Chapter 53: Blood and Fragments
By Dardarax
Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do not own Spyro, Cynder, the Guardians, the Temple, Warfang, or any other characters or places belonging to the Spyro franchise. I do, however, own many characters, whose names are listed at the bottom and whose suffering is totally not my fault this time but GoldenGriffiness, so mob her for once you ingrates!
Every breath made agony screech through his lungs as his aching legs strained to carry him away. The air stung his scales, his own element ravaging wound that wept crimson.
The cavernous corridors were swamped in murk and uncertainty. The only thing truly evident in the dank miasma was towering glass surfaces, mirrors that reflected the retch he truly was tenfold- beaten, bloody and alone. Every time one of his twisted reflections snarled at him he would flee, only to be confronted by a dozen more.
But all he could do was run.
If this was his mind, a twisted and mangled palace of glass… then all he could do was run.
He'd tried to smash some of the mirrors, but those jagged and degrative pieces of him had only sliced into his hide. After all, who could fight themselves? Certainly not a wretched faggot like him.
"They'll all see it eventually."
Typhous let out a yelp and heaved around. A mirror split through the gloom, a face of silver scales and flinty azure eyes snarling.
Typhia tossed her horns imperiously and Typhous could only wince away as she lifted one long-clawed paw to step from the glass prison that contained her. "You'll ruin it all for yourself, just like your wretched family ruined ours. They'll all see you for the twink fairy you are and you'll be left in the dirt where your ilk belong."
Typhous gagged on the bile in his chest. "I-I never wanted to hurt you. Or a-anyone."
"Well you've done quite a bad job of that, now haven't you?" Stomach twisting in half, he turned. Vash stood straight, staring down at him with a curl of disgust disfiguring his face. "Focusing on your own petty and twisted attraction issues when your friends needed help." Suddenly the towering dragon was right in his face, all writhing snarl and hard eyes. "When the one you think you love needed help?"
Typhous ducked back with a hitched breath, only for the momentous force of a pawswing to crash into his cheek and sent him slamming straight through another mirror. He let out a cry at the feeling of his splintered reflection digging deep into him, trying not to roll into any more of his own jagged edges.
He forced his eyes open again while a little wheeze of a whine escaped his chest. That was a mistake – twisted fragments of his face arrayed around him, portraits that cut through his attempts at glamour and showed the miserable wretch inside.
He threw his gaze up away from the horror below only to find a horror above. He shrunk away from the towering circle of disgust, even if it made the shattered glass push further into him. "No… Please."
He couldn't even see their faces through the mask of murk and shadow, but the shine of teeth around disgusted grimaces and the glint of eyes narrowed in distaste were clear enough.
"Help." Typhous begged, one shaking paw stretching to the mob.
The dragon he had been looking to turned his head away. "Why are you looking at me like that? Ugh, creepy fag."
He had nowhere to run, caged by towering figures on all sides. He could only sink further into the shards and hide hisface as the tirades stormed down on him, piercing him far sharper and far deeper than the broken glass ever could. He raised tattered wings to hide from the reality of himself.
All he could ever do was run. It was all he could do right. Run as far and as fast from his problems as he could. Run from his friends, from his friends' problems, from the truth that he wanted anything but to hear.
"What if he watched us while we showered? Ugh. I wouldn't put it past a freak like that."
He'd never.
Please...
Even if he was broken he'd never hurt anyone!
"You've hurt your friends – your family – through your negligence." He shrunk away from the familiar voice of his father, the enveloping nest of glass cutting him open. The blood didn't drown out the shards, he wished it would. Wished the blood would drown everything, even himself.
"I… I can't believe you! How could you think about me and Vash like that? You know us, you know we'd never…" Sleet retched.
He never wanted to hurt one of his oldest friends.
Words refused to come, no answer, no excuse, could absolve him. He squinted his eyes open to plead, only to see Igneous spitting molten bile at Typhous' paws.
"I can't believe you'd keep a secret like this from us, Ty. Why?"
