Capítulo 20: -The Mines [1]
Rook Neck Tavern was a bustling hub of activity both large and small, popular with people of any age. A place where people could come, drink and laugh off their worries. Or worse, be alone in your own thoughts, without knowing the feeling of being alone.
In total, the tavern had three floors, the first of which was the ground floor, a place simply to drink, eat and laugh your worries away.
The second was separated off only by railing, with an open floor in the middle, allowing anyone from the ground to see up to the second floor that lines the edges of the tavern's walls, like a walkway. It was mainly used for families or groups to sit down and enjoy themselves without having to deal with any drunk party interrupting them.
The third floor however, was separated off for a much different reason. Private dealings, and an overall VIP lounge for those who wished to enjoy the tavern's food and drinks without needing to deal with people of the 'lower' class.
The third floor was useless to Lia, as was the second. So she kept to the first floor, knowing full well that any miners that chose this place as their den of drunken laughter would stick to the first floor.
'You are aware that the third floor is actually -'
'I don't want to know Cain.'
Interrupting Cain, Lia shook her head, keeping his thoughts and words out of her mind.
'The last thing I need is something else to be wary of.'
Knowing Cain, his advice, ideas, or information given to her, would always lead to her dealing with something dangerous, or just simply giving her too much of a headache.
The amount of information Cain had in his mind, Lia had to admit, was by far impressive, but it was simply too much for her to deal with. Especially all in one sitting.
Reading the worries and concerns from Lia's mind, Cain held his tongue, but did not forget to warn Lia.
'Don't blame me if it leads to something bad later on.'
'What is that supposed to mean?'
However, before Cain could explain, Lia's attention was taken away from the conversation by Lukali, who pointed out a group of men entering the tavern.
"Lia, look there."
From their table in the corner of the tavern, Lia could easily see anyone that entered, and from there she could tell if they were miners simply by a glance.
The group that had just entered the tavern was a group of around seven people, all of whom were dirty from the neck downwards.
Drit, mud, and gray dust plastered across their leather aprons and worn tunics, nearly hiding the long line of tattoos along their arms. But Lia could easily see them as any one could, if they paid close attention.
"You think that's them?"
Lukali asked, making no effort to hide the fact he was scrutinizing them.
Thankfully, no one paid close attention to them. Another upside to being seated in the corner table.
After checking to make sure they were the men Lia was looking for, she quietly got up and made her way to the bar, not forgetting to keep Lukali where he sat.
"Yes, that's them. Wait here."
Of course Lukali didn't forget to complain.
"Aw, come on."
Ever since they had entered the tavern, no one paid too close attention to them, which Lia did not want to change. However, Lukali was at the point of testing her patience.
She knew his uses and knew she couldn't stop him at the same time, nor could she get rid of him. But to actively try and go from table to table asking for miners was borderline stupidity. And something Lia still found her head hurting over.
So, naturally she had him wait, and keep watch over the table so she would have someplace to come back to.
It also offered her a good excuse in case anyone asked why she was waiting so long at the bar, which Lia could already guess would happen at least once or twice.
These people were no fools, and she knew better than to act suspicious or push her luck when dealing with them. As Cain said, they're ancestors were blood and war torn people, with a good head on their shoulders for quick thinking.
And Lia was not ready to test to see if that was true or not.
Arriving at the bar and greeting the bartender, she ordered a shot of Baclan, a common drink found in Neverdark. It happened to be a drink rooted from a glowing mushroom called Shroom Lac.
Lia didn't even want to know what fool thought it would be a good idea to turn Shroom Lac into a drink. A glowing mushroom at that.
'Uh..would you-'
'Shut up Cain.'
Though, she had to admit it, while the drink tasted like crap, it did bring her some measly bit of a clear mind, which, as she understood it, was why so many chose it as their poison of choice.
As she had expected, one of the seven men, a man who looked far worse off than the rest of them, sat himself next to her at the bar, two seats down.
Over the cheers and laughs of the tavern, Lia could hear the man order an entire bottle of Baclan, which, at first gave the bartender a worried look on his face, but at the man's impatience, he gave it to him.
