Alex in Haremland 2 Chapter 6

The Great Cavern was a spectacle in and of itself, and I purposefully ignored the man on the throne-like seat before me as I took in the splendor of the room, but I made a quick tally of the warriors around us at the same time. Mole-warriors in thick wooden armor lined the wall behind the dais, and they held spears made of fine material that gleamed in the light of the thousands of torches, lanterns, and candles.

Apparently, moles weren’t as blind as I’d assumed.

There were several other groups of armed mole-men standing in clumps throughout the chamber, but in between them were mole-people in demure gray robes, which indicated little of their form. I could tell the males from the females by the length and style of their hair, but the ladies also had a more almond shape to their glassy eyes and feminine curves.

But none could hold a candle to the beauty of Una and Mae.

Some of the mole-people scattered throughout the room even wore jewelry, and the gemstones twinkled in the light, which caught the eyes and highlighted the stature of the wearer. Where they’d acquired such things was beyond me, but I supposed every human-like being was drawn to the glitter of gold.

Una and Mae stood stiffly to either side of me, and I could feel the tension in them like a guitar string about to be plucked. They would launch into an attack at the slightest signal from me, but I didn’t want it to come to that unless absolutely necessary. The more I saw of the mole-people, the more I wanted them as allies in the fight against the Dark King and his minions.

Unless this was the entirety of their fighting force, adding them as my allies would possibly double my army. The idea was too good to pass up, and I didn’t want anything to ruin my chances before I even got the opportunity to speak to the leader.

“Be calm,” I murmured through a tight lipped smile. “I got this.”

“Yes, Dreamer,” both women breathed quietly in unison, and I could feel the relief as it swept through them. They trusted me to lead them in the right direction, and I used their confidence in me to bolster my own as I continued to scan the room.

Then I strode forward and looked the mole-man called Aman right in his glassy eyes, and I inclined my head just enough to be respectful without showing any signs of obesquience. I was the Dreamer, after all, not just another surface dweller he could bully.

“Greetings,” I said in a loud clear voice, and the quiet murmurings around the room silenced into hushed whispers as I caught everyone’s attention. “My name is Alex Wilson, and I am the Dreamer.”

If the whispers around the room were any indication, I’d already come close to giving offense by not referring to the man as Your Highness or something just as silly, but I was the Dreamer, and I would bow to no one.

“Greetings, surface dweller,” the mole-man on the throne said in a booming voice, and I wondered if the term was meant to insult me in return, but I chose to ignore it either way. “I am Amannaman the Fearsome, Leader of the Freemen, Master of the Builder’s Guild, and Commander of the Spear Holders. My lieutenant says you claim you are the Dreamer of prophecy, but I see no superior being before me. What right do you have to this honorable title?”

“I take it you’re familiar with the prophecy?” I arched an eyebrow, and I cast my question around the room more so than toward the throne. “Anyone?”

A long tense silence followed my words, and I could have heard the drop of a pin from across the room. I met the eyes of multiple mole-people, but they all quickly cast their gazes to the ground. The tension continued to mount until it could be cut with a knife, but still no one said a word. I was about to give up, but I made sure to look at as many of the audience members as I could.

“Hark, the deceiver’s arrival!” a voice suddenly called out from the crowd, and my face split into a shit-eating grin.

Even here in the cavernous depths beneath miles of dirt, the mole-people knew the Song of the Dreamer, and I knew in that moment they were no more minions of darkness than Una or Mae. Hope surged in my chest, and I lifted my eyes to meet those of the leader with confidence.

Aman sat silently during the exchange, but I saw his fingers tense against the stone arms of his throne. His face was expressionless, but the tension in the air had broken with the first line of the song, and a sense of relief permeated the room.

“Forsaken day breaks through the mourning trees!” Una sang back, and gasps erupted from around the room.

Mae cleared her throat before singing the next line. “Dreamer awaken! Crooked man of fate awaits thee on the stormy breeze.”

Then the entire room burst into songs as if they’d all been practicing for this moment their entire lives, and the words of the song I’d heard only once before poured from every pair of lips in the Great Cavern.

Hark, the deceiver’s arrival! Forsaken day breaks through mourning trees.

Dreamer awaken! Crooked man of fate awaits thee on the stormy breeze.

Shadows go forth! Expunge the vibrancy of the land!

Dreamer awaken! Save the people of All-the-land.

From a distant world to us unknown, the Dreamer one day shall be born.

The Dreamer’s speech always so strange, and his bravery without challenge.

Immune to opposition’s might, no matter what, he will be right.

I grinned as I listened to the song being sung from hundreds of voices in unison, and the power of the words was unmistakable at that volume. The walls themselves were held as a captive audience for the cacophony of the chorus.

