Into the Bloody Mines
Nikopol - May 9, 2594
Narrated by Bogdan Detina
Preparations
The morning began with the taste of ash and resentment on my tongue. Vira, always a calming presence, tried to bring peace to the air over breakfast. It didn’t help. The newcomers — Isolde, Konrad, and Sasha — spoke of high stakes, duty, and purpose, but to me, this was survival. My so-called redeployment to the mines had been nothing short of exile. If this powder gold meant something to Elder Ivan, it was little more than another tool to tighten his grip on the people of Nikopol. Still, I kept my bitterness to myself. Revenge was a patient creature, waiting for its moment.
I watched Konrad approach a Spitalian, Zenon, for something about his eye. Another sign of weakness the Sovrals would have crushed, I thought. Meanwhile, Sacha, a more spirited scout than I expected, convinced Yelena to join us. Her hollow stare mirrored my own once, before Vira found me and gave me purpose again.
I checked my gear and grit my teeth. The mines would test us all, but I had fought worse — both on the battlefield and in the politics of The Station.
Travel to the Mines
The walk was six hours of bile in my throat. Two Streltsy accompanied us, their disdain for me palpable. I could see it in their sneers, their refusal to meet my gaze. To them, I was the deserter, the betrayer. Vira’s whispered reassurances kept me from snapping their necks then and there. I was better than them. Smarter. Stronger. They’d see.
The horizon broke to reveal a church, crumbling and weak like the faith it once stood for. Leperos lurked behind it, shadows of the disease that plagued this world. Their presence stirred the old instincts in me.
When they attacked, the group divided as the shots began. Isolde and Sacha found themselves surrounded, but the two fought well. Better than expected. By the time the last Lepero hit the dirt, I realized the Streltsy had wasted most of their ammunition. They’d need to return to Nikopol, leaving us behind. Typical. I welcomed their absence as we descended into the mine’s maw.
The First Night in the Mine
The descent was long, a slow suffocation into the bowels of the earth. Hours passed, the air growing colder and heavier with each step. The others spoke little. Good. Their words couldn’t pierce the dark thoughts in my mind. This place was death, a grave swallowing us whole.
When we finally stopped to rest, the silence pressed down on me like a weight. We slept in shifts, uneasy and waiting for the mine to betray us. Later, Konrad shattered it with a scream, a nightmare clawing at his throat. I nearly struck him out of reflex. He was weak, unfit for this. But Vira’s hand on my shoulder kept me in place.
A Possible Morning
Time dissolved in the dark. Morning? Evening? The mine cared little. Somewhere along the descent, we stumbled upon something unnatural. A root formation jutted from the rock — a grotesque finger, its nail cracked and yellowed. I knew its warmth, its menace. I warned them to leave it alone. I knew evil when I saw it. The old instincts, the ones that had saved me in countless battles, told me this thing would bring ruin.
Then came the water. It happened again, and I remember well.
It roared through the tunnels, a cold, unrelenting force. I tried to shout for them to move, but chaos took hold fast, and Isolde was ahead running up. The flood swept Isolde, Konrad, and Yelena away, dragging them into the abyss. I found shelter, the waters clawing at me but never claiming me. When the torrent subsided, I found Sacha and Vira close to me.