He found space in one of his belt pouches for his fancy new light, already working out how he might convert the luminescent metal into a proper lantern. Maybe I can mount it to one of my beltloops, so I can leave both hands free while I explore. Now that Nick knew more about the mine’s purpose, he had a better idea where he might find the exit.
Part of this network must follow the seam of ore that the miners were excavating. It seems likely that all the narrow tunnels with tracks lead to places like this enclosure, so I can cross the others I saw off the list. There’s probably a large ore separator or refinery somewhere down here, in addition to the mining tunnels, but what I really need to find is the loading dock. The place where shipments went out and people came in. It should have an exit leading back to the surface of the bog.
Armed with the beginnings of a plan, Nick doubled back and walked out the way he had come, ready to explore the wider passages he had seen earlier. He quickly retraced his steps, entering the yawning cavern and its nexus of cart tracks, gazing out over the mingled bands of bedrock and soft sand.
Before picking a path from a smaller range of possibilities, he walked out onto the first luminescent island of stone and took a long look around. After careful consideration, he narrowed his choices down to two, equally likely candidates for the mine’s exit. Each of the paths sloped gently upward. He decided to start with the one on his left, as it was a bit wider than the other.
His destination determined, he started working out the best route to get there, which would require crossing the length of the sprawling cavern. It was the same process that he had developed when picking out a path between the mirror ponds in the bog above. He wanted to keep solid ground beneath his boots, having been swallowed by the sand once already.
He charted a course that would take him across the thickest bands of bedrock and crept his way forward. Nick was intensely aware that this abandoned mine was now home to something dangerous. He used every bit of stealth at his disposal to muffle the sound of his steps, grateful for the aid of his charm. That he had put so much effort into learning the basics of stealth back on the Searing Isle, an exercise that had already paid off countless times since.
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He was careful to keep his breathing slow and deep. Not to kick up any loose rocks or grind his boots against random sprinkles of sand. Now that he had room to swing the weapon, he sheathed his dagger and took his sword out of his backpack, feeling a bit safer with the heavy weapon leading the way.
As he progressed from island to island, Nick diligently scanned the ground in front of him, sizing up everything that he came across. Although this required the lion’s share of his attention, a part of him couldn’t help but wonder what stories these ruins would tell if they were given a voice. Tales of the miners who had toiled beneath the bog and the lives they had led.
He found that he wanted to know more about their hopes and their dreams. Their causes and countries. Loves and losses. It made him wonder if there were scared aliens walking through the wreckage of his civilization at this very moment. What Taltos and the System had planned for them all.
His musings ended abruptly when he approached a narrow strip of solid stone running between two massive pools of sand, glowing like a highway stretching over a dark and hungry ocean. In addition to bringing him closer to the sand than at any other point in his journey, something about the spot made the hairs on Nick’s neck rise and stand on end.
His heart rate accelerated, and his adrenaline started to flow. But size up couldn’t pinpoint a specific source of danger, and his eyes and ears weren’t any more successful at sussing out an imminent threat. Raising his sword before him like a talisman to ward off evil, he crept across the isthmus of bedrock, on guard against anything striking from the sand.
He thought that he heard a few faint scratches from time to time, but every time he stopped to look, he found nothing out of the ordinary. In defiance of his instincts, Nick reached the far end of the land bridge safe and sound, encountering nothing more menacing than his own shadow along the way.
He shrugged and returned his attention to the ground ahead, relieved to discover that the path was wide and straight.
Puzzled as to what had come over him, Nick took one last glance over his shoulder… just in time to spot a pair of razored mandibles the size of his forearms closing around his neck.