Tales from Virdinia

Darkness

It was a stark contrast, Staeve thought grimly as he looked up at the mountain before them, there clearly something very wrong with it. Whereas the other mountains in the area had cloaked themselves in green, this one stood bare and foreboding, all sharp rocks and sheer sides. For once, the lush rainforest of Virdinia had been stopped in its tracks, and a vast swathe of land around the mountain contained no visible life. Where there should have been countless trees, there was only a barren wasteland strewn with black rocks and bubbling pools, their water an unnatural yellow. Thick, grey steam billowed in the air, and whole area stank of death.

"Any ideas how to get through this mess?" Yuen asked, his voice full of forced confidence beneath the rag he had wound across his mouth and nose. There was no visible path through the rocks, it as if another mountain had long ago collapsed where they stood and they now walked within its ruins.

Staeve was silent for a moment. He was not even sure if they should be there, it feeling as if a hundred eyes were watching them. That was ridiculous though, it was just a mountain, and this was just another job.

"If we keep ourselves orientated to the mountain, we should be fine..." he said, looking around warily. There were gaps between many of the rocks, spaces beneath them that a man could squeeze under. It would be tough going, but they would make it. They were just rocks, and it was just a mountain.

Staeve kept a hand on the hilt of his sword as they clambered over the rocks, sliding around them. At the mercy of the rock's rough touch, he was glad for their leather armour. The rocks were warm, he realised with a tremor of unease, as if they were alive, and he was sure he could feel the ground beneath them moving. It was light, like the rising and falling of a sleeping giant. He kept his mouth shut though, knowing that Yuen would only laugh at him for it.

Yuen looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "Is that right? It seems to me that we're walking in circles. It's probably just superstition; I'd wager there is no creature!"

"Because you have so much luck with those wagers of yours!" Staeve replied with a sly grin, knowing that half of their money problems could be laid at his brother's feet.

With a roll of his eyes, Yuen pointed towards a gap in the rocks to their left. "We check in there, then I'm calling it. We get out of here before we boil to death or choke. Neither appeal to me, personally."

They squeezed their way between the rocks, but yet more blocked their way. What had seemed like an easy route soon became more complicated, as they were forced to climb a series of precarious boulders before sliding down a slope of broken rocks, they sticking up from the ground like shattered teeth. Staeve was about to tell his brother they had no choice but to turn back when they came across a large, bubbling pool. The smell was awful here, and air was chokingly thick, yet something had caught Yuen's eye, pulling him closer to the foul liquid. A large bubble formed in the centre of the water's surface then suddenly broke, it releasing a stench that caused Staeve to cough and gag. He suddenly noticed what had caught his brother's attention though, and he too moved closer despite his discomfort. Bobbing in the centre of the pool, a film of yellow scum lapping at its edges, was a large egg.

Staeve knew what his brother was thinking before he even opened his mouth. They would steal and sell this prize. Even without catching the creature the settlement was so scared of, the price they could sell the egg for would more than make up for their troubles. Yuen slid off his pack and pulled out a thick rope, looping an end to create a lasso. His technique was lacking, Staeve thought, but it worked well enough to drag the egg through the water, it soon close enough for him to grab. The water itself was dangerously hot, yet the egg was only slightly warm, and Staeve wondered how that was possible. Another mystery without an answer he thought with resignation, they had collected plenty of those over the years. He slid the egg into his pack and slung it onto his back, the egg surprisingly heavy for its size.