by Emma Hamm
“There was five of us in the tunnels back then. Five for each, all of us breaking our backs to work. We could work longer in those mines. When one man got tired, there was another to take his place.”
He was staring at the flask his hands now, unable to look at her for some strange reason.
“We hit something back then. I don’t know what it was. But we busted through a wall and suddenly there was a larger opening. It went down so deep that we didn’t know how far it went. Strange to think that there was just suddenly a hole when we were already so far in the ground. We didn’t think anything of it, just stepped past it and kept going.”
“I went back to get more water for us. I wasn’t gone that long, but it must have been long enough. Something came out of that hole, something big. Bigger than the five of us, and I’m no small man.” He chuckled, though nerves showed clearly in the sound.
“I stood there frightened out of my wits. I watched as this beast came up out of the ground and started tearing at them. There was blood on the walls. It kept knocking their heads against the side of the rock and then it flung their bodies down the hole it had come out of. Each man it pulled the helmets off of. Like it wanted to leave a hint that it had been there. Like it wanted to mark its territory and let us know that it didn’t appreciate us disturbing it.”
He shuddered. The largest man she had ever met, shuddering in fear at a memory that he could not understand.
“It looked back at me. I looked right into those soulless eyes and saw nothing but black. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life.”
“So you can see, Lad, I know there’s something down here with us. But the next time I see one, I’ll be taking its head off with my axe.”
Her legs had drawn up as he spoke, curling into herself. Suddenly every shadow and every drip of water sounded like something far different. The mines were more dangerous than she had ever imagined. There wasn’t just the risk of cave ins or men killing her for a gemstone. Now there was also the worry that some kind of creature would be crawling up out of the caverns to kill her.
The hardhats made sense now. There wasn’t any light down here other than the ones on their heads. Anything could be standing just ten feet away from them and neither she nor Simon would be able to see it. If only they gave them stronger lights, or took the initiative to put electric lights down here, then perhaps it might have been safer. But who really was going to believe the explanation that there were monsters here they needed to see?
“Hey.” The sound of Simon’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Lad, there’s nothing that’s going to get us down here. I wasn’t ready years ago. I am now.”
“How can you be ready for something like that Simon?” She asked quietly. “How could either of us possibly fight against something that lives in these caves?”
He got up to kneel in front of her, the wrinkles around his eyes evident. “Yer young. Ye don’t know what it takes fer a man ta kill another thing.” He patted Jane’s knee in that firm way of his. “I do. You let me do the worrying. Now we’ve got to get back to work.”
His words made her uncomfortable. He knew what it was to kill a man? She didn’t know anyone who had ever murdered another. Their mining town was not one filled with convicts. What he said would haunt her.
Those rocks wouldn’t break themselves so it seemed. Every strike made her arms tremble, this time from something more than just shear force. She was finding herself listening a little too hard for the sounds around them. One of the men in a nearby tunnel would shout and Jane would jump in response. Before the goblins had just been stories, but now they were something much more than that.
The rest of the day passed at a sluggish crawl. Every hit against the stone seemed to take eons longer. Every sound made her flinch towards the rocks as though something was going to attack her at any minute. But throughout the rest of the day there was nothing to make her think that something could be in there with her. There was no movement or sound that seemed questionable. As always, the cave remained quiet.
Eventually she calmed once again. She hadn’t been working in these mines for two weeks without starting to understand them. The echoes from other miners were calming. Sometimes she could hear an excited shout, then the teasing laughter of others as they realized the “stone” the man had found was nothing but a simple rock.
The mines were an easy place to be for someone that was looking for camaraderie. These men were loyal to each other and to the cause. Surprisingly, they wanted to find the gemstones. That was where the loyalty would end. There was a reason everyone jumped at even the slightest hint of stones. Some would steal from others, but most would likely kill. In the end, friendship only lasted so long.
So consumed was she in her thoughts that, once again, she hadn’t noticed Simon had stopped his work until he tapped on her shoulder. Breath sawing out of her chest, she turned to look at him.
“My light’s starting to go out.”
Sure enough, the light on his helmet was flickering every so often. They couldn’t afford to have a light go out down here, not when it was their only chance to see.
“I’ll be right back. Ye gonna be alright by yerself for a moment laddie?”
She had calmed down enough to know that there was very little chance of something terrible happening while he was gone. So many men worked in these tunnels on their own, and no one had miraculously disappeared from them. Perhaps the creatures didn’t live in these tunnels, or perhaps they didn’t care about the humans any more.
Whatever the reason, Jane was not a child. She did not hide in her mother’s skirts or worry about nightmares. These shadow beasts could very well just be the figment of a man’s imagination. So she nodded at Simon, gave him a shaky smile, and wiped sweat off of her upper lip.
“I’ll be alright. You keep your light on. Holler if you need me to come find you.”
She didn’t start working again until she couldn’t hear Simon’s footsteps anymore. Now that she was alone she was starting to get nervous again. There were echoes of other people working, but in this moment she felt very isolated.
