Matt sighed. “Look, Louise is pretty beaten up. We need more of a plan than just run away all the time.”
“You want to tell them that you need a time out?” Alex’s voice sounded full of fear.
Behind them, the Coblynau edged forward. Every time a light beam from one of the group’s torches hit them, they hissed and recoiled. But as soon as the light moved somewhere else, they crept forward again. Some skittered up the walls and onto the tunnel roof, hissing and chittering with every cat-cautious creep.
Now, the group could see the Coblynau in all their gory detail. Their arms and legs were elongated with the flesh hanging off the bones in tatters. Stocky, muscular bodies were crisscrossed with blue veins and covered in alabaster skin that had a strange translucency. It made them look as if they were covered in thin tissue paper. Huge milky eyes stared back at them, filled with hatred.
And pain. Terrible, terrible pain.
Behind the snarling faces, the slashing, hooked fingers and toes that let them hang from the walls of the mine like geckos, and scarred, muscular torsos, were what remained of once-proud, strong men. These creatures, these Coblynau of myth and terrible legend, were the miners who had toiled in a black world beyond the sun, where death waited for them all in a blast of mine gas or a cave-in that would bury them alive. They didn’t want to be here. They never wanted to be here. But their fate, and the entrance to the mine, had been sealed in that massive explosion. Now the light was creeping back into their dark tomb. New people were coming. People who would drive them ever deeper into the darkest passages, the deepest shafts, the most forgotten of places.
People who would take their gold.
Pain and sadness fermented over the years. It thickened. It dissolved their humanity until all that was left was fury. A terrible, burning rage that was directed towards anyone connected with those who had left them to their doom.
People like Adam Hughes. People who saw profit in exploitation, who cared about the gold, not the men.
They could smell the gold. They could hear its call. It was right there, sitting in his pocket. And they wanted it back…
“They don’t like the light.” Ewan watched as the Coblynau flinched and hissed, the second the torch beam hit them. Keeping his eyes locked firmly on the swarm, he whispered at Jay. “You got anything in your pack that might keep them busy?”
“What, you mean like a flare?” Jay held up a cardboard tube.
“D’ya know, I genuinely wasn’t expecting that.” Ewan grinned at the Coblynau, who stared back silently and then let out a chorus of hisses and screeches. Ewan, his eyes still glued on the undead enemy, spoke rapidly. “Okay. I need you to hand me the flare and then get everyone down the shaft. It doesn’t look too deep, but be careful of that ladder.”
“Yeah, they’re way ahead of us on that bit.” Jay looked around to see the top of Adam’s head disappearing below the edge of the shaft. The creak of rusty iron bolts straining within an inch of snapping drifted into the tunnel as Louise stepped on to the first rung, immediately followed by Matt and Alex.
Jay focused his attention back on Ewan. “What do we do?”
Ewan reached out behind him. “Give me the flare. Then get down the shaft. If I don’t follow you, then get running and keep running until you hit daylight.”
“What about you? Those things’ll kill you!”
“I’ll be fine. Go. GO!”
Jay frowned. “You’re sure?”
“Don’t make me push you down the honking big hole, little man.” Ewan shooed Jay towards the shaft with a wave of his hand. “Now, off you fuck, there’s a good lad.”
He didn’t bother to watch Jay scramble down the hole. The Coblynau were creeping ever closer, like a pack of lions hunting a lame wildebeest. They chittered and hissed. A bold one skittered across the ceiling and dropped down in front of Ewan. It reared up on its hind legs, threw its arms wide, and let out a long, wailing shriek.
“Noisy bastard, ain’t ya?” Ewan snarled, popped the top off the flare, stepped forward and thrust it straight into the open maw of the Coblynau. “Chew on that, motherfucker!”
He sprang back, rolled, and let himself tip over the lip of the shaft, grabbing at the ladder. He felt a bolt pop. The ladder started to creek ominously. Ewan felt gravity kick in as the flaking metal crumbled in his hands and the ladder detached from the wall. “Bugger—” Another bolt popped, and then another. In quick succession, the century-old iron bolts gave way and, still clutching the ladder, Ewan dropped. He rapidly shimmied down the disintegrating steps, knowing that in a race between him and gravity, the universal force was going to kick his arse pretty hard in three… two… one…
The ladder parted company with the shaft wall and Ewan tumbled down the last few feet. He landed at the bottom in a heap and immediately kicked the rotten ladder away from him. The landing hadn’t been too bad. He did a quick pat-down check to make sure no bones were broken. All good. Ewan stood and looked up. The roof of the tunnel suddenly lit up with a bright red glow. The Coblynau let out a chorus of wails as their leader’s body burst into flames, ignited by the flare Ewan had shoved unceremoniously into its mouth. Ewan smiled. That should keep them busy for a few minutes at least.
He turned and ran after the group, who were already a few hundred meters down the tunnel. He caught up with them and jogged to the front, where a determined-looking Jay was scanning the route ahead. Ewan was impressed with the lad. He had guts, was resourceful, and pretty damn brave, too.
“How we doing, Jay?” Ewan trotted alongside the lad.
“These tracks should take us to the old south exit point. The slope’s facing the right way. The south exit was cut lower into the mountain face, that’s why it’s lower down than the entry point we came in. It’s weird shit, but it was designed so the ponies would be able to walk downhill away from the coal face and out to the processing yard in the valley.”
“Mate, I don’t care how fucking weird this mine layout is, as long as we get out,” Alex’s lazy American drawl floated from behind them.
“Yeah, how much further is it, fella? I want to get Lou to a doctor before these scratches get infected.”
Matt sounded worried, despite Louise muttering, “I’m fine. Stop fussing,” in response.
“A way out would be pretty damn good about now, lad. No pressure, obviously, but it would be pretty fucking amazing if you could actually do your job and get us the hell out of here.” Adam’s voice joined the chorus.
Jay suddenly stopped and rounded on them. “Look, I’m doing my best, okay? Usually, tours don’t factor in zombie flesh-eating miners and fucking skeletal canaries. You see these?” He pointed at the rusting remains of rail tracks embedded into the floor of the tunnel. “We keep following these. They’ll take us out. We may get a bit dirty and shit, but if you prefer hanging around until the Knockers come for you and suck your eyeballs out, then be my fucking guests.” He huffed a couple of times. The rant had been bubbling inside him for at least an hour now.
“What’s that?” Louise held up a hand.
“What’s what?” Alex stared at her. “Getting another ping on your ghost-o-meter, lady?”
“No, I hear it, too.” Adam looked behind him. “It’s a kind of rumble. Shit. Another cave-in?”
“No, that’s water.” Ewan frowned at Jay. “As in a LOT of water.”
The group looked down the tunnel. First to hit them, was the pressure wave, driven hundreds of meters in front of the water and enough to make even the six-foot-four Ewan stagger.
Then, something even more terrifying than the thought of a wall of foaming water smashing into them came into view. First, it was just a white taloned hand, the tips of the finger bones poking through tattered skin and trailing tendons. Then a wrist. Then an arm. Then, shining like alabaster and snarling like a demon, came the face of the first Coblynau. It crept towards the group, hissing and chirruping, cackling and cawing. Behind it, answering its chatter with their own screeches and yelps, came the rest of the swarm. They kept their distance, but it wouldn’t be long before they gathered up the courage to rush the group.