Delving Beneath the Surface

Chapter 12

"Yoba, I hate this," Haley groaned as she ripped her sweatshirt over her head. Her shirt clung to her lower back, drenched in sweat.

Verona tugged at the collar of her shirt, fanning herself, but it hardly made a difference. The heat felt worse than even the hottest of days working on the farm. The other two had shucked their outer layers a while ago, tying their jackets around their waists. From the hunched shoulders and deep frowns, it was clear that everyone was sweaty and miserable.

She could see the heat as it rippled in the air around them. The distant sizzle and hiss of flowing magma echoed around them. Verona skimmed her hand along the cavern wall. It burned her skin, hotter than an open flame. She drew back and sucked on her stinging finger. Perhaps, the lave was closer than she thought, kept at bay by the rock closing in around them.

"This sucks ass, man," Sam panted as he doused his head in water from his canteen. He shook out his hair, spraying water everywhere. He flung his head back. His bangs flopped down in front of his eyes, resembling a wet dog. "Whose idea was this again?"

"Oh, gee." Sebastian shot Haley a sidelong glance. "I wonder who?"

"There's no need to point fingers, McCarthy," she snapped as she pressed herself flat against the wall to shimmy down a particularly narrow path. "Everyone agreed to come down here. I just brought the idea up."

Verona held her breath as she followed her. The rock squeezed around her, almost too tight to pass through with her bag and tools. The nose of her new steel pickaxe caught on the wall, stopping her dead in her tracks. Her heart leapt into her throat as she yanked at it, then again. The metal pick loosened but it took a few more good tugs to fully dislodge. Clint had made certain to charge a pretty penny for it. Nothing would make her leave it behind.

She found Haley on the other side, brushing the dirt from her jeans. "I have a really good feeling about this place."

Sebastian stumbled out after Verona. The rock had torn at his bare arms, covering them with small cuts. He wiped at them, smearing small beads of blood across his alabaster skin. Verona pulled some gauze from her bag and handed it to him.

"You would be the only one," he deadpanned as he pressed a pad to one of the larger cuts, "I feel like these passages are getting smaller. Does anyone else feel that way? Or is it only me?"

Verona had noticed it too. The tunnels had gotten narrower over the last hour or so. Like they weren't made for humans their size, but rather smaller creatures that could easily navigate the channels without having to crouch.

"Hey guys, uh, a little help here?" Sam waved his arm, one half of his body still wedged in the passage. He grunted as he tried to pull himself free, but to no avail. Haley took him firmly by the hand and yanked. It took a few tugs before he stumbled out, one hand pressed to his chest as he caught his breath. "Yeah, I don't think I'll make it through another one of those."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Verona said as she scanned the area around them. It opened into a much larger space that spanned several hundred feet. Thin strips of gold vein laced the cracks in the walls. The black volcanic rock swallowed the beam of her flashlight as she spun on her heel to survey the area. A ravine carved through the center of the cave. A roaring wind rumbled deep below, shaking the ground under their feet.

She walked to the edge of the ravine and peered over the edge. An impenetrable black greeted her. She had no idea how far down it went before it ended – if it ended. She kicked a stone over the crumbling edge and listened. Nothing. Well, that answered that question.

She stepped away and asked, "What do we do now?"

Haley shook her head fervently. "This can't be the end," she sank to her knees and peered over the edge, "And even if it is, there's got to be more to it. Maybe there's something down there?" She used the light of her flashlight to search the sides of the ravine, as if the final scroll would jump out of the shadow at her.