Chapter 15: Hell Ride of Doom
Spyro and his team got up early the next morning so they can set out early. Many of them are still blurry-eyed and tired but they knew their duty. In a mining shaft, Hunter spotted a mine cart that seemed safe enough to use.
"This one looks good enough and the brakes seem to be working," Hunter said.
"You better hope it is because if one wheel falls off, we may very well be dead," Spyro muttered.
After some inspection and minor fixing, the cart was ready to go. Everyone climbed in and grabbed the sides for safety.
"So…anyone knows how to operate this thing?" Cynder asked.
"How hard can it be? All you have to do is let go of the brakes and…" Hunter said and reached out for the brake lever.
"Hunter, wait!" Sven yelled as he was trying to grab something.
Hunter let go of the brakes and the mine cart zoomed down the slope of the shaft.
"I told you to wait!" Sven yelled as his voice competed with the roaring wind.
"Too late, buddy!" Hunter said aloud.
The mine cart reached a large cavern with crisscrossing railways and the depth of the cavern was very deep until it seemed bottomless. Large crystals that glowed orange were abundant and one super large cluster hung above the ceiling like a large chandelier, lighting the place up. The cavern had to be 10 kilometers in radius with hundreds of tiers from the top most level to the most bottom. The scene was exotic.
"Until now, I didn't know the mines was that beautiful," Cynder said with a smile as she was awed.
"Hmm, I don't remember this part of the mines," Hunter muttered.
There was a sign up ahead and it had two arrows. One pointed to the left indicating that they were heading to Sector Green while the other was Sector Red.
"Well, which one?" Cynder asked Spyro.
"We'll try the green," Spyro said.
As they reached a junction, they leaned left and the cart turned to the left into another dark shaft. Sven attached his powerful flashlight at the front of the cart so they can see what was ahead of them.
"I wonder what's ahead of us," Hunter said as he squinted his eyes to see further.
The cart suddenly picked up speed and the cart entered another large cavern filled with lava at the bottom. Lava rocks shot up like fiery missiles and hit the ceilings. It flew everywhere except towards the cart and the railway. That wasn't the case when they reached the middle of the cavern though. The rocks shot past them, missing by only a few inches but the heat could be felt and it felt intense.
"That was close," Sven said while looking down.
"Hey, quit pushing me!" Hunter grunted.
Suddenly, the railway in front of them collapsed as it was hit by a lava rock.
"Oh no," Spyro muttered and his eyes widened.
The cart had too much momentum and plunged down over the edge. They screamed in fear but the cart landed on another railway and continued on their way, their speed picking up and they were entering dangerous territory. The next cavern was another deep void but the railways were a mess and rocks littered the rail.
"Damn it!" Sven yelled as they dropped down a slope and now, the roller coaster ride started. The railway ahead was full of rocks and they had to avoid them by leaning to the side with no rocks. They were careful on not to lean too much or they'll fall into the void. If both sides have rocks, Spyro and Cynder spread open their wings and lifted the cart over the rocks.
"Watch out!" Hunter yelled and pointed at a large boulder in front of them.
They leaned to the right and entered the path to the right that made them go one tier lower. Remember, they are travelling at very high speeds right now and that makes controlling the cart hard. Added to the danger was that the bracings that supported the railway was weakening and the mine ceilings were collapsing. Rocks and boulders rained down on them.
"Another junction!" Hunter announced.
"Take the right!" Spyro said.
The cart turned right and returned to the lava caverns. Volcanic activity seemed to have increased because lava spouts were shooting upwards and more lava rocks were shooting everywhere.
"Incoming rock!" Hunter said while pointing at a large rock falling from the ceiling and crushing the railway above them.
Spyro took aim and shot out a beam of light, piercing through the rock and shattering it to pieces. A boulder fell on a tower parallel to their railway and the entire tower crashed down onto their railway, making a large gap. The two dragons lifted the cart over the gap and set it back on the railway again once it was safe. Rubble blocked the entrance up ahead and Cynder launched an air blade that cut through the rubble. The following cavern they entered was a massive mining area with hundreds of tall towers that were used as support for the railways and some of them were large steam-powered diggers. The whole place was a death trap.
"Use the brakes, we better stop now!" Cynder pleaded.
Hunter pulled on the brakes but the thing broke as it was rusted badly. He held the broken brake with eyes wide with fear.
"Oh crap," Hunter muttered and threw the brake lever away.
