Theocriles

Chapter 3 ~ Deep in the mountain

The following morning we broke camp. I inspected and dressed the boy's wound which had healed well overnight. Silently we communicated through our actions, though no words were spoken as the last gleaming embers in the fire dwindled and died. We were both thinking over the events of the past few weeks and were lost in our solitary thoughts. The air down here seemed thin and a purple residue crept up the rocks from beneath the black sand. There was a faint smell of iodine drifting across the cave and the temperature was mild and welcoming. The sky above us was now masked by the cascading sculpture of fibrous rock. I didn't know how deep underground we were. 'Maybe only fifty feet or so?' I thought to myself. After collecting some water in our canisters, a question pressed its way to the front of my mind. A question that was eating away at me. I busied myself before breaking the silence.

"Where did you go yesterday? Did you find anything?" I proceeded in folding up my bedding without catching his eye. I heard him shuffling his feet in the sand as he often did when he was thinking. Turning towards him; a pensive expression veiled his face and he lifted his eyes to meet mine.

The story he told me was both bizarre and extraordinary. As he spoke I felt as if I had been transported to another world. A world unseen by human eyes. A world lost and forgotten. A glimpse of an ageless, timeless history.

He began his story.

"I ventured a fair distance in the time I was gone, maybe several miles or so. Eventually I came across a huge crater, which cowered in the shadow of its mighty neighbours. Its appearance was like that of an inverted mountain. But it wasn't empty, it was sealed by a shatterable membrane of Illumium so thin it was transparent to the eye. But there wasn't only one, there was a whole network of them. Hundreds spread out over an unlimited expanse of desert, which was once the mountainous dwellings of the Deseraldi people; who were all but anihilated in the last war. I walked down to the craters' edge and saw it was filled with liquid. Liquid Illumium."

I listened intently to him as the ocean glow of Illumiun lit up his eyes like Hematite. The he continued:

"I crouched down, and decided to tap the Illumium's surface; foolish as it was. It cracked. There were two layers that I could detect. I tapped again on the second mantle but nothing happened. Again I tapped, still intrigued... But nothing. I brought my hand down on the sheet, this time harder than I intended, but the Illumium would not be penetrated. I carried on hitting, like someone possessed, each time harder than the one before. In a strange way I was determined to smash the membrane, but it would not crack. I eventually fell back in frustration. I sat there for a while, staring at the first layer which had splintered and cracked open, wondering what I was doing. Presently I saw a faint shimmer of light, advancing from beneath the surface. It radiated: glowed, emulating starlight. It rose upwards gracefully like a vision. Closer it came towards me and I was mesmerised by the light. I stared unflinchingly at the apparition, and leaning over I saw two beautiful sapphire eyes, radiant and lustrous in the subtle shining of the liquid Illumium. She had the face of a cellestial being. Her pale skin was crowned with a drift of vibrant amber hair, swaying in the blue glow of the nectar. I gradually spread my hand over the sheet and she brought up her hand to mirror mine. Then I heard the droning of the hover ships and turned to the skies. When I looked back, she had disappeared into the abyss."

I looked at the boy as his face became focused. We sat quietly in wonder, but all the time I kept my own vision of that night hidden, and was determined never to speak of it. The memory was too precious to loose again, and I lived in fear of it being taken from me.

The time came for us to move on, and leaving little trace of our being there, we prepared ourselves to go.

We walked through the caverns and caves, deeper into the mountain until our path came to a small opening in the rocks. It was only just big enough for a small person, and me being the smaller one of the two of us, I volunteered to go in.

The boy held on to the few belongings we had and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be.” Reluctantly I got down on my hands and knees and then lay flat on my stomach. I edged my way forwards; my elbows tucked in and my hands splayed out to balance. I pushed myself along with my feet. I felt the cold uneven ground scratching my torso and I gritted my teeth in pain. As I went on it got darker and darker and I couldn't see what was ahead of me. I hit my head many times on the roof of the tunnel, countless times and my forehead screamed in agony. My pulse thumped heavily in my temples and the dim sounds were muffled in my ears. My breaths were short and shaky and my skin felt hot and clammy. I needed to stop every few seconds, and was fighting against the feelings of claustrophobia; blanking them out to avoid the imminent panic setting in. But my heart drooped in despair at the thought of carrying on. I looked forward for any sign of light, and after a timeless period my eyes strained and I managed to make out a distant yellow glow.

 “I’ve found something!” I yelled back to the boy. "I think it's a way out." I waited hopefully for a reply.

“OK! I’m coming in!” he echoed back.

With a sudden surge of hope I resumed my mission. With countless scratches, cuts and bruises I determinedly dragged myself painfully along and carried on regardless. As I crawled wearily on through the tunnel I felt myself heating up again, and the air closing in again, all the time fighting the palpitations which shot like arrows through my chest. I tried not to think about the tons of rock above me. The closer I got to the light more heat plastered itself to my face like a sheet of thin plastic smothering my skin, and the heat of the air dried out my mouth. The air, now thick and congealed, almost chocked me. I could hear the boy behind me, groaning as he pushed his weight with one arm as the other dragged against the tunnel walls.

With great relief I reached the light. I pulled and pushed myself out of the tunnel, stood up with trembling legs on the edge of a huge open cavity. I briefly looked around and then called back to the boy.

“It’s alright, I’m through,” I informed him. The boy made his way to me and we were reunited. Before me I saw a carved city, homes etched into the rocks, pathways, buildings. Miners and workers were busy, hastily chiselling and building. There where huge furnaces blazing with light, and the noise of generators, conveyor belts, trucks, engines and voices filled the air. I squinted at the bright lights and cowered back, shielding my face. Just as I felt a large gloved hand on my shoulder, it twisted me around violently with a stalwart grip.

I saw a man glowering down at me. He was very tall and his muscle mass was greater than I thought it possible. He wore a pair of ancient dungarees darkened by black illumium dust and an ancient threadbare navy jumper. He bent over me and I saw my reflection in the goggles resting over his eyes.

'So that’s what I look like.' I thought.