Sailor With a Heart of Fire || A DuckTales Story

Battle at the Fortress

The kids continued up the watery stairs, which somehow supported a waterfall that stayed still so as not to hinder movement or sway it specifically up or down. Elliot assumed this must be the magic Ariana told him the merpeople could do, but it still confused him how it worked. The fortress started to feel a bit hotter as they got closer to the Forge, but fortunately the water was enough to keep them cool, albeit it only reached their legs. Elliot, May and June trudged up the stairs until they reached a long corridor, which they were nervous about, for it looked a bit haunted and like it was waiting for them. Elliot gulped.

He cautiously walked forward, hoping whatever was next would be quick. He made sure his sisters were close behind, and they were, walking just as slowly. The time seemed to slow down to half its usual speed, whatever that was, and the tension between the kids and what was to happen next seemed to increase. They were almost to the end of the haunting corridor, when Elliot's ankle passed through some invisible string that felt like a stream of water, and a trapdoor opened that the water quickly forced him and his sisters down.

They landed with a splash in a round room, lit by the torches that lit up the fortress and eerie corridor above. Elliot felt Valta's blue seashell in his pocket, needing her brave spirit right now, for he was scared of what would happen next. May and June readied themselves to fight whatever was coming, which proved necessary; from the archway across from them came a creature ten times their size, it was a large reptilian creature with four muscular legs, a slender yet built body, and a serpent like face with horrifying fangs. It charged at the kids, and they split up around the room.

"Are we ever gonna catch a break from giant snake-things?" Elliot shouted impatiently.

"Hopefully, once this is all over!" June said from the other side of the room, warding it away from her with the sword.

She jumped up and bounced off of the creature's head, making it roar angrily. It rounded back on her, but she jumped high out of the way, making it run headfirst into the wall. May then jumped onto it from behind and started punching it. It quickly moved left and right, trying to shake her off, until she was only hanging on to its tail. The creature proceeded to flick his tail, and May hit the wall and splashed back onto the floor.

"May!" Elliot cried.

Now he was beginning to get angry, then he charged at the monster, and jumped onto its face. He clenched his fist and punched it as hard as he could between the eyes. The monster let out an angry roar, and more as Elliot kept hitting it. However, as he moved his fist forward for the next punch, one of the beast's buff legs hit him right off, and he fell to the floor with a splash. The monster reared around on him as he stood up, and bared his incredibly sharp fangs. Elliot stood with his back to the wall, afraid of being eaten, when he looked around and saw June skim the monster's back leg with the sword, making a cut. The snake-faced creature let out an ear-piercing scream, and turned around to face June, who readied herself and the sword once more.

Elliot took this opportunity to run across the room to May, who was running to him, and they both had a similar idea. While June attacked the monster, May and Elliot climbed on top of it and Elliot would swing May by the hands and she would repeatedly kick its face. As all of this happened, the creature roared even more angrily than he had before, if that was possible. It shook May and Elliot off its back and wacked June with its tail, spreading them out across the room.

Elliot was the first to get up, ready for the next attack on the serpent-like beast, but May and June were not as quick. Elliot looked around, seeing them a bit more sore. He felt angry at the creature for hurting his sisters like this, and the anger started to get to him. It fueled the adrenaline rush in him, and his shoulders tensed, his face became red with rage, and he charged at the creature as it charged them first. He went crazy with rage, circling the serpent left and right, and beating every possible place he could, until the monster stopped him. It took a while, for Elliot was determined to stop it, until finally, it shook Elliot off its face and grabbed him with its tail. It held him above the floor, and Elliot nervously struggled. By this time, May and June were up on their feet, and seeing the situation, they looked much more determined.

"Leave our brother alone!" they shouted together, charging at the reptilian beast.

They jumped up and all over the creature until it let Elliot go, June jabbing it with the sword, and May focused on the underbelly, probably its more sensitive spot. The monster let out shrieks of pain as the kids launched their full on attack, and soon the tail dropped Elliot, and he landed face-first with a splash back on the floor. He got up to help his sisters, and started beating the monster with them. At one point, they got the creature to stand on its hind legs, and they forced its head into a wall. The beast's head hit the wall with a loud and painful sounding thud, and seconds later, it came crashing down to the floor with a large splash.

The kids all breathed heavily, having defeated the beast. They hugged each other, grateful that no one was hurt.

"Are you guys okay?" Elliot asked May and June.

"Yeah," May replied. "Are you?"

"Yeah, I think so," Elliot answered.

Then the kids looked up, seeing the trapdoor they had fallen through still open.

"Now how do we get out?" Elliot said blankly.

May reached into her backpack and pulled out the same grapple gun Elliot used to get the keys to the dungeons earlier.

"I guess this is handy in more ways than one," she said with a grin.

She aimed it upwards and shot it. The grappling hook latched onto the edge of the trapdoor, providing an exit for the kids. As May retracted it to boost herself up, she grabbed June's hand, and then she grabbed Elliot's hand. The three kids were pulled up and out of the room below the corridor, and safely made it back. Once they were back in the hall of the corridor, Elliot pulled the trapdoor closed from under them, not wanting to fall back down there again. The kids continued through the end of the corridor and further through the fortress. Elliot felt the heat that told him they were getting closer to the Forge. Elliot looked back and noticed May and June were starting to feel it too, and they were beginning to become slower.

"We're almost there girls," he told them reassuringly. "Hang in there."

May and June smiled at Elliot, and continued through the fortress with him. They were just about to turn the corner into the next room when Elliot heard voices. He quickly retreated behind the wall and silently told May and June to lean against it like he was.

"There's been a security breach," one of the voices said, a gruff female voice.

"Someone or something landed in the arena and fought the beast," said another voice, a slightly higher male voice. "They defeated it as well."

"What should we do?" said the female voice. "If they defeated the beast, that means they could be a dangerous threat."

"Keep your guard up," said a different female voice. Elliot assumed she was in charge, for the other two definitely seemed to listen. "Right now, that's probably all we can do."

With that, the kids heard splashes and swimming. These voices belonged to merfolk, and they had just swam out of the room. Elliot peeked out from behind the wall to make sure the room was empty, which it was, but now he felt a little nervous, knowing that these guards were looking for them.

"That's gonna make this a little harder," he said nervously.

"But we're still going to get one of those rocks," said June.

"No matter how hard it seems," May added with an adventurous smile.

Elliot smiled as well. "You're right," he said. "Let's go!"

The kids ran through the room and into the next entrance that emitted heat. Even with guards on watch to find them, nothing would stop them from getting to the Forge. In fact, they seemed more determined to do so now that the stakes were higher. After all, it was nothing any of them hadn't done before.