Walking out of the infirmary, Davish looks toward the main room; eleven miners lay in beds or on a sheet on the floor in various stages of injury.
Outside, Davish walks over to the mine entrance as a miner runs over to him.
"We searched the whole camp but couldn't find a Kobold anywhere. I don't think any of them managed to get out." the miner says through panted breaths.
"That's good. I need a favour; go around the camp and ask any able-bodied person to meet at the mine entrance in the next five minutes, but leave Grensyl and whoever else is helping care for the wounded." Davish asks.
The miner nods. "You got it, Foreman."
After five or so minutes, a large group of around thirty men has gathered in front of Davish, who stands on a crate to address the crowd.
"By now, I'm sure you've all gossiped to each other about the group that arrived last night and the blockade that was breached this morning. The human that arrived the previous night claims to have cleared that mine out, and I need five of you brave lot to come with me." Davish speaks loudly to read the crowd.
Silence falls on the crowd as they nervously look around at each other, hoping for each other to volunteer themselves. Eventually, someone chimes up shakily.
"We can't trust a stranger on this matter!"
With growing confidence, the crowd all starts speaking up.
"We have to go into that mine and die 'cause a random guy said he dealt with it?"
"He strangled you, foreman, and you're gonna trust him?"
"I'd rather sit here and wait for the guild!"
"Me too!"
"Me as well!"
"SHUT IT!" Davish yells.
The crowd quietens down quickly, the respect and fear for the Foreman showing
"the guild won't be here for a week at least, and if they do get here and search that mine and all the Kobolds are dead, then I won't get reimbursed by the city of Volmyr. Instead, I'll get charged for wasting Guild time, and that wage will come out of all your pockets!!"
The crowd grumbles and mumbles to themselves.
Davish brings his voice down to try and bring the miners to his side.
"I only need five of you; if any of those Kobolds are still alive, we'll leave immediately! I'm not in the mood for throwing my life away, either." Davish tries to reason, but the crowd's quietness still projects unwillingness.
"I'll give triple time to the first five people willing to join." Davish adds.
The crowd chimes up in unison, Davish struggling to make out what they're saying, but it's positive nonetheless.
"Triple time?!!"
"That's all you had to say, Boss!"
"I'll kill myself right now for triple time!!"
The crowd's spirits have completely flipped to cheering and eagerness to assist Davish the Foreman's search of the mine.
Davish points at five random miners.
"You lot, with me. The rest of you go keep watch; even if we didn't find a Kobold, there's still plenty of other monsters around that are just as bad, if not worse." Davish practically shouting to tower of the voice of the crowd.
Davish and the five miners walk to the mine entrance and begin to remove the blockade.
"Just enough space for us to get through one at a time; any bigger, and it'll be difficult to block back up quickly if needed, lads!" Davish commands.
"You got it, boss!" The miners say back.
With six helping clear a space in the blockade, it only takes ten minutes. With the hole opened up, they stare into the darkness of the mine. All is quiet, but the darkness feels constricting just from looking in as fear begins to grip them, squeezing their chests tight and restricting their breathing. Even though Davish feels the same fear, he knows he must take control and lead his crew.
"Right, listen up! Grab a weapon and torch, and follow me!" Davish casts back all fears, exuding courage to inspire his men.
Stepping into the cave causes the hair on their neck to stand on end as their hands tremble, clutching their weapon and torches.
"Stay as quiet as possible and keep an ear out for any noises." Davish says as he motions his palm downward. It doesn't take long before they reach the first sign of a struggle; spatters of blood coat the floor, walls and ceiling, but nobody it belongs to. A miner gulps while another takes a deep, shaky breath. Davish turns his head to the miners with his finger over his mouth, indicating them to be quiet.
They reach a larger chamber with strong wooden supports along the walls and ceiling. Tables, chairs and extinguished lanterns are knocked over, showing symptoms of a struggle that was most likely the fleeing of the miners when the Kobolds attacked. The corpses of a few miners, along with some guts and blood, spatter the ground in what would be considered the underground rest and refill station for the miners.
"This is bad, Foreman." A miner quietly peeps up.
"You're right, but you know what? I don't hear a goddamn thing right now." Davish quietly responds.
"You think he was telling the truth and killed the Kobolds? A miner replies with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm still unsure, but we should've run into those Kobolds by now or at least heard a noise." Davish curiously adds.
Past the rest and refill chamber, the path snakes again as they reach a large hole in the wall; a red glowing light emanates from within.
With the utmost care, Davish motions the group close as he whispers.
"This is where they came from. Stay here, and I'll check first. Don't hesitate to run away together if anything goes wrong."
"We can't leave you, boss." A miner quietly replies.
"You can and will If I say so." Davish angrily replies.
With caution, Davish slinks up to the hole in the wall, jagged and reaching six feet across and eight feet tall, the red glowing light feeling like he is stepping directly into hell itself. With a slow, controlled breath, he steps through the hole to be met by the sight of hell.
"What the fuck." Is all Davish says as his body speaks on its own.
Even through their apprehension, the other miners walk up to the hole, staring in disgust and horror as a miner uncontrollably vomits as another retches. What could only be described as a bloodbath to any onlooker, a room that stands sixty feet wide and twenty feet tall, is entirely encased in a mass of viscera and blood. The valuable Coldstone that usually glows blue instead has a red glow as the insides of creatures layer it, changing it from blue to red.
"What the fuck is this, boss?!" A miner shouts.
The sight and smell of the room attack their senses.
"With the three miners up here, this is more than the other five that died. You'd need a few dozen at least to make this mess." Davish disgustedly says as he coughs, spitting onto the floor.
"Is this the... Kobolds?" A miner asks Davish.
"I'd say so from my best guess. I don't know how many Kobolds there were, but they came from here, and now there's not a fucking peep, just this fucking hellscape in their place." Davish responds with repulsion.
"What do we do, Boss?" A miner asks as he spits out the vomit left in his mouth.
"Let's get out of here and back to the surface. This place is safe, even if it's fucking gruesome." Still revolted, Davish replies as he turns around, directing the men out. "Let's get out of here!"
Wasting no time, the men move back up to the surface. They return to the top in just twenty minutes despite taking a couple of hours to reach the bottom.
Breathing in the fresh air, around fifteen miners lingered, waiting for their safe return. They cheer on as they make it back safely.
"So, is it safe down there?" A miner inquisitively asks them.
Davish nods his head.
"It's safe, but it's a fucking mess down there, and that's putting it lightly. Cleaning that place out so it's in a minable state will take a couple of days."
They look perplexed.
"It's that bad?"
"What's it like down there?"
"What did you see?"
They all begin to bombard the group with questions of the mine.
"Shut it! No questions until I've had a bath! My skin is crawling. But I'll tell you now, any man willing to clean up that mess is getting double time." Davish says.
Davish walks toward the Foreman's office as he thinks to himself.
"If he caused that mess down there, then he's a fucking demon in human's clothing." Davish thinks to himself, sickened as the image of the Coldstone room replays in his head.
End Chapter