Andrik announced, his tone leaving no room for question. "We are going in."

The company of thirty, once scattered among the trees, drew together. They formed a narrow column of three soldiers side by side. Andrik and his sister Serana took the lead. Just behind them marched Maria, Jamie, and a Hafenstadt soldier.

Jamie had never descended into an iron mine before, but the scenario before them matched everything he'd heard.

Stepping inside, the company advanced through the labyrinthine tunnels. The walls had signs of relentless excavation, rough and uneven where pickaxes had struck. Wooden supports, aged and cracked, strained under the weight of the stone above. Along the path lay rusted iron rails, remnants of a time when carts would rumble filled with ore.

"Why was this mine closed?" Jamie asked. The mine seemed intact, preserved as if time had no impact there.

"It was several years ago," Serana responded, her tone clipped. "As attacks intensified, we lost our grip on the forest. Coming here became a deadly gamble. Orcs, and things far worse, waited for us in these woods."

"In the end," Andrik added, his voice hardened by memory, "it was safer to mine behind FrostHell's walls. At least there, you're not likely to have your throat slit."

The group's initial apprehension of the looming darkness began to dull as they pressed deeper. Yet, a new unease settled upon them. The tunnels were cramped, limiting their movements. Soldiers with spears had the most trouble, as the long shafts scraped the walls and sometimes got stuck at turns.

Minutes turned to what felt like hours as they continued to descend.

At last, they arrived at a fork in the tunnel. The main passage continued ahead, its path familiar and worn. But to the right, a new passage opened.

Andrik halted, his expression tightening with confusion. Jamie noticed the shift, stepping closer. "What's wrong?" he inquired.

"This," Andrik murmured, gesturing toward the right-hand tunnel. "It shouldn't exist."

Jamie peered down the corridor. Unlike the rugged, dirt-lined walls they had traversed, this passage was made using smooth granite blocks. The floor was level, the walls straight and precise. There was no debris, no trace of ore or markings of miners' tools. It resembled a hallway in a grand estate rather than an extension of an abandoned mine.

"This doesn't look like any mine I've ever seen," Maria commented

"Because it's not," Serana replied. "We've never dug in this direction. This passage wasn't here before."

Murmurs rippled through the group, a mix of curiosity and dread.

"Could someone have built this in secret?" a Hafenstadt soldier speculated, his voice edged with unease.

Jamie cast a glance at Serana, checking her expression for any hint of deceit. Her eyes mirrored her brother's confusion, wide with surprise.

'Either they're first-class actors or we've got yet another problem,' Jamie thought.

"Given the craftsmanship, it can't be orcs," Maria whispered beside him. "But whatever this is, I think we should investigate."

"Agreed, but it's strange," Andrik said. "We should have passed by the Orcs by now; they didn't usually venture this deep."

The group pressed forward into the secondary corridor, their footsteps hesitant.

They had taken only a few steps when the ground beneath them began to tremble. It wasn't the violent jolt of an explosion or the rolling quake of an earthquake. The vibrations were rhythmic, methodical, accompanied by a low, distant rumble that grew louder. It was the sound of something massive, something alive, moving toward them.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Fall back," Andrik ordered sharply. Some soldiers began to step backward, their movements hurried and clumsy in the confined space. Others tried to turn around, but the narrow passage and press of bodies made retreat almost impossible.

Jamie's heart pounded in his chest as he squinted into the darkness ahead, straining to make out any sign of what approached. Then he saw them. It was a constellation of red dots piercing the blackness. Eyes. Glowing crimson.

"Do you see that?" Maria whispered, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword.

The red orbs grew larger, nearer, until the shapes of creatures emerged from the darkness. Orcs, goblins, hobgoblins. A horde of twisted bodies and gnarled limbs ran down the corridor. Their faces contorted not with the savage fury but with sheer terror.

"By the gods," a soldier breathed, his voice shaking.

