Chapter 38: Hunting

The next week was a lot of fun.

I’d brought hard miners hats that had my crystal lamps attached to the front of them. I’d also made a heap of small crystal lamps that we used to mark intersections. Albi and I would scribe arrows and one or two words to help anyone to get to a particular feature we found, or back to the main cavern.

We also marked dangerous tunnels that had sudden drops to catch the unwary. One of the cavern entrances we had climbed up to and accessed from the central tunnel I spelled so people couldn’t enter it. Water had caused a deep channel and eaten out the floor about 15m down the tunnel.

The floor then dropped a good 12m very suddenly into a shallow stream below. We could see where the water often rose up in the passage in the wet season and the scoring of the walls up to about 2m below the entrance we stood in. Being winter, it was more sluggish and low. We had no idea where you would end up if you fell into it.

We spent most of the first week exploring the southern and central tunnels. We mapped as we went. The mountain was a honeycomb of small and large caverns, fissures and passages, some wide and some tiny. We found two large pools, several waterways and even a small lake in a massive cavern to the south.

Originally, most of the openings were caused by lava flows being forced to the surface and melting the softer rocks. Since then, water ingression and the odd tremor have widened the caverns and fissures, and even created some new passageways.

All three tunnels that exited the cavern that we had set up home in, only ran for about 10m before the smooth man-made walls, reverted to features that were more natural for a cave system. The floors in them remained more even for varying lengths. The Northern passage had the more the regular features for a longer distance than the other two.

The central tunnel sloped up several metres for about 20m and then ended in a small cavern about 12m in diameter that we called the Decider. From here, we had several choices. Two distinct passages climbed higher into the mountain, and three others led us back down deeper.

The best cavern that we found was huge. It was accessed from an up sloping passage from the Decider, which continued east. The passage we followed ran mostly in an easterly direction but did have several twists and turns, high sections and small drops to navigate.

We had to climb up through some very tight sections before it started angling back down. I wasn’t in a hurry to widened passages unless I felt it was warranted, it was a massive cave system, and many passages were not that interesting or finished in dead ends.

Mind you, smacking my head several times when I tried to follow my shorter counterparts did warrant the removal of the odd offending bits of rock from overhead. Smoothing uneven floors and creating small steps, when, where we wished to get to was too difficult, also became warranted. I didn’t want us twisting ankles and falling when it could be avoided.

When we reached the cavern that had several smaller side chambers, Albi’s assessment was that it had originally been formed by magma pooling in a much smaller cavern. When it tried to escape, it superheated the rocks, and it blasted and ate its way out. He believed magma might have filled these chambers several times in history until a seismic shift blocked it off.

I estimated the main chamber was at least 170m across and 75m high. One of the smaller chambers was as wide at 40m and a similar in height. Water seeped down from high on a northern wall and channelled through the rubble littered floor.

Albi believed that since this volcanic mountain was last active, water had widened and deepened the cavern. The water and then possibly a tremor had caused a large section of the top and northern side of the cavern to collapse onto the floor.

The rubble we were looking at, he believed was more recent, even perhaps as little as ten years ago. He didn’t believe that the cavern had magma in it for many millions of years. It had however left its legacy. The cavern floor was littered with both geodes, and quartz crystals, which were evident on the rocks and by themselves.

Albi explained that bubbling magma had been forced into fissures and has melted and interacted with the minerals in the rocks. The bubbles in the magma had created the geode shells. Over time, more minerals were deposited in the shells when hot fluids became trapped within them.

He picked up two different geodes. “Some of the geodes would have amethysts like this one, as it is an iron-rich mountain. Others like this one have clear or smoky crystals depending on the minerals deposited in them. It is common to find quartz crystals in volcanic regions.”

He went on to say that, the cavern had been heated and cooled many times due to the presence of magma and its interactions with water. This planet had been a lot warmer and wetter in the past. He pointed to several places on the walls where we could see that lava had escaped on occasions or had stayed pooled for a long time.

He pointed out several large crystal formations in the fissures in one of the smaller caverns. I learnt that those crystals had been created when the silica-rich molten rocks had cooled and solidified. The longer the processes of heating and then slow cooling, the bigger and better the crystals become.

I was delighted when my lamp shone upon a very impressive rose quartz formation that filled a long wide crevice. I had my Psychic crystals. I was surprised by the different colours within the formation. Some of the crystals were pale and others a very bright pink. One formation on another cavern was a pale lime green and very pretty.

