Looking down at the torch, staring at it, watching as the flame flickered, Norbert counted in his head. Reaching a hundred, he raised the torch, took a big breath in, and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Someone!” Norbert looked up at the ceiling, thrusting his arm in annoyance with the torch. “Could have told me I would be moving to a random location!”
Not seeing any motes of light appear, his two companions staring off around the tunnel they had found themselves in, his voice still echoing around, Norbert just hearing the faint reverberations of his annoyance.
Norbert looked about the tunnel, its smooth surface not indicating which way to exit and make it to the surface. Stepping towards the tunnel wall, he ran his hand across the stone, feeling its smooth surface as if nothing had broken off. Poking it with his finger, Norbert started digging it in, a piece breaking off in a smooth piece.
Norbert saw it drop to the floor, picked up the plate of stone, and looked up to where he had broken it from, the stone wall once more smooth again. Running his hand over it, not feeling anything catch his finger, dropping the stone to the ground as he looked both ways.
One direction heading slightly upwards, the other going lower, deeper into whatever underground settlement it leads to. Turning to the path heading upwards, Norbert took several steps, only for his feet to turn him around as he looked down the tunnel.
Turning back around, Norbert shook his head, feeling the gaze of both creatures on his shoulder staring at him. Shaking his head, Norbert closed his eyes as he began walking up the shallow incline.
He felt his feet turn around by themselves, growling under his breath as he turned around again, trailing his left hand along the tunnel wall, feeling it still there, counting to himself as he made it to ten.
He opened his eyes and saw that he was looking down the passageway again, left hand somehow still against the wall as he faced down the pathway.
“Guess I’m heading down to wherever this goes,” Norbert spoke aloud, hearing his voice and hoping to appease whatever being was making him not go higher up.
Taking his hand off, he trudged down the tunnel, seeing that he wasn’t being turned around again. He was thankful that he wouldn’t be stuck in the same position as he waited to see whatever was leading him deeper and deeper underground.
The tunnel did not curve at all as it continued at its slope, and the gradient did not change as Norbert stared at the flame flickering in his hand. He waved it around his face to make sure it wouldn’t be snuffed out and that there would be enough air for him and his companions to continue breathing.
Feeling the slight pull of energy moving about his body, Norbert let it go faster, easing his breath as he started to run down the tunnel. He kept his breath accessible as he positioned the torch forward, the flames licking on his hand, warming the leather he wore.
I'm keeping an eye out on the tunnel walls, and I see no difference at all. The ground has no rubble or signs of life, just the constant unnatural gradient downwards.
The wind was blowing in his face as Norbert slowed down. A change happened as he pivoted his head around, trying to smell what was tickling his nose. Turning his head around, Norbert took a deep breath in as he tried to remember what it was.
The memory evaded his clutches as he stalked forward, making his way further down the tunnel, whipping his head from side to side, trying to catch everything that was there, including some things he couldn’t even see.
Changing his vision to magic, Norbert examined the tunnel, the walls a brown colour to him, splotches of being brighter and duller than others, staring at it, trying to ascertain what it was being used for. Norbert shook his head, unable to wrap his head around whatever he was looking at, changing his vision back to normal as the grey stone appeared around him once more.
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Heading deeper inside the mountain, Norbert followed his nose. The wind blowing against his skin carried an even more pungent whiff of whatever was down there. Focusing on it, feeling Obsius bat her wings, Norbert watched as the bird didn't descend into the air but stayed rooted.
The fox moved from his shoulder to his back, using his body to block whatever was coming down there. As Norbert continued to smell, a light from below came towards him.
Springing around, Norbert rushed up as fast as he could, the torch having extinguished in the mad dash to escape whatever he was running away from. He was thankful that whatever was forcing him to go further down no longer wanted him to meet whatever was down there.
Rushing up, Norbert did not see where he was. Finally, he saw some light as well from in front of him, this one staying where it should be. Turning around, he still saw the red, angry light from below chasing after him.
Clutching Obsius to his chest, Norbert burst forward, the fox still on his back next to the sack he tied there to free his hands. Seeing the blue sky in front of him, Norbert dropped the torch from his hand, leaping into the air as he shot out of the tunnel.
As Norbert escaped from the mountain's jaws, the blue sky was masked by a haze of grey smoke surrounding him. Starting to fall to the ground, his attention on the barren grey mountainside filled with shale, the bits poking up towards him at all angles, daring anyone to try and climb its dangerous slope, for if you fell, it would likely be your last.
Falling to the ground, Norbert slid against the mountainside. The fox moved up away from his back to his shoulder, the rock breaking against him while Norbert pushed energy into his body. The rocks broke off as they crunched against his skin.
Having turned around, Norbert looked up as he skidded to a halt. Looking up at the tunnel he had come out of, he saw a plume of fire blast outwards, dissipating into the sky, smoke trailing after it. Underneath him, a light came as Norbert clambered upwards. He saw another hole in the mountainside, the heat from the one below him tickling at his feet.
Sitting down, he looked across the mountain he found himself on. More holes were being cut out of the side, and plumes of fire shot out of them. Now able to trace the smell of burning coal, the smell made his eyes water and burned his nose.
He raised his hand, saw his gloves were flaky, and rubbed his fingers as the ash slowly drifted off, making more of a mess than cleaning it off. Following his eyes, Norbert looked at the torn landscape, the trees and the landscape being cut down.
Norbert looked closer to the mountainside, finding a road meandering through the pockmarked landscape following it as it came inside the mountain, a belch of flame hiding it from his view. Looking away, Norbert turns to his two companions “Any idea where we are meant to go?”
The two of them were just looking at him, Obsius tweeting into his ear as he looked down at his leg, shaking from lack of movement.
“Think whatever is happening to me will even let me just walk away?”
Obsius chirped to Norbert, who nodded his head in understanding. The fire below was no longer coming out of the hole in the mountainside, and Norbert looked back down at the road, seeing a constant stream of items being brought within.
Focusing on his eyes, Norbert sent energy there, feeling as the object began to zoom in, becoming clearer and clearer until finally, he could make out some details. Norbert was following one of the caravans, being hulled by beasts. The open back showed the kart being pulled, overflowing with pieces of stone. Staring at it, Norbert saw veins of shiny material, reminding him of silver running through them.
Norbert following down the procession down, seeing it originate from several holes that had been dug out, Norbert watching as they came around, full of materials as they came out of it.
Sitting there as Norbert watched the sun go down, torchers appeared on the carts being pulled; even at night, they weren’t stopping. Scanning again, using the light as a point, Norbert watched, able to make out one of the drivers more efficiently, having missed them on the first inspection.
Seeing their face come up, Norbert sees their small stature compared to the beasts that pulled, reminding Norbert of animals he had seen in the fields back in Flare-dew. The man sitting there, Norbert, judging from his beard going down their entire torso, the grey hair and withered skin, the hat they had been wearing when the day was out by their side.
Norbert stared at them, trying to place where he had seen them before, as the image of the blacksmiths he came looking for to repair his helmet. Finally, looking down at the operation, another plume of fire burst out, flickering against Norbert’s face as the size of the operation under him came to fruition.