Cayzle's Wemic Site
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The Mines III -- Down the Green Hole
Gweenersteed goes ahead, leading them through the many tunnels of the mine and stopping here and there to talk to loosen rocks and walls. Sometimes he even forgets about the others, so enthralled he is in his conversations. All in all, it takes them something around two hours to reach the green hole.
There it is, just some six feet ahead of them, a hole in the ground with a 9 feet diameter mouth and a green smoke coming out of it, carrying a slight scent of sulfur.
What is down there that has killed all the miners who went down to investigate? That is powerful enough to cast such a dreadful curse in the once prosperous town of Detrit? What evil resides there and what is it up to? No one knows, but the party is soon to find out.
"That's green hole!" the gnome points to it, not daring to get any closer. He looks to the others and sighs, shaking his head. "You're all crazy. . . " he was about to start a speech, trying to convince them not to go down but then decides otherwise. It would be pointless. "Oh well, I think this is good bye then! I'll meet you later in the after life. " he walks to Sculg and puts his hands on his shoulders.
"Son, you take care of them. They will need you. I don't think Garanamarock is the right god to you, but I'm sure you will find your spiritual guide soon enough. . . . or maybe later. " he grins and steps aside, waiting for them to get down the hole.
A rope can be seen tied around a stalagmite next to the hole disappearing inside it. Both the rope and the stalagmite look strong enough to support the wemic's weight. After pushing the rope back, Owyth notices it's about 50 feet long. But that doesn't necessarily mean the hole is that deep. He grabs a stone and let it drop down the hole. After a few seconds the sound is heard. It reached the bottom. It's not too deep.
Taking the rope from Owyth and Sculg, the ninja begins to descend, holding the sword in his right hand. A few seconds later, the darkness and green smoke swallows him and not even the blue glow from the holy sword can be seen anymore.
A few minutes later they hear the ninja shouting from below.
"I sinku it safe in here. You can come down!!!"
One by one, they finally go down the rope and reach the fourth level of the mine, some forty to fifty feet below. From the mouth of the hole, up there, they hear the gnome's voice wishing them good luck.
It's in one of these situations that expressions like 'good luck' and 'take care' have a true meaning. Instead of being just empty words, they touch the hearts of those in need and give them hope. Hope to have luck!
The place they find themselves in is some sort of a tunnel, about ten feet wide, the green smoke covering the ground halfway up to their shins, reaching the knees in the case of Sculg. The air is humid and the scent of sulfur is strong. The walls have a wet, irregular surface that feels cold and slippery to the touch.
Some fifteen feet ahead of the group is Urameshi, his glowing sword illuminating a few feet ahead and behind him. He waits for the others to get together to just then start moving. They don't have to go too far, though, to notice the bones scattered on the floor. The remains of those who risked their lives to check the unknown.
They feel a chilling ball growing inside their stomach as they realize that they could join those bones and some day in the future, another party of adventures would be walking over them. Better not worry with that right now! They just keep moving and moving and moving, but the tunnel feels endless as if it's never going to end!
They actually spend half an hour moving ahead and find no noticeable change in the tunnel. At least, they haven't found anything hostile either!
Sculg breaks some of the skeletons on the ground but then gets tired of it, since the tunnel seems endless with the ground always covered with bones.
Owyth realizes it's almost impossible for him to find the north. First, because he's not used to moving in the underground, and second because the gnome himself seemed lost a few times when he was guiding them to the green hole!
But still, it doesn't seem they're walking in circles. Specially since the tunnel just keeps going straight ahead, never making a curve.
Although the tunnel does look surreal - with a mysterious green mist and unknown length - none of them notice any trace of illusion in there. It all looks very real!
"Well, since we're here, why don't we just keep walking till we reach the end of this tunnel??" the suggestion comes from Cosmos, standing at the end of the line.
Solana looks around again, then stops and touches the wall, her eyes widening a bit in recognition. "We have been here before, in a way. . . in that dream, in Detrit. Someone said that some doors can only be opened in our dreams in that dream. Well, we are sort of stuck now, don't you think? Owyth, you said before you know a bit about dreams - is that a possibility?"
