Wicked Witch

Spyro and Shade followed the tracks around the edge of the pink lake all the way to the cliff where the waterfall poured down. There they hid amongst some foliage to scope out their destination. Periodically, pairs of rhynoc guards would exit from somewhere behind the waterfall and head out on patrols, only to return a while later and trade with other pairs.

"That's original," Shade commented, crouching next to Spyro.

"No worse than Ripto making a headquarters out of a volcano," Spyro replied, stifling a snicker.

He shifted uncomfortably. The mud he'd rolled in to help disguise his bright color was now dry and itched. Shade was lucky to be able to naturally blend into shadows. Still, he had to admit the Beast Maker's idea was pretty good, even if not the most pleasant to deal with. Looking up at the sky, Spyro saw it was fairly dark-orange in color. Luckily there were no visible clouds to bring more rain. Soon the sun would set and they could put their plan into motion. It had been interesting explaining to Shade exactly how to fly, but he thought he understood. Hopefully, he'd be able to actually do it. If not, they'd have to improvise.

Maybe another hour past or so, and the sunlight finally faded to allow for the forest's glowing trees to light up around them. Then Shade hurriedly formed some shapes in the dirt at their feet. He created first one, and then a second that vaguely resembled dragons. When their shells fell off, Spyro noticed they were missing front legs but did have similar wings, horns, and tails. Their snouts were longer and thinner than any dragon he'd ever met but otherwise, they looked close enough.

Apparently, Beast Makers had limits to what they could create, actual dragons being one of them. Oh well, the fact they could create life at all was still pretty amazing. Though technically everyone could create life, even him if they... Ugh, Spyro, focus! Then it struck him. THAT'S what was different about Bianca! She and Hunter had... oh... He then made an awkward, slightly disgusted face.

Shade looked at him, showing confusion but nodded. That was the signal. Rhynoc patrols must have just traded off and the coast was clear to move out. Like a stalking wildcat, the black dragon slipped away towards the waterfall. One of his odd creatures followed and then it was Spyro's turn. He mimicked Shade's movements and was happy to find he was rather good at it. Behind him came the second creature. Shade had created them to be black in color as well, so from afar the four of them looked pretty much the same.

Emerging from the cover of the forest, Shade led the group along a path that hugged the cliff face. He stuck closely to the towering wall to remain in as much darkness as possible. Finally, they reached the waterfall. Spyro was momentarily worried the spray from it would cause his disguise to wash off but was relieved to find that it cascaded out far enough from their path that he wouldn't have to worry if he was quick. Sneaking a quick glance back behind them, Shade then slunk inside the mouth of a cave. The others followed.

A short rocky tunnel stretched before them and beyond it was a huge cavern lit up with blue torches, much bigger even than the one they'd recently fought Gnasty in. A natural-looking stone staircase led down to the cavern floor below them. At the cavern's center was the ruins of a large castle. It appeared to be made of similar crystalline stone to the buildings in Alttanis, with remnants of the same faceted domed roofs on its few still standing towers. From their viewpoint, they could see the middle of it had a wide-open area; a courtyard. They could barely make out a small pen-like object at one end of it. That was probably where their friends were being held.

Now was time to see if his teachings had been successful. Reversing their order, Spyro silently leaped off the platform they stood upon and glided down towards the castle. Glancing behind him, he watched one of the creatures follow, then Shade and the last creature did the same. So far so good, but hopefully he'll be able to do more than just glide.

Halfway to the castle, Spyro flapped his wings to gain more lift. Again, he glanced behind him. The weird two-legged not-dragons had no trouble flying since Shade had made them capable, so it was the Beast Maker he focused on. Shade seemed to struggle a little, but after a few flaps, he got the hang of it. Yes! It'd worked. Next, he'd have to teach the others.

Returning his attention ahead of him, he saw the castle walls nearing and then pass below them. Tilting his body slightly to the left, he allowed his wings to carry him around in a gliding descent to the courtyard. Shade and the creatures copied him and all four landed gracefully in the middle. The courtyard was long and rectangular, with four fountains spouting out of the side walls into little dragon-made channels of water that flowed down the long edges of the yard. Like the lake and waterfall outside, the water was pink.

At the end of the yard in front of Spyro was the pen they had seen from the cavern exit. It was much bigger than he expected and was made entirely of magic yellow energy. Confined within it were around thirty creatures that resembled Petalchaser but most of them were larger than himself. Next to that pen was a smaller, non-magical enclosure holding his friends inside it. Anxious, he ran over to it. Shade and the odd creatures followed. When he got up to the pen, Spyro wondered why his friends didn't just bust out of it. It was made of ordinary wood. A simple charge attack could have taken it out easily.

