Bradok nodded. “It might be,” he said. “Time will tell. I’ll owe you an apology if you’re right. But right now, I think you’re wrong.”
Bradok and the others turned and moved back toward the tunnel where Corin and the others waited. Bradok felt strangely calm. Chisul had a point; Daergar were a cunning, ruthless clan and Corin and his companions were so bad, the Daergar had jailed them. Still, something told him the choice had to be taken on faith. Bradok realized that he’d started taking things on faith more and more ever since he met Silas. So far, faith hadn’t served him so badly.
“What’s the verdict?” Corin asked, rising from his seated position on the ground as they approached.
“You can come,” Bradok said.
“Just like that?” he asked. “No conditions? No chaining us up at night?”
“Well, we don’t have any chains,” Bradok said with a slow grin. “So, yeah, just like that. No chains.”
Corin seemed genuinely surprised for a moment. Then he held up the compass, eyeing it covetously, before tossing it to Bradok.
“You didn’t have to give in so easy,” Hurlic said, but Corin just shrugged.
“A deal’s a deal,” he barked to Hurlic. “I don’t know about you, but I want to live a long, free life and this is our best chance.”
He threw his cloak over his shoulders so everyone could see that he possessed no weapons. In fact he carried nothing-no pack, no gear; all he had were the clothes on his back.
“Come on, Omer,” he said to the young dwarf. He pulled back Omer’s cloak, revealing that the daft dwarf wore only a tattered shirt that reached to his knees. Then he put his arm around Omer and led him up the passage through the knot of survivors.
“I have a spare cloak and some clothing I’m not using at the moment,” Bradok said amicably as they passed by.
“Thank you,” Corin replied, nodding appreciatively.
One by one, the other Daergar displayed their similar lack of weapons and equipment and moved up the passage. The assassin, Thurl, came last. He opened his cloak, and from a hidden pocket in his shirt, he removed a flat piece of obsidian that had been polished as sharp as any dagger. That he handed to Bradok.
“Is that it?” Chisul asked.
Thurl cast the squat cooper a sour look then stepped nose to nose with him. “I told you, I’m an assassin. I don’t need a weapon,” he said. “And if a situation comes up where I do, I’ll find one in a hurry.”
Thurl stepped back then and held up Chisul’s dagger, lifted neatly from its scabbard on his belt. With a sinister smile, Thurl flipped the weapon over in his hand and presented it, hilt first, to the stunned Chisul.
Snarling, Chisul grabbed his weapon, and Thurl moved off, after his companions. Bradok examined the makeshift obsidian dagger in his hands. It was as sharp as any knife and relatively well balanced.
“We’re going to have to watch that one,” Rose said in a low voice.
“I’m telling you, we’ll have to watch them all,” Chisul growled. “I want it remembered that I warned this was a bad idea.”
“So noted,” Bradok said. Then, with a sigh of relief, he reached into his pocket, pulled out the compass, and opened it. The Seer smiled when she appeared, as though glad to be back in the hands of the rightful owner of the compass. She extended her arm, her spear pointing up the cavern toward the camp.
“At least we’re still heading the right way,” he muttered.
He looked up to find everyone heading back except Rose, who had been watching him and overheard. She looked at him intently.
“Having second thoughts?” she asked.
Bradok nodded.
“Don’t,” she said. “Reorx gave you that compass to see us through this ordeal, and now he’s used it to send us more help.”
Bradok stared at the compass, wondering if she was right. “Maybe so,” he said finally, slipping the device back into his pocket. Then he walked back to camp with Rose at his side.
CHAPTER 13
Eleven days after being joined by the Daergar, Bradok barely noticed the colorful limestone of the tunnel wall as he trudged forward. The compass had led them unerringly onward, pointing out sources of food from time to time but leading them in a seemingly endless trek. The rocky fissures had given way to old magma tubes of crumbly black rock that had, in turn, become a long chain of open caverns, and finally, the limestone passages they were in.
Bradok’s mind was fatigued from the sheer monotony and boredom of the journey. He wasn’t the only one suffering from nerves; everyone seemed snappish and on edge. The only ones that seemed unaffected were the children, Much, and Omer. Much and Omer took turns carrying any of the children who got tired. Their favorite by far, however, was Teal, the little toddler with the dark, curly hair. The sight of Much tromping by with Teal, usually giggling wildly from her perch atop his shoulders, forced half a smile from Bradok.
“This is getting bad,” Tal said, his voice interrupting Bradok’s thoughts.
He didn’t even glance over his shoulder. In the past weeks, he’d seen and heard more than enough of his companions, especially Tal, who was always preaching to him about leadership.
“At least we’re getting somewhere,” Bradok muttered.
“Chisul and Vulnar are talking up a rebellion back there,” Tal said. “They’re starting to wonder if the compass is leading us in circles, that maybe we should try heading some other way.”
“He’s welcome to try,” Bradok returned. “So long as he doesn’t expect the rest of us to go off and get lost with him.”
“He reckons we’re already lost,” Rose said, stepping up beside her brother. “And he’s not alone in that idea; too many of the others are also starting to lose hope.”
“They’re getting desperate, I know. It’s these damn dark caves,” he said, waving absently at the brightly-colored limestone. “The dreariness of it all is driving everyone batty.”
“I’m just warning you,” Tal said, lowering his voice. “The next place we stop, there could be real trouble.”
“Chisul’s no real trouble,” Bradok replied, irritation thick in his voice. “Just get out of his way and let him make an ass of himself; folks will stop listening to him again.”
“This is different,” Rose insisted. “Everyone’s as raw as meat in a butcher’s window. They want to believe in something other than which way the compass is pointing. They need a positive sign of some sort. It’s been too long without any sign of hope.”
Bradok couldn’t disagree. He trudged along silently.
“Vulnar is saying our convict friends must have tampered with the compass,” Rose said.
“Isn’t that just the sort of thing Vulnar would say?” Bradok said disgustedly. “After all, he wanted us to kill them on the spot.”
Bradok held out his hands in a pleading gesture to the roof of the cave overhead. “Why is anyone listening to him?” he said. “Corin and his friends haven’t caused any trouble. And why would they tamper with the same compass they’d end up following?”
“You’re thinking with your head,” Rose said, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “These people are tired and worn out. Their heads are worn out too. They aren’t thinking straight.”
“That’s right,” Tal said. “They’ll gladly grab at anything that offers hope-even if it’s a bad idea coming from Chisul and Vulnar.”
Bradok had finally reached a breaking point. He whirled on Tal, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to a stop. “What do you want me to do about it?” he demanded through clenched teeth.
Tal’s eyes widened in surprise at Bradok’s unexpected and uncharacteristic action. If it angered him, he didn’t show it. Tal simply reached up and removed Bradok’s hand from his shoulder. “I don’t know what you should do, and I don’t know what I want you to do,” he said. “I was only trying to warn you.”
With that, Tal strode past him, leaving Bradok standing with his head hanging down in the middle of the passageway, the others streaming up and around him.