Olivia was packing her bags when Tom entered the living room and made his way to the fridge.
"Morning, sunshine," she said.
Tom grunted as he opened the fridge.
"I hope that was a rested and ready for the day grunt," she said.
Tom sighed and noticed her packing her back. "What are you doing?"
"Getting ready to explore some caves I found in the fissure," she said.
"What? No, why?" said Tom quickly as he slammed the refrigerator door.
"Because that's why we're here, boyo," she said simply. "Scientific research."
"Right! Right," said Tom trying not to sound too anxious.
"I spotted something with one of the ICARUS scout drones," she said as she put up a map of the area on the TV. "It looks like a vein of auriferous quartz that could lead to a deposit of…"
"Gold," Tom finished.
"Gold is right!" said Olivia, somewhat surprised.
"And you think I don't listen to you."
"Oh, I know you just listen when it's convenient. Look," she said, pressing on the remote to show an area of the fissure. "It's here in sector nine."
"Way over there?" said Tom relieved. "Oh, that's perfect. It's nowhere near sector two."
"Sector two?" Olivia frowned.
"No! I mean, of all the sectors, sector two looks the most boring," he said. "You know, but nine? Nine looks awesome."
Then suddenly, Sledkin appeared on the monitor, giving them a false smile.
"Good morning, Olivia," she said.
"Dr Sledkin…" said Olivia suspiciously.
"There's been a change of plans," said Sledkin. "Director Wong and I need you to map some caves in sector two."
"Sector two?" Olivia frowned. "The mineral deposit is in sector nine."
"Yes. I'll lead a team there to check out your quartz discovery."
"You'll lead?" said Olivia narrowing her eyes.
"I've checked with Rakke Corp, and they'd prefer you to do the mapping. You are, after all, the explorer in the group, aren't you?"
"Great," Olivia grumbled. "Looks like I'm heading to sector two after all."
Tom silently panicked, knowing that this was very bad.
When Tom met the others back in the Lair, he immediately informed them of the situation.
"Your mom is going to sector two," said D'Angelo clutching his head as he began to panic. "That is the entrance to the Hidden World!"
"I felt like something was off during my morning meditation," said Jun. "This is bad."
"No. Running out of cinnamon toast is that," said Alex. "This is a stage five disaster! If she learns the secret of dragons, everyone will find out, and Feathers will end up in a zoo, but no one will come to see her, not even cute little kids, cos they won't be able to see her cos she'll be invisible in her own cage!"
She then immediately hugged Feathers.
"Well, at least none of us are freaking out with the imminent danger of the secret getting out," said James.
"So you're not at all worried for your dragon?" Alex asked.
"Of course, I'm worried for Blade; the last thing I want is to have him on an operating table," said James.
"And Plowhorn's been through enough already," said D'Angelo and turned to Plowhorn. "Right, girl?"
He gasped as he witnessed Wu and Wei creating rings of ice and have them planned carefully on Plowhorn's horn like they were hoopla rings.
"Oh, great," said D'Angelo. "They're already learning circus tricks. Knock it off, you three! Who taught you that anyway?"
The two dragons then immediately ran up to Jun, who smiled at him innocently.
"What if we needed to run away and join a creepy, haunted circus?" she said.
"No one is running off with the circuits. I've got a plan," Tom assured everyone. He then turned to the protection of the fissure on the wall. "This cave is where my mom is headed. So all you guys have to do is collapse the mouth of the cave here, where it enters the dragon world. Make it a dead end. Then, Mom and I will have to turn back. Easy."
"Wait, you're going with her?" Jun asked.
Tom rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, she doesn't know it yet, but, uh, you know, someone's got to slow her down and buy you guys some time."
"Divide and conquer," D'Angelo smiled. "Hmm… my favourite battle strategy! What a perfect opportunity to showcase my leadership skills."
He then quickly mounted Plowhorn excitedly. "Mount up, Dragon Riders! And fall in behind the Plow-train! Choo-choo!"
