Chapter 481: A Better Conversation

"I have a very large problem, that overwhelms me, and until today, I did not think anyone could aid me. I have responsibilities that pull me in two directions. Failing in either of these dooms my people to extinction. Things seemed so much worse when you began your attack on the snails and invaded these caverns. I was terrified of what you and your army could do, and my worst fears came true when I realized that someone had somehow found what is left of my tribe. The stress nearly killed me, and I came very close to killing Ringtail and Tweedle in my panic."

"My heart stopped when I entered the chamber, fearing the worst. Imagine my utter shock to them realize it was only two gentle ratkin telling stories to the youngest and entertaining them. And that they were doing this while I held you captive and debated with myself whether I could kill again to protect them. I sat against a wall, thinking no one had seen me, and listened to their stories and watched them play with my tribe. But they had seen me, they are very perceptive. Tweedle came to me, and gave me a Jelly Bean. I had never had this magical fruit before, and his simple act of kindness told me that your tribe has much in common with mine, and I was ashamed of my actions, and I know that I have incurred a lifedebt."

He paused for a moment, and when Milo didn't say anything, went on. "I asked about you, and they told me how you came to their home, the Hollow, appearing suddenly, and becoming an important part of it. They told me about your friend Larry, an outcast, and how you made friends with Larry, and helped him. They are astounded by how you saw all the problems in the Hollow, and solved them one by one. You have a strong sense of responsibility to your tribe. This is a good thing."

Milo shrugged and instantly regretted it. His bones might be in the right place and knitting together, but any movement was agony. He forced himself to sit still, and try to relax on his bed of gravel and rocks. The cheese Ringtail had given him was a huge help. He knew he would never have been this calm without it. He tried to keep his voice neutral, and move as little as possible. His thought process was still at war with itself. His agreement to move on was mostly a tactical maneuver. He needed time to recover and figure things out, and antagonizing this powerful creature while he could barely move wasn't a good idea. And, while forgiving someone who misjudged him and admitted their mistake might make sense, not being very annoyed was another. He'd hated having to endure being trapped and helpless. But, he had to admit that Ringtail was right: He had learned something. He was anxious to experiment further with 'hands off' runic arrays. He could imagine many ways that they could prove advantageous. The parts of his brain were arguing, but eventually reached a consensus that further communication and keeping all options open was good, but he reserved the right to be annoyed.

"I don't know anything about you. I'm willing to forgive the rough start to this conversation. Which is something I don't think I'd do normally with someone who imprisoned me and made threats to kill me. But Ringtail and his brother aren't idiots, even though they've played the role for years. I trust their judgement. But to help in any way, I need information about you, and about your problems. I can't help without knowing more."

The grey man rolled back the sleeve of his tunic and stepped forward. This close, and at a better angle, Milo could see that his skin was composed of pea-sized pebbles and areas of larger rock. As Dinderfinkums moved, there was a slight sound of rock scraping on rock.

"You can see that my body is undergoing a process we call slunkterfume, or in your language 'rockification.' It happens when one of my race who is both very powerful and very old is at the end of his days. I am past my normal lifespan, old and stiff, and dying."

Milo stayed silent for a few seconds and then said. "I'm sorry about that. But I don't know of a way to help you cheat death."

Dinderfinkums shook his head, "No, you can't. Nor should you try. This is the natural order of things. I am at the end of my lifespan, and have achieved an age far past the age I expected to live in this cycle. It is past time that I was rejoining the rock below. It will be a relief to finally set down my burdens. I should have done so long ago. But I can't, not yet...what few are left of my race need me here. Without me, they will not survive long."

"What do they need you for?"

He began to pace, and the sound of rock grinding and cracking increased. "Everything. They are all infants, with little knowledge of the dangers of the world, and they do not have the skills to survive even within this small area. Worse, they have little self-preservation, and fear almost nothing. It is not safe for them to be left alone. Not with the monstrous, hungry snails here, and other terrors lurking in the shadows. I make sure they have enough food, and that everyone gets enough to eat. I create safe paths to small caverns they can use for gathering and farming lichen, but they would rather play games than do the work. It is hard to begrudge them that: This is their 'young time', when they are innocent and joyful."

"Even if I could force them to do more work, I would not. So I do what I can, and I teach our history, heal the injured, and protect them from predators. I try every moon cycle to teach them to feel the rock and convince it to do what they ask. If even one of them can learn to feel the rock, it would ease my load. Rock melding marks the end of 'young time' and the beginning of responsibility and serving the tribe. They don't...they don't feel that yet. And I must endure until they do."

He looked at Milo, and held up a hand. "I know your next question: Where are the others? They are gone, taken to the mines or to Bloth or a dozen other places in the world, and most assuredly dead. I hate myself for not being here. Our race matures slowly, through four seasons. That is not the word we use, but I expect you are familiar with the term. It comes from the Elves who divide time into four categories of spring, summer, fall, and winter. These words will do."

"Yes, I've been to the surface and understand seasons."

"Good. It is a fair analogy, but some races have not gone to the 'Uptop' and experienced such things. Our young are born into their Springtime. They are simple and happy. They play and learn and are loved. Eventually, they feel the rock beneath them and begin communicating with it. The learn the concepts of responsibility to the tribe, and that the many come before the one. They enter into their Summer and join the tribe, working to provide for all, and to protect those still in their Spring. Later, the rock calls again, and their powers over stone emerge fully. In the Autumn of our lives we pledge to another and create new life to make the tribe strong and enduring. Those with great power become Rockshapers, and those without become the tribes elders who organize and guide with wisdom.

