Chapter 25: The Sorceress

I knew it was inevitable from the moment I learned about her, the moment I would have to come face to face with the woman who forced my father to send me to another world, the woman who took my mother from me, and turned her into her undead slave. The Sorceress... There was no one in the realms I hated more than her, for all she did to me, my family, my people, she would pay for it all!

However we had a problem, when me and Koria sent mom through the air with our furies, we kinda destroyed the staircase leading to The Sorceress' throne room. But of course this did little to deter Spyro as he just simply flew up to the balcony, Sparx following closely behind like he usually did. Me and Koria had to time it just right so we wouldn't strangle one another with our chain as we attempted to fly but we managed it. Lisa followed suit, and soon we were all on top, but with another problem, Taven, Darius, and Bianca couldn't fly.

Spyro loomed over the balcony. "Sorry guys, it looks like you're going to have to sit this one out." Spyro said. Taven seemed disappointed, and was about to object but Darius stopped him. "Then we wish you four good luck." Darius said. And with that, we all followed Spyro into the throne room.

It was of course, lavishly decorated with fancy rugs and whatnot. But I wasn't here to play interior decorator, I was here to put an end to The Sorceress. Who was in her throne, a very annoyed look upon her face. "I should have known that dumb husk wouldn't be competent enough to deal with you vermin proper." She growled.

I snarled at her. "That was my MOTHER you bitch!" I yelled. I had no love for this witch, and I wasn't going to hide it either.

The Sorceress scoffed at the information. "To you perhaps, to me she was just another worthless dragon. Your kind isn't worth the dirt it walks upon don't think you can make me feel guilty for using your mother as a tool to my whims." The Sorceress scoffed. I wanted to tare her goddamn head off right now! Her complete lack of remorse towards me and my kind, who by the by had done nothing to her before this "chop our wings off" nonsense. "You dragons disgust me, acting like you're morally superior when one of your own almost ended our world! They worship you worthless reptiles like idols while I'm labeled a villain for merely trying to preserve my own life!" She added.

Sparx flew up in her face "Yeah, because you're a crazy fat lady who likes hacking baby dragon wings off!" Sparx chastised her, but flew out of range when The Sorceress tried to swat the dragonfly away. "You may think it deranged, but I don't, it's what you dragons deserve for what happened to this land during the war you started! You dragons should have been wiped clean from this world ages ago!" The Sorceress screamed before she hopped off her throne. "A problem I will soon rectify..." She added before thrusting her staff down, soon the room was surrounded by fire on all sides, ensuring we couldn't escape.

The Sorceress then began to fire magic at us, me and Koria barely managed to get out of the way in time, as did Spyro and Lisa. The Sorceress just kept going on the offensive, firing powerful blast after powerful blast at us. I tried to get a few fire balls in but she just blocked each one with a magical shield. She then suddenly gained a purple glow before she vanished and suddenly collided with me like a wrecking ball.

The Force sending me into a wall. "I've had decades to perfect my magic dragon. There's no chance of your beating me." She taunted me before getting hit by a stray shot from Spyro. "Too bad he's not the only one you're fighting then isn't it?" He taunted her.

The Sorceress was quick to her feet. "Oh trust me purple dragon, none of you stand a chance." She said before hitting Spyro flush with a magic shockwave. "But I must remember to be careful to leave your wings intact, I need that magic to become immortal." She added.

"You can't handle the power of Spyro's wings Sorceress! No one but him was meant to have that kind of power!" I pointed out, I don't know why, wasn't like she was gonna listen or anything.

The Sorceress laughed. "You think I can't handle power child? Trust me, I'm more than capable of controlling the purple dragon's magic." She gloated. Yeah, called that one. However Lisa took advantage of the momentary distraction and latched onto The Sorceress' back and began to bite into her shoulder. The Sorceress cried out as Lisa's teeth pierced her skin. She managed to rip her off and violently tossed her to the ground so hard she bounced off the stone floor like a basketball.

