Sil found his footing once more and gave the body an especially forcefully shove, moving it a couple of inches this time. He managed to stifle the vocalisation his body tried to produce as a result of his exertion. To his complete Surprise however, he heard it anyway.
Sil heard what sounded like the unmistakeable high pitch 'shing' of a sword being unsheathed. His heart began pounding loudly against his chest. Next he could have sworn he heard breathing. Sil froze. He tried to think very carefully, he was almost certain he hadn't made a sound, yet he had heard it, clear as day.
A shiver ran down Sil's spine as his face grew cold. He heard something moving again on the other side of the beastial wall. Then, suddenly Sil heard the sound of something he definitely did not expect— the crisp pop and crunch of a blade piercing thick skin, and the tearing slice of a blade driven further into flesh.
Confused, Sil remained frozen again, eyes wide as he waited with baited breath for another sound. He tried to make sense of what was happening, and suddenly a lightbulb went off inside his head. Feeling a little foolish for having taken so long to get a clue, he leaned over peering over the side of the body trying to see passed it to the other side.
Unable to see any visible gap to the other side he quickly shifted to the opposite wall and looking through the small crack of space between the lifeless beast's body and jagged stone wall, he could see him. At first just a human elbow was within view, barely illuminated by the tiny light crystal he wore clipped to his waist.
His arm rose to scratch his head before disappearing out of Sil's line of sight. Sil could see a faint shadow of movement on the wall, cast by the tiny light as Vorden stepped away. A split second later he returned stepping towards the wall with his hand on his head, then he turned and walked back out of sight again. With the blood soaked short sword in hand, Vorden was pacing back and forth, clearly unsure of what exactly was going on.
Sil smiled. "Psst! Hey! Vorden, over here!" He whispered clearly, cupping his hand around his mouth, making sure it was amplified in his direction. Vorden jumped back suddenly, his hand clutching his chest, visibly caught off guard. Sil couldn't help but feel it was a funny thing to think, he was off guard yet he was holding a short sword in his hand. He smirked at his own thought before shaking it off and returning to his brother.
Vorden having deduced the likely origin of the disembodied voice was there peering through the crack at the side as well, eyes squinting as he tried to make out a face on the other side. "Sil? Sil is that you?"
"Who else would it be? Unless you think beasts can speak now, from beyond the grave at that!" He smirked to himself as his brother let out an audible sigh of relief. He returned his short sword to its place at his side.
"Shit Sil, you scared the crap out of me!" Vorden had a very tense expression as he locked eyes on his brother. "When this thing leapt towards me, I saw my life flash before my eyes, and barely escaped being crushed by it's massive legs, I thought it was lunging at me!" Sil stifled an amused chuckle, picturing his brother's face when it had moved.
"That was just me, I can't climb passed this hunk of beast junk, so I was trying to shove it down to the next cavern." Vorden sighed again, defeated, then he let out a small chuckle.
Shaking his head, he asked "So it was already dead when I got here?" Vorden's face was lost to the darkness but Sil cound hear the disappointment draped around his words. However, then his brother let out yet another, albeit much more deflated, chuckle and a huge sigh of relief.
"You have no idea how confused I was! I didn't see it until it was right in front of me, I thought I was about to fight for my life! Then it just laid there, but I didn't hear breathing— until out of nowhere it lurched forward, right at me. I nearly tripped trying to get out of the way! So I took out my blade, and attacked." Vorden let out a huge sigh and calmed himself down as he noticed his voice becoming elevated.
"When it didnt move again I thought— there's no way it went down that easy. I wasn't really sure what I should do! Man, this is insane, I need to get focused." His words were a solemn reminder of their urgent task, and a heavy weight settled again on Sil's shoulders.
"Right. So—" Vorden straightened himself, looking around with squinted eyes, attempting to cut through the fabric of darkness that lay over his penetrating stare, a blindfold robbing his eyes of their steely resolve. "What's the plan?"
Sil thought for just a second before a spark lit within his eyes, and and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Let's get this bastard moving. I'll push, you pull." He paused and thought briefly. "Vorden, do you have any rope?" Vorden quickly removed a bundle of extremely strong rope, tightly wound from inside his pack for just such an emergency.
After Sil relayed the instructions to his brother, Vorden did as he was told, specifically hog tying the beast's legs together and creating a makeshift rope handle attached on either side of the feat. Counting to three in unison both men injected every ounce of strength and will power they could muster. Together they heaved and hoed, one pulling the other pushing.
It was slow going at first, but after a few awkward moments of coordination and finding their rhythm, things grew more efficient. They moved in sync, like a military unit. Straining every single muscle, both of the Blade brothers bit their tongues, pursed their lips, choked down, and barely managed to keep their grunts, groans, and other vocalisations tightly sealed within.
Heavy breathing, two pairs of light footsteps, and the haunting sound of the intermittent dragging of some enormous, fleshy, beast over the jagged stone floor. The random claw scraping against the mineral walls making extra sure that they could mark creepy down as they described this loathsome task.