Chapter 15: June 21st, 1693

“Alright, son, it is time to use that new shovel you made to help dig a hole underneath the home. We need to get to those pests before they start making a nest down there.”

It was the afternoon of the next day as Feliks and Ivan stood at the wall, ready to tunnel into the Earth to get to the bottom of the house. With the training and help from his father, Feliks could replace the handle of the shovel with a brand new one. It was one of many things that his father was training him to do to help take care of himself and the farm.

“Alright, dad,” he said as he began the process of digging into the soft soil by the house. His goal was clear, and that was to work his way underneath the house. It would be a long process that would take hours, but their fear was that somebody needed to go down and chase or kill them to prevent them from tearing up the house if there were rodents underneath the home.

Feliks’s strength was endless as the shovel blade struck the dirt. Then, he would pull the sand back. Each thrust would pull out a little more dirt. The sun’s heat did not help any as it pounded into the poor boy.

“Getting a little too hot for you, boy?” Ivan joked.

“Yes ... dad.”

Ivan’s face changed as he coughed some more. He looked at his son after the non-stop coughing finally gave up on him. After taking a deep breath, he looked at his son. “Let me know that ... I can help out.”

“No, Dad, I want you to get better. This cough of yours will not stop. I want it to stop.”

He shoveled harder as he was starting to make a hole that bore underneath the log wall and underneath the home. Dirt would shower down from the bottom log as the shovel pulled the earth back. He was making progress in making an excellent dirt pile behind his feet.

Feliks wiped the sweat from his brow. His father handed him ale to help him from drying up. In medieval times, drinking water from the rivers in which people bathed, washed clothes, diseases, and even defecated and pissed in as it went downstream to those next in line was generally a bad idea to drink. This often left families to make wine and ale that was actually safer to drink than the water itself. Ale was commonly easy to make since they were typically made from grain, which most farmers grew at the time.

The boy took a swig from the container of ale that his father gave to him. As the little boy shoveled, he spoke to his father.

“Dad, do you miss mom?”

He looked down at the dirt. “Every day, every hour, son,” he replied with a sigh.

“I miss her.”

“I know, son,” he said as he picked up some of the soil that his son had shoveled from his home.

“We never used any of the building materials in the previous home before we built this new home. The burnt home remains there still.”

“I couldn’t, son ... I could never go back to that home. Too many bad memories of that night.”

Ivan started to cough again as he grabbed his ale and took a swig. His coughing slowed down almost immediately. “I was thinking of talking with my neighbor about his daughter Taya. You will be a man in a few years, and she is a year younger than you. I was thinking of having you two eventually marry each other in the years to come.”

Feliks stopped shoveling as he turned around and looked at his father. “I ... I don’t know, father. I have only spoken to Taya once. She is ... she is mean. I don’t like her.”

His father laughed. “Sometimes, you have to show women who is in control. You do what you need to do. You will be a man soon. It is important that you show who has control.”

The boy returned to his shoveling. He was quiet as he pondered his father’s words. “I don’t know, dad. I still don’t like being with people that much, except you, of course.”

“I am just looking out for you, son. If it was one thing that your mother’s death has taught me is that you might be here one day, and the next day you won’t. I want to make sure you have someone for you when it is finally my time.”

“ ... thank you, dad. I will think about it.”

Ivan grabbed a hoe that was next to the wall when they parked the tools before they started digging. He tried to help out by shoveling and pulling the dirt to the sides and away from his son.

Feliks’s knees and legs were covered in dirt. As he was working his way underneath the logs, he was more and more in the shade and cooler area. This helped as the sweat continued to pour from his head.

Ivan was looking at his son as he dug. “I was thinking ... if this farm does not work out, you could join the Streltsy or move to Moscow to help the Czar before they conscript you in there like they did with Taya’s brother.”

“I don’t know if I want to join the military, father.”

Ivan shook his head. “I don’t think you will have the choice, son. It would be their decision before mine. However, I do believe that if you willingly go to them and work hard, it will leave a mark on them. You could make a name for yourself and at least do better there than you are here. You are strong, and I know you can do great things for yourself.”