Shadows despair! The dreamer draws near.

Come, Oh weary Dreamer, to All-the-land.

Come hither, our Dreamer, to these legions you command.

Do you hear us, hear us call out?

Will you save us? From the Fallout?

Come forth, Dreamer, come forth

Come north, Dreamer, come north

Go forth, Dreamer, go forth

Defeat the darkness in the north.

Come hither, fair Dreamer

And plant your seed!

The volume of the choir of voices grew and grew until the walls shook at the final crescendo, and when the song ended, the silence seemed foreign. My ears rang, and goosebumps erupted across my flesh, but still I held Aman’s gaze. I dared him to deny the power of what I’d just done with my eyes, but after another moment of silence, I wondered if he would ever speak at all. My heart beat a staggered rhythm against my ribcage, and I held my breath until I could bear it no more.

Every pair of eyes in the room was locked in the same direction, and I could only imagine the intensity of the pressure the leader currently felt, but I had little sympathy for him. This was the burden of leadership, and I was ready to test his mettle.

Finally, Aman pushed himself to his feet and moved down the tiers of the dais. I held my breath as he approached, but then I held out my hand for a shake once he was within arms’ reach of me. The leader of the mole-people stared at my hand for a moment, but then his gaze returned to my face.

“You have proven you know the prophecy, but little else.” The leader of the mole-people’s eyes weren’t as glassy as they first appeared, and the blue-green hue reminded me of moss-covered stones. There was a kindness there, but also a hardness that said “don’t fuck with me.”

I could respect that.

“I meet the criteria,” I said with a casual shrug. “I’m from a place called Earth. A few weeks back, I woke up in the Happy Fields somewhere far above us. That’s when I ran into Una here, and I drank a ‘big’ potion.”

Aman’s eyes narrowed, and he inhaled sharply. “You have drank potions before?”

“Oh, sure, a few.” I grinned. “I use them to defeat the Clover Cards and thwart the Clover Queen’s attempts to capture the people of All-the-land. I take it you are not sympathetic to the Dark King’s cause?”

“Absolutely not,” Aman hissed. “The Dark King steals enough of my people away from me to have earned a permanent place among my enemies. There will be no alliance with darkness here. How am I to know you are not one of his minions sent to fool me into obedience?”

Mae stiffened, and her hand moved ever so slightly toward her sword, but this caused the warriors who stood around us to glare in her direction until her limb dropped to her side once more. Una placed a comforting arm around the Dodo-woman’s shoulders, and I flashed the cat-girl a quick smile before I turned my attention back to the leader of the mole-people.

“I could say the same thing about you,” I pointed out, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “Except, I am smart enough to figure some shit out on my own. I have personal accounts and multiple witnesses for the potions I’ve drank and the minions of darkness I’ve already defeated. If anyone has something to prove, it’s you, Your Highness.”

I said the last words with obvious sarcasm, and the room erupted into arguments as the mole-people shouted at each other about how they should respond to such insults. Dreamer or not, half the mole-people were calling for my head at the mere suggestion that their leader worked for the Dark King, and I smiled in satisfaction as my theory was confirmed.

“I can tell by your response where your hearts truly lie!” I shouted over the cacophony of voices. “I came to you in peace, and I have not attempted to break that pact since arriving in your territory. All I seek is temporary shelter and guidance back to the surface.”

“Why should we allow you to return to the sun after you’ve been exposed to our secrets?” Aman questioned. “As far as I know, you could have an army of Card men waiting for your signal.”

“There are more of them in the upper levels!” someone cried out from the crowd.

How the fuck did one of these courtier mole-people know that already? Word must travel faster than worms around here, but there was no harm done. I needed to deal with the matter of the rest of my people sooner rather than later.

“Indeed, some of my people were injured when we fell into the earth,” I said, and I projected my voice for the entire crowd to hear. “We didn’t intend on entering your territory. We were merely looking for a way back to the surface when a secondary cave-in separated our party into two groups.”

“The cave-ins have become more and more frequent of late,” a courtier mole-man said with a sad shake of his head. “Perhaps the supposed Dreamer should be held responsible, if it is as he says, and he has been fighting Clover Cards at the surface.”

“Wise words, Tar,” Aman murmured, and he gave the courtier a bob of his head. “But cave-ins occur on the upper levels regularly throughout our history. It is nothing we can blame one man for.”

“The upper tunnels weren’t supported like I’ve seen in the lower,” I pointed out, and Aman’s eyes widened in surprise at my observation. “It seems like you’ve accepted that they’re going to cave-in eventually and just given up on maintaining them. There’s no way that’s our fault.”

