Within the expansive cavern, the many green-haired creatures all gazed up at the newcomers with a strange weakened curiosity.  Eyes as wide as that of children, sloping snouted faces of pink beneath pockmarks of dirt and bruises, long blue cloaks that covered their feet.  Whimpers of uncertainty rose among them, dozens of voices too afraid to even speak but a word.  The caves themselves were also far more oppressive than the places before, as they heard one single sound throughout the place.  The constant hiss of an unknown static, emanating from all around them.
The creatures themselves huddled about with nervous twitching hands, eyes averting from each other as mouths struggled not to frown.  Deep heavy breaths could be heard amongst them, soft moans they tried not to speak out, utterances cut short by their friends for fear of drawing attention.  James slowly walked through them, sensing only fear from them as his friends followed behind.  Filth clung around the bottom of their robes, but only that of cave dirt.  Despite what they expected, only the musty scent of cave air could be smelt.
	"What...what happened to them?" asked James.
	"The Lemmings," said Alestes.  "Slaves to the whims of a madman.  For centuries they have remained here.  They are blind both in mind and body, helpless except at the hands of those other than them.  Meen has taken to them as his own personal toys, to watch them stumble blindly in the dark."
	"But...they have eyes, they can see right?"
	"No' very well," added Monty, "livin' in these caves fer so long robbed 'em of thurr sight.  Notice 'ow thurr too afraid to even walk forwards?"
	"But, wouldn't being underground make them BETTER at seeing?"
	"It would...until someone blinded 'em with magic.  All bu' the oldest of 'em are blind, so they can watch thurr friends stumble and fall, even down pits that stretch on forever...never to be found again."
	"...jesus christ."
	"Sometimes Meen 'as 'em fall to their death, to break thurr bones upon rocky cliffs.  Other times he lets 'em build bridges, blindly to nowhere and watch their spirit become crushed yet again.  Other times, he simply has one lose his very will to live...an' self-destruct in front of his friends an' family."
	"...motherfucker."
	"You are right to feel angered," said Alestes, "but do not let it cloud your-"
	"No, I've had enough, this fucker's gonna die and there's nothing that's gonna stop me.  I know why I'm here now.  I didn't know what it was before, but there's nothing else it can be.  I'm not letting this happen."
	"Aye," added Monty, "ah wuz plannin' to be down 'ere anyway, so whutever you guys wurr plannin', ah wuz gonna stop 'ere an' 'elp this lot.  We need to speak to thuh leader anyways if we wanna get ahead."
	"Alright."

The raptor cautiously approached one lemming, but most of them would walk away from him and he found himself too unsure on wanting to disturb the blind prisoners.  Most of them were exactly the same, apart from one he noticed to have half of his hair shaved off, disappearing into the crowd.  It was at this point that he noticed they were all huddled upon a large rocky platform in the midst of a cliff-lined cave, a chasm in every direction.  He quickly sobered up from the anxiety and grabbed one lemming's arm, who squeaked in fear and tried to pull away.
	"Hey-ey calm down, it's okay, I'm a friend."
	"You're not of us," whimpered the creature, "your claws, stained, far from the light."
	"Listen...I need to speak to your leader."
	"His eyes are not for you, our eyes gone forever.  You plan to undo our paradise?"
	"Paradise?  What paradise is THIS?"
	"We never starve...we live forever...never feed, never want...except sleep and warmth.  We gave our eyes so that we may never starve.  We gave our freedom so that we may never die...unless he demands it."
	"Who demands it?"
	"The Meen.  The Meen."
	"The Meen is our saviour," said all of the lemmings.  "The Meen is our master.  The Meen chooses who shall stay, and who shall go."
	"...oh my god they're fucking brainwashed."
	"Not brainwashed," said Monty.  "Jus' don' know any better.  If a kid's born abused, 'e don' know nuthin' else.  Lemme 'andle this."
The mole approached the lemming James had spoken to before, and asked softly:
	"Ah seek thuh one with eyes."
	"Why do you seek his eyes?" asked the lemming sweetly.
	"Ah seek his words, to see 'is pain in order to understand mah own."
	"...give me your hand."
The soft glove-like hand of newborn pink was so small within Monty's clawed mitt, but he cautiously held it nonetheless as the lemming took him softly through the crowd of others around him.  On their own, they seemed to do nothing but mill about endlessly, touching each other, speaking hushed whispers, perhaps even discreetly hugging or a kiss between friends and lovers.  But fear was evident all around them.  Their eyes constantly roved blindly, which confused James all the more.  They seemed to be working perfectly fine, yet they clearly could not see.

