“Right, that’s enough,” said Tradfast, looking over us from a dozen or so paces behind. “The house is clear enough. Take a break.”

I let out a sigh, and sat down, no longer caring if I got my trousers damp. Through the doorway and windows of the house I could see the bare stone, smeared with white and purple, exposed now to light it hadn’t seen for thousands of years. Some of the sturdier looking mushroom trunks had been allowed to stand for support, reducing the floor-space inside by about a quarter. Parts of the tiled floor had been pushed apart by the mushroom’s root-like mycelium to form crevices further diminishing the floor-space. Some of us were going to have to spend the night outside. Hopefully I wouldn’t end up one of them.

If I even had another night left to live.

The sound of grunting, heavy breathing, and heavier footsteps announced the return of the water-gathering party. I turned back to look. Captain Lorsson emerged first, from behind a building, a massive pair of sticks, wrought from some kind of woody fungus, on his shoulders. The reason why became apparent when the head of a giant mushroom came into view, hollowed out to form a kind of water-sack. The pair of sticks threaded through the top of it, resting on another dwarf’s shoulders.

Urist’s shoulders. Shit.

“The captain’s back,” someone shouted.

Tradfast came stumbling out of the building, hands stained with fungus grease; he’d got his hands dirtier than anyone else during the clearing out process.

“Need some help?” he asked.

“No,” said Captain Lorsson, pausing for a breath. “No, we’re fine. Come on dwarves, let’s stack these up against the wall.”

I watched sullenly as the dwarves lumbered over to the house, and began to prop the improvised water jugs up against the house.

“Go on!” shouted Tradfast. “Help them, you lazy bastards!”

There was no point in going, really, they were nearly done. My fatigue was leaking into the cold air, and my eyelids were growing heavy. But I stood up anyway. Best not to get even further onto Tradfast’s bad side. I copped an evil glare from Vorgur as I traipsed over, and then I caught Urist’s eye too. He gave me a vicious smile.

Damnit. He’d gotten to Captain Lorsson for sure.

“Captain,” said Tradfast, steadying the last water container with a lizard-dog sized lump of rubble. “We’ve cleared out the house, but there isn’t room enough for everyone inside.”

“That’s fine, we’ll need to take turns for the watch anyway,” replied Captain Lorsson, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily, looking around at the miners and his men. His eyes skipped over mine.

Was he Captain Lorsson purposefully avoiding my gaze? Urist was still grinning at me. I silently cursed again. Captain Lorsson looked at Tradfast, bit his lip, then his face became more serious than I’d ever seen it. My heart sank.

“I’m afraid we have a problem,” he said, his usual joviality all gone. “To do with your miners.”

“Oh,” said Tradfast, wrinkling his brow like he didn't already know what was going on.

“Urist here has accused Stony of murder and theft.”

I had been expecting the accusation, but that expectation did nothing to diminish the shock of hearing it out loud. My stomach did a flip, and I clenched my fists.

Captain Lorsson continued. “Apparently Stony stole a diamond from Urist’s friend, then killed him over it. Urist is demanding we search him.”

“Oh,” said Tradfast.

“Well, that’s what’s come up. I think we should search Stony, see if he has the diamond. As much as it pains me to interfere in a civilian’s privacy--”

“Wait!” I cried, and shot to my feet. If they searched me, they’d find the sapphire for sure, and I’d end my life under a board piled high with rocks as a murderer. If they didn't just throw me in the river. “What Urist is saying is a damn lie. I did kill his friend, yes, but it was self defence. The old bastard went mad! And there never was any diamond.”

Captain Lorsson scratched his head, and looked into my eyes, his clouded with uncertainty.

“He’s a liar Captain.” Urist spat the words out like they were sour. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Are you really just going to take his word for it?” I asked, putting my hand over my heart to try and elicit some sympathy. “And search me with no proof of anything?”

‘Well...” said Captain Lorsson, eyes darting back and forth between Urist and I. My lips grew dry, and I licked them. This was my only chance. I had to win him over, at least get a fair trial.

“Just because I’m a lowly miner,” I said, pointing a finger at him, “doesn’t mean I don’t deserve dignity. How would you feel if a bunch of dwarves grabbed you and rifled through your belongings, on one of your enemy’s words? It’s neither fair nor legal.”

Captain Lorsson sucked in his lips, stared at the ground and began to fiddle with one of the gold ornaments on his beard.

“Well...” he began again.

“Don’t listen to him,” snapped Urist, eyes starting to bulge. “He’s trying to trick you.”

“I am not,” I said. “Searching me now is illegal, and we all know it. Dwarves are meant to have respect for each others’ private property.”

Murmurs of agreement sounded from the miners and soldiers standing around us, and when I looked at them some were nodding, some very firmly indeed. If I could win them over, I might be able to squirm my way out of this.

So I turned to address them.

