The Broken Line

by DragonMaster000

Spyro and Cynder thought that it was over with Malefor's defeat. They thought wrong. As dragon-kind tries to rebuild following the war, a new threat emerges, one that is more connected to Spyro than anyone could ever imagine.

13. Chapter 12

Woohoo! It's here! The chapter I've been looking forward to writing so much is finished! And boy, is it a big one...

Why do I like this chapter so much? Two simple reasons:

1. My two favourite OC's together in one chapter.

2. Big action scenes!

Or, you could just read and find out for yourself! Enjoy.

---

Chapter 12:

"Sweet Ancestors, my forelegs are aching!" Claymore moaned as he and Flash made their way slowly through the streets of the underground village, heading toward their home after a long, long day had finally come to a close. "It's torture, what they're doing to us. It's not humane."

Flash's only reply was a weary snort. He was so tired that he felt like he might fall asleep at any moment and simply collapse on the spot in the street, but the twinges of pain that shot up from his forelegs with every step he took kept him awake. Like Claymore, his forelegs were terribly sore from the hours of labour the two of them had just completed.

After the two of them had returned to the caverns the night that they had been attacked by the grublins, they had immediately been taken to the elders to report on what had happened. Not surprisingly, the aged dragons had almost gone into a panic upon hearing that grublins had actually made an aggressive move so close to their home. It was very clear by that point that the grublins that had been spotted roaming through the mountains weren't simply passing by. They were lingering in the area, and it only made matters worse that they had openly attacked the only two dragons to show themselves in the open recently. The order had been given immediately for the two cavern entrances—both the main western entrance and the smaller, more hidden northern secondary exit—to be sealed up by earth dragons as soon as possible. For the time being no dragons were to leave the cavern, and certainly no grublins were to get in. The orders had been carried out swiftly, barriers of solid stone erected that no one but an earth dragon could ever get through. There seemed to be no imaginable threat of the grublins ever getting inside.

With that threat taken care of, the elders had then turned their attention to the two young, wounded dragons they had found standing before them, shaking from the after-effects of adrenaline from their battle and from anxiety about what the elders would do to them. The discussion to decide what to do with them had been a lengthy one indeed. One of the elders had suggested that they release the two young ones without punishment—in their opinion, Flash and Claymore had already received enough of a punishment from the grublins themselves, and there was no need to administer any more. Two of the other elders, on the other hand, had nearly demanded for a public lashing to set an example of the two for breaking the village's strictest, most often repeated rule and putting everyone in the village at risk if the grublins had followed them back.

In the end, the elders had settled for a middle ground. After spending a good portion of the next day in the infirmary having their wounds treated, the two had been sentenced to a month of community service at the village's small dragon academy. Every day after classes they were forced to linger behind and help scrub every single floor until they were completely spotless. It was a gruelling task, and at the end of each day both dragons were exhausted and their forelegs burned from the relentless strain they were subjected to.

"It would be so much easier if we were ice dragons," Flash grumbled. "At least then we wouldn't have to carry those water pales everywhere all the time. My neck is killing me from the weight of the stupid thing!"

"I know what you mean," Claymore grunted, tilting his head to stretch out his own neck. There was an audible crack as a number of the vertebrae popped, and Flash cringed in disgust. "They're going to turn us into cripples if they keep working us like this."

Their home came into view ahead a few minutes later, and Flash gave a relieved sigh when they finally reached it. Once inside Claymore moved over to a small basin of water in the common area to try and wash off some of the grime that had built up on his forelegs from scrubbing the academy floors, but Flash didn't even pause for that. He instead headed straight for his room and collapsed on top of his cushions, overjoyed for the chance to finally rest his aching body. He hadn't even eaten anything that evening, but at that moment he couldn't care less. All he wanted was for sleep to overtake him and to erase the aches and pains from his body. Within moments he could feel himself drifting away, his discomfort melting away as he floated off toward a realm of peaceful dreams.

An ear-splitting crash erupted through the cavern mere instants before sleep could claim him, and Flash jolted up into the air with a panicked cry at the sudden noise. It sounded as if some kind of explosion had gone off somewhere beyond the western edge of the village, and Flash's heart was hammering from the unexpected scare.

"What was that?" he exclaimed, dashing out of his room and into the hall where he saw Claymore ahead in the common room, facing the door of the house with his whole body rigid from fight-or-flight instinct, a wide-eyed look of shock and fear on his face. "Claymore, did you see anything?"

"No, nothing!" the larger earth dragon replied, shaking his head quickly. "But it sounded like it came from the cavern entrance. Maybe something broke down the barrier."

"What, though?"

Just then they were suddenly both aware of a strange sound echoing through the cavern from somewhere far to the west. It was difficult to make out at first, but as it began to grow in volume Flash realized that it sounded like some kind of excited cry from countless voices. There was something deeply unsettling about the sound, and Flash felt a chill run through him as it continued to grow louder. Just then it finally clicked what they were hearing, and Flash and Claymore both exchanged horrified looks.

"Grublins," Claymore gasped.

"A lot of them," Flash said weakly.

"We shouldn't stay here," Claymore muttered. He ran over to Flash's side and began pulling him toward the door of the house. "Come on, let's go!"

Flash nodded quickly and followed after his brother as he ran out of the house, all his weariness forgotten in an instant. His mind was reeling with questions as he ran. How had the grublins found the village? How had they gotten through the barrier? And how come there suddenly sounded like there were so many of them? Where had they all come from?

The streets were rapidly filling with panicked dragons as the cries of the grublins reached a deafening level in the enclosed cavern. Screams of fear and pain were rising from the western edge of the village. Flash couldn't see what was happening over the buildings that surrounded him, but he could easily hear the first sounds of battle echoing through the village. Every time the rumble of an earth attack or the crackle of flames reached his ears he winced, fear coursing through his entire being.

Ahead of him Claymore continued to push their pace faster and faster, trying to reach their destination as quickly as possible. The dragon elders had made certain during the war to establish a plan of action in the event that their village ever came under attack, but Flash found it slightly ironic that it had never been needed until now when the war was reported to be over. The plan called for all the younger dragons in the village to gather in the central courtyard where they could then be taken to a set of shelters constructed for an emergency just like this. That was exactly where Claymore was headed now, and Flash made certain to keep right on his tail. When they got there they found several other dragons their age already there, most of them accompanied by their parents and all of them looking terrified. A couple of older dragons were trying to direct everyone into the centre of the courtyard, but with panicked dragons running in all directions and the general roar of battle drowning out all other sounds, they seemed to be having almost no effect. Flash and Claymore barely managed to avoid being trampled on their way into the courtyard, and despite their best efforts they still ended up running full tilt into a large fire dragon that suddenly appeared in their path. Flash grunted as he fell back on his hindquarters, shaking his head to clear the stars from his vision before looking up at the dragon they had hit. He started when he realized that it was one of the village elders.

"You two?" he exclaimed, apparently shocked to see them both there. There were equal parts fear and anger in his voice and a panicked expression on his face. "What have you two done? You see this? You've led the grublins right to all of us!"

Flash was dumbfounded by what he was hearing, and out of shock he turned to look at his brother in the hopes that he might have some answer for this completely unpredicted accusation. He didn't even fully understand what was happening, and yet he was being blamed by an elder for all of it?

"Calm yourself," a deep commanding voice cut in suddenly, causing Flash, Claymore and the elder to all whirl around, startled. Flash blinked in surprise when he realized it was the village's chief elder. "If we waste our time blaming the young ones for this attack, then we will never be able to defend ourselves against it. Are the shelters ready?"

"Y-yes," the fire dragon elder nodded quickly, trying to regain his composure. "I was just about to take the first group of young dragons there myself."

"Good. Take them there now. I will wait here for the next group. Quickly!"

The fire dragon nodded hurriedly and spun around toward the group of waiting young dragons and parents, shouting for them to follow him. They all quickly gathered around him, ready to depart, and Flash and Claymore moved to follow when a sudden, ear-splitting explosion rent the air, causing everyone in the courtyard to jump and stagger in fear, many dragons crying out in alarm. Flash immediately whipped his gaze to the west and felt his chest constrict with horror when he saw a dark, crackling cloud of dark violet energy curling up into the air from somewhere on the edge of the village where the sounds of fighting were the most intense.

"What was that?" he shouted fearfully.