Eventually, the lemming sniffed his way out towards his leader, guided only by scent, smiling up towards one lemming who gazed consciously down on the newcomers.  He sat upon a rock, higher above the others, completely the same as every other lemming but with a red umbrella at his side.  His face was older, tired, his eyes drooping somewhat as wrinkles appeared upon his pinkish features.
	"I have brought someone to share your pain," said the lemming guide.
	"Really?" said the apparent leader of this tribe.  "And who exactly are you?"
	"Ahm Monty.  Monty Mole.  These are mah friends James, Alestes an' Sophelie."
	"Why have you come here?"
His voice was soft but strong, an untold history of rage and resignation born within each single word he spoke slowly.  He thumbed the curved handle of his umbrella, waiting for the mole's reply.
	"Well...we came to free you.  Well, also figh' Meen, bu' also to free you."
	"Hm...you do realise I am not blind, and therefore am not stupid."
	"Ah know tha'.  So?"
	"So I am not so easily swayed by the words of those above us."
	"Ah know tha', bu' ahm 'ere to rescue you.  We're all prisoners 'ere, we all came to be part of Meen's personal toybox, bu' no more.  Yer all gettin' outta 'ere wi' me."
	"How do I know you are not one of the Meen's illusions?"
	"Wha'?"
	"Every bridge he makes us build is but a stairway to our death.  Every step he makes us take is but a pit where we fall.  Every word he breathes into us is but a suicide note."
	"We're not with that fuckhead!" said FG.  "We're prisoners too, we're all getting outta here and we're gonna get as many of you as possible ou-"
	"Shut up."
The leader swung his umbrella towards them, furled yet straight with unwavering fury.  His eyes burned, as his face turned rigid with disgust before standing tall above them.
	"I will not die humiliated and responsible for more deaths by my own hand.  You will not lead us, you will not deceive us with your lies, your myths, your fables.  You will let us sit here, until the Meen decides we do not deserve his so-called compassion, and exterminates us.  The only reason I do not follow them is because I alone must bear the weight of our sin...our suffering...our ignorance."
	"But that's stupid!  You can see, you can see all this!"
	"I KNOW I can see, surface-dweller!  I have SEEN for the past century my people dwindle and falter into a pitiful existence!  Do you know how many of us existed before the Meen imprisoned us?"
	"...h-how many?"
	"Six.  Six thousand.  And eighty."
	"And how many are left?"
	"...one hundred...and twenty."

The weight of the tribe's suffering suddenly beared down on both James and Monty, the two birds behind them more able to comprehend it, but still shaking their heads mournfully so.  Alestes flapped forwards, scaring a few lemmings who could not see yet hear his wings, as he asked the leader:
	"What is the nature of this curse that Meen has put upon you?  How did this come to be?"
	"My people existed a century ago...at least that is as best as I can remember.  We were but a simple tribe, living within a valley of green, among highlands of strong winds and fair land.  The Meen however took us into his infernal portal, and trapped us down here.  He blinded us, a magic curse that exists so long as we remain here within these walls.  But he left me, and only me, able to see.  I still remain their leader...and as such, I remain responsible."
	"How did you come to this place?"
	"He lured us here.  Tricked us with promises of greater things and my tribe, innocent as they are, followed him blindly like children to the salt mines.  Somehow, I still wonder how he ever managed to reach my home world."
	"But why has he done this?"
	"He saw how many of us there were, and how gullible my people were to become so willing to follow anyone...even to their deaths.  It is a trait of our tribe, to remain innocent for the rest of our lives.  But in our twilight years, our innocence soon fades, and the first one that loses it all, to be replaced by wisdom...becomes the leader."
He spread his arms ungracefully so, sighing heavily as he introduced himself.
	"I am Arino...chief of the lemmings.  A title that means nothing when I become the last of my kind."
	"But why have you not escaped?!" asked Sophelie.  "You are able to see, you are able to command them, surely you of all people can-"
	"If I were able to lead them, do you think I would remain here and watch my friends die?  We cannot leave.  The Meen has made sure of that by his guards, deeper into the caves.  After the first few were slaughtered, we chose to remain here, and live out the last moments of our existence.  We are too weak to fight.  The Meen has blessed us within this curse however by one feature."
	"And what is that?"
