At long last, the fight begins... Healing takes time, though I guess I have been stretching it a bit. Sorry, but I thought some extra story would bring joy.
My sincerest thanks to HolyCross9, sadly the only reviewer of last chapter.
Chapter 38 The Eyes Say it All
Walking side by side, down a long stone hallway, a very large angry beetle looks down at his superior with a black eye. A rage that cannot be satisfied consuming him, and more so, seeing a smile on his general's face, who gave him this optic present.
"I know what you're thinking, Sergeant..." Praxus remarks with his grin widening, glancing up at the one who made him look foolish before his men. "...but you should also know that I was ready to kill you, for your insubordination, and if it wasn't for the Dragon King Terrador... as well as Spyro...a black eye would have been the least of your worries."
Grubz rustles his wings in a show of frustration, but does not speak of the disciplinary action taken by his general, and friend. Instead, he grins himself, and talks of the only thing he can to get back at his superior.
"Well, you still hit like a fly, General."
Shockingly, Praxus fires back immediately.
"Then I guess you bruise like old fruit, Sergeant."
It is not like the general, whose stern command brings respect from all his soldiers, and Grubz loses his grin. He does not understand how this Mantis had changed so much, but is it for the better.
This is a question he must have answered.
"What have I not seen, Praxus?"
The mantis general holds his steps, and looks at one of his most respected soldiers, who he still cannot believed betrayed him.
"A lot, Grubz."He answers, breaking ranks as he speaks to a friend, and not a lower ranking officer.
"You kept your eyes closed when he arrived, and more to this, you did not listen..."
"To him!"The large beetle interrupts, and Praxus gets closer, rising up on his hind legs, staring eye to eye with Grubz.
"No. You didn't listen to me."
The large beetle's eyes change, realizing how disrespectful he has been to his general; his friend. It sends a chill down his spine, and in this instance, sergeant Grubz understands what he did wrong.
"I...I..."
Praxus places a hand on Grubz's shoulder, feeling the pain that is all too familiar.
"He is not our enemy, Sergeant. He never was..." A very small smirk crosses his face, knowing what Spyro has done in the past. He has saved the world, but has also taken the life of his daughter.
"...and though he has caused us both great pain, I can see it in his eyes, and his heart...this was not Spyro's fault."
Grubz's eyes change again, and Praxus backs away, giving the large beetle his space.
"You honestly believe that, General?"
It surprises Praxus, hearing the seriousness in Grubz's question, but this shock does not influence his reply. He places his hand upon his daughter's name, branded on the armor he wears.
"With every fiber of my being, my old friend."
The large beetle takes a deep breath, looking to the end of the tunnel, and the busy city at the other side. His duty to the citizens of Truex begins to settle the fire that still burns within, and he looks down to his friend and commander.
"Where is the rally point, General?"
Praxus smiles, then returns to his path towards the exit.
"For now, we are moving the women and children to Lake Zorex..." He begins, and Grubz nods his head, knowing this lake is twenty miles away, and a safe place from the Arachnids."...and the gardens are being transplanted to the Xeron Forrest."
"Do we know the extent of their forces?"
General Praxus nods his head, pausing before he reveals a staggering number.
"More than a million."
Grubz holds his next step, but only for an instant, as the thought of this army requires instant action. No more words are necessary, as the large beetle and his general emerge from the palace dungeon. He finds the first issue he can help with, and without another order, Grubz gets to work.
"Let me get that son..." He says to a young bumble bee, trying his hardest to lift a chest twice his size. With no effort Grubz lofts the heavy box, filled with the lives of an entire family, placing it beside several others on a large cart. "...go with your mother and sister. They need you to protect them on the journey."
The little bee salutes the soldier, his eyes filled with honor and thanks.
"This is what you are when your eyes are open..." Praxus remarks, placing a hand on Grubz's shoulder, as he watches the boy head south with his family.
A voice suddenly calls for help, and though Praxus' eyes are to the trouble, the large beetle is already moving to the situation.
"...and when you listen."
The general watches as this massive beetle takes control of a big problem for a young hornet, though it is little issue for him. Grubz hoists another chest onto a cart, then adds the boy to the cargo.
"This one is full...Move out!" The beetle calls to his men, who have harnessed themselves to these large carts, helping in any way they can.
Praxus, a bigger grin crossing his face, opens his wings. He is no longer needed here, and is compelled to return to his majesty, for his next orders.
He never gets a chance to leave the ground, as a sudden rumble beneath the mantis' feet grasps his suspicion. Then his next orders become clear, as a small hole begins forming in the street before him.
Then another,
and another.
"GRUBZ!" he barks, watching an almost volcanic eruption of spiders, billowing from the first hole created.
The large beetle, only a few feet from a geyser of arachnids, draws his sword and goes to work; however, he is quickly overwhelmed by dozens of small spiders. Grubz shakes off the pain of venom; swatting, slashing and stomping them a fast as his large frame will allow.
