Lion's sword. [https://i.imgur.com/9alhGnH.jpeg]

The hole led us into a huge underground cavity, illuminated by red flame. From a crack in the rock mass, a red-hot mass flowed downward in a wide red sheet. Either lava, or some kind of flowing metal. Hissing accompanied all this, crackling, gurgling. The spectacle is beautiful, but dangerous. Having inhaled the fumes, one could forever remain a silent spectator.

I took a run through a huge, simply indescribable cave. Once it was inhabited, life was seething here and passions were boiling. The place belonged to the Rocktopus, who left the place because of an unexpected natural phenomenon.

The sentries we encountered were supposed to notify the bulk of the worms about the unsafe advance of the lava. This version belonged to me. In fact, those rocktopus could do some other things.

I approached the red-hot mass. It flowed down, filling the underground space invisible to the eye. When the cavity is filled, the lava will change direction and move towards the coal mine.

All these findings added additional excitement to me. First, I thought about the fate of Ulia. What will happen to the villagers when lava fills all the holes? I realized why the forest dried up, the roots of the trees burned in hellfire.

The cave continued to amaze me. Now in one place, now in another, clouds of gas burst out of the cracks, and the air was filled with the smell of rotten eggs. In different places, I came across strange deposits. If I were a geologist or volcanologist, I would say that these bright yellow or white deposits could be a sign of sulfur. But these findings were still beyond my understanding. I didn’t feel like I had stumbled upon anything of value.

At first glance, the cave seemed explored. There is not a single place left in it where we have not visited. I found a strange place, the size of two football fields, strewn with strange balls. The size of a pigeon egg, the balls looked like artificial objects. I couldn’t guess who made them and why. I found the answer to this riddle only one hundred and eighty-five years later...

- And what was that? Asked Michael. - Now you can tell.

-Not yet, — I smiled. - The time has not come yet. Well, besides the balls, my pet found some other minerals that smelled like ammonia.

- Well, it could have been ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is not found in nature in its natural form, as it is produced. But may be contained in animal waste such as urine and excrement. - our Botanist Alex flashed his knowledge. - Most likely, your furry came across a rocktopus latrine, or a colony of bats could live in that place.

- Anything is possible. In principle, at this stage, it is not so important. I still didn’t know how I could use what I found. I was interested in how we could quickly get away from this underground plateau. Is it really the only entrance guarded by rocktopus?

Fluffy led me along. He deftly avoided obstacles, serving as an example for me. We saw a dozen minks, which eventually led us to a passage guarded by worms. The sensitive guards were sleeping. Well, what else to do during such a service? After all, they only expected the approach of fire, which with its warmth could notify anyone in advance of its approach.

It seemed to me that the worms were snoring. They exhaled air with the sound of snoring. The two long bodies looked harmless enough. The motionless tentacles stretched along the body trembled slightly. Each tentacle ended in a pair of small hooks.

I moved according to my pet’s instructions. The little animal had excellent sense of smell. Thanks to him, we found a network of other corridors. He picked up the slightest movement and let me know when to freeze and when to move. Thus, we avoided meeting more than a dozen rocktopuses. The longer we moved, the more often worms we encountered on our way. The network of corridors has become more extensive. In one place we encountered a whole working group expanding the underground space. Like earthmoving machines, one group of worms crushed rock with their mouths. These workers were of impressive size and were bulky and clumsy. The movements of these workers could be compared to the movements of an ordinary caterpillar eating a green leaf. But if the caterpillar ate the leaf for food, then the digging rocktopus got rid of the crushed mass of loose earthly rock through the anus. The round sausages were picked up by the worms and taken away somewhere deeper.

The “concrete workers,” who reinforced the walls with their saliva followed the shrews. I didn’t notice anyone directing the roctopuses, telling them what to do. Although the work seemed slow, the team demonstrated excellent coordination. As we passed by the working worms, I once again became convinced that the Roktopus were not attacking the village for the sake of killing or amusement. Burning lava is bad, but it’s not deadly. Corridors can be clogged with waste, fire cannot penetrate through dense earth. That expansion work is underway suggests that the worms have some kind of development plan. I’d like to meet some of the older ones, have a chat.

Driven by this desire, I walked from one corridor to another until I came upon a group of people. They were sitting in one of the wide rooms, unguarded. Because walking in the dark, not knowing the direction, not knowing where to go, was tantamount to suicide. I don’t know the purpose behind their kidnapping or what the worms intended to do with them afterwards. I saw an old woman kidnapped from the village. With her head in her lap, she was crying. On the faces of the men abducted while working in the mine, despondency reigned. Among this group were several young boys. One of the young men was wearing something that looked like protective armor. I approached him, hovering over his head, and called out:

- Lyon!

