Double Pay

One second turns into a whole day.

I know 'cause when I finally open my eyes, it ain't the suns I see coming through the roof. It's dark, real dark, and the hut's gone cold. Somewhere outside, a dog's barking. Probably old Nut's. Probably still wet.

My hand's still curled around the stone. Still cold.

I try to sit up, but my body don't listen. It's heavy, like my bones got swapped out for coal. Even my eyelids feel like too much work.

So I let 'em close again.

And this time, I don't fall asleep.

I fall in.

***

I'm standing in front of the cave again.

Same hole in the rock. Same dark. Same quiet, so quiet I can hear my own heart. But this time, it don't feel like it's waiting for me.

It feels like it's calling.

I take a step in. Then another. The air gets warmer the deeper I go, like walking toward a stove. The walls are black and smooth, and I run my fingers along them as I walk. They're warm too. Warm like the stone used to be.

I should be scared. I ain't.

Up ahead, there's a light. Orange and soft, flickering on the walls. I follow it round a bend, and the tunnel opens up.

It's the room.

The shelves. The books, more than I can count, stacked so high they disappear into the dark. The desk. And the man, sitting with his back to me, his hand moving quick across the paper.

Scratch. Dip. Scratch.

He's in a hurry. Like he's running out of time.

This time I notice something I didn't before. There's a pendant on his desk, a small piece of black rock with a circle carved into it. Inside the circle, four shapes. A drop. A stone. A swirl.

And a flame. Big as the others.

The scratching stops.

I know what's coming, but I can't move. He sets down his quill and turns around, slow, and there it is again. That face. Twisted and melted, burned so bad it don't look like a face at all.

But he don't say "kill them" this time.

He just looks at me. Or I think he does. Then he lifts one hand and points at me. No, not at me. At my chest.

Something inside it gets warm.

"Soon."

***

I wake up with my heart pounding.

The hut's still dark, but there's a little bit of moon sneaking through the cracks in the roof. Nail's back, asleep on his mat, snoring soft like always.

I let out a breath. Just a dream. Same stupid dream.

My hand's still wrapped around the stone. I must've fallen asleep holding it.

It's warm again.

Cold yesterday. Warm today. Why's it only warm sometimes?

***

I don't remember falling back asleep. Next thing I know, the light's coming through the cracks, and Nail's tying his boots by the door.

"Up," he says. "Church is serving today. If we're late, we get nothing."

I'm on my feet before he finishes. Free food don't wait for nobody, and neither does Nail. We're out the door in no time.

The church sits up the hill, close to the lord's house, like it wants to be near the money. It's the only clean building in Brimhaven. White stone, tall doors, and the Order's mark carved over the entrance. The drop, the stone, the swirl, and the little flame in the middle, small like always.

The line's already long by the time we get there. Half the town's here. Needle spots us and waves us over, like she was saving us a spot. Nail pretends he don't see the wave. Then he walks over anyway.

"Soup today," Needle whispers, all excited. "Real soup."

My stomach growls so loud the old man in front of us turns around.

When we finally get to the front, an acolyte drops a wooden bowl into my hands. He's a kid, younger than me, with a shaved head and a plain gray robe that's too big for him. Behind him, a whole row of 'em are ladling soup, eyes down, not saying a word.

Orphans, most of 'em. The Order takes in the ones nobody wants.

That would've been me. If Nail hadn't picked me up all those years ago, I'd be standing back there in gray, scooping soup for people who don't even look at me.

Or maybe not. Maybe I wouldn't be standing anywhere.

The Order feeds a lot of kids, but I don't think anybody back there sits up all night with the sick ones. Nobody's wiping their foreheads or saving the last of the water for their medicine. A kid like me, coughing every night and too weak to work? They'd have buried me before I turned ten.

I glance at Nail. He's already walking off with his bowl like it's nothing.

It ain't nothing.

Then I look down. Steam curls off the top. And floating in the middle, right there, is a bean.

Two beans, actually.

Guess I'll aim for meat next time.

"Nail," I say. "Floating."

"I see it."

"Floating, Nail."

"Eat your soup, Ash."

Needle laughs so hard she nearly drops her bowl.

We find a spot on the steps and eat slow, making it last. Around us, the whole yard is full of people slurping and chewing and talking about yesterday.

The mages are here too.

The brown one's standing on a crate in the middle of the yard, waving his staff around like he's telling a bedtime story.