Acting as pawns, the wave of small arachnids draws attention, stinging and spaying silk before being squashed, covering the ground and filling the air with sticky silk. It begins impeding every grublin's ability to move quickly, slowing the large beetle's arms, and halting his wings from taking to the sky.
Grubz, does not panic, not even as the holes in the street widen, forced open by larger and more violent intruders. He strikes the first to emerge with his sharp blade, splitting the arachnid in half, then takes this momentum to the next enemy, spearing the long blade through its chest.
His eyes quickly find Praxus, whose skill in battle has kept him up-right, but is losing ground against the overwhelming numbers that keep increasing. The large mantis' wings are coated with web, as well as three of his arms, however, his sworded appendage continues to flail, clearing a path to a family of bees being cocooned.
Hundreds of soldiers flood the streets, both grublin and arachnid alike, fighting for their respective lives, though their objectives in battle are far different.
The large beetle, watching another family being taken down, trudges his way through the thickening web coated ground. He grasps the first arachnid he can get his hands on, ripping it off the small hornet it just encased, and tearing it apart with rage-filled strength. He then delicately slices the web around this boy, freeing him to fly.
"EVERYONE OUT OF THE CITY!" He orders, watching as the elite guard pushes back the first wave of spiders, but knowing their advantage of size and strength is not gonna hold for long. Especially as a dozen new holes begin to form.
He cuts the boy's mother free, helping the elder hornet to her feet, and pointing a clear way to escape.
"Go now...hurry!"
The large beetle takes pride in seeing them clear the danger, and more so, watching the entire city of his people rise from the rooftops. The grublin race will continue strong, and this thought is comforting to Grubz, who knows his time is short now.
Unable to fly himself, feeling the restriction of the sticky silk binding his arms and wings tighter, the large beetle rages up for one last stand.
"Mom. Dad. I'm coming home."
Grubz uses his brute strength to free another arm, and grasps the sword of a fallen grublin soldier, turning to the massing group of arachnids, still being feed by more and more holes. He improves this rage, spitting his last words against the one he hates most.
"I only wish you were my opponent...SPYYROOOOOO!"
The large beetle charges, but after taking a single step, the ground gives out under his feet.
Grubz begins falling, however, to his surprise, his momentum reverses, pushed upward by an unimaginable sight. The queen of the arachnids emerges from the collapsing street, grasps the large beetle falling before her, and prepares for her first meal. She drives her fangs into Grubz's chest, who struggles in pain to break free, but finds it impossible to move from her clutches.
The arachnid leader overwhelms the massive beetle with venom and silk, petrifying her meal for easy consumption, though the proud grublin continues to fight within. Grubz, seeing his opportunity to die with great honor, uses the last bit of strength he has, and thrusts his swords into the queen's exposed midsection. To his surprise, they break on contact with the magically shielded queen's chest, and his heart breaks harder. He has lost this last battle, and as his eyes fade from the pain of poison, a flash of white light, and a crackle of thunder, welcomes him home.
Seconds earlier, and around the corner from this carnage, the only remaining dragon in Truex is still mending old wounds made by her brother in law. That is until a small hole opens to Pearl's right.
"What the hell is that?" She wonders briefly, or as long as it takes for the first few spiders to emerge.
The white dragoness quickly understands the sudden danger, and while still holding the middle right arm of a young beetle, Pearl lights up the fissure.
The intense heat from the white and red chested dragon's mouth incinerates everything crawling out, but also singes the antennae of the grublin before her. He stares at Pearl with shock, but also gratitude, for she ended a tense situation before it even happened.
"Zip..." Pearl orders, seeing another hole open, then another, and another. She turns to the small Cicada, who remained with her for translation duty. "...tell everyone to get out of here!"
The white dragoness, zaps another cluster of arachnids, leaving only a fine dusting of ash on the ground. Pearl overwhelms these creatures with her power, but knows she cannot keep up with the numbers emerging.
"Hurry!" She continues, pointing toward an open area she just cleared with her powerful breath of Light, however, it fills right back up with more and more of the blood thirsting arachnids.
"We're cornered!"
Pearl quickly realizes the group with her is trapped, and though these grublins have wings, most cannot use them well enough to fly away. Their old injuries inhibit fast movement, forcing Pearl to come up with another idea for escape.
"Tell everyone to close their eyes when I says so, Zip!"
The small Cicada nods his head slowly, in confusion, then speaks in his native language to the group of frightened grublins, readying them for Pearl's action, whatever it may be. He cannot understand why she would want everyone to take their attention from the danger, but as a dull glow begins to fill the white dragoness' muzzle, Zip readies to shout.
"Now!" Pearl barks, firing a tiny orb at the ground.
"Now!"
Almost every grublin shuts their eyes, with the exception of one, as Zip could not help his curiosity, keeping his eyes on what is happening. He regrets it the second this tiny orb slams the surface of Truex's cobblestone streets, sending a luminous flux of intense Light that brightens the square with the power of ten Suns.
No one can withstand the white out, except the Light dragoness herself, and she quickly takes the advantage of sight over her enemy.
