Lodestone Book 1: Of Flood & Wrath & Thorn

Lodestone Book 1: Of Flood & Wrath & Thorn Part 2

Inside the personnel lift stood the six new employees of The Righteous Anglian Mining Company of Our Lady's Hallowed Earth.

Judging by appearance, they were between the earlier to latter adolescence. They also appeared to be rather nervous, dumbstruck even, by how their first day of work was turning out. The employees huddled together, whispered prayers, and peered through the windows of the personnel lift at the rapid departure of light from above and felt an unending lurch down to seemingly bottomless depths below.

Accompanying them was the stout, baleful Sergeant. His eyes were barely visible beneath eyebrows of curious and disturbing bushiness in his furrowed, ale-reddened face.

Alongside the Sergeant was the sullen, weaselly Corporal who slouched and gave intermittent sniffs and scratches of his nose. Behind them, and most commanding of all, loomed the towering, formidable figure of the Duchess.

The Duchess' powerful stature overshadowed both men even before the added height of her high-heeled leather boots and her wide-brimmed hat. She stood with hands planted on either side of her voluminous hips, and surveyed all with an air of unquestionable authority.

To the new employees, the exterior of the grandiose, wrought ironwork lift had appeared hellish. It was tarnished, soot-blackened and crafted as ornately as a cathedral. Inside, it was gilded and opulent, with red carpet on the floor and a gas-lit chandelier hanging from above.

Embroidered religious emblems and gold-framed pictures of influential figures from within the secret society of The Righteous Anglian Mining Company of Our Lady's Hallowed Earth adorned the walls, along with symbolic trinkets of their order; a mining dial, plumb line, yard stick and a pickaxe.

The Corporal turned the handle of a gramophone. The record ground out warbling, operatic singing accompanied by a wailing orchestra which made the lift windows rattle in their panes.

'We now descend to the cavern floor,' the Duchess trilled over this din.

'Here you will work to meet your quotas as you have been trained; quotas which once met shall earn your release from being indentured labourers of...' she paused to take a breath. 'The Righteous Anglian Mining Company of Our Lady's Hallowed Earth.'

The Duchess took a moment to perform one of the secret society's secret hand gestures, by sweeping a closed hand in front of her with thumb and little finger outstretched, then closing the fist and holding it over her chest.

The gesture was mimicked by the Sergeant and Corporal with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

From down in the dark, the river of unearthly blue light came into view. The employees couldn't help but peer down through the windows and remark among themselves about what it could be.

'Pay attention and be quiet!' The Duchess' soprano voice rang out from the depths of her vast bosom.

'You have been trained on what you must do. Nevertheless, I shall remind you,' the Duchess went on.

'Your centre of operations is the chapel constructed nearby. From there you will find the iron ore pits signposted clearly within our area of operations. You shall not stray from the paths. You shall not leave our area of operations.

'The iron ore shall have excess rock chipped from it, and then it will be hoisted by crane into the light. The iron ore shall remain suspended in the light for a period of not shorter than eight hours.

'The ore you shall produce will be weighed against your weekly quota when the goods lift shall be sent down for collection, and to resupply. You shall not hold back any iron ore for yourself as it is company property once mined.