Chapter 53

Pure Essence

A gray scaled dragon wiped his brow and sighed. It had been a long and stressful day at the small hospital he worked at and was ready for a good night sleep. Lights in the building were beginning to shut off but the lobby was always open for any late night mishaps. It was rare for anyone to come in past midnight but it was still standard procedure.

As the doctor passed a room, he heard some noises coming from within. He looked at the room number and found it was labeled 106. He didn't recall anyone assigned to this patient at this hour. Then that could only mean . . .

He didn't think of the matter any further as he forcefully pushed the door open to see a patient trying to get out of his bed. He pulled the IV cord out of his front arm, grunting as he did.

"Stay back!" the bright yellow scaled patient warned. He stretched out his gray wings, trying to intimidate the doctor in any way possible. He also showed off his spike ended tail to prove that he wasn't kidding.

"Calm down," the doctor tried to reason, showing little sign of fear. This wasn't the first time he encountered a patient in this state. He still kept his distance but stood in front of the door to prevent any sort of escape. "I'm a doctor, my name is Yashmira. We're trying to help you."

The patient seemed a little more at ease but was still on his guard.

The doctor continued, "You're in a hospital and you've been asleep all day."

Truth was he actually didn't know that. This wasn't his patient so he didn't know who he was. But he had to calm him down in any possible, even if that meant to lie.

"What's going on in here?" A blue dragoness shouted as she ran through the door, only to run straight into Yashmira.

The patient saw his chance and sprinted toward the door. But escape wasn't meant to be. Another doctor showed up just in time for the patient to tumble into him, sending them both to the floor. The patient frantically tried to get away, but the blue dragoness caught up to him and tackled him to the floor.

"Security!" the blue dragoness bellowed as she held the patient to the ground. The patient struggled as much as he could and somehow scratched the blue dragoness' hind back leg in his wild and panicky manner.

"Delilia!" the yellow colored doctor called out in worry.

"I'm fine Static." Delilia clenched her teeth as she felt the mild pain and blood on her back side.

Security finally decided to show up after everything was over. Typical. The security was actually only two dragons. But their size made up for their lack of numbers. It almost looked as if they could knock a dragon out with a single punch.

Security easily took the patient off of Delilia's paws. But before security could take him away, Delilia saw something in his eyes.

"Wait," Delilia ordered, oblivious to the scratch on her. It hurt a little, but it wasn't enough to obviously stop her from doing her job.

"Take him back to room . . ."

"Room 106," Static finished.

Delilia looked at the patient, not mad that he had hurt her, but instead she showed some sort of kindness. "We will let you out of here under one condition. You tell us what happened to you."

"But Delilia," one of the security dragons retorted. "You don't have the authority."

"Then who does?"

"That would be doctor Roughscales."

Delilia sighed. "Fine, I'll speak with him in the morning about this."

Then Static butted in, "In the meantime, what are you going to do with him?" he wonderingly asked, referring to the patient.

"We'll make sure he stays here until everything is sorted out," the guard answered without any sort of remorse.

Delilia snorted in frustration. "Whatever." She eyed the patient and forced a friendly smile. "We'll meet again real soon."

Following Morning

It had been a while since he had last seen this place. Cosmo breathed in the fresh air, filling his lungs for a few seconds. He exhaled, smiled, and continued his leisurely pace.

Cosmo couldn't ever think that he would like the market so much. He had missed the busy streets more than he had thought. Many stalls were set up around the large square, selling food, jewelry, trinkets, and basically everything else. You name a reasonable item and you could probably find it here. It wasn't extraordinarily busy but busy enough to bump into someone if you weren't looking.

The yellow reptile decided to sit down on a small bench in front of a large fountain located right in the middle of the square. He remembered this market well. It was in this same exact spot where he had run across Micha at one time. She showed him Twilight Falls, a sight of which Cosmo would never forget. He wondered how that dragoness was doing. He hadn't heard from her in a while.

