"What do you mean there's no way out!" Sendaar barks at our new found accompaniment to the group, Hotaru, who doesn't seem the slightest bit interested in quarreling with what he calls the "talking chicken."
After we had followed Sendaar back to Hotaru's den we had started a discussion as to how we were to escape this putrid smelling sauna. Hotaru doesn't seem to mind the smell of the gases formed in what he explains to us as part of the volcano, Mt. Kazan, which happens to be where I first entered the Volcanic Isles from. This, however, are the underground caverns that snake in, around, and under the actual volcanic magma chamber. He says we are completely safe unless Kazan decides to erupt. Safe. Right.
"I got here by swimming through one of the side vents. Unless you are invulnerable to lava, I suggest you find another way out." Hotaru shrugs and pops a lava rock in his mouth, crunching down on it with his steel-hard jaw.
"Aren't you coming with us?" The pyroraptin looks incredibly apprehensive, shifting a few steps every minute as if the lava will jump out of its hole and come after him.
The brute just gives another shrug. "I don't see why I would. I'm rather content right here. I've done my share of rebelling against the Mist and I would like to enjoy my down time." Hotaru lies down on his belly, crossing his forearms casually.
Sendaar snorts in disappointment. "Well don't come crying to me when your peaceful little realm turns into a chaotic catastrophe and you're stuck down here going psychotic with the Mist's evil spawn pecking and pestering at you day and night!" The raptin stomps his foot for emphasis.
"Dramatic little bird-brain, isn't he?" Hotaru murmurs to me on the side as he watches Sendaar go into a tizzy.
"Bird-brain?!!" Caws the raptin, grating his talons on the floor like a bull preparing to charge. This meeting is not going how I had planned.
I ruffle my feathers, trying to get a cool draft to enter in my mane. "Alright, alright. Please, we must figure out a way to get out of here without being spotted. The main opening is guarded on different levels, from m'presumption and what ye 'ave told us, Sendaar. Can ye tell me 'gain what ye noticed?" I try to steer the topic back on course. The pyroraptin looks rather pleased with the idea of him sharing his intel.
"Well, I was questioned first before they threw me down here, so I got a decent tour of their base. Apparently, there are at least three levels of tunnels in this underground, rotting pit. Eggs aren't the only rotten smell they have cooking around here. Baby monstrosities are being bred here.
"I never expected to see this, because it's just not natural, but cross breeding wolfwyres with other species is just horrific. They breed like wild dogs and who knows what kind of mutated species shall be formed by this horrific event. I think they're trying to do cross genetics with them and dragons. Dragons! Can you imagine what would happen if they succeeded to blend the genes of those two? The Mist would have an unstoppable force.
"They are also using the lava here to forge their weapons and armor. Some sort of heating system is set following the lava flow, rerouting the current to their forges. I didn't get to see what sort of metal ore they're using, but I don't think they are using the material we saw on our previous captors because these wolfwyres are wearing armor much more decorated and well crafted."
"Well, what does that mean? Do ye think this is a higher up regiment?" I interrupt with my thoughts.
"It may," he replies. "But it could also mean that these groups aren't working that closely together, so they haven't put their resources together. That may be why they don't know about Namazzi and why they didn't check you for that book of yours. Another reason why we need to get out of here as soon as possible or else they'll eventually find out and all will be lost. They definitely won't trust you to translate it again. The Mist will do anything to keep us away from that book if they get their hands on it."
"What's so special about this book of yours?" Hotaru pipes up after seeming completely uninterested in our talk. He hops down from his perch and wanders a few steps closer to us and lies back down again.
"'Tis m'journal that I've been writing in. It has just 'bout every species cataloged by the gryphon society including new species that I've been studying along the way. The League of Mist wish to use it 'gainst the inhabitants of Yugure as they plow through the realms, conquering them. This cannot get into their hands," I say, waving the book with emphasis. Hotaru's blazing eyes watch the book carefully as I hold it.
