Act 3, Chapter 5

The three Victimirti hovered high above the streets of Glenhaven as the scores of Crepsculi and Corrupted dragons began to flood the city. All across Glenhaven, dragons were horrified at the sudden appearance of the invading army. Soon, the entire city was filled with th eshouts and roars of a great and mighty struggle.

Adpetis laughed in delight.

"Look at them all." She said gleefully. "Cowering like ants! HA! Killing them will be a favor."

Amouris turned to face Malefor.

"What do you think we should do first, Malefor?" She asked.

"I believe we should split up and pick off the pesky little dragons one by one." Adpetis replied.

"I didn't ask you, Adpetis." The Purple dragoness snapped.

"It doesn't matter." Malefor suddenly said. "We should fight as one."

"What makes you believe that?" Amouris queried.

The Purple ale turned and pointed towards the north.

"We have company."

...

Urobos flew straight for the fcfity, moving as fast as his aged wings would allow him. Wraith, Grail, Aegis, and Spyro flew by his side. Elza and Lilith were not among the Deep Shadows: They had opted to stay behind with the other beings not fit for combat to look after their respective children. Nerona had chosen to stay behind as well: She chose to help Lady Sara keep the non-combative beings calm during the ensuing battle.

An entire army of dragons, from both Warfang AND the Fractured Hills, flew right behind Urobos and the others, ready to aid their Glenhaven brethren. In the meantime, scores of Moles and Cats charged towards the city on the ground, ready to combat the army of Crepsculi around the city walls.

"STOP THE ATTACKING DRAGONS IN ANY WAY YOU CAN!" Urobos commanded. He wanted to warn them not to kill the Corrupted dragons as well, but he knew that it couldn't be helped anymore.

As the armies clashed, the Aged Black dragon led the Deep Shadows towards the very center of the city. As he got close, he drew his sword into his forepaw.

These beasts will pay for what they've done to these children, he thought to himself.

Urobos came to a stop a considerable distance from the three Victimirti, as did Spyro and the Deep Shadows.

The two groups just stared at each other for a while.

"So, Spyro." Malefor stated coldly. "We meet once again."

The other Purple dragon snarled.

"There's no need for words, Malefor." He said angrily.

"I beg to differ!" Urobos shouted. The Black dragon pointd his sword at Malefor. "I demand that you vacate my son's body IMMEDIATELY!"

The Demon-eyed Purple dragon laughed.

"And what makes you think you are in a position to be giving me orders, old man?" He asked.

robos, in his anger, began charging his sword with Dark energy. Before he could strike, Spyro blocked the Black dragon's path.

"Stop, Urobos." The Purple dragon said. "Malefor is my opponent."

"Oh, really?" Amouris shouted. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather face ME instead, Spyro?"

Spyro turned and faced Amouris, looking her right in the eyes.

"Amouris..." He said coldly. "I remember when William and my son put a stop to you."

The Purple dragon's anger began to rise.

"I also remember how you twisted my daughter's mind with your lies."

"Daughter?" Wraith asked.

Amouris chuckled sarcastically.

"I helped her realize that she was being forced to play second fiddle to a supposedly 'greater' dragon, just like I had to do."

"ENOUGH BANTER!" Urobos roared. "All three of you Victiumirti are going to rot away int he deepest pockets of the Undreworld!"

Adpetis laughted at this statement.

"You want to fight us?" She chided. "I've got a beter idea: Fight THIS dragon!"

As soon as the White dragoness said that, a large, Black dragon appeared in a cloud of Purple smoke. Urobos gasped in surprise.

"Cyrus!"

The Corrupted Black dragon hovered befgore Adpetis, completely stone-faced. The White dragoness chuckled.

"Can you bring yourself to kill your beloved Grandson, old man?" She chided.

The Aged Black dragon wat torn.

Could he kill his grandson? Of course not! There was no way in the Dragon Realms that he'd EVER be willing to do such a thing. And yet, he couldn't let Cyrus stay the way he was: he was far too dangerous. Urobos would have to find a way to incapacitate the oung Black dragon without killing him.

"Spyro..." He began. "..I shall combat Amouris. You may put an end to Malefor."

"Agreed."

The Aged Black dragon turned to face his warriors.

"Put an end to Adpetis, but try to stop my Grandson without killing him."

"Yes, sir!" The Deep Shadows shouted.

Malefor scoffed.

"Pathetic bugs." He sneered. "It doesn't matter what order you choose to fight in; We'll killyo u all the same."

"Stop talking and FIGHT!" Spyro roared, charging forwards.

With that, the battle between the Dark dragons and the Victiumirti began.

...

