Cruel Fortuna

[Mike]

The night sky was clear above the hills of northwestern Felucca. It was late in the season, and frost had started to bite the grass every morning, although the sun still managed to dispell it by mid-day. A rabbit was roasting on a spit not far from the entrance of a mine shaft, and two men warmed their hands over the fire. Pickaxes and shovels were stacked on crates in a rough circle around the fireplace, which also featured barrels marked to display their contant - iron rations prepared to last a season without rotting. The men were similarly clothed in rough-sewn hide garments darkened by dust and grime, and they both wore heavy cloaks and stiched hats. That is where the similarities ceased. One of the men was a barrel-chested brute sporting long blonde hair and an unkept beard, standing tall and brawny. His knuckles were flattened by fighting, his eyes a nordic blue, ever watchful. His comrade was a shorter man of lean build and rounded shoulders as many miners. What remained of his dark hair was kept short and his eyes were narrowed in a perpetual scowl. The shorter man spoke in a nasal voice:
"Janne, do we have any drink left? I recall we brought a keg of that whore's piss from Yew."
The larger man considered this for a moment before offering a reply.
"You drank yourself so stupid from it that you forgot we broke the keg, Amud. At least you got something out if it - I only got a cup before we ruined it all!"
Amud gave a nod to confirm it. "I suspected as much, but you can never be too sure about ale. Let's take the rabbit off the spit and eat. Tomorrow, we'll see if there's any truth to that gold vein they blabber about in the tavern."
Janne grunted in approval, and nothing more was said that night.

On the morrow the two prepared their tools. Pickaxes were secured to their belts by rope, firewood and rations gathered up in an iron bucket. Amud descended into the nearly vertical mine shaft, clinging like an ape to the coarse surface as he made his way down with well practiced expertise. Janne secured their supplies to a rope, which was winded around a winch. Amud called out from the bottom of the shaft, and Janne starded winding the supplies down slowly. The bucket clattered against rock as it swung to and fro on its way down, but landed safely. At a tug of the rope, Janne winded it up again and started to climb down the shaft himself. He cursed as the walls of the shaft pressed against his shoulders, squeezing him tightly as he made his way down. The sensation of being stuck sent his heart racing as rock but into his skin - and then he was through. It was important to keep the digging to a minimum and focus on finding the veins, else a miner could spend his entire life underground without any greater reward than cold, hard stone. The mine shaft split in two horizontal tunnels, wider than the vertical one leading to the surface to allow them to work. Amud was already chipping away at the rock on his end, and Janne started to work the stone as well. Nothing was said, no sound was heard save iron breaking rock. In dim torchlight they struggled for hours, pausing only when Amud climbed to the surface to wind their bucket, when filled with debris, out of the mine. The passing of time was hard to measure, the most accurate way being the increasing hunger. They ate a cold meal down in the mine, and continued working. Suddently Janne noticed that the noise of Amud's pickaxe had grown silent. He stopped punding away at the mountain.
"It can't be dark out yet! Why aren't you working, you lazy southerner?" he called out, with a rather friendly tone despite the words.
Amud beckoned him over. Grunting and complaining, Janne turned around in the narrow passage and made his way over to his comrade's part of the mine. Amud had lit a second torch, and gestured ahead. Janne narrowed his eyes and peered into the tunnel. He gasped when noticed the unmistakable glitter of gold. He looked at the mineral, and then at Amud's face, noticing the stupified grin. Little did he know, a smiliar smile parted his lips.

The two took turns working Amud's part of the mine, clearing gold at a fast pace while the other rested. They worked past exhaustion, until they realized they would have to sleep in the cold, dark mountain if they could not manage to climb out to their camp. The both made their way up, and with some effort winded their bucket up. The enchanting glimmer of raw gold captivated both men as they sat by the fire, beholding their catch.

"There's bound to be more down there, much more. Imagine if we get ten more of these up! It'll just take a couple of days now that we're on the right track. We'll be rich enough to retire, both of us!" The excitement in Amud's voice was palpable, and he rubbed his hands together, never taking his eyes off the gold.
"Of course both of us", Janne said laughing. "I'll get myself a ship of my own for sure, and a crew to ravage the seas."
"Yes, yes. Naturally we will both be rich. Of course, since I found the vein I will get the larger share", Amud said.
Janne took his eyes of the gold and looked square at his comrade, who did not return his gaze. His eyes were locked on the bounty from the mine.
"What do you mean, larger share? We're equal partners in this business", Janne stated slowly, with a somber voice.
Amud protested this notion, claiming he had chosen the right direction to mine and without him they may never have come upon the vein. His justification went on for some time, and eventually Janne submitted to his logic with a sigh. It did not truly matter, for even a smaller share of the gold would let him fulfill his dreams, and more. Amud strutted over to the bucket and grabbed some of the gold, playing with the prized mineral with a grin stuck on his face, the glimmer of the metal reflected in his dark eyes. Janne kept his seat at the fire, dwelling on the years he had worked alongside the southerner, and the peculiar friendship they had developed. He had learned much from Amud; how to tell which leads to pursue, how to work the minerals, where to sell copper, iron and silver for the highest price. Yet, it dawned on him, he surely did most of the work. The older, less brawny man could hardly work at half his capacity, and he didn't do much to scare away bandits and looters. Had not Amud always been snide and bitter, insulting him behind his back? Janne did not remember grasping the wooden shaft of a pickaxe, yet he felt the smooth texture of the wood in his grip. Amud had gone too far this time. Janne realized he was little more than a slave to the contemptous southerner, to be abandoned and thrown to the wolves once he was no longer needed. He got to his feet and wandered over on stiff legs, pickaxe in hand. He cleared his troat, and his comrade looked over his shoulder, still playing with the lumps of gold. With a savage roar, Janne raised the tool over his head and struck. Bone and flesh gave way under the cruel head of the pickaxe, and Amud screamed. The noise fueled Jannes rage, and with hatred turning his vision red he struck again. Amud's skull cracked, and its contents spilled on the ground.