Chapter 6:
Perisher's Keep
Cynder, Flame and Ember tapered their excitement by remembering the danger they were also in; speaking through their looks to each other as the rest of the troop slowly moved out of the cave to join them, the moles forming a loose defensive perimeter as they spread out across the bottom of the gorge. Leofwin doused the torch out in a short mound of snow before walking out with Eliza at his side to join with them. The dragon trio gazed anxiously above and around their new surroundings as the wind whistled a shrieking tune like a lost soul. The ridges and dead roots on the high walls of black rock were streaked with fallen snow and tooth like icicles, the gorge stretching on for as far as anyone could see in either direction. To the right of the cave, the gorge narrowed into a tight trench less than thirty feet wide at the base, though it appeared to widen again the longer it went. To the left, the gorge opened into a large expanse in an uneven shape, splitting off into a rough 'Y' shape that split some distance further down. A decent carpet of snow covered the floor of the gorge, though fallen rocks and crumbling pieces of old fortress wall stood out well enough amidst it all. Even with the snow, any fall from the top would assuredly be fatal for those without wings.
"The maps have bought us this far," Hunter remarked to them all at low volume, turning and pointing to the other side of the gorge across from the cave mouth, "Now somewhere on this side, there is meant to be a hidden passage that will lead us into the Keep. Leofwin, Eliza, take a few moles and set up lookouts. The rest of us will begin searching for this passage. You three," he said with an added level of concern in his voice as he addressed Cynder, Ember and Flame, "Stay with me. If anyone finds anything, don't shout, just quietly bring it to my attention. Alright, let's get to it."
Everyone nodded silently, Eliza and Leofwin selecting a handful of Mole at Arms for sentry duty as the rest began fanning out across the freezing gorge, the trio of young dragons sharing an uneasy glance with each other before they moved to follow Hunter, who set off to the right further down the gorge. He took only a few steps towards the narrow wedge, apparently deciding against any of them trying to fit through for now and stay this side of it with the others. Cynder stepped up to the rockface, propping herself up on her hind legs with her front paws against the rock, barely containing the urge to gasp as the frigid surface fed back through her paws.
"Try to find anything unnatural, anything that stands out," she whispered to Flame and Ember who moved up beside her, the black dragoness shuffling her paws along the uneven rockface, trying her luck to find a hidden switch or opening.
"This place is unnaturally creepy!" Flame remarked in a whisper, though seeming more annoyed by it than afraid, the red dragon slinking off to Cynder' s left as he hunched down and squinted like a dog tracking a scent, moving his nose close to the ground as Ember moved off to Hunter's side. She moved as he did, scanning the rocks for any sign as he occasionally looked at the sky less a Dreadwing flight or bored Troll just happened to glance down and spot them. Along the gorge, the others of the troop shuffled back and forth, the Mole at Arms climbing on boulders while their short legs struggled to trudge through deep snow pits. The Cheetah couple Eliza and Leofwin kept their longbows in hand as they paced back and forth through the gorge, they along with the selected Mole sentries kept their crossbows and eyes up at the sky and the top of the cliffs while the others searched. Cynder pushed herself along the face of the rock, shuffling her paws across as she tried to be methodical with her search, but the uneven ground made it difficult as loose rocks and debris buried under the snow made it hard keep her movements even. She looked up and around, trying to spot anything that might be a marker or something as a point of reference by the passage's original creators, yet the scattered icicles and dead roots failed to speak to her.
Meanwhile, Flame was moving along much quicker, again much like a hound tracking a scent, mingling with the Moles as he impatiently tried to find the supposed hidden door. He scurried along the wall of the gorge, his big red snout changing direction every few moments. He was hoping that somehow, he would repeat the success of the day he discovered the hidden passage behind the waterfall when he, Spyro and the others were playing hide and seek and found the raspy voiced Hermit. Somehow, he doubted that there would be the scent of dead fish to draw his attention this time, unless undead trolls happened to fish as well. He lifted his head as he walked along, gazing to his left where Eliza and Leofwin were moving around the middle of the gorge keeping watch at the sky. He saw the pair move their eyes down as they found themselves meeting each other's gaze, the Cheetah couple, stern faced and determined moments before, smiling tenderly to each other for just a pleasant moment before looking back to the sky for intruders. Flame was transfixed by this, right up to the moment he bumped into the back of one of the Mole soldiers.
"Oi! Watch it!" the Mole hissed as he spun angrily to the red dragon, his tiny eyes burning behind his winter googles.
"Sorry!" he replied with a sheepish grin before he quickly sidestepped and passed by the angry Mole, ducking his head low as if expecting something to come flying at him soon afterwards. Fortunately, it did not, and Flame paused by a large boulder that was sat several feet out from the wall of the gorge. He stood on his hind feet, front paws curled up like a meerkat, looked up and down on his right, then hopped back down and looked over his left shoulder. He kept it there as he looked across the troop and saw Cynder and Ember with Hunter as they shuffled along on their hind feet, searching every inch of the gorge wall for any sign or hint of the passage, slowly making their way closer to the rest of the group. His eyes invariably strayed to and stayed on Ember, the pink dragoness's moody expression unchanged as she occasionally glanced around her surroundings, even looking in his direction yet never seeing or acknowledging him, not at all like Eliza and Leofwin's affectionate gesture. But then they had nothing like the two Cheetahs did, as much as he wished it so.
'Why though?' the red dragon asked himself despondently, 'She's never thought of you like that. She only ever wanted Spyro…' With a sigh that was half angry, half sad, Flame looked away from Ember, impulsively taking off in a quick trot further ahead away from the others.
Ember's eyes locked onto Flame as she saw him turn his back, the pink dragoness seeing him take off in an apparent hurry towards the right hand of the 'Y' the gorge split into, quickly disappearing from view. She hopped down to all fours and trotted away from Hunter as she stared off to where Flame had gone off to.
"Hey," she said quietly to Cynder who was still standing up to her right, "You see where Flame went?"
Cynder rolled her head over her shoulder to her, "No, why?"
"He just took off around the corner. Maybe he's seen something," Ember suggested as she stared for a moment longer before she set off to catch up to him, clambering through the blanket of snow down the middle of the gorge.
