//------------------------------// // Two // Story: The Paths Beneath Us // by BlazzingInferno //------------------------------// Pebbles skittered into the darkness beyond the headlamp’s reach. Mica paused as she listened to them vanish into the void, her hooves holding on as best they could to the few footholds the narrow tunnel offered as it dove downward into the unknown. The mine’s main thoroughfare and all its signs of light and life lay hours behind them, and their current prospect still remained far ahead. Supposedly the gem deposits near the end of this tunnel hadn’t been touched in years simply because of how narrow the passage became, narrow enough that only a couple of underaged, undersized jennys could possibly fit. “Be there in no time,” she murmured. “That’d be Dad’s line right about now.” Behind her, Ami fidgeted with her saddlebag and, by the sound of things, took a long pull from her canteen between panting breaths. “That does… sound like… him.” “You’re going to be okay, right? This is the easy part, going downhill. The way back is all up with a load of gems.” Ami sighed. “I’ll manage.” Mica nodded, purely to herself, and trudged on. It wasn’t like the tunnel was wide enough for them to turn around, but keeping that quiet was probably best. The same went for how she was carrying most of the tools; Ami’s stamina left much to be desired. “Just think, tonight we’re eating whatever we want.” “Once we make our first loan payment.” “Yeah, yeah. Worst case we’ll trade Max’s necklaces for a quick meal. Or I guess you could just bat your eyelashes at him.” “That’s not funny.” “Hey, it’s not like I can do it. Unless we want him running away screaming.” “Don’t.” Ami’s words echoed off the walls. “Don’t mock your looks. Or mine.” Mica rolled her eyes. “I’m not mocking you! You’re the pretty one, Ami. Just because—” “I’m blind, not deaf. I’ve overheard plenty about how the both of us look. You’ve got your share of admirers, believe me.” “Oh yeah?” “Of course you do.” A minute passed in silence, save for the muted grind of hooves on stone and Mica’s thundering train of thought. “I, um…” “Do you want to know who—” “No. Well, maybe later when we’ve got time to think about boys.” Ami’s heavy breathing gave way to quiet, mirthless laughter. “Time. We’ve got plenty of… Do you hear that?” Only silence, deep and terrible, reached Mica’s ears. It couldn’t be another cave-in; they hadn’t even gotten their tools out yet, much less used them. The ceiling was low and featureless, so it couldn’t be falling rocks either. “What—” “Ssh! I’m listening.” Do it faster, Mica thought. Was this what Mom and Dad’s final moments were like? Behind her, Ami’s saddlebags scraped against the cave floor as she knelt down. “What’re you doing back there?” “There’s water! I can hear running water off to the left!” Water. For a second the meaning of the word didn’t even register. “Get out a pickaxe! If there’s an underground river there might be a whole other tunnel nobody’s ever touched!” “Right… the tools.” Mica’s saddlebags landed on the ground, and a minute later she had the pickaxe handle between her teeth, ready to take the first swing. She didn’t hear the clang of metal on rock or feel the sharp vibrations traveling through her jaw. That one moment of uncertainty still had her in its clutches, the sensation that they were about to perish just like their parents did, all for the sake of a few shiny rocks. Her neck ached by the tenth swing. How did mom and dad do this all day every day? Was she doing it wrong somehow? Still she swung again and again, chipping away at the wall in hopes that it brought them riches and not ruin. One wrong hit could end it all; she might’ve doomed them both already. Cracks snaked up the walls and, a few strikes later, whole chunks of rock fell away. Darkness and a quiet gurgling sound filled the empty places. “What did we find? What did we find?” Ami’s voice had gained a singsong quality that Mica couldn’t help smiling along with. Maybe things were finally going their way. She spat out the pickaxe and aimed her headlamp into one of the larger holes. The beam of light seemed to melt into the unyielding gloom. “There’s a whole lot of space over there. That’s about all I can—” Something impossible caught the light. In the midst of the opening she’d created was an unnaturally perfect straight line, a step carved into the rock by hoof, paw, or claw. “Ami,” Mica whispered, “you’re not going to believe this.” --- Breaking open a passage big enough to crawl through went quickly enough, at least by Mica’s reckoning. Her worries faded with each clang of the pickaxe and crumble of loosed rock. Light danced off of the rubble piling up on the ground, the clouds of dust her work released, and of course the polished stone step that practically demanded she work faster. “Don’t know what it is,” she said through a mouthful of pickaxe, “but it’s artificial! We’ve gotta check this out!” Within minutes Mica was on the other side, looking around in open-mouthed wonder. They’d tunneled through the middle of a very long staircase, its upper reaches buried under an ancient cave-in, and whatever lay below still beyond her headlamp’s reach. Faded triangular patterns lined the walls, broken only by regular outcroppings to hold torches. “Just like at the market.” Her own voice felt too loud for this ancient, forgotten place that bore too strong a resemblance to the building she refused to call a palace, save for its being untouched by modern hooves and unspoiled by the rich. Where did the staircase go? What happened to its creators? Pained grunts from her sister broke Mica out of her awestruck trance. She knelt down and helped Ami through the hole. “We’re on a staircase. The way up is buried, but there’s no telling what’s down below.” Ami shook off the rock dust and adjusted her saddle bags. “It’s colder on this side. It smells different, too. It’s… wet.” Mica hadn’t noticed any of this. Her every thought was with what she could see, and what she couldn’t. “Maybe there’s gold, or gems, or some really old thing that’s worth a fortune.” Ami