	"We can never die of old age.  Part of his curse to blind us was also the gift of eternal life.  In a place as fearful as this, we considered it the lesser of two evils...we soon began to even praise The Meen as our saviour, for our sin of existence and innocence.  To be so blind without knowledge is to him but a sin, one of the greatest of all that he can muster."
	"But what about you?!  You can see, yet you are still here."
	"I am the exception.  The Meen has made me an example, the sacrificial lamb to carry all of our sins unto, so that my tribe may live what little time they have in eternity.  In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a sin."
	"I couldn't put it better myself!"

A voice booming from above screeched down onto them, as a large black void above them became filled with static snow, flickering like a TV screen.  Eventually it phased in to the face of I. M. Meen, larger than life and bearing cruelly down upon his few subjects.  Piercing eyes within wild grey hair as his smile widened across the screen.
	"How do you like my little cavern of fools, prisoners?!  Are they not worthless little things, so blind and frail as they wander for eternity?!  And the best thing is, I don't even have to feed them!  They'll never starve with this wondrous magic I put upon them!"
	"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" roared FG.  "THIS IS FUCKING SICK!"
	"The only thing sick here is ME being sick of YOU constantly berating me like an arrogant little child!  Why don't you learn to be more like these little things?  They know their place, wretched as they may be and as dumb as bricks!"
	"You won't get away with this!" said Alestes.  "Your cruelty will not remain obscured from existence forever!"
	"Oh reaaaaally?  Perhaps I should show you a demonstration for how wrong you are, since little CHILDREN like you apparently are can only learn by example.  YOU!"
A spotlight flickered onto one particular lemming, who squeaked and looked up towards the light forcefully pushing against his cursed eyelids.
	"You have been chosen!  Demonstrate to our new friends what paradise TRULY is, hmmmm?!  Let me guide you to your destiny."
Without even resisting, the lemming nodded and walked through the crowd of gentle murmuring creatures as it headed towards the edge of the rocky plateau.  The chasm itself was nothing more than a small crack, just wide enough for a lemming to fall into, yet too small for either Alestes or Sophelie to fly into swiftly.  It had to climb up some ways in order to reach the edge, but James knew already with fear in his heart at what was going to happen.
	"NO!"
James grabbed at the lemming who fell, just able to grab his foot upending him over the edge.  The lemming struggled and squeaked with panic.
	"L-LET ME GO!"
	"NO, I WON'T LET YOU FALL!"
	"Why?!  Why would you deny me paradise!?"
	"Wh-what?!"
	"The Meen has chosen me...I am blessed to know eternity at last.  True eternity.  Now I will see at last...to see my friends once again who came before me.  Please...p-please let me fall."
	"No, n-no this is wrong!  You're going to die, can't you understand that?!"
	"What is to die?"
	"W-what do you mean die, you're gonna get KILLED, you'll be DEAD, get it?!"
	"What is dead?"
	"H-huh?!"
	"Is that the same as...dumb, or destitute, stranger?"
	"I...I-i-i..."
James saw the innocence in the lemming's eyes, and it was only then that he truly understood the forcefed ignorance of this forgotten tribe.  In his hesitation, the lemming quickly kicked out of his grip, causing James to let go.
	"NOOO!"

A second of eternity.  He saw that creature's face, blind yet smiling through his pure sweet eyes.  He disappeared into the abyss, the barest sight of his form hitting the rocky cliff far below.  As the small blue robes glittered out of existence, James' hands shook with horror and rage, the owl and the albatross turning their heads away in shame.  Meen stood above them upon the screen, cackling higher and higher at such a godlike power he had over the captives.  But one voice cried out within the group towards him.
	"NO!"
Monty's voice roared towards the almighty visage of I. M. Meen's screen, a fury rising within him as he proclaimed:
	"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!  YOU are nuthin' but a tyrant!  A sick pathetic little man who can only feel better abou' himself by abusin' the weak an' innocent!  WHUT DID THEY EVER DO TO YOU EH!?  THERE USED TO BE THOUSANDS OF 'EM, ARE THEY ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!?"
	"They have caused this pain unto themselves!" cried Meen.  "What am I but a new god for them to bless, to free them of their eternal suffering from this dark horrible place?"
	"Which YOU put 'em in!  Poor buggers wanderin' around in thuh dark wi' no free will of their own, an' all you did wuz abuse 'em of that!"
	"They are simply not worth having any free will if they are too STUPID to even understand the greater things in li-"
	"SHUT UP!"
A strange aura began to glow from the mole, shimmering as a reddening light upon his back.  James almost imagined it looking like a cape, a great fury of injustice rising from within Monty.