As soon as the battle started, all of the dragons disperced. Malefor took to the skies, Spyro following close behind. Adpetis and Cyrus flew down to the streets, flollowed closely by Grail, Wraith and Aegis. This left Urobos and Amouris alone.

The two dragons glared at each other.

"You can't defeat me, old man!" She shouted. "You're world-worn, whereas I am still in my prime."

The Black dragon charged his Concurrence energy.

"Quit boasting and prove your words." He challenged.

Immedately, the Purple dragoness fired a blast of Convexity energy at the old dragon.

Urobos dodged past this blast and charged at Amouris, his sword ready to slice through her neck. However, the Purple dragoness flew out of the way, swrving around the Black dragon and striking his back with a blast of Lightning.

Urobos roared in pain as he spun around in the air to strimke back. He immediately unleashed a blast of Wind breath at the dragoness, knocking her off-balance. As she struggled to right herself, the Black dragon swooped in and attempted to run her through with the sword.

Before he could get in a good strike, Amouris fired out a barrier of Convexity around herself, wich temporarily disoriented Urobos. The dragoness then struck the Aged dragon across the chest, sending him reeling backwards. She then followed up this attack with another Convexity beam, sending the Black dragon to the ground.

As it should happen, just moments ago, Wraith, Grail and Aegis were strugglng to fight off Cyrus and Adpetis.

Aegis was trying to use his Memory element to force Cyrus to come to a stop. Howerver, the corrupted Black dragon was attacking wim with a barrage of Concurrence blasts, forcing the Dark Brown dragon to keep dodging.

Meanwhile, nearby, Grail and Wraith had gone up against Adpetis. The two Deep Shadows, having no projectile-based magic, attmpted to get up close to strike the White dragoness down.

When Urobos came hurtling down towards them, Grail spotted teh Aged dragon.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

The Grey dragon immediately leapt to Urbos's aid, flying up to break his fall.

Adpetis saw this, adn tried to attack them. However, Wraith teleported infront of her and sliced at her chest, distracting her.

"How DARE you!" She snarled.

"Let's see you fight back!" Wraith snapped. The Dark Red dragonproceeded to teleport around Adpetis, slashing at her to keep her attention

As this happened, Grail managed to get Urobos safely onto the ground.

"Are you alright, your majesty?" Grail asked, concerned.

"Yes, I-"

Before the Aged Black dragn could answer, Amouris came swooping down from the sky, firing a beam of Convexity into the ground. The two Dark dragons dodged out of the way as massive chunks of the ground started burtsing upwards underneath them.

"Think you can get away, old man?" Amouris chided. "Some Black dragon YOU turned out to be!"

Cyrus heard the commotion, turned around, and charged at Urobos, snarling the whole way. The younger-yet-larger Black dragon punced onto his grandfather and attmpted to gore him like a wild animal.

"That one, howerver, has far more potential."

"Cyrus, no!" Aegis and Grail shouted in unison. The two Deep Shadows charged over to lend the king their aid.

However, Amouris came to a landing between them and proceeded to fire a barrage of Convexity balsts to keep them at bay.

"I say we let the Black dragons duke it out alone."

"Move, you swine!" Grail roared.

As Aegis and Grail struggled to fgight past Amouris, Urobos was struggling to force his grandson off of himself wiht his forelegs. the younger Black dragonslashed at Urobos's throat, but the Elder dragon managed to avoid getting struck.

With a burst of Earth breath, Urobos sent the other Black dragon reeling backwards and crashing into the ground. Cyrus soon got back onto his feet, snarling.

I can't let Cyrus's madness go on like this, The Aged Black dragon thought.

Urobos summoned his sword to him once again and leapt into action.

I hope I can pull this off.

...

The two Purple dragon had flown high above the city of Glenhaven. They then proceeded to attack each other wiht all their might.

For a time, the sky became filled with explosions of energy and the roars of Spyro and Malefor, two mortal enemies who found themselves once again locked in combat.

Malefor attacked by quickly charging up his magic and firing a barrage of giant orbs of Convexity at Spyro, which exploded as they got near him. Spyro managed to swrve around the explosions before they damaged him. The Aged Purple dragon then flew towards his opponent and struck him with a blast of Earth breath.

Malefor was sent flying backwards in the air, but quickly spun around in a cirrcle and charged at the other dragon, shooting out a burst of Purple flames. Spyro created a shield of Blue fire around himself to prevent the heat of Malefor's attacks form burning him alive.

As soon as the attack ended, Spyro froze time and chargef forwards, ramming into Malefor at high speed and sending both dragons hurtling towrds theground. the Aged dragon then proceeded to punch away at Malefor's face, but the Victiumirtus used the same Time-freezing ability to fight back.

