Lusac stepped out of the shuttle into the cool evening air of Aschir Alpha, the largest moon of Aschir, a gas giant in a system over three days away from the Highway in the Helios sector. They’d come straight from Rika, and it’d been a rough few days trapped in such a small space altogether. The air was more humid than even the Argo, and Lus shivered as a cold breeze blew right through his already damp uniform. Zer-Dasht came up behind him and swatted Lus’s shoulder as he took a deep breath.

“Now this is more like it,” the Nemarian said, his pink fins quivering in contentment. “I can’t remember the last time I was on a planet that didn’t require a mistter.” He spread his arms wide as he continued to inhale the wet air.

“Watch it, Dasht,” Wsr growled from behind, shoving the Nemarian down the ramp a few feet. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to unload, and Nippy still wants to scout the entrance of the mines tonight.”

Yonnex-Quniwel exited the craft as well, and even though he was less vocal about it, his indigo fins showed the same signs of delight as Dasht’s. Lus walked down the small ramp to stand on the large rock shelf which held their shuttle. It was the closest landing zone to the mine they found, but they would still have a mile hike to their destination.

All around were mountains of varying heights. Behind those nearest to them, Lus saw even taller peaks stretching upwards. The strangest part however was the distinct lack of trees. In Lusac’s experiences, mountains were normally covered in them, but these ones were completely devoid of the typical greenery, instead showing the same barren red-gray stone as what he stood on now.

A few colorful types of moss and lichen decorated the boulders which lay strewn around the landing site, but that marked the only biological anything Lus saw. Given the breathable atmosphere of the moon, he assumed that somewhere there was a plethora of real plants to produce the oxygen.

The twin suns were already setting behind a set of jagged peaks in the east, casting a purple hue across the entire sky to contrast with the heavy green of Aschir floating above.

“Come on, Lusac. I’m not carrying all this crap myself,” Wsr called to him, reminding him of their true purpose on this strange moon.

He walked back to the shuttle and took on an overstuffed backpack alongside a heavy duffel bag. That 5 [Strength] was really showing itself as he lumbered down the ramp before taking a small break to catch his breath. This was going to be a long hike.

Nippy led the pack, carrying a Kremel sized backpack that reached from above his head to the bottom of his back while being over three feet wide. He carried it with ease, and Lus recalled that their fearless second-in-command had a system of his own and managed to wrangle the majority of his stat increases to [Strength] unlike Lus whose [Luck] took the majority of his.

The journey wasn’t all that bad given that it was relatively flat, and their only obstacles were the occasional grouping of boulders and a few steep sheer steps to go up or down. Wsr took up the rear, while Lus walked just in front of her, carefully watching his feet in case of any cracks that might trip him up.

With this kind of load, once he started to fall, he knew he’d have no chance of catching himself, and he didn’t want to damage anything in the bags. It’d already taken a full day for Nippy to move past what happened on Rika, and Lus wanted to avoid any future mistakes to try and make up for. They all carried lanterns to offset the growing darkness of the evening.

The suns were completely below the horizon by the time they arrived at a gaping hole in the side of one of the many mountains which Nippy declared their destination. Lus would have walked right past it, dismissing it as a cave if their leader hadn’t said anything.

He had plenty of experience with mines, but this entrance looked nothing like the ones he was used to back on Treft. It seemed far more similar to the other generic caves they passed except for a faded sign carved into the stone above it that would have gone unnoticed unless one knew what to look for.

The words were in Nemarian, but from what Lus could tell, it was an old dialect that didn’t make much sense to him. Even Zer-Dasht and Yonnex-Quniwl were perturbed by the almost invisible markings. Wsr didn’t give anyone much time to examine the entrance as she directed everyone to get the base camp set up before they worried about the mine.

Lus was more than happy to drop his loads off and relieve some of the pressure on his aching shoulders and back. Unfortunately, they still had to get the tents and chairs out and get a fire going which would require plenty of its own lifting.

“Lus, come with me. Let’s see what this mine has to offer while the others get things set up here,” Nippy ordered to the Human’s delight.

Ignoring the glare from Dasht, he eagerly marched up to Nippy’s side with his lantern in hand. The Kremel got into his backpack to remove a length of rope before leading the way to the mine fifty yards away.