"Wait! Ember!" the black dragoness called out only as loudly as she dared, gazing up cautiously less her voice echo all the way up the walls. Ember did not heed her as she trotted across to where she had seen Flame go, Cynder dropping down to all fours to follow them.
"What goes?" Hunter asked her from behind, taking note of the action.
"Em's gone after Flame," she replied tersely, an abbreviation she knew Ember hated, "I'll go see."
"Be careful," Hunter told her seriously, "Don't get too far ahead."
Cynder offered no reply as she took off in a run, following the tracks left by Ember as she rushed ahead and headed around the corner where she had seen Flame go. The Moles and Eliza and Leofwin glanced at her as she passed them by, the black dragoness regretting she could not merely shout after them to get her two companions back. Ahead of her, Ember had run down the right side of the split in the gorge, following the tracks left by Flame as they rounded a lefthand bend a short distance ahead. Taking the turn, Ember's heart jumped as she found the gorge suddenly dropped down by several meters, the sudden appearance of a ledge blending in with the snow nearly making her tumble as she leapt up at the last moment and glided down the short drop as another long stretch of the gorge came into view, along with Flame. Off to his right was another great cast of ice like a frozen stream pouring down the side of the gorge wall, streaked with a curtain of snowflakes. The red dragon spun around in surprise as he heard her touch down into the snow, his eyes noticeably puffy.
"Flame, what are you doing?" Ember asked in a confused but cross manner.
"Oh, hi, Ember" he replied meekly, ducking his head as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his paw, "Didn't know you were following me."
"What's the matter?" she asked as he wiped his eyes and his nostrils frantically, "Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, I…" he answered uneasily, swallowing hard with embarrassment that she had caught him crying, "I just got, er, snowflakes in my eyes, yeah," he said as he made a show of wiping his eyes out of the imaginary snowflakes, "Didn't know snow could sting so much, right?"
"What are you doing rushing out here all alone?" Ember demanded, seemingly none the wiser to his dishonesty and heartache. Flame nervously avoided eye contact with her as he gazed around the frozen gorge.
"Well, I figured I should scout ahead, you know?" he answered sorely, "I mean we could have been all wasting our time searching every inch of snow back there when the cave could be right here!"
Ember seemed unimpressed by his reply as she shook her head in annoyance, when a sound of feet touching down behind her caught her attention. She and Flame looked to see Cynder making her own landing from the ledge behind them.
"What's the matter?" the black dragoness asked briskly, "Why the big rush?"
"It's nothing," Ember replied bluntly, not seeing the hurt that flashed in Flame's eyes, "Flame was just getting ahead of himself."
Cynder scowled as she looked at the red dragon's pained expression and then to Ember's seeming indifference.
"Nothing?" she repeated doubtfully, stepping towards the red dragon, "Can't you see he's been crying? Are you okay, Flame?" she asked softly, the red dragon sternly looking away to his left to try and hide his face.
"It's nothing!" he snapped tensely, "Just snowflakes in my eyes," he said as Cynder stood before him and peered in closer.
Ember rolled her eyes with a sigh, "See? Like I said."
Cynder turned her head to the pink dragoness, a scornful look on her face as she scanned her dismissive appearance.
"Snowflakes huh? Well, it wouldn't hurt to be a little more sensitive. We're supposed to look out for each other."
"And I was," Ember retorted coldly, "I saw him take off and thought it was something important, but he came down here thinking this door we are trying to find would be just around the corner with a big sign pointing to it!" she remarked sarcastically.
"Keep it down!" Cynder hissed, "Enough of that. Let's just get back before Hunter gets worried about us, alright?"
Ember huffed grumpily, "Alright," and turned her back to walk back towards the ledge they had come down from, Cynder eyeing her sorely as the pink dragoness strode off haughtily. She glanced over to Flame who was still looking off to his side, presumably to mask how hurt he was feeling.
As Ember made a flying leapt back onto the ledge, Cynder sighed and remarked quietly to her red scaled companion, "I don't know why you still pine for her, Flame…"
She cut herself off when she saw Flame start walking in the direction he was staring, through his strained eyes he seemed to have taken notice of something as he cautiously approached the frozen wall off to her side. The black dragoness tilted her head curiously, "Flame, you okay? What is it?"
He did not answer as he approached the mass of frozen water that cascaded over the lump ridden black stone of the gorge. The icy sculpture stretched from the ledge off to the right to about wide as the rivers of Avalar, the structure of the ice was dense with countless icicles streaking down its form. One curious detail was that it did not stretch near or all the way to the top of the gorge as most others did, evident of a frozen river or underwater stream flowing out from the rocks. Flame walked up to its center and nudged his nose against it. Before she could ask him again, the sound of a soft thump in the snow behind Cynder told her Ember had returned.
"What are we waiting for?" she demanded frustratedly as she wandered over to them.
"Does this look right to you?" Flame asked suspiciously as he continued to gaze deeply into the mass of ice in front of him.
"I don't know. What do you mean?" Cynder asked as she came and stood off to his right, Ember coming into a scowling halt just behind them.
"What is it?' she asked, her frustration giving away slightly to a hint of curiosity. Flame closed one eyed and turned his head on its side, peering into the center of the ice as he brushed away a small mound of snow that had built up around its base. As Cynder moved closer she saw him focusing on a small patch of discolored ice that appeared on the frozen wall. The rest of the formation was a suitable light blue, but this little patch was black, almost see through it seemed.
"It's like there's something behind it," Flame muttered as he tried tapping on the ice with his claws, listening and feeling how hard it was.
"You're probably just seeing the rock behind it. Its black after all," Ember suggested dismissively.
"So is the dark inside of cave," Cynder shot back with a glare, Flame turning his head to the front before confidently stepping back and standing upright. His chest drew in deeply as the corners of his mouth sparked with fiery orange sparks.
"Wait!" Ember began, but it was too late as the red dragon cast a focused cone of Fire breath into the wall of ice, the inferno glowing against the freezing environment as the two dragoness's frantically looked around, certain the blaze would bring attention. The inferno lasted but a few seconds, the spot he had been focused on melted away and shriveled as the whole ice wall creaked to the violence it had been subjected to.
"Look!" Flame exclaimed as he nodded to the gap of his own size he had made, "I can see through! There is a cave there!"
Cynder and Ember both gasped as they saw it themselves, just as a hurried voice called from atop the ledge, "What's going on?"
