I inched my way upwards, squeezing myself against the rock and reaching for handholds. The light from the lantern helped a little, but I was feeling my way up more often than not. It was hard going, and I earned more than a few scrapes, but I was used to little injuries by then. Cuts and grazes were nothing new, the pain kept my mind sharp. Strange to say it, but it's quite easy to let your mind wander crawling through the darkness. You start to see shapes, black against black, images the mind tries to decipher. That, I think, is why so many people fear the darkness; their minds trick them into seeing things that simply aren't there. That is what I thought I was seeing when I looked up and saw two yellow eyes staring at me from the darkness.
I glanced up, seeing the yellow dots, then squeezed my eyes shut. I could hear myself breathing hard, the hammering of my blood rushing through my ears. I could feel the closeness of the rock around me. Fear made me indecisive. When I opened my eyes again the yellow lights were still there glinting back at me. I froze, staring up at them. It's hard to say how long I waited there, not moving. Hoping that they hadn't seen me. Hoping if I didn't move, they wouldn't notice. Long enough that I heard Hardt call up to me.
The lights didn't move, nor blink out. They just sat there in the darkness above.
"I'm alright," I shouted without taking my eyes from the lights. Fear paralyses, makes us weak. I hated weakness and I hated being afraid, and I knew the best way to overcome fear is to face it head on. I started to crawl upwards. Still the lights didn't move. I could hear the whistling of the wind, closer now, and feel the breeze.
At some point I realised what it was I was looking at. They weren't eyes in the dark or even lights. They were reflections from the lantern hanging at my side. I reached out towards them, and my hand met rock, hard and unyielding above me. I scratched at it with broken nails and pulled free a small gemstone that held the reflected lantern light within even when I cupped my hands around it, cradling it in complete darkness.
I let out a short laugh and pocketed the gem before prying the second one free as well. Only then did I let the reality of the situation dawn on me. The way above me was solid stone. The crevice we had opened up ended and I was fairly certain we were still far from the surface. I unhooked the lantern from my belt and held it up to be sure, but all I could see was rough rock.
Well that's the escape plan over. All that's left is to wait for Yorin to finish the job. The thought brought on a nervous type of fear that niggled at me. I almost dropped the lantern as I tried to fix it back onto my belt, and only then did I let frustration take over. You might think that deep underground there is no one to hear you scream, but sound carries.
"Are you all right?" I heard Hardt shout. "I'm coming up."
"No." I shouted back down before lowering my voice again. "Then we'd both just be up here fucking sulking in the dark."
"What's the matter?" he shouted.
I shifted to the side a little so I could look down and see Hardt's face, lit by a lantern, staring up from so far below.
"The crevice ends. There's no way out." I felt like screaming again. I very nearly did.
Tamura's face appeared below me, shoving Hardt out of the way. "Nothing from nothing," said the crazy old man. "Even the sea begins somewhere."
"Right." I rolled my eyes though I knew he couldn't see it. "Really fucking useful. Thank you, Tamura."
He whistled up at me before Hardt shoved him out of the way again. "Can we dig the rest of the way?"
Looking down I knew I hadn't moved more than four levels up, maybe less. We'd have to dig through close to sixty feet of rock to reach the surface. I tried to think of a witty response that would make Hardt feel as stupid as the question he asked. I was feeling a bit too frustrated and exhausted to be witty.
"No," I shouted back, my shoulders slumping. "No," I repeated to myself so quietly my words were drowned out by the whistling of the wind around me.
There is a point where inspiration hits. It's strange. Almost like having an idea, but not knowing what the idea is. I floundered for a moment, desperately searching for the reason that hope was flaring within me again. Then it dawned on me. The whistling of the wind. Everything had to have a beginning. A strong breeze didn't just come from nowhere, and it was a strong breeze.
I started feeling around, placing my hands on the rock all around me until I felt where the wind was whistling into the crevice. After raising the lantern once more, I could finally see a small hole in the rock just in front of me. Another crack to dig away at. Swapping the lantern for the little hammer I started smashing away at the rock, trying to widen the hole. Rubble rained down around my feet and I heard Hardt shout, asking what I was doing. I didn't bother to answer. I was far too busy smashing away, tearing rock free from the wall in front of me. I hoped the big man had the sense to back away from the falling debris.
Fresh sweat dripped into my rags as I hammered away at the wall. Before long there was an opening large enough to shove my hand through. After a couple of inches of rock, I felt empty air all around, a gentle breeze cooling my sweaty skin. I pulled my arm back in and shifted until I could peer into the hole. I saw little yellow lights shining back at me, dozens of gemstones like the ones in my pocket. A grin spread across my face as I realised all was not lost.
The lights beyond were not bright but they showed flat walls, a carved roof and ceiling above. The hole didn't just open into another crevice. There was a room the other side of the wall. For just a moment I wondered if it was a part of the Pit, sealed off and forgotten about, but the walls were too flat and uniform to be hewn from the rock by us scabs.
Just before I pulled away from peering through the hole, I saw something move against the darkness and then it was gone. I ignored it, believing my eyes were playing tricks on me. I was wrong about that.
I hammered away at the wall some more until the hole was large enough I could put a leg through it. By then I was coated in a layer of sweat and feeling every bit of the exhaustion. I realised then I couldn't do it alone.
Crawling back down the crevice took far too long. My excitement filled me with nervous energy and I almost fell a couple of times before I finally felt open air beneath me, my legs dangling. A moment later strong arms wrap around me and Hardt lifted me from the crevice to the ground.
I grinned up at the big man and wrapped my arms as far around him as possible, squeezing him tight. I found him smiling back at me and Tamura too was giggling, as though my excitement were somehow contagious.
"I thought you said there was no way up?" Hardt asked.
"Not up." I was breathless from the climb and the excitement. "But out maybe. I found a hole in the wall of the crevice where the air was whistling through. Just like you said." Tamura nodded back at me. "It opens out into a room. A room. Carved and everything. A proper room."
Hardt nodded slowly. "Just a room?" he asked.
"Well I think there was a door leading out of it," I said as if the question were a stupid thing to ask. "There must be."
Hardt didn't look convinced. "Leading where?"
"I don't fucking know," I said. "But if there's a room then there has to be more. Carved walls and a ceiling don't just appear in the middle of solid fucking rock."