Thud
Thud
KACHINK
Thud
Thud
Thud
KACHINK
He was tired. Too tired. Still, his arms were swinging on full autopilot. He was this close to making the daily quota. Within a couple of swings, even. Sweat dripped down his bushy eyebrows, desperately trying to cool his overworked body.
Thud
KACHINK
Thud
Thud
KACHINK
Making a pointed ‘kachink’, a final bit of nimbus loosened, bringing with it a slight rush of dopamine. The last for the day. Exhausted, Yenorth began slowly hauling the chunks of broken crystal into his cart and started shuffling towards the shaft exit. While walking, he passed by multiple sweaty workers still hammering at rocky shaft-walls before reaching a rickety shaft elevator. It was packed to the brim.
Pit.
Yenorth made his way inside, squeezing in-between two giant figures. Glancing up, he immediately recognized them. It was Oskar and Kurt. Before he knew it, they’d both turned their gazes to peer down at him. He’d never conversed with them before, nor even introduced himself properly. His reasoning for that stood clear as day, backed up by potent rumours. The prospect of befriending people with eyes that could literally bore through your entire soul, all while trunk-thick hands ripped your body apart to flappy shreds was not very intriguing.
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Simply put, Yenorth was not someone who wanted nor should be hanging out with these individuals. With this in mind, he didn’t really know much beyond their impressive statures and names. Despite this, he lowered his head and gave two quick, but polite nods and then attempted to subtly break away from the pair. It didn’t work out very well. The moment his escape attempt had started, it was promptly cut short. The only thing it had returned were irritated gazes and profound swearing. It made him painfully aware that he would be going nowhere soon. But, after a while, it left him confused. For some reason they didn’t cease, if anything they were only intensifi-
“Heya there, Little fella.”
A hand as thick as the average human head landed on Yenorth’s shoulder. Kurt’s gravelly voice made Yenorth freeze like a deer in approaching headlights.
“I saw the neat little escape attempt earlier. Nice going, lad. Many just freeze and stop working, like yer’ doing right now… so, nice going, lad.
Now, onto a bit of advice. If ye’ want folk to stop staring at ye’ sideways... I’d recommend shifting focus towards that wee’ button over there- “Yenorth’s eyes sluggishly followed as Kurt pointed towards a small, red button towards his left. On it, an image of an arrow pointing upwards was scribbled.
Having been the last one to make it in the elevator, and therefore having been the one nearest door and elevator button, Yenorth had been expected to press the button to ascend, which no-one else could reach because of the crowd. But he hadn’t. Not only that, he’d also been the one to push and shove the remaining elevator residents in his attempt to escape Oskar and Kurt, and in the resident’s midst there existed no slouches. None of them were quite at the level of Kurt and Oskar, but they still would not hesitate to rip him apart, had they a reason to. And with Kurt loudly announcing Yenorth’s miss and thus, revealing his position to everyone within the elevator, Yenorth knew he was well and truly fucked.
Nonetheless, Yenorth tried to hastily remedy his mistake, and snapped at the button with as much speed he could muster, causing the elevator to unwillingly rise - only drawing more attention to himself in the process. Although, at this point it probably didn’t matter. Everyone was already well-aware of his position.
Pitting pit’s pit pie.
Little time remained. Yenorth felt it through the fresher air and saw it through the snow-covered rock replacing the darker rock otherwise found in the shaft.
As soon as the elevator broke surface, he would be jumped and manhandled. No two ways about it.
So, when the first peeks of sunlight started filtering through the wood of the elevator he slightly slouched and closed his eyes, mentally steeling himself for a dreadful beating.
Eventually, the elevator came to a jerking stop. Yenorth practically tumbled out, bodies pressing from behind. It seemed the time for judgement had finally arrived. The following stampede that ensued was unrelenting. Crunch after crunch, they kept on coming. Soon, darkness began overlapping spots of his vision. He could feel every time the bruising grew and knew that surviving wouldn’t be possible if this prolonged. Through burst lips, vibrating vocal cords tried to get something - anything – out, but the pain of a punctured lung denied it. A dislocated nose tried to funnel air to seizing muscles, finding all entrances clogged and blocked. A broken hand trying to grasp for help, shot down by flying feet. Mind trying to stay awake but being ushered away by the wonderful promise of ignorant- and blissful eternal rest.