Turning, the three dragons looked up and saw Hunter standing on the ledge with the rest of the troop arriving behind him as numerous Mole at Arms alongside Eliza and Leofwin came hurrying into view. Hunter motioned for them to hold as he began clambering down the ledge towards the three dragons, Cynder moving up quickly to meet him.
"I think he's found the hidden passage!" she declared brightly, Hunter quickly waving his paw for her to lower her voice as he reached the bottom, Cynder ducking her head in embarrassment as she and Hunter strode over to the others.
"Really? Well done, young dragon!" Hunter said with a smirk, "You might have saved us hours of searching!"
The red dragon grinned as the Cheetah warrior strode up and patted the side of his horn in the way he might have patted a fellow Cheetah on the head. Ember had crept forward towards the hole that had been melted in the ice, hunching down as she peered through the dripping opening.
"It could just be any cave, though…" she remarked doubtfully as Hunter took a knee beside her. He ducked his head low and passed it through the opening, ignoring the water dripping down his head and neck as his sharp, feline eyes scanned around.
"What do you see, Hunter?" Flame asked anxiously. He did not answer straight away, but his intentions soon became clear as he began to unfasten the cage off his back which contained the falcon, Boyden, and carefully placed it on the ground, the bird making a short chirp as he did.
"Wait here," Hunter finally replied shortly as the Cheetah warrior lowered himself to his paws and knees, the three dragons taking a collective gasp as he crawled through the melted opening and passed into the dark interior beyond it. Cynder, Flame and Ember all stood back cautiously, but ready to go rushing in should the need for it arise as they heard the worried mumblings of the others up on the ledge. A minute passed without a sound or murmur from inside the cave, the cold air surrounding the three dragons seeping deep into their bones as worry turned into fear. Cynder watched as Flame began to rock slowly back and forth like he was preparing to run, contemplating whether to go charging in after their leader and friend.
"We should go after him," Flame declared firmly.
"Just relax," Ember told him with something close to concern, "Let's not do anything rash."
"Rash?" Flame repeated with a scowl, "Spyro wouldn't have waited like this! I say we go!"
"Flame, keep your voice down!" Cynder reminded him tensely, though the mention of their former member reopened the wound in her heart anytime she heard someone speak his name. She knew he was right as well; Spyro would not have waited if he thought Hunter was in danger.
"I'm going!" the red dragon declared with a stamp of his foot, his tail wriggling as he made to launch himself through the hole he had made, rushing forward a few steps as Cynder and Ember tried to stop him. Flame's eyes bulged as he skidded himself to a halt outside the hole as he was met by a pair of glistening emerald eyes coming back the other way.
"It's alright!" Hunter said calmly as his face emerged from the dark behind the wall of ice, Flame staggering back in surprise as the two dragonesses' sighed in relief at the sight of their returning leader.
"We thought something had happened," Cynder remarked as Hunter crawled out of the cave and rose back to his feet, brushing off the snow from his crimson tunic.
"Sorry, but I thought it best not to say anything while I was in there. No idea who or what might be listening on the other side," he explained.
"What'd you see?" asked Ember quickly, stepping up closer.
"It was hard to see much," Hunter replied cautiously, "But it's definitely not a natural formation. It has been mined out, which tells me this is our route into the Keep."
"So I did find it!" Flame exclaimed excitedly, a smug look appearing on his face which he egregiously flashed at Ember for her doubts, "The map was right!"
"Guess that means whoever sent it can be trusted then," Cynder mused thoughtfully.
Hunter chuckled grimly, "I admire your faith, Cynder. But only once we are away from here, with Volteer safely back with us will I wholeheartedly share your sentiment."
Hunter knelt down and picked up Boyden's cage gingerly, slipping the straps over his arms as he refastened it to his back, looking to Flame as he finished, "I'll get the others. Flame, you think you can muster enough strength to melt a passage large enough for all of us?"
"Can do!" he replied confidently, the red dragon grinning widely as he eyed the hole in the wall of ice, quivering with excitement at the prospect of melting down the entire frozen edifice as Hunter turned and started walking back towards the ledge. Flame drew another deep breath as Cynder and Ember stepped back to let him do his work.
"Let it rip, Fire boy," Ember said with something that sounded dangerously close to warm encouragement. Cynder watched his startled expression at what seemed like the first kind words in ages from her, the dragoness he was so hopelessly and perplexingly smitten with and who was apparently still completely oblivious to the fact.
"No problem," he answered back, the edges of his mouth flaring again with orange fire as he looked ahead and cast another cloud of it over the ice, wider and longer as he swiveled his head left and right to make a larger opening.
Bong! Bong! Bong!
Flame cut off the stream as a new sound filled the air, all eyes diverted upwards as a repeated clanging from high up above the edge of the gorge rang down; the sound of heavy alarm bells clanging from inside the old fortress!
"Take cover!" Hunter hissed as loud as he dared, rushing to the side of the gorge and pressing his back as flat as he could against it as the rest of the troop quickly began dispersing back away from the ledge.
"The cats out of the bag, now!" Ember growled as she and Flame quickly moved to the opposite sides of the melting ice wall, she left and he right, laying low in the snow as Cynder did the same, squeezing herself between a large lump of rock near the wall opposite the melting ice.
'Did they spot us? Was this a trap?' she thought fearfully, straining her eyes upward as the ringing of the bells kept echoing down the walls of the gorge, expecting any moment to see the ghoulish figures of the Trolls that now called the ruins home peering down or start appearing in the gorge itself. Suddenly a new sound appeared, a heavy thwak! like a giant bow being fired, Cynder turning her head up to the sky as she caught a glimpse of something shooting across the air from the direction of the keep. The sound repeated over and over, followed by the sight of what she knew to be ballista's shooting through the air, one after another, fired at the sky and not down at them.
"What's going on?" Flame called over to her. "The Trolls are shooting at something. Not at us…" she replied without taking her eyes off the action.
"Keep down!" Hunter reminded them as he shuffled along the wall, daring to peek out himself to get a better view of the action. The ballistae were then joined by large rocks launched by catapults as the target of the ordinance came into view. High above the gorge and the ruins, the profile of a formation of Dreadwings came into view, flying in long straight lines beside each other, stretching from one end of the sky to another as far as they could see. Clenched in their claws could be seen the fearsome barrel bombs that had laid waste to so much of Warfang and many other places, ready to be dropped right on top of them!
