Midnight over Meridell - Chapter II: Part Three

Dhestar and Karadier flew as fast as they could, speeding up the Volcano as quickly as they could move their wings.

      "Man that was disgusting!" Dhestar exclaimed, wiping flecks of sweat and vomit out of his eyes.

      "Forget that, I'm more worried about Ingi - he's gonna go berserk!" Karadier panted, trying to prevent any of the bile slipping into his mouth.

      "Well, we'd better just get there and hope for the best!" Dhestar said, and a few minutes later they were on the landing, waiting for Ingibong, who was thinking up a new plan, yet when he saw them he put it on hold, and decided to give them a moment to recover.

      "So?" he asked anxiously as their breathing eased up, "How'd it go?"

      "We… failed…" Dhestar muttered, not meeting his master's eyes. He cowered, preparing for a wave of rage to hit him like a very fast-moving object that moves very fast. It didn't.

      "Guys, didn't I tell you not to be seen?" Ingibong said and sat down on a rock. "Seems like we'll have to make a compromise…"

      "You… you're not angry?" Karadier said nervously, looking up.

      "Well, I'm pretty darn annoyed that you failed in your mission," Ingibong said, shrugging, "but there's no time for being angry - now that they know we're here, there's no doubt that they'll want to try and get the Gemstone before we do; they're not stupid, I reckon they know what we're up to."

      "So how do we stop them?" Dhestar asked, relieved that Ingibong's rage was nothing compared to Drow's.

      "I reckon our best bet is to find a way into the Volcano, retrieve the Gemstone, and when they come, we just destroy them and return to Drow," Ingibong replied. Dhestar and Karadier gaped at him. "What?"

      "That's all you have to show after almost an hour of thinking?" Karadier said incredulously, half-stunned and half-amused.

      "No, I've been doing telekinetic scans of the Volcano's interior," Ingibong replied indignantly, "and I have plenty to show for that, thank you very much!"

      "Okay, well, how do we get in?" Dhestar asked.

      "Simple," Ingibong said, bringing up a Mind-Map, which was an ability that Drow had taught him - using his mind, he could project any information on a structure into his or another's thoughts and give it a permanent imprint so that they could think of it at will. "There used to be four shafts protruding out of the Volcano's side, along with the opening at the top, for the lava and magma to escape from, should it erupt-" He indicated four shafts that were closed, plus the opening, by making the structures there flash red in his mind and thus, Karadier and Dhestar's as well. "-but when the tribes on the Island found Pango Pango, they concluded the Volcano was 'sacred'-" Ingibong spared a moment to smirk before continuing. "-and sealed off the four shafts so that only the Shamanistic Priests would be able to get in using their magic. It's impossible to get in through the crater, however, as there's too much heat for us to withstand. But I reckon Demon Magic can beat Shaman Magic…

      "So our first step is to locate the nearest shaft, which is here, and then we have to break and enter the Volcano. Undoubtedly the ancient Priests have probably left plenty of traps and curses, much like the Lost City of Geraptiku, so we'll have to move carefully, 'cause even though Shaman Magic isn't as strong as Demon Magic, it's still very powerful, and they can hide it very craftily.

      "When we get to Lord Pango Pango, I'll distract him and his guards while you two get the Gemstone. Any questions?"

      "Yes," Karadier asked, "how far is this shaft?"

      "About another kilometre up the Volcano, and a few hundred metres clockwise around the island," Ingibong answered, squinting up at the Volcano's tip. "So let's go."

      They were about to take off when he paused.

      "But first wash that vomit off."

     ~ * ~

     "What do we have to take care of first?" I asked the Draik siblings.

      "Find a way to get into the Volcano," Luun replied, "there's sure to be a powerful spell sealing the Volcano; it was a very sacred place to the natives. However, there's sure to be a way to break it as well, because every incantation has a counter-incantation, should the magic need to be dispelled quickly."

      "And if you can't figure out the counter-incantation?" Opessenc asked.

      "We just get out some hammers and smash through the rock," she replied, shrugging offhandedly.

      "Sounds like a plan to me," I said, "where do we find the nearest entrance-like area?"

      "One of the four magma shafts," she said, pointing up at the Volcano, somewhere around the middle. "They've been sealed with the old Shaman Magic, which is pretty powerful in itself, but I reckon I can break it; I have a few tricks up my sleeve…"

      "So how do we get up there?" BUREUNIKONE asked as we set off towards the Volcano. Triy looked at him sceptically.

      "You're not serious, are you?" he asked. BUREUNIKONE shook his head, and Triy sighed.

      "We climb!"

      "Oh," BUREUNIKONE said, trying to sound casual, and failing extravagantly, "okay…"

      "Isn't that dangerous to the point of being so dangerous that it's dangerous?" Eralta asked nervously.

      "Yes, it is slightly dangerous, I suppose," Triy said, shrugging, "but you know what's even MORE dangerous?"

      "No," she said.

      "Oh, you don't? Darn," he said, "I was hoping you could tell me or something…"

      "Nah, I'm blank," she replied. Further conversation was terminated, as we found it very hard to spare a breath for words, as we were now in the very dense and thick jungle. Hacking at bushes, squeezing between trees or swatting at insects is a very time- and breath-consuming job, and nobody wasted theirs. After hacking, squeezing and swatting for what felt like an eternity, we finally managed to reach the Volcano's base.

