Chương 75: Chapter 76: The Séarlait Mining Company

Róise's face stung with the sunburned imprint of a backhand Cormac's luck had been unable to prevent. Cowal not only enjoyed the strength of a Fifth, but had clearly been trained in combat in a way that Cian's month of lessons in the jungle couldn't hope to match. She'd abandoned her attempt at Seven Drunken Nights once she had tackled him away from Miriam. It was too slow for someone as powerful as he. Sharp pops came from behind her and she saw Sol firing his fórsalocks, Miriam limping weakly beside him.

Cowal lunged at her only to stumble as Sol fired some of Róise's own lashes at his feet. He tore through them quickly - lashes were tools, not traps - but it delayed him slightly enough for Róise to get in three more stabs to the chest. He recoiled - even if the gap from Fourth to Fifth was large, it wasn't insurmountable. Those wounds hurt. As he stepped back from Róise, Miriam slipped in. She put her hand on Cowal's neck and used Liquifactive Necrosis and Local Infection at the same time.

She poured her fórsa into it once again to make up for the difference in power and found herself nearly dry. Fighting higher ringed opponents made her overwhelming fórsa reserves a moot point. Just enough, he told herself. Just do enough. It was becoming impossible to focus. She kept forcing herself not to look in the direction she knew her tree was, but her will was melting away as her fórsa emptied.

Cowal made a retching sound as his lung tissue began to die, but couldn't hack up the fluid filling his lungs because a local infection in his throat had swollen it shut. Brilliant light radiated out of his mouth as he used his fórsa to burn the Blight away. Too late. Róise's twin knives slashed across his throat, one, two, three times, sawing all the way back to the spine. Cowal and Miriam fell at the same time.

"Help Cormac," Miriam croaked as Róise rushed forward. The pixie hesitated a moment, then obeyed, running to where Cormac was struggling against the Earth nature man. Cormac has a few nasty bruises at this point, and a bleeding wound where a sharp pillar of rock has stabbed him in the leg. He wasn't at the door of defeat, but he had made it a long way down the driveway.

"Cormac!" Róise yelled. The Bodac smiled. He leaped backwards and tore a tangle of golden threads out of the air that all of them could see, kneeling down. This position left him completely exposed, and his Earth Nature opponent rushed in to take advantage. Only to be stopped by Róise, who leaped over Cormac's head through the cat's cradle of threads. Her eyes glowed golden as he activated Luck Armor. He had to deactivate At What Cost, but it didn't matter.

Róise fought at the pinnacle of her ability, always finding just the right angle, just the right spot to stand. Combined with Banks of Red Roses, which had the property of breaking what should be unbreakable, her opponent stood no chance. Róise did not choose the non-lethal option. This was war. A knife stuck up through his jaw and into his skull flickered and vanished as the Earth Nature Sidhe fell.

"Miriam!" Róise said, even before the body hit the ground. Banks of Red Roses faded and she immediately started Róisín Dubh. The dryad was flat on her stomach, clawing weakly at the cave wall, her eyes dull. Her wounds and lack of fórsa had leeched any ability she had to resist the call of Sailleach.

"It'll be ok," Róise said, tugging her back from the wall." Róisín Dubh wasn't healing her when I tried it," Sol said, a note of panic in his voice. Róise frowned, but poured in more fórsa into the technique. This was a Fourth technique being applied to a Second in the First Ring. There were almost no conditions in which it could be more effective. Sol was right. The wounds in Miriam's stomach and the burned-in handprint were not healing.

"Cormac, why isn't it working?" Róise asked, feeling helpless. She had come to rely on Róisín Dubh to be able to set everything back the way it was supposed to be - if she were honest with herself, it was why she had become more reckless lately - she knew could fix her own mistakes.

"I'm not sure," he started, but at that moment the final member of the troop, the man hiding among the mine carts, tried to bolt for the stairs. Sol caught him before he could make it. A quick punch to the gut followed by an expert throw to the ground laid the man out in less than a second. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Sol, where in hell did you learn to do that?" Cormac wondered. Sol looked startled. He shook his head.

"Back to Miriam. Is it because of her tree?" Cormac nodded.

"That would be my bet. Her fórsa is coming apart at the seams. Too scattered to react to Róisín Dubh the way it's supposed to. Or maybe it's the fire… I think dryads are weak to fire. It's just never come up before."

"Sol, take her up to the surface," Róise said.

"If it's her tree, then the only cure is to get her into the Second Ring. We'll follow after we ask your captive some questions."

"Will she be all right?" Sol asked, heaving Miriam onto his shoulder.

"I don't know." The man who had been cowering away from the fight put up absolutely no further resistance. He was a pixie, though taller than Róise, with small wings fluttering uselessly from his back.

"My name is Alaois. Special Assistant to Mr. Séarlait on matters of geology and metallurgy." Róise bared her teeth.

"I'm to assume 'Mr. Séarlait' is Caolán Séarlait, out of Shirren?"

"Yes, of course!" Alaois babbled.

"There is only one Mr. Séarlait! He's a very singular man!" Róise's blue blade flickered to life against the man's throat.

"There is only one Mr. Séarlait because our dear Caolán murdered all the rest." Alaois's mouth gaped open and closed like a fish, before steeling himself.

