Legionary(73)

XI.

He stooped and made his way along the tunnel. As he did so, he felt the water slosh against his thigh. Surely nobody could see or hear it though. Surely? ‘No turning back,’ he affirmed. He rose to standing as he left the tunnel, then unclipped the dust veil from his face and panted as he hauled the salt basket to the pulley system. Gorzam sneered at him. The man’s eyes scoured the knotted scabs and scars on Pavo’s shoulders, as if judging whether he would withstand a fresh whipping. The giant clenched his whip and grimaced. Pavo froze until Gorzam burst into a chorus of rasping laughter and turned away to speak with another guard.

Pavo’s heart beat like a kettledrum as he mounted the full basket onto the upwards pulley. He bashed it accidentally with one shoulder as it rose and the rope squeaked as if calling out for the attention of all those nearby. Cursing his clumsiness, he looked round to see Gorzam scowling at him, whip hand clenched once more. But then another guard beckoned him. The giant’s face lit up as he saw that his comrade held a purse of the poppy seeds. They left together, ascending one of the rocky paths to the dark alcove as usual.

Pavo felt a wave of relief. But he had only a short while before Gorzam returned or another guard questioned him. Glancing around, he slipped the water skin from his loincloth and slid it into the next basket on the downwards pulley. He watched it descend into the blackness of the main shaft and prayed Sura was still down there, collecting the baskets as they came down. After what seemed like an eternity, the pulley system slowed momentarily. The chink-chink of pickaxes on the salt face seemed to slow and he felt all eyes burn upon his skin as slaves and guards alike turned to look. But within a few heartbeats, the pulley was moving. Now he had to wait even longer. Basket after basket on the upwards pulley was filled with salt and nothing else. The flimsiness of his plan seemed all too obvious now. He pretended to be stacking baskets near the pulley, when footsteps sounded behind him, growing closer. Someone in a hurry. He braced, expecting to feel Gorzam’s lash. But a pair of hands slapped on his shoulders.

‘Be swift,’ a voice said, ‘Gorzam is coming.’

Pavo glanced round to see Bashu, flitting away as swiftly as he had come, looking back over his shoulder, his handsome features wrinkled in alarm.

Now a crunching of boots on salt sounded behind. There was no mistaking the identity of this one. Sure enough, he twisted round to see Gorzam returning, his pitted face drawn and his eyelids heavy. Panic coursed in Pavo’s veins and his heart rapped on his ribs. He glanced at the upcoming baskets. Salt-filled, every time. Salt and nothing else. Gorzam was only a stone’s throw away and now he was alert, seeing a chance to use his whip. Then Pavo saw it.

The neck of the water skin, poking from the next upcoming salt basket. He grappled at it and pulled it clear, fumbling to tuck it into his loincloth once more.

‘Move, Roman dog!’ Gorzam cried behind him.

He spun to see the whip thrashing down, inches from him. He grasped the nearest empty basket and made for the tunnel, but Gorzam’s interest was piqued, his eyes searching the waist of Pavo’s loincloth. ‘What have you got there?’ he snarled.

Pavo looked back and mouthed silently, his thoughts jumbled. ‘I . . . ’ he felt the blood drain from his face, then turned to run for the tunnel, ducking down and scuttling along its length.

Gorzam’s roar filled the tunnel behind him as the giant guard stooped and thundered along in pursuit. ‘You will bleed for this, Roman dog!’

Pavo saw Khaled and Bashu at the end of the tunnel. They turned, saw what was coming for them then swiftly disguised the water spring with their baskets. Pavo stumbled into the tunnel’s end, gasping, then turned to see Gorzam burst into the chamber, whip raised. ‘What have you got there? Tell me or you will suffer.’

‘Nothing, I . . . I . . . ’

Gorzam’s face creased into a vile grimace and he hefted the whip back. Pavo braced for the pain that was to come, then saw the whip’s iron-tipped tail lash back against the cracked mass of crystal overhead. The force of the blow sent the dark fracture on one side spidering across the ceiling, directly over Gorzam. Then it cracked. Gorzam glanced up at the teetering mass, mouth agape.

A flurry of thoughts flashed through Pavo’s mind. Before he knew it, he had launched forward, butting Gorzam back. The big guard’s roar was drowned out as the mass of salt crystal fell where he had stood moments ago. A storm of salt dust engulfed the tunnel end and then billowed along its length and out through into the main cavern.

Pavo retched and gagged, blinded momentarily. When he blinked through stinging eyes, he finally saw Bashu, stooped and helping Khaled to his feet. The tunnel’s end was knee deep in salt shards and dust. By his side, Gorzam was struggling to stand, gawping at Pavo. ‘You could have let me die?’ There was a moment where Pavo thought of offering the man an arm to help him up, but Gorzam stood swiftly on his own, issuing a growl. He eyed Pavo, Khaled and Bashu with a steely glare, then offered a curt nod to Pavo. ‘For this, I will spare you the lash today, Roman. But tomorrow,’ he grinned, ‘you will suffer as normal.’ Finally, he flicked a finger to the baskets buried under the salt. ‘See to it you fill your quota,’ he grunted, then turned, stooped and headed back through the tunnel to the main cavern.