The two Purple dragons plummeted towards the ground, biting and clawing at each other as the world around them was silent and frozen.

"You despicable louse!" Malefor sneered, his voice fueled by hate.

"Not asdespicable as YOU!" Spyro snapped, just as enraged.

As the two dragons got closer to Warfang, Spyro changed tactics. He proceeded to charge up his magic to hit Malefor head-on with a blast of Convergence: The combination of teh six Light elements he possessed. howerver, right before Spyro unleashed the White energy blast at Malefor, the Victiumitus realized what his opponent was about to do and teleported away in a cloud of purple smoke, returning to normal time.

Spyro's own time control faded away as his Convergence blast travbeled right through the space where his opponent was a split-second before. Before the Aged dagon cold figure out where Malefor had gone, the Victimirtus appeared directly above him. Malefor then struck his unwitting enemy with a blast of Convexity. Spyro was struck in the back and sent crashing to the world below, roaring in pain.

Moments ago, Wraith was still teleporting around Adpetis, slashing and clawing at the White dragoness. Shetried with all ehr might ti strike himdown, using her own Space element to beat him at his own game. Howerver, Wraith was able to move at a slightly faster pace, keeping him always just outside of her reach.

"Hold still!" Adpetis snarled.

"Fuck no!" Wraith snapped.

The constant barrage of teleporting continued, neither dragon making any success to strike the other.

In the meantime, Urobos was facing off against Cyrus. The Aged dragon was looking for a moment when his grandson was moving the least. Only then would Urobos be able to remove Cyrus's corruption.

As Urobos's struggle continued, Grail and Aegis were attempting to get past Amouris and run to the King's aid. However, Amouris attacked them with a barrage of Convexity beams and blasts, keeping the two Deep Shadows distracted.

Aegis, quite enraged, shot outwards with his mind at the Purple dragoness's and attempted to bombard her with a barrabe og mental blasts. Amouris fought back with blasts of her own. Soon, the two dragons were engaged in an invisible tug-of-war of wills.

"GO!" Aegis shouted to Grail, straining to keep form losing his concentration.

"Aye!" The Grey dragon replied.

Grail dashed around the struggling dragons and raced towards Urobos and Cyrus.

It was at this moment when Spyro crashed violently into the pavement, mere feet away from Urobos.

"GOOD LORD!" Grail shouted, running to the fallen dragon.

"Spyro!" Uobos exclaimed in shock.

The Aged dragon and Deep shadow tried to lift Spyro up onto his feet, but Cyrus came rushing through and takeld Urobos, knocking him to the ground several yards away.

"Urobos!" Spyro shoeud, righting himself.

Before the Aged Purple dragon and Grail could run to Urbos's aid, Malefor came flyng down from the sky. The Victiumirtus unleashed a great barrabe of Convexity attacks at the ground, forcint the two to take cover.

The battle for Glenhaven continued on.

...

Tina slashed at the throat of a Crepsculi, causing it to fall out of th eair, gagging and fading into nothing. the young dragoness then sent several powrful Mental blasts ointo the head of a Giant Fire dragon. The Corrupted ragon fell to the ground and twitched in pain. Tina struck the dragon a few more times until he was too weakened to fight anymore.

Tina came to a landing and breathed a sigh of relief.

Damn! There's hundreds of them, isn't there.

The dragoness took off into flight and traveled off to ohter parts of the city, looking for more Crepsculi.

All around Tina, scores of dragons, both normal and Corrupted, as well as a countless number of the Black beasts were engated in the massive battle. the air was filled with thousands of roars, battle creis, clashing of weaponry, and explosions of magic. But the biggest sourceo f noice was coming from the very center of the city.

King Urobos and the others must be fighting over there. I wonder if I should try helping them.

The young dragoness, deep in curiosity, made a flight path to the center of Glenhaven.

A short while later, a massive collection of explosions filled the air. The young dragoness, surprised, hastened her flight. When she arrived at the cneter of the city, she saw what was causing the explosions.

On one side of the battlefield, Aegis, Tina's father, was locked in a mental struggle against the dragoness Amouris. On the other side, Wraith was dueling the dragoness Adpetis. In the center, Spryo and Grail were dodging a storm of attacks from Malefor. And a good distance away, King Urobos was struggling to subdue a Corrupted Black dragon.

Cyrus.

Tina gasped.

I've got to help the King!

Without a second thought, the young dragoness took off for flight around the battlefield. She circled past the battling dragons, careful not to be seen, until she arrived at the spot where Urobos and Cyrus were locked in a struggle. She readied herself to strike.

Here I come, Runt.

