Down, down, down. Staring into the hole was like staring deep into the pits of hell. There was no end. Not one that I could see.
The supervisor grabbed onto the edge and wormed his way a few feet down.
"Come along, my lord."
If I went down there, would I be able to climb back up?
But I swallowed my fear, knelt down, and grabbed the edge of the hole. This was better than the alternative.
I took handfuls of permafrost as the only handles I had, and I began my descent. The pit was just barely big enough for me; the walls ruffled my wings the wrong way.
The rock that once covered the hole shifted back into place. And that was it. No more light. All I could see were the faint outlines of dirt particles, a barely visible red from my glowing eyes.
Pickaxes clinked against rock, and shrill bat shrieks interrupted the dark silence. My feet touched the ground.
"My... you don't know how to get around here, do you! My apologies. Here, my lord. Take my hand."
The supervisor's little disembodied hand grasped mine.
He led me through increasingly tight and damp tunnels until I could barely squeeze myself foreword.
"We're almost there. Hold on a tad longer."
Easy for him to say! The supervisor was a good foot shorter than I, and the fact that he could break his body up probably made traversing these tunnels much easier.
We finally came to what felt like a doorway. A doorway that was too small for me. I could get my body in just fine, but my wings were another story.
The supervisor yanked on my arm so hard it felt like he was going to pop it right out of its socket.
When that didn't work, he grabbed my other arm and yanked on that, too.
My body was in a battle against the mass of solid soil, and at some point, one of them had to give in.
My wings pressed further and further into the dirt, going just a bit further every moment until...
With a thump, I fell-face first onto cold cobblestone.
A faint but sickly scent permeated through the air.
"Oh goodness, my lord! I'm so sorry!"
The scent was almost lulling in the way it flowed through my body.
The supervisor took me by the hand and helped me up.
"It's magnificent to be back in His presence, isn't it?"
I looked around, but there wasn't much to see. Except for pinpricks of red light. Eyes. Eyes like mine.
But listening revealed so much more. Quiet, indistinct chatter, the clicking of a rich man's shoes striking against stone, clouds of soft footsteps pattering about...
Come to think of it, there were far too few eyes to match the amount of footsteps.
I took a few shaky steps foreword before tripping on something else and falling over once again
Oh god– in my ineptitude, I'd tripped over a lady! I couldn't blame myself too much. She was only tall enough to reach my thigh.
The woman, however, couldn't let go of his own blame.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She spoke like a broken automaton. Her words slurred together and broke in sobs.
"Hey! Hey! It's alright!" I knelt down to where I thought she was. "I didn't see you there. That's all."
I pat around with my hand until I felt her shoulder.
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
I leaned in closer. Her whole body tensed up.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Her face became dimly lit red.
She had no eyes.
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