CHAPTER 29
*After Blazer X and the others left the temple*
In the training room, Torch was teaching Scorch how to use his fire element. There have been a few mess-ups that weren't fatal but nonetheless, Scorch was a fast learner. He went from burning down motionless wooden dummies to burning down active dummies up close and from a distance. However, when it came to the burning the mobile ones up close, the red dragon had miss quite a few as he fought them. As he did, he was fussing about how annoying they were and was questioning about if this was the kind of training the others had to go through. He doesn't even know the half of it.
"Stay focused! Get the last three and we'll move on!" Torch had been serious about the teaching, but it was for a reason. The fire dragon was originally chasing twenty dummies around the ring trying to evade his fire breath but they weren't that much of a problem. The only thing was that whenever one was defeated, the rest would become a little difficult to catch as they slightly increase their speed, do spins, jumps, flips, sometimes attack combos, and other tricks. Off to side, Temyus was engaged in a pleasant conversation with Aradia during the training. He sometimes would look over to the ring to see how Scorch was doing. In his mind, he couldn't help but think of how foolish the red dragon looked as he chased down the remaining three dummies. He knew that Torch was right in teaching the new dragon his element, but when it comes to accuracy, Scorch wasn't really that accurate.
"Temyus, is something the matter?" Aradia asked and nuzzled him.
"Nah, nothing's wrong. I just think Scorch should fight against something a little more challenging." He replied as he kept his eyes fixed on the fire breather who managed to burn two dummies with one fireball. Scorch looked left, right, and all around him but could not find the last one. This is taking too long, he thought to himself and headed towards Torch who was watching the fire dragon from the ringside. He leaned forward and whispered something in his ear that caught the attention of a curious Scorch and Aradia. Whatever it was, the red dragon only saw Torch bobbing his at the chaos dragon who showed a mischievous grin. The way he grinned made the red dragon feel uneasy.
"Ow! Why you little-" Scorch hissed as he rubbed the back of his head with his wing and spun around hoping he'd catch the dummy...but it wasn't there. He let out an irritable growl as he was struck in the same spot again and nearly collapsed. He cursed under his breath and closed his eyes as he rubbed his head. A small gasp escaped from him as he discovers something new to him. He looked at his body which was giving off a faint pulsating red glow that caused his scales to give off a faint shine. He felt a burning sensation growing all over and deep inside him; as if he was about to explode with fiery power. Whatever it was, it made him feel a bit more powerful but he was wondering where and how is he obtaining such power. Shortly, it subsided, leaving the fire breather puzzled. He was in the middle of a trance, trying to figure out what happened when he heard Torch's claws clicking on the stone floor approaching the red dragon.
"Not bad Scorch," he pointed behind him. Scorch craned his long scaly neck and saw a small pile of ash sitting just under his flaming tail end then looked down at his paws. He didn't know what had happened when he was glowing earlier. Torch noticed the look on his face and asked, "You don't know what that was do you?"
"What happened?" He looked up at the orange dragon. "I got hit twice and then all of a sudden, my body felt like it was on fire and...I don't know."
"Well, you ARE a fire dragon so of course you would feel that."
"Seriously, I have no clue as to what the hell happened just now...let alone how I did that." Torch began to ponder for a bit before he told the fire dragon to stay where he was and headed over to Temyus. They were whispering between each other and Scorch was even more curious as to what was being said. He glanced at Aradia who just shrugged her shoulders. He didn't have to wait to find out what was going on.
"Okay, I'll give you a quick break. While on break, I'll explain what it was that you nearly did. Afterwards, you have one more test to perform. Understood?" Scorch slightly bobbed his head. "I have to say though, you're a fast learner yet you've only started today."
"You're just like Blazer X in a way." Temyus spoke up. All eyes fell on him.
"Speaking of which, exactly what kind of dragon is he anyway?" Scorch asked. The chaos dragon explained the same story that Blazer X said. About how he was a midnight dragon, how he met Necros and Hydralin, but did not say anything about his amnesia. "I see...well I do want to know more about him but since you all have little knowledge of him, I won't argue."
