Ch. 15
Carlos knew what he needed to do as he left the tunnel, the promise to Jay still on his lips. He was not going to be the one who failed this time, he was not going to let everyone down or give the villains a chance to overthrow Auradon.
"Carlos, what are you going to do?" Doug asked, racing after him.
"I've got to get the artifacts purified," Carlos replied.
"But how? we can't just leave Jay and go exploring the rest of the passages; we were supposed to stick together," Doug said, sounding on the edge of frantic.
"That's why you're going to stay with Jay while I do this, then I'll go find help," Carlos explained.
"You can't do this alone, it could take days for you to find the river and if you got lost or hurt we'd never know!" Doug exclaimed.
"Which is why we have the rope. You're going to lower me down so I can get to the river at the bottom of the cavern in the tunnel I explored earlier," Carlos explained, tossing him a large bundle of thick woven climbing rope.
Doug followed quietly behind until Carlos showed him the very dark, very foreboding cliff he intended to descend. "Carlos, while I greatly admire your commitment to see this quest through, I'm wondering if this is really the best course of action? Perhaps if we went to get my dad and uncles, rescued Jay and explored the last mine we would find an easier way to do this."
Carlos wanted to heed his friends' advice, it sounded much more logical then what he was about to do but Jane was counting on him. "We've already been out here for nearly two days Doug, Fairy Godmother can't hold out forever and you're right it would take too long to search without Jay. This is the quickest way to help everyone."
As much as Doug wanted to argue with Carlos some more, he decided against wasting his breath as the other teen wrapped one end of the rope around his waist and looped the other around a large boulder before handing it to him.
"Hold this tight, use that rock as an anchor and slowly let out some slack as I go down, okay?" Carlos instructed, getting a hesitant nod in return.
Once over the edge of the cliff, without Doug's added flashlight it was completely pitch black. There were no shades of grey anywhere to distinguish his surroundings, just all consuming darkness everywhere he looked. His eyes soon ached from trying to see anything, so he focused on the rope in his hands and the jagged, slick rock beneath his feet. It was impossible to see how far down he'd gotten but the sounds of rushing water slowly began to get more clear. The louder the noise got, the more confident Carlos became that this was the right choice after all. As he was about to call out to Doug, Carlos realized his rope had gone taunt and he couldn't go any further.
"Carlos, I'm out of rope. Are you at the bottom yet?" Doug yelled, his voice echoing throughout the cavern.
Carlos straightened his legs and kicked, trying to feel for the ground. "Not yet, and it's too dark to see."
"Climb back up, we'll find another way," Doug replied.
But Carlos had come this far, the water was right below him somewhere, just out of his reach. Even if this was the last thing he did, at least it would keep these weapons out of their parents' hands and give Auradon a fighting chance if the barrier fell. He just wished he could have gotten Fairy Godmother's wand back to Jane, he hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed in him. Fumbling in his pocket, Carlos pulled out his pocket knife and began sawing on the rope.
Doug braced one foot against the rock the rope was around and pulled backwards, trying to help haul Carlos up. The weight seemed enormous for having such a small, teenager on the end of it and he quickly promised to work harder in Athletics practice once they made it back to Auradon Prep if he could just manage to pull his friend to safety. He'd just begun to inch backwards when the rope suddenly went slack in his hands and he fell with a thump to the ground. The abrupt loss of resistance startled Doug for a moment before he scrambled on his hands and knees to the edge of the cliff. "Carlos! Carlos, can you hear me? Are you okay?"
The silence was near deafening as Doug strained to hear his friend. Carlos never replied, instead a slight splash was heard, causing Doug's fear to become panic. Leaping to his feet, Doug tore off back down the tunnel towards where Jay was trapped and waiting for rescue.
Carlos gripped the handle of the bag tightly as he felt the rope give way and he began to fall. he wasn't sure how far he was from the bottom but he hoped he wouldn't crash into the cave walls or any rocks along the way. The noise from the river was a constant roar in his ears and he was grateful that he was getting closer.
The shock of hitting the icy cold water stunned Carlos for a moment before he threw out his arms in an attempt to pull himself to the surface. The current was swift and brutal, swirling eddies spinning him around until he was dizzy before he collided into a boulder sticking out of the river bottom. As the river descended through the mountain, Carlos was pulled along helplessly, fighting to keep himself from slipping under as the water roared around him and over his head, the heavy duffel bag on his back dragging him down.
