Abased - The Exiled Warrior

Chapter 19.2 Deception

Tajar lifted a fresh lit torch and discarded the stub of the spent one.

"Five hours left," he stated.

The flame of the new torch was much larger than the sputtering of the now dead one, casting light further down the low ceilinged, rough walled, twisting tunnel.

"How long to reach the outside?" Alam asked.

He did not really want to hear the answer, knowing that it would be more than the torches could provide light for. In the dark, with no illumination other than Clarisai's eyes, survival would be doubtful. Not only would it be impossible to see enemies until it was too late, but the risks of twisted ankles on the uneven floor, or worse, stumbling into an unseen hole, were frighteningly high. Already, even with torchlight, Alam had tripped once. And they had passed a cavernous hole so deep its bottom was a pure black void.

Tajar relayed the question to Bouk and then translated the reply.

"He says he thinks it is two movements away."

"What is meant by 'movements'?" Clarisai asked. "I do not know this term in this context."

"Neither do I," said Alam.

Tajar started walking forward. Bouk was at his side; Clarisai behind him; and Alam, stooping to avoid smacking his head on the ceiling, walked at the rear.

"The dargu have two ways of telling time," Tajar said. "One for outdoors, and one for underground. When they are outside they use the passage of the sun just like we do, but obviously that doesn't help down here."

"True," Alam nodded.

"They don't have hour glasses, they don't have incense like the Empire out east uses, and obviously sundials and obelisks are useless. So what do they have?" Tajar grinned back at Alam and Clarisai.

"You are enjoying this too much," Alam said. "I don't know. What do they have?"

"They have their intestines!" Tajar announced gleefully.

"I think I am going to wish I had never asked," Alam muttered.

"I already do," Clarisai added.

"Here is how it works," Tajar said, taking an artificially serious tone. "When dargu feed, they all feed at the same time. And then, some hours later, they all defecate at roughly the same time."

Tajar looked at Clarisai. "I hope you noticed I am using delicate language for you, princess. In case you are unfamiliar with the word, 'defecate' means..."

"I know what it means," she cut across him.

"Anyway," Tajar continued. "They call the amount of time between eating and defecating, when translated into our language, a 'movement'."

"Thank you for that lesson, Tajar," said Clarisai. "You have a rare gift for saying many words but not answering the original question."

"Didn't I? I suppose you are right. A 'movement' is around six hours. Bouk says he thinks we are around two movements away."

Alam frowned. "Twelve hours, but only five of them with torches."

"Tajar, you said Bouk 'thinks' it is two movements away. Does he not know for sure?" Clarisai asked.

Tajar and Bouk had a conversation which took a few minutes. During the conversation the corridor changed from rough carved tunnel to an undulating, naturally occurring passage with smooth, rounded sides. At one point it narrowed to such a small gap that Alam and Tajar had to remove their armour, push it ahead of themselves and then squeeze through. While putting his armour back on Tajar answered Clarisai's question.