Aftermath

It was over.

A welcome sense of peace settled in the cavern.

Nearly half of the workers had survived the assault, though many bore wounds that would haunt them for days—perhaps for life. 

Groans of the injured echoed through the cavern as Lucian scrambled from body to body, working as quickly and carefully as possible.

Lucian scampered from body to body, performing his work as quickly and carefully as possible. 

He had long abandoned his usual meticulous approach to treating wounds. The bullet-ridden miners needed urgent attention, and time was a luxury he did not have. 

Instead of extracting bullets and cleaning wounds properly, he could only wrap them tightly, staunching the blood flow and praying infection wouldn't take them later.

After an hour he could finally breathe. All the injured would likely survive their wounds. 

But the ones who hadn't survived….

He turned to see the two piles of dead bodies. One was for the officials, the other for his friends. 

So many meaningless deaths. And for what? What had either side truly gained from this?

Lucian sighed. He would keep tending to the wounded. Infection would run rampant down here without the magic of Galios petals. 

And it seemed his supply was beginning to run low.

*******

Kael sat down on the ground, relief flooding through his body. It was over.

For now. 

When my subordinates realize that I haven't reported back, they'll send armies here.

That hadn't been just a threat from Kreel. It was a promise. 

"We can't stay here anymore," Kael muttered.

Elysia, who had been in deep conversation with Ryker, turned to him. "What?"

"Kreel said an army of officials would come here and finish us off. We barely survived ten of them. We need to leave this place behind."

Elysia scoffed. "And go where? This place is our home."

"This place was our prison," Kael countered. "We've lived our entire lives under their rule, digging their obsidian, breathing their poisoned air. Do you really want to wait for them to come back and slaughter what's left of us?"

Murmurs spread through the gathered miners. Some nodded in grim agreement, while others exchanged uneasy glances.

It was an uncomfortable idea, but it seemed to be the only solution they had.

"There's an entire world out there," Kael continued. "Selora. We've all seen it. There is more to this world than just these mines."

"If we leave," Ryker blurted out. "Where would we go? You're right, we've all seen this planet. It's a wasteland. What if only death awaits us out there too?"

Kael hesitated. He didn't have an answer. He had no grand plan, no roadmap to freedom. Only the undeniable truth that staying meant certain death.

"The officials came from somewhere," Kael said. "A city. A settlement. Whatever it is, it has supplies. Food. Medicine. Maybe even a place we can hide."

"You want us to go toward them?" The one called Yorin said, his voice wispy and thin.

"No. We need to go anywhere that isn't here."

For a moment, there was silence. No one wanted to make this decision.

Finally, Tuck stepped up, his face lined with age and wisdom. "All my life, I've wanted freedom. Some of you haven't been here for long enough to know what it's like. To miss that beautiful purple sky. To feel a gust of wind across your face. To breathe clear air. Even to feel that dry dirt beneath your feet. That is freedom."

"Down here," he continued. "We sleep on a cold stone ground. Toil away at obsidian until our bodies break. This might be all we know, but that shouldn't stop us from exploring the places we don't know."

The miners murmured in agreement. 

Elysia sighed. "Fine. But we still need a plan."

"First," Kael said. "We start by getting rid of our tablets. The royals are our enemies. They gave us those tablets. We will not be taking commands from them any longer."

Ryker grunted and began fishing around in his pocket. He pulled out the tablet and smashed it into the stone ground. For good measure, he stomped on it twice, cracking the glass screen. 

After a few seconds of stunned silence, the others followed Ryker's lead. 

"We should also gather supplies," Elysia said as she smashed her tablet. "Whatever we can carry. I don't know how long our trek will be."

As the workers scattered to gather supplies, Kael breathed a sigh of relief. 

For the first time in their lives, they were free.

Now, they just had to decide what to do with that freedom.