“Well of course,” Maynard said with a chuckle, “Have you heard of the Silent City series?”
“It’s a series of books, right?” Philippe asked as he peered at the numbers that Maynard had scored into the dirt.
“Yeah, and it got turned into a game that I play a lot. Where we are, Durley, Illham, that’s a place from Silent City. It doesn’t exist in normality, so the fact that we’re here makes me wonder what came first. Silent City, or this place?”
“So we’re not in your game?”
“I don’t think we’re in the game itself, but anything other than that… Your guess is as good as mine. This place is just very familiar to me.” With his foot, Maynard scratched out the numbers in the dirt before turning back to Philippe, “Thanks for helping me out. If I work out anything else, I’ll give you a heads up, but I think I need more data.”
“Alright, well I’m going to try and find Adam and Callum, but when I find out the plans I’ll try and keep you updated. You seem like an alright guy, and I don’t really buy Adam’s schtick about you being useless.”
“Thanks for keeping me in the loop,” Maynard said, sticking out his hand, “If I can, I’ll watch your back.”
“That means a lot,” Philippe replied, taking Maynard’s hand and shaking it. The two parted ways and Maynard began making his way round the area, lost in his own thoughts. Is 10 luck high? Or is 3 low? I need more information, but there’s no way I’m getting anything from Adam or Tommy, and Callum is attached to Adam’s hip right now. I need to find another source of data…
As he walked around he moved by miners in varying degrees of filth. Dust and grime was everywhere, but as Maynard got further away from the entrance of the mine things became more palatable. A row of outdoor showers sat against the back of one of the rickety red brick buildings that ringed the mine. A few men were using the open showers to wash the grime off themselves, and standing beside them with a rough cloth was the miner Maynard had seen earlier, Harry.
As Harry spotted Maynard, he waved and walked over. “Mayn!” he said, “Did you find the professor?”
“Yeah, I have an hour to kill before we begin exploring the ruins you found.” The moment that Maynard mentioned the mines, Harry grimaced and shrank back slightly. Maynard frowned at the response and asked, “What?”
“The mines are haunted, pal. We’ve had three seasoned men go missing in the mines since we found those ruins. It’s always the same, they can be there one minute and then gone the next. We’re running at half capabilities because of it, but I don’t disagree with what the foreman is doing. It’s why we contacted Illham college.”
He didn’t go to Cambridge? Once I work out what is going on here and complete my mission, I have to check out the real Illham college, Maynard mused as he listened to Harry. “So why are you here at night if you’re not going into the mines?”
“We’re here to keep other people out of the mines too. You and the rest of the professor’s group can go in, but everyone else has to stay out.”
“Then do you just stay around here and watch the entrance to the mine all night? That must be pretty boring.”
“It’s not too bad to be honest,” Harry replied, “There’s a group of us, and we spend most of the night playing cards. It’s really not bad, unless I begin losing.”
Gambling? That’s perfect! Maynard smiled, “Harry, this is going to be a bit weird of a question, but would I be able to join your game today? I’m currently planning an experiment based on luck and was looking for a situation to test my mettle.”
“Of course! You’ll probably be in the mine when we start, but if you look for the hut with a light on, we’ll be outside.”
“Thanks, but I might be earlier than you think. Adam and Tommy, the two guys leading the group don’t like me very much.”
Harry shook his head, “People forced to work together should suck up their distaste and just do their job. A team is a chain, with each link on the chain keeping the whole thing together.”
Maynard nodded, “That’s surprisingly insightful.”
“What, for a miner?”
“No, for anyone honestly. A team is a chain… I’ll remember that.”
They made their way back to the wall that Maynard first met Harry at and sat down on it. The two chatted about the region until the sun began setting. As they spoke, Maynard watched the miners moving too and fro while most prepared to exit the mines for the evening. Harry had told him that most people who worked in the mine lived in the nearby village of Durley, which is where the mine got its name. With each minor fact he was told by the local, Maynard became more sure that he was on the earth of Silent City. The time period, the Prime Minister, the location, even some of the odd name changes for food left him with the impression that he might very well be inside the game that he played so regularly. Dwelling on this made Maynard uncomfortable, though, so as the time to meet up with the group and explore the ruins approached he pushed the thought down and bade his farewells to Harry.
After making his way to the front of the mine, Maynard looked around for a moment before spotting professor Lockley, his heavy weight causing his walking cane to sink into the ground. The man was chatting avidly with an incredibly emotionally drained Tommy, ignoring the rest of the world as he posed what seemed like increasingly ridiculous questions. He did not even turn away from Tommy as Maynard arrived, and continued with his bizarre grilling, “So, have you actually met any of these immortal warriors that are written about, or are they like our heroes of yore? Oriental Arthurian legends, if you will.”
