"What the hell...?"
I had seen the exact same thing as THEROS; where my large open-cast mine had been, there was now a giant hole! Standing up fully, risking being seen, I peered over the top, and still I was unable to see the bottom of the hole... What had they done? Had they dug out the entire hole and filled it with portals? I suppose the good thing was that there were no portals visible along the entire walls facing into the mine. If there had been, we would have no way to destroy them as we wouldn't be able to get anywhere near them!
"If this is the size of the hole, who know how many portals are down there... OROTHO and COLUS need to come to a decision about what must be done about that obsidian farm..."
Glancing one last time over the wall, I scanned the area; the forest was still there, along with the cobble path and forge... I had expected the entire palce to have been levelled to make way for a huge pit of portals! Thankfully not!
We made our way towards the front of the wall, ensuring that we weren't spotted by any guards along the way. There was one posted in the far South Westerly tower facing the beach, and we had to be careful in case he turned to look in our direction. I was beginning to thank my own engineering, as the small lip that ran along the entire length of each wall provided us with the necessary protection from anyone looking down from above. However, we had to be quiet as well as remain out of sight, as we were walking on sand. It isn't the noisiest materials to walk upon, but when there is almost total silence around you, it's rather odd how noisy it can become! UOPETA motioned for us to hurry to the far side, regardless of the sound, and we quickly rushed to the wall that ran perpendicular to the beach side wall. Now we were hidden by the lip from the guard who was situated in the tower we were approaching. We couldn't get it wrong now, and we continued slowly and quietly. When we had almost reached the end, we neared the wooden planks that had become partially hidden by sand, and UOPETA stopped.
"Where does that go?"
He whispered as softly as he could, trying more to indicate his question by pointing. I pointed to the tower that was roughtly above us and he just nodded... Then he continued on along to the corner, and stopped once more. Peering around the edge, he began searching for any guards that might be lurking up ahead. There had been guards posted on the outside of the front gate before, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if there some more there now. But after a few moments, UOPETA motioned for us to follow him, and we inched around the corner, remaining beneath the lip.
Once past the tower, we moved slightly faster, and I pointed UOPETA in the direction of the tunnel that I had dug to gain access before.
"Are you sure it's here? There's no margin for error here..."
I was positive it was here. The way the earth was structured suggested that it had been disturbed previously. Whether by us, I couldn't say, but I was definitely sure it was here! Using the pickaxe, I began digging at the dirt, breaking it into manageable chunks, which UOPETA and THEROS moved aside. After a few minutes of digging, cringing at every noise we made, I began to suspect that either this was the wrong place, or HoN Co. had found it and filled it back up. But no sooner had I thought that, my pickaxe cleaved through a small section of dirt with ease, revealing the tunnel leading down! Bingo! Down here was the main mine that I had built which extended beneath my house. According to the map, one of the portal chambers was located around here beneath the main building somewhere... But where...? I remembered how cavernous it had been, and thinking that HoN Co. was likely to have made it worse by tunnelling everywhere to extend the portal chambers...
One by one, we moved down into the tunnel, approaching the blocked up section a the far side... Once we were all positioned near to the end of the tunnel, I put my finger to my lips, and listened. I wanted total silence to determine if any guards had positioned themselves outside or around where this tunnel came out. Not hearing anything did little to calm my nerves, so I risked it by poking a hole through the thin layer of dirt with the head of the pick. Light streamed through the hole, and peering through it, I was able to see the surrounding area outside of the tunnel... But no guards...
"What's the plan then? We can't just go in there, destroy a dozen portals and head back out unnoticed..."
"That depends on whether there are any guards out there... The sounds of the portals should cover up any noise we make, and we always have our darts to make use of, just in case..."
By this time, I was confident that no guards were lurking beyond my sight range of the hole, and with teeth clenched in a cringe, I smashed through the dirt wall! There was little noise despite my initial assumptions, and no guard came to investigate. I moved out of the tunnel, quickly followed by UOPETA and THEROS.
"Right, where do you want to start searching?"
I pointed out to UOPETA that there was on direction off to the right which split off into two separate tunnels, or we could head up the wooden staircase, and try searching the other mineshafts I had begun to dig out.
"Alternatively, we could just destroy these portals here..."
THEROS was standing at an opening, leaning forwards, and looking into the entrance... Moving around to his side, we actually saw a small set of steps leading down into a small chamber full of portals... Was this is?
Ensuring that no guards were present, we moved into the chamber, and instantly took out our glowing stones.
"Even less than before. This won't take as long... We can discuss what to do next, but I doubt we'll be leaving this place just yet..."
"Indeed... There's still a portal chamber located beneath or in Syeonyx's open-cast mine..."
"Oh goody..."
Syeonyx signing off
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