I'm terribly sorry for being so late on my update of this story! I was on Spring break so… yeah… wasn't at home too often… But here it is! Also, I have something to say at the end AN… and no, I'm not leaving… it's just something I feel I need to make clear…
So without further ado: Enjoy! I don't own any Spyro characters!
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The Ripto Chronicles: Ripto's Games
Chapter 10: Fear Factor: Round Two
The fallen serpent rolled itself back onto its belly and raised its head. After shaking off the spots that floated in his eyes, he locked his angry glare on Relisan. "Sssooo," the snaked hissed, "you think that you can beat me do you?"
Relisan looked up at his new target with a cocky smile, "That's right," he said.
The serpent hissed in a laughing manner. "That over-confidence shall be your downfall. But no matter, you will ssstill lose. I'm actually glad I get to eat you instead, you look much… tassstier than your brown friend!" Instantly, the snake used his lightning reflexes to lunge at the red dragon with fangs ready to puncture his scales. Relisan's eyes widened and he jumped out of the way, landing on his paws and sliding sideways a bit. He did not escape without injury however. His enemy's giant fangs left two rather deep gashes on his side. The wounds burned but he had to maintain his focus. Blood was already flowing from them and he was gasping for air.
Not good, he thought to himself, I have to end this fast. He took a good look at his enemy as he got up from his failed attack. The red dragon saw that the serpent's eyes were not slit, but rather they were round. He also took note that it had brown scales of varying intensity, from light to dark brown. Relisan began to think to himself. Those eyes, the color of his scales. He must be a python! I'm sure of it! And that means- His thoughts were cut short as his foe hissed loudly and launched another attack. Relisan was ready for this one and dodged it completely, though barely. He's not venomous! He finished his thoughts.
The two reptiles continued to fight one another. Relisan would try to attack but every time he did, the serpent would take advantage of his own speed and either bash the red dragon away with his head or swat him like a bug with his powerful tail. All the while, Relisan was formulating a plan. He knew that most of his already limited abilities wouldn't be too effective. On top of that, he couldn't concentrate long enough to use his curses because his enemy would launch one attack after the other in rapid succession. But finally, he was able to come up with an idea. This is going to hurt… a lot… Relisan said to himself. He rolled away from yet another attack and waited for the next one.
"Hold sssstill damn it!" the python hissed angrily. Once again, he lunged towards the dragon. This time however, he actually hit his target, biting down hard on Relisan, taking half of his body in its mouth, and wrapping the rest of his body around the remainder, squeezing the life out of him.
Relisan felt the python's fangs plunge deep into his rump area. He stifled a scream as he closed his eyes. He knew that this would be his best bet to have the time needed to concentrate and use one of his abilities. His body was being squeezed tightly, slowly draining his life away. He did his best to pay no mind to the pain he felt. After what seemed like years, he was finally able to use his curse.
"Paralyze!" he said loudly. The curse quickly surged through the snake's body and completely stunned it for a few precious seconds. This was all the time Relisan needed. He felt the squeeze on his body loosen up and he quickly hacked away at the serpent's scales with his hind claws. At the same time, he used his front claws to slash and tear open the flesh on the inside of the snake's mouth. Blood began to flow and fill up his enemy's lungs.
When the python regained his feeling, his eyes widened as the pain crashed on him like a ton of bricks. He could feel his dinner continue to claw on his insides. He couldn't help but let out a horrible, gurgled scream of agony, releasing Relisan in the process.
The red dragon was now covered in the snake's blood, but he didn't care. With his enemy now distracted, he swung his razor sharp tail-axe at him, cutting the serpent's head clean off. The head fell to the ground while the body twitched and jerked for several more minutes until it stopped all together. Both body and head then vanished in a puff of black smoke.
"Told you I'd… beat you…" Relisan said, exhausted. His legs suddenly gave out on him and he fell to the floor. He was beginning to feel the full effect of his serious wounds as his adrenaline began to wear off. His vision was becoming blurry as he tried to get back up. All he could do however was lift his head up a little and look towards the broken wall where the mangled body of his sister lay. Only one word escaped his maw as he slipped into unconsciousness, "Glaisha…"
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Cynder and Evil Relisan circled each other, both staring with fierce eyes.
After a few tense moments, the dark dragon spoke up, "You sure you want to fight me Cynder?" he asked.
"That's a stupid question!" Cynder retorted. "Of course I'm sure!"
The dragon let out a disappointed sigh when he heard that. "Such a shame…"
"What is?"
"It's a shame that I'm going to have to hurt you… a flawless and beautiful gem of a dragoness… oh well."
Cynder only laughed at him, "Trust me buddy," she said, "you wont be able to get even one scratch on me."
"Is that so?" asked the evil dragon rhetorically. He dashed towards Cynder as fast as he could, intending to slash her with his claws. The black dragoness saw this coming and used her Cloak of Shadows to disappear from sight and cause Evil Relisan to slash only the air. "What in the?! Where did you go?!"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Cynder's voice seemed to echo all around him. "Well, if you must know…" She suddenly burst from the shadows underneath her opponent, knocking him up into the air. She quickly jumped up after him and latched her front claws on his shoulders tightly, enough to draw blood. Before he could react, she bit down hard on his neck, causing him to roar in pain. With her target currently immobilized by her vice-grip, she used her powerful hind legs to claw away at his belly, ripping off both scales and flesh. After a moment, she finally stopped her attack and ended it by diving towards the ground and slamming the evil red dragon into it. Evil Relisan's eyes and mouth were wide open with shock as the air in his lungs escaped him. The black dragoness jumped off of him and smiled, satisfied that she had taken him down so quickly. "All talk and no bite. That was way too easy."