“It’s not about having something to hide, or not having something to hide. It’s about dignity.” I banged my fist against the left side of my chest. “Don’t you feel we all deserve some? Deserve to be treated right, rather than to be worked and treated like the very bottom of society?”

Most of the soldiers nodded, most of the miners glared at me.

“Would any of you want your things rifled through just on the word of one dwarf?”

Urist rolled his eyes and took a few steps toward me, beard swaying in the cool air, drops of sweat dripping from it. He pointed at me.

“Why is Stony so keen for no one to see what he’s hiding? Huh? I’ll tell you why, because in his pocket is a great big diamond!”

He swung his hand at my chest, grasping at the slight bulge where the sapphire was hidden. I put my hand over the gem on instinct, felt the hard curve of the gem beneath the fabric.

“See!” he shouted. “He’s hiding something.”

“You just tried to hit me you bloody bastard! I was blocking!”

We glared at each other, eyes as hard and unblinking as rocks, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

“Stop it, you two,” said Captain Lorsson, trying to sound stern. “I won’t rifle through anyone’s belongings. Stony’s right, you’re dwarves and you have dignity.” He paused for a moment, and I held my breath in anticipation. So did everyone else.

“There is a way in the army,” he began, slowly and softly, as if not sure he was making the right decision. “A way to decide these sort of conflicts in the field, when there are no witnesses on either side.”

I frowned. What could it be? A trial by combat? In that case, I was plenty confident. Urist may be a wound up ball of rage, all tight muscle and sinew ready to spring out, but I was both taller than he was and had much longer arms.

“You could pick the side of the dwarf everyone thinks is honest!” shouted Urist. “That’s the way things ought to go. Any miner here would support me over Stony.”

“Urist’s right!” came a shout. Vorgur. “You all saw what a brute that scumbag is, just a few hours ago.”

“Shut up Vorgur!” yelled Tradfast. “Now’s not the time.”

Captain Lorsson ignored the exchange. “I’m not sure if it would be appropriate for miners to undertake though. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you Tradfast? What do you think? I am in charge of this expedition, but I don’t want to put any of your miners through something inappropriate.”

He looked at the overseer with worried eyes.

“I don’t see a problem with it,” said Tradfast. “Good way of settling things, to my mind. It’ll help us all out as well.”

The soldiers nodded gravely, while the miners looked at each other in puzzlement. I frowned at Tradfast, trying to work out what he meant. Something that will help us all out? I couldn’t quite see how a duel would do that.

“Very well,” said Captain Lorsson. He drew his blade, and held it up. “Dwarves, form the circle.”

Instantly, each soldier took a step back, armoured boots clanking on the stone floor in perfect time, and marched into a semicircle, Lorsson and Tradfast at the head. The abruptness sent a jolt through my heart, and I looked around. Was the trial happening now? Should I go to the middle or the side?

“Miners, step back too!” shouted Tradfast. “In between the soldiers!”

I made to step back out of the circle, and make my way to the nearest pair of soldiers. Tradfast put a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“Not you,” he said. “You go in the middle. Facing Urist.”

“Oh.”

Urist stood in the centre. The stone tiles glistened yellow in the wet and the lamplight. So this was where it’d all be decided. I took a deep breath, clenched my fists and walked in. A duel then. Urist grinned madly at me, and raised his guard.

“I’m going to kill you,” he said.

“No, no,” said Captain Lorsson, shaking his head. He stepped into the circle too, and put his blade between us. “This is just the ceremony.”

He cleared his throat. Around us the soldiers stared, faces hard and unforgiving. Where they going to do something to us? My breath quickened.

“Dwarves!” cried Captain Lorsson, and I jumped. “I declare a trial of valour. Whoever proves themselves most valiant tonight shall be declared the victor, and his version of the truth shall be the truth. Your dispute is mutual, so you will both participate in the trial. Unless Urist wants to forfeit your claim.”

Urist bit his tongue and clenched his fists so hard the knuckles went white. “I do not,” he said.”

I just stared blankly.

“Do we have to fight each other?” I asked.

Captain Lorsson met my gaze with guilty eyes. “No, no, that’s not how it works.” He smiled. “This isn’t a duel, we’re too civilised for that.”

Civilised would be if honest dwarves were not forced into obscure military rituals to prove their innocence. This should be done in a court, with Airon as a witness. But I had always known that would never happen. Whoever heard of a miner being allowed a trial in a courtroom?

“Just tell me what I have to do.”

He nodded.

“Very well. What we stand on is only the surface of the city,” he said. “The skin of the deer, if you will. Below us are thousands of passages and caverns, where anything could be hiding. Stony and Urist will go down there, and whoever one can tell us the most about the place, I will declare the victor. This is not a duel, so neither of you shall be permitted weapons.”

I felt my skin go pale, and my legs began to shake a little. Urist’s angry tinge faded for a moment too.

“What?” he said. “There could be ghosts in there. You’re sending us to our doom! Why do I have to die with this scum?”