The Dark Yellow dragoness lunged forwards and landed on Cyrus's back. She wrapped all of her limbs around the surprise dragon's neck and shot hermind into his like a bullet. The Corrupted dragon started twitching and jumping around wildly, trying to toss Tina off.

When Urobos saw Tina's stunt, he nearly jumped in surprise and alarm.

"Tina?"

"Hurry up and remove the Corruption!" She shouted. "I'll distract him!"

"Fine!"

Urobos readied his sword and stepped forwards.

A moment later, two events happened simultaneously.

...

A good distance away, Malefor spotted Tina as she leapt onto Cyrus's back.

"That little louse!" He snarled.

the Victiumirtus turned and charged towrds the area where Tina and Cyrus were. Howerver Spyro flew up into the air and blocked his path.

"Don't even think of it, Malefor!"

The Victimirtus attacked Spyro with another round of Convexity bombs, and the two Purple dragons continued their duel.

...

On the other side of the battlefield, a short time before Tina leapy onto Cyrus's back, Wraith and Adpetis were continuing their teleportation duel.

Unfortunately, Wraith's teleporting had started to become predictable, and Adpetis took notice. So, the next time she disappered, instead of appearing a short distance away, she appeared. behind a nearby building, hidden from view.

Wraith looked around, confused.

"Crap! Where'd she go?"

An instant later, Adpetis appeared behind the Deep Shadow and blasted him in the back with a Convexity Beam.

"HERE!" She screamed.

Wraith crashed to the ground, writhing in pain. A large hole was burned through his Grey Robes, and the scales underneath were badly burned as well.

"FINALLY!" Adpetis roared triumphantly. "And now to deal with the old sod!"

The White dragoness turned around to lunge at the Aged Black dragon. Before she could do so, however, she was struck across th side by Grail.

"Back away, you White devil!" He snarled with rage.

"Make me, little man!" She challenged.

The Grey dragont ried to tear away at the dragoness's flesh with his talons, while Adpetis fired a barrage of Convexity beams and blasts at him. The Victiumirtus attacked wildly, taking no care in her aim. Many chunks of the gravel were blown into ashes in her mad rush.

"You're a failure, White one!" Grail roared as he dodnged a rapid Convexity blast. "You attack everything but your target!"

"SHUT UP!" Adpetis snarled.

Eventuallly, the dragoness's carelessness led to a grave mistake.

During her sporadic string of attacks, when Grail dodged one of the beams, the beam continued on its way across the battlefield. It traveled all the way to the dueling Aegis and Amouris, who were still locked in a mental duel. The Convexity beam struck the Purple dragoness across teh side, sending her creashing down to the ground. Amouris roared in pain as Adpetis gasped in surprise.

Everyone else, including Malefor and Spyro, was caught completely off guard.

Immediately, Amouris got back onto her feet and turned towards the White dragoness, absolute hatered in her eyes.

"You SHREW!" The Purple dragoness snarled. "Where do you get off attacking ME?"

"Well, you should have known better than to stand perfectly still for so long!" Adpetis snapped.

"WHAT?" The Purple dragoness bellowed angrilly. "I'll MURDER YOU!"

Not a moment later, Amouris felw across the battlefield at high speed, roaring with absolute rage. She crashed violently into Adpetis and proceeded to claw and bite at her. The White dragoness fought back the same way, equally furious.

"Stop this at once, you fools!" Malefor demanded.

"There're not going to listen to you, Malefor." Spyro snapped. "The Underworld hath no fury like a woman scorned. And they are BOTH women."

"Silence, wretch!"

The Purple dragons resumed their battle.

As the two male Purple dragons battle in the air, and the two dragonesses fougth to the death on the ground, Urobos turned his attention back to Cyrus and Tina.

"Hold on, Tina." He said. "I'm coming."

In the meantime, Aegis and Grail flew over to the still-weakend Wraith, intending to take him to safety.

...

Tyrrany, Flame, Denzel and Arthur were traveling ti mimet's base of operations on the Eastern side of town when the massive battle began. They were forced to come to a landing and hide in a back alley to avoid being seen by any of the Corrupted dragons.

They were hiding for quite a while now.

"What's going on/!" Tyrrany shouted, hiding Denzel underneath her. The hatchling started to cry.

"Make them go away, Mommy." He pleaded, scared out of his wits.

Denzel reached out as if to try adn grab his mother, who wrapped her forelegs around her son to calm him down.

"Calm down, little one." She said soothingly. "Everything will be alright."

Despite those calming words, the dragoness was absolutely terrified for her son. Anything could attack them at any moment.

Flame brought his head down low to look his son in the eyes.

"There's nothing to worry about, Den." He said ressuringly. "We won't let any of those scary dragons get anywhere near you."

"Promise?" Denzel asked. The Red dragon smiled.

