The outsiders vanished like vermin at the sight of a snake. The metaphor was a fitting one; the column of soldiers looked like a snake, each scale a dwarf clad head to toe in gleaming steel, carrying a spear and shield. At their head was a dwarf nearly as tall as Tradfast, a long sword at his hip. I became aware of a hundred eyes fixed on my grimy, sweat-soaked figure. Sprinting out the shadows with a loaf of bread clutched to my chest, I looked like a thief. Which I was, technically.

The tall officer at the head of the column waved one steel clad hand at me, and I froze. A wave? The column continued forward at a steady pace, the clatter of their steel boots deafening me. I should have run, but my legs wouldn’t move. The thought that any one of these soldiers could ram a spear through my guts as soon as blink terrified me. I’d never seen such a display of power.

A few paces before me, the officer cried “Halt!”. A more voices throughout the column repeated the order, and the steelclad dwarves stopped short in unison. The officer looked into my eyes, examining me. I noticed he was remarkably clean. Everyone I had known, even people high up as far as miners go, had some sort of dirt on them. A layer of the stuff, embedded so deep in the skin as to never be scrubbed off. But the officer’s skin was clearer than a baby’s, his armour shinier than a mirror, and his uniform underneath the steel looked freshly ironed. He’d even made his beard fashionable, with braids and gold clasps.

“Are you a local?” he asked. I’d expected him to bark at me, order me like I was an inferior, but no. His tone was casual, even friendly!

“Yes,” I said, after a short pause. I racked my brain for an excuse for being out here. “I’m a miner. On... my break. Heading out of town. I’ll be on my way now.” I hoped he had better things to do than arrest me. Soldiers usually dealt with problems near the surface, killing monstrous lizards that tried to invade the dwarfholds, or else fought in rare border disputes. In short, serious business, and I’d never heard about them dealing with miners.

“On your break? Lunchtime is in two hours, isn’t it?” He looked at his wristwatch, a silver bracelet with gold hands, glittering with diamonds. It was probably worth half the property in town put together, and a pang of jealousy hit me. I worked until my arms felt like they were going to drop off every day, and got a mere four tetras of pay. Why didn't I deserve a gold watch?

“Maybe miners have lunch earlier than soldiers. We don’t have watches, we just eat when our stomachs tell us.” My voice dripped with sarcasm, and I tensed up as soon as I realised it. All this dwarf had to do was step forward, swing his blade out, and I’d be dead. I should have been more polite. “I’m sorry, I meant--”

He chuckled. “When your stomach tells you? No one ever told me miners were funny!” He beamed at me, showing perfect white teeth.

I could do nothing but stand there, mouth hanging open in confusion. What was this dwarf doing? I couldn’t wrap my head around him. Was he mocking me? Was he trying to be friendly? His smile seemed genuine, so I think that was it, but why? What reason could someone as rich and high status as him have for being friendly to someone like me?

He didn't seem to notice my bewilderment, and continued speaking. “We’re to stay at the miner barracks for a night. I thought it’d be a good opportunity to get to know the locals, so I sent a message on ahead. I don’t suppose you could lead us there?”

Oh. Now I knew what he was playing at. His casual manner, his ignorance all pointed to one conclusion. He was one of the clueless rich who had no bearing on the real world and expected to get along with everyone, simply because they’d been coddled since birth. ‘Get to know the locals’, indeed. As if they all wanted to get to know him. I gritted my teeth. I was not going to indulge this fop, who’d never done a days work in his life.

“It’s the big building.”

The officer frowned. “Yes, but which big building? I’d hate to arrive at the wrong one!”

He laughed loudly, and looked back, as if expecting his stony faced troop to do they same. Which they didn’t. A vein on my temple pulsed, my bewilderment replaced by irritation, and I wondered how much he’d paid for his position. There was no way a bad clown like him had worked his way up through competence.

“It’s the biggest building.”

Another grin, showing every tooth, split his face and he took two big strides towards me. I took a step back, had I gone too far? His steel armour clanked as he moved, his sword swayed at his hip. I tensed up, if he slashed out, there would be no time to avoid the blow. He brought one steel glove up, and I steeled myself for a smack that’d send me to the floor with a broken face. He clapped it down on my shoulder. The impact nearly forced me to one knee, but I could tell that wasn’t his intention. He’d meant it to be friendly.

“Come on, don’t be like that. We’re meant to get along well with the locals. You’re going to be helping us, you know?” He said all this loudly, for his men to hear, and then whispered to me. “Show me where the building is so I don’t embarrass myself.” He winked.

I nodded. The awful sense that this man expected me to be his friend sunk into my stomach. I wanted to be in the nearest city pawning my sapphire. But I had no choice, how could I refuse a platoon of heavily armed soldiers?