"I… I would doubt that very much, my lady. I have spent much time with Mr. Séarlait and he… he is a great man!"

"Róise," Cormac admonished.

"You're snarling." Róise tried to breathe more slowly.

"Does he speak of his family often, then? Our Mr. Séarlait?" Alaois somehow found the ability to look offended even at knife-point.

"The subject of his family is well-known to be taboo. Targeted by assassins on Pixie's Day. Tragic. But Mr. Séarlait persevered, and now the Séarlait Consortium is the biggest merchant concern in the Quadrant!"

"Father killed. Mother killed. Aunts? Uncles?" This brought hesitant nods from Alaois.

"What about siblings?" Róise inadvertently drew blood from his neck by leaning in.

"Ack! Please! Sibling, yes, siblings! All dead!" Alaois's eyes continue to flick over to the bodies of the dead Fifths.

"Enough, Róise," Cormac said gently.

"Alaois. What are you doing here? We thought this was a forward base for troop movements from Shorinu. A way to flank the rebellion in the Second Ring."

"Rebellion in the Second Ring?" Alaois looked confused.

"I've heard of no such thing. We were here for a purely business purpose, I assure you. Is that what this is? Are you from Teilgcheárta?"

"We don't know what Teilgcheárta is," Róise said impatiently.

"Why are you here then?" The pixie licked his lips.

"Teilgcheárta is the reason we're here. You must promise not to reveal our purpose or the Company might face very stiff penalties!"

"I am increasingly likely to stab you in the throat the more time I have to listen to you talk," Róise said matter-of-factly.

"So you'd best make it quick."

"Teilgcheárta is the foundry town a few miles into the Second Ring," Alaois said quickly.

"It has sole access to the largest deposit of cold iron in this or the neighboring two quadrants! An unfair monopoly."

"And you're here to, what? Undermine them somehow?"

"A very astute choice of words, my lady. Yes." Alaois became more animated, as if eager to discuss his work.

"You see, Teilgcheárta is actually not a part of Shorinu. It's an independent city-state inside the Shorinu borders."

"Why would Shorinu allow that?" Cormac asked, shaking his head.

"They have Teilgcheárta surrounded on all sides. If they had such a precious resource, Shorinu would have swooped down on them in no time. Believe me, we know from experience."

"Ah, well, that is the result of some distasteful tactics on the part of the leaders of Teilgcheárta. They make great use of their one resource. It is quite difficult to defend against."

"Iron," Róise guessed.

"They have found a way to make their defenses out of cold iron."

"Just so," Alaois said.

"My lady, I am talking very freely about our plans. Would you… would you put the knife away?" Róise grunted but the knife flickered away.

"Thank you. Teilgcheárta is impregnable, no matter how big an army you send. So they have had a treaty with Shorinu for hundreds of years now.

'Leave us alone and we will sell you iron.' They see it as a win/win for everyone."

"Shorinu doesn't see it that way?"

"Officially, they are happy with the relationship," Alaois said.

"Unofficially?"

"They absolutely hate it. Mr… my employer was the first to present them with a novel strategy to overcome the monopoly. He found mining records from hundreds of years ago when the iron ore was discovered here. The original miners of Teilgcheárta made many exploratory tunnels to ferret out how large the deposit of iron actually was. After the ore was mapped, these exploratory tunnels were sealed off." Alaois pointed to the iron barrier, the Fire Nature Sidhe still smoking against it.

"And the Séarlait Consortium's big idea is to tunnel under the iron deposit and steal it from under their noses?" Cormac shook his head.

"That seemed doomed to start conflict between Teilgcheárta and Shorinu."

"Not if the offending party is not officially affiliated with Shorinu," Alaois said.

"Mr. Séarlait received many guarantees that he would be well compensated should Teilgcheárta discover his activities."

"He's being paid to try to steal the iron, and if that fails to take the fall for it," Róise spat.

"And that's why you hired these Fifths?"

"We couldn't get through the iron," Alaois said sheepishly.

"So Mr. Séarlait loaned us some of his heavy hitters."

"Cormac! Róise!" Sol bounded down the stairs.

"I need help!"

"Sol? What's happening? Where is Miriam?"

"I don't know what's happening. As soon as she got among the trees she started…sort of putting down roots. She's becoming one with the trees out there, and I'm not strong enough to pull her out of it!"

"You go," Cormac said.

"I'll take care of Alaois here." Róise growled in frustration. Then she turned to her captive.

"When you go back to Shirren you tell your Mr. Séarlait that his little sister can't wait to see him again." Alaois's jaw dropped and Róise went up the stairs three at a time, Sol following after. Cormac sighed, alone with his captive.

"Oh, Alaois. I really wish she hadn't said that."

"That's… you called her Róise. Is that Róise Séarlait? She's supposed to be dead!"

"And as far as anyone in Shirren knows, it'll stay that way," Cormac said, gently wrapping his hand around Alaois's throat.

"I…no…" his voice squeaked into nothing as Cormac applied his Fourth's strength into slowly squeezing.

"I'm sorry," Cormac said.

"But I value her life more than I value her good will. She will be mad at me for this, but she also won't have assassins hunting her through Shorinu. So we do what we must."