"Promise. Nobody's going to hurt you."

"That may or may not be entirely accurate." Someone suddenly said, surprising the teenagers.

"Who's there?" Arthur demanded, as Tyrrany pushed her son underneath her again.

Soon, a large, Black dragon approached from the shadows of the alley.

Zevron.

"Hello, Tyrrany." He said, grinning. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"WHOA RE YOU?" The dragoness shouted. The Blck dragon chuckled.

"My name is Zevron." He said. "I am the son of Malefor."

"Son of Malefor?"

"Well he certainly looks the part." Arthur commented.

"Shut up, Arthur." Flame snapped. this is not the time for jokes."

Zevron took several steps forewards, while Tyrrany snarled.

"What do you want?" She demanded.

"I'm here to make sure you take up the offer my father gave you the other day." Zevron replied.

"Forget it." Tyrrany snapped. "I don't need Malefor's offer. Tell him to go fuck himself!"

The Black dragon sneered.

"I wouldn' t do that if I were you." He said, glaring. "Things could get needlessly complicated."

"LEAVE!" Tyrrany snarled. "Before I MAKE you leave!"

"I'd like to see you try, little girl." Zevron said coldly. His eyes started to glow completely red.

The dragoness opened her mouth in an attempt to attack with a Lightning blast. howerver, she suddenly lost control of herself.

"What the?" She shouted.

The dragoness suddenly started shaking violently, before toppling over onto her side.

"Anny!" Flame shouted, surprised. Zevron chuckled, which enraged teh Red dragon. "You're DEAD!"

Flame charged at the Black dragon, preparing to bite him. However, he instantly lost control of his body and fell down.

"Daddy!" Denzel shouted, frightened.

As Flame and Tyrrany struggled to regain control of themselves, Zevron walked towards the hatchling. Denzel backed away, afraid.

Arthur flew between the hatchling and the Black dragon.

"BACK OFF!" He demanded. Zevron laughed.

"Oh, please." He said mockingly. "You can't do a thing, insect!"

An instant later, Athur suddenly fell out of the air and crashed into the gorund. He twicthed violently, just like the other two teenagers.

"Denzel, run!" Tyrrany shouted. "Run away!"

"I wouldn't do that, little dragon." Zevron sneered. "Unless, of course, you want your Mommy to suffer."

"W...What are you going to do to Mommy?" The hatchling stammered.

"Nothing." Zevron said, grinning. 'But your Daddy will certainly do something."

Suddenly, Flame got up onto his feet, but not of his own accord.

"What the?" He shouted in surpsise.

Flame walked over to Tyrrany, lifted a paw in the air, and then swung it down, driving his talons into the dragoness's side. She howled in pain.

"Flame, what are you DOING?" She shouted.

"I can't stop myself!" Flame replied, struggling to lift his paw away, to no avail. Instead, the Red dragon proceeded to cut a deep wound in the dragoness's side. Tyrrany continued to shriek from the pain as she bled onto Flame's forepaw.

Denzel ran up to Flame and started hitting the Red dragon's hind legs.

"Stop it, Daddy!" He pleaded, crying. "Stop hurting Mommy!"

"Den, it's not me!" Flame yelled, still struggling to stop himself.

Zevron laughted at the spectacle.

"There's nothing you can do, little dragon." He said.

The Black dragon walked forwards, reached down, adn grabbed Denzel by his gruff.

"Put me down!" The hatchling protested, swinging his tiny limbs.

"Denzel!" Flame exclaimed, horrified.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Tyrrany roared. "NOW!"

"That's not going to happen." Zevron said coldly. "The hatchling will be coming with me. He'll be acting as leverage."

Zevron held a talon up to the scared hatchling's neck.

"What are you doing/!" Tyrrany shouted hysterically.

"If you refuse my father's offer..." The Black dragon drove the tip of his talon into Denzel's neck, causing a trickle of blood to flow. "far worse things than THIS are going to happen."

"NO!" Tyrrany shrieked in rage.

Denzel clasped his neck, squeling in pain and crying a river of tears.

"STOP HURTING HIM!" Flamre roared, trying wth all his might to turn and attack the Black dragon.

"Take some time to think it over." Zevron said, creating a portal of Purple energy around himself and Denzel. "Either swear loyalty to my father, or lose your son."

The three teenagers suddenly fount themselves regaining control fo their bodies just at Zevorn and Denzel were vanishing. Flame tried to punce on the Black dragon, but he was already gone.

"DAMNIT!" Flame exclaimed, snarling. "That son of a bitch!"

Tyrrany, meanwhile, had started crying profusely and roaring in both rage and pain.

"They're going to kill my baby!" She shouted hysterically.

