Concurrent Skies: The Truth.
Eleanor's POV.
Spyro was starting to worry if Ignitus was still alive. That shriek we heard earlier had told us Cynder was on one of the taller towers, which made him think Ignitus might be dead before we even get there. I knew Ignitus is still alive. I can sense it.
We saw a large, white ape notice us. He hit his shield with his weapon and pointed at us. Then he ran off, charging through the first gate.
"Terrador made it sound like this place is uninhabited." Sparx remarked on what Terrador told us about the place.
"What fun would that be?" I asked with a smile.
Then Spyro turned serious, "Come on, we've gotta take them out."
Spyro and I made it to the outermost wall of the castle without meeting any resistance, except for a couple of giant electric leeches.
A staff wielder surrounded the area with an energy wall and sent wave after wave of grunts at us. I gotta say, this is actually really fun. Life was getting boring back home.
Spyro and I quickly plowed through the enemies and made our way inside the castle. Unfortunately, it did not have Ignitus or Cynder inside. Our first obstacle was a laser grid of some kind. Spyro and I had to use our timing when the lasers would change sides, then cross the hallway and take out a pair of grunts on the other side. We then entered the next room and had to raise several crystal platforms. We've come to the conclusion that the platforms would only rise when we defeat all of the enemies inside.
Spyro, Sparx and I made it to a crystal lined hallway, but there path was blocked by several crystal golems. I quickly made short work of them with a constriction of vines, and we proceeded down the trail, taking out grunts along the way. Spyro and I entered a room that was swarming with Apes and were forced to take them all out.
After that, we went into another crystal hallway. Sparx went ahead, but had to jump out of the way when something large and black shot past him, knocking him to the ground.
Worried, Spyro and I ran to the grounded dragonfly.
"I can't talk... Heart... Breaking up." Sparx gasped.
The worry faded to annoyance as Spyro and I rolled our eyes at Sparx. He was alright, just wanted to play a joke.
"Come on. Ignitus is waiting." Spyro the golden dragonfly.
A little ways down on the path, a Dreadwing dropped a staff wielder and several grunts in the way, but they were no match for us. At the end of the hall was a surrounded platform. When Spyro and I got on, it suddenly went up.
After knocking off a few Apes on the way up, we reached the next room. Unfortunately, Spyro and I ran into a bunch of orbs that were making some sort of static energy. After breaking all off them to pieces, we crossed a hallway to the next area. Unfortunately it was a dead end outside, so Spyro and I had to fly from tower to tower.
"Still don't like it." Sparx spoke up.
"Still doesn't matter. Ignitus needs us." I argued.
"I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it would be easier if she was smaller. A lot smaller." Sparx explained, talking about Cynder.
After reaching a stable tower, and knocking off a few Apes, Spyro and I entered it... Only to find out we were at the bottom of a chasm of sorts. After taking out the swarm of enemies, Spyro and I made our way to some sort of ice arena with a barrier on the other side.
A staff wielder stepped forward. It then sent a small swarm of grunts after us, two of which manned a pair of electrified cannons. After taking them out, along with another swarm that came when another staff wielder barriered the pathway, we were able to continue.
After about fifteen minutes of taking out more crystal golems, Spyro and I made our way to the main entrance of the main castle. I was sure this was where Cynder took Ignitus, because I could sense his aura, slowly weakening. As Spyro and I had pretty much predicted, a swarm of Apes, led by two staff wielders were standing in front of the castle.
We were able to defeat them in about 45 second with a couple of well placed earth tornados and astral waves. However, just as we were about to go in, an electric entity in black armor, similar to the Ice King, walked in front of us.
This 'Electric King' shot up a barrier around itself, preventing us from getting physical. It also had a habit of dropping crystals, making attacking it close range a near impossibility. To make matter worse, when I broke its arm off with side by side vine constrictions, it simply pulled them back in. Spyro and I won in the end, by jamming a fireball and psychokinetic blast at the crystal in its chest, causing it to break apart.
Spyro, Sparx and I made our way into the castle. Another one of the staff wielders was standing on an elevator pad, so we had to take it out to proceed. However, it had bolted the pad down, so we were forced to destroy the locks before it went up.
After taking out more Apes and locks on several floors, Spyro and I made it to the top of the castle. Winds were howling around us, causing a chill to go down my spine. We turned around and immediately took a step back from what we saw; Ignitus, like Terrador, was suspended in an energy cage held up by a crystal. Spyro's initial reaction was to go forward. I followed.
"Guys?" Sparx called out. "Guys!"
"What?" Spyro asked.
"I don't like this." Sparx told us, "It feels like she's baiting us. I'm getting smarter."
I gave a look to Sparx and closed my eyes. The atmosphere grew heavy. Cynder was here, but she was stalking. Sparx was right. She's baiting us.
Ignitus began to regain consciousness. He looked down and saw us in front of him.
