Crack, the strike of two boots resounded against the hard floor of the mine, an echo of life in a silent crypt. The fall sent a hot jolt of pain from my knees through the balls of my feet, but it was bearable, and when I rose, my hands searched blindly for the pitted rock with which to steady myself.

It was otherworldly, the darkness that enveloped me, swaddled me in this place long free from its foe. Even the glow of the new moon was blinding compared to the emptiness that brushed my nose. Were it not for the portal above serving as my beacon, I would have been sure that my eyes betrayed me; I had fallen but a few feet from the surface yet couldn't see the cavern's walls. As I had been, so too was that lone beam of light swallowed, revealing none but the ground most directly beneath it.

"It's safe! Just a short drop," I called to my partner, realizing now what a precarious situation I could have jumped into. With another thump against the cold, compressed dirt, she had dropped next to me. "Watch your step, it's black as pitch down here."

"Oh, really? Who would have expected Hell not to have a view?"

She clicked her fingers like flint to generate a new flame, but the ember was extinguished moments after it came to be. Another loud snap and it too was gone in a puff. She growled as each attempt awarded the same result, but just as a curse crossed her lips, I cast my spell, the very light used to exterminate the shadow roaming the fields of Ethelburrow. Bathed in its temporary radiance, I could see the look of surprise on my companion.

"What? Didn't think I knew magic beyond the scope of parlor tricks?"

Her thinly parted lips curled into a sneer. "That is a parlor trick," she said beneath a thick layer of condescension. "Just look how measly it is! I can hardly see a few feet in front of me."

I gave her an exaggerated scowl such that she could still see it in the dim light. "You're free to lead the way with those sparks if that's what you prefer. Probably for the best that you don't bring the cavern down on top of us," I added quietly as we started down the mine shaft.

For the supremacy of the darkness beneath the Earth, it wasn't as quiet as I expected; each step echoed against the cavernous walls, and from deep within emanated an unnatural wind, though its origin I couldn't ascertain. It was ominous, the way it whistled in passing, not like a breeze, but a breath on the back of the neck. Is that what quenched Cordella's flame, or was it the shadows themselves that fought for solidarity? Whichever it was, it had the same toll on my magic. This spell was intentionally light-weight—easily cast and forgotten without sapping away my reserves, but for some inexplicable reason, it was taking considerably more effort to maintain. Without my constant attention, it waned, demanding I re-exert my focus. I may not have been the sorcerer that she was, but it had never given me trouble before.

Beside me, Cordella took a staggered breath.

"This place gives me chills," she said in a hushed voice. "Does it you?"

“For more than one reason.”

“I know it’s silly, but I think I let Sam’s speculation get the best of me. What do you think? Is there really something prowling these tunnels?”

I shook my head. "Not that I can imagine. The passage was blocked, so nothing should roam the mines save for a few vermin. Best I could tell, the snow was undisturbed too, so I doubt anyone has come to or from this mine in ages."

“A local legend, then?”

“God willing.”

"Well, something must have gotten in, or else the place wouldn't be abandoned. Unless you have another convenient explanation?"

"I'm sure there's a better reason—probably just a cave-in we'll run into sooner or later. Maybe its resources dried up and they moved onto somewhere better."

“Surely a cave-in wouldn’t shut down an entire operation.”

“It’s just a for instance. It could be anything, or, better yet, it could be nothing.”

“Do you believe, or do you merely want to? Because it has to do be something. Otherwise, it must be an apparition we're after. ”

“Well I don’t believe in specters, if that’s what you’re asking me.”

Apparition or otherwise, there had to be a reason we were, and it was bound to be more rational than whatever legendary creature we chased from crust to mantle. We descended far enough without struggle or otherwise signs of it; there was no point in filling a blank page with monsters of the mind.

“Kaiser, watch the light.”

“Right,” I said absently. That’s where worrying got us.

As we walked on, and the first hour elapsed, it was difficult to gauge our progress. The passages hadn't much narrowed since we began our descent, and we had only the dilapidated wooden scaffolding to follow, along with the traces of mining supplies left and lost to time. Of the remnants strewn about the cavernous floor, none of them appeared in too good a condition; the lumber wedged into the walls was wet and rotten, and the picks were separated from their shrunken handles. How long had this place been in operation? More importantly, how long had it been since? Because I got the feeling it was longer than Samara let on.

I was deep in contemplating the mine’s purpose when I noticed my partner had vanished from my side. I whispered her name as I swung the lamp ‘round, barely able to make out the shimmering reflection of her robes. She was standing several paces back of me, peering through the black veil that shrouded our rear. Again, I called her name.

"Did you feel that?" she asked in a chilling tone.