“The Dreamer has a point,” Mae murmured in much the same way the mole-man courtier had to Aman, and I had to resist the urge to chuckle. “We should be offended to be subjected to such brutal entrances to your territory. It is a trap set for the unsuspecting, and you’re lucky we all survived the attack.”

Aman cleared his throat nervously as he flicked an analytical glance over Mae, but then he caught sight of Una, and his glassy blue-green eyes narrowed.

“My apologies for the inconvenience caused to you and your people by the accident in the upper levels. It was not intentional, by any means.” Aman scrutinized the three of us closely. “You surface dwellers are a strange lot. How would I know which was from All-the-land and which was the Dreamer from a faraway Place-Called-Earth? Hmm?”

“You know there is one surefire way to tell the Dreamer apart from the rest of the citizens of All-the-land,” Mae said with a puff of her chest. “He speaks the truth, but we are under no duress to share the spoils of our war against the Clover Cards. The proof is upon the accuser to forebear.”

We didn’t have a potion with us to use as proof of my claim, anyway, but I watched Aman’s reaction closely since he didn’t know it was a bluff.

The leader of the mole-people stared at my Dodo-woman friend for a long time as the confusion upon his face lay plain as day, but I pretended as though everything Mae had said made perfect sense to me while Aman struggled to muster a response.

“I dare say I fail to comprehend.” Aman shook his head as though dispelling a dream, and his neutral expression was back on his face when he met our eyes once more. “The ways of the surface dwellers are beyond me, but I have heard tales of your exploits from my scouts along the upper levels.”

“Such as?” I arched an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

“Tremors shaking the ground from afar,” Aman offered in a vague tone. “Movement of many people across the surface toward the east. Whispers among the tree roots.”

“I merely ascertain you must procure a potion to prove the prophecy,” Mae chirped, and she pulled on her pipe before pointing the mouthpiece at the leader of the mole-people. “Get him something to drink, and you’ll see the truth of his words.”

“Now, that I understood,” Aman laughed, and he clapped a massive scoop-shaped claw against my shoulder.

“Good.” The touch jarred me, but I kept my balance as I flashed him a broad grin. “I’d hate for there to be misunderstandings between our people while we negotiate our peace.”

“Indeed,” Aman replied with a sage nod.

The mole-people leader turned and marched back up his dais, and he sat upon his throne with an air of command. Then he lifted his hands and clapped twice, and silence fell as the sound echoed around the chamber. A mole-man in a rough woven gray tunic rushed up the steps of the dais and leaned in to hear the leader’s command, but when he spoke, it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Bring forth the potion!” Aman boomed, and the mole-man at his elbow quivered before hurrying back down the steps.

Did they only have one potion?

Four of the wooden-armored mole-guards behind the throne followed after the mole-man, and all the eyes in the room trailed them to a door on the side wall. They had to cross a small bridge to get across the stream encircling the chamber, but then they disappeared from view through the threshold.

“What kind of potion?” Una whispered so low only Mae and I could hear her.

“Who knows?” I chuckled. “But it doesn’t really matter. I’ll drink whatever they shove at me and face the consequences. I’m the Dreamer. It’s what I do.”

“True enough,” Mae chortled, and smoke puffs bloomed from her mouth in a staggered manner.

The warriors surrounding the three of us stood tense and straight, but I could tell they were straining to hear our exchange, and I felt a spark of mischief. Eavesdropping was rude, and not without its own consequences. It would do them some good to learn who they were messing with before they saw what I could do with a potion, so I quietly cleared my throat to get their attention.

“I hope it’s another laser eye potion like I used against the Clover Cards,” I said in a false whisper. “If anyone stands against us as we return to the surface, I can just blast them away with a single look.”

“Your power is without measure or limit,” Mae agreed, and her light blue eyes flicked to the warriors nearby as she raised her voice slightly. “Anyone fool enough to face you will soon be walking the dark path of death.”

Small murmurs from the warriors surrounding us reached my ears, but they were too quiet for me to distinguish what was said.

“Yep.” I saw a few pair of warrior eyes widen, and I smirked. “But I’m not in a murderous mood just yet. They haven’t done anything to hurt us, but the second they do, they’ll learn my true power.”

I chuckled as my gaze lifted back to the throne where Aman waited for his messengers to return with the potion, but if he’d heard my words, he gave no indication. I didn’t think he would attack me on the spot just for some bold words, especially since we were already basically their captives until I could prove I was the Dreamer.

Then a thought struck me, and I took a couple steps toward the dais. The warriors around me instantly tensed and gripped their spears tighter, but they didn’t block my path as I moved closer to their leader.

