The Anarchist of Ophridia (Horsemen Origins Book 4)

Part 1

"Fire in the hole!" The Foreman screamed. They leaned down, plugged their ears and opened their mouths so their eardrums wouldn't burst as the explosion rocked the entire mine. The debris fell like a heavy rain, men filled in the gap and hammered away at the rich vein of coal with their pickaxes as though they sought revenge against the body of a fallen god.

Lee sighed as he heaved at the coal vein in front of him. "Stay strong and do your time," He whispered to himself in the English common tongue.

"Did I ever tell you boys about the origins of Ophridia?" Deng asked.

"Nobody wants to hear that stupid story again Deng," Zao said.

Lee turned. "Aww c'mon Zao. Let Deng tell it, makes the workday go faster."

"Thank you Lee," Deng replied. "They say that before the Beijing astronomers found this little gem here, Ophridia was actually a serpent deity named Ophie who slithered through the ground on this planet. Wrangled and murdered by his celestial father, Ophie's remains became the coal we dig from the soil."

"Beautiful story Deng, really," Bai said. "What about the fact that above ground all we see is black rock, while down here we find all this coal? Doesn't that mean there was life down here at one point?"

"Yeah, the great serpent Ophie!" Deng said. Lee laughed at his infectious smile. Deng wiped the sweat from his bald scalp.

"What I mean is, if there was life here before, where is it now?" Bai asked.

"Ask the Botanist here. At least, he was back on Earth," Zao said.

All of the men looked at Lee for his input on the conversation. His face grew flush and he gave a grin of embarrassment from all of the attention placed on him.

"Well a planet this rich in coal would mean that it used to teem with life, but given how barren it is now due to constant cloudcover it would signal a massive die-off of plant and animal life-"

"Ha! Told you Deng!" Bai said.

"But the life on this planet could've been the great serpent Ophie," Lee said with a grin. Deng burst out laughing and slapped Bai on the back.

"Get back to work!" the foreman screamed in the native mandarin tongue. The men lowered their heads and dove back into mining the rich coal vein they'd struck. The remaining hours of their shift were spent in silence until the whistle blew.

"Who's up for a drink at the Eternal Dragon?" Zao asked.

"I'm in," Lee said.

"Me too. I gots more stories about the great serpent Ophie," Deng said.

"Why don't you let that go?" Zao asked. "We're a planet full of people the Chinese Governors exported to help with Mother China's overpopulation problem." Zao couldn't contain the bitterness in his voice over being a displaced civilian.

"It's alright Zao, just keep your head down and work hard. We're bound to get out of here sometime," Lee said. "Ai ya! I'm tired. What I wouldn't give to see the sunlight again."

Zao turned and flashed a disgusted sneer. "It's Ophridia, the sun never shines here. It's as gray as the coal we dig from the ground." A string of cursing in Mandarin erupted nearby. A miner was being dragged by three guards dressed in scarlet red, the colors of the Emperor Yiu Mei's Elite soldiers. The man pleaded for his life, while the guards only seemed interested in beating him with their clubs.

"Another victim of Yiu Mei's 'Xiongbu,' his policy of terror to keep us in line," Bai said.

"Somebody should help him," Deng said.