Chronicles of Yugure: Plummeting into Uncharted Depths

Day Twenty-One

"Milah, how could ye do this? Ye mean to tell me ye've been b'hind this the whole time?" I call to him after being beaten, sacked, and dragged into a cavernous pit on the far side of the volcanic island.

Its deep and jagged grooves cut me on all sides as they drop me in. The click clacker sound of rocks falling into the depths of my new prison echoes on the walls. Smells of sulfur and mixtures of other gasses fill my lungs and choke them with their horrid odors. I worm my way out of the burlap sack I was less than kindly placed and thrown into a pit in. Eyes watering, I barely hear the traitor's reply.

"I," was all the palm dragon could stutter out of his mouth before an unidentifiable voice cuts in.

"Bwahehrarh, you little fool. He was working for us before you ever danced your way onto the volcanic rock he calls home. And now, thanks to your naiveness, you're back with me, safe and sound." More laughter followed by snorting comes from the concealed voice above my head.

The sweltering vapor rises from the sparse pores of the dense, glassy rock. Its off-black surface generates a haphazard heating system, having some spots more blistering than others. The lighting in here is far from perfect, but it is decent enough to see where my feet stand. My captors' footsteps fade off into the distance and I'm left alone in my dark, hot, and humid prison.

'Might as well explore while I'm here. There seems to be plenty of tunnels running through this place. Maybe they didn't notice an escape route.' I wander out to the tunnel closest to me its floor is uneven and lumpy as if bubbles formed in the rock. It gets even more scorching as I travel onward through the darkness. I am surprised that they let me keep my bag, considering that I still have my journal; but perhaps they aren't up to date with the rest of their squadron and still think Aaryan has the book.

The tunnel doesn't lead to anywhere and I sadly end up back in the main cavern. I try the next few tunnels finding not much more than an occasional hot spring and rock formations that look like my old elementary teacher. My neck waters with sweat with each step that I take. Panting comes soon after while I walk across the cavern to the last row of tunnels.

The hot springs I have been seeing scattered across the sides of the tunnel pathways are no more. Instead, boiling lava geysers and pools are popping, fizzling, and sputtering chunks of magma rock onto the walkway's surface. My feet trot around the burning molten rock as it gushes out onto my path, trying to not have the scales on my hands welded together. Smoke rises from the lava pools and lays its ashes onto my face and into my eyes. I blink quickly with irritation to wipe the debris out of my now enflamed eyesight. With reddened eyes, stinging and itching with displeasure, I make haste to the end of the long hall to flee from the fiery pit of hell that I have been left in.

The next corridor I enter after making a right on Hot Feet Highway is more or less uninviting. There aren't any lava pools, nay. But instead, a giant river of lava with a probably unstable rock step formation, leading to the other end of the hallway. I choke down a nervous gulp and estimate the size of the room. If I try to fly in this oddly proportioned space, I may nosedive into the lava, unintentionally of course. There are too many imperfections in the wall reaching out into the open air that can grab me and pull me out of the sky.

Shakily, I jump over to the first step. "Heh, this is not so bad." I pounce onto the next step, and then the one after that. "I feel like I'm at the Yugurian Warrior Games," I amuse myself with the thought of competing in the annual obstacle course fair that the realms hold for the young adults who wish to show off their physical strength, stamina, and agility. If you haven't guessed already, no, I do not compete in such events.

I hoot a sigh of relief as I clamber onto the other side of the passageway. My body shakes with exhaustion and anxiety, wondering what might be on the other side of this next opening. I'm praying for a way out, but I know I'm not that lucky.