Eliona's War 3: Lethal Healer

Ch. 26

Time Elapsed: 1:47:02

Loose stone crunched under Severance's feet. Rocks of all sizes, from a tiny pebble to a great boulder as big as a car, piled up on either side. Someone had cleared a path through the rubble recently, though they had made it just wide enough for two people to pass through side by side.

Severance slowed, taking in the aftermath of what had been a horrendous landslide. It had buried the access to Ironback Town beneath 15 feet of rock, so he wasn't surprised to see that some of the debris had been moved out of the way. It was still an active mine, and its tunnels were the only way to pass through to Tomorrow's Edge for those without teleport access.

He gently touched a rock resting about shoulder height beside him. Its dark gray surface felt rough against his fingertips. He grimaced.

"What's wrong?"

He looked up to see Jack frowning at him. The team had quietly arranged itself to fit the narrow path, with Jack and himself in the front, Kiah and Snow behind them, and Valentin taking up the solitary rear. Vast had lumbered on ahead, disappearing amongst the rocky terrain.

Severance could feel the curiosity radiating from his teammates. "Nothing. Just remembering. I was here when the landslide happened."

"Really?" That was Snow. "There was nothing when we came through."

"I didn't see anything either," Kiah said. "This is a lot of rock to move. What happened?"

"Well..." Severance scratched the side of his nose, collecting his thoughts.

They'd just moved past the rubble, and could now see the little mining town in all her glory. Ironback town, named for the surrounding mountain range, was little more than a few shacks clinging to the side of a mountain. A single road passed through, leading to the cavernous entrance of the mine.

Here, obsa was mined by a small crew of ragged, hardy folk. Even now, he could see an Elionan man pushing an empty cart towards the mine, and at the base of a hill formed by discarded chunks of rock, a pair of women sorted through baskets of freshly mined material.

Severance stared at them, his chest growing tight. His gaze moved towards the row of shacks. Obsa mining had a dark side to it, and the last time he was here, he'd seen it first hand in one of those shacks.

"What happened?" Jack repeated the question. A subtle edge had slipped behind those words.

It pulled Severance out of his thoughts. He looked away from the shacks, and refocused on the player beside him. Inwardly, he gave his head a shake. Jack really needed to learn how to chill.

"I'll tell you, but first, what was it like when you guys came through?"

"What do you mean?" Snow asked. "We just talked to the foreman, and he arranged for someone to take us through."

Severance nodded, having suspected something along those lines. "I'm guessing there wasn't a weird guy named Tarface there."

"Tarface?" An incredulous laugh came from the cryomancer. "No, but I wish he had been. What a name!"

They weren't far from the town now, maybe a hundred feet from the first shack. Severance stopped, turned around, and regarded his team soberly.

"I don't think you would have. When I came here, Tarface ran the place. First thing he did was sort us by clan. Those who were from the Chosen and Traders got a free pass through the mining tunnels. Those who weren't had two choices. Pay ten Amaurite crystals to pass through, or finish an impossible quest."

He smiled somewhat lifelessly. Once again, his attention strayed towards the shacks. From here, he could see the X carved into the door on one of them. It was the mark of the Afflicted.