Chapter 9: Living Nightmare

Spyro woke the next morning fully rested. As he looked around, he noticed Cynder, Flame, Ember, and even Sparx already awake, and Link just getting up himself. Wondering how long he's been asleep, he looked up at the sky, but found the sun still rising above the horizon.

"Hey, look who finally desided to wake up!" Sparx exclaimed as he flew down from where he hovered by Cynder. "We've been waiting for ages!"

"Seriously, Sparx?" Cynder said, walking up to them. "It's only been half an hour, and I already told you he had a late night." Sparx didn't argue, although he obviously wanted to. They all had breakfast peacefully, and then prepared for travel.

Once they were ready, Spyro looked to Link. "Ok, so where to?" They all looked at him with confusion. "Link's been here longer than us, so he knows the Plane better."

"For the most part," was Link's response, and he pulled a scroll out of his bag and unrulled it. It was a map of the world. A clear heading at the top said "The Soul Void." The western half of the map showed green fields, forests, and life, while at the very eastern edge was a brown land, similar to the shadowlands in the Dragon Realms.

"I got this map from one of the veterans at Regulus," Link continued, pointing to a dot labled thus. "We're here," he pointed to a spot on the eastern edge of a blue space representing Lake Mizar, as it was labled. "The closest town is Mizar, just to the east, up the river here," he pointed again.

"Do you know anything about where the rest of Soul Edge might be?" Spyro asked.

"Only that it's somewhere to the east, but my guess is that it'd be somewhere in here," he pointed at a lable over the blackened land on the eastern edge of the map. "...in the baren land of Antares."

"So, that's where we gotta go," Flame said in a complaining tone. "To a baren wasteland, with nothing green anywhere, and probably a whole bunch of evil creatures who'll want to skin us alive!"

"Quit complaining, Flame," Cynder said. "It's your fault you're here, anyway."

"Yeah," Ember added. "Sheesh! You sound like Sparx!" ("Hey!" the dragonfly said.)

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Flame ended the conversation there.

"So, yeah," Link said. "That's where I believe we need to go. However, there are plenty of towns between here and there, so we may learn otherwise. If we don't, then we head into Antares. Agreed?"

"Agreed," They all said simultaneously, and Link rolled up the map and returned it to his bag. And with that, they were off.

They'd barely traveled for an hour when Spyro caught a strange scent in the air. "Wait!" he said to the others, stopping them in their tracks. He sniffed and tasted the took him a few seconds to decipher it, but once he had, he tensed up.

"What is it, Spyro?" Cynder asked, just as tence.

"Blood."

Link looked around and pointed: a piller of black smoke rose up a few miles off the road. Just then, a scream rent the air, coming from the same direction.

"Whoever it is, they're in trouble!" Flame said, his mouth curled into a snarl. And they all rushed toward the smoke.

Sparx was a few paces behind. "Oh, how do I keep getting into these messes?" he complained.

As they ran, Spyro caught sight of a burning village at the bottom of the pillar of smoke. As they neared it, the scent of blood grew stronger, and a flicker of fear appeared in Spyro's mind. He brushed the thought aside. The people in the village need their help.

They crossed a bridge and passed under an arch, and stopped dead, appauled by the sight before them: Bodies were strewn everywhere, both adults and children; the ground was stained red, blood running almost a half inch deep on Spyro's paws; the houses were all burning if not leveled.

Another terrified scream drew their attention, and they saw three villagers some dozen meters away, two men and a woman, on their knees, pleading with another figure clad in azure armor from head to toe, the helm with long red fur extending down to the figure's lower back, holding an enormous sword in its left hand, while its right looked completely unnatural: It was a fleshy brown with only three fingers, giving it the appearance of a demon's arm. Spyro thought he recognized the figure from somewhere, but it escaped him.

After shaking its head, the figure raised its blade and swung horizontally, level with the three villagers' necks. There were three short audible sounds of metal slicing flesh, and the villagers fell over, beheaded by a single stroke of the giant sword.

The figure stretched out its demonic arm and opened the hand. Seemingly in responce, the dead villagers' bodies glowed blue, and three azure orbs rose out of their chests and into the outstretched hand. The orbs dissolved, and energy crackled up the arm, across the figure's chest, down the other arm, and into the sword, which was angled so that the flat of the blade faced them, revealing an open, blinking eye. Something clicked in Spyro's mind, and fear washed over him as he realized who he was looking at.

It was the dark knight of the legends: Nightmare!

No sooner had the thought formed in his head than another dark energy radiated from his satchel as the pulsing of the multitude of dark shards within increased. Nightmare turned his gaze upon Link and the dragons, suddenly noticing their presence, revealing glowing orange eyes behind the visor of the helm. A voice rang across the village-although his helm his his mouth, the voice was immistakable Nightmare's.

