Chapter 25
It’s early in the morning and Wraine and I are headed for our last day in the mines. For the past month, Wraine and I have destroyed our bodies to save enough to buy some weapons again. According to Wraine and Quinn, we have a total of 5 silver and 56 copper after our bowls of pottage this morning. Aside from the 12 coppers we had to pay every night for rent, we also had to spend around 1 silver and 60 copper for our linen masks and our leather waterskins.That’s already enough for two swords but with this last day’s worth of wages, we’ll have enough for a few nights at The Sleeping Hornet which should be enough time to figure out what we’re going to do. I haven’t told Wraine this yet because I wasn’t sure how he was going to react, but I was thinking about joining Alira’s gang. I’ve heard all the terrible things about him and his adopted son beat the shit out of me and robbed us. But I feel as though that’s the only way forward for us. If we’re able to distinguish ourselves, we’ll be able to earn coins quickly and gain a foothold in the city for us. To me, Alira’s gang is the first major entryway in becoming influential in Midriver and if everything goes well, this is how I can achieve my dreams. A city filled with and ruled by criminals is the only place where I can make my mark.
When we reach the mining outpost, the outpost guards check us for any weapons before they let us into the mining camp. From what I know, the Wellock Trading Company has agreements with all the major factions in Midriver which lets them do business in the city without being harassed. They still need to check anyone coming into the outpost in case an independent gang unaffiliated with the big three factions gets greedy. When we’re past the simple wooden fence, we see linen tents set up all around us. Most of these tents are empty most of the time but the outpost has them set up in case any of the guards need to stay the night. The company even offers the tents to its employees at a pretty reasonable price at 10 copper a night. We thought about it but we both agreed if we started living here, we’d never be able to leave. That and the tents only have bedrolls inside them, they can’t hold up to a real bed. I heard Oliver has to live here though since he needs to assign workers for both day and night shifts and he needs to be here in case there’s a problem. He doesn’t have it easy on him either even though he’s the foreman.
There’s already a crowd forming in front of the mine entrance for the day shift change and the night shift miners from last night are stumbling out of the mine, ready for their wages and their well deserved sleep. Harold is right next to the mine entrance, standing on a wooden stool, waiting for all the day shift miners to gather around him to see where we’ll be assigned for the day. Once it looks like everyone’s here, he clears his throat, “Morning lads, no new announcements today. I’ll keep it short and simple this morning and tell ya where you’re headed. First light tunnel: Kram, Percy, Wallace, Wendel, Barkley, and Roderick. Second light tunnel: Humphrey, Porter…” Harold goes through all the currently operating tunnels until he gets to me, “...24th dark tunnel: Isaac and Kayman. That’s all lads, now get to work and stay safe. If any of you have any questions or want different assignments, come see me in Oliver’s office. I’ll stay awake for another hour or two before I knock off.” Harold claps his hands together and the crowd gathered around him disperses, heading to the mines. It just had to be fucking Kayman on my last day, figures. I can’t really ask Harold for another tunnel. When he told us to come find him if we wanted a different tunnel, he was basically only addressing the veteran miners who’ve been here for years. If I tried to get a different tunnel, he’d tell me to suck it up and threaten to hand my tunnel to someone else and leave me unassigned for the day. We don’t really need it since we already have the funds for swords but it would be nice to add another 30 copper to our savings. Damnit, fine, fuck it. I’ll push through today and take a nice, long break starting tomorrow. It’s just one day with Kayman, it’ll suck but I can get through it.
A line forms in front of the mine entrance. Not because the entrance is narrow and can only fit one person at once, but because there’s a wooden bucket hanging on a hook on the left wall of the mine entrance. Every miner that passes the bucket puts in 2 copper coins before they continue past the entrance toward The Hub. This is called a life fund and more specifically it’s the Wellock Mine’s life fund. Mining is an inherently dangerous job and accidents are a part of the job. Most of these miners have families and without their wages, those families cannot survive in Midriver. As a sort of solution to that, the miners here agreed to create a life fund in the form of that wooden bucket and everyone who wants to take part in it must put in 2 copper every shift. This isn’t based on any trust or honor system since all the miners here know each other and this is why we make a line every day like this since everyone can clearly see who takes part or not. Wraine and I don’t have any families that depend on us and so we don’t take part but we do help with keeping an eye on everyone. This life fund also includes both the day and night miners. If there’s any fatal accident in the mines, the whole fund at the time of death will go to the deceased’s family. If there’s more than one deceased then the fund is split between them. The miners themselves deliver the fund to the families since they can’t really trust individuals to contain their greed. 2 coppers might not seem like much but when you consider there’s about 100 miners in the day shift and another 100 in the night, it becomes a considerable amount as long as there’s no major accidents and the last fatal accident was at the beginning of this month. I wonder if life funds could work in other trades as well? I wonder if there’s a way for us to profit from them?
When we reach The Hub, Wraine waves at me before heading off to his assigned tunnel with Levan. Lucky bastard, I’d give both my nuts right now to get Levan as my partner again. With a pickaxe in hand, I walk over to the minecarts where Kayman is standing, stuffing his mouth with something. “Hey there Isaac, great to have you as my partner again. Don’t worry, my leg’s better than last time and I won’t slow us down this time.” I’m sure. It’s definitely not the various complaints the other miners have lodged against you or anything. But this isn’t the time nor the place.
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Putting on a big smile, I pat Kayman on the back, “Good to see you too buddy. No pressure, today’s my last day, and I’m planning to rest tomorrow. Just do your best and I’ll do the same.”