He thought for a while as he continued to work. “I will think about it, father.”

During the time period of the early 1680’s the military of Russia was mostly peasant raised armies raised by the village elder or lord. This included the Streltsy, which was usually led by the nobles. Even before the term was introduced, conscription still existed, and it was not uncommon for young boys and men to be pulled into an army with inadequate training. Russia’s vast size made it incredibly difficult to watch its entire population, and no two villages or city was alike with such a vast amount of different cultures and beliefs. This was all subject to change very soon, however...

After digging for an hour, Feliks punched through into an open area. It was not a big area, but it was dark. It was like a tiny open cave that could allow his small frame to traverse. He was underneath the house now with a small tunnel that could allow him to enter and exit from. The light in this area was only coming through the small hole he came from. If there were rodents here, it was time for him to kill them and chase them out.

“Hmmm...” the boy said out loud. “I don’t see any other light in here where the rodents could have come from. They had to get in here somehow.”

“Do you see anything, son?” Ivan asked him.

“No, father,” he yelled out. “I don’t know what could have been creating the noise from above. There is an open area down here. It’s big enough for me to move around and crawl around, but that is it.”

“Sounds like the dirt gave way underneath the home, creating that open area. Might be possible that the wood was simply creaking under our weight, but we will need to fill in the dirt underneath the wooden panels. Go ahead and come out, boy, we need to eat.”

“Alright, dad,” Feliks said as he began to turn around in the tunnel. Suddenly his shoe smacked into something. It did not feel like dirt or rock but something different.

That didn’t feel normal ... He began to look in the dark area. His eyes had adjusted to looking in the darkness, but it was still hard to see what it was that he hit. He turned around and began to feel what it was that he actually hit. Eventually, his hand touched something, and it felt like.

“Son, you want to come out now?...” his father called.

“Hold on, dad! I thought I saw something.”

“Alright.”

Feliks placed his hand on something warm. He could feel a skin-like substance that ended in dull but rough claws. He pricked his finger on the edge of whatever it was.

Suddenly he felt something hot touch him like a blast of hot air. It blew his skin and clothes back a little bit.

“Wha...” he recoiled back.

He looked and noticed that the skin-like appendage began to shift, moving the hard dirt around. Then he saw what looked like a pair of eyes open in front of him. They were large, with each eye the size of his fist.

He backed up in fear as the eyes began to look at him. He was so shocked at this monstrous creature that he was speechless at first.

“Wha ... wha ... are you?” The boy struggled to say.

His eyes struggled to grab at what he looked at in the dark. The child thought about outright fleeing for a second, but it would be difficult to do so. The creature was so large that the boy’s fear and adrenaline surged. He could barely make out a massive creature with a nose and a beak, armored and scaly skin, reptilian eyes that reflected from the very little sunlight, two arms with fingers that extended into claws, and the edge of a shell?...

The pointer finger of the creature went to its mouth as it went and made the “Shhh” sound to him as to ask for the boy to quiet down.

“Quiet down, little boy,” The creature whispered to him. It was a female voice. “I can hear there are more out there. Don’t raise suspicion of me being here.”

Feliks was still speechless at this creature. “You ... talk? You can talk?”

“Yes, I speak Russian quite well, little human. Keep your voice down, though. I promise not to hurt you. Can you do that?”

The young teen went and nodded his head. “Yes ... yes, I can. Who...”

“Don’t tell anybody that I am here, alright,” she requested. “It could create prob...”

“You doing alright down there, son?” Ivan called to him.

Feliks looked at the massive female creature. His fear began to calm down as he looked at the hole that led out. He could see his father’s head from the exit of the tunnel, looking down, trying to see him.

“I am alright, father. I thought I saw a mouse or what was creating the noise.”

“Did you kill it?”

“Nah ... I thought it was. There is nothing down here.”

His father went and waved the boy to exit the tunnel. “Then come out, clean yourself up, and get something to eat.”

“Alright, father, I am coming.”

The boy’s fear quickly left. If this was a rampaging monster, she would have let him know by now. Instead, curiosity piqued his interest. Feliks looked at the massive creature buried in the sand and house.