	"Yer a monster.  A torturer, tryin' to justify 'is own weakness by cripplin' others weaker than 'im!  But no more.  Your reign is OVER, an' ahm gonna make sure of that!"
	"I'd like to see you try!  They all listen to me without question my scruffy little mole, I could ask ALL of them to walk off those cliffs right now and wipe out their kind within a matter of seconds!  Could YOU do that, hmmm?!  Do you even KNOW what true power is, to rule over every single action those beneath you make?!"
	"Then I'll silence you!  Forever!"
	"You can't even TOUCH me, what are you going to do from alllll the way down there?!"
	"I CAN DO THIS!"
Grabbing a rock from nearby almost as big as him, Monty lifted it within both hands with a sudden untold strength, burning eyes and rippling muscles suddenly growing from his arms.  Roaring his fury throughout the caves, he hurled it straight into the almighty screen above their heads, and shattered it completely into a final existence.  Sparks flew and stuttered, lighting up the entire cavern briefly so before sinking it back into darkness.  Monty panted heavily, feeling his muscles twitch and ache from exertion as James walked over.
	"You...you okay?"
	"Yeah...hhhhh...jus'...lemme rest a bit."
	"...you have silenced the Meen."

A voice came from behind them, as the lemmings all turned towards both of them.
	"You have silenced his call, his hiss, his lullaby of Meen.  You have shattered the way to our paradise."
	"No," said Monty.  "Ah broke the chains that enslave ya here."
	"The hiss of the Meen was how we slept...how we lived...how we waited.  ...I do not like this silence...it scares me."
	"The silence it scares us," murmured the creatures.
	"You don' need to be afraid no more," said Monty.  "Only reason nobody else 'elped you before was cuz no one else could've gotten 'ere.  No one 'til us that is.  We'll lead ya to paradise...to salvation."
	"Do you truly mean that?"
An older voice came from behind the lemmings, who parted ways to reveal the chief with his umbrella.
	"For centuries we have dreamed of an exodus, extending beyond that which we cannot see.  Do you claim to be the deliverer of this?"
	"Ah swear on me life sir.  Ah came down 'ere to save ya.  We're all gettin' outta 'ere, an' we're gonna make Meen pay fer whut 'e did."
	"Your clear act of rebellion in sabotaging his control over us is proof enough to me.  None of his guards, or even the Meen himself would cause such a wound to his ego.  But I am not worthy of leading them.  How well do you know this place?"
	"Ahm a mole, ah know caves lahk thuh back of me 'and."
	"Then...I have a favour to ask.  Would you lead us?"
	"What?"
	"Will you lead us...to our salvation?  Will you lead us...as one?"
	"...ah will.  I'll lead all of ye.  Righ' outta 'ere, an' into thuh light up above.  No ma'er whut it takes."
	"...my friends!"
The lemming chief stood up and gazed all around him as the crowd turned to gaze up at him.
	"We are leaving."
Fearful murmurs and whispers started to emanate from them as their leader began to explain.
	"The Meen has been silenced.  We have no more reason to be here.  This is to be our test, our exodus of sorts.  In freeing us from his shackles, we shall be given a chance to earn our freedom.  But I am not to be your leader.  This creature shall be him.  I ask our new leader, to walk through this crowd, and touch every head of our tribe.  Remember his scent.  Remember his touch.  Remember his voice."
The mole nodded obediently and began to touch every single lemming, all of whom nervously touched him back in return in order to familiarise themselves with his earthy scent.  As he did such, Monty spoke out to make certain they knew who he was.
	"Ah will lead you.  Ah will save you.  Ah will guide ye to yer salvation.  Ah will fight fer you and ah will die fer you.  When we lead out, ah want none of you to stray from my path.  Trust in me...and ah will trust in you."
	"He trusts us?" said one.
	"No one has ever trusted us," said another.
	"If he trusts us, we must trust him."
	"We trust the Monty, for he trusts us."

The blind innocence of the Lemmings insured Monty's leadership of them, as the leader, indistinguishable other than wrinkled features and his sturdy umbrella, asked him firmly:
	"Where do we go first...my leader?"
	"...firstly, let's make sure thuh way ahead is clear.  Is there a path tha' opens anywhere further into thuh caves?"
	"Yes.  Across there."
Arino pointed towards a crevice in the cavern wall, the only way that lead out of the large cave area they now stood in.  It was however across a small chasm, as he further explained:
	"We are unable to jump very well, due to being weakened over the years.  So any path we must traverse must not have any holes or pitfalls within it."