Of course the bartender's worry was not unfounded. While Baclan could in fact ease the mind, drinking too much of it would numb the mind and put the drinker in a state of pure drowsiness.
If the feeling of getting drunk was feeling blurry and drowsy, the feeling of Baclan drunkenness was like turning off the engine to your mind, and letting it run on autopilot for the last minutes before kicking out.
But what was most fearful about this, was that it only took a single drink the size of a goblet to place the drinker in such a state.
And this man was about to drink an entire bottle.
'Perfect.'
Lia thought, her own mischievous smile sneaking its way onto her face.
She waited, her heart pounding in anticipation, growing and quickening with each swig the man took. Soon, she could see his face redden, and his postures slumped against the bar table.
Lia, seeing this, celebrated inwardly, her body ready to move and strike.
Scotting closer to him, she offered him a glass from the table, empty but full of meaning.
"If you take such big swigs your friends might have to carry you out of here."
Grunting, the man overlooked Lia, before readily accepting the glass.
"Doesn't matter anyways. Who cares about getting dead ass drunk when you don't have work to go back to?"
Shockingly, Lia wasn't too surprised. She had already deduced that the spiders might have been causing some trouble, but she was a bit shocked that it had halted this man's job.
"Is the issue that bad?"
"Ha!"
The man let out a half hearted laugh, his drunken attitude already overtaking him.
At first, Lia was worried his voice would be too loud, and attract attention, but she was wrong. His voice was easily drowned out by the many other dozens who were yelling and shouting.
"Is it that bad? Those damn spiders have been tearing people to shreds. Merchandise, people, tools, the works."
His grumbling was low and quiet, as if some part of his drunken attitude was fading, and his sanity was seeping in. He clearly didn't want other people to hear this.
"Well, silver is a valuable resource. I can't imagine what it's like having to mine all that."
Switching the topic around, Lia tried focusing more on answers regarding the layout of the mines.
Now that she knew the damage the spiders were dealing against the miners and the higher ups, she knew that no one would bother getting in her way if they suddenly showed up to get rid of them.
Originally, with a valuable resource like silver being found here, she would have expected for the miners to just continue their mining while she was busy dealing with the spiders.
However, it looked to her like that worry was unfounded. Clearly they would do anything to get rid of them, especially if it was costing people their jobs, and at most, their lives.
"Oh it's not all that bad."
The man said taking another large swig, ignoring the glass Lia had just given him.
"Sure there are lots of ups and downs, plenty of caves and tunnels to get lost in, but if you just follow the oil lamp trail, you'll hit a group of people not too far away."
Though it sounded easy, this was in fact not what Lia wanted to hear.
She had hoped that the tunnels and caves would be mapped out, or at least hear something of a map, but instead she was just told to follow the lamp trail?
In a mine shaft, pitch black, there were probably over a dozen or so lamps stationed every few feet.
"The real issue is flailing rock debri. Those mine shafts are so worn and unstable, the higher ups just won't bother risking the damn thing collapsing and killing anyone they send in there."
Taking another long swig, the man brought his face close to Lia's, who tilted her head back at the smell of his breath.
"But you know what?"
He asked, burping out an even more repugnant smell of alcohol.
"They won't send any expensive pillar builders or whatever they're called, but they'll send us in there without a second thought!"
His frustration was written all over his face, and for a second, Lia feared his anger would be noticed if he actualized it into physical force.
"Well then, you should be glad to know that the spiders seem to be doing a heavy number on them."
Trying to calm the man down, so his rage wasn't as noticeable to the tavern as it was to her, she hesitantly brought up the issues the higher ups must have been going through.
"Ha. Think again."
However, she was proven wrong as the man's physical rage quelled, but his anger remained.
"It doesn't matter to them if we live or die there. The spiders have been collapsing tunnels, stealing transport carts, and even eating any miners they come across. But the higher ups just tell us to keep mining. The fuckers."
Finishing the bottle, he smacked the empty jug on the table.
"Bartender. Another one!"
Now his voice was rising, and Lia wasn't willing to push her luck any farther.
In her mind it was best to change topics as quickly as possible, otherwise the only thing that Baclon would help the miner focus on was his rage for the higher ups.
