Chapter 36: The Dark Dragons
CYNDER could only watch at what Spyro had become. Malefor had beaten him down and scolded him. He was on the brink of death, and somehow got up to face Malefor one last desperate time. But once he stood up and succumbed to his rage and fear, he was a different Dragon then. She could see, no… feel the difference in him. The transformation may have looked only physical, but Spyro changed on the inside as well. Cynder and Spyro had though that they were the only Dragons alive for around five months before Thomas, Magnus, and Malefor showed up. And during that time, Spyro had overcome his grief and became the hope she and these citizens of Avalar needed, most of who were gathered around her right now. The magic that he was learning and getting accustom to had inspired them; they started to believe there was someone out there who could rival the Sorceress. Through him, the Professor was able to gather all these people who had lost so much together and finally stand a chance of defeating her.
That Spyro had been defeated by Malefor. What was clashing with Malefor now was something else. He was ferocious, he was terrifying, and he was powerful. Spyro and Malefor had taken to the air at this point, leaving much of the beach where their battle had started on fire and decimated. The fight had become very dangerous to those who were watching. Magnus raised a magical barrier over the Avalar Resistance as a torrent of flame danced over Magnus' shield. Thomas ordered everyone to retreat from the beach and enter the Professor's laboratory. Everyone quickly moved inside, although one particular Cheetah was brimming with anger.
"What the hell is going on Dragons? Talk!" Hunter yield impatiently as the ground literally shook for a moment. "Who exactly is Malefor and why is he attacking Spyro?"
"It's complicated" Magnus responded as everyone in the laboratory murmured and chattered in a panic, though Cynder, Thomas, Sheila, the Professor, Byrd, and Bentley were listening to this conversation intently.
"Well clarify it, now!"
"Malefor has been corrupted by the Power Gems. He, like the Sorceress, seeks to wield their full power. Why he is here I don't know."
"I was under the impression that the Sorceress killed him, when 'Malefor' tried to save your lives."
"That not entirely true, Hunter. Thomas and I both thought that the Sorceress did indeed kill Malefor and take his six Power Gems when she attacked Artisans. But his intention was not to save our lives."
"I'm not sure we should treat Malefor as an adversary" Hunter then said, surprising everyone in the group.
"No" Thomas said rather abruptly, "he cannot be trusted, he is too dangerous!"
"He may be dangerous, but he wants to kills the Sorceress. And although it may look cruel, I think he's trying to train Spyro."
"Are you insane!?" Cynder reacted in horror. "He's trying to kill Spyro, and none of us are trying to do a damn thing about it!"
"I think I have to agree with Hunter" Byrd said rather calmly. "Though none of us can be sure of Malefor's intentions, let's not forget that our plans to invade Artisans have been compromised. The Sorceress knows where we are and what we plan to do. We need to relocate and regroup, now. And having Malefor around will increase our odds of surviving an ordeal with the Sorceress, since he's proved he's a match against her. For now, we have no choice but to trust him as long as he doesn't kill Spyro."
"What, we can't stop our plans to retake the Dragon Realms. We cannot abandon all the Dragons there." Cynder complained.
"We have no choice," Byrd responded, "The Sorceress and her armies are already waiting for us to fall into her trap. The Professor is the only one who knows how to free the Dragons trapped in Crystal, and he cannot be a liability while we combat the Sorceress' forces there. We have to abandon freeing the Dragons for now."
"I can agree that we need to postpone freeing the Dragons in the Dragon Realms, but trusting Malefor is way too risky. I won't allow him to kill any of you." Thomas said sternly.
"Listen," Hunter said comfortingly to the elder Dragon, "Your son may be dangerous, but I'm no saint, either. I've killed plenty of Rhynocs and don't regret a single kill. This isn't about right and wrong anymore, or about your feelings. Malefor has rescued you and Magnus' life whether you admit it or not, found Spyro's 'important' dragonfly, identified the traitor amongst this group, and can evidently go toe to toe with the Sorceress. And now I've seen him unlock a power that was dormant in Spyro. It may not be perfect, but I think we need him to win."
"That dormant power is the exact reason why the Sorceress and Malefor are the way they are." Thomas responded angrily. "It's a dark surge of murderous intent. Spyro is just as dangerous as his uncle while stuck in that state of mind."
"Well the only way Spyro's going to beat the Sorceress is if he 'intends' to murder that bitch in cold blood." Hunter responded coldly.
"Bianca, you better have a really good reason for being here early" The Sorceress said quite angrily as she sat on her thrown chair she had graciously delivered to Artisans via some slaves. The Throne now sat on the ashes of the Senate Building in Artisans. The Seven Power Gems were floating in a circle above her, slowly rotating clockwise around the Sorceress. Although it was around three hours past noon, the sky remained grey and cloudy.
"I… was discovered while at the rebels meeting. I had to flee before I was caught. I destroyed the portal on the beach as I teleported here, so they couldn't follow me or learn where I went."
The Sorceress got up from her lavish throne and stared at her spy in contempt. The Rabbit shrunk and put up her hands in a submissive gesture, which postponed her execution on the spot.
"Wait my liege. I was not made by any of the rebels at their meeting, but instead by the large purple dragon."
