Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT Dancer plunged like a falling stone and landed with a bone-jolting thud. In a daze, Layla stared around. They were on the lower slopes of Mount Fury. High above them, the mouth of the volcano was belching out clouds of thick smoke. Something was tickling her neck. Layla swatted at it. Her fingers touched cold glass and marble. Caught in her hair was a tiny model of Unicorn Academy. Layla tucked the tiny building in her pocket. She knew from her previous adventures that she and Dancer would need it to return to the school.

第八章舞者像一块落下的石头一样纵身一跃，砰的一声落在地上，骨头都被震碎了。 蕾拉茫然地环顾四周。 他们在弗瑞山较低的山坡上。 在他们头顶的高处，火山口正喷出一团团浓烟。 有什么东西在挠她的脖子。 莱拉朝它猛拍。她的手指触摸着冰冷的玻璃和大理石。 她的头发上夹着一个独角兽学院的小模型。 莱拉把小房子塞进口袋里。 她从之前的冒险经历中知道，她和丹瑟需要它才能回到学校。

"Phaaaarrw!" coughed Dancer. "It smells terrible!" Layla looked up to the top of the mountain again, shielding her eyes. Fiery-red dollops of lava were spurting over the edge of the crater and a pungent smell of rotten eggs drifted towards her. "It looks like it might be about to erupt," said Layla anxiously. "We'd better get moving and find some fire beetles before it does. They live at the very top by the crater." She scrambled on to Dancer's back. "Hold tight!" Dancer set off up the side of the mountain, his hooves scattering lumps of rock, sending them tumbling behind in a stony river. Layla's heart thudded painfully against her chest as his hooves slipped and slid on the steep, uneven surface. She gripped hold of his mane until her knuckles whitened. She really didn't want to climb the volcano but no matter how scared she was, she wouldn't give up. If

“法老！”小舞咳嗽道。 “闻起来很难闻！”蕾拉又抬头望向山顶，遮住眼睛。 火红色的熔岩团从火山口的边缘喷涌而出，一股臭鸡蛋的刺鼻气味飘向她。 “看起来好像要喷发了，”莱拉焦急地说。 “我们最好赶快行动，赶在它到来之前找到一些火甲虫。 他们住在火山口的最上面。” 她爬到丹瑟的背上。 “抓住!”丹瑟向山的一侧走去，他的蹄子把一块块的岩石踩得稀里哗啦，扔进了一条多石的河里。 他的蹄子在陡峭不平的路面上滑来滑去，蕾拉的心痛苦地砰砰直跳。 她紧紧抓住他的鬃毛，直到指关节都变白了。 她真的不想爬火山，但不管她有多害怕，她都不会放弃。 如果

there were fire beetles on the volcano, she and Dancer would find them! "Keep going, Dancer!" she urged. He launched into a canter. "We'll soon be at the top," he panted. "We'll soon find those—" He broke off with an alarmed whinny as the ground began to shake. Layla squeaked in horror as a crack zigzagged across the rocky landscape, widening into a deep crevasse. She

火山上有火甲虫，她和丹瑟会找到它们的！“继续走，小舞！”她催促道。 他跑进了一个跑步中心。 “我们很快就到山顶了。”他喘着气说。 “我们很快就会找到那些——”他突然停住话头，发出一声惊恐的呜呜声，这时地面开始震动。 莱拉惊恐地尖叫着，一条裂缝在岩石上蜿蜒而过，扩大成一条深深的裂缝。 她

clung to Dancer's mane, hardly daring to breathe as they teetered on the edge. Slowly Dancer crept back from the sheer drop, stones rattling under his hooves. "That was close!" he gasped when they were safe. "If we'd fallen in, we would have died!" Layla stared at the gaping drop in front of them. It was at least two metres wide and she couldn't even see the bottom. "How will we get to the top now?" "We'll have to jump it," said Dancer. "Trust me, Layla, I know I can clear it. I've easily jumped that far before." But not taking off on steep, uneven ground, Layla wanted to say. What if there was another earthquake when he took off? What if the crack widened further as he jumped? Would they plummet into the crevasse? Dancer sensed her anxiety and nuzzled her leg. "Layla, I can do this."

