Scouting the Mine pt. 2

Vinncent ran through the tunnels marking the walls with his claws after every intersection and fork after roughly a minute of running he saw the light of the entrance. Cautiously approaching the entry he made one final mark before sticking his head out of the hole in the broken boards. Determining it to be safe Vinncent quickly dashed from the entrance into the nearest patch of tall grass. Quietly he waited, listening for anything that disturbed the surroundings. However, nothing even made a blade of grass move. Satisfied yet still wary Vinncent began to collect fallen branches, pinecones and strips of bark constantly ferrying them in small loads to underneath a bush near the mine entrance.

With a hefty pile of tinder and kindling secured food became the next priority. Vinncent ran through the forest, almost crawling on the ground. Still wary of the moving Orcs he took frequent breaks in large bushes or patches of tall grass to listen to his surroundings. As the sun drew low in the sky Vinncent managed to find a patch of berry bushes hidden amongst the trees and grasses. Before darting to the bushes Vinncent took one look around finding no signs of orcs he ran to the bushes and examined the berries. The berries were not all of the same species; instead Vinncent could see three different kinds of berry. One was the same shade as a blueberry but shaped like a strawberry. The second was tomato red and grew in clusters like grapes. The last was a berry with a black color and ovular shape.

Vinncent opted not to pick them individually; instead he would pull out branches with the highest number of what looked like ripe berries and used his tail to sever the branch from the plant. With seven branches of varying length and with maybe seventy ripe berries Vinncent headed back toward the mine holding the branches against his back with his tail and left hand. Although awkward at first he quickly managed to more steadily run on three legs. Finding the entrance Vinncent placed the branches under the bush with the fire material. Quickly looking to see if the area was safe he gathered up as much of the tinder and kindling as he could into his arms before walking into the mine. Following the marks he made earlier Vinncent quickly found Llorva laying with her back against a wall with her eyes closed and gently breathing.

As quietly as he could, he put the tinder and kindling down on the ground before heading back to the entrance. Three trips later the wood for the fire and berry branches were in two piles along the mine wall. With all the supplies secured safely in the mine Vinncent changed back into a human and began to start a fire. Using a stick and a wide piece of fallen bark he managed to succeed in lighting a small fire after several minutes. Using as little kindling as he could Vinncent maintained the fire while he waited for Llorva to wake up. The lack of visible light made it impossible to judge the time of day; however, he had waited long enough to believe it was now dark. In all likelihood it would be several hours until Llorva would wake up.

Vinncent sighed before adding some of the larger branches to sustain the fire before he looked deeper into the mine. By now the Orks would be moving on the village and while the likelihood that they hadn't discovered his presence was slim Vinncent couldn't leave the mines lower levels unexplored thus risking the lives of potential innocents. Vinncent got up and walked toward the intersection looking for the mark he left to lead deeper into the mine. Finding it Vinncent looked over his shoulder at the sleeping Llorva.

"I'll be back, Stay safe."

As Vinncent walked past the intersection he changed to a runner dashing through the mine. Intersections and the marks on the walls almost as blurs in his sight. There was little time where he could safely leave Llorva alone and explore the lower levels. Darting through the tunnels he soon arrived at the cargo elevator. Taking a mere second to look into the abyss at the bottom Vinncent climbed down onto the walls of the elevator shaft and began his descent. Vinncent roughly estimated that he passed an entrance to a new level every twenty to twenty-five feet so far he had passed ten entrances and could make out what might be the shafts bottom. As he past more entrances the bottom became easier to see. Just before the second to last level entryway Vinncent could see a thin film of crystal clear water.

Above the last entryway Vinncent looked up over his shoulder to the top of the shaft like before the end was out of sight. Seeing the top vanish beyond eyesight Vinncent looked back to the bottom and began to think. Each entrance to a new level was seven to eight feet tall with a gap of twenty to twenty-five feet between them. Having passed twenty entry ways and with the last one below him, Vinncent guessed that the mine was between five hundred-ninety feet to six hundred-sixty feet deep. Likely the mine would have gone deeper had water not coated the lowest level. Slowly creeping down to the top edge of the shaft Vinncent looked through the entrance and into the tunnel beyond. Like the other levels the tunnels extended and branched out in an organized manner and intersected with others at nearly the same spots.

