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  Daelis approaches me and kneels so he can give a one-armed embrace. He's moving better today, but there is no change yet in his injured arm. "We've got as much water as we can carry. Are you ready to go, because I certainly am."

  "Let's go," I say. I stand and hoist Shan's satchel. He won't let me carry the weight of the rucksack until my leg is fully healed, so I'm in charge of his dragon eggs for now.

  "Good." Daelis struggles to his feet and nods toward the children. "Yana said we should follow the sprites, so I think that's what we should do."

  "I want to hear music again," I say.

  He smiles, then kisses my lips. "You will."

  Day 37, part 2

  We followed the sprites for hours and now I'm exhausted. Daelis even more so. He laid down and fell asleep as soon as we decided it was time to stop for the day. He needs to stop letting me push him too far or his health will suffer for it. He's stubborn, I'm stubborn... that trait will save our lives if it doesn't get us killed first.

  I'm afraid we've become used to this nightmare. We encountered three fanged, wingless, purple bird creatures on the way to where we are now. Mother and two little ones. Egrutes. That's what Yana calls them. Nasty things. I killed one early in our entrapment and Daelis panicked over it. Today, he muttered, "Not again," and watched with jaded irritation as I killed the mother and Shan dispatched the babies. No one was hurt and it's barely worth noting. Just another day in the underground.

  The iron sprites seem patient. They linger when we're slow and never zip too far ahead. Now they are resting on tiny rock ledges while my family sleeps. I'm the only one left awake, and my alertness is fading.

  Is it my imagination, or does the air feel different here? It seems less heavy and it smells of something earthy. Potatoes. It smells of the sack of sprouted potatoes I found rotting in the back of the pantry a couple months ago. The tunnels we took inclined upward, steadily upward. Maybe we're finally getting close to the surface. Maybe not. Maybe it's another life-rich cavern like Aes or another Varaku hive. Maybe I'm already caught on the edge of a dream.

  My legs ache and my arms are going numb. I've had enough of today. I suppose I'll close my eyes and try out tomorrow.

  Day 38

  We should have stayed by the fountain longer. At least another day, maybe two. We shouldn't have spent all of yesterday climbing and crawling and fighting our way through jagged passageways. I shouldn't have let Daelis convince me that he was fine to keep going. He wasn't.

  Now he has a fever and can barely stay awake between chills. I've been dosing him with the Hycinth medicine labeled For Infection, but I don't know what it's supposed to do or how much I should be giving him. I've looked him over several times and found no obvious source for the fever. His shoulder is bruised and swollen, but not red or any more hot than the rest of his skin. The abrasions he has are minor and healing nicely. I can't try to fix him if I don't know why he's sick.

  I'm afraid that after all we've been through, after everything he's already survived, I could lose him to a mystery fever. I don't know how to help him other than continue giving him the Hycinth medicine and hoping it in itself doesn't kill him. I have two white willow bark capsules left, but for now I think it's better to let the fever burn away whatever is causing it. I wish I had some feverfew. Or garlic. When I was growing up, my mother had several sickness remedies she forced us to drink if needed. I admit I've forced them on my own children. Ginger and onion boiled together and drunk as tea. Warmed milk with garlic and honey. Citrus juice. Chamomile. I don't have any of those.

  Wait... I might. "Shan, do we have any Aes onions left?"

  Shan looks up from the improvised alphabet game he's playing with Yana. He's trying to distract her from figuring out that her father is ill. "Maybe. Check in the main pouch of my satchel, where the eggs are."

  Eggs and onions, mushrooms everywhere, add heat and we have an omelet. What a horrible thought, Rin. What's wrong with you? Dragon eggs make terrible omelets. Wyvern eggs, on the other hand...

  Focus. I know your mind is slipping into a panic, but you need to focus. Onions. Look for the onions.

  Here they are, nestled contently beneath the eggs. Shan has at least a dozen of them, each about the size of a quail egg. Now, what am I going to do with them? I have no way to cook them. Cold-brewed onion tea, it is. I'll mix in a couple semi-dried mushrooms and hopefully it will taste like broth. Sorry, Daelis.