The cool morning breeze blew. It wasn't forceful, just enough for it to make it's presence known. But Cosmo noticed something else that was beginning to make itself known. He heard them talking all around him. Murmurs, and every time Cosmo turned he saw a dragoness looking at him in a weird way. In fact, everyone that looked was a dragoness. It had him worried.

He stood to his paws and slowly began to make his way through the crowd, not being forceful as he did. He didn't want any more attention.

When he left the market square, he glanced behind him to see a few female dragons following him. They weren't even trying to be sneaky. Maybe Cosmo wasn't thinking about this whole thing too hard. He stopped and watched them for a moment. They didn't look like the type to attack anyone. But those type's of dragons were always the most dangerous. It kept Cosmo on his toes.

Three female dragons, one white, one a bright orange, and the other a dark pink color, stopped in front of him with the most intriguing smiles Cosmo had ever seen. It almost looked . . . seductive.

"Hi there," the white one greeted, attempting to be as nice as possible.

Cosmo couldn't figure her out. He replied with an uneasy tone, "Err . . . hi? Can I help you?"

"Yes," the bright orange dragoness answered, in the same manner as her white scaled friend. Or Cosmo assumed they were friends. "But only a strong and good looking dragon will do."

Cosmo swallowed hard as he began to get nervous. "Erm . . . e-excuse me?"

The dark pink one said nothing. She only laid a paw on Cosmo's backside, causing him to jump with surprise.

"Hey!" Cosmo yelped. He looked at the other two to find they had the same exact looks on their faces. "Crap."

He didn't think twice to high-tail it outta there. He quickly fled the scene as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran down the nearest alleyway and began making random turns in attempt to loose the three dragoness' if they were trying to follow him. Eventually he reached a dead end.

"No problem", Cosmo quietly panicked in his thoughts. "I'll just sit here for a little while. I can just fly out of here anyways."

"Going somewhere?"

Cosmo jumped. He turned around and spotted the same three dragoness' standing right in front of him. There was no way they were that fast.

"I've already got a girlfriend!" Cosmo pleaded, trying to find any sort of excuse to get out of the situation he was in.

The three dragoness' stopped and just looked at each other. "Girlfriend?" the pink one questionably said.

"Oh well," the white dragoness simply stated with a shrug and returned her look at Cosmo.

Seeing as if persuasion wasn't going to work after all, Cosmo spread his wings and leaped. But he was grabbed by the bright orange one before he could take off. The sudden jerk brought Cosmo back down to the ground . . . on top of the orange one.

"This can't get any more awkward," Cosmo grunted.

Then the bright orange dragoness wrapped all her limbs around poor Cosmo.

"Guess I was mistaken," Cosmo calmly said. Then he began to panic, trying to struggle. Then it hit him, he could just use his strength ability to get out of this easy.

Cosmo concentrated as he struggled to get free. The other two dragoness' just giggled as they too, joined in on the fun. It seemed as if Cosmo's struggling was getting the bright orange dragoness under him aroused. Her moans was evidence enough. But no matter how much Cosmo concentrated, he couldn't unlock his ability.

"Why me?" Cosmo asked himself with fear in his voice. Soon, the other two dragoness' blocked his view from the sky and everything went dark.

Meanwhile

He was late. Delilia was running out of patience waiting in the lobby for Doctor Roughscales to show up. Without his permission, Delilia couldn't help that patient she encountered last night. Sure she had already had patients like that in the past. They weren't any fun. Always panicky and scared of almost anything that moved. It was really hard to give a shot to some dragon like that.

However this particular dragon peaked her interest even more when she looked at the dragon's record. Apparently his name was Darude Lighttail and he went missing around the time during the freak tornado incident. Actually a lot of dragon's went missing during that storm. Maybe Delilia could get some information out of him. She couldn't help but wonder on what happened to all the missing dragons. Surely they weren't all dead. Right?

After standing around for a good twenty or so minutes, she finally sat down in the waiting room on the chair closest to the door. She kept tapping her foot on the floor as she waited, as if she had some song stuck in her head.