Albi said this whole range had been created by volcanic action over many millions of years ago. Since then, continental compression had been the driving factor in its height. Crater Mountain was the last known active area of the range. The peak that we were under was called Lord’s Retreat. He had no idea why.

We had noticed that the northern side of the central region was warmer than we’d expect for inside a dead volcano. I suspected the Lord’s Retreat wasn’t as inactive as was supposed. Albi said that since it was on the side closest to Crater Maintain, it might well have an active lava source nearby. However, this cavern wasn’t active as it was quite cold in here.

I considered all the climbing, and the scrapes and bruises were worthwhile just for this find. We collected several excellent specimens of amethysts for me to make Physics gems and some beautiful rose and green quartz crystals suitable for Psychic gems. I was delighted.

I didn’t need a lot of either gem type and was sure I had enough to last me a very long time. I’d be able to make extra items for Andy and Mary. They didn’t have access to magical items, and with our recent encounters with people who wore bad items, I would be happier knowing some good people had regalia so they can use them to sniff out the bad.

I was glad I’d brought the extra gold and platinum with me.

Our next big find was to the south.

The southern tunnel from the home cavern went down and turned westerly. It led us to a series of smaller caverns created by water flows in the mountain. The level dropped deeper in each successive cavern. It was the fourth small cavern that led us to the lake that I mentioned we had found.

In each of the smaller caverns, we found some beautiful displays of sedimentary rock that had been lifted and twisted in the past due to movements of the mountain so we could see the distinct layers. The water had polished some of the rocks smooth enough that they glowed.

Albi and Mica located several large and excellent nodules of agate for making Nature gems. They were fascinating caverns. Several had huge stalactites. He pointed out the different rock and mineral layers and the layers created by tiny fossilised plants and animals in the walls and floor.

He said they were evidence of compression and uplift during volcanic activity. The land must have once been under the sea. The stream that flowed through the caverns and polished the walls was potholed and boulder strewn.

Large sandy depressions created small pools in many places. When we scouted around, and we shifted rocks and sifted the sands, we were amazed to find small and large polished and newer rough agates in the depressions.

They were different shapes and colours depending on the rocks they had been chipped from when the stream became a raging river in the wet seasons. Albi was delighted as it meant less work for us. He pointed out that many of the larger and rougher pieces could be easily chipped or cut into the sizes we wanted.

He suggested that if we put them in a polishing barrel, they would make excellent gems for all sorts of jewellery. In just a day, we’d found enough, already beautifully polished, small agates suitable for rings and diadems that I didn’t really need to cut more.

However, I would keep some rough ones to play with later.

I’d also spent time getting to know Mica.

Trixi would often team up with Albi so that I could be with Mica. Rose, Foxi and Sable didn’t always accompany us after the first couple of days. They’d gotten smart, and they waited until I created suitable safe pathways, then they’d come and look at what we had found.

Once I had a safer passage to Agate Lake, Sable and Foxi took over agate hunting for us while we kept exploring. They also had fun trying to find geodes of exceptional amethysts, and Sable liked to climb up to get the better quartz crystals, once the passage to Quartz Cavern was easier to access.

Harry and Jay would accompany them once the going was easy. They were allowed to keep what they found so this was an incentive for Jay. Even he knew that the quality of our finds would earn him a very nice nest egg. I also think he was planning on asking a certain person to marry him.

Foxi and Sable had been to town several times with Harry and Jay, to explore the neighbourhood. The Lankys also appreciated the exercise, and it was a good excuse for them to get out of the caves. Rose generally stayed behind as the guard.

On about the third day, Albi expressed his wish again to acquire a tumbling barrel and some grinding materials. He wanted to play with some of the gems that we had found. We had found the lake that morning. I could have told him that I can shape gems with magic but why spoil his fun, he was having a lovely time.

They were his gems to do with as he pleased and if we did have visitors, it would look more believable if we had the usual paraphernalia set up. He mentioned that he would need a source of water in the cavern.

I got up from the dinner table and walked over to the north-eastern corner where it was warmer and placed my hands on the wall. I picked up where a small stream ran down inside the mountain not that far me. It ran down under the cavern, I worked out that it was the same stream that came out of the mountain a good 10m below us.

I smoothed back the walls to a height of 3m and dug into the floor to form a distinct corner. I used the material I removed to create 3m wide by 5m long and 1.5m deep pool. The side wall was raised about 70cm off the floor, and I made the walls 30cm thick, so it had a wide solid ledge around it to sit on.

