So on to the next chapter. Troy, Astral and Spyro are about to rescue Volteer.
DISCLAIMER: This has nothing to do with Eragon, How To Train Your Dragon, Dragon Booster or any other stories involving people who ride dragons. Also I do not own Spyro, etc.
Anyhow… here we go!
Chapter 6: Wrath of the Ice King
Further down the cavern, Troy and Astral came across a familiar sight; a purple dragon fighting a gang of Small Apes. Quickly they joined in the fray and took out the others. Soon the Apes were dead and the dragons recovered their health and magic with some gems.
"Did you find Volteer?" Spyro asked.
"No, no sign of him," Troy replied. "But we found the humans and another dragon named Hurricos. He's leading them back to the Temple."
"I haven't seen any sign of Volteer either," Spyro said. "But check this out." He opened his mouth and shot a bolt of electricity at the wall.
"Wow, that's great," Astral gasped, impressed. "Now see what I can do." She blew a stream of water out of her mouth, and splashed it over Sparx.
"Hey, cut it out," the dragonfly spluttered.
"So you've found this cave too, huh?" Troy stated.
"Well, we couldn't get into the fort," Spyro explained, "so Sparx led me to this place where those Apes were."
"And we followed your tracks to find you," Astral finished.
"We couldn't find Volteer in the fort either," Troy said. "So he has to be here. Let's go."
Soon the team found themselves on a ledge overlooking an icy arena. Spyro and Astral glided down, Sparx zipped after them and Troy took a running jump into the arena. They tensed themselves as they slid into the centre, then Sparx pointed ahead with a smile. "Hey that's him, we did it, bye."
Troy looked up and saw a large ledge that looked out over the arena. At the back there was a massive throne containing a huge frozen figure. At its feet lay a large yellow dragon patterned with pale white stripes, with dark blue horns and wings.
Astral gasped. "That's Master Volteer! We have to get over there."
"Wait a minute." Troy held her back. "I don't like this."
"Me neither," Spyro agreed. "It's too quiet… too easy."
"What… what part was easy?" cried Sparx as he buzzed over to the iced statue. "Getting chased by frozen madmen and gorillas?"
Just then, a loud cracking noise rang out, and the statue started to move. Astral gasped, Troy stared in horror and Spyro gulped, "Uh, Sparx?"
Sparx turned and winced slightly. "Is that what I think it is?" He turned back around and saw the figure standing up from the throne. With a scream, he buzzed straight back to the others.
The monstrous figure stepped forward to the ledge. He was dressed in the armour of the smaller zombie soldiers, carrying a shield in one arm and a cape flowed down off his back. With a roar, he leapt into the centre of the arena.
Astral glanced nervously at Troy. "That must be the Ice King that Hurricos warned us about."
"Yes," Troy agreed as he drew out his sword. "Let's take him down a notch."
The Ice King pulled out his own icy sword and let out a deep booming laugh. Spyro launched a Fireball at him, blowing him back. Troy then rushed forward and locked swords with the monstrous zombie. As the King began to gain the upper hand, Astral and Spyro dashed behind him and blew a Fire Blast at his back. With a roar of agony, the Ice King stumbled back, and Troy flicked the icy sword out of the zombie's hand.
Angrily, the Ice King raised his foot and stamped down, sending out a shockwave which knocked Troy down. As he struggled to stand, the huge zombie stomped forward and reached out to grab him. Acting quickly, Astral shot out her Water Stream at the Ice King's feet, which made him slip and stumble back. Spyro took the chance to charge into the King's side, sending him right to the edge of the arena. Troy then raised his shield and shoulder-charged into the zombie, knocking him over the edge and down the glacier. Troy almost followed him down, but Astral managed to grab him and pull him to safety.
The team then flew up to where Volteer was lying on his side, watching with amazement. Astral bowed her head to him. "How are you feeling, Master?"
"Astral!" Volteer gasped. "My, my, my, am I glad, happy, pleased, thrilled, delighted to see you again. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Master Volteer," Astral chuckled. "And look, I found my Rider and the purple dragon, my little brother."
"Yes, I saw the whole battle from up here," Volteer babbled. "It borders on the miraculous, incredible, stupendous… a dragon his size and a young human defeating that, that… thing! Thank you, er, um…" He trailed off.
"Spyro," the little dragon said.
"And I'm Troy," the human added.
"A purple dragon named Spyro and a Dragon Rider named Troy," Volteer pondered. "Amazing. Of course there were unsubstantiated rumours of a purple dragon and a Dragon Rider countless generations ago, but most considered it hearsay, gossip, legend, it's hard to believe, difficult to fathom, amazing to comprehend…"
"No wonder they gagged this guy," Sparx muttered.
"So much time has passed," Volteer continued. "So many years have passed and now here they are standing before me…"
"Excuse me, Master Volteer?" Astral interrupted.
"W-Wha-What is it?" the Electric Guardian sputtered.
"Sir, I think we should get going," Troy said.
"Oh yes, of course," Volteer agreed. "But uh, where to?"
"Well, back to the Temple," Spyro replied.
"A friend of yours is waiting," Sparx added.
"Ignitus?" Volteer gasped incredulously.
"Yes, Ignitus," the dragonfly sighed.
