I'm Done Holding Back

Chapter Forty-Two: Entering the Mine

"I hope finding this orb isn't as scary as the last one," Opal says, hugging Luna closer to her.

"It was still an adventure," Cassandra says, recalling the event in her mind.

"There was a lot of quick-thinking involved," Varian says. "But, I did finally find a good use for my new invention..."

"Let's do this," Varian says, eager to get inside the mine. He and the others gather around Cassandra as she tilts the canteen and pours the water over the infinity symbol. The symbol glows blue, as well as the outline of the door. There is a resounding click! and then the door opens.

Varian stares into the deep darkness of the mine entrance ahead of them. After almost drowning while retrieving the previous orb, he attempts to mentally prepare for the dangers that may lie before this one.

"Deep breaths everyone," Hugo says, taking one himself. "Here we go."

Varian and Hugo each pull out their own light sources, and Cassandra lights a lantern she brought along with her from the balloon. Abhu trails behind them, and Ruddiger clambers onto Varian's shoulders as they begin their trek into the mine. But as soon as they all step foot into the mineshaft, the door slams shut behind them.

     "What?!" Abhu shouts. Being the last one who entered, he immediately spins around and attempts to open the door. Varian and Hugo join on either side of him, but it's no use. "Why does this keep happening?!"

     "Looks like we're trapped... again," Cassandra says.

     "I'm sure there's another way out," Varian says hopefully.

     "Yeah, the last orb's way out was such a thrill..." Abhu grumbles.

The longer they walk down the dark shaft, the more Varian starts to gravitate towards Cassandra. If anything else unpredictable were to happen, he's pretty sure being closest to her is the safest bet.

     But thankfully, the most dangerous things they come across are a few spiders scurrying along the old walls. Before too long, they enter a wide chamber with a high ceiling and minecart tracks leading into more mysteriously dark tunnels. There is a single minecart, rocks in front of its wheels so that it remains in place.

     As everyone spreads out to explore the chamber, Varian approaches the largest wall to the far-right. While all the other walls are boarded up, this one is open to the dirt around them. He shines his light along the wall, and eventually comes across a large panel. It is similar to the locking mechanism they discovered in the hatch to the first orb, only this one is much larger. The blank dials are separated into three words—fourteen letters altogether.