“I have to go ... will you still be here?”

“I can’t go anywhere, little boy,” the female creature whispered. “I have a house on me that I am supporting. If I move ... the house falls on you or destroys your home. I am stuck here for now.”

“I will come back, I promise you,” the boy told her.

“I will be here,” she replied back quietly.

Feliks turned his head to the tunnel exit as he looked at this monstrous creature. He went and started to crawl out the tunnel. His eyes had gotten so used to the darkness as he backed through, he was getting blinded by the light. His moving knees and legs pushed him out of the narrow tunnel he carved out. Eventually, he reached the exit and closed his eyes.

He popped out of the tunnel as he struggled to stand up. His clothes were covered in dirt. His body was used to being in a small tunnel, but his back was hurting from having to bend at awkward angles. His father was staring him down with a smile.

“You took your time down there, son.”

“Sorry, father, I thought I saw what was making that sound, but it was nothing.”

His dad smiled. “Let’s head back inside. There is more soup ready for you. We will need to eventually seal up the open area down there and seal up the tunnel to prevent any other critters from getting down there. You did well digging through there, son.”

They walked back to the entrance as Felik’s thoughts were down that hole. He was thinking about what he saw, what he was talking to. There was nothing like that before. As he stepped into his home, he would consider going back down there to investigate the strange creature. He knew now what was responsible for creating the noise, and she was stuck there.

It was late that night when Feliks stepped out of his bed. He wore little but simple rags that covered his body. His father was fast asleep in his bed. Now was the perfect time to go and try and talk to this creature some more. He quietly walked around the main room and opened up the door to leave home.

The outside moonlight helped illuminate the area slightly, but he knew that it would not provide any light in the tunnel. He was trying to think of anything that would help at least see.

He went and grabbed a small branch that he could use as a torch. After rummaging through the wood piles, he found a wood branch the size of his arm. He walked back into the cabin and looked at the stove. It still had some hot coals in which he stuck the branch’s tip to it.

Slowly the tip of the branch began to turn red as the embers started to slowly ignite under a new fuel source. Within a minute, the branch began to catch fire. He would have a limited amount of fire available, allowing him to see the creature beneath the house.

Seeing that the branch was now on fire, Feliks quickly but quietly took the burning torch and stepped out of the house. He closed the door behind him and strolled around the log cabin. It had been several hours, but the small hole that only he could fit through was still there. He bent down to it and took a good look at the tunnel as he put the burning branch inside. He got on his knees and legs as he began to press himself into the hole. The burning branch was providing the light and illuminating the tunnel. Almost like a pop sound, he squeezed through the tunnel entrance and crawled on his hands, legs, and knees as he slowly made his way to the open area beneath the tunnel.

The makeshift torch was not perfect, but it provided some light to the area as his eyes once again tried to adjust. The dirt squeezed through his fingers and knees as he set the torch down at the center of the open area beneath the house.

“Hello ... it’s me again,” he quietly whispered. “I wanted to see you.”

He pressed his torch closer to the last place this creature was at. As the burning branch got closer, he could clearly see the creature better than last time. He was at a gasp at what he saw.

It looked like a ... tortoise or a turtle buried in the dirt underneath the house. She was huge, and her eyes were closed. He could see her breathing. He went and placed the burning branch down and quietly crawled up to her. He had already touched her by accident, but now he could actually examine her to his best.

He got so close that he could feel her breathing now. He put his hand to her hand. Her hand was so significant that she could easily grip his head in one shot. He could see four digits on the hand with turtle-like claws that extended from each tip. He could feel the rough armored skin that she had. It had a grayish color.

As he touched her hand, she started to stir. She took a deep breath and exhaled, which he already felt before earlier. Finally, her other hand shifted in position as she stirred, pushing the dirt away some. He could note that she had a shell that was holding the dirt and house strut above her. If she moved then, it would cause the tunnel and all the dirt around them to collapse.

Her eyes opened up as she looked at the boy. She practically yawned as her tortoise eyes befell him. She actually smiled, looking at him.