[rework] Minglings - Book 3 chapter 7: Lurking dangers

Mason belched loudly, feeling a tiny piece of goat try and wiggle its way back up his throat. He swallowed it down with a contented smile, then grinned at Baudron.

The brown dragon looked almost intoxicated after having eaten half a dozen goats. A jagged pile of cleaned and cracked bones lay next to him.

"I think we wiped out the entire group," Mason said, not feeling the least bit remorseful.

Baudron let out a happy groan in response.

Mason stretched and looked around. Next to him lay a similar bone pile, the remains of the seven goats he had devoured. He had managed to stuff down one more than Baudron.

Probably because I was famished, he thought, unable to shake the feeling of pride that he'd out-eaten the much larger dragon.

He didn't know when their hunt had turned into an eating contest, but he knew for sure he had won!

Above them, the soft red glow that tinged the grey sky was disappearing behind a distant mountain peak, and the shadows grew longer. Soon it would be dark.

"We need to find a cave or something."

Baudron raised his head, blinking at him sleepily. "How so?" he drawled.

"Well, you said it yourself. We don't know what is out there, and those dragons fought something. It'd be better to hide somewhere than sleep in the open, right?" Mason said as he scanned their surroundings.

"Drakes," Baudron muttered, but Mason could hear it was halfheartedly. He was slowly getting Baudron to either ignore or come around.

With a grin, he rose to his haunches and began looking around for a cave.

Above them, the steep slope continued for a while before turning into a mountain. Except for a few red bushes, it was a rocky wasteland with not a single living goat left in sight. Further down led to a wide chasm beyond which lay more mountains.

The cliff down to the desert was far off in the distance, only recognizable by the lack of mountain peaks. If they continued further, it would be entirely out of sight.

Mason pondered for a moment if it wouldn't simply be safer to head back and rest there. Then they could return here when it was daytime.

And be visible to anything that might be flying overhead? He shook his head. No. It would be better to find a place with a roof.

Turning his attention to the other mountains to his left and right, he searched for something that looked like a good hideout.

Boulders and gravel lay scattered across the gentler slopes, with steep barren walls above. Not a single cave or deep overhang.

Annoyed, he turned to the chasm below. The mountain that sprawled beyond had even steeper drops than the one they were on now but also more chaotic outcrops. He noticed a narrow but steep cliff wall with dark shadowy spots dotting its surface.

"There might be some caves over there," he said as he pointed.

Baudron struggled up, blinking, his eyes unfocused as if he had just woken.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if there are Storigians inside?"

Mason frowned as he tried to recall what Storigians were.

"Stone drakes?" Baudron asked before yawning so wide his jaw popped. "I've heard they hide in caves."

"Ah, those things," Mason grunted.

He recalled the massive stone monstrosity that had tried to eat him.

Baudron managed to rouse himself enough, and together they examined their surroundings, searching for an alternative.

When the last of the murky sunlight disappeared behind the mountain, Mason returned his attention to the mountain ahead.

"We don't have a choice," he whispered and jumped in the air, and with a few strong wing-beats, soared towards the opposite side.

The sound of a tent sail unfolding told him Baudron was coming, and he headed towards a small shadow. After a few moments, he could make out the opening of a cave, showing his guess had been right. Better yet, it was big enough. They could both fit through the entrance, which was conveniently smack in the middle of the cliff. He reasoned that unless those stone things grew wings, they wouldn't be able to get inside.

As he sailed forward, they crossed warm currents that flowed through the higher air regions, moving away from the mountains. The sultry air carried the smell of sulfur—the smell of volcanoes.

Let's see what we have first, he thought, inspecting the cave entrance.

He changed his direction and flew past, looking inside. All he got was a glimpse, but it was enough to show that the entrance tapered away into a larger cave. After a few paces and spotting no moment, he turned back. As he sucked in a deep breath, he angled toward the entrance, pulling the red mana towards him and igniting the fire within.

At the last moment, he closed his wings and landed on the edge, exhaling a small stream of fire. It was enough to illuminate the oval-shaped cave. It looked empty. Stalactites hung from a ceiling that was higher than he had expected. There were also no visible crevices or openings that connected it to another cave that seemed large enough for anything dangerous.

Stepping further inside, Mason blasted a cone of fire across the ceiling, incinerating a host of dusty cobwebs.

Wait… webs?

He barely finished the thought when tattling like hail on a windshield came from all across the cavern. Spiders the size of his hand scuttled into view from small cracks and behind boulders and stalactites. Their legs had spiky protrusions that latched onto the stone, causing small bits of dirt and debris to fall and drift in the air.