"You know why, Iggy. How can we trust someone like that around us?" Sleet huffed, shuddering. "You know how they're like. The awful things they do."
No more. It was too much. Beneath the cover of his wings Typhous cowered, trying vainly to block out their words, their insults. Digging endlessly into his chest, his lungs, his heart.
It was a nightmare. It had to be. None of this could be real. His friends would never…
Would they?
No, of course not!
…Then why had he never told them?
On all sides they pressed, faces shaded dark and twisted nearly beyond recognition. Voices rose, accusing shouts, demands and under it Typhous felt his will crumble. The voices of his friends, his family, bearing him down.
It was fake. Yet the thought echoed hollow. For there was truth to this elaborate lie. The best kind of lie. The sort of lie he spoke all the time, when he told Savron, the others, how much they meant to him and why he went on the adventures with them. The truth lost in a labyrinth of lies.
A furious purple face crossed in front of Typhous. Savron's snarl, his hate ringing distantly in Typhous's ears and digging barbs into his already bleeding heart.
"You should have helped me."
Savron.
"You left me to a monster."
This wasn't the real Sav. Of course he wasn't. He was still trapped, still ensnared by that beast.
"Of course, maybe the real monster was beside me all along." A purple paw shoved him down further into the shards. It seemed that there wasn't much left of him now, only blood and fragments.
How was there any of the glass left to pierce deeper?
If only Typhous could escape Then maybe he could help save him, help make everything right. Redeem himself. Come clean about the lies, his failures, what he was.
Even if what he was a monster.
"Why would you call yourself a monster?"
They were in his head now, too? Granted all of this was in his head, but that actually felt like it was in his mind.
He didn't want anyone to see inside of him.
"I'm trying my best, Ty, but it's difficult to block out your private thoughts and still converse like this. Sorry, by the way."
"Keep your eyes on us, little Grey Queen." His attention was dragged back to the looming shroud of grimaces. There was a sort of dissonance in the voice in his head, like it was a piece of different puzzle then the world around him.
It felt real.
"It only is if you let it be. Listen, Ty, I need you to focus."
Savron's claws shoving into his shoulder felt real enough. There was not a whole lot he could do about the situation, surrounded by his looming assailants.
The strange, yet familiar voice grew distant, a mere echo in the mirrored halls of his mind.
"You're giving it too much power, Ty! Just look away, focus! Reply to me, anything! I can help!"
Burying his snout in his bloody paws, he shut his eyes and tried to ignore the wash of agony threatening to drown his wretched mind. "Th-this is a dream, right?"
He couldn't hide the pleading note. Couldn't hide the doubt.
Above him, the mirage snarled into his ear. "Oh but this is your dream, isn't it?" The claws dug deeper, scoring his shoulder. "Me on top of you?" The claws pushed him further down, icy shards flooding agony through his veins. "You disgusting faggot whore."
Typhous froze. The frantic calls faded into the background as an icy realization gripped his heart.
He knows.
Typhous found himself sobbing. He couldn't help it. He couldn't change what he wanted, no more than a normal dragon. Couldn't change those dreams. Couldn't change anything.
Each heaving breath dug the shards deeper.
"I should really just put you out of your – and everyone else's – misery." The voice shifted to a purr. "This is going to hurt."
Shining claws rose.
The Shade's attempts to escape Tirren were futile.
Shadowed claws screeched across stone, chipping the armour she wore but doing little else as she advanced. Moments later the damage done was gone, restored by the endless cascade of earthen power rushing out of her. She returned the favour with a strike of stalactite claws. Molten stone armour splintered in a spray of sparks, the Shade's defenses sundered as he staggered back from the blow. Tirren didn't recognize his curse, but none the less reveled in it as she lined up another swing.
Crimson fear washed over her, the Shade's scream rending ear and soul alike. For a split moment her heart ceased beating. Limbs locked, mind frozen as total, irrational terror coloured the world in dark, bloody red shades. Shadows swelled, the Shade towering over her, looming as he had before, filling her vision as he prepared to fill her world.