“Follow the local!” he shouted to his men, and looked at me expectantly.

I trudged along the main road, on the long way back to the barracks, the steady one two sound of marching tailing me. I still held the loaf of bread, trying to avoid imagining what would happen once this over-friendly officer found out his pet ‘local’ was a thief. The rich abhorred petty crime, complaining it destabilised the society they sat at the top of. Or so I’d heard. I couldn’t simply throw it onto the street and claim ignorance when the cook confronted me. I needed a better plan.

“Would you like some bread?” I asked the officer.

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly.” His stupid grin changed to an apologetic one.

“It’s a gift,” I said. “From us miners, to the army.”

His eyes narrowed as he took a closer look. Doubtless it was a far cry from whatever bread he’d grown up eating. I imagined that to be white, fluffy, and made entirely of flour.

“It’s very important to accept gifts of food among the miners,” I said. “Gift giving is a big part of culture down here.

It was a total lie, but it was pretty obvious the officer had never been down a mine before, much less talked to a miner.

“Well,” he said. “In that case...”

He took it from me with another smile.

“What’s your name, miner?”

“It’s Stony,” I said. He threw back his head and laughed, the men immediately behind him averting their eyes in an embarrassed manner.

“An interesting name. How would you like to be our guide for a while? I might be able to pay you. You just have to show us what’s what and who’s who down here.” He clapped one hand on my shoulder again. “How about it?”

It looked like the officer was going to have me follow his army around whether or not I agreed. He was just the sort who sticks to you out of the belief he’s liked by everyone. I imagined he’d had an easy childhood, unlike my own. Well, if I was going to be stuck to, I might as well get some money for it. Money is always useful.

“How much a day?”

“Oh, let’s say ten tetras.”

Ten! More than twice my mining salary. Money really was nothing to his sort.

“Alright then. I don’t mind showing you around.”

***

The dining hall next to the kitchens was a vast room, held up by a couple thick pillars in the centre, tables stretching wall to wall. It could room at least a thousand people, although I’d never seen it that full. When I’d first walked into it, a good few years ago now, I’d nearly fallen over in shock. But clearly the soldiers had seen larger dining halls because not one of them was surprised by its scale.

At one table to the front of the room, me, the rich officer, and what looked like other, lower officers, judging by their uniforms , sat down. The rest of the men sat at the others. For once the cooks had put some effort into their presentation; they had found napkins to lay at the long tables of the dining hall, and decided to slice the bread themselves, instead of having the diners tear at it with their grubby hands. I copped a hard look from the cook I’d nicked the bread from, but that was all. She looked too stressed to cause a scene, no matter how irritated she was at being tricked.

I wiped my face on the napkin before settling down to eat, scraping off several layers of dust, and flakes of dried blood from my nose, which still throbbed something awful.

“I’m Captain Lorsson,” said the officer who’d brought me here.

He shook my hand with a surprising amount of force, then hurriedly wiped his hand on his own napkin.

“It’s good to meet you,” I lied.

Another grin split his face.

“Likewise.”

I gave my own attempt at a smile, looked down at my stew and began to scoop it up with my slice of bread. Around the hall soldiers grumbled about their sore legs, while the officers at my table ate in silence.

“Allow me to introduce my lieutenants,” said Captain Lorsson. He gestured around the table. “Fungerrson, Corrson, Vrallith, Borthad, and Horir.”

They looked at me as if I were a lizard-dog with scale rot. Clearly they didn't share their commander’s interest in getting to know ‘the locals’. Lieutenant Horir gave a particular scowl. He was thin, with a short black beard tapering into a vicious spike.

Lorsson seemed oblivious to their displeasure.

“You know, I’ve always thought it important to engage with those in the, um, menial jobs.”

I bit my lip at ‘menial jobs’, and nodded again, eyes fixed on my soup.

“So how long have you been a miner?”

“A few years.” Backstory was the one thing I really didn't want to talk about. He wouldn’t be able to sympathise. No one with his kind of money could.

“Oh? I’ve been a soldier for a few years too. Well, I’ve managed to stay out of most of the fighting though. Still, it’s something to do.”

Something to do. That was how the rich saw jobs, was it? For me, and the rest of the miners, our job was our lives. I had half a mind to tell him, but no. It wouldn’t do to make him my enemy.

“Indeed,” I said. If I gave enough one word answers, maybe he’d give up on the small talk.

“So, how does one get into the mining business?”

“It’s a job, not a business. My father did it.”

“Oh, I see!” I doubted that. “My father was a soldier too. Still is, actually, he’s a general. Is your father still working? Or is he retired?”

“He’s dead.” I pronounced the words with a finality I hoped would end the conversation. I didn't want to talk about my family, dead from disease and starvation after we’d been robbed of everything we ever owned, by the same company I was working for now.