"I don't know," the earth dragon elder replied grimly. "I have never seen anything the likes of it before. Both of you, get moving. Quickly! Head for the shelters. Get to safety!"

"Come on, Flash!" Claymore exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"R-right," Flash stammered, and he turned to follow his brother as he began moving toward the east side of the courtyard, where the fire dragon elder was starting to lead the rest of the young dragons and their parents away. However, right at that moment he heard a new shout and faltered, turning around to see a battered earth dragon running toward the courtyard from the west at a reckless pace. Flash's eyes widened with horror when he noticed the many bleeding gashes he bore, as well as several large bruises.

"The western side of the village is overrun!" he shouted frantically, skidding to an unsteady halt in front of the chief elder, who was staring at the newcomer in shock. "We're no match for them! We need help over there!"

"How many grublins are there?" the elder asked, the first hints of fear creeping into his voice.

"I don't know," the earth dragon gasped, shaking his head helplessly. "Dozens. Hundreds. They're everywhere! But that's not all..."

He trailed off as he tried to catch his breath, but the elder looked as if he wasn't in a state of mind to wait for any answers. He took a rapid step forward and seized the other earth dragon by the shoulder, shaking him.

"What? What is it?" he demanded.

"The purple dragon," the earth dragon wheezed. "He's here..."

The elder's eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock, and he staggered back a step from the other dragon in disbelief.

"So the dragons from Warfang were telling the truth," he said in a quiet voice. "There is another purple dragon." Then his expression brightened hopefully. "Is he here to help fight the grublins? Did Warfang hear of the grublins in the area and send him to assist us?"

Flash could feel a faint thrill of excitement surging through him as he listened, scarcely allowing himself to hope that these words might be true. If the purple dragon was really there and could help them, then surely the grublins wouldn't stand a chance! But then, to his bewilderment, he saw the earth dragon shake his head insistently, an expression alarmingly close to despair on his battered features.

"No..." he gasped, still winded from his sprint from the western edge of the village. "No, he isn't fighting the grublins..."

"What are you talking about?" the elder demanded.

The earth dragon took a moment to suck in a huge breath of air, trying to calm the heaving of his chest. Then he looked up at the elder again, and Flash felt a horrible sinking feeling in his gut when he saw the look of hopelessness in his eyes.

"Sir...the purple dragon is leading them."

*.*.*

Nexus paused for a moment after passing through the entrance of the cavern to survey the situation laid out before him. A few hundred feet ahead and downhill the underground village began, small stone houses and other buildings arrayed in a fairly well-ordered layout that stretched far into the massive underground space, the buildings gradually growing larger the farther back they got in the cavern. Unlike most villages and cities where the largest buildings were in the centre, here it seemed obvious that construction had begun at the very back of the cavern and spread gradually westward from there. The back wall of the cavern was almost completely obscured by buildings, while most of the smaller houses wrapped around the remaining perimeter of the village. Many of his grublins had already reached these outlying houses, and the panicked cries of dragons could already be heard filling the air over the eager battle cries of the grublins.

"Fan out!" Nexus called out in a commanding tone. "I want the village's perimeter secured first! No dragon escapes this village tonight!"

There were several gruff cries of affirmation from many of the grublins nearby, and they quickly spread out to comply with the purple dragon's instructions. The division split roughly in two, with one half of the grublins branching off to the left to cut off the only other route out of the cavern while the other half pressed ahead, fanning out to enter the village as a wide line to keep any dragons from breaking past their ranks. Roughly two dozen grublins remained behind to cover the main entrance. Once this was all complete, Nexus began advancing toward the village himself, deciding to try and locate the village elders.

Time to give the world a reason to fear Spyro.

By the time he reached the first line of houses, his grublins had already overrun the area. Ahead Nexus could see dragons here and there fleeing in terror in the face of the army of vile creatures, leaving the grublins free to come and go as they pleased. They went from house to house, trashing everything they could get their gnarled hands on and making absolutely certain that nobody would forget this night any time soon. Several houses were already burning. Nexus had to admit that he was impressed by their work. The fear they were able to create using so little actual force was surprising, and what was more they were showing remarkable discipline to top it all off. For the most part any dragons they came across in the streets were left with only minor wounds, enough to cause pain and fear but not enough to be life threatening. Generally only those that fought back were killed and as a result Nexus came across very few bodies as he walked deeper into the village's streets.

A particularly loud commotion somewhere out of sight around a bend in the streets ahead on his left caught his attention. Nexus paused in consideration for a moment, debating whether he should go investigate or continue with his own search. Deciding that he was in no rush and that the elders wouldn't be able to leave the village anyway, Nexus moved in the direction of the thunderous sounds of battle. Within moments he'd reached a small open square off to the side of an intersection between roadways, which at that moment had been transformed from a peaceful social gathering area to a battleground. Three dragons were dug in on the eastern edge of the square, preventing fifteen land-bound grublins from advancing any further into the village.

The two earth dragons and one ice dragon were fighting viciously to keep the grublins from breaking past their defensive line. For a moment Nexus hung back off to the side, concealed by the wall of a damaged house and taking stock of the situation. In the square he could see the bodies of a dozen grublins that had already been struck down by the dragons, as well as the lifeless and battered form of a fire dragon on the square's northern edge. Now the remaining combatants on both sides seemed locked in a relative stalemate. The grublins were trying to circle around the square to engage the dragons up close where their elements provided them less of an advantage while a couple of grublin bowmen attempted to keep the dragons pinned down. However, the elemental attacks of the dragons were making it extremely difficult for the grublins to gain any ground without risking getting wiped out by the continuous blasts of earth and ice.

One of the grublins gave a sudden squeal of pain as an earth missile crashed into its shoulder with crushing force, causing the grublin to spin around before collapsing against the wall of the house behind which it had taken cover, critically injured by the powerful earth attack. Only an instant later the dragon that had fired the earth missile roared loudly as a grublin arrow struck it in the chest, just in front of its right shoulder. The other two dragons immediately ceased their attacks to look toward their injured comrade, filled with concern for him, and in this opening the remaining grublins charged. Yelping with surprise, the two uninjured dragons spewed out a wave of ice and earth missiles, trying desperately to halt the grublin advance. Only halfway to their targets when the stream of ice particles and speeding rocky projectiles began raining down on them, the grublins were forced to abandon their charge and again take cover. In the process two more of them were killed, but they had managed to get significantly closer to their enemies, and clearly the dragons were beginning to feel cornered. Nexus could easily see the fear in their expressions as they huddled together at the far end of the square, covering their fallen companion as he tried to yank the arrow out of his scales.

This is going to take forever, Nexus grumbled inwardly. I guess I might as well speed things up since I'm here.

While both the grublins and dragons regrouped, Nexus abandoned his observing position at the edge of the square and began advancing right into the centre of the open space. The grublins noticed his presence first and immediately fell silent, all of them watching their leader with rapt attention and wondering what he was going to do. The dragons, meanwhile, didn't see him approaching until he had reached the centre of the square. Then, finally, the uninjured earth dragon looked up and saw him standing there. His eyes immediately became as wide as saucers, and he gave a weak gasp of shock.

"The purple dragon," the earth dragon said in an awed tone.

"What?" the ice dragon asked. He looked toward his companion before following the earth dragon's gaze. When he saw Nexus standing there he too let out a sharp gasp.

"How is this possible?" he muttered, eyes wide in disbelief. It seemed as though both he and the earth dragons had completely forgotten about the grublins by this point. "It was just a rumour!"

"Who cares?" the earth dragon exclaimed happily. "We're saved! Those grublins don't stand a chance now!"

"I wouldn't count on that," Nexus laughed mockingly.

The three dragons faltered and exchanged confused glances. Seeing their puzzled reaction caused Nexus to laugh darkly again before settling into a battle stance. The air around him began to crackle with energy as he drew on his electricity element, building up a tremendous charge in his body.

"Look out!" the uninjured earth dragon shouted, eyes going wide in panic when he realized what was about to happen.

Right at that moment Nexus shot his head forward and opened his jaws wide, a blazing stream of electricity as intense as lightning cutting through the air with a tremendous SNAP! The three dragons ducked at the last possible moment and the bolt of electricity shot over their heads, missing by mere inches and striking the wall of the house behind them with terrible force, sending chips of stone debris and dust raining down on the dragons. By the time they looked back up, Nexus was already preparing another attack.