The crash of power against her mind, the wrack of stone splitting scales and core ripped her from the waking nightmare. Power unbridled seeking escape once more. Tirren cursed as she focused inward, corralling the power once more. Her stone armour stabilized, pain fading.
It took only a few seconds, but that was all the Shade needed to take flight, to escape the muddy earth, her domain. Eyes of burning green narrowed, a smirk splitting a canyon across her face. Or so he thought. Moron seemed to have forgotten what she could do, even before her fury.
With a thought she was in the air, stone catapulting her straight up towards the retreating purple. He had only time to gasp and throw up a wavering violet barrier before she struck, an emerald comet against a sheet of amethyst foil.
The hastily cobbled barrier folded, crumbling like the fragile, desperate expression of the Shade. Then she was upon him.
If he really thought the air was an escape from her, he needed to be brought back down to reality.
So Tirren did just that.
Into frozen mud they crashed, digging a trench five meters long. Soil and earth cushioned her fall, softening to slurry as the impact hurled her from the Shade's body, to slide through the muck with only the crack of her stone armour splitting on impact. The Shade wasn't so fortunate.
Through the rush of blood to her head the snap of limbs sounded, accompanied by an all too familiar scream. Vision spinning, Tirren winced.
Please don't let any damage be too permanent. No matter how much he pissed her off, crippling him was… an all too real possibility. Dammit, why did this have to be so complicated! She couldn't not fight and just let herself get raped! But what if she pushed him too hard, what if she made a mistake! She was fighting for her life and with power she could barely control! All it would take was one mistake and… and…
The Shade was on his paws. Thoughts rattled as Tirren shook her head, aligning her mind once more. Focus! Now was not the time to stew on thoughts! Action, she needed action!
Fairy lights faded around the Shade, who turned to her, her clumsy charge across the battle-scarred glade drawing his gaze. The light dimmed, shadows darkening around him and Tirren's eyes went wide. No! He wouldn't get away, she wouldn't let him!
Earth and mud lurched, hurling her forward as the Shade plunged backwards into his shadow once more. She reached him just in time.
Shadows snapped shut, the verdant glow sealing the dark tight around the Shade's waist, lower half completely submerged but leaving the rest stranded in the sun-lit world above.
Tirren landed with a crash and smirked as she met the Shade's widening eyes. Oh that face was just priceless!
Shadow-flame smudged stone armour black, wings extended to try and widen the shadows below, but to no avail. Half-blind, Tirren lunged forth and struck, tectonic muscles bunching.
The impact rippled through Tirren's leg, a satisfying 'crack' resounding throughout the quiet glade.
Shadow magic collapsed, the portal rupturing as the Shade's head snapped back. All at once he was ejected, body lurching from the shadow, driven by magic and force to flip through the air. Then he vanished again, the lingering shadows clinging to Tirren's eyes blocking her view. Gah! Blast this magic! It was so bloody annoying!
Snarling, Tirren clawed the darkness from her eyes, the glow of her channeled fury burning the shadows away in mere moments. A shake of her head cleared it of the last ragged clumps of darkness and she searched the glade. She found the Shade a few meters away, already on his paws, jaw hanging limp. Tirren winced. Ooh, sorry Sav. That broken jaw wasn't going to be fun to deal with.
Incandescent white eyes met hers, narrowed tight. Through sundered muzzle he groaned, a low hum that droned white noise. Everything slowed, mind clogged by static as exhaustion bore down all at once. Limbs dragged as if through mud, Tirren's advance halted.
Then the power surged through her once more. Focus returned, crystalline as energy cleared all away. Sleep? Hah! How could she even think about sleep when she had this much power, this much vigor?
A stride forward solidified her resolve and she looked up to meet the Shade's gaze once more. Fairy light faded, his sneer returned as his jaw snapped back into place, only able to buy enough time to heal himself.
He couldn't stop her, not with fear, ice or dream. He couldn't escape her, not with flight or shadow. Tirren's grin widened. She could do this!
