Cat and Mouse

by Zephyr Spark

Chapter 4 The Chase

The dragons stopped where the main tunnel branched into three tunnels. Spike could have gone into any three of these tunnels and the dirt left no trace of footprints. Matchstick took a sharp breath before releasing a trail of embers into the middle tunnel. Garble smacked him upside the head, halting the flames.

“You idiot! You’ll burn the scepter.” Matchstick gave a sheepish look before hanging his head. Garble glanced at the tunnels, “He went down one of these. We’ll just have to split up and try each tunnel. Matchstick take the middle tunnel, Boiler the left, and I’ll take the right.” With little space to fly, the dragons raced into the tunnels. Their footsteps echoed through the caverns. Soon, they were separated in the winding tunnels.

A voice reverberated from the walls, “This was a great idea. I just have to lure them into these tunnels and seal the exit.” Spike’s voice permeated through the rocks. Try as they might, the dragons could not pinpoint the speaker’s location. “As long as the monster gets them, I won’t have to worry about them ever again.”

“M-Monster?” Matchstick yelped.

“Don’t listen to him!” Garble yelled through the stones. “He’s just trying to trick us—!” A loud roar sounded through the tunnels, silencing all voices. Garble shuddered with budding apprehension. He didn’t think Spike had it in him.

The three tunnels wound out to an open space that descended into an incline. At the edge of the tunnels, Spike cupped his mouth and unleashed another loud snarl. His voice carried thanks to the acoustic rock structure that bounced his every sound. He could hear them panicking now. They just needed a little push.

“So long as they don’t slam the on the walls, the monster should get them,” he said before issuing another roar. There was silence for a good five seconds. Then, he could hear bodies hammering on rocks. He unleashed a piercing howl into the tunnel and the sound of poundings doubled. Dust fell from the ceiling as the cavern shook.

“Wait! Stop you two!” Spike heard Garble’s voice in the tunnel, “The ceiling’s gonna fall!” Garble’s warning came too late and a deafening crash reverberated through the tunnels. Boulders smacked the cave floor and columns of sand fell. Spike turned away and covered his face as dirt spewed from the entrance. He turned back to the tunnel, hoping he hadn’t crushed them under the rocks. For a minute there was silence.

“Garble!” A coughing voice wheezed. Spike fell back on the rock wall with relief. “Garble! I’m stuck.” He couldn’t tell which dragon spoke but it didn’t matter. His plan worked. At least one of the dragons was down. Hopefully, they all were trapped under the rocks.

“I’ll come back for you later,” Spike grasped the handles on his knapsack when he heard Garble speak. “Right now we gotta get that staff.” Spike rose to his feet and sprinted to the incline a meter from the tunnel. Garble used the word “we,” which could only mean he still had one companion. He hoped this rock trap would end this chase and stop all three dragons, but at least it caught one of them.

Spike clenched his fists. It wasn’t hard to see that a prolonged chase put him at a clear disadvantage. A dragon with wings wouldn’t have much trouble keeping pace with a wingless baby dragon. Add three or even two dragons to the mix, and his odds of outrunning them became bleak. This was not a fair game; it was a lost cause. Spike knew escape was impossible and these dragons simply had to wait him out. Sooner or later, he’d lose this test of endurance. Even with the sound of approaching footsteps, Spike wasn’t discouraged. Terrified yes, but not discouraged. He would decide when he lost.

“There he is!” Spike slid down the steep incline, balancing on his feet. He stumbled near the ground but staggered up and raced to a narrow cranny in the cave wall. The sound of beating wings drew closer. He inched between the rock walls as claws lunged at him. His small body slipped through the crevice with ease, but Garble and Matchstick were bigger and couldn’t follow him easily. At least he hoped so. Just in case, he had a wet soap bar in his hand.

He glanced behind and saw Matchstick sidling through after him. This was a tight squeeze for the tall dragon; his feet were cramped between a space smaller than his chest. Spike leaned down and picked up a handful of sand. As Matchstick reached for his pack, Spike flung the gravel at his face. Matchstick howled, rubbing his teary, red eyes. Spike slid the wet soap bar under Matchstick’s feet. With his hands furiously clutching his burning eyes, Matchstick had no way to stop himself from falling headfirst into the narrow pass. His entire body was trapped in the narrow rock wedge. Spike retreated further into the crevice while Matchstick unleashed a torrent of curses.

