Endings in the Dark (PG-17)

Writers: Devin, Miriah
Date Posted: 29th May 2020

Characters: Grevan, Jerinne, Vigni
Description: An "accident" occurs at the prison mine.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern, Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 3, day 17 of Turn 10
Notes: Notes: Late due to LOA and general slowness
Rating: PG-17

Grevan tugged Jerinne roughly behind him, ducking a blow from a nearby
guard as they were pushed into the mine. He didn't know why they'd
decided to shackle him to Jerinne, one of the only women at the mine,
but it gave him the opportunity to jerk her behind him. Each time he
did though, she whined as she was tugged deeper into the dark tunnels.
"Would you just shut up? This is your fault!"

"It's not my fault!" Whimpering at the chafing along her ankle,
Jerinne tried to keep up with his much longer strides.

"You there!" One of the guards barked, pointing at Grevan and Jerinne.
"That way. Into the new tunnels."

Grevan scowled at the guard, but didn't argue; he'd learned early on
that arguing with the guards brought little but hard cuffs about his
head. Instead, he dragged Jerinne behind him, ignoring her shrill
complaints. The girl had tried desperately to curry favor with the
guards for lighter work. It had succeeded with some of the guards and
for Grevan, it only served to anger him more. Why should she receive
the lighter punishment just because she could lift her skirts for
anyone interested? He gave a vicious yank on the chains at the thought
and was satisfied with the yelp.

"Stop! We're leaving the others behind!" Jerinne tried to pull back on
the chains, trying to slow Grevan down as the new tunnels became
dimmer. "The guards have the lights and I'm not doing anything near
you in the dark!" She turned back to yell. "Tell him to slow down!
He's going to end up breaking my neck!"

"Knock it off!" Vigni growled as he followed the prisoners. "Stop
dragging her. And you, girl, get a move on." Jerinne wasn't part of
the plan, but she'd been sent up from the Weyr too. Helped this wherry
shite plot to kill a bronzerider, so Vigni didn't think any tears
would be shed if she went along with him. Might even get a bonus out
of it.

They went deeper and deeper into the new tunnel. It grew narrower and
darker until Vigni's glows were the only light. He glanced up
nervously. He'd been careful in his work, but there was always a
chance something could go wrong.

Grevan felt a quavering in his gut as the passage narrowed. It was odd
that the rest of the mining group wasn't with them and Jerinne was
useless in the mines, so why were they pushed back here on their own?
He hissed at Jerinne. "Be quiet." His heart beating a bit rapidly, he
turned to the guard. "What's going on? Where's everyone else?"

"Just get in the back there and start working!" Vigni said. The tunnel
ended a few yards ahead in a wall of rock, deep marks showing where it
was being slowly chipped away. He didn't have too long before the
other guards started to wonder what was going on as well, and he
needed Grevan and Jerinne in position. The farther back they were, the
better the chance of this working -- and the better Vigni's own
chances of not getting himself hurt or killed in the process.

Grevan looked with suspicion at the guard, but bent to pick up two
picks that had been laid near the wall. He shoved one at Jerinne, who
fumbled with hers. With a sniffle and a soft whine, she began to tap
at the stone, hardly making a mark on the hard surface. Grevan finally
turned and irritated at Jerinne's uselessness, began to take his
frustrated anger out on the stone wall. He began to swing heavily, the
clang of metal against stone resonating throughout the mine shaft.

Vigni took two steps forward and pulled at the support beam holding up
the tunnel. He'd left a board loose, everything propped up just right
to hold precariously in place. For a second, nothing happened. Then
the support frame began to sag, and a moment later came an ominous
groan and rumble. With his heart in his throat, Vigni took off
running. Behind him, the rumble became a deafening crash.

There were screams of terror as rocks came tumbling down, one deeper
cry was suddenly cut off as the higher pitched became muffled behind a
thick barrier of fallen stone. Darkness and thick dust filled the air,
leaving behind a choking cloud that spilled into the shafts that
remained.

As the rumbling stopped, Jerinne groaned, coughing out dust that
clogged her nose and felt deep pains and a heaviness in her legs and
belly. Whimpering, she tugged at her chains and found them to be heavy
and immovable. It was dark! So very dark! She tried to move, but
agonizing jolts of pain from her legs stilled her immediately. She
reached and found that the fallen stone had completely buried her
lower half, making it difficult to breath. "Help! Please!"

Sobbing, she began reaching for something, anything, that could
possibly be in reach. her hand, still chained to Grevan's found
something. It was wet, sticky...In the dark she reached again and felt
something sharp, hot, and then something jelly like. Her fingers found
an odd shell shaped soft...it was an ear. Disbelieving, she touched it
again, felt the hot spill of liquid and jelly and then screamed. She
was touching Grevan. His head! Faranth his head was open! Her screams
didn't stop but only continued as pure panic and horror set in.

Vigni fell to his knees, coughing as dust billowed down the shaft.
That had maybe worked a little too well. He glanced back but could
only make out rock and darkness. As soon as he got his breath back he
stumbled to his feet, clutching the lantern. "Cave in! There's been a
cave in!" he called as he headed back to the main tunnel.

As the screams continued, Jerinne inhaled copious amounts of dust and
grit, then began to choke and cough loudly. Somewhere between the
pain, shock, and horror, the young woman's mind cracked. Though the
choked screams turned into childlike wails for her mother. "Momma!
Momma! Help me! I'm scared! MOMMY!!!"

After assuring his superior that there had been two prisoners, but no
other guards, in the tunnel when it collapsed, Vigni was dismissed to
take a break. He sat in a quiet spot and drank water to soothe his
throat, already mentally counting his marks.

A small group went to assess the damage and determine if there was a
danger of any further collapse. An older prisoner with minecraft
experience shook his head sadly as he surveyed the tumbled mass of
rock. "Not likely anyone survived that. That guard was lucky to get
out."

Finally the unheard wails turned into quiet whimpers. And in the dark,
no one heard.

Last updated on the May 31st 2020

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Endings in the Dark (PG-17)