Feeling his body slam into another large rock, Carlos groaned as pain ripped down his arm and he felt the bag snag on something behind him. Floating limply in the water, he reached up trying to dislodge the bag as the right strap tore in his hand, his body swinging into the cave wall. Carlos tensed his left arm, keeping it curled into his chest, and struggled with his other arm to free them both. As the bag finally loosened, the current yanked him back into motion, relentlessly pushing him onward.
Time lost all meaning in the lightless mountain river, it could have been minutes or hours and Carlos would never have been able to tell nor could he have guessed how far he had come. Staying awake began to become a struggle as the freezing water numbed his legs and arms, his chest wheezing with every breath, tight and painful. Exhaustion caused his eyes to slip closed, only to have them snap open a few moments later as his mouth flooded with murky, silt-filled water. Coughing and choking, Carlos raggedly gasped, not sure how much longer he could hold on. As loud as the rushing water was, for a moment he thought it started to sound louder, a pinpoint of light could be seen, gradually getting bigger. Carlos focused on that light, fighting with all he had left to keep his eyes open and limbs moving. The light was eventually all he could see, blinding him as he felt the river bottom drop out beneath him as he plunged down the side of the mountain hundreds of stories to the river below that wound its way through the dense forest.
"Carlos, Doug, what's up?" Jay asked, hearing pounding footsteps coming down the tunnel towards him.
"Not Carlos, just me. He went over the edge of the cliff, we ran out of rope, then it just went loose," Doug panted in a rush.
Jay pressed himself against the large boulders, trying to peer through the small opening. "What do you mean, it went loose? Where's Carlos?"
"He thought he could put the artifacts in the river but we didn't know how deep the cave was and after the rope went slack he never answered me, and I heard a splash," Doug explained frantically.
"You mean Carlos is in the river? He can't swim! We have to get to him now," Jay exclaimed, beginning to dig at the blockage.
"But Jay you could cause another cave in and we'd both be trapped in here," Doug warned.
Jay's hands stilled, his fingers curling into fists as he growled in frustration. "Damn it, I promised to keep Carlos safe and I'm stuck inside a mountain while he's probably drowning. Doug, you've gotta get me out of here, I don't care if the whole thing collapses."
Doug carefully looked over the pile of large rocks and wooden beam debris. "Okay, I think I may have a way but as soon as I say we've got to run or this whole tunnel will bury us."
The boys worked quickly, clearing all the smaller rocks and widening the gap at the top as much as possible. Jay could now get his head all the way through and was sure they only needed one more rock moved to be completely free.
"This next ones' going to be tricky, it's the only thing keeping the roof from caving in but if I prop up a few beams around it you should be able to get out before they give way," Doug said, wedging several large wooden supports into the ceiling in a semi-circle.
"I'm ready when you are, just give me the signal man," Jay replied, bracing himself against the rock.
Using a broken piece of wood as a lever, Doug wedged it between the wall and the rock and leaned all his body weight into it as Jay shoved at the rock from the other side. The movement began to loosen the surrounding debris and dirt rained down on them. Doug could hear the wood from his lever creaking in protest and he mentally begged it to not crack as he gritted his teeth and pushed harder. Jay swore under his breath, cursing the rock, the mountain and every other thing he could blame on his situation as sweat poured down his forehead, stinging his eyes while he shoved at the rock. Finally, a grinding noise was heard and the rock began to move as more dirt and small stones fell faster on the two.
"Jay, get ready to run," Doug warned, glancing nervously at the ceiling that was trying to fall on their heads.
Jay grunted in response as the rock was rolled free and Doug's hand reached down to grab him. Jay lept forward through the opening just as the beans gave way with a terrifying crash, one of the catching him across the back of his right leg, sending him sprawling to the ground on his stomach.
Doug yelped in surprise as he was yanked back, his hand still holding tight to Jay's. "Jay are you alright?"
Pulling himself forward along the ground with his arms, Jay managed to get his leg out from under the bean and Doug quickly slid an arm under his shoulders and helped him to his feet. "I can't walk on it, something is wrong with my leg."
"Okay then just hold on to me. I've won every three-legged race at Auradon Prep's picnics since freshmen year," Doug proclaimed proudly, hurrying the two of them out of the tunnel as it continued to collapse behind them.