Hello! Thank you for your patience! Here are the next chapters.
P.S. I found the horizontal lines for the breaking of scenes and the naming of the chapters!
Chapter 6
Electricity Training
The young Dragons, Volteer, and Sparx flew back home to the Dragon Temple. The forestland next to the Temple are back. The trees and the giant mushrooms stand tall and flowers blossom on the grass thanks to Groverge.
In the Temple, Spyro walks through the halls to a room where the older Dragons are resting. As he enters the room, he sees carvings of Dragons on the stone walls. All of them look magnificent. Some are flying, some are performing their powers, and some just stand tall and proud. Spyro sees me standing with Volteer and three other Dragons. The one next to Volteer has horns that look like icicles. Next to me is a very strong-looking Dragon with big ram-like horns on his head, a beard, and a spiked ball tale like Cragen's. The third next to him is a Dragoness that looks exactly like Zephyrav but bigger.
"Who can she be?" Spyro thinks.
Laughter occurs behind Spyro and he turns around to see the older Dragons, Emberor, Zephyrav, Boltor, and Aquadus lying on the floor with small wooden bowls next to them. Some have green leaves and some have water. Sparx is hovering in front of them chatting with them. He must have told them a joke that caused the laughter.
"Hey, Spyro," Aquadus calls, "come and join us."
Spyro looks back at the carvings again before approaching his friends and sits down with them. Boltor pushes a wooden bowl filled with leaves to him.
"We saved some food for you. Groverge brought these back from the newly grown forest," the Electric Dragon says. "Sparx said you and he eat green leaves back at Dragonfly Swamp."
"We do," Spyro nods. "I haven't tried these though."
Spyro lowers his head down to his bowl and picks up a mouthful of leaves. He expected them to taste different but instead, they taste very similar to the leaves from his old home, fresh and crunchy.
"It's good," Spyro says after swallowing.
Spyro takes another mouthful and Boltor leans close to him.
"You like the Dragons on the wall, don't you?" he says jerking his head at the wall.
"Yeah," the Purple Dragon says. He gazes at the spot where Volteer and I are, "Are those three close to Ignitus and Volteer the other Guardians?"
"They are," Zephyrav nods, looking at the wall. She points her front foot at the one next to Volteer. "That one is Cyril, Dragon Guardian of Ice," she points at the one next to me, "That's Terrador, Dragon Guardian of Earth."
She stops talking when she gazes at the fifth member next to Terrador. Spyro sees a down-cast look on Zephyrav.
"And who is that?" Spyro asks. "She looks just like you."
"That's Whisperav, Dragon Guardian of Wind," Zephyrav says, "She's my mentor…my mother."
Spyro and Sparx gasps.
"She's your mother?" asks Spyro.
"Your mom's a Guardian?" Sparx says reacting in awe. "Cool."
"Yep," Zephyrav nods. "She was." Taking a deep breath, she says, "She was fighting in the war with Ignitus, the other Guardians, and our forces against the Dark Armies and Malefor. Wish you could meet her. She was remarkable."
"What do you mean?" Spyro asks.
The Wind Dragoness answers with her eyes lowered. "My mother was murdered by Cynder. After the black Dragon took Volteer, Terrador, and Cyril, my mother sacrificed herself to help the rest of us escape." A tear rolls out of her eye and she sighs heavily. She continues when Aquadus places his foot on her shoulder. "I was so sad and heartbroken. I wanted her to stay with me. She was always there for me."
"Her death was hard on all of us." Aquadus adds.
"Wow," Sparx speaks stunned. "That was rough."
"I'm very sorry, Zeph," Spyro says, cheering her up. "I'm sure she was a good mother and teacher, and that she was proud of you."
Zephyrav looks at him smiling big, "Thanks, Spyro. That means a lot."
She nuzzles the Purple Dragon on the shoulder and he feels the softness of her blue feathers. He nuzzles her back, happy he could help. Aquadus, Boltor, and Emberor agree with Zephyrav it was a good compliment. The Purple Dragon now sees Groverge sitting alone by himself like he has often seen him. One wooden bowl of leaves was placed in front of him while another bowl of a type of plant is next to it. Spyro has never seen those plants before. Their leaves are dark green and their stalks glow red. Groverge takes a mouthful of one and crunches down. Spyro wonders if he is in the mood to talk. He likes to get to know him more and later, hopefully, Groverge can tell him what is troubling him.
