Spyro: Dawn of Light

Part 1, Chapter 11

"AAAAAAA-*ooph*! OWWW!"

"Is he gonna keep doing that?"

"*sigh* I guess so...yep, there he goes again. One...two..."

"AAAAAAAAA-*mmph*! DAMMIT!"

Flame picked himself up shakily and glared at the smooth rock-face, flexing his paws yet again. His toes were sore but he wasn't about to let this beat him...unfortunately it already was; his back and sides were bruised. He jumped up onto the wall and dug his claws in, ignoring Cynder's countdown as she and Shimmer sat on a boulder and watched, snacking on berries. "I...gotta..get...up...there...NOOOO! OOW!"

"C'mon Flame you can beat ten feet!" Shimmer called, and she and Cynder giggled - the wall was covered in claw-holes about ten feet up from the ground.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled, lying on the ground in frustration. "Damn you girls are so freakin' annoying!"

"Happy to help!" Cynder said and Shimmer playfully punched her in the shoulder. Flame had played a very cruel joke on them that morning and almost broken their limbs, and now they were getting him back for the bruising they'd gotten. It really wasn't very funny, but then again, neither was calling "AVALANCHE!" and intentionally starting a rolling wave of stone pain.

Spyro came back and stood by the boulder. "What's going on?" Cynder pointed at the wall. "Oh. Flame, you could've saved yourself the pain by waiting for us."

"You guys are moving too slowly; Tephra could be stringing her by her insides right now or something!"

Shimmer shivered. "Eww! You sicko!"

Neves glided down to where they were and shook himself. "Well guys, Hunter's still looking but there's no way up to that cave mouth." He saw the ten-foot-high pattern of clawmarks on the wall and groaned. "Who's the suicidal smartaleck?"

"Guilty as charged I guess," Flame groaned, not getting up. Shimmer laughed but her laughter died off as she looked down the mountainside. Cynder glanced at her questioningly.

"Shimmer? Something up?"

"There's a storm coming...and someone's watching us down there."

"It's her from yesterday," Neves said, looking up at the cave mouth. "She's been monitoring us, but she's really fast. I think Flame's blast yesterday may have slowed her down with the adrenaline rush, but now Hunter's having a hard time catching her."

The cheetah in question crept back up to where they were and sat down with a heavy breath. "Wow...well I've met my speed-match...we'll just hafta let her find us if she wants something." He looked over at the wall. "Who's the idiot?"

Flame groaned and Cynder and Shimmer laughed. "We told him he wouldn't make it, but hey, what do girls know?"

Spyro and Neves sideglanced at each other and rolled their eyes, and Neves sighed. "Well, we gotta break up the fun and move outta here before Tehpra finds us. Spyro and Cynder may have beaten her, but I don't doubt she's become more powerful with Ripto's aid."

Cynder, Shimmer, and Hunter followed him to a more protected area. Spyro hung back, staring at the cave, and looked down when Flame groaned and struggled to get up, whimpering as his bruises stung him. Spyro rushed over and braced himself against Flame, helping the red dragon stand up. "You okay?"

"Couldn't be better...guess I deserve it though after that prank..."

"C'mon, last place you should be bruised is right under the enemy's roost." He started leading Flame away, but heard Shimmer shriek and stopped. "Shimmer?!" he called.

"LOOK OUT!" she screamed, and Spyro felt the ground suddenly shake under him. His eyes went wide.

"MOVE!" he shouted, shoving Flame and signaling that he needed to run. Flame ran, and Spyro followed just as the ground opened up in a blast of fire. A slab of rock caught Spyro as it shattered and rose from the ground, and he yelled in surprise as it lifted him into the air. Up from the hole in the ground, a ball of lava shot into the air past the hovering stone shards, and exploded as Tephra flung her wings apart swiftly and stopped in the air. Before Spyro could react she blasted him off the rocks with a well-aimed earth blast, sending him hurtling to the ground. He cringed, unable to stop himself...but then looked around in confusion as he was suddenly levitated and set on the ground. Looking up saw Tephra descend as the broken rock fragments fell back into place under her. "What was that for?"

"Wanted to give you a taste of my new power," she said maliciously, stepping towards him. "Wouldn't be fun if I killed you with one blast..." She looked around and smirked. "All alone? Where's your girlfriend? Gonna strike me out of the shadows like last time?"

"CYNDER, STAY BACK!" Spyro called, sensing Cynder drawing closer. Tephra grinned.

