Chapter 5

"I don't understand." DC was in a state of panic. He stared at the empty shrine in disbelief, trying to process the situation. "The stone… it was right here… I saw it with my own eyes. Why is it not here?"

Steve could understand his distress; after all, stones didn't just get up and move on their own. "You're sure it was on top of the shrine?" he asked.

"Yes! I remember as if it were yesterday. There's no mistaking it. It was here, and now it's not."

"So that means…"

"It was taken."

A hard lump formed in Steve's throat, making it hard to breathe. Who - or what - would take the stone? There were no other humans besides him, and he didn't think any hostiles would be after such a thing. Someone knew they were looking for it. Someone stole it.

Something caught the corner of his eye. "What is that?"

"What is what?"

"That." He reached over and pulled away the scarlet cloth, revealing a piece of paper that had been hidden beneath it. It was a note. It was addressed to him. He picked it up and read aloud:

"I know who you are, but you definitely have never heard of me; I have been watching you from a secret place, hidden away from sight. You were after something, something of which you know nothing about. I however, do; that is why I took the liberty of taking it. This world is mine, and there is nothing you and your pathetic creeper friend can do about it; you might as well give up and go home. However, if you feel brave enough, why not come over and have a little chat with me? Perhaps I could explain a few things… that is, if you manage to get out of here alive; let's just say I've hidden a nice surprise in here for your enjoyment.

"I'll be waiting for you - in hell." With that said, he folded the note in half and put it in his pocket. "Well, that's just great. We now have an unidentified stalker watching our every move, and on top of that, he stole that stone we were looking for. Could things get any worse?"

DC remained silent.

"What's the matter?"

"What did he mean by a 'surprise'?"

"I don't -"

He was interrupted by a deafening rumbling sound that made him cover his ears in pain. The cavern shook with a mighty ferocity, forming cracks on its walls.

It was a trap. They had been set up.

Suddenly, the ground crumbled to pieces beneath their feet, and they tumbled into darkness. Steve cursed his mysterious enemy before hitting the ground with a thud.

For an excruciatingly long time, his shaken corpse lay on the floor amongst the rubble, battered and bruised. His mind fought a battle between consciousness and unconsciousness, threatening to fall into shock. Eventually, he somewhat came to his senses, and the reality of the situation alerted him.

"Ugh…" He groaned as the pain greeted him with a sullen ache. He didn't bother to open his eyes; it hurt too much to even try. Every muscle quaked and shuddered in pain, every bone cracked and creaked with each effort to get up. He couldn't move. It was too much.

He tried calling out to DC, but he couldn't form the words. All he could do was breathe, and that was a difficult task all on its own; he was surprised he was still alive.

They must have fallen quite deep in the earth; the air was chilling and smelled strongly of soil. Hopefully they weren't too far down that they couldn't dig their way back up.

Get up, he thought. You have to get out of here. You have to make sure DC is okay.

His aching body deeply protested, but he somehow managed to prop himself up on a bruised elbow. An eye opened, and then the other.

Darkness.

Panic rushed through him. Had the impact rendered him blind? He waved a hand in front of his face, but he saw nothing. Great, he thought. Just great.

He swallowed a growing lump in his throat and attempted to speak again. "DC?" he weakly called out. "Are you there?"

A soft groan could be faintly heard a yard or so away. He decided to try again. "DC? Is that you?"

"Ow, my head… Steve, are you alright?"

Steve let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I'm fine - just really sore. I can't see anything, though."

"Really? I can hardly see a thing, either; I can just barely make out your outline. I guess creepers must have better night vision than humans."

"So I'm not blind?"

"I doubt it."

Thank goodness. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"It depends; I think I see a cave extending from this room we fell in, but can you walk?"

Steve winced as he forced himself to his feet. "Yeah. I've suffered worse injuries before. You still have the pouches, right?"

"Yes. Here, I'll come to you."

"Where?"

"On your left."

He reached out and felt for the pouch that held the torches. Once he found it, he took one out and lit it. A warm ball of light illuminated the room, bringing some comfort to the two. That comfort was short-lived, however, when Steve held the torch above him and saw just how far they had fallen.

"Wow… We're never going to get back up that way," he murmured.

"Maybe the cave I saw leads to the surface," DC suggested.

"Couldn't hurt to try." It's not like we have any other choice.

The cave was more of a rough tunnel that looked suspiciously unnatural. As they traveled through its twisting path, both Steve and DC had an unnerving feeling that it was another part of their opponent's trap.

This suspicion only intensified when they reached a point where the tunnel split off into five smaller tunnels.

Steve's jaw dropped; he refused to believe what he saw. "You've got to be kidding me."

DC was equally at a loss for words. "Five tunnels… There's no doubt that this is all part of 'his' plan."

Steve held the torch to each tunnel, searching for any signs of danger. "It's no use," he eventually said. "They all look the same. I think we have no choice but to just pick one and see where it goes."

"Oh dear…"

He picked the one on the outermost left side, using the torch in his hand as a guide. DC followed closely behind him, glancing back at the large tunnel nervously.

The path would either lead them to safety, or a death trap.