Then Delilia noticed a pink dragoness enter the building. She had blue fur across her spine, which wasn't that common in dragons. She recognized this dragon as Micha. The poor dragoness had her love taken from her by some black dragon that attacked him. She remembered he was a red dragon by the name of Torch. Micha had been coming into the hospital nearly every day, spending time with that dragon. Even though he was in a coma, it seemed to make Micha feel at ease. Delilia watched her for a few moments, finding nothing else to do.

Micha walked up to the counter, wearing that unhappy face she always wore.

The receptionist had spoken first. "Morning Micha, here to see Torch I assume?" He tried to be as friendly as possible toward the broken-heart dragoness.

Micha simply nodded.

"Then you know what room to go to. Visiting hours end at eight p.m. Here's a pass." He handed her a small card, which could be hung around the neck to make carrying it easier.

Micha placed the pass around her neck and made her way straight to the room where Torch was, paying little attention to everyone else.

"Sad to see something like that."

Delilia turned to the source of the deep voice to find the one who she had been waiting for. "Doctor Roughscales," she simply greeted. The dark brown dragon smiled.

"Doctor Delilia," he replied with a smirk.

"You know how much I hate that," Delilia sighed. Doctor Roughscales was smart and was nearly the largest dragon who worked in the hospital. He was harmless thought but that didn't stop him from being quite a character.

"Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Define gone."

Doctor Roughscales frowned, "Late."

Delilia finally shown a smile. But they both had work to do so she had to get straight to the point. "I'm just gonna come out and say it. Do you mind if me and you switch patients?"

The doctor looked confused. "What for?"

Delilia quickly thought of something to help her out. "He woke up last night and was acting kind of strange. He tried to escape from the hospital but lucky me, Yashmira, and Static was able to stop him. Security took him somewhere."

"Somewhere?" Doctor Roughscales interrupted. Then he noticed Delilia's wound from where the patient scratched her last night. "What happened there?"

Delilia looked to where he was referring and quickly answered to defend the patient. "He was frightened. I don't think he meant to."

"Delilia," Doctor Roughscales began. "Patients like this, they are dangerous. Yes, they need all the help they can get, but in this case, I don't think that statement stands. The more doctors there are around him, the more frightened he may get."

"Please?" Delilia begged.

Now this was quite rare. Doctor Roughscales couldn't believe what he just heard. "Did you just say . . . please?"

The blue scaled doctor just nodded.

"Good enough for me. But you better be careful around him." Doctor Roughscales sighed but it felt like he just lifted a burden off his back and placed it on someone else. But he trusted Delilia. "Security probably moved Darude to a more secure room. I'll let them know you have my permission to see Darude."

Delilia smiled, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Then he smiled. "Doctor Delilia."

"Don't push it."

Meanwhile, across the hall in room 118, Micha sat comfortably in a bedside chair. She was lost in thought, but every now and then she would look at the bed to see Torch. His chest wound was covered with medical bandages but had to be changed every so often. She hated to see her mate this way. It was grievous. It wouldn't surprise her if she had shed more tears in this one room that she had anywhere else in her entire life.

The hospital bill wasn't helping either. But every so often, Micha would receive a donation to help pay for it when that time came. These donations were thoughtful, but who was doing it?

Meanwhile

Cosmo opened his eyes to find out he was sweaty. He was in a bed, covered up all the way to his neck. The room he was in was fairly warm, maybe that was why he was sweaty?

Then it hit him. Those three dragoness' that were chasing him. Did they get their way with him after all?

A sigh came from beside him. He froze, afraid to look. He slowly turned his head to see a blue dragoness with purple wings, halfway covered up. She still seemed to be sleeping. Cosmo looked out the nearest window in the room. The sun was high up in the sky. How late was it?

Apparently those three dragoness' that were chasing was just some part of a dream he was having. That was the only conclusion he could come up with. He was glad to be with Kali, but there must have been a reason they were still asleep in the bed, especially considering since it was nearly noon.

"What happened last night?" Cosmo wondered.

He laid on the bed in thought for a few moments. Without any recollection of the night before, he sighed and looked over at Kali. She was turned the other way but Cosmo could tell she was still sleeping.