"I'm done."
The avalanche of thought and motion faltered, Tirren blinking at the Shade. Done? What did that have to do with… her stomach bottomed out.
Darkness gathered, chill wind and shadows swirling around the corrupted purple, piercing white eyes blazing from within the gale.
"I'm finished. With all of you. Too long have I toyed with you pests, entertained your flights of resistance in the hopes the futility, the suffering of it all would crush Savron's will." Light dimmed, sunlight waning as clouds of frozen shadows swept through the glade, biting through stone armour and layering it in bleak frost. Red lightning flashed within, fear and electricity joining the building storm of magic.
"I'd wanted to leave you alive. You could've been useful to me broken but living. But after all this? Even your body isn't worth it. Same with the others. Voltlyn, Igneous, Sleet, Typhous, the Shadow Royalty… I'll snuff them all out. Starting with y-"
Raw green power smashed into his chin, shutting him up with the crack of teeth, leaving him to spit blood and white slivers. Served the bastard right for yammering.
Choking, the Shade howled, freezing the ground solid with an enraged smack of his fist. "I will flay your hide from your living bones!"
Tirren opened her muzzle to speak, advancing, only to freeze in place. She could only gawk as the Shade's paws left the ground, lifted by an arctic gale that shone with the light of a furious boreal aurora.
No. He wouldn't, couldn't, not here! Shining green eyes spun over the glade, to the unmoving shapes of her friends. They were standing too close! A fury here, unrestrained, would kill everyone! Maybe even her!
A dozen plans sped through her mind as the Shade rose, the world slowed to a snail's saunter. She might be able to save them if she harnessed all of her fury to create barriers around every single one of them, but she'd be burnt out after all that and there was no guarantee it would hold against a purple's fury, or that she'd be able to get everyone in the few seconds she had to arrange it. She might drag them all underground where the fury might not hit them, but she wouldn't have the power to bring them all back up again, meaning they might suffocate before she could save them. Maybe she could disrupt the fury by… no, it was too late for that, it'd be released no matter what, it'd just mean she was at ground zero and that Savron's body would also take the brunt of it. She reached for the power regardless, ploy after ploy formed and discarded.
Frost crawled over stone armour and Tirren balked, thoughts withering as she met the Shade's frigid gaze. Icicle fangs of gleaming white light bared sharp against the dark, grin bleak and cold as winter.
"Thus it ends," said the Shade. "Die."
The tumultuous fury of earth swelled in Tirren's chest, gathering all too slowly. There wasn't enough time. The fury was coming too fast, adrenaline all that kept her thoughts going at this speed. There was no way she could save everyone. Fangs clenched. That wouldn't stop her from trying.
Sheets of razor ice formed within the gale of wind the Shade's eyes gleaming as he unfurled his wings, to signal the attack.
It was too late. There just wasn't time.
His gaze froze upon a limp white figure that lay between the two furious titans, helpless and tiny before their power. Utterly exposed to the elements about to be brought to bear.
Fury gave way to fear. Tirren could only stare as it unraveled before her.
The rage that masked the Shade splintered, incandescent eyes widening, muzzle falling open. Darkened body tensed and retreated from Lyrith, eyes cast about the glade, to somewhere, anywhere else to let the fury loose. For a moment Tirren stared, uncomprehending, trying to figure out what she saw before her, why the Shade balked at the sight of Lyrith, but no answers came. With a flap of midnight wings the blizzard slowed and condensed, power focused inward, only to roil back out, refusing to be restrained. Icy dread encased the Shade's face and with grasping claws he reached out to seize the magic, to hold it back, to contain the fury.
Contain. An idea snapped Tirren from her thoughts, from her confusion. Time to think later. Time to act now. Just barely enough time, bought by the Shade's blunder.
Earth fury surged as a pyramid of stone swallowed the Shade; power rumbled as the swamp devoured that too, stone prison pulled deep, a score of meters beneath the mud.