Boulders and rocks crashed from the ceiling and crashed into the towers, collapsing them onto the railways. Some collapsed while others were blocked. The team spent a lot of time leaning left and ride and jumping over obstacles to avoid crashing into the fallen towers and avoid falling into holes. Spyro and Cynder used their new breath attacks to clear obstacles and it proved useful as the light blast could clear large boulders while the air attack could cut through rubble. Smaller rocks that rained on them were blocked by Sven's shield. Hunter acted as an early warning system because his reaction was the best. One tower collapsed and nearly crashed on them but Spyro and Cynder combined their attacks and blow the tower into pieces.
"That was close," Spyro said.
A boulder dropped in front of them so suddenly that Spyro screamed. It made them swerve so suddenly that they fell over the edge. Fortunately, they landed on a railway at a lower tier. Before another tower crashed down on them, they entered a hole and entered another large mining chamber with multiple towers but this one had a similar crystal cluster as the first chamber that entered. This one was extra large though.
"I don't like the looks of this," Sven muttered as he saw the cluster shaking and wobbling.
Just as he finished saying that, the cluster detached and fell down. It was so large that they were certain that they were never going to make it to the other side of the mine.
"Brace yourself!" Spyro yelled and everyone crouched into the cart.
The super cluster demolished the entire railway system in that cavern and sent the small cart sailing into the air. Spyro and Cynder quickly acted and grabbed the cart before it fell. They flapped their wings as hard as they could and they had to quickly find another railway track to put down the cart. It wasn't easy because rocks were raining down on them.
"Move now! I'll shoot the rocks for you!" Sven said and loaded his bolt-action rifle.
Spyro and Cynder exerted their strength and struggled to keep the cart in their grasp. Sven did his part by shooting the rocks that threatened to hit the two dragons. Hunter helped Sven by using magic arrows to hit large boulders. Luckily the two were expert sharpshooters and every shot was right on target. Cynder's left paw slipped and nearly dropped the cart but luckily she recovered quickly (if there was a gauge, her strength level would be at half right now). Cynder was struggling and so was Spyro as their strength waned. She was grunting and panting hard and her eyes were squinting as she struggled. Spyro showed more endurance but he felt his strength draining as well and he was groaning.
"Lighten the load will you?! Carrying the two of you is already bad so get rid of anything unnecessary!" Spyro yelled.
The two obliged and threw unwanted things out such as small rocks and spent ammunition casings. That wasn't enough so they threw out other things. Hunter threw his arrows away while Sven threw most of his weapons…and along with their food supply (oops). Finally, they reached another railway system and the two dragons set it down before climbing into the cart, panting hard and their muscles ached.
"Hell…that was painful," Spyro panted.
"My wings hurt," Cynder said.
They entered another cavern and this one seemed peaceful enough. But, looks can be deceiving when suddenly…
"Boulder!" Sven yelled and pointed at a boulder behind them.
The large boulder was rolling after them and destroying the railway at the same time. Cynder shrieked as the boulder came too close and banged into the back of their cart.
"Make this damn thing go faster! Push if you have to!" Sven yelled to Hunter.
They pushed the cart but the boulder seemed just as fast as them. Spyro and Cynder were too tired to destroy it so it was up to the two to do the job…of escaping. Sven wished he didn't throw his missile launcher away.
"Hunter, use your magic arrows!" Sven said.
"I can't, I'm out of mana!" Hunter shouted.
The boulder followed them closely and banged into them a couple of times. Each bump damaged the body of the cart and weakened it. There was an exit at the end and the two kept pushing the cart faster by using poles to 'row' it like a boat. They outran the boulder and the boulder got stuck at the exit after they cleared it.
"Whew, we did it!" Hunter said and gave a high five to Sven.
When they turned back to look at the front, the two screamed. There was a buffer in front and the railway was non-existent after it. It spanned across a moderately wide chasm and at the end was an exit to the surface. The two dragons were too tired to do anything and they were on the verge of falling asleep.
"Spyro, Cynder, do something!" Hunter yelled.
"I…can't, my wings refuse to…respond," Spyro muttered.
"Do something or we'll die!" Sven added for Hunter.
"Spy…" Hunter wanted to yell Spyro's name but it was cut short.
The cart hit the buffer with full force and threw everyone out of the cart and sent them sailing across the chasm. Think about it, wouldn't you scream if you were in that situation? That's what they did. It took Cynder one whole minute to realize she was over a deep and dark chasm. When she finally noticed it, she screamed in terror and fell as she didn't spread her wings. Spyro forced himself to use his wings and swooped down to grab Cynder.
"I'm…coming…for…you, Cynder!" Spyro yelled as he struggled to ignore the sharp pain in his wings.