Pearl snatches the tiny Cicada beside her, who now writhes in the same pain as a thousand blinded spiders. She then shepherds the injured grublins away from the fight, for these wounded warriors would not last long in a battle against so many,
but Pearl knows her fight is not over…not by a long shot.
For now, she must take to the skies, aiding the grublins that cannot get away under their own power. The white dragoness hoists the weakest up on her back, then leaps away from danger, heading up to the countless refugees, escaping from the rooftops of their homes.
"ZAPELLA!"
Pearl's eyes quickly find the queen, as momma is flying directly towards her son, terrified beyond imagine. The remainder of her family, only seconds behind, begging their matriarch to stop.
"My baby!"
Pearl quickly hands over the young child to his mother, still holding his eyes closed, crying in pain. As a mother, the white dragoness knows every emotion she sees in Zyla's eyes, and feels them ten fold as her paws contact the frightened Cicada.
"He'll be fine, your Majesty. It's not permanent."
Zyla, cradling her child, grateful he was taken from danger, looks to Pearl with gratitude.
"How can I tthank yooo..." She cries, for the last of her children are accounted for, and no longer in peril.
Pearl just nods her head, feeling her gratitude, however her focus is quickly to the ground, as the battle intensifies below.
"No need, your Majesty; however, I must get back down there now."
Zyla, seeing the same thing, hands her son to her oldest daughter Zola, who takes her little brother in tow.
"Zax. Zyla. Get everyone to the lake..."
Zax, her oldest son, grasp's momma by the arm, holding her still as he also sees the emerging danger below.
"No mom!" He argues, but her intense eyes are to the nearly adult Cicada, who quickly releases his mother's arm.
"Please, mom... Don't." Zax cries, as the queen of the arachnids reveals herself, and her size.
Zyla places a soft hand upon her son's face, smiling at him before gazing upon her daughter, who cradles Zeppela like her own. The former queen then looks to the skies, and the entire population of her city, making their way south. It eases Zyla's heartache, knowing the lives she was in charge of are going to make it, including the ones she cherishes most.
"I was ready to die for my people today, Zax..."She says softly, but is startled, like every other grublin and arachnid, as a tremendous crackle of lightning fills the air. Even Pearl looks up at the cloudless sky with curiosity, though she has a good idea of what, or should I say who, is coming. Especially when the sound is followed by a brilliantly intense flash of Light, blinding the eyes of everyone for a few seconds, but her of course.
"Hello, my darling daughter, are you in need of assistance?"
Standing outside the recovery room, where a young yellow dragoness has been given a place to rest alone, Blazer watches contently as her chest rises and falls with strong healthy breaths. The soot upon her face, cleaned with care by nurse Rose, and the bandages on her right shoulder, fresh and free of blood.
Her soft snore puts a smile on his old muzzle, as he truly realizes this youngster is out of trouble.
"Your race is truly amazing, Zaxxon." Blazer turns his eyes down to the small hornet-like Grublin, who steps out of Wattney's room, wiping his hands of the ointment spread upon her wound.
"Thank you, Master Blazer..." He replies and after a translation from the dragonfly on his right side, he offers his own praise to the draconian race. "...and if I may say so myself, you dragons are the toughest creatures I have ever seen..."
He looks to the small whelp, who is no longer in life threatening danger.
"...even your young females."
The old Guardian takes pride in hearing such a compliment, but inside he is still in pain, for the one drake he thought was the strongest of all, let him down.
Suddenly, Jacob and Jasper walk into the infirmary, both calm and collected. It completely surprises Blazer, for he had already begun thinking of prepping the orphanage for a newcomer, as well as thoughts on a replacement
"Did Scorch come back, already?" He asks, and Jacob shakes his head no.
Blazer is stunned silent, seeing the nonchalant attitude displayed, especially after the hysteria Jacob showed ten minutes ago, however there is a different look in his opaque eyes now, which do not try to find his father.
"He'll be fine, Master Blazer..." He replies, focusing his senses to the room before him, and the smells that guide him. "...but she is afraid, and I need to be here for..."
Jacob's eyes suddenly lose their focus, and he finally looks up at the large red and black dragon.
"Do we know her name yet?"
Blazer shakes his head, for this young dragoness is unknown to him, nor has she regained consciousness to tell anyone. Jacob then turns his attention to the antiseptic smell of the Grublin surgeon, whose hands give his position away easily.
"May I enter her room, sir?"
Zaxxon simply nods his head, forgetting about Jacob's handicap, as the blind dragon is sure footed and accurate with his movements, but the blue dragonfly on his shoulder gives a verbal response. With that, Jacob walks in, his paws padding softly as he moves.
"How is she, Ms. Rose?" He asks even softer, taking a very strong sniff of her aromatic perfume, before sitting beside the cheetah nurse.
"She is resting..." Rose pauses as another gentle rumble sneaks from Wattney's nose. "...comfortably."
The blind dragon reaches out a paw, softly stroking the yellow whelpling's neck, producing another rumble of contentment.