"Then why not burn it? Wouldn't that save everyone a whole bunch of trouble?" Hot looks at me contemptuously, playing with a rock.
A sigh. That would be the end of my troubles, for now at least. "B'cause, there is information 'bout the Mist in here as well. Wolfwyres, shadones-they're all in here right along with the rest of the creatures of Yugure. B'sides, a lot of this info can be found right in the gryphon archives."
"And you mean to tell me that the Mist hasn't figured this out yet?"
I shake my head in reply. "I'm 'fraid that the gryphon absence in Yugure's culture the past few hundred years has left a toll on the realms. Not many creatures remember who we are and what we can contribute to the world. The Mist probably doesn't know one iota 'bout the First Realm."
"So, what is your plan after - if - you escape?" Hotaru inquires.
I yawn, stretching out my hind legs and let my hands grasp for air as my arms reach ahead of me. "Head to the Spires and find the one Lady Asha sent me to find. Unfortunately, she gave me no name. I just hope they know I am coming." I say with uncertainty. I haven't thought that far ahead, to be quite honest. With no name, I'll be wandering the Spires aimlessly looking for a phantom.
"Pfft, well that seems like a solid plan," the lava dragon says sarcastically.
I go to reply but he wanders off toward the tunnel exit out of his domain. "Hey, where are ye going?" I call out to him. He waves his hand violently at me to be quiet and he hastens out. I feel as if I should follow him, but before I can go out something comes back in. A bright orange dragon is thrown out of the mouth of the tunnel and lands a few feet away from me. It's Milah.
"You!" I cry out in agony. This is the first time my good judging of character was ever wrong, and now I'm stuck in a pit for my mistake. The traitor jumps up in surprise to see Sendaar and I standing together in this unpredicted scenario.
Hotaru circles up from behind him, like an animal hunting its prey. Milah falls to his knees, "Please, you must hear me out. I had no choice. There were innocent lives at stake. My neighbors, my friends, they were going to use them as carriers- breeding partners to their dastardly genetics program! I couldn't say no to them. I know now that it was the wrong thing to do, but that's why I'm here. Please, you must believe me, sonny. I'm here to break you out."
We all look in shock as Milah explains what has all went down since they hired, so to speak, the palm dragon and what they've been up to. Milah explains in depth the plans to enslave the larger species of the realms into their breeding program, making their captives into what Milah says they call carriers. Females will be taken from their homes and bred in a barbaric fashion with the wolfwyres to produce unholy offspring which the Mist will use as their army. I am starting to gain back the faith I had in the palm dragon, but my past experience has made me wary of him. Sendaar seems rather indifferent to the creature; he is just happy to hear this escape plan. Hotaru puffs a cloud of smoke from his mouth, probably eager to get the three of us out of his mane.
"So we'll look like your prisoners, being taken to see the general in command?"
"And we'll all walk right out."
"Do ye think 'twill work?"
"Oh, most certainly, sonny."
"Won't they notice what you three are up to? I mean, once you leave the volcano, they'll know something is up." Hotaru interrupts, making a rather good point.
"Oh, but we won't be leaving the volcano. There's a secret portal hidden somewhere in the caverns above us. I can take us directly to the Spires from there. They won't have a clue!" The pyroraptin chirps cheerfully with a leap of joy to finally be escaping the clutches of the Mist- this time for good. I, too, share this glee. I can finally continue my mission, which would have been already completed if someone more qualified had taken up the task.
'Why did Asha pick me?' I wonder to myself as the rest of the details are drawn out metaphorically.
~
"Are we all set?" Milah asks two hours later. With good timing, and a lot of hiding one's actions, Milah had secured two pairs of cuffs and chains allowing us to blend into our prisoner personifications.