"Don't do this," I plead. "This isn't the time to frighten me. I've plenty to be afraid of as it is." Chief of which was keeping that fickle sprite aloft. The more earth above our heads, the more ether it seemed to demand.

She caught up to me, a wide grin on her face. "So it’s a facade after all? Or do you mean to tell me you're always that pale, Kaiser?"

"It's just a trick of the light."

"You have an answer for everything," she teased. "Still, you must have noticed that something is amiss with this place. That wind, it's like a ghost is breathing down our napes."

"I'm fairly certain that the only breath on my neck is yours."

She stifled a laugh. "How would you explain it then, wise-ass?"

"Maybe there are air ducts through the side of the mountain? Samara did tell us that there were other entrances. Would explain the size of this thing."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself."

I paid her no mind. While I couldn't say with certainty which of us was right, I knew which reality I preferred, and it was better for my battered nerves that I believe in it until convinced of the contrary. Still, like the light that led our way, I was falling victim to my bleak surroundings, and grounded logic made an increasingly fragile shield. Shutting my eyes was all I could do to remove myself from there, and even then, the shrill wind would always bring me back. For a place devoid of it, the mines sure felt alive to me.

My hand skated along the crag as the Devil's flute lulled us deeper and deeper, a tune aided by the rhythmic click of our echoing steps. Then, just as before, a member left the choir. I wouldn't fall for it this time—I didn't stop, and, sure enough, she quickly rejoined us.

"Stop," she hissed.

"Please, not this again."

Her elbow dug sharply into my abdomen. "I'm serious, Kaiser. I heard something."

I searched her face expecting to see an upturned lip—a glimmer of a smile beneath the grim mask. She wasn't lying. I uttered a miserable and drawn-out sigh to distract from my unease. "Don't worry. There's only been one route, so, unless something followed us in, we would have seen it."

We kept on, but not before she shot another cursory glance behind us.

"If it helps, we can just keep talking, maybe start planning in case we do cross something. It's never a bad idea to prepare, even if we—"

A stiff breeze brushed through my hair, and a hand now clamped around my shoulder. We halted. She needn't ask that time if I heard the rattle of gravel underfoot; it was unmistakable.

"It's behind us, I know it is!" she swore, turning the both of us around to inspect the emptiness in our wake. Within its narrow cone of luminescence, my ether revealed nothing but our looming shadows, stretching their necks out as far back to the surface as they were able.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Rats. Just rats I’m sure.” My words wouldn't convince anyone now, least of all me, and my mind raced for something more substantial to hide behind. “Or maybe the wind caused it?”

"Kaiser, the light..."

Or one of us had knocked some loose debris from the wall. Right, that had to be it. There was no other...

"Kaiser!"

I turned just in time to see it flicker once more before its short life was spent. At once, the shadows seized their opportunity, reaping the fruits of their patience and drowning us in their totality. I attempted to restore our lantern, but it proved difficult to regain focus. As any predator would, once they had our eyes, they took our throat, choking us of air until we couldn't fight back any longer. I couldn't tell if it was Cordella's panting or my own, but it wasn't helping.

I shut my eyes and mouth to slow my heartbeat—if it still beat at all—and envisioned the sun before me. It was a trick that Israfel had taught me when I was first learning. Magic was nothing but desire given form, so it helped to visualize just what you wanted.

The warmth between my palms, the gleam bleeding through my eyelids: I imagined until they became real. Through the mine’s black arteries, the sunburst flooded, rushing over the crooks and crevices of the cavern to reclaim dominion over territory lost. A sweet second it lasted before I opened my eyes to an abomination. Within a rasp breath’s distance of my face stared another, pale and unmoving. It was devoid of emotion—a blank canvas whose bulging black eyes bore into mine. Then, Cordella shrieked, and for the second time, we were thrust violently back into the darkness.

This time, instinct acted swiftly. A hard shove cleared Cordella of the way as my hands wrapped around the blade, conjuring not light, but fire; it was easier to channel ether with my breath stolen. With adrenaline-borne strength, I hurled the torch through the phantom, but there was only a whistle as it split the air. There was nothing in its path and nothing revealed by the flames but my shaken comrade.

She lay on her knees, pale under the red glow. I offered a hand when I was certain the coast was clear.

"I—I don't—" she hunted desperately for the words to describe what she'd seen, "What the fuck was that?" Between deep breaths, I told her I'd never once seen something resembling that creature. That peeling husk of a face, the deep, dead look in its eyes. I'd have remembered something like that. "The bestiary then, what does it say?"