"This poor girl has suffered so much..." He remarks, feeling the subtle blemishes on her scales, left there by multiple whippings. His paw suddenly comes to a stop, feeling a deep scar that was made purposely, exactly where the one on his brother's neck sits.
"How could they do that to a child?" The cheetah nurse offers, feeling the same anger coming from Jacob, as his paw remains upon the crowned K brand left on Wattney's neck. Though, with his paw settled upon a sore area, the young dragoness promptly wakes, and backs away even quicker.
"Where am I? Who are you? Where's my mom?"
Both Jacob and Rose are startled, but not as much as Wattney, whose eyes scan the unfamiliar room a hundred times a second, and even as her eyes find nothing but smiles from the two standing before her, the young dragon remains tense. That is until she notices Blazer sitting outside her window, and her fear falls away
"Wow...that's a really big dragon."
Jacob's chuckle turns her frightened yellow eyes to his, and the smile on his face settles her further.
"His name is Blazer, and he was the one who rescued you."
"No! It was two Kodiaks that saved my life." She replies defiantly, recalling the ones who helped her escape hell.
Wattney's eyes soften and her heart breaks, as one of her heroes she knows is gone.
"My friend, Kale, sacrificed himself to help me get out..." The yellow dragoness pauses, composing herself, recalling the other large bear who risked his life for hers. "...and then this other large brown Kodiak, killed the jerk that stabbed me. He picked me up, and held his paw on my shoulder while carrying me. But then I passed out...cause it got real hot."
Jacob smells nothing but the truth in her words, and though they are confusing, he doesn't argue. This first meeting must go well, or she will never trust him.
"Do you know what the other Kodiak's name was, Sweetie?"
Wattney looks down, trying to recall if she even heard him say it, however her eyes find that bear, sitting in the room next door.
"It was him!" She says excitedly, pointing a paw towards the window adjacent to her, where Quincy remains bed ridden with significant injuries.
"He was the one that carried me out...I think."
Jacob, unable to see the way she points, looks towards a brick wall.
"Hmmm..." He sits upon his hind quarters, returning his eyes towards her, but not exactly on target. "I'm not sure either, but I would love if you would tell me all about it."
The young dragoness settles completely, realizing she is no longer in danger, but more so, feeling the attention she is getting from the dragon before her.
"Who are you?" She asks, reaching out a paw towards him, realizing he cannot see her.
Jacob lifts his paw, surprising Wattney by taking it with a gentle grip, as if he can. He then places his other paw atop, following her arm up to the shoulder, then finding her face to hold softly.
"My names is Jacob. Can you tell me your name?"
Feeling as comfortable as she has been in six months, the young dragon answers without caution.
"Wattney."
Jacob's paw cools slightly, sending a soothing chill through the young dragoness, helping to ease any pain she feels.
"That's a pretty name." His voice is even more soothing, and Wattney's first smile is felt in his paw, helping to ease Jacob's pain. The blind Ice dragon turns his eyes to the window, and gestures a paw for Jasper to come, though he is actually facing Blazer.
"I don't think he wants me." The red Fire dragon remarks with a joking tone, for he cannot fit through the door.
Jasper grins, but takes no time in answering his brother's call.
"You need me, Jacob?" He asks upon entering, and the blind dragon returns his opaque eyes to Wattney.
"Yes," Jacob pauses, turning to Wattney's nurse for more information first.
"Will you be releasing her today, Ms. Rose?"
A look of concern fills the cheetah's face, for the news she will give may not bring joy to the young girl.
"No, Jacob, Wattney needs some more treatments on her shoulder. It would be better if we kept her here for the night."
The welpling's expression changes, but Jacob's does not, and he rearranges his plans immediately.
"Jasper, can you go back to the Orphanage and get my cushion, so I can sleep here tonight."
Wattney's grimace leaves, hearing she will not be alone, but Jacob's next request brings the pearly white smile everyone was hoping to see.
"Also, in my black satchel, is nine gold coins. Take them to Samuel's store and get a Lightning crystal for Wattney to play with, please."
Jasper acknowledges his brother, though, before he can leave, Jacob thinks of one more thing. Of course, the heavy rumble from Wattney's stomach aids in his thought process.
"Wait..." He begins, holding his brother's retreat, but pausing to make sure his next request is allowed.
"Is this young lady allow to eat yet, Ms. Rose?"
Wattney's eyes open wide, and her smile increases as the nurse nods her head, then answers in the positive.
"I'll bring some fruit back too, Jacob..." Jasper responds, already knowing the last request, and adding a provision of his own. "...I'll also grab a few of those truffles you have stashed in the cupboard."
Jacob's eyes open wide, and he snaps his head towards the door his brother leaves from.
"How do you know about them?"
Jasper stops and looks back with a very cheek grin, sending off so many pheromones that Jacob can smell his arrogance from thirty feet away.
"You're not the only one with a good nose, brother."
Jacob's eyes return to the young girl before him, using them the only way he knows how, showing her the confusion and regret for what was just learned.
