Chapter Thirteen: Fire in the Hole

Torch in hand, Percy studied the pile of rubble that sealed off the tunnel, looking for any weakness he could exploit. "How did she do this?" he asked Vax.

"Pretty simple. One big old Fireball, right at the ceiling."

Ah, yes, and there were the scorch marks to confirm it, streaking across what stones hadn't fallen. Extrapolating the radiant pattern back to its point of origin and estimating the angle of the blockage, he guessed the rubble to be about three feet thick at the top, and close to ten at the bottom. Their best chance at escape would be to get someone up near the ceiling to dislodge some of the larger stones.

If he had use of both his arms, he could do it himself, but there was no way his injuries would allow him to make the climb at all, much less move any sizeable stones. "Vax'ildan," he said instead, "can you get up there and pull out some of those big pieces?"

"No problem," Vax replied. But as he began scaling the steep slope, the broken stone and shattered mortar shifted under him. His left foot lost purchase, his right leg twisted, and he tumbled back down in a shower of rocks and curses. "Fuck me," he groaned. "Small problem, apparently."

Vex knelt beside him, frowning as she helped him up. "Are you all right, Brother?"

"Fine. Took a hit to the knee earlier. It's not bad." He pushed himself back to his feet, but Percy could see how unsteady he was as he leaned faux-casually against the wall to take the weight off his injury. "Let's try this again."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Percy, a trifle sharply. "Clearly, it's not as stable as it looks, and you're hurt worse than you want to admit. We need a new plan."

"What if we try to dig it out from the bottom?" Vex suggested. "Could we collapse the pile from underneath?"

Percy shook his head—the physics of the idea were sound, but it was too dangerous. "No, we'd just end up dropping it on our heads." He rubbed his chin as he thought. Perhaps if they could find a way to move some of the material while keeping a safe distance… but where would they get that kind of leverage?

Unless… "Of course!" Percy snapped his fingers as an idea dawned. "Ripley was making black powder! In quantity, from the looks of what that alchemist was selling her. If we can find some, I may be able to rig a small explosive that could clear the way."

"I'll have a look around, and see what I can scrounge up," said Vex.

Vax straightened, only a slight tightness around his eyes betraying any pain. "I'll come with you. Who knows what other surprises that psychopath may have left behind."

But Vex scoffed and shook her head. "I don't think so. As the only one here who isn't seriously wounded, I think I'm better off on my own." She silenced Vax's protests with a glare, then threw them a jaunty salute. "Back in a tick, boys."

Though he didn't particularly like the idea of letting her out of his sight just now, either, Percy knew there would be no arguing with her. Instead, he watched her disappear into the darkness, then turned his attention back to the pile of rubble, calculating the best place to plant the black powder charges he would make—all the while feeling Vax's eyes boring into his back.

He tried to ignore it. Vax was a grown man, damn it—if he had something to say, he should just say it already. But he only stared, the pressure of his gaze growing ever more tangible, an itch Percy couldn't scratch, right between his shoulder blades and crawling up his spine. The feeling progressed rapidly from distracting to annoying to downright maddening, and finally, Percy sighed and turned to face Vax. "What?" he snapped.

From where he stood leaning against the tunnel wall, Vax cocked an eyebrow at him, his expression otherwise carefully neutral. "Are we going to talk about what happened back there?"

Percy knew exactly what he meant by that, but now was not the time for this discussion. "What is there to talk about? We're all alive, thanks to your quick thinking." Despite himself, a half smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That was a bloody good throw, by the way."

But Vax ignored the compliment. "And what if I'd missed?"

"You don't miss."

Vax snorted. "I appreciate your faith in me, Percival, but I'm as mortal as you are." He folded his arms and speared Percy with a dark glare. "Besides, you and I both know you expected—dare I say, wanted—that dagger to land in your back."

Rather than argue the point—Vax was right, and he knew it—Percy simply shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "You saw an opportunity that I did not. I thank you for that."

"Damn you, de Rolo, you are not brushing this off so—"

"Vax? Percy?" someone called out through the rubble. "Is that you?"

Percy spun around to face the source of the unexpectedly familiar voice. "Pike?"

"Good to hear your voice, Pickle!" said Vax. "Sit tight—we're trying to get this blockage cleared."

"Oh, thank the Everlight, you're alive! Did you find Vex? Is she…?"

"I'm here, Pike! I'm okay!" Vex called out. She stepped into the torchlight and held out four goats' horns, each sealed with a metal cap, to Percy. "These are all full of black powder. And there's more where they came from."

Percy handed the torch to Vax and took one of the horns, hefting it in his hand and estimating it to weigh about two pounds. It looked well-crafted and sturdy, with no leaks or splits. "Perfect," he said. "These are exactly what I need. Thank you, Vex."

It took only a few minutes with his tinker's tools to get a fuse attached to each of the powder horns, turning them into rudimentary bombs. The yield would be low, but that was ideal—he didn't want to bring more of the tunnel down. He just needed enough for to move some of the rubble aside and create an opening they could crawl through.

He planted one of the charges and called out through the blockage. "I'm about to blow this thing, Pike! Stand clear!" To Vex and Vax, he said, "Find cover. Once I light the fuse, we'll have about twenty seconds before it goes off. Vax'ildan, the torch, please."

Percy waited until the twins disappeared around a corner, then lit the fuse and sprinted after them. No sooner had he slid into place beside them than the tunnel echoed with a thunderous boom, followed by the satisfying sound of tumbling rocks. He couldn't help but smile.

"All right," he said when the noise stopped. "Let's see if that worked."

It had, in fact, worked even better than he'd hoped. Large chinks of stone and masonry littered the tunnel floor almost all the way back to their hiding place, and as they picked their way over the debris and through the smoke and dust, Percy found that the center of the blockage had been reduced to a hill less than four feet high, leaving a narrow but easily navigable opening.

And from the other side, a golden light shone through.

Pike wasn't sure how far away from the rockfall constituted "standing clear," so she simply ran the other way until she heard the explosion, throwing up her Shield behind her just in case. She turned back as the thunder gave way to falling stone, and made her way back to what was now a gap in the wall of debris. Holding her mace high, she grinned as Vex appeared in the opening, helping Vax climb over the treacherous rocks, followed by Percy.

"Oh, man, it's so good to see you guys!" she gushed. Then, as she got a chance to really look them over, "You look like shit."

They really did. Vex's wrists were raw and bleeding. Vax walked with a pronounced limp. Percy's left arm hung in makeshift sling. They all looked haggard and haunted.

Well, it was a good thing they had a cleric for a friend, wasn't it? Pike clutched her amulet and whispered a short prayer to the Everlight, and smiled as she watched their wounds close.

Vax sighed with relief and stood up straight. "Thanks, Pickle."

Percy nodded his agreement as he untied the sling, rolling his shoulder experimentally before slipping his arm back into his coat. "Have you seen Ripley?" he asked.

A grin spread across Pike's face. She couldn't help it. "We got her, Percy," she said.

She expected him to be happy to hear that, but he only stared at her for a moment, something unreadable in those piercing green eyes that nevertheless made her nervous. "She's… dead?" he asked, as though he didn't dare believe it. Or perhaps didn't want to?

"No," Pike replied slowly. "Count Gildspire wanted her captured. She… she killed Lady Kaiya, and he wants her to stand trial."

Percy nodded. "We found Kaiya's body," he said, his voice strained. "Did you…?"

"She's being taken care of. Don't worry." Pike gave him an encouraging smile. "Come on. Let's get out of here, and I'll fill you in on everything."