Chapter 9: The Battle of Doru Areaba
The first urgals trudged up the hill about 10 minutes after we saw them arrive. I drew my sword but there was something different about it. The blade had seemingly gotten shorter. It still was three feet, but it didn't look the part. I noticed the urgals just in time and stabbed one directly in the stomach. He tripped over and lay there, dead. I continued fighting urgals with Murtagh and Nellie for ages. I had killed about 10 when I heard a roar. Golkah and Jurmgal were flying towards us, Tymunfl raised and glowing. Below him some 400 warriors were running towards the urgal army. I stood my ground and soon we were joined by the army of the Varden. With them at the end of the bridge, the bridge seemed relatively secure. Secure enough for us to run and greet Jurmgal and help the other Dragon Riders defend Doru Areaba. We ran for about 20 metres when… Poof! A yellow Dragon landed on the bridge directly behind us. We turned and saw the same yellow clad figure that had nearly killed me in Daret. The dragon then breathed in.
"SHIT!!!!!!" Murtagh yelled. The dragon exhaled and blew a massive blast of yellow fire that knocked me back a further 20 metres, Murtagh onto a cliff ridge almost underneath Doru Areaba and Nellie into the mist below, leaving me to face the yellow rider alone.
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Murtagh landed on the cliff face. He got up and looked around. To his left and above, on another cliff ridge there was an ancient door which led up to the Volcano within. The only problem was getting there. He had to jump. He ran back as far as he could and leaped. He felt like he had been suspended for ages. When he landed, a loud crash made him fall. He only just managed to grab hold of the ledge when he realised he had jumped too far. Now the ridge with the door was, once again on his left hand side. He had a plan. He edged to his left as far as he could. It took him a little while but he managed. He then spun left and forward at the same time. He landed with a thump just in front of the doorway, which was now open. Slightly chilled, he went inside.
He walked around the maze of tunnels for about half an hour. He had passed a tunnel mull of steam but thought not to go down that road. He soon had to declare he was lost. He sat down… big mistake. A boulder the size of the tunnel came pelting towards him at rapid speed. He jumped up and ran away from the boulder as fast as he could. He continued to run until he met a T-Intersection. Left or right? His question was soon answered by a boulder, not only coming from behind, but from the right tunnel as well. "Take a left, take a left." He ran left and followed the path. At every T-Intersection a boulder would show him the correct way. Left, right, right, left, right. It continued on until He saw a flight of stairs with an exit at the bottom. He fled out the exit and the boulder jammed in the doorway. He was in a room with three other doors. Soon the door to his right blew open and Nellie ran into the room, her body covered in blood. She locked the door instantly. After about twenty minutes of silence and because the other two doors were locked, the left door finally smashed open and I ran in, looking like a tomato that had just escaped from a steamer.
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Nellie fell into mist. She kept falling through mist. More mist and even more mist. She then landed lightly on the stony ground. She was in the valley that surrounded Doru Areaba. She walked forward several paces, lightly moving so as not to give away her position. In the distance, a faint explosion could be heard, its sound billowing against the warmth of harvest time. Nellie then bumped into a stone wall. After finding the exit, she walked through and faced an overwhelming sight. 1000 urgals were marching into the valley preparing to attack Doru Areaba from the east. The urgals, almost as though they were tipped off looked at her at the same time and attacked. "Shit," Nellie whispered as she charged at the army, outnumbered 1000 to 1. As soon as she reached the urgal army some 150 Varden warriors attacked the urgals on her side. They battled them for ages, blood spraying everywhere and death at every angle. By the end of the battle her tunic was covered in blood. They had stopped most of the urgals from attacking the eastern quarters. Urgals still remained, but She felt a psycic tug urge her up a flight of stairs behind a doorway. She flew up them and came to another doorway. She was hesitant. A large pounding came from behind. Nellie quickly opened and locked the door instantly. In the room there were two other doors and a hall way with a boulder blocking the exit. Murtagh was also in the room; he was extremely putrid and covered in dirt. The other two doors were locked from the inside and prevented all escape. After twenty minutes I came flying into the room, humid as an urgal in the summer.
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