was far larger than I expected it to be. It was several meters wide but
many times longer, stretching far out and away from the bottom of the stairs.
There were several cabinets and item racks along the walls, full of the bottles
and tools. I counted shovels, pickaxes, and a few rusty blades. There were
piles of rough stone on countertops next to finely ground up heaps of sparkling
powder. It would have been the perfect kind of getaway for a boy to hide from a
whole village.
The
dungeon I had imagined was not completely wrong. I had pictured more chains and
jail cells but there were two sets of bars that walled off two caged rooms on
the left wall. They were empty and looked like they hadn’t been used for years.
Cobwebs had gathered between the iron bars. I left them alone and walked around
the room again.
On
the far side of the room, directly opposite the stairs, I solved the mystery of
where we got our drinking water from. At first the well looked oddly out of
place and strange to see underground. Then I realized that all wells stretched
down beneath the earth to draw up water. I wondered how far down the bucket had
to fall before it reached the water, but Tower spoke before I could operate the
crank and find out.
“I
believe a lot of the stone that was dug out of here was used in building the
tower. The mines were here first, for reasons that you’ll understand soon. Come
over here.”
I
had made a complete circuit of the room without finding any other exit except
the stairs. I didn’t understand where the tunnels were or where the monsters
came from. I walked over to where Tower was standing and my breath caught when
he waved a hand at part of the wall and it moved. He gestured for me to do the same
I discovered that it was a dark sheet of cloth draped from the ceiling.
I
parted the curtain and saw the tunnel. There was another barrier similar to the
one that had been placed on the doorway upstairs, but through I could make out
the beginning of the tunnel.
At
first I could see nothing but a foreboding darkness, but I made out more
details as I squinted in the dim light. The walls through the archway were
crude things: bumpy, uneven, and chaotic, stripped away from the rock that
surrounded it.
There
were no monsters or anything moving through the barrier, but that strangely
frightened me even more. A combative creature would want to ruffle itself up to
be more intimidating and set its prey on edge. The things I was imagining
didn’t need such a trick. They already knew they could eat me and would lay
perfectly still, striking when they felt like doing so.
“It’s
not as bad as it looks, Bryce. You do need to be careful and stay on alert, but
I’ve been down here hundreds of times. Almost all of them were uneventful. I
came down, mined for a few hours, and then went back upstairs. Nothing bothered
me. I promise you that I will keep you safe. Do you trust me?”
I
stared into the tunnel for a moment longer before I turned to face him. I
nodded and, to my surprise, I meant it.
“Good.
Now, once I take this shield down we’ll have to keep talking to a minimum.
Whisper if you need something. I want you to take a few sacks from the cabinet
over there. You’ll be in charge of keeping hold of all of the jewels we find.”
The
cabinet wasn’t far and was full of thick bags of various sizes. Some were small
enough that they looked more like coin purses. I took four of the largest ones
I could find and walked back to the entrance of the mine. Tower had gone for
tools and had two pickaxes latched to his belt when he walked back beside me.
“Any
questions before I open the way?”
“How
do things get into the tower from here? Wasn’t this dug down?”
“Yes,
it was. The tower has stood centuries. The mine was excavated over all of that
time, and I believe that the tunnels stretched too far and too deep. I do not
think something dug into the mine, but rather that the mine dug into something
of theirs.
many times longer, stretching far out and away from the bottom of the stairs.
There were several cabinets and item racks along the walls, full of the bottles
and tools. I counted shovels, pickaxes, and a few rusty blades. There were
piles of rough stone on countertops next to finely ground up heaps of sparkling
powder. It would have been the perfect kind of getaway for a boy to hide from a
whole village.
The
dungeon I had imagined was not completely wrong. I had pictured more chains and
jail cells but there were two sets of bars that walled off two caged rooms on
the left wall. They were empty and looked like they hadn’t been used for years.
Cobwebs had gathered between the iron bars. I left them alone and walked around
the room again.
On
the far side of the room, directly opposite the stairs, I solved the mystery of
where we got our drinking water from. At first the well looked oddly out of
place and strange to see underground. Then I realized that all wells stretched
down beneath the earth to draw up water. I wondered how far down the bucket had
to fall before it reached the water, but Tower spoke before I could operate the
crank and find out.
“I
believe a lot of the stone that was dug out of here was used in building the
tower. The mines were here first, for reasons that you’ll understand soon. Come
over here.”
I
had made a complete circuit of the room without finding any other exit except
the stairs. I didn’t understand where the tunnels were or where the monsters
came from. I walked over to where Tower was standing and my breath caught when
he waved a hand at part of the wall and it moved. He gestured for me to do the same
I discovered that it was a dark sheet of cloth draped from the ceiling.
I
parted the curtain and saw the tunnel. There was another barrier similar to the
one that had been placed on the doorway upstairs, but through I could make out
the beginning of the tunnel.
At
first I could see nothing but a foreboding darkness, but I made out more
details as I squinted in the dim light. The walls through the archway were
crude things: bumpy, uneven, and chaotic, stripped away from the rock that
surrounded it.
There
were no monsters or anything moving through the barrier, but that strangely
frightened me even more. A combative creature would want to ruffle itself up to
be more intimidating and set its prey on edge. The things I was imagining
didn’t need such a trick. They already knew they could eat me and would lay
perfectly still, striking when they felt like doing so.
“It’s
not as bad as it looks, Bryce. You do need to be careful and stay on alert, but
I’ve been down here hundreds of times. Almost all of them were uneventful. I
came down, mined for a few hours, and then went back upstairs. Nothing bothered
me. I promise you that I will keep you safe. Do you trust me?”
I
stared into the tunnel for a moment longer before I turned to face him. I
nodded and, to my surprise, I meant it.
“Good.
Now, once I take this shield down we’ll have to keep talking to a minimum.
Whisper if you need something. I want you to take a few sacks from the cabinet
over there. You’ll be in charge of keeping hold of all of the jewels we find.”
The
cabinet wasn’t far and was full of thick bags of various sizes. Some were small
enough that they looked more like coin purses. I took four of the largest ones
I could find and walked back to the entrance of the mine. Tower had gone for
tools and had two pickaxes latched to his belt when he walked back beside me.
“Any
questions before I open the way?”
“How
do things get into the tower from here? Wasn’t this dug down?”
“Yes,
it was. The tower has stood centuries. The mine was excavated over all of that
time, and I believe that the tunnels stretched too far and too deep. I do not
think something dug into the mine, but rather that the mine dug into something
of theirs.
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