"Of course," Volteer cried out. "So much to tell, so many hypotheses to impose. I believe that…"
And he kept on talking all the way back…
By nightfall, Troy and the dragons had returned to the Temple and met up with Ignitus who was glad to see them again. "Welcome back, young ones. I see you were successful in your mission."
"And we found the humans too," Troy added. "Hurricos is leading them here."
"Hurricos?" Ignitus gasped. "Why, I haven't seen him since Cynder kidnapped the other Guardians!"
"Yes, and what an absolutely atrocious passage of time that was," Volteer spouted. "Why, these past few days, Cynder's been draining my electric powers, saying she needs them for some diabolical purpose. Oh, but it's so wonderful to be free again! And I'm glad to see that you've evaded capture, Ignitus, old friend!"
"Yes, yes, Volteer," Ignitus sighed patiently. "It's good to see you as well, but we haven't got time to waste on sentiment. Back to Cynder… she was doing what to you?"
"Wait, Cynder's a chick?" Sparx cried out.
"Yes she is," Troy answered. "Weren't you listening?"
"Well, it's hard to be absolutely sure, Ignitus," Volteer said, "but it seems she was using me as some sort of suspended organic power source."
"Huh?" Sparx asked.
"She was using him as a battery," Astral translated.
"Why didn't he say so?" the dragonfly scowled.
"Not only that," Volteer continued, "but she also left with a glowing yellow crystal, and I believe that I somehow powered it. Does that mean anything to you, Ignitus?"
"Perhaps," the Fire Guardian murmured.
"I think I should tell you," Troy put in. "When I was fighting that Ape Commander, he said something about Cynder's plan already going ahead, and it might have something to do with why they kidnapped Hurricos. Is that important too?"
"Perhaps, perhaps," Ignitus repeated. "What I do know is we need to rescue the other Guardians before Cynder could power any more of those crystals. We'll work on that after a good night's sleep. "
"I agree, Ignitus," Volteer nodded. "And come the dawn, I'd like to impart some useful knowledge onto Spyro, vis-à-vis his recently acquired electricity based exhalation device."
"What?" Sparx cried out.
"He said that tomorrow, he'd like to teach me some things about that Electricity Breath," Spyro replied.
"Oi, why doesn't he just say so?" Sparx yelled.
The next morning, Volteer took Spyro into the Dojo for training, while Troy and Astral went out into the garden so Astral could learn to use her Water Breath. Within a few hours, Astral had mastered her Water Stream and then she discovered a skill that involved trapping dummies in a bubble that suspended them in the air, allowing her to take them out with air combos. She practiced for a bit, but was unable to master it perfectly, nor was she able to do a proper Water Fury.
Meanwhile Troy continued practicing his sword skills on some nearby Frog Weeds and also tried using his shield as a weapon on some Mushroom Spiders. Then as night began to fall, they returned to the Temple and watched Spyro complete his Electricity training with a powerful Electric Fury.
"Wow," Troy breathed.
"Your training is complete," Volteer announced. "For now."
The following morning, Troy, Spyro and Astral met up with the Guardians in the Grotto where they were greeted by a familiar sight.
"Hurricos!" Astral cried. "You made it!"
"It wasn't easy, let me tell you," Hurricos replied. "We had to detour around the islands to avoid the Apes." He then noticed Spyro and smiled. "You must be Spyro, the purple dragon. It's an honour to finally met you."
"Thanks," Spyro replied.
"Did all the humans make it?" Troy asked.
"Yes, they docked by the shores of the Silver River close to the Temple. Here, Argos wanted you to have this." Hurricos pushed a bundle in front of him.
Troy picked it up and unfolded it, revealing a flowing blue cloak. "Wow! This is amazing."
"Argos says this is a magical cloak," Hurricos explained. "It protects its wearer from fire, very handy if you're working with Fire dragons."
Troy put it on and admired himself. "Care to test this thing out, Astral?"
"You got it." Troy raised the cloak over his head and Astral breathed some fire on it. When she stopped, the cloak wasn't burnt or smoking.
"Excellent," Troy beamed. "Tell Argos I said thank you."
"I will," Hurricos promised.
"Let's hope that this cloak will prove useful for your next mission," Ignitus then said.
"Right, of course," Astral said. "Who's next, Master Ignitus?"
The Fire Guardian gave a worried sigh. "Spyro, Astral… Cyril, the Ice Guardian, was taken to Tall Plains. You, Troy and Sparx must go there at once… and find him."
"Yes sir," Spyro responded.
"We won't let you down, Master," Astral agreed.
"Any word of humans on Tall Plains?" Troy asked.
"No, Troy, not this time," Ignitus replied.
"I see," Troy muttered, a little disappointed.
"Don't feel sad, Troy," Astral replied. "There are other people we can rescue on Tall Plains. You need to focus on them too, not just on the humans."
"Okay," Troy said more assuredly. "We'll do that."
"But if we see danger, we run, right?" Sparx added.
"There are times," Ignitus replied, "when all of us need to stand up to danger, young Sparx."
"Yeah, maybe next month, next summer… perhaps next year?"
"Just go!" Ignitus yelled. "Now!"
"Yes sir," Spyro and Astral said.
"We'll be back soon," Troy called out as he followed the dragons out to the balcony.
And finished again, so soon after the last one too.
So now I'm still thinking about what elements Astral should use apart from Fire and Water. If I like your ideas, then I'll use it.
So, what dangers await our friends on Tall Plains? Wait and see.