Flame turned around to face his mate. He was crying as well, but not as heavily as Tyrrany.

"No, they're not." he said to her. The Red dragon wrapped his forelegs around the dragoness, trying to calm her down. "Don't write him off as dead just yet, Anny."

"What do we do, Flame?" Tyrrany asked, sobbing. "How're we going to find him?"

"I have an idea." Flame said reassuringly. "Come on; Let's go find Cynder."

...

Urobos faced his corrupted gradson, ready to stab him with the sword at the right moment.

The Corrupted dragon had suddenly stopped twitching so sporadically, and was now standing in one spot, though still ready to attack. Urobos sighed.

I suppose one can't expecct miracles from teenagers." He said solemnly. "In any case, she's doing her best."

The Aged dragon readied his sword, srpeading his wings for flight.

"Here I come, Cyrus."

With that said, Urobos leapt into action.

A moment later, the Aged dragon expected his grandson to fight back immediately. Instead, much to his surprise, the Corrupted dragon remained in place, grunting and snarling at something inside his head.

"She's doing it!" Urobos realized.

With nothing stopping him, the Aged dragon drove the tip of his sword into Cyrus's chest, just enough to pierce his flesh, but not enough to wound the organs beneath.

The Corrupted dragon roared in pain, putting Urobos on alert.

I must act NOW!

Immediately, Urobos charged his body and swrod with his latent Convexity energy. He then began drawing the Convexity energy out of Cyrus's body and into his own.

Bit by bit, the Corrupted dragon became smaller and smaller, until he was reduced to his true size. No longer able to support Tina's body on his shoulders, the young black draogn crumpled under her weight.

Urobos drew his sword and sighed.

"It is done."

A moment later, Cyrus climbed up onto his feet, his eyes returned to normal.

"Why does my chest hurt?" He wondered out loud.

Tina climbed up onto her feet as well, while Urobos used his Water and Pain elements to heal his grandson's wound.

"How are you feeling, Cyrus?" He asked.

"Grandfather? Uh.. I'm well enough I guess."

Immediately, Tina smacked Cyrus acorss the back of the head.

"OW!"

"You're a real idiot, Runt!" Tina scolded.

"Gee, thanks."

Tina cut the young Black dragon off by kissing him on the snout.

"But you're my idiot."

Cyrus blushed.

"It's good to have you back to normal, Cyrus," Urobos stated, "But there's no time for happy reunions: I need you two to get to safety."

"What will you do, Granddad?" Cyrus asked.

"Hmmm..."

The Aged Black dragon looked up at the Sky. Spyro was still locked in combat against Malefor.

"He seems to be doing well enough without my aid."

"Well, what about them?" Tina asked.

She was pointing over at Amouis and Adpetis.

THe two dragonesses had stopped dueling and were now staring each other down. Both of them were breathing heavily and covered in various bleeding wounds allover their bodies.

"They are both close to death." Urobos stated, drawing his sword. "This shouldn't be too diffucult."

The Aged Black dragon crepts towards the two Victiumirti as they were distracted, while the two young dragons left for safety.

...

"You know, Amouris," Adpetis sneered, "I always thought you were a titanic failure."

"Madness!" Amouris snapped. "I was the dragones responcible for the fall of the first King of Clan Pisces, and forever soured the clan's opinion of the Dark dragons. By extension, I am the cause of the Twilight war that ravished this age."

"You succewsses are greatly overshadowed by your failures." The White dragoness stated. "You failed to kill Prince Nexius when you had the chance, thus allowing the Black dragon line to endure. The curse you placed over King William's bloodline has yet to take efffect. And your Corruption of Chrisala? Even THAT success did little to save you fromd eath. Truly, Runileon and I, two White dragons, tok your tactics and perfected them, thrus proving our kind's superiority to Purple dragons."

"You two ultimately failed, just like the me, Malefor, Lucrun and Desysto."

"Even so, I was able to do something that the others didn't: I was able to conceive a child that proved his worth."

Amouris snarled.

"Still thy tongue."

"Oh, did I strike a nerve, Amouris?" Adpetis chided. "Did you produce a child that was ultimately worthless or a betrayer to your name?"

The Purple dragoness seethed with rage.

"Oh, that's right!" The White dragoness declared. "You've never produced children, and never will! You have no eggs to give life to! Your belly is notihng but an empty shell!"

"SILENCE!" Amouris roared. Adpetis only laughed.

"Unlike yourself, I've been able to produce many children in my time." She said proudly. "Even now, a child is sleeping inside me, ready to be given life, thanks to aid from Prince Cyrus."

What? Urobos shouted in his mind. The Aged Black dragon was hiding on the other side of the battlefield, waiting and watching the two dragonesses.

