The Eye in the Depths

Miners surged out of the tunnels screaming as a deep rumble shook the ground. "EARTHQUAKE!" they shouted as they abandoned the mine. The mine was the whole reason that people lived in this desolate place. Dry desert for miles around, little to no rain, and the only water was a tiny creek that ran through the town. Brown Creek was the name of the place, and it had the biggest gold mine ever discovered in the west. When the news got out, people poured into the town to try and make their fortune. But when the earthquakes started they began to suffer.

It had started when a single miner had gone a little too deep. He had dug down into a small cave where one entire wall was made of scale-like chunks of gold. He had been chipping at the gold for a week before it happened. He was standing in the cave one day, chipping away at the gold, when the wall began to crack. A ten foot chunk of the wall began to open and behind it was a glowing red orb, a giant eye. The scale-like gold chunks were actually the scales of a great beast, an enormous reptile, a dragon. For years the dragon had slumbered, shedding its golden scales as it slept in the darkness. When the miners came, they awakened it.

Now, as the dragon raged beneath the surface, it shook the earth and shattered its stony bed. The miners should have fled, but greed for the golden scales kept them in the town. Now as this largest earthquake yet shook their town, they realized they should have left when they had the chance. The dragon was finally breaking free, only one thought in its mind. "Kill"

Many years later, men would once more find the town of Brown Creek, devoid of all life. And they would find the gold mine just below the surface...