GORY PART BEGINS NAOW:
Everyone else, one by one, rappelled down the rope, which had been attached to the sink, to view the grisly sight. The hand was slightly curled, as if to make a fist, and you could still see the apparent strain of the long dead muscles trying to contract. "Youngbeard", the one remaining man armed with a hammer, prodded the hand with his hammer, a blank expression on his face. He turned the hand over. There was nothing on the ground, but they were able to see that the blood trail continued into a winding tunnel to their left. Labs grimaced as he stared down the path.
"Guy must have been hurt pretty badly to leave this much blood on the floors..." The leader nodded, and gestured for the others to follow. Labs started off down the tunnel, followed by Jack and his nameless fellow axedwarf. The leader followed, waiting for Khain, who was helping "Fil" get down the rope. The child landed, rather heavily, on Khain, who stood and brushed himself off, before pulling the child down the corridor. His nameless peer with his own crossbow remained behind to ensure that the rope remained untouched... but no one seemed to pay attention to him at the time...
They turned several twists, following the still wide blood trail down the rough tunnel. As the passed, "Fil", who was much more intelligent than the various armed men about him, curiously looked over the walls. He noted that the walls were chipped, cracked, and the overall quality was poor. This was a strange thing, he noted, for even when digging through rock, Dwarves were known for their skill with mining. It was rare, even amongst novice Dwarven miners, to leave walls as rough as those of the cavern. But at the same time, the cavern couldn't have been natural, because the tunnels were far to straight for their formation to have been natural. It was almost as if something else had made the caverns...
While "Fil" mused, shouts came from up ahead. The blood trail had steadily been narrowing as they had passed through the corridor, and now, it stopped altogether, culminating in a pool of blood that surrounded what they could only assume was their former comrades second hand, it was so torn, they couldn't tell what exactly it was, just that it had once been part of a living, breathing Dwarf. Jack prodded at it with his axe, and grimaced.
"Its still bleeding, look..." Indeed, blood was still leaking from the mass of flesh. Labs nodded.
"Then it was only cut off recently... he must be close." The leader nodded and they rounded the corner, past the hand... and they found him.
In a pool of congealing blood, with his hammer, practically coated in blood, propped up against the wall. He himself was neatly tucked up against the opposite corner, so neatly, that he could have been a doll in some little girl's collection, stowed on a shelf and left to gather dust. If it weren't for the fact that he lacked a head. And his hands. And his intestines. The mutilated corpse was indeed quite neat. It seemed as if he had been cleaned upon dying, like a fish. But that didn't change the fact that he was dead.
"We found him... and it doesn't look like he'll come out with us..." Jack shouted down the tunnels. The leader looked down, silently mourning the loss of a comrade. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, he raised his head, a fire growing in his eyes.
"We'll make who ever did this wish they had never done so!" He shouted, his voice echoing through the tunnels. His men shouted similar oaths, and everyone suddenly burst into a frenzy of searching, yelling, and such. Only Fil remained quiet, still lost in thought over the state of the walls. Behind him, Youngbeard slammed his hammer against the cavern walls and shouted a Dwarven oath, that roughly translated to "We'll do to them what they did to us". Fil grimaced as shards of rock passed over his head. He couldn't think with all of these meatheads shouting...
"Wait... is everyone in the tunnel?" Something stirred deep within Fil's memory, and he thought deeply on it... if everyone was here...
"The other marksman!" Everything suddenly clicked into place. "We left him at the rope, and no ones watching him!" Khain, who had been sharpening his bolts on an adjacent wall, nearly dropped his bolt in surprise. The leader looked back, the fire in his eyes extinguished, replaced by sudden fear.
"Go back! Go back!" Slowly, their shouts died down, replaced by the echoing of desperate running down the tunnel. Youngbeard, who had been in the rear, was first on the scene, hurtling down the corridor and to the rope. It was still there... but there was no marksdwarf. Nothing but a pool of blood. Youngbeard dipped his fingers in it. It was still warm. Everyone was soon behind, and there was frantic scuffling as the leader shouted orders.
"Search the tunnels!" Labs and Jack, who had been trailing behind, rushed down the tunnel to their right. The nameless axeman rushed to the left, while everyone else went straight up. Fil ran as best he could after everyone, and Jack stalled himself to keep an eye on the child. Everyone else ended up running into each other in their frenzy. They stopped, rubbing their heads gingerly, in front of a small room. Several rum barrels were in the room, besides that nothing.
Khain nodded at the barrels, gesturing. "We could take a drink now, not like anyone's using the barrels..." The leader stared at him as if he had suggested they all jump off a cliff. But Khain didn't pay attention, and walked up to one of the barrels. Hefting the barrel up, he tilted it over his head and began to drink heavily. After a while, he wiped off his mouth, satisfied, smacking his lips. "Weird taste... kinda fresh, but still pretty good you know." The rest filed into the room, examining the barrels. Labs licked his lips thirstily. Even Fil seemed tempted by the chance at free drink. Only the leader resisted, trying to remind everyone of the fact that they were missing a man. But no one payed attention.
Youngbeard finally gave in and pulled one of the barrels closer. Smiling, he prepared to partake, and looked in to get a clue as to what the vintage was. But what he saw was cloudy, as if something was
in the drink. Suddenly feeling suspicious, Youngbeard lifted the lid off the booze container, and tipped it on its side, to wash out the obstruction. And the truth was revealed.
Its look was one of genuine terror, its beard still red with blood. It looked so different when it didn't have a body. But it was a head they all knew, the head of their former companion, the hammerman. Khain, upon seeing the truth, immediately vomited, sick splattering over the floor. Labs gingerly held him, his face full of disgust after seeing what the barrels really held. Bodies, left to brine in the rum barrels. Jack instinctively pushed Fil back, so as to keep him from the grisly sight. The Leader grimly contemplated their decapitated friend, bowing his head in respect. All thought was lost in the moment, except for one.
Fil counted people, trying his hardest not to glance at the brine-covered head on the floor. Five... one was dead, another they were searching for... but the third?
"We left another behind!" The Leader, who had been dawning upon that fact as well, sprinted down the corridor, to their companions last known position. Youngbeard and Jack followed immediately, while Labs was forced to remain behind and drag Khain, who was still recovering from the shock, and Fil, who seemed to have frozen in thought, along.
They were too late. Another blood trail, fresh, coated the ground. Their freind was no where to be seen. In a daze, the Leader stumbled forward. It seemed as if he was in too much shock to speak. Youngbeard mumbled something about remaining in groups, and followed. Jack grimly followed as well, gesturing at Labs, Khain, and Fil to quickly catch up.
Click.
Argh that was a large one... I should probably split these up into smaller sections shouldn't I? Well anyways, hope you liked it.
EDIT: I noticed that this wasn't as good as my previous entries, the quality of my writing was low in this one. I will split it up into smaller chapters, which should help.
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Topic: When the Carp Cry : Definition of the Perpetual Witch (Read 24594 times)