So [the alligators] all be quiet. Until the fire flare real high and close. Sparks flyin, they swinge all over them gators bare, white skins. The gators swink close down but it don't do them no good. They got to move. The hot fire is real up now. It blister they tails and they snouts. And the gators are runnin away. Bruh Gator is in front, the little alligators is in the middle, and Sis Alligator comin on from the last. The details in this excerpt help readers visualize

what the sparks smell and sound like to the alligators.
how hot and painful the flames are to the alligators.
how dry and dusty the ground feels to the alligators.
what the dry grass smells and feels like to the alligators.

a complex sentence consists of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.  

to write complex sentences, we must use subordinating conjunctions.  

all the complex sentences begin with a subordinating conjunction and when it occurs, a comma must be place at the end of the dependent clause. on the contrary, if the sentence begins with an independent clause, then no comma is used.

after  

although  

as  

because  

before  

if  

since  

when  

for example,  

after she won the competition, she became very popular.  

although my father was hurt, he continued fighting for his rights.  

as all of you got a ten, you will be able to leave early today.  

before he went to the war, he asked his parents to bless him.  

if it is cold, i won’t go out.  

since you didn’t bring the homework, you will get low grades.  

when it is hot in the town, everyone goes to the beach.  

b. our party quickly made its way into the cave / but we failed to find our host [the cyclops] himself inside.

i believe it is the first option, having taken lessons