  The iron sprites watch us from their tiny ledges. I drop a crushed onion in a cup of water and stand to address them. The portly one who wears my thimble as a hat seems to be their leader. "Hello, sprites. My mate has taken ill. He has a fever. If you have a way to make him better, I'll give you your choice of metal tools from the kit in my rucksack. Then, if you help us find the surface so we can get out of the caves, I'll give you the rest of the tools and the lantern. Have you seen it? The frame is wrought iron and the light is a dwarfstone. It will continue to give light for hundreds, maybe thousands of lifetimes. Help us get out and it's yours."

  Shan is next to me. He unrolls my little toolkit and holds it up so the sprites can examine it. "See? We'll give you these. Look, there is even a multi-tool. You can fold the different attachments out for different tasks. All metal, all iron or steel. Help my dad and we'll give you one. Help us get above ground and you can have them all. And the beautiful lantern. It's much brighter without the fabric on it."

  I don't know if they understand. If they don't, it is worth a try. I can always buy more tools when we get home and I never want to see that spying lantern again. I've been tempted to leave it behind and rely on Yana's glowing opal, but I don't want to place that much pressure on my little girl.

  The sprites are silent for a moment, then begin to chirp excitedly. They gather around the fat one with the thimble hat. Noises like summer crickets echo off the walls, and then three sprites shoot past my shoulder and down a tunnel out of sight. The rest remain on the ledges. They understood. They had to. I hope Yana doesn't say, "Sprites is stupid," again and offend them.

  I return to Daelis and rest my hand against his cheek. He grabs my hand and says, "I'm not going to class today. I'm not. Father says I must study law, but I want to be an architect. I hate law. I want to break one just to see what happens."

  "Shh, Daelis. You haven't been a scholar for a very long time. You finished your studies the year before I met you." If he's hallucinating, I may need to give him the willow bark now and hope the sprites return with a better remedy. "Sweetie, I'm going to give you more medicine and some water. It will help you feel better."

  His bloodshot eyes open wide. "Rin? Past and present are colliding and leaving light trails in my head. I think I walked too far. Fatigue is fever and fever is fatigue. Will you lie down with me? Your skin is cool and maybe it will teach mine how to be."

  "Give me one moment to help you with your medicine."

  "Crushing rocks and lingering death. I'm going to die down here, aren't I?" Daelis asks.

  "No. I promised both of us that I'd get you back to Jadeshire alive, and I will. A fever on its own won't kill you. You've survived sickness before, right?" I ask. I wait for him to finish drinking and remove the cup from his lips.

  "No. It's always killed me before," he says with a weary smile. "Come here and make it go away."

  Yana and Shan look on with concern. I'm an idiot if I think I can shield smart little Yana from knowing about anything down here. The worry in her eyes reveals that she knows Daelis is sick. I hope Shan can keep her entertained enough that the time passes less painfully.

  Daelis holds his right arm to the side so I can nestle against him. He gets my attention now, not this infernal journal. I hope those sprites return soon, and I hope they're as intelligent as I suspect they are. We need them, our tiny red lights in the darkness.

  Day 38, part 2

  It's not just Daelis. Shan is feverish now, too. Yana and I are still all right. I'm not sure for how much longer.

  I don't
know what to do, especially if they get worse and the sprites don't come back with something that will help. Maybe Shan getting sick means the fever is just a fever and it will burn away without issue. Maybe it's something more severe. All I can do is wait and see how it develops.

  Shan has been asleep since not long after the fever hit. I'm glad he's sleeping through it for now. Rest can only help. Daelis, though, is agitated. His fever broke for a few short minutes, then roared back and woke him from a deep sleep. His head and joints hurt now, and he can't tolerate being touched. He's trying to ignore his own discomfort as he repeatedly expresses concern for me. He's afraid that I'll come down with the same illness that's affecting him and it will hurt the baby. I've assured him that everything will be fine. I haven't admitted aloud that I share his fear.

