Munitions Forge: The Mole Brothers of Earth and Nature.
Eleanor's POV.
The navigation of Munitions Forge's surface was relatively easy. The force of Cynder's army had to have been underground to avoid the lava, so the few stragglers Spyro and I ran into were easy to take out. The only thing we could do was speculate about what Terrador was like.
"I hope this Terrador is cool." I spoke up. "Seriously, if Terrador is anything like Cyril or Volteer, I swear, I'm gonna scream."
Eventually, Spyro, Sparx and I reached a ramp that lead to a small tunnel. Seeing no other way forward, Spyro lead us up the ramp and into the tunnel. A couple of fire beetles blocked our way, but one or two quick hits were able to take them out.
The tunnel leveled out to an iron mining room. A staff wielder quickly sent out a stream of flames to block the only door, so Spyro and I were forced to take out several waves of Ape grunts that came out. It took several minutes to take them out, and when we did, the staff wielder went on the attack.
Using the same tactics we employed on Tall Planes, Spyro used his Electricity breath to knock him into one of the lava pits, causing the flames in front of the door to die down.
When Spyro and I jumped down from a ledge to a more stable pathway, we realized we were not alone. A small, mole like creature was standing up, apparently asleep. Even with the ugly hat he was wearing, it barely made its way up to Spyro's shoulders. It was wearing black pants and a kind of flock coat. He was covered in ash
"Man, he is small..." Spyro muttered.
I lightly giggled at the comment, now understanding the tribe's name. Suddenly the Manweersmall jerked upright.
"What's that?!" It shrieked in a very thick Louisiana accent, "Who's there?"
The Manweersmall began sniffing around, which gave the impression that all the years spent underground haven't done wonders for his sight.
"It-it's me, Spyro." Spyro introduced himself, hesitantly.
"And the former god of Tall Plains, Sparx." Sparx introduced himself, almost braggingly.
"Imitating Cyril much, Sparx?" I asked with a small glare, before turning back to the Manweersmall and bowed, "I'm Eleanor."
"You don't carry the scent of Cynder's beasts, so you must be friends." It summarized.
"We are." Spyro answered, then asked. "And who are you?"
"I am Mole-Yair, leader of the Manweersmalls." The Manweersmall, Mole-Yair, introduced himself, but then sulked, "But I'm not much of a leader anymore. Those of my people who aren't mining for Cynder are hiding in the caves scared out of their little wits, waiting for Boyzitbig to blow."
At that precise moment, and ground shook. The boys and I struggled to keep our balance.
"Which shouldn't be long." Mole-Yair continued, "If you could help me free them, perhaps there is something I could do for you?"
Spyro and I looked at each other. Mole-Yair certainly knew the value of strength in numbers, as well as trust. However, Spyro looked like he had serious doubts as to how helpful Mole-Yair could be in our mission. As I learned from my former sensei; keep an open mind.
"I don't know." Spyro spoke up, "We're here to rescue a big friend of ours."
"Is he a mighty dragon?" Mole-Yair asked.
"Yes, he is... Why?" I nodded, then asked.
"Because, I know where he's being kept." Mole-Yair exclaimed with a smile, "In the mines near a large labor camp, where my own brother, Exhumor, toils away. Perhaps we can help each other."
"Well... which way do we go? What should we do next?" Spyro asked.
"Oh, it's simple enough." Mole-Yair answered, then continued is a rushed tone, "But we've got to hurry. Boyzitbig is getting more unstable by the minute. We must clear the caves before we can help your friend."
"And you're asking him for directions?" Sparx asked, then folded his arms, "Wow, talk about blind leading the blind."
I sighed and shook my head at the slightly clueless dragonfly.
"Never mind him, Mole-Yair. We're in." Spyro said.
Spyro and I proceeded down the path. The first captured Manweersmall was on top of a small ledge. After Spyro broke it with a quick charge, we jumped down and took out the Apes that were on the trail below us. The rest of the captives were grouped together, so it was easy to free them. Further on the trail, Spyro and I caught up with Mole-Yair.
"Ha Ha!" Mole-Yair yelled in happiness. "You did it, you did it! A thousand thanks."
Mole-Yair started kissing Spyro on his cheeks. Spyro quickly backed off.
"It was nothing." Spyro shrugged with a small blush.
"No problem, pal." Sparx smiled.