"You." The demon-knight's voice was deep, warped, and commanding, sending shivers down all their spines, and Spyro was reminded of a certain dark dragon. "You possess shards of Soul Edge. You would be wise to hand them over. This is your one and only warning!"

Everyone took a step back, but none retreated any further. Link was the first to talk.

"And how would you know if we had any?" he shouted, masking his fear with utmost ease.

"Do not think to decieve me," Nightmare said, taking a step toward them, his armor clattering. "I recognize Soul Edge's aura coming from the Purple one's bag. Now I say again: Hand over the shards if you wish to live!"

"And who are you to challenge us upon first sight?" Link said, drawing his sword and shield.

"You are a fool if you hope to resist me, for it is Nightmare, Dark Knight of Soul Edge, before whom you stand!" He shifted his blade, holding it on his left side, both hands on the hilt. "Your warning is up, and your souls will be mine!"

They all go into battle positions. They had Nightmare outnumbered, but Spyro was still fearful, as the dark knight wielded Soul Edge, the very weapon that had almost destroyed many a world in the past, and it had just absorbed dozens of additional souls, making it even more dangerous. If they were to defeat him, it wouldn't be anywhere near easy.

Flame charged in with a fierce battle roar without hesitation. Spyro shouted for him to stay back, but his words fell on deaf ears, and Flame continued forward. With only ten yards between them, Flame leaped at the azure knight. With an audible chuckle, Nightmare swung Soul Edge just as Flame was within reach, catching him with the flat of the blade. With a grunt of pain, Flame was thrown across the village ruins, crashing into a ruined house, which then collapsed on top of him.

Nightmare now stood holding Soul Edge in his demon hand, with his left side in front. The attack hadn't even taken anything out of him; he'd swung his weapon with as little effort as is he wielded a small stick.

Spyro shook the thought out of his head and focused on the best way to defeat him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Nightmare laughed. "I know you dragons are stronger than that!"

"How are we supposed to beat this guy?" Cynder said.

"Attack him at the same time!" Spyro and Link said at the same time. At that moment, they all charged in.

Nightmare had obviously expected this, and dodged to the side and performed a spin attack similar to Link's, just without the energy wave that followed. Spyro barely dodged it in midair, as did Cynder. Link blocked the attack with his shield, but was thrown back. Ember wasn't as fortunate, and was hit with the full force of the sword. A deep gash appeared in her left flank, and she was thrown back as well.

Nightmare gave another taunting laugh. "At least make it a challenge for me!" he shouted.

As if in responce, Link had run back up and attacked. The Master Sword buzzed through the air with a sound similar to Sparx's wings, before striking, cutting clean through the armor on Nightmare's left arm, but stopping dead as the sword imbedded itself in his flesh. The Dark Knight back-handed Link with his demon hand, sending him and the holy sword flying off to where Ember lay wounded.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Spyro and Cynder jumped up behind him and let loose two furious, identical combo attacks, causing him to stagger forward, before turning to them.

"Now that's more like it!" Nightmare said before swinging Soul Edge once again, Cynder jumped, but Spyro had to block with his wings. They dulled the attack, but he was still forced backward a few paces.

As Cynder landed again, Nightmare swung the enormous sword again. This time Cynder couldn't react, and she was thrown backward in a similar manner as Ember, with a similar wound on her right side, stretching from her hip to her shoulder.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted. He started over to her, but was stopped when Soul Edge came down mear inches from the tip of his muzzle, the blade almost a foot deep in the ground. Nightmare pulled it out with a lazy tug before slamming the flat of the blade down on Spyro's back. His vision flashed red and green from the pain, and we hit the ground flat on his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs.

As the pressure from Soul Edge ceased, Spyro tried to fill his lungs again, but was picked up by the scruff of his neck, thrown upward, and caught in midair, where Nightmare held his throat with his demon arm.

Nightmare chuckled. "You fools. You can't hope to match me. Not now, and certainly not when I find Soul Edge!"

Spyro was confused. "Why are you looking for Soul Edge when it's right there in your hand?" he managed to say through a constricted throat. Nightmare increased the pressure on Spyro's neck, making him gag.

"This isn't Soul Edge. Rather, it is multiple shards fused into my own weapon. And I know you hold more shards!" he shouted. There was a flash, and Spyro felt a massive drop in his remaining strength. The last thing he knew was him being slammed into the ground, the shards flying out of his satchel, and Cynder screaming his name...