  The sprites are staring down at us from their ledges. They haven't moved since we asked for help. What are they doing? Are they asleep? Ill? Watching us as entertainment?

  I must see to Yana now. Her skin is still cool, but she's scared and crying. Stay healthy, sweet Yana, please stay healthy.

  Day 39

  Yana is asleep on my lap, Daelis and Shan are in the grip of fitful fever dreams, and I'm left awake to worry about everything. Many illnesses run a course and go away on their own. Some don't.

  Now Daelis is coughing in his sleep. Wet, congested coughs. No. Please, no. Alon's decline started like that. Same phlegmy crackle. I can't lose another person I love to pneumonia. If Daelis has it, Shan soon will too. I can't hold another of my sons as he gasps for breath and the life fades from his eyes.

  Stop, Rin. A cough could just be a cough. Lots of illnesses cause coughs and they aren't pneumonia. It's a simple symptom, not a death sentence. What happened to Alon won't happen to Shan. Even if it's a similar disease, Shan is older and stronger. He'll be able to fight it off, right?

  Daelis, though... Daelis has already been weakened by injury. His body can't have many reserves left to fight off a new attacker. I know he's resilient, but does that matter now? He's depleted. Even if this illness proves to be mild, it could still kill him.

  Don't leave me. Either of you. Stay with me. Please stay.

  I reach across Yana to touch Daelis's face. His fever has broken again and his skin is clammy. The last two fingers on his left hand twitch. Just a tiny bit, but it's the first movement I've seen from his left arm since we pulled him out of the rock slide. I hope this means he still has intact nerves. I hope he lives long enough to find out.

  I can't get my anxiety under control and I can't sleep more than an hour or two at a time. The fear is justified, right? I don't think I'm panicking over a simple cold. What if I am? How am I going to get through another early childhood of rashes and runny noses if every illness staggers my nerves?

  Daelis draws a strident breath and jolts upright. I press my hand against his side to brace his cracked ribs. He struggles to catch his breath between excruciating coughs. Sweat beads on his temples as he touches a handkerchief to his mouth. Blood streaks the fabric.

  "Can't... can't breathe," he says weakly.

  Shan clears his throat and rolls from his back onto his side.

  I rub Daelis's back between his shoulder blades. "There is little that is more painful than coughing with broken ribs. It makes childbirth feel like a strained muscle. Long, slow breaths. Drink a little water, let it settle, and drink more. You need to stay hydrated."

  Another cough, another round of bloody sputum. He's wheezing now, and I'm not certain if it's from the pain or the lungs.

  I lean away from Yana and carefully embrace him. "Feel the rhythm of my breath. Try to match it. I know it hurts, but you need to regulate your breathing or you'll faint."

  "I don't want to die down here," Daelis whimpers between gasps.

  "You won't."

  "I can't–" Another round of coughs, another frantic draw for air.

  "You're not going to die. I won't let you. You promised you wouldn't abandon me again and I'm holding you to that."

  The light is different in here. Stronger, less lantern-blue and sprite-red and more yellow. Something is coming from the tunnel straight ahead.

  Yana jolts upright and stares toward the new glow. "Something comes. Something new. I not know this smell."

  Three iron sprites flit out of the tunnel. They circle around my head before joining the others on the ledges. The light grows brighter. A lantern appears. An oil lantern, not a dwarfstone. Holding the lantern is a calloused hand clad in a fingerless glove. The rest of the lantern bearer enters the chamber a moment later. An orc. The iron sprites have brought us an orc.

  Day 39, part 2

  The orc set down her lantern and crossed her arms over her chest. She shivered in her brown overcoat, then rubbed her nose and squinted at us. "What are you doing down here? A human, two elves, and whatever that is?"

  I stood to receive her. "The Jarrah kidnapped us and left us down here to die. Weeks ago, probably months. We've been trying to find the way out."

