Short Story
Leo was beginning to appreciate emails.
They were considerably less irritating than being woken by an unknown number at six in the morning.
He sat behind the desk in his office, a mug of coffee cooling beside him as rain tapped gently against the window. Seattle had become familiar over the past few months. Familiar enough that he knew which streets to avoid during rush hour, where to get a decent meal and, more importantly, which parts of the city occasionally attracted things that weren’t entirely human.
Business had been good.
Perhaps too good.
His name had begun to travel through certain circles. Some people knew him as a private investigator. Others knew there were certain problems that Leo could solve when the police couldn’t.
The latest email appeared to fall somewhere between the two.
He opened it.
Subject: Urgent Investigation Request
Leo read through the message once.
Then sat back.
The sender owned a mining operation in the North Cascades, a few hours from Seattle. Workers had reported strange noises coming from deep within the cave system. At first, the reports had been dismissed as echoes or the movement of machinery.
Then came the smell.
Rotting meat.
Sulphur.
Something foul enough that several workers had refused to go back underground.
Three days later, two miners had disappeared.
The police had investigated, but the deeper tunnels had partially collapsed. With no evidence of foul play and no sign of the missing men, the official explanation had been a cave-in.
The mining operation had been shut down.
The owner wanted someone to find out what had happened.
Leo closed the email.
He had a feeling he already knew the answer.
It wasn’t a cave-in.
The North Cascades were beautiful.
Leo decided that was an unfortunate quality for a place that appeared determined to kill him.
Mountains rose around the road as he drove deeper into the wilderness, their peaks disappearing into low cloud. Dense forests covered the lower slopes, stretching for miles in every direction.
By the time he reached the mining site, the rain had stopped.
The silence hadn’t.
A temporary fence surrounded the entrance to the mine. Machinery stood abandoned beside piles of excavated stone, while a handful of workers moved around the site with the uneasy expressions of people who had been told to return to work but weren’t convinced it was safe.
A man approached as Leo climbed from his car.
He was in his late forties, perhaps early fifties, with a heavy build and a thick brown beard flecked with grey. His expensive outdoor jacket was clean despite the mud surrounding the site, and Leo immediately decided that the man probably spent considerably more time in an office than underground.
"Mr Winterhold?”
“Leo.”
“Richard Hayes.”
They shook hands.
“Thanks for coming.”
“Tell me about the miners.”
Richard’s expression darkened.
“They’re good men.”
Leo waited.
“Two of them went missing three days apart. The first was working with a team in one of the deeper tunnels. They heard him shout.”
“What did he shout?”
“No one knows.”
Richard looked towards the entrance.
“Then they heard something moving.”
“And?”
“Everyone ran.”
Leo nodded.
“Sensible.”
“The second man disappeared the following night.”
“Same area?”
“Close.”
“What about the smell?”
Richard grimaced.
“It started before the disappearances. Like something had died down there.”
Leo looked towards the dark mouth of the mine.
“Something probably had.”
Richard gave him an uncertain look.
Leo smiled.
“I’ll take a look.”
The mine swallowed the daylight quickly.
Leo switched on his torch and descended.
The air grew colder with every step.
Water dripped somewhere in the darkness.
The tunnel had been reinforced in places with wooden supports and metal beams, but beyond the first few hundred metres, the mine became increasingly natural.
The walls narrowed.
The ceiling lowered.
Leo stopped beside a collapsed section of tunnel.
The police had been right about one thing.
Something had brought this down.
But Leo doubted it had happened naturally.
He crouched beside the rubble.
There were marks in the dirt.
Long grooves.
As though something had dragged its claws across the ground.
Leo stood.
“Wonderful.”
He continued deeper.
The smell grew worse.
The first scream came from somewhere ahead.
Leo stopped.
It wasn’t human.
It was high-pitched and distorted, echoing through the tunnels before abruptly falling silent.
He reached behind his back.
His katana slid smoothly from its sheath.
Leo moved forward.
The tunnel narrowed.
He had to turn sideways in places, his shoulder brushing against the cold stone.
Something moved.
His torch swept across the wall.
Nothing.
Then something dropped from the ceiling.
Leo threw himself backwards.
Claws struck the ground where his head had been.
The creature landed between him and the darkness.
Leo raised his torch.