“Sir, as I told you earlier, my family was simply a group of traders, and I’ve not been to China since I was a child. I honestly don’t know more about them than I’ve read in stories and heard from my parents.”
Professor Lockley sighed and finally turned away from Tommy. Spotting Maynard, he said, “It seems like it’s time to stop anyway, your companions are beginning to arrive.”
From behind the professor’s back, Tommy mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to Maynard, before walking over to the quickly approaching Adam, Callum and Philippe. Seeing the group that had rejected him reform, Maynard took a step towards professor Lockley and waited patiently for the older man to explain what they would all be doing. He did not have to wait long, however, as the professor directed them towards a pile of spare tools that the foreman had left behind. The tools were in various states of disrepair, but other than the mattocks that they would most likely not need, the protective gear and ropes were in good enough condition to last the night.
“For now,” professor Lockley began, “We’re going into the mines to simply explore the ruins, notate the hieroglyphs that supposedly mark the walls and remove any loose artifacts that happen to be transportable. If you cannot pick something up, do not worry about it. We will simply grab it when I bring a team with more heavy duty tools down. First things first though, I have to show that there’s no such thing as a curse on the mine.”
Without ushering a word of complaint, the ringbearers put on a free hard-hat, picked up rope and then tied it around their waists. They grabbed a lamp each, but only Callum kept his out. It seems that he’s been designated the torchbearer of the group, Maynard thought as he took up the rear while entering the dim cavern. The mine itself was beyond a cliche, with heavy set wooden beams that lined the walls and ceiling like some kind of oaken rib-cage, and the simple rail tracks as a metal spine. Lamps lined the walls for the first half of their journey, but as the group moved deeper into the earth, the shadows became longer and the lamps became more sparse, until finally they disappeared altogether. Without the lamp that Callum held in his hand, the group would be descended into pitch darkness, the only thing guiding their footsteps the thin line of rope that the foreman had so graciously set into the walls for them to not lose their way.
As their little globe of light moved deeper and deeper, further from life with only the heavy bowels of the earth around them, Maynard began to feel like he was being watched. He could not tell from where, but he felt distinctly like someone was staring at him, waiting for him to step out of that globe of light so it could pounce. Eventually, even the rail tracks stopped and the ringbearers were left with the knowledge that for the first time they were truly on their own.
Their path continued for some time after the rail tracks ended, but considering the lack of any sort of clock, as well as the fact that Maynard’s own internal timer was shoddy, left them all lost for how long they had been underground. Then, as the feeling of being watched made Maynard more nervous than ever, something changed. One after the other, they stepped over some rubble, and they were confronted with a hole that led into a massive cavern.
The cavern was tens of meters high, and hundreds of meters wide, with thick stalactites that hung from the ceiling like teeth ready to snap down on the intrepid group. Something within the cavern was giving off a vibrant purple light that warped the shadows of the stalagmites that lined the floor in even stranger ways than they already were. As the light ebbed and flowed, it gave the illusion that the shadows were alive, that they were moving, yet there was still a clear path that led from the hole to the far end of the room. Towards the steps and a gateway wrapped in chains, surrounded by ominous glyphs and that same ominous glow.
Professor Lockley moved into the cavern with the awe and excitement of a child at christmas, but with the grace of a man who considers light exercise a form of torture. He trudged forwards, whipping his head around as he tried to take in all of the magnificent, eerie, cavern but his limited field of vision failed absolutely, leaving him moving like a spinning top when he was not huffing while out of breath.
Adam continued to follow close by the professor. He had been a sycophant for the entire journey, but while it might have soured him to the ringbearers around him, he had slowly made an impression on the professor that was more positive than his initial introduction. While they headed the party, Maynard continued to take the rear, and as he glanced behind them he watched as the shadow swallowed up the path behind them. Almost subconsciously, he moved his hand to double check that his pack still contained the light that he had put in it earlier. The last thing he wanted to do was make the return journey with nothing to light his way.
Eventually, the professor huffed his way up the stairs, wide eyed as he looked at the gateway before them. Something had been locked up long ago, so long ago that the chains that wrapped around the door looked like they would dissolve at the slightest touch. As he stared at the gateway, Lockley turned, pulled pads and a box full of charcoal sticks out of his own bag, and said, “Well come on then, chaps! Let’s record these glyphs, then once we have done that we can spring this vault open and see what’s inside!”