"I knew I didn't eat that many the night before...that Jerk." He bickers softly, and his eyes change again when Wattney chuckles. Her scent is weak, showing she has no fear, but it is Wattney's joy, vibrating the air that eases Jacob.
"How did you know my element?"
The blind dragon once again reaches a paw out, touching the cheek of this young whelp. His smile increase as Wattney does not back away from him, instead moving forward to meet his paw.
"Your scales tingle with static, just like mine feel very cold to you."
Wattney raises a paw to Jacob's, holding it tighter to her face, enjoying the cool touch after feeling nothing but the heat of burden. She stares deep into the eyes that say more than they can see, finding a pure willingness to speak to them.
"Can you make snow?"
He nods his head up and down, and readies to accommodate, thought a paw upon his back stops the Ice dragon cold.
"Ahhh...Jacob..." Rose remarks, realizing snow is made of water, and that would not help her bandages or the bed she needs to rest in...warm and dry.
"...please don't do that in here."
Jacob's eyes speak of disappointment, and it only improves Wattney's feelings, as she can see he is truly devoted to her joy.
"It's okay...you don't have to."
Again, Jacob's eyes change as he returns them to her, and his infectious smile comes back too. It places the young dragoness into a very relaxed state, as if she were with family. However, even as happy and content as Wattney feels, her stomach influences the next question.
"What's a truffle?"
Once more Jacob's blind eyes change, and the Ice dragon begins to chuckle.
"Are you kidding me? You never had a truffle before?" Jacob gets comfortable, lowering down on his stomach, and looking up at the young girl before him. He can feel her total attention, and like he did when Scorch arrived in his world, Jacob makes a good friend in moments.
"I think you were wrong about him, Blazer..." Clayton remarks, witnessing everything from outside Wattney's window, as well as the confrontation ten minutes earlier. "...that whelp is so much like you, it's not funny. I have no doubt that you picked the best replacement."
A small grin crosses the century old Fire dragon's face, but that smirk is short lived as Clayton adds to his assessment.
"In fact, I see him surpassing you in many ways, Pop."
The large dragon, intrigued by what was said, and the tone in which it was said, looks down at one of his former children.
"How so, Clay?"
"He is willing to let his children be free."
Blazer lifts a massive paw, placing it on Clayton's back, and pulling him to his side.
"It was war time...I had no choice." The old dragon grumbles, recalling the fear he felt every time one of his children went missing in the Dragon City, and how he never wanted them out of sight.
Clayton chuckles, hearing his concern, but mostly his love. The old gray dragon burrows himself deep into Blazer's side, missing the warm embrace of his one time father.
"I didn't mean that, poppa." He replies, and again Blazer locks eyes with Clayton's. A smile on his face as he reveals the small issue he had.
"You never let me play Claw Ball either."
The large Guardian laughs himself, remembering how small this Earth dragon was upon arrival to his orphanage, though his spirit did not show his size. He raises his forearm, allowing Clayton to slip under his chest, then holds him against his back scaled chest.
"You would have hurt them, if I let you play." He whispers, reciting the same thing he would when this dragon was a whelp, helping boost a tiny gray spirit even further.
At this very moment, feeling the contentment of a former son, and seeing the fatherly ability of another, Blazer loses the little remaining conflict he felt about his life, and how he has lived it. Hundreds of face pass before his memory, and not one without a smile, including the one child he truly thought was lost
Spyro had never seen the Great Elder this frantic. Not even when Sparx laid a wreath of roses on the blind dragon's eyes, while he was asleep, darkening his sight with the colorful red pedals as he woke.
Diamond had thought everything around him was dying, as the flowers lost their auras, and he freaked out. Though this is a different type of fear, as this concern is not for himself, but for one of his most prized possessions.
"Pearl!" He cries, climbing into the sky far enough to see Truex, and the horde of grublins now rising from the city.
Spyro comes up beside the Great Elder, stunned by how nervous he is, but understanding of these emotions. He would feel ten times worse if Cynder were in the city, and that is when it strikes him.
His gravid wife is on the way, and may actually be there.
"Cynder!"
Both white and purple dragons begin transforming into energy; Spyro using his Electrical powers, and the Great Elder using his element of Light. The two streak across the sky, arriving in Truex within a thousandth of a second, filling the city with thunder and blinding light.
Spyro strikes the spire of Truex's place, as it was the only point he could see from five miles out. However, Diamond, was able to move to any place he can remember, is already on the city street, standing next to his daughter.
"Damn...that old dragon is fast." Spyro remarks with pure shock, feeling as if he were left in the dust, even moving like lightning. A slight grin befalls the hero, as Diamond clears the way for his daughter and several others, alleviating some of the pressure on his shoulders.
Spyro's eyes then turn to the sky, where the group they left behind closes in fast, taking even more stress from the purple dragon.
That is until a call for help comes from below.
"ZZZPYYRRROOO!"