"I just remembered something," Torch shifted his head left and right a few times. "Where's your friend Stone? I need to have a word with him." He then noticed Scorch's eyes were blazing. Obliviously he didn't like hearing the name of the earth dragon but did not know why. Torch can see the hatred in his eyes as he thought why he hated Stone. He decided to drop the subject for now and let the fire dragon take five while he went to find Stone.
0-0-0-0-0
Stone was growing impatient as he was sitting on a cushion near an oak table. He was inside what looked like a library to him. The shelves were tall enough to reach the underside of the second floor and were lined with various books and scrolls that he thought would look complicated should he ever open one. As he sat there, he'd watch other dragons walk by, all watching him as they raised a curious brow at him. The brown dragon felt rather uncomfortable at how he was being watched but at the same time, he was somewhat used to it. He hummed a bit but was more of an irritable one as he was beginning to wonder what happened to his friend Talons. He didn't really know why she dragged him along except that the electric guardian would be there.
The first time he arrived, he was awestruck that how large the structure looked on the outside but inside was a whole different story. The interior looked more like a labyrinth than a library not only to the earth dragon but to the silver dragoness as well. Stone remembered the two getting lost a few times and Talons decided to search for the electric guardian and come back to Stone.
It feels like she's been searching for almost half an hour. Where the hell is she, he let out a heavy sigh that echoed throughout the building. Not a lot of people were in the library so it was quite dull and silent as a graveyard. He yawned exposing his sharp teeth as his eyelids began to droop for a second and snapped his maw shut. Well, it is a pretty big place. I think I'll catch a few Z's before, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard wings fluttering behind him. He back and saw a blue dragon hovering at the top of a shelf searching for something. Maybe, maybe not he thought but it didn't matter. He just curled up at where he was and slowly began to drift into dreamland but found it rather difficult to do so with the flapping. Back home, he always slept through noises with no difficulties whatsoever but now that he no longer lives in his old home, it felt kind of difficult for him. He kept one eye closed and the other cracked open, keeping an eye on the dragon; to Stone it felt like an eternity that the dragon stayed in the air still examining the shelf. Finally, he cracked a faint smile when the dragon found what they were looking for and grabbed it.
"Just what I needed." The dragon's muttered words were heard from down below. Stone then heard more wings then looked up at the second floor and saw an incredibly light green dragon carrying some books that looked rather heavy and a couple of scrolls in their arms. The earth dragon had a clear angle of the dragon and could easily tell that it was a female. After several days of being in the dragon realm, he was unable to tell the difference between a male dragon and a female dragon but as time went by, he was able to tell the difference.
He felt his stomach churn violently. In his mind, it usually meant something would go wrong. Sometimes he was right while other times it would be his stomach asking for food or simply wanting to send whatever settled in him back up. He narrowed his eyes at the dragoness floating higher up and began to wonder what could possibly go wrong. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide when he saw the contents fell from the dragoness' arms and began to plummet at the blue dragon at top speed.
"Hey, above you!" Stone cried out. Sure enough, his words had caused the blue dragon to respond but was just a hair too late as the books were too fast and knocked out the blue dragon causing it to fall to the ground. He stood up but stayed low to the ground as his legs tensed. Then, he pushed himself forward off the ground and caught the blue dragon just before it hit the ground and at the same time, rolled away from the books that hit the floor with a really loud "THUD!" which was followed by a loud "CLANK!" from each scroll as they hit the floor and rolled open. The dragoness that had the items quickly landed in front of Stone who was on his side still holding the unconscious blue dragon close to him.
"Are you two unharmed? I am terribly sorry." No response. She extended her paw towards him but gave a startled squeak and jumped back a bit when he suddenly lifted his head, staring into her eyes with a raised brow. The dragoness was indeed light green. She had an orange underside, four white horns (two on the side of her head pointing down and two from her cheekbones), dark green wing membranes, eyes that were bright as an orange sun setting in the sky, the tip of her tail was shaped like a leaf.
"I'm okay. Who are you and what happened?"