"Good to see you feel the same way I do...you want to die alone." With that the ground under Spyro rumbled, but he jumped aside just before it could throw him to the side.

"Flame, get the others to safety!" Spyro shouted as the red dragon huddled on the ground, terrified. Spyro's command snapped him out of it and he rushed off. He ran across Cynder and Neves stalking among the trees and bushes, and they stopped when he came near.

"He says go on!" Flame panted, but Cynder and Neves looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Flame, get Shimmer to a more protected spot with Hunter. Spyro's an idiot to fight alone." The ground shook violently and they heard Spyro's pained roar, and Cynder choked and both of them raced to help him.

Spyro shot ice at Tephra's face and she screamed as it sealed her eyelids shut. Spyro moved in for a strike, but the ground suddenly opened up under him and he was thrown into the air again as powerful towers of fire shot up from the ground around her. He landed in a bush and struggled against it, finally falling out onto his back as Tephra punched herself in the face and shattered the ice. She shook her head and glared at him angrily, her vision a bit screwed up from the cold. Spyro forced himself up and felt something grow inside him as he stared at her. She came in to bite him, but when he opened his mouth, instead of ice, electricity suddenly flew at her and zapped her, throwing her to the side as her muscles jerked from the surprise voltage. Spyro looked around in surprise, but no one was around. "Was that...me?" he asked himself, and as Tephra stood up again he breathed at her. Lightning flew from his mouth and she screamed but stayed standing as a strange field began to grow around her. She looked at herself in surprise as Spyro's electric breath began coursing around that shield instead of hitting her.

"So it wasn't just a punishment," she said in wonder, her mind flashing back to a few days ago when Ripto had electrocuted her. She grinned evilly at Spyro and rushed at him, pinning him against the ground and winding him. "Stupid little brat...you still don't know what you are..." She raised a claw over his throat as he gasped for air. "And you never will." Before she could kill him, the air suddenly grew tingly and Tephra yelled in surprise as lightning hit her. That protective field sprang up, but the initial strike had hit her just enough to throw her off of Spyro. She looked around wildly. "I know that's you, Plazyma! Electricity no longer works against me!"

The ground suddenly exploded by her as lightning struck the rock, and Tephra yelled in pain as the blast knocked her to the side. Spyro's ears were ringing as he slowly passed out, but he felt someone suddenly grab him roughly and he was carried away at tremendous speed. Something hit his head hard and he blacked out instantly, but not before hearing Cynder scream as she unleashed a fireball.

-

Ember woke up some time later, still in intense pain. A tear fell down her face as she remembered what Tephra had done to her...what the hell was that weird weapon? Whatever it was, her back and shoulders were still in pain from where it had struck her...and the fire and electric magic that had injured her weren't helping either. She struggled against her chains but soon stopped, remembering that they were too strong for her.

The door rose into the ceiling and Tephra came back, looking incredibly angry. "Neves and that little black brat...I almost had Spyro had it not been for them..." She looked at Ember maliciously. "Well, you ugly pink runt, you're lucky the spells are over...though why He wants you, I have no idea, you have no special things..."

Ember stared at the floor and cried quietly, wanted to go home, wanting to forget all this... "Why can't I go home?"

"Does it look like I know? I'm merely the captor; Ripto and the others are the ones who tell me what to do." She walked over to a pool of water and started talking to herself. "But that staff...they used it on me for my growth, why the hell did they want her to...and nothing's happening, she's not responsive to its power..."

The pink dragoness stared at the doorway, wishing someone would come through like in the stories and subdue Tephra and rescue her...she sniffled and Tephra growled at her. " Why won't you let me go if I'm of no use like you keep saying?"

"Oh, we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

"They haven't told you?"

"No, and personally I don't really care. Why they even mandate I keep you alive is beyond me." Tephra walked out of the room angrily, leaving Ember alone again.

"Why does everything happen to me?..."

-

Spyro opened his eyes to a world of blurry colored fog and stabbing light that made him squeeze his eyes shut. "Well, least you're awake..." He opened his eyes again and through the painful beams of sunlight he made out a yellow form moving around next to him. "Yo, whoever you are, can you see or hear me?"

"Ki-kinda.." Spyro groaned. "Owww..."

"Shut up and don't move; you're still bleeding." He saw a yellow thing, presumably a foreleg, reach in front of his eyes, and he yelled and cringed as she touched his wound and it stung him badly. "Damn, I knew that trail was a bad idea..."