"Move!" the ice dragon cried, but it was too late.

This time, instead of shooting out his electricity as a steady stream, Nexus forced all the electrical energy into a small, brightly glowing orb before spitting it out toward the three dragons. As it sailed through the air toward them they all scrambled to get away, even the dragon with the arrow still in his scales, but they weren't quick enough. The instant the orb hit the ground at their feet it detonated, releasing all its built-up energy in an instant. The flash was nearly blinding and bolts of electricity arced through the air in all directions, dancing along the walls of the adjacent buildings and along the ground, crackling sharply. The three dragons were thrown into the air by the force of the blast, unable to utter so much as a gasp of surprise as the massive electrical charge surged through their bodies, momentarily paralyzing them completely. They landed several dozen feet apart from each other, and for a moment all three of them were still as the after-effects of the shock wore off. Then, groaning, they began to stagger to their feet.

Nexus never gave them the chance. The earth dragon on his left—the one without the arrow—was the first to push himself off the ground, but he had barely even gotten his forelegs under him before a blazing fireball slammed into his exposed left flank, exploding on impact and throwing the already-dazed dragon into the wall of the house behind him, leaving him in a heap on the ground, groaning and badly burned. The instant he hit the ground Nexus fired a massive earth missile at him, the projectile impacting with bone-shattering force. The resulting dust cloud obscured the dragon completely from view, but his roar of pain was still plainly audible. Without the slightest pause Nexus then spun to his right and slammed a forepaw against the ground. The earth shuddered and a large fissure opened up where his paw struck, racing toward the second earth dragon. The dragon grunted in fear and tried to scramble away but was too slow and an instant later the fissure reached him, the earth beneath him exploding without warning and knocking him back through the air as well, jagged shards of rock opening bleeding gashes all across his body. That only left the ice dragon.

He was clearly the quickest of the three, and therefore was the only one actually able to get to his feet before Nexus rounded on him. Out of desperation he exhaled a focussed stream of icy energy, trying to freeze Nexus solid on the spot. He nearly succeeded, too, but Nexus reacted just in time. Without so much as flinching he cracked his jaws wide open and unleashed a blazing beam of convexity. The beam completely overpowered the ice dragon's attack in an instant, scattering the ice stream in all directions before striking the ice dragon full force, launching him backward through the air before pushing him straight through the wall of the house behind him.

"Ooh," Nexus winced as the ice dragon disappeared within the darkened structure amidst a cloud of dust and debris that buried him instantly, smirking with dark humour. "That's gotta hurt."

A sudden roar from his left caught his attention, and Nexus whirled around just in time to see a grublin flying through the air with a jagged spear of ice through its chest about a hundred metres farther down the street. A moment later three more dragons appeared around a corner, one each of ice, fire, and earth. They immediately turned toward the square and charged, no doubt having heard the intense battle that had just occurred, but when they approached and saw Nexus more clearly they faltered and skidded to a halt, staring with wide eyes and mouths agape in shock. They quickly glanced around, taking in the scene, and Nexus could easily see the looks of horror that crossed their faces when their eyes fell on the broken body of the first earth dragon he had attacked. Then, all at once, the shock in their faces was replaced by a blazing anger and with a bellowing roar they resumed their charge.

Nexus gave a snort and rolled his eyes, amused that they would actually try a head-on attack against him. Then he kicked off the ground with his hind legs and rose into the air, causing the three dragons to slide to a halt once again and glare up at him, wondering what he was doing. As they stood there watching, Nexus shot them an evil grin before focussing his convexity power into his right forepaw, causing a pulsing orb of dark violet energy to form above his open pad. The three dragons' eyes widened in surprise and fear when they saw this, clearly having never seen convexity before, and they could only watch in mounting fear as the energy ball continued to grow. Then, mere seconds after he had begun forming the orb, Nexus spun about and hurled it with all his might at the three startled dragons, who had no chance of escaping before the ball struck the earth at their feet.

With a deafening roar, the energy ball exploded. The terrible blast of purple energy engulfed the width of the street and swallowed up the three dragons in an instant as it curled high into the air like a dark violet fireball. Nexus flinched slightly as the shockwave struck him, threatening to unbalance him as he hovered in the air, but he managed to keep from falling. When the smoke and dust cleared there was absolutely no sign of the three dragons that had been standing there a moment before. Nexus grinned triumphantly.

A sudden shrill cry from one of the grublins below caught his attention, and Nexus looked down to see one of the small creatures waving insistently for his attention and gesturing frantically down the street leading eastward out of the square. With a puzzled frown, Nexus looked to see the wounded earth dragon he had attacked earlier sprinting down the street as fast as he battered legs would carry him, yanking out the arrow with his jaws as he ran and throwing it aside.

"Let him go," Nexus said unconcernedly, dropping slowly back to the earth. "Let him spread the word of what he's seen. It'll only create more fear."

The grublin nodded and relaxed. All around him the other grublins were abandoning their cover and moving to rally around him in the square, awaiting his next instructions.

Nexus paused for a moment and examined them all, then turned his attention to the village around them. The sounds of battle could be heard echoing from every direction now, as well as the excited war cries of the grublins and the terrified screams of dragons. The clamour was almost overwhelming, but at the same time it filled Nexus with a thrill of excitement he had never experienced before. His first battle outside of training, and it was far better than he had ever imagined it would be.

"Come on," he said to the grublins, grinning excitedly. "You lot follow me. I think it's about time we found the elders of the village and paid them a visit."

The grublins gave a sharp, eager cry and brandished their weapons in the air. Satisfied, Nexus turned and set off at a jogging pace down the northbound street, weaving his way gradually deeper into the village, adrenaline and excitement coursing through his body as he sought out his next battle.

*.*.*

"Flash, come on!" Claymore called desperately from up ahead. "They're gaining!"

"I know!" Flash exclaimed fearfully in response, panting feverishly as he tried to push himself to run faster through the chaos in the streets.

Behind him he could hear the blood-chilling sound of grublin cries and cheers echoing between the walls of the buildings that lined the streets, seeing to grow louder with each second that passed. The occasional screams of terrified or wounded dragons that rose above the background rumble of haunting, chattering voices only added to the horrifying racket, and Flash desperately tried to block them out as he ran. Still, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop hearing them, striking him to the very core and filling him with dread.

They had been running for several minutes now, trying frantically to reach the back of the cavern where the shelters were located before they were overtaken by the surge of grublins that had begun to charge deeper into the village. When they glanced backward Flash and Claymore could frequently see the dark bodies of grublins between the buildings behind them, chasing after them. They couldn't even fly to escape their pursuers; flying gublins were everywhere, chasing down any dragons that took to the air before converging on their victims, battering them with their hardened clubs to drive them back down to earth, usually focussing their blows on the wings. To Flash, the idea of having his wings shattered by the grublins' clubs was just as terrifying as being overtaken by the ones on the ground, and so he and Claymore didn't dare risk flying.

A piercing cry suddenly cut the air from somewhere very nearby, and a second later Flash screamed as he felt his legs knocked out from underneath him, wincing as he felt a blade cutting into the scales of his forelegs. He crashed into the dusty street flat on his chest and face and rolled several metres before finally coming to a halt on his back, groaning from the fresh bruises all across his body and trying to force a breath into his battered chest.

"Flash!" Claymore cried.

The shrill screech came again, and Flash gave a startled squeal as a grublin leapt at him without warning, landing on his chest with a horrible, blood-lusting expression on its twisted face, its bladed weapon raised high over its head. The leading edge of the blade was coated with small droplets of the white dragon's blood, and Flash realized that this was the grublin that had tripped him. His eyes widened with horror and terror gripped at his chest when he saw the grublin angle its blade downward, ready to plunge it into its victim's chest and end his short life. He didn't even move to defend himself; he could only stare, petrified by fear, as the grublin prepared to strike.

An earth missile suddenly sped into sight from somewhere above Flash's line of vision and struck the grublin full force right in the chest. The creature gave a strangled gasp of pain as its chest was caved in by the attack and it was launched backward down the street, getting crushed beneath the earth missile and the ground when it landed a dozen metres away. Flash yelped in fear and twisted his body to the side as the grublin's blade fell back to the earth, having slipped from the grublin's grasp when the earth missile hit, and the blade dug into the ground inches from his flank coming dangerously close to puncturing the membrane of his wing.

