Page 29 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

I settle myself on the side of the hole. It’s very small. It’s going to be a squeeze—it’s barely human-sized at all. No wonder it was hidden under the boulder for so long, and no one spotted it. I dip my feet into the hole, slowly lowering my legs into it. Even that has me scraping against the other side of the hole. It falls apart as I push through it, but at least it gives me the room to get in.

At some point, I half expect my boots to hit solid ground, but I lower myself to my chest, and there’s still no ground.

Looks like I’m going to have to go all the way in.

“All right,” I tell them through the radio, “I’m going in.”

“Heard. Be careful.”

I suck in a deep breath and keep lowering myself in. Eventually, I can’t hold onto the ground anymore, and I have to hold the rope. As I descend into the darkness, I click on my flashlight on the top of my helmet.

The cave isexpansive. Now I’m inside, I can see that it’s the size of a ballroom, with domed walls and a lot of space. It looks like the walls are made of soft earth, and I can catch claw marks heading all the way up to the hole. Even more interesting, there are other markings on the walls—something like gigantic hieroglyphics, but I can only see a small part of them at any one time with my flashlight beam. When I look down, directly down, I can see a huge collection of shinies—random things: jewelry pieces, small electronics, a wig, and a few hats. Judging by thehats and their sizes, I’d say I’m only about ten feet up. That’s actuallysmallerthan I expected at this point. The walls are so wide and domed that I thought the floor would be much further away from me.

My rope gives a jolt. My heart stutters.

Oh god.

I look up. I can see the end of my hook sticking out of the soft earth above me.

Oh, I would have never stuck it in there if I knew how soft the earth was! I thought it was thicker!

My rope gives another slip.

Oh, fuck! My anchor’s slipping!

I can see the end of my hook slowly dragging through the thin crust of land. Worse still, cracks are spreading on the other side—where the boulder is.

What do I do?!If that falls—!

But cracks are spreading. My hook gives a larger jolt, and it scrapes to the edge of the hole. It’s no use; it’s going.

I start unbuckling my harness. There’s a crack above me. It’s hard to undo the knots as I’m hanging in the air, tightening the knots with my body weight. But I keep working, and soon, I’m tumbling through the air.

The sickening weightlessness carries me for a moment before the ground hits me hard on my side—my shoulder and ribs hit the ground first, sending a shudder of pain rattling through my bones.

One more crack and light suddenly blinds me.

Get up! Get away from the hole! The boulder’s coming down!

I get up and blindly sprint away—in time to hear thethudbehind me. The vibration shudders through my legs—thank god I wasn’t under there!

After a second, my eyes adjust, and I can look around.

I must have tipped the balance when I pushed in; the boulder has broken through the hole, and the hole is now about five feet wide. I walk closer to the disaster and look around where the boulder has landed.

Well, there’s my harness and hook lying on the ground next to it. Damn it. That means my exit has just closed itself.

That’s all right. I should just call and let everyone know that I—

My fingers touch the radio and then jump as a live wire gives me a static shock. I look down at it, and it’scrushed.The plastic shell has shattered, and all its electronic innards are spilling out.

Shit, I must have landed on it!

Thanks to the wide hole, I can look around. It’s a gigantic dome. Not a single exit. It doesn’t even seem to be connected to any other holes or mine shafts.

Oh, no…Oh, shit.

I’m trapped. I can’t call for help. The snow is piling into the hole, and the chill is already seeping its way into my bones. I thought I dressed for the cold, but I’m already shivering. When I survey my own clothing, I find patches of ripped clothing where I fell, the skin showingburningcold. That must be letting the icy cold in—that, and now I’m not moving, I’m cooling down fast.

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