"Where's everyone else?"

"You mean the ice and fire dragons and that cat-guy?"

"Yeah, and Shimmer...water dragoness."

"Didn't see her...they're on the other side of the mountain gorge."

"Wha?!" Spyro went to sit up and fell onto his side as his head spun. The yellow dragoness pushed him onto his back again and forced his head back.

"No! Stop moving! You need that cut to heal!"

"And why do you suddenly care? You wanted us gone when we met you."

"I don't like others in my territory, but I won't let someone die or fall ill because of something I did. Now shut up and lie still."

Spyro wasn't satisfied though. "Something you did? What did you do?"

"This." She jabbed his cut, making him hiss sharply through his teeth. "I got you out of there, but I wasn't expecting you to be so heavy and accidentally slipped...and the speed of my running really cut you badly with that impact." His vision finally straightened out and he saw Plazyma sitting there, watching him and absently twirling the single fin-scale hanging over her face. "When you're able to stand without popping that scab I'll take you to them."

"But won't they move?"

"I wrote your cheetah-guy a note in the sand."

"You can write?"

She glared at him. "I'm not a moron; yes I can write and read! What, you want lessons or something? Tough!"

"Whoa, hey, I didn't mean it like that!"

"Well then how did you mean it?" she asked angrily, the air around her crackling.

"I'm an orphan too; not many who don't live in the villages can read or write. I just found it interesting, that's all."

Her face softened, and Spyro was a bit surprised - without that sneer plastered on her face she was actually kinda pretty. "You're...an outcast?"

"I was..."

"But then what?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly remembered Cynder's reaction. "Uhh..."

"Lemme guess, something to do with that guardian-trainee you're with?"

"Neves?"

"Yeah, whoever. White with glasses."

"Yeah that's Neves. Yeah...Cynder and I were called to the Dragon Temple...but thing is, we're not being trained as 'guardians' like Neves." He added that last bit in hopes that any anger she'd have at him might be deterred.

"Why are you guys after Tephra?"

"We're not after her; we're after someone she kidnapped."

"Oh...Ember?"

"You know her?"

"No, that rude red dragon mentioned her before you left."

Spyro laughed. "Oh boy...he'd love to hear that..."

After some more talking while he recovered, Spyro found that Plazyma's parents had been killed when she was five, on a casual hiking trip through these mountains. Ever since then she'd been fending for herself here, and she knew the area well enough to navigate by faint electrical fields and know exactly where she was by magnetic patterns in the ground. However, she had no idea why she wasn't allowed in the Settlement when she wandered through that area, but she didn't bother going down there anyway anymore so it didn't really matter. Like Neves, Flame, and Shimmer, Plazyma's elemental power was higher than normal; lightning attacks were generally Fury attacks but she could call down lightning on command. By nightfall Spyro's cut was healed well enough that it didn't re-open when he stood up and walked around, but Plazyma kept him still under threat of electrocution. She was very pushy... especially that night as it grew colder. She said she was used to cold nights, but as Spyro looked at the stars amid the treetops above, he heard her teeth chattering and he looked over to the side to see her shivering badly, kind of like Cynder. He stood up and walked over to her, but she growled.

"Get away from me."

"You're cold."

"No I'm not! I'm fine!"

"Well, if you decide you need warmth, I'm over here."

She turned her head around and glared at him. "What are you, insecure or something? Need someone to cuddle with at night? Tough luck!"

"No, I'm fine on my own. Just offering to keep you warm. Obviously you don't like help."

She snorted and lay back down, still shaking with the cold, and Spyro walked a few steps away and rolled onto his side, wondering how Cynder and the others were doing...He suddenly snapped awake as he heard something right next to him, and he opened his eyes to see Plazyma edging towards him, and she stopped stock-still when she saw him watching her. She was still shivering, and looked like a lost kitten or something as she stood there. Spyro lifted his wing, but she suddenly scampered away, embarrassed. He sighed...she seemed to want to make friends, but her pride kept inhibiting her. Not long afterwards, though, as he started drifting off again, he felt her slowly creep up to him. He stayed still this time, pretending to be asleep, and felt her curl up against his back. His hide twitched - wow she was cold! Before she could react he rolled onto his belly and put his wing over her, and she shivered against him and pressed her back against his side even more. They both slowly fell asleep as Plazyma slowly warmed up under his wing.