"Well, you did your part." Mole-Yair laughed, "Now I'll do mine. Your friend is being kept at the center of the volcano, past the labor camp where my brother, Exhumor, is working. Find him and let him know were friends. He'll tell you how to proceed."
"How will we know 'Exhumor'?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah, all the 'Man-are-we-smalls' look the same to me." Spyro smirked.
"Oh, you'll know him." Mole-Yair laughed, "Trust me; he's the most cantankerous, hard-nosed Manweersmall around. Whatever you do, don't get on his bad side."
Mole-Yair opened the door that led to another mining room. A small group of Apes were waiting for us, but they were easily dispatched.
However, Spyro and I ran into a new problem when several worm-like lava creatures appeared out of a pool of lava. Spyro quickly use an Ice Fury to take them out. At the end of the hall, a staff wielder had set up a firewall and sent several waves of grunts at us. I finished the final wave with an Astral Fury.
At the end of the hall, there was a giant bell hanging from a fragile rope. Spyro hesitantly examined it. What's a bell doing in a violently active volcano?
"I bet you can't ring that bell." Sparx challenged.
"Why would I want to?" Spyro asked.
"Oh, you scared." Sparx laughed.
"I'm not scared." Spyro said, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Oh, the big special dragon is afraid of the mean old bell?" Sparx teased, then he shrugged and continued, "Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry. Oh no, I'm sorry, baby. Why don't I get your pillow all laid out?"
Annoyed of Sparx's teasing, Spyro rang the bell. Dust fell off it as it made the loudest, jaw-wrenching noise imaginable. Some of the dust landed on Spyro and he sneezed. When he did, a green boulder of some sort of energy came out and broke where the bell was attached. I noticed this and saw Spyro standing just under the bell.
"Spyro, watch out!" I shouted.
I pushed Spyro away and the bell landed on top of me.
Spyro's POV.
Eleanor pushed me away from the shadow and the bell fell right on top of her.
"Eleanor!" Sparx yelled. "Can you hear me? Are you ok, girl?"
Sparx and I tried to listen, but we couldn't hear anything under the bell. Complete silence. Oh my goodness... I was standing a few feet away, horrified about what I just did. My blood ran cold and my heart stopped.
I did this to Eleanor! I killed her with my sneeze! How will I explain this to Ignitus and the others? I never told her that I was actually starting to like her. More than a friend.
"Hey listen, forget about those cracks I made about your... Being a girl and your... Lackiness and being stupid and lacky. Alright?" Sparx said, trying to apologise, "Just get outta there! Please, Eleanor. Don't be dead".
Suddenly, strong, ivy-like vines grew out of the ground and tangled themselves around the bell. Once the vines covered the bell, the vines constricted. With a loud shout, the vines tore the bell apart, freeing Eleanor.
Eleanor fell to her knees, her underbelly and vine markings glowing leaf green for a second, taking deep breaths and the vines returned to the ground.
I sighed in relief. Eleanor was alive and well, and earned a new ability.
Eleanor got back on to her feet, looked at Sparx and asked, "Did you say something?"
"Me? No. No. I was just... Talking out loud, thinking about a day I gotta do." Sparx answered, covering what he said earlier.
"Well, I thought I heard something before I was able to force my way out." Eleanor replied, looking slightly confused.
"Oh, that's funny. Yeah, no. Must be hearing things." Sparx insisted.
Eleanor looked at me and tilted her head. I chuckled, "I'll tell you, later." She nodded in agreement.
Eleanor's POV.
Our reunion was cut short by a group of grunts. Spyro and I quickly used our new abilities to defeat them. Spyro, Sparx and I continued down the trail to an exposed part of volcano that was outside. Blocking our view was a dismantled railway.
"Come on, you worthless piece of flesh. Let's go!" A deep and hourse voice said from the far end. "We've got to hop on Steam and get back to that Flea-bitten dragon. That crystal should be almost charged and the volcano is on the brink!"
My empathy sight ability told me that the voice belonged to the leader of a group of Apes, standing outside of a train. They got in and the train went down a tunnel.
"Come on guys, we have to catch them." Spyro told us.
Unfortunately, there were a few stragglers standing in the way, so Spyro and I had to take them out before we could proceed any further. Figured as much.
