She locks eyes with him. "He knows something but isn't saying anything. He wants to stall. Why? That means he would try everything to stay quiet. What about pain? Enough of it, and anyone would crack."
A little harsh. Merrin watches the leader. "Do you want that?"
He spits blood red. "Mist you, Freak!"
Merrin cleans the spittle with his hands. Truthfully, he wished not to do it….But…his people. For them. "Don't make me do this to you."
Ron looks to him, silent.
Merrin adds. "Just tell me what happened, and I will let you go."
Catelyn trembles. "What?" she stood. "What if he returns?"
"When that happens, will we see?"
"Stupid."
The leader laughs. "What can you do? What can you bloody do?"
Indeed, what could he do? Torture was not the tool of the ashman. Not ever. How then was he to achieve this? "Tell me and I won't have to."
The leader curses at him.
No hope.
Merrin closes his eyes. For them. Stood. Davos screams. "I know what happened!"
The leader yelled. "TRAITOR!"
Stone smashes into his face. Catelyn.
Merrin disregards it, asking, "What?"
He was quick to speak. "Yeimen had rebelled against him."
The leader shouts, a stupid attempt to drown out Davos's words. Ron moved, pinned him, covering his mouth. Only murmurs are heard.
Davos continues. "He was ordered to kill one of the… witnesses. He did not, and instead killed one of his men and fled with some of the witnesses. Their location isn't known yet, but the leader has a clue. It is what we came out here to check. That and the sudden water sounds."
The leader had veins on his face. Rage unhinged. Regardless, an answer existed now. His people lived nearby, following Davos's words. Merrin smiled.
Soon. Soon enough. A breath in, he said, "We will soon move out. We have to find them." He looks to Ron. "What about moeash?"
Ron shook his head. "No. That one unseen."
There was always that possibility.
Merrin held faith. For now, the witnesses needed him. He regarded the leader, pinned, said, "You still have a chance to survive."
"So you're going to kill him?" Catelyn moves to his side.
Merrin watched, noting the glee she would gain from the act. He never marked her as one, but maybe she was—he never just saw it. He said, "No."
Her brows knit.
"Remember the statues?"
They unknit.
Merrins speaks now to everyone. "There are monsters in this place. Dangerous things that look like stone." He was unsure about that, though. Outside the murals, he hadn't truly seen one. That presented his words as a lie in a different context. He continued regardless. "These things are very deadly. They will kill anyone alone. You should not want that."
The leader scoffs.
The witness said loudly, "But we are safe with you, right?" Tone seeking affirmation.
Merrin gave it. "Yes. With me, all of you are safe. Without…" He allowed the words to hang in the air.
Ron uncovers the leader's mouth. "You want me to become one of your servants, right?" He sneered. "To go around calling you some savior. No. Not me. You take your offer and you shove it in your dark hole."
Merrin pitied him. "Then I'm sorry. I wonder about them." The two others had awoken, still watched intently by the witness, but awake. They share a glance, a knowing look, then a nod. "I don't want to die." One of them said.
This enrages the leader. He stirs on the ground, like a snake. "Mist you! Mist you all."
Merrin nods to Ron, and he tears off a piece of his cloth, wraps it over the leader's mouth. His words become muffled again.
"Won't this kill him?" The witness asked. Concerned or not, Merrin couldn't tell.
He answers anyway. "He should be able to free himself once we go." Merrin glanced at him. "You should, shouldn't you?"
His eyes were like daggers. He would kill them if given the chance…but there was no chance for it. Not here. Not in these undermines. Those statues would find him soon. That or the talemir. Either one would end his life.
I wonder if he knows this could be the last time he sees another human being?
Merrin speaks to the two slaves, and they both assure their loyalty and take on the two torches. Together, they leave the small cave, listening to the murmurs and sure curses of the leader.
The horror he would soon learn awaited him.
Now they passed through something of a corniche, the side dropping off into a death-ensured height. Together, they move with both hands placed on the walls, shuffling along. Many times, the witness almost fell. Ron is more stable, unbothered by the height. Neither was Merrin. But he was an Ashman, what was Ron?
The path, as it turned out, led to the base. As described, it was a large collection of tunnels and caves. Most big enough to function as chambers. Lined with dark metals. Like the one he awoke in.
This place seemed more like a connected whole than an underground with some ruins. What was it? He wonders. Eventually, they spit out onto a cliffside. Catelyn falls to the floor, gasping.
"That was dangerous."
Indeed. Many times, she had grabbed onto his clothes, nearly taking them both. Merrin hid it, but many ashmen would see that as a disgrace— a potential eidan who could not climb nor balance.
The torches flicker, casting shadows across the dark red floors, servs blinking on and off around them. Very few of them existed here, Merrin noted. The reason, he guessed, could be the location.
The ones here could be old. As old as the ruins. Who knew what had buried them? Perhaps the natural corrosion of water. Even mountains bathed in ever-rain for years often sink or break apart. Rare, but seen in the ashmountains. He rested, standing, watching for enemies.
Other than him and Catelyn, no one shares the environmental awareness. They must think the underground's enemies are men only. Ah, what a mistake that was. He must correct them.
Merrin said, "You two should be ahead of us." He spoke to the two slaves, lamp carriers. They tremble briefly at his words. Obey. Then moved ahead. Down the cliffside. The rest was over.
Ron followed. Likely, he had taken the role of the strongest. Physically, at least. That leaves an emptiness in Merrin's heart. Ron was never to know violence. This was a perversion of something beautiful.
They move down the cliff. Unnatural though. It felt like iron. Rusted but iron. Very hot too. That causes their quick motions, and soon, they are down the cliff. Standing, breathing.
Before them is a wall, dotted with round holes.
Like the mines. Like the catacombs.
A very large spread of wall. Mountainous. Dotted as though things had crawled out from within. Ropes stretched down from some. Short ropes for the floor, close ones, and long ones for the farther.
Davos said. "The leader came down with the ropes. I think he was planning on coming to the pits before the collapse."
To attack me, no doubt.
Merrin nods to him. "So, which is the right path?"
Davos moves sheepishly, taking the torch from one of the two. This gives him a crown of red light, flickering. Held in the left hand, he sways the torch over the walls and says. "I think this one."
He touched the tattered brown rope, nodded weakly. "Yes, this one. It's the way up."
Observably, the rope was much worn than the rest. Used often. Catelyn taps him on the shoulder. She said, "What if it's a trap?" Tone more of a whisper.
"Why would they trap me?"
"I don't know yet. But consider why the leader wanted to stall. For such a man, isn't his base not protected?"
"He has diversions. Different ropes." Merrin said, paused, and deliberated her words. This he achieved by the mental pooling of variables.
How would he capture the ones that took the wrong path?
Merrin regarded Catelyn, said, "You're right."
"As always." She adds and steps back, allowing for the needed mentation.
Exactly how was he to capture them? Chances that the caves were filled with men remained. But how many could fill them all? Hundreds. That amount did not fall into the pit. What then?
Some were, some weren't? Still a risk from the perspective of a leader. What then? Merrin glanced at Davos, said, "Climb another rope."
This startles him. "What?"
Merrin repeated. "I said, climb another one."
"But this one is the safe one." He pointed at the worn rope repeatedly.
"I know." Merrin said, "But I need to be sure that no problems exist. So climb it."
He looked around, eye searching for salvation. None offered it to him. Ron moves close. "If issue come, jump. I catch." He opened his arms—big enough for a bed.
Davos appears unassured by that—still, he trembles. Mouthing random words and prayers. Merrin does not say it, but he thinks him a coward.
The witness said quickly. "I will do it!" Tone, Merry.