Corin hesitated; then his shoulders fell. “I’m afraid not, miss,” he said. “We’re just as lost as you.”
At that the woman giggled, and Bradok recognized her. That was the sound he’d heard two mornings earlier when he was using the privy at the other camp. He blushed as he realized she’d been watching him.
“Did you somehow escape?” Chisul asked.
The woman giggled again. “Oh, we escaped all right, handsome,” she replied, her amused expression transformed into an open leer.
“Easy, Jeni,” Corin said.
“What does she mean?” Rose asked, suspicion clouding her face. “Where did you escape from?”
Corin sighed and cast a vaguely disparaging look at Jeni, who appeared not to notice or care. “We were prisoners in the Burning Rock Penal Caves,” he said. “That doesn’t mean anything to you, of course, but it’s the kind of place they send you when they don’t want you coming back.”
“You’re convicts?” Chisul asked, aghast.
Corin smiled and shrugged absently. “Call it what you like. We’re ex-convicts now.”
“How did you escape?” Bradok asked.
“A little over a week ago, there was some kind of a massive earthquake,” Corin explained. “Most of the caves exploded or collapsed, forcing a river of magma into the few areas left intact. Just when we thought we were goners, a fissure opened in the back wall, exposing an underground river beyond.
“We had no choice,” he went on. “We jumped into the river just a step ahead of the deadly magma. Twenty of us went into the river. By the time we washed up on the beach, we were all that survived.”
“You probably washed up on the same beach we did,” Bradok guessed.
“Yes,” said Corin.
Jeni nodded and smiled manically. “We found your ship,” she said.
“Very clever,” the round dwarf said.
“We’ve been trying to follow you ever since,” Corin said.
“How could you?” Rose asked. “We almost starved; we went the wrong way and doubled back; we encountered many dangers.”
The scarred dwarf laughed, a hollow, mirthless sound. “One of the things they did to us in prison was to starve us,” he said evenly. “They’d eventually start feeding us again, after the weak died off, so we’re used to doing without food. Following you without getting noticed, that was harder.”
“Are you hungry now?” Bradok asked.
Corin laughed and nodded. “Once the spores subsided, we harvested mushrooms from the same cavern you did,” he said. “We’d never have found that feast if you hadn’t led us there. Thanks for that.”
Bradok wanted to ask more about what happened to the spores and the mushroom-covered dwarves, but Chisul cut him off.
“Well, since you’ve got food and you don’t need our help, I suggest you be on your way,” Silas’s son said brusquely.
“Where would we go?” Corin said, rubbing his chin. “We weren’t intending to join up with you; we were simply following. But we can’t go back to where we escaped from; they kill fugitive prisoners on sight. Assuming we knew how to get back … or that anyone there is left alive to kill us.”
“I don’t care where you go,” Chisul said, “as long as you leave us alone and be on your way.”
Mutterings of approval filled the tunnel where the survivors of Ironroot had packed in to hear what was being said.
“You wouldn’t want to go with us anyway,” Bradok said in a conciliatory fashion. “We are trying to make for the surface.”
Several of the Daergar paled to an almost transparent hue.
“I know that,” Corin said. “We’ve talked it over and I want to go anyway.”
“The way the ground shook,” the tall, good-looking dwarf explained in a melodious voice. “It went on for three days. It probably destroyed everything down here. Nothing left for us down here.”
“He’s right,” Corin said. “We may be the only dwarves left in this part of the world. We may not have always gotten along, cousins, but if we care about the future of the dwarf race, we should put our differences aside. Otherwise, our chances of survival will go down.”
“You don’t have anything we want, Daergar,” Jenner said tersely.
“We aren’t going to take convicts into our midst,” Chisul echoed.
“I thought you might feel that way,” Corin said, “so I’ll make you a deal. If I can prove we’re useful enough to bring along on your little expedition to nowhere, will you accept us?”
“What do you mean?” Rose said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“We might just be able to help you find your way out of these passages,” Corin said.
“I thought you said you didn’t know your way around here,” Much pointed.
“Well, I don’t,” Corin said. “So it’s no trick. But if we can help you, is it a deal?”
“No,” Chisul said stubbornly. “It’s some kind of cheat.”
“He doesn’t seem like a bad sort,” Bradok said softly. He looked over at Tal, who shrugged, and Much, who kicked stones at his feet. That left Rose, who smiled at him reassuringly.
Bradok turned back to Corin, who stood easily with his thumbs tucked into his belt. “Can you prove your worth?”
Corin nodded. “Without question. But only if you agree to take us with you.”
“Your people are convicts,” Bradok said. “If we take you with us, you would have to guarantee their proper behavior.”
“Oh, they’re all right,” Corin said with a wry grin. “They were once a rough lot, of course. After all, none of us went to prison for biting our nails. But some are quite harmless now. Or, you might say, rehabilitated.”
A dark chuckle ran through the Daergar.
“Never you fear; they’ll mind their manners,” he finished. “When a man gets a reprieve from a lifetime in the Abyss, he’d be a fool to waste the chance.”
Bradok nodded slowly. He studied Corin, looking for some trace of falsehood or deception. As far as he could tell, the dwarf had been open and honest with them.
“Why did they send you to prison?” he asked Corin directly.
Corin smiled but the scarred dwarf spoke before he could answer. “Corin there is an admirable case. He swindled a corrupt politician out of a million steel,” the scarred dwarf said. “It was revenge for the politician bankrupting his father.”
Corin’s face clouded for a moment; then his easy, affable smile returned.
“The funny part is why they sent me to prison,” Corin said. “They didn’t care about their friend whom I had ruined; they just wanted me to tell them where the money disappeared to.”
“What about the rest of you?” Much said, still uneasy.
“Fair enough,” Corin said. He turned and pointed at the scarred dwarf, who grinned, showing teeth that had been filed to points.
“That talkative one’s Thurl Surepath,” Corin said. “He was the house assassin for a wealthy family. When they fell on hard times, they sold him out to save their own skins.”
Thurl bowed with a sweeping motion, his unnerving grin never wavering.
“That’s Hurlic Sweetwater,” Corin continued, indicating the short, rotund dwarf. “He killed his wife when he caught her having an affair. Well, that happens, don’t it?
“Of course you didn’t stop there, did you, Hurlic?” Corin added with dramatic flair. “He killed her entire family.”
A gasp ran through the crowd, and Hurlic looked a bit sick.
“I’m sure he’s very sorry, and it was all a long time ago. This,” Corin said, pulling the tall, good-looking dwarf forward, “is Xurces Firebrand, the most notorious sex fiend in the history of Darkhold City. It’s said he has fathered over one hundred children.”
The collective gasp centered on mothers clutching their children and husbands stepping in front of their wives.
“Please,” Xurces said sweetly, trying to calm the crowd. “That’s all behind me.”
Corin patted the younger dwarf on the back. “That’s right, all behind him,” Corin continued. “The guards at the penal caverns took care of that. They castrated him.”
A palpable silence followed. Then Xurces spoke. “No, it’s all right, really,” he said. “It sure did cure me. I’m no longer the person I was, and that’s actually a good thing.”