Chapter 26
Leon stood on his balcony looking out at the city. He hadn't left his room all day, refusing to engage in any sort of social activities with the dragons. He heard the patter of the young dragons as they entered his room, along with Elektra, "We need to talk." Spyro stated.
Leon kept his eyes on the city, and the dragons that flew about as they finished their daily tasks and headed back to their homes, "About what?"
"About your attitude."
"My attitude now is no different than my attitude before." Leon stated.
"No…you've become ten-times worse." Charlotte said
Leon began to emanate a malicious, warped laugh, and when he spoke, his voice was so warped that it made chills run down the vanguards' spines "What do you see out there?" he asked. The dragons gave each other confused looks, "You might see two mates sharing a loving embrace…you might see two friend engaging in some friendly sparring…you may even see a dragoness caring for her offspring," The dragons wondered where Leon was going with his speech, "but all I see is cold-blooded murderers, deadly beasts, and monsters who all seem to point the blame on me for their misfortune, when they brought this entire situation upon themselves."
"But…but…" Cynder tried her hardest to think of something to say.
"There is nothing you can do to change my mind…now leave." Leon stated as his voice returned to normal. The vanguards stayed put and attempted to figure out a plan of action to handle this.
"Didn't you hear him?" Sin stated, appearing next to Leon and leaning against the railing, "He said to get out."
"We're talking to Leon…this is none of your concern." Spyro said, glaring at the entity.
"Sin and I are one in the same," Leon said, "therefore, if you're talking to me you're talking to him."
Cynder then glared at the entity, "Oh my god…don't you see what you're doing…you're letting Sin take over your mind."
"My mind is my own." Leon and Sin said simultaneously. Leon then gave Sin a questioning look.
"Holy shit." Twitch said, now terrified and twitching uncontrollably.
"Okay, so maybe I'm tugging his strings a little." Sin stated, "He's obviously much better off."
"And my problem isn't with Sin." Leon said turning around, to face the dragons, "My problem is with the scaly beasts that inhabit this city."
"Music to my ears." Sin stated.
"This isn't over." Spyro stated. Before exiting the room with the other vanguards. Cynder gave Leon one more sad glance before disappearing behind the curtain.
"What happened to you?" Elektra asked.
"I woke up." Leon said coldly, "You should do the same."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing."
"What you believe and what's reality are two separate things." Sin stated, earning an approving nod from Leon.
"You…I…" Elektra was becoming more frustrated by the second, "Is this the way you talk to your friends?"
"You're not my friend…you're my prey."
"You can spite me all you want…I'll always be there for you."
"Really…How about if I said something along the lines of, you're a very unattractive dragoness who couldn't find a mate even if you tried."
"Real mature…and now you're just trying to purposely lose my friendship." Elektra said sadly.
"No shit."
Elektra glared at him for a moment, "I need to get some fresh air." She said before storming out of the room, leaving Leon and Sin by themselves.
"She seemed upset." Sin stated.
"It doesn't matter." Leon stated coldly "Was what they said true…are you trying to take over my mind?" Leon asked.
"Of course not…I'm only trying to guide you in the right direction…that is my only purpose."
Elektra walked past the vanguards' bedchambers and thought about the recent developments. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going until she bumped into a familiar ice dragon, "Oh, excuse me." Icarus said.
"Oh, it's quite alright." Elektra stated.
"I…heard about Volk…and about the loss of one of the vanguards…are they alright?"
"As well as anyone would be in their situation." Elektra stated sadly.
"Sting will be missed."
"So, did you come here just to say that?"
"Actually, I was hoping Leon would join me for a little rehearsal practice…just him and I."
"Oh…well…" Elektra knew that she could not allow Icarus to see Leon in his mental state "…he's sick."
"Oh, is it serious?"
"No…just a cold, but he has a sore throat…he won't be singing for a few days."
"I see…well I hope he gets better soon."
"So do I." Elektra mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh, nothing…if you like, we could take a walk and I'll listen to you sing."
"Well, alright…that sounds nice." Icarus said smiling.
"Great…and can I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"Do you…Do you think I'm unattractive?" She asked facing her head downward.
Icarus was slightly confused about the question, "Of course not…what would make you ask such a silly question?"
"Oh…nothing." She said lightening up.
"Look at them, Leon," Sin began as he and Leon continued gazing down upon the city, "all those monsters being allowed to live, while you suffer in your endless torment…but don't worry…your vengeance is close at hand."
"I told you…its justice…not revenge." Leon stated.
"Oh, yes, of course." Sin said, "in any case…when the dragons are finally gone, the rest of Avalar will look for new leadership."
"I don't care." Leon stated.
"Why not…it could be us…think about it, every head will bow before us…every tongue will proclaim our names…we will become gods."
"No…no…and no…once the dragons are gone, so am I."
"Why are you still planning to kill yourself when your life could be so much more…unbelievable?"
"I don't need, nor desire, other races to lift me up as some sort of idol…what would I be known as, 'the god that failed'" Leon asked, "because that's all I amount to…a failure."
"Forget about your family…emotion only makes you weak."
"Why would I do that when it's the only reason that I want to end the draconic race in the first place?"
"Again…emotion makes you weak."
"I beg to differ." Leon stated.
"Suit yourself…by the way, have you found the answer to-"
"No." Leon stated.
"Just making sure you haven't forgotten…you see, I already know when you're going to learn the answer."
