Chapter10
The West Mines
The freezing wind blew with haste, forming billowing paper and rubbish as Lleu was escorted out of Cormalon. They were leaving the north side, headed towards the great mountains. The mountains were a deep brown, rising nearly instantly from the green plain, to the craggy heights. This was the fabled Dark Mountain, home of many light hating creatures. Mainly, it was inhabited by troglodytes, but, occasionally, the mountain troll or snaypassage got through.
As Lleu looked up to the mountains, he felt a sense of awe, for they were a great beauty to human eyes. The rolling plains stretched nearly a mile from the Dark Mountain to Cormalon's grey chipped walls. The King had newly decided to build a long high wall, so the gold miners could deliver gold with no ambush. Thus, the roadway was adorned with large unchipped rocks, so that workers could find some fuel for their wall.
As Lleu's guards neared the mountainous wall of stone, the ground began to be littered with rocks, and piles of wood. Finally, reaching the entrance to the mines, the riders dismounted. The entrance was a mere hole in the wall, surrounded by three planks of wood, each one being old and rotten. Lleu dismounted, and looked on as a dirtied man left the hole in the rock.
He rushed towards the guards and spoke, "Why have you come so early? Checkup time is not for another two hours!" The guard responded in dull voice, "This young one has come to fix your problems. He will be accepted by you. Do with him as you wish, my choice has nothing to do in the matter." He then turned his back to the man, and returned to his horse. Then, before he and the other guards left, he yelled down to Lleu and the man, "Do not let the boy leave, he is to remain in the mines until his task is done." Then, turning once again from Lleu and the miner, him and the other guards rode off.
Watching the men turn to specks on the horizon, the miner turned to Lleu, "Wow, you sure are brave coming here kid. Most guys come here when they're more than two times older than you! Well anyways…welcome to my and the guys adobe!" He spoke kindly, exposing his yellow smile, and then led Lleu into the mine.
As they entered, Lleu noted the first chambers layout. The cavern roof was high, roughly fifteen feet. The room itself was circular, being about thirty feet one wall to the next all the way round. There were three openings, one to the east, one to the north… and one to the west. Five men lounged in the room, and as Lleu entered they broke their attention from the floor to eye him carefully.
The miner escorting Lleu entered and smiled brightly, "Guys, I want you to meet…kid." Lleu walked into the room and spoke, "I've come here to defeat the scourge of the west mine, the troglodyte king." The men's faces were unemotional, until one of them stood. "If ye' expect to be finishin' off the creature in ther'," he said pointing to the metal door to the West mine, "yell' need to have round…at lest'… fifty armored men behind ye'. Now, fer' the moment', im countin' a base total of zarow'. Now, how do ye' be expectin' to be killin' it when ure' jist' a child? Ill tell ye how…by naggin' its head off! That's the only thing a child can dew', other then bein' a pain!" He then sat down, amid the cheers and clapping of the other miners, "Show it to im' Bandt!" "Let im' eet' it!" "Loved ter' speech Bandy!"
The miner frowned upon them, "how do you expect him to defeat that monster when you criticize him? Hm?" "How do ye' expect im' to defeat that monster by imself'; by givin' it digeshstin' trouble?" returned the criticizing miner. "I expect him to defeat it with his will!" "I expect im' to derfeat' it with food poisinin'!" As the men rallied, Lleu turned to a separate miner, "This is the west mine, right?" He asked pointing to the west door. "Yep." The miner replied. "Thanks." Lleu said, as he headed towards the door. He lifted the metal door barricade, and opened it.
Behind him, the men quarreled about the whole infestation problem while Lleu drew his torch. It lit in his hand as he imagined flames, and he entered the darkness, leading the way with the torch. The voices of the men grew dim as he left the room, and traveled the deep dark of the twisting corridor. The passage for the time being was normal, manufactured under the strength of man, until he came upon a large ruined wall. There were many cracks at the bottom of the wall, and a hole about four feet high. He lowered his head as he walked through the cracked way, until he once again joined a larger passage. The passage was seven feet high, and obviously had never seen the hammer of man.