  "The what? Well, you're a lot closer now than you were weeks ago. My little friends here said a couple of you are sick. Don't go dying on me today when I can have you outside tomorrow," the orc said. Her short tusks glittered in the lantern light. She shivered again before reaching into her pocket. She retrieved a red knit hat and pulled it down over her hair, which appeared amber in hue. Her eyes were pale, either blue or gray. Odd coloring for an orc. They tend toward dark rather than fair. "Damn... it's bloody cold down here. So, who are you people and what do I need to do for you? Aside from get you closer to wherever home is?"

  I pulled up my sleeve to reveal the intricate scarification pattern on my upper left arm.

  The orc smiled. "Orc-friend, eh? Good to know, and well met. Let me see if I can guess who you are. Not many of those to choose from on the human female list. You're too young to be Mimnara Elspet of Falcon Peak. Too many limbs to be Angaret the Bald. My guess is Rin Sylleth of Jadeshire.”

  "You are correct. I am Rin." I rolled my sleeve down and grasped her wrist in greeting. "I'm grateful you came to help us. Who are you?"

  Her pointed ears wobbled as she bobbed her head. "Frald Foxfire, clan shaman. I've heard about you, Rin Sylleth. Good fighter, good woman. Honorable woman. I'll help you and your... friends? Who are these people?"

  "Family." I nodded toward them. "Daelis Goldtree, our son Shan, and our foundling daughter Yana. She escaped from a race of monsters that lives deep in the caves, a race that has enslaved her people for generations."

  Frald spat on the rocks and scrunched her blunt nose. "Slavers in the deep? That's a story I haven't heard before. Wouldn't surprise me. All sorts of things down here, I bet."

  "Unimaginable nightmares. We've seen a lot of them, and I'm sure there are thousands more."

  Shan coughed and Daelis echoed with a series of pained wheezes. Frald took off her backpack and crouched between them. She placed a palm on each of their foreheads and closed her eyes.

  "Hello, there. I think we may be cousins," Daelis said, his voice raspy and choked.

  "Quiet, elf. I'm working," Frald hissed. Her hands shifted from their heads to their chests.

  Silent minutes passed while Frald hummed to herself. Daelis watched her with exhausted, inquisitive eyes and a faint smile on his lips. Shan remained asleep.

  "What's she doing?" Yana asked. She clung to my arm, tears dripping down her cheeks.

  "She's helping them. She's our friend. Remember the scars I showed you, the ones on my arm that you thought were pretty? They mean orcs are my friends and I am theirs." I sat down so I could hold her on my lap. She began to sway from side to side so I rocked her and whispered a song. "Cloud Chasing." Sweet little bit of nonsense that I sang to my boys when they were little.

  "What's a cloud?" Yana asked.

  "You'll see soon. Maybe even tomorrow, after our next sleep. You will see so many new things, but don't be afraid. We'll help you learn what everything is.”

  The wheezing
stopped. My eyes darted toward Daelis. His eyes were closed and his breathing was far less labored than it was before.

  Frald stood and brushed her hands together. "Well, I'll tell you, it's a good thing you bribed my little friends to come get me. Your elf boys would have been dead within a day without me. Cave sickness. That's what we call it. Sometimes the clan kids come into the upper caves and come home sick. Fever, then joint pain, then the cough that turns into pneumonia. It's fatal if not treated. Weird disease, only affects the boys. I've got a little cleansing ritual and an herbal mix I use to yank it out of them."

  "Will they be all right?" I asked.

  "Your elves? Sure. They're not dying anymore, so they're good. I'll treat them a couple more times while they sleep it off, then I'll get you all out of here once they're on their feet. The older one is all beat up, but he'll be fine once he gets a look-over in the infirmary." Frald rooted in her backpack until she pulled up three pieces of fruit. Apples. Dear gods, how long has it been since I last saw apples? "Want one?"

  "Thank you, I would love one," I said. I took two of the apples and handed one to Yana.

  "What is it?" she asked with suspicion.

  "Sweet girl, this is an apple. If you like it, you'll be able to eat them any time you want soon." I smiled at her and took a bite. I'd never tasted an apple so sweet, so crisp, so wonderful.