Praxus, nearly cocooned within an ever thickening web, looks to the sky in desperation. His last arm, still flailing his sword, slowing down as yards of silk are thrown from the increasing army of arachnids. However, his call is not for himself, but a friend, who is in a more desperate way. The fighting mantis swipes his blade through another, then points the bloodied sword towards Grubz.
Spyro quickly sees the queen, and the grublin she has encased below her. His time is short, and so he uses it, holding the moment for a faster rescue. The purple dragon swoops down from the palace, landing before the invincible queen without being seen, and taking the large bundle from underneath her.
For good measure, Spyro balls his fist, and punches the super slow moving arachnid. It does relatively nothing, with the exception of lifting the powerful dragon's spirit.
Still holding time, Spyro turns his attention to the other grublin in mortal danger, taking a now fully bound Praxus from harm's way. Though, with a huge flailing bundled beetle occupying both arms, Spyro is forced to dig his hind talons into Praxus' webbed body, and take off.
"OWWWW!"
Spyro grins, hearing the muffled, but healthy, scream understood in any language, confident his new friend will live. But, in his arms, the decreasing movement of the large beetle is of great concern. The purple dragon pulls his arms in, pressing Grubz' bound body against his chest, freeing up a paw to help his sworn enemy.
Spyro cuts into the web with a sharp talon, exposing the large beetle's face to air, which he takes in as fast as he can. The pure exhilaration of oxygen is overwhelming, though the the sight of his rescuer is not.
"YOU!"
With the split in the fibers of the web around him, weakening the binds on his entire frame, Grubz rips his upper arms from the cocoon, and quickly wraps them around Spyro's throat.
Even in this moment, the grublin beetle cannot keep his rage in check, willing to kill the Butcher of Zandera, and his family. He would fall to his death from the height Spyro has climbed, but for a beetle trying to find his way home, it causes little distress. Although, unlike the last time he tried for vengeance, the purple dragon fights back. With his free paw, Spyro drills Grubz in the face with a solid punch, knocking the large beetle into a new thought process.
Cover up.
"ARE YOU STUPID!?" Spyro barks in his face, staring hard into the eyes Grubz didn't cover, showing the fierceness he has in battle.
This is not the same humble dragon he watched begging for forgiveness, though Spyro's eyes remain the same purple color. Not like the pure white eyes of the black dragon that overwhelmed twenty of his men.
"I will knock your ass out!" Spyro continues angrily, moving outside of the city walls, to a clearing where he can help his other friend.
The purple dragon, hovering five feet from the ground, releases a still half bound Grubz, allowing him to fall flat on his back in a soft patch of grass. He then gingerly grasps, Praxus from his hind paws, slicing the web open from top to bottom.
The mantis general pulls himself from the cocoon, leaving the constricting coffin of web he was sure would be his final resting place.
"Thannk yooo, Zzzpyrro. Yooo zzavved mii liiffe...agaainn."
The purple dragon smiles for his friend, but then returns an angry pair of eyes to the other grublin, pulling himself free of the web with an attitude.
"How dare you drop me?! You murdering bast...!"
Spyro, understanding one word clearly, reaches out and grabs Grubz by the chest with his talons. Using the last fraction of his Time manipulation, the purple dragon's paw moves unseen. He loses his hold on the clock, face to face with a stunned, and now writhing in pain, beetle.
"If you call me a murdererone more time...I swear, by the Ancestors, I will prove you right."
Praxus' eyes open wide, not just because the purple dragon buzzed a perfectly enunciated grublin word, but he is now seeing a side of Spyro he has never shown before.
A strong side.
"I did not murder your family, or anyone else for that matter." He continues adamantly, still holding the large grublin with one single paw. He shows off the power and strength he possesses over the insect race, a power he has not used against anyone in Truex, until now.
Not even the rage-fueled energy used in the dungeon, where Spyro's Fury lifted the palace off its foundation, comes in comparison to the strength the hero produces in his one paw. His eyes turn pure white, and the scales on his body begin to darken, but do not go full black, leaving Spyro in total control of this rage.
"I made a grave error in judgment, and I must live with that, but I'll be damned if you think I did this on purpose."
Grubz is placed softly on the ground, as Spyro calms and returns to his normal color, though the luster of his purple scales are dull and faded.
"Everything I have done from that day has been to correct a mistake. One, I know now, I can never make right." Several tears fall from the tip of Spyro's muzzle, fueled by the stream of emotions he cannot stop.
"I hurt you, and I would give my life to take back the pain I caused..." The purple dragon's tear-filled eyes return to Grubz, a hint of anger behind the glazing of moisture. "...but I can't."
Spyro rises up on his hind leg, standing a full head and shoulders over the large beetle.
"I will no longer insult you, by begging for your forgiveness... cause I know it will never come. But I will not roll over and die for you either. So, if you don't want to forgive me, for being a dragon that can make mistakes, I understand." The purple dragon lowers to all fours, staring eye to eye with Grubz.
"But don't seek revenge, cause that will never come for you either."
Grubz is stunned silent, as Spyro turns his eyes to the walls of Truex, where the sounds of destruction begin to swell.