	"Alrigh' we build a bridge," said Monty.  "You said before yer people can make 'em right?"
	"Yes."
	"Alrigh'.  James, Sophelie, Alestes, could you lot scout ahead fer any enemies through thurr before we 'ead on out?  Make sure you don't leave a single one standing."
	"No problem," said James.
The three escapees headed through the crevice, easily crossing the sizeable gap before checking the entire area from top to bottom.  The only enemies that were even worth noting were bats and salamanders.  Bats, while as big as Alestes, were flighty and surprisingly durable making them harder to kill, compared to the salamanders who were slow and easily slaughtered.  After clearing out the floor by cleaving salamanders in two and shooting bats out of the air with magical spells, the three returned to the lemmings.
	"We're ready to head on out," said James.
	"Righ'," said Monty, "we jus' managed to decide whut everyone's skills are 'fore we head on out.  You.  Build the bridge thurr."
One lemming dutifully began to walk forwards and construct a solid-looking bridge using only the rocks around him.  He was surprisingly skillful, using only mud and stone to craft together an amazingly sturdy bridge over the chasm, and out towards the crevice of freedom.
	"Is this enough to carry all your weight?" asked Alestes.
	"It will," said Arino, "my people are very skilled at construction, even if our imagination is little."
	"Alrigh' then!" said Monty.  "Let's move on out!  Everyone, follow me!"
With a cheerful squeal of nervous excitement, the lemmings all began to follow Monty, one by one as James, Sophelie and Alestes mixed in with the group to make sure none would stray.  Arino did the same, his umbrella easily marking him out from the crowd as he stayed close to one lemming in particular looking quite incredibly nervous.  The exodus of the Lemmings had now begun.
Passing through the now-cleared first floor of the caverns, the group had very little problem in guiding the remaining 120 lemmings through the treacherous pathways, keeping them straight ahead despite their own clarity in following Monty's scent perfectly.  Occasionally one would bump into a wall or nearly stumble, but the raptor or the birds would assist him or her.  In truth, none of them were able to tell the gender of the lemmings apart.
Reaching the next level, enemies were now more frequent, and as such became much more dangerous in the potential casualties that could occur.  James and his group headed out in front to make sure none would come near, the raptor deciding to just stay ahead of the group and warn everyone of impending dangers.  The salamanders were no trouble, slow and clumsy with unwieldy ball-shaped clubs that James easily deflected before gutting them across the cave walls.  Bats were the real problem, able to flap away from his blade's reach.  Magic however made short work of them.

The group however did not forget about the conduits, having to deactivate them on each level before heading on through.  The lemmings remained unaffected by the weakening of the magical nullifying field, but Alestes and Sophelie were finding their own strengths return back to them in greater quantity.  Sophelie became a force unto herself, striking out with a newfound water attack that tore through the caves and slammed both salamanders and bats into the very walls.  Alestes in turn also rediscovered a new move that allowed him to sweep a great sea of flames before him, not having the range of Sophelie's attacks, but it did the job well enough.  James remained unaffected, smugly showing off his own "magical" prowess whenever bats became too troublesome.
None of the conduits' entries proved to be particularly useful, merely more pontificating from Meen about his great majesty of power, as well as his plans for conquering all worlds in existence through his newfound power.  His madness was resolute, as they deactivated conduit after conduit, the ones in the caves taking on the form of a strange large humming box, which James knew was a PC tower.
None of the other creatures recognised what it was however, and treated it the same way through deactivation of grammar.  James was only more confused by how anyone could be able to possess such schizophrenic technology ranging from Daedric totems to modern computers.  Regardless, he only knew that Meen was insane, and as such he would never discover the method behind it.  Around the fourth level of the caverns however, they would soon find a more toughened enemy to handle.  The apparent leader of the cave bats.
Making up for the disappointingly stolen battle from the last area, James, Sophelie and Alestes destroyed the bat leader with but a few volleys of destructive magic.  An ugly-looking thing with a face resembling Meen's troll pet from before, it could barely fly and simply preferred to walk around shooting its own magical volleys.  Its bat cohorts would try to help, but they were after all just simple creatures.  With Sophelie and Alestes' newfound powers, he was almost instantly exterminated by a sea of fire from the two of them.
So far, no lemmings had been lost, as they made their way further into the caverns.  Throughout this entire venture, Monty had also been looking around various cave walls curiously so as he continued further down.  The next level of Meen's lair was far more terrifying to behold.  The Catacombs.