Prologue

It was a normal working day in the mines of Andora, as workmen bustled about the courtyard of the Northern Gate. It was the busiest part of the mines, and there were many miners walking about, waiting for the gates to open and for the first shift to begin. Lines of men and women had gathered towards the gates, while others bustled across the large open spaces, opening warehouses and making tallies.

Lothar was just one of the men gathered in the large space. It was a happy day for Lothar, as it was the day he would be given his own area to whisper to. Lothar was one of the youngest whisperers in the mines at just three and twenty, and he was very proud of his achievement. His work was to accompany the miners and feel the pulse of the rock. Whispering and singing to the rocks, yielded the richest veins and stones and softened the rock for the miners to take it out easily. Lothar considered his work to be very important. The whisperers of Andora were always seen as 'special' people who helped the farms and mines get the best of the land. He was grateful to be a whisperer and not a miner.

There was a swing in his step as he reported to the mine-master, at the Northern gate of the mine. He was eager to take his own crew of men down to the fifth level and whisper to the land. Already his mind filled with the song of the mines, which he whispered back to it. His dreams were filled with great discoveries and achievements where he found even bigger stones and jewels and wonders for the Vizier of Andora. He saw a good future for himself, maybe a new area to be mined, or a cavern to be named after him. Medals and honour from the Vizier himself, and a small house on a farm with Sue. He blushed when he thought of Sue, with her wide hips and wide smile and curly brown hair. He wanted at least half a dozen children with her with curly brown hair and wide smiles.

The mine master was a shriveled up old man now. He sat bent over on his desk, poring over maps and sheets, marking them with a small charcoal stick. Lothar coughed and said, "Ummmmm, I'm ready the mine master, to you know ummm.....take the crew into the eastern wing of the fifth level."

The mine master peered at him over round spectacles and said, "It's a big task young man. It's the deepest we have gone yet, and the stone there is very thick. You have a very important task to fulfill for Andora. As you know we have only just begun to go this deep. The Vizier wants more and more jewels, and there is now no break in mining like there used to be with his father."

Lothar didn't really understand what the issue was. Andora's mines were famed for their riches, so why would one not want to explore more and more of it. He was excited to be among the pioneers of the fifth level, and was sure glory awaited him.

He stood patiently as the mine master gave him a slip and skipped off to collect his crew. About an hour later, they had set off, on the mechanical cart, to the fifth level of the mines. There was laughter and jokes and a desire to bring back something amazing today. Lothar had also been humming to himself as he always did when he entered the great mines of Andora. The same rich notes that he heard from the land, he hummed it back to the land and it softened and yielded. Veins of rubies showed up, diamonds as big as eggs rolled up, sapphires and emeralds winked back, it was just the way.

Yet, now here on the fifth level, he heard more whispers. Not the gentle hmmm the land, the chattering of diamonds, or the tinkling of emeralds and sapphires. Not even the metallic thunk of gold and silver, no this was an angry hiss. It was a series of hisses and then a sputter. Here in the darkened recesses of the eastern wing of the fifth level, one of the deepest recesses of Andora's mines, the earth was hurting and angry....and as his mind began to place all the different noise attacking him, terrified.

His companions saw his pale face and thought it was the depth sickness. It hit even the best of miners sometimes, specially when they went lower and lower into the air. It was also the pressure of the depths, some said. It affected the heart and mind and liver and gave people tremors and strange dreams. Many people got it as they went down into the earth, but soon, as they walked close to the point where they were to begin, Lothar was sweating and shivering. It was an an unexplored area of the mine and the rocks were very thick here. There were no markers in this area as it was the furthest any crew had gone.

"Noooppp....no no....please noo...," his eyes had filled with tears and he was crying now, his hands over his ears. The men looked at each other, their pickaxes and lanterns in their hands, ready for any trouble. They didn't like what was happening to Lothar. He had been the steady sort till yet and helpful and calm. What was wrong with him?

Till they began to hear it too. Moans and screams and cries like a hundred people had died. Lothar was now foaming at the neck, and rolling on the ground. The men looked at him in horror and were so distracted that none of them noticed the tendrils of black smoke that came towards them from one of the corners where the rocks were thick. The smoke crept on the ground, branching into small tendrils, moving as stealthy and silent as a living thing. It was almost too late when the men realized that they were surrounded by the thick black smoke.

The mine whisperers of Andora who heard their screams that day either died or lost their minds. Once the shock wore off and they began to decipher the guttural grunts and drools of the ones who were alive but lost in their own maze, the mine master and his senior crew realized with certainty that the worse had happened- The Blight had come to Andora!