Season I | Episode IV | Chapter III

“Are you kidding me? You mean… we’re stuck?”

Rycrofth rubs at the back of his neck. He groans in pain. “Look, kid. I… huh…”

“How can we be stuck? You control the solid phase of matter!”

“People may be scared of me, but I’m not as strong as I once was.” Rycrofth taps the walls with his paw. “Those rocks are fortified with Meaningful minerals. They’re better for their infrastructure. And more difficult for me to manipulate. They put Meaning in those rocks.”

“So…?”

“So… either I try to get us out, fail, and fall from exhaustion like I did earlier… or we find a way out through the tunnel in front of us.”

“I don’t even know… “Tarrick perks his ear. Muffled shouts come from the other side of the wall. “Hey, Rycrofth! Do you hear that?”

“Tarrick! Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!”

“Grandma? Prothea? Is that you?”

Tarrick presses his ear against the wall. He listens.

“Grandma? Prothea?”

“Tarrick! Is that you?”

“It’s them!” Tarrick smiles at Rycrofth. “Yes, it’s me! I’m with Rycrofth. Are you all right?”

“Yes! We’re fine!”

“Good! That’s really good to hear! We’re fine, too! We’re in a tunnel!”

Tarrick thinks he hears Grandma swearing. “Great! That’s just great!”

“We’ll try to find a way out through the tunnel, all right? Stay where you are!”

“I’ll try to salvage what remains of the campsite. It took quite a hit!”

“Good! Do that! We’re coming. Don’t worry!”

Tarrick looks around. He doesn’t really know what to do. He knows, logically, that they need to leave. But what if they get lost? What if they never see Grandma or Prothea again?

“After you,” says Rycrofth.

Right. Now’s the time to go. Tarrick can’t think such negative thoughts. He’s going to get out of this tunnel alive and see Grandma and Prothea again. Everything will be fine. He’s survived an encounter with a giant mountain scorlion, after all.

They start to walk down the tunnel. Their footsteps echo in the long tunnel. The soil feels almost rubbery under Tarrick’s feet. It soon gets cold and his teeth start to clatter. Wonderful. Simply wonderful. At first, it’s dark and scary. But then Rycrofth raises a hand and a ball of flame rises in his palm. Now, it’s lit up and scary. And warm once more. Tarrick runs his paw against the wall. The tunnel is unnaturally smooth. Everything is impossibly flat. No rocks gather on the ground. It almost feels like they’re in a long tube of rock more than a tunnel, really. 

Then, Rycrofth and Tarrick turn at a corner. Rycrofth’s flame dies upon his palm. Nothing is dark anymore. This part of the tunnel… This is beautiful. Glowing crystals blossom like flowers on the walls. Some are so long and so tall, they crisscross together, rising from the floor and disappearing inside the ceiling. Blues, pinks, yellows, greens… all shine. But it’s not the same shine as the one Tarrick found in the mountain scorlion’s nest. These ones… they’re tamed. A friendly energy hums in his ear.

“Come on,” says Rycroth. “There’s no time to enjoy the view.”

Tarrick pouts. “All right, all right.”

They set off again. When they walk around the bend of the tunnel, they arrive in an enormous room. Cavernous walls disappear in the dark above. On ground floor, a giant rusty drill stands. Empty. The drill might be empty, but the room isn’t. Two people are standing there. A duo of Davrians, wearing dirty overalls and goggles. They’re standing, but they're also arguing. The memory of two annoying bridge workers flashes in Tarrick’s mind.

One of them points at the drill. “Come on, Ulk! You must be kidding me. You were supposed to know how to make this thing work!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“What do you mean? You’re the mechanic, Horks!”

“Yes, and you’re the drill operator!”

“I’m not an operator, I’m a seller. There’s a difference! People buy drills from me.”

“And you don’t know if they work first?”

“That’s irrelevant! As long as people buy them…”

“What do you mean, that’s irrelevant? How…!”

Rycrofth coughs into his fist. “Ahem. Gentlemen?”

Both turn towards Tarrick and Rycrofth at the same time. Tarrick swallows down a laugh. The angry looks on their faces vanish when they see Rycrofth. Their faces become awed.

“Mr. Rycrofth!”

The two Davrians pile around Rycrofth. One of them tramples on Tarrick’s foot. As if he’s completely invisible. Tarrick huffs. He guesses that’s what happens when you’re a boring Davrian standing next to an Academist in a place where solidity is… well. Life.

“How are you, Mr. Rycrofth?” asks the first Davrian, Ulk.

“Yes, how are you?” presses on Horks. “We didn’t think we’d see you again so soon!”

“This wasn’t… exactly planned. All right, sons. Listen. My friend Tarrick and I…” Rycrofth points at Tarrick. Ulk and Horks look at Tarrick as if seeing him for the first time. Then, they turn back towards Rycrofth, who continues: “The wall caved in and we really need to go back outside. But as you well know, Meaningful rocks are quite hard for me to lift.”

