Defenders of Kron - The Black Dragon (20 page)

“Are these the Troll dungeons?” Aaron pointed toward the towers.

“Yes! The towers are built on the dungeons. But the prisoners are kept underground” Dan replied in a hushed voice.

“It’s practically impossible to get inside without getting noticed. There are Trolls everywhere” said Belster.

“There has to be a way, a secret entrance or something”’ Aaron said “Let’s look at the map, Jane some light please”

Jane took out the same small metal device from her pouch that she had used earlier to light torches in the ghost town and ‘flick’, a small flame appeared on it. Everyone admired the device for a while.

In the map, they found three entrances to the Troll Mountains.

“The front entrance is too risky to go in, let’s look at the other two entrances” Dan said “Aaron will lead Flynn, Jane and Sandra through the small entrance at the back and the rest of us will go with me through the third entrance in the west. I have all the faith that we will find Brandon”

Aaron folded the map and kept it in his pocket. They separated into two groups and headed in different directions. Aaron, Flynn, Jane and Sandra slowly walked towards the small entrance towards the back of the towers in the east. They did not make any sounds and watched out for any trolls coming their way.

Suddenly, they heard heavy footsteps coming towards them. They hid behind a big rock. Two very large creatures came near the entrance and stood there.

They were human like, but with grey skin and red patches all over them. Their faces were like someone had drawn eyes and a mouth on a stone. The Trolls lingered around for a while.

Chapter 17

Troll Dungeons

“I smell something” one Troll said.

“Smell what?” the other asked in a grumpy voice.

“Something like humans” the first one replied.

“Of course you can smell humans you idiot, this place is full of human prisoners” the second one said and gave out a snort.

“You call me an idiot? How dare you?” said the first one and hit the second Troll with his club. The second one got angry and knocked the first one over with a heavy stone.

“You are the idiot!” The second one said as the first Troll fell unconscious. Then he gave out another snort and left.

“Thank god they didn’t see us or we would have been like this fallen Troll” Flynn whispered looking at the big Troll who had fallen flat on his face.

“Let’s get inside before it wakes up!” said Aaron as he walked towards the entrance looking at the map. He stopped to look at the fallen Troll.  The Troll made a grunt. Aaron ran away from it. They reached the entrance shown in the map, but there was no visible door or opening.  All they could see was a stone wall.

“Aaron, where is the entrance?” asked Jane. She was not able to see much in the dark.

“It has to be somewhere here, the map shows it to be right here” Aaron said as he searched the wall.

“But there is nothing here!” Sandra said irritated.

“Look at the map again” Flynn suggested.

Aaron pulled out the map from his pocket. Jane clicked on her small device again and in the light, Aaron saw that the entrance to the dungeon had disappeared from the map.

“It won’t show the entrance anymore, that means we have reached it” Aaron said with disappointment.

“That also means that we are at the right place” Jane said “I guess the doorway is hidden”

“Hidden?” asked Flynn.

“Yes, many doors and entrances are enchanted by the Dark Wizard so that outsiders cannot get in” said Jane.

“How do we get in then?” Aaron asked.

“There has to be some way, some hint hidden somewhere to open this door. We just have to find it” Jane replied.

“But it is so dark, how do we find anything” Sandra was annoyed. “If we had come here in the morning, we could have found it” Sandra was giving Aaron a sharp look.

“No Sandra, Trolls are afraid of the sunlight. They are dark creatures and turn into stones if they come out in the sun. They are all inside the towers and dungeons in the daylight and going inside will be extremely dangerous in the morning. I think it is good that we are here in the evening, when most of them are outside” said Jane.

All the time they were talking, the tiny light in Jane’s hand was lit and it could be seen from far away. Suddenly, they felt as if the earth was moving.

“What’s happening?!” asked Sandra.

“Trolls!” screamed Flynn “The Trolls have found us!”

“Find the entrance soon, there is no way to escape now” Aaron shouted and started to search for the door frantically.

The sound of the Trolls grew louder and nearer.

“Who’s there?” came the loud voice of one of the Trolls.

“Invaders!!” They heard the Troll saying, he was holding a torch in his hands and coming towards them with three other trolls.