"Are they after us or the Trolls?" asked Ember aloud as she craned her head around to look up, the single formation of Dreadwings expanding into another close behind as they loomed overhead. As the front formation passed over the gorge, the sound of ballistae and catapults firing was added to by the nerve shredding, shrill whistle of falling barrel bombs!
"Cover!" Hunter shouted as he ducked down, the three dragons lying flat in the snow as the terrible whistle rang from above, Cynder's heart bouncing like a ball in her chest as the first blast rocked the ground. She closed her eyes and clasped her paws over her face as the sky filled with the terrible wail of bombs and groundbreaking explosions, the blasts erupting high above amidst the Troll infested ruins. A cluster of rocks struck one Dreadwing while twin ballistae speared another two, the three monsters and their riders plummeting as their bombs fell down with them. Hunter dared to peek just at the right moment, seeing the bomb strike the top of the gorge opposite the cave, showering the air in debris with the Dreadwing crashing into the gorge, tumbling across the snow before slamming to a stop against the opposite wall, mere meters from Ember and Flame. As snow and debris rained down, Cynder looked up to see the aftermath of the crash, the firing continuing up above as more Dreadwings came, dropping more bombs into the ruins on both sides of the gorge. The shaking of the ground jostled the walls of the gorge, Cynder watching as chunks of dirt, snow and rock began falling down the sides of it, threatening to bury them if they were unlucky. A shrill whistle made her duck down again as a barrel bomb came screaming down the gorge, striking the ground barely out of lethal range and erupting in a blossom of fire and black smoke.
"We can't stay here!" Flame shouted as the flying debris of the blast settled down, "Take cover in the cave! Cynder, Hunter, come on!" he said as he rushed towards Ember, seemingly trying to herd her into the cave.
"Wait!" Hunter called, "One hit and the tunnel could collapse on us!"
"Or we could get blown to bits out here!" Cynder shot back, dashing across the way towards the still melting ice wall as Flame stood behind Ember and encouraged her to go through. The ice had melted away enough for her to get through without ducking, Flame turning and eyeing Cynder as she rushed towards him, with Hunter breaking into a run himself in their direction.
"Lookout!" they heard him bellow. Cynder looked up and froze, catching sight of a barrel bomb screaming down, filling her vision as it plummeted right towards her! Her heart stopped for she knew in that moment there was no escape, the blast sure to be fatal to all of them even if they all reached the cave…
Cynder suddenly reared up on her back legs, her wings opening up as she, against all natural instincts in her body, pounced upward towards the oncoming bomb barrel, launching vertically as it screamed towards her! Hunter froze as he watched the spectacle; the black dragoness moments from colliding with the barrel as she, in the blink of an eye, launched backwards with a great thrust of her wings, channeling a great blast of elemental Wind through them and her maw as the bomb was sent hurtling down the gorge like a ball struck by a bat, sailing through the air away from them! The force of the windblast was enough to knock Cynder over backwards onto the ground as the bomb soared down the gorge and exploded far down from them.
"Cynder!" Hunter, Flame and Ember shouted together. All three rushed over to her as the black dragoness lay dazed on her back in the snow as she stared wide eyed at the sky above, her vision soon filled with the three faces of her companions. She was panting heavily as they leaned over her.
"Are you alright?" asked Hunter.
"Trying to show off again?" Ember said in feigned reprimand, her concern as obvious as the snow was white.
"Awesome!" Flame cheered brightly, "You saved us! You knocked that bomb right into next week!"
"Yeah…" Cynder replied in a dazed voice, another blast high up the gorge shook her from her state, a shower of rocks and snow rolling down the wall to its floor not far from them. Hunter grabbed her extended paw and helped to pull her on her side and back onto her feet.
"Let's get under cover! Move!" he cried as he pointed towards the cave, the black dragoness joining the others as they made a neck and neck dash for it, Hunter following close behind. Rocks and debris tumbled down, now in greater masses as several blasts seem to go off at once, above and inside the gorge. The dragon trio rushed under the ice wall, Hunter sliding under after them as they were greeted by a hole of seemingly endless darkness, but still they ran on to get away from the perilous entrance.
"Hold here!" Hunter exclaimed as he pulled himself to a halt, the excited dragons running a few steps more before they skidded to a stop, finding themselves standing in near total darkness as they caught their heaving breath, Cynder Ember and Flame turning as one and looking towards Hunter and the entrance where the only light there was shone back at them.
"Everyone okay?" Flame panted, his eyes wild with adrenaline as he looked up and around at the rumbling ceiling.
"Okay," Ember replied shortly, sitting on her haunches as she lifted a distressed paw over her heaving heart.
"All in one piece…" Cynder replied in an equal fashion, locking eyes with Hunter as he looked upon the three of them with concern as a sound like an earthquake bellowed outside and echoed down the cave.
A torrent of rock and crashing ice came pouring down outside, building up to the horror of the four inside as the little light there was began to be snuffed out. Hunter stumbled and threw himself intentionally on his front to spare Boyden the impact as the cascade of rock and snow poured over the entrance and flooded the tunnel with total darkness. Cynder's heart sank as the light vanished, standing helplessly as the cascading debris finally thinned out, the roar of its slide fading out as the cave stopped shuddering. After a few moments, the blasts seemed to have stopped as the only sound within the ominous cave was the heavy breathing of the three dragons and one Cheetah warrior.
"Everyone still okay?" Flame asked aloud as Cynder felt her wings touch those of Ember, the three of them having instinctively spread their wings out to feel for their companions standing beside them for reassurance.
"Just stay calm," they heard Hunter's voice ahead as his tentative footsteps came in their direction, "I have another torch, I just need young Flame to light it for us."
"Alright!" he squawked back, a plume of panicked Fire breath shooting out of his mouth that briefly lit up the surroundings in orange light, including Hunter who barely avoided the burst of fire.
"Watch it!" he growled, "Wait until I come to you first!"
There was a moment of embarrassed silence in the dark before the young red dragon's meek voice replied with, "Right…. Sorry, Hunter."
