Lost Scout

Morell took the rope grudgingly, but didn't complain, the rear was the safest position, and he'd be the first to get out of the mine if anything happened... Morell was wishing he had just hid, and payed the price for his disobedience later as they readied to enter the mine.

As the leader of their group, Judah took the lead. The men following him were his responsibility, and he was determined not to lose anybody. Mining was a dangerous job, he knew, but if it was in his power to make it safer, he was willing and ready to do it. Without hesitating he stepped into the gloom, quickly disappearing among the large chucks of rock that they would be working around. The initial collapse had taken place near the rear of the mine, and then rippled towards the entrance. Here, most of the debris had come from the roof and walls, but wasn't bad enough that they couldn't get through. He wanted to get as close to the back as they could, to see whether or not the structural failure was due to something man-made, or something natural that was beyond their control.

Morell stepped as carefully as he could in the dim light, the rope sliding through his left hand as he let it slowly uncoil from his right. He did not have a torch, so walked in the shadow of the man in front of him as he followed the group, stumbling repeatedly and cursing under his breath. He tripped on the loose stones underfoot, just managing to catch himself with his right hand, still holding the rope, and ended up slamming his knuckles on the rock. Morell cursed loudly, them cursed more as he felt blood coming from the scrapes left by the wall, which weren't that bad, but hurt a lot.

The task of making it to the rear of the mine was slow and treacherous, the silence in the mine interrupted frequently by coughing. The dust may have cleared near the entrance, but it thickened quickly as they walked. After twenty minutes or so, Judah found himself up again a pile of boulders that reached to the roof--the end of their path. "Take a look around," he wheezed. "The collapse wasn't far from here."

At his command the men spread out and began shining their torches around the tunnel, searching for a clue as to why the mine had collapsed without warning. It wasn't long before Gerald spotted the problem. "Over here!" He called, waving his torch so everyone could see. "Look at this beam, its rotted right through! Looks like water has been seeping in, weakened it over time."

Judah stepped over and ran his hands across the wet wood to confirm Gerald's thoughts. It appeared that sabotage was not the cause, unless Morrell had somehow created a natural fissure which allowed water into the tunnel. "We'll report this to Lord Varxis right away. In the meantime, lets get out of this dust."