Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 51: Turbulant Tunnels

"YOU STUPID FOOLS!!!" Vagod roared as he snapped at us from the top of the tunnel. "YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU ESCAPED ME??"

"Not really!" Ormgaul yelled. "I just thought we maybe escaped your horrible breath!!"

Vagod roared, then clawed open a section of the tunnel and snapped at Ormgaul, but he dodged out of the way, kicking the dragon in the gums and causing him to recoil, roaring as he swiped his claws at me. My armor was strong, but against a direct hit from a large dragon, it didn't protect me too much. I screamed as the claws raked across my body, and Vagod found another perch in front of us, readying his fire breath as the air in front of his mouth began to steam.

He opened his mouth, and there came a great burst of fire that washed over us, nearly searing the flesh right off my bones. Pain exploded through me as Vagod laughed, and I saw Ormgaul fall down on the front of the cart, completely unconscious. Haneen ducked, her clothes and skin catching fire, and I stood, drawing my bow and letting loose two arrows towards Vagod. The first one, he dodged, laughing all the while, but the second caught him directly in the side of his stupid, smug face, exploding and sending him reeling backwards. I ducked down as the tunnel encompassed us yet again, and I saw that up ahead, there was another narrow part of the tunnel, and Ormgaul was slipping, still unconscious.

Instinctively, I dove forward, grabbing Ormgaul, and I shoved him downward into the cart, right as the top of the tunnel caught my back, smacking me like a freight train. I was pushed down into the mine cart as my sea serpent armor raked against the tunnel, leaving a trail of sparks behind us, but what mattered was that Ormgaul was safe.

After scraping along for what seemed like forever, we finally opened up again, this time into a large chamber, and the sight was truly something to behold. It was a huge, ruined Duergar city, with smashed, ancient buildings crisscrossed by sections of flowing lava. It all surrounded a massive citadel, which stretched high into the cavern, and unfortunately, I didn't have much time to regard it, because Vagod roared again, and out of nowhere, another track intersected and joined ours, and on it was a set of two mine carts. Three Duergar were packed awkwardly, which might have been funny, but with the looks they were giving us, it was anything but funny.

"Trevon?" Haneen said, grabbing my arms as magic flowed from her to me. "You've got this. Just tel me what to do."

Strength flowed through my arms, as if I had just been juiced by jumper cables. "Wake your brother. We need healing, pronto!"

She nodded, then placed her hands on the mine cart, and I felt my burns and wounds closing up, my body helping to repair thanks to the healing magic. I turned to the Duergar, ready to fight, but before anything could happen, Vagod swooped down in front of us, and he blew fire again, melting and incinerating a portion of the track. It left a huge gap, and it gave me an idea. Albeit, probably a very stupid one.

Ormgaul looked at me, looking much better than he had a moment prior, and he gave me a fearful look.

"Got any bad ideas?"

"Yeah!" I yelled, only six hundred feet to go before the break in the tracks. "Empty the carts of all the ore. We're gonna jump the carts!"

"We're gonna WHAT?"

"Just do what I say!" I yelled.

Immediately, we frantically scooped out all of the ore out of the mine carts, getting ready for the jump, and at the very last moment, I stuck the Halberd into the tracks, and I lifted with every single ounce of strength I had afforded to me. My arms strained, feeling like they were about to pop, but surprisingly, the mine carts sailed just barely far enough. And I say just barely, because only one made it onto the track, and the other two snapped off. I reached out, grabbing Haneen just in time, and I hauled her into the mine cart with us. The Duergar behind us screamed, but they fell off the tracks, shattering against the stone below us.