The third day started off like any other except for one minor difference, namely the army right outside the gates.
"What the⦠It thought you said they wouldn't come for 3 days?" Baero exclaimed as the first volley of projectiles struck the wall, blowing bricks from the outer surface, shaking the city to its foundation.
"I said they'd come in approximately 3 days. I'm not Eratos or Malefor, y'know!" Bolzan retorted, back to his 15 year old self. He'd healed considerably well with the only bandage being the one right across his chest. The rest of his body didn't show any signs of the horrible state he was in a couple of days ago.
At around the same time, Spyro, Cynder, Hunter, the kids and the Guardians also came to the wall. After a quick run through of the situation now (In Baero's words: We're pretty much screwed if we don't do something!) and they got ready to go attack the towers.
"Wait, will the town survive while we're away?" Spyro asked, shielding his children from some rubble with his wings.
"Don't worry; we'll handle them, Spyro. Just focus on taking out those towers." Hunter assured his friend. Bolzan was already perched on the wall, grinning madly as he called his Lazarite armor.
His coat wrapped around his entire body as he stood up on his hind legs. As he rose, the right side of his armor slowly turned a pristine white while multiple red sigils, much like those they usually saw when he used darkness, formed on the black side, glowing menacingly. Multiple protrusions pierced out of his dark armor, forming a pauldron and layers of bladed structures on his armored wings. Unlike Spyro's and Cynder's, there wasn't any visor covering his eye, now patch less, and the unnatural crimson eye shone through, insignia sitting proudly in the center.
On the white side, less menacing spikes burst forth, twisting themselves into graceful, intricate patterns that adorned his entire body. His right eye's pupil narrowed into a slit; a dark line in his completely gray eyes. Both halves were held together in the middle of his now upright body by gray chains. Although he was standing upright, he still looked distinctly dragon-like, standing slightly taller than Spyro. His forepaws now resembled hands and were capable of grasping objects easily; as shown when he materialized a massive spear in his right hand, swinging it experimentally.
There was something about his armor that unnerved the ten year olds, causing them to hide behind their parents. For some reason, they felt genuinely afraid of Bolzan, especially when he turned towards them, fixing them with his disturbing eyes. However, upon closer inspection, they realized that it was still Bolzan underneath all that armor which they could tell from his eyes. Even though they seemed to have a maniacal bloodlust in them, they still felt warm and caring.
"Hunter," Bolzan began, his voice slightly distorted by the armor covering the top and bottom of his muzzle, "stay in Warfang and help with defense, I'll hold them off."
Hunter nodded and sprinted off to the cannons, all prepped and ready, and began briefing the soldiers.
"What! You can't go down there, they'll kill you!" Neve shouted from behind Cynder's wings.
In a flash, Bolzan's snout was right next to hers, the strange bloodthirsty grin still etched onto it.
"Darling, I've been killing for the better part of my life; in Malefor's lair, I was forced to take part in gladiatorial battles and after I escaped, I spent 3 years living through killing others, considering the fact that it was the only way to survive." Bolzan explained in a cold, maniacal voice that scared Neve, causing her to retreat deeper into her mother's wings with Arashi. Who was this?
With a final grin, he extended his wings, now covered in beautiful onyx and opal armor, and leapt off the wall, gliding gracefully into the fray as the first retaliating volley was launched, blowing holes in the Shadows' ranks. Despite this, they continued surging forwards towards the city walls.
"W-Will they really be alright?" Arashi asked after Bolzan leapt down from the walls.
"I hope so, dear. But, if there's one thing I know about your Godfathers, they're not going down that easily!" Cynder replied as the Architect came and greeted the dragons.
"Greetings, dragons, I've designed one final gift for all of you," he showed them the trinkets, each carrying a green gem with multiple intricate mechanisms hidden within each of them, "with these communicators, you should be able to contact each other over large distances. On behalf of the city, I wish all of you good luck!" With that, he passed out the trinkets and promptly left to help in any repairs.
"Hello! Can you hear me?" Ferno shouted experimentally into the amulet on his chest.
"Of course we can hear you, idiot! We're right next to you!" Noctis shouted in reply, triggering a few sniggers from the girls.
"Alright, are we ready to go?" Terrador asked as he prepared for the flight. The chorus of nods was his answer and, with that, the 12 dragons flew off to their mission. They flew over the armies besieging the city and, when they turned around, saw Bolzan standing in front of the gates with what seemed to be multiple weapons hovering around him. As Baero was about to accelerate their flight when a massive roar nearly threw them out of the air. The air rippled with the volume of the roar as the sound waves reached them.
Not daring to look back, they flew towards their target, borne by Baero's tempest, praying for the safety of Warfang.
