Lyrian [https://files.fm/thumb_show.php?i=dne5qft8jr]

Lyrian

----------------------------------------

A bright light pierces through her eyelids as a voice booms in the distance. "Faylin?" it calls.

Faylin's eyes shoot wide open and her body has shot straight up, but she realizes it's morning.

Lyrian has been standing next to her bed smiling. "Ready for our day?" he asks. "I've got a special day planned out, just the two of us. It's gonna be fun, I promise. You'll forget all the horrible things that have been happening recently and enjoy yourself." He laughs as he is watching Faylin get out of bed and begin her day. Lyrian smiles. His white teeth shine and his green eyes are shimming in the light of the morning. "First, we head to the mines," Lyrian points out. He begins to pack their supplies, and heads downstairs. "We'll head down the mine, and I'll show you the way."

"Okay, I'll be ready in a minute." Faylin begins to change into her mining clothes, and grabs a bag. She grabs her pickaxe and gives it a quick sharpen. She looks around her room for a bit of food preserved in jars and salt.

Later, Lyrian and Faylin has headed to the gates of Bogh Buldar, the dwarven kingdom. It is early in the morning, and not many are awake. Faylin rubs her eyes and yawns, her hair has been made a mess from her bed. Pale skin makes her look exhausted, dark circles are under her eyes, and she looks like she didn't get much sleep last night. The dwarven guards of Bogh Buldar look at the two and waves them by.

They are heading into the city, through unreachable tall hallways. A large cave fills multiple levels of stone pillars, and lava flow beneath the rock streets of dwarven houses and castes. Hot iron, dust, and ale, echoes loudly of chatter and work. Lanterns are lit along the city that line the roads and homes of the people.

Lyrian has been looking over at Faylin who has her head down, tired, and exhausted. "You okay?" He asks. Lyrian walks closer and places his hand on Faylin's back. She looks over and smiles.

"I'm fine, just a little tired," she says with a slow blink and yawning.

"Come on then." Lyrian grabs her arm and begins to walk a bit faster. They pass the city through dwarves walking by and are heading towards the mines. They are passing many dwarves that are looking to be busy. Working in mines, masons, smithies, and taverns, the dwarves are much like Faylin in a way. Down the mine and to the lift, a metallic platform is cranking down with chattering chains.

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time," Lyrian explains. "I've missed this."

The lift halts at a dwarf mining outpost, and a dwarf miner comes to greet them. "Outsiders again? Here to mine?" he asks with a strong voice.

"Yes sir" Faylin says.

"Follow me. I'll be your escort and show you where you can mine," the dwarf miner explains. They follow the miner, passing carts full of minerals and rocks. Miners are clinking with pickaxes and hard work. Lyrian jumps at a loud explosion of dynamite. Stone is crumbling down then rests at the bottom. Through tunnels of stone at a dead end, a river of water is sitting in the center.

"Here we are. This is Kaloggh mine, you may mine here. If you decide to tunnel further, you're allowed up to fifty yards for the whole two months."

Faylin is looking around, and then down to the river of water. Her eyes narrow, "fifty yards for two months? Last time it was one hundred yards for two months."

The dwarf escort shrugs, "Look kid, I don't make the rules. The king does. I'm just here to do my job."

Lyrian sighs and says, "Faylin, let's not cause trouble. Let's just mine, we won't need that many resources anyway. Come on."

Faylin pushes Lyrian's hand off her, "are you serious? I'm low on resources."

"Then go find a shop to buy it from," the escort dwarf says. "Now I've got to be on my way." And with that, the whistling dwarf leaves them in the tunnels of Kaloggh Mine. His footstep echos are becoming quieter.

Lyrian walks closer, "come on Fay. Let's just mine."

"I just don't understand. They always restrict me. They know that I use these resources to help people." She sighs, "Let's just get to work." Faylin takes off her bag and pulls out her pick axe.