“Catch them!” the Trolls said together.

Flynn gave out a cry of dismay. Suddenly, Jane remembered something.

“Look for any kind of handles that may be sticking out of the wall, that is how the doors of dungeons usually work.” Said Jane.

“You mean this handle of the dagger that’s been poking me ever since we got here?” said Flynn showing them a red wooden handle that was sticking out of the wall under a protruded rock.

The Trolls were now only a few feet away from them. They all stood petrified against the wall.

“Pull it Flynn, now!” Jane screamed and Flynn fumbled and pulled the handle with all his strength.

“Catch them!” the Trolls were right near them. One of the trolls almost caught Sandra by her hands. The earth under their feet moved suddenly and a secret entrance opened on the ground. They screamed their lungs out as they fell into the darkness. The only little light was coming from the opening of the door above them. They were inside a tunnel and it was a few meters deep. It was pitch dark soon. They finally hit the ground with a big thud. They were fumbling around in the dark to see if they were alright.

“Is everyone alright?” Aaron asked.

“Yes!” everyone answered together.

“It’s so dark here” Flynn said holding on to his wrist that hurt.

“Jane can you show us some light?” Aaron asked.

“I can’t, I lost my light maker” Jane said in a sad tone.

Aaron didn’t understand what to do for a moment, but then he saw a beam of light coming from behind them. “Here, follow me” Aaron whispered.

He then led them to one of the passages inside the dungeon. There was enough light to see one another. Everyone had cuts and bruises on them. Flynn’s wrist turned to be ok but Sandra was limping.

“Where do we go now?” whispered Jane in a low voice.

“Only the Trolls would know where Brandon is” said Aaron.

“That’s a great idea, let’s ask a Troll and get ourselves killed” said Sandra with a sarcastic expression.

“There is no other way to know where Brandon is” said Aaron “Does anyone else have any ideas?”

Everyone’s face went blank.

“Wait, I have a plan, follow me” Flynn said and slowly walked into the open passage. The others followed him to one of the chambers where a Troll was guarding a prison. The Troll guard was sleeping in his stone chair and snoring loudly.

“Wait here!” Flynn whispered and walked behind the sleeping Troll.

“What is he doing? Trying to get himself killed?” Sandra frowned.

“I don’t know. I hope he has a plan” whispered Aaron as he prayed for Flynn.

Flynn walked in behind the Troll and climbed up the wall. He hid in the shadow “Wake up you fool!” he said with a heavier voice, which he liked to make sometimes.

The Troll jumped on his feet instantly. Jane and Sandra held their breath and crouched behind the wall.

“Who?  Who’s there?” the confused Troll spoke.

“I am your master, don’t you recognize my voice?” Flynn said again.

The Troll scratched his head for a while and then said “Yes master, I know. I am sorry, I just dozed off” he looked very ashamed.

“I can see that. Now, tell me where the small boy is” said Flynn sounding angry now.

“Which boy master?” The Troll scratched his head again.

“The small human boy who was bought here yesterday by the wolves” Flynn said.

“Oh! That boy. Don’t worry about him master. He was very menacing, so we have thrown him in the Krigan’s lair. He won’t be bothering us anymore” the Troll laughed.

“Silence! You fool! How dare you do such a thing?  I wanted to finish him off myself” Flynn said.

“Sorry master, it was Murat’s plan not mine” the Troll shrugged.

“Now, show me the way to this Krigan’s lair you fool” said Flynn.

“Yes, yes master” the Troll said and started walking. He tripped over the chair and regained his balance again “This way”

Flynn slowly came down from the wall and followed the Troll, still hiding in the shadows. Aaron, Jane and Sandra followed Flynn.

The Troll took many paths through the dungeon. He looked back several times to see if he can see who he was talking to, but he couldn’t see anything. He came to a dimly lit passage and stopped.

“Why did you stop?” Flynn made the heavy voice again, still hiding in the shadows.

“This is the entrance to the lair master. I do not wish to go any further”. The Troll said in a trembling voice.

“Why is that?” asked Flynn.