Spyro shifts himself to face the Forest Dragon. "You've done a good job rebuilding the forestland, Groverge," he says.
The young Forest Dragon did not look at him while he munches down on the plant. Spyro turns away from him thinking he still needs to be left alone.
Groverge swallows and replies softly, "Thanks."
Spyro glances back at Groverge now turning his attention to him.
"Thanks," he repeats.
Pleased to talk to him, Spyro turns to face him again. Groverge takes another mouthful of a red-stalk plant and chews.
"What are those you're eating?" Spyro asks.
Groverge swallows, licks his lips, and says, "Ember stalks. Ignitus told you about these, the ones that spawn fire when their stems break. We Forest Dragons need to eat these to keep our fire breath powered up."
"Uh," Sparx says in wonder, keeping his distance from Groverge remembering how touchy he is, "what does it feel like when you swallow the juice?"
"For Forest Dragons," Groverge explains, "very warm in the stomach and the throat. For someone like you, it burns."
"Good to know," Sparx grunts with thumbs up.
"After I brought back the forestland, these plants needed to be found so nothing else gets burned."
"You know, I found out Groverge is ticklish when I touched him with my tail." Zephyrav adds to everyone in the room giggling.
"Really?" chuckles Aquadus while Sparx and Spyro laugh.
"Oi," Groverge sternly tells Zephyrav. "I told you to keep it a secret."
"Why keep it a secret?" the Wind Dragoness sighs. "It's funny."
Groverge's annoyed-look vanished when he sees Zephyrav smiling at him, fluttering her dreamy eyes. He is fully silent and he starts to blush.
"Someone's in love." Sparx utters to Spyro.
Spyro nods in agreement while smiling. It seems Zephyrav has a strong relationship with the Forest Dragon. Maybe those two would end up being together someday. Instantly, Groverge shakes his head and looks away from the attractive Dragoness.
Then, Cragen comes rolling in the room in a tucked-ball. He unwraps himself and stands on his feet. "Ignitus demands our presence," he says.
The Dragons and Sparx follow Cragen rolling back to the room with the Pool of Visions. Aquadus finishes his water and takes one last mouthful of leaves and hurries to follow. Spyro sees me facing Volteer next to the Pool. The Guardian of Electricity was talking to me rapidly. After the Dragons and Sparx settle themselves around the Pool, I interrupt Volteer's rapidly talking.
"Yes, yes, Volteer," I say. "It's good to see you as well but we don't have time to waste on sentiment. Back to Cynder…she was doing what to you?"
Sparx's eyes are wide open. "Cynder's a chick?"
"Sorry, we didn't mention that before," says Zephyrav.
"By the way," Aquadus tells Sparx. "Cynder's a chick."
"It's hard to be absolutely sure, Ignitus," Volteer explains. "It seems she was using me like some sort of organic power source."
"Huh?" Sparx says.
"She was using him like a battery." Spyro clarifies to his foster brother.
"Why didn't he just say so?" the yellow Glowing Dragonfly shrugs.
"Not only that," Volteer continues. "She also left with a glowing yellow orb and left a glowing yellow crystal behind. I believe I somehow powered them up. One of the Apes used the crystal on the Dragons who had come to rescue me."
"Yeah," Emberor nods to me. "We did see an Ape carrying that yellow crystal to kill Spyro but when it hit him, he redirected it back and it was destroyed."
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen." Sparx adds.
"Does this mean anything, Ignitus?" Cragen wonders.
My heart quickens thinking of what Cynder might be up to. "Perhaps," I murmur. "What I do know is that we need to rescue the other Guardians before Cynder can power any more of those orbs."
"I agree, Ignitus." Volteer made a curt nod. "But first I'd like to impart some useful knowledge to Spyro, vis-à-vis his recently-acquired, electricity-based, exhilaration device."
"Uh, what?" Sparx asks bewilderingly.
"He said he'd like to teach me some things about Electricity I used earlier." Spyro explains behind Volteer's fast speech.
"Oi," Sparx growls in irritation. "Why doesn't he just say so?"
In the Training Room, Volteer begins the teaching for Electricity to the Purple Dragon.