"Care to clue me in?" Leon asked.
"Not a chance." Sin stated before disappearing.
"Big surprise." Leon said. He then turned around and lay on the cushions and stared up at the ceiling, "So…what nightmares will plague me tonight?" He asked himself before falling asleep.
The next day, the vanguards met back up at the courtyard and prepared to leave, "Are you sure you don't need more time with your family, Fang?" Charlotte asked.
"No…Sting would want me to see this through." The vanguards nodded before the council approached them with Elektra.
"We pray for your safe return." Vulcan stated.
"Please…be careful." Anima said to his son.
"Don't worry…I will." Fang replied.
Elektra approached Leon, who raised a brow as she approached. Without warning, she wrapped her paws around him in a tight embrace, "I refuse to give up on you." She stated.
"Get off of me." Leon grumbled as he pushed her away. She stepped back somewhat dejected, but she knew that he was probably going to react that way.
"Oh, this reminds me," Anima said looking at Leon, "when this is over…you and I are going to finish what you started."
"I can hardly wait." Leon stated. The vanguards bowed to the council before lifting Leon into the air and heading east toward Cynder's castle. They flew for about six hours before their wings became tired and they landed in a small clearing. "You guys wanna camp here?" Spyro asked.
"I say we keep walking for a bit." Flare said.
"Everyone else good with that?" Spyro asked. The dragons nodded in unison, "Alright, let's go."
As they walked through the woods Sparx laid in between his brother's shoulders, "Comfortable?" Cynder asked sarcastically.
"Well…I could use a back rub if you don't mind." Sparx said not opening his eyes.
"While you're back there, I could use one too." Spyro said jokingly.
"How about when we stop to make camp?" Cynder asked.
"Deal." Spyro said.
"How much farther is Cynder's castle?" Crystal asked.
"Actually, at this rate…we should be there by midday tomorrow." Spyro replied.
"And we're going to be in and out as quickly as possible." Cynder said, "That place brings up bad memories," She then looked back at Leon, "but there were some good ones too." Leon ignored her and she kept staring sadly at him. Spyro felt his ankle hit something odd, and he looked down to see a nearly invisible string stretching between two tree trunks. Cynder didn't notice and she walked straight through, snapping the thin thread.
"Look out!" Spyro yelled before tackling his mate out of the way as a wall of sharp jagged edges dropped out of the trees and swung toward the vanguards. The dragons scattered but a jagged edge caught Spyro on the tail and left a large bleeding gash. He and Cynder rolled across the ground, leaving a small trail of blood from Spyro's wound. When they finally stopped rolling, Spyro looked down at his mate, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," She replied, "thanks."
"Don't mention it." He said, getting off of his mate and allowing her to get to her feet.
"Since when do the orcs set traps?" Zephyr asked getting to her feet.
"They didn't," Leon began, "look at the spikes."
The dragons closely examined the wall of jagged spikes before them, "They're made of bone." Crystal said.
"Dragon bone to be exact…and there's only one creature that I know of that uses that kind of material."
"…apes." Cynder hissed in distaste.
"But…I thought the apes fled to the shadowlands after their leader was killed." Flare stated.
"They did," Spyro stated, "this is…odd." The more Spyro stared at the spikes, the more disturbed he became. He cringed as a stab of pain from his tail wound shot up his body. Zephyr walked over and placed her paw on the wound and healed it. "We need to make camp at the next clearing."
"Right." The vanguards agreed. The dragons continued walking through the trees, carefully scanning the ground for any more traps.
"Hey…do you guys hear that?" Fang asked.
"I don't hear anything." Twitch stated.
"Exactly…no birds…no crickets…nothing." Fang stated, "We're being watched."
"Keep an eye on the trees." Spyro said.
"There!" Twitch exclaimed as a shadowy figure flew across the treetops.
"There's one over there too!" Crystal yelled.
The forest was then set to life as more figures flew across the trees, "We're surrounded!" Charlotte exclaimed. An ape leaped down from the trees above Zephyr.
"Watch out!" Crystal yelled before stepping in front of the earth dragoness and firing an ice spike that impaled the ape, and it fell to the ground, dead. More apes started dropping from the trees and surrounded the vanguards. The dragons got into defensive positions as the apse grasped their handcrafted blades tighter.
"Its about time we found them." A voice from the crowd said. The apes moved aside, letting through a fire dragon, followed by an ice and an earth dragon, "Malefore will be pleased." The fire breather said.
Twitch began convulsing wildly, "You…your that murderer from Zenneth."
"My reputation precedes me it would seem." The fire dragon said.
"You were executed…I saw it."
"Indeed…and I suffered for three years in the well of souls…at least until Malefore released me and every other dragon trapped in there…oh, and the apes as well"
The vanguards were terrified of this new information, "So…he can raise the dead." Fang stated. Leon rolled his eyes and continued glaring at the apes.
"Malefore wants the purple one, and Cassius wants the odd looking one." The ice dragon stated.
"Cassius?" Leon asked, recognizing the name.
"What was he doing in the well of souls?" Fang wondered.
"We can kill the others." The earth dragon stated.
The apes began hooting in excitement and gripping their weapons tighter. "I warn you," Leon stated, "I live to kill dragons."
"Is that right?" The fire breather smiled smugly, "Apes…take the young ones…we'll take this one."
"Oh, I've been waiting for this." Sin stated in Leon's mind. The apes hollered as they lunged at the young dragons.