"These REDs. Where are you gonna put them?" Brammel asked, falling into step beside Cane as they exited the hidden harbor.
"I'll run them through the ship's rails. A platinum tube filled with light oil, with a spiraling platinum wire inside."
Brammel whistled low. "That would be impossible for most folk. But it's well within your reach. I should have a prototype net-launching blunderbuss ready in a few days."
"Perfect. Thanks." Cane slowed as they neared Sun Tower. "Got some business here."
Brammel nodded. "I bet. Have a good day, lad."
Cane knocked lightly on the open door, peeking in to find Sophie reading over a stack of reports.
"Anything about me in there?"
Sophie didn't even look up. "There's always something about you in these."
"No... really?"
"Yes." Sophie smirked. "Did you know one of the satinum dresses you sold at auction got stolen? Value of the others has shot up."
"Sounds like an inside job," Cane joked, slipping into a chair across from her.
Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Think so?"
Cane shrugged. "Just speculating. Anything about the Defiant?"
Sophie leaned forward, her voice mock-casual. "You mean the all-female crew you disappeared with for two days?"
Cane laughed. "I didn't disappear! I was showing them how to fire the prototype cannon."
"Mmm-hmm." Sophie tapped her pen against the desk, feigning suspicion. "And that took two days?"
"No— Hey, I'm the one who sank those seven ships at Scorpion Straits!"
Sophie giggled, sudden and bright. "I know. It's just fun teasing you for a change."
"Ohhh." Cane grinned knowingly. "Just remember—you started it."
"Started it?" Sophie shook her head frantically. "No, no. I take it back!"
"Nope. Already started."
Sophie sighed dramatically, walking around the desk and plopping herself down on Cane's lap without a word. She looped her arms around his neck and stayed there.
"Better?" she asked.
"Still started," Cane said, grinning.
She kissed him, warm and fierce, pulling him closer before finally leaning back, breathless. "Good enough?"
Cane smiled lazily. "Suppose I can let it slide. This time."
Sophie rested her head against his shoulder with a small, content sigh.
"Can we stay like this for a while?"
"Yep."
After leaving Sun Tower, Cane tapped his psi-rune.
Cane:Heading out to hunt in Dreroi Valley.
Fergis:Dreroi? What for?
Cane:Need some class four soul gems for the heartguards I'm making us.
Clara:I'll come!
Dhalia:Me too.
Fergis:Let's meet at the stables.
"Spiders? Did you say spiders?" Clara grimaced, her face going pale. "Why does it have to be spiders?"
"Easy to find," Cane admitted. "Plus, creatures in the Caverns of Despair are known for level four and five soul gems."
"D-Despair?" Clara's eyes widened. "Why did you tell me that?"
"Don't scare her," Fergis said, stepping in with a wide grin. "Besides the spiders planting eggs in your ears, there's really nothing to worry about."
"Ears? In my ears?" Clara yelped, scratching at the sides of her head. "I'll... I'll watch the horses. You know, make sure they don't spook or anything. We don't want to end up walking back."
"Stop teasing her," Dhalia finally came to the rescue. "It's not actually called the Caverns of Despair. And we're looking for bats, not spiders."
"Bats?" Clara shook her fist at Cane. "Bats are fine. Spiders too. I wasn't scared or anything."
Cane chuckled. "What do you think, Fergis?"
"Seemed pretty scared to me," Fergis said, making a spider shape with his fingers.
Clara wrinkled her nose. "Was not..."
The Dreroi Valley stretched out before them—an hour's ride up the coast from the Academy. A series of damp, dark caverns riddled the valley's floor, flanked by looming rock walls and dozens of cave entrances.
Clara's freckled face had regained its usual cheer. "So... we just pick one? Or is there a method?"
"I'm fine with random," Cane said. "Let's switch to group comms. Sound carries too far in caves."
He adjusted his Salt armor, pulling out his shield and Starbolt.
Cane:Bats here are easy kills. About half the time, they've got a soul gem. We need at least level fours to power the heartguards.
The damp darkness swallowed them as they entered, soft-soled boots the only sound in the otherwise silent caverns.
Cane:We found some.
Clara: Huh? I don't see anything.
Cane chuckled softly, pointing upward.
"That's not rock overhead."