James and the girls just looked at him.
"Whoa, wait. Why are you the leader of this mission?" Jun asked.
"And you shouldn't make decisions arbitrarily," James added.
"We should just work as a team," said Alex.
"Of course, we should," D'Angelo agreed. "Team D'Angelo! My dad's been preparing me for this for my whole life. Let's ride!"
"This is why I work alone," said Alex.
"All right, get going," said Tom. "I have to hurry. Mom's chopper leaves soon."
They began to move out, but Thunder growled sadly, clearly wanting to go with Tom.
"Uh… sorry, Pal. You've got to stay with the team. You're no Feathers when it comes to stealth," said Tom rubbing his head. He turned around and immediately jumped when he came face-to-face with Feathers, who turned invisible. "See?"
He rubbed Thunder one last time before making his way to the exit.
"Wait, Tom!" said Jun. "What if your mom won't let you go with her?"
"Come on," he said. "I'm her son. What's she going to say 'no'?!"
"No way, Tom!" said Olivia after Tom asked to join her. "The caves I'm exploring here are uncharted. There's no telling what I'll run into down there."
"You know I can do this," Tom argued. "We've explored half the world together. It'll be like old times."
"I know you're capable, boyo," said Olivia softly. "It's just… you know the rules here."
"We used to make our own rules," Tom grumbled. "Now, we can't do anything unless Sledkin's says it's okay. Well… I guess she is the boss."
Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Tom, I know what you're trying to do. And it's working. You'd better get on the chopper before I change my mind."
Tom then rushed excitedly to the helicopter, followed closely by his mother. Once they sat inside, they bumped fists, and Tom closed the door before the helicopters took off.
At the same time, Team D'Angelo had reached the entrance to the Hidden World, and D'Angelo began barking out orders.
"All right, Team D'Angelo," he said as if he was a drill sergeant. "We need to commence with Operation Cave Collapse. Looking good, Cadet Plow. Aren't you cute?"
Plowhorn just stood there and growled.
"So, what is our first course of action, Cadet Wong?" D'Angelo asked, turning to Jun.
"Oh, oh," said Jun, realising he was talking to her. "Cadet Wong. You need me?"
D'Angelo nodded.
"Well, our entire objective is to block the cave, so our first course of action would be to… block the cave?" she said, shrugging at the others.
"Correct!" said D'Angelo and then turned his eyes over to Alex. "But how would we do that, Cadet Gonzalez?"
"You're the leader. Why don't you tell us?" Alex asked.
D'Angelo then looked at James. "What about Cadet Carlson? Do you have any ideas?"
"Well, we do currently have five very powerful dragons with us, so maybe they can block the cave," James suggested.
"Very good," said D'Angelo, then turned to Thunder. "Cadet Thunder! Blast the ceiling!"
Thunder, however, just stood there and merely looked around.
"What's up with you, Thunder?" D'Angelo asked. "Blast that ceiling!"
"You only take orders from Tom," said Alex. "There's so co-dependent. Right, Feathers?" She then began stroking Feathers and began speaking to her with a baby voice. "Oh yes, they are! They are so…"
Jun then stepped forward. "Come on, D'Angelo. We have to move quickly. Tom's counting on us."
"And he can only delay his mum is so long," James added.
"Okay, okay, I'm working on it," said D'Angelo. "Come on. Private Plowhorn, show the slackers what you got."
Plowhorn then stepped forward then blasted the ceiling with one of her loogie bombs. Rubble then immediately fell from the ceiling and blocked most of the cave entrance.
"Very nice. Very nice!" said D'Angelo approvingly. "Almost there. We just need a little more firepower. Feathers, Blade, Wu Wei, Thunder, you're up."
The dragons then stepped forward.
"D'Angelo, it's almost ready to fall," Jun pointed out. "I really don't think we need that much power."