"However, I will beg you to put aside your hatred, and help me defend this city."
Praxus, standing beside the bitter pair, clues the purple dragon in on a fact he is not aware of.
"KKinng TTommazzzz hazzz zzpokkenn. The zzzity izzz to beee abannddonneddd."
"What!?"
Grubz watches as Spyro's eyes change from anger to fear, and is stunned as this emotion is brought on by the concern of a mutual friend.
"What about Queen Zyla? Did they execute her?"
Praxus smiles, for he knows his next words will ease the tensing purple dragon, but more so, as Grubz demeanor has changed too, standing at ease beside the fierce Butcher of Zandera.
"Nnooo worrrriizzzz, Zzpyrrooo. Heee nnammeddd herrr Ammmbazzzaaddorrr. Zzyllaa willl beee finnne."
Grubz again is impressed, seeing true relief in Spyro's eyes, however, he is not fully ready to shake hands with this dragon.
Not yet.
"We should not be standing around out here, gentleman..." He remarks calmly, as a few screams of those stuck behind clear the walls. "...there are still grublins in the city that need our help."
Spyro's eyes change once again, showing pure amazement, as general Grubz seems willing to fight with him. It sends confidence into the large beetle, feeling this dragon is equally fallible in both judgment and emotion, like everyone on Avalar, but it is his willingness to accept blame, and the humility in the way he did, that now sways Grubz to look and listen.
"After you." the large beetle gestures his hand for Spyro to lead, and with a bump from his grublin friend, Praxus, as well as a grin that shows a new found confidence in this moment, Spyro opens his wings to fly.
From high above the clouds, the world still looks so big, especially to one who has never seen it like this. Scorch's fear of heights, a thing of the past, never closing his eyes as he gazes down from Tempest's back. The pair, gliding together in the strong currents, once again waiting for Cynder to catch up. So for the time being, the blue Wind dragoness allows the wingless whelp to sight see.
"I wish I could do this everyday, I cannot believe how cool everything looks." He remarks with astonishment, standing up on Tempest's back and walking towards her tail, his eyes focused on a waterfall beneath them.
"The colors are crazy from way up here."
Tempest smiles, though as she looks down too, the high flying dragoness notices something strange. A rainbow of color shines from the falls below, unlike anything she has seen from the sky.
The blue dragoness pauses, looking back to the south, seeing a small speck approaching fast. Knowing Cynder will see her drop from the sky, Tempest lowers out of the high winds, a need to investigate something never seen before.
As she gets closer, the mists wafting up from the crashing waterfall envelope both dragon and rider, embracing them with the warm energy of the ancestors.
"Holy sh..." Tempest curbs her quarry mouth, remembering a child stands upon her back, though the feel of pure energy puts her in such a comfortable mood.
"Woooow!" Scorch cries in ecstasy, absorbing more ancestral energy than he has his entire life.
Tempest lands on the ledge of a cliff, overlooking a rainbow of water pouring down from hundreds of different colored crystals.
"My words exactly, Scorch." Tempest seeing a shadow enlarging beside her, looks up to find the same amazed look on Cynder on Onyx's face.
"Can you believe this, Cindy?" She asks, as the black dragons land to her right, neither of them paying attention to who spoke.
"By the Ancest..." Cynder's words are halted by a strong up-current, slamming all four dragons with a powerful blast of revitalizing energy. However, her amazement is not from this feeling of pure blissful energy, but the sight of Scorch, and something she never saw before.
His wings.
"Scorch! Look!"
The tiny dragon is startled by her words, as his focus was on the colorful vapors swarming his body, and a voice in his heart that spoke so soft. He quickly turns his head, where Cynder is pointing, only to see the trailing image of a pair of fiery wings.
"Holy shit!"
Cynder looks at Tempest with a sour grin, but she returns it.
"I didn't teach him that, honest!"
Both girls grin, but bring their attention back to Scorch, who continues looking around for the wings he just had.
"What was that?" He says in an excited panic, stopping to beg for an answer from the two adults.
Sadly they have none to give.
"I don't know, Sweetie," Tempest answer, already hearing sadness overwhelming this child's heart; however, her eyes come across a possible reason for this, as a vein of blue crystals jut out from the falls.
"But, I have a thought."
Tempest opens her wings, leaping out into the mists, hovering before the thick blue gemstones.
"That is an Ancestral Crystal..." She begins, pausing to take a breath in the saturated air. Though, before she can continue, a voice is heard by both.
It is not the same voice for Tempest, as the past masters of Fire softly speak to Scorch; however, the words she hears come stronger than a whisper, as Typhoon himself begins his teachings.
"What's happening, Aunt Cynder?"
The fear in his voice is equal to the fear felt by the shadow dragoness, as both Scorch and Tempest are taken into the mist, which seems to be drawn to the pair.
Onyx's eyes open wide with amazement, filling with the light of a bright fire. Scorch begins hovering alone, a pair of flaming wings appearing from the powerful mist of water, flapping as if he owned them his entire life. He climbs a few feet from Tempest's back, as the wind dragoness begins swelling with the same energy.