"So, you redirected Electricity from the crystal." Volteer notes. "Very fascinating. Purple Dragons sometimes learn how to use the elements on their own, but they would still need help from their mentors. It's always important for them to have-"
"Um, Volteer," Spyro interrupts. "I think we're getting off track here."
"Oh, so sorry," the Guardian of Electricity says. "Anyway, the way to use Electricity is to use the sustainable heart inside you. As you know, the heart pumps your blood. Now that you have the element, your heart also channels the life energy inside. When you're shocked or excited enough, the Electricity in it builds up."
Now it makes sense to Spyro why Volteer is so excited all the time. He must be powerful enough already. The Purple Dragon continues listening to Volteer.
"Once your heart is powered up, hold your breath and then let it out so an electrical beam can shoot out from the mouth. Shall we give it a try?"
Spyro nods, "Yes."
Volteer suddenly stomps his foot close to Spyro and shouts very loud. The Purple Dragon jumps away from him in surprise, his heart beats rapidly. He recovers quickly, noticing it, and holds his breath. He breathes again and Electricity shoots out of his mouth and it hits the wall.
"Splendid!" Volteer exclaims happily. "Well done! As you channel the Electricity, you can develop some techniques with it, such as making thunder bolts. But be careful, though, if you hold your breath for far too long…"
"…the Electricity will kill me?" Spyro guesses.
"Correct," Volteer says dipping his head. "Keep in mind. Now, let's practice with it more and then we'll work on the thunderbolts I was talking about."
Spyro's training last for more than a minute with Volteer still giving him jolts. His lesson with the thunderbolts went very simply. Volteer told him to shoot thunderbolts, he has to let every inch of his held-breath out.
After Volteer trained and scared Spyro so much in the Training Room, they go back to the Pool of Visions. When they return, the Guardian of Electricity calls his apprentice, Boltor, to him. Boltor approaches his master and stands in front of him.
Volteer smiles and says calmly, "Boltor, my apprentice, you have trained hard and you have fought with, intelligence, bravery and honor. I hereby dub you Dragon master of Electricity."
The young Electric Dragon was taken a step back but then he smiles with gratitude. Zephyrav, Emberor, Cragen, and Aquadus go to Boltor to congratulate him. They nudge their heads against him. Zephyrav gives him a lick on the head. Spyro joins in and pats Boltor on the shoulder. Sparx gives him his own personal thumbs up. Groverge does not bother to show his excitement but he gives his friend a little smile and a curt nod. I have done the same.
"Thank you, Volteer," Boltor tells him. "You taught me well."
"You are very welcome," Volteer dips his head.
"Well done for becoming a new Dragon master of Electricity, young Boltor," I say. "Now, all of you gather around. I have news of one of the Guardians."
Volteer sits with me in front of the Pool while the Dragon masters, apprentice, and Spyro are around it. Sparx hovers next to Spyro.
"Spyro," I begin. "Cyril, the Guardian of Ice, was taken to Tall Plains."
"What is that?" Spyro asks.
The new Dragon master of Electricity scoots over to the Purple Dragon. "Tall Plains is a land of high plateaus. It was once a home to a proud ancient tribe, creatures called Atlawa."
"Oh, bless you." Sparx tells Boltor.
"Sparx," Spyro groans in embarrassment.
I explain further. "The Atlawa are a race of creatures in tune with the rhythms of the seasons. They were focused on their relationship to crops, their surroundings, and their gods. They've all been driven underground by Cynder and her forces, who've taken over the tribe's Shrine. I sense that's where Cynder is keeping Cyril, trying to power another orb. You and Sparx must find him before she succeeds."
Spyro stands up and dips his head with his face filled with confidence, "Yes, sir."
"But if we see danger we should run…right?" Sparx checks in.
"There are times when all of us need to stand up to danger, young Sparx." I assure to him and the Dragons agree with me. "Zephyrav, Cragen, and Groverge will go with you."
"Yeah," Sparx says, "maybe next month I will stand up to danger, next summer, perhaps next year…"
"Just go!" I blurt out. "Now!"
"Okay, okay," Sparx says, holding his hands out, "just saying."
Spyro takes the lead out the door with Cragen, Sparx, Groverge, and Zephyrav close at his side off to seek out Cyril, Guardian of Ice.