In the late evening, it seemed more like a black void, eating their lanterns’ light beams as soon as they crossed its threshold. Lus was suddenly a little less excited about this assignment and half wondered if he shouldn’t go trade Dasht places. Why had Nippy chosen him at all? He had the worst eyesight in the dark of everyone here, but maybe the Kremel was anticipating some tight spots that were unsuited to Nemarians’ delicate scales.

“I’ll go first but stay close. I’m not sure how stable this place is,” Nippy confessed.

Lus held back any complaints as he did as he was told and fell in line just behind the seven and a half foot tall Kremel as they walked into the cave.

At his first step into the mine, a notification popped up in the corner of his vision.

[New Quest Unlocked!]

[A Step in the Shadows]

[Description: discover the secret of the mine]

[Time limit: None]

[Reward: 500 XP]

He gasped quietly under his breath for such a large reward before quickly glancing forward to ensure Nippy took no notice. A secret in the mine? That must just be the artifact they were coming for, right? This was only the second time a [Quest] had activated on its own. They normally just became available after he completed a previous one, but this was far more exciting.

Still, the only way he was going to complete it was by completing the mission, so he put all his focus on surveying the cave as they walked.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The air was discernibly colder among the stoney walls, and everything was the same muted red as the landscape outside. There was even more humidity in the cave as well, if that were possible.

The walls, ceiling, and floor were all cut straight, creating a large square once they got inside. Nippy had to keep his back hunched to fit properly, and with his back taking up the majority of the light from the front lantern, the darkness seemed to close in around Lus and his small light source. The coloring on the stone in here was similar to that of outside, but it was more evident that the way had been unnaturally cut as he noticed swirling ribbons of differing red and gray shades.

The strangest thing of all about the mine shaft was the lack of supports. He understood why Nippy was concerned about stability when it seemed like there was nothing holding the ceiling from collapsing in on them at any second, but as Lusac walked, he didn’t notice any signs of decay in the structure.Somehow, the rock held itself back without any help. With the humidity, it seemed there should be some kind of water damage at the very least, but everything looked as even as the day it’d been cut.

“How long did you say this mine had been abandoned?” Lusac’s voice bounced around the flat walls, echoing deeper into the tunnel they walked. Maybe the secret was something simple like learning the history, in which case he could get that [XP] now.

“A couple of centuries from what we could figure out,” Nippy replied. He did nothing to soften his booming tone that echoed even louder than Lus.

“Why did they abandon it?”

“Probably because it ran dry.”

“What was being mined here?” Based on the rather direct tunnel they were following, Lus was having trouble picturing this as an actual functional mine. It was nothing like the chaotic mess of tunnels his parents worked in when he was a child.

“Reports didn’t say.”

“So we don’t even know what it was used for?” Lus really disliked having so little information about this already creepy cave.

“Mining,” Nippy said, and even though Lus couldn’t see the Kremel’s face, he could picture clearly the teasing grin he wore as he spoke such an obvious thought.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Lusac murmured to himself as he continued to scan the blank stone walls surrounding them.

They walked without speaking after that, only Nippy’s heavy footfalls breaking up the silence. Lus couldn’t place exactly what it was about this place, but the whole thing made his skin crawl. It was too neat to be a mine. He’d spend years of his life around mines and miners, and not one was anything close to this exactness.

Lusac bumped into something solid and immediately jumped back with a shout as he raised his free fist up in defense, but it was only Nippy who had stopped without warning.

“Take a look at this Lus. It’s an underground lake,” the Kremel said, stepping to the side so his companion could look forward too. Nippy held his lantern out and turned it to its highest setting to properly illuminate the space.

Lusac gazed out into a large, open cavern that stretched for a hundred yards in any direction, including up. At its center sat an oval shaped pond twenty yards long and ten yards wide which reflected a hint of starlight from an open airway at the top of the ceiling. Heavy machinery surrounded it, taking up much of the floor space. Along the opposite wall, three tunnels continued onwards, but it was too dim to make out many details around them.

“Huh. Maybe the real mine starts over there,” Lus wondered aloud as he gazed at the tunnels. Even from here, they looked less perfect than what they just walked through. The niceness of the first tunnel, however, could be accounted for if this was the processing center and only finished material exited that way.