Tears flowed from his eyes like a trail as wind blew across his face. He gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes while reaching out for Cynder. Cynder tried to grab Spyro's paw but she slipped. The two dragons plunged down the darkness. Sven and Hunter on the other hand were halfway across the chasm but Sven was losing airspeed fast as he was heavier with all the equipment he was carrying. Hunter landed on the other side and slid across the ground, collecting soil in his mouth. He quickly spat them out and rushed to the edge of the chasm.
"Sven, no!" Hunter yelled.
He was falling short of the edge and was still far away when he completely lost airspeed and plunged down into the darkness. Sven was panicking but years of training kicked in and he kept himself calm. There was a grappling gun on his utility belt and he quickly took it. Aiming at the edge, he fired the hook and hoped that the rope was long enough. Fortunately, it was and the hook grappled the edge tightly. The rope snapped tightly and stopped Sven's fall…violently. He nearly lost his grip but hung on. He climbed the rope and climbed up again. He saw Spyro plunging down into the darkness.
"Spyro!" he yelled.
After that, he didn't see Spyro again. Shaking his head in dismay, he continued climbing up the rope. After crawling over the edge, he laid on the ground, breathing hard and flexing his arms to relive some pain.
"Where are Spyro and Cynder?" Hunter asked.
"I…I think they fell," Sven muttered.
"Pardon?" Hunter asked.
"I said I saw them falling into the darkness!" Sven yelled and slumped down onto the ground again.
Hunter looked over the edge and called out their names but he knew that their fall was too deep. They were nowhere to be seen.
"They're…gone. But if that is the case……we're all goners. Spyro and Cynder are the only ones that can stop Argus…we're doomed," Hunter whispered.
Sven said nothing. He was too tired to utter even a single alphabet. Deep down in the chasm, Spyro finally got hold of Cynder but he couldn't recover from the fall; he simply didn't have enough strength in him. Spyro hugged Cynder.
"Don't worry, I'm here," he whispered into her ears.
Cynder cried and hugged him tightly as the two dragons fell. Suddenly, Spyro thought he saw light at the bottom. It had a blue glow and the sound of a rushing river could be heard. A smile came across his face and he knew it was the magic river.
"Cynder, we may be saved," he smiled.
Cynder turned to look down and she smiled and fainted.
Suddenly, Spyro noticed that they were dropping on the river bank, not into the river itself. He gasped in horror.
"Oh no!" he said aloud.
Very quickly, he spun Cynder around so he would take the crunch….and he did. Spyro landed hard with Cynder crushing down on him. Spyro coughed out blood from the internal damage and his bones broke with a distinct crunch. However, his body cushioned Cynder from the fall. His body screamed in pain as he tried to push Cynder off his body. The river was a few meters away from him and he crawled towards it, creating a blood trail. He screamed in pain with every push forward but he fell short of his goal, going unconscious just a few centimeters away from the river with only his finger dipped into the water.
"I'm sorry Cynder," he muttered and coughed out some more blood before going out cold.
On the surface, Ravager thought he felt something in him and he was shaking a bit. His heart raced and he felt gloomy.
"Ravager, is something wrong?" Collette asked.
"I don't know about you…but I have a very bad feeling about something…though I can't exactly put my finger in it," Ravager said.
"I feel it too. It is as if something had befallen mom and dad," Ignitus added.
"Hmm…dragon senses…I heard of such things and I know it's true. When a dragon has lost their loved ones or almost lost them, they have this feeling," Collette said.
"Does that mean that…?" Ignitus stopped halfway and his eyes widened.
Collette also felt something was wrong.
"We have to find your parents now," Collette said.
"But what about…" Fiona pointed towards the Waldreich Mountains but Collette cut her midsentence.
"Forget about that right now! We have to save the king and queen for they are the only ones that can stop Argus! Ravager, what route did they use?" Collette asked Ravager.
"Well…they used the underground route," Ravager said.
"Then they have to be at the Moray Mines by now and that means they are a few days behind us," Collette said.
"I thought you said we were a few weeks ahead," Ignitus said.
"Yes but there is another way to get there fast. The Moray Mine has many entrances and there should be one nearby," the vixen said.
She took out her map and pinpointed their location. Using her finger to trace the map, she tapped on a blue dot located in a forest area.
"There is one entrance in the Serpent Forests and we only have to backtrack a few days," Collette said.
"If that is the case, let's go," Ravager said.
A/N: A pretty wild ride eh. Didn't really expect Spyro to end up this bloody and that thought just came to me all of a sudden. *Got smacked by Spyro* Hey, keep it cool man, it's only a story! So, what do you think of the mine rides? Pretty scary if it were real, don't you think?