His steps came over closer, until he was standing just inches away and only now had their eyes adjusted enough to see him. Hunter reached out with the silhouette of a wooden torch in his paw, which he tapped lightly on Flame's snout to encourage him to conjure his element again. After hearing him gulp with embarrassment, Flame cast a modest burst of Fire breath which immediately lit up the torch and spread its glow over the group and around the cavern.
"Is anyone hurt?" asked Hunter quickly but calmly, holding the torch off in his right paw as he scanned his eyes over them, the three dragons looking between themselves and shaking their heads in answer.
"Alright," he replied with a nod, turning slowly with the torch until he faced the collapsed entrance, Cynder, Ember and Flame shuffling up close behind him as he stepped over closer to it. The flickering torchlight showed a dense mass of black boulders and frostbitten earth that has trapped them inside, tightly pressed loose dirt and snow continuing to seep through onto the floor like a bleeding wound. Hunter sidestepped with the torch as he patted his left paw against the barrier, poking his fingers into whatever crevices he could find, testing its rigidity as the trio of young dragons could only watch forlornly.
"Hunter, we're trapped!" Ember said with a frightful quiver in her voice, "What are we going to do?"
"Keep calm and keep our heads for a start," the Cheetah warrior replied carefully, jabbing and shoving his paws and fingers into the cave-in in as he tried to find anywhere that might give, "The bombing seems to have stopped at least…" he added mirthlessly.
As Flame and Ember watched his actions tensely, Cynder found herself needing a distraction and turned her head away from the blockade, gazing up and around at the cavern which Hunter had moments before described as unnatural. In the panic of the last minute or so she hadn't taken note, but now she scratched her claws along the floor and moved across to the left side wall, using the little light there was to examine the cold, coarse surface. The cavern was quite wide in height and diameter, large enough at least for three or four a fully grown dragons abreast to pass down with headroom to spare. It was formed in a roughly semicircle shape with the grain of the rock proving to be consistent with Hunter's remarks, the tunnel had been built out of the rock, carved with tools and hard labor. It reminded her of the tunnels beneath Warfang or the tunnels they had seen when visiting the Munitions Forge. But this immediately raised a question in her mind; if this secret passage had been built by moles, why was it unknown to anyone in the Legion before the arrival of the mysterious map?
Before she could ponder it further, she became distracted by Hunter as he began clawing dirt and snow from between the cracks where several large rocks had collapsed, hoping to find light on the other side and a way out. He paused and looked behind at the trio of faces looking back at him, frowning as an idea came to mind. "Ember, Flame, help me with this dirt," he ordered as he stepped towards them, the two moving aside and towards the blockade as requested before he laid the torch on the ground a short distance behind them, its glow radiating across the collapsed earth.
"Cynder, stay by the light and keep watch for us," he told her shortly. Cynder pushed aside her other thoughts and focused on the more immediate concern of surviving, nodding silently as she took up her post and stared out towards the dark. In a few moments, Hunter, Ember and Flame were digging into the blockade as Cynder gazed out into the pitch black, hiding how fearful she was about what could have been only a few meters in front of her but was completely invisible.
"I thought the Apes stayed away from this place," Flame remarked as he kept digging, "Why let loose on it all of a sudden?"
"Unless this was a trap and they were waiting for us!" Ember suggested bitterly as she dug, glaring up at Hunter as he remained preoccupied, "Hunter, what's your plan? They know we are here!" she stated critically.
"I don't think so," he replied thoughtfully, "If they were aiming for us, they would have dived right along the gorge on top of us, not the whole fortress. I think the Apes were using the Trolls for target practice."
"Guess they don't use straw dummies like we do…" Flame muttered dryly.
"Quiet!" Hunter hissed suddenly, throwing up his paw abruptly, "Stop digging, I can hear someone!"
Cynder spun around as the digging stopped, Hunter holding up is paw to ensure silence as his ears twitched, listening for what he thought he had heard on the other side of the blockade. The Cheetah warrior turned his head to the left as he kept his right ear close to the pile of debris, the others watching closely.
"Did you hear that?" he asked them softly. Cynder looked at Flame and Ember who in turn looked at her and each other. Their expressions alone read that three of them had heard nothing.
After a few moments, Cynder dared to ask, "Hunter, are you sure…"
"Hello?" a voice that did not belong to any of them said, the black dragoness cutting herself off in a flash as her heart jumped. "Can you hear me?" the voice repeated, muffled and barely legible, but one they knew.
"Eliza!" Hunter exclaimed, reaching with both paws to the crack in the rocks he had been digging from, "We're here! We're alive!"
"Hunter? I can hear you! We're alright, we're all here! The Apes have gone!"
"They're alive! That's great!" Flame laughed joyously, his smile glowing in the dark as Hunter kept scratching out the dirt and snow between the rocks, the slit barely wide enough for either paw, but he kept clawing nonetheless.
"We're here! Can you reach us?" Hunter called through as the sound of digging from the other side made its way into the cavern, lifting the spirits of the foursome standing in the light of the flaming torch.
"We're trying!" a new voice answered, the voice of Leofwin, "But this rockfall was heavy!"
"Leofwin? Dig towards my voice if you can!" Hunter answered back, "I'll keep trying from this side!"
"They're digging to us!" Ember exclaimed happily, standing up with her paws against the blockade, "Hooray!"
Hunter's claws scratched the rocks as he pried his fingers as far as he could into the crevice, soon finding the end of his reach as the sound of digging and commotion outside kept his heart racing. Caught up in the excitement, Cynder's eyes remained on the activity behind her and not the darkness in front of her.
"Can they get through to us?" she asked hectically as Hunter remained staring at the spot he had been digging. In the glow of the torch, the look in his eyes was now one of grave uncertainty.
"I'm not sure," he replied grimly, "At the very least we might get some more light in here."
With that, Hunter drew his dagger and began using it to digger further than his fingers could reach, prodding and stabbing the dirt in the hopes it would reach to the outside. The clanging and scratching of the dagger was painful to hear, until after a few moments Hunter stopped, but the sound of scratching continued from the other side.
"That sounds close!" Ember rang excitedly, almost jumping for joy as the voices and sounds of digging drew closer, Hunter glancing over the three of them with a hopeful smirk which Cynder could not help but adopt for herself.