紧紧抓着小舞的鬃毛，在边缘摇摇欲坠，几乎不敢呼吸。 丹瑟慢慢地从陡坡上爬了回来，脚下的石头格格作响。 “好险啊！”他们安全后，他喘着气说。 “如果我们掉进去，我们就没命了！”蕾拉盯着他们面前那张大嘴巴。 它至少有两米宽，她甚至看不到底部。 “现在我们怎么才能到山顶呢？”“我们得跳过去。”小舞说。 “相信我，蕾拉，我知道我能搞定。 我以前很容易跳那么远。” 但不是在陡峭不平的地面上起飞，莱拉想说。 如果他起飞时又发生了地震怎么办？ 如果他跳的时候裂缝进一步扩大怎么办？ 他们会掉进冰缝里吗？ 丹瑟察觉到了她的焦虑，用鼻子蹭了蹭她的腿。 “蕾拉，我能做到。”

Layla's heart pounded but they didn't have another option. "I trust you," she said finally. She gripped Dancer's sides with her knees and wrapped her fingers in his mane. Dancer took a few paces back then cantered forward. Layla shut her eyes and felt him leap into the air. There was a moment when they were hanging suspended over the crevasse, and then she felt his hooves thud into the ground as he landed on the other side. The breath rushed out of her. "You did it!" she cried, hugging him. Dancer whinnied triumphantly. "I did! Now, let's get to the top as fast as we can!" The nearer they cantered to the summit, the hotter it was. Dancer's sides soon grew slippery with sweat and Layla felt a trickle run down her nose. It was hard to breathe. "Almost there," wheezed Dancer. "What's that?" Layla pointed to some tiny

蕾拉的心怦怦直跳，但他们别无选择。 “我相信你，”她最后说。 她用膝盖抓住小舞的两侧，用手指包住它的鬃毛。 丹瑟后退了几步，然后又向前转了几步。 蕾拉闭上眼睛，感觉到他跳到了空中。 有那么一会儿，他们悬在裂缝上方，然后她感觉到他的蹄子在另一边落地时重重地踩在地上。 她喘不过气来。 “你做到了！"她抱着他叫道。 舞者得意地哼了一声。 “我做了!现在，让我们以最快的速度爬到山顶吧！”他们越接近山顶，天气就越热。 丹瑟的两侧很快就被汗水滑了下来，蕾拉感到有一股细流从她的鼻子里流了下来。 呼吸都很困难。“快到了。”丹瑟喘着气说。 “那是什么?”莱拉指了指一些小小的

red spots on the rocks in front of them. "Are they fire beetles?" "I don't know," said Dancer. He went closer and snorted in shock. "No! That's drops of lava!" Despite the intense heat, Layla felt a chill seep through her. "The lava must be rising through the rocks. I read that happens just before a volcano erupts!" "Maybe we should go back?" said Dancer anxiously. "But we're almost there! We have to go on," Layla insisted, looking up to the summit. "What if the volcano erupts?" asked Dancer. "We'll have to risk it!" said Layla. Thick smoke billowed towards them as they scrambled up the final steep slope to approach the crater. Layla scanned the ground, searching desperately for fire beetles. "There aren't any fire beetles here," said Dancer, reaching the crater's edge.

前面岩石上的红色斑点。 “它们是火甲虫吗？”“我不知道，”丹瑟说。 他走近了，震惊地哼了一声。 “不!那是熔岩滴！”尽管天气酷热，蕾拉还是感到一阵寒意渗透全身。 “熔岩一定是从岩石中冒出来的。 我读到过火山爆发前会发生这种事！”“也许我们应该回去？”丹瑟焦急地说。 “我们快到了！”我们必须继续前进。”蕾拉抬头看着山顶，坚持道。 “如果火山爆发了怎么办？”丹瑟问。 “我们得冒这个险！”莱拉说。 当他们爬上最后一个陡峭的斜坡接近火山口时，浓烟滚滚向他们袭来。 蕾拉扫视着地面，拼命寻找火甲虫。 “这里没有火甲虫。”丹瑟说着，走到火山口的边缘。