Malefor, the Sorceress though as anger swelled inside her. She had a sneaking suspicion that that damned dragon had died way too easy, plus there wasn't a body to confirm her kill. He was still alive, but why did he intentionally throw his fight and allow me to take the Seven Power Gems? It must have had something to do with the visions these Gems were showing Malefor. Malefor had had the seven Power Gems in his possession for six years prior to their confrontation, as he reviled to her, he was trying to gain access to the Convexity as she had tried millennia ago. And how did he know that Bianca was a spy for me, they had never met? He knows too much about the future. She needs to get to that Island right now, but "Bianca" had destroyed the portal.
"You've outlived your usefulness, girl" The Sorceress said as she raised her right index finger at the bunny and fired a concentrated beam that intercepted the girls chest and pierced clean though her. She collapsed to the ground, dead before she fell completely.
"Ooh, seems as if the new recruit didn't last the week." Ripto said laughing as he approached the Sorceress.
"And what do you want, unicorn?" The Sorceress said disinterested. The remark was to make fun of the fact that Ripto had a single horn protruding from his head. As much as the comment infuriated him, Ripto needed to control his ego in the presence of the Sorceress. She could kill him just as easily as she did Bianca.
"If I may make a suggestion Sorceress, we may not be able to teleport to the Professor's laboratory since fluffy over her destroyed the portal, but that also means the rebels can't teleport either. We now know approximately where the Professor's secrete laboratory is, and since the island is close to Summer Falls, we can simply wait for the rebels to make their way to shore and ambush them once they arrive. We'll have all the rebels and Dragons in one place for the killing. I can even let you know when we ambush the enemy, so you can personally finish of Spyro and his grandfather."
The Sorceress thought for a moment. She didn't know exactly why Malefor was at the rebels gathering, other than he was assisting them somehow. But he had six of the Power Gems already, why surrender them to me and then help the resistance. She knew he couldn't have carried about their lives at all. It didn't make sense, and it was making her nervous. She didn't show her anxiety to her subordinate, however. She instead muddled over his idea and gave him the go-ahead.
"I want you to take Gnasty and his forces with you, though, Ripto" The Sorceress said just before Ripto was prepared to leave.
"Sorceress, I assure you my Rhynocs forces do not need the assistance of those repulsive Gnorks."
"I don't care how you feel, Ripto. Tell Gnasty that he and his army can resume destroying Dragon Statues once they succeed in destroying the resistance. Their new territory comes with a price. Be sure to remind them of that."
"As you wish my liege" Ripto responded, bowing to show his respect. He turned around and walked towards Artisan's portal. He gripped his Uka-Uka mask in his palm as he left the Sorceress. He was supposed to be the most feared mage in existence. It was his destiny, he was sure of it. But all throughout his life, he and the Rhynocs were at the mercy of the Sorceress. They had served her loyal for centuries, been her mercenaries, expanding her empire and doing the dirty work she didn't bother herself with. They enforced her rule and murdered hundreds of thousands to ensure her despotism remained unchallenged. It felt utterly degrading. But he knew he was no match against the Sorceress. Her control over the Power Gems was to complete. Plus it didn't help that she was immortal. The only way to overthrow her was to kill her yourself, but Ripto was not capable of it. His father had tried, and was utterly destroyed. She then promptly reminded the Rhynocs of their place and they never revolted against her again. But Ripto had known that the Sorceress was nervous about these two Purple Dragons that have risen to challenge her. They were his only hope in defeating the Sorceress. Then the world could be his.
What Spyro had become was what Malefor was when he first obtained six Power Gems. He was a true Purple Dragon. They continued to try to kill each other, but neither could gain an advantage over the other. But it had become evident as their fight dragged on that Spyro had lost control of his new power. It was controlling him, not the other way around. Malefor could understand why, the dark form was hard to control anyway. But he needed Spyro alive and thinking straight if he was going to fulfill the visions the Gems had shown him. He conjured a shield to block Spyro vicious flame breath, and then landed on the ground near the laboratory. Spyro was not yielding and perused Malefor as he landed. Malefor unleashed purple beam of concentrated energy from his mouth, which forced Dark Spyro to retreat from the attack and he landed on the ground. Sparx then appeared from inside the laboratory and flew towards Spyro. Spyro looked at the Dragonfly indifferently with his glowing eyes, almost as if he didn't recognize the creature. Cynder, the Elder Dragons, and some of the resistance fighters also came outside during this momentary ceasefire. Once Sparx came closer to Spyro, he hesitated and started to remember who the Dragonfly was and what he meant to him. It was at this point that Cynder rushed over to Spyro's location.
"Spyro, please, I need you to come back." She said frighten as she looked at the horrifying dark Dragon that stood before him. Spyro glanced at her with his empty eyes, and then looked at Malefor again, who was waiting patiently for Spyro next move. Spyro growled loudly and was prepared to launch at him, when Cynder got in front of him and prevented him from doing so. "Please Spyro; I know you can't stand to be like this. This isn't who you are." Spyro looked at her again, and the dark aura seemed to diminish a little. Cynder then put her front paw on Spyro's shoulder. The genital contact shocked him out of his nightmare and the dark aura and glowing in his eyes disappeared completely. He collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"It was… so hard. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Spyro said between breaths as Malefor appeared several feet to Cynder and his right.
"I'm glad to see you've finally come to acknowledge the power hidden inside you, Spyro. When you face the Sorceress, I hope you use it. You'll need it." Malefor said as a dark portal manifested in front of him. He walked through it and disappeared. Thomas then approached his grandson.
"Spyro, do you feel okay." Thomas asked concernedly.
"What, what did I become, Thomas?" He asked as he shook in fear, exhausted and drained of energy.
"You became what I embraced and feared, my grandson. You're ready."