Oops—he had forgotten her request. “Yes. I’ll get you a piece.” He moved back to where he had seen a very faint glow, similar to what they had seen in the deep caves when traveling, but of a different quality, and chipped at it. It came from only one section, so he was able to isolate the glowing fragment. He put it in his pocket, and forgot the matter.
A Fren guard approached his tunnel, whip in hand. Mich followed him back to the cell. Curbia arrived soon after.
Both Mich and Curbia settled down on the rough floor in front of the door, awaiting the plate of slop. This time, Mich managed to snatch the whole piece of bread. It did not even have much mold on it. He tore it in half and gave half to Curbia. She thanked him and offered him some of the guts she had grabbed.
“No, thank you,” he said, smiling and crinkling his nose with distaste.
“Nola says, ‘Thank you for the advice.’ She says it worked perfectly and that she wished she could give some to you.”
“Tell her that I don’t need any, but perhaps Curbie does.”
“She says she gave him some first and that it even put a shine on his coat. But she doesn’t wish to burden Curbie further with her messages, which do take effort to transmit. She says to say good night.”
Mich’s smile did not leave him for a few moments, but when it did, it left him completely. He drew in his knees and scraped the dirt at his feet with a rock.
“You look sad. What is bothering you?” Curbia asked. “Besides this place, I mean.”
“It is Nola. I love her so, but I know that even if Kafka is saved, she will want to return home.”
“Does she not care for you?”
“Yes, I know she loves me also, but she has had nothing but heartache since she’s gotten here. My world must seem an inhospitable place to live.”
“But, you see, if she loves you as much as Curbie tells me, she will stay with you.”
“It’s not just that,” he said, as he felt a small chunk of rock in his pocket. It was the one Curbia had asked for. Absentmindedly he brought it out and flipped it toward her. It hit the floor and rolled toward the dog. “It’s that she has her own life, on her own world. Why would she want to stay in a place she has only bad memories of, when she could return to a place where there exist magic water showers and fine eating chambers and magic numbers that are much like your telepathy and—”
Curbia had moved close and slapped a paw over his mouth. Her muzzle was in his face, an unusual mannerism for her. He saw the small rock that he had dug out between her front teeth. “What’s wrong?” he asked after she removed her paw.
She slowly shook her head. The rock made a rattling sound. She spit the rock out in front of him and leaned in close. “It’s the twin stone,” she whispered.
Mich jumped a little. “But it’s just a rock.”
“No, it is encased in light-dreamstone crystals, like the ones that line the walls, only a higher concentration, you see? What you must do is hide the stone, say, in your trouser leg, and carefully break it open. Light will shine from it, so you must hide it. Otherwise, the others will see it and try to take it from you. After you crack the light shell, take the stone out, then take a rock, grind the shell into powder and spread it into the dirt on the floor so that it blends in. Do it quickly now, before the others begin to come round!”
He did so. She was right. When he broke it open, much stronger blue light shone from the inside of the encasement walls, as if it were a minute star. He found the stone inside, just like the one Nola wore. A smooth, half-circle of blue stone. A white star in its center captured the light of the encasement and followed it over the curving face of the stone.
“How did you know?” he asked Curbia, realizing that he had found the stone by no coincidence.
“My telepathy is limited, but does react to some magical things—and that is one of the most magical,” she explained. “I knew it was close, very close, but it was out of my digging territory. I could not get it myself without alerting suspicion, you see? But you could get it.”
“Then it’s yours! You located it, you directed me to it, you recognized it.”
“It is not mine or yours. It belongs to Kafka. You must reserve it for the good of Kafka.”
She was right. He covered the light crystals in the loose dirt and pounded them with a rock. He uncovered a portion and a slender ray shone into the closed eyes of the goat. He quickly brushed more dirt over it and continued pounding. When he was finished, he brushed his hands through the dirt, so that the now-minute pieces blended in with the surrounding light crystals.
He fingered the blessed stone for a moment, then wedged it in his armor. “What if they search me?”
“They will not, you see? As long as they do not discover who you are, they will assume that you will be more than happy to deliver the stone to them, in exchange for your freedom, you see?”
“Yes, I see. But how can I get the stone to Nola before it is too late?”
“That I cannot tell you. I have informed Curbie. Nola is presently smiling. Perhaps she will come up with the answer.”
“Does she have any ideas?”
“She says no. She says there is no way for her to escape her cell without being caught. She is worried that if she makes any strange moves, she will be found out.”
This was a problem that seemed to have no solution. But at least there was now a light at the end of the tunnel. A faint blue light. What irony.
Tina was glad her shift was over. Her cell seemed like a closet, occupied by several other creatures. She was forced to wait until they were all resting before she dared make her supper.
She could hear the creatures breathing heavily as they rested. One of them, a large dragon, lay curled in a corner. He snored loudly, shooting small flames from his nostrils. He always ate first, and therefore was always first to fall into repose.
Her hands opened and were filled by a plate containing a hamburger and french fries. She smiled to herself. The food reminded her of better days back home. She bit into the delicious hamburger. She spat it back out as she was startled by a growl.