"Stella!" he called.

As hard as it was for him, he resisted leaning on the part of the fence nearest to her in case it was enchanted or something. At the sound of his voice, Stella, Fuchsia, and Cinder all stood up and turned their heads in his direction. They didn't seem to be able to see him, however.

"Spyro?" Cinder and Fuchsia called out.

"We're over here, guys!" Spyro said to them.

Stella walked towards him but still glanced around without finding him. If her solid-colored eyes had been white instead of green, she would have given off the impression of being blind. What was going on, he wondered. Then he noticed she and his other friends had matching metal collars on their necks.

"Hey, Stella. Who's been giving you jewelry? That's my job," Spyro said to her.

Good, she blushed. She could definitely hear him. Why couldn't she see him? And why hadn't she called out his name yet?

"Shade? Are you there too? What about Dawn?" Fuchsia asked.

"Yes, I'm here. Dawn isn't, but she's safe. What's wrong with you guys?" the Beast Maker replied.

"I'm not sure. We're in a dark room. We can't see you, but we can hear you," Fuchsia explained.

"Where are you two?" Cinder asked.

"We're in a courtyard, and you guys are inside a normal wooden fence right in front of us. We can see you as plain as Shade's broody face," Spyro stated, jokingly.

Shade turned and shot a scowl at him before returning his attention to their trapped friends. Cinder and even Fuchsia laughed at the comment. Stella looked as if she wanted to but had something stuck in her throat.

"What's wrong with Stella? Why can't she speak?" Spyro asked, becoming serious.

"Our newly acquired accessories aren't a fashion statement. They nullify any powers we have. In Stella's case, it includes her ability to speak, therefore her magic," Fuchsia said sadly.

Stella's shoulders drooped in defeat. He could tell she felt ashamed she couldn't help more. He wanted terribly to hug her.

"Don't worry Stella. We'll find a way to get you out of there," he tried to reassure her.

She smiled and nodded slightly.

"Wherever you guys are, I don't think we are actually in front of you. It has to be some sort of magic projection. Don't try to touch the cage though, it might be a trap," Fuchsia warned.

Shade had been just about to ram part of the fence with his horns but stopped himself just in time.

"Well, aren't we clever," a harsh voice with a silky tone said from behind them.

Spyro and Shade whirled around to see the Sorceress sitting on a decerped crystal throne at the opposite end of the courtyard from them. Her voice sounded as if it were right next to them though. With a snap of her fingers, the pen holding their friends vanished from behind them and reappeared to her right.

"Where are they!" Spyro yelled to her.

Suddenly she disappeared and reappeared before them, standing only 15 feet away. Two large menacing rhynocs that had been standing guard at her sides became startled and took up stances ready to rush to her aid. They both carried nasty-looking spiked clubs.

"They're behind me, of course. Can't you see them Spyro?" the Sorceress asked in a mockingly sweet tone. She looked right at him and laughed at his expression. "That's right. Did you really think your pathetic costume would fool me?"

"If you've harmed one scale on any of them..." Spyro growled. His eyes glanced directly to Stella, then back at the Sorceress.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I had to keep them alive and whole in order to bait you. It appears my idiot henchmen missed one, however," she stated, looking at Shade. She completely ignored his two wyvern creations. "It's so hard to find decent help these days."

"How did you survive?" Spyro snapped, asking her the same question he'd asked Gnasty.

"Funny, I thought you'd have realized the importance of magic by now, dragon. It's ever so useful. Just ask your little friend," she said, lifting her free hand. The other was grasping a staff with a gem at the top of it. The gem looked identical to the one Gnasty had embedded in his club, but it was blue instead of green.

Stella suddenly appeared, floating in the air above the Sorceress's palm. She could actually see him this time and tried to call out to him but the collar remained around her throat and prevented her.

"Oh, that's right! You can't!" the Sorceress laughed, closing her hand up and Stella was gone again, back in the pen with the others.

Spyro looked as if he were going to explode. Shade needed him to stop falling for her taunts and keep his wits about him.

"Where is Petalchaser?" he asked.

The Sorceress turned her attention to the Beast Maker.

"Who? Oh, the little unicorn? It's with the others," she replied, waving her hand dismissively.

"What are you planning to do with them?" Spyro asked her this time, a growl still audible in his voice.

That's better, Shade thought. The crocodile seemed all too happy to divulge her plans if they just asked her. She was even more arrogant than Spyro.

"I'm so glad you asked! It's really rather genius, you see. Not even Ripto knows about it," she boasted, and began walking very slowly towards them.