"Help me move this!" Eliza's voice said hurriedly, followed shortly by the sound of multiple voices groaning in exertion as a heavy rumble and thud suggested a large rock had been displaced. "That's it! Now the next one!" Leofwin chanted.
They listened again as the same voices heaved and shoved, another rumble and thud a minute or so later telling them they had succeeded once more. Hunter made a funnel with his paws and leaned in to the gap he had been prodding at, calling through, "We're here! Follow my voice!"
Frenzied digging followed from the other side, Cynder, Ember and Flame watching anxiously as the clanging and scraping grew louder, until a burst of snow riddled dirt from the other side of the crevice blew out into Hunter's chest, a shine of metal following it!
"Hunter? Are you there?" called Eliza's now clear voice as she withdrew her own dagger, a tiny peephole of light slicing through the dark onto Hunter's crimson tunic. Like moths, the three young dragons forgot their discipline and rushed towards the light, crowding around Hunter as he peered through. Beside Eliza was Leofwin, with the Mole at Arms assembling behind them as far as he could see through the tiny gap.
"We're all here, Eliza," he replied shortly, smiling gladly and ignoring the three dragons swarming him like excited dogs, "What's the situation? Can you get through to us?"
Through the tiny passage in the blockade, Eliza and Leofwin shared a glance with each other that only boded despair. Hunter's hopeful expression deadened as he saw them glance back, inciting a lashing reprimand on the three excited dragons crowding him.
"That's enough! Who's keeping watch?" he scolded, his harsh tone taking them all off guard as Cynder, Flame and Ember meekly slinked back and turned their eyes into the darkness behind them.
"Hunter," Leofwin began regretfully, "That attack caused rockslides all along the gorge. A great many large boulders have fallen. We barely managed to move a few, but I don't think we can get through to you, not anytime soon."
"What?!" Ember exclaimed in alarm, snapping her head back to the Cheetah's direction, Cynder and Flame silently following suit even as their hearts cried out just as she had.
"You're sure?" Hunter asked matter of factly, ignoring the blow of their glum predictions to his spirit.
"We can't shift the rest with what we have," Eliza replied sorrowfully, "And even if we could, it would take hours. That's time we don't have in enemy territory," she added pointedly.
"You mean we're on our own?" Cynder asked gravely, her concern visibly shared by her two companions who glanced between themselves helplessly. Ember looked ahead hopelessly into the darkness, Flame's reaction being immediate as his wing stretched out over her back, embracing her only as much as he dared as she glanced over at him. Cynder watched the flickering of the torchlight in both their eyes as the red dragon smiled gentle to reassure her, the scene begging for some kind of romantic interlude to break up the despair of their current plight. Ember's mouth barely lifted into a smile, her aqua eyes as ever blind to the warmth of those of Flame as she nudged her shoulder thankfully against him, but nothing more before looking back into the darkness ahead of them. Cynder watched him swallow hard in hurt and wondered how many more daggers his heart could take.
"You are right," Hunter sighed bitterly, leaning his palm against the rock blockade as he shook his head dismally.
"What do you want us to do?" Eliza asked through the hole, her partner Leofwin bending down next to her as they watched Hunter's pensive expression. Out of sight of them, Hunter's fists clenched as he provided a decisive but reluctant answer.
"Pull everyone back to the other cave out of sight," he said heavily, carefully, "We will continue ahead ourselves and follow this tunnel. In my absence, you two are now in charge. Send a Falcon to Fayveer and tell him to standby. Inform him of what has happened and our intentions. If you do not see or hear from us in an hour, message him again to begin the assault immediately. We can't leave here until we've made every effort to find Volteer. Do you understand?"
The Cheetah pair nodded grimly, "We understand, Hunter," said Leofwin firmly.
"Consider it done," Eliza added equally, "Good luck."
"Good luck to you," Hunter nodded back, eyeing them both with familial warmth as they did to him before slowly turning his head over his shoulder to the three adolescent dragons who, thanks to the earlier scolding, were staring ahead into the darkness, watching for anything that might appear from it.
"Cynder, Ember, Flame…" he announced. All three silently turned their heads to him, Ember moving out from under the red dragons wing as he meekly tucked it back over himself, their eyes shining in the little light as the torch flickered in front of them.
"You understand this as well, don't you?" he continued weightily, "Whatever happens, we must make every effort to find Volteer, if he even is here. This is too important to the Legion, more important than any of us."
"We know," Cynder replied briskly, almost flatly, casting a casual look over her friends as she declared, "That's why we agreed to come. That's why all of us did, Hunter. But," she added with a short, grim chuckle, "It's not like we have much choice now, do we? I mean, unless anyone wants to try squeezing through that hole…"
Ember seemed unimpressed by the resilience of the black dragoness as she gave a half roll of her eyes, "Sure. Duty calls, like Cyril liked to say."
Flame scoffed, "Yeah, just like he liked to give you top marks no matter what you put in," he laughed cheekily. Hunter hid his own smirk as he covered his mouth and pretended to cough.
"This is no laughing matter," he tried to tell them seriously, "I admire your spirit, but I just want to be sure you know what's at stake here."
"Come on, Hunter," Flame replied with a playful shake of his head, "We've known the stakes ever since the day we escaped Warfang. That hasn't changed one bit! Spyro would never have given up on Volteer," he declared with a firm swipe with his paw, "So neither will we!"
"Very inspiring," Cynder grinned jeeringly, "You ready to lead us into the breach once more, O' Flamaeus the Brave?"
"As surely as I know he would," Hunter remarked dryly, marching forward and passing around them, taking the flaming torch off the ground and into his grasp, "We don't need foolish courage right now. We need smart thinking and tactical planning. Between the four of us, I think we may just accomplish that."
The Cheetah warrior turned to the young dragons, holding the torch in his left paw as he drew his short sword from his scabbard.
"Do you agree, my friends?"
Cynder, Flame and Ember, standing shoulder to shoulder, looked to each other for the confirmation he was waiting for; the confirmation that was the given silently as the three of them nodded silently.
"Good," Hunter nodded himself, drawing an icy breath as he turned and faced the looming darkness ahead of them. He reached out with the torch and tilted it forward, its light dipping into the cold blackness as he cautiously lifted his sword, "Then once more into the breach it is."
"Is it just me, or does it seem like we keep finding ourselves in secret passageways?" asked Flame softly, curiously, "I mean, the waterfall, Warfang and now here?"