Tu watched me closely as I got Aman’s attention, but I knew the older warrior would wait for his commander to give an order before acting.

“A question while we await your servant,” I requested in a loud voice as I swept into a half-bow, and Aman straightened his posture as his eyes met mine.

“What would the so-called Dreamer ask of me?” Aman asked, and he couldn’t hide the curiosity from his voice.

I had his attention without any doubt, but I paused to give weight to my words. I might have only been a leader for a short time, but I’d played politics enough in RPG video games to know the basics of subtle conversation.

“What will become of my people on the upper level?” I lifted my eyes to the ceiling as though I could see through the miles of dirt to where my animal-people warriors guarded the rescued friesians. They were counting on me to get them home safely, and nothing was going to stand in my way of doing exactly that.

“If your words prove true, they will be brought here to the lowest levels and given seats of honor at our court.” Aman inclined his head as though this was a great boon.

“That’s not enough.” I shook my head. “I need your word they won’t be harmed regardless, or I won’t drink whatever you’re trying to shove down my throat.”

Aman looked like he wanted to strangle me for the briefest instant, but then his neutral expression returned so swiftly, I questioned what I’d seen with my own eyes. He considered me with his blue-green glassy gaze for a long moment, but then he inclined his head.

“You have my spoken promise,” the leader of the mole-people said in a loud voice so all could hear. “No harm shall befall your people while they are within the confines of our territory. Whatever happens once you return to the surface is your concern.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I wouldn’t be able to consider myself their leader if I didn’t do my best to guarantee their safety.”

“I can respect your desire to protect your people,” Aman allowed. “But if your words prove false, you will be held here to await judgement while the remainder of your people return to the surface.”

“Alex, no!” Una gasped.

“Relax,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth without ever taking my eyes off the leader. Then I bowed my head to Aman, and I forced a smile onto my lips. “I accept your temporary terms.”

Aman inhaled sharply at my choice of words, but his reaction only made me smirk. He would soon eat his words and worship the ground I walked upon, and I entertained myself with imaginings of his shocked expression when I suffered no opposition effects from whatever potion I was about to drink.

A short while later, the group of mole-people sent to fetch the potion returned, and the servant carried a large plush pillow with obvious reverence. His steps were slow, and his eyes remained locked on the pillow like he thought it would disappear entirely if he looked away.

Aman descended from the dais once more, and my eyebrows rose in surprise when he personally lifted a potion bottle from the black pillow. Even I wasn’t oblivious to how much honor was placed upon the potion I was about to drink, and I swallowed down a lump of nervousness that rose in my throat.

I was the Dreamer, and I was here to save the people of All-the-land.

If that meant drinking some super mystical holy potion, then so be it.

The leader of the mole-people turned to me with the glass vial in his hands, and I could see it was full to the rim with a glittering brown mixture that resembled mud. Or coffee. I clung to the thought of the latter while I accepted the bottle from Aman’s hands, and I took a deep breath before I pulled the cork free.

“What does it do?” I asked Aman.

“You shall know soon enough,” the leader said.

While it would have been cool to know what I was getting into, it didn’t really matter in the end since I knew I was going to drink the potion in any case. Plus, it wasn’t like I’d suffer through any opposition effects anyway.

“Bottoms up, my friends,” I said, and I lifted the bottle into the air so everyone could see the contents. “Now, pay attention, folks! You’re about to see some magic.”

Then I put the rim to my lips, and I tilted my head back while I pinched my nose shut to allow the contents to slide down my throat without tasting it. I imagined coffee, but the burn in my nose did little to accompany that image, and it soon vanished, so I only managed to drink half the liquid before I had to come up for a breath.

“Drink it all,” Aman urged, and his eyes were hard as he watched me.

“As you wish.” I bobbed my head in his direction before returning the bottle to my lips, and I quickly gulped down the remaining liquid. Then I replaced the cork, and I lifted the empty container once more.

Cheers erupted through the chamber at the sight of the empty potion bottle, and the suspenseful tension in the air increased dramatically. My palms began to itch, and I rubbed them absently against my pants while I waited for the potion to take effect. There was no label on the glass to mark its use, and I wondered what kind of elixir the mole-people would treat with such reverence.

Was it just because they were rare?

Or was there something special about this particular one?

The itching in my hands intensified to the point I could ignore it no longer, and I lifted one palm to be scratched with my other hand, but my jaw dropped when I saw my hands. They looked like the mole-people’s scoop-like fists down to the long nails and thick pads, except my hands had tripled in size as well. Energy coursed through my veins, and the urge to dig became stronger than all the other sensations in my body.