Then he finally decided to get up. Carefully and quietly he made his way out the room, doing his best to not disturb Kali. Successful, he looked around for Isis. Every room was clean and there was no sign of the cat. Cosmo hadn't had the chance to even see her yet. He hoped she was fine. Besides, what kind of trouble could a cat possibly get into?

Cosmo had a lot of questions but no one to answer them. He looked around the living room itself one last time before making his way into the bedroom he and Kali slept in. There was one thing he had been meaning to do for a while now. He just hoped Kali wouldn't mind.

He snagged a music box from the beside table, still being careful to not wake up Kali. She stirred as he grabbed it, but was still sound asleep. He left the room without second thoughts and made his way through the back door. He didn't want to disturb Kali.

He shut the door behind him then became satisfied when he heard it click shut. Cosmo took his seat on the stone steps under him and began to make the music box come to life. The music box played it's melody, making Cosmo feel a wave of nostalgia. He remembered when he first found it in a dresser underneath a pile of rubble in what used to be the owner's home.

"Cosmo."

Cosmo snapped to attention. "Kaida."

"It's good to hear from you," the voice said in Cosmo's thoughts. "So, how was the fairy world? Anything interesting happen?"

Cosmo wasn't surprised that she knew about that. "It was actually quite an ordeal, thanks for asking."

"Ordeal? Very fancy."

Cosmo smiled, "Good to know you haven't changed."

"Why would I?" Kaida said with a hint of amusement. "I have no reason to."

"I'm glad to hear that. I think my life would be less interesting if it wasn't for that random personality of yours."

"Random? I'm not that random. Well sometimes I am but who isn't?"

Again, Cosmo smiled. "True." Then he grew more serious on another matter. "A lot has happened since I last spoke to you."

"Yeah like being attacked by that meanie Phantom and being saved by, and I quote, 'rainbow farting fairies'."

Cosmo let it slide. "I'm more worried about Phantom. I need to ask Shivertail, or that Chronic fellow on how to-"

"Chronicler," Kaida interrupted. "Ignitus to be more formal."

"Right." Cosmo thought in his head, rolling his eyes. "How to change Phantom back to normal."

"Oh him?" Then she began speaking into Cosmo's mind in a whisper. "I know how to change him back to Clover."

Whispering wasn't necessary but Cosmo could picture the goofy smile she was making in the process. "How so?"

"It's . . . a . . . secret."

"That's very useful information," Cosmo sarcastically thought. "What would I do without you."

"Cry, starve, or be lonely." Kaida said plainly. "But don't worry about that. My sister has been doing a good job on taking care of you."

The way she said it was almost like she knew something he didn't. "What do you mean by that? Do you know something about last night?"

"I know about that dream you had. Very comical."

"There's nothing funny about that!" Cosmo quickly replied. If it was one thing Cosmo was shy about, it was these type of things. "I was raped in that dream!"

"Which makes it even more funny!" Kaida was laughing at this point, making Cosmo's face turn red from embarrassment. "Recollection of last night is going to hit you like a shovel!"

"Wait," Cosmo said nervously. "Does my dream somehow have something to do with last night?"

"Well I'm sure you've got a lot of things to do so I'll let you go," Kaida giggled, ignoring Cosmo's question altogether. "You're on your own."

Then the presence left Cosmo's mind too fast for him to object. He sighed, closed the music box, and went back inside. He crept his way into the bedroom to find that Kali was still asleep. He put the music box back where it belonged and left the room. That dragoness must have stayed up late if she was still sleeping.

Meanwhile

Ignitus had waited in Star's room for some time now. Shivertail had sent Star's caretaker Felenia to ask Spyro and Cynder for their presence in the Elder Hall. That white scaled assistant was doing an exceptional job but right now, he wanted Spyro and Cynder to see this with their own two eyes.

As if on cue, Spyro and Cynder entered the room, followed by Felenia.

"Ignitus," Spyro greeted. "What's wrong? Your message sounded urgent."

"Indeed it is urgent," Ignitus replied. "Not even I had expected to see this."

