Derrin led them to a small building tucked away in the corner of the fort. It looked more like a rundown shack than a building. Wooden panelling lay half-rotting on the roof, and one of the windows was shattered. The door was no longer even attached, simply leaning against the side of the shack.
Vizim and Red gave each other a side glance, but followed Derrin inside. The interior looked exactly how he had expected. The same hanging wood panels that were clearly never maintained. A stack of crates was shoved against one corner, although they were so dilapidated that Red doubted they held anything.
"What in the world are we doing?" Red asked.
"You know I pretty much said the same thing the first time Zara showed me this," Derrin shook his head, "But watch this."
He bent down to the floor and seemed to sit there for a moment. Grabbing a small piece of floorboard, Derrin pulled, and a large section of floor flipped upwards. Red just stared at it for a long moment. He had been so focused on the mess of the building around him that he hadn't even registered that the floor was in near-perfect condition. The building's poor quality was meant to draw one's attention away from the secret opening.
Red stepped up beside Derrin, still ferrying the massive bomb. He stared down into the hole that had just been unravelled. It was completely black, as if nothing was there at all. He could see the first step of a ladder before it spiralled downwards into the darkness.
"That is quite the secret tunnel," Vizim grimaced from his place by the door, "By all means, you guys go on. I'll just be staying over here if you don't mind."
"This is what exactly? A tunnel leading to the caverns below? How far down does this ladder go, even? I am not excited to carry this thing down there."
Derrin shrugged, "It isn't very far before it leads into a tunnel. The tunnel doesn't lead directly to the caverns but to a cave nearby. There is another hidden door there to prevent it from being discovered. I went down there once."
He rose and grabbed a device that was hidden behind one of the crates. It was a lighting device, one of the simple designs that was essentially a torch without fire. There was a short stick with a core at the end of it. The core was off, and no light suffused it. With a click, Derrin ignited the object, and the core began to glow with a teal light.
It started slowly at first, but eventually the teal glow illuminated the entire sphere. The dusty, grimy cabin around them suddenly lit up, making it easier for them to observe their surroundings. Derrin hung the light over the opening. The teal glow illuminated the surface, but the base of the ladder was still hidden in gloom.
Red was glad that they kept a lighting device nearby. He doubted Derrin could manifest light with his injured heart, and since Vizim wasn't coming with them, it would leave him responsible. Now was not the time to be showing off red mist. If he had his way, that time would be never.
"Well, enough standing around," Vizim prodded him in the back, "You were the one who wanted to go down there."
"That is not at all what I had in mind," Red glowered but reluctantly stepped closer to the hole, "You gonna go first with the light?"
Derrin nodded and practically leapt over the side into the abyss. Red watched his figure shimmy down the ladder before dropping onto the ground far below. He shone the light upwards, illuminating the entire hole. It wasn't nearly as deep as he had expected, but that didn't make this any less scary. If he dropped the bomb, they would all likely die.
There was no time for him to waste contemplating whether he'd succeed or not. Instead, he gently set the bomb on the edge and dropped over the side of the opening. After infusing his arm muscles with mist, the climb down was far less difficult than he expected.
He reached the ground below and nearly dropped the bomb from relief. Sweat beaded against his eyes despite the cool dampness surrounding them. The bomb didn't weigh a huge amount, but with only one arm to carry it, it was rather dangerous.
"Vizim!" Derrin called up, "Shut the trap door, will you and make sure you actually start keeping a watch out now."
"You want me to shut it now? Before you even start moving?"
"Yes, we want to be closed as much as possible."
"Your loss," Red didn't need to see him to know that his friend shrugged.
The trapdoor above slammed shut, cutting off any faint hint of light from above. It was just Red, Derrin, the bomb, and the lighting device. Using the teal light, Red quickly checked their surroundings.
Dirt walls seemed to stretch into infinity, where the darkness once again reigned. Red wasn't scared of the dark per se, but more so of the lack of things to see. When they were in such a short crunch time, he wanted to keep his mind going. Being stuck on only black didn't seem like a good way to keep his stress under control.
"How long does this tunnel go for?"
"It is about a ten-minute walk to the other end," Derrin replied, already shining their light onwards into the darkness.
Red bent over and hoisted the bomb, "Is there a door on the other end or what?"
"Why don't we just head over there and find out? We are in a bit of a crunch on time in case you didn't notice."
"Is that so! I hadn't noticed. Thank you for reminding me," Red sniffed, "This whole tunnel just makes me feel uneasy."
The stagnant air, combined with the lack of anything, created a truly unsettling atmosphere. The darkness seemed to be crawling in from the edges. Red knew it was just his imagination, but that wasn't very much reassurance.
"Let's hurry up and get this over with," he practically broke off into a run after Derrin.
Neither of them spoke throughout the long tunnel. What there was to say could wait. Red knew that it was only a ten-minute walk, and yet, it felt like an eternity. Hardly anything seemed to change after each step. The only sign he got that they were actually travelling was the changes in the wall.
The farther they travelled into the cavernous tunnel, the harder the walls became. More rocks began to appear, and after a while, it turned completely to stone. He briefly wondered how they had managed the feat in such a long tunnel. However, it was hard to concentrate on anything with the pressing darkness surrounding him.
He glanced backwards a few times, but it was still endless darkness. Endless darkness and the faint uneasy feeling that came from being unable to see. Red shook himself, trying to shake away the chill that seemed to gravitate throughout his body. His grip tightened on the bomb, which had become uncomfortably heavy.
He turned away from the endless darkness behind him. The teal glow from the lighting device illuminated the tunnel a good way ahead. However, in such a long tunnel, it simply looked eerie as the light faded away against the endless dark beyond.
An eternity seemed to have passed in that endless tunnel. An eternity of cold, uncomfortable silence as they walked. His legs ached, and his body complained. His mind raced with anxiety, and he struggled to keep up with it.
However, Red finally caught a glimpse of the end of the tunnel. Just at the edge of the light beyond them was a rock. That must be it. It had to be it. If it wasn't it, he was sure he would simply go mad in that endless dark.