"I am Rose," she bowed her head and continued, "I'm the new librarian and just arrived here almost two days ago. I was carrying a few scrolls and some books to their shelves but they slipped out of my arms." The brown dragon stared at her for a few seconds before shifting his gaze over to the books and scrolls littered across the floor then back to Rose. "I still don't know my way around here...well maybe a little." She sheepishly added.
"Lucky you. At least you know where to go in here. This place," he looked up at the shelves around him then added, "Is more of a labyrinth than a library if you ask me."
Rose giggled at his comment a bit. Stone had no idea how dragons age but from what her voice sounded like, he would have to estimate that she's probably around ages 17-20. There was silence between the two until she told him to watch the dragon while she returned the books to their shelves. As she took off to some other section of the library with fewer books in hand, Stone rolled up the scrolls and neatly placed them as well as the other books on the table he was at. After stacking the last book with a soft thud on another, the blue dragon began to stir and slowly got up rubbing her head.
"Ow my head. W-What happened?"
"Wow, you recovered extremely quick." Stone said surprising the blue dragon. He faced the blue dragon who answered with a slight nod. His eyes nearly grew wide when he realized the dragon was a female but not just any female dragon. She was the same height as Stone, had white "boots", her underside was green as the open seas, a large quill running down her long neck, sky blue wings with cyan membranes, six pure white horns (white as the snow) on the side of her head (bottom horns curve downward while the top ones curve up slightly), her eyes were blue as sapphire, and the end of her tail looked more like a fin. To make it simple, he found her to be attractive...well his dragon mind found her attractive, not the human mind. God dammit, I'm a human not a lizard...well not physically...I mean, I'm not a human physically...But this is wrong, he was complaining to himself in his head that he almost didn't the dragoness asking him for his name. He snapped back to reality and gave her his name.
"My name is Tundra. Thank you for your help Stone. I think I'll head home and finish resting up there." Stone nodded in agreement then noticed she was shifting her head left, right, up and down the aisle as if she was expecting more books to fall. He was about to question her but he heard the echo of claws tapping on the marble floor followed by a lot of talking. It was one voice but the dragon recognized who it was as he tried his hardest not to laugh out loud.
"...And I must say I was thrilled, excited, and amazed of how Spyro and Cynder saved this world from total destruction and chaos..." a yellow dragon with a large bag over his back had rounded the corner followed by a silver dragoness. "...Ah. I see you made a new friend. May I enquire who the lucky lady might be?" After hearing this, Stone only blushed but he kept it well hidden.
"Knock it off Volteer and to answer your question, her name is Tundra. We just met." Talons was kind of skeptical about that answer but she decided not to press on it and introduced herself to Tundra as did Volteer.
"It was really nice to meet you all and..." Tundra then faced Stone and added, "...thank you for helping me." She said. Volteer and Talons gave a curious glance at the two before the blue dragoness walked away. The earth dragon watched her walk away as he tried to figure out why he was feeling funny inside; like something was crawling around underneath his scaly skin which he found to be kind of irritating in a way. He then turned his head to see that the yellow and silver dragons were curiously staring at him making him feel uncomfortable.
"Can you two stop that? It's kinda creepy when people stare at me like that." Stone asked nervously.
"Would you feel better if we were staring at you differently?" Talons asked with a smirk as she received another failed growl from the brown dragon. She admitted to herself that he sounded a tad better than last time.
"Now now you two, there's no need to be violent about this. Let us...Oh!" Volteer looks down at the pile of scrolls and books Stone had neatly stacked and grabs a thick book from the bottom which caused the stack to fall over.
"This is the book I was looking for. With this, we'll be able to identify exactly what type of dragon you are Talons and furthermore..."
"Is this the only book we need?" She interrupted the yellow dragon in a calm voice with a hint of annoyance from his rambling as they all made their way back to the front desk.
"For the time being, but do not worry. The next we return, I am absolutely positive that they will have more books about you. And possibly Blazer X. For now, we'll look through them one at a time."
A whole three minutes went by as they made their way to the front desk. Behind it, Stone recognised who it was he saw. Rose. She was stamping books and placing them in a large crate ready to be returned to their original places. The light green dragoness lifted her head and spotted the trio walking her way.