Kayman responds back with a bunch of questions: why are you quitting, do you have something else lined up, how much does it pay, could you introduce me, and how about we grab a drink later to celebrate? I manage to evade his questions by giving unclear answers. I don’t think I should tell him I’m planning on joining one of Midriver’s gangs. For some reason I have a feeling it would only bite me in the ass later. When Kayman and I push our minecart into our tunnel, we get to work immediately after covering our noses with the linen towel. Miners generally don’t speak once they seriously start to work from what I’ve seen. One single lapse in focus could mean a pickaxe right in your foot and if that happens, that’s goodbye foot.
I don’t know how to mine, not really. No one ever really taught me how I’m supposed to mine or whether what I’m doing is correct or not. All I’ve done really is watch other miners and copy what they’re doing. It’s worked so far and at least I look like I know what I’m doing. It seems Kayman really meant what he said back in The Hub because he’s working pretty diligently today. Kayman isn’t a very remarkable person, not at all. He has a very average build, a very average height, and a very average looking face. If it wasn’t for his bald head and his black beard, I wouldn’t be able to identify him from the rest of the miners. Though I suppose that isn’t very fair to him considering I’m comparing him to people I know like Farland with his mature demeanor and handsome face and Quinn with his massive build and eye-catching hair. At least the Kayman I got today was a hardworking version of himself.
Every few hours, Kayman and I take a break and take a drink from our waterskins. At the pace we’re going we’ll be done before sunset and I’ll be back at the inn before nightfall. We’re in the final stretch and with a few more ores, we’ll fill the cart perfectly. All of a sudden, I feel a tremor coming from my feet. I don’t know if it’s me that’s shaking or the ground but I grab a tunnel wall and brace myself. Good thing I did because the shaking intensifies and I can barely keep standing. Kayman’s in a much worse situation because he didn’t grab onto anything when the tremor started. We can hear people shouting from the entrance of our tunnel and both of us try to head that way but we don’t make it very far before the whole tunnel starts quaking violently. This can’t be fucking happening, not like this. I’ve heard other miners talk about this before. If the earth quakes, and you’re still in the mine, hold onto something as best as you can and pray for mercy. Fuck. My legs give in and all I can do is try to protect my head with my arms. I can’t even hear anything over the sound of Kayman screaming and crying. Dear gods man, get a hold of yourself. The rumbling worsens by the second and I start to think this really might be it. I survived a full on Ribierian ambush, I survived being burned alive in a corpse pile, I survived a month of eating nothing but berries and twigs, and now I’m going to be buried alive. For what, 30 coins? Such a fucking awful waste of my life. What about the fucking city in my dreams? Why the fuck did I dream about that in the first place if I’m just going to die in some no name mine for 30 fucking copper? I’m supposed to be special. I’m meant for something greater. When the realization that I’m still that farm hand on the battlefield, pretending to be a soldier, dreaming I’ll become a king with a kitchen knife in my hand hits me, the tears come out uncontrollably. Nothing has changed since then. I’m so fucking stupid.
The shaking stops about an hour later and I’ve calmed myself down enough to stand up again. One step at a time. I get out of here and I talk everything out with Wraine. Maybe we do leave Midriver and settle down somewhere else. If just this level of fear destroys my ambitions that easily, maybe I’m better off living as a farmer somewhere peaceful and quiet. Kayman is still on the ground, covering his head with his arms and even with me shaking his shoulder, he doesn’t respond. I know he’s alright because he keeps muttering something about his mother under his breath. Damnit Kayman, and just when I thought you redeemed yourself. Our minecart’s tipped over and our day’s worth of work is spilled all over the ground. It should be easy enough to get it back on its tracks and get the ores back into the cart but I’ll need Kayman’s help first. It might be better if I can get someone to help calm him down first. Walking back to the tunnel’s entrance, a massive pile of rocks and dirt appears in front of me where the tunnel opening should have been. Huh, I must’ve taken a wrong turn in this straight tunnel with no other paths. Alright then. Turning around, I walk back to the other side, passing the overturned minecart and the motionless Kayman. I keep going until I see the unmined stone that marks where the tunnel ends. I must’ve taken another wrong turn, silly me. Heading back to the pile of rocks, I stop and start breathing heavily. No. No. No! Of all the things that could’ve happened today, this is it?
A thousand thoughts enter my head and a thousand thoughts die there as well. What can I even do in this situation? Oh shit! Frantically searching around my waist with my hands, I heave a sigh of relief when I find my waterskin. Okay, not all hope is lost. What else? There’s no way there’s any food around here, though I did see Kayman snacking on something earlier. Maybe he still has something and we can keep ourselves alive with that. Anything else? The tunnel is completely quiet except for my breathing and I immediately clamp my hand over my mouth. Gods, my panic earlier didn’t help. Is there anything I can even do to get air? Looking at the collapsed tunnel entrance in front of me, especially how thick it looks, my hope dwindles further. But I grit my teeth and I grab my pickaxe, giving the blocked tunnel entrance my best fucking swing. I use too much power and the swing goes off course, glancing off a rock and the pickaxe flies out of my hands and onto the floor. Alright well, I’m already tired and the handle was covered with dirt and it’s pretty dark in here. Judging by the size of this cave in, there’s no way we’re getting out of here anytime soon, I might as well rest up and save my strength for tomorrow. I grab my pickaxe off the floor and lay it against the tunnel wall. Sitting down, I lean my back against the cold stone wall, savoring the cool feeling. Closing my eyes, I try to think about anything else that’ll keep my mind off of this hellish place. “What’s happened, Isaac?” Godsdamn you Kayman.