D'Angelo gasped at her. "You can never have too much power. Dragons! Fire!"
All of their dragons immediately blasted the ceiling.
"Incoming!" D'Angelo yelled.
They all hit the deck as the ceiling collapsed, but when they looked back, they discovered that the cave entrance was now wider.
"Use enough power there, D?" Alex asked.
"Cadet Slacker has a question, sir," said Jun raising her hand. "Were we or were we not supposed to make the hole smaller, not bigger?"
"I think we might need a new plan of attack," James suggested.
"No, the plan will work. We just need more power," said D'Angelo stubbornly. "Thunder, you're up!"
However, when they turned around, they found Thunder was gone.
"Thunder? Where are you?" D'Angelo called. "Thunder! Don't tell me he's absent without leave. Yo! Sparky!"
However, there was no reply, and he sighed. "That's okay. That is okay." He then made his way to the rubble, began picking up rocks and started to stack them. "Lead… by example. That's what Pop always says. I'll just do it myself."
Plowhorn growled to get his attention, but he was more preoccupied with stacking the rocks, which just simply fell off stacked them.
"Not now, girl," he said. "I've got a mission to accomplish. Lift with your back. Ow! Or is it the legs?"
Plowhorn walked away from him and gestured to the others to follow her. Then they watched as she flew away down into the cave.
"I think Plowhorn wants us to follow her," said Jun.
"Yes. Let's follow the vague gestures of a debatable motivator dragon even deeper into the scary cave!" said Alex.
"Or we could stay here and watch D'Angelo play soldier," said James.
Alex sighed. "Okay, fine."
"Voila," said D'Angelo as he stacked another piece of rubble.
Unfortunately, the rubble slid off and landed right on top of him.
"It's okay," he said as he stood up, slightly dazed, with a large rock resting on his head. "I've got it figured out now."
Then, he noticed that Jun and the others had mounted their dragons and took off after Plowhorn.
"Tom just activated his beacon," said Alex looking at her tablet. "That means he and his mom are in the cave. I hope he's able to slow her down."
"Hey!" D'Angelo yelled, running after them. "You have to listen to me! I'm the leader! What is this? Everyone can't just go AWOL!"
Tom and Olivia had just reached the mouth of sector two, and after dropping them off, the helicopter left.
"Okay. This is it," said Olivia as they made their way deeper. "Our first real expedition into the fissure."
"You mean the Kullersen Fissure," said Tom, then suddenly came to a stop. "Wait, wait, wait! We should commemorate this moment with a… a video!"
He then pulled out his phone and pulled his mother closer towards him as he recorded them.
"Two Kullersens heading into the Kullersen Fissure," he said. "How about a speech, Mom? This is history, after all."
"I'm just happy I get to explore this place with my son," she smiled.
"Me too, Mom," said Tom as he lowered his phone. "We deserve it."
The two of them then bumped fists.
"Okay, let's get going," said Olivia.
"Uh, wait, wait, wait!" said Tom quickly. "We need a better sign-off for the video. Come on."
"Come on, boyo," said Olivia rolling her eyes as she began making her way deeper into the cave. "Less recording, more exploring."
Tom sighed and followed her, unaware that Thunder was observing them in the shadows.
Once they entered another cavern, Olivia shone her torch on rock formations around them.
"Yep, just as I thought," said Olivia. "Not only gold but there is a lot of magnetite in here. This is a good spot to start mapping."
"Oh, right. Yeah," said Tom as she removed her bag. "You know what? We should probably go back and start from the beginning. We want to be thorough."
"No, we're good here," said Olivia as she reached into her back. "The opening of the cave was already mapped." She then pulled out a scanner and sighted as she reminisced. "Remember when all we had were rock hammers, chisels and the occasional blister? Now, look at us. Here, what do the honours?"
She then tossed in the scammer, but he couldn't get a firm grip on it, so it bounced around until it hit the ground. Unfortunately, the scanner was already active, and the scanning light accidentally hit his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
"Tom?" said Olivia looking concerned.
