The King of Coal (A Dartron Fan Fiction)

Chapter Six- The Button

Dar had entirely forgotten about the gap in the leaves while he was jumping.
Crunch.
Knowing the guards were at the perimeter of the kingdom by now, searching for the prince, Dar didn’t need to worry about being seen jumping from treetop to treetop. He had much more terrifying things to worry about.
What if Hayley was gone?
And so, after recovering from a second fall from the same tree, Dar continued his journey through the forest to the mountain side.
But when Dar climbed the final dirt block, all his efforts for a new life seemed to have been done in vain.
The clearing on the mountain side had been wiped of any sign of human activity. The bed was gone, all the arrows and coal pieces had been pulled from the wall and picked up from the ground, and the fire pit was replaced with stone.
Hayley was gone.
She had seen the guards coming.
The guards sent to find Dar.
Dar fell on his knees in defeat.
The most beautiful girl he had ever seen was gone, his one chance to abandon his destiny was crushed, his father knew he had tried to commit treason, and now, he would face shame from his parents, possible imprisonment, or worse…
Dar looked down at his clothes.
He had been stripped of everything.
“Wait…” Dar whispered as a lightbulb went off above his head. He had been out in the village all day by his free will, but maybe he could lie to his father and say he had been kidnapped, and the robbers stripped him of his clothes and his crown. They would believe him, wouldn’t they?
The perfect excuse. he could actually get away with his lie! He wouldn't have to face the music. Perfect! Perfect! Perfe...
The bloody note!!
His parents most likely had not seen it yet on his bed, but Dar had to get back to the castle pronto, and tear that note up. Destroy any evidence of him being in his room. Destroy the evidence that…
His pride had taken control of him that night.
Dar’s body relaxed, allowing him to fall over onto his face. The cool stone pricked his hot face.
He heaved in air, and spat his breath out, his entire body shuttering.
In. Out. In. Out.
His fingers began to twitch.
His mind became numb.
He could just end it all now. He could pull his strength together to climb the peak of the mountain, and hurdle himself over, and die at the very spot he lay now. The note, his parents! They would assume the throne was too much for him to bare. Yes! Yes! The note was perfect! Yes! What a perfect suicide note! Yes! Yes!
Yes.
Had his entire life lead to this? The night before he takes on his life's purpose, he takes his own life because of his shame, fear and pride?
What kind of man would that make him?
So many questions raced in his mind. Who would rule the kingdom? How could his parents ever recover from such heartbreak? What if they take their own lives? What will be the fate of his kingdom?
Dar sighed, and pushed himself up.
He didn't know, and he didn't care.
He just wanted all the pain to end.
Ah, but Dar couldn’t escape his fate that easy.
His pain was only beginning.
Thunk.
"Aye-ah!"
In midway pushup, something hard had fallen on his head. 
Dar sprung up, and looked around the ground to find what had hit him in the crown.
In the moonlight, Dar made out a black, gleaming lump lying on the stone.
Was that... Coal?
Dar looked up.
A second piece of coal landed on his forehead.
"Dad gum it you..!"
You’d think he would have sustained brain injuries by now.
Then in a whoosh, who to jump down from the tree above and stand before Dar but Hayley.
“No need to cry Sir Poutalot, I am here for you to bask in my glory.”
“What? Hayley?! What the... What are you doing here?"
“You got the diamonds, right?”
"I beg your pardon?”
“The diamonds. For my pay. To get you out of this nether hole that is your life.”
“You saw my guards coming, didn't you? Hayley, I thought you were gone!”
"I knew you may have been thinking that. But Dar, if your guards don’t have one thing, it’s stealth.” Hayley cupped her hands around the mouth and shouted in a hoarse whisper.
“Prince Dar! Prince Dar! Where are you? We have been sent by the king to find you! Prince Dar? Prince Dar?” She said to the sky, imitating the army's cries. 
She lowered her hands, and smiled. "When I heard them say that, I remembered that your folks may have noticed you were gone and decided to send guards to bring you home. So I stayed and waited for you anyway."
Hayley turned away from Dar, her hands behind her back.
“So, did you get the diamonds?”
Dar nodded. “Indeed I did. A stack, just like we agreed.”
Hayley looked back at him over her shoulder. “Ooooh, ooooh, oooooh.” Hayley shook her head. "No, we agreed on a stack and a half, Dar. That's not enough."
This night was just going swimmingly. “WHAT?!”
Hayley let out a glorious laugh. “I’m teasing, dear Dar. I’m teasing.” She said with tears in her eyes. Hayley walked to the other side of the clearing.
At this time, the new day was dawning. A rolling sea of pink and yellow light washed over them as the sun ascended into the sky. 
Laughing still with her eyes closed, Hayley whipped out her bow and shot an arrow at a tree at the edge of the clearing.
On that tree, there was a button.
With the roar of an earthquake, the mountain side began to shake. 