The young man woke up and twisted his head around.

- Lyon, tell all the men to hold hands. I’ll lead you out of here.

- Who are you? - Lyon was in no hurry to do what I told him to do. Maybe he thought he was just hearing someone’s voice from his long inactivity. I didn’t introduce myself. My name wouldn’t tell him anything, anyway. I needed a password, some familiar name that would make the young man move.

- Yurik sent me, he’s anxious about you.

Hearing his brother’s name, Lyon stood up and leaned over to the men to give them my instruction. I grabbed Lyon by his belt and pulled him behind me. I believe if he had felt my hand in his, the tiny size would have frightened him and he would have been scared, causing the rescue operation to fail. It was already on the verge of failure because of one adult. He had endured the longest period of imprisonment and had become significantly weakened.

I passed a flask of water down the chain. It shrank with me, but its contents remained the same. Everyone was thirsty. I waited until the watering hole was over. If the operation had been more carefully thought out, the prisoners could not only drink but also eat. Although the water had a tonic effect on the people. If they had water delivered to them, it meant that the rescuers were hopeful of saving all the prisoners.

The return trip took our team a long time. People walked through the corridors in a half bent position. The knees were very badly hurt from such unusual walking, and my lower back ached. We had to stop often to take a break and avoid encountering the worm invaders.

No one was going to eat the kidnapped people, they were meant for other purposes. Not for exchange. People didn’t take the worms prisoner.

No one guarded the prisoners, we left the underground prison and no one raised the alarm. This behavior of the Roktopus was even more alarming. What were they up to?

At some point, people just fell to the floor. They had no strength left to move any further. Taking advantage of the respite, I sent Fluffy on a reconnaissance mission. Or rather, he sent himself. I don’t think he cared about the rescue mission. He didn’t know anyone here, and he hardly understood the bonds of brotherhood. The fact that he didn’t run away at the beginning of the journey was a miracle to me. Touche, like a cat walking by himself, made his own decisions. I must admit that they always ended with a positive result.

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During the absence of the little guide I had time for reflection. From what I and Fluffy managed to see we could assume that the hot mass had driven the worms out of their place. We did a reconnaissance and found out that in one place the underground dwellers cannot pass because of the monolithic wall. No going around it, no digging under it. On the other side, the Rocktopus hit a coal seam. If I understand correctly, coal causes the worms suffering, burns and wounds. Put it all together and we still don't understand why they're attacking. What prevents them from continuing to live their lives without starting wars with humans?

The rescued hostages slept and regained their strength. They could afford it by trusting me. What would they say if they saw me in my unusual appearance in daylight. I think they would have been afraid. As I perched on the ceiling of the dark corridor, I wondered about the nature of human fear. What is this force that can paralyze even the bravest of us? Perhaps it is a remnant of an ancient reaction to danger, embedded in our ancestors, when survival depended on the ability to react quickly to environmental threats.

Take, for example, an encounter with a roctopus. There are many earthworms living on the ground. They can form colonies called “clusters” or “aggregations”, especially when certain conditions are present, such as having enough food and a suitable environment. In such colonies, these harmless ones can live close together and work together to decompose organic material and enrich the soil. The size of earthworms does not intimidate people. But what happens if the worm increases in size a hundred times? Even if it still feeds on organic matter, the word “danger” will be on people’s minds.

But fear not only protects us, it can also limit our lives, causing us to avoid new trials and limits. It’s like a prisoner imprisoned in the dark chamber of his own perceptions, shrinking from imagined threats.

It would be unjust to claim that I wasn’t afraid as I descended into the dark hole. Despite the magical power bestowed upon me by Oceania, fear still gripped my heart. Because I didn’t know what I was going to face, how strong the supposed enemy was.

I know that fear is also a powerful engine of progress. It makes us look for ways to overcome, to rise above our complexes and discover new possibilities. And in this contradiction - the struggle between the desire for self-preservation and the desire for growth - lies the deepest meaning of human nature.

What drove Lyon to challenge the subterranean creatures? I think the same fear, or rather, not wanting to look like a coward in the eyes of the villagers. We all deal with our fears in our own way. Some of us hide from them, hoping they will go away on their own, while others go to face them, overcoming them every day. But in the end, fear is not an obstacle, but a challenge we must accept in order to become stronger and wiser.