---

Garble was getting a headache grinding his fangs. Rage wouldn’t begin to describe his emotions. Somehow, a flightless, wimpy baby dragon outsmarted Boiler and Matchstick and even him. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. They were stronger and faster, so how had Spike taken down two dragons? Garble could only guess dumb luck. At any rate, he couldn’t let Spike get too far. He flew past the crevice through the corridors of molten rock; he could catch Spike further in the cave.

In less than a minute, he found where the gap opened in the in the adjacent wall into a second tunnel. Matchstick’s whimpers echoed through the gap. Garble ignored them. He couldn’t waste time helping someone so useless. He soared through the open cavern until the tunnel grew too narrow, forcing him to proceed on foot. The cave wall began widening ever so slightly when Garble came to an abrupt stop. Before him stood the cavern reached a dead end, save a wide hole and a narrow crevice. Garble eyed both gaps. He sniffed both entrances but both had traces of Spike’s scent. Garble couldn’t trust his nose. Suddenly, a second scent on the right tunnel caught his attention. He leaned down to the ground and through the dimness picked out a minty white trail of toothpaste leading into the wide tunnel. Garble guessed Spike had a tube of toothpaste that sprung a leak. He took two steps into the tunnel when a thought stopped him. What if Spike intentionally made this trail to trick him into going through this wide tunnel where he could easily follow? The crevice was smaller and it would make much more sense for the little dragon to hide in the narrow passage where Garble would have difficulty flying. He doubled back and wormed his way through the tight crevice.

Garble tucked his wings to his back as his scales brushed across the rocks. Soon, he had to crawl on his belly to make his way through the gap. Then he came to a dead end. A cave wall sealed the way forward. So Spike took the larger tunnel after all. Garble overthought the whole thing. He quickly backtracked through the tight pinch. After returning to the main area, he raced into the large tunnel, winding across the ground before he came to another open space surrounded by a river of magma some feet below.

Three tunnels of equal shape stood before him. To his left, a trail of toothpaste led to an open cave. On his right, a trail of footprints pressed deeply into the dirt. In the middle, nothing. Garble growled, realizing Spike was playing mind games. Why would he try the toothpaste trick again? Spike already laid a tunnel of toothpaste in the last area where he went to lead him astray. Unless, Garble wondered, could Spike have gone down the tunnel anyways and just left the trail to mislead him. The footprints would seem to be an obvious indicator which way Spike went. On the other hand, it could be a trick to lead Garble down the wrong tunnel. Garble found it odd that Spike made such deep footprints here when he didn’t make them anywhere else. Then again, Spike could have gone down this tunnel anyways and placed the footprints to make Garble second-guess himself, just like the toothpaste trick. That left the middle tunnel in just as much doubt. Even with no indication that Spike went this way, there was no absolute certainty that he did didn’t go this way. Garble growled. Every second he stood thinking about this was a waste of time. He had to move now. So he did move into the tunnel with a trail of toothpaste bent on finding his staff.

A good thing he did too. Had he stayed a moment longer, he might have seen a purple dragon emerge from beneath the ledge many feet below and carry his backpack over his head as he walked across the river of magma. Spike took delicate steps, trying to keep his backpack from touching the boiling magma that reached his chest. The pool became shallow, dropping to his waist, and soon only reached his toes. He stepped onto a magma bank where molten rock cooled into a dull gray. Taking only a moment to cool down, Spike strapped on his backpack and jogged across the molten terrace. He had to suppress a chuckle at his own clever devices. Garble might have been suspecting tricks but he certainly wasn’t expecting a trick within a trick. Presenting him with three equally possible options distracted him from the obvious answer. For a moment, Spike wondered if he’d been hanging around Discord too much. The lord of chaos’ mischief may have rubbed off on him.

The charcoal black stones cooled beneath his feet as the air around him became muggy. Bursts of hot air steamed from the ground like tiny geysers, some powerful enough to put Spike a few inches in the air. Then, he came to a dead end. The floor gave way to a chasm some fifteen feet across. No way was he pole-vaulting over that. Spike glanced at the other side. A few meters above, a rock outcrop with a tiny gap extended from the ceiling and formed a tube-like tunnel above the chasm. It didn’t look particularly stable, but that didn’t matter right now. He just needed a few more minutes before he could keep going.