Without another word, he stepped to the side and revealed a small dragon toddler on the play-mat, carelessly playing with a pile of small wooden blocks. He was completely white. His wings, scales, belly, everything. The only thing that wasn't white was the dragon's pupil's which were black.

"Hi", the toddler greeted, looking up at the two new visitors. He sounded as if he had known how to talk for a good while.

Spyro and Cynder looked at one another. Then Cynder politely asked, "Who's that?"

The toddler stood to his feet and introduced himself. "I'm Star the Dragon. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Cynder sat speechless, unable to say anything. Her mind was blown away by what just happened.

"W-What?" Spyro went, dumbstruck by the situation.

Ignitus had a grin on his face by their reactions. It passed quickly as his serious attitude took control. "Star has been growing too fast over the past few days. I believe the process has ceased as of right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it started again."

"He's also a bit smarter than your average toddler," Felenia added in.

Cynder studied Star a few moments. He just smiled at her without a care in the world. "But why?"

Ignitus seemed a bit distressed. He looked back at Star then moved in closer to Spyro and Cynder and whispered, "The evil that approaches the city is moving at a fast pace. As such to this unfortunate predicament, Star must grow at a fast pace as well."

"Does he know any elements?" Spyro asked in a low voice.

Ignitus shook his head and continued to whisper, "No. But that time will come sooner than you think. It's up to the six to train star in all of the elements, but there is still one missing. You may know him as Phantom, but his real name is Clover."

"If he's the last of the six," Cynder began. "Then how will we change him back?"

Ignitus looked at the two of them and could tell that they wanted to help. It was exactly what he was hoping for. "There is a dragon out and about in the city by the name of Jaggle. Find him and ask him for pure essence. I'm sure he will know what you are talking about."

"What does he look like?" Spyro asked, intrigued by this Jaggle.

"He's all red. Shouldn't be too hard for him to stand out in a crowd. But unfortunately he works all over the city."

Cynder was in thought a few moments before she asked, still whispering. "What does he do around the city?"

"He hunts for dark beings and saves them. With pure essence, you can reverse the effects of convexity, changing the victim back to his or her original state. You need to find him, ask him for pure essence, and use the essence on Phantom. I hope that he changes back without coming to any harm. You may ask Cosmo for help if you wish. The more eyes there are the faster we can save Clover."

Spyro nodded. Then someone else entered the room. A large gray dragon looked at everyone in the room and it looked as if he was out of breath.

The guard hastily reported between breaths, "Dark beings . . . outside . . . need help."

"Dark beings!" Felenia gasped.

Ignitus heavily sighed, "They must be trying to kidnap Star."

Star looked unaffected by the news. He was still mindlessly playing with his blocks on the play-mat. Spyro studied him for a moment then looked up at Ignitus. "What do you want us to do?"

Ignitus shook his head in distaste. He looked over at Star and saw how carefree he was. "I hoped it would not have come to this. But we have no choice. Star must not be harmed or kidnapped."

Cynder saw what he was getting at. She too didn't like it. "Kill them?"

"We have no choice," Ignitus slowly replied. "We cannot save them and we cannot risk Star's future. I want all of you to guard the hall. I will stay with Star in case any of them slip by."

Spyro nodded, understanding what he had to do. He turned around and made his way down the hallways, followed by Cynder and Felenia.

Meanwhile

Delilia waited in Darude's room while the patient slept. She figured he had a long night so she didn't bother waking him. Besides, he needed his sleep. She didn't really know what was wrong with him but all her questions would be answered soon. The blue dragoness still didn't know why she had sympathy for Darude. The room she was in was more secure than room 106. Slightly larger with a door that was nearly impossible to break down, ensuring that the patient wasn't going anywhere. It almost felt like a prison to Delilia.

Finally the patient stirred. Delilia perked up as he did and watched him as he opened his eyes. The first thing Darude saw were Delilia's eyes. They seemed calm and collected. It soothed him somehow.

"'Bout time you woke up," Delilia smiled.

Darude was calm as he sat upright in his bed. "Where am I?"

