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It was a fact that Milldread was known for their high quality produce and for the tunnels that seemed to stretch on into eternity down below. There was sadly a large number of mortals who were drawn to explore the tunnels of Milldread, only to become lost and unable to be found even by the God known as Cobigail. The disappearances had been so bad that it was believed for some time that She was personally killing or even eating them but thanks to Her new priest Bayker and the guidance of Bauhauzzo and Huzzle Mug; the misunderstanding was cleared up and Her name was cleared of the deaths of those who had become lost.
That didn’t stop people from going down there, however.
As the last of his battery ran out in his flashlight; Byoolah sat down and started to cry. He had gone down into the tunnel what felt like hours or even days ago, spurred on by the same dream he kept having night after night. He dreamt that he went to Milldread and the tunnel and a voice would whisper in his ear that the answer to his loneliness was here. Sometimes the voice spoke and sometimes it sang, a ukulele seeming to punctuate the message.
He supposed being dead was one way to end his loneliness.
He was surrounded on all sides by unforgiving stone and solid earth and now he didn’t even have the comfort of light to wait for his end. “So stupid, Byoolah! No one is ever going to find you down here!”
“I found you rather easily, actually.”
Byoolah yelped at the unexpected voice coming from right beside him. He lunged forward to blindly escape but managed to bang his head into a rock, crying out in pain.
“Easy! M’not here to hurt you! Lady Cobigail sent me to lead you back to the surface. You don’t belong here,” the voice said.
He pressed a hand to his now throbbing head, sniffling tearfully as he listened to the voice. “Do you promise?” he asked.
The voice laughed, not unkindly. “I promise,” he said.
“I can’t see anything,” Byoolah said, “my flashlight broke and I…”
“Here,” a length of fabric was pressed into Byoolah’s hand, “this is tied ‘round my waist. All you have to do is hold on an’ follow me. I’ll lead you out of here nice and smoothly.”
He blinked at that, tilting his head to one side. “Smoothly?” he asked.
“Very smoothly.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at the odd phrase the voice used. He held onto the lead with both hands, blindly following as the voice started to guide him. He couldn’t see anything that was happening, forcing him to rely solely on trust and faith that this voice was helping him and not harming him. Occasionally they would stop and he listened to the odd sound of digging in front of them. “I…what are you doing?”
“Creating a tunnel so that you can get back to the surface.”
“Do you live down here?”
“I do.”
Byoolah’s eyes widened at that. “So you just live down here and help people who get lost? Do you have a shovel on you all the time or something?”
“Somethin’ like that, yes.”
He frowned a little at the odd answer but continued to follow as they started to crawl through a freshly made tunnel. “You must be really good at digging! Like a mole or something,” he said.
The voice started to laugh. “I’ve been told that, yes.”
“What’s your name?”
“Saul. Saul Boggle.”
“Saul…” he whispered, nodding his head. “That’s a nice name.”
“Thank you.”
They traveled along through Cobigail’s tunnels in pleasant silence. Normally being in this kind of intense darkness would have scared him but holding onto Saul’s lead and following him comforted him. He didn’t know or care how much time passed and was surprised when he saw his first sign of light.
Saul immediately stopped, keeping himself close to the shadows and away from the light of the sun on the surface. “Go find the priest Bayker and Goody. They’ll take care of you up above.”
“You’re not coming?” Byoolah asked.
“…it’s too bright at the moment,” Saul murmured.
“Can I at least see you?”
Saul was silent for a moment. Byoolah heard the sound of something picking at the ground briefly before stopping again. “Speak to the priest Bayker and Goody. Come here tonight if you wish to see me after listening to them explain things,” he finally said.
Byoolah nodded and stepped out of the mouth of the tunnel. He was immediately surrounded by Milldreadites checking to see if he was harmed.
“You were down there for days!”
“We were worried about you!”
“Lady Cobigail’s Guide always brings people back!”
Byoolah blushed at the concern and worry he had caused by going into the tunnel. He immediately turned to the sniffling priest, unsure of himself as he said, “Saul said I could see him tonight after talking to you?”
Bayker shared a look with a red haired woman standing beside them. They turned back to Byoolah and nodded, leading him to their home and bakery. “Thit down. We have a lot to talk about,” they said.