Ulk swaggers. “Rightly so!”

Rycrofth coughs. “So… You may see we have a problem.”

Horks jumps up and down. “You want us to drill a hole through that wall?”

“That would be very kind of you, thank you very much.”

“Of course, of course, of course!”

Ulk and Horks stumble together inside the drill. The door closes behind them.

“You know them?” asks Tarrick.

Rycrofth grunts. “Unfortunately.”

At first, muffled arguing reaches Tarrick’s ears. There’s a window embedded in the side of the door. Tarrick can see everything that happens from the outside. Horks slaps Ulk so he can get to the controls. Ulk slaps Horks. They press a few buttons. Pull down a lever. As if on random. And still nothing happens. Rycrofth pinches the bridge of his nose. Finally, he calls:

“Gentlemen! We are in a hurry.”

“Coming, Mr. Rycrofth! Coming!”

Ulk pulls down another lever. A low grumble rises from the giant drill’s motor. Tarrick takes a step back. He covers his ears from the hellish sound. That thing growls like a throttled tractor. Rycrofth protects Tarrick with one extended hand. The drill’s cricketpillar tracks start to move. Dust is pushed off the ground and into Tarrick’s eyes. He coughs. That’s the third time it happens today. Tarrick waves his paw in front of his face and the dust cloud dissipates a little. That’s when he sees the drill collide with the opposite wall. Orange and golden sparks erupt from the metal. Dirt flies all around. Covering Tarrick and Rycrofth from head to toe. At first, nothing happens. Then, the drill starts to… well. Drill. It pokes at the wall until it digs inside. Soon, another part of the tunnel has been opened.

The drill doesn’t stop there, though. It keeps going. And going. And going.

“Shall we?” proposes Rycrofth.

“After you.”

They follow the giant drill. The new tunnel is shaped the same rounded way as the one they stepped in earlier. Incredibly smooth. Definitely not natural. Tarrick quickly calculates in his mind. They should be parallel to the crystal tunnel by now. They keep going. Hope bubbles inside Tarrick. They’ll be out soon. He can feel it!

“Tarrick.”

He almost stops at the sound of Rycrofth’s voice. They keep on walking, but now Tarrick listens.

“Yes?”

“About your parents… and your grandfather…”

“Don’t worry. It’s fine.”

“No. It’s not fine. Your grandmother’s right. I should have been there. But it… ever since the accident, it feels restricting to be anywhere I want. The rocks sing to me. The trees. The mountains. Everything that’s solid. I can’t ignore their call. And that’s why I wasn’t with Reeckards or Maeena that day. I should’ve been! They’re some of my oldest friends. But… the call… I know it’s no excuse.”

“There’s no use in thinking in what-ifs. What’s past is past.”

“You’re quite wise for your age, young man. You know that?”

Tarrick bows. “Thank you very much.”

Rycrofth chuckles. Something grinds. A motor running on nothing. Rrh-gn-gn-gn-gn… Up ahead, the giant drill has stopped. Actually, it has stopped going forward. They’re parallel to the first tunnel they stepped through, Tarrick figures. They’ve reached the outer wall. They’re almost there. The giant drill pushes forward one last time. Light. A burst of light. There’s light in the tunnel! They’re free!

“Tarrick!”

“Grandma?”

Tarrick walks past Rycrofth and stops next to the giant drill. The opening in the tunnel widens and widens. Finally, finally, the last layer of wall tumbles down. Tarrick walks outside into the cool breeze and under the stars. It’s dark now. It’s a different dark than in the tunnels. Out here, it’s warm, inviting, with natural shadows and wide, open spaces. Everything feels more beautiful. The way the canyon glows a dull red in the lack of light. The way Grandma smiles at him. The feeling of Prothea’s fur on his face as she flies up and wraps herself around him. He’s free!

“You made it out!” says Grandma. “I knew you could do it, fluffy pie.”

“How long did it take us to get out of that Meaningful tunnel? Must be a record!”

“Rycrofth?”

Tarrick frowns. Grandma is looking behind his shoulder. Tarrick turns his head back around. Rycrofth is there. Standing a step behind him. Outside.

“Yes, Maeena?”

Grandma walks up to him. She smiles. “Thank you for bringing me back my grandson.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not nothing. You did a good thing. You’re a good person, Rycrofth. And…” Grandma hesitates. She pushes on: “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… that outburst…”

“Hey.” Rycrofth puts a hand on Grandma’s shoulder. “Trust me. It’s fine.”

“Hey!”

Grandma, Tarrick and Prothea turn towards the opening in the canyon wall. Tarrick looks past Rycrofth, still standing inside the tunnel, and at the giant drill. Ulk and Horks are sticking their head out of the giant drill door. Faces half-covered by their copper goggles.

“What about us? We did all the heavy lifting!”

“Yes! Some congratulations would be appreciated, Rycrofth!”

Tarrick smiles.

Yes. Thanks to them. They’ll be fine.