The mines had a way of doing that to people. The longer one was down here the sooner one realized that the mines were a world of their own. There was no sand, no sweltering heat to blister your shoulders. Nothing here made sense, at least not compared to the world they were used to. Cool stone, slick walls, and hidden gemstones that only the rich wanted. Whatever the reason for it, she didn’t understand.
It was likely the back breaking work would be the death of her. Every strike made her arms ache, every hit made her head ring. Jane was glad to have this be the last day of work. One last day and her family would be free from this hell hole. She would be able to live in a house with a floor. Her sister could get an education. Luther could do anything that he wanted now…
Another hard strike had a large chunk of stone falling away from the wall. It was her biggest piece yet. Impressed with herself, she balanced the ax against the wall for a second to give her arms a rest. It was in this moment that her light flickered over the exposed stone.
There in the depths of black she had been so used to, was a light.
Jane squinted her eyes, narrowing them against the bright reflection.
“What in the world?” She muttered.
There wasn’t enough light to see it clearly, so she took off her helmet to hold it closer. Imbedded in the stone was something unlike she had ever seen. Every color and more that she had never seen swirled in the depths of the stone. If she hadn’t had her wits about her, Jane would have sworn that the colors were moving inside of it. It was like looking into pool of water that oil had been spilled upon. She was captivated by the colors.
So this was what the rich and famous had them working for. She was breaking her back for a pretty bauble. True the stone was impressive, but really it was still just a rock. Why then could she not take her eyes off of the colors?
It was fascinating, eye catching for sure, and large. Her eyes widened as she realized that she hadn’t uncovered the entire stone. There was so much more of it there. She leaned down to grab her axe, one hand holding her helmet up and the other scrabbling blindly at the floor. If she could knock off the rest of the stone that gem could fit into the straps that bound her breasts. This would bring them more than enough money to get to the City. They might even have enough to put a small down payment on a little apartment.
She heard the sound then.
She would not have heard it at all if she hadn’t already been on edge. The slight echo of a stone falling behind her, each strike against the ground sounding as loud as a gong in her ears. Stones didn’t fall like that. If it fell from the wall it bounced once, maybe twice in quick succession. They did not rattle as though someone had accidently disturbed them.
Frozen in fear, Jane stared at the gemstone in front of her. Was this really worth it? Was the danger of being down here worth the money this rock could bring? Surely there wasn’t anything so spectacular, so important, about these things that made the City put hundreds of people in danger down here in these mines.
She turned quickly, the light from the helmet in her hand flashing upon the most hideous creature she had ever seen in her life.
Men were horribly scarred sometimes from the mines. A flash of hot air from the punctured stone could burn the flesh nearly off of a body. Jane had seen men come back with mangled limbs, broken bones, bloodied bodies and ruined strength. Yet even those horrific sights had not prepared her for the monster that stood before her.
It was humanoid in appearance. It stood on two legs, had two arms, two eyes, ribs showing through a thin chest. Yet this was the only similarity to herself that she could find. Its skin was lighter than hers, yet had a sickly green tone that on a human would have been rot. A slightly upturned nose marred a deceptively human face. Its shaved head revealed bat like ears, the whorls and pointed tips startling.
But it was the eyes that terrified her most. She had only seen a flash of them before it had backed away from the light in her hand. But she had not seen any whites in those eyes. Just pure black staring straight into her soul.
She was backed against the stone with no where to go. She could not run. But Jane could open her mouth and scream so loudly she feared that the tunnels would cave in around them.
The creature raised clawed hands to its ears, flinching back for a moment before opening those darkened eyes once more. It hissed at her, mouth opening wide to reveal sharpened teeth that could have cut into her in a moment.
She wanted to stumble back. Wanted to hide so that perhaps she would have a chance to live. But Jane was cornered in this tunnel. Her spine pressed against the stones so hard she drew blood. The warmth spread down her spine in small rivulets from holes punctured by sharp edges.
They say your life flashes before your eyes just as you die. Jane wasn’t thinking of her life. She was thinking of the future without her. Of her brother and sister who would have to fend for themselves. Of her mother and father who would have been so disappointed to know that she had died in such a way. And selfishly of herself, how she did not deserve to have her life ended because she had been so foolish as to try and fix things that could not be fixed.
Eventually her air ran out. The creature’s hands dropped and Jane had a moment to notice something liquid running out of its ears before she watched muscles bunching to leap onto her.
It never had the chance.
There was a spray of liquid that made Jane close her eyes. As she frantically wiped it away, she could hear the strange whooping garble of the creature. It sounded like creatures she could hear sometimes on the sands at night. High pitched and stuttering, the call made her heart clench for some unknown reason. The pained cry ended just as soon as it began.
When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find Simon standing before her. He placed a foot against the creature, pulling his pick axe out of its head. He flashed her a feral grin.
“Told ya I’d be ready for it.”
