Chapter 11

  The Truth

  For the rest of the week, Aaronn continued to complete his daily quotas, helping Rin afterward. At the moment, he was mining alongside Linart.

  “Lunamilla and I spent several months getting used to this place,” Linart said. “Since then, we’ve been collecting between two hundred milligrams and a kilogram of amarite per day to reach our goal. With you, Aaronn, we could push that number to two or three kilograms.”

  “That’s true.”

  “If we stick to two kilograms, we could finish the rest of our goal in less than a month,” Linart added. “In the end, we might not even need to use your technique.”

  Linart and Lunamilla still hadn’t found anyone in the mine to help. Only Aaronn was fulfilling his role. He swung his pickaxe against the wall before replying:

  “I want to do everything I can to not stay here any longer. And… mostly, it’s to prove to you that my explanations actually work.”

  “I know, but the week is almost over…”

  “Yes, I k—”

  Suddenly, Aaronn’s pickaxe passed through the wall, meeting no resistance on the other side.

  “Hey, I think I found something! Help me mine this part!”

  Linart didn’t question him and rushed to assist. After several more strikes, their eyes widened in awe. Behind the broken wall, a large pocket of amarite revealed itself.

  “Well?” Aaronn said, a satisfied smile on his face. “I told you so.”

  Linart couldn’t believe his eyes.

  “Amarite pockets are super rare! At least, they’re not easy to find! Amarite is very hard to detect underground.”

  Aaronn looked at him, a teasing smile on his face.

  “What? That proves nothing,” Linart replied. “It’s probably just a coincidence.”

  “Who knows?” Aaronn countered, still wearing a fixed grin. “How much do you estimate we can collect?”

  Linart set his pickaxe on the ground and stepped into the small cave. His eyes scanned every corner, as if counting every crystal embedded in the wall.

  “There’s at least fifty kilograms in this pocket for sure. But there’s no way we can take it all without being noticed by the Eyes or the drones.”

  “I think you’re right. Then I propose we continue as usual. Let’s tell the others we found an amarite pocket.”

  “Hey, you found an amarite pocket?” a voice called from behind them.

  They turned immediately to see Rin.

  “Warn the others, Rin,” Aaronn said. “We’ll get a bit of a break over the next few days.”

  It didn’t take long for Rin to alert the other miners. In very little time, the amarite pocket was being emptied by most of the prisoners in the gallery.

  When lunchtime arrived, Aaronn was the only one to head to the usual spot to eat. Linart wanted to keep mining to recover as much as he could.

  “I’m perplexed,” Lunamilla said, eating her sandwich. “No one has found a pocket in six months of mining, across the entire mine. But at the same time, it’s hard to believe it’s thanks to what you explained the other day.”

  “It’s always hard to believe at first. The fact is, it’s a phenomenon we’re perfectly used to, consciously or not. So when it happens, everything feels natural…”

  “If you say so…”

  “I accelerate the ‘giving’ and the ‘taking’ of the universe, Luna. In a few days, we’ll be out of here,” Aaronn said, his tone full of certainty.

  Lunamilla allowed herself to be convinced by the confidence in his voice. His certainty made her shiver. Why did she react that way? She couldn’t afford to be so sensitive. She was in this mine to fulfill a critical mission for the resistance. She had to stay strong and in control of her emotions.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “I… I hope so. I’ve had enough of this place.”

  The next day, Aaronn, Linart, and Lunamilla met in front of the stairway leading to the lower dormitory walkways. While descending, Lunamilla looked inside the bottomless pouch.

  “We recovered five kilos of surplus just yesterday,” she announced. “We still have a bit more than forty kilos to collect.”

  “Unfortunately, the pocket we found is emptying fast,” Linart commented.

  A bluish light escaped from the small bag, projecting onto Lunamilla’s face.

  “Can you tell the exact weight you have?” Aaronn asked.

  “Yes. We can focus on what we want while looking inside the pouch. Then a thought whispers the answer to us.”

  As they reached the second-floor walkway, a commotion arose from the central platform.

  “It’s the Eyes!”

  “The Eyes…”

  “What’s he doing here?”

  Frowning, Aaronn turned toward the source of the voices. A column of light illuminated the calm descent of the warrior of light. Sunlight streaming through the mine’s entrance highlighted the contours of his helmet. Manve?n turned his head toward Aaronn’s group, freezing them instantly.

  Lunamilla hadn’t had time to return the pouch to Linart due to the sudden interruption of the warrior. She held it in her hand, facing inward.

