2023 Story Collection

The Isle of Dragons and The Land of Giants II

He'd ran his horse long and hard to get to the southern mine by sunset.

He could tell the moment he got there that something was wrong. People were screaming and some were so drunk they looked dead. Most Golds drank heavily but they never drank to the point of not being able to enjoy themselves, that was the whole point.

He leads his horse over to a troff and takes a look around for someone not absolutely lost to the world. He spots a young woman holding a small precious bundle close to her chest.

He walks up to the woman who is sitting outside a small shop.

"Excuse me," he approaches her, "but what happened here?"

"The mines ran dry," she says void of any and all emotion. "Ours was first, many men left for the other mines right away for work but by the time they got to the others, they'd ran dry too. Now, everyone's just waiting."

His worst fear had come true. He was trying to keep his composure, he didn't have the luxury to loose it like the people around him. "Waiting for what?"

"Don't know, for something." She shrugs and pulls the young baby closer. He knew she wouldn't be much more help, so he thanks her for her time and heads up to the mine.

"So it's true," he pinches the bridge of his nose. He tries to calm his nerves, but he didn't have time to sit and think, so he rides into the next mining town and it seems to be in a similar state as the previous.

He confirmed that night that that woman had been right, all the southern mines had ran dry. He sighed. He'd stopped to eat a bit in a more central city in the kingdom and feed and water his horse. They both needed a good rest, sadly this was all he could manage.

This town hadn't yet heard of the mines and partied like any other night, enjoy it while you can, he thought, it won't last long if this situation continues to get worse.

He'd ate quickly and rode to the north by early afternoon. What he'd seen at the southern mines did not compare. The towns were empty.

He'd heard of ghost towns before. Places that once been filled with life, suddenly abandoned. He'd never thought he'd see that in his own kingdom.

As he'd expected, the mines were dry here too. It was looking like situation 29 more than 27-as he'd first thought. But that's okay, he'd planned for this worse case scenario. He'd known it would come sooner or later.

Over the next few days he travels to all the northern mines, there were a few small ones that were still producing but it was such small amounts, he didn't doubt that they would soon run dry soon too.

He'd arrived to the largest mine in all the kingdom. It was also the final one in the kingdom, if the paper was right, this hadn't been producing in a week.

He sat against a small tree in the town, allowing himself a moment of rest.

As of right now the kingdom only had three active mines, the smallest in the kingdom and even those are beginning to run dry.

He guessed by looking at the state of the town that it had been at least 10 days since the mine had run dry, maybe longer.

The people were skinny and the normally huge and abundant market was nothing more than a small booth or two. The children cried and the parents were too distraught to comfort them. It was a scary look into what could be the future of the kingdom.

He sat and rested for a few more minutes before standing. His horse was tired from the journey, it had pushed the both of them but it wasn't over just yet.

"One more ride buddy and then you can rest." He strokes the patch of black on his horses nose before hoping on his back.

At one point God had looked upon us and gave us his blessing, it appears now he has turned his back. I must gain back his favor.