The high sloping walls of an ancient caldera hid Kirvik from view during the day. But when evening set and the tirstra lamps flickered on, the soft glow of shifting blue and purple lights turned it into a beacon in a land of ice fields and rocky plateaus. It had been one year since Noswean, with help from Faranian prospectors, had discovered several viable sites from which to mine tirstra. And though only recently established, the town of Kirvik had proved extremely lucrative as miners uncovered greater depths and richer deposits. It was a town of wealth and plenty, and living there was devastatingly dull.

Connal threw his leg over the bedroom window and surveyed the street two stories below. Curfews were for children, so Connal, turned recently thirteen, climbed the rest of the way out, hung from the windowsill, and landed quietly on the soft soil of his mother's budding garden. A growing paranoia over missing miners saw townsfolk shutter themselves indoors come nightfall. Outside pubs and gentlemen clubs, the street barker's halfhearted calls for patronage died on the wind. The recent turn in mood reflected something Connal had known well before his family dragged him out there. Kirvik was a bore and anything approaching interesting waited outside town.

Halfway to the mining site, Connal's chest tightened. Paranoia must be contagious. It had come through the front door, carried on the lips of his mother's friends, whispering of 'bad elements' prowling the streets at night. Well, the streets were behind him now, so even if that were true, he had no cause to worry. And besides that, the switchblade in his pants pocket gave him courage enough to put one foot in front of the other. Connal spat on the grey, rocky ground. Just let any killer or penny filcher try. He feared nothing, just like father. Although, the paranoia might have reached father too. He remembered the gift of the switchblade, given without occasion. He remembered father's downcast eyes and hard set jaw. For whatever fear he saw in his old man then, he knew that father was strong. Miner strong. And so was he.

"Oy, Connal, who ya aiming to poke with that?" asked a familiar voice.

Connal glanced up to see Monte, flanked by Ziv and Trevonn. He eased his tight-knuckle grip on the switchblade. When had he taken it out? "Any poor soul who tries to lay hands on us." He meant to say it as a joke but his voice trembled. The boys didn't smile either. They must have the paranoia as well. He's infected them with it.

Monte grinned and made a rude gesture more suited to men in brothels rather than boys on an adventure. "Let's agree to let the poor miners live tonight, shall we?"

Connal flashed a smile his voice couldn't betray. He nodded at Monte. "What's in the bag?"

Monte shrugged. "Provisions."

Ziv stepped forward, rubbing his arms. "As though we'll be out here long. See those clouds choking the moonlight? Them's--."

"Rain clouds, rain clouds, rain clouds. Don't you get tired of saying it?" Trevonn clutched his chest with both hands and stumbled toward Connal. "A storm so fierce its set to sweep us off the mountain!"

Ziv rolled his eyes. "I didn't say all that. I'm just saying let's get a damn move on."

Monte jolted straight. "Heard that, Trev?"

Trevonn shook his head. "Said the bloody 'D' word..."

Monte set his hands on his hips, the very picture of his mother. "The fucking mouth on this sailor." He turned toward the perimeter fence of the tirstra mine. "If you didn't want to come then why did ya?"

"Obviously I wanted to. I'm here ain't I?" Ziv walked ahead. "So are we getting on or are you just gonna stand there yapping?"

Trevonn laughed. "Better move. Ziv's got a curfew."

Connal caught up and wrapped an arm around Ziv's shoulder. "Your ma still give you curfew? Sweet Ziv has to be hidden from the world come nightfall?"

"Piss off forever, Connal. You're not allowed out either. My ma spoke to your ma. She said if you're not allowed out, then--"

"My ma spoke to your ma," mimicked Connal. Ziv shook him off.

Monte and Trevonn joined their steady march toward the steel wire fence.

"We're not waiting for Clem then?" asked Trevonn.

Connal put his hands in his pockets. The wind had indeed picked up and a storm scent was in the air. But he wouldn't give Ziv the satisfaction of agreeing with him. "Clem hasn't been let out since his old man walked out."

Trevonn smirked. "Walked out did he?"

"Please tell me you don't buy into this talk of a killer in Kirvik." Monte adjusted the satchel strap across his chest. It looked light. If there were provisions in there he didn't bring much. Likely he had no intention to share.

"It's strange though," said Trevonn. "Only miners have gone missing. They head off to the site and never return. Weeks of this now."

"My ma says that--"

Monte snorted. "His ma again."

"Shut up," said Ziv. "My ma says its another miner doing the killing. Says the company hires so many that they can't do their due diligence. If you let any ol' sort in, this is what you get."

The thought of a psychopath sneaking up on his father in the mine's dark tunnels angered Connal. It was a coward who chose not to meet a person head on. "No one's getting killed. Think, Ziv. No bodies have turned up. Men show for work, get their first pay, and head off to the next place. Simple as that."

"And Clem's dad?" asked Ziv.

"Got sick of his family," said Trevonn, laughing.

"Hush now." Monte stopped at the fence and peered into the darkness down both ends. "Shall we?"