“Oh,” said the Captain.

There was an awkward pause as everyone at the table tried not to look at one another. From the way they stared at their soup, I didn't think the lieutenants were much impressed by their Captain either. More embarrassed.

“So, um, the mines,” said Captain Lorsson after a few minutes. He’d already finished his soup, faster than I’d been able to get down a third of mine. I tended to savour any food I got, because I didn't get much of it. Clearly the Captain had a different philosophy.

“What about them?”

“Has anything unusual been found recently?”

My heart rate soared, and I felt numb all of a sudden. Were they after my sapphire? No, no! That was just my paranoia. Then it hit me. There was only one reason the soldiers would turn up here. The cavern we’d discovered. The mining company must have expected to find it, and called the army in.

“No,” I lied, and a plan entered my head. I’d lead the soldiers to the mines and act shocked about the collapse. Then I’d pocket my ten tetras, and sneak out in the confusion. I’d buy some supplies at the market, and be on my way to the next town.

“Oh,” said Captain Lorsson. “I see.” He seemed a little put out.

Another silence followed as I continued my meal. I wondered if the Captain had finally given up on me. After a few more minutes, I finished my soup.

“I should show you the mine now,” I said.

“In half an hour,” he said, glancing at his watch. “I’m going to let the men rest a bit.”

Bang! Stomp! Twenty minutes of anxious boredom was broken abruptly by the sound of heavy boots from upstairs, followed by incoherent shouting. Everyone jumped from the chairs in shock, soldiers hastily grabbing their equipment.

“Defensive formation!” shouted the Captain.

At Lorsson’s order the soldiery drew into a square at the centre of the room, kicking over tables to form barricades as they did so. I chased the Captain, shields locking behind me into layers of hopefully impassable walls. I looked out at the door from behind the Captain. The soldiers’ spears bristled towards it like five hundred oversized needle. The discipline and organisation of them shocked me, they’d gone from lounging around eating lunch to battle formation in less than a minute.

The stomping made its way down the stairs. Who was coming? What? Had we awakened something in the caverns? A cook at the back of the room let out a whimper, and I shivered, and grabbed at my sapphire instinctively.

The steps echoed through the downstairs corridor now, heavy and fast. Captain Lorsson drew his sword. I swallowed. The steps grew closer, and the doors burst open. A dwarf stumbled into the dining hall, nearly falling over when he saw the spears arrayed against him.

It was overseer Tradfast, eyes wild, beard and hair a tangled mess. He bent over panting and I wondered if he’d run the whole way here from the mine. More dwarves shuffled in after him, panting just as hard. Their clothes were torn, and only a few still carried their pickaxes.

“Are you... Captain...” The Overseer forced himself to speak between pants. “Lorsson? You need to... come quick.” He bent over double again, unable to catch his breath.

“Stand down men.” said the Captain, and as one, the dwarf soldiers drew in their spears. “Are you another miner? What’s going on?”

“We found the halls.”

“Just now?”

I swallowed. Was the Captain about to find out I’d lied to him? I hadn’t expected Tradfast to come back so quickly, the rescue effort should have taken hours.

“About an hour ago.”

“What about the agent? And did you find the gem?”

Oh no. The gem? That could mean only one thing. I gradually drew my hand away from my pocket.

“We lost the agent.” Then Tradfast looked right into my eyes. This was it. He was going to tell the Captain about my sapphire, and doom me. He opened his mouth, and then closed it, and furrowed his brow. “We didn't find the gem.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Tradfast hadn’t told him. Me saving his life must had meant something to him.

“I see.” Captain Lorsson grimaced. “We’ll head down immediately. Bring your men with you, we’ll need your help.”

“Wait! We can’t go back there. Please!” cried Tradfast. He fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. My mouth dropped open in surprise and horror. What could possibly terrify someone as big as Tradfast this much?

“I never want to see those ghosts again.”

My stomach dropped through my belly. Ghosts?

“It’s our orders,” said Captain Lorsson, his prior jovial attitude totally gone. “We need mining expertise to assist our exploration of the cavern, and your company agreed to provide men.”

Tradfast’s eyes went wide with terror, and the miners behind him began to shake. So did I. “This wasn’t in the letter,” he said. “I was told you were to replace us down here!”

“Orders are orders. I don’t like them either, but that’s just how it is. Let’s get moving. You have nothing to fear from the ghosts as long as we’re here.” He stared at the door, avoiding the miners’ eyes.

“I understand,” said Tradfast, voice hoarse and barely audible.

I sank to the floor. I knew there would be no escape for me once I was back in the mines. My break for freedom had failed, and now I was on a road to certain death. Either the sapphire, or my murder of the old miner would be found out, and I’d be executed.

That, or I’d meet my end at the hands of something much worse.