"Get up!" Claymore ordered frantically, appearing over his fallen brother an instant later and dragging him to his feet. "Come on! We have to keep moving before—"

He was cut off by another excited screech from down the street, and Flash felt his blood turn to ice when he saw a half dozen grublins appear around a bend barely fifty feet away. They didn't hesitate before charging the two young dragons, eager for a kill, and in only seconds they would be upon them.

Suddenly, just as they reached the opening of a side street just short of overtaking their prey the earth surged violently like a massive wave on the ocean, knocking the grublins back and scattering them against the walls of the buildings lining the street. A second later an earth dragoness charged into the intersection from the direction the wave had come, firing out an earth missile that crushed two of the grublins instantly. She was followed a moment later by another, larger earth dragon.

"Run!" she shouted at Flash and Claymore as another wave of grublins appeared farther down the street, rushing to reinforce their fallen comrades. "Get to the shelter!"

Flash and Claymore didn't hesitate to obey, and they turned and sprinted as fast as their legs would carry them as the intersection behind them was overcome by the thunderous sounds of battle. They didn't dare to look back as squeals and roars of pain from both grublins and dragons filled the air before they rounded a bend in the street and the battleground disappeared from sight.

"How much farther?" Flash panted a moment later. In all the panic and confusion he barely knew where he was anymore.

"We're almost there," Claymore replied breathlessly. "A few minutes more..."

Flash jumped as a loud scream erupted from his left, and as they passed a side street he caught a glimpse of a pitched battle raging in a small courtyard on the other side of the line of buildings beside them. A yellow electricity dragoness, who was the source of the scream, was pinned against a wall as three grublins descended on her, bladed weapons raised high, but then the line of buildings once again obscured his vision and prevented him from seeing her fate.

"Why are they doing this?" he demanded in a quivering voice, feelings of terror and despair threatening to overwhelm him at any moment. "Why are they attacking? The war is supposed to be over!"

"You're asking me?" Claymore replied, his own voice laced with tension. "I'm just trying to get us to those shelters! I don't care why they're doing this right now!"

"But what if the elder is right? What if it is our fault?"

"That doesn't matter right now! All I care about right now is getting you to safety!"

Flash winced as another terrible grublin battle cry split the air, and from then on he ran in silence, trying to hold himself together and keep from succumbing to the pure terror that flooded through him and made him want to do nothing more than curl up in some dark corner and break down in a fit of sobbing. No matter where he went he couldn't escape the horrible noise. It was all around them now, indicating that the village had been overrun. How could they hope to survive the night? There were simply too many grublins moving too quickly for the elders to organize any kind of defence against. He realized that they were likely doomed, and he was filled with a dread and fear that he had never experienced before in his life.

It only made matters worse when he kept hearing that earth dragon's words echoing in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to forget.

'The purple dragon is leading them...'

But how was that possible? The messengers from Warfang had all insisted that the purple dragon was on their side! Why would he attack their village, and without any provocation? Or could this be a different purple dragon than the one that was reported to have shown up in Warfang? What if this was the Dark Master, returning to reassert his dominance over those that had eluded him for years?

No, Flash realized that couldn't be it. After all, just before succumbing to his injuries and collapsing into unconsciousness, the earth dragon had reported that the purple dragon he had seen was only young...

Finally, the street opened up ahead of them to reveal a long, narrow courtyard stretching across the front of one of the village's largest buildings at the very back of the caverns, beneath which the shelters were located. Six dragons were standing guard over the courtyard, keeping watch for grublins as dozens of panicked dragons flocked toward the open main entrance that would lead them down into the reinforced shelters where they could ride out the attack in safety. Without wasting a second, Flash and Claymore put on a burst of speed and angled toward the doorway, feeling a surge of relief at the thought that they were almost out of danger.

A piercing shriek suddenly echoed across the courtyard, and Flash jumped and cried out in alarm as dozens of grublins suddenly swarmed in from the right side of the courtyard, converging in the guards in a tangle of limbs, clubs, and swords. Two of the guards were overwhelmed in an instant, one of them knocked unconscious by a club to the back of the skull and the other killed brutally. The four remaining guards began fighting back desperately to hold off the grublin attack. Suddenly finding themselves cut off from the shelter, Flash and Claymore skidded to a panicked halt and retreated to the cover of a cluster of buildings on their left, watching in horror as the grublins swept across the courtyard. Up ahead the doors to the shelters began grinding slowly closed, the dragons inside desperate to keep the dark creatures out, and Flash felt a renewed wave of despair and hopelessness crash over him as the doors banged shut, sealed from the inside and virtually impenetrable now.

"What do we do?" he asked weakly, staring at the closed doors.

"I...I don't know," Claymore replied, shaking his head helplessly. "We're locked out."

Flash looked back toward the courtyard and was horrified to see that only two guard dragons remained in the fight, getting forced back northward along the courtyard as the grublins continued to advance. The other two were lying motionlessly by the doors of the shelters, but through the tangle of bodies Flash couldn't tell if they were dead or merely unconscious. Either way, it didn't matter. The courtyard was overrun, and no one was coming to help.

"We have to go," Claymore said quietly, edging back along the wall and trying to keep to the shadows. "Come on, now!"

Flash nodded quickly and followed his brother as he ducked into a narrow alleyway. Squeezing between the tight walls, the two of them eventually emerged in another street that was for the moment clear of grublins and began running as fast as their legs could carry them. They didn't know where they were going. They just wanted to keep ahead of the bulk of the grublin forces until they could find some help.

Claymore gave a sudden grunt as he rounded a corner and inadvertently ran head first into a grublin on the other side. Out of sheer chance he caught the creature with his thick, curved horns, and with a cry of pain the grublin was sent crashing into a nearby wall, falling motionlessly to the ground.

"Look out!" Flash exclaimed when he suddenly caught sight of another grublin rounding on his brother from his left, aiming to catch him on his exposed flank with its blade. Out of instinct and desperation Flash cracked his jaws open and fired out a blazing beam of light, causing the second grublin to crash into the wall right next to the first, burned and unconscious.

"Claymore?" a trembling voice squeaked, and Flash jumped at the sudden sound before spinning around to find Raenna and Gemma huddled in a corner behind them, apparently getting pinned there by the two grublins. It had been Raenna that had spoken, and now she was staring at their two rescuers with wide eyes. "Flash? Where did you come from?"

"Raenna! Gemma!" Claymore exclaimed in shock. "Why are you still out here?"

"We couldn't get to the shelters," Gemma replied fearfully, cautiously edging out from behind the corner and glancing in all directions as if afraid that another grublin might jump out at them at any moment. "We kept getting cut off by grublins. Why aren't you there yet?"

"The shelters are shut off," Claymore replied grimly. "Flash and I almost made it, but then a bunch of grublins attacked the courtyard and the dragons inside sealed the doors."

"You mean we can't get in?" Raenna gasped in horror. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Claymore said, shaking his head. "Where are your parents?"

"We don't know," Gemma replied mournfully.

"My parents left to help with the fighting once they got me to the central courtyard," Raenna said anxiously. "Gemma's mother was with us a while ago, but when the grublins caught up to us we got separated."

An explosive rumble suddenly reached their ears, and all four of them went rigid with fear as they searched about for the source. Flash thought that it sounded like it was coming from somewhere to the south-west, where the fighting sounded like it was most intense.

"We need to find somewhere safe to hide until this is over," Claymore said tensely. "But where can we go if the shelters are sealed?"

A grim silence descended over the four of them for a long moment, but then Flash noticed Gemma's eyes brighten as if an idea had occurred to her.

"The hideout," she said to Claymore.

Claymore's eyes widened with surprise, but a second later they brightened as well. Flash only knew vaguely of 'the hideout' from the times his brother had mentioned it, but apparently it was a small side cave that Gemma and Claymore had found in the northern wall of the cavern, not too far from the cavern's secondary exit. It was like a secret clubhouse where the young dragons could gather when they wanted to get away from the older dragons in the village. Flash had been invited by his brother a number of times to go there with him, but Flash had always refused knowing that it would only result in an awkward tension between him and Claymore's friends.

"Good idea!" Claymore said. "It should be hidden well enough that no one will find us there, and it's outside the village. Come on, let's go!"