They clambered over with relative ease. Ziv, last to go, caught his pant leg on something and nearly fell on his face. Trevonn helped him up and dusted off his clothes, all the while doing a poor job of holding back yet more laughter. Monte signalled them deeper into the site when a crack of thunder made them jump. Conall barely swallowed a yelp the others would have never let him live down.

The site was nearly empty save for the occasional miner coming and going between the big lift and the cantina. The rest were down the shafts and tunnels sprawling deep beneath them. Every few metres, tirstra lamps hung on tall poles lining the perimeter fence. More islands of light covered the two guard shacks on the east and west entrances. Darkness covered the rest, the tall stacks of crates creating odd shapes wherever they looked. A large patch of flat ground lay uncovered at the corner of the site where ships could land to take on tirstra laden crates.

Trevonn leaned his arms on a chest high steel crate and surveyed Kirvik's entire reason for existing. "Well. This is dull. Don't know what I expected but this place is deader than Kirvik."

"All the action is down below," said Ziv. "But I'm not about to ride the lift down. That's a sure way to get caught."

Conall wondered if his father was down there now. Or perhaps he was taking his break in the cantina, settling into a dinner mother had packed. He thought back to afternoons in the kitchen and of the familiar heady smell that would often waft out a hot oven. Father had said mother's sweet bread gave him the strength to lift his pick, day after day, and night after night. Conall smiled to himself. Miner strong. He pitied anyone that would try to take his father on, coward or not.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Where's Monte?" asked Ziv.

Conall looked around only to be greeted by darkness and dirt.

Trevonn started to climb atop a crate for a better vantage when Ziv pulled him down. "Are you trying to get seen?" he hissed.

"As if." Trevonn swatted Ziv's hand away. "Its too damn dark to see anything."

Conall's concern for his father suddenly seemed so small next to the mounting concern he felt for him and his friends. They were, after all, just kids. Not miner strong. Not yet. Easy pickings for a crazed man lurking in the darkness. He called Monte's name in a shouted whisper.

Trevonn moved deeper into the maze of crates, carts, and hard packed earth. "Think he went this way."

Something slammed against Conall's back and he had to throw his hands up to avoid kissing the ground. Small rocks scraped against his palms. They stung immediately.

"Shit," came Monte's voice. "Get up, Conall."

Conall stood and turned. A bright beam of purple light forced his eyes shut.

"The hell are you boys doing here?" asked a gruff voice.

Damn it, Monte. Conall ran through several excuses but there would be no talking their way out. They've trespassed and got caught. Father will be furious.

"Thieves," said the gruff voice. "You hand that satchel over. Right now."

Conall slowly opened his eyes. Beside him, Ziv and Trevonn stood unmoving, the hard lines of their shadows outlined on the heavy grey crates behind them.

"We weren't gonna take them," said Monte. "We just wanted to have a closer look. That's all."

We? Conall clenched his jaw until it hurt. Stupid, stupid, Monte. And now he's roping the rest of them in with him.

"I said hand it over!"

"Get that light out of my eyes," Conall shouted back.

Another crack of thunder pierced the night. This rang louder, reverberating in his chest. The storm was nearly on them.

"Don't you tell me what to do, boy. This is the last time I ask. Hand that satchel over or--"

The light of the tirstra lamp vanished. Conall opened his eyes wide. There was nothing but darkness as his vision took time to adjust.

"W-what just happened?" asked Ziv. "Where'd he go?"

"Who the hell cares?" Trevonn pushed past them and ran. "Let's get out of here!"

Monte looked back at Conall with apologetic eyes. It only made Conall hate him more. "Hurry, Con."

They took off at a sprint as the rain began to fall. Conall grabbed the satchel strap and nearly pulled Monte to the ground. "You came here to steal batteries. You didn't want to explore. Asshole. Should have just gone on your own and left us out of it."

Monte spun to face him. "So what?" He pushed Conall's chest. "Who cares? You gonna tell the constable? Let's just go."

Conall pushed him back. His feet sank deeper into the muddying ground. "Leave what you took." He didn't care that Monte was stealing. But he lied to them and that made Conall's blood boil. Monte made a thief out of him when he was anything but. "Drop the batteries, Monte. I mean it."

Monte's face screwed up in anger. "Or what?"

Conall blinked the rain out of his eyes. He squeezed the switchblade in his pocket. 'We'. Monte had made an accomplice out of him. A criminal. A disgrace to his father. Why should he be punished for what another had done?

"The hell are you two doing?" Trevonn had run back for them. Ziv trailed behind, panting hard.

The high pitched wail of an alarm rang across the site.

Ziv placed his hands over his head. "That must have been the foreman that set that off." He sloshed in the mud as he paced. "There aren't many kids in Kirvik. They'll know it was us that snuck in here. Damn it, Monte. When my ma finds out--"

"Shut up about your ma," shouted the rest.

But Ziv was right. There was nothing left to do but leave and hope the foreman didn't recognise their faces. They headed once more for the fence.

"Wait." Monte stopped. "Listen."

That idiot really did want them to get caught. Conall was ready to curse him out and beat his face in when he heard a scream in the distance.

"What..." Ziv fidgeted with his hands, shivering in the dark and drenched in cold rain.