“Wooh hoo!!” She laughed in triumph, strapping her bow to her back. 
The ground shook as the blocks of stone began to pull apart.
“What’s happening?!” Dar cried out to Hayley. The ground beneath him gave out. 
Down he fell.
Dar looked up as he descended, watching as the sky of sunrise disappeared as the stone blocks pulled back together into their original place.
Now in total darkness, all Dar could do was listen to the sound of air rushing past his ears.
And the sound of a very happy Hayley. 
“Woooooh hoooo!!” Hayley’s cry echoed through the cave. She swung on a green vine, snatching Dar from the air and swinging the both of them to the other side of the swallowing cavern.
Dar was never more relieved in his life when he found his feet on solid ground. 
Dizzy and disoriented, Dar tried to push away from Hayley so he could stand up straight on his own. She squeezed him tighter.
"Don't move" She whispered sternly.
She released the vine, and pulled out a torch with her free hans. A warm glow filled the cave, allowing Dar to see exactly what ground they were standing on. The two were perched on the very edge of a stone ledge. Dar and Hayley were only inches from falling off. Dar could not see the bottom of the cave from where he stood on the ledge. Only darkness.
Dar watched as Hayley let the torch slip from her fingers. 
The torch silently descended into the bottomless pit.
When the light disappeared, Dar didn't hear the torch thud on the ground.
So that's why she didn't want to let go of him.
"How... How deep is it?" Dar said, wrapping his fingers around Hayley's wrist, hanging on for dear life.
"Anyone who hits that button on the tree and doesn't grab the vine will fall until they hit bedrock." She replied, pulling out another torch.
Dar swallowed. The very thought of tripping over the edge into the abyss made his stomach churn.
Hayley released Dar from her grip and took hold of his arm. Holding the torch above her head, she led Dar away from the edge and pulled him to the cavern wall. There, the light gave way a tunnel that had been carved into the wall for the very purpose of escaping anyone trying to follow them.
Before they entered the tunnel, Hayley let go of Dar’s arm and turned to him.
“Here. You may want to put these on. If you really want to fit in with the group, I suggest you don’t have on your royal robes or your long johns when you meet them.” 
Hayley retrieved from her pocket an armful of blue and grey clothing and tossed it to Dar. 
------------
Although Hayley had planned to arrive to her friends' hideout by sunrise of that day, having to wait for Dar to get the diamonds and taking the underground pathway had delayed them to nightfall.
Yes, taking an underground path to somewhere might have seemed faster than walking above ground, but the underground road took many twists, turns, rises, and falls, and even a few circles and forks in the path. It had been dug this way to make it impossible for anyone unfamiliar to the tunnel to get through.
The tunnel ended in a flight of upward cobble stairs that led to a dirt wall. Hayley dug the dirt blocks above them at the top, allowing starlight to stream into the tunnel. Hayley gave Dar dirt, and both jumped, placed dirt underneath them, jumped, placed another block of dirt, and jumped out.
The two stood in a birch forest valley surrounded by snowy stone mountains. Dar took in a deep breath of the fresh cool air, having walked through the stuffy torchlit tunnel with Hayley the entire day.
Hayley put her torch back into her pocket. “Alright Sir Dar, our destination awaits us.” She said, pointing to a stone and dirt wall between two of the mountains.
After walking through the trees and arriving to the wall, Dar noticed a grey button on one of the stone blocks. He reached to press it, thinking it would open up the secret layer of the thieves. 
Hayley grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. 
“What do you think you're doing?! Do you want to get the both of us killed?!” Hayley exclaimed, face palming.
“Excuse me?”
“Dar, how easy do you think it is to find a secret hideout of fugitives? That button is a test. If you press it, the ground will open up to a pool of lava.”
Dar’s eyes widened. He turned his head away. 
“Oh.” He blushed. "Sorry."
Hayley walked a few blocks away to the far end of the wall. “Now this, Sir Dar, is how someone hides a secret layer.” She said, digging away a single block of dirt. Behind the dirt was a second button made of wood.
She pressed the button. With a click and a moment’s pause, the cave blocks pulled apart, creating a four by five pathway into the wall.
Dar looked at Hayley, and nodded. He strode into the entrance of the cave.
“Wait!” Hayley shrieked. But it was too late.
Before Dar could blink, he found himself pasted against the inner tunnel wall. Staring into his eyes was a man with glasses. He held an iron sword to Dar's throat.
“One more move mister and it’s the nether for you!“ The man hissed. The cool metal of the blade against Dar's neck sent chills up and down his spine.
“Hold it, Tyler! He’s with me!” Hayley said, turning into the tunnel to Dar’s aide.
The man snapped back in surprise.
“Oh, Hayley! It’s you! By Notch, don’t scare me like that!” He said, strapping his iron sword back into its sheath.
Dar leaned against the wall, rubbing his neck, praying when he pulled his hands away he wouldn't find his gloves stained with his own blood. 
What had Dar just gotten himself into?