But before I could rush to my younger sister's aid The Sorceress got me with a magic missile that knocked me to the ground. "For twelve years I've hunted you and your sister down, I even tried to torture that fool father of yours into giving me your location, and now that I have you, I'm going to make you hurt for every year you made me waste trying to find you!" She snarled before hitting me with what could only be described as Sith Lightening, electrocuting me where I laid. I screamed as the electricity surged through my body. Koria tried to help but only got her own lightening bolt to the face for her troubles.

The Sorceress' face had a blank expression on it, not even a hint of manic glee as she caused me severe agony, just a cold, calculating look, as if she was just waiting for me to finally die already. But The Sorceress didn't see Spyro come up from behind with a rock wave that sent her flying humorously through the air like something out of Gmod.

Koria seemed to have shaken the thunderbolt off as she and Spyro both rushed over to me. "Are you okay?" Spyro asked me. I nodded as I got up, my body was in pain from head to toe but I could still fight at least. Lisa seemed to have shaken off her own bump as she was right back up and attacking The Sorceress who had also gotten up.

Man, she never missed a beat did she? But she had to go down, that much was made abundantly clear since day one back in the Dragon Realms. So I went right back on the attack, a wave of fire erupting from my mouth and right in her direction, I managed to catch her off guard and severely burned her arm. She actually howled in pain as the flames danced upon her arm.

She managed to get the fire out and gave me a piercing death glare. "You little rat! You'll die for that!" She screamed as if she didn't expect me to fight back or something. I found myself hit with another magic shot, crashing into a pedestal of some kind. Spyro took initiative and hit her with a lightening bolt to the face. "It's over Sorceress! You're gonna pay for every innocent life you've taken!" Spyro snarled before lunging at her like a panther!

However The Sorceress just slapped him away like a fly. "HA! I hardly call you dragons "innocent"! I did this world a favor by taking their worthless lives!" The Sorceress snapped back, she was becoming more and more hateable by the minute...

The Sorceress just kept laying into us with more and more magic, not even once looking the least bit tired the whole time. You wouldn't think it given how... chunky, she was but anything's possible I guess. But I wasn't going to be outlasted by her and her flab! I was gonna get justice for my people, for my mother.

I got her by the arm, clamping my jaws down onto it like an alligator, it was her bad arm too, the one I burnt, "GAH! Get off me you repulsive reptile!" She barked at me before wrenching her arm out of my mouth. "You know Dwayne, I was just going to cut your wings off and be done with it, give you the chance, if you're lucky, to live as a wingless dragon, but now that you've angered me, I'm going to make sure you and your sister die slowly and painfully!" The Sorceress said.

I charged her with my horns. Knocking her back from the impact. "I hate you... I hate you more than anything I've ever hated before! Everything horrible in me and my sister's life involved you in some shape or form... and I'm going to make you pay for everything you did to my kind!" I snarled at her before she just simply backhanded me making me stagger backwards.

She gave me a piercing glare. "You're opinions on me matter little. And I assure you dragon, your people will never see "justice" for they deserve none!" The Sorceress said before knocking me back with another spell, a huge one, a giant force of dark magic that thrashed me into the far wall. "Die you worthless runt! DIE!" The Sorceress shouted.

The spell ceased and I hit the floor again, my body was beginning to give out, all this damage The Sorceress had inflicted on me was starting to stack. I don't know how much longer I'm going to last...

It was getting harder and harder to get up, I just wanted to lie there and pass out. I could feel Koria shaking me trying to get me to wake up. "Dwayne! Dwayne come on get up!" She cried, I could hear the sounds of Spyro and Lisa fighting The Sorceress echo through the throne room. "Don't die on me... please Dwayne... don't die..." I heard Koria plead.

I felt something cold and wet hit my face, I weakly opened my eyes to see Koria standing over me with tears in her eyes. I fought to stay conscious, every part of my body wanted to just give out, but I couldn't. I had to keep fighting... I wasn't going to die here...

Dwayne was barely hanging onto life right now. His body was burnt bad, and blood was trickling from his mouth as he just stared at me weakly with those golden eyes of his. The Sorceress and her followers had already taken mom and dad from me... I don't want her to take my first love from me too...

