The Wannabe Warrior
Chapter 160

Zane POV

Alex got in contact with the pack up near where we believed Madison was being held and the leader, who was called Zeek, had promised to send a scout out and see if he could spot her. I told them about where she thought her room was situated and what Madison could see out of her window, and Zeek would look into it, as it was a very dangerous place to enter.

They would investigate in the early hours of the morning, when the enemy patrol seemed to be at its weakest and less observant.

I told him I would ask Madison to keep a light on and the curtain open if she could.

We chatted a little more about how we could rescue Madison and I took in more information on the diorama. It truly was a beautiful piece of artwork. The details were amazing, even putting the tiny buildings in some places, to show towns and places they considered important enough to warrant more detailed scenery, like some dangerous place to keep away from, red markers for danger and other colours for good hunting grounds.

Later, I was shown around the Deep Earth pack’s living areas, and the bathroom, so I could see what all the fuss was about, and I don’t think I would like to have to use that bath too often. We have been spoilt with what we use above ground, and by looking at their water-saving ideas, I am ashamed to say, we look very wasteful with our preferred ways to clean ourselves, but I guess if that is how you have grown up and not seen any other way to do things, then this would have been an accepted way to wash, some of us are way too big to enjoy this small bathroom and minimal water per wash, and I could not imagine trying to have Madison join me in this room and have a shared wash.

Anton was a barrel of laughs, things he said he had done in his childhood, had me in stitches, life underground was so different, you cannot really tell whether it is day or night, the temperature does not have any drastic changes, so the seasons are hardly noticed and the lighting is bright, almost as if it is day all the time. Alex said they turn the lighting down at night so the children know it is time to go to bed, but the lights are never fully turned off in the main tunnels or living areas.

In the tunnels, lights are dotted along the ground spaced about ten paces apart. They are not run by electricity in the tunnels, but by some rock that glows, so they never go out. It is bright enough to see down the tunnels, and when they had to collapse part of the tunnels, when they were under attack, they had warriors collect the rocks, as they headed back to base, so no lighting was left in the tunnels for the invaders to use, if the attackers managed to unblock that tunnel.

They tried hard not to make a total tunnel collapse, but enough of a collapse to delay anyone to enter, it would take the enemy a while to dig out the tunnel and if they sounded like they were close to breaking through, they would collapse a bit more. It was a watch and wait scenario and over the year that the rogues lived in the caves, they had to collapse quite a lot of tunnels, and they were concerned at how close they were getting to their main tunnel to where the bulk of the pack lived.

Some of their main focus now, was to rebuild the collapsed tunnels and restock the dried or bottled food stocks, which Mary and the cook here had been busy collaborating together to do just that, some items the Deep Earth people had never tried before, and visa vera, it was a real treat to be trying new foods on both sides.

Watching the children play was a treat. They do not have the same type of games we do, like hide and seek or chase in tunnels. It would be impractible and almost impossible, so they had to improvise what sort of games children could play, and at a very early age, they started to learn to control their bodies’ scent, starting at first as a game and, later, being more in earnest and no longer a game, when they had reached the age, to be able to shift, so when out, above ground, for short periods of time the younger ones can be without scent. Like Anton was, and those that can manage a longer period of time hiding their scent, those children started warrior training, then for the outdoors and those with a weak ability, learnt a different skill. Not all are skilled at hiding the scent for long periods of time, or so I am told, I had no reason to doubt what I heard.

Those with weak abilities, might be tunnel monitors, clearing debris. They are assigned to certain tunnels, so if any changes are in that tunnel that show signs of weakening walls, the people who have been assigned those tunnels walked them often enough to notice small changes. These are very important jobs, all have some kind of job to do, none are made to feel inferior because they don’t have great skills, they are all needed to make life in the tunnels comfortable and enjoyable. Some have never seen the light of day and have no desire to even go outdoors. That is not something I could imagine, never seeing the sun or the moon, or being caught in the rain, where our life and I love the different seasons, even if it has its seasons that I am not keen on, I would not want to change it..

I asked if they had any sickness from lack of sunlight, but it seems they are more than adapted to the life they have and are not lacking in any way.

Dad and I were staying in the Deep Earth for the night and hoped to get answers about Madison’s location in the morning. Once we have verification of her location, we can look at how we can rescue her, and a timeline for that rescue.

Would the Deep Earth pack aid us in our dire need?

That has yet to be discussed, so far the rescue discussion has purely been our Blue Warrior pack warriors and me doing the rescue.