Chapter 423 Break through to the other side (1/2)

Diggy-Diggy Dig!

It's digging time! My soul is soothed and my very being is suffused with peaceful serenity as I get busy chomping my way through the dirt and soil. The going is slower than I'd thought it would be, I'd underestimated the increased tunnel size required to fit my newfound bulk through. It really is quite dis...o...b..bulating (is that a Sophos'ism?) to have ones' body change to such a ma.s.sive degree. I'm more than double the size I was just one evolution ago. For my next evolution, which should be far away, I think I'll be focusing less on increasing my size and more on density. There should be a heap of easy gains to be had there since I enlarged myself so drastically last time.

Still, such thoughts melt away as I dig. They are transient, as the dirt is transient. With our labour and efforts, such things can be moved, they can be s.h.i.+fted, made light by the work of our face hands. Indeed, the only truth we find is that which we unearth for ourselves. Dig, for peace. Dig, for truth. No matter the reason, dig!

Time flows by and I'm truly disappointed to find that my time carving out this tunnel has come to an end as the rock crumbles before my chomping mandibles, opening up to reveal a dark, dark, cavern. Poking my head through I can see the other side of the fort some two hundred metres away on my right. The gate is more clearly visible from here, a tough looking steel grating covers even more imposing banded gates. The fort is built into the wall of the cavern itself, its stone walls curving to meet the cavern rock on either side. The ground leading downward toward where I currently spy from has been cleared away to allow clear sight lines and make it impossible to sneak up. Thankfully they weren't that thorough on the uphill side.

Well, it's none of my concern. I'm in the clear!

[We're through. Let's go guys! Second strata here we come!]

The excitement is real as Crinis and Tiny help me rip away the last of the stones and we tumble out into the main cavern. With barely a moment to pause and gather our balance, we bound forward into the dark. And it's dark for real. The light seems to sputter weakly throughout the cavern as we race forward, trying to put some distance between us and the fort.

Hugging one side of the rocky cavern walls, my antennae detect strange movement amongst the deepening shadows. Flitting forms dart about on the edges of my sight in an unnerving way. The other thing my antennae notice, is that it's getting bleedin' cold! With every step the temperature is dropping and my heat detection is falling away. Even the hints of creatures that I see seem to give off barely any heat.

Come to think of it, does Crinis? I swivel my temperature awareness back to the enlarged blob riding on my back. Sure enough, as the heat leeches out of the air her temperature has fallen down to practically nothing.

[You cold, Crinis?]

[Uh, no?]

[How about you Tiny?]

[Cold,] he grunts.

He actually spoke a word?! He must feel very strongly about it to manage to squeeze out actual language! That tells me I'm onto something here.