The Crystal Mines

5 Faolan

Nik and her cellmate had been locked up in solitary confinement for nearly three days. Each passing day, my nerves grew. Had been hacking at the damned Sucuri rock with such force, Sorin had to silently tell me to slow down. If we became too good at mining, they cut our rations, thinking they were allowing us to become too powerful. I knew without looking at the bucket of quartz next to me, that I had already met the quota and then some and it wasn't even lunch yet. We had gotten lucky at finding the source of the crystal. It was hidden in a corner of our tunnel we had overlooked and doubling back had proven well. The other miners usually looked at us with envy. Our discovery of quartz saved us from the jealousy of the others since it was off the main tunnel. They knew that I knew Nik by some capacity. And Sorin and I were the best miners. The wolf in me, harbored great strength in the arms. I wasn't sure what Sorin's Fae animal was, but it had to be something that had similar strengths. Together, we could mine almost triple that of the other mining duos. Today, it would easily twice that.

I slowed my swings and thought about what to do with the extra quartz. I could either give it away and risk getting caught. Or turn it in and risk Viorica expecting us to mine as much each day and cut our rations. Sorin looked at my bucket, clearly thinking the same thing. He shrugged, not having any other ideas either. I could stop right then and be finished for the day. But that wasn't an option. We weren't as closely guarded as I knew Nik was, but our guard stood near the entrance of our long tunnel nonetheless, and sound traveled fast.

A small 'pop' sounded near our buckets, and I halted my mining. Sorin looked to me with concern, his dark locks swaying as he turned his head. From behind the buckets, a small monkey with wings walked forward, measuring barely more than half a foot. I stared, mouth hanging open. What in the Hells? And then it spoke.

"Hello Faolan!" It jumped it and flew to reach my line of sight and I back up, caution stirring. "I am called Trife. Your Nik has sent me, and I bring eatings!" With another 'pop', the winged creature produced jerky of some kind in thin air, making it hover in front of me. Nik sent this thing to me? With food?

"How do I know she sent you? You could be a trick from the leaders here."

"Easy, she said that she was there in the woods. Whatever that means."

"You she sent you. You can stop now." Trife spun in a circle, pleased at my reaction. I grabbed the jerky and gave half to Sorin, who ripped a bite off without hesitation.

"She told me to tell you everything. But I see that would not be smart right now. I will come to you tonight. Your Nik said she is well and that we will get the Hells out of here. Do you want me to tell her anything in return?"

Gods above. This little monkey creature may just save our asses. I looked to Sorin. I couldn't leave him, not with how long he had been stuck here. "Yes. I do have something you can tell her. Let her know I have someone we are bringing, and that we will come up with a plan together." I rubbed the hair that had grown on my chin, thinking. The quartz! "And one other thing, can you take half this quartz to her?"

Trife clapped, his tiny hands moving quickly. He darted over the quartz, grabbing handfuls at a time and essentially evaporating them piece by piece, each time making that tiny 'popping' sound. When he finished, he disappeared as quickly as he had come.

"Well, that was interesting." Soring hung his axe over his shoulder and shifted to one foot while chewing on the last bit of his jerky. "So, this Nik girl has a pet, its feeding us, and we're breaking out of this joint?"

"Um." I looked to him, taking a bite and savoring the salted meat. "I guess so."

"Fuck yeah. Let's do this." And Sorin went back to hacking way.

Soon after I swallowed my small meal, I joined him, my momentum building again. But this time, my strength was from far greater than anger and anxiety. A plan had begun brewing the moment I saw Trife summon food.