It was so weird how only yesterday I had hated this dragon to the core. But now... I can't imagine my life without him. I turned to The Sorceress, who was fighting Spyro and Dwayne's sister, and repelling the two with her powerful magic. Dwayne and Spyro had managed to do some real damage on her, her arm was burnt from Dwayne's fire, and Spyro was currently biting her good arm, drawing blood.

The fighter in me wanted to join them in their fight, but I knew that I had to stay with Dwayne so The Sorceress didn't try to capitalize on his compromised condition. I knew The Sorceress had to be the kind of person who would attack a helpless opponent.

The Sorceress managed to get Spyro off her arm and toss him into a pillar. "Why won't you cretins just DIE?!" The Sorceress snarled, clearly beginning to become frustrated with how long we've all lasted and how much damage we were doing. "I am the most powerful mage in all of the Realms! You all should be dead!" She screamed.

She began to just batter us with magic blasts, her inability to kill us was beginning to unravel her to the point of madness, she clearly had expected this fight to be a lot shorter than it actually was. I tried my best to keep between The Sorceress and Dwayne but being smacked around obviously made that a bit difficult. "DIE YOU WORMS! DIE!" The Sorceress screamed as she kept raining blows on us. I could see in her eyes how much she wanted us dead. Like we had somehow insulted her for surviving this long.

She just kept wailing on us with spell after spell. Me, Spyro, and Dwayne's sister were all getting pounded. But The Sorceress just kept going, desperate for us to just die already. She wasn't even caring to keep Spyro's wings intact anymore, I think she was just beyond caring anymore, as if showing us up was worth more to her than the entire reason she was doing any of this in the first place. "You dragons shouldn't be alive! I am the SORCERESS! The most powerful magic force in all of the realms! Your continuing existence is an insult to my power!" The Sorceress said, lifting Spyro up with her magic and bringing him face to face with her.

Spyro glared at her weakly, barely able to lift his head after the pounding he had taken throughout this fight. "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should..." The Sorceress growled, she then spread her arms out as if she was separating something. My eyes shot wide open when Spyro began to scream, his wings were straightened out, I realized what was happening, she was trying to rip his wings off with her magic. The purple dragon was helpless to stop it as he uselessly wiggled around trying to break free. "Don't fight it purple dragon! You can't hope to break free of my magic!" The Sorceress scoffed.

I tried to get up to help him, but my legs refused to move. Sparx uselessly tugged on the Sorceress robe in a desperate attempt to save Spyro, Dwayne's sister seemed to be struggling to get up as well. It all seemed to be hopeless...

I then heard a small groan, I turned to see Dwayne getting up. It seemed to be quite difficult for him as I saw his legs shaking as he did this. "Dwayne?" I said.

I had finally managed to get up, only to see Spyro caught in The Sorceress' magic, she was trying to rip his wings right off his back, god his screams, they were horrible, wailing cries of pure agony. Couple that with the fact they were coming from my best friend and it was an unbearable sound. I had to stop this! I turned to Koria. "Can you move?" I asked her.

Koria looked pretty beaten, she was covered in burns and bruises, but she managed to pick herself up. "Y...yeah I'll be fine, but we have to help Spyro! His wings are going to give any minute!" Koria said.

I then saw Lisa walk over to us, or rather, limping. "I... I'm okay." She said, noticing my worried expression.

I turned back to Spyro and The Sorceress, I had an idea... with her trying to de-wing Spyro, she was vulnerable, too focused on the purple dragon to protect herself. I then shot a stream of fire at The Sorceress, getting her in the back, I just kept firing, not stopping even one second. Soon Lisa did the same, getting her from another angle, then Koria fired her ice breath from yet another angle, soon enough The Sorceress was being blasted on all fronts, in the wave of fire and ice she was taking she couldn't maintain her hold on Spyro and he fell to the floor with a thud. His wings thankfully still attached.

Spyro slowly got up, seeing what was happening. He limped over to the wicked mage. "It's time this ended..." He said coldly, before a purple glow surrounded him. He then added his Convexity breath to our stream of fire and ice, resulting in an explosion of energy that knocked us all back.

