Sweat trickled down Lar’s ample belly. He had been hard at work for nigh an hour. He looked up. No one was there beside him.
The cave was large and silent, and dim wherever his eyes fell. But some things under the surface gave light of their own; gems of various colors and shapes and sizes. And he had them aplenty, but not for long. A mere Shrew in the church of the Eathfriend, Lar was young and curious, although not altogether content with his profession. He stood up and dusted off his rags.
It was the summer solstice; the first after Lar had joined the church. And to any aspiring Badger, that meant the conduction of their ritual. Lars looked down at his handiwork. The various gems that he had come to acquire in large part as a reward for accompanying miners, keeping them hale during their work, and warding off any potential harm, all lay in a hole in the ground. Beside them rose a small mound of dirt that he had dug out. He sighed loudly, and picking up his shovel, began to cover his sacrifice; the gems that he had put in the hole. Gnomes far and wide believed that the Earthfriend would summon burrowers to carry this sacrifice far and wide, so that other gnomes might in time find them in the earth.
When he finished covering the hole, he cursed loudly. He could scarce suffer boredom as a child, and the man he had become was no different. He wished he was above ground, breathing the salty sea air, not this damp stench. But then again, he wished he was many things. Thin. Shrewd. Witty. Smart.
He was none of those things.
He put his hand in his pocket. Something was there, hard-surfaced and small. He took out the small gem. A diamond by all appearances. He had forgotten it there. His superiors would frown if they knew he kept something to himself.
He sighed and cursed again. “They will not know,” he suddenly heard himself say. “I will not open this hole again, and in fact even if it was still open I would not put it there. I mean to keep it.”
His voice was not low, nor loud. It did not echo in that cave, and for a while afterwards he wondered why he spoke those words aloud. Yet now that he had, there was no going back, as it seemed to him. He pocketed the diamond again, threw his shovel over his shoulder, and began the trek to the surface.
The cave was large and silent, and dim wherever his eyes fell. But some things under the surface gave light of their own; gems of various colors and shapes and sizes. And he had them aplenty, but not for long. A mere Shrew in the church of the Eathfriend, Lar was young and curious, although not altogether content with his profession. He stood up and dusted off his rags.
It was the summer solstice; the first after Lar had joined the church. And to any aspiring Badger, that meant the conduction of their ritual. Lars looked down at his handiwork. The various gems that he had come to acquire in large part as a reward for accompanying miners, keeping them hale during their work, and warding off any potential harm, all lay in a hole in the ground. Beside them rose a small mound of dirt that he had dug out. He sighed loudly, and picking up his shovel, began to cover his sacrifice; the gems that he had put in the hole. Gnomes far and wide believed that the Earthfriend would summon burrowers to carry this sacrifice far and wide, so that other gnomes might in time find them in the earth.
When he finished covering the hole, he cursed loudly. He could scarce suffer boredom as a child, and the man he had become was no different. He wished he was above ground, breathing the salty sea air, not this damp stench. But then again, he wished he was many things. Thin. Shrewd. Witty. Smart.
He was none of those things.
He put his hand in his pocket. Something was there, hard-surfaced and small. He took out the small gem. A diamond by all appearances. He had forgotten it there. His superiors would frown if they knew he kept something to himself.
He sighed and cursed again. “They will not know,” he suddenly heard himself say. “I will not open this hole again, and in fact even if it was still open I would not put it there. I mean to keep it.”
His voice was not low, nor loud. It did not echo in that cave, and for a while afterwards he wondered why he spoke those words aloud. Yet now that he had, there was no going back, as it seemed to him. He pocketed the diamond again, threw his shovel over his shoulder, and began the trek to the surface.