"...and the beast lunged right at me, jaws wide open. I didn't flinch. Not once. One chant, and the ground itself rose up to pin it."

A few kids are staring at him with their mouths open. Everybody else keeps eating.

"Didn't pin nothing," Nail mutters into his bowl.

The white one's at the end of the line, arms crossed, watching every face that passes like he's counting them. A skinny boy tries to sneak back in for seconds. The white mage don't even move. He just says, "No," and the boy turns right back around.

"He remembers everybody," Needle whispers. "Every single face."

And then there's her.

Bay. She's standing by a row of empty cups on a long table. Every time somebody holds one out, she waves her hand over it, and water just fills it up from nothing. Clear and clean.

She looks up, and her eyes land on me. For a second, she seems surprised. Then she smiles and nods, like she's glad I'm still standing.

I nod back. My face goes hot again. Why does that keep happening?

Needle nudges me with her elbow. I pretend I don't feel it.

A bell rings. Not the loud one from that night. A small one, soft and clear.

The church doors open, and a man in a long white robe steps out. A priest, I think. He raises both hands, and the whole yard goes quiet.

"People of Brimhaven," he calls. "Rise for His Grace, the Prelate."

Everybody stands. Even Nail, though he takes his time.

The man who walks out after the priest don't look like anybody I've ever seen. His robes are white and gold, so clean they almost hurt my eyes. A heavy chain hangs round his neck, the Order's mark dangling at the end of it, shining in the sunlight. He walks slow, like the ground should be grateful he's stepping on it.

He stops at the top of the steps and spreads his arms wide, like he's hugging the whole town.

"May the Three guide your path."

"Keep us in the circle," the crowd answers. Needle says it loudest.

"Children of Brimhaven." His voice rolls over the yard, deep and smooth, like it's been practiced. "For many days now, you have seen the Order's mages walking among you. Knocking on your doors. Watching your streets. Some of you have wondered why."

Nobody says nothing. A few people look at the ground.

"Yesterday, you saw the answer." He lets the quiet stretch, long enough that somebody's baby starts crying. "An Acrid. A hopper, as you call them." His lip curls a little on the word. "A beast from beyond the mountains, slain in your very streets by the hands of the Three."

The brown mage puffs up his chest. Bay just looks down at her feet.

"But hear me." The Prelate lifts a finger. "The Acrid does not wander. It does not hunt for bread or water like a common animal. It comes with purpose." His eyes drift over the crowd, slow. "It comes when something calls to it."

Whispers spread through the yard. Most people just look scared.

Nail don't. Nail's frowning.

"Calls to it," he mutters under his breath. "Calls to it how?"

"And so," the Prelate goes on, louder, "our search will go deeper. Beginning today, the mages of the Order will descend into the tunnels beneath your mountain, so that whatever lies below may be found and dealt with. Before it finds you."

Now the whispers ain't whispers anymore.

The Prelate raises both hands, and the yard goes quiet again.

"Fear not. The Three have watched over Brimhaven since before your grandfathers' grandfathers drew breath. They watch still. As long as you remain faithful, as long as you remain in the circle, no harm shall come to you."

He smiles. It's a nice smile. Too nice, like Goldtooth's.

Then the priest leads everybody in prayer. I bow my head like everybody else.

But I peek.

The Prelate's eyes are still moving across the crowd. Slow. Careful. Like he's counting us.

I keep my hand off the stone in my pocket.

Once the prayer's done, people start leaving, and we head straight up the mountain.

By the time we make it up to the mine, the big sun's already climbing. Spike's sitting under his ripped cloth like always, but today he ain't alone. Two of the lord's men are standing behind him, arms crossed.

"Change of plans," Spike says. "Lord's orders. The deep tunnels are opening back up."

Nail's jaw goes tight. "Those been shut for years."

"And now they ain't. Order wants their mages down there for their little search, and the lord figures if they're digging around anyway, might as well dig out some coal." Spike grins with his yellow teeth. "Double pay for anybody who goes down."

Double pay.

Meat this time, for sure. A cup that don't leak. Maybe even a new mat.

"He stays up top," Nail says.

"Then you don't go either. I need pairs down there." Spike's eyes slide over to me. "Even half pay for the weak kid'd be a full day for once."

Nail looks at me. I know that look. It's the same one from the first day, when he told me to stay home.

But this time, I don't feel like I'm about to break.

"I can do it," I say.

I don't know where it comes from, but for the first time in my life, I feel ready.