The way was honeycombed, crooked and unpredictable. As Lleu slowly made his way, fearing he might come upon a creature, he avoided many pitfalls, and shafts. Lleu imagined about being struck down from behind, and being eaten alive. He shivered, and traveled onward. As sound now ceased, his own breathing sounded frightfully loud, and he tried not to make a noise, for his breath sounded like an alarm to the creatures of the mountain.
Lleu knew now that he was hopelessly lost, and traveling deep into the mountains core, only to find an untimely death. He feared the fabled snaypassage, a snake nearly forty feet long. The creature was nearly six feet by six feet, and appeared to be a rock. Supposedly, so much do its insides look like rock that one would be walking down a passage way, and accidentally walk into the creature's mouth unknowingly. After walking nearly twenty feet, the mouth would close, and the area inside the stomach would constrict, crushing its prey.
Often, hearing the sound of an occasional drop of the caverns rock water, Lleu would believe it was the drool of a wild beast, ready to pounce on him. Lleu feared most of all, however, that his torch would go out. Then, right after this fear, Lleu's torchlight began to flicker, and instantly went out. Lleu's horrible surprise struck him, and he realized the truth, he was doomed, doomed to the wild beasts of the mountain. Lleu sat down, with his back to the wall. He had lost hope in relighting the torch, until an idea enlightened his head.
"Fears are thoughts, correct?" Lleu thought. "Then if I had fears of the torch dieing, then it did! This means that if I do not fear the dark then I will be able to bring light!"
At this, Lleu jumped up, and smashed his head into a rock mantle. The rock broke and fell, and shattered against the floor, creating an echoing bang, and Lleu fell unconscious on the ground.
Drips echoed in Lleu's mind, filled with dark dreams, and deadly thoughts. The harsh gnashing sounds which joined musically in the deep quiet were what were troubling the dreams of Lleu, rather than the growing of the underground forest of stalagmites. Strange languages lingered, while the pain's and throbs of Lleu's head began to waken him from the deep slumber of unconsciousness. Though, when the slits of his eyes opened to reveal the world, there was only severe darkness, which pierced and froze Lleu's soul. He shuffled about, quickly noticing that though his mind throbbed, he was able to decipher that his hands were tied together, and that he was laying on a sharp rock. Voices began to grow, and then fall, like the angry babblings of a mad man, though the language was much harsher, and even less understandable. Thoughts rushed through Lleu's mind of where he was, or what he was doing. He remembered the torch, and also remembered his idea. He snapped his eyes shut, and imagined great illuminating flames. When he slowly opened his eyelids, he saw the torch not far, though it was very dim, and looked to be failing.
A small squeal rose from the opposite side of Lleu's head, which he was unable to respond to because of the ropes binding him. He heard a few steps, and then was rolled over to face the ceiling. Lleu's mind raced of facing a foe that he could not fight because of his condition, and the flame immediately went out. A gruff voice rose from above him, which Lleu was thankful for, for he was certain he had been found by the other miners. His joy leaped, and so did the flame, to reveal Lleu's nightmare.
A red, eyeless face with huge jaws and a gaping mouth of razored teeth that was salivating over him was the entity he looked upon. He kicked franticly, trying to get away, to run. The creature neared him, mouth open, and then, to Lleu's surprise, cut the ropes around him. Lleu kicked back from the uncomfortable position, and viewed the monster's horrible form. The creature was a large red troglodyte, unlike the small green ones Lleu had heard about. It was about ten feet tall, with large arms that had huge claws at the end, likely designed to rip prey to shreds. It had four legs, designed to dig through the earth, and escape predators. Amongst all these views, the one that had caught Lleu's eye was a gem, held in a golden plaster, with a silvery chain that hung around the troglodyte's neck. Was this the necklace that the king had spoken of? Was this the necklace required to persuade the king? If so, it was to be a hopeless task to retrieve the gem from a monster such as this! Lleu's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the Troglodyte King himself.
"Puny man with sword and flame comes to strike me down again. The race of men is weak and small, and shall soon be likely to fall." The creature went into many pitches of shrieks, which surprised Lleu, though not as much as Lleu's surprise when the creature had talked in song. "Men can't see in the darkness and dim, and are a delicacy amongst those who live within the depths of the mountain." The creature cackled some more, and then bent down, and rose his claws, ready to strike Lleu.