It was the dragon. His head was raised and his red eyes stared at her. His nostrils were opened wide and quivering. He slithered over to her. “Where did you get that?” he growled.
“None of your business,” she replied smugly.
“There is no such food in Kafka. I’ve never smelled it before.” He lifted his head and looked down his nose at her. He belched a flame into the air above her head.
“Hey! Watch it!” she yelled. The other creatures in the cave began to stir.
“I know you!” he said. “You are a Creator! If I turn you in, I will get my freedom!”
Tina went stiff with terror as the dragon sauntered over to the door and began butting it with his head. “Stop! Stop! What are you doing?” she yelled.
The dragon ignored her and continued to make as much racket as possible. It was only a moment or so before a Fren poked its hideous head through the door. Tina was distracted for a moment, despite her predicament. There was something about this particular Fren; she had noticed it before, but still had not been able to pin down what it was.
“Whatsch going on here?” he shouted. His eyes went wide when he saw Tina’s hamburger lying in the dirt. He shoved the dragon aside and stormed into the cell, jag waving. The other creatures were up and staring. “You! What have you got there?” he asked Tina.
The dragon bounced up eagerly. “She’s a Creator! I saw her making food! I found her; now I will be free!” he said, staring hopefully at the Fren.
“You will be nothing of the short, lizard. Now get back before I render you schexlessch.”
The dragon shrank back, tail between its legs.
“Now, you,” the Fren said, poking Tina. “You are coming with me, now!”
Tina stood and followed the Fren out of the cell. A thought was worming its way through her panicked mind. Something about this particular Fren was nagging at her. There wa
s something in the way he spoke. She knew she could discover what it was. She racked her brain trying to remember.
“What is going to happen to me?” she asked him.
“You will be dischposched of,” he replied nastily.
In a flash, she knew what it was. The accent was not quite the way it should be, but that could be due to a different type of mouth. She knew this creature!
However, they were approaching the main chamber. She must act quickly. She stopped walking and closed her eyes, concentrating with all her might. If this worked . . .
“Get moving, you!” he yelled. “What isch wrong with you?”
Tina heard him make a guttural sound as the image she held in her head began to shimmer, then disappear. She let it go and opened her eyes. There before her was the worm king’s concubine, his eyeless head bobbing excitedly. “Oh, oh! My heart feelsch—you don’t know what it wasch like!” he said.
“I knew it was you!” she exclaimed exultantly. “There was something about you. I was almost drawn to you, before, but didn’t know why. It’s because you’re really an ally.”
“Quickly, come with me,” he whispered.
Tina followed him into a small tunnel that led to a dead end. They could not be seen by anyone in the main tunnel. Here they sat and made arrangements to free his brothers and find Nola and Mich. With the help of his brothers, the warrior worms, this just might turn the tide in their favor.
Tina felt a sense of pride. If she could save her friends, she’d finally be able to show her appreciation. Their friendship meant the world to her. She smiled. She could finally feel like something more than a dirty whore. She might not be able to do the things with dreamstone that Nola could, but her sense of affinity was paying off.
“What is your name?” she inquired as they waited.
“I am Drake,” the worm confided.
“Glad to know you better, Drake,” she said, patting his slimy hide.
Tina and the worm waited until the shifts in sectors nine through twelve were over. The inefficiency of the Fren supervision was evident, because it seemed that neither she nor Drake had been missed.
They began searching tunnels and cells, starting with sector twelve and working their way to sector nine.
Drake had an excellent sense of smell and remembered Tina’s friends well. He poked his long tongue beneath the cell doors, sniffing with it, then drawing it back into his mouth to taste the things he smelled. Unfortunately, the occupants of the cells were hostile and hungry. Near the end of the third tunnel, his tongue had been bitten off twice.
“Won’t your tongue turn into another worm?” asked Tina.
“No, not if I do not wisch it to. Reproducschion in that way isch very draining on our kind. It isch schafer and much lessch draining to schimply regenerate my body. Besidesch, digeschted portionsch don’t regenerate.”
Tina shook her head. “I should know these things, shouldn’t I?”
“How could you? We are juscht a memory of a schtory that you heard asch a child. It wasch the one who told the schtory, your grandfather, who made usch who we are. He wasch our Creator. He told you about usch to keep usch alive.”
“Grandpa? He Created you?”
“He loved you very much. He wanted you to schare in hisch dreamsch.”
Tina found that extremely touching and comforting. “And the worm king, Kras—why did he reject me?”
“Becausch he did not want you to perisch. He knew he was loscht, but you might schurvive.”
And of course that was the truth. She had been foolishly angry with the king. Foolish anger was the story of her life, in a way.
During their search of sector nine, a Fren guard surprised them from behind. Tina was thrilled when the Fren told her that she’d be “deschtroyed for her inscholence.” She wasted no time in converting him. He turned out to be one of King Kras’s spiked-collared warriors, one of the ones they lost in the glade. He was grateful to Tina for rescuing him from his imprisonment and pledged his loyalty to her until Kafka was restored.