"Hello there young dragon. We would like to borrow this book if that is okay with you." Volteer placed the book on the desk.
"Not at all." Rose opens the front cover and stamps it with blue ink before handing it back. "Just be sure to bring it back in good condition."
GOOD condition? That book looks like it'll crumble into dust any second now, Talons thought and to be honest, she was right. As the trio made their way to the exit, they came to a sudden stop when Rose called out to them. She motioned with her wing over to the desk where they were seconds ago. Volteer was about to walk over to her when Stone prevented him from advancing any further as he stretched his wing in front the guardian.
"I think she's calling me. I'll be right back." He said and darts off towards the librarian. When he got there, "Rose was it?" She nods. "About the girl, she–" Stone began but Rose interrupted.
"I know." She smiles then added, "I saw her walk out minutes ago. But there's another problem..." Rose paused when she sees Stone's face grow serious and giggles a bit. "Relax, it's nothing big." After she said that, Stone relaxed a bit. Rose then opens a drawer and starts rummaging through it. A couple seconds later, she pulled and held out an emerald pendant. From the pendant dangled a charm in the shape of a pure white snowflake and right in the middle of it was a pure smooth sapphire stone in the shape of a water droplet that shined brightly under the light. Stone slowly took it from her and closely examined it as he began to wonder why she was giving him such a valuable item.
"Someone found that in another aisle. I'm assuming you two are somewhat friends right now and that pendent probably belongs to her. Should you ever run into her again, you know what to do." Stone nodded in response. "Don't lose it now." Rose added. Stone then placed the pendant inside a bag that he had gotten earlier from the electric guardian but it was a bit smaller. He thanked her and ran back to the two waiting dragons. The second they stepped out, Talons was about to ask Stone about the jewellery he got but was cut off by a superfast rambling Volteer. He spoke so fast that they could not understand, it sounded like he was talking a bunch of gibberish.
"I swear when he talks like this for so long, I start thinking about that Energizer commercial." She said in a low voice. Stone quietly chuckled as he quickly understood what she meant by that. Right now, the two had to help with some errands and since they sort of knew their way around the dragon city, they would be able to finish the job in no time. Volteer pulled out a scroll with a list of things to do and placed it on the ground for the three to see. It had showed ten things to do but one of them was checked off. They all picked their three jobs, then Volteer gave Talons and Stone a bag of gold and decided to spit up to cover more ground to quickly finish their selected assignments.
0-0-0-0-0
"Wake up buttercups!" Scorch yelped and instantly stood up the second he was splashed with a bucket of ice cold water from head to tail. He was sleeping near a window in the training room where the sun warmed this scales. He was having such a peaceful sleep until he received the wakeup call. "About time you woke up. You've been out for a good while."
"T-TEM-M-MYUS, WH-WHAT THE–" Scorch didn't say a lot because his teeth were chattering so much that it was starting to hurt. The water temperature to him felt like it was extremely far below zero.
"Geez man, you're a fire dragon for crying out loud. The cold should not bother dragons of your element, let alone an ice dragon." Temyus tossed the bucket aside and motioned with his head over to the ring. "I'll give you a couple minutes to Warm Up." He said with a small chuckle as the red dragon shook off the water and stretched himself to the fullest, popping his joints back in place. The white dragon noticed something about Scorch. His tail flame was still burning after being splashed with water. This made him curious at first but he decided to wait a while before asking.
0-0-0-0-0
After the warm up, Temyus stepped into the ring as Terrador and Cyril entered the training room and settle at the ringside with Aradia. Scorch sat still as he kept his eyes fixed on Temyus, wondering what he has planned for him. He didn't have to wait very long to find out but was taken aback when he did.
"Are you serious? I don't mind the dummies but isn't this a bit...I don't know, over the top? I don't know what kind of dragon Temyus is let alone how he fights! You guys must be insane if you make me go head to head with him!" Scorch was overreacting a bit when he spoke his mind. The elder dragons just laughed at him before Cyril told him that nothing would go wrong.
