The Glod Mine

OK, there were only around a hundred of them rather than thousands, and they were dwarfs rather than peasants, but they were certainly hacking away at the cave wall with pickaxes. The great piles of rubble littering the floor of the cave indicated how much rock they had already chipped away.

True, there was no sign of a beached whale. Instead every time that a pickaxe struck the wall there was a cry of pain. The cries were coming from the rockface itself! Was the wall alive?

The nearest digger glimpsed Astra out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her. His head was at the level of her waist. He looked up so that he could see her face. At least, she hoped that it was her face that his eyes were concentrating on.

"Have you come in answer to our advertisement?" he asked.

Astra remembered the strange sign that she had seen. [66779] "Certainly not!" she said. "I'm a princess. I don't do the 'w' word."

"Pity. We need someone to run the canteen. A hundred dwarfs need a lot of feeding."

"What are you digging for?"

"We're hoping to find glod."

"You mean gold."

"No, glod. It's worth much more than gold. If we find it, then my one per cent share will mean that I'll never need to work again. I'll be able to retire and buy that tunnel in the country that I've set my heart on."

"But you're hurting the rock. How can it feel pain, anyway?"

1. "It's not the rock but the glod embedded in it. It's sentient. That's why it's so valuable."
2. "Those aren't cries of pain but of pleasure. It enjoys being dug into."
3. Velus/Fred/Velus, the dog, barks to attract Astra's attention.

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