"But that's all the way on the north side of the cavern!" Raenna protested. "We have to cross the entire village to get there!"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Gemma snapped impatiently.

Raenna sighed and looked down at her paws. "No..."

"Let's get moving," Claymore said firmly, and he turned and began cautiously edging down the street to the north, keeping a wary eye out for grublins. Flash followed right behind him, his ears straining to pick out any nearby grublins, but over the general clamour of battle it was nearly impossible to tell how close any of the grublins really were. The only thing he could tell for certain was that the sound of grublin voices was continually growing louder as they spread throughout the village, while the number of cries from dragons was dwindling with every minute.

"Okay, it's clear," Claymore hissed from a corner ahead. "Quickly!"

He dashed around the corner at a sprint, and Flash took off running after him with the two dragonesses right behind him. They weaved their way through the village streets at a frantic pace, drawing ever nearer to the northern edge of the village. Flash could hardly believe their luck when they had made it halfway to their destination without seeing another grublin.

Their luck ended quickly when they arrived at a small garden square and found it filled with dragons and grublins battling desperately, and the four of them slid to a fearful halt and watched in horror as the battle unfolded. Three earth dragons, an electricity dragon and a fire dragon were frantically trying to hold their ground against two dozen grublins, elemental attacks crisscrossing crazily through the space between buildings. At least two of the small flower beds within the square were ablaze from the fire dragon's attacks, and the bodies of grublins littered the ground. Flash could see no dead dragons, to his relief, but a couple of them were clearly injured.

"Kryos!" Claymore exclaimed suddenly.

Flash whipped his gaze around to where his brother was looking and his eyes widened in surprise when he caught sight of the young ice dragon between the legs of one of the earth dragons and the electricity dragon. He hadn't noticed him before because the other dragons were blocking him from view, but now Flash could see with great surprise that Kryos was actually fighting the grublins with them, using blasts of ice to freeze the swarming creatures in place while the larger dragons dispatched them with elemental attacks or swipes of their talons and tails.

The earth dragon roared loudly when a grublin suddenly leapt up onto its back and plunged its blade in between the dragon's shoulder blades. Snarling furiously, the dragon tried to spin around and knock the grublin off but couldn't reach it. Then while he was distracted another grublin charged in and swiped its blade across one of the earth dragon's hind legs, causing the dragon to stumble and fall flat on his side with a winded grunt. Chattering with triumphant glee, the two grublins leapt off of the writing dragon's body and charged the electricity dragon, driving him backward. Within a matter of seconds Kryos was left standing alone and vulnerable. At that moment two airborne grublins dove down toward him.

"We have to help him!" Gemma exclaimed.

"Come on!" Claymore said before charging into the square.

Mustering up whatever courage he could find, Flash ran as fast as he could to catch up to his brother, the two young dragonesses surging ahead of him as well. The grublins in the square seemed to pay no attention to the four of them, deeming them no threat compared to the adult dragons still engaged in the furious battle. Up ahead Flash could see Kryos trying desperately to hold the two flying grublins at bay, breathing out repeated streams of ice to try and bring them down but they were just too quick, dodging every attack he made.

A sudden, sharp scream from his right caused Flash to jump badly and he looked over just in time to see Gemma crash into the earth, tripped up by a flying grublin that had swung its club at her legs. Before she had even slid to a halt the grublin charged.

"Gemma!" Raenna cried.

"Keep going!" Gemma shouted in reply before rolling over onto her back and catching the charging grublin full in the face with an earth blast, knocking it backward through the air.

The three other dragons obeyed and kept running, leaving Gemma to catch up as she scrambled back to her feet. Just at that moment Kryos roared in pain ahead of them as one of the grublins' clubs caught him soundly on the shoulder, the pain causing the limb to buckle and sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Kryos!" Claymore shouted.

A mere instant before the grublins were upon the fallen ice dragon, an earth missile from Claymore slammed into one of them. The grublin gave an abrupt gasp of pain before getting knocked clear out of the air in the blink of an eye. The second paused in surprise, staring at the point in space where its companion had just been, and in this opening an intense fireball from Raenna caught it in the side, exploding on impact and sending the smoking grublin spinning into a wall. On the ground Kryos heaved a sigh of relief and began rolling over to push himself to his feet.

"Look out!" Raenna screamed suddenly.

Kryos looked up and his eyes went wide with horror when a land-bound grublin appeared behind him, bladed weapon raised high to deliver a killing blow. It was obvious in that moment that none of the four dragons rushing to his aid were going to be able to reach him in time, and in his shock and fear he was unable to do anything more than watch.

The grublin shrieked suddenly when a blazing beam of white light consumed it, knocking it backward so quickly it was almost like it just disappeared, driving it into the wall of a low house and killing it instantly. Farther into the square Flash slowly straightened and tried to catch his breath, somewhat surprised that he had been able to hit the grublin so precisely when he had been acting by little more than reflex. Obviously his practice session with Claymore had paid off.

He was suddenly aware that Kryos, Gemma and Raenna were all staring at him with expressions of wide-eyed shock on their faces, and he shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. At that moment however, Claymore moved up beside him with a grin on his muzzle and bumped him roughly on the shoulder with a folded wing.

"Nice shot, little buddy," he said proudly.

"Kryos, are you alright?" Gemma asked concernedly as she approached the ice dragon's side.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, frowning momentarily at the discoloured bruise forming on his shoulder. Then he glanced toward Flash and said almost reluctantly, "Thanks."

"Sure," was all Flash said in reply.

"Can you run?" Claymore asked his friend. "We're heading to the hideout."

"The hideout?" Kryos repeated in surprise. "Not the shelters? My parents told me to go that way."

"The shelters are already sealed off," Claymore said grimly. Then he frowned and glanced around the square, which had begun to fall quiet as the dragons managed to push the attacking grublins back. "Where are your parents?"

"My dad went to help out on the western front when he heard the attack starting," Kryos replied. "And my mom..." He trailed off, and Flash felt a swell of confusion when he thought he saw the glossiness of tears in his eyes. He swallowed with difficulty past a lump in his throat before continuing, "I think she's dead."

"What?" Raenna gasped in a quiet voice.

"We were heading for the shelters when a bunch of grublins caught her from behind," Kryos explained in a tight voice. "She told me to run, and after that I don't know what happened."

His head drooped toward the ground, and beside him Raenna stepped forward slowly and rested a comforting paw on his shoulder. A sudden explosion from somewhere deeper in the city reached their ears and caused them all to jump, though, and they realized that they couldn't linger.

"We have to keep moving," Claymore said, turning northward once more. "Come on, we should be able to make it to the hideout before too much longer."

The others all nodded, and without another word they took off running one again, hoping desperately that they didn't see any more grublins before they reached their destination.

If only they could be so fortunate.

*.*.*

"Hold them back!" an earth dragoness shouted to the other dragon defenders that were gathered around the steps leading up to what looked to be the village's town hall. She nimbly ducked a swing of a flying grublin's club before rearing up and lashing out with her talons, sending the creature spinning away with three deep gashes across its chest and stomach. "Don't let them reach the elders!"

Good luck with that, Nexus thought with a chuckle as he stepped out into the courtyard where a pitched battle was raging between several dozen of his grublins and eight dragon defenders. Without even pausing he began striding toward the steps leading up to the building's large stone doorway, which at the moment looked to be sealed tightly shut.

Not for long.

"He's here," he heard another earth dragon gasp as he approached, and Nexus glanced over at the source to see the speaker standing halfway up the steps and staring in horror at Nexus as he casually walked toward the stairs. "Ancestors, help us, the purple dragon is here!"

"Stand firm!" the earth dragoness snapped, however there was an evident edge of fear in her voice now as well. "Don't let him through!"

The other seven dragons hesitated for a long moment, clearly not at all willing to engage the legendary purple dragon in a one-on-one fight, but as Nexus reached the bottom of the stairs and began climbing unchallenged they were forced to react. Batting away a group of grublins, the nearest two dragons charged him breathing out streams of ice and fire as they came. Without even flinching Nexus ducked the elemental attacks before releasing an enormous charge of electricity from his body, creating a sort of supercharged orb of energy around himself. Electricity arced from the orb to the two dragons, and they screamed in pain as the surge tore through their bodies. A moment later he cut the stream and they both collapsed limply to the ground. Without missing a beat Nexus resumed his journey up the stairs, his dark grin never leaving his muzzle. As he passed the unconscious forms of the dragons he considered just how easy it would be to kill them in that moment, but he dismissed the thought from his mind immediately. After all, what good would it do to instruct his grublins to leave most of the dragons in the village alive if he killed every one that he came up against? A dragon would probably fear him more—or Spyro, he corrected himself, remembering his current form—if they were still alive to feel fear.