“You can’t send us down there unarmed,” I said. My mouth was suddenly dry. Memories resurfaced, and I saw the black-pit eyes of the ghost that had reached for me, grasping at my soul; I felt its touch once again. “It’s an injustice!”

“Yes we can!” barked Tradfast. “Unless you both want to be executed. You’ll go there an hour after dinner.”

Urist, who had been so puffed up with premature victory before, slumped as if he held a rock on either shoulder. I hung my head low too. Unarmed...

“Right,” said Lorsson, giving the company a weak smile. “I’m sure you’ll both be fine, and we can work out your dispute peacefully once the victor is determined.”

Yeah right. One of us was never coming back.

“Now, dissolve the circle. It’s time to eat.”

I sank to the ground and stared at the cavern ceiling, suddenly feeling very cold, and very alone. The next meal would be my last. I could feel it in my bones.

Around us the sounds of cooking began. First the crack of dryish bits of mushroom being turned to kindling, then the whump of flames as lamp oil was used to set fires. No one came to pressure us to help. Maybe we were kind of a taboo now.

Had any of the soldiers been on these stupid trials of valour before? Captain Lorsson had made it sound like a common thing. What an idiotic tradition. Didn't take a smart dwarf to see what it’s real purpose was -- to get rid of troublemakers once and for all. Although maybe the Captain thought it really was a just way to determine the truth. Yeah. I’d say that was pretty likely. The stupid bastard.

A hearty, earthy smell began to fill my nostrils, gradually growing in strength. My stomach rumbled. Time for dinner, although maybe it was closer to breakfast; my sense of time had got all muddled up in the chaos. I dropped my head, and saw that all around us dwarves were toasting bits of purple mushroom on skewers.

I trudged over to the nearest cookfire.

“Here,” said a soldier. “Take this one, and keep your strength up. Get some rest too, eh?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, barely registering it was Yor I’d just spoken too. Must be a pretty good chap, to give me his meal like that. Must have seen I didn't really feel like cooking. A little way off from the cook fires was a patch of stone that glistened less than the rest around it, and I sat down to eat there.

I bent my head down to chew up a chunk of toasted mushroom. It had just the right texture, just the right balance of flavours, just the rights smell that went up into my nostrils as I bit into it. But all the same, it gave me no satisfaction. It was like my tastebuds were dead already, even if the rest of me wasn’t.

“Stony,” said Tradfast, shadow falling over me. It would have startled me at any other time, but now I was too filled with cold dread to feel anything else. He paused, and when I didn't reply he continued anyway.

“I’ve come to give you some advice. I did one of these trials of valour before, a long time ago. A lot in the army end up doing them.”

I nodded once. Tradfast had been a soldier then? I didn't surprise me.

“The commanders use them as an opportunity to get information, and to get rid of troublemakers. It’s common knowledge that one dwarf doesn’t come back alive.”

“Doesn’t sound like the sort of thing Lorsson would do then.”

“It’s Captain Lorsson,” he said, raising his tone a little. “And no, it isn’t. He probably sees the trial as something that will prove the most righteous dwarf truthful.”

I let out a slow sigh.

“It’s not that though,” I said, “It’s a duel. A test to see who can get the other one killed the fastest.”

“Exactly. Get the other dwarf killed without being killed yourself.” He crouched down and put his face right in front of mine. “Never let your opponent get behind you. That mistake nearly cost me my life once.”

“Can’t I just strangle him while he looks the other way?”

“You can try.” He shook his head. Up close I noticed how ugly his blocky, blunt face really was. It looked like his mother had bashed it into shape with a brick. I noticed faint scars on it too, and rough patches. He’d been through some fights. “But Urist will kick up a fuss and bring whatever’s down there onto you, and you’ll both die.”

I looked down at my skewer, too ill to take another bite. A straight up fight, I had confidence in winning. But a contest like this? Urist was sneaky, devious and hated me utterly.

“So how do I win?” I asked.

“Wait for the right opportunity, and have whatever’s down there eat him before it eats you.”

“Is that all? What if he grabs me first?”

“Don’t let him.”

With that, Tradfast stood and stalked off to talk to Captain Lorsson. I finished the rest of my meal in silence. Around the campfires the other dwarves joked and munched, apart from a few sullen soldiers keeping watch.

If only things had turned out differently, I might be happy too. Happy and free.

But it was not to be. Urist and a gang of his friends, Vorgur included, shot me nasty looks, pointed at me and whispered. Well, fuck them. At least had a chance now. I put a hand over my sapphire.

I had one lifeline that Urist didn't.

“If you want your treasure,” I whispered, “And don’t want to be transported back to the mining company to be smashed to bits, you better help me, King Ghost.”

The ghost king’s reply sounded like it came from everywhere at once.

“Oh, I will. No one will get their hands on me, nor you. As long as you obey, that is.”

I nodded my head frantically.

“What do I have to do?”

No answer.

“Hello?”

Still nothing. Doubts formed in my mind like smog.

Could I really trust him?