Bones and I find ourselves standing on a ledge looking out into an enormous cavern. I can't even see the far side from here, and the whole place is brightly lit by the same glowing crystals I found beneath the kingdom. That is where the similarities end, this is more like looking at a whole new world, there are plants everywhere and something similar to trees.

Off in the distance I can even see things flying around, who knows how many different types of critters live here. The whole thing makes me think of the journey to the center of the earth movies I watched as a kid. Looking left and right I would guess that the cavern at this point is about a mile wide, and it gets wider as it moves further away from me.

I can also see at least a dozen more tunnel entrances just on this wall alone, this cavern may just be the start of things. Just from what I can see from where we are standing I would say Illium could easily fit inside this cavern. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear a roar in the distance, I can't see what made it but it sounds big, very big.

Now if I was the careful type I would hurry back to report this, but my curiosity is not going to let me do something that boring. The cavern floor is only ten feet or so below us, an easy jump for me and Bones. To my surprise when my feet hit the floor I feel dirt under them rather than the solid rock I was expecting.

The next thing I notice is that even here at the edge of the cavern it is at least twenty degrees warmer than it was in the tunnel. As I start moving forward I see insects and small animals fleeing my approach, it looks like there is a full ecosystem in here. When I reach the trees it gets even warmer and I find that it is a mix of trees and giant mushrooms.

The air is humid giving me the feeling that this is a jungle rather than a forest. As I enter the trees and the light is dimmed I see even more signs of life, both flying and crawling. Normally I would follow one of the outside walls for mapping purposes, but this time I am going right up the middle.

First I want to see just how far the cavern stretches, and I want to see just what kind of life is down here. Once I know more I will go back and talk to Scott to see what he wants to do. For now I keep going forward, slowly and carefully, especially watching where I step.

With all this life there are probably a lot of poisonous critters mixed in and I don't want to step on one. The thing that bothers me the most is the silence, except for the sound of wings and the occasional rustle it is completely silent. There is very little air movement and all the smells are new to me so all I really have to go on is my eyesight.

Lizzy's senses would be so much better than mine down here, but it would take a ton of work to make the mine shaft and tunnel big enough. If I could get her down here I am sure she would love this place, it is probably similar to her natural habitat. My thoughts and my body completely freeze as I step into a clearing and see something that shouldn't exist.

My eyes are telling me that I am seeing a real live stegosaurus, but my brain is insisting that it can't possibly be real. It is the size of a bus with leathery skin and plates running down its spine, it is a stegosaurus. It notices me watching and gives me a dull look before going back to munching on the vegetation.

After staring at it for a few minutes my disbelief fades and I start to notice some differences. It doesn't have spikes on its tail and it has eight rows of plates down its back. Each plate is slowly moving side to side, if something tried to bite down over the plates its mouth would end up shredded.

It may not be exactly the same, but it is definitely a dinosaur, this may really be some kind of lost world down here. Then again I don't know enough about this world, maybe there are dinos living on the surface too. Considering the things I have seen so far I can't rule out the possibility, the bird-things could be cousins to velociraptors.

Now that I think about it, Lizzy would probably be closer to a dino than a normal lizard. Maybe there is something similar to a t-rex down here, that would be awesome! Well, except for the fact that it would probably be trying to eat me if I did find one.

The stegosaurus doesn't seem to care about my presence at all, it probably thinks I am too small to be a threat. As I move closer, one step at a time, it continues to ignore me, even when I move up right beside it. I just stand there for a minute letting it get used to me being this close, then I carefully reach out to touch it.

Rubbing my hand over its skin feels like rubbing a leather coat that is stuffed full of marbles. The stegosaurus doesn't seem to mind me petting it, so I continue, and even now I can't believe this is really happening! Although this guy does suggest that this mission I am on is futile, there is no way I can make this place safe for miners.

Maybe if this cavern is isolated it might be possible still, but from the number of tunnels I saw that is pretty unlikely. Even if I knew the answer for sure, that wouldn't stop me from exploring this place more. As a kid I was a total dino nerd, and that carried over into adulthood from watching Jurassic Park and Godzilla movies.

Even if they are going to try to eat me I want to see all the predators, they were always my favorite. Suddenly the stegosaurus raises its head and then turns and moves away quickly. I have to jump back to avoid getting hit by the tail, something must have spooked it.

Retreating to where Bones is waiting I crouch down and wait to see what spooked the stegosaurus. I am also curious how the stegosaurus detected the threat, I didn't hear or smell anything. A minute later another creature enters the clearing slowly, it is about twenty feet long and has a set of large teeth.

At first I want to call it a snake, but it has the head of a crocodile, and then there is the matter of it floating. It is almost like it is swimming through the air, it is a really strange sight and I find myself fascinated. That is until it turns in my direction and suddenly lunges at me, moving fast enough that I barely have time to roll to the side.