Chapter 4 – Dangers and Traps
"Draco? Are you alright?"
Draco groaned. Slowly he opened his eyes and tried to get up, but he felt his entire body aching. "Oh, my head," he moaned as he felt a painful migraine.
"Thank goodness you're okay," said Jakkin. "You had quite a nasty fall."
"Where am I?" asked Draco.
"It looks like we're inside the castle's cellar," replied Jakkin as he helped the Charizard up. "Least that's where our chute led us to."
Draco dusted himself off. "Where's Cynder and the others?" he continued.
"I have no idea, Draco," said Jakkin. "That fork halfway done separated us from them, so they could be anywhere."
"Hopefully we'll find them," said Draco. "This place is getting creepier."
The two dragons made their way thought the cellar. It was very dark and mysterious, and soon, they discovered a gruesome sight. In a large room, they saw a bunch of dead bodies all around. Some were hanging on crucifixes, others were impaled. On top of that, they saw a large bed of stone with blood splattered all over it. Draco was so grossed out that he nearly gagged. Jakkin wasn't affected by what he saw.
"I've seen a lot of gore in video games, but this is ridiculous!" exclaimed Draco.
"We must in the castle's torture chambers, by the looks of it," said Jakkin. "Let's be careful and watch our step, I can sense booby traps up ahead."
Draco cringed, he didn't like the idea of encountering dangerous traps, but since he and his friends had encountered the slide trap earlier on, he could feel that precarious situations are certain to await them.
Elsewhere, in the opposite side of the cellar, Cynder and Lily find themselves in what looks like an abandoned chamber that was filled with arcane artefacts. It appeared to be a place where alchemy was practiced many centuries ago.
"Ooh, these things look so sparkly!" exclaimed Lily. "I'd like to check them out!"
"I know they're pretty to look, but we must not touch anything," said Cynder. "These potions, artefacts and the whatnot can actually be potentially dangerous."
Lily looked around. "Where's Draco and the others?" she asked.
"I don't know," replied Cynder. "Which is why we better start looking for, and I'm worried about Draco."
"He does seem to get scared very easily," said Lily. "Then again, even I have my share of getting really scared too."
"It's not just that," said Cynder. "He could be in trouble on his own."
Lily smiled. "It sounds like as if you and Draco know each other very well…"
"Yes, we do," answered Cynder as she blushed a bit. "It's been like, almost a decade now, and we have a very strong bond with each other."
"How sweet," gushed Lily.
Cynder cleared her throat. "Anyway," she began. "We better keep going and find the others."
As Cynder and Lily made their way through the catacombs of the castle, they noticed some light up in the distance. Following the path, they eventually reached another chamber where they found Percival and Torden standing in the centre.
Lily was so excited that she raced towards the two dragons. "Percival and Torden!" she cheered. "I'm so glad you guys are alright!"
"Wait a minute, Lily!" warned Cynder. "This could actually be a trap!"
"No way!" laughed Lily. "They must be real!"
Unfortunately, they weren't real. As soon as Lily ran towards them, the doors behind them lowered trapping them in. The figures of Percival and Torden vanished, and then several walls opened revealing dozens of ugly-looking monsters.
"What are those things?!" shrieked Lily in horror and disgust.
"Whatever they are, they don't look friendly," replied Cynder. "We're going to have to take them out fast!"
Cynder and Lily battled the monsters, but they were soon overpowered as there were too many of them, and Cynder realised there isn't enough time to be able to use her elemental brooch. The two female dragons looked hopelessly at each other as the monsters closed in on them. Just when it seemed as if it was all over, two fire bursts appeared out of nowhere and incinerated some of the monsters in the way. Cynder and Lily looked around and were relieved when they saw two familiar figures. Torden and Percival have arrived to the scene just in time.
"Sorry for taking so long, girls," said Torden. "We heard some fighting going, so we followed to where the sounds led us."
"So glad that you have come, guys," said Cynder. "We could use some help right now."
"Fighting is not my thing," said Percival. "But I won't allow it if anything threatens my friends!"
Altogether, the four dragons tackled the oncoming hordes of monsters. Even though there were still a lot of them, they were able to handle them now. At last, they managed to subdue the mob, and afterwards, the door to the exit opened up.
"Talk about a close call," said Percival.
"Yes," agreed Cynder. "But now we have to search for Draco and Jakkin.
"They couldn't be far ahead now, could they?" asked Torden.
"Run!" a voice echoed.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Percival.
"I recognised that voice," said Cynder quickly. "There's no time to waste, that voice came from the opened door! We better hurry!"
Further ahead of the catacombs, Draco and Jakkin raced across as they were pursued by a gigantic boulder that rocked and rolled with increasing speed. The two dragons panted, but ran as fast as their feet could carry them.
"That rock is gaining on us!" panicked Draco.
"Just keep running, Draco!" shouted Jakkin. "Be thankful that there's nothing else impeding our path!"
But as they dashed on, danger lay ahead! A series of arrow shooters and swinging maces hamper the path. Draco and Jakkin knew they had no other choice. Either they run and try to avoid the hazards or get crushed by the boulder. Quickly and bravely, they dodged the arrows that starting shooting as they went past them and they barely evaded the swinging maces. Finally, Draco and Jakkin reached a large gap, which they managed to fly through, but they just found themselves at a dead end.
"Darn it!" groaned Jakkin. "There doesn't seem to be a way out! At least we won't have to worry about the boulder as it will just fall into the darkness below."
Or so he thought. As the boulder reached the edge, somehow it got over the way and was on a collision course towards him and Draco!
"Oh no!" they screamed. They shut their eyes and huddled each other, waiting to be crushed upon impact. In the nick of time, a burst of a plasma flame intercepted the boulder, breaking it into harmless fragments. Bewildered, Draco and Jakkin opened their eyes to find themselves unharmed, yet noticed all the dust that came from the destroyed boulder. Draco looked up, and to his surprise and joy, there was Cynder.
"Cynder, you saved us!" he exclaimed happily.
Cynder smiled. "I couldn't let anything happen to you," she said while Lily, Torden and Percival joined her.
"So, together again after being separated from that slide," said Jakkin. "And so far, we made it through the perils of the cellar."
Percival noticed peculiar overhead. "Guys, look behind you!" he exclaimed.
Draco and Jakkin turned and looked up to see a hole in the wall that opened thanks to the destruction of the boulder.
"This looks like an opening," said Jakkin. "Let's get up there and see where it leads to."
The six dragons made their way through the opening, and to their astonishment, they find themselves out of the cellar and in another room.
"Surface at last," said Cynder. "And it looks like we're at the foot of the clock tower, which is at the north of the castle, according to the blueprints I've checked."
"Does that mean we're getting close?" asked Torden.
"I believe we're almost there," replied Cynder. "Okay, let's climb up! We'll be reaching that treasure in no time now!"