Mason's heartbeat tripled as he blasted a cone of fire across them. Like wet firecrackers, the insects exploded into gore that quickly roasted and burned in the heat. Charcoaled spider bodies fell on the ground dozens at a time, but the others didn't seem discouraged. More and more swarmed from places he hadn't even thought to look, rushing him from all sides.

Too many, Mason thought as he blew more fire to keep them away.

He wondered why it always had to be spiders. Stepping backward while spewing fire, he jumped out of the cave. As he dropped past the ledge, he turned mid-air and unfurled his wings. Angling them back, he glided from the wall, feeling his tail grind against it. As soon as he had some distance, he looked around. Baudron was circling above him, staring at the entrance with a look of revulsion and anger.

A squirming mass of spiders poured from the entrance, and a tapping sound came from all around. Spiders of different sizes poured from each and every little opening he could see. Some, half as big as him, came clambering down from higher up, and he felt like gagging.

He quickly flew further away from the wall and circled close to Baudron.

"Perhaps we should try a volcano?" he asked, annoyed.

"Look out!" Baudron's shouted as he closed his wings and dropped like a brick.

Mason flinched, then copied Baudron's move. Something wet and sticky struck his hind legs and tail. It felt like someone had wrapped a damp towel wrapped around them. Staring down in shock, he saw a thick white spider web binding his tail and legs together.

"Flee!"

Baudron's shout came just in time.

Mason flapped as hard as he could, violently shooting dozens of feet up. More webbing passed below him. Following it to its origin, he saw an enormous spider amidst uncountable smaller ones. It had a multitude of red, glistening eyes on its hairy head, and from between its two mandibles shot a thick stream of liquid.

Mason climbed higher as fast as he could, the webbing falling short, disintegrating as it fell to the ground.

When he was a safe distance from the mountain, he swallowed and shook his head.

That was way too close, he thought, shuddering.

Baudron was climbing towards him, dodging webbing twice, and when he finally joined Mason, his eyes were wide with fear.

"Did you see that? What kind of spider gets that big?"

Mason let out a stuttering laugh before shaking his head.

"You think I'm blind? You're damn right that I saw that!"

He looked around, wondering what else could be around here.

"Let's find a good hiding place before something sees us up here," he said.

Turning around mid-air, he saw a thick plume of yellowish smoke rise from a nearby mountain.

"Let's try there."

Flapping forward, he felt a tingling from his tail and legs. Looking at his tingling and slowly starting to itch tail, he saw the scales looked like they had been doused in acid.

Great! This stuff is acidic too?

Without thinking, he blew a thin layer of fire across his legs and tail. Only when it struck did he realize what he was doing. He almost stopped, then realized it wasn't hurting. It felt like standing below a warm shower, but the webbing curled up and disintegrated instantly. The scales on his legs and tail had a slight discoloration and tiny pits, but at least the tingling had stopped.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," he growled as he flew towards the volcano.

As they passed across a few deeper crevices, they reached the other mountain without any more trouble. Below them, the grey stony mountainside was cracked and filled with small, soot-edged fissures. Trickles of smoke circled up while a dim red glow reached up.

Seeing none they could even fit in, Mason continued towards the larger plume he'd seen initially.

As they soared through sulfurous air, he quickly realized the plume was further than he had anticipated and much, much bigger. A dull, sporadic roaring came as he closed in, quickly growing until it felt like he stood beside a waterfall that was being turned on and off.

The roaring seemed to come from the enormous tear in the mountain below them. A thick swirling vortex of gash shot up from the center. Smaller plumes of yellow gas came from the holes all around it. During the moments the gaseous plume wasn't rattling his eardrums, they hissed with a high squeal as if the mountain was a pressure kettle. The cracked edges were curved up, rock protruding out as if something had burst from the ground.

Mason shivered as he looked down and saw the hazy, familiar red glow of lava.

"I'll go first!" he roared.

It took him three times, timing his shouting to when the roaring was quieter before Baudron heard him. The other nodded, staring down with a look of distaste almost as bad as when he had seen the spiders.

Mason fell, his wings stretched out behind him, ready to get out if anything happened. The air became hotter, the thick stink of sulfur reminding him of the first time he woke as a dragon. He flung out his wings and came to a jerky stop amidst the waves of hot air from below. He hovered just above the edge of the enormous fissure.

The gass was erupting from an odd hole in the lava, which was being pushed to the sides. Every few moments, the lava seemed ready to smother it, then the gas built up enough pressure and blasted bits of it up and away.

There were plateaus all along the sides of a river of lava that bubbled and hissed. It came from the side of the mountain, where it had melted its way through the stone.