“Dig hands?” I laughed out loud at the utter ridiculousness of it, but then I held up my fists for the entire room to see. “What does everyone think? Could I pass for a mole-person?”

Laughter and chuckles followed my words, and a staggered applause echoed through the chamber, but even Aman was wearing a small smile as he eyed my new hands.

“Any would be affected so,” the leader pointed out in a calm voice. “The real test will come when the potion wears off.”

I wasn’t sure what the opposition effect for “dig hands” would be, but I didn’t think Aman would tell me.

“Well, you made me drink all of it,” I reminded him. “So, the effects are going to last for a while.”

“Ah, but if you give false testimony, then the opposition effects will be even stronger,” Aman chuckled, and his eyes lit up with a mischievous twinkle.

“Can I see?” Una asked in a curious tone, and I nodded. The cat-girl’s eyes widened as she scanned over my new appendages, and she poked at the pads on my palms with a soft caress. Her touch sent shockwaves of information through my nervous system, and my mind reeled at the overwhelming stimulus.

I wanted to try them out the way they were intended to be used.

I wanted to dig.

“So, what do you think, Aman?” My eyes turned to the leader of the mole-people, and I arched my eyebrow in a questioning manner. “Think you could find a use for my hands for a while? Seems a waste to not dig with them, after all.”

“Then we shall dig.” Aman flashed me a knowing smile as he nodded to his wooden-armored soldiers. One of the spear-wielding mole-men trotted over to us and saluted his leader, and Aman returned the gesture. “Show Mister Alex Wilson to the new construction areas. We shall see if a man can dig like one of us.”

“You won’t be disappointed,” I promised with a wink.

Aman led the way as I followed him and the mole-warriors in the wooden armor out of the throne room, and my two lady companions trailed in our wake. Aman set a fast pace, and I was surprised at how swiftly he could move. Despite sitting on a seat above everyone’s heads, he seemed to be in good shape, and my respect for him grew an increment.

We passed by the great worms waiting to return to the stables, and then we climbed up a slope to a higher level. After a left turn, a curve to the right, and another upward slope, we arrived at a dead end where the raw earth was covered in claw marks. Buckets full of dirt lay beside the tunnel-in-progress, but there were no workers in sight.

“Everyone off for the night or something?” I asked. “How come no one is working on this?”

“They have all been redirected to the upper levels to address the issues of the cave-ins,” Aman explained, but he splayed out his hands in an inviting gesture to indicate the wall. “Please, dig as though it were your own tunnel.”

“Well, we don’t do a lot of digging by hand back on Earth,” I said with a wry smirk. “But I’m sensing some things through my hands, and I want to explore that a little more. I appreciate the use of your tunnel.”

Then I turned to the raw earth wall before me, and I got straight to work. I began to dig and scoop, and a moment later, I had several of the empty buckets overflowing with dirt. Mae, Una, and the wooden-armored warriors hurried to carry the buckets away, and they returned shortly with empty containers.

I fell into a groove, with a scoop of one hand and scratch of the other to loosen the earth, but there was a resonating feedback coming through the pads of my palms. I could sense how moist the ground was, how many bugs lived nearby, and feel the vibrations of movements throughout the tunnels all around me.

It was awesome.

I felt as though I was one with the ground itself, and I could have sworn my smelling got better as well. The aroma of freshly exposed dirt filled my nostrils, but my hands were able to sense the various minerals and compounds that made up the soil, and the information I gleaned from the tiniest of particles boggled my mind.

“More buckets!” I called, and Aman sent a command for more workers to come haul away the dirt I was clearing.

Mae and Una fell into pace beside the mole-warriors as they made a line to pass the buckets along. Filled containers went down, and the empties returned. Sweat dappled the two ladies’ brows, but they didn’t pause or complain as we all worked tirelessly to create a brand new tunnel for the mole-people.

I paused after a short while to catch my breath since my body wasn’t built for the kind of work I was performing, and the potion seemed to affect my hands alone, despite the increase to my senses and awareness because of them.

By that time, more of the workers had appeared to assist in the tunnel creation process, and even more mole-people crowded into the corridor behind us to observe the possible Dreamer at work as one of them.

“So, how do you guys tell left from right down here in the depths?” I asked as I swiped the back of my large, mole-hand across my forehead. “I’m so lost, I don’t know my east from west right now.”

“The tunnel you build faces the rising sun above the surface,” one of the workers informed me as he pointed to the half-dug wall.

“How far are we from the mountains?” I pressed, and I hoped my eagerness wasn’t too obvious in my voice.

We could be closer to home than we thought.

