Chương 92: The Children in the Salt Storage Cave

There were too many footprints along the waterway where the children had disappeared. Human military boots had pressed deep into the mud. Clawed footprints and animal tracks crossed over them. Ice water pooled in the grooves left by wagon wheels. Kichan crouched and touched the mud with one finger.

"How are we supposed to tell who took whom from this?" Seria tucked the damp list inside her clothes.

"Both sides claim the last people to see the children were patrols from the other side."

"Maybe they passed through together."

"Both sides insist that could not have happened."

"Why do they think like that?" Kichan rose and followed the waterway. The channel had been built from fitted stones long ago. Broken rock and mud blocked it at intervals, leaving a chain of shallow pools. A thin layer of white powder clung wherever the water had dried. Riphiel touched the powder with one finger.

"Salt."

"Why is there salt in a waterway?" Theor pointed toward a low hill ahead.

"There used to be a storage cave here. It has not been used since the road changed." Valkyrie shook its body beside the channel. Something had caught beneath it. A strand of red thread. When Kichan picked it up, a wooden button dangled from the end. Seria opened the list again.

"One of the children was recorded as fastening her clothes with a red cord." Batu lowered his nose to the edge of the channel, then walked toward the low hill. He scratched the ground twice before a wall of collapsed stone and dead vines.

"Then they're in there." The entrance to the storage cave was hidden behind fallen stones and dry vines. It was barely high enough for a person to enter bent at the waist. No sound came from within. Kichan sat before the entrance.

"Hey." No answer.

"Who wants food?" A stone rolled in the darkness. Kichan took a piece of dried wyvern meat from the magic bag and deliberately placed it near the opening. A small hand darted out, snatched the meat, and vanished again. Argaon laughed.

"They're alive."

"Are all seven in there?" After a moment, a voice answered.

"Six."

"What about the other one?"

"Sleeping."

"If they're sleeping, they're still there." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Then seven." Kichan lowered his head and peered inside. Once his eyes adjusted, he made out children pressed against the walls. They sat together on empty salt sacks laid one over another. Human and demihuman children had gathered into one huddle.

"Who brought you here?"

"We came by ourselves."

"Why?"

"The water stopped." Another child spoke.

"The grown-ups said to hide when soldiers came."

"Soldiers from both sides came, so you hid here?"

"Yeah." Riphiel looked past Kichan into the cave.

"There appear to be a great many kidnappers. Every one of them is also a victim." Just as they were about to bring the children out one by one, footsteps approached from both sides of the hill. Human soldiers descended from the left. From the right, a demihuman scouting party in leather armor crossed the channel. The moment both groups saw the children, they drew their weapons.

"Get away from those children!"

"That is our line!" Kichan stood before the entrance.

"Both of you, lower your weapons." A human soldier pointed at the demihuman scouts.

"They drove the children into that cave."

"They entered it to escape your patrols."

"The children said they came on their own." No one listened to Kichan. One human soldier stepped forward. Across from him, a horned scout lowered a spear. The children retreated into the cave again. A small stone fell from above the entrance. Kichan looked up. A cracked wooden support was slowly bending. The vibration of feet and weapons crowding in from both sides shook the ancient ceiling.

"Don't move." The support broke before the words had left his mouth. Kichan planted the wake-up rod upright and braced the ceiling above the entrance. Thud. The weight drove through the rod into his shoulder. The mud sank beneath his feet, and his elbow folded. Kichan clenched his teeth and forced it back up.

"Get the children out first!" Argaon lowered his body and entered the cave. Seria and Theor reached in from either side. Riphiel seized the children's clothes and pulled them out one by one. Valkyrie dropped from Kichan's shoulder and spread itself across the cave mouth. Its small body caught the falling gravel. Each stone dented its surface before it sprang back into shape.

"One."

"Two." Seria counted. The third child spilled a handful of salt powder while coming out. The fourth refused to release an empty sack. The fifth emerged carrying the sleeping sixth child on their back. The last child followed behind, supporting the sleeper's legs. Kichan twisted the wake-up rod sideways.

"Are they all out?"

"All seven!"

"Then move!" Kichan yanked the rod free and rolled. The entrance collapsed. Salt powder and earth burst upward together. Dust landed on Kichan's head. Kichan spat grit from his mouth and pushed himself up. All seven children were outside. The human soldiers and demihuman scouts also stood frozen, their weapons lowered. Riphiel brushed salt powder from her clothes.

"Neither of you knew who frightened the children, but you were both very brave when it came to blaming the other side first." The human soldier's face reddened.

"What would an elf know-""At least I would not collapse the cave where the children were hiding." The horned scout tightened his grip on the spear shaft.

"Watch your mouth." Riphiel tilted her head.

"Seeing both of you try to lecture me at once, I assume you have already made peace." One person from each side lunged. Kichan swung the mud-streaked wake-up rod sideways. He struck the human soldier's wrist and knocked away the sword, then caught the returning end of the rod against the scout's shin. Both dropped almost at the same time.

"Hey." Kichan planted the wake-up rod against the ground.

"Draw a weapon in front of these children one more time, and I'll bury you instead of the cave." The human soldier clutched his wrist. The scout rubbed his shin through gritted teeth. Neither tried to stand again. On the way back to the shelter, the children from both sides did not walk separately. The child carrying the empty salt sack led them. The one who had slept through the rescue woke late and began to cry. When they reached the stone wall, parents came running. The children scattered into their families.

The human children ran to the human side, while those with ears and tails ran toward the demihuman tents. Only the dried meat and salt sacks in their hands had changed owners. Dorman marked each of the seven lines on his list.

"Every one of them returned." Kichan did not answer. He looked behind them. Water had pooled beyond the blocked channel. The human soldier muttered that the children had hidden because of demihuman patrols. A demihuman scout answered that none of it would have happened if the human army had not blocked the water. Their voices were low, but loud enough for the other side to hear. Kichan knocked the mud from the wake-up rod.

"That's next." He was not pointing at the soldiers. He was pointing at the waterway where nothing flowed.