The long descent.

A dull sheen of gore leads the way for the men to follow, the snake like head having dragged its bleeding parts away from the battle, here and there chunks of flesh seem to have fallen off the thing. Cocking their heads to the side the men can hear the creature in the depths of the cavern bleating, no doubt warning, or calling, its fellow. Every now and then the deep flap of a wing draws their eyes upwards into the darkness.

Sharpening their pace the three intrepid adventures quickly traverse the open tunnel and cross the caves vast winding expanse. The path is clear due to the swath of destruction the proceeding army have caused, and expected the digging tools have clearly broken through the opposite wall and continued to gnaw through the dense rock.

Tom takes the lead once again with Albert and Henry falling behind to guard the rear; all three have their weapons at the ready, loaded against any nasty surprises.

“How do you suppose that beast survives down here chap?” Henry asks after a long silence, his words ringing down the corridor.

“Its likely that the thing made its way into that cave via another route lad.” Albert answers, “Might be worth noting!”

Henry trots closer to his friend, “why the devil would we wish to note that?”

“In case this expedition turns south, might be the only way out of this hell hole!” Tom spits.

“Hmm, I might fancy the end of a bullet to that thing Tom!” Henry blurts back.

Clearing his throat Albert adds. “Quite right.”

Moving forwards at a steady pace the men notice suddenly that the tunnel unexpectedly takes a steep downward turn, as if the massive mole shifted forty-five degrees and started the push downwards. At the base of the new direction tire marks and the scuff of shoes and other paraphernalia mark the way, its clear the assortment of men and machines followed their gigantic digging thing.

Stopping on the edge of the drift the three stand shoulder to shoulder, a warm breeze billows upwards and tussles the torn edges of their clothes. Great bouts of steam can be seen not twenty feet below, the mass looking like a cloud bank from above, while the walls of the cavern are slick with moisture and condensation.

Touching the rock with his hand Tom runs it downwards “Looks like they hit a sudden soft patch of stone, their great beast must have tilted and then broken through the dirt.” He says while grasping a layer of moist soil.

“That’s not so good Tom.” Henry adds.

“Why?” Albert quickly asks.

Lifting the lantern to look at the walls and the deep cavern Tom thinks for a moment, “well it could go two ways really.” Stroking his stubble he continues, “If they’ve hit this soft soil then its likely they’re already in the cave of beasts, but if this is the first stirrings of the ocean floor then perhaps they’ve drowned in their own avarice.”

Grasping the wall Albert exclaims, “Ocean floor!”

“Yes, yes of course, they may have drilled down too soon, if so this may be a boon!”

“Now wait a moment Henry, Tom, what’s all this talk about the ocean floor?”

“I thought we’d gone over this ol’ boy?” Tom asks.

“Well, I wasn’t really paying too much attention, besides I never once imagined that I’d be a part of on of your mad adventures.”

“Well I suppose that’s all change then hasn’t it.” Henry says while clapping the man on the back, a large cloud of dust spilling from his top while his hands grasp the moist rock for a handhold.

“If you’ll remember we found a large ocean, or body of water that clung to the top of the cave surface, an inverted sea if you will. It contained fish, waves, huge beasts, islands and as much water as any normal sea or ocean.” Taking a deep breath Tom squints down the hole, “if they’ve burrowed into the floor of that sea then they will surely have drowned.”

“And if not?” Albert asks through his teeth almost scared of the answer.

“Then they have an army massing on the shore of that great ocean, an army that we must stop.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Oh it gets worse.” Henry and Albert look into Tom’s eyes as he speaks, “we’re going to have to traverse this tunnel to ensure they meet a watery grave.”

“Yep that is worse.” Both men echo.

Stopping himself for a moment Henry looks over the trodden soil and deformed edges of the hole, “How do you suppose all the vehicles and men got down there?”

“A mystery.” Albert adds.

“Perhaps the great beast caA dull sheen of gore leads the way for the men to follow, the snake like head having dragged its bleeding parts away from the battle, here and there chunks of flesh seem to have fallen off the thing. Cocking their heads to the side the men can hear the creature in the depths of the cavern bleating, no doubt warning, or calling, its fellow. Every now and then the deep flap of a wing draws their eyes upwards into the darkness.

Sharpening their pace the three intrepid adventures quickly traverse the open tunnel and cross the caves vast winding expanse. The path is clear due to the swath of destruction the proceeding army have caused, and expected the digging tools have clearly broken through the opposite wall and continued to gnaw through the dense rock.

