The wagon lurched to a stop at the foot of the mountains. We unloaded out of the back, forming a loose group around Arwen. He lit his lantern, raising it over his head. Other lanterns flashed in the distance.

“Those are our spotters. We shouldn’t get disturbed,” Arwen said.

We walked to the entrance of the mine, a perfect rectangle cut into the face of the mountain. In front, two men in rough spun clothes greeted Arwen. The short, hunting bows slung over their shoulders looked moments away from falling apart.

“Phil. Greg. How’s it looking tonight?” Arwen asked.

“Quiet, Arwen. Real quiet. The attack on the Lagos brothers got everyone jumpy.”

The other guard stepped forward and pushed up his wide-brimmed hat.

“We didn’t see any stragglers. Everyone’s rushing home to fill their plates… while they still can.”

He glanced at me, hawking a glob of yellow phlegm on the ground.

“Easy, Phil.”

Arwen looked over the guard's shoulders into the dark depths ahead of us.

“If the spotters start signalling, run down and find me or Eric. We should be near the dunk.”

“Yes, boss.”

Arwen patted Phil on the shoulder, gesturing us to follow as we began our slow trek down the tunnel’s gradual slope. Greg handed his lantern to Eric, who covered us from the rear.

We walked the first few feet in silence, our shadows dancing on the tunnel’s smooth-cut stone.

“Did the Steeltowners carve this tunnel?” I asked.

“No, this was here before the town, just like the ruins beneath the Mountains. The mining came after.”

"How does the mining operation work?" Isla asked.

"It's a free-for-all for the most part. Both cartels are made up of twenty or more mining crews. The mining crews dig tunnels to search for veins of ore. The tunnels are cartel territory, and anything they find belongs to either us or the Lagos brothers."

"That sounds chaotic. How do you keep track of which tunnel is which?”

"The miners know. Even after the Lagos brothers shook everything up, we were able to divide the new territory. Besides, there's always been enough to go around."

The wide tunnel opened into a wider room. We lit lanterns pulled from our packs, illuminating particles of dust that stirred with our movement. The room reminded me of a smaller version of the Lagos estate’s hall with walls of pale, grey-streaked marble and a floor of broken tiles where hundreds of feet tread.

At the end of the hall, stairs led to a lower floor. Off to the side, a black iron cage dangled over a jagged hole.

“I’m guessing that’s the dunk?” Castille asked.

Arwen kicked a loose stone. It bounced off the metal cage and vanished below.

“Yep. The ruins go down four—five floors. Most of the floors have been picked clean of treasure.”

"Most?" Isla asked.

"We think some of the ruins are unexplored. There could be hidden rooms or even whole floors no one has found."

“I bet Nostrand is on a hidden floor,” I said.

“Don’t jinx it,” Castille said.

Arwen ignored us to finish his story.

“After all the treasure was cleared out, the explorers discovered ore in the walls of the lowest floor, and the rest, they say, is history.”

I walked closer to the cage. Above it, a series of pulleys held it in place with braided rope. Behind it, a circular face sculpted on the wall stared back at me.

"What's this."

"That's ole pie face," Eric said.

"They say he watches over the miners," Arwen said.

It looked more like a sun to me. I walked closer, running my hand over the smooth, carved face. It was cool to the touch... and hungry.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Isla! It's enchanted."

She dropped her staff, running to the wall to rest a hand below its right eye.

Castille picked up Isla’s staff, running a hand along the black wood grain.

"What do you feel?"

"It feels like it's waiting for something."

Beside her, I burned my will, pushing it into the face through my right hand. The energy stopped at my fingertips. Waiting? It was more like knocking on a door with no one home.

"Is there something behind this wall?" Isla asked.

Arwen's mouth twitched.

"We don't know. It's bad luck to mess with the face."

Castille scoffed.

"You're already spirits-cursed miners. Dugan."

He nodded, stepping out of the background to stand beside Isla with his axe held high.

“Wait!”

CRACK!

The edge of the axe sank into the face.

Arwen and Eric's faces paled.

Dugan yanked his weapon free. Isla held her lantern to the narrow groove and gasped as the stone reknit itself before our eyes.

Spirits below!

I blinked, turning back to Castille. She raised her eyebrows.

"Impressive."

Isla ran her fingers over the smooth surface.

"Incredible. Self-healing stone. I’ve never seen writings about this.”

Castille gave her a bitter smile.

“You’d be surprised what they don’t put in books.”

We spent the next few minutes hacking away at different places along the wall. No matter where Dugan struck, the wall healed itself before he could break through to the other side.

He panted, shaking his head.

"Dugan’s right. We can’t spend all night banging our heads against the wall. I say we take the dunk and set our eyes on the lowest floor," Castille said.