"I'm okay! I'm okay," Tom assured her as he backed away.
"Stop!" she yelled. "Don't move another inch!"
Tom got his site when he looked behind me and saw that he easily stepped over the ledge that entered into a deep hole with geysers shooting out of it.
Olivia quickly grabbed him and pulled him back. "It's okay. I got you."
Tom sighed with relief.
"I shouldn't have let you come," she said and looked into the hole and watched as the geysers kept on blasting.
At the same time, Plowhorn had led everyone, except for D'Angelo, into the crystal cavern.
"What is it, Plowhorn?" Jun asked.
"Something helpful, perhaps?" said Alex.
It was then that they encountered a new dragon; this dragon resembled a boar with its tasks and springlike tail. It just sat there throwing up lava every few seconds.
"Ew…" said the girls.
"That's actually kind of gross," said Alex and then it threw up lava again. "Beyond gross!"
"Not to mention incredibly dangerous," said James looking at Plowhorn. "Is this what you want to show us?"
Plowhorn nodded.
D'Angelo finally caught up to them, panting heavily. "Oh, hey! Didn't you… Didn't you hear me yelling?"
"You mean right now or all morning?" Alex asked.
"I haven't been yelling. I have been leading!" D'Angelo yelled. "Just like my pops!"
"Then we have a different definition of the word leading," said James.
Before D'Angelo could argue any more, the lava dragon just threw up more lava.
"What is with the barfy dragon?" he asked.
"Plowhorn brought us here for some reason," said Jun.
"Which you would have noticed if you had been listening to, well, anyone but yourself," said Alex.
"It's dragon's to be able to breathe hot magma non-stop," said James.
D'Angelo looked back at the Magma Breather and gasped. "Yeah! Plowhorn, you're such a smart girl. This dragon can plug the hole with lava that hardens into rock. Way to go, Team D'Angelo!"
"Question is, how are we going to get this big, beautiful dragon all the way back to the caves?" Jun asked.
"Pfft!" D'Angelo scoffed. "Have no fear. D'Angelo is here."
He then confidently approached the Magma Breather, and the others just looked at one another.
"This is not going to end well," said James.
"Are we just going to hang back and watch this?" Jun asked.
"No," said Alex pulling out her tablet. "We're going to watch, we're going to laugh, I'm going to record it for prosperity."
"No, no," said Jun pushing the tablet down.
"Okay, Mr Magma Breather, considers yourself commandeered," D'Angelo announced. "You're now a member of team D'Angelo. I'm going to need you to get your lava-spewing behind moving! Let's go!"
The Magma Breather apparently did not want to move, and he took exception when D'Angelo grabbed his tasks and began to pull. He roared loudly at D'Angelo, nearly biting his head off, causing him to fall his back.
"You're going to let him do like that?" D'Angelo asked, looking at Plowhorn.
Plowhorn merely turned her head away from him.
"Try pushing him from the back!" Alex suggested.
"Better leverage!" said Jun as he got up.
"Yeah, and less teeth," said D'Angelo, reaching the dragon's rear.
He then began pushing the Magma Breather from behind, pressing against his tail. Sadly he still wouldn't budge an inch, and his springlike tail catapulted D'Angelo to the other side of the cavern.
"Well, I think it's safe to say we're not going to move him by force," said James.
"Should we go help him?" Jun asked.
Alex shrugged. "Hmm, okay."
The two girls then made their way to the Magma Breather and tried a different approach.
"Hey, there, big guy!" said Jun and began to rub his face. "You're not a mean dragon, are you?
"Come on, buddy," said Alex beating him some cheesy loops. "Let's go."
"Come on! All right!" said Jun trying to guide him forwards.
However, the Magma Breather still refused to move; he looked even more annoyed now.
"And it looks as if bargaining with him is out of the question as well," said James scratching the back of his head.
