“Stop staring at the fuckers and RUN.” Ewan spun Matt and Louise around and shoved them hard. “JAY, GET US OUT OF HERE!” Already the roar of the water was getting louder and louder. Mist floated down the tunnel as the advancing tsunami churned and crashed. The group were already running when the foam wall turned the corner and bore down on the Coblynau, who reacted far, far too late. The creatures just about managed to utter a single united screech before the water slammed into them.
You can outrun most things, but you can’t outrun water. The group were next. The boiling, thrashing wave smashed into them and lifted them off their feet as if they were made of balsawood. Everyone tried to swim with the flow, but the overwhelming force of the tidal wave was too much.
Matt made a grab for Louise just before she disappeared under the water. He managed to snatch the back of her jacket and the two clung to one another for what seemed like an eternity, as they were swept down the tunnel on the worst fucking slip-and-slide ever.
Everyone bounced and slammed against the sides, trying to keep their faces turned up and grabbing any lungful of air they could.
Alex grabbed Adam and the two of them slammed into a rocky outcrop in the wall. With his free hand, Alex held on to the rock, wedging his fingers into cracks and crevices in a desperate bid to get some purchase. He gritted his teeth and strained as Adam was pulled away from his grip by the water. He let out a grunt of effort as he hauled the drowning man back towards the outcrop and relative safety. Adam, almost spent and half-drowned, coughed up a lungful of putrid mine water from the bottom of his lungs, wrapped an arm around the outcrop, and held on for dear life.
The water was slowing, and the level dropped slightly. There was now a gap of around three feet between the roof of the tunnel and the surface of the water. Debris floated past — broken timbers, the smashed remains of a cart, bodies…
Jay watched as the limp form of a Coblynau floated past him, dead at last. As the tattered body bumped past, it suddenly erupted from the water in a foaming fury and made a lunge for him. Jay kicked at the water and swam as hard as he could, feeling the creature’s bony fingers scrape at his back. Jay got sucked beneath the surface briefly, and then felt a hand close around the back of his neck. He struggled and fought against the grip, but it held fast and dragged him back up into a small air pocket.
Jay lashed out, expecting to make contact with rotting skin and a snarling maw. Instead, he came face to face with a bedraggled Ewan, who managed to dodge Jay’s fist. “Easy, fella, I got ya.”
The body of the Coblynau floated past, face down and with a large length of wood embedded in its neck. Ewan helped Jay to the side of the tunnel and they clung to the rock, watching the body float away. “Nasty little bastard nearly had you, mate.” Ewan grinned.
“What the hell are you grinning for?” Jay squeaked. His brain was at the point of no return, yet the ex-soldier seemed to be almost enjoying himself.
“Because it’s nearly over, little man. It’s nearly over. You’ll be fine.”
Before Jay could ask the man what he meant, Adam shouted out. “Light! There’s light, can you see it? We’ve made it!”
“Oh my god, he’s right.” Louise yelped and wriggled free of Matt’s grasp. “Come on, the water’s dropping, I can feel the bottom.” She stumbled and staggered through the water, which was still up to her chest and filled with mine detritus. She pushed away the body of the Coblynau as it drifted past her, recoiling from the touch of rotting skin that flaked away from the body and floated in the water like wet tissue paper.
“I can feel the rails.” Alex pushed himself away from the rock outcrop and stumbled, briefly disappearing underneath the surface of the water before reappearing, spluttering and coughing. “Man, that water tastes real nasty!”
He waded forward towards the light. It bounced and flickered, luring them all forward like moths towards a flame. “Hello?” Alex called out. “Help us, please, we’re stuck down here!”
The light swayed back and forth in response, as if signaling to them.
“Can you hear me? I’m down here. Help me!” Adam yelled towards the light and shoved his way past Alex, ignoring the robust, “Asshole… ” curse that followed him.
Jay peered into the light. The whole tunnel was lighting up with a strange green glow. He looked down. The water was phosphorescing, enveloping the whole cavern in a strange, otherworldly luminance. A hushed chittering filled the tunnel, and Jay glanced back. Hanging from the tunnel roof and walls, staying just out of reach of the water, the remaining Coblynau nattered and chattered, all staring towards the light. Jay had watched how they recoiled from light before, so why were they so mesmerized by this source? He watched as they swayed their heads back and forth, never once taking their milky white eyes off the light source, and all the time chittering like demented grasshoppers.
No.
Something wasn’t right.
Jay felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he shouted out a warning. “Wait!”
Adam ignored him and stumbled on, pushing past Louise and Matt. “I can pay you. See? Get me out of here and you’ll be a rich man, that’s a promise.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lump of shale.
Even in the strange green light that filled the tunnel, the glint of gold was unmistakable. Adam held the rock up.
Behind, the chittering and chattering of the Coblynau abruptly stopped. A low hissing started, rising ever louder and louder. Figures skittered across the ceiling, ignoring the rest of the group below, who flinched and ducked as the Coblynau swarmed above them.
Jay started forward and then felt a strong hand on his arm. He looked back at Ewan. The big man had a strange look on his face. “Don’t, lad.” Ewan shook his head. “This is how it has to be. Don’t interfere.”
“What?”
“Trust me. This isn’t about you.” Ewan shook his head again and then simply stared towards the light.
The glow got closer. Out of the darkness, a shadowy figure approached.
Adam spluttered. “Thank god! It’s about time you guys got us out of here. What are you, Search and Rescue? Fire Brigade? Did the company send you? They did, didn’t they?” He let out a shout of laughter. “Ha! See? I knew they’d come for me.” He spun and looked at the group. “Lucky you had me with you, right?”
Alex raised a shaking hand and pointed. “Buddy, I don’t call that lucky. And I don’t think he’s Search and Rescue, either.”
Adam turned back to look at his rescuer. He choked back a wail.
Alabaster white skin covered a muscular torso streaked with blue veins and mine dirt. He held aloft the miner’s lamp in his powerful arms, swinging it hypnotically from side to side. His trousers were ragged and tattered, ending just below the knee in shreds that fluttered in the breeze. The skin on his face was tissue thin and crisscrossed with scars. Beneath, the skull and jawbones were clearly visible, as if an inner light was illuminating them in silhouette.
He was no rescuer. He was a Coblynau. The king of the Knockers. Lord of the Mine. The Cursed Man…
Adam’s expression changed from selfish relief to absolute horror. He stumbled backwards and sat down hard in the sticky mud left by the rapidly receding flood. The lump of shale dropped from his fingers and plopped into the mud. The gold vein running through the rock was undimmed by the filth, and shone brightly.