I left a 30cm wide by a 10cm deep cut in the corner so the pool could drain. I then tunnelled through the cavern wall at about 1.2m above the height of the side wall and central of pools short side. I made the outlet about 20cm wide but only 1cm high and even added a 25cm square ledge with sides higher than the slit for the water to tumble over.

I directed enough water flow through the pipe that I formed in the rock to keep the pool full. The height of the fall created a nice shower effect. The water then drained into my floor drain and ran out of the cavern and over the side of my platform. The interesting thing was the water I had tapped into was surprisingly warm.

Once the pool was full, Sable and the girls tested the water, stripped off and got in. They informed me it was perfect bathing temperature. Sable informed me he needed a ledge so he could stand under the shower. The girls agreed.

So I created a 60cm wide ledge 40cm under the level of the water on the back wall. I made it 40cm wide along the two long walls. I added 20cm high steps 60cm long and 30cm deep, against the wall and one inside the pool. I used some of our leftover poles to build a safety rail for getting in and out.

I then had to make a second slightly lower pool 1.5m long by 1m wide pool on the end for Albi to use to wash his rocks, as the girls didn’t want him doing it in the pool. He only wanted it about 60cm deep. So I provided him with an overflow slot and a bunged drain in the bottom so he could drain his pool, and clean it out.

The lankys took to using the overflow drain as their drinking water as long as the girls hadn’t been using soaps in the pool. Albi didn’t like soap in his water either. I embedded a couple of crystals and added some purification spells to the pool to make sure.

I added another spell to insulate the pool walls and keep more heat in. We did notice the cavern temperature had increased by a couple of degrees in the next day or so. I ran another pole over the length of the two pools and put up some extra lights. We guys also loved having a soak, so it became our nightly ritual to all climb in the pool.

I also made several long benches for sorting out our finds and attached a pole 2m high over the centre to hold several lights so we could work. Albi, Sable and I liked to chip out and roughly shape the gems at night. Jay got interested as he now had his own collection.

The girls also started to help. I think it was more because us boys were ignoring them when we worked and chatted over the work tables.

We were happy to let them join us, and we’d all happily talk and joke until bed time.

For the rest of the week, I spent most of my time crawling through tunnels.

It amazed us just how vast the system was. Mica and I made a good team. She was very nimble and surefooted. I guessed it was her wolf and lanky forms coming to the fore. She followed directions well and was very observant.

I learnt to follow her instincts too. She had saved me from more than one nasty fall. We found more geodes and various crystals. Some I didn’t even recognise though they were pretty or very interesting. Mica and I aren’t mining experts. As it was, she knew a lot more than me.

We mapped where we found them and took samples to bring back to Albi to look at. If I really liked the crystal or stone formation, I added it to my new bottomless backpack that I’d taken to wearing while caving. My ever-present satchel was tucked under it on my back.

One interesting find was the iron ore mine. Rose told us when she came to look at it, that it was a special sort of iron because it was magnetic. We had followed a passage east from Lake Agate. I had noticed the tunnel entrance that was at least 10m above the shore of the lake. I had to cut steps to get to it.

When we got to the mine, I called Rose on the organiser. We had come to a lot further than we intended and we didn’t want the others to worry if we got back late. The reason we hadn’t turned back sooner was the passage itself.

While it wasn’t smooth, it was relatively even and fairly straight. It had obviously had been dug out by miners. Going by the crick in my neck, they had been Prols. We’d hit several low sections that I couldn’t walk through as they had left the roof lower than other sections that were easier to dig.

In several places, I had to create channels in the roof so I could walk upright. Mica thought it was funny as for the most parts her 155cm height with hat, just scraped through. She walked in front of me to warn me, but every so often, she misjudged, and I’d smack my damn head. It was probably just as well that we wore the hardhats.

When we finally emerged into a larger cavern, we found we were in the mine. It was obvious it hadn’t been worked in a long time. The cool, dry air in the mine had preserved everything as if we had just missed them and they had gone home for the day.

We found it fascinating. This cavern had been used to access the work faces and for storing their paraphernalia. We also found another wider and higher tunnel coming off the cavern we were in. I wasn’t that surprised that it led to the surface. We had walked 20km from one side of the mountain to the other.

One disturbing thing that I found was that the doors were both barred on the inside. I had to use magic to open the smaller door that had sealed into place over time. I didn’t bother with the big doors for the carts. When we stepped out onto this side of the mountain, the vista was astounding.