"Get down!" Cynder suddenly understands what is happening, as she and Spyro have experienced this same phenomenon.
Both dragons, hovering in the mist, explode with the power learned, forcing Cynder to cover her nephew from the blast. Though, unlike the overwhelming surge of energy that expanded away from themselves, the ancestral power strikes her softly, like the mist coming from the falls.
She turns to her friends, hoping to see they are unharmed as well, and to her satisfaction, Tempest is once again holding the tiny red whelping in her paws.
"I had wings. Mrs. Tempest! Did you see them?!" Scorch cries, though they are once again missing when he looks back, but he saw them, and this vision fills his heart with hope.
Tempest, still overwhelmed by a voice that spoke of great power, hugs the tiny whelp, taking some of his joy for her own. She is confused by a single thought, never believing a humble dragoness like herself would be taught a technique that Wind masters beg the ancestors for.
"What's... the barrier?"
Scorch's question snaps Tempest back to reality, as she did hear what was heard.
"You heard that too?"
With a simple nod, the blue and silver-white Wind dragon flies with great haste to her friend, looking deep into the green eyes of Cynder, seeing the only one around that will understand this new power learned.
"I can make, The Barrier!"
"What?!" The black dragoness balks, as the last dragon that could do this was Typhoon himself.
"That's impossible! Are you serious?"
Cynder's enthusiasm allows Tempest to lose all fear, and she looks at Scorch with a smile.
"Can you make those wings again?" She asks softly, and Scorch looks back at the nubs on his back.
"I don't know..." He begins, concentrating his hardest to make them come back, but sadly they do not. However, Tempest keeps smiling, as she heard everything he was told too.
"Whoa!" The tiny red dragon cries out as Tempest tosses him into the air, but his fear of falling takes hold, so to do his new-found wings, which open out wide to catch the rising currents. His fear begins to subside, looking down at his friends for the first time on his own, however, his lift also subsides, as the flaming wings begin to fade too.
Tempest reaches up, picking the small dragon from the sky before his wings dissipate, patting him on the head for his cooperation in a small test of the powers learned.
"He said fear will make you fly, Scorch...remember?"
As the boy recalls the voice heard with a certain understanding, Tempest looks at Cynder with a smug grin, for another test must be made.
"Now watch this..." She says confidently, using her free paw to remove Typhoon's helmet.
Cynder, seeing a simple technique any wind dragon can perform, reaches out her paws under Scorch, knowing he will fall through Tempest's palm as she turns into her element. However, she is stunned silent, as the Wind dragoness keeps her grasp of both the helmet, and the wingless dragon.
Scorch is stunned, as he heard the same words she did, but understood only one thing. He looks down at the ground below, through a transparent paw made of Wind, and with the same dumbfounded voice, repeats the only thing he heard from her ancestor.
"So this is The Barrier..." Scorch turns to Tempest, looking through her eyes to the falls behinds, but seeing her every emotion. He reaches out a paw, placing it on the transparent dragoness' nose, stunned that he can feel every single scale.
"...that's cool, Mrs Tempest."
The excited dragoness grins, and his paw suddenly passes through her face. This stuns Cynder more, as the young dragon is still being held up by her paw.
"How are you doing that?" She asks, reaching for Tempest's arm, and feeling a sturdy muscle, but again, the Wind dragon shows off her new skills, and Cynder's paw suddenly finds nothing but air.
Her shock is immense, as Scorch still stands on a solid platform, just a few inches from where her paw cuts through.
"Typhoon showed me..." Tempest replies, her enthusiasm increasing with every second she holds Scorch aloft. That is until her translucent eyes look back to the waterfall.
"Oh no..." Her smile fades away, seeing a now lusterless blue gem.
Scorch suddenly falls through Tempest's paw, as her mind is distracted by the sight. Though, feeling his body influenced by gravity, the wingless whelpling uses his new power, brought on by fear.
"Hey!" He gripes, but then smiles as his paws touch softly on the ground with the brief aid of his fiery wings.
"Oh... never mind."
Cynder, on the other hand, sees the sadness in Tempest's eyes.
"What's the matter?"
The Wind dragon returns to normal, staring at the dull blue gem that gave her so much, saddened that it cannot give more.
"I wanted you to hear Typhoon too."
The Shadow dragoness smiles, as her friend is truly upset for taking all the knowledge of a rare blue crystal. She places a paw upon Tempest's shoulder, turning her eyes towards her.
"I have heard him... and many others, Temp...don't you worry about me."
The blue dragon smiles again, as Cynder's words and demeanor show she is not upset in the least. In fact, the shadow dragoness increases her friend's mood, by begging to see the new technique with a child's exuberance.
"Now, can you show me that again."
So what's next...
Cynder and Tempest finish sight seeing. Spyro and Grubz take on the queen together. Jacob becomes a father, again. And Diamond gets a lesson in the rules of War.