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Episode X: Part 2

He stood there, observing the entrance for a while before he took his first steps into it. "Last time I was here... was when I returned from the temple." he thought. He didn't remember much of what it was inside, as he was upset, just crashing through the tunnels. Fearless of what could have harmed him.

As Undreas went deeper into the mine, the smell got less concentrated and he could start smelling the fresh waters running through the depths of the mountain. But he knew what the stink came from when he saw the rotten tools and constructions scattered throughout the tunnel. Along with a few skeleton corpses, but they seemed to have been there for many years, so he thought that whatever caused their deaths wouldn't be too close.

His eyes got adapted to the darkness the further he went, and soon he could spot small, weak sources of light in the tunnel walls. Those must be ore veins.

"So I must have walked past the coal mine now..." he thought. This was a rather big mountain so of course there must be many types of minerals in it. These weak light sources he saw, were green, so they must've been emerald ore veins... "How come humans haven't come this far with their mining?" He thought, seeing no mining tools as he went deeper into the cave.

He kept walking for what seemed like half an eternity, just being around 30 minutes, before he could hear the sound of rushing water ahead. Must be an underground river... The closer to it he walked, the louder the noise and soon he almost had to cover his ears from the sound.

Ahead he could see the tunnel stopped, showing an entrance to a huge chamber. "Oh now I remember... The waterfall." he stopped for a while, reminding himself about it before he started walking again.

As soon as he stepped into this chamber, he got the chills from seeing how big it was. The ceiling was so far up it, vanished in a blur, filled with ore veins giving this room a shimmering glow. A wide, wild river rushed through the floor of the room, a wooden bridge crossing it. On the other side of the bridge, he could see the tunnel entrance leading him to the other side of the mountain foot. To his right, the water came to an end in a waterfall, leading to the deeper parts of the cave. Perhaps to an underground lake, before finding its way to the outside.

He didn't know. Nor cared. He just wanted to cross this bridge.

The wild waters sometimes sent water up on and over the bridge, so it was partially wet and slippery. Undreas had to walk very carefully over the bridge. It seemed steady though. It wasn't a bridge with ropes, it was only sturdy, thick wood, with poles buried deep into the ground both at its ends and across the river.

Finally, he had made it across the bridge. He had to stop and take a quick breather before finding his way to the tunnels on this side of the river.

Fresh air hit his face as he now walked slightly upwards. Still being rather dark, he knew he was getting close to the entrance. The walls and floor was rather dry, in difference from the deeper parts of the cave. Soon, he could hear the wind howl through the tunnels, and the curved walls started to reflect light.

It didn't take long before he reached the outside. It was still dark, yet he had the moon infront of him, lighting the surroundings up a bit. The air smelled much better than before he entered the caves. Partially because there was a village nearby known for its many flower fields.

But he had no time to rest. It would have to take yet another day before he'd decide to rest. He had to cross that village to get on the road leading to the harbor town, though. So he started walking towards it, its gate lanterns shining in the distance.

Two guards were stationed at the entrance. They approached him as they spotted him.

"Good evening, gentlemen!" he spoke in a kind tone, hoping they would not take him for some suspicious person.

"Well good evening to you, sir. What's your business here at this time?" One guard asked.

"Oh, I'm just passing through. I'm going to... Calahas, the harbor town."

"Ah... Well then. Please walk through, and try not to make any noise. Howling might scare the civilians." The guard said and they both laughed, before one of them blew in a whistle, in different tones, probably a code for other guards in the village that a vagrant or traveller was passing through.

Undreas smiled at them and calmly walked through the village. This wasn't a very modern village. Houses made of stones and boards, yet they had very welcoming shapes, grass and flowers growing on their roofs and window boards.

Soon, he reached the entrance on the other side, and the two guards there greeted him and watched him vanish in the distance.

After a few minutes walking, he reached the main road of this area, so he stepped on to it and began walking it. Now he'd just follow it until he reached Calahas. There were no more shortcuts to walk, but he had saved a day or two by crossing the swamp and the mountain, instead of walking the main road, having to pay border taxes or meet bandits or highwaymen.

It'd still take him another day and night to reach Calahas though. But there were resting places and inns on the way so he knew he wouldn't have a time too hard ahead...

The remainder of the night was very calm. The grass field spread out on both his sides, forests covering their distant edges. He met nothing or no one to disturb him, and the air was fresh, giving him positive chills every now and then.

As soon as the sun rose, he decided to take a short break, so he climbed up a steep hill to the left and sat down under a large, lone tree.

From there, he could see pretty far ahead on the road. A large forest was coming up to cover each side of the road. Travellers and traders started to show up a little here and there on the road. So he'd not spend the day too alone.

But he'd sit there for yet another while. Just... Watching.