Catching on quickly, Sculg begins to create space for himself among the bones. Looking up at the bewildered folks, the gully dwarf explains, "Solana good point. Me go sleep, open door in dream. You all stay awake and kill 'bad bones', if they come. "
'Bad bones' evidently Sculg's own made up name for the skeletons they clashed with earlier, little else sense at all comes from the gully dwarf. Muttering about tired legs, he attempts to fall in a deep sleep.
Cosmos moves ahead, raising his arms and his voice, showing his disagreement with their plan.
"This makes no sense!! You can't just dream and open a door in the real world!! Maybe what that guy said was a metaphor!! Maybe he opened the door by himself, just to help us, and gave us an advice. Like, never stop dreaming, never give up and some other sentimental crap like that!" he becomes silent for a moment, not knowing what else to say to convince them that their idea makes no sense - at least to him it doesn't. "It just makes no sense. " he says again and then shuts up.
Urameshi nods to Cosmos and says, "Again, I must aguree wissu Cosumussu. I do not believe in affecutin the real worudo in a duream. But I sink we should at least tury!"
Owyth spoke softly, after hesitating. "I am no orracle, norr am I a masterr drreamerr. But I know that therre is oft trruth in drreams, and this endless tunnel seems a place of deceit. If wakefulness rreveals only lies, then let us seek a trrue solution in ourr sleep. Come, let us make a camp. "
The wemic moved away the bones, clearing a space on which to rest.
Owyth, Sculg and Solana decide to sleep while the others keep watching both ways of the tunnel, hoping that nothing shows up.
It takes some minutes, but before they realize they're already sleeping. They pass through a moment of unconsciousness, dreaming a lot of nonsense they will probably never remember again, each one having his own dreams. But then, everything becomes foggy and time seems to slow down. Blurry images out of place become clear and the surroundings change from something surreal to a real experience. Suddenly, they find themselves conscious of their breathing, of their thinking, of their own bodies and of each other. It's like they're not dreaming anymore, but thanks to their state of consciousness, they know what's happening.
The gully dwarf, the elf and the wemic look at each other and then around. They're still inside the tunnel, although there's no sign of the others. The tunnel looks like the same as before, with its dark and moist, rocky walls and a green mist covering about one foot from the floor. What to do now? Where's the door? How are they going to open it? The answer doesn't come right away. They spend sometime thinking and pondering and end up analyzing the tunnel once more. Solana checks the mist and the ground, but finds nothing new. The wemic tries to search for a secret door by touching the walls, since it's too dark for him to see anything, but he's not lucky either. Then there's Sculg, who seems to search everywhere, sometimes even vanishing under the green smoke and re-appearing in a totally different location, but even the little fellow isn't able to find anything.
Before they give up hope, they decide to move further down the tunnel and for their amazement, this time they reach the end. Just like that! They didn't have to do anything but walk down the tunnel. It's almost like a bad joke! And there they are now, facing the wall at the end of the tunnel, although, still, there's no sign of the door. But then, there's something else. Solana quickly notices some runes written with blood, which are kind of hidden in the dark background that is the wall.
Although she doesn't recognize the runes and know she can't read them, the words seem to be whispered in her ears to then be whispered by her lips.
"Oeteor"
Then there's an engulfing brightness and before they know, they're awaken once more, the blurred faces of Cronis, Urameshi and Cosmos looking down at them.
"So?" the latter asks, the tone of his voice challenging them for an answer.
Owyth tells the story, and still not believing that this is gonna work, Cosmos says, "Well, why don't you say it then?"
"Oeteor Oeteor Oeteor!" Sculg exclaims proudly, grinning. Then the gully dwarf steps in the direction where he saw the door in the dream, mumbling the word over and over again.
The word is repeated many times as Sculg moves forward, looking for the door. He suddenly stops as a bright, white light rises from the green smoke and makes its way up to the top of the tunnel. It's so bright that they can't stare directly at it. But that's it! It has to be it! The door they were looking for. Now there's nothing left to do but to go through it and pray to all the gods so they can get out alive! They all hesitate a little, but then, one by one, they go through it . . .