Her guards watched her anxiously, their eyes darting from her to the dragons.

"Their horns are very powerful. I'm going to use them in a spell that will make me instantly regenerate any and all damage I ever take. So, it will be even better than the immortality spell I would have cast using the baby dragon wings! I might still decide to take the wings off your silver friend though. They're such a pretty pink color," the reptilian witch continued.

Now Shade was enraged. Without thinking, he charged at the Sorceress. She saw it coming, however, and blasted Shade with a magic bolt from her staff. He flew backwards and skidded to a stop beside Spyro. Ash had turned to a white color and landed on his forehead. Sparx hovered in front of Spyro's vision and he saw the dragonfly was currently blue. That's right, he'd forgotten they had both taken hits during their fight earlier. Oops.

"Can you still fly?" Spyro asked Shade.

Shade turned to him and nodded.

"Alright, let's do this," Spyro said, then beat his wings and took off into the air.

Shade and the two creatures followed suit, then all four of them began circling in the air above the Sorceress. The rhynocs were now flanking her. shouting meaningless grunts at them and swinging their weapons.

"Oh! Seems you've finally learned to fly! How exciting!" the Sorceress exclaimed, then she aimed her staff and shot a bolt at them. It nearly struck Shade but he dipped below it in time.

Spotting an opening, Spyro hovered for a second and spit a ball of fire at her. It struck its mark but to his surprise, she seemed to be unaffected. Noticing his shocked expression, the Sorceress laughed evilly. His flight faulted.

"Spyro, move!" Shade shouted at him.

Reacting barely in time, Spyro swooped and avoided a magic bolt fired at him.

"Let me try!" Shade suggested.

Spyro nodded and returned to flying in the circular formation with the wyverns. The Sorceress tried several more times to hit one of them, but to no avail. She was probably a worse shot than Gnasty. Not feeling up to taunting her, he focused on keeping her frustrated with one more moving target. Her useless rhynocs could do nothing but run around like idiots. At last, Shade found another opening, dive-bombed her, and blasted her with his lightning breath. THAT affected her!

"OW! Why you nasty little!" she yelled, then she started running around trying to focus her shots on Shade.

At that point, one of the rhynocs actually decided to throw its club at a wyvern. The heavy instrument flipped a few times as it arched but then fell short and landed with a thud, spikes embedded in the ground. The rhynoc then ran over to it and began attempting to free it. The other rhynoc was so distracted by its flying quarry that it ran right into the first one, knocking them both out.

Shockingly, the Sorceress appeared to be a better shot when focusing on a single target. Shade was barely able to dodge her assaults, relying mostly on dropping quickly to avoid them.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Spyro ordered, pulling the term from memory of conversations with Sgt. Byrd.

Just as they planned, he, Shade, and the wyvern creatures began flitting and zipping around in a chaotic manner. Despite her seeing through his disguise, the Sorceress lost sight of Shade and couldn't tell them or the creatures apart. Irked, she stopped in the center of the yard.

"That's enough!" she screeched. A pulse of blue light escaped her staff.

Water from the fountains then started shooting up into the air in arching jets that crossed each other. Spyro tried to dodge one, only to fly strait through another. It couldn't be helped and his earthy guise washed away but the not-dragons remained black. Angry that her plan didn't work completely, the Sorceress sent three bolts of magic at them. Unfortunately, one of the wyverns got hit and disappeared in a puff. The Sorceress danced with glee.

Seeing she was distracted, Shade swooped in and shot her with another electric bolt. Her dance instantly turned to one of pain and rage. It sure would be nice if he had another breath weapon besides fire, Spyro thought to himself, since that didn't seem to hurt her. Well, there were other ways to assist too. Jumping on the same opportunity, Spyro dove at her. As he passed over her, he opened his jaws to breath flame on her. He expected it to just distract her but was startled to feel cold ice escaping him. The Sorceress screamed in both pain and shock, then ran from him.

How was this happening? He'd gained two of his friends' abilities, and in the same day! Just as a test, he spat another fireball at the Sorceress's feet, then breathed a burst of regular flame for show. Awesome! He could alternate between them at will! This was going to be fun! Focusing back on the fight, he did an aerial flip. It was partially to avoid a shot from the Sorceress's staff but also out of glee. Two other shots whizzed past him, one of which destroyed the last of Shade's creatures.

That left just Shade and himself in the fight. No matter. He could do more than distract now. Glancing across the room to Shade, he saw that the Beast Maker was banking around from the left to approach the Sorceress from her rear. Hatching a plan, Spyro mirrored him and banked around from the right. Then flying side-by-side, they blew streams of ice and lightning down upon her before gliding upward again at the end of the yard.