“Let’s check them out,” Nippy said, focusing on the same thing.

Before the Kremel could step into the cavern, Lus grabbed his arm and pointed up to where the ceiling melded with the wall to where he swore he saw a flash of movement. “What’s that?”

Nippy’s eyes followed the direction of his finger, but if there had been something there, it was already gone, and they were both left staring at an abandoned shelf.

“I don’t see anything.” The Kremel’s voice seemed to shake the grotto, and Lus wished he would at least try to whisper.

“Maybe it was just a trick of the light,” Lusac tried to assure himself more than anyone. He released Nippy’s arm, and the Kremel walked forward. Lus released a brief exhale of relief before following him.

Together they wandered through the centuries-old mining and refining equipment, much of it decayed beyond recognition after all the years of neglect. They were halfway around the lake when an almost imperceptible sound caught both their attention.

Nippy turned in a flash, his lantern outstretched towards the pond, but there was nothing there. The only sign of life in the cavern was the pair of them.

“We’re just jumpy. It was probably just a pebble skidding underfoot,” the second-in-command declared.

As Nippy turned his lantern away to continue moving, Lus realized there were tiny ripples on the surface of the water, but he couldn’t remember if they’d been there before or not before they entered. He attempted to calm himself the same way Nippy had by saying that it must have been a loose rock falling or something.

They soon reached the three offshoots from the cavern, and Nippy walked in front of each, holding his lantern out. Lusac took comfort in the fact that these ones had some kind of metal framing to support the stone ceilings, and the walls were less exact than the original tunnel. This was the real entrance to the mine part.

“So which one leads us to the artifact?” Lus asked the Kremel as he examined the shafts.

He shook his head slowly. “I have no idea. All we know is that the artifact is in this mine somewhere. It’s up to us to find it.”

Lus tapped his fingers against his belt to ease some of his nerves. He already disliked the idea of having to come back through this mine, but he dreaded the thought of spending days, maybe even a week or two on this isolated moon, trying to locate something so small in a place so large. It also went against his better judgment to wander an empty mine. His parents had drilled into him since he was old enough to walk that mines were death traps unless one knew the layout.

“Since there are five of us, it’ll go fast,” Nippy comforted him. He swung back around. “Come on. Let’s get back to the others and see if they managed to get camp put together.”

Lus nodded as he followed the second-in-command. They again walked through the machinery graveyard, and Lus held his arms close. The hair on his neck stood up as if he were being watched. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a glimmer of light.

“There,” he shouted, spinning to face what he was sure was a pair of eyes.

Nippy followed suit, again on the ready for a fight, but all they found was another decayed piece of equipment, the outer plating falling off to expose frayed wiring inside.

“Stop that, Lus. You’re really freaking me out,” Nippy complained. “It was just our lights reflecting off the metal. Now come on. I’m getting hungry.”

“Sorry,” Lus muttered as he fell back into line. As they continued their trek through the cavern, Lus remained certain that something was there in the corner of his vision, even if it refused to show itself. That must be the secret his quest wanted him to figure out. He would feel a lot better being in this place when they came back with the full team and all their gear, including blasters.

Once they were out of the cavern, Lus was able to relax a little more since there was nowhere for something to hide in the square tunnel back to the campsite. He only fully relaxed once they were out of the mine completely and in the open, greeted by the roaring fire, a set of five chairs, and two huge tents.

“Good job, team,” Nippy congratulated them as he settled into one of the chairs, setting his lantern on the ground next to him. “Now where’s the food?”

“What are we? Golems? Why don’t you two help out with something,” Zer-Dasht argued from where he was pounding the last tent stake.

“I can cook,” Lus volunteered immediately. He was only [25 XP] away from leveling up, and even if it wasn’t one of the fancy meals, he’d probably get enough to reach [Level 5]. After that brief trip into the mine, he wouldn’t mind having a little extra boost to his stats before they really set into the mission.

“I knew we brought you along for a reason,” Wsr said with a smile. “While you do that, we're going to scout around the area and make sure there aren’t animal dens nearby or anything.”

Lus returned the smile, set his lantern down, and got to work as the rest of the team departed to give him space for his art.