"Hospital," Delilia simply answered, leaning back in a nearby chair. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

The yellow dragon didn't at first. But he thought hard and recalled the moment. "Sorry about that. Are you alright?"

Delilia shrugged. "I've been better. But more on to the point. You remember my offer from last night? That I would let you go if you tell me what happened to you?"

Darude nodded. "Yes, I remember. Although I don't think I'm ready to talk about it."

The blue scaled doctor frowned. "I understand." She stood to her feet and made her way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Darude asked, watching her every move. Delilia could pick up a hint of worry in his voice.

"I figured you might want some time alone to think."

"Can you stay here with me? If you don't mind. I really don't want to be alone right now."

Delilia observed the patient a few moments before showing a slight nod. "Of course."

Meanwhile

Spyro rushed out the wide doors of the Elder Hall to discover dark beings and guards, attacking each other relentlessly. It made Spyro sick. These were citizens of Warfang, yet there was nothing they could do about it. He just had to deal with it.

Cynder and Felenia also looked at the same sight. It wasn't pretty.

Without warning, a dark being rushed Spyro.

"Spyro look out!" Cynder called out.

She leaped at the dark being and collided against his side before he could leap onto Spyro. The two of them tumbled a few feet before Cynder ended up being on top. The dark being was growling as it pushed Cynder off and onto the ground beside him. But as soon as he did, Spyro was there to put him down with an ice spike through the head. It went clean through, sticking him to the pavement below, killing him instantly.

"At least it was painless," Spyro convinced himself.

When Spyro got a good look around, there had to be at least twenty to thirty dark beings around him. He knew there were two advantages he had over a dark being. A dark being is incapable of flight and is also incapable of using any elements. But they made up for that by sheer numbers. Thirty dark beings may not have seemed to be a lot, but if there was only a couple of guards posted at the Elder Hall, then you had a problem.

"Quit daydreaming when we have a crisis on our hands!" Cynder snapped, bumping Spyro on the side on purpose.

Spyro was quickly brought back into reality to see a few dark beings heading toward him. He noticed Cynder was fighting one herself so he wouldn't ask for he help on this one. The purple dragon hatched an idea and breathed ice all over the ground in front of him. Immediately, the ground became slick, causing the three dark dragons to slip, fall, and slide towards their waiting doom. Spyro saw his chance and launched an earth missile at the closest one. The sheer impact against the dark being's head more than enough for Spyro to assume he was dead. Two left.

The dark beings managed to stick their claws in the ice and balanced themselves up, only to be covered in intense flames by the purple dragon. The two of them growled but pushed themselves forward. They found that ice had melted by the flames, giving them better grip on the ground to push forward. But as soon as they were close enough to actually attack, one of them dropped to the ground, too weak to move. The other one managed to swipe at the purple dragon, but it was futile. He didn't have the energy to fight and he also fell to the ground.

Spyro felt his elemental energy drained but he was still ready to go on. He took a deep breathe to calm himself. Ignitus always told him that you could fight your best when you are calm and alert . . . and to wipe that smug of your face.

Cynder however was beginning to get overwhelmed. She didn't know what happened. For every dark being she killed, two more took it's place. It was getting rather vexatious.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted.

The black dragoness found her surrounded by six of them. They all growled at her with possession in their eyes. She couldn't use fear without harming one of the guards around her. So she relied on stealth. She closed her eyes and as quick as a blink, she vanished from sight. The dark beings looked at each other, obviously trying to find her. It was hard to tell what they were thinking considering how emotionless they were. Spyro smiled as he realized what she had done.

Then one of the dark beings slumped to the ground. He had large gash marks around his throat. The one next to him also fell with the same fate. Soon enough, another one fell. The three remaining dark beings turned and retreated from the scene. One of them didn't even take two steps before he fell dead. The remaining two didn't even notice.

A nearby guard noticed them trying to run and tackled the closest one. The dark being let out a loud growl at what just happened, but didn't have enough time to notice that the guard had actually impaled him with his horns. He was done for.