"Stop!" the earth dragoness shouted as he made it halfway up the stairs.

Nexus turned to glance at her out of the corner of his eye with an almost bored expression as she knocked a half-dozen grublins away from her with a blast of earth energy before spinning around to face him. With a roar she fired a massive earth missile, the projectile speeding toward him with lethal velocity. Still without flinching, Nexus reached up with a paw that glowed with a green aura from his earth power and, to the utter shock of the dragoness, caught the earth missile before spinning around and hurling it back at its sender. The dragoness had no chance to react before the earth missile smashed into her skull, dropping her unconscious to the ground in an instant with a bleeding wound on the side of her head.

Nexus took a moment to examine his situation and found that only four defenders remained in the fight now. One of the others had been brought down by several of the grublins' blades while Nexus had been occupied with the earth dragoness, and the electricity dragon's bloody body was now slumped in a lifeless heap on the cold stone steps. Then, all together, the grublins surged ahead and surrounded the two remaining dragons farthest away from the building's doors, cutting them off from the rest of the fight in an instant and leaving the remaining two for Nexus. The two dragons, one of the fire element and yet another of earth, quickly moved together to bar access to the doorway, but there was obvious fear in their expressions and Nexus's wicked grin grew wider as he began stalking toward them.

"Do yourselves a favour and just get out of the way now," he laughed as he drew to a halt on the top step a dozen feet from them.

"Never," the earth dragon snapped immediately, and he was able to keep a surprising amount of strength in his voice for the fear that was all too obvious in his eyes.

"We'll never let you get at our elders," the fire dragon added, though in a significantly less confident tone.

Nexus gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Have it your way."

Closing his eyes and summoning up all the power he could manage, Nexus reared up onto his hind legs and spread his wings wide. Had his eyes not been closed, he would have probably been extremely pleased to see the looks of horror that settled over the two dragons' faces as dark clouds of convexity began swirling around his body. As his power continued to build he felt himself lift slowly into the air, the convexity that spiralled around him creating a low, ominous rumble that could be felt through the very air around him. Then, opening his eyes and grinning darkly, he unleashed all his built-up power.

The convexity fury attack exploded out of him with terrible force, and because he focussed all of the power forward instead of allowing it to spread out in all directions it was only made more deadly as a result. The two dragon guards' screams were drowned out by the roar of the energy explosion, their bodies crumbling away in an instant from the sheer power that crashed over them. A split second later the heavy stone doors of the town hall were blown inward off their reinforced hinges, splintering and cracking as if they were made of glass. Even the thick walls and stone columns around the doorway cracked and threatened to buckle as they were assaulted by the shockwave of convexity. Then, only a couple of seconds after the attack had begun, silence fell over the area.

Panting slightly from the massive drain on his power, Nexus dropped to the ground and took a couple of long, deep breaths before examining his work, grinning as he already felt his power steadily returning to him. The entrance to the town hall lay open before him, stone debris scattered in every direction. The two guard dragons that the grublins had been holding off were now both unconscious, and not a single soul moved anywhere within sight any longer. The grublins were all staring at Nexus in awe and obvious fear from his display of power, but also with a growing air of eagerness about them. They felt emboldened having someone as powerful as he was on their side, Nexus knew, and now they were excited to see what he would do next.

Dismissing the grublins from his mind, Nexus stepped over the crumbled stone debris at his feet and stepped through the broken doorway of the town hall. Upon entering the building he found himself in a large, open atrium with stone columns running around the outside walls. Two hallways branched off from the back corners of the room while the back wall was dominated by an enormous tapestry upon which a sort of elemental seal was depicted, with a large green symbol for the earth element dominating the centre and the three remaining elements evenly arrayed around it, denoting the same distribution of elemental powers that Nexus had witnessed so far within the village; predominantly earth, with the other three elements comprising significant minorities.

He quickly located the four elder dragons scattered about the open space. One of them, a female earth dragon, was sprawled out on the ground over to his left, obviously knocked unconscious by the blast from his convexity fury. An ice dragon lay over to his right, crushed between one of the stone pillars and a large piece of the heavy stone door that had come flying into the room. It was easy to see that he was dead. A third dragon lay farther into the room. He was a fire dragon, and he was groaning weakly from where he lay on the ground. Obviously he had been farther back from the door when the blast had entered the room, sparing him from the brunt of the shockwave and thereby making it possible for him to maintain consciousness. The fourth and oldest of the dragons, another earth dragon and clearly the leader among them, stood at the very back of the room beneath the elemental banner and was staring at the young purple dragon that had just entered the room with a look of pure shock and horror.

"Knock knock," Nexus chuckled as he advanced farther into the room.

"You," the fire dragon growled weakly as he shakily pushed himself to his feet, a look of unbridled fury in his eyes. "You monstrous, heartless, barbaric little bastard!"

With an enraged roar the elder leapt forward, talons extended and jaws ready to clamp down and rend Nexus limb from limb, but Nexus easily dodged his first swing and countered by swinging his head up sharply and catching the larger dragon soundly under the jaw with his horns. The fire dragon snarled with pain and anger and lashed out again, but his eyes widened in shock when Nexus seemed to disappear right from in front of him. A second later he felt a tremendous impact on his right flank.

Nexus smirked darkly before tapping into his Dragon Time power again and skirting around to his opponent's other side. Releasing his hold on time, he raked his talons across the dragon's shoulder earning a roar of pain from the elder before freezing time again. In this manner the elder stood no chance to retaliate as Nexus seemed to disappear and reappear all around him, delivering blow after crippling blow until, finally, he appeared directly in front of the elder mid-back flip and smashed the spade of his tail into the larger dragon's chin, amplifying the power of his strike with a blast of convexity that knocked the fire dragon into the air. After touching down on the ground Nexus leapt up after him and kicked out viciously with all four feet, once again channelling his convexity power into the attack. His four paws struck the elder in the chest and a violet shockwave erupted from the point of impact, rocketing the larger dragon back into the wall of the atrium. The fire dragon gave a weak groan before crumpling limply into an unconscious heap on the ground. As soon as his paws hit the ground Nexus turned and stalked toward the last elder, who was frozen in place by his fear.

"Why are you doing this?" the earth dragon asked, his voice strained from horror and fear. "Why are you doing this to our village? What have we done to make you attack us like this?"

"Nothing," Nexus replied calmly as he came to a stop several metres away from the elder, far enough away that he was well out of reach of any surprise attack but close enough that the earth dragon felt trapped.

"Then why?"

"Why not?" Nexus replied with a twisted gin.

The elder gaped at him for a moment in absolute horror before exclaiming, "You're insane! We've never done anything to provoke an attack from you, and yet you come here and destroy our homes for no reason? What do you possibly have to gain from this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Nexus asked. "Now that Malefor's been taken care of, I'm taking over. This world belongs to me now. Consider this attack a demonstration of power."

"A demonstration of power?" the elder demanded incredulously. "You're killing dozens of innocent dragons just to prove a point?"

"Exactly," Nexus grinned. "But you can end it. Submit yourselves to my rule and the attacks will stop. Resist, and you will be crushed without hesitation and without mercy."

"Submit?" the elder spat, his expression twisting almost in the blink of an eye to one of outrage. "We will never submit to the likes of you, who treat terror and death as nothing but a game! We didn't bow to Malefor, and we will certainly never bow to you!"

"I expected as much," Nexus said with a dismissive shrug. "But I'm sure you'll reconsider when you leave this room and see the true state of your precious home. This was nothing more than a warning. If I had truly meant to destroy you, I could have done it in moments."

"Your threats don't scare us. Who do you even think you are?"

"Who am I?" Nexus repeated, feigning shock and pointing with a talon at himself. "I'm Spyro, the purple dragon of legend you old fool! I am the single most powerful dragon in this world! No one can stand against me, especially not a pathetic village of cowards like this one!"

