4. Discovery

What what this now? What did that storm do to me? This isn't right. This can't be right. It was dark and quiet. Very quiet. So quiet I could hear my heartbeat between my breaths. No wait.... there was something else breathing between my breaths. Or was it an echo? Wait a minute.... did I fall into the hole while I slept. Can't be. I'm frantically looking around as I reach around in the pitch. No walls! No anything... except that breathing besides my own. I crouch and start shuffling my feet forward. I blink forcefully a few times to clear the sweat from my eyelids. What? Sweat? Its hot... so hot! The air is thin. Steamy, in fact. Then I hear something moving. But I can't determine the direction from which it is coming. I'm terrified and frantic now. My hands reach into the darkness and only feel heat. My palms are sweating. I think my eye balls are sweating. other WHERE WAS I!!!??? Then I felt something very hot very near. Like an invisible flame. Nothing to see. I keep moving around but I have no idea which way I'm going. The heat.... it was behind me. I close my eyes and try to focus my senses toward the source of the heat. Then the other breathing seemed to be nearer. I was moving as well. Toward me. Oh dear! I opened my eyes... nothing. I turn my head around. Still nothing. I turn back toward my front and then.... a low rumble.... like a deep guttural growl. Gulp! I turn to move away from it as as I turn a set of glowing crimson orbs appear right in front of me. I was fixated. And suddenly the orbs move toward me. Slowly at first then in a mad rush the orbs headed right toward me and then something else..... A toothy maw opened right in front of my face with so much heat emanating from its breath and my head was enveloped.... ...I sat up with a start and a scream! A dream. A very bad dream. Thank the gods! It was just a dream. My heart was battering the inside of my ribs. It took some time but I stopped sweating and was able to breath normally again. I exited my tent to find myself still in the dead of night . The stars gave just enough light for me to see that everything around me was just as it was when I went to sleep. Remember when I said that I suspected my nights of peaceful sleep were coming to an end? There was no way I was going back to sleep now. I pulled my boots and breechers on and started a fire. I sprinkled some fire dust on some torches and decided to climb down the hole. I haven't been able to go down in a while. I was curious. All the rocks had stopped glowing. The ground was cool now. I figured the hole was dry so I wasn't worried about losing my footing. I dropped a torch into the hole and waited for it to hit bottom. Then I climbed in and made my way down without securing a rope to the surface. The familiar warmth of the hole was a comfort to me now. This provided a small sense of security. I needed that. Especially after that dream. Not to mention the freak storm and all that happened here in the last few days. I reached the bottom and looked around. There were scars on the walls and the floor from the lightening strikes. Some of the scars were very long. Rocks and dirt were scattered everywhere. The footing was precarious. Rocks were twisting under my feet. I jarred some more rocks loose from the wall. All these rocks were loosened by the bolts. Some were still warm. Some of the debris from the sky's assault landed down here. I found one of my pick axes. It was in tact too. As I was feeling around the walls I noticed one section was warmer than the rest. I started pulling out rocks from there. Rocks and dirt tumbled out readily. Then I hit a rather large stone. I tried prying it out but it was too large. I dug around it until I could wiggle it. I moved the torch so I could get a better look and noticed a large crack running along the center. I tried wedging the point of my pick but it was too blunt. As I was clearing more of the obstructing rocks I found it more difficult to hold a secure stance. It was getting too cluttered down here. I climbed back up and began the operose task of hauling stones up and out of the hole. By my third trip up the hole the sun was rising again. After the 6th or 7th trip I had most of the hole cleared. Cleared enough anyway. So I continued working on that large stone. I kept digging around it until I tug a trench around the rock deep enough to reach the entire length of my arm into it. Only now was the stone beginning to wobble. I kept prying it against the wall and after numerous attempts it finally slid out a little. So I continued digging out from under it and eventually it plunked to ground. This stone was massive! There was no way I would be able to haul this out. So I retrieved my mallet and started working on the crack. With each strike sparks flew. I was convinced this was something unique. No other stones around here sparked when I struck them. Upon closer inspection I noticed a spot where the crack was wide enough my small axe blade to be inserted as a wedge. As I was hammering on the wedge the crack started to give way. Slowly at first, then a little more. But I was growing tired. After some indeterminate time the crack was about half way around the stone. I wiped some of the grime from my brow and succeeded in smearing it along my forearm. I figured this was as good a time as any for a respite. I climbed out and washed as well as I could with rain water that I collected in some buckets. I went to the small woods agian and found a foul caught in a snare. Now this would be a good meal! After twisting the head off I reset the snare and headed back to my camp. By the time I arrived most of the blood had drained from the bird. I was going to cook this one slowly. I set up the fire and spit, plucked the foul and cleaned it. Skewered the bird and set it about a half leg over the fire. I relaxed a little while longer. I laid on my back with my head resting the palms of my interlaced hands. I was watching the cottony clouds drift lazily to the west. Eventually I made my way back down the hole and continued working on that crack. I crawled out after 30 minutes or so just to turn the spit. The aroma was growing strong and my hunger was growing. This would be the most significant meal I've had in alomst 2 weeks. The last hearty meal was at Maefis, a small down about 12 leagues from here. That is where I bought my gear and ass and came out here. I didn't have enough feed for the ass so I set it free after I arrived. I felt bad, though. I really liked my ass. He had an even temper and walked on a lead very nicely. Anyway... There I was... chipping away at this boulder. Progress was slow, but measurable. I started to get a little more excited when a larger crevice formed. I kept chipping and prying. As the cracked opened a bit more some of the torch light reached the bottom of the crack and something in there glinted. Like a gem. Good grief! What if this was some giant gem stone! Even my ass would have a hard time carrying this! But I wasn't about to let me get ahead of myself. A few more blows to the crack and I would retreat up the hole for some dinner. I left the tools in the hole and made my way back up eagerly looking forward to that foul! As I climbed out and dusted my self off I made my way toward the fire and I looked up I was dismayed! I have been discovered.