"I second that," Arwen said.

Isla sighed, taking her staff back from Castille.

“If you think so.”

The cage was big enough to fit two people. The black iron bars crisscrossed, leaving wide rectangular gaps in the upper half of the cage. The bottom half was lined with mesh for sure footing.

“Dugan, we're up."

Castille and Dugan got into the cage, their weapons drawn. The man gripped his axe until his knuckles went white.

Was he nervous? I didn’t blame him. They were descending into pitch-black darkness with only their lanterns to light the way.

Arwen released a lock on the cage’s winch while Eric turned the hand crank counterclockwise. Metal slapped against metal with rhythmic clicks as the two warriors were lowered into the abyss.

"How will you know when to bring us up?" I asked.

"There's a bell at the top of the cage. Ring it hard enough, and we'll hear."

Isla and I waited with bated breath for the ring of a bell or a scream cut short. Instead, the winch continued to click. The pulley creaked as more rope was fed into it.

A few minutes later, a metal clang echoed from the hole, and the rope slackened.

"They're at the bottom," Eric said.

I knelt over the hole. In the darkness, two faint flames flickered.

"Castille?!"

"We're good!"

I turned to Isla. We exchanged nods.

Eric turned the hand crank clockwise, raising the metal cage back to the first floor.

Our turn.

I took a deep breath before I stepped into the cage.

"Good luck," Arwen said.

I nodded, my eyes lingering on his bruise.

"Keep an eye out for us."

Isla elbowed my arm.

"Jacob!" She whispered.

We descended. I raised my lantern high, squinting into the darkness as it swallowed us.

Where were you hiding, Nostrand? Somewhere in the mines or on one of these floors?

I leaned forward, expecting to see a face in the dark.

The cage dropped half a foot, jolting me upright.

"Hey!"

"Sorry! The rope got caught!"

Isla sighed. One hand held her staff; the other held the cage in a vice grip. Her lantern lay on the floor.

"I don’t think these cages are safe."

I smirked.

"Safety gets in the way of profits."

The cage scraped against the second floor.

Isla yelped and jumped away before her left hand was crushed.

“No! Definitely not safe.”

I laughed. Isla frowned.

“Why are you laughing?”

I shrugged.

“Because it’s funny.”

“I almost got hurt. That’s funny to you?”

“No, but people getting hurt is funny… generally.”

She flashed a coy smile.

“So, I’m not a person?”

I paused. I wasn’t familiar with this game. It was a trap with no right answer. So, I guessed.

“Maybe you’re something more. At least to me.”

Isla quirked an eyebrow before giving me a broad grin.

“That works for me.”

I raised my eyebrows. I must have guessed right.

Something more? Hmm.

The cage banged to a stop at the bottom floor.

Dugan was waiting for us, sitting on a rock with his axe across his lap and his lantern beside his foot.

"Where's Castille?" I asked.

Dugan pointed to a side of the room that had been picked away into a series of tunnels. The room around us looked like the first floor, except for the cylindrical stone columns evenly spaced to support the four floors above.

"Castille?!"

"Down here. Looks like this is the opening to the mines."

"He wouldn't be there," Isla whispered.

She wandered away to examine the rest of the room.

Castille walked up from the opening, her longsword slung over one shoulder, lantern in her left hand.

"The mine goes down forever. We should finish investigating this floor first."

I gestured over my shoulder.

"Isla's on it."

We found her hugging the corner of a wall near the metal cage.

"You OK, girl?" Castille asked.

Isla pressed her ear against the wall.

"This is directly below the face on the top floor."

I raised my lantern. While similar to the first floor, the layout was different. The stairs were on the other side of the room, and instead of a flat wall near the cage, a sharp corner faced us.

"You don't think..."

I pressed my hand against the wall.

Not hungry. Not enchanted. I twisted out my dagger and scratched the marble surface.

The rest of the party crowded around me. The stone didn’t heal.

"I still have one hand bomb. I could blow it open."

"Maybe I can help," Isla said.

She placed her hand on the scratched surface. The scratch deepened. The stone around it cracked, creating a spider web of deep grooves in the wall.

My eyes widened.

Another type of Landbound magic?!

Of course, as the princess of Luskaine, she was connected to all the land in the country.

She could do… anything.

"Dugan.”

Dugan stepped forward and slammed the blunt side of his axe against the wall with repeated swings. The marble chipped away in sheets, forming a hole big enough to fit your head and arm.

Isla stuck her torso through the opening before we could stop her. She pulled it out, smiling at us in the lantern light.

"What did you see?" Castille asked.

“Our way in. The entrance to the real lowest floor.”