"Sure you may have a few bruises here and there, but the damages you'll obtain are nothing compared to what you would get in a real fight." Cyril said. Scorch just sighed irritably and stood in a firm stance in the middle of the ring as well as Temyus. "Do not worry for no one is allowed to give their all during training."
"Wow, thanks for the boost of confidence, Cyril." Scorch mumbled sarcastically. Over at the ringside, Terrador couldn't help but smile. For some strange reason, he did not know why.
"I can tell that this is your first time, so allow me to briefly explain what you must do." Terrador cleared his throat and began as his voice boomed. "The goal is to win by pinning your opponent or forcing them to submit. Avoid hurting your opponents too much. Remember, this is a sparring match not a real fight. Any possible fatal blows will not be allowed to land. You may use your elemental attacks but not your fury attacks. You both will have five minutes. If no one wins before time runs out, you will receive a short break before the start of the next round." Scorch then questioned him about how he was going to keep track of time. The earth guardian chuckled and walked to the wall behind him then pushed a brick. There was a loud grinding sound as part of the wall turned to reveal a large hourglass. "If there are any more questions, please ask now. If not, then prepare yourselves."
Scorch hid his nervousness as he lowered himself into his fighting stance, his legs spread apart and wings stretched out. Even though this is only a sparring match, he knew this was going to be a tough fight especially since this is his first time going up against a dragon. He waited for the signal to start. Terrador had a paw pressed on a stone slab.
"Ready?" Scorch wanted to back down when he heard him. In fact, he was about to do so right now, but was just, a, hair, too, late. "BEGIN!" Terrador pushed the slab in and the clock began ticking down. Temyus was quick to make the first move by lowering his head and charged at Scorch. He noticed this and almost at the last second, sidestepped out the way as the white blur zoomed by and skidded to a halt. Scorch then shot some fireballs but to his surprise they were all of them were negated by water balls.
So this guy can use water. Not bad; can't say it's good either, Scorch thought. He almost went into a deep thought until he saw Temyus rapidly approaching. Once again, Scorch moved to the side but slightly winced in pain. Looking down at his chest, he saw three small cuts that were hardly bleeding. Obliviously, they were slash marks but he didn't see him with his talons raised. Okay Scorch. Time to get in the game and fight back. With that in mind, he faced his opponent with a serious and determined look on his face.
Temyus noticed this and couldn't help but smile a faint smile. The two began circling each other unable to break their gaze. Whenever the red dragon had the time, he would take a quick side glance at the hourglass and back to the chaos dragon. Two minutes and change went by after the fight started. Scorch wanted to end this quickly on the first round but seeing has how short of time he was, he would have to go into the second round.
Perhaps I can do this..., Scorch began focusing his energy to the flame on his tail. The flame grew large and soon his whole tail was engulfed in fire. He noticed Temyus was a bit amazed by this and at the same time, confused by what was happening.
What is this guy doing Temyus thought when Scorch came running towards him. Temyus jumped out the way and in the middle of the ring. What confused him even more was when the red dragon ran in a large circle leaving a trail of fire behind him. When he did so, he went closer and made a smaller circle and did this process two more times.
"Know what I'm doing?" Scorch jumped out the circle farthest from the white dragon. As soon as he landed outside the outer circle, he brushed his tail in one swift motion. The next thing Temyus knew was that flames roses to the ceiling starting from all the circles. He was trapped in not one, not two, but four rings of fire. "Gives me some time to think." He said out loud.
"Have you forgotten that I can use water?" Temyus flapped his wings and hovered above the ground. Next, he spun and released a stream of water over the flames quickly dousing them. But then something caught him by surprise. Shit! Temyus thought and understood what Scorch was doing but was too late to do anything as the ring was quickly filled with thick steam. He was set up and he fell right for it. Everything and everyone was shrouded.
"Young dragon, I do hope you know what you're doing. You only have less than a minute in this round." Cyril spoke out. Really and truly, they only had thirty seconds remaining.
Damn! Should've asked before doing this. Gotta end this quick. I'm not going another round just yet, Scorch kept his senses on full alert and began searching through the thick fog which was starting to clear up.