Clara:Don't talk out loud—you'll wake them!
Cane: Ready for the wake-up call, Fergis?
Fergis: Yep, standby.
Meteor Shower!
Fergis unleashed his best area effect spell—an explosion of flaming projectiles lighting up the cavern ceiling.
Hundreds of high-pitched wails erupted as the bats woke in panic, fire licking their wings, flapping wildly.
Clara: Here we go.
BOOM
She fired directly into the swarm, then swung her staff wildly at anything flying too close.
Cane braced his shield and charged forward, slamming into the mass of flailing bats. Each impact was solid—two, sometimes three bats at a time crumpling under the blow.
In seconds, the chaos faded. The cavern fell silent again, save for the group's breathing.
Cane:Thirty-four bats. Not bad. Check the center of their heads—if there's a lump, it's at least a level two soul gem.
They spread out, searching. Cane used a small knife to pry out any lumps he found.
Clara:I got two level fours and a half-dozen twos and threes!
Fergis:No level fours here.
Dhalia:Same. Just threes.
Cane:Same here. Lots of threes, no fours. Let's head deeper.
Cane set the small handlamp down, his eyes scanning both directions of the passage ahead.
Clara bumped into him, still wrestling with loading her blunderbuss.
"Sorry... I'm a slow loader."
"Suppose we could make encased cartridges for that," Cane said, watching her work the ramrod. "Would have to redesign the mechanism a bit. I'll put it on my list."
Fergis:Why'd we stop? Ahh... forks left and right. Which way? I think we should go left.
Dhalia: Agreed. Left.
Cane:Right looks like a better idea.
Clara:Everyone knows—you always go left at a fork!
Cane shrugged, hanging the handlamp on his belt as they moved down the left path.
Crack.
Fergis:You hear that? Sounded like ice cracking.
Cane glanced down—immediately going prone, arms and legs splayed wide.
"It's black shale! Everyone down!"
Too late.
The thin crust beneath Clara gave way. She dropped out of sight, her scream blending with the sickening sounds of cracking stone and thudding impacts below.
Cane yanked a rope from his storage ring.
Cane:Clara? Status?
Clara: Legs hurt. Piece of rock in my side. Can't breathe real well.
Cane: We're coming.
Fergis: I'm good—on solid granite. Must've been a shallow vein of shale.
Cane crawled back to him, quickly tying the rope around Fergis's waist and securing the other end to Dhalia.
Cane: I'm lowering you down. Heal Clara first.
Dhalia nodded, pulling a spare handlamp from her ring. Lying flat, she crawled to the ragged hole in the shale.
Dhalia:Going in. Coming down, Clara.
Cane felt the rope tense as it took Dhalia's weight. He slowly fed it down into the darkness.
Dhalia: Looks like another cave below. I see her—it's about ten meters down.
Cane let the rope slip through his gloved hands, steady and slow.
Dhalia:Five meters… Clara, can you light your lamp?
Clara:Landed on it. It's no longer with us.
Dhalia: I'm down. Floor's stable. Untying now.
Dhalia knelt beside Clara, brushing back a few loose strands of hair.
"Let's check your side first."
She opened Clara's robe gently and winced. A jagged piece of shale jutted from her ribs. Most people would've been writhing in agony—Clara just clenched her jaw.
"Just a piece of stone," Dhalia said calmly. "I'm gonna pull it and heal you up."
Clara nodded tightly. "Yep. Gonna close my eyes."
Dhalia worked quickly—pulling the stone free in one smooth motion, clamping a glowing hand over the wound. She closed her eyes, carefully reweaving severed muscle, bone, and skin.
"Not too bad," she murmured. "Gonna be sore, though."
Clara shifted slightly. "Left leg too."
Meanwhile, above them, Cane worked. He melted the edge of a large knife, shaping it with metallurgy into a burred spike.
The sound of his hammer rang out, echoing through the cavern, as he drove the spike into a deep crack in the granite.
He tied off the rope with a sharp tug.
Cane:Let's go.
Fergis:Go where?!
Cane:You know where.
Fergis stared at the gaping hole, then back at Cane, who was already crawling forward, vanishing into the dark.
Fergis:Damn it... you better catch me if I fall.
From somewhere below, Fergis heard Cane's low chuckle.
"No promises."