The pickaxe glimmers in the dim torch light of the mine. Strong but worn wood is what makes up the handle. The axe head is jagged, but sharp at the end. It is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

Lyrian has lit his clawed gauntlet with a green magic as he sticks it out in front him. Messy brown hair and long mage robes flow from the wind of the earth magic. "Shall I begin?" Lyrian smiles.

Faylin nods and watches as a large ball of green magic forms in the gauntlet of his hand. Magic is growing brighter and bigger as the wind intensifies. Lyrian focuses the energy, his eyebrows furrow in deep focus. Wind grows more and more until he releases a powerful beam of magic, striking at the rock wall that breaks off large boulders of stone.

Faylin points, "there, some iron. It's basic, but we need it."

Lyrian circles the iron ore with a green light of earth magic and crumbles the rocks around it. Faylin picks up the iron ore and puts it into her mine cart. "Thank you. Now I need a little copper and tin."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Lyrian points the green magic at another part of the mine wall, "there, there is copper." A beam of green magic fires and crumbles the wall. Rocks tumble to the ground, and Lyrian uses his clawed gauntlets to dig the rocks out. Faylin grabs the rocks and chucks them into the mine cart. The minerals sparkle in the light of the torches.

Later, after about fifty yards, already reaching their limit, there's still room left in their mine cart. Faylin looks in disappointment. "Not a single rare mineral. Just copper, and iron. I didn't even find any basic tin."

Lyrian looks over to her, "don't worry Faylin, you can always head into the city and buy some. But let's get back, we've got a long day ahead of us."

Faylin narrows her eyes and yells, "no! Lyrian, keep mining." She points forth in a demanding tone.

Lyrian looks back, but is continuing on to lecture, "Faylin, you heard the King's orders, we can't go any further. They'll throw us in prison."

"You think I care about what some coin grubbing King says? Keep mining Lyrian."

Lyrian poses with a bit of fear in his eyes at what he's about to do. "Fay, you really want me to continue, despite the guards?"

"Yes!"

Lyrian sighs, and readies his stance. He holds his clawed gauntlet out, and balls up green magic which is beginning to charge. Rocks and pebbles shake and vibrate. The wind picks up. Blasting energy fires out and destroys the rocks before him. Lyrian then follows up with another attack, and this time several of the rocks begin to break off and fall to the ground. A large rock rolls away as Lyrian bends it. "Fay, here. Look at this. There is ruthenium, but I sense a strange energy within. I believe we've stumbled upon a vein."

Faylin gasps as she is walking over quickly and kneels down. "That's perfect." Faylin picks at the rock and breaks the ruthenium ore out. "Keep going, keep digging Lyrian. There has to more Ruthenium if it's a vein. This is so rare and valuable. It gives the magic ability of all metal surrounding it to be indestructible."

"Fay, I'm sorry I have to disagree. We need to leave. Now. They could be coming at any minute." Lyrian looks around with his back to Faylin, looking to the exit.

"Oh come on Lyrian. Please, just a little longer. Who knows, maybe we'll stumble upon something better like rhodium, or silver and gold!" Faylin gleams.

"No."

"Lyrian, do it!" Faylin has turned and yelled out in frustration.

Lyrian is shuttering at Faylin's dominance. He turns around to face her, and summons magic within his sharp gauntlet once again. Tightening up in his chest, he knows it's wrong, but his love for Faylin pushes him forward. Faylin holds a strict demeanor but she means well.

Lyrian fires a blast of earth magic. Earth magic flies through the air and shatters the wall of stone and dirt into pieces. And nothing but stone, ore is barren. Faylin touches the stone, waving the dust with her other hand. No ore is in sight.

"No, again," Faylin commands.

Lyrian blasts the wall once more, destroying it once again. Rocks are rolling down and crash into each other, creating an opening.

"There," Faylin points to the hole.

Within the hole, it leads into a large chamber, lined with crystals. It is glowing a faint purple color and looks to extend very deep into the underground.

"We're not supposed to be doing this, Fay," Lyrian says under his breath.

"Of course not. It'll be fine, let's just do this quickly." Faylin goes over to one of the torches on the walls and removes it. She is walking into the new mine shaft. A new tunnel descends downward into the darkness of the earth, lit only by the torchlight of a few miners. Braces line the wall and provide illumination.