There was a group of levers scattered around the area. Spyro and I knocked them into place and the door onwards opened and a small cart with an engine came out. I jumped up front to drive with Spyro right behind me, with his hands over my shoulders. Sparx, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. I put my hands on the steering rail.
"You don't know how to drive this thing!" Sparx whined, breaking my train of thought.
"How hard can it be?" I asked, then reassured, "It's on rails."
"Oi. Famous last words." Sparx moaned, as he barely got on before I started the engine and the cart took off.
The cart caught up with Steam in a matter of minutes. I quickly shot my psychokinetic waves at the crystals, while Spyro used his fireballs, on the caboose, breaking it off. Steam slowed down at one point and chased us down. However, we went the wrong way at a fork and had to jump off when the track ended. The cart landed in a pool of lava as Spyro and I floated down.
Spyro, Sparx and I made our way down a molten river to find a new enemy: Giant scorpions with Apes riding them. A pair of them came out of the lava and began attacking us. Spyro was able to defeat his by shocking it down a cliff, while I used my spirit flames to burn the other.
After that, we encountered the one thing we thought was going to be impossible: a pair of Dreadwings inside a volcano. It also appeared they were smarter than their previous brethren, as they wouldn't let Spyro shock them into the lava. Luckily, I was able to use a psychokinetic pulse to knock them out of the air and into the river.
After managing to get across a railway without getting run over, Spyro, Sparx and I encountered another Manweersmall, this one wearing the same flock coat as Mole-Yair, except a lot dirtier and he was a bit bigger. When we were approaching him, he turned, pointing the cane he was holding threateningly.
"Wait, wait, wait, we're on your side!" Spyro gasped.
"More likely spies for the Conductor." The Manweersmall said, its voice sounding rather coarse, "Or that winged beast, Cynder." This identified the Manweersmall as Exhumor, Mole-Yair's brother.
I remembered what Mole-Yair told us and spoke up, "Mole-Yair sent us."
"My brother is alive?" Exhumor asked, lowering his cane.
"He sure is pal, all safe and sound." Sparx nodded, then folded his arms, "But I gotta say, he's the friendly one in the family."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Exhumor apologised, "In these dark times, one can't take chances." He smiled, "So Mole-Yair is alive. Wonderful news." Then he asked, "But why did he send you here?"
Spyro and Sparx looked at me, obviously hinting that I should talk. I looked at Exhumor, "Well, he said you might be able to help us to find where our friend, Terrador, is."
"If he's a big dragon, I certainly can." Exhumor answered, "The majority of the Manweersmalls are kept here in this camp, forced to live above ground and mine for Cynder. And there are rumors that your dragon friend is being kept somewhere inside... In the darkest pits of the volcano. All of us are doomed..."
"Not if we have anything to say about it." Spyro said with a determined look.
"What do you mean?" Exhumor asked.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Sparx added.
"He means we're gonna free the Manweersmalls, venture to the darkest pits of Boyzitbig, and find Terrador." I answered with a determined look of my own.
"Then, it's off to karaoke!" Sparx shouted in a 'I-can't-believe-this' tone.
Spyro and I then jumped down to the camp. In a matter of minutes, the Apes were defeated, and the captured Manweersmalls were released. Spyro, Sparx and I returned to Exhumor, only to find that Mole-Yair just arriving from finding another way to reach us.
"Well, I see you two crazy kids found each other." Sparx's said with a smile.
"Yes, at last. Thanks to you." Mole-Yair answered with a smile.
"We were just disappointed, that you didn't leave any fun for us." Exhumor said.
"Maybe next time." I assured with a giggle.
"Now, which way to Terrador?" Spyro asked.
"That way. But be careful." Exhumor answered, pointing to a large door, then warned us, "The Conductor and his maniacal locomotive will surely be close by."
"When you say 'be careful', does that mean 'try not to die'?" Sparx asked, "I'm trying to do that anyway."
"Come, Exhumor." Mole-Yair said to his brother. "We have to get all the Manweersmalls underground... Where they belong."
Suddenly, the ground started shaking again. This time it was more violent than when we first met Mole-Yair. Spyro and I lost our balance and fell on our tails.
"Yes, it won't be long now." Exhumor said.
As Mole-Yair began sheepherding the frightened Manweersmalls into the cave, Exhumor opened the only door that was in the camp. With Boyzitbig on the verge of eruption, and Cynder lurking anywhere, I couldn't help but wonder if we're able to save Terrador in time.