Cynder caught up with the other dark dragon and noticed that there was no one to get in the way of her fear. The black dragoness finally reappeared behind the dark being and screamed a deafening screech, causing him to fall to the ground with both paws on his head. It gave Cynder the chance to catch up. She hesitated, but remembered Ignitus's words. All it could take was one dark being to kidnap Star. Then she ended his life by her poison without a second thought.

Satisfied, she turned around and found herself stunned.

"Oh no."

More dark beings shown up out of nowhere. In fact, that was all she could see. The dark beings filled the street and Cynder grew more than worried about Spyro. He could take on a few dark dragons sure, but this many?

Cynder found her legs carrying her as fast as they could as a bright light began to envelop the entire scene. Before she could make it, she found herself closing her eyes to protect herself from being blinded. The light was too bright.

Spyro's POV

Spyro watched as Cynder had the last two dark beings on the run. He smiled, turned, then his frown returned. He saw a lot of reinforcements heading their way, and not the good reinforcements either. He turned to see how many guards were looking at the same scene. One was finishing off one dark being while the remaining four guards were too stunned for words.

"We are so dead," one guard murmured in fear.

Spyro swallowed hard, but stood strong. He faced more enemies than this during his adventures, but not at one time. Could he do it? Could he, Cynder, and five mere guards take on this entire mob of dark beings by themselves?

"Star stop!"

Spyro flinched. He looked beside him toward the Elder hall to see a white dragon toddler running out of the exit and onto the street. "Star!" Spyro shouted.

Star looked upon the closing group of dark beings. Spyro expected to see fear, but he never did. Star still kept that same smile as he always did.

"Behind us!"

Spyro looked behind them, there were dark beings covering the street there as well. Things were not looking good. He just hoped Cynder was safe.

The purple dragon was overwhelmed. He didn't know what to do. He looked toward Star to see Ignitus behind Star. Ignitus also saw the overwhelming odds of them actually winning this battle. But he didn't seem as worried as Spyro was. Ignitus leaned over toward Star's side and began to whisper. Spyro couldn't understand what he was saying, but in a few moments, it wouldn't matter.

Spyro took a defensive stance, ready to fight what was seeming to be his final battle, then he caught something in the corner of his eye. He looked, then saw Star becoming enveloped in a lustrous light. Spyro looked back at the enemy to find them nearly on top of them, then became engulfed in a bright light. He closed his eyes, unable to see anything. He didn't know what happened. He didn't feel death. So was he alright?

Then Spyro heard someone fall to the ground. Then another one. And another one. Soon, it sounded as if a whole wave of dragons were falling to the ground.

"What's going on!" Spyro yelled, hoping someone would hear him.

His question answered itself. The light soon faded away and Spyro's vision returned. It was blurry at first, but everything soon came into focus. His eyes grew wide at what he saw. All the dark beings . . . weren't dark beings anymore. From what he was able to see, every dark being that was in front of them and behind them were lying on the ground. Every dragon had also reverted back to their original color.

"Spyro!"

He turned and saw Cynder running toward him. She jumped and wrapped her arms around him as he was tackled to the ground. It knocked the breath out of him but he was too happy to mention it. He just hugged her back.

"I thought you were done for!" Cynder explained as she calmed herself down.

"Glad to see you're alright as well," Spyro smiled.

Cynder let Spyro back up off the uncomfortable ground. She asked as he stood to his feet, "What happened?" The guards were also wondering the same thing.

Spyro looked over toward the Elder Hall's entrance to see Ignitus and Star. Star however was jumping up and down in joy.

Spyro, Cynder, and the guards made their way over to the two of them, hoping to have their questions answered.

"Ignitus," Spyro began. "What just happened?"

Ignitus looked at all of them and could tell they wanted an explanation. Spyro couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Perhaps we should go indoors before we speak."

Meanwhile

Darude was quiet the whole time Delilia stayed with him. Almost as if he was asleep. His eye's were open so Delilia thought otherwise, but it would still be a little more comforting to at least hear him breathe. He was being very quiet.

"Sorry," Darude suddenly apologized out of the blue in a soft tone.

