Where Smoke Bleeds Gold

Chapter Fourteen - Execution

Today was a new day. With a fitful rest and a bite to eat, I felt ready for it. We stood under the mountain so early that Moon was still flying down from her place in the sky. Breathless, we stayed silent as searching eyes scaled the mountains. I could barely feel my heart beating, it was fluttering so fast.
The plan was for Flicker and Kindling to sneak into the CavernScale tunnels, find where our friends were and sneak them back out without raising suspicion. It should've been easy because they were on a different circuit than us. If they weren't out in five paces, me and Typhoon would sneak in after them and help them out.
"You're not going," I said, turning to Flicker.
"What do you mean, of course I-" She began.
"We can't put all the weak dragons on the last hope," I said, feeling a pit of anxiety begin to rise in my stomach. Flicker thought about it for a moment, her eyes scanning my face. Least to say it didn't make my stomach feel any better.
"With any luck we won't need a last hope," She said. "But go, go now," She shoving me and Kindling closer to the rocky terrain. The land was barren compared to the forest. Instead of lush green grass there were patches of moss. Instead of giant, looming trees there were bushes, if you could call them that. The only fauna you might see was a stone mouse running from its home to a patch of leaves. Maybe a goat scaling the mountain. Not that you could see them, but the occasional screech of a griffon, or the hoarse scream of a bat.
Walking with urgency, Kindling and I made our way through the dirt and stone valley between two giant mountains. Before I was getting chased I saw the CavernScale guards running west to this clearing. I was hoping that the entrance was just in the clearing and that they didn't just walk past it but one could only hope. I pried past boulders and pushed past bushes looking for a secret latch or door or code and where in the clearing. It wasn't long before we began to lose hope.
"I think they went further into the mountains," I said, worrying if we'd ever even find the entrance to the place. Kindling stopped me from leaving the clearing with a
"Wait," He said. "What about this?" He asked, noticing a square of moss on the wall. It spread from the ground up to my chest hieght. I knocked on the stone around it, seeing if it was hollow. The door rose slightly to reveal nothing but dim fire light from the inside of it.
"Why are you here?" A voice from inside said.
"Get a goat," I whispered to Kindling, spreading my wings to try and hide him. If they could see under the door, they'd see his talons. They'd know when he left.
"Can you repeat that?" The guard said, raising the slab of stone ever so higher.
"I am- uh" I began, watching Kindling sprint away. "I am Sparky, and I just came back from a patrol around the- uh- beach," I said, failing to make my voice deeper.
"We don't have any scheduled appointments for FireScales today," The CavernScale said, the door sliding shut.
"But I'm a CavernScale," I said.
"That accent is quite frankly offensive," They said. "And I can see you, you flying lizard," They sneered. "Do you want to tell me why you're lying to a government official CavernScale guard?"
"No! No, I didn't mean it like that," I said, "Wait, I meant- uh," I fumbled over my words. Beside me, Kindling dropped heavily, a giant goat straining in his bruised and cut grasp. I winced not realizing how much the goat would be able to hurt him.
"Now!" I said, grabbing the stone door and trying to pry it up. Kindling shoved the goat under the door, head first. Immediately, the CavernScale used profanity as if that would get the goat to stop biting and kicking them. Kindling wedged himself under the door too, failing to make it further than halfway because of his giant wings. Suddenly panic hit me. If he couldn't make it under the door, he wouldn't be able to find the switch that opened the gate. If there even was one. The stone door was quickly becoming too heavy for me, and if it were too heavy for my arms and legs, my strongest muscles, I didn't want to think about what may happen to Kindling's spine. I shut my eyes, pulling up harder on the door just for it to slip.
"No!" I yelled, but before the door came crashing down on Kindling's back, a klerthunk sounded in the wall. A steady clicking of chains sounded in the walls soon after. The door rose up into the ceiling without a trace.
"Intruders!" The CavernScale yelled, holding a furious goat in their talons.
"Book it, man!" Kindling barked, racing down the hall. I chased him, turning left when he did as the sound of guards came from the right. Turning left as whispers came from the right. Straight down the path toward light. The light was coming from the entrance that we just broke into. A trio of CavernScales turned to snarl at us.
"Go!" I yelled, shoving Kindling back. This time he followed me, as I ran right toward the sounds of life, turning right again just as another trio of guards ran past. I took another left and went straight ahead towards what I thought was a fire light. It was the entrance again.
