Chapter 178: From Acid to Crystal (Patreon)

After several more days, Kai decided that he needed to take a lesson from Zae Zin Nim. If he stayed in the acid pits until he found some magic way to help everyone, he'd end up wasting his time and not actually helping anyone. He needed to cut his losses and move on aggressively to find another source of power.

When he told the workers he would need to leave, many of them were sad, but not as much as he expected. Kai began to wonder how many of them truly believed he would change anything about their lives and how many were just glad to have something to distract from the misery of their existence. In any case, they had kept his secret this far and he didn't think they'd betray it after he left.

As he was making his final preparations, he was surprised to see an old woman hobble up. Not just any old woman, the one who had been skeptical of him on the first day and glowered ever since. Now she had a stern expression on her face and she thrust out a fist.

"Take it," she said.

"Take what?" Kai placed his palm underneath her fist curiously and she dropped a small greenish-white sphere into his hand. His eyes widened as he recognized one of the moonmelt pills.

"You've been helping out so much, we managed to make one extra. The soldiers won't know."

"That's generous of you, but-"

"I want you to know that we'll fight too." The old woman reached out and grabbed his wrist tightly, trying to pull him lower so she could look him in the eyes. "We aren't sitting here waiting for someone to rescue us. We'll give our lives if it means freedom. We'll-"

She cut off in violent, hacking coughs. Kai instinctively took her shoulder to keep her from crumpling over and she didn't shrug off his hands. Once she had recovered, she wiped the blood off her hand and looked at him again.

"I've seen children and grandchildren lost to these pits. I'm telling you, no more. I may not be worth much, but I'll give everything I have. You just need to give us a chance."

"I'll try to find that chance." Kai closed his hand around the moonmelt pill. "You've just given me another weapon to use against them."

The old woman nodded grimly, then gestured as if telling him to get on with it. Kai headed deeper into the acid pits, thinking about the next step. He didn't want to play favorites, but in the mines he'd relied on Nirka and Maggle because he could trust them. Here, he needed to try something a little different.

When Yurwa saw him she gave a polite smile, as she always did these days. Gundle looked up at him and beamed, unaware of any past tension. But they both saw the seriousness of his expression as he came to stand in front of them.

"You're leaving?" Yurwa asked. It wasn't really a question.

"I am, but I want to take you with me."

Gundle stared as if he didn't understand, while Yurwa's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Your son is brilliant, but he needs someone to teach him." Kai took a deep breath as he considered the riskiest step in the plan. "I know someone in Yulthens who could take you both in. This isn't charity: I need you to work as hard as you've ever worked to improve your acid cultivation. Do everything you couldn't here because the soldiers would catch you."

"That's..." Yurwa abruptly nodded. "How can we refuse? Just give me time to pack our things."

It took sadly little time. Meanwhile Gundle wandered nearby, asking questions about Yulthens and what kind of acid it had. Both of them had spent their entire lives in the acid pits and he had to wonder what they would think when they saw the city.

Since all the patrols were familiar by now, it was easy for Kai to take them both outside the acid pits. He could probably have taken everyone out a few at a time - it would have taken hundreds of trips, but it would have been possible in theory. But as soon as the refined crystals stopped coming, Yulthens would know something was wrong and then the full force of their institutions would close in.

Once out in the empty fields, Kai set off at what he thought was a reasonable pace. He soon realized that would never work. Gundle's thin legs had never needed to do this much walking, and Yurwa was soon coughing painfully. Their bodies had been too damaged by the acid pits for them to make a journey like this, not in a reasonable amount of time.

So Kai picked them both up to run with them. Gundle was a scrawny kid, so it was easy to carry him, Kai just had to keep track of his squirming. Yurwa was cooperative and so much worse. Running effectively meant his hand under her hips and her curves pressed against his side. Part of Kai was very, very angry with himself for not taking her up on her earlier offer.

During the trip he tried to explain to them about life in the city and what they would need to do. Unlike many of the others, he thought these two were mentally flexible enough to adapt. The journey to Yulthens was hard in several ways, but it ended soon enough.

Getting them into the city proved easier than he expected, now that the merchants were running in every direction in their own conflicts. He realized another advantage about the way Krysali society ignored its dirty secrets: almost no one had any idea what workers from the acid pits looked like. With new clothes they blended in easily enough and he got them back to Orillia's estate.

That part might actually be the greatest threat. Kai told the other two to wait and went in to talk to her himself.

"There you are again!" Orillia clucked her tongue. "Always coming and going. I hope you aren't expecting another month's payment? You're a nice boy, but I can't afford to fund someone who runs around as much as you do."

"No, I have something else to ask," Kai said. "I brought a mother and son who have great potential that has never been realized. They need your help more than anyone else you're teaching. If the Crystallier Cooperative should help anyone, th-"

"Brought them from where?" the old woman asked sharply.

"Does that matter?"

"It might. They aren't criminals, are they?" But as soon as the question left her mouth, Orillia sighed and shook her head. "Oh, never mind, just bring them in. I'm a good judge of character, I'll decide for myself."

Kai held his breath as he went to get them, since this moment could be more dangerous than the acid pits or any of the monsters he'd fought recently. If Orillia decided that she cared more about the city than the people in need, he was going to have a major problem. He worried about it right up until the moment when Yurwa and Gundle stepped inside.

"Just what has this boy been eating?" Orillia rushed to her knees beside him, poking and prodding. "So scrawny, it isn't right!"

"I gave him the best I could," Yurwa said stiffly.

"I'm sure you did - you're not looking too well yourself, young woman. Well, that ends now, I'll feed you right. And that odd smell... I can't imagine what sort of strange journey Kai took you on, but I'm sure you need a bath after all that. I'll get one fetched, just wait."

As she bustled over them, Kai watched her and tried to summon up his deepest cynicism. Was it possible that she would pretend to be affectionate and then betray them as soon as he was gone? He knew Orillia was smart enough to guess where they might be from, but in the end he didn't think she could be that duplicitous. Even if she worked with the crystalliers, her dislike for the noble classes was real.

Once Yurwa and Gundle were settled, Kai made sure to draw her aside. Her grandmotherly aspect faded as she stared into his eyes.

"I assume you're running off again?" Orillia asked him. Another question that wasn't much of one.

"Make sure the boy gets proper cultivation training," Kai told her, "and they both probably need restorative potions."

"Is it... really so bad out there?"

"It's worse." Kai stared into her eyes until the old woman lowered her gaze.

"I'll help them, don't you worry. Everyone is already used to me taking in urchins, so they won't think a thing. I've seen more than a few injuries in my time, so I already have some ideas, and I know who in the Crystallier Cooperative can be trusted. But where are you off to next?"

"Actually, you're going to tell me. I need a vehicle and all of Yulthens' information about rival city states."