“The Sunrise Mountains, as you surface dwellers call them, lay far to the east from here,” Aman interjected, and he shot the worker a reprimanding glare before he turned his blue-green gaze back to me. “The dirt ends in a wall of rock, and there can be no tunnels made through solid stone, so we stay clear of it.”

“The end of the world,” one mole-man muttered.

“Why don’t you ever go above the surface?” I questioned.

“Are you here to talk or work?” Aman countered with an arched eyebrow, and he lifted the empty bucket in his hands. “I see no dirt inside my barrel.”

“You’re on,” I chuckled. “I’ll have you regretting those words momentarily.”

Then I turned back to the task of digging out the dirt wall with renewed vigor, and I was surprised at how much my stamina had already increased since I’d arrived in All-the-land.

Who knew having a ton of sex, training daily, and fighting assholes on the regular would make me stronger?

The thought made me snort to myself, but that earned me a few curious glances from the mole-workers on the front lines. I flashed them a friendly smile and turned back to my task, but it was several hours later when I took another break. Una and Mae sighed with relief, and even the mole-people flashed me grateful smiles when I halted my digging.

I walked through the ten foot by ten foot space I’d created where there was once solid dirt, and I gave Aman a cocky grin as I dusted off my mole-hands. The long, curved nails were caked with dirt, and I was covered in grime from head to toe, but I didn’t care. I’d learned so much about the way the dirt worked within the system of life, and I felt more connected to All-the-land than I had before.

A shudder ran down my spine as I imagined how the dirt would feel after being in the presence of a nightmare, but I shook away the thought and gritted my teeth. I would protect All-the-land with a fierce love and stubborn determination, and soon we’d be rid of the plague of nightmares altogether.

I just had to figure out how to kill them.

“What do you think?” I asked the leader of the mole-people with a cocky grin. “I’m no mole, but I think I’d fit in alright.”

“You have done well this day,” Aman allowed with an incline of his head. “But the true test still stands to come. Once the potion’s effects wear off, I will be observing you closely for some time before I come to my decision.”

“That’s all fine and dandy,” I said, and I flapped my massive hands in a dismissive gesture. “But you have to admit, I did better than your average worker bee.”

“You have such a strange manner of speech,” Aman observed as his brow furrowed. “Worker bee? Is this a surface dwelling creature?”

“I suppose so.” I scratched the growing beard along my jawline. “I just mean I went faster than your diggers.”

“You are correct on that account, I witnessed your speed,” Aman agreed, but he pursed his lips together into a thin line. “It is most impressive.”

However painful the words sounded, I was grateful for them, and I resisted the urge to rub it in even more, but I wasn’t quite done showing off either. I turned back to the newly formed tunnel, and I popped my neck in both directions before I went back at it.

I dug and dug for hours longer, and soon the mole-people who stood watching began to dwindle until only a couple onlookers remained. The workers stuck it out, and they continued to haul away bucket after bucket filled with dirt. I wondered briefly what they did with them, but that was a question for later.

I called another halt once my hands began to ache, and by then, everyone’s shoulders slumped with relief at the sound. I chuckled to myself at the exhausted expressions on the faces of the mole-workers, and I knew I’d just given them a day they’d always remember.

My entire body ached for rest, and I was covered from head-to-toe in a thin layer of dirt and grime, but I dared not ask for either bath or bed until the effects of the potion wore off. Once Aman could see for himself that I was indeed the Dreamer of prophecy, then I would be able to relax.

“Please, Your Highness, call for an end,” one of the mole-workers was pleading with the leader as I approached. “Your diggers cannot take much more.”

“I’m done for the day, too,” I interjected, and I laid one of my massive mole-hands on the mole-worker’s shoulder. “I’m surprised by how hard you all work down here. It’s impressive.”

The hope and doubt intermingled in the worker’s gaze struck a chord with me, and I realized how torn every single mole-person was about me. They all awaited the news with the possibility of their hopes being shattered completely, but I could still see the light burning in their eyes.

They wanted me to be the Dreamer.

I wished my words alone would convince them, and I was eager for the potion to finally wear off and prove the truth, but for the moment, I had to be patient.

“Let’s go back to the throne room,” I suggested, and a few shocked murmurs swept through the workers at my audacity.

“Did he just command His Highness himself?” a shocked voice hissed.

“We shall adjourn to the Great Cavern to wait for the final period of efficacy!” Aman announced in a loud voice.

At his command, we all shuffled back down the corridor, but a cloud of dust hovered over our heads. All the grime stirred up by the digging process clung to our clothes, hair, and shoes, but there was a more relaxed air around the mole-people as we returned to the Great Cavern.

Aman disappeared inside a side chamber as soon as we returned, and the three of us were left unguarded while we waited for him to return. There were no courtiers present in the large chamber, and I wondered what time of day it was.