I groaned as I picked myself off the floor, I stared at the cloud of smoke that enveloped the space The Sorceress once occupied, looking for any sign of her still being alive. Koria walked up next to me. "Is it over? Is she dead?" Koria asked. I don't know, but god I hope so, I don't think I had any mana left in me after that.

However, when the dust cleared, The Sorceress was nowhere to be found, a shredded and burnt robe sitting where she once stood. Yeah I think it's safe to assume she's dead. Or possibly running for her life completely naked. But The Sorceress wasn't one to cut and run, so it was a safe bet she had been completely vaporized by our elemental breaths.

Lisa jumped for joy. "We did it! We won!" She said, excited over our victory. It was finally over, The Sorceress was no more, nothing but a smoldering pile of slag on the castle floor. Good riddance...

I rushed over to Lisa, both of us overjoyed that the evil mage that had tormented our kind for so long was finally gone for good.

"Dwayne..."

I stopped and turned to Koria, and noticed something, we were quite a bit of distance from each other, but the magic leash wasn't there anymore. "What? How did we undo the bounding spell?" I asked.

Spyro thought for a moment. "That explosion must have eradicated it along with The Sorceress..." Spyro theorized. Well at least I didn't have to worry about being strangled by magic leashes anymore... that was a plus. Spyro then approached me. "I thought for sure she was going to rip my wings off back there, thanks for saving me guys." He said to all three of us. I nodded. "No problem man, now lets go home." I said, I've had enough of this damn place for a life time...

Later...

The husks and mages had all been defeated, Warfang saved. But one thing still lingered, my son was still out there, alive or dead I knew not, and when I checked the temple, Lisa was gone as well... no doubt she left to find her brother. I prayed to the ancestors for my children to be safe as everyone around me celebrated our victory.

I looked at the scars this battle had left on the city, when suddenly Terrador walked up next to me. "Are you alright Blaze?" He asked me.

I turned to the Earth Guardian. "My son is still out there... I just... I just can't lose another loved one to The Sorceress..." I said. Terrador gave me a sympathetic look. "He's with The Purple dragon Blaze, I know Spyro too well to think he'd ever let anything happen to your son." Terrador said to me.

"Look! Over at the gates!"

I turned as soon as I heard the voice to see a sight I wanted to see more than anything... my son and daughter, walking into Warfang with their friends... alive. They were beaten, bruised, and injured, but alive. I couldn't stop myself from rushing over to them and nuzzling them. "We did it dad! We won!" Lisa said happily.

I gave my son and daughter an approving nod. "Yes, you did. And I am very proud of both of you..." I said, a wave of relief washed over me, at long last, after so many years... it was finally over... we could live in peace.

However, Dwayne had a sorrowful look on his face. "Dwayne? What's wrong?" I asked him. Dwayne paused for a moment, whatever it was, he was quite hesitant to bring it up. But then, he looked at me, tears in his eyes. "I saw mom." He said simply.

What? I... Impossible... Chara died before Lisa had even hatched... "The Sorceress... she turned her into a husk and used her as some kind of... guard dog or something... we... we had to... we..." Dwayne said, unable to finish his sentence. But I understood what he meant... my beloved, turned into a husk by that witch... I should have known she would, but it still horrified me all the same. "It's okay son... you did right by her to end her suffering... I'm sorry you had to see her... like that." I said trying to comfort him.

He then looked up at me. "Before we did though... she told me to tell you she never blamed you for what happened to her..." He then said. I just stood in shocked silence, had she broken free of The Sorceress' control before death? Or was it only temporary? But even more shocking, she forgave me... she forgave me for failing to protect her...

I held my two children close. "Your mother loved you both very much... and she'll always be with us." I told them. My own two children, who not only survived their time away from the Dragon Realms, but ended the conflict that had forced me to send them away... no father in the realms could be more proud than I was today...

The Next Day...

Repairs had already begun on the destroyed Warfang, all the husks had dropped dead since The Sorceress had been killed and could no longer supply the magic to sustain them, and it seemed that we dragons could finally live in peace. I stood in the dragon temple with my father and sister. The Guardians had asked him to come to their chambers for something. "You wanted to see me?" Dad asked the guardians.

