Mutants Misplaced
Chapter 16
Dragon Roar
The mutants crossed the final bridge, leaving the underground city behind them and continuing to the tunnel that Sephie had spotted earlier, their bags holding the multitude of gemstones they found in a hidden stash, equally split between the bags if something would happen. The tunnel was lit up by more of the glowing mushrooms and seemed to be heading in an upward direction, at least for the time being. They were feeling hopeful again, with any luck it wouldn't be long until they felt the warm rays of the sun and the cool breeze of fresh air again.
However, as they continued through the tunnel, they started hearing some strange clicking sound behind them, but whenever they turned around, there was nothing there, not even Tyroth saw anything in the shadows, but there was something following them, that much was certain.
Eventually the tunnel lead to what seemed to be another larger cave, and Tyroth walked up ahead to scout the area. Setting down his foot inside the larger cave, he felt something strange under it, but before he had time to wonder what, three sharp claws swung around the corner and jabbed him in his torso with such force that he was pinned to the wall by it, shocking everyone. He grunted loudly in pain from the serrated claws as they cut his flesh yet again as they were pulled back around the corner again.
"Tyroth!" Sephie cried out in fear and ran over to her lover. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine..." he said, coughing up a little blood. "But I think one of my lungs are punctured, it's a little hard to breath."
"That trap could have killed any of us, you're very luck you have such a good healing rate." said Donnie as he checked Tyroth's wounds.
"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt any less. Watch that first step, that's where the trigger is, and be extra careful with those claws, they're poisoned."
"It's a good thing that it was you who got caught in it then and not one of us." said Mona.
"I don't really feel like being a trap bait is a career I want to pursue." Tyroth replied.
"I didn't mean it like that, I.."
"Relax Mona, I know what you meant, just trying to keep our spirits high."
"More traps, figures. But it didn't look like the ones we've seen down here so far." said Raph.
"I'll have a look at it." said Donnie and walked over to where the trap was located, careful not to set it of again. "Eh, guys... I don't like the looks of this."
"What's the matter, Donnie?" asked Leo.
"The material the trap is made of is organic, looks like bones and claws from some kind of creature, and I don't think it's very old, at least not as old as the city."
"Then someone must have built it relatively recently, but who?" said Mona.
"Dwarves?" Mikey suggested.
"Honestly, I think that city was more dwarf like than this thing, no it's someone else, something else." said Donnie.
The mutants decided to take a small break, so that Tyroth could recover properly, and they were all tired after everything that had happened. While they sat down on the floor, a safe distance from the trap, Donnie talked to Leo with a low voice.
"There is something with that trap that you should know, Leo." he whispered.
"Oh? And what is that?"
"I didn't want to say it so the others heard it, especially not Raph, but the trap isn't made from mammal or reptile bones, it's insect."
"Insect? Those claws looked big enough to have been from a dinosaur."
"Precisely, an insect that size is a very serious threat. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
Suddenly, they all heard that clicking sound again, and not just from behind them, but also from the larger cave they had found. As suddenly as it had begun, the sound stopped.
"Okay, that just freaks me out." said Mikey, clearly worried.
The mutants listened closely, but they couldn't hear anything. That is, until Tyroth cried out in shock and threw away something from his shoulder.
"What is it?!" Leo asked, his swords drawn.
"A leech! Sorry that I scared you, but I hate those things, they're creepy." Tyroth explained.
"You're a dragon. How can something like that scare you?" asked Raph.
"I've had a... traumatizing experience when I was a toddler. Let's just leave it at that."
"Heh, the phobias some people have." Raph chuckled. What he failed to notice, was that a spider the size of his fist slowly made its way down on its thin thread and now dangled in front of his face. When he did notice it, Raph tensed up and then cried out the same way as Tyroth did, swatting away the spider.
"You were saying, bro?" Mikey said teasingly, while the others laughed.
"Shut up Mikey." Raph mumbled.
Suddenly Mikey went all quiet and stared into the tunnel, his eyes filled with terror.
"What's the matter, Mikey?" Mona asked, only for him to point at something in the tunnel. Standing by a corner of the tunnel, was a huge earwig like creature, easily larger than all but the largest breeds of dogs. It had four large legs at the base of its segmented body and smaller, shorter legs at each of those segments. The front of its body was tilted upward and there was a large pair of mandibles that looked like they could cut through steel. It also had two claw like growths at the end of its body and its thick carapace was dark gray to black in color.
It clicked and clacked as it reared back its head a little and then sprayed a greenish gray liquid at the mutants.
Tyroth quickly reacted by jumping in front of the spray and unfolding his wings to act as a shield. The liquid hit his back and the membranes and it stung, leaving rashes on Tyroth skin. While they quickly vanished thanks to his healing rate, he knew what that spray was.
"It's poison! Don't let it touch you!" he said, turning around to face the giant bug.
With a shrieking sound, the insect rushed at the mutants and managed to tackle Tyroth to the ground. It tried to sink its mandibles into Tyroth's chest, but he took a strong grip on them and held it at bay. The creature was strong and it drooled poison on Tyroth, who winced when it got into his not yet fully healed wounds.
Raph hurried over and jabbed his sai into the head of the creature, making it cry out in pain and stopping its attack, but Raph didn't stop. He continued to jab his blades into the insect time and time again in what seemed like a frenzy. The insect was probably dead after the second or third strike, but Raph didn't stop until it collapsed on the floor, dark green blood pouring out of the many puncture wounds.
"Man I hate bugs!" Raph said, before turning to Tyroth. "Are you okay?"
"I've been better, but I'll live. Thanks."
"What the shell is that thing?" asked Mona, eying the dead creature.
