"Spyro, Crystal, you are in danger!" Mole-Yair exclaimed.
"No kidding," I said flatly, getting up and walking forward. Spyro glanced at me.
"I have a message for you from another prisoner. Here. Take it," Mole-Yair said, handing Spyro a scroll, old and torn at the edges.
"Yahoo! Fan mail!" Sparx exclaimed.
I smile twitched at my mouth. I turned to the letter. Luckily, there was a candle on the wall just outside the cell.
"Dear friends, there are whispers going about the ship," Spyro read aloud. The handwriting was neat, but hurried.
"Word of your captivity has traveled quickly. Many of the prisoners are uneasy..." I read.
"They say that the Ape King himself has placed a bounty on you... and all of the dragons." Spyro narrowed his eyes, pausing at the last part.
"These are dark times, but know this; you have allies. I look forward to the day when we can meet." I glanced at Spyro.
"Hunter of Avalar," we read together.
"That was thoughtful. I particularly like the part about the dark times and danger," Sparx said flatly.
Hearing footsteps, I quickly slid the letter away with my back paw, careful not to tear it. The letter stopped when it was inside the hay. Mole-Yair hurried away.
A small pirate walked up to our cell. "It's showtime," he said.
~~...~~
"Guests of the arena..." Orangie said. "We have exciting news for you regarding two of our combatants. Shall we bring them out?"
Spyro and I walked out of the dark room, and the gate banged shut behind us. I looked around at the crowd—unlike last time, they were hushed and silent.
"There is a rumor about that these little dragons may be of great importance. What say you, dragons? What greatness can you offer?" Orangie asked. I glared at him.
"The only thing great you'll be showing us... is GREAT PAIN!" Purplie shouted.
"Bring out the Executioner!" Orangie roared. The crowd started back up again. My uneasiness faded away... that is, until I saw the Executioner.
He was a large, bipedal creature, a gigantic lumbering thing. He was dressed in pitch-black armor. Red eyes peeked out through his helmet. He was armed with a great shield and a very sharp blade.
He laughed and pointed his sword at us, but as soon as his laughter ceased, he came for us, the ground rumbling under his feet.
I ran behind him, dodging a swing from his sword, and jumped onto his shoulder.
"Be a good little... er, big... Executioner..." I said thoughtfully, "and die! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"
I was thrown off.
"I don't think that's helping!" Spyro said to me.
I stood up. "It's helping greatly! My daily need for screaming has only been met for the third time in my life!" I exclaimed.
"You scream on a daily basis!"
"Yeah, but it was more satisfying than usual!"
"Uh, guys?" Sparx said, hovering between us.
"Shut up!" I yelled and swatted him out of the way.
"We're busy!" Spyro responded.
"I covered yelling at him," I said flatly.
"Too bad!" was the response.
"Shut up!"
"The Executioner's right—"
"Shut up!" Spyro and I yelled together.
"Bruising of the body, please! Not ears!" Purplie yelled down to us. We ignored him.
"Shut up!" I snapped.
"You shut up!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Wonderful!"
"Whimsic—"
I was cut off as we were both sent flying by a blow from the Executioner.
"I hate you," I said to Spyro, getting up.
"I hate you more," Spyro replied.
We resumed the fight soon after. But the Executioner was apparently all bark and no bite. What that means is he was dressed up to look terrifying, and certainly had a deadly sword, but he wasn't that hard to defeat at all. He was slow; we were fast.
The Executioner dropped to his knees and fell to the ground, dead. The armor began to droop. I walked over to the Executioner, only to find that the body inside had just disappeared, faded away into nothing. Only the armor was left.
"Well, well. It appears we are amongst greatness., Orangie said, his voice smug in a way that sent me into a rage. "These little dragons have defeated everything we've thrown at them. But fret not, oh faithful fans. Tonight... we have a special BONUS MATCH!"
"Cool, a bonus match!" Sparx exclaimed, his voice barely audible over the screaming of the crowd.
"Spyro and Crystal the dragons versus..." Orangie began, pausing for suspense.
I looked at Spyro, suddenly alarmed. Something was not sitting right. Something was wrong.
"The former queen of conquer herself..."
I gazed at the gate, my heart pounding so loudly the crowd might have heard it.
"CYNDERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Spyro shook his head in disbelief. I gasped, eyes widening. No...
"AH! I told you she was evil! Sparx accused. He laughed delusionally. "Look, my eye's twitchin' again."
Cynder walked out, her demeanor proud and bold. She shifted into a fighting stance as she drew near us. We began to circle each other.
"Just like old times, huh?" Cynder asked, smirking.
"Cynder. We're not going to fight you," Spyro said. I shook my head in agreement. No way. What had happened to her? She had only been gone for a few days, and now...
"Relax. I'm just trying to put on a show for the crowd while we figure out what to do." Cynder whispered, looking around at the crowd to make sure they didn't notice.
I grinned. That was the Cynder I knew.
"Don't trust her! She wants to eat me!" Sparx yelled. I shot a glare at him.
I looked up as I heard a roar. Before I could comprehend what was happening, a cannonball landed in the middle of the arena, just narrowly missing Spyro. Dreadwings flew in from the open area at the top.
"What's happening? !" Spyro yelled.
The arena erupted into chaos as the crowd scrambled out of their seats and tried to get away. Spyro coughed from the dust that had unsettled.
"I want out! I want out!" Sparx yelled, flying up. He flew smack into a Dreadwing. "I want in! I want in!" He flew back over to us.
"Where's Cynder?" I yelled, suddenly realizing that she had disappeared in the commotion. I jumped out of the way of a falling pillar.
"Get away from me! Help!" I heard Cynder yell, but I couldn't see her.
"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, running forward where the dust didn't cover everything.
I looked up. A Dreadwing had captured Cynder, and was currently making its escape.
"Spyro! This way! There's an opening!" Sparx said, as the roof began to collapse on itself. Cynder disappeared out of sight.
Spyro ran forward through a hole in the wall. I was following, but I was forced to come to a halt as rocks collapsed, blocking me from escaping. I looked back, hoping to see another exit, but the immediate area behind me was collapsed as well.
"Spyro!" I yelled, banging on the rocks as if that would do any good.
"Crystal!" Spyro yelled back. "We're going to get you out of there, Crystal."
I stepped back as far as I could, until my back hit the rocks. No... no, he wouldn't. Nothing could move those rocks.
Was I dreaming? Maybe that's what I wanted to believe. Maybe I wanted to believe that there was no Dark Master, no apes, that I was just sleeping back at home, and none of this had ever happened.
But then, without the Dark Master, I wouldn't have ever been sent down the river, never had met Sparx or my parents... I regretted that thought.
Spyro and Sparx were talking between themselves, most likely trying to figure out a plan, but who were they kidding? I was never getting out of there.
I was never leaving the ship.
I was never going to get outside.
I was never going back to the Temple.
I was never going home.
I was going to die.
Alone.
I considered how I would die. Perhaps the rocks would collapse fully, crushing me under them. Perhaps I would die of starvation or dehydration. Or perhaps from pure remorse.
Has anyone ever died of sadness? There could be people who died... they weren't sick, weren't wounded, nothing, they simply just died. Perhaps they died of sadness.
That last moment, those few seconds you know you have left... what's it like? You know you can never do anything else, see anybody else, never make an influence on the world. Those you love, you won't see again. You can't mend the past, and you have no future. There's nothing but the present.
And then it hits you.
A/N:
The argument while fighting the Executioner was written by GoldenGriffiness.