Enlightened Empire

Chapter 403: Approach

Drip, drip, drip

Water droplets created a rhythmic beat in Taki's ear. After they escaped the damp ceiling, they fell down through the dark and humid air. Finally, they added to the shallow stream of water, reaching up to the ankles of those who splashed around in it. Every once in a while, a drop of sweat would join in and add its own drip discordant noise, hidden within the ceaseless assault of ceiling droplets.

Against the water fought a squeaking machine. On both sides, two men were aching in effort as they moved the metal pieces against each other, creating a subtle friction, too silent for most ears to hear, though the rhythmic thumping certainly wasn't. The whole construction stood towards the entrance of the tunnel, elevated upon a small wooden support that rattled constantly under the intense movement. A pipe was attached to the machine and led into the water on the ground, where it sucked up the liquid. Whenever it threatened to win against the constantly rising water, a small gurgle escaped it, before it was once again filled with water and fell silent.

And then there were the sounds of the humans, not the loudest in the tunnel, but certainly the most numerous. People splashing in the water, the sound of the pickaxes hacking away at the harder clumps of soil and occasional rocks, the sound of the 'military-grade spades' of Saniya's soldiers that were digging through the earth, the small clanking of the bucket's handle as it was passed from one hand to the next, in a chain that would eventually lead back out into the light.

There were also hammer hits whenever soldiers further back hammered wooden beams into position, designed to hold up the precarious path they had opened up for themselves. And of course, there was also the constant heavy breathing, the aching and groaning of all those who were hard at work, for victory, and for a swift end to their misery.

Altogether, these noises big and small formed the soundscape of the tunnel the soldiers of the southern kingdom had dug underneath their own trenches, and underneath the entire battlefield. In their efforts, they had come ever closer on their way towards the accursed walls of Antila, which had given them so much grief over the past months. All this time, the soldiers of Saniya were working hard, just to one day overcome this last obstacle on their way home.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with Taki. In defiance of the hard workers around him, he simply stood there, half a step behind the first line of diggers, with one ear on the opening in a metal cylinder, with its other end pressed to the dirty tunnel walls. All this while, he had done so alternately to his left and too his right.

Although the air inside the tunnel was stifling, and he himself had a hard time breathing, although he was dirty and his shoes were filled with water, he still couldn't complain. At least he didn't have to slave away like all the others.

At first, Taki had wondered what a scout was supposed to do inside a tunnel. Even with the dim oil lamps they had hung up on the wooden beams along the walls, he still couldn't see farther than he could throw, and he couldn't throw very far. Then, when his commander had explained the details of his assignment to him, Taki... still hadn't come any closer to understanding.

According to his superior, he was down here in the darkness mostly for his good ears, and was tasked with 'counter intelligence'. It wasn't a term he was familiar with, and he wasn't entirely sure his commander knew any better than him. Either way, it seems like the term had come directly from their king, so both men just pretended they knew what they were talking about and moved on with their days.

In the end, he got lucky and had received slightly more detailed instructions from higher up as a result. Though even so, his assignment still wasn't anything great. All he had to do was listen for anything 'suspicious' in the walls around them. That was easy enough, he thought. Though of course, he hadn't heard anything so far, not even after weeks of digging. Earth worms weren't in the habit of throwing banquets, after all.

If anyone asked him - which no one did - it wasn't a great assignment. Certainly, it was nice and safe compared to working in the combat zones, but it also gave him far too much time to stew in his own thoughts. Every time he closed his eyes for too long, he remembered the end of their tragic battle near the dam. Then he'd remember his cowardly escape, how he had left his comrades to die up there. Every time, he saw Qhatuq's determined face, shouting at him to follow his orders, and then the veteran's mangled foot dragging behind him in the snow.

Again, Taki opened his eyes. The image of bloody snow faded, and the dim light of the oil lamps returned. Again, he filled his lungs with the turbid air, and shook his head to dispel the demons in his head. Rather than this torment, he would have preferred to stay out in the open and fight for his life. Still, duty was duty, and he would be damned if he failed to follow an order one more time in his life. Thus, after the rushing blood in his ears had calmed down somewhat, he closed his eyes again, and pushed the side of his face against the cold, wet metal once more.

This time, he heard a noise as soon as he concentrated.

Vaguely from the right and back, he concluded after a short pause.

Somewhere over there, he could hear a scratching or scraping. For a few more seconds, he concentrated on the sound. All other noise around him slowly faded away as he managed to zero in on only the noise he wanted. It was a skill he had always possessed, something that came natural to him. There it was again, a crack this time, and then a low rumble, far clearer than before.

Someone's moving earth, he finally concluded. Again he just stood there for a few seconds, and just thought. First off, he couldn't be hearing the workers in any of their other tunnels. He had heard one of them early on during their build, but they had since diverged and moved into different directions. By this point, all of them were too far away to be heard from here. It also wouldn't be an animal like a mole. They simply wouldn't make that much noise. That left only one option.

They know what we're doing, and they're coming to stop us.

Now he finally understood what 'counter intelligence' meant. Using his ears to counter the enemy like this surely was quite intelligent. Now that the mystery of his assignment had been solved, all that remained was to fulfill his orders. With haste, he turned around, and squeezed past the workers in the narrow tunnel. Thus, he rushed towards the outside, to report to his commander.