"What for?" Delilia asked.

"For what I did last night," the yellow scaled patient answered. "And for not telling you what I remember."

"It's alright," Delilia assured, shifting positions in her chair.

"I was just scared to tell someone," Darude explaining confidently. "But someone needs to know what happened."

"If you're ready to talk about it then I'm here."

Darude smiled the first smile Delilia had seen from him. But that smile didn't last long. "I was out late one night, trying to get home from a late shift at a local restaurant I worked at. The road I take usually had a few dragons hanging around, but because it was so late, it was empty. As I walked home, I was attacked. I thought it was a thief trying to steal what gems I had, but before I could get a good look at him, I was knocked out."

"Sounds awful," Delilia said as she imagined the moment.

"I woke up without any control of my body. No matter what I tried, my legs wouldn't respond. It was as if I were possessed. Then I noticed I had changed colors. I had the blackest scales I ever seen."

He paused a moment then continued. "I lived in this body for years. I was in no control of whether I ate, slept, or even if I attacked someone."

A tear came to his eye. "I remember attacking so many dragons."

"Hey," Delilia interrupted. "You wasn't in control so it wasn't you."

"Wait," Darude began. "Do you actually believe me?"

A moment passed until Delilia nodded. "Truth is, you aren't the first dragon to pop up in the hospital with that story. Recently there have been others like you. At first I didn't believe it, but as more and more dragons shared that story, the more I believed it."

Darude was in thought for a moment before Delilia showed her usual smile and continued. "Well . . . a deal is a deal so I'll let you go."

"Just like that?"

"Well I have to. There isn't anything physically wrong with you so I have no choice but to discharge you."

"Where will I go?"

"That is entirely up to you."

Meanwhile

There were quite a few bodies on the street to clean up after the whole mess ended. But luckily most of them survived and were rushed to the hospital with the help of the guards. Someone had to do it after all.

Spyro, Cynder, Felenia, Ignitus, and Star were back in Star's room.

"Where was Shivertail during this whole crisis?" Cynder asked in an annoyed tone.

"He's been looking for Isis," Ignitus answered, watching Star playing with his blocks. It was as if the incident of them being attacked never took place. "The fairy has been ready to change her back and we have the material we need."

"It's not like he could have predicted this Cynder," Felenia said.

"I know," she replied. "It could have been worse, but we just got lucky."

"Ignitus," Spyro began in wonder.

Ignitus forced to show a comforting smile. "I already owe you all an explanation." He turned to look at Star as he explained. "Star is fundamentally a prodigy. I already knew he had this type of cleansing ability. I just asked him to use it."

"I've never seen any dragon with such power," Felenia said in astonishment. "Let alone a toddler."

"He's growing faster than you may consider," Ignitus explained. "It won't be long until the six themselves will be training him to find his elements. I just hope they are unlocked in time."

"In time for what?" Spyro asked, looking troubled.

Ignitus closed his eyes as he imagined the sentences he spoke. "The attacked that just took place was a minor one. As time passes, more and more citizens will become missing. The only explanation will be that they were changed into dark beings to serve their new master. A powerful human with magical capabilities."

"A wizard?" Felenia guessed.

Ignitus nodded. "Ismeral Nexis. He began practicing the dark arts of the void and used it on other humans, changing them into his personal slaves."

"Like dark beings?" Cynder asked.

"Something like that, yes. Although void magic had a much more powerful effect than convexity, but was more difficult to master. If not cast properly, you would destroy yourself in an instant."

"How did someone like this survive for this long? And this powerful?" the purple dragon questioned, not liking this Ismeral one bit.

"It's a long story."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

AU: The next chapter won't explain Ismeral's past. Refer to chapter 51 if you have forgotten about him. Unfortunately this will be the only chapter for this story I'll be able to upload. I wanted to get Spyro and Ember 2 worked on and uploaded by I've been spending the last few days visiting my mom in the hospital. She's fine, blood count was low so don't worry about that.

I'll try to get something uploaded by the end of this week while I have the chance but I can't make any promises.