The raptin and I both nod our heads quietly. We're all nervous, except for Hotaru who is nowhere nearby. We had left his home without even a single goodbye from the sooty dragon and set our sights on the main cavern, ready to walk past every guard in the fortress- even say hello to one or two with a smile on our faces. Well, that might give us away just a tad.
I pick up Sendaar and follow Milah as he holds onto our leashes. We land casually on the third floor, two levels up from where we had originally been staying. The guards look at us confused, that is until Milah swears at us using words I'm not quite sure of the meaning and yanks at the chains, making us move forward. Both guards look at each other with a shrug at the shoulders and relax, letting us pass by without question.
Sendaar pounces forward slightly behind Milah. He whispers in his ear which way to turn next and I follow suit. One wolfwyre sentry looks at us funny and stops us in our tracks. I dare not let one bead of sweat escape my body, lest I give off a guilty aura making our escape impossible.
"Where are you taking these prisoners? They are not needed for the Carrier Program." He grunts in a monotone voice. The soldier seems perfectly still while he speaks. Sendaar shrivels back behind Milah for protection.
Milah straightens up his posture and looks down at the sentry. "I happen to be taking them to General Vannhyde for questioning." The guard looks at us, still untrusting, but eventually he gives up the staring contest and waves us through. We wait until we are out of sight before we let ourselves heave a sigh of relief and relax our tensed up muscles.
We take a right, then a left, another left, more rights. To be honest, I think I've lost track of what turns we have taken; I seriously hope we don't get separated. I stop counting the turns to myself and mindlessly follow Sendaar and Milah, who have struck up a conversation when no guards are there to listen.
"We are almost there. We just have to go up to the next level and pass a few more hallways until we get to the rocky section. Once we're through there, we should be safe." I can hear Sendaar whisper to Milah as we trudge along. I moan violently on the inside, wishing I could physically scream. The palm dragon nods and we take one final turn to the stairs.
My head slides along the wall in agony of walking the monotonously drab rocky hallways. I can see the top of the staircase, which excites me to the core. Of course this still means more walking once we reach the top. Whoopee.
Milah and Sendaar both murmur something out of the corner of their mouths that I cannot catch, but I realize that it was most likely another curse word as I reach the top to stairs to see a whole squad of wolfwyres waiting for us. Their faces look atrocious and fierce with a snarl to go with. Each of them is pointing a sharp looking scythe at us, all but one, I mean.
The odd one out steps forward and looks at us with a wicked grin. "Now, there, where do you think you're going with those prisoners, Milah? I was informed by one of my watchmen that you were taking them to me for questioning. Now, I don't recall us making an appointment for such an meeting, do you?"
Milah stands silent, along with Sendaar and I. There is really nothing to say. We are trapped, again. I just wish for once our luck would change. The general pulls out a contraption from his bag slung to his side.
"You're not getting out of here, you know that, don't you? And now, thanks to you, I have to blow this section of the fort. We can't afford to risk you all getting out now can we? Farewell to you three." With that he presses the button on the strange device. The entire ground shakes with a ferocity I have never been aware of. General Vannhyde laughs maniacally as he dramatically swoops away from view, leaving us with his lackeys guarding the exit.
"You seriously aren't just going to stay here, are you?" Sendaar says, trying to tempt the guards to leave their post. "I mean, you'd rather sit here and get crushed by a multitude of rocks than escape death's grasp and live to tell the tale? It's not like we'd tattle on you."
The wolfwyres simply growl at the bribe. Rocks start to tumble off towards us from the ceiling and the stairs behind us begin to quake. The guards begin to force us back, closed to the crumbling staircase. With no way to defend ourselves, we're trapped.
"Get out of the way!" A familiar shadowy voice calls out from behind. I turn just in time to see Hotaru nimbly hop on what was left of the breaking stairs and charge toward us with fire in his eyes.
'Hooray, we're saved! Oh wait, there's fire in his mouth too. Holy shiitake mushrooms!' I duck in the nick of time, as just a millisecond before would have been too late as the burning magma dragon leaps to our rescue- almost singeing my petrified wooden antlers.