cocked her head towards the stairs leading down. “The water sound is coming from that way.” “Then let’s go! Drinkable water would be a great find; we could have our tools paid off inside of a week! Aren’t you excited? It’s like we’re explorers!” All her childhood imaginings of how fun and exciting working the mine could be came flooding back. She would’ve been giddy if a few tiny diamonds fell out of the tunnel wall, and now she could barely keep herself from running. They’d done it; their first day in the mines came with a discovery so big and unexpected that it just had to have a big prize at its center. “Slow down so I can catch up!” Mica gasped and came to a halt; pure excitement had carried her down tens of steps already. “I-I’m sorry. Just… follow my voice. The steps are all the same height and there aren’t any breaks in them or anything, besides the one we made, anyway.” Ami trotted towards her, cautiously at first, while Mica’s brain caught up with her legs. “Take it easy. The last thing we want is to get lost… or worse.” Those last two words hit Mica square in the chest. She thought of the pile of boulders a few hundred feet up the stairs, and how their mom and dad were probably buried under one just like it. Suddenly she wasn’t excited anymore, not about their discovery, and definitely not about the dangerous road that led them to it. “Let’s just get this over with. All we need is something big enough to haul out.” Soon the staircase opened into a larger chamber, too large for a paltry headlamp to illuminate. All Mica could see were distant glimpses of stone buildings immense, tiny, elaborate, and plain. What she’d taken for a random staircase looked to be the gateway to a lost city, and yet wonder didn’t overtake her again. It was all big and beautiful, but what did it matter? Finding a vein of ruby or topaz would’ve left them better off. “Tell me what you see,” Ami whispered. “Not much… and why? It’s not like I see anything we can sell.” “Is the cavern big?” “Huge.” “Is it rough stone, or is everything carved? Is it one big building like the palace or—” “It doesn’t matter.” “It does to me!” Ami’s shout echoed off the distant walls. “You’re my closest thing to a working pair of eyes ever since…” Mica’s legs turned to ice. Ami drew up beside her, her voice quiet. “Every night Mom and I would… I’d ask her to describe everything. Everything. I can’t see but I love to know, to know her favorite stories, and what she did during the day, and the songs her mom used to sing. That’s all I’ve ever had since I wasn’t any good at the physical stuff you can do. If… if I could make money telling and retelling stories, we’d never have to work again, but I can’t so I guess I just need to s-stop d-dreaming and wake up.” They leaned against each other, momentarily sharing warmth and tears. “Sorry I’m a jerk,” Mica whispered, “and sorry that… that I was always off doing stuff with other kids instead of being a good sister. I should’ve brought you everywhere with me. I should’ve… I don’t even know.” “We’re just different. That shouldn’t be a bad thing.” “We’re still sisters! We’re twins, even! And from now on—” A pebble bounced in the distance, as quiet as a water droplet striking a puddle and yet unmistakable in this noiseless tomb. The sound came again and again as the pebble skittered closer, finally shooting between Ami’s legs on its way down the staircase. Mica didn’t breathe until the pebble came to rest and silence returned. A shiver shot up her spine moments later. “Let’s hurry up and get out of here.” “Sounds good.” Their steps were more careful now, each hoof fall slow and deliberate. Mica swiveled her ears around as best she could, but didn’t dare move her headlamp’s beam from the path ahead. She could see the bottom now, a flat patch of floor that looked perfectly safe and unremarkable. Water trickled somewhere nearby. Once they reached the bottom step she could see it: a small, burbling stream had eroded a jagged channel in the floor, passing through her tiny window of visual perception on its way downhill. Mica followed it with the light, more curious about where the water was going than where it came from. After another minute of walking she held up a foreleg to block Ami from going further. “Stop here. There’s a hole.” Calling it a hole didn’t do the precipice justice. The smooth stone floor simply ended in a black, rough-edged pit lined with loose stones and rock dust, the sort of hazard that belonged in a typical mine shaft and not in this city of precise edges and intricate carvings. Mica leaned over the edge until vertigo threatened to pull her in. The stream spilled over the edge in a tiny waterfall, but no sound of it breaking against something below came up from the depths. The pit seemed to swallow the water just like her headlamp’s light. “I wonder what happened here. The hole doesn’t look planned and sculpted like everything else. A little water is flowing in, but—” Ami gasped and took a step backward. “Get away from it!” She didn’t need to be told twice. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she joined Ami by the staircase. “What do you hear?” “I don’t know. Something… rumbling—” And then Mica could feel as well as hear it, the feeling that the entire world was being dragged across a bed of sand. Mica turned to the stairs, but could barely make any headway with all the shaking. “The stairs! Run for the tunnel!” The rumble became a roar. Wind rushed past them as something enormous and unseen burst from the pit, crying with a voice as mighty as it was alien. Mica wheeled around and thrust a foreleg toward Ami. No sooner did the light meet her sister’s white, terrified eyes than she vanished upward with a scream. White hot anger erased her fear. Nobody messed with her sister: not jacks, not dogs, not even giant monsters. She lunged toward the huge, worm-like form still rocketing out of the pit with little more than threats at her disposal and zero willingness to be the sole surviving member of her family. “Give her back, you—” And then her hooves left the ground amid a rush of air.