"They're lost!" Yelled a CavernScale in the halls.
"They made it a labrinth!" Kindling hissed, struggling to keep his voice down.
"They've got to be coming from somewhere!" I said as I turned to run down the halls again. Left, Right, Left.
"How are we here again?" Hissed Kindling.
"Shut up, I'm thinking," I said, unable to get my thoughts straight.
"Come on," He said, leading me away from the door. Right, Right, Left, Left again, dead end.
"At least it's not the entrance," He said with a shrug.
"Why do they have it like this?" I seethed, smoke rising from my throat.
"Probably to deter intruders like us from making attacks," He spat. I sat back, Trying to get my mind straight. It was completely dark at the end of the tunnel. I assumed no one went back here often. I looked up at Kindling, then up behind him.
"Look," I said, pointing up to the ceiling. That was, if there was one.
"Of course they climb up," Kindling said, looking behind himself.
"Let's go," I said, jumping up onto the stone wall. The vertical was hard to climb over, but we eventually made it over.
"Did they leave?" I heard a quiet voice say.
"Go!" I failed to whisper. Running down the tunnels, we took a turn into a cavern, exploding with purple light. In the walls were flowing purple goop contained behind a translucent white rock. It wasn't bright, but it was enough to see the giant hive that we stood moments away from. Inside a giant cavern were large buildings with large dark holes spotted throughout the surface. The occasional CavernScale climbed in and out of them, sliding down the wall and exiting one of the lava tubes through the sides. Creeping out of the dimly lit tunnel, we wove our way through a world that was built double our height. It made me feel so small.
"Where do we go?" I asked Kindling in a hushed voice. Kindling held his head low as we walked past hives and by a giant tunnel.
"Over here, maybe we can find some directions," He said, dipping into the tunnel. There was a slight decline downward. A fork split the path in two. Inscriptions on the walls said something about no trespassing.
"We might get in bigger trouble for going this way," I said, turning to Kindling.
"But they're probably going to be in a place not allowed to the public," He said, brushing me off. "Left or right?" I looked down the tunnels, they both seemed to split off in other directions.
"Either," I said, knowing not to make him regret helping me. Kindling quickly turned to take the left tunnel.
"Two dragons, Two tunnels," He said, disappearing "Don't get caught," He said, already turning a corner. I nodded in agreement, but he wouldn't know or care either way. I treaded down the other tunnel, a sharp turn right up ahead. Shadows on the wall crept out, framed in that same purple glow. I stopped to stare at the shadow, heart racing as I saw it's arms outstretched as it grew on the wall. A voice spoke out, a young voice.
"You're not supposed to be here," They said. I jumped back behind the bend, hiding from the figure.
"How do you know?" I said, lowering my voice. Quiet foot steps continued walking down the hall. I held my breath turning to the figure beside me, shocked to see we were eye to eye.
"Dragons with wings don't last long here," He said. On his shoulders where I would've thought his arms would've been, were stumps, barely longer than a claw length. "No trespassers, why are you here?"
"Why are you here?" I asked the draggling.
"I asked you first," He said.
"Avoiding the topic?" I asked, feeling a bit better about being spotted.
"Listen here, flying lizard," The draggling said, baring teeth as he stepped closer to me. "It is much more believable that you kidnapped a defenseless draggling then I chose to help you," He said, waving the stumps on his shoulders.
"So you're helping us now?" I asked.
"So there's an us now? What are you planning?" He asked with a sneer.
"A prison break," I said, pausing to see what his reaction was. He stayed still with nothing but a poker face. "Just three dragons, A Spectrum, Cavern and FrostScale," I said.
"I am not included in this in any way or I will hurt you," He said, cocking his head. I nodded my head, not knowing how he would. "And we don't want to be sighted by any guards at all, all but one," He said, wrinkling his snout in disgust. "There's a low level tier that has escaped before and is back, if you see her you tell me, then I leave," He said.
"Is that all?" I asked, but the draggling jumped at a noise. I listened to the halls, when I suddenly heard two sets of CavernScale footsteps. The draggling was looking left and right, anxious for a way out. I stared at the hall, waiting to see the guards. Perhaps there was a way to fight out. The draggling ripped up my talon as if to drag me somewhere, but quickly ducked under it as if I was pinning him down. Before I could get a word out, the steps had stopped.