As the smoke clears, light immediately pours through the entrance and to our surprise, from beyond the wall was not a cave nor an empty depth within the surface, but instead a dungeon. At least that's what we believed it was at first. Standing at the broken down wall, we could immediately see carefully crafted bricks that lined the overgrown wall of this large hallway. Shrubs and Vines creep along the gaps of the bricks, which is more apparent within the cracked and broken off parts of said bricks. Along with the flora are strange floating crystals atop metallic sconces. These things seem to be the main source of light in this place apart from our own lanterns. Whatever this place way, it was very well developed.
Everyone looks at the hallway with awe, intrigue, curiosity, and slight fear. Whatever this structure could be, we were lucky enough to not have monsters pour through like water from a bucket but at the same time, monsters could be deeper down the structure or they could be actively moving down into the bottleneck at this moment. While everyone was partially excited to seek what curiosities are hidden within, everyone was equally as weary.
However as the smoke fully cleared, some Miners immediately jumped through with large logs and planks with a few more hands following behind with a few building materials. They immediately started constructing the palisade facing the corridor. Once the border has been settled, the rest of the miners dove through with lights and boxes of pickaxes and unlit torches.
The once quiet eeriness of the mysterious unexplored corridor was now changed to yet another busy work day with chatter and clatter echoing through the walls. I turn to steal a glance at the master and he has this rare proud smile crawn across his face. He taught us well.
With a heart laugh, Master Kithran hits my thigh with the side of his fist before stepping through himself. "Yer ain't a statue big guy, move yer arse and work!" He yells out in a gruffy tone before barking orders at the others, making sure they were in order and organized.
I myself couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle before stepping through the entrance and joining my brothers in arms to work the Forward Operating Base. However, with my size and strength, I was to immediately report to the few groups brave enough to actually scout ahead into the structure. Some were equipped with armor and swords, some with bows and arrows. I was a special case, due to my size, no armor nor weaponry could be efficient or cheap enough to actually be suitable for battle, so I was only equipped with my daily clothes, the pickaxe Master gave me, and an unreliable over trust on my natural resilience. Despite all of these, my nerves are still a problem. My hands shake, my legs lock, and my mind fogs with questions and voices of rational fear. My body refuses to listen but I have to will it down. I have to move forward with the team. Otherwise, who else would keep them safe?
Moving down deeper into the corridors, the sound of construction soon fades into a mellow echo as we reach into a strange opening. It was a wider room with ginormous pillars reaching down from the ceiling. The quiet sounds of water rushing along stone joins the sounds of echoes that bounces through the stone walls of the space.
We originally believed it was a water channel that had eroded the caves and found its way down into the structure to rest, but as we investigated further, it appeared to be channels of water within built canals that came from crystals that rest deep within the tall pillars. These crystals seem to have the same attributes as the Enesial Frozen Primal back within the caves but obviously was engineered to be activated to summon this unending flow of magical water.
Upon further investigation, the water seemed to have a soft sparkling glow as it flowed deeper into a now darker part of the structure. The crystals that once lit the entrance seemed to have either been broken or had run out, leaving us to use torches and lanterns forward. Our captain suggests to follow the channels, following the teachings of Master Kithran that if there was a flow of water, it was being used for something. As we continued to walk, my mind wondered as to why this place seemed so eerily quiet.
Apart from the water and now the busy work behind us, there was no signs of rodents, goblins, or any sort of dark or damp swelling monster living within these walls. My father used to tell stories that these places called dungeons by adventurers, held all sorts of surprises. He told me details of all the dangerous monsters and gruesome traps that lined every corner and tile of these Dungeons, and how they would take any unsuspecting adventurer at a blink of an eye. Thinking back, I remember how those stories used to give me nightmares and I had to sleep with my mother who had scolded my father for telling me such stories at an early age.
I grow a soft smile as I remember these moments before being drawn back to reality to realize that there indeed was the lack of all sorts of monsters and traps, but that doesn't mean we should take it easy. Especially at this moment as I instinctually reached out to grab the leather chestpiece of my colleague, who happens to be chatting with another one of our members with his back turned against the edge of the channel we followed which had lead into a bridge into the darkness. He'd stumble backwards against a broken part of the stone railing and would stop when he lost his footing, hanging by the chestpiece I had held on to. Pulling him back to safety, he'd thank me for the look out before being scolded by our local team captain.
