Chapter 8: Awakened Dragon Arc : Volcanic Mountain
Luke and Orin were running down the dirt path towards the high mountains that could be seen in the horizon, they probably still had more than 5 miles left before they reached the mountains which they were slightly hesitant to ever since hearing that it used to be a volcano.
They sped up there running to cover the ground much quicker, as they ran there were many minor obstacles that were in the way such as trashed land and trees that were littering the path probably from the dragon from what the chief said that came through.
"I've been meaning to ask, you guys acted strangely when Munto told us that it was a dragon that wore black armour. Do you guys know who he was talking about?" Orin asked as they continued running, Luke was hesitant about telling him but Orin was going to know at some point so why not now
"Okay, Orin what I'm about to tell you is something I want you to keep secret no matter what. Okay?" Luke said seriously to Orin who also gave a serious expression and nodded. "The truth is, Albion and I aren't from this world."
"Wait, what do you mean not from this world?" Orin asked surprised by the information that Luke had just given to him, Albion was the one that answered Orin's query
[It's exactly as Luke said, we are from a world that is entirely different from this one] Albion said adding more shock to Orin's already surprised state. [Our world is just known as Earth]
"Our world is much more advanced than this one, humans aren't the only species living there much like here in Earthland. There are of course Humans but there are also Angels, Fallen Angels and lastly Devils." Luke explained
"Okay, but what does this have to do with the dragon that is attacking the villages?" Orin asked curiously
[We think that a dragon from our world has somehow made it here from some sort of means, after hearing the explanation of its appearance. We think we might know who it is but we're not certain] Albion stated
"I'm not going to say who just in case we're dealing with someone completely different but I wouldn't be surprised if it is who we're thinking about since the dragon we're talking about can definitely cause this much destruction." Luke explained as Orin paled
"Oh man, do you think we can win if the one we're dealing with happens to be the dragon you're thinking of?" Orin asked
"It will be a difficult battle if it is but if we work together we can strengthen our chances of victory." Luke said as Orin nodded before they had now arrived at the foot of the mountains, the area was destroyed much like the areas they travelled through and there were huge footprints on the ground. "It looks like the footprints head towards the biggest mountain."
"Should we fly?" Orin asked
"Yeah, let's go!" Luke said as he revealed his wings and they both began flying but were suddenly stopped by a massive wind like a wall, they flew around 100 metres into the air but couldn't get any further. "What!?"
"It seems like the mountain winds here are so powerful that we can't cross them, we'll have to get to the centre mountain on ground." Orin stated as they both flew back down and landed, they then turned back in the direction the footprints were heading in
"Let's go, Orin, we can't waste time!" Luke said as Orin nodded and they ran into the cave of the mountain that the footprints disappeared into, as they entered it was quite dark so Luke had his wings produce light for them as they ran
The cave had many stalagmites and stalactites that were on the ground and roof of the cave that just gave an eery feeling, some of them formed columns which was when stalagmites and stalactites connect with each other. There was water dripping down the stalactites making a drop sound every time a drop hit the floor where puddles were built up because of the continuous drops of water.
Luke and Orin had to carefully avoid being skewered by the stalagmites, they looked incredibly sharp which gave them chills as they imagined being impaled by one of them. Luke and Orin saw some mining equipment probably from the people that used to mine for ores in the cave and probably stopped upon finding out it was a volcano, who could blame them for mining in the cave. The walls were literally littered with so many kinds of ores as far as the eye could see.
"Can you see anything ahead Orin?" Luke asked his companion who was flying slightly ahead of Luke
"Nope, I can't see anything yet." Orin answered as they continued running through the dark cave until Orin spotted something ahead, it was rail track. "I see something!"
"Railways? I guess they used these to transport ores from one end to the other." Luke said as he looked at the track before noticing a slight red glow ahead, they walked over to it and noticed that it was part of the railway that was melted into a pile of molten. "This metal on the railway has been melted into molten it seems."
"It seems fresh as well." Orin added with Luke agreeing
[We're probably going in the right direction then] Albion said as they agreed and continued forward
They continued forward deeper into the cave as it got more damp and ominous sounds of the wind could be heard. They marched forward until they stopped at a dead end of the cave but it had a cenote of water at the end.
"What do we do? it seems like a dead end." Orin asked
"The only thing we can do is to swim and see where it leads, ready?" Luke asked looking at Orin who nodded and they both took a deep breath of air before diving into the water
As they swam through the water they could see many ores on the surrounding walls glowing beautifully, they weren't sure how the dragon got through so the only conclusion they could think of was that it took a different path to get through the cave. They started to need to breathe so they had to find a water pocket fast.
They both stopped and looked around as they couldn't find one so they had to improvise, Luke gestured to Orin that he was going to smash a hole on the top and Orin nodded in understanding as Luke thrust his fist into the top of the water cave making a hole large enough for the both of them to swim up and take a breather.
"Doing okay Orin?" Luke asked as he brushed his hair out of his eyes
"Yeah, how much further do you think?" Orin asked
"Not sure, we'll just have to keep going. Well, let's go!" Luke said as they both took another deep breath of air before diving back down and continuing there swim to the end
As they were swimming they had to stop a couple times due to the surprising length of the water cave, but after a few stops, they finally could see light at the end of the cave which they hoped was sunlight. They gave a push and swam quickly to the exit, once swimming upwards they exited the water with a deep breath and looked around.