Tirren had only a moment to harness her core again, to sweep her friends aside and conceal them, half buried in the earth beneath nearby shrubs, before the world erupted. Mud spewed upwards, frozen to earthen hail as a gale of ice ripped the soft turf away, a geyser of water, stone and muck that tore the tops from the mushroom trees.
From the pit the dark dragon emerged, chest heaving, face strange, relief and rage fused together in a contorted mask.
"Very good, girl. You made me waste my fury."
Eyes of burning green narrowed, temptation to glance at where she'd hidden Lyrith nearly too much to resist. "Did I? Or did you?"
All relief faded, overcome by hatred and spite. Power renewed built in his throat. Tirren just met his gaze and with fury of her own reached for the mud and rock that began its descent back to earth. All it took was a nudge for all the stone he'd sent skyward to come crashing down upon the Shade's back.
Tension flared, power straining against her core as she blunted the fall, weakening it just enough for it to cripple, not kill. An instant later the Shade was gone, buried once more beneath a ton of earth.
It didn't last long. Because of course it wouldn't.
Frozen mud melted to molten slag, bubbling lava that steamed and smoked in the winter air. From it the Shade emerged, shadowy body coated once more in armour of burning rock, which moments later gave way to inky darkness, even lava unable to glow through the Shade's corruption.
"You're fortunate I'm not stable enough to channel a fury, girl. Else I'd have simply done that instead. I'd love to show you how a true master of magic can make use of that technique. The difference between a dabbler and a virtuoso. The difference between you and a purple."
Tirren lunged, paw swinging at his exposed side.
He caught it with a paw of his own, claws locking. Shoving, Tirren put all her body, her core behind the push, green magic blazing. Violet power matched her, the Shade dragged only two inches through the mud before his grip hardened and she could push no more.
The Shade's smirk twitched wide, eyes leveled with hers as she strained against the stalemate.
"In fact," he purred, "I think I will. You've earned the right to die by all the power I can bring to bear." He pushed and Tirren gave ground, mud and stone splitting beneath her paws, digging troughs through it even as her power tried to support her. His eyes burned white no longer, baleful violet smoldering in his sockets. "Feel pride in that, Tirren, as I break you. You made me take you seriously."
"And you talk too much," Tirren said with a snort. An earth bomb spat at his paws shut him up proper.
The explosion lifted both from their paws. Everything spun, blue-orange, to brown-green, to blue orange again as Tirren landed on her back with a splat. It didn't last, on her paws once more in an instant. The Shade was up not long after.
They spun, power swelling in the center of the now empty glade, verdant-green and violet stars blazing.
Neither spoke, no more threats or jests, no more declarations of intent. Just action.
Silence died as, over the crater where they once stood, earth and convexity met in a blaze.
Typhous wanted to let the blow land. He wanted it over. But this couldn't be real.
This wasn't the dragon he'd fallen in love with. It was a bad, twisted, horrible fake.
He didn't want his friends to face what he had. Bunching muscles hurt when you were a glass pincushion, but he did it anyway. Closing his eyes so he didn't have to see himself strike, he rammed his shoulder up with a horse scream.
He felt the false Savron's body break above him and heard his pained shriek. Eyes shooting open again, he watched the cracks spread through the purple drake until there was nothing left, the snarl of pain breaking into shards followed by the rest of the mirage.
That scream would haunt him forever.
"You're not real." He whispered to the twisted pieces. "And you never will be."
He reeled around, ignoring his flesh sting around each mirrored spike. With a sobbing caterwaul of a battle cry he leapt at the swatch of shadows.
Luckily this mirage only dissipated like smoke, not spiked shards and Typhous groaned in relief. His wounds were bad enough already.
Without a glance backwards, Typhous charged through smoke and shadow and into the mirrored hallways. Shouts and curses followed him but he bade them no mind, refusing to let their jagged words pierce any deeper.