For a moment, he saw nothing but pale skin.
Then the creature lifted its head.
It was vaguely humanoid.
That was where the similarities ended.
Its body was thin and elongated, its arms hanging almost to its knees. Its skin was colourless, translucent in places, stretched tightly over protruding bone. Its mouth opened far too wide, revealing rows of small, needle-like teeth.
Where its eyes should have been, there was nothing.
Only smooth skin.
Leo sighed.
“Blind cave stalkers.”
The creature tilted its head.
It heard him.
Leo took a step backwards.
"So you know where I am.”
The stalker screamed.
Then it charged.
Leo swung his katana.
The tunnel was too narrow.
The blade struck the wall.
Sparks flew.
The stalker reached him before he could recover.
Leo twisted aside as claws tore through his coat.
He drove his elbow into the creature’s face.
It barely reacted.
“Right.”
Leo kicked it backwards.
The creature hit the wall.
He swung again.
This time, the katana found its mark.
The stalker’s head separated from its body.
It collapsed.
Leo stared at the narrow tunnel.
Then at his katana.
“I need a smaller weapon.”
Something screamed behind him.
Leo turned.
Three more creatures emerged from the darkness.
“Or something that extends.”
The first stalker lunged.
Leo ducked beneath its claws.
The katana cut across its stomach.
The second came from the side.
Leo couldn’t swing.
There wasn’t enough room.
Instead, he drove the hilt of the sword into its jaw before forcing the blade forward.
The creature shrieked.
Leo pulled the katana free.
The third stalker stopped.
Its head tilted.
Then it turned away.
Leo frowned.
The creature disappeared into the darkness.
The others followed.
Leo stood still.
That wasn’t normal.
Blind cave stalkers were territorial.
Hunters.
They attacked anything that entered their tunnels.
But these creatures hadn’t seemed interested in fighting him.
They had been agitated.
Afraid.
Leo slowly lowered his sword.
“Something’s got you running.”
A low sound echoed through the cave.
Not a scream.
A growl.
The stone beneath Leo’s feet vibrated.
He looked into the darkness.
“And I don’t think it’s me.”
He found the first body an hour later.
Or what remained of it.
Leo stopped.
The missing miner lay beneath a pile of fallen stone.
There was no question of whether he was alive.
Leo closed his eyes briefly.
Then continued.
The second miner was never found.
Not then.
The tunnel opened suddenly into a vast underground chamber.
Leo stepped forward.
His torch illuminated only a small portion of it.
The rest disappeared into darkness.
He could hear something breathing.
Slowly.
Deeply.
Leo drew his katana again.
“Hello?”
The breathing stopped.
Then something moved.
A shape emerged from the darkness.
Leo’s torch lifted.
His expression changed.
The creature was enormous.
Nearly twelve feet tall when it straightened, with broad shoulders and arms thicker than Leo’s torso. Its skin was dark grey and rough like stone, while thick muscles shifted beneath it with every movement. Tangled black hair hung around a face that was more brutal than human.
Small, deep-set eyes glared at him from beneath a heavy brow.
Its mouth opened.
Large, broken teeth appeared.
A Deep Troll.
Leo sighed.
Of course it was.
“You’re a long way from home.”
The troll roared.
The cave shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Leo looked up.
“Could you not?”
The troll charged.
The first strike nearly killed him.
A massive fist slammed into the wall beside him, shattering stone.
Leo threw himself aside.
The troll’s second blow sent him crashing across the chamber.
Leo rolled and came up with his katana raised.
The troll barely noticed the blade.
It swung again.
Leo ducked.
The katana sliced across its arm.
The troll roared.
Leo smiled.
“At least you bleed.”
The troll grabbed a chunk of stone and threw it.
Leo raised his hand.
"Aegira!”
Ice formed in front of him.
The rock struck it.
The shield shattered.
Leo was thrown backwards.
He hit the ground hard.
The troll charged.
Leo rolled away as its foot came down.
The ground shook.
Another section of ceiling cracked.
Leo ran.
The chamber narrowed into a network of older tunnels.
Natural tunnels.
Or perhaps not entirely natural.
He glanced back.
The troll followed.
Stone broke beneath its weight.
Leo ducked into a narrow passage.
The troll roared behind him.
Too large to follow easily.