Were the mole-people nocturnal?

How would I even find out?

A horde of warriors huddled around one side of the chamber, and I cast them a curious glance, but then I caught sight of the black and white pattern of a friesian through their densely packed bodies. Shelli, Ida, and a few others saw me in the same instant, and they struggled against the mole-warriors in an effort to reach me.

“Let them go!” I said, and I marched across the distance to them. “They won’t hurt anyone until I command it!”

The mole-warriors said nothing, but they didn’t stand down either, and the expressions on my companions’ faces grew desperate. I clenched my jaw, and I lifted my fist to punch the mole-man blocking my path in the face, but then Aman’s voice boomed from behind me.

“Release the captives!” the leader demanded, and all the mole-warriors immediately lowered their weapons.

I shoved past them to hug Shelli and the others, and a few of the animal-people warriors began to cry onto my shoulder. Mae and Una joined us a moment later, and they were both greeted in much the same way. Then I noticed the bandages around the friesians’ injured ankles, and the sling Shelli carried in one hand.

“They said this one was for Mae,” the bear-woman informed me when I shot a questioning glance at the sling. “Well, they called her big-bird-woman, but I assumed they meant her.”

“Gratitudes are heaped upon your shoulders, my friend,” Mae said as she accepted the sling.

I helped her get it into place, and the Dodo-woman sighed once her injured arm was nestled inside the sling.

“I don’t like how long it took for them to help us like that,” I muttered as a frown creased my brow.

“It would have dishonored me to take precedence over the Dreamer’s arrival,” Mae argued with a shake of her head. “I am merely your humble servant, Alex.”

Hearing her use my name sent a thrill of pleasure up my spine, and I licked my suddenly dry lips. The Dodo-woman’s lips curled up into the barest hint of a smile, but it made me think she’d done it on purpose. I had a feeling Mae knew more than she let on, but that was hot in its own way.

After I’d finished checking in with all my companions, I went back to the dais where Aman sat waiting. He looked down at me serenely, and I could feel the air of forced patience surrounding him. He would do no more and no less than was expected of him until I was proven as the Dreamer or not.

“Thank you for the safe reunification of my people,” I said, and I bowed lower than I ever had before. “It brings me great comfort to see them alive and well.”

“They could be in better shape,” Aman pointed out. “I gave the most urgent the attention they needed, but you will all need a few days to recuperate from your adventures in our territory.”

“You aren’t wrong,” I chuckled. “But I won’t assume to be welcome until you see for yourself who I am.”

“I am beginning to see why others believe you,” Aman allowed.

I inhaled sharply. His words said a lot for how skeptical he’d been at first, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was going to have a new ally after this. I just had to wait for my massive mole-hands to return to normal.

Damn Aman for making me drink the entire potion.

A tingling sensation in my fists brought my attention back to my mole-hands, and I sighed with relief as they finally began to shift back to my normal fingers and nails.

I held up my appendages for Aman to inspect, and the leader of the mole-people slowly removed himself from his throne to come have a closer look. His eyes grew wider and wider as he approached, and he grabbed my hands to turn them this way and that as he peered at them closely.

“It’s true!” he shouted as he held my hand over our heads. “Alex Wilson, the surface dweller from The-Place-Called-Earth is the Dreamer of prophecy! All-the-land will be spared from the dark scourge!”

A deafening cry of approval echoed through warriors in the room, and my companions all looked around in awe as the walls vibrated from the intensity of the sound. The hoots, hollers, stamps, and claps continued as Aman paraded me around the room, but I lost count of how many people reached out to grab my hands for closer inspection.

No one seemed to notice how I was still covered in dirt, but I figured it was probably a regular sight to those who lived this far beneath the surface.

Mae and Una had proud smiles on their faces as they marched along in our wake, and several of the mole-people reached out to touch them as well.

“The Dreamer’s Chosen,” they murmured in reverent voices as the two women passed.

I didn’t know what that meant, but I ignored it as we circled around the room and returned to the dais. Aman strode up the steps, and he gestured for me to follow him. A mole-servant scurried from some hole in the wall as if on cue, and a stool was placed on the second tier from the top, but even with my chair being lower, my head still towered over the shorter mole-leader.

Aman noted this as well, and the leader straightened his shoulders slightly in an effort to make himself taller, but then he turned his attention to the combination of animal-people standing in his giant audience chamber.

“We shall have a feast to honor the Dreamer!” Aman declared. “Everyone shall bring a tithe to the table to share with our honored guest, and all of his followers shall have the treatment they deserve as loyal brethren to the Dreamer.”

