In this steampunk, fantasy adventure, a tunnel collapse imprisons three dwarven miners who must work collectively to combat starvation, despair, and a mysterious creature.
Three dwarven miners are trapped inside a mountain when a nearby tunnel collapses. The dwarves are unclear if help will arrive to save them in time given their lack of supplies. As they seek to survive long enough for rescue, the group soon learns that they are not alone in the cave whose deeper bowels house an aggressive creature. As they seek out supplies and protect themselves from the creature, they must fight feelings of hopelessness and despair that no one might actually be coming to save them.—Gothbert
Four dwarves from the Kingdom of Demrel work in the mines deep within Dragon Mountain along with a human supervisor named Drusso. Unlike the dwarves, Drusso must wear special gear to survive so deep inside the mountain. The dwarves are interrupted from their work by a sudden cave-in that collapses the only tunnel out of their area with one of their members being killed. The three surviving dwarves look for other survivors and way out of the cave. They also have limited food and water to be able to survive long enough for help to arrive.
The human supervisor, Drusso, uses a magical communication device to contact the surface and learn what is happening. The contacts on the surface explain that the mine collapse was caused by an explosion. A faction on the other side of the mountain detonated a large bomb and has begun an open rebellion. Due to the conflict, the survivors on the surface will not be able to send aid to free Drusso and her surviving dwarves. Upon learning that there is no hope, Drusso commits suicide but does not tell the dwarves what she learned before doing so.
The three remaining dwarves continue to explore the cave system and discover a source of water. They also discover that the lower areas of the cave is inhabited with a cave-dwelling monster. The monster proves to be aggressive towards the dwarves. One of the dwarves also claims that he can hear the tapping of hammers in the collapsed tunnel, signaling that help is on the way. However, none of the other dwarves can hear this tapping.
After much conflict and thoughts of despair, the dwarves learn that the creatures aggression is due to her protecting her eggs. The dwarves realize that this creature is trapped just as they are. As the film comes to a close, the dwarves have come down to their final three matches for light in the dark tunnels. One of their brothers claims that the tapping sound continues to get louder by the minute although none of his companions can hear it. The two other dwarves light their final match and hope that their companion is correct and that rescue is imminent. The film comes to a close as the final match dies leaving the dwarves in silent darkness.
