I was having a hard time following all this, but it sounded like there might be some kind of fight as a result of this 'mark' the keep talking about. I didn't really understand the connection, but it was clear they were all treating this very seriously.
Before I could listen in on much more of the discussion though, we were handed off to this Ekarem lady who had been assigned as our caretaker, and she made straight for one of the nearby tents. In that tent was a boy who appeared to be around a year or two older than me and Sam. He was only wearing a fir that was wrapped around his waist, effectively a loin cloth, and he looked rather timid. Perhaps that was simply a result of him picking up on the atmosphere of unease among the adults though.
[Akimin, come! We are going to the quarry tunnel. It is about to get dangerous out here.]
[Mama, what's going on? What's going on mama?] The boy asked.
[I just told you, it's dangerous. Don't be trouble, just come!] She growled at him, and I get the impression she would have been grabbing him by the arm if she didn't have both hands occupied with me and Sam.
[Who are these?] he asked in regards to us. I noticed that his command of the language seemed a little delayed, even if I were to compare it to others his age from back up at the camp. Perhaps things down here don't allow for them to educate their children all that well.
[We are taking them with us to the mines, they will be like a little brother and sister to you, so learn to be nice!] Ekarem told her son.
The boy simply eyed me and Sam when he heard that, but he did not say anything and silently followed his mother after that.
We were soon joined by Deseden at the entrance to the quarry tunnel they'd been talking about. There were a few large sledgehammers near the entrance. Tools of this sort were not often seen among the gnomes. Stoneshaping through earth magic more or less eliminates the need fro them, but down here where the incredibly high natural earth mana in the stone makes stoneshaping difficult, it would make sense they'd adopt more conventional tools.
It made sense why they'd want a quarry too. Gnomes literally ate rocks, and the 'earth nest stones,' as they call them, that come from this place are some of the highest density earth-mana containing rocks available. That makes it incredibly delicious and nutritious.
The only thing that didn't make sense was why they made their quarry into a tunnel. That would just make the job harder, wouldn't it?
Ekarem carried me and Sam in her arms as she walked into the tunnel, followed by her son Akimin and the man who was assigned to guard us, Deseden. The walls of the tunnel showed clear signs those hammers were the preferred tool of choice for quarrying stone from this tunnel. There was no sign of the characteristic smoothness of stoneshaping. Instead, the walls of the tunnel were rough and covered in tool marks.
The path split about twenty feet in. There was a path leading to the left that seemed to head up, and a path to the right that lead down.
[We will go down, where the mana is more dense,] Deseden said. [I do not even want to chance at the possibility someone could tunnel through. It is unlikely, but some enterprising individual who knows about the mine's structure really could make such an attempt.]
Ekarem nodded. [The other mothers will likely be following us soon with the rest of the children. This is the most secure place in the Enisib,] she said as she began down the lower path.
[Why are they going to fight?] I asked. The subject I had been desperately curious about had just come up, and I meant to get some answers this time.
Ekarem seemed a little surprised at the sudden question and paused for a moment, but then it seemed as though her mind managed to catch up.
[Well, it is because the keeper said that you two were valuable, and also said we have to protect you. It means other people might come here and try to hurt you so the keeper will get mad at us,] she said.
[Mad... hah! That's putting it rather mildly!] Deseden said.
[What does he do when he's mad?] I asked, not wanting them to shut down now that they've started talking on the subject.
[He will force us to perform an eserdin. If we do not, he will enact a saladin on us,] he said, using two words that I unfortunately actually knew the definitions of. I had actually been taught this by the camp guards. 'Eserdin' was a word that meant killing one in every six members of a population. 'Saladin' meant to kill three in every six. In other words, half.
I am not quite certain what is the more outrageous about this situation. The fact that I was actually taught what those words mean, or the fact that these people I just met are under threat of that kind of treatment. I probably should have suspected this kind of treatment would be something actually enacted in this place if the guards saw it important to teach me these words. Supposedly, they should have been in the program as well, so they would have also spent time down here in the pit. That could explain why they thought I should know those words.
[That's not fair,] I say in response.