For several seconds, Leo thought he might have escaped.
Then the creature began smashing its way through the stone.
Leo ran faster.
He almost missed the door.
A flash of metal caught the light from his torch.
Leo stopped.
The tunnel wall was different here.
Smooth.
Deliberately carved.
A doorway stood partially buried beneath centuries of rock.
It was enormous.
Far larger than any human would have needed.
Strange symbols covered its surface.
Leo stepped closer.
The markings were unlike anything he recognised.
Angular.
Precise.
Deeply carved into the stone.
He reached out.
His fingers hovered above them.
Something about the door felt old.
Older than the mine.
Older than the tunnels.
A roar echoed behind him.
Leo glanced over his shoulder.
The troll was getting closer.
He looked back at the door.
“Of course.”
He had no time.
The troll burst through the tunnel wall.
Leo ran.
The battle became desperate.
Leo was exhausted.
The troll was injured but far from defeated.
Every attack threatened to bring the mountain down around them.
Leo dodged another blow.
Stone exploded beside him.
He looked at the ceiling.
Then at the troll.
An idea formed.
A terrible idea.
Those were usually his best ones.
Leo ran deeper into the chamber.
The troll followed.
He stopped beneath a section of fractured rock.
The creature charged.
Leo waited.
Waited.
Waited.
At the last possible second, Leo stepped aside.
The troll’s fist struck the ground.
Leo raised both hands.
"Krashara!”
Ice erupted through the stone.
Cracks raced across the ceiling.
The troll looked up.
Leo ran.
The mountain came down.
The sound was deafening.
Leo threw himself behind a wall of rock as stone crashed through the chamber.
The troll roared.
Then the roar was cut short.
Silence followed.
Leo remained where he was.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
Then he slowly stood.
The tunnel was gone.
The chamber had collapsed.
And beneath tonnes of stone, the Deep Troll was buried.
Leo hoped it was dead.
He wasn’t planning to dig through the mountain to check.
It took him nearly an hour to find another way out.
By the time he reached the surface, the sun was beginning to set.
Richard was waiting.
The owner rushed forward.
"Mr Winterhold! What happened?”
Leo looked back towards the mine entrance.
“The missing workers are dead.”
Richard’s face fell.
“I’m sorry.”
“What happened to them?”
Leo considered telling him.
Then decided against it.
“There was a collapse.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie.
Richard nodded slowly.
“And the noises?”
Leo looked towards the mountains.
“Wild animals.”
“Animals?”
Leo smiled.
“Something like that.”
Richard looked unconvinced.
“Can we reopen the mine?”
Leo’s expression became serious.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
“That’s it?”
Leo looked at him.
“The caves are unstable. There are tunnels that haven’t been mapped, collapses throughout the system and things down there that I wouldn’t want anyone stumbling across.”
Richard frowned.
“What things?”
Leo walked towards his car.
“Seal it.”
"Mr Winterhold—”
“Seal the caves.”
There was enough in his voice that Richard didn’t ask again.
Leo returned to Seattle after midnight.
He showered.
Changed.
Then went straight to the hidden basement.
The research room was quiet.
Books covered one wall from floor to ceiling.
Leo placed his laptop on the desk and began searching.
Ancient underground civilisations.
Lost settlements.
Supernatural architecture.
Anything connected to the strange markings on the door.
Hours passed.
Eventually, Leo found something.
Not an answer.
A possibility.
He stared at an image on the screen.
The symbols were similar.
Not identical.
But similar enough.
The accompanying text was vague, based on fragments of old folklore and archaeological discoveries.
A forgotten language.
A people said to have built cities beneath mountains.
Leo leaned back in his chair.
“Dwarves.”
The word sounded ridiculous.
And yet, after the last few months, Leo had learned not to dismiss anything simply because it sounded ridiculous.
He looked again at the markings.
Something had been behind that door.
Perhaps it still was.
And now, thanks to the collapse, he couldn’t get back to it.
Leo closed the laptop.
For the first time since arriving in Seattle, a case had left him without answers.
He didn’t like it.
Somewhere beneath the North Cascades, hidden behind tonnes of stone and an ancient door covered in strange markings, something remained undiscovered.
Leo had the feeling that one day, he would find a way back.
He just hoped whatever was waiting behind that door would still be asleep when he did.