"How dare you, you vile lizards!" the Sorceress screeched again, sharper this time.

Parts of her skin showed char marks, while others looked lighter-blue as if frozen. Her expression was livid, but fear was also visible in her eyes. Deciding to cut her losses and get out while she still could, she waved her staff in a circle over her head, then vanished. Her still unconscious bodyguards remained.

Unsure if she was really gone, Spyro and Shade swooped down to land and scanned every inch of the courtyard. Finally rousing, the rhynocs looked around them in confusion. Their charge was gone. The spraying fountains returned to their usual trickles, even regaining to their natural purple color. The yellow energy that held the unicorns in also disappeared. Suddenly frightened without their mistress around, the rhynocs both got up and made a run for it toward the exit.

Shade charged after them and belched another stream of lightning. They quickly turned to crispy ashen figures before vanishing in a puff. Spyro watched in amusement, nearly laughing. Some guards they had been! When Shade returned to his side, a familiar little unicorn galloped over to them.

"You did it!" the unicorn cried excitedly. When she reached them, she bounced around them in a circle.

"Glad to see you're ok, Petalchaser," Spyro greeted her, smiling. "Do you know where the others are?

As he asked her, he looked over to where the Sorceress had last transported the small pen. It wasn't there; vanished with the rest of her magical influence. He hoped the restrictive collars suffered the same fate.

"I do! This way!" Petalchaser replied, then bounded away and through a doorway in the corner of the yard.

Spyro and Shade hurried after her, glancing briefly at the herd of other unicorns as they passed them. The creatures watched them go by with intrigued expressions. Once through the doorway, the dragons followed Petalchaser down a flight of steps and into a dark room. When they entered, blue torches matching the ones in the cavern suddenly lit up along the walls. At the end of the room behind a glass wall, were their captured friends. The glass appeared to be too thick to charge through.

"Spyro!" Stella cried in a slightly muffled voice when she saw him. Hers, as well as the collars on the others, had fallen off.

Spyro rushed over to the glass to meet her. Her emerald eyes were large and watery as if she were holding back tears.

"Hey, don't cry," he told her, smiling but feeling a tad awkward.

"Shade! Spyro! You found us!" Fuchsia exclaimed, leaning up against the glass.

"And Petalchaser is alright!" Cinder chimed in. Both their voices were also muffled.

The little unicorn joyfully performed an adorable hop-skip.

"How do we get you out?" she asked loudly. She wasn't sure how well the captives could hear her.

"Like this," Cinder replied. Then he took a sturdy stance in front of the glass barrier and opened his mouth.

Everyone cleared the way and got as far from the glass wall as they could. Satisfied they were all safe, Cinder shut his eyes tight and blow-torched the glass. It took only a few seconds before the wall shattered and sent shards flying outward in all directions. Everyone ducked and covered their heads with their wings as tiny bits sprinkled down around them. Shade used one of his wings to also shield Petalchaser.

"That's much better! Stupid collars prevented us from doing anything! If I see that Sorceress again, I'll..." Cinder broke off, tail twitching in agitation.

"She's gone, for now. Fled like Gnasty did," Spyro stated, standing back up and shaking himself off.

Everyone else did so as well. Then suddenly Spyro was forced to stumble back against the wall behind him as he was embraced in an enthusiastic hug. Realizing it was from Stella, he wrapped a wing around her in return.

"Nice to see I haven't lost my flair. Pretty females still throw themselves at me," Spyro said, grinning.

Stella leaned back laughing, then hugged him tighter. Cinder watched them and rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Shade and Fuchsia. They stood facing each other, Fuchsia smiling warmly. Shade actually looked to be nervous or something. Then Fuchsia nudged the side of his head in a definitely affectionate way. Cinder quickly looked at the ceiling with a sigh. Them too? Really? That explains a lot.

"Aww! You guys are so cute!" Petalchaser squealed.

Her high-pitched octave caused everyone to come back to reality and focus on her.

"Sorry. I do that sometimes," she said sheepishly.

"That's ok, Petalchaser. We should probably get you back to your mother. She must be worried about you," Fuchsia said, walking away from Shade and toward the unicorn.

"Right! Well, I have been locked in the cage with her most of this time, so she knows I'm ok, but I'm sure she'd love to meet all of you!"

"Oh. I wondered where the rhynocs took you after they put us down here. I'm glad you weren't hurt. We all are, especially Cinder," Fuchsia said in an amused tone, looking at him.

