Nadione the Gemling: Part One (special preview)

From our position I can see the caravan filing away from the mine. The box we’re after is in the very middle. The iron chamber is so heavy it requires special wheels to hold it and only oxen are able to pull it.

“This Gemling has quite a few guards,” my companion Arcus murmured.

I lowered my spyglass. “Not really. Just seems that way. They are crowding around the box pretty heavily. That’s new.” The trail around the box seems long, but only because they’re carrying some mining cars with them. What fascinates me is the way the Gemling box is crowded around, like they’re more interested in keeping the thing in than any outside force.

Arcus caught the way my tail was twitching and smirked. “Excited?”

“A little.” I knelt down on our ledge, eyes focused upon that box, curious as to why the guards were acting so strangely. Our employer paid heavily for these Gemlings, the better quality of gems they produced, the more money we made.

“Should be a good haul, don’t you think?” Arcus wasn’t seeing the big picture, just his version of the future where a slew of beautiful men would throw themselves at his feet.

“Not sure,” I muttered. “But it’s getting dark, they’ll have to rest soon.”

Arcus folded his arms against his chest. “Better be a good one. Last one didn’t have the clarity the Baron likes.”

I glanced at Arcus, wondering how he hadn’t put it together. The last few Gemlings hadn’t paid as well as that used to. Very few we have gotten for the Baron have been to his standards, and they’ve been going down hill for a while. Perhaps, and maybe I am overthinking things, the longer a Gemling is kept in their box, the weaker their gems are.

“C’mon, let's catch back up.” Arcus slapped my back, turning my attention back to our horses. We rode off, heading towards the usual campsite of the mining trail.

Sure enough, the Gemling’s caravan stopped there before dark. The guards and workers set up a fire, cooking their food and gathering in a group. The iron box was locked, and the gemling inside was probably fast asleep.

Some of our group had set themselves up long before, pretending to be miners heading towards the mine. They had already lured in the caravan to their side, providing them laced wine which would be our biggest ally in getting the iron box.

“Looks like they’re pretty loose,” Arcus said as we made our way through the shadows. He ducked himself down, eyeing the bonfire and the men around it.

“Stop thinking with your dick.” I took the ring of skeleton keys from around my belt. “I need the head on your shoulders, not the one in your pants.”

He scoffed. “Alright, alright. A fellow can window shop, can’t he?” He slipped around to the front of the iron box where the oxen were tied up. He began releasing them as I studied the lock chaining the wheels. Inside I heard a faint sound, but I knew it was there. Was the Gemling asleep? Surely it was. The more I looked at the lock to decide which skeleton key I could use, the more I heard sounds from within.

“What are you doing?” Arcus hissed. “I’ve got the oxen hooked back up. Get a move on, Bram!”

“Hush,” I snapped back. “I’m getting there.”

Arcus stuck his tongue out then took the seat at the front of the box. I selected my key, pushing it into the lock and freed the wheels. I took the chain, coiling it around my arm as I went to join Arcus.

“Get us out of here.”

Arcus tugged the reins, and as soon as the iron box began to move, there was shouting behind us. We ignored it, the rest of the group would take care of that which the wine didn’t. We drove off into the night, heading towards the hideout where the rest of the crew was waiting.

“What do you think it’ll be this time?” Arcus asked.

“Hard to say.” I leaned back in my seat. “I’m not raising my hopes much.”

Arcus scoffed. “We’ve got a diamond shitting creature in a box and you’re not raising your hopes? I’ll never understand you, Bram.”

“They don’t shit-” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “I’m gonna rest my eyes for a while, Arcus. You can manage to get to the hideout right?”

“You’re testy.”

I opened my eyes to glare at him. “What was that?”

Arcus faced forward. “Nothing, darling, nothing.”

I slouched back, closing my eyes but not really sleeping. My mind was still plagued by how they had this iron box locked up and guarded. Most of the ones we had come across weren’t so under thumb. Not only that, the last few had been duller than the last, but the Baron said he could shine them up. Still, from his demeanor I could tell he was not pleased.

We reached the hideout late in the evening and I had almost fallen asleep for real. I yawned and stretched as they loaded the iron box into the shed, watching as the doors closed.