Why, that Pedophilic SHE-BEAST!

"I'll kill you and y unborn chld long before you get the chance to lay the egg." Amouris sneered.

"I beg to differ, Amouris." Adpetis chided. "Behold, my greatest ability!"

Suddenly, the White dragoness's body glowed with a Purple Aura. The Purple energy then flowed across Adpetis's body and entered inside one place: Her belly.

The White dragoness winced in pain as her belly slowly grew in size.

"What are you doing?" Amouris demanded.

"As you know, the younger a dragon is, the easier it is for Convexity energy to increaseits physical age." Adpetis stated. "The more energy used, the bigger it gets. Luckily, it won't talke much energy for THIS to happen!"

A short moment later, Adpetis's belly had grown form its normal size to that of one hiding an egg inside it. Amouris looked on in amazement.

"You've corrupted your own unborn child?" She asked. "That's disgusting!"

I never thought I'd agree with an enemy, but she is correct.

"It's not the worst I've done, for the first time." Adpetis replied. "And now, to produce it!"

The White dragoness held her forepaws over her now-expanded belly and calle dupon her Space element. A moment later, and wiht one great scream of pain from the White dragoness, an egg appeared in her forepaws, in a cloud of Purple smoke.

Adpetis breathed heavily as she gently set the egg beneath herself.

"I've done it again!" She declared with pride. "I've produced yet another Chaos dragon! I have been the proud mother of the most powerful dragons our age has ever seen!"

The White dragoness laughted hysterically, while the Purple one snarled.

Urobos, now guite sickened by the she-beast of a dragoness, charged his magic and teleported behind Adpetis, sword ready for the kill.

"May the Ancestors have mercy on your soul, maddrake." The Aged dragon declared.

"What?" Adpetis shouted, surprised.

Before the White dragoness could do anything else, Urobos swung his sword, slicing Adpetis's head from her body. The decapitated dragoness then fell over onto the ground, blood pouring from her neck.

Adpetis was no more.

URboso scooped up the egg off the ground and looked it over. It was the strangest egg he had ever seen.

Instead of being a solid color, the egg's shell seemed to be constantly flowing wiht energy, which shifted betwen the colors Black and White. The weighe of the egg also fluctuated, but by a matter of ounces.

"Strange." Urobos commented. He turned his gaze towards the weakened form of Amouris.

"Once I've found a safe haven for this egg, I shall return here, and your time on this land will come to an end."

"Do as you will." She stated coldly. "It matters not to me."

Urobos turned around and searched for Tina and Cyrus's hiding place.

"Senile old fool." Amouris commented.

The Purple dragoness looked up at the sky, and gasped.

Malefor's power was finally beginnnig to show its limits. He was being beaten left and right by a massive barrage of Physical and Magical blows, dealt to him by the enraged Spyro.

Eventually, Spyro blasted Malefor square in the chest with a mighty blast of Earth breath, which sent the Victimirtus hurtling towrds the ground.

Amouris gasped.

"No..." She said. "It's fine if I perish, but he must yet live!"

Spyroo came to a landing on the ground a few feet away from Malefor. The weakened Victiumiruts was struggling to get back onto his feet, with little success.

Spyro scowled down at his ancient fore, charging his magic for one final blast.

"This time, I'll finish you off for good." The Aged Purple dragon sneered. "Once Bain's body has been slain, your mind will be tossed into the very pits of the Underworld, where you belong!"

The crippled Malefor's demonic eyes became filled with fear.

"NO!" He shouted, struggling to crawl away.

Spyro unleashed his attack: A great and powerful Convexity blast.

"NOOO!"

Suddenly, before the blast could strke Malefor, a PUrple dragoness appeared in a cloud of smoke between hium and the attack.

It was Amouris.

The Purple dragoness took the attack that was meant for Malefor, full blast: she screamed in pain as a bloody hole was burned into her chest.

"What madness?" Spyro shouted, surprised.

"You?" Malefor asked incredulously.

"There's no time!" The dying dragoness shotued. She pointed a talon at Malefor, who's body suddenly became surrounded by a Purple mist. "Flee!"

"STOP!" Spyro commaneded, swinging a forepaw to strike Amouris in an attempt to halt her spell.

But he was too late: Malefor had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

With the male Victiumitus gone, Amouris's head slumped onto the ground.

"Goodbye, my love." She said sadly.

"DAMN YOU!" Spyro roared. "I had almoost finally rid the world of that bastard of a dragon!"

"Just like you 'almost finally' got rid of him all those centuries ago?" Amouris asked. She chuckled.