Cheers followed his announcement, but then the mole-warriors and various other mole-people who remained in the throne room scurried into action. I couldn’t hear the content of their whispers as they disappeared through various doors hidden along the shadows of the walls, but judging from the way their excited eyes flicked toward me, I had a reasonable guess.

Then a parade of mole-servants burst into the room, and they quickly paired off my followers into small groups before leading them away.

“Wait, where are they going?” I asked as I leapt to my feet.

“To bathe and rest before the feast,” Aman explained in an amused tone. “Do you not wish to also wash off the dirt of the day?”

I relaxed a little at his words, but my eyes still followed Mae and Una as they followed a mole-woman out of the Great Cavern.

“Fine,” I sighed. “I suppose I have no reason not to trust you now.”

“It is always wise to be suspicious of all,” Aman replied, but there was a playful twinkle in his eyes when I glanced his way.

A servant led me away to bathe, and I trailed along in an exhausted stupor. I definitely needed a few hours of shut eye before I was expected to socialize some more, and I knew I would sleep much better now that I knew all my companions were together again. We had a long trek back to the surface, but we had time to get to know the mole-people a little better.

I sank gratefully into the tub of hot water, and I was too tired to even question the mechanics of how they managed such a thing so far underground. The mole-servant left me in privacy, and I took a short nap in the warm tub before I scrubbed myself from head to toe. The water ran black from the grime being released from my person, and I attacked my face with a strip of cloth placed nearby. Once I was squeaky clean, I grabbed the clothes the mole-servant had laid out for me, but they were a little small and tight on my slightly larger frame.

The pants came up to my calves, and they hugged the curves of my groin very tightly, but I could endure it for a single meal while my clothes were being cleaned. There was no way I was putting the dirt pile posing as my outfit back on my body now that I was all sparkly.

Una and Mae met me in the tunnel outside the bathing chamber, and the two of them wore plain gray tunics that came up above their knees. Una’s outfit dwarfed her around her slender shoulders, and it made her look more like a square than a cat-girl, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Oh, Alex, I missed you!” Una exclaimed as the two women rushed into my arms at the sight of me.

“I also regretted you leaving my eyes,” Mae added, and she nuzzled her head against my shoulder.

It was an unusual display for the normally stoic Dodo-woman, and I savored the moment before I gently shook their shoulders.

“Let’s go enjoy a feast in my honor,” I suggested with a shit-eating grin. “Then we’ll have the mole-people take us home.”

Una and Mae nodded decisively, and the three of us marched down the tunnel behind the mole-servant who’d assisted me. Various mole-people whispered as we passed by them, but judging from their lack of adornment or jewelry, they were more common folk than those who likely waited for us in the Great Cavern.

“This is going to be interesting,” I murmured to my companions.

We met up with the rest of the animal-people, but the friesians were nowhere in sight. I supposed it was just as well since not even I could speak their language, but I made a mental note to honor them in some other way once I had Ziti with me to translate.

“They do us a great honor,” Mae agreed.

“Are they going to actually feed us?” Shelli asked as we crossed the distance to the group of animal-people warriors.

Ida and Isabelle nodded in agreement, and I chuckled.

“I imagine that would be the entire point of hosting a feast,” I pointed out. “But I’m not so certain the courses are going to be up to what we’re accustomed to. From what we’ve seen, the diets of the mole-people are very different from ours.”

“I’d eat dirt if they put it before me on a plate,” Shelli said. “We haven’t eaten in what feels like days.”

The others mumbled their agreement, and I shook my head in amusement. Apparently, the travel rations had run out while we were traversing the tunnels. It felt like we’d been below ground for a week already, but I knew it couldn’t have been more than a day and a half.

With all my companions at my back, we entered beneath the grand archway leading into the Great Cavern, and I let out a low, appreciative whistle when I caught sight of the scene before me.

The mole-people had been busy while we bathed, it seemed.

My new friend Aman waited to the right of the head of a long table placed in the center of the Great Cavern, and many of his mole-warriors already occupied seats along one side. Covered clay dishes were spread across the surface, and a plain gray table runner extended to either end beneath the trays of food. The smells were unlike anything I’d experienced before, so I had no idea what mysteries lay ahead of me. I could only imagine what kind of food the grub-eating dirt-dwellers had scrounged up for us as a feast, but I wasn’t about to wrinkle my nose at a free meal. It had been at least a day since I’d eaten, and my stomach growled out a fierce reminder of the fact.

“Welcome,” the leader of the mole-people said as he swept his hand toward the seat at the very head. “To your seat of honor.”

“Thanks.” I grinned as I crossed the room and sat in the chair as the leader of the mole-people pulled it out for me.

I was going to enjoy this.