For a moment, he felt weightless, free and elegant like the most glorious dancer in all the lands. Then, reality hit him. Or more accurately the top of the cart hit him. The cart, now without the cord to hold it up, had no failsafe, nothing to ensure their safety. It plummeted down into the abyss below, accelerating rapidly, the stale, musty air of the mine whipping against their already open wounds.

Had Karfice really seen that right? He had been trying to tell Trenton to give him a moment to make sure all the holes were sealed when Trenton suddenly locked onto the wall, his face contorted into a grimace. The last thing he saw was Trenton slashing through the cable of the car, a colossal figure bursting from the darkness and swallowing Trenton whole.

And that was the least of his worries at the moment. The elevator careened widely through the air, tossing them around inside it like tomatoes in a salad…no, like a lot of people currently plummeting to their death, not like tomatoes. Pretty much everyone would die if they didn’t do something. He needed to focus, summon up whatever energy he could find and figure something out. If…if he could just slow them enough to…then maybe…then maybe…

Karfice blinked in and out of consciousness, his mind involuntarily slipping away from him. He had lost himself in the moment, his help no longer available to the many desperate miners who really needed him. Garrote too was unhelpful, clinging to Leo a monumental task against the face of the magical wave of lethargy washing over him. Pulling that boulder had taken everything out of him. Even if he had the strength to stop the cart in time to save them, he was in no state to do so after the fight they had just endured. And it wasn’t like Kiva could do anything either, the rotation force of the cart severing any attempts at creating brush to cushion or slow them. They could only dimly watch, minds half gone, as the world spun away.

.

.

.

…that sound, what was it? Screaming? Almost, but it was just too…intense. It burrowed past his ears and into his skull, drilling into the depths of his consciousness and making him…panic. Fear gripped Karfice’s heart, fear unlike any he’d ever experienced before. In an instant he snapped awake, his body flat against the ceiling, the sound dragging him back to clarity.

Screams, hundreds, no thousands of them, all overlapping madly with each other, each one the deafening screech of eternal torment, an unnatural, unnerving sound that had no right to exist. For the first time in a very, very long time, Karfice was scared, genuinely scared. Within every soul, every scream, every living being invading his mind, their agony his own, was a story, a life ripped away from them. An assassin, stalking its prey through the cover of darkness; a high military official, just doing his duty; a farmer, watching the wall of death approach; a leader, making an impossible choice. He couldn’t bear it. What the hell was happening to him? Was he going to die just like all the others? Was this it? He did deserve it, but this wasn’t right, this wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. It didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t do anything. And it was. Just. So. Loud. What was this? Magic? Aspect? Presence?

Karfice hit the ground hard, his unbraced body flattened against the ground. Somehow, somewhere within the muddle of flashing colors and noises, something had grabbed hold of the cart, dragging it upwards with ungodly strength. He wanted to behold it, unearth the source of this unbearable noise, but he couldn’t budge. The pain was just too great.

Then, without warning, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, a cold, dreadful silence filling the air. How long had it been? Seconds? Minutes? Days? Years? It had felt like forever, but he didn’t know for certain. How could he? His head still throbbed with a dull ache, the ringing in his ears only growing louder.

Karfice lifted his eyes, tramping down the unnatural emotions raging through his body, taking in the scene around him. They were still, no longer moving, but it was impossible dark. Wherever they were it was solid ground of some sort, and the cart was pretty much untouched, much like it had been when it had begun to fall, everyone inside battered, but not dead.

Karfice scanned over his fallen comrades, doing a head count to ensure everyone was alright. For the most part, everyone looked to be alright. The dwarves were battered and bruised, bleeding from most of their orifices, but they were able to stand, huddling close for a sense of comfort and safety, Garrote and Kiva just getting up themselves. They hadn’t lost a single life, a miracle. Somehow, despite how far they fell, despite the attempt on their lives, despite the mysterious circumstances, they were alr-oh nevermind, Andree was now a corpse.

Pinned to the top of the cart, neatly sliced into nine big chunks, was Andree’s severed body, pickaxes lodged into the ceiling keeping him aloft. It was eerie in a way, his big bulging eyes wide with fear, thick muscular arms sliced open and fanned out in order of the different layers of the body, the rather significant amount of blood dripping down onto the dwarves below. It looked too…purposeful. Something had stopped the cart and chosen to kill only Andree, leaving his body in plain sight for all to see. Was it a warning? If so, it worked.