I grit my teeth and let my carrying pack fall to the floor, fishing for the rickety tome. It was difficult to see with only the glint of the dying flame, but it was soon replaced by a new light—one many times brighter than what came before it.

"You could've done that this whole time?"

"I didn't want to steal your spotlight," she laughed nervously.

From the bottom of the sack, I produced the book. "Let's keep on, then. Just keep it steady and I'll tell you what I find."

We forged on after having battled our reluctance to continue and, soon, we delved into the cave's twisting roots. One passage splintered into many, each containing the same void as to our backs, only deeper and more sinister now that we know what lurked in it. Each time the route divided, another shiver ran down my spine. It was bad enough when my mind filled the gaps, but knowing now what stalked us, waited for another slip—it was enough to push me over the edge.

There was more to it though. Something else about the offshoots seemed out of place. We’d followed a single route all the way down, and only now did it split? Moreover, for our growing list of options, we never thought to stray. Every other tunnel looked different to ours, almost too smooth compared to the natural irregularities of something hand-dug, like they’d been intentionally carved into the rock. The sound had grown louder too, the squeal of wind passing through the intricate pipework.

I desperately rifled through the compendium, searching its yellowed pages for something to set our minds at ease; if even the geometry of the tunnels was getting to me, I needed to calm myself.

Finally landing on what seemed to be an accurate entry, I read my findings aloud, "The Sycscera, a rare troglophoric species with little documentation. Their underdeveloped limbs and poor eyesight deem them unfit for terrestrial life, damning them to live beneath Earth's crust. Underground, they thrive by using their sensitive hearing to detect prey." I narrowed my eyes at the footnote. "I believe these poor creatures to be the remains of the lost and withered souls of those unfortunate enough to meet their fate below the mantle."

"I think our author took some artistic liberties with her interpretation," she scoffed. "Do you think that's what we're looking for? Maybe more of them filled the mine and chased everyone out."

"I don’t think so. It says here that they persist off of bugs and vermin, so they shouldn't pose any threat to us." I shut the book and held it out for Cordella to put into my pack. "Call me an optimist, but I think what we seek may be more horrific."

"Uplifting."

The two of us clung like moths to the little light, more so now than before, and I was certain our shoulders hadn't been so tightly pressed until now. This close to one another, I could see how her face paled, and her step lacked the sureness that it usually did. "Is everything alright? Your spell is dimming."

"It's usually...bigger than this," she stammered. "I don't understand what it is about this place, but it's like all of my strength is being siphoned out of me. How much further until it's gone completely?"

"Maybe we shouldn't wait to find out." We had made significant progress despite our setbacks, but it was clear the toll it had taken on us, and there'd be no shame in turning back before regret set in.

"No. Just a little further. I can feel it."

I was ready to tuck tail, but she kept her head up no matter what dragged it down—another difference of ours. She said she felt something when all I felt was dread for the creature whose trail we followed to the depths of hell. It was a throbbing feeling in the chest, a dissonant rumbling through the soles of my feet that seemed only to grow as we sunk deeper, and long breaths wouldn’t make it go away.

“Do you hear something, Kaiser?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“It’s hard to describe...sort of a humming.”

Either my heart was seconds from jumping out of my chest, or it wasn’t me. I knelt to my palms, confirming my fear. Something drew close, and it moved fast.

“Kaiser?”

"I think we need to move."

"What—"

"Move!" I barked, searching frantically for something to stand behind. Unable to find a wide enough alcove, I grabbed Cordella's dangling hood and flattened myself against a divot in the cavernous wall. Before she could pull away, a blood-curdling shriek resounded from the same direction that the quaking emanated, followed by an orchestra of lower, nonetheless splitting cries. We didn't dare move a muscle as the wall itself surged and trembled.

“Get rid of it.”

The beacon vanished under my command, leaving us defenseless against the dark, ripping current, but it was better than to be left exposed. Not long after, the rumble refined into a horrible scraping, and I forced all the air from my pipes in the prayer that it would spare me another inch. When the soft light shone from within, I thought to close my eyes, but I couldn’t pry them away in time. It filled the tunnel in another instant, wall-to-wall like rushing tide.

What came hurtling past was such that nightmares would cower: it moved like a serpent, though it didn’t much resemble one. It was alien. There were no eyes or even a head to sew them to, just a gaping maw where they should have been. The razors on its back pulsated before my eyes, the infernal glow exuded from somewhere between them. It was mere inches that spared our flesh from being ground to nothing, just like the earth it bore into.

After several bated breaths, the monstrosity had barreled past us, leaving a smooth rut where it had swam along with a trail of whatever oily substance gave the scales their sheen. After a few more, I regained feeling in my legs, but the numbness never left my chest.