"Wait!" Lleu yelled panting in fear, cold sweat running down his face as the claws drew nearer. The flame immediately grew lighter, and Lleu witnessed the room he was in with a short glance. The room was a large cavern, with nearly the same proportions as the first room he entered in the mines. The differences were that there were two columns of stone rising from the room; one at the entrance, and one in the middle. Also, there was a support beam running straight from column to column, and a small beam at the entrance. Lleu's gear, including his sword and torch were near to the entrance into the deep darks of the mine.
The claws stopped, and left Lleu. Lleu stumbled to his feet, and faced the creature, which was standing at his max height. "Why do you falter little one? Whether you die now or later, it makes no difference."
"It does make a difference! You seem like a creature of dignity…"
At this the creature cackled and shrieked, though Lleu paid no attention to the disturbing noise, and continued talking through his exasperated breath. "You wouldn't want to eat me with no fight whatsoever! You would rather test the strength of man! You are a king of your people! You wouldn't want to kill without dignity!" Lleu put his hand behind his back, searching for the holster of his weapon, which he remembered had been taken from him.
"Your weapon is gone, and so is you're red stone," The king remarked, "We found you dead on the floor when we were attracted to the banging of rocks, and you are revived because of the mercy within me." While talking, the king would skip from one conversation to another, making it difficult to decipher what he was saying. "But for the matter of my dignity, I am the only of my race to speak the human tongue, and I am also the one to rule, because of the superiority of my size. I will not trifle with you, I will merely kill you now."
Wouldn't you rather have some... sportsmanship?" questioned Lleu, trying to calm his racing heart. "You are by the way the king, and wouldn't kill a little one as such as me!"
"Sportsmanship? Hmmmm… Perhaps it would be quite fun to toy with you a bit… What type of 'sportsmanship'?"
"Maybe we could have some sort of… challenge, you know, to see which race is better than the other?"
"The race of troglodytes is superior over your kind little one. It would be a disappointment in challenging you, for the type of my kind is faster, stronger, and hears better than your kind. We are much greater than you
sun-walkers."
"Still, it would be great fun!" Lleu said, faking a smile while his mind raced and he stretched.
"Very well than little one." The troglodyte spoke.
"We shall have three challenges! If I win all three, you have to let me go. If I win two, I get a head start, and you can chase me while I escape. If I win one or zero, you can eat me." Lleu rose, and began to walk to his torch. "I will though, of course, have to have some light in here."
The king tracked Lleu as he stepped to the door and picked up the torch. Then, Lleu found a niche in the wall, and left his torch there. Lleu turned to the king, and stepped toward him.
"What challenge shall we take first little one?"
"We will take a running test, from one side of the room to the other. We will take this test on the top of this cavern."
The troglodyte grunted, "the roof of this cavern is thin, and will collapse if we are to step foot on it." The troglodyte them rose to his full height, threatening Lleu once more.
"Then we will run the race in here!" stated a nervous Lleu while nearing the wall behind him. "The first one to that side of the room and back wins!"
The troglodyte agreed, and strode until it was next to Lleu. The room grew quiet and eerie, and the light flickered. Distant shrieks and cackles were heard and other quiet bangs and clashes.
"Ready, set, go!" Lleu rushed and sprinted with all of his might, short gasps of air panting out of his mouth. He saw no sign of the king, and was nearly to the middle of the room. Then, he heard scratches and claws, and saw the troglodyte fly by him, going at least twice his speed. The creature reached the other side, and then turned and rushed back, speeding by Lleu again. By the time Lleu had reached the end of the room, the king had finished.
"It appears that you have lost," cackled the king, "and now if you do win the next two challenges, you will still have to outrun me, which appears you can't do!" The creature shrieked and laughed again, though which was not ruining on Lleu's mood, for under his disguised face, he was trying to hold a faint smile.
"It appears that my life is forfeit than," Lleu said looking to the floor with a downtrodden look upon his face, though his heart rung clear. "It will be impossible to outrun you."
"What is the next challenge little one?" The king grinned with a fake and suitable smile.
"We shall have a digging contest," Lleu responded, "whoever can dig through these columns first will win."