(20 seconds): Temyus moved quickly but silent. His senses were on full alert as well.
(15 seconds): He felt a strange presence near his left side. He wanted to lash out but he played it safe and continued the search. Eventually, he realized what mistake he just made. He was rammed in the side which was shortly followed by a slash.
(5 seconds): He grabbed Scorch by the horns and threw him on his back.
(3 seconds): He was about to go for the pin but was pushed off.
(2 seconds): Scorch got up and tackled him.
(1 second): Both were clawing at each other until...
"TIME!" the fog finally lifted and revealed the two fighters. The slash marks Temyus received were bleeding a bit. He had a few bruises but was still okay. Scorch had the same results except he barely showed a trace of exhaustion.
"Take a small break and prepare for round two. Heal yourselves in the crystal room right across the hallway." After Cyril said that, Temyus and Scorch did exactly that.
0-0-0-0-0
"Let's see, I got three pounds of lamb, some roots from some weird flower, and a rough estimate of sixty-three gold pieces." Stone met up with Talons in the central area of Warfang on Volteer's errand run. The two had been walking around for hours trying to find the items they decided on.
"Well, I managed to get the five bags of star fruits and some letter scrolls. All I have to do is find the blacksmith and retrieve an armour set."
"You got a good memory."
"Actually," Talons said with a tinge of embarrassment. "I ran into Volteer a while ago and asked to see the scroll. Do you remember the last thing you need to get?" Stone scratched his chin and thought hard for a bit. He was more focused on not getting lost in the city while searching for the items. "The Evora powder?"
"Oh right." Stone face palms himself.
"Want to work together?" Stone though about her request for a bit. Helping each other wasn't a bad idea but what were they to do if something happens? Neither had any fighting experiences. "Does it take you forever to think of an answer?" Talons annoyed voice caught his attention. "It's a simple yes or no answer."
"Sorry Talons. I was thinking of something but I don't mind. Let's go."
"Okay then."
0-0-0-0-0
Scorch was napping in his bed. The first round against Temyus he managed to survive but wasn't too happy about entering the second round. The red crystals he used had healed his wounds but he was still a bit tired. He had no idea a five minute battle could wear him out. He was about to fall into a deep slumber when he heard claws tapping on the stone floor but these were slow and soft. No doubt someone was sneaking and he had a good idea of who it was.
Temyus quietly crept up on the fire dragon handling a bucket of cold water in his maw. He suddenly came to a stop when Scorch twitched a bit. The white dragon thought, Screw this. Let's get it over with.
The second water came flying out the bucket, Scorch shot up and quickly made the liquid disappear into vapours with his fire breath. Temyus jumped back just in time as the flames swallowed the bucket and turned into nothing but ashes.
"Well, at least I know you're awake and alert." Temyus said.
"Thanks." Scorch replied sheepishly. He stretched his body to its fullest and stood up. "I can pretty much guess as to why you're here."
"It's that time."
"All right. I'll be there in a few."
"Don't be long. I want you to give it your best." Temyus walked out into the long corridor and Scorch followed. The second he stepped out, he dropped to the ground as a water ball flew over his head. "Didn't think you'd see that one coming."
"Let's just say that I have a sixth sense."
"Anyway, hurry up and head to the training room." Temyus left him to do whatever he had to do. Just as soon as he left, he heard knocking. He looked around the room. At first, he thought he was just hearing thing but he heard it again; only it was louder. He turned to the balcony and saw a familiar orange dragon sitting on the balcony. From what it looked like, it's as if something was troubling him. Scorch opened the door and welcomed the dragon.
"You okay Storm? You looking a little lost." Scorch asked. Storm sighed heavily.
"Well…" he began telling him his problem.
0-0-0-0-0
Almost thirty minutes went by and the guardians were wonder what kept the fire dragon so long. Temyus was thinking he might have suddenly gotten sick while Terrador and Cyril thought he was taking a longer break than usual or was simply skipping training. Terrador was too impatient and stepped in the hallway. He was about to search when he heard talons clicking on the stone floor as well as a conversation. He knew who it was and quickly took off in the general direction carrying a stern look on his face. As he got closer, he could hear Scorch saying something about keeping Storm's secret safe. He waited in a nearby room which happens to be Spyro's room and closed the door just enough to see outside and listen in on the conversation.