"Ha! See?" said D'Angelo smugly. "Time for some tough love." Then before anyone could stop him, he jumped onto the Magma Breather's back. "Emphasis on the tough. Let's ride!"
However, the Magma Breather didn't like anyone riding on his back and did everything he could to throw D'Angelo off him. D'Angelo held on to him as tightly as he could, as if he was riding a bucking bronco screaming as he did.
"Well, that's something you don't see every day," said Jun taking notes in her notebook.
D'Angelo could no longer hold onto the Magma Breather and was thrown off his back. Everyone watched in winced as he landed on the floor face-first.
"I'm okay," he groaned. "Can you break a solar plexus?"
Before he could get an answer to that question, the Magma Breather flew down towards him, clearly looking for blood.
"Ah! Sit! Heel!" D'Angelo screamed and immediately ran away with the dragon hot on his heels.
"Well, at least he's moving now," said James.
Jun then got an idea. "Hmm, I think I know how to get that dragon back to the cave." She then turned to Plowhorn. "Plowhorn, go scoop up your buddy."
Plowhorn did so happily and took off. She quickly flew towards D'Angelo and quickly scooped him up with her horn. D'Angelo sighed with relief but then noticed that the Magma Breather was still following them.
"Ah! Fly faster, girl! Fly faster!" D'Angelo cried.
Meanwhile, Sledkin had finished scanning the area in sector nine but did not find any gold, much to her disappointment.
"Olivia was wrong," she said. "This is just an intermediate crystal shear. I should've known better." She then turned to Linda, who was assisting her. "She back at ICARUS yet?"
"Uh, nope," said Linda. "She's still in sector two. Maybe she found something?" When she looked back at Sledkin, she could see the furious look on her face. "I mean, you know, maybe? Probably not…"
Sledkin then pushed her as, looked at the computer, and saw that Olivia was indeed still in sector two. This annoyed her to no end, as she had purposely put Olivia there so that she would find nothing.
In sector two, Olivia and Tom were still exploring the caves, and she marvelled at the geysers.
"With all this geothermal activity, must be a treasure trove of mineral deposits on the other side," she said, and another geyser erupted right in front of them. "But it is a little hairy."
She then reached into her bag and pulled out a safety tether, wrapping one end around her waist and giving Tom the other.
"Here. Safety tether," she said as Tom wrapped around his waist. "Okay…"
Tom nodded, and they slowly made their way over the small bridge that reached the other side of the hole.
"Slow and steady," said Olivia as another geyser blasted next to them. "Don't look down."
The moment she said that Tom looked down towards the bottomless hole they were currently crossing.
"Uh… I looked down," he said.
Olivia managed to reach a boulder next to the bridge. She gave a sigh of relief and gave Tom the thumbs up. He slowly made his way over towards extending his hand, which she grabbed and pulled him towards her.
"Okay! Good job!" she said, placing her hand against the boulder. "The rest of the way is a cakewalk."
Unfortunately, the boulder she was leaning on slid off the bridge, causing them to lose their footing.
"Mom!" Tom yelled as they each fell over opposite ends of the bridge.
Their safety tether caught around the bridge, saving them from falling to their death.
"Hold on!" Olivia yelled and began climbing up the tether.
Tom then saw Thunder flying down towards them, causing him to panic.
"No, no, no!" he yelled repeatedly.
"Huh?" Olivia frowned, and Thunder quickly flew away. "Climb… up… the rope."
The two of them began climbing up the rope, but as they did, it continued to brush against the bridge, causing it to crack. Olivia just grabbed hold of the bridge when the rope snapped, but thankfully both of them were able to grab hold of the lead before they fell.
"I'm slipping!" Olivia yelled, unable to get a good hold of the bridge.
"Quick! Mom, your hammer!" Tom yelled, falling out his pickaxe.
