I hadn’t been told about this. I glance at Etewen. “Truly?”
“You think I’m lying?” Colson pushes off the pile.
“Grodd is the worst of them,” Etewen murmurs. He shifts uncomfortably, like he’s hurt, and I wonder if he’s been beaten recently. The name on his lips makes my stomach sink.
“The big gray one?” I say. “Montra?”
Colson looks surprised. “So you’ve met him.”
Only briefly, thank goodness. “Only in passing.”
Colson considers me before shrugging. “It isn’t all bad. On fifth days we congregate in the back of the schoolyard and catch up. Play a few games we remember from . . . before.”
Etewen scratches his cheek.
I perk up. “Today is fifth day.”
Colson offers a small smile. It makes him look so much more approachable, and I find myself relaxing. “It is, if you want to come. Some of the trolls don’t like it, so we have to start late. Around the twenty-second hour.”
I’m usually in bed by then, to ensure I’ll get plenty of sleep for my shifts, but the longer I’m in Cagmar, the more I ache for a friend, a confidant. The more I wish for someone like Finnie or Andru. “I’ll be there.” I pull out my map and search for the school.
Etewen and Colson exchange a glance. “I guess you’re still new,” Colson says, and points east. “Four levels down that way, right of the X, which sits just below the Mid-divide. Eastmost side.”
“I’ll find it.” I can’t hide my grin. I’ll be able to introduce myself to so many others, and possibly find comradery with Colson, since we’re close in age. “Thank you. I’m excited to get to know you all.”
He looks up, and I follow his gaze to a clock on the ceiling, its gears exposed. He curses. “I have to go. See you tonight.” He pushes past the throng, making his way for the exit. Duty in the mines, no doubt.
To Etewen, I ask, “Will you be all right on your own?”
He shrugs, then winces. “I’ll be fine.”
Thinking of Grodd and this task force, I take the same path Colson did. I’d better get back. Make sure I know all my shifts for the week. Practice the drills Unach gave me. Perhaps the real reason she’s worked me so hard is that she knows how crucial it is that I fulfill the role given to me. My appreciation for Unach is renewed, as is my excitement for tonight. I’ll meet more people, learn more names, and reunite with my own kind.
Slowly and surely, Cagmar is becoming a place where I might actually belong.
Unach quizzes me as I fasten the belts of my harness.
“Gunchar.” She doesn’t meet my eyes as she cleans her nails with a knife.
I think back to my studies. “Bird, thirty-foot wingspan. Short beak. Deadliest weapons are its talons.”
“And?” she presses.
“And . . . they nest high in the canyon and generally stay away from the bridge?”
“And their wings create gusts that can knock you off the wall.” She grabs a rope and tosses it at me. I catch it with both arms. She’s manning my line today. “Crag snake.”
“Crag snakes live in the south—”
“North.”
“North,” I amend, then remember. “Near the mountains, but occasionally they travel down here if prey is scarce. Two heads, with sharp teeth. Blind. Poisonous. Inedible.”
Unach nods, which is the most praise I can expect from her. I loop the rope through my harness, triple-checking the tightness of the knot. I’m still not comfortable climbing across the city and canyon walls, even with the handholds.
“Spreener.”
“Also poisonous.” I hand the rope back. I’m tall for a human woman, but I can’t reach the pulleys on the ceiling of the south dock without help. Unach does so with an annoyed grunt. “Spiders with sharp beaks and tusks, hard outer armor. They . . .” I look upward, trying to remember. “They like crevices?”
Unach nods again. Kesta, the female troll with deep-gray skin and long dark hair, pushes off the wall, twisting Troff’s rope in her hands. “Can we get going?” She glances to the door. “Kub’s late, as always. I’m getting sleepy listening to her school lesson.”
I try not to frown. “I’m ready.”
A soft garble sounds in the distance. The others hear it as well. Unach’s shoulders stiffen.
Kesta looks at me. “Next question. What was that?”
“Uh.” I glance at Unach. “Tor rat?”