Chapter 9: defending the ledge

Having eaten to their satisfaction and conversed for a while, Spyro, Cynder and Darkspyro heard a loud rustling coming from the trees at the cliff's base. Suddenly alert, the three of them got to their feet and went over to the edge to investigate. At first they saw nothing, but after more rustling and several seconds, fifteen apes, three captains, and an extendable ladder grappler (carried by four of the apes) emerged from the trees that lay to the left of the grass path.

"Oh bollocks." Said Darkspyro; all three dragons knew full well that humans far surpassed any dragon in armed combat, provided that they had had no limbs replaced, that is. This had never been a problem for Spyro when he was on his own, as he was capable of hitting the far inferior apes into the skilled, muscular pirates (so long as there were no more than one present), or in cases that exceeded his ability unleash an elemental fury upon his foes. But this time he was out of his depth. Three armed humans void of injury, fifteen personally trained apes (also armed), a means of reaching them, and no way out. For a moment the purple dragon considered using a fury, before remembering he had sacrificed both this ability and his power over time itself, in order to save him and Cynder as the well of souls had collapsed around them nearly four years ago.

The three backed away from the cliff edge and braced themselves for battle. Spyro was in front centre, Cynder behind and to his left, with Darkspyro parallel to her and to Spyro's right. The ladder attached to the cliff base and extended. The first three apes leapt onto the platform, two of them drawing a knife each from behind their backs, whilst the third in the centre remained unarmed. Out of the blue, a human (which I should mention are from 6 to 8 feet tall in the dragon realms) front flipped from several feet further down the ladder onto the ledge. He made a perfect landing by means of assisting it with his left hand, whilst simultaneously drawing his diamond-edged sword from the sheath on his back with his right. Standing up, he glanced at each of the three dragons before shouting out at his minions.

"Battle stratagem four, three opponent variation!"

The third ape ran forward and spin-kicked Spyro in the face before running up the entire length of his body and drawing his knife in mid-air. Landing in front of Cynder, he instantaneously began the delivery of a flurry of blows to her. Before he could recover, the other two apes converged on Spyro, whilst in the millisecond it took Darkspyro to glance at his friend, the human had begun his assault on him. Spyro dodged the first two attacks before being hit by a third swipe. The second ape dived at him instantaneously, but was reversed by their opponent, who then delivered a swift elbow to the throat. The first ape saved his accomplice with a reverse choke pin from behind. Unfortunately for the ape, Spyro twisted its arms inwards and broke them, before turning around and tossing it off of the cliff.

Two more apes jumped up onto the ledge, drawing their knives in mid-air. But only one made it… Spyro had, quite by accident, hit one of them off of the cliff with his previous opponent! Out of nowhere, the ape to which he had delivered an elbow-thrust gambolled to his feet, snapped his neck back into place, and drew a second knife! The others did the same, and things were looking like they couldn't get much worse. Without warning, the two apes nearest to Cynder flew thirty feet into the air and dropped back down onto the ledge, killing them instantly. The black dragoness had unleashed a small tornado! As the last ape was about to backstab Spyro, Darkspyro ran right up the body of the human who was his own opponent. Sending the ape flying off of the cliff with a blast of dark energy, he side-rolled as he landed, thereby avoiding his adversary's next swipe. The three dragons regrouped and each assumed a battle stance. The pirate immediately performed a hugely powerful sideswipe, Cynder somehow vaulting the blade at near impossible speeds, Darkspyro ducking, and Spyro evading with a capaoira-like leap. Without pause, their opponent followed up with a downward smash. As Spyro and Cynder were knocked sideways, Darkspyro back-flipped and the human's sword lodged in the ledge.

As he attempted to remove the huge sword, the edge of the cliff crumbled underneath his feet, sending the six-and-a-half foot tall pirate plummeting to the ground far below. Darkspyro panted heavily as Cynder and Spyro got to their feet.

"Well done… that was down to you, not Spyro or me." Said Cynder, shaking off the effects of the fall she had just experienced. Spyro nodded and patted his friend on the back.

"Battle stratagem six, followed up by eight!" rasped a seven foot tall pirate from the other end of the ledge. The dragons whipped around to see five apes in full armour, each armed with dual shields. The human was wielding a battle axe as large as himself. Before the dragons could adequately concoct a plan for themselves, the apes had advanced, easily guarding against their enemies' blows, and separated Cynder from the trio. As Cynder struck out repeatedly against these new foes, Spyro and Darkspyro charged their human captain. Missing his weapon by mere centimetres, the pair hit him square in the chest, but to no avail. Delivering a single blow to each of them, he effortlessly knocked them ten paces backward. Three more apes wielding swords jumped up onto the ledge. Charging toward the two dragons with their leader just behind, two were struck dead in four seconds flat. Throwing the third into the air, Spyro back-flip kicked it into the oncoming human, knocking him off balance. At this point Cynder finished her own foes with a shadow strike, so all three dragons kicked off from the rock face behind.

Smashing into the pirate as one, the trio sent him flying backwards and off of the ledge. As Darkspyro landed, he punched the end of the huge ladder, sending it toppling backwards onto the grass clearing behind. As both the two remaining apes and their hammer wielding captain were on the ladder as it fell, it seemed safe to say that the scouting party had been well and truly terminated.