Igneous had no trouble finding the tunnel. Few could miss the large, gaping cave leading downwards. He picked up an empty wheelbarrow and a shovel and blended in with a troop of Magnorites returning them to the mining site.
The tunnel was extremely long. Though he had no clock, Igneous thought he walked for a day before they came up on Magnorites digging. "Did we just cross the Cydonian Dunes?" He wondered.
Entering a deeper cavern, he saw a group moving rocks towards the cave entrance. Igneous approached with his wheelbarrow.
"Hey, it's you!" He shouted, tapping Borgen on his back.
The other observed Igneous with a frown while shoveling dirt into the wheelbarrow. "We met outside the tavern, my name's Igneous." Igneous tried to establish a connection. "Did I introduce myself before?"
"I've never met you…" Borgen hesitated.
"Yeah, yeah it was you! Borgen, right?" Igneous blurted out. "You directed me to Maxwell. I've been trying to help K'arthen reuni…"
"Shut up, What are you trying to do, get me killed?!" Borgen held a hand over Igneous' mouth and spoke in a hushed shout. "You don't talk like that around here." He let go.
"I'm not from around here." Igneous panted. Borgen sure had a large hand. "But I'm here to help."
"Why would you want to help us?"
"Because," Igneous raised the wheelbarrow and Borgen led him deeper into the tunnel, "I'm a Magnorite like yourself, and what happens here affects us all."
Borgen sighed. "You need to be more careful, Igneous. You're lucky I'm one of the few Magnorites who wants peace with Cydonia. It's hard to find others willing to stick their neck out and stand against the majority."
A convoy of wheelbarrows passed by, and Borgen signaled to hush.
"This way, quickly!" He motioned Igneous to follow, and led him into a giant cavern. The ceiling arched low overhead, but there were no pillars in sight. Instead, there were mounds upon mounds of red explosives. The torches on the walls illuminated the room, their dim light leaving huge blacked out shadows in the middle.
"Oh, my…" exclaimed Igneous under his breath. "That's a lot of TNT. Is this how they've been mining the tunnel?"
Borgen shook his head. "This isn't a mining tunnel, Igneous."
"So what is it then?"
"I'd wager we are now close Cydonia. They are mounting an attack from below, Igneous."
"Is this one continued grudge against them?" Igneous guessed.
"No. It's an attempt to rekindle the hate. The people of K'arthen are finally starting to want peace, and that threatens those in power. If they can re-ignite the war,"
"They'll stay in power." Finished Igneous.
"Exactly." Agreed Borgen, "and judging from the distance of this tunnel… they're almost there."
"I have to tell Maxwell." Igneous turned to go. "He doesn't know about this."
"Be more careful this time." Urged Borgen, "and hurry!"
Igneous ran north towards the exit. The mounds of explosives reflected the dim torchlight in the giant cavern, a doom ready to happen.