-
On the other side of the chasm, the same thing was going on with the other dragons, but they were huddled tightly together. Being a "gentledragon" (but Cynder and Shimmer saw through it as an attempt to impress), Flame was shielding them from the cold wind, even though he himself was shivering madly in his sleep. Cynder stared at nothing in particular, barely feeling her wing falling asleep over Shimmer's back. She was so worried...what had happened to Spyro? Where had that electric dragoness taken him? And where the heck was Hunter? He'd gone off a few hours ago to look for some possible way up to Tephra's lair, but he hadn't come back yet like he said would.

"We're slowly falling apart," she said to herself fearfully, and shivered and closed her eyes for the night.

Contrary to Cynder's thoughts, though, Hunter was using the map of the mountain to plot out where they were, where Tephra's lair was, and now he was on his way to locate Spyro. He'd found the message of Plazyma in the dirt, but still didn't fully trust her and wanted to make sure Spyro was okay. The search was easier said than done, though - Plazyma's sleeping location was hidden on the other side of the gorge, and getting over the chasm was difficult without wings. He could go around it, but it started at a sheer rock face and continued down the side of the mountain so far that attempting it would take longer than just waiting for Plazyma. How the heck she got herself and Spyro over there, he had no idea, but she'd done it somehow. He crouched by the edge of the chasm, staring across and trying to gauge if a leap was possible. It wasn't, and he sighed and sat down. "Hope he's okay...First Ember gets kidnapped on my watch, and now Spyro's been separated from us...hopefully this is just coincidence."

"Nothing is coincidence," came an echoing voice, very faint, but very distinct in the darkness, almost as if the air had a voice. Hunter shot up, his paw on his bow and the other straying by the quiver on his back.

"Who's there?!"

"Put down your weapon; physical cannot harm the immaterial..." The voice seemed to be moving around him but he saw nothing. "Hunter...you will find what you are looking for...continue leading them. Spyro has not been separated from you."

Hunter didn't like this... "Why are you telling me this?"

"You doubt one who watches all?" There was maniacal evil laughter all around him, and it slowly faded away and Hunter felt alone again. He looked around quickly, jumping at sounds around him as a breeze blew through and made the leaves rustle.

"I don't like this...we need to get away from this mountain..." He ran back to the group and stayed up all night, afraid that voice might send rhynocs or apes or something down on them. Shimmer woke up early in the morning to find him nodding off, his bow clutched tight in his paw.

"Hunter?" she asked, and shrieked when he shot up, an arrow nocked and the string pulled tight.

"Oh...Shimmer..." He slumped against the stones again and ran his paws over his face. "Damn it...what's wrong with me tonight?"

"Something wrong?"

"No...nothing, I'm just jumpy. Sorry I scared you." He reclined against the stone and closed his eyes, and Shimmer eyed him oddly before putting her head back down. Next to her, Flame started kicking at something in his sleep, and she punched him and he fell still, mumbling and laughing groggily in his dream. Shimmer rolled her eyes and turned her head away, and started when she almost hit Cynder's muzzle with hers. Cynder groaned and opened her eyes a bit.

"Shimmer? Something wrong?"

"No, just getting comfortable and almost hit you." She scooted away from Flame a bit as he started kicking again and lowered her voice. "Something's up with Hunter...he's really edgy."

"I hope Spyro's okay...it's probably Spyro's absence that has him worried..."

"You like Spyro, don't you?"

Cynder stared at her, and Shimmer found it a bit unnerving - against the darkness, all she saw was the pattern on Cynder's head, a faint gleam from her horns, and the whites and green irises of her eyes...it was a bit creepy. "He's my friend, yes...he was the first one who's ever been nice to me. But we're not...y'know..." She crossed her claws and Shimmer gave a stifled giggle.

"The typical cover-up," she said, and Cynder glared at her and she stuck her tongue out teasingly.

"I'll pierce that tongue for ya," Cynder said, lifting a claw and grinning, and Shimmer pulled her tongue back in quickly and they both laughed quietly. Flame rolled away from Shimmer in his sleep and the two dragonesses looked at him, then at each other with sly grins.

"He's totally unaware when asleep...we should find some blueberries or something, something that stains..."

Cynder stifled a laugh. "That's what I was thinking!"

"Find some today and wait for nightfall?"

"You're on." Laughing to themselves they lay back down, reveling in the fact that the night was growing rapidly warmer and they didn't have to huddle together to keep decently warm. However, Cynder hardly slept at all for the rest of the morning...what had happened to Spyro?