[Hah!] Deseden scoffs. [Nope, things are not fair down here kid. Fair is for others in the Enisib. Everyone else? You take from them before they can take from you. If they try to take from you, you kill them or harm them badly enough that everyone gets the message not to mess with you. You learn that, you know how to survive down here. Way I hear it, that's the most important lesson they want you to learn here in the pit, and the keeper has the job to make sure we don't forget it and keeps giving us reasons to fight and kill each other.]
[Deseden, they are only three cycles old. They are not going to understand it if you tell them all this,] Ekarem says.
[Hm, I bet they are smarter than you think. For one, they were raised up in the camp, not down here. This kid here's already talking and thinking better than that kid,] he said, gesturing to Akimin. [He definitely understood what I was saying when I was talking about eserdin and saladin. For another, the keeper said they're supposed to be chosen by Iuutel or something. I don't think Iuutel would be sending them down here if they were not mentally equipped to survive. Maybe they got memories of the Agarath or something making them smarter than a normal kid should be.]
[Nuh-un! We don have memories!] Sam cut in upon hearing this comment. Deseden just glared at her.
[Don't try to lie to me, girl! I saw the way you were using earth magic to come down the pit. Those were advanced techniques, and you were moving a lot of mana to use them. There is absolutely no way a baby who is just three cycles old could do anything even close to that without memories of the Agarath!]
"Mmm..." Sam made a displeased sound and pouted. This is when it all connected for me.
"Sam, were you trying to act like a baby to get out of work or something?'
"Terlu!" She snapped back at me in shocked displeasure.
"He's already figured everything out just from us coming down the cliff," I told her.
[Is that Agatharan you are speaking?] Deseden asked, but he didn't seem like he was really interested in an answer. He was just looking square on at Ekarem. [See? I bet these two can manage well beyond the age they appear to be. We should treat them as though they are the same age as a normal initiate who descends the pit. Iuutel seems to think so, why should we think any different?]
[I suppose you are right,] Ekarem says.
[That does mean keeping ahold of them though,] Deseden added. [They may have minds of someone much older, but they still have the bodies of three cycle children. We should use that to keep a firm grip on them until we know we can trust they won't run off and get up to some trouble. They are still new down here after all.]
With these words, he gave each of us a harsh look. [You continue on in the lead, I will hold the rear to make sure I can see everything that's happening,] he said.
In other words, he'll be keeping a close eye on us. Our situation suddenly felt a lot more oppressive when it was made clear the adults in our immediate vicinity were harboring suspicions about us. But, it sounded like we still had room to prove ourselves an asset. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It means this guy is vigilant and cautious. If he's supposed to be the one protecting us, those are some very good qualities for him to have.
We continue down the path. It is not a whole lot deeper, and eventually it starts widening out into something of a fan-shape. The wall at the far end has several hammers propped up against it, making it clear people come here frequently to work and beat back the wall a little further just a little bit at a time. How long did it take them to dig this far back anyway?
[Alright!] Deseden said. [I'm going to have you two put to work. This is all for the sake of protecting you two, so you had better put in the work to justify it!
[We're tired from climbing down!] Sam protested.
[Well then pull out a rock and eat it to replenish some mana!] Deseden barked, causing her to pout.
"Seriously? He's making three year olds work? There are such a thing as child labor laws, you know!"
"We're not on Earth anymore, I don't think those laws exist here," I said.
"Well there should be! Damn it. I really thought I'd be able to get away with just acting like a baby down here," she groused.
I was actually somewhat glad she had been the one to complain about being tired first. I was thinking the same thing, and probably have a lot more right to say it than she does considering how much work it was to handle the vertical descents while she was only doing the far less intense sloped descents. She was acting like a bit of a brat, but I was grateful she'd been the one to take Deseden's anger on this subject instead of me.
Deseden walked over to the wall and grabbed one of the hammers, and then leaned it up against one location on the wall. After this, he walked down the line, picking up every hammer in the way. He backed off a bit and seemed to be trying to visually assess the wall with all the hammers in hand for a bit, and then appeared to have figured out what he was looking for and approached, placing one of the many hammers he'd collected up against this other location on the wall before setting the rest to the side.
[Now! The first task I want from you two is to make everything between this hammer and this hammer completely smooth and flat. We are going to help make a wall for the camp up above, so it has to be as flat as you can manage.]
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