"Are you sure?" Storm asked.
"Of course!" Scorch chirped. "Listen to me Storm. I understand that it's a very difficult problem for you. I don't know if this could escalate but should it do so, just relax. Remember what I told, okay?" Storm nodded with a grin. They both were unaware of Terrador's presence as they stopped in front of Spyro's room, Scorch in front of Storm. "So what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know. I've been sitting on the balcony waiting for you to wake up. You and Talons seem to be the only friends who I trust the most. She doesn't know about what I told you."
"What about Stone?"
"Well...we've been through a lot but he's sometimes a bit difficult to understand. He may be stubborn, as you've realized by now, but he's still a good friend."
"Not to me he is." Scorch quickly said with a tinge of disgust. "How long has it been since we arri-" He stopped when he heard someone yelling.
"Where is that fire breather at?"
When he heard that, his eyes widen. He cursed between his teeth.
"What is it?" Storm asked sounding surprised.
"I was supposed to be in the training room right now! I'm really done for!"
"Let's hurry there then." Storm and Scorch took off running.
They finally arrived in the training room, only to be greeted by a not-so-happy ice dragon. Ice blue mist formed around Cyril's maw as he was trying to get an honest answer from Scorch. More mist would form whenever he told Storm to stay quiet for he was trying to tell him what happened. Just when the two thought it was the end for them, Terrador came in.
"Let them be Cyril." Terrador calmly said with a stern look. "I do not know why he was late and it is best we leave it at that."
"But Terrador, this-"
"Let us worry about it another time." Terrador looked over to Scorch and motioned with his head over towards the ring. He told Storm that he was welcomed to stay and watch. Scorch took his position in the ring while Storm sat next to Aradia but kept a little distance between them as Temyus shot a glance at the two; the orange dragon caught on to this. Just like last time, Terrador had revealed the hourglass.
"Okay you two, same rules as last time; nothing different. BEGIN!"
The second that one word was said, Temyus took off like a bullet with his head lowered and rammed into Scorch's chest. The impact sent him flying into the wall behind him. Scorch felt the pain rush through his whole body as he struggles to stay up. His head and every muscle in him cried out in pain with each step he took. He knew the white dragon was giving his best despite the fact this is only a sparring match.
Just as soon as he got his bearings, he saw Temyus standing on his hind legs with his neck reared back. The white dragon brought his paws down and what surprised Scorch was that he didn't see a water breath coming out but instead a large fireball. He dodged it and the attack left a black mark where the red dragon was.
Geez, this guy uses fire? What else is new? Scorch dodged more fireballs. These however were too fast to dodge and he got hit a few times. The fire dragon staggered a bit. Temyus saw an opportunity to attack. Little did he know, Scorch was hoping he'd do that. Temyus was about to slash the side of Scorch but the attack was blocked by Scorch's head. Blood slowly trickled down the fire dragon's face and into his eyes as he felt the stinging pain of talons slowly sinking into his skull. He can feel his consciousness slowly slipping away.
I'm not waiting anymore. Scorch reared his head back, causing Temyus to stumble backwards, thus giving the red dragon what he needed; an open opportunity. He punched the white dragon in the face then quickly followed it up with a tail swipe. Temyus jumped over it and slashed at Scorch's chest and left three long slash marks. He roared in pain as he struck back at him. Temyus jumped back but not with receiving three long slash mark from his left shoulder and extended down his left arm.
"Finally fighting back I see." Temyus said.
"What made you think I wasn't?" Scorch smirked. The two dragons charged at each other and they met with their horns smashing into each other. Temyus and Scorch were pushing at each other with all their might.
Storm was impressed with what he was seeing. He watched as the two combatants jumped back and locked their horns once again. They pulled back and began exchanging claws. He was so focused on the fight.
"You like what you see?" Aradia asked.
"Huh?" Storm blinked a few times and looked at Aradia. She could see that he was really fixed on the fight.