They were between the mountain that they had just gotten through and the main mountain at the centre, they were relieved that they made some serious progress when their eyes locked onto more footprints that most likely belonged to the attacker. They quickly climbed out of the water and dried themselves off before walking over to the footprints and examined them, Luke crouched down and touched the footprint.
"It seems like it's still fresh, we're going the right way." Luke stated as Orin gave a sigh of relief knowing that they had not taken a wrong turn
"It seems like the footprints lead into the main mountain." Orin said as they looked at the cave entrance leading into the centre mountain, they could honestly hear some strange noises coming from it that sent chills down their spines
"Then let's pursue it before it gets too far ahead." Luke said as they entered the cave, he was still using his wings to illuminate the way so they could see
This cave didn't seem to have many stalagmites and stalactites, but there were more visible cracks on the ground probably due to the magma that was released and the ground had to release it so the cracks were created from too much pressure building up in the magma chamber.
They followed the footprints that were on the ground and continued deeper and deeper into the cave, the further they went, the quieter everything got and more the echoes came. They continued before they arrived at a slope where it looked like the dragon most likely slid down due to the track it left.
"I guess we have to go down as well, hop on Orin." Luke said as Orin jumped onto Luke's shoulder before he jumped onto the slope and began to slide down, there were a couple of spikes that littered the slope so Luke had to maneuver through them. "Jeez this is dangerous, do you see anything below Orin?"
"I think we're reaching the bottom." Orin said as he leaned over and saw the ground where the slope was going to end before they heard a cracking sound from above
They looked up and saw a bunch of stalactites beginning to fall straight down onto them, making their eyes widened. Luke quickly acted and leaned forward and crouched lower as his body sped up, as they slid the stalactites crashed into the ground behind them as they slid. Up ahead they could see a couple bars of stone connecting from one wall to the other so Orin jumped off Luke's head and parkoured from one bar to the other before landing back on Luke's head.
The slide down the slope was treacherous as there were many dangerous obstacles in the way, their eyes widened again upon seeing holes in the slope up ahead so Luke maneuvered past them with swift movements. They then saw ahead the end of the slope so Luke about 10 metres from the ground jumped and landed on the ground with a thud as he stood up and Orin jumped off of his head. They both gave a sigh of relief upon reaching the ground safely and without injury.
[That was way too close] Albion stated
"No kidding, we were almost skewered by those spikes." Orin said clearly talking about the stalactites
"Well, in any case, let's get moving." Luke said as they continued through the cave that seemed to meet no end, they also found more footprints and began to follow them
As they followed them, the air around them was beginning to become drier and the temperature seemed to be getting hotter the deeper they went.
"Is it just me or is it getting hotter?" Orin asked wiping a sweat off his face
"It's probably because we're getting closer to the magma chamber, it was used to be a volcano remember?" Luke said as they continued walking as the heat just got more intense
It got harder to breathe the further they went and the ground got hotter so Orin had to stay on Luke's shoulder so he wouldn't burn. The footprints just lead them further and further down until from the cracks on the ground they could see a red light coming from them, they were so deep down that they began to hear bubbling sounds.
"What's that sound?" Orin asked
"It's most likely the magma, we're getting close to the chamber where all the magma is being kept." Luke answered as Orin paled, they continued down the hot cave as they finally arrived at a much larger open cavern
They looked at the massive pool of magma that was below them bubbling, the temperature was incredibly hot. A couple of spouts shot up from the magma from it popping, the area had a couple of rock platforms, on the magma were also a couple of platforms that floated on the magma. Ahead of them was another entrance to a cave that was pitch black but before they were going to head towards it a pair of red eyes could be seen in the cave, they stood still as they could hear heavy footsteps and the eyes coming closer.
As they became louder parts of the figure that was walking towards them began to reveal as it got closer to the light until the entire figure came into view as Luke's, Orin's and Albion's eyes widened upon seeing the hulking figure.
It has the appearance of a fifteen meters tall, gigantic western Dragon. With the exception of it's lower body, specifically it's belly, the inner portions of its long tail and legs, that is beige in colour, a majority of the body is covered in dark purple, draconic scales. Also, it has a triangular head with yellow horns, a pair of large, keen red eyes with lavender sclera, and serrated yet sharp canine teeth. It also has claws with long sharp, yellow nails, on its hands, and large bat-like wings with rigid tips. It wore black armoured pauldrons that extend down to its arms and a loincloth decorated with metallic accessories. Its eyes were glowing brilliantly as it stood.
"It's huge..." Orin muttered staring in amazement at the dragon that stood opposite of them and looked ferocious and powerful
"We were right, it is him." Luke muttered as Orin turned to Luke
"You mean this is the dragon you were walking about?" Orin asked as Luke nodded
[That's right, but we're not sure how in the world he got here] Albion added as they all stared down the figure in silence and the tension in the room was incredibly high before Luke then shouted
"What are you doing here!? Tannin!"
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