As she turned away from the lifeless body, she suddenly felt a sharp pain on her left shoulder. She yelped and held it tightly with her paw, trying to numb the pain a bit. When she pulled her paw back, her eyes widened. It was covered in blood… her blood! "But how?" she asked out loud. She turned around and gasped at what she saw. The dragon she had just beaten down was back on his feet. If that wasn't enough to freak her out, he had no visible injuries on any part of his body.
"I must admit," spoke the evil dragon, turning his head to crack his neck, "that was an impressive onslaught you unleashed there. But did you honestly believe it would be that simple?"
I kinda hoped so… Cynder thought to herself. She couldn't figure out how it was possible that this manifestation of Relisan's fear was still standing before her. She had dealt some major damage to him, but no evidence of that appeared on him. She continued to rack her brain, trying to think of a logical explanation. Finally, she remembered what Relisan had told her and Spyro when they first met. "This isn't real! This is your Curse of Illusion isn't it?"
"You catch on pretty quick. Yes, this is an illusion. My curse however is much more powerful than that pathetic excuse of a red dragon's is. While he can only make illusions to trick you…" Evil Relisan paused as he walked up to Cynder. The black dragoness took a defensive stance, ready for his attack. However, instead of a frontal attack, the dragon disappeared, astonishing Cynder and causing her to let her guard down for a second. The next thing she knew, she was rammed on her side and she was sent rolling on the ground. "… My illusions can actually attack you!" He finished reappearing in front of her.
Cynder growled in agitation. How was she supposed to beat this guy if she couldn't see the real one that was creating this illusion? She jumped back away from him and landed on her paws. Immediately she let out a Siren Screech, knowing that it wouldn't affect the illusion, but hoping the red sound wave would hit the real one. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side as she Evil Relisan's axe cut deep into her back. She roared from the sudden pain but maintained her ground. "That attack was so far off it wasn't even funny," he said. He then lunged at her, trying to, once again, catch her off guard.
Acting on instinct, Cynder used her Cloak of Shadows to dodge any sort of attack that he was planning. While melded with the shadows, she was able to see every other shadow and dark area around her. Cracks on the ground, the shadows her friends made as they fought, the darkness of the tunnels that led to the cells, all of them giving her a way out of the shadows and back to the physical realm. As she looked around for the best place to reappear, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. When she fully turned to see what it was, she saw another shadow, this one in the shape of a dragon. Only, this dragon's shadow was holding perfectly still, as if concentrating on something. Almost instantly, she knew who it was and she scolded herself for not thinking about this beforehand.
Back above, Evil Relisan waited impatiently for the black dragoness to reappear. "Hiding isn't going to do you any good!" he said loudly. "Hurry up and show yourself!"
"With pleasure!" the dragoness's voice seemed to echo from beneath him. Cynder jumped out of the shadows and hit the real dragon hard in his gut, causing him to lose concentration, breaking the illusion instantly. "This time when I take you down," she said loudly as she flew above the helpless drake, "stay down!" She curved her body downward and flapped her wings hard. She rammed herself into Evil Relisan's back and sent both him and herself hurdling towards the ground. They crashed hard, raising a cloud of dust and dirt. Cynder didn't waste any time. She held her opponent down and clamped her jaws hard around his neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. The evil dragon let out a gurgled roar and he struggled to knock her off, but it was no use. Cynder continued to put more force into her bite until finally a loud and sickening snap was heard. Evil Relisan instantly became quiet; his body becoming limp. She released her hold on him and his body became mist in the air, mixing with the dust cloud.
Cynder's injuries were beginning to affect her, but now was not the time to relax. She struggled just to stay on her paws, but was managing it. Using her wind powers, she cleared blew away the dust that obscured her vision, just in time to see Spyro fly right past her, only inches away from her beak-like snout. The purple dragon crashed hard into the wall and fell to the ground on his belly, completely motionless. "Spyro!" Cynder yelled, the fear of losing her mate gripping her heart. She moved as fast as she could towards him but she ran right into an invisible wall.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Ripto spoke up from his throne up above, "No helping your allies!"
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Sorry I cut it here… It's just… I ran into a giant wall called Writer's Block… and by the way I'm feeling, it looks like I may even have to abandon this story… I'm running out of ideas and to be honest, it's becoming very tedious… I don't have that same sense of enjoyment any more that I used to get while writing my other stories… I'm very sorry to announce that but that's the reality of things…
Another thing I wanted to mention was that a couple weeks ago I got an angry PM (from whom will remain undisclosed). Basically, this person was asking me (in a rather rude way) to update one of my story: "TLoS: Soul Savior" since I haven't updated it in over a year. I want to make clear that asking me to update a story, especially rudely, will NOT in ANY way make me update it. I'll only update it when I feel like it. Is that clear?
Well… let's see what the future has in store for this story and me… Any help will be gladly welcomed.
Till next time!