"You are a failure, just like William was. You couldn't stop Malefor, Wiliam couldn't stop ME, and no one, especially not that boy Rune, will be able to stop Bergan when he summons The Nothing."

Spyro snarled.

"Are you going to kill me, old friend?" Amouris chided.

"Not yet..."

The Aged Purple dragon grabbed the dying Amouris by the nexk and lifted her into the air, looking her right in the eyes. He used his Water element to heal her owunds, but only enough to keep her life-force from faltering.

"I want answers." He said coldly.

"What doyou think there is for me to tell you, Spyro?" Amouris asked incredulously. "You already kjnow about Bergan's master-plan to summon The Nothing."

"Tell me: What is The Nothing?"

The Purple dragoness chuckled.

"Well, wouldn't YOU like to know!" She said, smirking. "It's a shame you don't already do, though; You've encountered it, after all."

"What are talking about?"

"Think back, Spyro; Do you remember the first time you entered the realm of Convexity?"

"Of course."

"Tell me: As you were traversing the many platforms to reach the alter at the center, did you happen to hear someone, or something, calling your name?"

Amouris leaned up so she could whisper into the Purple dragon's ear.

"Spyro..." She said quietly. "Spyro..."

As Amouris did this, Spyro thought back to his time in the realm of COnvexity. He remembered hearing an ancient, ethereal voice. A vcoice that sent chills down his spin when he heard it then, and it did so once again.

Spyro...

The Aged Purple dragon shook the memories away, refusing to allow fear to grip him yet again.

"You mean to tell me that the voice I heard belonged to this 'Nothing'?" He queried.

"Only one of many, old friend." The Purple dragoness replied. "Whether you believe me or not, you will find out for yourself very soon."

"What do you mean?" Spyro demanded.

"As we speak, Bergan is plannnig to bring The Nothing into the living world. All of the pieces have been set, Spyro: I'd wager that you have until nightfall left until this world comes to an end. Kill me if you want, old friend: It doesn't matter anymore."

With that said, the Victiumirtus laughed triumphantly. Spyro, enraged, used his talons to slice the dragoness's throat.

Amouris was now dead.

Spyro sighed solemnly, letting the dragoness's body fall to the floor.

"I must gather the Guardians, the Deep Shadows, and Urobos immediately." He stated. "We have little time to act."

...

Cynder and Roxanne stared at Nellie in utter disbelief.

She killed Rune. She actually KILLED the Black dragon

"They were the same person?" Roxanne asked incredulously, struggling to get up. "Rune and that Runefor guy had the same body?"

Cynder had healed herself to the point where she could stand again. She approached the Lightning dragoness and proceeded to heal her wounds. As she did this, she spoke to the Water dragoness.

"Are you alright, young one?" She asked, concerned.

Nellie remained stone-faced.

"I had to do it..." She said, trying to do away with emotion." It... it was the only way to stop Runefor."

"I know, Nellie." Cynder reassured. "Don't worry; your're not in trouble for it."

"Right..." Nellie said, fighting back tears. "There was no other... It had to..."

The Blue dragoness couldn't fight it anymofe. She collapsed onto the floor, clutching RUne's body and crying a waterfall of tears.

"I'm sorry, Rune!" She shouted out miserably. "I'm so sorry! I didn't want to do it, I swear! It was the only way I could think of to get rid of Runefor!"

Nellie roared in absolute sorrow. She hugged RUne's body close and kissed him several times.

"He can't hear you, young one. He has passed on to the Underworld."

"No! NOOO!"

"Nellie, calm down." Cynder stated, healing what remained of Roxanne's wounds. "Holding his corpse like that won't bring him back."

The Water dragoness lifted her head and looked over at the Black one.

"Can you revived him?" She asked, pleading. "Please... I want Rune back..."

Cynder shook her head.

"I'm not able to reve anyone for another four and a half years."

Nellie sobbed.

"But..." She said miserably. "But I don't want to be without him..."

"There's nothing I can do, young one." The Black dragoness stated solemnly. "I am sorry. Rune belongs to the Underworld now."

Nellie placed her head on top of Rune's continuing her crying. Roxanne got up onto her feet and watched. She cried as well, but not as badly as the Blue dragoness.

"Rune..."

Cynder sighed in pity.

"Poor boy." She said sadly. "He was an unfortunate pawn of fate."

The Yellow and Black dragonesses watched as the Blue one continued her sorrow, listening to her long for her beloved to return to life, to no avail.

But then, something unexpected happened. A low, malevolent chuckle started to fill the silence of the chamber.

And it was coming from Rune.

...

Wow, this took forever! Sorry about the long wait, guys: I've had no internet for the longest time. I'll try to get the next chapter updated on tuesday, but no promises.

Tenebra ecce Veritas.