Picking a ledge halfway down and not easily reachable, Mason flew inside the opening. He landed on the ledge when he saw no signs of spiders, stone drakes, or giant bats. It was wide enough for a dozen dragons, and as he felt the hot glow of the lava below, he sighed in relief. Baudron circled above him, and he signaled the brown dragon to come down. It took a few attempts before the other noticed, but eventually, he came down.

As if waiting for it, the gas erupted and let out an odd belch as if something was being strangled. Then the lava smothered it. Under Mason's watchful gaze, the gas buildup created a few glowing red bubbles. Then the pressure seemed to divert elsewhere.

Let's hope that's just a natural phenomenon, he thought.

Baudron landed next to him with a dull thud. He quickly moved close to the wall, far from the edge, staring at it with distaste.

"We need to find a better hiding place next time…" he grumbled as he curled up.

Says you, Mason thought with a grin as he examined the lava below. "I'll be right back. Just going to sit a bit lower to warm up."

"Warm up? ... Go fall in, why don't you?" Baudron grumbled, sounding half asleep.

Mason grinned, the abundance of tiny red mana specs washing into him even when he didn't actively try to draw them toward him. They quickly washed away most of his weariness.

Looking down, he saw another ledge below, so close to the lava that he could probably touch it.

Suddenly feeling like a little boy, he jumped down and glided through clouds of red energy particles feeling invigorated.

The image of the spiders crawling from the walls suddenly appeared in his mind. Blinking, he did a barrel roll, looking around.

He calmed down when he only saw the dark soot-stained stone, yellow gas, and a reddish glow that tinted everything and made him feel warm and cozy.

Gotta pay better attention, he thought. He didn't want to get jumped.

He felt the heat seep into his bones as he landed on the ledge. It was a lot smaller than the ones above, with crumbling edges. As he moved to get a good position, the lava seemed to almost sing to him. On a whim, he moved closer to the lava.

The brightly glowing, almost white lava was tinged at the edges from bright yellow all the way to red and should have blinded him. Instead, it was as if he was looking at slightly murky water. He could see the currents below, and he felt a deep desire to jump in.

So, this is how Jake must feel when he's in the ocean, he thought.

He inched even closer and carefully lowered the tip of his tail to the lava. It was hot but not scaldingly so, and as he felt his tail enter the hot goop, he hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

After a second, he yanked it back out. It felt like he had tried entering a tub with almost boiling water. But not like a boiling pit of lava that would disintegrate most things it touched.

Well, well, he thought with a grin as he gazed into the murky depths.

He couldn't wait to get stronger and take a swim! Would he need to hold his breath?

He stayed at the lava for a long time before flying back to Baudron.

The brown dragon was fast asleep, curled up with its head on its tail. Watching the other, Mason wondered how great it would have been if Jake had been here. Not that his friend would want to be anywhere near a volcano! Water didn't mesh well with volcanos.

Realization hit him like a sledgehammer.

What would happen if he found Jake? His friend was a water dragon, and being in a place like this might hurt him... or worse. On the other hand, Mason couldn't even imagine living anywhere else anymore.

No! It doesn't matter… we will find a way. We always do.

Stuffing the fear to the back of his mind, he shivered. Deep down, he knew that ignoring the problem was only a temporary solution and that he would have to come to grips with it sooner or later.

But not right now. Besides, he would have to find Jake first. And from what he had seen so far, his friend could be on another side of the world.

I will find him, Mason thought as he curled up on the ledge.

The happy and fuzzy feelings had vanished, and his mind felt clearer than it had since entering the desert. It wasn't just Jake he missed.

As an image of a wooden house, desperately in need of a painting behind an unkept garden, appeared, he wondered how his parents were doing. He hadn't thought about them a lot since he awoke with scales... even now, picturing them, he didn't feel a great sense to rush out and find them.

He knew it had to be because of the changes, and he tried to force himself to care. From what Sandra had told him, many people had disappeared after the mingling event. Had they been among those? Or had they returned, part Goblin?

For a few startling moments, he felt a sudden rush of fear and anxiety, and he wondered if they were still alive. Then his draconic side rushed in, and the roiling emotions faded as if they hadn't happened.

I don't think even my mind counts as human anymore, he thought.

He stayed awake, tired, his mind bustling, filled with problems he couldn't solve until he finally fell into a listless half-sleep.

He started awake a few times, sure he'd heard a roaring that belonged to some Godzilla movie. Each time he fell back asleep when he saw Baudron still quietly sleeping and heard nothing but the tiny streams of gas.

Eventually, his weariness took over, and he fell into a deep, almost comatose sleep.