She realized that it hadn’t been such a coincidence that she had found Drake. The Fren tended to make use of whatever was handy, and the newest converts were the handiest to use for prison duty. They would have the lowest rank, so would be assigned to the dullest chores too. There were probably many friends among the prison Fren, ironic as that seemed.
They continued to search together. Drake lost the tip of his tongue once more before they were through. He was searching the last cell when they heard guards approaching to take the prisoners to the mines. They quickly moved on to sector eight.
When they reached the prison tunnel of sector eight, they discovered the cells were empty, which meant that the prisoners were all in the mine tunnels. They proceeded down the tunnel until they could see the rough chamber in which the prisoners slaved.
They were forced to keep close to the tunnel wall, hidden in shadow lest they be seen. The guards were unusually numerous. Perhaps the shift had just begun, which meant some guards would be leaving soon, and would see Tina and the two worms hiding in the tunnel.
Tina scanned the chamber with her eyes. In one corner, at the far end, she saw Mich. At first she did not recognize him, but then she remembered that Nola had sheared his hair and colored his skin. There was no way to get to him. The moment they stepped into the room, they would be sitting ducks.
“I schmell one of your friendsch,” Drake said.
“Yes, there,” she said, pointing, though knowing this gesture was futile because Drake had no eyes.
“Get on my back.”
Tina smiled. She had forgotten about that. Drake could take her through the rock to Mich. She reached up and dug her nails into Drake’s back. “Doesn’t that hurt when I do that?” she asked.
“Take out your fingersch and look at my schkin.”
She did so and saw that there were now perfectly shaped finger holes in his back. No blood or other gooky stuff came out. The skin was smooth down inside the holes, coated with a healthy slime. His body had healed itself, instantly, around her fingers.
She shrugged and hopped aboard. Drake dived into the wall and “wormed” his way through the rock. Tina was electrified by this strange ability to tunnel. She didn’t think she could ever grow tired of riding. They almost flew, the rock magically evaporating as it touched her skin. The rock never injured her and she could barely feel it. In fact, it felt almost like a soft breeze. Drake’s body stretched out to three times its normal length, then he would anchor his head with his tongue, then pull his nether portion along. He traveled very swiftly, for a worm, and the ride was surprisingly steady. Drake’s friend followed at a distance.
Soon Drake announced that he smelled Mich. He poked his head through the tunnel wall in which Mich was working and immediately stuck out his tongue, wrapping it around Mich’s head and mouth in order to keep him from screaming in surprise and running out of the tunnel.
Drake brought his entire body through, carrying Tina with it. Mich’s look of horror soon eased as he recognized Tina. His face was covered with tongue, except for his eyes, but they crinkled in a way that showed he was grinning from ear to ear.
“My God, Tina, it’s you!” he said over the noise of the mining, after Drake released him. “It’s so good to see your face. How did you get away?”
“It’s good to see you too! I’d like you to meet Drake, again.”
Drake bowed his head.
“Again?”
“He’s King Kras’s lover. You met him before.”
“Yes, of course, I remember. Where’d he come from?”
“He was guarding me as a Fren. I recognized his accent. All the worms who turned into Fren kept their accents, so they are easy to recognize. We found one other—he’s following behind us—and we are looking for the rest. We figure we can get Nola’s cross back and get ourselves out of here.”
“Good girl!” he exclaimed. That made her feel great, though there might have been a ti
me, back on Earth, when she would have been insulted. Mich didn’t know about Earthly sexism.
Tina noticed a pair of dark eyes staring at them through a hole in the tunnel wall. She advanced on it menacingly.
“No, Drake, wait! That’s my friend Curbia. I’ve got to take her with me.”
“Humpf,” Tina muttered. “I suppose she can ride the warrior.” With that, she could hear the wall crumbling in the adjacent tunnel and a dog’s surprised bark. “Curbia’s a mutt?”
“I’m not a mutt!” Tina heard someone say in a feminine voice. “I’m a bitch and proud of it!”
Tina laughed out loud. “That’s a dog after my own heart!” she said as she mounted Drake’s back.
She stretched out a hand to Mich. He jumped into the air and landed in the dirt with a thud. Behind him stood four Fren. One of them had poked him with a razor jag.
Tina immediately opened her mind and closed her eyes. As luck would have it, three of the four were worm warriors. She converted them as the remaining Fren stared in horror. He was gone in a second, in a puff of dust.
The worms, recognizing her power, lavished Tina with praise and thanks. They promised to stay close and help her in any way they could.
But she couldn’t rest on her laurels, such as they were. “I guess it’s time to confront Reility and take back Nola’s cross. He should be in the main chamber. We had better be quick about it, before Reility learns we are here. Is everyone ready?”
Mich, Curbia and the worms all nodded. Then they were off into the rock. Drake searched ahead with his tongue for a smell of evil. It wasn’t long before he found the right direction and picked up speed.
When they reached the main chamber, there was no hesitation. The five worms plunged through the rock and headed toward the small desk where Reility sat, cross ashine in the dim blue light.
Reility looked up and did a double take. The worms advanced on him. The guards in the room attacked.
“Warriors!” Tina yelled. “Do not kill them! Get the cross!”