Tom takes the lead once again with Albert and Henry falling behind to guard the rear; all three have their weapons at the ready, loaded against any nasty surprises.

“How do you suppose that beast survives down here chap?” Henry asks after a long silence, his words ringing down the corridor.

“Its likely that the thing made its way into that cave via another route lad.” Albert answers, “Might be worth noting!”

Henry trots closer to his friend, “why the devil would we wish to note that?”

“In case this expedition turns south, might be the only way out of this hell hole!” Tom spits.

“Hmm, I might fancy the end of a bullet to that thing Tom!” Henry blurts back.

Clearing his throat Albert adds. “Quite right.”

Moving forwards at a steady pace the men notice suddenly that the tunnel unexpectedly takes a steep downward turn, as if the massive mole shifted forty-five degrees and started the push downwards. At the base of the new direction tire marks and the scuff of shoes and other paraphernalia mark the way, its clear the assortment of men and machines followed their gigantic digging thing.

Stopping on the edge of the drift the three stand shoulder to shoulder, a warm breeze billows upwards and tussles the torn edges of their clothes. Great bouts of steam can be seen not twenty feet below, the mass looking like a cloud bank from above, while the walls of the cavern are slick with moisture and condensation.

Touching the rock with his hand Tom runs it downwards “Looks like they hit a sudden soft patch of stone, their great beast must have tilted and then broken through the dirt.” He says while grasping a layer of moist soil.

“That’s not so good Tom.” Henry adds.

“Why?” Albert quickly asks.

Lifting the lantern to look at the walls and the deep cavern Tom thinks for a moment, “well it could go two ways really.” Stroking his stubble he continues, “If they’ve hit this soft soil then its likely they’re already in the cave of beasts, but if this is the first stirrings of the ocean floor then perhaps they’ve drowned in their own avarice.”

Grasping the wall Albert exclaims, “Ocean floor!”

“Yes, yes of course, they may have drilled down too soon, if so this may be a boon!”

“Now wait a moment Henry, Tom, what’s all this talk about the ocean floor?”

“I thought we’d gone over this ol’ boy?” Tom asks.

“Well, I wasn’t really paying too much attention, besides I never once imagined that I’d be a part of on of your mad adventures.”

“Well I suppose that’s all change then hasn’t it.” Henry says while clapping the man on the back, a large cloud of dust spilling from his top while his hands grasp the moist rock for a handhold.

“If you’ll remember we found a large ocean, or body of water that clung to the top of the cave surface, an inverted sea if you will. It contained fish, waves, huge beasts, islands and as much water as any normal sea or ocean.” Taking a deep breath Tom squints down the hole, “if they’ve burrowed into the floor of that sea then they will surely have drowned.”

“And if not?” Albert asks through his teeth almost scared of the answer.

“Then they have an army massing on the shore of that great ocean, an army that we must stop.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Oh it gets worse.” Henry and Albert look into Tom’s eyes as he speaks, “we’re going to have to traverse this tunnel to ensure they meet a watery grave.”

“Yep that is worse.” Both men echo.

Stopping himself for a moment Henry looks over the trodden soil and deformed edges of the hole, “How do you suppose all the vehicles and men got down there?”

“A mystery.” Albert adds.

“Perhaps the great beast can carry men and machines in a pinch, or maybe they rode it down like a chariot.” Tom offers.

“Either way they are down there, and we are up here.”

“Right Henry.”  Albert says smiling into the hole.

“Further more lads,” Tom quickly says, “we should be down there.”

Gripping the edge of the tunnel with both hands Tom starts to lower himself into the cavity, his feet dance back and forth looking for a stable foot hold. After a moments hesitation his toes find the rough edge of the borehole, a groove created by the great digging machine.

Ever so slowly he drops down into the hole, once stable he comes to realize that the slop isn’t quite as great as first expected, in fact its more like a series of shallow steps that one can take with long steps. Turning onto his back he takes the lantern from Henry’s hand and starts to descend one step at a time.

Henry and Albert follow his example and lower themselves onto the first step and match his climb down.

Ahead of the men the light bobs up and down on the circular walls, the cutting blade of the digger creating saw-tooth shapes that descend into the clouds.

Each step is painful and a strain on the knees but they make good progress, before long they hit a wall of warm moist air and then descend into fog layer and vanish from any prying eyes above.

⚅⚀thoughts