The Other Apprentice

16-1 | Valiant Rescue

Tenet felt groggy while he returned to his senses. The last thing Tenet remembered was an impact as the boulders had come crashing down. He realized now that the impact had been Mason shoving him out of the way and likely saving Tenet's life. Tenet groaned, opening his eyes and examining his whereabouts.

The boulders Tenet had been attempting to hold up had crashed back down, surrounded by rubble. Mason laid prone, one of the larger stones on his leg. He was breathing but was in obvious agony.

Tenet willed his sore body to move and scrambled over beside Mason, pushing at the boulder. Mason winced in pain as it moved. Tenet leaned down. "Mason, I'm so sorry. I'll get you out. How badly are you hurt?"

The Ordo engineer forced a pained smile. "Fairly certain my leg is broken. But it could have been worse, wizard apprentice. It could have been your skull. What were you thinking?"

Tenet sighed, shaking his head as he considered his actions. "I was thinking I could get to the miners quicker. Instead, I made things worse. It probably should have been my head."

Mason stopped smiling as he looked up at Tenet. "I don't see how that would have been better for either of us. Look around, Tenet. We're on the far side of the blockage. Your idea was impulsive, but it saved us time. You just need to learn to listen better. We could have done this a little slower, a little safer, and a lot smarter."

Tenet heard approaching footsteps running on the other side of the collapse. The rocks had repositioned to leave a small gap, which Heron pressed his face up against. "Mason! Tenet! Are you both okay? I heard the collapse. What happened?"

Mason called back. "We're alive, Heron. I'm pinned under a rock and need the medical supplies."

"You got it, boss. We should also be able to widen this gap some and provide a way through."

Tenet inspected the stone. "I can help widen the gap."

Mason shook his head. "Not with magic. Tenet, you already overextended yourself once. I'm not willing to risk you passing out a second time. We'll widen the gap my way."

Tenet slumped his shoulders. "You're right. I can help with that."

Mason nodded. "You're going to have to. I'm in no condition and it will be easier with someone on each side. But first, I'm going to need you to get me out from under this rock."

There was a lot of groaning and swearing, but Tenet successfully pushed the boulder off of Mason. The older man's leg was a bloody mess and clearly broken. With the medical supplies Heron had passed through the gap in the blockage, Tenet had fashioned a splint and bandaged Mason enough up before helping him carefully to his feet.

Taking supplies through the gap, Tenet drove large spikes into the rocks that Mason indicated, tying them to ropes which led back to Heron, so that the other man could work on systematically widening the gap in as safe a manner as possible.

Once Tenet had done all he could, Mason turned to him. "Heron and I will handle this from here on. I need you to do the job we came for. Go look for the trapped miners. I'm not in any condition to walk. Can I count on you, Tenet?"

"You can, Mason." Tenet gathered his lantern which had gone out in the fall. Expensing a bit of will, Tenet relit the wick.

Mason raised an eyebrow. "Tenet, no magic unless absolutely necessary. You're going to be on your own. I don't want to rescue you. Again."

Tenet winced and nodded. "I'll be careful, Mason."

With a pack containing food, emergency supplies, and a coil of rope, Tenet made his way down the tunnel. He kept his eyes open and alert as the shaft sloped slowly downward. After the main blockage, things seemed to be not as bad in this part of the tunnel. There was still rubble, but nothing he couldn't easily pass over.

After a few minutes, he thought he heard voices. The sound of distant yelling was soft enough that he couldn't be sure he wasn't imagining it.

Tenet reached out with his mage senses. Even though he knew Mason wouldn't approve, Tenet decided it was worth the risk. He wasn't actively using magic. He was only increasing his awareness.

The mage sight wouldn't allow him to detect the trapped miners, since he had no connection to them. Wispy trails of color drifted back toward the entrance of the mine, one being his connection to Mason. But there were no lines leading forward. Even if Tenet couldn't sense the miners, he could sense other things. Mostly he sensed the rock, but that also allowed him to sense where the rock wasn't, giving him an idea of the layout and scale of the mine.

There were deeper levels where miners had descended to follow promising veins of ore. On one such level, he could detect signs of people—leather, wood, and metal. There were also bones. Tenet couldn't sense bones in a living body, so a casualty was likely. Thankfully, there did not seem to be too many bones.

Now knowing where to start his search, he made his way easily, navigating the tunnel and its side branches, the sounds of people becoming clearer.

He found himself at the ruins of a winch-powered elevator system damaged by falling debris, smashing the lift mechanism. The remnants of the lift car, along with its chains, were at the bottom of a 30-foot drop.

The voices grew louder as they noticed the light above them. Several miners called out for his attention, begging for help.

Tenet set his lantern down and started tying his rope to the remains of the winch assembly, making sure it was tight enough to support his weight. As he tested the rope, he called back. "I hear you! I'm with the Ordo. We're going to rescue you. My name is Tenet. I'm a wizard's apprentice."

There was a concerned silence, then a lone voice shouted nervously. "Please help us, if you can!"

Tenet tied the loose end of the rope to the lantern and lowered it down into the hole. He could see grubby faces looking back up at him.

Taking holds of the rope, Tenet carefully climbed his way down, eager to keep the wall from swaying him into the jagged cut walls of the shaft. When he was low enough, he dropped to the ground, careful to avoid kicking his only source of light.

Several miners surrounded him. More were laying on the ground. One of the younger miners ran up and embraced him. "Thank the stars. We've been trapped down here for days, since the avalanche. We ran out of food and water."

Tenet gave the man a reassuring pat on the back. "How many of you are down here?" While he spoke, Tenet pulled the rations and canteen out of his pack, offering them to the grateful miners, who took eager sips of water and passed it around. Tenet wished he could have brought more."

"There were 11 of us. Barys didn't make it. But we have three injured who can't walk. And the rest of us are weak. I doubt there's more than a few of us who could make it up that rope."

Tenet took in the surroundings, seeing what he had to work with. Aside from the rubble and damaged lift, there were several tools and a small side tunnel leading into darkness. The side tunnel smelled as if they had been using it as their lavatory these past few days.

But it wasn't the tunnel itself that interested him, rather the support beams set in place. Though the opening was narrower, it was like the supported entryways between the upper chambers.

Tenet smiled. "Gather up your injured. I have an idea."