The sight of him broke Conall's heart a little. Right then he made a decision. He and Monte would no longer be friends. He promised himself he would treat Ziv better. He would do better. Be better. But first, they needed to leave, away from whoever was screaming. He grabbed Ziv's arm. "C'mon."

"Don't suppose..." Trevonn huffed as they neared the perimeter. "That scream had anything to do with..."

"Save your breath," said Conall. The mud pulled at his feet with every step and his legs ached with the extra effort.

Another scream, pained and raw, sounded out ahead of them. They stopped again, just feet away from a pool of purple light shining over the guard shack at the western entrance. Before this new scream ended, another erupted to the east. Then came another scream from a different direction, and another, and more until they could no longer attribute the sound to a single person. A motor roared to life indicating the lift's return to the surface.

"What's happening?" asked Ziv. He was nearly in tears and Conall couldn't blame him.

The door to the guard shack opened. A miner in overalls, carrying a tirstra lamp, removed the pipe from his mouth. "What are you lot doing here?" Before they could answer, the man continued. "Never mind that. Hear those alarms don't you? Likely a cave in or some other. You boys get to town, double quick. Send for help. Strong men with buckets and barrows to move rubble."

A roar from the centre of the site shook Conall's chest. This wasn't like the thunder from earlier. This bellowed deeper, menacing and angry. It ended in a high-pitched wail that reminded Conall of a small goat he had found, screaming in pain when it fell into a rut and broke its leg. When that alien shriek ended another sounded out from a different place within the site. Whatever animal made that sound, there were dozens of them.

The miner tipped his pipe and tapped it against the side of the shack. "The hell is that?" He raised his lamp and squinted into the darkness. "You there, stop--"

Something rushed past Conall. It clipped his side and sent pins and needles running up his arm. Before he could process what had happened, before he noticed the warm blood running down his fingers, the miner fell on his back, wrestling with a mushroom shaped creature the size of a boar.

The beast balanced on two, fleshy legs while stabbing at the miner with a third. The miner flailed and had his lamp knocked aside. It fell into the mud with a dull smack. The creature stopped a moment then dove at the lamp, smothering it with its belly.

Under the light of the tall lamps, rain shone on the beast's skin, black as obsidian rock. A faint purple light throbbed from the edges of its circular body. The light moved through snaking and branching veins to its bulbous centre. Moments later, it shuddered and stopped, still as the boys all watching aghast.

The miner remained on his back. He felt at the gashes on his face. Rainfall washed the blood down his cheeks but he continued to bleed. He let out a faint moan and the creature leapt back onto the miner. It smacked and stabbed its legs onto him until he lay still.

For a moment, Conall thought he had started to cry. It was Ziv, mumbling incoherently through rapid sucking sobs. The creature flipped its body on an edge and turned like a wheel, using its legs to move through the mud with one disgusting smack after another. It turned to reveal its underside and the circular maw underneath that housed rows of too-sharp teeth. Conall reached behind him, motioning toward Monte. "The satchel."

"W-what?"

Conall shook his hand, not daring to take his eyes off the creature. "Bastard. Give it." He felt the leather strap in his hand and held the satchel before him. The creature landed back on all three legs. It bobbed up and down, curiously. Two long, barbed tentacles unfolded from somewhere within it, waving it above its body in the satchel's direction. Conall bit his bottom lip to keep from screaming and flung the satchel aside. Tirstra batteries spilled out onto the mud. The creature pounced on the batteries faster than Conall had ever seen any animal move. He grabbed Trevonn by the collar and looked at the rest. "Run."

They had cleared the mining site when Ziv finally asked, "Is it following us?"

"Not...stopping to look," said Trevonn.

"Monsters," wheezed Monte. "Fucking monsters come out of the mine."

Conall wanted to smack him. Not because he thought him wrong, but because he found himself agreeing with the idiot that had nearly got them killed. He slowed to a stop. Fear mounted as his friends ran ahead of him but he could no longer muster the will to keep moving. Father was back there. What kind of son was he to run away?

Monte was the first to notice. They all doubled back for him.

Trevonn seemed to read his mind and said, "We need to warn people, Con. Our folks. They'll know what to do. We'll all head back together, a whole mob of us to chase those things away." He shifted on his feet, antsy to get moving again. "Come on. You aren't getting anything done on your own. Your da needs help so lets get it to him."

Ziv tugged Conall's sleeve. "Don't go back. Please."

Monte remained a few feet away, not daring another step closer to the mine. "We'll get folks. Weapons. We'll take dynamite and mining equipment from the worker's warehouse and blow those things to pieces." His voice shook, like he was convincing himself as much as the rest of them.

Conall shivered, suddenly realizing how cold he felt in the wind and the rain. His forearm was cut, his hands still stung, and he was a coward leaving his father behind. He blinked back tears, nodded and ran toward town.

Kirvik's lights and red shingled roofs had never looked so welcoming. All Conall could think as his lungs beat against his chest was that he needed to get home. It was the first time he thought of Kirvik as such. But as much as he groused it was home. And it was safe.

One by one the lights ahead flickered to nothing. Then, screaming rose up from Kirvik.