"What!? She's so little and defenseless," he explained.

Everyone laughed, even Shade slightly.

"Big softy," Fuchsia teased, then she turned back to Petalchaser. "We'd love to meet your mother, and the rest of your family."

"Okay, they're up here!" Petalchaser blurted, then dashed off up the stairs.

Getting to the top, the dragons exited to the courtyard. Scattered everywhere were dozens of unicorns, grazing and chatting, with the smaller ones chasing each other. Petalchaser pranced over to one of the adults, said something to them, then led them over. The stranger's white coat had a slight blue tint to it.

"Greetings, friends. I am called Stardancer. My daughter tells me you are responsible for saving her in the woods?" the stranger said in a melodious voice, blinking her large crystal-blue eyes. She was hauntingly beautiful, like a dream.

The group of dragons stared at her in awe a moment, then Spyro broke the silence.

"Well, that was mostly our other friend, but yes. I'm Spyro, and this is Stella, Fuchsia, Shade, and Cinder. "

"Tiz a pleasure to meet all of you. You have my gratitude. I and my herd thank you for freeing us from that enclosure as well. Where is your other friend? I wish to meet them."

"Dawn is back by the lake. She was turned to crystal by another of our enemies," Spyro explained.

"Oh, a curse. Please allow me to accompany you and I shall cure her, if she has not already been cured by the lake water. Now that that dreadful creature is gone, its powers should have returned."

"How is that? Spyro, wasn't the Sorceress's spell on the lava in Midnight Mountain permanent, even after she was defeated?" Fuchsia asked.

Spyro nodded and shrugged.

"I cannot speak for the place you mention, but this forest is very magical. It recovers quickly from forceful changes made to it. The 'Sorceress' as you called her, is quite powerful, but not even her work will remain here once she is no longer present," Stardancer explained.

"Alright, that's enough geography lesson. Let's go check on Dawn already!" Cinder butt in, rather rudely.

To everyone's relief, Stardancer was not offended.

"Yes, please take me to her if you would," she said.

"Ok. It's a bit of a walk though," Spyro warned.

"I do not mind," Stardancer replied, chuckling slightly. It sounded even more musical than her speech.

"Since you can't fly, we'll have to get out of this castle first," he stated.

The mother unicorn nodded. The motion rippled her silky mane like water.

"Wait. Shade, did you fly down here?" Fuchsia asked in astonishment.

"Yeah," Shade replied.

"Really!? How did you learn so fast?"

"He told me how," Shade said, gesturing with his head toward Spyro.

The other dragons glanced from him to Spyro in shock.

"You worked together to rescue us AND you let him teach you something!?" Fuchsia exclaimed. Her face lit up like it was winter holiday. "I'm so proud of you two!"

With that, she pulled them both to her and hugged them at the same time.

"What happened after we got captured?" Cinder asked curiously when she released them.

"Uh, it's a long story. Shade can tell you if he wants," Spyro said, glancing at Shade with a look that said 'your call'.

Cinder looked to the Beast Maker, then snorted in disappointment when seeing he was not going to spill.

"Will you at least tell the rest of us how to do it then?" he asked Spyro.

"Sure. The more of us that learn it, the better. It was definitely an advantage in that battle. Plus, I can't wait to see the look on Ripto's face when he finds out," Spyro replied.

"I think I might have gotten the hang of it during my Mirror Fruit escapade. So, it will mainly just be Cinder, Dawn, and Stella you need to teach. That is if you can stay focused long enough, Casanova," Fuchsia teased.

"Hey! I can teach them just fine, especially Stella. Who do you think taught her to swim and climb?" he retorted.

Stella tried to pretend she didn't notice them talking about her, watching the young unicorns play with rosy cheeks.

"I know, I'm only joking," Fushcia replied with a laugh.

"I'm assuming you're going to teach us later, so let's go see Dawn already," Cinder whined.

"Ok, ok," Spyro responded. Then he got up to look for a way out of the courtyard.

"You may find it beneficial to explore the ruins before we depart, friends. There are several ancient depictions of your species and words I cannot read," Stardancer suddenly suggested.

Cinder groaned.

"Oh! That would be wonderful!" Fuchsia blurted excitedly. "Do you know where?"

"Yes, of course. Please follow me."

"Sorry, Cinder. One quick peek, then I promise we can go find her," Fuchsia said to the disgruntled Peace Keeper.

Stardancer then lead them to the opposite side of the courtyard, through another doorway and down another staircase. Despite it looking incredibly awkward for her to go down stairs, she managed to still do so with remarkable grace. Petalchaser and the dragons followed.