  The warrior of light flew toward them, his two white veils fluttering slightly behind his back.

  “You know you can’t hide anything from me,” the warrior’s deep voice echoed through his helmet. “I know you’re holding something in your hand.”

  Aaronn’s fist tightened slightly. Why now? After more than six months of collection?

  Lunamilla glared fiercely at the Eyes. Her gaze seemed to challenge him with all her being. But in truth, opposing him was the last thing she intended. She was scared and didn’t know how to react.

  Linart stepped forward to try to calm the situation.

  “We can surely help you. What are you looking for?”

  “Silence,” the Eyes replied. “I’m not talking to you. One more word and I eliminate you.”

  Linart’s lips pressed together immediately.

  Aaronn saw no way out except to tell the truth.

  “Is this what you want?” Lunamilla asked, extending the pouch toward the warrior.

  Thanks to Linart, she regained clarity. She couldn’t hide the pouch from the warrior, and opposing him was useless—even if all their chances of completing the mission and escaping would vanish without it. With some luck, they might avoid the death penalty if he discovered the truth.

  The warrior grabbed the string of the small bag and slowly lifted it to eye level.

  “External items are forbidden here. How did you get this pouch in?”

  “I… I hid it in my private parts.”

  No one could see the warrior’s face, but the sound of a mocking smile was audible.

  “True, I don’t go that far… Anyway, I don’t recall checking you when you arrived. When did you come to the mine?”

  “I arrived six months ago.”

  “I see… three months before mine. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter how it got here. What concerns me most is what your companion put inside yesterday. Before that, I didn’t pay much attention.”

  The Eyes pulled the string to open the pouch and delicately dipped his fingers inside.

  “Yesterday, you discovered an amarite pocket,” he continued. “Even if I hold no particular affection for you, I was glad you finally found it. And that’s when I saw several amarite stones being placed inside. My reaction when the mineral disappeared from my sight at that exact moment… I’d rather ask you. What is this pouch for?”

  He withdrew his fingers from the pouch, empty.

  Lunamilla’s lips stayed sealed, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. She had no idea what to say.

  “I know you’re hiding something. Your heart is racing—I can see it,” the Eyes declared as if it were an absolute truth.

  “I have nothing to hide. My sister gave me this pouch. It’s a good luck charm.”

  In a graceful motion, Manve?n raised the pouch again to eye level.

  “Your sister, you say?”

  His focus intensified, as if inspecting every molecule of the fabric. Lunamilla regretted telling him. She should have lied about its origin. The Eyes suddenly clenched the pouch in his hand.

  “Impossible…”

  Aaronn frowned. Had Manve?n realized that the pouch’s magic was hidden behind another? It was unlikely, as even Aaronn couldn’t detect its energy. Whoever had set up this defense was very skilled. But… it was possible the Eyes’ abilities exceeded his estimates.

  Manve?n placed his feet on the walkway.

  “Show me your eyes,” he ordered, lifting Lunamilla’s chin firmly with his fingers.

  He leaned slightly closer to her face and plunged into her gaze. His head jerked slightly, as if encountering obstacles during the inspection. Suddenly, he released her chin and stepped back.

  “The truth always surfaces. Nothing can escape my sight. Take it back; it no longer interests me,” he said, handing her the pouch.

  What had he seen? Neither Lunamilla nor the others knew. Hesitantly, she retrieved her pouch. Manve?n flew back, keeping his eyes on her until he reached the column of light and ascended to the surface.

  “Does this mean we have to shorten the mission?” Linart asked after a long silence. “I don’t think he’ll leave us alone now.”

  “If he wanted to stop us, he would have already,” Lunamilla replied. “He suspects something. Maybe he even discovered the true nature of this pouch.”

  “So what do we do?” Linart asked. “We still have about forty kilos to recover. The mission orders fleeing if our lives are in danger. I don’t think the Eyes will give us a second chance.”

  “What do you plan to do with the collected amarite?” Aaronn asked. “A hundred kilos is extremely little, considering what you intend to do with it.”

  “That’s confidential,” Linart replied. “Besides, the resistance appropriates amarite by various means, across a hundred points on the planet. What I don’t understand… is the reaction of the Eyes.”

  Aaronn suspected that the Eyes had detected something in Lunamilla’s gaze, but what?

  “Is there something important I don’t know?” he asked, his tone slightly accusatory.

  Lunamilla exchanged a brief, knowing glance with Linart before replying:

  “Nothing.”