The guardians all looked at each other, each of them silently agreeing on something before Terrador looked to dad. "Yes Blaze, after all that had happened yesterday, we would be honored if you would join us as the new fire guardian." He said.

Dad was shocked, he had just been offered the position of Fire Guardian. Kind of ironic given how much he hated the guardians when we first brought him here. "M... me? Fire Guardian?" He said in shock.

Cyril nodded. "Indeed, while you've been a bit brash and hot headed at times, you've shown great bravery and strength in the battle for Warfang and the events leading up to it... Ignitus would have been proud to have you as his successor." Cyril said.

Volteer nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I think you're quite qualified for this most prestigious position. We'd be quite honored to welcome you into our fold." He said cheerfully.

Dad looked down at us. As if silently asking us if he should accept. I gave him a nod, he then turned to the guardians. "I would be honored." He said. The Guardians happy to see he had accepted.

Terrador nodded. "I knew you would, being a guardian is a great responsibility Blaze, our duty is to protect the younger generations and supply them with our wisdom, you seem perfectly capable of both." He said.

Dad then looked down to me and Lisa. "You two should run along now, I have things to discuss with my fellow guardians." Dad said, me and Lisa nodded and left.

Lisa went off to do her own thing, while I ran into Spyro. "So? What was it about?" He asked me. Referring to what the guardians had summoned dad about.

"They wanted to make him the new Fire Guardian. And he accepted." I told him. Spyro seemed surprised. But he then nodded. "I think he'll make a fine guardian." He said. I was kinda surprised at how well he took it considering how close he was to dads predecessor. But then again, he probably felt it was time to move on.

He then smirked at me. "So... how are things between you and your new mate?" He asked me teasingly. God why did he have to use the word "mate"? "Dude shut up." I said causing Spyro to laugh. "Come on Dwayne, I'm just teasing." Spyro said.

I just shook my head. I then noticed that Koria was sitting out on the balcony overlooking the city. Spyro silently urged me to go join her, so I did.

When I approached her she gave me a smile. "It's still hard to get used to... knowing that it's all over, that we won't have to worry about The Sorceress, mages, or husks ever again." Koria said. I couldn't disagree, I had gotten so used to looking out for evil magic goons recently, knowing they were gone for good was bizarre to say the least. Koria then looked out to the city. "Dwayne... can I ask you something?" She asked me.

I nodded, Koria paused for a second. "Do you ever miss it? Being human I mean?" Koria asked. You know, that was a good question, I had been worrying about so much lately I almost forgot about the life I had left behind in The Human Realms. However, I knew the answer now. "I used to, but I really didn't have anything back there, it was just me and Lisa. But here, I have friends, a father, and you." I said. Koria blushing at that last part. She then kissed me lightly.

"Well... you two seemed to have improved your relationship!"

Me and Koria turned to see Taven, Darius, and Bianca standing behind us, Taven laughing his tail off. Me and Koria too embarrassed to defend ourselves. However Bianca thumped Taven on the back of the head. "Don't listen to Taven, he's just mad because he's doomed to die alone and unloved." Bianca said teasing to Taven.

Taven sprang up. "Excuse me?!" He blurted, Bianca had no response, too busy laughing at Taven's expense. We all joined her in laughter, even Spyro and Cynder joined in, something Taven didn't approve of as he just crossed his arms and huffed.

A lot had happened to me since I got here, I made friends, met my father, said goodbye to my mother, beat the badguy, and found love. No... I don't think I'm gonna

miss being human at all...

The End

Author's Note: And there it is, story number five done! Bag it and tag it!

I'd like to thank Draconic Starblade for helping with this story, including coming up with the premise for me. And I'd also like to thank all of you who were willing to put up with my crap and increasingly long periods between chapters to see this story to the end.

What's next for me? I have no clue. I kinda want to take a break for a while. Maybe a week or two before I start another story.

Until then, I'm open to suggestions, I have a list of story ideas on my profile if you'd like to take a gander. But give it a few weeks/months and I'll probably think of something on my own...

Will this get a sequel? Maybe, maybe not, depends on if I come up with something or not.

Until we meet again! *Throws a smoke bomb to the floor and vanishes like a ninja*