“Did you have fun with Saul in the tunnels?” Goody asked.
“I’ve never seen anyone dig so fast with a shovel before! And it was so dark! I couldn’t see anything in front of my face. How does he do it?” Byoolah asked, accepting a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of peanut butter cookies. He noted the way the two looked at each other again, a mixture of sadness and pride on their faces.
“Thaul…wath blethed by our God ath a child,” Bayker began.
Goody nodded her head. She smiled sadly as she explained, “he’s been blessed to be her Guide. He ensures Her tunnels are no longer the unintentional grave of mortals who became lost and could not be found in time.”
Byoolah listened in wide eyed wonder as the two started to tell him about what had happened in Milldread. From the misunderstanding about Cobigail, to Bayker going to see Bauhauzzo and Huzzle Mug to find the recipe for a jam that would connect Cobigail with Her people again, and finally Saul’s transformation into Her Guide.
“But now we have a question for you,” Goody said when they were done, “what made you go down there in the first place?”
He blushed, toying with his hair. “For the past few weeks I’ve been having the same dream over and over again. It was me down there in those tunnels and a voice would whisper in my ear about the tunnels being a cure for my loneliness. Every night it was the same dream. I took it as a sign and came here to find the answer.” He bit his lip as he twisted his hair around in his fingers and said, “I think I know the answer…”
***
Cobigail’s Guide waited in the shadows near the mouth of the tunnel. He sniffed softly, toying with the hem of his robe and the sash he wore around his middle that served as a lead for those who became lost inside of the tunnels. He had rather liked this one. He had trusted him quickly and spoken softly. He wondered if he would come back like he had promised…
“Thaul!”
“Hey, Saul!”
Saul perked up at the sound of Bayker and Goody’s voices. He smiled and was about to step forward when he caught sight of the stranger. He stayed where he was, unsure of how the other would react when seeing him properly. “Hello,” he said.
Byoolah smiled as he stepped forward. “Bayker and Goody told me everything!”
“They did?”
He nodded, “I want to see you.” Saul hesitated and Byoolah held out a hand in the direction where he heard his voice coming from. “Please?”
Slowly Cobigail’s Guide stepped out of the shadows and into the pleasant light of the soothing moon. He looked normal enough, blonde hair entwined with roots and small plants known for growing underground. His eyes that had become blind during his transformation were protected with a pair of thick goggles with smokey glass over his dead eyes.
Byoolah stared at Saul’s hands. They were longer than a normal human’s, taking on the form of claws now. But they weren’t claws meant for ripping and tearing, no. The ends were blunt, the insides hollow to serve as powerful digging tools. Byoolah remembered seeing a video once about moles and that was what Saul's hands looked like to him, they were simply large enough to accommodate a human’s body instead of a tiny animal’s.
Saul fidgeted with his sash as Byoolah started to approach him. “I know how different I look,” he murmured, “sometimes when I rescue someone they get scared of my claws and run from me.”
“Idiots,” Goody darkly muttered, crossing her arms in annoyance at the memory of those moments.
“Eathy,” Bayker whispered.
“I’m not scared of them,” Byoolah said. He reached out, taking one of Saul’s hands between his own. He smiled as he ran his fingers over the blunt claws, noting how the underside was shaped to make it so Saul could shovel away dirt and rock to dig underground. He brought the claws up to his mouth and kissed them. “They saved me. You saved me.”
Saul blushed, his voice trembling. “Can I look at you?”
He guided Saul’s claws to his face. He giggled at how gentle Saul was, his hands running over every detail of his face, blunt claws tapping gently as they moved. “You’re so gentle.”
“Thaul hath alwayth been gentle,” Bayker hummed with a smile.
Saul laughed, bowing his head to try and hide behind his hair. He gasped when Byoolah leaned forward, pressing his lips to his forehead. “Oh!”
“I think I found my answer to that dream I was having,” Byoolah said.
Cobigail’s Guide giggled, happily stepping out of the tunnel. “Let me show you the shallow hole I made for us to cuddle when it’s the summer time! I can make it wider for another!” he excitedly offered.
Down below, Cobigail smiled, snuggling Herself down in the small tunnel She had made into Her nest for the night. Thespius had kept His promise.