While the chaos continued behind us, my eyes kept themselves on the stones that rolled off the edge and had crashed into what seems to be water in the dark that follows. As the splash occurs, almost in queue, a wave of light seems to follow the ripples. This glow seems to slowly climb along the walls of the darkness before this solemn light begins to blanket over this now revealed flooded ravine. It was almost magical to see it happen from start to finish. Like something straight out of a storybook. The crew and I stare in awe for a few seconds before one of us started to speak. "Look at that" He points at the glowing wall closest to us.
"Luminaros. I've never seen a colony this huge before." He added as my eyes trace the walls and confirm this large blanket of moss. I have never seen this type of moss before. Especially one that glows this brightly or grows this expansively. The team was soon kept in a moment of silence as each and every one of us seemed to enjoy the lightshow gifted to us by this sudden accident.
However, this solemn moment was cut short when the team captain called our attention to proceed with the expedition and to save sight seeing only after the exploration. Everyone complains about it first but we do manage to keep going, not wanting to delay our return back to this tranquil sight.
Moving further into a hallway, water seems to be sitting at the bottom of our shoes now as we continued forward, Soon greeted to where the water seemed to have headed and pooled towards. The structure opened up once more, this time to a more mysterious and magical space. This wide open area had water as deep as the average person's knees spread across in an even and flat surface with a stone path connecting the exit of this corridor to something within the darkness. From where we were, we could also see impossibly large pillars. Some standing strong and some broken into pieces and seemingly hiding amongst the natural stone joining the expanse. Some of us have even theorized that the stones were also broken pillars but was eroded with time.
Speaking of time, who knew how long this place was hiding down here? However, the better question is why?
The Captain soon informed us to treat carefully as we do not know if the water is consistent along the whole stretch or if it goes deeper, which was an honestly good observation to share. This room was impossibly dark to see, with waters to match this eerie atmosphere. As such, we formed a single line to move carefully with the captain leading the charge and me at the back of the group.
As we started to tread carefully along this stone path or bridge, all was quiet apart from the disturbance of water as the group continued along. The only light being our lanterns and torches as those with the lanterns aimed at the pillars, seemingly trying to trace where this large stone, or at least what looked like stone, started and ended. Those with torches seemed to be spread along the group for general light, with some actually leaning over to see how deep the water truly was.
One of us shuddered as he soon joined some of the few in the center as he shared about the fact that the water seemed to go impossibly deep. This was quickly shut down by the other but he insisted it was. In an attempt to appease my own curiosity, I leaned to check it out myself while still walking by. At first glance, it did seem impossibly deep, with the abyss making it seem like it just never ends. I soon kicked a nearby broken off brick off to the side and kept my eye on it as it sank. Down and down it goes as it slowly disappears.
"It is deep-" I spoke out, the two turning their heads to take note of that information as the other began to brag about how he was right. "-but now begs the question. Is there something living down there?" I added with a dark tone as the two began to shudder and beg for whatever was down there to not eat them. The rest of the group laughs before the captain stops us.
As the group stops to a halt, the captain seemed to aim at the water below. The light bouncing back to signal a wider platform we could spread out on. However before we moved further, the captain soon turned the light to the side and revealed a stone structure closer to us, but this time it was no pillar or railing, instead it was a statue of a hooded figure with its hands outward. However, the specific statue that the Captain aimed at seemed to have its arms broken off. Turning the opposite direction was the same, but instead of its arms, its head was missing. The captain kept his light going down the line and it seemed to keep going. Statue after Statue. Some complete, some broken. The strangest part was the fact that no matter how hard we tried to look, we couldn't see through the hood. It was as if the dark itself was a mask for whatever these statues were made for.
Stepping forward and spreading out, the group seemed to have paused for a moment to see where we could have gone next as the statues continued but the captain said the path seemed to have ended here. Curious, the group went around to check for any sort of hint or path forward as the gang had unanimously agreed that this was too suspicious to be the end of the line, while some told that the stories they have been told had mentioned secret paths and the like.
As much as we would have loved to look around, we were practically stuck within this circular platform as with the investigation, there seemed to be a gap between the statues and us. Large enough that even our most daring of younglings wouldn't even attempt to clear it. However, as we continued to search, my eyes kept on the path forward as there was one thing that had me in a confused spiral. If the captain mentioned the path ending, then why could I see a bridge in front of us?