The Beginning of the Beastmasters

Egos Clashing

I thank KatherineOzawa of Wattpad for helping me.

The portal spit them out one at a time. The three got to their feet and looked around to see dark woods, the sky an inky blue with the sun's rays long gone. A small brook with rushing water carved into the ground, a small wooden bridge their only way across, leading into a dirt path and the path led to a small cottage in the distance.

"So this is the Dwarfs' Mine... Long ago, this mine was flush with magestones." Deuce trailed off.

Grim curled into himself out of nervousness. "Urgh... Who knows what lurks in there now?"

"Look, I can see a house. Let's see what the people there have to say." Ace started walking across the bridge, as the others trail behind. Niho, somehow, had a small feeling in her gut something was off about the place....

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Deuce knocked on the door and pushed it open, "Hellooo? Is anyone home...? Must be empty. It looks like it's been abandoned." He propped the door open and let the others follow in after. True to his word, the inside of the cottage was dusty and grimy after years of neglect, much like the Ramshackled House.

Grim wasn't watching himself and ran into a low hanging spider web, "Bwah! I got a spider web on my face! Ptchoo! Ptchoo!" he kept spitting it out of his mouth and batting his paws.

"Look how tiny these desks and chairs are. Did children live here?" Ace started counting out the chairs one by one. "One, two... Seven! It's like a clown car in here."

Niho gave him a sarcastic look, "You do know dwarfs are little people that are grown up, right?"

"Y-Yea, I did!" Ace covered himself despite the embarrassed look in his eyes.

"When the mine was flourishing, this house must have been a lively place."

Ace shrugged at Deuce's theory. "Well, this isn't getting us anywhere. If we're gonna find a magestone, it'll be inside the mine. Let's head inside and take a look."

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The group made it to the entrance of the mine which looked pretty close to caving in from an angle. But a few support beams held it together so none of the sort would happen.

Grim backed up, "Wou wanna go inside THERE? It's pitch black!"

"What, are you scared of the dark? Pathetic." Ace's remark wasn't taken well by Grim, who stood taller and started marching inside.

"Myah?! I'm not scared of anything! I'm taking the lead. You all follow me!"

They squeezed their way inside to see some light reflected in the tunnel that showed a few railroad tracks for gem carts to roll around on, and the walls barren with a few stubborn gems locked in the granite.

Deuce looked around the place until he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and halted, "Huh? Hold up!"

"What now?"

"There's something there!" he pointed ahead.

At that, two ghosts wearing tattered cloaks appeared, making Grim shriek, "Myah?!" and hide behind the others.

"Hee hee hee hee! Visitors! The first in ten years!"

"Do make yourselves at home... You can stay forever!"

"More ghosts?! They're floating around here too!" Ace recoiled.

Deuce grabbed his pen, "If we stop the fight, we'll never get anywhere. Let's just keep moving."