"Well, since there's not much you can do, I guess you should just drink the night away. That's what Rook Neck's for."
Seeing the tactic Lia was trying to implement, and the result she was looking for, the bartender quickly gave the miner a smoother drink. Something not as potent as Baclon, but also sweet and tasteful.
But also very hard to come by in Neverdark, as it was only obtainable through merchants.
Honey Dew Whiskey.
And a drink that Lia had often tasted back in the palace with Al Shir, whenever they would indulge in their book talks.
A drink Lia fondly loved.
Seeing the drink the bartender was pouring, the miner's face grew with excitement, before he grabbed another glass, and placed it before her.
"Since you've heard all my troubles and worries, only fine if you help me drink this all away."
Hesitantly, Lia took the glass and had the bartender fill it up, careful to look for any substance that either man may have placed inside.
Finding none, Lia could hardly hold herself back from chugging the small glass.
That was until the miner raised his hand in cheers to her, and to the group of other miners behind her, who were speaking in hushed tones.
"A toast to all our worries. May they slip away with this drink."
With one final chug, the drink was gone, both from Lia's glass and from the miner's.
Seeing her empty glass, the drunk miner could hardly keep from smiling, before bursting out into laughter, mixing and milling in with the crowd's noise.
"You certainly know how to drink your honey dew."
Chuckling to herself, Lis soon found herself arm and arm with the man as they both chugged down another glass of honey dew.
From the corner of her eyesight, she could see Lukali's faint outline as he looked worried. He continued waving his hands in front of himself, but Lia simply couldn't understand why.
'Lia!'
Soon however, she got her answer, as Cain's voice rang out in her head, filled with concern.
Stopping herself from taking another swig of the three she had already downed, she felt the presence of someone that she was hoping to avoid.
With a shadow casted over the bar table, and over her entire form, Lie knew the man behind her was large and fearsome. Someone she didn't want to mess with, as his figure easily casted as sense of fear over her.
Slowly, she turned to find a large man, tattoos painted all over his upper body, along his neck, ending at his chin. With piercings on both his ears and lips, added with the tattoos, he gave off an imposing pressure, suffocating Lia with fear.
"Ah Rian. You're late to the party…"
However, the drunk miner clearly wasn't afraid of the man, even with his piercing gaze, that gave the impression that he was more annoyed than he acted.
Turning to look over his drunk friend, Rian grunted out an annoyed sigh.
"Bickle, what the hell are you doing?"
"Ah..I was just…having a drink..with…this pretty little…girl."
Barely getting the words out of his mouth, Bickle struggled to stay seated as he turned to face Rian, almost falling out of his chair.
However, Lia was easily able to catch him, holding him by the shoulders against the bar.
"I've never seen you before in this tavern. Where do you come from?"
Instead of checking on his drunk friend, Rian completely ignored him and focused his attention on Lia.
"I wasn't aware that the city was close to visitors?"
Grunting, the man ignored Lia's question and, grabbing his friend, he moved away from the bar, back to his table. But he didn't forget to turn and mumble one final warning.
"You should watch yourself, little girl. Don't poke at the lion's den."
Mumbling to herself, Lia turned back to the bar, changing her focus to the drink in her hand.
'Lion's den. What did he mean by that?'
'Nothing good.'
Answering her unspoken question, Cain's voice came through clear as day, with his emotions full of wariness.
***
Nothing good was an understatement.
'Lion's den', or as Cain described it, a pride of people who reflected upon one another.
Poke at one member of the pride, you face the fangs of them all.
And this pride wasn't too happy about Lia asking questions from one of their own members. Much less when they discovered that she was asking about the mines.
At least that was what Lia thought, as she was flung against the wall, her head bashing against stone.
The alley was cool, and damp from the cavern's dripstone.
The soft sound of water as it dripped into puddles from above, resonated in the silence of the alley way.
Until…
-Wham
The sound of flesh on flesh sounded out, breaking the silence. The subtle crack of bone, and the loud thump of a body on stone.
Struggling to stand, Lia pushed herself against the wall with her feet, clutching her side where she could feel several broken ribs.
Blood poured from a gash on her cheek, and a black eye painted across her face. Mixed with the ragged hair, and the haggard looks she had, Lia looked as though she had just come out of a fighting ring.