The creature cackled at this. "I shall let you use your weapon, for you will have no chance against me! My claws are all the tools I will need! more shrieking You shall soon see the speed I hold!" Lleu turned his face from the hideous joy the king was expressing, and jogged to ShadowStrike. Upon reaching it, he muttered "Nagath", just as his teacher had told him. The top and right points of the weapon moved until even with the left one, the perfect pick!
Lleu strode to the column far from the door, and the creature took the column near the door. Lleu prepared himself, and then yelled "Ready, set, go!"
With that, Lleu started hacking at the dirt, chipping out pebble sized pieces. He took a quick glance over his shoulder to see to his horror that the king had already excavated half of the column. Quickening his pace against the pillar of stone, Lleu smashed his pickaxe into the granite, panting and sweating as he went. A pitch of high shrieks soared to the ceiling, and echoed around the dark room like the darkness itself were screaming, either in agony of death, or great glee. Lleu did not need to look behind his shoulder to know he had failed this challenge as well. He dropped his weapon to the ground with a smashing clang, and fell in exhaustion to the floor. Lleu lifted his eyes to the ceiling, trying to find comfort there, but there was none, only the severe darkness which has seemed to follow him to every land he had gone, to every direction he had turned his face. Meanwhile, the shrieks went on with maniacal glee and excitement, and a mere trace of anticipation.
Heavy footsteps told of the king's arrival, but Lleu didn't need to look behind him to know that he was being sized up, seeing if he would be a large enough portion for the creature appetite.
"So," the beast started, "it appears that no matter what you do, you will be mine in the end little one. It is very upsetting that you could not even finish half of your column, it is a disgrace to us earth diggers. Though it matters not, it is time for my dinner!" At this, the creature lunged at Lleu.
"Lleu jumped to his feet and turned to the creature, prepared to battle this horrible entity at no matter a cost. Then Lleu yelled to the creature, "I may be doomed, but shouldn't we still finish the final contest!" This seemed to calm the king, and Lleu slowly and deliberately continued. "I failed this contest, but still, couldn't you finish digging through this column for me, for it would ease my heart in death to know that I was at least credited."
The troglodyte cackled and shrieked as if insane, but as soon as it started it stopped, and the creature looked to Lleu with a sort of mocking face. "That sounds more than foolish to me, but if it follows any of your weak kinds traditions, than it will be of value to know that my meal felt good in my stomach! more shrieks and cries If you do so wish to challenge me to one more final event, of which one might speak in your tongue, how will this be suited and help towards me 'o little one?"
Confused about which question to answer, if a question at all, Lleu looked around him and answered his only idea of an answer. "Yes?" Lleu muttered, and looked to the creature's feet.
The creature stood still for a while, as if expecting more, before he broke out in his old shrieks and cackles again. "Very well than! We shall have one final challenge, even though it will help you in no way whatsoever! The creature then clawed his way to the column, and then in a furious speed, excavated the last of the pillar in a few seconds. Then, the creature returned to Lleu. "What is the final challenge little one?"
"In this challenge, we must test who is the most powerful at weapon throwing." Having said this, Lleu looked around the room and, seeing the support beam, spoke again. "We will need an item to throw so that we can hit that beam." Lleu exclaimed pointing to the beam. "I believe we could use your necklace, it is plenty sharp enough"
The creature laughed no more but instead stood quietly, staring down Lleu. "Do you promise that my 'necklace' will come to no harm?"
"Of course." Lleu responded nervously, cold sweat trickling down his face. Then, the creature removed the necklace, and let it slide off his mutilated claw into Lleu's open hand. Holding to it loosely, Lleu explained the rules. "Each time we will throw this to break the beam. We will take turns in throwing the necklace, and whoever breaks the beam first will win this final challenge." Lleu looked to the troglodyte and gave him the necklace. "Any questions?"
"No little one. Let us begin!" With the end of the exclamation began the beginning of the final challenge, and it was decided that either way, Lleu would be killed. Lleu knew this as he watched the monstrosity throw the gem at the end of the necklace with such power that the make shift missile soared through the air and smashed into the soft wood. Lleu nervously stood as he watched the feared creature climb like a spider to the ceiling and retrieve the necklace. As the king returned, giving the necklace to Lleu with the quiet remark of "He won't even reach the wood he is so weak," Lleu was finding any task difficult because of the apprehension of his death.