"More ruthenium, and look at the purple. Osmium. And there's the tin I need," Faylin points around at the different ores. "Lyrian quick, I need you to grab them with your magic and then we'll haul them to the mine cart and go. I promise."

Lyrian shakes his head in disagreement, but obliges to Faylin's command.

"Don't forget that palladium, it's worth so much," Faylin mentions.

Lyrian's clawed gauntlet has grown with a bright green and it rips apart the earth around the ore. Large stones crumble and crash to the floor. Faylin picks up the ore and carries them. Over to the mine cart they go.

Half way through in their illegal tunnel to reach the cart, they jump at the sound of voices. "Yep, the outsiders were digging beyond 50 yards," one dwarf voice says. Faylin and Lyrian are glancing at each other. Shadows draw near along the caves. Footsteps follow the echoing voices, and they get louder.

"I knew outsiders couldn't be trusted," the other dwarf speaks out as they get closer and closer to where Faylin and Lyrian are. Shadows get larger and the footsteps grow ever so louder.

"Oh no." Lyrian turns around quickly to Faylin who's picking up more ore, "Faylin, we gotta go. Guards are here. Let's go. Leave everything here." Lyrian drops his arms full of ore and runs back into the mine chamber to find a hiding spot. Faylin watches Lyrian leave, then turns around and starts to load up the mine cart.

Lyrian continues running down the cavern, searching for an alcove to hide in.

"Faylin, come on," he turns back and sees Faylin grabbing the ores and hauling them into the mine cart. "What are you doing?" He waits for Faylin's return.

Faylin eventually runs back with Lyrian and they run down the cavern. Lyrian spots an alcove big enough for both of them to hide. They run over to the alcove. Suddenly, the sound of heavy armor is being heard.

"Where are they?"

"Hush, you will scare them off. They're probably lurking somewhere nearby."

Clanking of armor walks down the halls. Lyrian slips through a crack in the walls and whispers, "Faylin, over here!"

Faylin runs over and slides into the crack next to Lyrian. Eyes are wide, and hearts are beating. They stand shoulder to shoulder in the dark crevice, sweating profusely as the footsteps are walking closer and closer. As the dwarven guards search the area, they pass the narrow crack in which Faylin and Lyrian are hiding in. The clank of metal, and rustling of paper gets louder as the guard slowly approaches.

Faylin looks over and sees the same miner escort and three dwarven warriors.

"This is way more than fifty yards. The king will accuse them of hogging all the ore. Damn humans," one of the warriors explains as he picks up and examines some of the precious metals left on the ground. Another warrior lifts up an axe and searches the tunnel.

"How do they dig so fast?"

"A damn mage. A human mage. Geomancy is what they call it."

Faylin and Lyrian watch with held breaths, trying not to move a muscle. After a while of searching, the dwarves turn and walk back towards the main entrance.

When they're far enough away, Lyrian nudges Faylin, and whispers, "we're okay now."

Faylin sighs in relief and they both slip out of the rock crevice.

Lyrian turns to Faylin with his arms crossed, "well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Faylin's eyes narrow, and she shrugs, "nothing."

"You could've gotten us thrown in jail, for life, or killed," he points towards her with a stern voice. "Why'd you have to do this Faylin? It's bad enough with the taxes and kings breathing down your neck."

"Well if I'm going to die from being imprisoned, or have to live a miserable life of no income from stupid greedy kings and nobles, then so be it."

Lyrian grabs onto her wrist, "let's just go."

As they walk back to the entrance and to their cart of metals, they find that the soldiers and guards have left most of their ores. They dump the remainder of the ores into their cart, and head to the lift leading up. Once in Bogh Buldar, they are heading back to Faylin's smithy. The streets are still busy and active, which has filled with miners and smithies alike.

Faylin humphs in annoyance, "they didn't even take much."

"What did you expect? We aren't dwarfs after all. They probably think that our materials and tools are inferior," Lyrian laughs.