Meadow Whisp's Arc

Chapter 2 of 10

The carved board hummed above the pit. Its painted eyes glowed, and words flickered across the dirt wall. THE MONSTER IS COMING. Meadow pressed low against the earth. Far off, past the bamboo, a tall shape began to drag itself toward the sound. It moved slow. One root-foot, then another. The board wanted it close. Meadow had time, but not much. He looked up. The walls rose too high and crumbled at every grip. Dirt fell on his top hat. Going up was useless. So he looked down instead. The floor was square and broken. Snow dusted the rim far above. Rough wood fragments lay half buried in the packed soil. Old boards. A dug pit meant diggers, and diggers made ways in and out. Maybe a tunnel. Maybe a drain. Meadow set down his hat and began to clear the floor. He lifted twigs and tossed them aside. He pried loose stones and rolled them from the center. His sword lay far above, useless, so he used his hands. Under one flat board he found a gap in the dirt. Cold air breathed from it. A passage. His heart jumped. He clawed at the edge to widen the hole. One large stone blocked the way. It sat heavy in the soil, round and gray. He dug his fingers beneath it and heaved. The stone came free faster than he planned. It tipped from his grip. He twisted to dodge, but the weight dropped straight onto his foot. Bone cracked. The sound came before the pain. Then the pain arrived, white and huge. Meadow bit down a scream and sank against the wall. His foot bent wrong beneath the stone. He shoved the rock off and saw the swelling start. The gap still breathed cold air beside him. A way out lay open. But he could not stand. He could not crawl fast. Every push sent fire up his leg. Above, the hum grew louder. The dragging shape had reached the bamboo now. Red hollows glowed in its twisted trunk. Clawed limbs parted the stalks. Bones swung from its branches. The thing he had sworn was real leaned over the rim beside the carved board, and both looked down at him. Meadow gripped the edge of the tunnel with both hands. He had found his escape. He had also broken the one foot he needed to reach it.