Dug Too Deep, Prologue The two brothers walked down the darkened mine shaft, most of the way lit by the torches scattered along the cave’s walls. In the dim light of the tunnel, the faint glint of various gemstones reflected light away from the rock. Steven, the older and stronger of the two, carried a torch and a battered iron pickaxe, with his younger brother Marcus following closely behind. Both wore the standard blue and green miner’s clothes, a fact which Marcus particularly resented, as the outfit Steve gave him was a few sizes too big for him. Marcus was the first to break the silence. “So, remind me why you brought me down here? I’m missing school, you know.” Steve gave a hesitant sigh before responding. The old miner had never approved of his brother’s decision to attend the local college, dismissing their wizards’ teachings as a waste of time and manpower better spent down in these mines. “I already told you. The teams sent down here last found a layer of rock that they couldn’t break through, and they think that one of you might be able to deal with it.” He stopped for a moment to kick one of the little cave spiders to the side. They were annoying, but not dangerous most of the time. “Who knows, maybe you’ll actually learn something practical from being down here.” This last comment irritated Marcus, whose hand began to glow softly in the darkness. Some time later, Marcus had gotten tired, and had sat down to rest by an intersection of two tunnels. One of the green slimy creatures that tended to live this far down landed next to him, and let out a small squeak. He was about to pick it up when his brother broke through the gloom and brought his pickaxe down on the poor slime, crushing it. “Quit playing with the monsters. We’re here.” Steve hadn’t lied. The mass of rock in front of them seemed pretty solid, and there were burn marks all over it. “You used dynamite on it?” “Yeah, still nothing. You ready to give it a try?” “I guess.” Marcus removed the backpack he brought with him and approached the wall. His hands and eyes began to glow. There was a flash of light, and then everything was dark. _______________________________________________________________ Steve regained his bearings a few moments later and lit one of his spare torches. Whatever Marcus did just now, it worked. He ran his hand along the wall, and was surprised to find that there was now a gaping hole where there had once been impenetrable bedrock. He looked over to see that Marcus had passed out on the cave floor, probably from the stress of whatever it was he just pulled off. Steve didn't have much experience with magic, but in the few instances he'd seen of its use, no one had been able to do anything close to what his brother had just done. Steve felt himself being both impressed and unnerved by this. Marcus started to regain consciousness and looked toward his brother, still lying on his back. "What happened?" he mumbled. "You did good, kid. Now just go to sleep while I check out what's back here." Steve stuck one arm through the hole in the wall, but recoiled in pain when a shock ran up his arm when it entered the darkness. He brought the torch closer, but it revealed nothing. If anything, it got even darker in the empty mine shaft. The tunnel shook, and in the tunnel there became visible three glowing blue eyes. "That's odd," Steve thought. "That's not like any of the monsters I've ever seen down here." Of course, this thought came as another spark struck him, rendering his entire body without feeling short of the worst pain he'd ever felt. It felt like being struck by lightning, but somehow worse. A thin tendril of black, sticky goo reached out of the open space and wrapped around Steve's neck, choking him. He reached for his pickaxe and severed it, stumbling away in the dark. Once he was out of zapping range, he sat down next to Marcus and stared at the creature. It was so weird. None of the monsters ever just stared at you. They either ran after you or tried to eat you. So what was the deal with this one? Steve didn't have time to ponder this any further, as the creature shot a few more tentacles out at them, most of which missed, but one caught Marcus in the head and wrapped around his face. There was a sizzling noise, and it smelled like something was burning. Steve hacked off the tentacle and pulled Marcus away, but he didn't get far before two more of them took hold of his legs and started pulling him in. Marcus' eyes snapped open, still glowing from his magic outburst. He rose into the air and shot a beam of white light at the floor, illuminating the room and forcing the creature out. "Go. I'll hold it back, just get out of here." His voice echoed, even more than it normally would down here. Steve didn’t see much choice in the matter, so he ran. As he ran back up to the surface as quickly as his legs would carry him, Steve realized that he was actually scared now. It wasn't the fact that they were alone down here, or the monster that was attacking them. It was that his baby brother, the boy that he and his friends picked on when they were kids, was absolutely destroying this thing. That he'd done in five seconds what months of digging couldn't. That he had actually become stronger than his brother. As Steve ran to the surface, Marcus' light faded, only to give way to the light from the sun outside. It felt like his legs were broken, but he had to keep moving. He needed to warn someone about what just happened. Assuming he could make it out of here. He was getting closer to the surface, but the light of the sun dimmed as the pain overtook him. Suddenly, the light grew brighter. Stone gave way to soft grass, and the blank walls of the cave were replaced by a forest. "I never noticed how deep that tunnel went…" was Steve's last thought before blacking out.