Rubies and Rumors

Chapter Sixty-eight

            Junseo lay in the dark trying to reserve some of his strength. His trapped leg stopped hurting some time ago but he did not know if that was a good sign. He tried to piece together what had happened. He remembered the aggressive sparing in the courtyard and the strange delivery with its awful dissonance. The rest of his memories lacked continuity. He was pretty sure he had tried to escape more than once and was finally helped by a guard he knew from earlier competitions. They made their way to the storage rooms at the back of the stable. That is where everything got confusing.

The dissonance radiated from a stack of small wooden crates rattling him. He wanted to investigate but could not get close so hid under some empty grain sacks. The head of the provincial guards came into the shed with a spindly man with a close-cropped beard.

"You are certain these have been armed properly?" The guard captain asked.

"As certain as you can be with any working of this kind. All you need is a touch of energy from a firestone and the countdown begins. Actually, any of the warm crystals will probably do the trick. Just keep these well away from what you want to detonate until everything is in place." As the thin man spoke pointed to a row of barrels lining the far wall and shook his head.

"I don't know why those are still here. I gave the order to move them to the basement stores over an hour ago." The guard captain called over the man who had assisted Junseo's escape from the guest suite. "Get a hand cart and move those barrels now, soldier. Be quick about it!"

The guard hurried away and returned with a cart and the other two soldiers who had been assigned the task of moving the barrels.

"Why the cart? Don't we usually just roll the barrels down the ramp? I know the Governor can be fussy about his wine getting shaken up but who can tell three cups in?" One of the soldiers muttered to the other.

"Just do as your told." The thin man hissed. Behind his back another guard mimicked the way the stranger moved and Junseo had to stifle a laugh. The situation wasn't funny but the tension of hiding next to barrel loads of explosives was almost too much.

It seemed the dissonance had settled a bit, or perhaps his sensitivity had just been overwhelmed enough so once everyone had cleared the shed Junseo could break into one of the smaller boxes. Nestled into wood shavings was a device almost identical to the ones they had tried to mock up at the forge.

He decided to chance sneaking through the entrance to the lower levels to see where the barrels were headed. It was difficult to see so he decided to warm up one of his stones for a little light. This was a mistake. Right after he held up his glowing crystal, he heard ticking coming from the storage room. Junseo then sprinted as fast as he could down the ramp and into the tunnels below. He grabbed the guard who had helped him and pushed the man ahead.

"What are you playing at?" the guard asked. The answer came in the form of a series of small explosions. Dust fell from the ceiling and the ground started to rumble.

"We need a strong wall between us and those barrels you were moving," Junseo coughed.

"You don't mean?" Before the guard to ask anything else a blast came from up ahead. The force slammed Junseo against the wall. His companion crumpled in front of him. Splintered staves stuck out of the guard's back like a full quiver of arrows. The man died before he could reach him.

Junseo crawled back along the passage to where it separated in two directions. He wanted to get as much rock between the explosives and himself as possible so scurried downward. Another blast, and the ground began to buck. Junseo slid further down the passage until his way was blocked. As he lay in the dark trying to get his bearings part of the wall collapsed and pinned down his left leg.

For the longest time he could hear nothing but the ringing in his own ears. He felt the ground shaking a few more times. Each time tried his best to cover his head while wiggling his trapped leg as much as possible. After the dust had settled, he felt around for any sort of tool he might use to lever off the larger rock but had no luck. One of the more maddening parts of where he was trapped was being able to hear water trickling nearby with no way to reach it to quench his growing thirst. He dozed off but his chattering teeth disturbed him. He worried about this sign he might be going into shock so tried to move around to create a bit of body heat. In the process he caught a mouthful of dust that made his dry throat ache.

Junseo had another coughing fit then rested against the rock wall. He thought about each of his team-mates in turn: Hae-sung with his bright smiles and gentle touch for any animal; Song-hee using his dark humor to hide a kind heart; Chen-hui with his quirky ways of seeing the world; Xuiyang with his strong practical streak; San Jin everyone's favorite older brother; and the young In-Yeon brimming with potential. He wondered how any recruits would fit in, and who would take the lead when he was gone for good.

'Master Wu is going to be so annoyed if I die like this. He hoped for so much more.' As Junseo had this thought he felt the warmth of their connection radiating back through the tiger's eye among his prayer beads. It felt like the monk was telling him not to give up.