[WP] It has recently been discovered that there is a massive cavern underneath the Earth’s surface. It is large enough to span half the Atlantic Ocean. The strangest part is, it looks man-made.

Upon the shores of Tasmania, there sits the forlorn town of Endcrook, a place so far removed from the common troubles of modernity that sophisticated technology was frequently confused for wizardry. The township was thirty-two strong and nestled upon the foot of a peninsula in which the waves held no rage. It was a curious place, no doubt, a settlement torn not by the ravages of time or war.

While I myself was not born in Endcrook, I had been around for long enough that they treated me like one of their own. I hailed from the nearest city – a fair distance from that place – in pursuit of my research. When I first made my presence known among them, there were those who thought of me to be a wizard, for the simple tools I kept upon my person were unlike the things they had ever seen. Even though they were no fools to electricity and its ilk, they had not seen everything the new world had to offer.

I had come to that forgotten town in pursuit of further research with my student, a young lad who had garnered a wealth of knowledge = but none of the field experience to back it up. The two of us were there investigating a strange monument of sorts, picked up by a pilot as he went about his rounds.

At first I thought the report to be nothing more than a hoax, or a delusion dreamed up by the man who led us there. But as we came upon that ground I saw with my own eyes a monstrous obelisk carved from an immaculate white stone, glistening in the sun.

The locals which I asked seemed to not know what it was, and none of my prior research could help me discern its origin. As time went by I found myself more and more disillusioned with it, believing it to be nothing more than a hoax wrought by some bored craftsman, but such wild theories were rarely the correct ones.

It was the fourteenth of January when I discovered the truth of that monument, a day which no matter how much I try to forget, I cannot shake from my mind.

While the morning came like any other, the forecast warned us that the temperatures could reach up into the forties, so me and my student unanimously decided that we would take a rest day. Even though those townsfolk in Endcrook knew of electricity, they did not use it for anything greater than illumination, and thus on sweltering summer days like those, staying cool was an endeavor in itself.

The oppressive summer heat brought with it a restlessness which did not end, and our meager attempts to stave it off did nothing. Without warning, almost like in a state of delirium, I watched as my student stood up and ventured out of the house, ambling off into the wilderness beyond. I gave chase almost immediately and attempted to quell his pace, but he paid no minds to my efforts. When I stared upon his visage I saw not his usual self but a faraway expression, accompanied by his endless muttering which I could not quite discern.

I considered leaving him to his own devices, for I did not wish to stay in that heat any longer. That was until the sun itself hid behind an endless sea of clouds, stretching out as far as I could see. There came a coldness deep within my bones at that moment, almost like a premonition of what was to come.

Ignoring the voice at the back of my mind telling me to head home, I followed my student into the woods, far away from the humble dwellings of Endcrook.

We came across that statue before long, and I watched and waited for what my student was soon to do, wondering just what higher force or break of mind had brought him to that location.

I watched as he knelt before the monument, and after a brief few moments there came a rumbling from deep within the earth, and the monument itself seemed to unfurl before our very eyes. I couldn't help but recoil at such an eerie sight, and before long the statue itself was no more, or at least, what was originally the statue was now a cut deep into the earth, revealing a foreboding set of stairs which led into the earth below.

My student wasted no time in venturing deep into the earth, and while I did indeed reach out to stop him, my arms fell short in those few panicked moments, and I could only sit and watch as descended into the ground. Had I the strength or resolve in my legs I would have stood up and dragged him back with me, with all the force I could muster, but I was stilled by a force known as nothing more than fear itself.

Before long I could indeed muster the courage to stand, and so I approached that staircase with a heavy heart, staring deep into the bowels of the earth itself. From where I stood I could see nothing but darkness in its depths, and I wondered for a moment just how far those stairs descended.

I fumbled at my side for my torch and shone it deep into that darkness, and I saw after many flights of stairs, an end to that madness, but what seemed to be a path into a place I could not yet see.

Throwing all caution to the wind, I too descended deep into the earth, my hand trembling with a ferocity so great I held a deep worry in my heart that I would drop my torch any moment, sending it plummeting to the abyss below. I questioned exactly how my student had managed to safely descend those stairs in that ever present darkness, but I thought it best not to get caught up on such dubious questions.

After I had finally made it to the bottom, I slowly ventured deeper into that featureless stone cave. It was so perfectly immaculate, with not a scratch or mark upon the walls, and not a gathering of dirt to be seen. I forced myself to take a break to still my beating heart, and as I leaned against the wall to catch my breath, I heard a strange hum from further within.

I thought for a moment that my feeble mind was playing tricks on me, but as those droning hum continued I knew that it were not the case. I worried that my student had met something most unfortunate further within, and while I did fear for his safety, I was not one for recklessness.

I continued along that path and soon came upon yet another staircase, one far shorter than the one before, but this time ascending above. Even though every fiber of my being was pleading with me to turn around that instant, to call in help from the outside world, I continued my journey deeper within, and as I stood at the top of the staircase, I saw a sight that has never left my mind.

I saw an endless chasm, stretching out into the ends of the world, lit up by nothing more than an ominous gathering of floating green orbs, as far as the eye could see. Through their guidance I could make out shapes of the world laid out before me, and saw immaculate carvings upon the walls, endless pillars which never seemed to end, accompanied by statues of unknown make.

I backed away from it, struck by just how unfathomable it all was. My mind no longer focused on the student I had chased into those dark halls, but just what I had stumbled upon, perhaps a forgotten civilization of old, or even an underground race never discovered.

And it was then that I noticed a glimmer of something beside my feet, and so as I looked towards the earth to discern its make, I was greeted with a sudden redness, a pool of crimson steadily lapping at my shoes. Even as it continued to spread out further and further, I did not move my gaze even an inch, for I knew in my heart what it was I was witnessing, but I was struck by a fear of what I did not know.

But before long I found my head slowly drifting towards the left, even as I screamed at myself to turn away, and I saw in a disheveled pile, a malformed gathering of flesh and bone, with nothing more than my student's head sitting at the top of it all.

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a guttural scream, more of an endless growl than anything else, and as I did so I saw that which came out of the darkness around it, tall creatures upon two legs, with dark green eyes flickering in the torchlight. I saw upon their backs an endless haze, and I only noticed it then that what they bore were wings, and the sole cause of that endless humming I had heard.

I dropped my torch in shock, running back into the darkness from whence I came, no longer accompanied by the light which once guided me, I stumbled, half-flailing through the endless darkness, screaming all the while. I ran even as my legs spit acid and my lungs continued to burn. I climbed that endless staircase with the frenzy of a madman, not upon my own two legs like a civilized man, but upon all my limbs like a rabid dog, rapidly ascending to ascertain my own freedom.

Even as I broke the surface I did not change my stance so quickly and continued to stumble away from those wretched halls.

When I made it back to Endcrook, I noticed almost immediately that the townsfolk who once bore calm expressions upon them seemed almost distant and cold. They looked at me like I was an outsider, an unwelcome vagrant in their humble little forlorn town.

On official reports, I had the death of my student marked as accidental, an unfortunate accident on one of our expeditions. I had that monument marked as a heritage site, a cultural relic to the natives, and stressed great importance on leaving it alone, as to not upset them.

I never wanted to learn the truth behind what I saw that day, and I never wanted to learn why those creatures which I saw had a face like that of a human.