"When a Rockshaper reaches an advanced age, and Winter comes for them, a deep bond is formed with the rock, and the deep caverns call. They leave the tribe to wander in the deeps, learning new things and finding new places. It is a time of being alone and apart from the tribe, and can last for decades. We return home to share what we have learned, and then, tired and stiff, we sink into the stone and join our ancestors. When I was preparing for my own journey, the villain, Thirteen, had only just arrived. He said he was a simple traveler collecting mushrooms and cataloguing the different types of small snails that lived in our caverns. He kept to himself, but over time we became used to his presence."

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"He was wise, and knew much of the outside world. Some of the elders began conversations with him, trying to learn what they could. When a hive of Stone Lurkers moved too close to us, they sought his aid. We do not like to kill, and the Lurkers are very determined to expand their hives. My tribe had moved once before rather than confront them. Thirteen had heard this story, and said he would be sad if our tribe moved. He walked to the large cavern nearby, unafraid to face them alone. With acid and explosions he dealt with them, destroying the hive, and saving many lives. After that, he was often near our tribe, observing and talking. I knew then that I was able to leave for my journey with a happy heart, knowing that in addition to the Rockshapers of my tribe, we had a powerful friend who would come to our aid."

He sat down on the floor, and crossed his legs. Without his tunic, Milo might have thought him an odd rock formation. "A thousand times I have wished I had stayed. Our power grows as we mature and our bodies take on our stony appearance. I was very powerful. I could have stopped what happened. Instead, went away, travelling deep and I returned to find a nightmare. All that was left of my people were a few dozen younglings, and two crippled Elders trying to care for them. Minkdinkoflint could barely walk, and Celondininkolink was almost blind to the stone. They had endured much and were two of the few who had survived the fight against the brutes who kept them working in the mines. I learned only a little of what had happened from Minkdinkoflint before he sank into the stone. Celondininkolink would never speak of what had occurred there, but she had used what little power she had left to carve the tribes story into our tunnels, continuing in the work of others. And so I learned what had happened while I explored the world."

Milo's annoyance was gone, and there was anger beginning to build within him. "Tell me, please."

Dinderfinkums was still, then began talking, as if he was reciting something he'd memorized.

"Number Thirteen was friendly and helpful for a very long time. He warned us that the Hives were changing. The Stone Lurkers were breeding faster, and growing more powerful. It took many Rockshapers to deal with a nest, and seal the stone so they could not move through it. Then Thirteen would kill the Lurkers as they emerged and destroy the hives.

Our people hate fighting and violence, so while they could kill the lurkers, it caused them much distress, and forced them to seek the stone long before their winter. And the problem was getting worse. More nests were found in a large area of caverns nearby. Thirteen was also worried, or so he said at the time. He was studying the lurkers and warned they were evolving faster and faster. He offered to deal with them while he could, but that soon they would be beyond him. To save our tribe the anguish of taking lives, he said he would ask warriors from his tribe to come to our aid. He asked our Rockshapers to build his tower, so is people would have a traditional place to live. Of course the tribe helped, they owed him much lifedebt, and building the tower was a way to repay some of it.

Once it was built, more of his tribe came. A long train of Drudge Lizards pulling wagons of a strange design, piled high with boxes and strange things. They took it all to the tower, and did much work while the tribe stayed far away in the lower caverns, afraid of the strange noises and the terrible lizards. Thirteen explained that he needed help with the Lurkers, and wished to make his home here forever, assisting our tribe. While most of the people in the wagon train departed, a few stayed, but never left the tower except to deal with the lurkers. As Thirteen had predicted, they were becoming stronger.

He came to us, and asked for the aid of our Rockshapers. If they would keep the Lurkers from moving through the ground, his Khemysts would destroy them easily. Some would not go, not able to endure such a sight, but others saw it as their duty, helping the tribe and a trusted ally. Those that went returned with terrible stories of Lurkers with hardened skin who fought with berserk might. Several of the Khemysts were injured, and two died. Our tribe felt a huge debt to the fallen and their families, and any who did not go felt uneasy, questioning if they should have gone with them.

The Khemysts had found small bits of a bright metal in the skin of the new lurkers, and became very happy. Seeing this our Rockshapers pulled more from the ground and presented Thirteen with chunks of the bright metal to pay some of the life debt and to show their gratitude. If they had known how much the Khemysts of Bloth valued the bright metal, and what they would do to get it, they would have kept silent. But Thirteen thanked them, and presented the tribe with many small gifts. The more adventurous began to look for the nodes of bright metal and bring them to him. Always they made him happy, and he was generous in what he gave them.

It was at this time that we noticed the snails around his tower were larger. Thirteen explained that he had bred the largest of them and fed them well to created a better breed. They were very tasty and became an important food source. The tribe grew larger, and many younglings were born. A celebrated time. A time of plentiful food, with a powerful protector. Years past, and the Lurkers came again and again, always stronger, and more men came from Bloth to deal with them. The tribe rewarded them with more of the bright metal and the crystals that grew in the large nests of the Lurkers. Times were still good, but things were changing.

The most powerful of the Lurkers emerged from new nests. Gneiss Lurkers, they were called. The Khemysts attacked the largest of the nests, and a queen emerged with her guard, killing many of the men of Bloth, and destroying their wagons. It was a terrible time, and the carvings speak of the growing life debt that the tribe owed to Thirteen and his people. When the last of the Gneiss Lurkers was finally dead, every Rockshaper went to the area where the bright metal was in the rock, but there was little left. Small veins and nodes, but none of the large motherlodes that they had found before. They brought what they could coax from the rock, but knew it wasn't enough. The Khemysts of Bloth demanded more, and they argued with Thirteen. He cast them from the caverns for a time, yelling his fearsome oath "Keep off my Lawn".

Then he went to the Elders and explained that with so many lives lost to his tribe, the lifedebt had grown too large to ignore it. But he knew a way for my people to repay him and his tribe. For us, he said, he had made a special deal...