"Spyro... Eleanor... Destroy the crystal... Quickly!" He managed to call out.
"Let's get him out of here before Cynder gets back!" Spyro said.
The words barely left his mouth when Cynder moved from the shadows, stepping in front of us before we could go forward. I quickly pushed Spyro behind me and took an offensive stance.
"If only it were that easy, little ones." She said in a cold voice.
"S-S-S-S-S-S-So... B-B-B-B-B-Big" Sparx stammered, backing away.
Cynder smiled when she saw one of her next prey retreating in terror.
"Time you learned how complicated life can be." She went on.
Before Spyro could defend himself, Cynder head butted him, sending him several feet away from where the crystal was. I jumped out of the way and crouched into fighting stance.
"Run, Spyro... Eleanor... Save yourselves!" Ignitus yelled.
"Not this time." Spyro said, getting to his feet.
I nodded, "This time we fight!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha... Bring it." Cynder challenged.
Spyro quickly went into the attack by launching a fireball, which missed wide as Cynder jumped out of the way. I came too and launched a psychokinetic pulse at her, which missed wide as well. An idea hit me, as I nudged Spyro to get his attention.
"I'll go low, if you go high." I suggested to him.
Spyro nodded and took off into the air. While Cynder was distracted by Spyro, I power slid under her, scoring a hit with my spiritual flames, and allowing Spyro to follow up with an electric jolt, making Cynder fall down. I ran forward and charged up for a close range Psychokinetic Pulse.
However, before I could set it off, something weird happened; the evil presence inside Cynder began to ebb off. I felt this, seeing the true innocence inside Cynder's true eyes, and lowered my stance. Spyro landed next to me, staring at her as well.
"Cynder?" I asked, as I looked in her eyes.
Suddenly, the evil inside Cynder came back as quickly as it left, and she got up.
"It's so sad it must end this way." She laughed.
A whip of her tail caught us off guard and we were sent farther away from Ignitus.
"Now... Where was I?" Cynder muttered.
She quickly grabbed the crystal before Spyro or myself got up. Ignitus landed hard to the ground as she took off, crashing through a window as she took off.
"Does she ever use doors?" Sparx asked.
Ignitus got up and slowly made his way toward Spyro and I.
"There was something in her eyes, Ignitus." I told Ignitus.
Spyro nodded in agreement, "Something familiar."
"There should be, Spyro." Ignitus explained, "You, Eleanor and Cynder share more than you know."
I tilted my head in confusion.
"It's time I told you the truth... All of it." Ignitus began explaining his story, "You see, after I sent your egg down the Silver River, and Lorraine's disappearance, I returned to the Grotto to find... Utter chaos. The other Guardians have been overrun... And all the other eggs had been smashed by the Dark Master's forces... All except one. You see, the Dark Master was torn. He wanted to destroy the eggs to prevent the birth of the Purple Dragon, but he also needed a dragon."
"Why would he need a dragon?" Spyro asked skeptically.
"Because, Spyro, only a dragon born in the Year of the Dragon could open the portal that served as the Dark master's prison." Ignitus explained.
"Cynder?" Spyro asked.
"I'm afraid so." Ignitus muttered with a small nodd.
"If Spyro, Cynder and I came from the same place, why is she so, so...?" I tried to ask, but couldn't find the right word.
"Evil?" Sparx tried, "Monstrous? Big? Sexy? Oops, did I just say that?"
"Because, after the night of the raid, she was corrupted by the Dark Master's poisonous powers... Twisted by his evil lore. She's become the Dark Master's monster."
Spyro and I shook our heads in dismay. All this time. All of this destruction and bringing terror to the skies, and it wasn't even her fault to begin with. She was brainwashed by this 'Dark Master' guy. Who, or whatever he is.
"But why?" Spyro asked, "What does this 'Dark Master' want?"
"He wants to be freed from the portal of Convexity... To wreak havoc across the realms" Ignitus answered sadly, "And if Cynder gets there, he just might succeed."
A flash drew us out of the discussion. The boys and I looked up to see a sight: a lavender portal had opened in the sky.
"I'm afraid we might be too late!" Ignitus said.
"No... I refuse to give up." Spyro said, shaking his head and added with determination, "I'm going to stop Cynder and the Dark Master."
"Wait you, you heard the dragon, Spyro." Sparx said, "He said 'too late'. We'll get him next time." He dusted off his hands before continuing, "Come on, champ. You did a great job. And, let's... Let's take five."
I shook my head, "No! We're ready! Now!"
"Okay. Okay, you're right." Ignitus said, "At the very least, you have to try. If the Dark Master escapes, a shadow will fall over the land, and who knows what will happen then."
With that, Spyro and I took off, with a rather reluctant Sparx following them.
"May the Ancestors look after you..." Ignitus prayed, "May they look after us all."