Songs of War: The Novel

Chapter 3: Rise of the Undead

Lucan walked on the a bridge in a river.

"A miner... a miner!" he mumbled to himself, "Of course they need more miners."

There was ever a shortage of quilers or bakers-

"Nope! Nope, just miners," Lucan sighed, "Typical."

The Basalt Mines are one of the major mines in the kingdom of Felden. Each miner was provided with a guard due to the fear of the undead that lurk in the mines. The undead lurk below the ground where the mines are hence the reason why every miner is provided with a guard. Lucan walked on the gravel road. Soon, he found a small house-like building made from wood.

"Hello?" Lucan asked, walking in, then sarcastically saying, "Another legally obligated miner here to do service!"

It wasn't too much of a small room in there, nor a big one either. Polished Andesite blocks somewhat divided the room. Gold ores were stacked in the far right side corner. What confused Lucan was when he saw empty glass bottles scattered across the floor. He turned to see a man sleeping, his back against a stack of emerald ores, next to an anvil with a pickaxe. Lucan sighed in frustration.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." he mumbled then stepped near the man, "Anyone awake around here?! Hey!"

Lucan grunted as he smashed his hand against the anvil, the pickaxe clattering woke the man up.

"Hm? What?" the man asked, looking up at Lucan.

"I'm here for mining duty," said Lucan, stepping back, "I'm looking for my guard, Eddy."

"That's me! Eddy at your serviceeeeeee..."

Eddy bowed and trailed off, seemingly falling asleep already. Lucan looked at him. He wasn't sure about this guy.

"I prepared some beverages but I-" Eddy hiccuped, "Drank most of them."

He nervously chuckled then asked Lucan if he wanted a potato. However, when he lifted it up, it was partly green. Lucan's eyes widened. The sound of a few flies sounded.

"Er..." Lucan stammered, "No thanks... I ate on the way here. Oh, the name's Lucan by the way."

He held his hand out for a handshake.

"Nice to meet ya, Lucan, my name's Eddy!" Eddy replied, then handing him the iron pickaxe, "Let's get started!"

The two walked to the mines. Eddy was missing a boot; his right foot has an exposed sock, and the sound of his footsteps reflect this. His right sleeve was rolled up to prevent spilling, and his left arm was missing a guard armpad.

"I've been a guard here at the Basalt Mines all my life and boy I'll tell you," said Eddy as he drank from his bottle, "I have guarded like you've never seen..."

The miner and his guard walked into the path leading to the entrance of the mines. Eddy came from a family of guards. He mentioned that his father was a guard. His brother was a guard.

"My sister was a guard-wait I don't have a sister," he realized.

They walked down deeper. Between the trench-like area of stone. Lucan could see a few miners mine up a few bits of coal.

"...and I'm telling him 'No, you shouldn't eat spider eyes they're poison in one bite!'" Eddy continued from his stories, "But he eats it anyways."

Lucan scratched the back of his head. This guy has been talking forever. They started to go even deeper. A little bit of fire was sparking around. A few pits of lava were even showing.