"Alright men, not much farther now! Keep digging!" the energetic shout rang through the tunnel, though it was only answered by some muffled grunts.

At last, Chalco had returned to his old position as an architect. After he had bribed enough people with the rest of his hidden supplies, he had somehow managed to make his way into the lord's manor. There, he had once more stood front of his master Sucopia, just like on the day of his demotion. Unfortunately, just like that day, his master hadn't been interested in any new problems and had flat-out ignored his concerns about a potential tunneling plan by their enemies.

If the scary foreign lord Herak hadn't overheard them by chance, his concerns would have simply been brushed aside. However, Herak had heard him, so he had been pulled off wall defense duty after he had laid down his concerns about the enemy actions, as well as possible counter measures. Just like that, he was finally back to his old position as an architect. His first assignment: Digging.

Over the past ten days, he had been assigned around a hundred men, the same as his previous dam project. All of them were strong, healthy warriors, about as strong and healthy as one could expect from the current state of their army. Of course, Qori was the only one among them whose participation Chalco had personally requested. With such a strong team assembled and back in his element, he was not afraid to compete with the enemy.

Though obviously, the digging teams of the southern kingdom had their advantages. From the extensive trench systems they had built, Chalco could tell that the southern kingdom had better digging tools, certainly better techniques, and undoubtedly more experience than his own men. However, Chalco had his own advantages as well, to make up for any of their faults.

First off, and most importantly, he himself was not only an architect, but also a local. He had built much of Antila himself. Whatever he hadn't built, he had studied extensively during his apprenticeship. As a result, he just about knew every building in the city, and every spot of dirt outside of it.

He knew exactly where deep wells and cellars lay along the wall, places he could use as starting points for his tunnels. He also knew quite well about the ground around Antila, which parts had soft soil and which had solid foundations.

As a result, he could make educated guesses on which parts would be easy to dig, and which parts would be impossible to get through. He had also been part of the team that had reconstructed the old canal system that supplied water to the fields around Antila. As a result, he also had a pretty good idea where the melt water would drain in the spring. On top of that, the southerners would mostly use commoners for their digging projects, while Chalco had an army of warriors at his disposal. In the tight tunnels, strength couldn't be made up for with numbers.

With his knowledge, he could guess which routes enemy tunnels would take towards their wall, and he could design routes that would intercept them. Finally, with his large warrior force, he could then simply tunnel faster to destroy their plans.

If they found the enemy tunnels where he was expecting them, then they would be the heroes who had saved the city. If they didn't find anything, then at least they had dug a secret tunnel without knowledge from their enemies. If nothing else, they could use the new tunnels to raid the outside and push back the trenches again. Maybe they could even escort some civilians outside the walls to prevent any more meaningless deaths.

Whether he would be a hero or not, the deciding moment would be here soon. They had already dug around two hundred paces through the earth, at a depth just barely above the level of the local water table during the spring melt. They were working in ankle-deep water, so everything was well on-course. They had long made their way out from under their walls, and had now angled to the north, towards what Chalco thought would be the most likely path for their enemies to take through the earth.

After noting down their progress once more, the architect looked up from the improvised map he had hand-drawn over the past few days, and looked at their work. The men were working hard, but their tools really held them back. They were digging with rusty picks, shovels meant for shoveling manure, hoes, and just about anything else that was vaguely shaped like a digging tool. Still, the strength of his workers guaranteed steady progress.

Through the use of bucket chains, they transported the earth back out of the tunnel, where it would be dumped down the massive old cistern they had used for their construction. They had started digging halfway down the cistern, so there was still plenty of room left for all the earth to go. The little shortcut had made their work a lot easier, though the hole was about to fill completely at this point. According to his rough estimates, that also meant that they had almost reached their goal.

"Boss, we think we heard something!" Qori shouted as he squeezed his way past several other warriors to reach Chalco's position in the back.

"Show me," the architect simply said, and followed Qori to the front. Whether or not their previous work would be useful, he had to see for himself.

When he reached the front, the tunnel was so narrow that he could only crawl. Since the tunnel was designed at a slight downward angle, the water pooled much higher here. The other workers had gone out of the way by now, so he could go ahead by himself without squeezing too hard. Down on his knees, he crawled to the back wall, his head held high to avoid the muddy water.

By the time he reached the back, only his head and shoulders still weren't completely soaked, while the rest of his body slowly lost its strength in the cold water. Even so, he calmly put his ear against the earth. He wouldn't be in here for long anyways. Indeed, he heard the noise almost immediately.

Somewhere in front, he could hear a dull, rhythmic thumping sound. Although there was nothing else he could find, his ears were far from the best with in their teams. Just feeling the unnatural vibrations in the ground all but confirmed his suspicions, so this was enough. As quickly as he had entered, he crawled out of the hole backwards, and soon returned to the light.

At first he was glad that he had escaped the grasp of the icy water, but soon he frowned again. Although it seemed like their plan would succeed soon, Chalco felt no joy. Rather, if what he had heard was real, his worst fears would be proven right, and he would soon open up yet another bloody battlefield for his fellow warriors to die on. Still, in the protection of his home, what other choice did he have?