The tunnels had diverged and turned, not only that, but the dwarf had been redirected because of collapse of the earlier tunnel, but despite it all, he was still keeping mental map of the known tunnels, including those he was discovering; he was grateful for all the cavern traversing his clan was involved with.
Something had moved and he had caught it in his peripheral sight; Brone quickly came to a halt and looked down a side tunnel. In the absolute silence, he couldn't hear anything and with his dwarven sight, he couldn't see anything down the dark tunnel. He began thinking if there was some kind of gas leak that might be seeping through the cracks of the rocks that might be causing him to hallucinate, but it didn't seem likely; he was trained to notice other signs of such situations. Whatever was causing these odd occurrences was either his own mind or there truly was some creature that was moving about in the dark that even a dwarf couldn't spot. Nevertheless, Brone couldn't stay still, he moved onward with his trek through the cave.
Eventually, he reached an upward slope and thankfully the ground was littered with rough stones which kept him from slipping. For a moment he wondered if those rocks were a natural occurrence, or if others before him had laid down that bedding of rock to make a passage. Another look around told Brone that no humans had passed through here given that there were no lantern or wooden structures. He then ran a hand on the stone wall on his right, the feel was too natural; he was sure no dwarf had passed through here as well, but it made him wonder if there was something else that had laid that bedding of rocks.
Time passed and Brone had eventually reached a tunnel that had a single old lantern; the oil was long gone and the dust had collected enough to completely cover the glass windows of the device. An old trail that no one treks anymore, but it meant he was on the right path. He moved on, now with a sense of direction. It wouldn't be long before he found a more used tunnel, then within an hour, he reached the main tunnel where the minecart tracks lay waiting. There were hints of color everywhere, meaning bits of light had reached him. A sigh of relief escaped his lips, but just as silence of the tunnel returned, a single pebble moved behind; he quickly turned about while drawing one of his axes. The blade of the axe moved through the air, emitting a metallic sound that rang within the tunnel. But there was nothing there.
"That's enough for me" is all Brone said before he turned back and quickly made his way out of the mine. The sun was rising in the horizon was a welcoming gesture to Heavyaxe. He gave a smile before he began making his way back to his client.
A day in travel passed when he met up with Mr. McDonald again. He reported the cavern of quartz that would be valuable and given it's depth, there should be much more in the general area. Erwin was excited and asked for map. Brone had sketched out the general direction from the main tunnel that led to the old abandon tunnel, then explained the twisting tunnels, but with the specifics, it should be simple to find the cavern of quartz. There was a moment the dwarf wondered if he should keep secret of the odd occurrence, but his heart told him he couldn't risk the safety of others just because he was afraid he would be seen as insane.
Brone spoke of the knocking sound and the odd movement from the corner of his eye. At first the story put Erwin on edge, but the dwarf explained that it seemed that whatever the occurrence was, it seem to have been looking out for him; for if it wasn't for the knocking, he would have trapped in the tunnels or crushed under the collapsing rocks. The two of them agreed to refer to the 'creature', if there truly was one, as the knocker, a possible friendly spirit. They could only hope.
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