Sailor With a Heart of Fire || A DuckTales Story

The Heart of the Forge

The tensions seemed a little higher as the kids were on the lookout for merguards throughout the fortress. Now that awareness had been made of the breech, the kids were determined not to be caught. Multiple times they would catch a few noises of the merfolk on guard duty and hide behind the walls. Somehow they made it through every single one without being noticed once. Elliot was sure they were close to the Forge by now, for the temperature was getting ever warmer, confirming their close proximity to it.

Once they reached the top of the tower they had seen the smoke and steam coming from when they were outside the fortress, they were practically home free. However, Elliot felt an instinct that told him they weren't completely safe just yet. Now the temperature had grown considerably and the kids started sweating ever so slightly, the water on their legs being just enough to cool their bodies.

"We've gotta be close to the Forge by now," Elliot said.

"I sure hope so," said May. "I don't know how much longer we can hold up; it's getting really hot."

June said nothing, panting as the kids progressed through the tunnels and up the stairs to the Forge. Elliot felt a little bad, and he was also feeling quite hot, but he wasn't going to give up.

"We're on the home stretch guys," he said with a reassuring smile. "We can make it!"

Elliot's smiles always seemed to change May and June's minds about a situation, for they smiled back and seemed to gain his determination. With that, the three of them persisted on through the fortress to the Forge. They trudged through the water and hot conditions, only stopping to hide themselves from guards, all just as they had before, and they were right back on track. Now Elliot was starting to feel the same way his sisters had been before, hot and tired, wanting to get this over with now. However, his thoughts slowly drifted to the rest of his family, who would definitely try to push him to persist through this. His great Uncle Scrooge, who was always on about a hard day's work, his father, who had the worst luck but kept going no matter how bad things got, like — really really bad, his Aunt Della, who had survived an entire decade on the moon by sheer determination to get back to her family, his mother, who had signed him up for a dance competition he ended up winning to boost his confidence, and then there was Delilah, who would always cheer him on and support him all the way through.

Elliot decided to think about times Delilah had done that, like the dance competition, some of the adventures they had gone on with their family, and other things they had done as siblings together that she had helped him through with her cheers and support. Even though he was thinking about her, and lately whenever he did his spirits would go down, now they had been oppositely boosted, because he heard her voice, cheering him, May, and June on, to keep going. Elliot got out of the slump he had fallen into and puffed up his chest, now even more determined to get to the Forge and save his family's boat. May and June seemed to realize he had gained this new bold spirit, and followed in his likeness, ready to save the boat as well.

Finally, after what felt like hours of walking through the water and heat, the kids reached the top of the tower. They went through the arched stone entrance, and saw before their eyes, a blazing open furnace. Inside were the grayish-brown rocks that Elliot had pictured in his mind since Scrooge had showed him the book a few days ago. Just as the illustrations, they had glowing orange-red spots that looked like they had been painted on, and most of them sported flames.

"We made it!" Elliot cheer-breathed, raising his fists.

"Yeah!" May and June added, keeping their voices down but cheering all the same.

Elliot pulled his backpack off, reached into it, and pulled out the oven mitts he had packed for just this moment. He put them on, ready to grab the rock. He slowly walked toward the giant furnace, his protected hands reached out in front of him. He stopped walking and stood right in front of it, sweating from the heat. He slowly reached out his hands and quickly snatched one of the rocks to make the pain from any burns happen quickly. To his surprise, no pain came at all. He turned around and showed his sisters the fiery rock, which they looked at in awe. Elliot sighed with relief, feeling accomplished, finally having gotten what he came for.