"Arms!" Jamie shouted. "To arms!"

The narrow tunnel reverberated with the clash of steel and the primal roars of combat.

A handful of seasoned soldiers planted their spears into the stone floor, bracing with every ounce of strength as the creatures slammed into them. Their feet slid back, inch by inch, boots scraping against the ground, but they held fast. Behind them, comrades who couldn't reach the front ranks leaned into the shafts of their spears, adding their weight to the makeshift barricade. The spears quivered under the strain, wood groaning but refusing to break.

At the forefront stood Andrik. His longsword arced and sliced through the air, each swing dispatching another abomination back into the darkness. His blade cleaved through, leaving trails of viscous black blood that spattered across his armor and the walls. Beside him, Serana fell back, her breath ragged. She yielded her spot to a fresh soldier.

"Hold the line!" Andrik screamed. The soldiers gritted their teeth, muscles burning from exertion. Heavy shields locked together, forming an iron wall. The weight of the enemy crashed against them.

Every passing moment felt like an eternity, their limbs growing heavy under the relentless assault. The need to continue fighting without pause gnawed at them; each breath made it worse. Each heartbeat could be their last.

Yet, something shifted. The ferocity of the monstrous tide began to wane. Snarls turned to whimpers, and savage strikes became hesitant.

One by one, the beasts began to pull away, shuffling backward before turning to flee toward a second tunnel branching into the unknown depths. Confusion rippled through the soldiers.

"Fight!" Andrik shouted, hoping to reignite the spirits of his men, to push them to secure a victory that now seemed within reach.

The remaining creatures froze mid-motion, their ears perked as if they were catching a sound. Then, as if commanded, they abandoned the fight, scrambling over one another in their haste to escape down the second corridor.

"Heavens above... What happened?" Maria gasped. Her eyes darted between the retreating forms and the darkness that swallowed them.

An uneasy silence enveloped the tunnel, broken only by the breaths of the warriors and the distant echoes of the creatures' retreat. The soldiers exchanged glances of bewilderment, the adrenaline of battle giving way to apprehension.

Andrik wiped the dark blood from his sword. "If something has them running scared," he muttered, "I fear we're about to face it."

He sheathed his sword with a resolute click. "Stay alert," he commanded. "We need to be ready for whatever comes."

The men and women around him nodded in agreement. There were no jests to lighten the moment, no grins of relief at having survived the onslaught.

As they pressed onward through the tunnel, the darkness began to recede. A faint glow appeared ahead.

The light intensified as they advanced. The narrow passage gradually widened, revealing what was at the front of the group as they slowed to a halt.

Before them stood an imposing stone archway, hewn from colossal slabs of rock. The arch was adorned with intricate carvings. Runes etched deep into the stone, their patterns forming a labyrinth of symbols. The heavy door framed within the arch was ajar, its massive hinges frozen in time.

Jamie stepped forward, his eyes tracing the familiar contours of the arch and its inscriptions. The craftsmanship and the eerie ambiance were unmistakable. "It can't be a coincidence," he muttered under his breath. Memories of the subterranean structure he'd encountered beneath Hafenstadt flooded his mind. It was the same oppressive atmosphere, the same enigmatic runes.

He exchanged a wary glance with Maria, whose hand hovered near the hilt of her blade.

Beyond the threshold lay a vast hall. The floor was a mosaic of stones in different colors—crimson, obsidian, gold, and azure.

"Are we going in?" one of the soldiers whispered, his voice barely audible.

Jamie took a deep breath, steadying himself. "We don't have much choice," he replied. "Staying here isn't an option."

He stepped across the threshold, a subtle chill coursing through him as he did. A soft chime resonated in his mind, followed by a text that appeared before his eyes.

[You have found the Mausoleum of Sith - The Goddess of Peace]

'Wonderful,' he thought bitterly. 'I avoided entering the last one, and now I'm forced into this.'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.