Glancing up at the nearby figures, Lia's eyes met with a man's who had tattoos plastered all over his upper body. From the tips of his fingers to the edges of his jaw, his tattoos swirled, spiked and connected in more places that Lia could guess.
The same man she had met with at the bar.
Rian.
Bending down, Rian took a handful of her hair, and brought her face close to his, the pain splicing through her skull.
"I told you not to ask any questions. Yet now I come to find you've been asking one too many."
Upon leaving the tavern, and taking a quick shortcut through a nearby alleyway, Lia was met by a group of burly men. The same men she had seen in the bar.
The miners.
Chuckling to herself, Lia found it somewhat funny that the miners of all people were so on guard about questions. Especially when all they did was mine stone and silver, something that wasn't that big of a guarded secret.
"What's so funny?"
One of the men raised his hand, coming closer to Lia, ready to strike, before Rian raised his hand, stopping him.
"Enough. We still need her in one piece if we're gonna get any information from her lads."
Hearing the logic in Rian's words, the other backed down, and stepped back, signaling to Lia that Rian must be some sort of leader amongst the group.
"Let her go!"
From the sidelines, two burly men held Lukali, who had been caught with Lia, but was relatively unharmed.
"We didn't do anything!"
Struggling to break free from their grasp, and rush to Lia, Lukali fought desperately against their grip.
"Quiet you. We did you a favor keeping you there. Unlike this one we ain't got no reason to go after you."
Ignoring the commotion behind him, Rian directed his attention at Lia, who stared back into his eye without a shred of fear.
"Tell me why you were asking questions, and maybe I'll let you go."
Lia knew that if she would just give them what they wanted, this would all go away. Just simply telling them why she was here wasn't too difficult, nor did it have much repercussions that she couldn't work around.
But she just couldn't shake the feeling of something going wrong. Some foreign part of her desperately cling to the idea that she shouldn't by any means tell them anything.
Because of this, Lia kept her mouth tightly shut.
Seeing her determination and resolve to keep quiet, Rian could only sigh.
"Don't tell me I didn't warn you."
Reaching into his back pocket, a knife was drawn so cleanly and smoothly from its sheath, that Lia knew he was serious.
"Don't - Lia!"
From the side Lukali called out again, receiving a punch to the gut because of it.
"I said quiet!"
Tilting the dagger between his fingers, Rian's eyes never left Lia's, who stared back with similar coldness.
"One last chance. Give it up now, or you won't have that pretty face any longer."
Sill, her mouth remained closed.
"Suit yourself."
As he moved closer, his free hand grabbing on to her hair, and holding her in place, Lia could hear the unmistakable sound of a voice in her head.
'Would you like me to deal with him?'
'Wait.'
But Lia did not need help. She did not need a hero. She knew what the end result would be, hoping it would end as she had envisioned it.
As the knife neared her face, she could hear Rian's breath begin to slow down, calming his heart and his body, while simultaneously steadying his hand.
'He's done this before.'
Unable to take the close proximity of the knife any longer, Lukali stomped his foot cleanly down on one man's toes, hearing the snapping of bones.
"Gahhh!"
Breaking free, Lukali rushed forward, causing Rian to instantly step back, as Lukali placed himself between the defenseless Lia, and the giant Rian.
"Lukali, stop. Are you cray-"
But before Lia could finish her sentence, Lukali's voice rang out in the quiet alley.
"We're Hunters. We're here to get rid of the Silver Tail Spiders that have been causing you trouble!"
Instantly, the alley grew silent, as even the injured refused to speak.
Rian, who would have instantly brought the kid to the ground, stopped his motion of movement, and kept his cool.
However, unlike the rest, who had faces of wide eyes and shock, Rian's was one of anger. Not a burning raging anger, but one of annoyance and frustration.
Taking three steps forward, now completely towering over Lukali, Rian looked down at the boy, whose face was now plastered with fear at the sight of the height difference.
Leaning down, Lukali flinched as Rian's face was brought closer to his.
And in the silence of the alleyway, not even the breathing of the people closest could be heard, the sound of Rian's voice echoed out like drums.
"What took you so long?"
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