Darkness and twisted reflections rose on all sides, false faces seeking to bar his escape, hunting through the murk of mind and thought. Yet Typhous just kept running, like always, deeper and deeper, until the dark grew so deep that naught could reflect on his mirrors. Taunts and curses faded, echoes so distant as to be unrecognizable. Yet still Typhous did not stop running.
It was only minutes later, breath rending throat, sharp as the glass embedded in his hide, that Typhous staggered to a halt, lungs and legs giving out, to leave him panting upon the floor.
He couldn't stop now. He shouldn't. Savron needed him, his friends needed him. Claws trembled, scrabbling against mirrored floor, unable to grip it. There had to be a way out, an escape. Some way out of his wretched mind, back to the real world where he could make a difference.
It was the only way he could redeem himself.
"Why do you need to redeem yourself?"
Eyes snapped open, the whisper driving Typhous to his paws, blood surging. It was here! The Shade! Of course he wouldn't give Ty any chance to rest! It just couldn't stop mocking, taunting, playing mind games! Well if it thought being nice was going to fool Typhous, then it was sorely mistaken! He… it...
Thoughts careened to a standstill, all momentum slipping upon one word: nice. Why was the Shade being nice? And why didn't it sound like the Shade? No! Obviously it was trying to fool Typhous, to lull him into false trust, except… why? Everything else had been so blunt, so direct. Why take the voice of a friend and offer help, when everything it was doing was so damn effective before?
Friend. Wings eased, tension leaving. That was the voice of a friend. But not a close one. Not one Typhous heard from often. Not the sort who would be best to trick him. But which friend…
"Ty, please answer me. I need your help to get to you. The Shade's been learning, adapting to my magic. I can't manifest in your mind unless you help me create an opening. Just talk to me, please."
Realization blew through Typhous's mind, thoughts blown like leaves, drifting to the forefront as recognition rose. That voice, his powers. Of course Vash was still out there, fighting, trying to help. Doing everything Typhous couldn't.
Typhous slouched to his haunches, wings drawn close, quivering. Vash shouldn't be wasting his time with him! He should be helping Savron, saving the others! He was Sav's best hope!
"Ty, please. We need to talk."
Memories drifted, stirred by the breeze of words. Vash and Sleet together in their room as Typhous turned to flee. Them approaching Typhous in the swamp as they walked, begging for just a moment to spare some words.
Oh. Bugger.
Any voice Typhous had gathered was seized in his throat, words stripped bare, searched for any hint of truth and then tossed into prison. No, now was not the time to be thinking about that. Even if they were gay, now was not the time to worry about that! Not that they likely were. Why would they be? They're probably just two friends hanging out! Nothing out of the ordinary!
"It's about what you saw in Sleet's room. About us."
No no no! In the dark Typhous curled, huddled against the cool crystal corners of the mirror walls. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not here, not about this.
"Please, Ty. I… we need to talk about this. I think… I think it might help. Both of us. Please?"
Why? Why now? Why did he have to do this? Liquid eyes burst open, flooding cheeks. Unless this wasn't Vash at all? Was it just another trick?
"I'm sorry, Ty."
Condemnations died at the cusp of speech, faltering as Vash's voice began to crumble.
"I… I should've come for you sooner. But… I couldn't. I… you're in a bad place right now, I can sense it. I knew it after what happened with Sav. And yet I left you alone with this thing for too long. All because I… I was afraid."
Blink. Afraid? Why? How? For what possible reason could Vash be afraid of him? That didn't…
"And… and now I can't even get in there to help you. I went to help everyone else first and now I've got barely enough power to stay in Savron's mind and no crystals left and we've locked each other out and… talking is all I can do here. I can't even hear you anymore, if you can hear me. If you even care to talk with me after what you saw. Please… just… answer me. Please tell me you're okay."
Words poured over Typhous, a rushing cascade that pounded his heart to a bloody pulp, burying it beneath the ruins of Vash's composure. All the cool calm, the collected, reserved strength the dream prince held falling apart with each plea.