“The Krigan... I do not want to take a chance with my life master” said the Troll.

“Ok…. then run now and do not come back here till I tell you to” said Flynn and the Troll ran off like a little mouse.

Aaron, Jane and Sandra came out of the shadows. Flynn walked towards the entrance of the lair.

“I hope we find Brandon here” said Flynn looking at Aaron.

Aaron nodded and said “Thanks for locating Brandon, Flynn. But how did you come up with this plan?”

“Well, I saw how dumb the Trolls were outside, so I thought I could fool them.” Flynn grinned “And it worked”

Aaron thanked him again and walked towards the Krigan’s lair. He knew that the chances of finding Brandon were very slim. If a Troll was afraid of the Krigan, then it must be something deadly. It may not be easy to get away from it.

“Let’s go inside then” Flynn looked at Jane and Sandra who were not sure anymore.

Aaron grabbed one of the torches burning on the wall and said “You don’t have to come in if you do not want to. I understand it is dangerous, just wait here”

“No, we are coming too. We are in this together” Jane said and walked in after Aaron. Flynn followed her immediately. Sandra hesitated for a moment, but followed Flynn.

“It’s not going to be easy, I tell you” Flynn told Jane as they continued their way in.

It grew colder and darker as they went in. A strange stench hit their noses.

Chapter 18

Mordok

Dan hurried towards the open third entrance with Ony and Belster. There was a brightly lit passage on the inside which was guarded by two Trolls. They hid behind the wall.

“What are we going to do now? The Trolls are bigger than me. But I can knock them over if you want me to” Ony said.

“No, we cannot be seen. If they report to the other Trolls, we are all in grave danger, even the kids” said Dan.

“Why don’t we finish them both?” Belster said pulling on his bow.

“No!” Dan stopped him. “They are not very bright, we need to distract them”

He took a few stones and threw them on the Trolls to get their attention. The Trolls were startled. “Who’s there?” said one Troll.

Dan threw a few more stones in the other direction to make some noise.

The Trolls immediately ran in that direction leaving the entrance unguarded.

“Quick, this is our chance” said Dan as he looked out for the Trolls.

They got inside quickly before the Troll could return. They followed the path inside the passage. There were no more Trolls inside, but the passage had pavements covered with colorful pebbles and the walls had polished marble on them. They heard a few voices and ducked behind the pillars.

A few Lurgs walked out from the opposite direction. They seemed to be discussing something of great importance. But neither Dan nor Ony could make anything of it. The Lurgs went past them soon.

“What are the Lurgs doing here?” asked Ony.

“I don’t think we are at the right place” Belster said. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

“No, we are not!” Dan said with caution. “This is not an entrance to the Troll dungeons, this is the way to a Lurg prison. It should be one of their bases”

“We have to get out of here!” Ony panicked.

“We can’t go the same way; the Trolls at the entrance must have come back. They would know by now that someone was trying to fool them. We have to find another way out” Dan said. “Let’s keep walking”

They walked through the passage but this time they were extra careful, just in case the Lurgs came back.

‘Boom!’ There was an explosion in one of the small chambers in the passage. Three Lurg guards came running to the chamber.

“I’ve had it with that slug, I am going to kill it today” said a Lurg looking very annoyed.

Dan signaled the others to duck down and sit behind the extended wall. The three Lurgs came to the door of chamber, unlocked it and went inside.

Dan could hear a screech and a voice of high pitch.

“Let me go you ugly creeps!” The voice said. Then there were sounds of hitting and more screeches. The Lurgs laughed as they walked out of the room. “That should teach the little slug a lesson”

“I know that voice” Ony said when the Lurgs went out of their sight.

“What do you mean?” asked Belster.

“That annoying voice, I have heard it before” Ony was trying to remember hard, “Ah! The stupid Nomes at Alfadon’s place. I remember now. They took my cotton candy while I was enjoying the banana fretters, I am going to get that little freak” Ony was in front of the chamber door before Dan could stop him. He looked through the small window through the grills.

“Hey, you!” Ony said.

Dan walked behind him to look inside. The Nome was startled seeing them. He came immediately to the door and climbed on the grilled window to look outside.