However, something seemed bizarre about this level. Like the others it was vacant with even the mine cart rails missing. Vinncent guessed that the level was the first one to be abandoned and the rails were salvaged and reused on other levels. The water stood completely still and no sound came from further in the level. It was quiet far too quiet for Vinncents liking. Clinging to the ceiling and making his body as small as possible he entered the tunnel and avoided disturbing the water. Slowly exploring the level from the ceiling Vinncent turned into another tunnel and saw what appeared to be a skeleton of a man laying in the water.

Making his way to the skeleton Vinncent observed his surroundings. No noise or movement came from either end of the tunnel. Still on guard Vinncent clenched his feet on the ceiling as he lowered himself to get a better look at the skeleton. With his head a mere two feet away from the skeleton he began to examine the body. The bones were laying with the front of the body facing the floor, the head looking to the left and one arm reaching toward the way he had just come. No cloth covered the body either missing in the beginning or lost to time. No sign of blunt force trauma or cuts marked the bones; their only distinguishing feature besides their ivory color was a small film of algae on the parts that were submerged in the water. The skull was the only part of the skeleton that seemed bizarre to Vinncent. He could tell that it was a human judging by the teeth and overall shape of the skull but unlike the rest of the skeleton the part of the jaw and cranium that was in the water had no algae on it at all, instead it was completely clean.

Deciding it best to move on Vinncent left the skeleton behind and continued his search with the strange skeleton still on his mind. He guessed that the person had come down by using the chains that still dangled in the cargo elevator and had gotten lost while exploring the mine. Their food rations ran out and eventually forced them to eat their clothing to try and survive a little longer before either starving to death or dying of hypothermia. What they were trying to achieve Vinncent couldn't tell what he couldn't understand was how the skull was clear of algae. The mine had been abandoned for thirty years so the skeleton couldn't have been there for very long right? Yet algae still grew on the clean skeleton even with the lack of light.

The more Vinncent thought about the skeleton the less he liked the current situation. Still he kept moving as he explored and discovered other skeletons like the first. One was in a fetal position while another was on its back with its arms spread almost as if they had accepted their death and welcomed the coming void. Both like the first had algae growing on their bones but had the skull clear of algae. After exploring the level for a time Vinncent decided to head back and check on Llorva while making his way back he glanced down a tunnel he was passing and stopped. At the end of the tunnel a V-shaped hole lay in the wall.

Cautiously Vinncent moved toward the hole at the holes precipice Vinncent looked beyond into a spacious cavern a small portion of the caverns outer rim was smooth stone with what looked like a sand and gravel mix. In the middle the cavern began to sink further into the ground and a lake of the Crystal water lay calmly in the depression. In the middle of the lake sat another skeleton however it was clearly not human the skull was that of a massive eagle while four bone wings sprouted from its back, its front legs that of a hawk while its hind legs looked to be those of a lion or panther. Its chest bulged like a bears and a long vertebral tail wrapped around the skeleton in a perfect circle.

Although the air was stale and stagnant, unpleasant to breathe for anyone alive, when combined with the lake surrounding the skeleton and the cave hidden deep underground it was the perfect final resting place for anyone who didn't wish for their body to be disturbed after death. Unfortunately for the owner of the skeleton their peace seemed to have been defiled along with the sanctity of the tomb. The skeletons were likely the miners that discovered the tomb and released a curse or hex upon themselves in the process. As for the reason why their skulls glowed and repelled algae growth, maybe there was some part that he was missing. Perhaps the men had been cursed to a living purgatorial hell of staying conscious even in death stuck to regret their choice for all time or to prevent their skulls from degrading as a grim reminder of what happens if you disturb a sealed tomb.

Deciding to maintain the wish of the tombs owner Vinncent began to excrete resin and cover the hole from inside the tunnel. Gently manipulating thin strands to make a closely woven scaffolding that would allow the remaining resin to form a proper wall. Taking some time for the scaffolding to harden, Vinncent went back to the intersection and made deep marks in the walls, ceiling, and floor. Satisfied that the resin had enough time to harden he went back to the scaffolding to apply the resin to finish the wall. As the resin solidified Vinncent worked the surface smooth even without visible light a metallic sheen ran along the surface.

With the time that Vinncent felt comfortable leaving Llorva alone up he quickly crawled along the walls of the tunnels to the cargo elevator.