The echoing boom of Gunthar creating their next tunnel traveled back over the trio as they worked.  True to her promise (despite feeling awkward after Fenn hugging her for it), Talia was acting as first Light.  Rather than trying to manifest her Aura as a torch, hovering over her shoulder as the older demons did, she channeled her Aura up to her horns.  The two tips glowed, more than enough to light the tunnel around them out to thirty feet, with dim vision that far again.

[color=lightgreen]"What did you do with your day off?"[/color] Dante asked his favorite Sunday question.  It gave Talia pause for a moment, as today wasn’t Sunday, or even Moonday, but Tidesday; then again, her answer never really changed, either.  And it looked like he had something on his mind.  His swings weren’t as enthusiastic as usual.

[color=FFB6C1]“I spent Sitterday with Draconhouser, mostly helping Brom with his letters.  He’s determined to catch up to Sophrena.”[/color]  The sibling rivalry the twins had was cute, but at their age Brom was at a definite disadvantage.  He never stopped trying, though, and Talia could encourage that.

Just having a sibling to compete with looked fun.

The mining continued, Dante semi-distracted but trying to keep some conversation up and Fenn semi-distracted by default; he never did a good job of staying focused on work, even with Talia’s polite nudging.  Gunthar passed on his way out, pushing two carts full of rock and towing a third behind him.  He’d definitely earned his moniker, “Big Fracking Gun.”  As he came back through, an idea occurred to Talia.

[color=FFB6C1]“Why don’t we go with Gunthar?  He’s making fresh tunnels, so there should be more ores right on the surface.  He might even be knocking some loose that we could add to the carts.”[/color]  She turned her gaze up, and up some more, to see what the ogre thought of the idea.  [color=FFB6C1]“Would you mind, Gun?  We’ll stay far enough back you won’t have to worry about hitting us.”[/color]