"... Ty, I… I have a confession. No, not a confession. But something I need to get off my chest. I don't know if you can hear me, but I need to say it anyway. It's… if you don't want to be friends anymore I get it. If you hate me, I'll understand. But I - we need to tell someone and after you saw…"
Sleet's room flashed before Typhous's eyes, the heap of pillows, the stacks of snacks and books, the pair, Sleet and Vash standing side by side, so close yet just far enough away. Their wide eyes, their tense bodies, the rush to their words as they hurried them out.
It wasn't anything. Typhous was just projecting. It was innocent, he was wrong.
"Ty… I'm Gay."
Everything stilled. The words rang distant in Typhous's ears, over and over, echoing in the silence of his mind.
He wasn't alone.
It stretched on forever, the pregnant quiet engulfing all. Typhous couldn't breathe, couldn't think for fear of breaking its water.
"Ty…"
The single word brought everything down, tenuous silence collapsing in an avalanche.
"Really?"
Distantly Typhous felt Vash move, react, against the edge of his mind, trembling attention waiting for only one thing.
"Ty! I - yes." A moment of silence. "I'm glad you're safe. I'm sorry I put you on the spot with this. If you can't stand to talk to me after this I understand, but let me help you first so-"
Typhous stammered Vash to a halt. "Stop talking to you? Why would I? You…" Words caught, nothing worthy of the dawning glow which broke through Typhous's storm.
Why in the world would Typhous stop talking to Vash over that? This was incredible! Finally another dragon like him to talk to, who understood him! Typhous wasn't one of the bigots from years ago during the egg crisis who insulted… hated… feared…
Typhous turned and ran, bolting for the door. Away from Vash, from Sleet. He ignored their cries to stop, their panic, just running on and on and on. As far away from them as possible.
Memories settled, a cold stone weighing heavy at the bottom of his gut. He'd seen them, they'd worried and he had ran for no reason. Refused to talk when they came, avoided them. Just as he had been afraid they'd do.
A distant sigh breathed against Typhous's mind and tension eased against his head. "That's… a relief, Ty. Thank you. Sleet and I, we… we haven't told anyone else. And when you ran away… well, it's good to know you're still here, just like we are for you. Now, let's figure out how to lower this barrier around your mind. It's fading, giving me more influence, like I hoped, but I still can't manifest. At least the Shade still hasn't found you here. You've gone deep."
Barrier? Typhous groaned. Why did dream magic have to be so complicated?
"Alright, good. Like I hoped, talking that through helped lower the barrier between us a little bit.The Shade's grip isn't quite as tight now and your own reservations about letting me in aren't as strong… Hey, Ty? Why did you call yourself a monster? Why do you feel you need to redeem yourself?"
Laughter almost broke from Typhous's snout, a soft snort escaping. Wasn't it obvious? If Vash had heard even a few words from the Shade he should know. And after he abandoned Vash and Sleet to worry, all the more so.
How terrified they must've been, worried they'd been found out by a friend, discovered by someone who just ran away without another word, who clearly panicked at the discovery. Vash would have been afraid for his position, for what his royal family and people might think of it. And poor Sleet, so often bullied and harassed, so shy. The idea a friend might abandon him over learning it by accident…
How could Typhous keep screwing up this badly? Time and time again he hurt his friends. He'd hit Savron and abandoned him. He'd vanished for days, leaving Lyrith and the others in a panic. He lashed out at Tirren just because she was getting close to Lyr. Now this?
"I'm sorry," Typhous whispered.
Vash stammered. "Y-you're sorry? No! You have nothing to be sorry for!"
Paw slammed against mirror, the snap of breaking crystal silencing Vash. "Yes I do!" Over and over his shout echoed, reverberating back, as twisted and warped as the Shade's reflections. Yet Typhous didn't stop, voice only rising. "I ran away from you! From Sleet! I left you there, worrying and fretting and then I wouldn't even talk to you about it when you tried to come to me! I just left without a word and I scared you and that's not what a friend is supposed to do. I'm such an idiot. but I couldn't help myself. I was so scared and… and... "
In the resounding silence, Vash spoke with a voice of tattered silk. "I don't understand."