With all the strength he could muster, Lleu threw the gem into the wood, creating a partial dent in the troglodytes own monstrous gash, which was nearly all the way through the wood. The creature shrieked and laughed, and climbed to the top again to retrieve the necklace. Lleu felt disgusted as he saw a few water droplets fall from the salivating creature, which was, as Lleu could only imagine, thinking of how to cook him.
"So then little one, this is the end. Once I finish the final blow, you will be all mine." The creature protruded a horrifying grin, and Lleu stared petrified as he saw many layers of teeth. Then, Lleu saw something that smashed and destroyed his last resolve. The creature seemed to be undergoing a horrible transformation. The monster seemed to grow red and black, and the teeth, to Lleu's perspective, grew longer, and yellow, and a deathly red. The monsters claws became sharper, and Lleu thought he could almost see a distant vision of himself being ripped into gory pieces as the troglodyte feasted upon human flesh. The monster salivated blood, and Lleu's could not seem to hold his mind. But then, a strange thing happened, and Lleu underwent a transformation as well. Not a physical transformation, but a mental transformation. Lleu felt himself not as Lleu anymore, but as that strange form, the form that took hold of the magic around, and seemed to posses the soul of Dionysus himself. Lleu had once more become "Lleu, One of Fate."
"Wait!" Lleu yelled as he rushed towards the creature, forgetting all fear he had had of it before. "You do not wish to throw that necklace! It must mean something to you!" With a violent twist, Lleu realized his chances were slim. The creature was taking little regard to Lleu, and only heard a meal in his bloodlust. But, with a he shake of his head, regained consciousness, and listened to Lleu.
"Let me give you this sharp stone instead of your necklace, for, if you throw the necklace to hard, and you miss your target, the necklace will shatter." The creature swiftly snatched the stone without a comment to Lleu's astonishment, and threw the necklace to Lleu. Lleu caught it, and then quickly walked to his gear, grabbed it, walked across the room past the king, who was being overcome with bloodlust again, and stood at the entrance, watching over the stump of the stalagmite, and under the larger stump of the stalactite. Lleu quietly picked up his weapon and his gear, in one hand his pickaxe, the other his torch. Then, Lleu witnessed the falling of the final beam. With a powerful roar, the creature hurled the missile, hitting the beam and smashing it into little pieces, and destroying it for good.
Then, the creature faced Lleu in his bloodlust, and witnessed that Lleu was near the exit. Having lost all civility, the creature roared, "RUULLLLLLEESSSSS!" with an echoing screech, which shook the foundations, and then lunged at Lleu.
Lleu quickly grabbed his pickaxe, and with a resounding strong thud, hacked the final blow into the entrance support beam. Meanwhile, the creature flew towards Lleu with its claws before him, his mouth open to all his jagged teeth, its bloodied saliva trailing behind it as it ran its final savage bloodlust came over it. Cracks were heard around the cavern while the ceiling lurched and waved. The walls buckled under the weight of the rock, and screams and cries were heard from the troglodyte.
"It is ironic you placed this upon yourself!" Lleu yelled as the creature came at him. The monster rushed, and set foot upon the stub of the stalagmite. "Here!" Lleu yelled, "Catch!" And then Lleu threw the flames into the troglodyte face, where they instantly caught flame and burned the creature. The creature clawed at his own face, and stood screeching hunched on the stub of the stalagmite. Lleu stooped down, grabbed the torch, and ran out the exit as the entire ceiling collapsed, and the top stub of the stalactite fell unto the creature, smashing the monster into the earth, killing it once, and for all.
Lleu nearly flew down the dark passageway, illuminating the caves with his light as he heard the avalanche of rock and stone spread out, causing the passageways to buckle and fail. A resounding thunder roared through the death mine, and the evil wave of rock and soot flowed through the inner mazing. Lleu ran by several disoriented troglodytes, who had their hands to their ears, cursing their hearing as the world fell down around them. Lleu knew not where to go, and the darkness seemed impending as he heard rock fall to rock, and rock smash other creatures into the ground. Lleu looked to the necklace he kept, knowing that it was this infernal jewelry that was the source of all this death.
Then Lleu found the crack in the wall and felt as if it was faith itself directing him. Squeezing between the cracks, Lleu rushed down the mine shafts, always looking towards the light, his only hope.