"And it's no fun here, either," replied Ember bitterly. Cynder could not help but smirk as they moved on through the frigid passage, Hunter leading on with his torch in hand.
The eerie ambient hum of the tunnel mingled with their cautious footsteps as they advanced, the mined-out interior growing ever more ominous the longer they went. For ten minutes or so they walked on and encountered no signs of life or any evidence of previous movement in the tunnel, making it seem unlikely they would encounter any Trolls or other creatures in here. Even still, the threat of booby traps was ever present and Hunter had advised them to watch the ground just as well as the darkness in front. Eventually, they started to come across the remains of ancient torches and lamps mounted to the walls or broken on the ground, evidence of it once serving a purpose to the Ice dragons who once claimed dominion here. If the Trolls who inhabited the ruins didn't know about all its secrets and hidden tunnels, then perhaps they were in with a chance of rescuing Volteer and escaping without the need for the raid to cover their tracks. That was all a very big maybe, though. They still had to be sure Volteer was here and that this was not all an elaborate trap. In any case, they had less than an hour before the others would send word to the Frostflyers to begin the assault on Perisher's Keep, unless they got word out to cancel the attack first.
The flickering torchlight shimmered against Hunter's sword as he led them on, the wide and mined out semicircle shape of the passage often fading in and out of sight through the haze of pitch blackness the flames of the torch barely put a dent in. The group stuck close together in the center of the passage, with Flame on the left, Ember in the center and Cynder on her right, with Hunter leading out in front. He held the torch out far with his sword clasped tightly by his side, his feline eyes scanning ever alertly for whatever may be lurking ahead of them. The path of the tunnel had been mostly straight so far with only a mild deviation to the left at one point, whereupon it had gone on straight again. The lack of any inclination in the tunnel seemed to prove it was headed well beneath the fortress and hopefully that they were headed in the right direction; towards Volteer.
"We should be getting close now," Hunter announced carefully, hoping to ease the uncertainty he could sense in his companions.
"Unless we end up walking right into the sea," Cynder remarked dryly.
"If we do, I'm afraid I'd have to say we've been duped," Hunter said grimly.
Ember sighed crossly, "None of this makes any sense. If the Apes are at war with the Trolls, how could Volteer be here? Why would an enemy of the Apes guard a prisoner for them?"
Hunter mused thoughtfully, "We asked ourselves that many times when the map came into our possession. Terrador ruled that if there was any chance at all we might find them, we had to take it. That's why I only wanted volunteers…"
"Well," Flame suggested cautiously, "We never would have thought to look here for him here, would we?"
"We'd have never looked anywhere," Ember replied coldly, "We thought they were dead."
"And maybe we were wrong!" Cynder rasped tensely, Ember's cynicism painfully digging under her scales, "Maybe for once something will go our way. Just believe for once, will you, Ember?"
The pink dragoness huffed moodily, "Sure. Whatever…"
"That's enough now," Hunter interjected firmly, "Ears and eyes open, all of you!"
The dragon trio gave no reply, silently looking between each other as they walked on through the darkness, knowing there was no point in flaring up their anxiety more than it already was. Cynder drew a deep breath of the freezing air, her lungs feeling like they would eventually freeze with every new breath she took. It was enough to almost make her wish for a chance to fight, to have something to get her blood pumping, anything that would encourage her to move beyond the cautious pace they were stuck in behind Hunter. Every minute that passed became more unnerving as it seemed like they were to march on into the darkness forever. The environment changed little, seeming to loop as the same mined out tunnel walls past by the in the flickers of the torch light, only broken up by the occasional dilapidated torch on the walls or broken on the ground. Even the tunnel they had used to escape Warfang was more comforting, not least because of the magical lamps that had lit themselves to show the way and the obvious craftmanship in the tunnel itself. The only thing Cynder felt positive about was the lack of spiderwebs compared to the tunnels of Warfang, though she could not help but assume something far worse awaited them. A minute or two later, the monotony of the tunnel was sudden broken.
"Hold up!" Hunter announced quietly but sharply as he came to a halt, something appearing off to the right that glistened in the torch light. As they turned to it, Flame rushed over past Ember, putting himself firmly at Hunter's side as he blocked Cynder's view.
"Hey!" she grumbled.
"What is it?" Flame asked eagerly as he peered ahead at the object. Hunter put his paw out to keep them still as he moved towards it, the broken wheel of a derelict wagon coming into shape as something metallic shone inside it. The wagon was like those normally found in Warfang, the extreme cold helping to preserve it for the likely hundreds of years it had been left here, Hunter scanning it cautiously as he approached it. He held the torch over the open top of the wagon as several distinctive silvery shapes glittered at him, the Cheetah warrior carefully nudging one of them with the tip of his sword. It proved difficult to move as he sheathed his blade and leaned closer, the three dragons unable to stop themselves inching closer as he reached in and propped one of the objects against the side of the wagon. The torch light shone off its silvery surface, a pair of eyeholes stared back at them below scowling metal eyebrows.
"It's a dragon helmet," Hunter remarked calmly, looking back over his shoulder as he saw the curious eyes of his companions as they looked up at it. The helmet was aged and worn but was still impressive to behold due to is sculpture like exactness to detail. It was relatively long and sharp, made to fit over an impressive array of needle like horns that formed an almost forked crown above the head of whomever it once belonged to. The plate that sat over the snout was tapered to an almost dagger like shape, a series of icicle like spikes ran back along the nose of the helmet and right up the center of the head. Surrounding the eyeholes were intricately set blue diamonds, which alone would have likely cost more than the helmet itself. Inside the wagon were other pieces of armor; a backplate, chest plates and leg guards, all apparently of the same set. Whoever it once belonged to was certainly wealthy and, if Cyril was anything to go by, most likely as vain as they could ever be.
"Wow!" Ember exclaimed with what sounded like joy in her voice, moving around Hunter's left side and hopping up to look in the wagon, "It's beautiful!"
"Little over the top, isn't it?" Cynder scoffed as she too propped up to the wagon, earning a harsh sideways glance from Ember as Flame kept himself back to avoid the path of her projected scorn.
"Nothing was too over the top for them," Hunter replied tersely as he took his paw off the helmet and rested it on the hilt of his sword, "This all would have been worth something at one point."