His body stiffened as a shrill screech echoed through the caves. Amidst the tepid heat, it sent an icy chill down his spine, as the animal cry reverberated before fading into silence. Somehow, the silence was more chilling than the shriek, or after the shriek. Now he knew what was out there: a power-hungry dragon who exhausted his options searching through the tunnels and was on the brink of murder. Or hopefully, Garble was still searching one of the tunnels and just stubbed his toe. Spike knew he couldn’t be that lucky especially considering his circumstances. He was lucky enough to even last this long. Sooner or later he would run out of luck and then he would have to face Garble. Forget face him, such a confrontation would be one-sided for the little dragon. He had to keep running and find another way to stop him. It was all he could do.

Spike turned around to savage, yellow eyes and a red muzzle. His heart pounded in his chest as Garble drew near, closing the feet between them with satisfied steps.

“Got you.”

Spike’s heart pounded with bestial terror like a frantic creature desperate to escape its hunter. He kept his eyes on Garble, keen to avoid glancing behind even as he took tentative steps toward the ledge. He wasn’t ready. He needed time.

Spike stood before the approaching dragon, beads of sweat rolling down his face.

“You think you’re so clever with all your little tricks but you’re just a coward who keeps running away.” Garble said as he cracked his knuckles, making a sharp sound. Spike felt his entire body going numb. His legs felt heavy as though they were weighed with massive boulders. Then he thought of his friends counting on him and realized he couldn’t afford to freeze up. Hoping to stall Garble, he began jabbering.

“So, become Dragon Lord, wage war on ponies, that’s your master plan?”

“Oh, I’ve got other plans too.” Garble said with a cruel sneer.

“Let me guess, destroy my friends and me, loot the royal castle, and rule Equestria.” The red dragon blinked in surprise.

“You’re predictable, Garble.” Spike said. “And if you think my friends would just let you take over, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

Garble snorted, “And you’re weak just like your friends.” He advanced a couple of steps. “They’re weak little ponies who won’t do a thing so long as you’re my prisoner.”

“What I don’t understand is why.” Spike said counting every second in his head, “Why go through all this trouble involving me instead of taking the staff yourself?”

“Ember would never let me get close enough after we fought for the staff,” Garble said. His lips curled into a smirk. “I also just really just hate you.”

“Simple beast, simple mind,” Spike shrugged. Suddenly his vision went crimson red as a fist harder than stone sent him soaring through the air over the ledge. Through sheer luck, his flailing claws dug into well-worn groves on the cliff side. He scrambled to find a foothold as dirt fell from his perch. When his vision steadied, He saw Garble leaning over the ledge looking down on him a few feet above.

“I’ve had enough of you and your stupid tricks,” Garble huffed. He extended his claws, “Give me my staff or I’ll take it from you and watch you fall.”

Spike had twenty more seconds before he could make his move. His palms were sweaty and he couldn’t hold on much longer. His head was still spinning from that fearsome blow and his muscles screamed in agony. Still, he couldn’t afford to back down.

“What makes you think the staff is in this bag?” Spike said, “For all you know, I’ve hidden it where you’ll never find it. You hurt me and you’ll never know.”

Garble flinched, surprised by Spike’s boldness. Then he scowled and said, “You’re just stalling. You wouldn’t let it out of your sight.”

“Would I?” Spike asked, “Given everything I’ve done so far, do you really think you can predict what I would do?”

For a moment, Garble stared at Spike. His eyes betrayed a flash of uncertainty, a moment of doubt, and a tinge of fear, fear for a dragon he could not understand or anticipate. His eyes narrowed. Spike couldn’t breathe, his heart couldn’t pound any faster, and arms were starting to buckle. Garble reached for his knapsack. Then, Spike let go and plummeted into the abyss.

Comments

[Ekhidna]

This is gut.

[Zephyr Spark]

7623022 Thanks.

[KaptainKuddles]

I'm speechless, this chapter had me on the edge of my bed waiting to see what would happen next. Can't wait too find out why Spike let go but I'm pretty sure I already know.....

[Zephyr Spark]

7623490 Thanks! I'm looking forward to writing it.