His muzzle is covered in hot magma as he spews it towards our enemies. The ones hit with this melting blast yelp in suffering slowly being consumed on the floor. A swoop of his fiery scorpion tail stings the closest standing warrior. Magma pulses through the tail and into the tip where it injects the molten lava into the enemy. I'm completely astounded at the efficiency of Hotaru's battle skills and I must remember to ask him if he would ever consider teaching me.
The cries of the fallen must have been heard as reinforcements arrive to aid in their stand off. Hotaru is overwhelmed with enemies and becomes distracted for only a moment. An unfortunate falling of a stalactite injures our friend on his hind leg, handicapping him for the time being. He roars in anger as the rock crushes his foot and topples over, falling down the tunnel where the stairs had once been. The echoing sound spirals downward, causing an avalanche of rocks to tumble into the hole, blocking the way we came from.
Hotaru tries his best to ward off the enemies, but it's too much with an ankle beginning to swell. Milah looks at us, "You must get out of here, sonny. Take your injured friend and get out of here. This place will collapse any minute." The palm dragon charges fearlessly into the swarm of wolfwyre guards before I can stop him, pushing them away from Hotaru and the exit.
"Come, quickly!" Sendaar urges us into motion. I attempt to aid Hotaru in walking behind Sendaar, but he refuses.
"I'm too hot for you to touch without burning yourself," he replies calmly and moves on the three good feet he has left.
Sendaar quickens the pace, and I worry for Hotaru, who limps rather badly. The raptin screeches to a halt and stares at a wall. "This is it, but it looks like the quaking has caused the rocks to shift. I'm not sure if you two will be able to fit." Sendaar looks us over for measurements.
"Allow me," Hotaru says grumbling deeply. The sound gets louder as his chest expands. His mouth opens to release a blast unlike anything I have seen before. The light is blinding, and I cover my eyes for protection. When the light fades I look to see a neatly formed circle, still cooking off from the high temperature it took to melt away the rock.
"Well done," I compliment him as he pursues the tunnel's other side. Sendaar follows swiftly as I take up the rear. The floor is burning to the touch, but it makes us hasten our pace.
"Over here!" Sendaar shoves me to the left and heaves me over a large step in an enthusiastic attempt to get me to hurry faster. Hotaru follows behind me as Sendaar hops through a vast glowing crack in the wall. We look at each other and both follow our pyroraptin friend.
The air. The grass. A cool breeze hits me like a fresh cup of spring water. It's too astonishing for words. Floating islands hover past us slowly like grazing clouds to reveal lofty plateaus in all shapes and sizes. Like islands surrounded by an ocean of clouds, these plateaus reach farther than I can possibly see. The elevation here is breathtaking, literally; it will take some getting used to, but I can manage.
A sense of calm rushes through my veins, "We made it." My voice is drowned out by another thought. "But Milah..." It pains me to say his name. "Do ye think he..." I choke on my words softly.
"He was a brave man. You should be proud of him." Sendaar pats me comfortingly on my shoulder. Hotaru nods in agreement and lowers his head in respect for our lost friend.
The sky shimmers brightly, but the sun is setting on the horizon. "We should make camp," I say after a few minutes have passed. "We 'ave a war to fight."
/'Allo dearies! I hope this chapter was eye candy for your bookworm brains. This is the longest chapter in the book so far, and I just have so much more to give to you. The ending is coming together smoothly in my head, and I'm sure it will be leaving you wanting more.
I'm already planning the plot and layout for Enoki's next sequel, so don't worry when you finish this book. Book two will already be in the works.
I must seriously thank you all for your devotion to this book. I never thought I'd ever reach the 1K read mark and we're almost there already! With your persistence to read this book, it has inspired me to look into self publishing.
Thank you all for reading this far, and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter.
Stay creative,
~Eno/