I awoke atop the slabs that had become my bed. The dream still haunted me, but I hid it beneath the surface and tried to push it down into my unconscious mind. Down here, you had to learn how to push further down into the depths; after all, that was our purpose. On top of that, I could practically hear my grandpa laughing at me, as he used to, when he told stories of the creatures that lurked beneath, like grootslangs and azhdayas. When he told me of them, as a boy, I was afraid, and he could smell it off me like a predator smelling the fear of his prey. When he realised I was fearful, he would grab me and practically drag me to the deep pits. We gave each of our deepest pits a different name. The most notable were known as the Four Corners. There was: Hellmoth, Plutonia, Purgatory and the Crater. Each was challenging in its own way. When we come of age, we are to pick one of the three to travel down, and we must live there for 3 weeks, alone in the darkness, without contact. I performed mine in Purgatory just one week ago. Now I was a man grown, and proudly announced as the youngest to undergo Katabasis. Katabasis is when we would dive alone, and mine our raw materials to meet our quotas.
"Achiel, you gonna keep swashing piss all day or are you gonna get that tool in your hand and get ready for your work, you ain't no boy anymore, you're a man grown, and I'll treat ya like one," my grandpa announced to me.
We had to be ready to delve into the mines and meet our quotas. As the last bastions of humanity, it was our responsibility to push forward and not look back in fear. I quickly packed up and left for my dive.
As I was walking, I heard someone shout, "Hey Achiel, be careful when you're down there, yeah, don't make me put in more effort than I need to, you hear, and if I get more than you, the bets still on right?"
The shout had come from Cora. She was a short girl, standing only 5 feet 2, and yet her heart was bigger than anyone's, and her gob was even bigger. She was a year older than me and a damn good diver for her age; because of this, we were always close. Come the Meridian celebration, we would always both drink and dance the night together, as would everyone else. It was the spirit of our people, my grandpa had told me. I definitely had to agree, I felt alive when I danced and drank with her. Despite the hardships of our lives, it all seemed meaningless when everyone smiled together.
"The bets locked little lady, ain't no way I'm going to lose to someone smaller than half the pebbles on the ground." Despite my making fun of her height, I knew that it was one of her strengths; she could manoeuvre where others couldn't.
"Says the guy whose name sounds like me sneezing!" She quipped back.
My name was, by all standards, unusual; no one, as far as we knew, had ever been called it. When I was ten years old, I asked my grandpa about it, and he told me I was named after a hero of old, Achilles, and added that the name suited me because I was an angry little guy, and he left it at that. Although I'd never heard of this Achilles guy, so for all I knew, he could be talking shit again.
"Good luck to both of you!" We both turn our heads to see who told us that. It was Cora's older sister, Priscilla. By now, her pregnant belly was large and round; the baby was due any day now. We both thanked her and went our separate ways. In total, the population of our cave was two hundred and twenty-four, soon to be another. Of them, roughly 90 of us were divers. Before Katabasis, we were assigned to one of the Four Corners. We would each be given a route to follow and mine ourselves, unless we were assigned to Crater, where we would be sent as subdivisions, as it was more dangerous and more open than the others.
I was assigned to Hellmoth today, my grandpa was assigned to Crater as he usually was due to his larger size and physical strength, while Cora was assigned to Plutonia.
"Alright, everyone remember to be as careful as possible, don't overuse your drill and heat it out, whatever you do, do not lose your Noise Makers and most importantly, does everyone have their Talons Edge?"
A man with hair of fire shouted from the front. I recognised him as a man I knew very well. His name was Rufus, and he was the father of Priscilla's children. He was a kind-hearted man who always did his best for everyone he could. Where everyone else spat out swears as easily as the breath of the caves, Rufus was always the kindest heart of us. He was the only one of us who made sure to never swear in front of his wife or any family, for that matter; he didn't even swear in front of grandpa and me, and we weren't even family. He always said it paid to be kind, and when I asked him where all his coins were, if it truly paid, he would respond the same way: "It's right here," and point to Priscilla, much to her embarrassment.
After asking about the Talons Edge, I made sure it was fastened correctly. It was the most important thing to carry: the drill would get you the ores, the Noise Makers would get you assistance, the catheter would keep your nose away from the stench, but the Talons Edge might well get you your life. It was a curved blade in the shape of a crescent, as sharp as they came and your only ticket out. It was a weapon to fight for your life, or if it came to it, you could cut yourself free if you had to. Even through your own limbs if you had to. When I asked grandpa why I'd ever do that, when I was still a young, naive boy, he told me a limb is a small sacrifice for a life. I couldn't agree more with him now.
Just an hour later, we had plunged into Hellmoth and were about to start separating. The cave was already beginning to scratch at our bodies. The terrain was narrow, harsh and jagged, and the temperatures were sweltering. I heard Rufus talking to me as I prepared to go down the tunnel.
"Be careful down there, boyo, it's a narrow tunnel. I know you and Caro have that bet going on, but your life is worth more than that bet, you hear?"
His eyes weren't going to leave mine until he had his answer. I agreed with him, and he went on his way.
The passages were baking. I went to wipe the sweat that was dribbling down my face, but couldn't because of the masks that kept the fumes out of our lungs. They said that was one of the hardest things to get used to. As I continued down the route, I finally found some of what I was looking for: Andemium. A rare ore that acted as the building blocks of modern society. It was used mainly in most fuels, but it could also form a strong alloy that could be used in buildings, apparently. It was the very thing that would save humanity from the brink of destruction.
I continued down the path for what felt like a whole day before I heard the noise maker blinking. I counted how many times; I counted three times and let out a sigh of relief. Three signalled for everyone to leave at the end of the shift. My face was a wet mess, my body ached and was riddled with freshly earned scratches, while my catheter did its best to reduce the stench.
As I began to make my way back, my light flickered, and in the darkness I felt as if I had been transported back to that dream.
"You know the path!" I heard a shout from an unknown direction. I quickly reached for my Talons Edge when the light came back on and saw that I was alone.
"What the actual fuck," I whispered quietly to myself, hoping nothing else would hear me. I hurried back to the checkpoint and saw that I was the second to return, behind Rufus. He looked at me and probably saw the panic in my eyes.
"What's got your stalagmites falling there, Achiel?" He asked, questioning why I was so worried.
Not wanting to be seen as afraid or an idiot, I simply told him that there was nothing wrong. I think I was also trying to convince myself of it.