"How much?" Flame asked, suddenly interested enough to move to the front of the wagon and peek inside. As he did, his front paws caught on to something stuffed down in the front of the wagon, making a jangling sound.
"Not enough to worry about," Hunter answered shortly, turning to go on, "Let's move on…"
"Wait, what's this?" Flame asked curiously as he reached in and tugged on something that looked like a rope partially hidden under one of the armor pieces. He grasped it in his right paw and yanked on it, a bundle of chains and leather following out as he pulled back.
"We don't have time, Flame, leave it!" Hunter said impatiently, but the young red dragon persisted as he grasped the bundle in his mouth and tugged harder, pulling the tangled web of chain and leather until he hit a snag, the rest of the web tangled with a piece of armor in the wagon.
"What are you doing?" asked Cynder bewilderedly, even though in truth it piqued her curiosity as she felt Ember shuffle up next to her. Flame pulled on it again more forcefully, the snag giving way with startling ease as he yelped and clumsily fell over backwards with the bundle still in his mouth. Ember snickered as the young red dragon looked up across his belly at the line he had dragged out onto the ground, acting as though he meant it as Hunter stormed over.
"Are you alright?" he asked hurriedly. Flame nodded and dropped the bundle with a modest,
"Yeah."
Ember chuckled, "O' Flamaues the Brave survives another near-death experience!"
"That's enough!" Hunter snapped as he knelt to help the red dragon back to his feet, "We don't have time for this."
"Wait a minute," Flame insisted as he took the curious tangles into his paws, using Hunter's torch light to look at them more closely, "Look at this…"
"Flame," Ember grumbled, her brief moment of laughter forgotten, "Stop playing around!"
Ignoring her chastisement, he lifted the bundle of chains and straps in his paws, using his outer claws to stretch out the bundle until he had one of them held above his chest, the rest of the bundle dangling down as it reached out from the old wagon. Cynder frowned as her eyes saw it was a long harness, like those she had seen being worn by dragons to pull heavy loads, but she focused on the small size of the loop of the harness Flame was holding up, noting that there were many of the same all along it.
"Did the Ice dragons use to make hatchlings pull their stuff around?" Flame asked quizzically, "No way these would fit a grown-up dragon."
"Who cares?" Ember spat viciously, stepping up and slapping her paw across those of Flame, nearly making him yelp as the harness was knocked aside, "This isn't a holiday, you idiot!"
"Ember!" Hunter snarled.
"Cool it down!" Cynder barked at her defensively as the red dragon's face became sullen, "Save it for the Trolls, not for your friends!"
"We're wasting time!" Hunter growled as he stood up briskly, "You all need to focus on our objective! Everyone is counting on us. Now come along!"
Without pause, the Cheetah warrior turned his back and drew his sword again, not waiting for the others as he moved onward, leaving them in the dark as Cynder helped pull Flame back to his feet. Ember stood by idly, scowling with offence at Hunter's tone as she watched him go. Cynder took the chance to glare at her just before the fading light made them all near invisible.
"Feel better now, your highness?" she hissed before she gave Flame an encouraging nudge, the black dragoness storming off to put Ember as far out of her view as possible. The young red dragon followed behind her, glancing over at Ember as she reluctantly began to trail behind, her icy blue eyes steaming with anger and not regret as he had hoped. Cynder and Flame quickened their pace to catch up to their leader, Ember following only as close as she needed, staying on the very edge of the flickering torchlight as it reflected down the black passage. The light soon showed more artefacts from the past, piled along the sides of the cave to keep the main path clear. There were more wagons and carts, some carrying weathered wooden barrels or boxes, some sealed while others were opened. There were more helmets and armor pieces, some ornate like the first they had found while others were merely bland and functional, evidently belonging to those with less wealth to spend on such things.
There were disassembled components of what looked like siege weapons; wheels and buckets for catapults, arms, winches, and pedestals for ballistae weapons. As they moved on, the group saw a great shine to the right that caught their attention; Hunter's torch reflected off the faded golden frame of a great rectangular mirror, its glass long broken as it was leant up against wall of the cave, the shriveled remains of a once plump mattress behind it. At its base was the remains of a rotted cloth that had once covered it, the frame was studded with numerous silver jewel's, the figures of interlocking dragons decorating the outside of the frame. In the center at the top and bottom of the frame was a blue medallion depicting the symbol of the Ice element, the same as what they had seen countless times at the temple and Warfang. It had once been a magnificent piece and certainly had been important to someone enough to try and hide it, but had never left the darkness of the tunnel.
"What was this all for?" Flame quietly asked Cynder, the pair noticing the same harnesses in and around the wagons they passed; all with the suspiciously small loops suggesting who or whatever had once pulled it was very small. Certainly not dragons…
"Maybe they were cleaning out for spring?" she suggested with light sarcasm.
"Do they even have spring here in Freezer?" he asked incredulously, "And if this is the stuff they called junk…"
"There are likely tunnels like this all through the fortress, just like there are in Warfang," Hunter said with prominent weariness in his voice. Cynder sensed there was also regret in his tone; but for what she could not say. Was it regret for how he had spoken to them? Was it regret for how he had come to be leading a party of just three in this desolate place and not his entire troop? Or was it because of that of any of the three he could have been left with; it had been them? Would he have rather that Leofwin and Eliza were here instead of three increasingly fractured young dragons? Without the fourth member of what had once been their inseparable quad, it seemed they had all been trying to fill the gap that had been left with. Spyro had always been the great leveler whenever cracks began to appear in the group, but those cracks were more frequent and becoming chasms with each day the war had been raging on. And he was not here to repair them.
Cynder knew she was failing; shown by her own actions in how she had pushed ahead with Flame and left Ember trailing them, though it seemed part of her wanted to be alone at the back, able to wallow in her own emotions. It was something that would never have happened if Spyro were there to balance the group; to offer his firm but compassionate advice.
'I miss you, Spyro,' was all the black dragoness could think as she looked up at Hunter's torch that was leading the way, just as a row of teeth, and glowing eyes appeared in front of them!
"Lookout!"
End of Chapter 6
Next Chapter: The Purple Dragonfly
While Cynder, Ember, Flame and Hunter face the perils of the frozen hell, what has become of Spyro? The friend they believe to be dead?