He snorted derisively and turned sharply around, flicking a piece of stone debris away from his feet with the spade of his tail and causing it to bounce off the unconscious form of the fire elder he had just defeated, as if to remind the chief elder of the power he was dealing with.

"If you want to ensure the survival of this village, you will submit to me," he said over his shoulder. "I'll let you consider this offer. Expect me back here in a couple of days for your answer."

Without even waiting for a reply he stepped back out through the crumbled doorway and out of the town hall, leaving the elder earth dragon fuming in his wake. Once outside he spent a moment to survey the village stretched out before him, listening to the cries of grublins and the screams of dragons and taking in the sight of the orange-red glow that now covered the city from several fires scattered about. He grinned broadly as a feeling of unparalleled excitement and triumph rose up within him at the sight and the knowledge that all of this would be blamed on Spyro.

I can't believe how easy this is! he laughed in his mind. Spyro, you'd better look out, because you are in for one nasty surprise when you get here!

"Come on," he said to the grublins gathered on the steps that had been awaiting his return from inside the building. "Our work here is done. Spread the word to start falling back."

Several of the grublins nodded sharply and hurried off into the streets to relay his order while the rest formed up around him, following as he descended the steps and strode proudly through the village's ruined streets, revelling in his success.

He only wished he could be there to see it when Spyro arrived.

*.*.*

"Come on, we're almost there!" Claymore exclaimed from up ahead as the buildings around them gradually begin to become smaller and less tightly packed together. "Keep going!"

No one answered him. They only kept running right on his tail, trusting him to guide them on a safe path through the village. Thanks to his earth element, he had been able to steer the group away from most of the grublins still roaming the streets around the outer areas of the village. It seemed as though most of the vile creatures had already pushed deeper into the centre of the village, leaving only a few small groups behind to mop up any dragon stragglers. It was considerably more difficult to avoid the airborne grublins, but like their land-bound counterparts there were very few of them around this area anymore, and by keeping close to building walls and dodging through alleyways the group of five young dragons was able to avoid detection.

"I can't believe that this is happening," Raenna whimpered as they ran. "I never thought the grublins would actually attack here."

"Me neither," Gemma replied grimly. "But obviously we were wrong."

Neither Kryos nor Flash had anything to add, and they remained silent. Kryos was obviously still struggling with the disappearance of his mother, and even though he bore no liking of the ice dragon Flash felt a small pang of sadness for him. He couldn't begin to imagine what kind of fear and pain he was experiencing in that moment.

"Stop, stop!" Claymore hissed suddenly from ahead as they reached the end of an alleyway.

Flash skidded to a halt and barely avoided running into the back of his brother, getting jostled about as Raenna, Gemma and Kryos slid to a stop as well.

"What is it?" Raenna hissed.

"Grublins," Gemma replied before Claymore could, and Flash glanced back at her to see the same tight expression of focus that he saw so often on his brother when he was using his earth powers to sense the movements of others through the ground.

"Two of them," Claymore nodded. "And they're coming this way."

"What do we do?" Flash asked nervously. "Double back?"

Claymore shook his head immediately. "There are more grublins in the street behind us now. They'll see us. We're going to have to take these two out without attracting any more attention."

"And how are we going to do that?" Gemma asked sceptically.

Claymore paused in thought for a moment, his expression tight, before his eyes brightened with an idea. He glanced back over his shoulder.

"Think you can get them, Kryos?"

Flash looked back at the ice dragon to see him with a thoughtful look on his features. Finally he gave a tense sigh.

"I can try."

"Okay, get up here. They're getting closer."

Flash pressed his body as tightly as he could against the side of the alley to make room for Kryos to squeeze by, and a moment later the ice dragon had managed to wriggle his way up to the front of the group. Claymore moved back to give him some more room, and Kryos crouched down low to the ground, readying his attack. Flash could now hear the two grublins approaching, their feet shuffling quietly in the dusty street and drawing nearer with each passing second.

As soon as the first of the grublins came into sight beyond the end of the alley, Kryos leapt up and breathed out a thick cloud of freezing ice particles. The cloud swept over the first grublin and froze it solid in an instant, but somehow the second grublin managed to dodge the attack at the last possible moment, suffering no more than a bad case of frostbite on one of its shoulders. Immediately it sounded the alarm, shrieking at the top of its lungs.

Claymore leapt forward and silenced the small creature an instant later with an earth missile, but it was already too late. Over the rooftops Flash could hear a number of exclamations from other grublins in the area, rushing to investigate the commotion.

"Move!" Claymore exclaimed, and together the five dragons took off running as fast as they could manage toward the northern edge of the village, desperate to reach their destination before they were discovered. As they ran, Flash dared to glance over his shoulder and felt his chest constrict with dread when he caught a brief glimpse of grublins surging through the streets behind them and far to their right, gaining rapidly.

"They're coming!" he cried.

"Don't stop!" Claymore said insistently. "We're almost there!"

They ran faster, hoping to reach the hideout before they were spotted, but only a minute later they were forced to dodge into an alleyway as a group of grublins appeared ahead of them, somehow managing to circle around and get ahead of the dragons. They remained unspotted, but as time wore on more and more groups of grublins began appearing ahead, cutting them off. In the end, just before they cleared the edge of the village, a trio of grublins ran into the street directly in their path, cutting off the dragons' only escape and causing them to slide to a panicked halt. By some impossible stroke of luck they were facing the wrong way and so hadn't seen the dragons yet, but it was only a matter of time. Claymore searched about desperately for a means of escape and saw an alley on their right an instant later.

"In here!" he hissed, and the four other dragons wasted no time in following him into the alley, managing to duck out of sight just before the grublins were able to spot them. However, if they thought their luck was improving, they were wrong.

"It's a dead end!" Raenna wailed as they came to an abrupt halt, their path blocked by a high, thick stone wall between two houses, cutting off their only escape.

"What do we do?" Gemma asked frantically. "We can't fly out or they'll see us!"

"I...I don't know," Claymore said, sounding helpless, and the tone of his voice only multiplied Flash's fear.

The sound of grublin feet scraping against the ground just beyond the open end of the alley echoed down between the walls of the houses to the group, and immediately they all spun around and held their breaths in terror. Out in the street Flash could hear the grublins drawing nearer, chattering to each other in confused tones of voice as they apparently searched for the dragons that had evaded them. By the sounds of it they were almost upon the alley entrance, and when that happened it would be all over. His entire body was trembling with terror, and he could hear Raenna whimpering silently from her own fear as Gemma tried to comfort her with no success. Then, a dim shadow appeared outside the alleyway.

At that exact moment Flash suddenly recalled the day, weeks ago, that he had been trying to escape getting caught by Claymore and his friends while they played, and without even thinking he closed his eyes tight and focussed on his light power with all his might. At the same time he heard movement at the end of the alley and cringed, fearing that he was too late. Raenna gave a muffled squeak of fear and Flash knew that the grublins had just reached the alley. Despair surged through him as he realized that it was over, and he tensed as he waited for a grublin blade or arrow to plunge into his body.

The pain never came, and in confusion Flash slowly cracked one eye open. There, just a dozen metres ahead of them, two grublins were standing just beyond the mouth of the dark alleyway and staring into it curiously, but they gave no indication of having seen the dragons within. When they turned slowly away a moment later Flash gave a silent sigh of relief, thanking the Ancestors that they hadn't been seen.

"What...?" Kryos whispered a moment later once the grublins had turned their backs. "What happened?"

"Flash?" Claymore hissed inquisitively.

Flash nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak in case it broke his focus. It was straining him beyond imagining to conceal all five of them at once, and he knew that any slip-up now could be disastrous.

Kryos gave a tense sigh. "Man, I am never making fun of your powers again."

"Shh!" Gemma hissed.

Fortunately, it seemed as though the grublins hadn't heard him. They remained standing there out in the street, looking around with confusion clear in their body language.

"They're not leaving," Raenna whispered fearfully.

Flash felt his heart falling when he realized that she was right. The two grublins were no longer the only ones standing outside the alley. They had been joined by several more, and now they stood there scratching their heads and conversing in their strange, guttural language as they tried to figure out where their quarries had gone. As the seconds ticked slowly by, Flash could feel himself weakening at an ever-increasing rate. His limbs were beginning to shake, his breathing coming in unsteady gasps.