Olivia did the same, and they immediately used them to climb back up onto the bridge. Once they climbed back up, the two of them began catching their breath, and Tom saw Thunder hovering close by, but he then flew away once he was certain they were safe.
Olivia got to her feet and helped Tom onto his. Then they got as far away from the bridge as possible.
"Hoo! That was close," said Tom.
"But we kept our cool, and we trusted each other, like always," said Olivia putting her hand on his shoulders.
Tom immediately for a little ashamed when she said that.
Olivia then found a gust of wind. "Pressure changes. There must be a large cavern up ahead. Come on!"
The two of them then ran towards the cavern, and Thunder followed them close by, making sure to stay out of sight.
Tom knew they were getting closer to the entrance to the Hidden World, and he had to slow his mother down. He looked behind him and saw Thunder hanging to a rock pillar, looking at him.
"I know I've got to slow her down, Pal," he said. "Just stay hidden.
Thunder quickly flew up towards the ceiling, and Tom looked at the wall next to him and got an idea.
"Mom! Come back!" he yelled. "There's something here!"
Olivia approached him as he began chiselling away at the stone wall with his pickaxe.
"Looks like calcite," she said, examining the stone. "Pretty, but nothing special."
"Digger's hunch, Mom. If you told me anything, it's never to ignore a hunch."
Olivia decided to humour and pulled out her own pickaxe and began chiselling away at the stone as well.
"Just like old times," said Tom looking at her.
Olivia chuckled. "We've done a lot together."
"Yeah. I really missed this, Mom."
They kept chiselling away at the wall until they broke a piece of it and embedded a glowing green crystal inside it.
"Look at that. It's glowing," said Olivia stunned and began to pull it out. "What a strange piece."
Tom was rather surprised, he didn't expect them to actually find something, but he recognised this type of crystal. He had seen plenty of them within the Hidden World.
"I've seen that stuff before," he said absentmindedly.
"You have? Where?" Olivia asked, intrigued.
Tom quickly realised his mistake. "Oh! Uh, I don't know. Probably on the Internet?"
"Well, I haven't," said Olivia as she examined the crystal. "Guess it could just be some rare phosphorus and quartz, but who knows? Maybe it's something new." She then looked back at Tom, smiling. "You know, it was always so special that you wanted to explore with me, Tom. And I… I always hoped, really hoped, that we would discover something amazing together."
"Me too, Mom," said Tom honestly. However, he knew he was still keeping a big secret from her. "Mom, I have something I want to tell you."
Olivia smiled. "I was wondering when you were going to get to it. Whatever secret it is you've been keeping from me—the sneaking around, the long hikes, not answering my texts—you don't think I know you?" She then nudged him gently with her elbow. "Come on. It's me. Now spill it, boyo."
"Couldn't find a sitter, Olivia?" said a voice behind them before Tom could speak.
They quickly looked around and saw Sledkin standing there with her hands on her hips.
"Tom's a more accomplished cave explorer than half of your staff," said Olivia placing a hand on Tom's shoulder.
"Oh, I've heard about all your adventures," said Sledkin. "Let's not forget it may be named after you, but this is not your personal fissure."
"I'm proud it has my name on it," said Olivia. "Mine and Tom's, but I know it belongs to the world."
"Wrong. It belongs to the Rakke Corporation, as does everything we find in it, all the way down to Earth's core."
Tom looked up at Thunder, who was clinging onto a stalactite and making sure to stay out of sight. He then saw in the corner of his eye Olivia putting this strange crystal in her pocket.
"So, you were about to spill something, young Tom?" said Sledkin.
"Nothing you would understand," he said.
Then suddenly, they heard a large booming sound deep in the cave.
"Uh-oh," said Tom. "That didn't sound good. We should probably head back."
"We should investigate," Olivia and Sledkin said in unison.
Then the two of them ran deep into the cave.
Thunder then landed on the ground and looked at Tom, slightly concerned.
