up and just played with both of them. Thanks for coming to get me, though.”
“What kind of partner do you take me for?” Valere gasped in mock-outrage, clutching a hand against her chest as she gave Zale the biggest hurt look she could muster. He rolled his eyes and shoved her to the side as they strode to the inn.
“The kind that let Rockie use me as a chew toy, and laughed through the whole thing.”
“Well…when you put it that way…”
The glow of the inn was a welcoming sight, and Teaks and Seraï rushed forward when they stepped through the door.
“There you are! What took you so long?”
“Why—why do you smell so bad, Zale?” Teaks grimaced as she got close, her nose wrinkling cutely as she recoiled. Seraï cocked her head to the side and eyed how rumpled the group looked, raising a brow at B’st as he chortled. Malkomud smiled as the tall Golem helped the small Molekin down, beaming up at Teaks as she took his hand to lead him back to the table.
“We’ll tell you after we get cleaned up.” Valere laughed and slung an arm over Zale’s shoulder as she steered him towards the bathing room, Garl a step behind them. “Is dinner still good?”
“Yeah, it should be. We’ll have it ready and on the table when you all get out.”
“Thanks, Teaks!” Zale called back with a grin, letting Valere and Garl usher him down the hall to get cleaned up. Valere couldn’t stop her smile as she shoved her boys through their side of the baths.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad day…Now, to get cleaned up so they could eat. They deserved a good meal after all the stress, and hilarity, of the day.