"Flash?" Claymore whispered worriedly when he noticed his brother's trouble. "What is it?"

"I can't hold this much longer," he replied, keeping his shaking voice as low as possible. The drain on his energy that was required to cover such a large area with his power was far greater than he had imagined it would be. "If they don't leave soon..."

A grim silence fell over the others as they all realized the implications of his words. Flash grit his fangs and tried with all his might to keep his rapid breathing silent, praying that the grublins would just leave and allow him to relinquish his control over the light around them.

Come on! he shouted in his mind. Just move! We're not here, already!

But they didn't move. Flash couldn't believe that they were lingering so long. Wasn't it an obvious choice? If they couldn't see the dragons they had been chasing in the area, why didn't they just move on? What was so difficult? The shaking in his body was growing more intense with each passing second, and he was aware of his brother's concerned eyes.

"I have an idea," Claymore whispered suddenly.

Flash glanced back curiously and was thoroughly confused when he saw his brother turn around and rear up on his hind legs, reaching up with his forepaws and finding grips with his talons on the wall of the house next to them.

"What are you doing?" Kryos hissed.

But Claymore didn't answer. Instead he pulled up slightly with his forelegs, testing his grip on the wall.

"Okay, when it's clear, run to the hideout," he grunted, glancing back at his friends for only the briefest of moments. "Run as fast as you can."

"What are you talking about?" Flash demanded in a hushed voice.

Again Claymore didn't answer. He turned his head to meet his brother's gaze, and something in his eyes immediately made Flash anxious. They looked...sad?

All at once it hit him what his brother was planning, and horror crashed over him. He shook his head insistently, his eyes wide with fear.

"No," he gasped. "No, Clay, don't!"

"Sorry," the earth dragon whispered before hoisting himself up with his forelegs and climbing the wall as quickly and silently as he could.

"Claymore!"

But it was too late. Only a second later he had disappeared over the lip of the house's roof. There was a moment of utter silence in which Flash felt a horrible sense of helplessness surging through him.

He wouldn't actually...would he?

"Hey you dirty slimeballs!" Claymore's voice suddenly called out from out of sight on the roof of the house, close to the road. "Looking for someone?"

The grublins outside the alley all spun around at once and glared up at the earth dragon peering at them over the wall of the house.

"Come and get me, maggots!"

Claymore fired an earth missile down into the midst of the grublins before jumping down into the street and taking off running northward. With a furious shriek the grublins all charged after him without a second thought, leaving the street ahead completely clear a moment later. As the sounds of the pursuit faded away into the distance, headed toward the northern exit of the caverns, Flash felt a wave of despair sweep through him, rooting him to the spot as he stared out after his brother. None of the other three dragons uttered a sound, just as overcome by shock as Flash was.

"Don't let him escape!" an unknown voice shouted suddenly, causing the four of them to jump badly and huddle back into the alley as far as they could go. "Stop him before he can alert anyone of this!"

Flash felt his eyes go as wide as saucers when a figure appeared outside of the alley, glaring in the direction that Claymore and the grublins had gone. He was a dragon, with golden wings, underbelly and horns, but far more surprising than anything was the colour of his scales.

The purple dragon, Flash thought with a swell of horror.

To the amazement of the young white dragon, he realized that this purple dragon was barely any older than he was; a year or two at the most. The report he had heard earlier that night of a purple dragon had said he was young, but it had never really fully hit him until actually seeing him. What was a dragon this young doing leading an army of grublins in an attack against their village?

At that moment, he heard a gasp of pure shock from right beside him.

"How—" Kryos began in a disbelieving tone, but suddenly he found Flash's forepaw clapped over his muzzle.

Please let him not have heard that! Flash begged inwardly.

To his horror, the purple dragon's head suddenly snapped around toward the alley, his light violet eyes boring into the shadows right at the group of terrified young dragons. For a long, tense minute everything was completely still, but at length Flash realized that they must not have been spotted because the purple dragon's eyes were sweeping slowly along the alley, a puzzled look in his expression. Quickly Flash glanced toward the other three dragons.

'Not a sound,' he mouthed, and they all nodded quickly.

A moment later a grublin appeared behind the purple dragon, appearing quite anxious in the young dragon's presence, and finally the purple dragon pulled his gaze away from the alley and glanced toward the small creature.

"Continue spreading the order to fall back," he instructed. "Head for the main exit of the cavern. We have no reason to stay here any longer."

The grublin nodded vigorously before turning and running out of sight as fast as its legs would carry it. Then, after shooting one last suspicious glance toward the alley, the purple dragon turned and disappeared down the street in the direction from which he'd come. After that there was only silence. Flash gasped heavily and allowed the light around them to resume its normal course, swaying weakly on his feet and feeling like he might topple over at any moment.

"Come on," Gemma said in a weak voice once they were sure the coast was clear. "The hideout's close."

Raenna and Kryos nodded silently, but Flash hardly heard her. He was still staring out into the street in the direction Claymore had disappeared, scarcely able to believe that he had actually done what he had.

Why would he do that? he demanded inwardly.

"Flash, come on," Gemma urged him, appearing by his side and pulling him forward with a forepaw. "We have to go now."

Finally Flash gave a weak nod and followed as the three other dragons began creeping toward the street. Once they were sure it was clear they took off running northward, and within a couple of minutes they had reached the cavern wall near the back corner of the cave and had approached a strange nook in the rocky surface. Gemma stepped forward and placed a paw against the uneven surface, and a moment later a crack formed in the rock and spread to reveal an opening. Quickly the four young dragons squeezed through, and once they were all inside Gemma turned and sealed the opening again, plunging them into near total darkness save for the dim light that filtered through a small crack in the wall of the tight space. Flash immediately moved toward it, as if drawn by the light. Exhausted, he sank to the ground and curled up into a tight ball.

"The purple dragon," Raenna muttered, her gaze distant. "I can't believe it..."

"Traitor," Kryos grumbled bitterly. "Leading the grublins against us. It's the Dark Master all over again."

Gemma gave the ice dragon a tense glance before pushing past him and disappearing into a back corner of their secret hideout. A moment later she reappeared holding a small fragment of glowing green spirit gem in her paw.

"Here," she said, pushing the gem piece toward Flash.

"What?" Kryos exclaimed. "You're giving him some of our stash?"

"Yes!" Gemma shot back, setting the gem down by Flash's side and turning to glare at Kryos. "Look at him! He's exhausted, and it's thanks to him that we're probably even alive right now."

"But it's his fault that this happened at all!"

Everything fell silent in the hideout immediately, and Flash looked up at the ice dragon with a feeling of deep shock and hurt. Kryos merely glared back at him.

"Those grublins found us because you had to go and make Claymore take you outside because you couldn't handle your element. Because of you our home is destroyed, my mother is probably dead, and now my best friend might be too!"

"Your best friend who is also his brother!" Gemma snapped. "You think you're the only one that feels scared and hurt right now? We all are! So just leave him be!"

Kryos snorted bitterly and spun around, moving deeper into the dark space and around a corner out of sight. Gemma heaved a sigh and glanced toward Flash, who had curled up tighter on the floor and was looking out through the crack in the wall at the village below, illuminated by a flat orange glow as whole sections of it lay crumbled and burning with grublins still swarming through it. His home, destroyed.

"Hey, I'm sure he made it out," she told him, trying to sound comforting, but Flash could easily detect the strain and hopelessness behind her words. "He'll be fine."

Flash didn't answer, instead turning away more and shutting his eyes tightly, trying to fight back the first sting of tears in his eyes. He heard Gemma sigh sadly and turn away, but he hardly noticed. He didn't even move to use the gem piece she had given him. Without his brother there with them he felt like his heart had been ripped out of him, and he almost wished that the darkness would just swallow him up and take him away from all his pain, away from everyone and everything. With his home burning and his brother gone, he felt more helpless than he had felt at any time before in his life. He stifled a weak whimper, feeling a single tear spill down his cheek.

He was alone.

---

You just know that I had to end a giant fight scene with a bit of heartbreak. What kind of writer would I be if I didn't pull an evil stunt like that? X)

Hope you liked it. If you did, let me know! And if you didn't, let me know why. Feedback is a writer's greatest tool.

So what does Nexus have up his sleeve next? What of Claymore's fate? Find out in the chapters to come...