"I hope the other guys got the cake looked up, Pal or things are about to get a whole lot worse," said Tom hopefully.
D'Angelo was busy flying around trying to avoid getting hit by modern magma, which the Magma Breather constantly fired at him.
"This dragon is pure evil!" D'Angelo screamed.
"No, he just doesn't like you!" James yelled.
"Tom and Dr Kullersen are almost at the cave opening, and they're not alone!" Alex informed them, looking at her tablet.
Plowhorn continued flying around, dodging the Magma Breather's blasts, gradually getting them closer to the cave opening.
"Shouldn't we help D'Angelo?" James asked.
"No, no, no! This is exactly what we need!" said Jun and looked at D'Angelo. "Plowhorn is using you as bait."
"Bait? That's not true, is it, girl?" D'Angelo asked, looking at her, and she growled to confirm this. "Aw, man. This is no way to treat the leader of Team D'Angelo!"
Plowhorn then suddenly had to move that she moved so fast that D'Angelo slipped off her back and headed towards the ground. She then immediately flew down to catch him, but he bounced off her back and hit the ground hard.
"Ow!" D'Angelo groaned.
He then looked up and saw the Magma Breather hovering directly in front of him, preparing to last him with molten lava.
"I'm cooked," he said.
The Magma Breather fired a blast of molten lava at him, but Plowhorn swooped towards him. D'Angelo quickly grabbed, and she pulled him to safety moments before he would have been hit by the lava. The Magma Breather was now filling up the opening with an endless stream of lava.
"Yeah!" Alex cheered. "Plug up that whole!"
"Yeah! I guess Team D'Angelo did it after all!" D'Angelo yelled triumphantly. He then looked at the others and gave him dubious looks, as did Plowhorn. "Guess I didn't do a very good job of following in my pop's footsteps."
"That's the problem," said Jun. "You're not your dad. Your D'Angelo."
"Which is also the solution," Alex added. "You make your own footsteps. And if the Magma Breather didn't hate you, none of this would have worked."
"And also, you weren't really leading," said James. "You were barking out orders expecting everyone to follow. A good leader would listen to his team as well as having trust in themselves."
"Yeah," D'Angelo agreed.
He then looked at the Magma Breather, who was stopping spewing out molten lava.
"Does that they have an off switch?" D'Angelo asked.
Tom finally caught up with Olivia and Sledkin, and they were starting to see crystals from the Hidden World.
"Amazing!" Olivia gasped. "This entire cave system is becoming a crystal formation."
"I never imagined such a thing down here," said Sledkin.
"You don't know the half of it," said Tom under his breath.
Then suddenly, they felt the temperature increase sharply and could see something glowing around the corner.
"Whoa! That was really hot," said Tom.
"Dramatic temperature change could mean a magma event," said Olivia.
"Probably just geothermal activity," said Sledkin.
"I'll take a look," said Tom.
He looked around the corner immediately, gasped, and seconds later, Olivia and Sledkin joined him. They're all free of them and could see molten lava heading straight towards them.
"Run!" they all yelled in unison.
They quickly ran back the way they came; Tom ran ahead of them but stopped and looked back at the others.
"Just keep running, Tom!" Olivia yelled.
Tom nodded and continued making his way back down the cavern.
Sledkin then tripped, and she would have been roasted in hot magma if Olivia hadn't come back for her.
"Come on!" Olivia yelled, pulling her back out.
They continued running through the cave once she was back on her feet.
Tom was far enough ahead of them for Thunder to swoop down and pick him up.
"Okay, Pal. Just stay hidden," said Tom as they flew on ahead.
When they turned round the corner, they saw a lot of stalagmites blocking the path. Tom remembered that while navigating their way around for the first time, and this time, they had hot lava on their tails.
"Let's clear a path for Mom," said Tom.
Thunder immediately fired lightning, destroying the stalagmites and clearing a path.
"Yeah! Blast them down!" Tom yelled.
