Songs Of War - What if everyone was related?

The Basalt Mines

In a prison located west of Ardonia, the warden, Marcus, walks towards one of the cells and bangs on the bars.

The prisoner who was facing the wall slowly turns around.

~*~

In the warden's office, he sits on one side of the table, fidgeting around on his chair. Marcus on the other side is leafing through a book. A cake is on the side of the table.

' Alright, Lucan. Since you continue to show good behavior, and your crimes were once again, minor, we're going to accelerate your release,' Marcus reads the book out loud.

Lucan leans up in his chair. ' So that explains the cake! A celebration…'

He reaches out for the cake but Marcus stops him, ' Don't touch my cake!'

Lucan shrugs, and waits for Marcus to continue reading.

' There is one condition: you're being assigned to mining duty near the Basalt Coast.'

Lucan was reaching for the cake again, but withdraws his hand in worry. ' Mining duty?! Are you sure that paper doesn't read milling duty?'

Marcus furrows his eyebrows.

Lucan sighs. ' Guess not… So, mining duty huh? You mean underground...where all the undead are?'

' You'll be protected by a guard like every other miner,' Marcus explains,
' There's no need to worry, Lucan.'

Lucan crosses his legs and leans back on his chair. ' I'm feeling much safer here in jail, actually. Say… what about road repair duty, or home animal domestica-'

Marcus cuts Lucan off, ' This isn't a request, it's an assignment. You know how things are- mines are running dry, resources getting scarce… We're being forced to mine deeper into the dangers that lie below.'

Lucan leans over the table. ' If you wanted to kill me, you could've just gone with an execution!'

He leaves Marcus there, who is stunned.

Marcus glances to the side of the table to find it empty.

Lucan leaves as he enjoys the cake he snatched from Marcus.

~*~

' A miner… Of course they need more miners! There's no shortage of quilters or bakers. Nope! Just miners!' Lucan talks to himself as he walks along the Basalt Coast.

He enters a building. ' Hello? Another legally obligated miner here to do service!'

A guard is sleeping on the ground. There are bottles laying around the room.

' You've got to be kidding me…'  Lucan walks over to the snoring guard.
' Anyone awake around here? Hey!'

Lucan slams his fist on an anvil, waking the guard up. ' Hmmm, what?'

' I'm here for mining duty,' Lucan crosses his arms,' I'm looking for my guard, Eddy.'

The guard stands up, and appears to be drunk. ' That's me, Eddy at your service...'

He bows and nearly falls over.

Lucan just has a very dull look on his face.

' I prepared some beverages but I, ' he hiccups, ' I drank most of them…'

Lucan just continues staring at him.

Eddy feels uneasy. They are quiet for a moment, and Eddy takes out a poisonous potato. ' Potato?'

' Erm, no thanks…' Lucan steps back, ' I ate on the way here. My name's Lucan, by the way.'

Lucan reaches out for a handshake.

' Nice to meet ya, Lucan. My name's Eddy. Let's get started!' Eddy puts a pickaxe in Lucan's hand instead of shaking it.

~*~

They walk through the mines. Eddy rambles on about random things.

' I've been a guard here at the Basalt Mines all my life, and boy I'll tell you, I have guarded like you've never seen.'

' My father was a guard. My brother was a guard. My sister was a guard. Wait, I don't have a sister…'

' My uncle was riding a pig off a cliff and landed without a scratch. I think he was trying to achieve something, but I'm not sure. The pig was fine, but my uncle on the other hand…'

' Stop! Would you be quiet for a second?' Lucan half shouts, half whispers to Eddy.

Eddy stops. They hear faint noises from the mines.
' Oh, you'll get used to hearing strange noises down here, Lucan. I hear them all the time now,' Eddy tells him and walks past him into the mines.

Lucan is concerned, but follows Eddy.

Eddy points to a corner of the mine. ' We'll be working over there on our left… I mean, uh… right…'

They walk there, passing by other miners and a couple of rare ores that were mined.

Suddenly, Lucan hears a strange sound. A small dark object lands near their feet and starts rolling towards the along the catwalk. Lucan jumps for it and grabs the object just before it rolls off the edge.

Lucan turns the object around and sees it is a Wither skeleton skull. Just then, the undead come swarming in the mines, armoured and equipped with weapons.

Eddy gasps. ' Zombies! I need to hold them off! Go raise the alarm!'

Eddy grabs his sword and runs towards the zombies.

' Eddy!' Lucan calls out to his guard. But Eddy swings his sword, loses his balance, and drops his sword as a zombie grabs him. Lucan watches in horror as Eddy and the zombie fall off the catwalk.

Lucan dashes towards Eddy's sword. He picks it up and slays a zombie.

More undead mobs arrive and start flooding the mines. Lucan holds tight to Eddy's sword while drawing out his pickaxe as an extra weapon as he looks around the mines full of undead.