"Nothing pleasant, that's for sure." said Mikey.
"Sephie duck!" Leo yelled suddenly and slashed with his katana just above Sephie's head. There was a thud when the dead body of another kind of creature fell to the ground next to her.
"That thing just... fell out of the ceiling, it had a sword of some kind and was going for Sephie."
"Thanks, Leo. I owe you one." she replied, still a bit shaken with the sudden attack.
"Where did it come from?" said Raph.
"There is some kind of small tunnel in the ceiling, must have crawled through it." said Tyroth as he looked among the shadows in the ceiling.
"Looks like we killed Gollum." said Mikey, taking a closer look on the creature. And it did resemble the character, being pale and wiry, with only a ragged loincloth as clothing, but that's where the similarities ended. Its face was hideously deformed, the nose was only a pair of slits on the face and the eyes were shrunken to the point of nonexistent, while its ears were long and pointed. The nails on both the hands and feet were more like claws. The sword was an almost disgusting weapon, obviously made from the same material as the trap, both of which had a similar texture to the carapace of the giant bug.
"Hm.. no real eyes, must rely on scent and hearing then." said Donnie. "Ain't gonna be easy to avoid these creatures, we might be able to blend into the shadows, but they might be able to hear our heartbeat before we even know they're there."
Suddenly there was a shriek of some sort, echoing through the small tunnel in the roof and the larger cave.
"So much for sneaking. I think they know we're here." said Sephie.
"Tyroth, did you see anything in the cave? An exit or the like." said Leo.
"Never got the chance, but I'll check it again."
Looking into the cave, he saw several patches of glowing mushrooms on the walls and rocks, but it was the shadows that he looked extra hard at.
"How does it look?"
"There is a tunnel at the far end of the cave, maybe two hundred meters, but I see movement and lots of it, at least forty more of those things and they're closing in from all over the place! We have to move!"
"You heard the dragon, guys! Double time!" Leo shouted, prompting the rest to pick themselves up and run for the cave.
More shrieking could be heard, as could the clacking sound of the giant bugs, while the mutants dashed for the tunnel. Sprays of poison and arrows were fired at the team, but their reflexes allowed them to dodge everything, though each time it was just barely as they could feel the wind from the passing arrows as well as the occasional droplets of poison stinging their skin. Tyroth didn't bother dodging, he was far to big and bulky to avoid everything shot at him, so he blocked what he could while taking the lead, clearing the way for the others.
"How can these shits shoot at us? I thought you said they were blind." said Raph, ducking under a pair of arrows.
"They must be using their ears to hear where we are, and the bugs probably have the same kind of vision as Tyroth." Donnie replied, sidestepping to avoid a few arrows as well.
"Keep running! It ain't much farther!" said Tyroth. As he kept going, two of the strange creatures approached from the sides. Not even slowing down, he slashed one of them with his sword, almost cutting it in half, and broke the neck of the other one with a single punch.
Finally, they reached the tunnel and Tyroth waited by the entrance to make sure that everyone got in. Looking back at the advancing enemy, he knew that they were in deep trouble, there were too many hostiles, something had to be done and fast.
"Go deeper into the tunnel, I'll hold them of for a while!" he said.
"What?!" Sephie exclaimed. "No! Don't leave us, hun!"
"I'll be right behind you, I just need some space! Hurry!"
Collecting fire and mana in his mouth, a concentrated fireball formed within his teeth, growing in size.
Then it exploded, lighting up the dark cave with a blinding flash and throwing Tyroth into the tunnel, smoke coming from his mouth.
"Tyroth! Oh please be alright!"
"I'm fine, love..." he said with a light cough. "..though everything taste of charcoal."
"Your plan seems to have worked, the enemy have stopped attacking, but what was that anyway?"
"I tried to spit a fireball, like that other dragon, been thinking about how to do it for a while now, but it looks like I have to work some more on it."
Suddenly, more arrows struck the walls in the tunnel.
"Damn it! I thought they had stopped!" said Raph.
"I got it!" said Donnie suddenly. "It wasn't the fire that made them stop, it was the sound of the explosion. They've got highly sensitive hearing and are vulnerable to loud noise."
"How about having Tyroth roar really loud? That might work?" said Mikey, ducking to avoid a few more arrows.
"Sound like a good idea." said Mona. "Go for it, Tyroth!"
"Okay, better cover your ears, 'cause this could get loud." said Tyroth as he got back on his feet and walked a few feet forward. Taking as deep of a breath as he could, he then let loose an ear deafening roar that sounded like it came from a full size dragon. The roar bounced on the walls of the cave and reached every corner of it and every ear of the attackers, who all fell to their knees screaming in pain and holding their ears, but not covering them enough. The cave vibrated from the roar and stalactites broke off from the ceiling as some cracks formed.
Finally, the roar subsided and Tyroth breathed heavily, his lungs craving more oxygen.
"I think... that... did it..." he said with a scratchy voice.
"Talk about loud. I thought you would bring down the entire cave on top of us." said Mikey, giving Tyroth a pat on the back.
"No kidding, my ears are ringing like crazy." said Raph.
"If everyone is alright, let's go before the natives recover." said Leo. "We need to keep a high pace."
"I hope this tunnel lead back to the surface." said Sephie.
"If it doesn't, I'll claw my way through the mountain if I have to, I'm not staying down here anymore!" said Tyroth with a still rather scratchy voice.
The team have survived their first encounter with both the falmer and the chaurus, but it was a bit close there for a while. I still remember when I first met those enemies, I wanted out of that cave badly, but they're always so damn long. (shivers)
Anyway, will the tunnel finally lead them out of the caves, or will they be stuck there longer still? What do you think?