O
Obskeree
Guest
The tunnel opened up a bit further down, but the trade off for the space was the light. It got very dark very quickly. Theo fished his lantern from the bag and lit it, hanging it on one of his horns to keep his hands free. Doubt reigned in his mind, questioning the autonomous decision he'd made to come down here. Perhaps there was a reason it wasn't populated - perhaps this was where the last Minotaur met his end and it was to be closed. All the same, a morbid curiosity kept him moving.
Twisting to look behind him, he couldn't even see the entryway he'd come from. Thick darkness had blotted out the light of the main tunnels and seemed to be closing in.
The air was strange, and there were strange scuttling, buzzing noises that came and went so quickly and were so quiet Theo had no idea if they were even real or if he'd imagined them.
"Still moving?" Gaios' muffled voice squeaked from his bag. "Maybe stop moving."
"Maybe," Theo gruffly agreed. He kept walking, even as the noise of his hooves changed from a muted clop to a sticky squealch.
The end of the tunnel finally lay before him. It had clearly caved, but the surface smoothed over, as if to try and hide the collapse. Blood specs and some kind of mucus lined the floor and the walls which enclosed him were covered in strange pockmarks. The scuttling little noises returned, tiny heart-beat-like sound waves dislodging more dust and grit from the ceiling.
Theo reached out with his senses, trying to discern the layout of the earth around him but sensed no veins of any ore. Instead he realised, much to his surprise, that this end of the tunnel was once a chamber; hollows existed in the earth around him.
Was it made by his comrades? Or was it a natural chamber? It wasn't unheard of to find them occasionally.
He gripped his pickaxe, took a deep breath, and swung at the wall in front of him. Something stirred beyond and he swung again, and again until there was a hole he could peer through.
Even with the light from his torch, he couldn't see much, but what he did see made his blood freeze.
A multi-faceted eye stared back at him. An angry buzz sounded, resonating in the chamber on the other side, and the eye vanished. A split second later, it spat something out of the hole, landing squarely in Theo's face.
"Gah!" He stumbled backward, trying to wipe it off. The lantern fell to the ground and smashed, the flame smoldering slowly in the corner. It sat on his hand, slimey and gross and then it slowly began to burn. Theo hissed and panicked and smeared it along the wall to get it off his hand: the earth soaked it up. He cursed and grabbed a stone, thrusting it into the hole he'd made to seal it back up, albeit not nearly so securely...
And then he ran.
Twisting to look behind him, he couldn't even see the entryway he'd come from. Thick darkness had blotted out the light of the main tunnels and seemed to be closing in.
The air was strange, and there were strange scuttling, buzzing noises that came and went so quickly and were so quiet Theo had no idea if they were even real or if he'd imagined them.
"Still moving?" Gaios' muffled voice squeaked from his bag. "Maybe stop moving."
"Maybe," Theo gruffly agreed. He kept walking, even as the noise of his hooves changed from a muted clop to a sticky squealch.
The end of the tunnel finally lay before him. It had clearly caved, but the surface smoothed over, as if to try and hide the collapse. Blood specs and some kind of mucus lined the floor and the walls which enclosed him were covered in strange pockmarks. The scuttling little noises returned, tiny heart-beat-like sound waves dislodging more dust and grit from the ceiling.
Theo reached out with his senses, trying to discern the layout of the earth around him but sensed no veins of any ore. Instead he realised, much to his surprise, that this end of the tunnel was once a chamber; hollows existed in the earth around him.
Was it made by his comrades? Or was it a natural chamber? It wasn't unheard of to find them occasionally.
He gripped his pickaxe, took a deep breath, and swung at the wall in front of him. Something stirred beyond and he swung again, and again until there was a hole he could peer through.
Even with the light from his torch, he couldn't see much, but what he did see made his blood freeze.
A multi-faceted eye stared back at him. An angry buzz sounded, resonating in the chamber on the other side, and the eye vanished. A split second later, it spat something out of the hole, landing squarely in Theo's face.
"Gah!" He stumbled backward, trying to wipe it off. The lantern fell to the ground and smashed, the flame smoldering slowly in the corner. It sat on his hand, slimey and gross and then it slowly began to burn. Theo hissed and panicked and smeared it along the wall to get it off his hand: the earth soaked it up. He cursed and grabbed a stone, thrusting it into the hole he'd made to seal it back up, albeit not nearly so securely...
And then he ran.