Her knees were weak with shock and fear. “Where did it come from?” The whisper seemed to echo in her head.
“Same thing happened last time. Someone leaves and they move in. They like to have someone left to tell others, I think.”
A flash of anger made her turn red, though the watery blood on her face might have made it difficult to see. She shoved herself away from the wall and tried to stand on knees that shook.
“Was I just some kind of bait then?” She asked angrily. “Did you think that you could leave me here and that thing would suddenly appear? I never pegged you as heartless.”
“Ah, laddie. My light went out. Ye were just the lucky one that it wanted.”
Blood dripped from his pickaxe and Jane couldn’t stop staring at it. He was changed in her eyes now, a killer. It didn’t matter that the creature at their feet wasn’t human. It looked human enough as it lay crumbled beneath the big man she had come to trust.
Simon knelt onto his haunches, pushing the goblin over onto its back with the handle of the axe. It wore some kind of strange loincloth and a beaded necklace around its throat. Jane flashed her helmet light onto it to look herself, feeling strangely guilty for poking and prodding at something that they had killed. She had never been a hunter, could never have done this to something herself.
“Ugly bugger ain’t it.” Simon said quietly.
He lifted the necklace with a finger, gently tugging until it unlatched. The beads seemed handmade, glittering in the dim lights they had. “That looks like one of the quartz stones I saw once.” Jane murmured. “I’ve never seen them so smooth before though.”
They were unparalleled in beauty. Here in the mines, they only gathered the raw materials. Everyone rushed to see the new stones that had been unearthed, but none of them had seen the end product of it. These stones were perfectly round, so gently buffed that it must have been done with a loving hand. How such a creature like this had found such a priceless piece, she would never know. Only those in the City would have such a thing.
“What were you doing that it snuck up on you?”
She wanted to leave this place. She didn’t want to be down in this tomb with monsters from the depths. Jane wanted to go back up to the surface where everything was dry and painfully heated. She wanted the sand beneath her feet and the sun on her face. Her stomach rolled as she looked back at the creature that Simon had killed. A wave of panic made her take a few steps back, her wounded back pressing once more against the sharp stones.
“I found a gemstone.” She whispered. Even that soft statement could be easily heard as it echoed in the tunnel around them. She heard the booted footsteps of others, shouting that made both Simon and her freeze.
“We’re fine boys! Lad tripped is all!” He answered quickly before turning back to her. “A gemstone?”
She nodded softly, turning to point at the stone with colors that swirled in its depths. For a moment both of their eyes were caught on the stone that seemed to glow from its very core. Jane flashed her headlight on it once more so that Simon could see the true beauty of the gem that caught her attention so forcefully.
A movement from deeper into the tunnel made her squint. They had not yet begun to expand that part of the tunnel yet, though it was still wide enough for a man to walk through with his shoulders pressed against the stone. The light made her squint, unable to make out any shapes in the darkness. It must be a trick of the eyes. Adrenaline still causing her to flinch at shadows.
She gasped at the wide barreled chest that squeezed out from the tunnel in front of them. Her breath seemed to wheeze out of her in fear. Long white hair was braided back from his face, strands tucked tight to his head to mimic a mohawk she had once seen a young man in the camp try. Muscles roped across his frame, strength radiating so powerfully from the creature that she was certain he could have killed her if he wished. Those pitch black eyes locked o
n her. She could see him so vividly that she watched his ribs expand as he took in a deep breath.
Jane didn’t have time to scream when he reached out for her. He snatched at her head first, the hat holding her hair falling prisoner to him quickly. She took the opportunity to flash her light in his eyes, holding the helmet up to try and blind him. Simon was yelling behind her, pulling her towards the end of the tunnel.
For a moment she wondered if she should be feeling more fear than she was. Numb, adrenaline pumping, she could hardly feel her fingertips let alone rouse herself to feel fear. She should have been screaming once more.
Simon’s hand on her arms clenched tighter the instant she felt her braid snap backwards. Letting out a shriek as her hair was yanked backwards, she was quickly whipped against the wall. Her head cracked hard against the stone. She reeled, her vision suddenly skewed and the tunnel tilted sideways as she hit the ground.
She could hear the sound of fighting. Smacks of flesh against flesh that made her sick to her stomach. There was no holding back in those sounds. Each hit made her wince, the loud sounds hurting her head. She pushed herself onto her hands and knees even though the stones bit into her hands and the floor seemed to tilt beneath her.
Simon was the one fighting that creature. She couldn’t let him fight that thing alone. There had to be something that she could do. Surely she hadn’t been created with this man like figure only to die completely helpless. There was no doubt in her mind that this monster wanted to kill her. She had seen it in those pitch black eyes that had no soul to speak of.
Her arms shook as she tried to push herself upright. All she could manage was to hold herself on her hands and knees and listen to the sounds of that creature killing a man she had considered honorable and kind. At least she had until he had killed one of those creatures in cold blood before her eyes. She could not forget that strange tightness in her chest that made her question everything that was happening.