IT'S A TRAP!!!

     We ventured into the hole! UOPETA had taken a small supply of torches with him, and was setting them up along the path down deeper. He was careful however to only place them once we were within the hole, and not right at the entrance. This would have compromised our position greatly! We continued down the hole, being careful not to go to quickly in case we stumbled across a trap, or a Creeper! It was uneven throughout, and with each step I get the impression that this wasn't a natural occurrence, despite the randomness of the stone. If someone had dug this out, they had been very brutal and inaccurate with the mining, and performed an inadequate job. We continued on for some time, all the while heading deeper and deeper into the land. We didn't know what we were going to find, but with each newly placed torch, I got the impression we were getting closer to something very sinister indeed!

"How deep do you reckon this goes?"

Both UOPETA and myself shrugged... It was a good question... How far did it go? And did it even lead anywhere? We had been travelling for some time, and looking back, the entrance was barely even visible; the inky black sky, in conjunction with the rain clouds created the illusion of a blocked off entrance... I shuddered...

     The sound of rain pattering against the soil above us had ceased; I think we were quite deep by now... The small amounts of exposed soil grew more and more sparse as we continued, and we now faced dull walls of stone. Even with the torches, trying to find a safe way down short drops was dangerous because of the sheer monotony of our surroundings! Eventually, the hole leveled out, and we were left following a roughly carved out tunnel for a few hundreds yards. After what seemed like an hour - but was actually something more like a few minutes - the tunnel narrowed, and we were faced with a long, dark, thin passageway... We were forced to continue in single file, with me taking point with a few torches. I attached a torch to the beginning of the passageway entrance, and then began my way down, placing more and more torches at regular intervals. Minutes later, I came to an abrupt stop! I could see something... At the end of the tunnel... It wasn't a person or a creature... It was a structure... From quite a distance away, I could instantly recognise the distinct colour of a portal! There, at the end, was the notable purple shimmer I had come to detest!

"What's wrong? Have you seen something?"

UOPETA whispered to me. I told him that I could see a portal.

"I had a feeling when I first saw this hole..."

We continued towards the purple light and the end of the tunnel. Was this the only thing waiting for us though?

     As we got closer to the portal, I slowed down, just in case there was a guard or a Creeper hiding in the shadows... We were close enough to hear the portal now; the horrid echoing dripping noise... The dull light cast from the portal threw wild shadows across the room, as the rift convulsed and pulsed with energy. We entered into the room, one by one, all stunned by the presence of the portal, despite all of us seeing one before, me especially so. I was more creeped out by the room; it was vast, and the walls were composed of mossy cobblestone, like a few others I had encountered. Not only thing, but large chunks of cobblestone littered the floor, and hung precariously from the ceiling, as though some strange structure had crumbled over time...

"Right. Let's get this over with..."

UOPETA stepped forward, taking the Solus stone in his hand - it was glowing a brilliant yellow due to the proximity of the portal - and he placed it on the base of the portal.

     The Solus stone continued to glow a bright yellow for a little while, casting awkward shadows in opposition to the light cast by the portal. Eventually, the stone dimmed, and slowly drained of colour, whilst the rift began to change to the sickly green hue I had seen so many times before. The rift began to swirl inwards towards the centre of the portal, and the space around it distorted, creating a bent effect to the frame. Then, the obsidian began to crumble, and chip away, and was slowly pulled into the centre of the slowly rotating rift! Within a few moments, the entire portal was gone; the last remnants of the rift began to disparate, distorting the space around it slightly as it shrank within itself. Then it was gone. We were left in utter darkness. UOPETA took out a torch, and lit it, casting a new set of shadows around, allowing us to see around the chamber.

"It's done... Anything we need to do before we head..."

THEROS never managed to finish his sentence. There was a huge bang! The ceiling began to crumble, and me and THEROS leapt to the right, whilst UOPETA dived to the left. The ceiling continued to crumble, and there was nothing we could do except crouch in the corner, holding our hands above our heads! I could see UOPETA on the other side; the discarded torch illuminating him partly as he cowered from the falling debris! We were all cut off from the exit, and there was nothing we could do! We sat there, waiting for the inevitable chunk of stone to fall and land on us, but it never came. The ceiling continued to crumble, and the room filled with dust, and debris. After a few moments of crouching in absolute terror, pleading the grating sounds to stop, it all ceased... There was silence albeit for a few sounds made by falling dust... There was a cough... THEROS was still here with me, but there was no sign of UOPETA...

"UOPETA? UOPETA...?"

There was no reply...

     Me and THEROS have been sitting still in silence for some time, trying to allow our minds to catch up... What had happened? We had come into the hole, not seen any signs of people or Creepers... We found the portal and destroyed it... Then the ceiling had caved in, and we had been separated from UOPETA... What caused it? The Solus stone only affected materials that populated the Nether... Had there been a supporting beam resting on the portal? Had we inadvertently created out own tomb? It was pitch black until a few moments ago; the Solus stone has begun to regain its colour again, and is now casting the same amount of light as it usually does...

"What happened, Syeonyx? Did we cause this? What about UOPETA? Is he... Dead?"

I honestly didn't know... He was carrying the pack of equipment... Including the diamond pickaxe.... So if he was dead... We'd be joining him shortly... We had no food... No water... No way out... We were trapped...