      "You can't be serious," Alkarasydes squeaked, looking up at the Volcano that stretched like an eternal spire into the heavens, "that's virtual death!"

      "Which is good, virtual isn't real life, isn't it?" Triy said, shrugging, and beginning to climb.

      "Okay, let me re-phrase that," she said, "if we climb up-"

      "Just shut up and climb," I said impatiently, pushing her up the Volcano's wall. She glared at me and followed Triy, who was already an odd twenty metres up the Volcano. After my pets had began to climb, I followed in their wake, and found that it was infinitely harder than I expected - the repeated hand over foot over foot over hand process required vast amounts of energy to maintain at a steady rate, and I was positively astounded when, after fifteen minutes, we collapsed on a landing and found Triy doing push-ups and counting from two hundred and forty three.

      "Two hundred and forty four, two hundred and forty five, two hundred and forty- Ah, good, you're here," he said, "well, we're about one twenty-eighth towards the shaft, so we should be there in seven hours."

      He smiled slightly as he said this, and then roared with laughter at our horrified looks.

      "Only kidding, only kidding, I reckon we'll make it in about half an hour or so."

      Half an hour later of climbing and resting, we finally collapsed on another landing, where sure enough there was the shaft, yet it was blocked by a huge stonewall. The only thing that gave it away was that it was very hot, and also the wall was placed very unprofessionally - the edges hardly matched up with the shaft's edges, and it was the wrong shade of grey.

      "Ah, this won't be hard!" Triy said, "Just get me a hammer of some sort and I'll just smash it out of the way!"

      Luun opened her mouth to protest, but I stopped her.

      "Don't worry, what's the worst that can happen?" I said. I wasn't really concerned with the results, and I couldn't tell why she was suddenly worried - it was she, after all, that suggested smashing it down as a backup plan.

      "Death?" she suggested, but neither Triy nor I were listening. I conjured (or rather, pulled out of my pocket) a large, hefty metal sledgehammer and handed it to him.

      "Just watch," he said, bringing the hammer back and then practically hurling it at the wall. I expected to hear a huge thud and the crack of rocks shattering, but instead we heard a very loud squelch, much like the sound that would usually come out of stepping into thick, peaty mud - the hammer sunk into the rock as if it *were* thick peaty mud, and despite Triy's best efforts to tug it out, it wouldn't budge. After giving up, the hammer sunk into the rock itself and disappeared with a plop. A second later, the rock let off a few ripples, and then sat innocently still, acting as though it had not just devoured a very heavy and large steel sledgehammer.

      "Any alternatives?" I asked, staring apprehensively at the rock.

      "Yes," Luun said impatiently, "it's called Magic."

      She pushed us aside roughly and began to mutter various incantations under her breath. After five minutes of casting different spells (the most effective causing the rock to wobble slightly but remain in its place), she turned around and looked at us hopelessly, shrugging.

      "Nothing?" I asked.

      "Nothing," she replied despairingly, "I need my Spellbook for this-"

      "What's it called?" BUREUNIKONE interrupted.

      "'Enchantments of the Ancients,'" she replied, looking the rock over impatiently, "but I have no chance of getting it now, it's all the way back in Meridell castle…"

      She continued to search the rock as though hoping a sign would appear saying 'You can get in by doing such-and-such a thing', but nothing doing. However, BUREUNIKONE's horn glowed for several seconds, and the Spellbook appeared in midair. He handed it to her with the slightest trace of a smug grin.

      "You would make an amazing Mage," she said, flicking through the book.

      "Or healer," Eralta said, tapping her nose which he had mended merely by tapping it.

      "Oh, stop, you're making me blush," he said.

      "No we're not," Luun said, apparently finding the spell and mouthing the words.

      "Oh, so you're not," he said, conjuring a mirror and looking at his reflection. "Ugh, my mane!" he exclaimed in half-horror, half-disgust. "When was the last time I brushed it?!"

      We all stared pointedly away.

      "Okay," Luun said finally, breaking the awkward silence, "here goes!"

      She began a long incantation that must have taken at least twenty seconds to say. I tried to memorize some words, but they merely confused me due to the rate that she was spewing them at. Finally, she finished her spell and waved her hand dramatically. At first nothing happened and we all stared at the rock as though hoping it would mysteriously fade away. It did something of the sort. At first it rippled slightly, like when it devoured the hammer, but then a very different transformation began to take place - after the ripples, a small hole emerged in the middle and began to suck the outer of the rock towards it like a whirlpool with a gurgle, and when it finished sucking it all in, nothing remained.

      "Where'd it go?!" I yelped in surprise.

      "Back to the Mana Plane," Luun said, "that hole was a portal there, and sucked the stone in."

      "So now what?" I asked, surveying the dark shaft and sweating slightly - now that the rock had been removed, the heat had intensified largely. Down, far below, I could hear the distant bubbling of boiling hot magma; ready to shoot out of the Volcano's rim should there be an intruder.