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Immediately upon noticing the corpse, the dwarves began to scream, really scream, each one panicking in their own unique way. Some collapsed to the ground, others doubled over and began to hurl, the air bubble forcefully shoving their discharge back down their throats–gross–while others simply stood there stock still like they were trying to comprehend the gory sight before them.

Garrote glanced over at Karfice, gaze focused mostly on the great void above them, “What the hell was that?”

Karfice shrugged, “Dunno, I was just thinking the same thing myself. I’m not sure what would have the intent to save us, yet decide to kill Andree, what would be smart enough. No monster could pull off a maneuver so delicate. It’s weird.”

“Do you think there’s someone down here?”

“Maybe. It’d explain why dwarves keep going missing. Although the monsters would serve just the same. We’ll need to tread carefully, feel the area. If there is someone down here, and if they are an enemy, then we can’t afford to let down our guard.”

Garrote paused for a moment before looking down at Karfice, brow drawn tight, “You sound like Trenton. I’ve never seen you so focused.”

“I know. How unbecoming. I guess falling to my death reminded me a little of getting mauled to death. Shocked me awake a little.”

“That’s…reasonable. Kiva, are you alright?” Garrote looked over at Kiva who was standing off to the side, looking up at the edge of the roof within a strange intensity in her eyes. “Don’t worry about Trenton. He’s-”

“I’m not worried about him. He can handle himself. Come here and look at this,” Kiva said, her eyes never leaving the roof.

Karfice followed Kiva’s gaze, taking a spot by her side to try and see whatever it was she wanted him to see, but it really wasn’t much of a sight. The cart was banged up and damaged, ripped apart all over. He couldn’t find rhyme or reason to any of it, just chaos. Whatever she was looking at was clearly beyond his scope to find.

“What is it you wanted us to see exactly?” Karfice asked.

“There, look closely,” Kiva pointed straight up at a little segment of the roof Karfice hadn’t noticed before.

The cart’s damage wasn’t uniform by any means. Some segments had been sheared, some dented, and others just blown apart, shrapnel lining the ground. But just on the edge, barely even noticeable, there was one specific spot of damage unlike any of the others, five long finger-like grooves into the steel, perfect and smooth. It was unnatural, the delicate look of a carved art piece. Yet, there was no sign of shaved metal anywhere, almost like the metal had just simply disappeared–erased from existence.

“What is it?” Garrote asked.

“I don’t know. What could eat through metal so cleanly with no residual? What would even bother? This doesn’t look to be any magic I’ve ever seen, and something tells me a mole didn’t do this either,” Kiva looked over at Karfice and Garrote, her expression sobering. “We’re not alone down here. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want to find it. If it was able to take Andree out so easily…”

Then what chance did they have? It was the question of the hour, one that no one wanted to vocalize. Andree wasn’t the pinnacle of strength, but neither was he a pushover. Trenton barely held his own against him one on one, only just managing to keep him off of Garrote and Kiva for a minute or so as they fought. Even Karfice was considering stepping in, waking from his faux slumber to aid in the combat. So to see him butchered so effortlessly was worrying. But they had a responsibility to upkeep. Now wasn’t the time to yield. There was an entire crew of terrified dwarves now completely defenseless down there in the mines with them. Even if it weren't for their own sake, then at least for the others they needed to be strong, dependable leaders.

“There’s no point wasting time here. We need to be moving. Whatever did this could still be close by,” Karfice said.

“To where? We’ve got nowhere left to run. I couldn’t possibly lift this many people however many miles it is to the surface. And even if I could, there’s no guarantee we wouldn’t get attacked again,” Garrote argued.

“Which means we’ve just got to keep going forward. Mine shafts aren't linear constructs. If there’s one way down, there’s probably another way up somewhere down here. We just have to find it. Think of it like a new adventure, exploring unseen territories,” Kiva said, elbowing Garrote.

He paused, considering the proposition for a moment, “...I know you’re trying to trick me, but it’s working. Mines are pretty cool…let’s go!”