They then flew further down the tunnel, and seconds later, Olivia and Sledkin turned round the corner. There were so fixated on running ahead of the lava that they didn't notice the lack of stalagmites in their path.
Tom soon entered the cavern with all the geysers and just flew over the stone bridge when it was struck by one of the geysers. The hot steam was enough to expand the cracks already on the bridge, causing it to crumble.
"Oh man, there's no way they can make it over that!" said Tom.
"Keep moving!" Olivia's voice yelled.
"I am!" said Sledkin's irritated voice.
"Sledkin," said Tom. He knew she wouldn't hesitate to put Thunder and then take him to a lab to experiment. "She can't see you. What do we do?"
Thunder then flew into the ground sharply, much to Tom's surprise. Once on the ground, he quickly jumped off Thunder, who then quickly flew back up towards the ceiling. He then blasted the stalactite, causing it to fall directly onto the demolished bridge, creating a new one.
"Whoa…" said Tom.
Olivia and Sledkin had just arrived in time to see the stalactite fall.
"What?!" Sledkin gasped. "But how?"
"Uh, geysers went crazy?" said Tom.
"Tell us about it later!" Olivia yelled as the lava drew ever closer.
All three of them quickly ran across the bridge. Both Tom and Sledkin managed to reach the other side, but the ledge where the stalactite rested crumbled with Olivia still on it.
"Mom!" Tom yelled.
Olivia kept on running as it slowly began falling into the hole, and with one good jump, she managed to reach the alleged just in time.
"You okay?" Tom asked, rushing to her side.
"I'm fine, Tommy," she assured him, and he helped her up.
They then looked back at the stream of lava that completely blocked the cave entrance, and now there was no way to cross the ravine.
"Seems nothing has changed," said Sledkin looking disappointed. "Everywhere the two of you go, chaos seems to follow."
She then walked away, leaving the two of them alone.
"Well, I guess this expedition proved one thing," said Olivia looking at Tom and holding out the strange green crystal. "If there's something bigger in here worth finding, we'll find it. Then, we will share it with the world."
Tom got a little apprehensive when she said that.
"Oh, and I didn't forget about your secret, boyo," she added as she put the crystal in her pocket. "But I trust you, and I want you to tell me when you're ready."
"Thanks, Mom," he smiled.
She then walked away. Once she was gone, he looked up at Thunder, who was hiding close by. He smiled at him, grateful that he followed him; things would have been a lot worse if he hadn't. Then he ran after his mother, not wanting to make her suspicious.
Tom returned to the Hidden World, where the other Riders introduced him to the Magma Breather, still spewing lava.
"Huh. That's kind of gross," he said.
"Just don't get too close and yell in his face," D'Angelo advised. "Apparently, he doesn't like it." He then saw the others looking at him with raised eyebrows. "Guess nobody does."
"Well, this was awesome," said Tom. "We met a new dragon and kept my mom and Sledkin from finding out the secret. Total win! Go, Team D'Angelo!"
He then noticed the others weren't sharing his enthusiasm. "What did I say?"
"We're not Team D'Angelo," said D'Angelo. "We're a team of Dragon Riders." He then immediately wrapped his arms around them, pulling them in a hug. "Dragon Riders!"
"Dragon hug!" Jun cheered at the dragons joined in.
"Go, team!" James yelled.
"Okay, okay. Personal space," said Alex, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Tom smiled and then saw two small dragons breathing fire, the same crystal he and his mum had found. The crystal seemed to glow brightly at the moment the flames struck them, and the two dragons nestled in the crystals.
"You ever figure out what those dragons are doing?" Tom asked as this was not the first time they witnessed this.
"Me? You're the son of a geologist," Jun reminded him. "All I know is that they seem to love those crystals."
"Yeah," said Tom as the dragons flew away from the crystals. He felt slightly troubled looking at those crystals, though he wasn't sure why. "They sure do."