Not knowing what to do, I crouched down and felt rather than saw the returning fuzzball. The animal was awake and behaving. His appearance said that nothing threatened me and my companions. Either the people were exhausted, or smelling freedom, they relaxed and slept like babies. I had to use coercive measures to wake them up. Tush said that for the shortest way out, we should go back a bit and try to enter another corridor.

- Is there anything on the way? - I asked in a low voice. Fluffy could answer in a full voice; no one else could understand him but me, anyway. But I had to be careful; any careless word could cause alarm and panic. I didn’t want to run down dark corridors and crowd people together like stupid sheep.

A dozen steps before the turn, I said to Lyon:

- Freeze and wait for me here!

One of the rocktopuses was positioned near the entrance to the corridor we needed. It did not block the entrance, which was to our advantage. Our group couldn’t have gotten past it quietly and unnoticed. The old woman alone was worth it. All the way she grunted and groaned as if we were taking her not to freedom, but to execution. We couldn’t leave her behind. And neither could the man who was captured by the worms first. He didn’t grunt or groan, but he was moving very slowly.

- Lyon, — I began to fill the young man in on my plan. He had been chosen by me as the leader of the group and now the freedom and lives of the group members depended on his decisive actions. - As soon as the flames erupt, you lead the group out into the open and follow the little beast.

- Follow what? - Leon was surprised. - What little beast?

- A small, fluffy, puppy-like animal will run in front of you, showing you the way.

- Why a little animal? - Leon didn’t stop. - What about you?

- I’ll be chasing the roctopus away from the entrance. The main thing is, don’t be frightened by what you’ll see.

- You can show yourself to me now, so I know who I’m talking to, — the young man persisted. He should have agreed with my plan and not wasted time, because the first worm was joined by the second one. In the dark corridor we could hear the movement of other roctopuses. Obviously, the escape of the humans had been noticed and while we were wandering, the underground dwellers had sounded the alarm.

I clapped the guy on the cheek. I didn’t expect the slap, despite my small stature, to be hard and loud. The sound of the slap alerted the worm, and it made muffled womb sounds. When he located the place where the sound was coming from, he began to turn around, closing the passage with his massive body. If he stuck his rear end into the passage, there was nothing I could do to dislodge him. And there were other worms behind us. The situation was becoming critical.

I quickly ran to the right corridor, taking an advantageous position behind the Roktopus, and whispered:

- Ignis flamma! Flames of fire!

Torch flames erupted from all four of my palms. The worm recoiled backwards in fright. I slowly stepped on it, taking advantage of the sudden daze. Lyon should have been rushing by now, taking people down the escape corridor, but the dark hole was still lifeless.

Are they asleep in there?

- Touche, get the men out!

Obviously, Fluffy understood my plan better than anyone else. He shouted in such a shrill voice that the first to dive into the escape corridor was a weeping old woman, followed by an infirm man, and then everyone else. Several men wanted to enter the corridor at once, creating a crush. Lyon kicked the ore miners aside and stepped through the doorway without a line. I closed the chain, waving my arms and threatening to burn anyone who came near me. Luckily, the Roktopus had a sense of self-preservation and didn’t pursue us.

The corridor led people straight into the mine. The high ceilings and large space allowed people to stand up straight and enjoy themselves. It took me many minutes to reincarnate back into a normal person. The reincarnation process was less painless, and Fluffy was hanging around, not knowing what he could do to help me.

- Touche, there are my clothes in one basket. If you can bring please, — I asked my little friend. There was only one old woman in our group, and yet I didn’t want to embarrass her with my nakedness.

Fluffy turned out to be an excellent performer. The old woman shrieked when something furry rushed past her, knocked over the basket and grabbed the rags and ran off down a dark hallway. One man tried to swat my pet, but the furry thing was more nimble. I got dressed and walked half-crouched out to the men. They looked at me in surprise, for no one had ever seen me before. Except for the miners. I wasn’t sure if the men remembered me, I looked a little different in the half-dark corridor.

- Oris? I believe that’s your name, — one man recognized me. - You’re an Adept of Oceania.

- I’m a wizard’s apprentice, — I lowered my title a little. I kicked the basket aside and picked up my sword from the ground, forgetting that its owner was nearby.

- You found my sword, — Lyon exclaimed, holding out his hand. I was becoming unarmed again. When will I have a real sword in my hands?

The men left the mine in a hurry. I was the only one in no hurry. I fulfilled Yurick’s request, got his brother back. Now we can think of ways to help the village.