Pain. That was the first thing that Spyro felt as he returned to conciousness, lying on his left side. His head throbbed relentlessly, and his side pained like a knife had cut him open. As he opened his eyes, he became aware of a pink figure standing over him. As his eyes adjusted to the light of a crackling fire not far from where he lay, he recognized the figure as Ember, her paws over his wound. Her eyes were closed, though the ruby on her necklace was glowing, and a feint green glow shown behind her eyelids.

He tried to move, but a bolt of pain shot up his side, and he grunted as he fell back down. Startled, Ember said, "Hey! Stay down, Spyro."

"What...what happened?" Spyro tried to look around, but someone held his head down. He angled his eyes to find Cynder staring at him with worry permeating every corner of her eyes. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Flame's voice rang out from behind Ember. "It's you we're worried about!"

"Spyro, this wound in your side is huge. I need to close it now, or it'll get infected for sure," Ember said bluntly, more resolve in her voice than Spyro had ever heard. Knowing Ember wouldn't let him up until he'd been treated, he relaxed, and Ember went back to healing him.

As the minutes passed by, Spyro's wound pained him less and less, until it mearly itched. By then, Ember had removed her paws from his side and her necklace had stopped glowing, as did her eyes. When she looked at him again, he noticed she looked utterly exhausted. The energy required to heal him must have taken a lot out of her. As Cynder released his head, Spyro glanced down at his side, which was now spotless, save for the lines of dried blood running down to his stomach. Nothing a quick rinse in a river couldn't erase.

Then he looked around to notice that they were no longer in the destroyed village, but in a clearing in a dense forest. They must've gone here for the cover, he thought. He was about to ask exactly where they were when Link emerged from behind a wall of evergreen trees, two deer slung over his shoulder, and bow in hand.

"The forest is clear of enemies, and I brought some food," he said as he dumped the two bucks by the campfire. He then pulled a hunting knife out of his boot and began skinning the deer to prepare for cooking. He paused in the middle of his work and glanced up at Spyro. "Good, you're awake. I thought it'd take me shooding you in the tail with an arrow to wake you."

Spyro rubbed his still sore limbs with his forepaw. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"A whole day," Cynder replied, walking up to him and nuzzling him with her snout. "You had me scared half to death, Spyro."

Then he remembered exactly what happened before he went out. "What happened to Nightmare?" he asked. "Did you guys beat him?"

Link's knife stopped instantly, and he hung his head. "No..." he whispered. "After he threw you to the ground, he gathered the shards that fell out of your bag, and combined them with his sword...then gave you that wound in your side for good measure."

Now it was Spyro's turn to hand his head. Now Nightmare's power would only grow stronger. If he manages to find the last fraction of Soul Edge before they did, then no one could stop him.

"He could've killed all of us," Link continued. "But he let us go, saying he'd give us the rest of our lives to savor over our defeat." Link scoffed. "Like we need advice from one such as him." And he resumed his task of skinning the bucks.

From there, Spyro resolved to lay down, and Cynder followed his example. When Link was finished skinning and preparing the meat, they had a decent meal, although Spyro hardly touched his food. He was too absorbed in his thoughts even to notice his stomach grumbling with every passing second. One of the few enemies he had hoped to never have to face at all was now roaming freely in the Soul Void, and he was all but powerless against him.

Cynder must have heard his thoughts, as she draped a wing over him for comfort. "Hey," she said soothingly. "It wasn't your fault. None of us knew he'd gotten that strong."

"Yeah," Link said after swallowing a rather stubborn chuck of meat. "We just underestimated him, that's all."

Spyro nodded his agreement. As if in response, his previous sense of helplessness vanished, replaced by an emotion Spyro felt every time he was confronted by a seemingly impossable obstical: determination.

"And it won't happen again," he said audible, his voice now filled with confidence. The others paused for a second, startled by his sudden vigor. The smell of the spices Link put on it had finally gotten to him, and he couldn't resist it any longer, and he began tearing at his meal, savoring every bite with a hunger usually reserved for the starving. Then again, he was starving.

"Mm-hmm, got that right," Flame said with his mouth full. Spyro refrained from rolling his eyes, but couldn't stop himself chuckling. None of them did, and in a split second, the clearing was echoing with the sound of their laughter.

When they finished the two deer, Flame having eaten more than anyone, they hit the sack. Spyro and Cynder slept cuddled up next to each other, as did Flame and Ember. Link had taken up the first watch, and Spyro was asleep within seconds, his dreams that of him destroying Soul Edge once and for all. When they woke the next morning, they resumed their journey to the east, prepared for anything they might encounter...

And there's Nightmare. He will be showing up later on, that much should be obvious. To those of you who are wondering: no, Malefor will not be the main antagonist in this story. But, don't worry, I already have a sequal planned out. Anyway...Now the group heads east to Mizar.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I enjoy reviews, positive and negative. I should have the next chapter in soon.

See ya!