Reality check
"Are you really pleased?" Arthur asked, shook the man's hand, and realized from his grimace that he'd squeezed a little hard.
Davey, the rainfolk who was for the second time the first person to wake up, replied with a shy smile. "I'm recovering from the backache a lifetime of wearing the slave collar has given me. Although the last few days have seemed a little longer than the others I'd say yes, I am."
The man explained the situation.
The mine was an underground city as organized as an anthill. Once it reached the volcano's entrails, the slightest piece of information was relayed to the other end of the hole. Davey had had time to give Arthur's way of modifying the inactive beastcores into a key to the rest of the mine, resulting in agitation, of course, but above all in relief from back pain.