The Curse of Hidden Hollow

Out Of The Mines

Ahtunowhiho gestured to the elevator on the other side of the main area. "I can use my power to elevate it enough for you both to make it out of here." Ahtunowhiho vanished, so Kiera turned back to Ash. He was fading fast, she had to do something. She went over to him and grabbed his arm. She leaned back, and began to pull, hoisting him up to almost a standing position. She leaned down into his chest, shuddering slightly at the feeling of his blood. She pulled him up onto her shoulders, grunting in slight effort. Good thing she had a lot of experience with this kind of thing, hunting deer and other games. She finally got to a full standing position, when she heard a roar and a rumbling sound. She turned around to look, and she saw something starting to open the door. She squinted and looked a little closer. The door was beginning to crack open, and Kiera saw a fiery glow. She took a step back, as the ceiling started to crumble slightly. The door burst open with a loud crashing sound, and Kiera saw a creature directly from her nightmares. The Wendigo stood tall, bright flaming eyes staring directly into the very depths of her soul. Fear struck her heart, and she turned to run. She heard the creature running up behind her. Her breathing quickened, as she got closer to the elevator. It started to rise as she got closer, an eerie blue glow coming off of it, just like the one coming off Ahtunowhiho. She got to it and shoved Ash up onto it. She grabbed onto the rising platform and began to pull herself up. She grabbed onto a spare piece of bars that was hanging out of the platform. She swung her left leg up into the elevator. She had almost made her way completely up into it, when she felt something cold and clammy grab onto her leg. "NO!" She screamed, kicking to try to get away. She fought with the beast, and eventually pulled her leg in, however, the beast was still holding onto her. She clenched her teeth in pain as the beast's claws started to dig into her ankle. As the elevator rose, the opening between the platform and the wall closed with the arm still in it. There was a sickening crunching sound, as the arm came clean off, a spurt of black blood spraying from it. Kiera watched in horror as the arm wriggled around, before going still. She fell back, sighing. She glanced over at Ash, still out. She sat up and pulled up her pant leg. There were a few small cuts on her ankle, but nothing too bad. She thought back to Ash. "Definitely not as bad as what he's got." She sat catching her breath until the elevator got to the top of the mines. She hoisted Ash back up onto her and started trekking out of the mine. She looked up and saw the hole that Ash had fallen through. "Yikes, looks like a hard fall." She muttered to herself. It was weird to think that the fall was what had set it all into motion. She thought back to the moment he had fallen through. She was trying to figure out a way to get him into the mines without making it seem too obvious, but it all worked out in her favor. She couldn't have planned it better if she tried. The hardest thing was not telling him straight away as soon as he fell. She could've told him about what Thomas was forcing her to do. They could've figured out a way to stop it. Maybe she could've saved him from a night in Hell. She shook away her regrets, they were only slowing her down. She would get it all squared away with Ash if-when, he woke up. She squinted her eyes, as the sun began to blind her. She came to the entrance. Thomas had followed them up there and when Ash ventured further into the mines, he chopped the wooden barricade down with an axe. She stepped through the debris, and as soon as she got outside, a purple mist began making its way out of the darkened tunnels. She took an involuntary step back, as the mountain began to rumble. She watched in horror as beings of purple mist swarmed around her. The beasts were free. She waited, watching as the mist made its way to the town. She turned back to the mine and gasped. The entrance had collapsed. She shook her head in awe and began the long walk back to town.