      "We enter," she replied, shrugging. I sighed and followed her in, beckoning for my pets to do the same. They gave me a look that said 'Are you completely nuts?!' but my retaliation look was enough to get them to follow. Grudgingly, they crept into the magma shaft as well. Straight away, we were hit with a huge blast of heat - we clearly weren't wanted.

      "Okay, looks like we can't get the Gemstone, let's go!" squeaked Opessenc, his voice much higher than usual.

      "I thought you were braver?" I said, frowning slightly and grabbing his tail to prevent him hurtling off the edge of the Volcano.

      "I might be braver, but I'm not a flamin' crusader or anything!" he said, struggling against my tight grip on his tail.

      "Tough luck, you're still coming," I growled, yanking him back into the tunnel. He gave me a disapproving glare and then huffily stalked off behind the safety of the two Draiks. We trekked our way through the Volcano, taking various paths in hopes of finding the Gemstone. I was surprised at how huge the place was, and furthermore just how hot it was - having never been in a Volcano before, I had never expected one to be so hot. Fortunately, Luun had cast a tricky little charm on all of us that reduced the heat effects by a large amount, so it merely felt like we were wearing a bit too heavy clothes for a warm day. Not that it wasn't hot, of course - we were still encumbered by the heat, despite Luun's reductions, and it only got worse as we progressed deeper into the Volcano.

      "Are we there yet?" Eralta said, while sweating profusely.

      "I'm not sure," said Luun, waving her wand so that a gust of cool air erupted from it, "but if it's this hot, we must be near the core, so it-"

      "Who goes there?!" growled something nearby.

      "What was that?!" Alkarasydes squeaked, jumping behind Triy, whose large figure filled half the tunnel. Before he could answer, a pair of Coconut Tribesmen seemingly melted out of the shadows before us. They were oddly furnished - their legs were tattooed with various Shaman symbols, they were carrying hurtful looking spears and were each donning colourfully painted yet disturbing looking wooden masks.

      "Defilers!" spat one, pointing his spear at us, "Destroying the sanctuary of the great Pango Pango! Begone!"

      Unfortunately, as this was an entirely new language to us, it sounded merely like a combined amount of hissing and clacking.

      "Something tells me that wasn't friendly," Eralta said uneasily, eyeing the two Coconut Shamans with hesitation. They two Coconuts looked at each other.

      "They do not flinch!" one said incredulously to the other, "Well, if they will not leave, then we shall make them leave!"

      Before either of us could react, one of the Coconuts (which had just hissed and clacked to its partner) suddenly brought its spear down towards us. Fortunately, Triy, who was always on his guard, flicked a knife out as if from nowhere and parried it.

      "Get back!" he shouted, shoving Eralta aside who had sprung forwards as soon as the Coconut had attacked, "Luun, cast some form of shield or enchantment!"

      Luun did as told, and waved her wand. A split second later and Triy had a sudden glowing aura.

      "Speed Boost?" BUREUNIKONE asked knowledgeably, and she nodded. Sure enough, Triy was suddenly slashing and hacking twice as fast as he normally would.

      "How'd you know that?!" Eralta asked, her eyes wide.

      "I do a lot of reading," he said, puffing out his chest slightly. Meanwhile, the Coconuts, who had given up on trying to best the Draik in melee had taken to blasting him with various magic.

      "Luun!" he shouted, "I need some help here!"

      "Don't worry," she said, "I'm on it; just keep them distracted!"

      "I'll try!" he yelled, ducking as a spell shot from one of the Shaman's spear - it hurtled into a wall and blew a sizeable chunk out. Luun pointed her wand at one and began chanting a form of mantra under her breath. A few seconds later a beam of light streaked out and hit it; it gave a loud wail and fell to the ground, and glowing slightly, much like Triy did when Luun put her spell on him.

      "Is it… dead?" Opessenc asked timidly.

      "Not dead, just stunned," Luun said. "Killing is very low; I only do it in the worst case scenario. Now gimme a minute…"

      She rolled as the second Coconut flashed a quick spell shaped like an eagle at her. She pointed her wand at it, whispered something and it dissipated like smoke. She waved her wand energetically at the offending Coconut, this time hitting it with a jet of purple light - its arms and legs locked together and it rolled harmlessly out of the way.

      "A body binding hex," BUREUNIKONE said when my other pets and I raised our eyebrows at the furious and clacking Shaman, "much like the ones from nearly any magical-type series."

      "Come on," Triy said, holding his sword up and leading the way. We continued to trek through the Volcano, on and on, and I was just beginning to consider the fact that we could very well be lost when the tunnel we were proceeding down opened up into a huge cavern.

      "I don't believe it!" Luun gasped, looking around. I couldn't believe it myself - the cavern was amazing: along the floor ran an intricate spiderweb of lava rivers, and we could see Coconut tribesmen running around. On the far side of the cavern was Pango Pango himself, sitting in a huge stone throne and overseeing the entire scene. He was like most Coconuts, except for the different face paint and clothing - for instance, the feather hat rather than painted mask.

      "Where are we?" I asked.

      "The Molten Core!" Luun replied.

To be continued...