"The fight, do you like it?"
"Yeah. I never seen a fight like this before." He smiled and went back to watching the fight.
"That's nothing. Temyus has been in many battles and he's not so easily beaten. What you're seeing right now is one-fourth of his actual strength."
"Wha...?" Storm's eyes widen. "Is Temyus really that strong?" The dragoness nodded. His jaw nearly dropped. He didn't want to believe it but the ice dragoness was sincere with her answer. Now he was afraid of actually being near Temyus.
Two minutes remained. Temyus hardly broke a sweat while Scorch's sweat rolled down his body like a waterfall. Both suffered from many cuts and other injuries but Scorch looked like he suffered the most. He had a large number of cuts on his arms, legs, and chest. Sometimes he would feel dizzy and would have a blurry vision from the loss of blood mostly in his head. Despite his problems, he was doing okay.
"I have to say, you're pretty good." said Temyus.
"Thanks...but we're...not...done yet." Scorch said in between breaths.
"Then let's finish this." Temyus ran towards Scorch and tackled him with his shoulder. The red dragon stood his ground but lost a lot of wind. Temyus stepped back and charged at him. There was a loud crack when his head collided with Scorch's chest. Everyone flinched when the sound reached their ears. They were shocked but amazed that he still stood his ground.
"You DO realize that I may have broken a rib or two in you right?" asked Temyus. No response. "Scorch, you okay?" the white dragon stepped back a bit. Scorch hadn't moved a muscle. He just stood there with his eyes closed, blood and sweat rolling off his body. Temyus was a little worried thinking he might have went overboard. Just when he was about to assume the worse, Scorch's eyes snapped open and his body was glowing an almost red aura. Temyus was surprised and received a strong punch in the chest; making him stagger back on his hind legs. He didn't have time to react as he was being beaten left and right.
Next, Scorch used his head to throw Temyus in the air. He hit him fourteen times using his head, paws, legs, and wings. The fifteenth hit he performed an aerial somersault and knocked Temyus in the ground with the tail; causing dust to float in the air.
What the hell? How did he get all this energy all of a sudden? Temyus thought. He looked across the ring at Scorch. Nothing really changed on him except the glowing body and the sudden burst of energy. Other than that he still bears the scratches he recently gotten. Not wasting anytime, he stood back up and opened his maw.
Scorch saw what he was doing and he could not believe it. A ball of fire and water was forming in his mouth and was growing larger. Looking directly at it, it looked like a yin-yang as it swirled in his maw. He opened his maw wide and quickly formed a large fireball.
As Temyus released his element ball, so did Scorch.
The two attacks collided and caused an explosion that nearly shook the building. The ring was soon filled smoke that blocked out everyone's vision.
"What's going on?" Storm questioned.
The others could only hear roars and grunts of the battling dragons. What was happening in the cloud of dust? Who was winning? All these questions and a few others floated about in everyone's mind.
Storm asked how much time remained in the fight. He received no answer for Terrador and Cyril was more focused on the smoke. But what really bugged him the most was that Terrador and Aradia looked rather...calm. He just ignored it then looked at the hourglass and estimated that there was about thirty seconds remaining. He turned his attention back to the smoke. Everyone was listening to the two fighters as the smoke slowly began dying down.
The match continued with fifteen seconds remaining. The smoke was clear enough to see two shady figures fighting. Around the five second mark one shady knocked the other on their back.
Terrador stopped the clock at the last second. Everyone was anxious to see who won but Terrador told them to wait. The smoke was letting up. A few seconds later it was thin enough to see the match result. Just as soon as Terrador was about to announce the winner, a familiar dark blue dragon appeared at the entrance to the training room and called out his name. He turned and saw Blazer X standing there...with Amber on his back. Then came Spyro, Cynder, Necros, Flame, and Ember.
"Amber needs help..." Blazer X said worriedly.
"Temyus, quickly go out and find Volteer. Blazer X, get her to the infirmary. I want to hear what happened." Terrador said.
Spyro characters © Sierra
Temyus & Aradia © ChaosDragon33
Story, ideas, and other characters © Midnight
