The Darkness Behind the Light

Chapter 7

Mines surrounded Malkia from all sides with many joined by tunnels deep in the mountains. Natalie speculated that the Light agents would use the tunnels to slip out of town and her informants working the mines discovered a miner leading a suspicious group. The group managed to slip away but they caught the miner and sent word back to Natalie.

Our destination was a large iron mine located behind the castle. With the sun sinking on the horizon, the miner's camp was full of people leaving and get ready to go home to their families. They didn't seem to care that we were walking through the area as Natalie tied her hair back into a ponytail in preparation.

I checked out her armour, surprised to see that she had gotten a hold of the old thing so quickly. "You didn't go all the way back to Riverside to grab your armour, did you?"

She gave me an amused look and I knew the sarcasm was on its way. "That's right, I can teleport." She looked forward again. "Emily kept it safe here. Removing it from my home made it seem more like I was retired; less temptation to slip it on and run off after another prize. It wasn't easy but adjusting to a life of business was very rewarding. I couldn't imagine giving up on it."

"What made you go...legit?" Riley asked then started to look a little worried that she might have offended Natalie.

Natalie just laughed and she turned to me. "She is so adorable." She turned to Riley to answer her. "My husband. Before we married, he was injured in a battle. We had a...history and I stayed to help him recover. He couldn't return to his old life and I didn't want to abandon him so we worked out a plan that would be middle ground for both of us. It worked and we got married shortly after." We arrived at the mine entrance and she stopped the group. "It was the best day of my life."

Natalie looked around quickly before whistling sharply. A burly looking man emerged from the cave and nodded. "If you're hoping for a tour, you'll have to return at visiting hours." His voice was clear and intimidating.

Natalie didn't look phased. "And if I was here to pillage and loot?"

"Then we would welcome you, Watcher," the man answered, extending his arm into the cave to welcome us. "This way."

"Ooo, secret messages. Just like in the novels," Riley whispered excitedly.

I laughed and we followed the burly man into the mine.

The man barely looked like he fit through the passageway but the trip was short before we entered the first cavern. A large wooden staircase circled the perimeter allowing access to the upper level of the mine. At the base of the staircase was an empty office like area where the foreman would keep records and work schedules. We hurried past the stairs and took another small passageway deeper into the mine.

Riley was the first to lose her sense of direction with me following shortly afterwards. If Cathy or Natalie knew where we were or where we were going, they didn't give any hint. We just continued to follow our guide until we emerged into a dead end with two miners standing guard over a third who was bounded and on his knees praying.

The praying miner looked like he was fresh out of his teen years and he didn't acknowledge our presence. He was too focused on his prayer and one of the other miners kicked him to get his attention. The praying miner hissed in pain but stopped his prayer and looked up at us, fear starting to creep into his eyes.

Natalie gave a dismissive wave to the other miners. "You can leave. We'll take it from here."

The three left quickly and obediently while the praying miner fought the urge to stay quiet. Natalie paced back and forth thoughtfully and I thought that she would be leading the investigation until she motioned for me.