Something cracked and from it a fresh gust of guilt joined the gale in Typhous's chest. Wings wrapped tight around himself, Typhous huddled, claws dug into scalp.
Tell him. Thoughts whirled, but Typhous shook his head. He should just tell Vash, let it out. Bare the truth. He'd done it once before! And Vash had the strength to do it! Why didn't he?
Muzzle opened but no words came out, the gale choking all words.
What was he waiting for? Just speak! Vash deserved to know, of all dragons he did.
Again, nothing but a whine and further Typhous withdrew into the screaming hurricane.
"Ty?"
Why couldn't he just spit it out? Why was it so much harder than with Lyrith, when rejection had been oh so possible?
"I…"
Vash was there, waiting! He was just like Typhous, he knew, he understood. Better than Lyrith ever could.
"Please."
Words cracked, croaking as the world misted over again.
Was he really going to let this chance slip him by, again? Was he just going to leave Vash and Sleet wondering forever, never explain why he'd failed them? Failed Savron? Was he going to wallow here forever, too afraid to even speak a few simple words?
Liquid eyes opened once more, to gaze into the unknown dark. For the first time, he could just barely make out a glimmer of light, so distant, but there should he take those next few steps. He'd faltered after the first, but now, if he continued, he might find a way out. Or he could stay here, in the dark forever, unable to escape.
He just needed to step forward, take that risk, make that leap. No matter how much unseen broken glass lay along that path.
A deep breath. He could do this. He deserved this, they both did.
"Vash?"
"I'm here, Ty."
"I…" for just a moment, his words caught and his chest clenched. No! Not again! Eyes snapped shut, fangs bared. He would do this. He had to. For him. For Vash. For…
"Savron," Typhous breathed.
He heard Vash's question, so very far away, yet he let that deter him not, distract him. He had his words. The most painful ones to speak, the ones that needed to be spoken.
Breathing deep, Typhous set those words free.
"I love him, Vash. I love Savron."
All noise died. The distant rampage of the Shade, Typhous's breathing. Vash's words.
Under the weight of the silence, Typhous lifted himself tall, ignoring the bleeding gashes, the shards of glass shimmering as they slid from his gashes. Eyes closed to shut out the burn, he waited, chin raised, muzzle trembling as he awaited his verdict.
Glass clinked and Typhous spun. In the near total darkness a faint blue shimmer faded, offering just enough light to see.
In the mouth of a portal Vash stood, eyes wide, muzzle agape.
With hesitant steps he approached, halting voice choked as the tides rose in his gaze. "Oh. Oh Ty. I… that must've been… everything that's happened to him, everything he's said to you." He stopped, no words capable of comfort.
The gale swept up, driving the sea with it, stormclouds building behind Typhous's eyes. Savron's descent of health, his boundless energy fading as days past without sleep. His terrible words. Pain and frustration Typhous could do nothing about. Everything he'd missed, all the pain he should've been there to help comfort, all the anger he should've helped quell. Savron had needed him, he'd needed help so badly. But where had Typhous been? What had he done when he'd needed him, his friends, the most?
How could he have let it all go so wrong?
Heat trickled down Typhous's cheek, lip trembling.
"I…"
Vash didn't let him finish, wings enfolding Typhous, to pull him close.
"I'm sorry," Vash whispered, cradling Typhous gently against him. "I'm so, so sorry. I should've… I didn't realize…"
The stormfront broke and, wailing, Typhous buried his head into Vash's neck and let all the words he'd hidden, he'd held back, rush out.
Chains, once bound tight, slackened, breath and blood rushing to escape the links that Savron couldn't himself. With his sharp inhale, the haze of blurred colours and pounding heartbeat faded, merciful oblivion slipping once more out of Savron's grasp. His only hope of avoiding the Shade's verbal lashing once more denied him.
Because at this point, death was preferable to another lecture on the futility of resistance and the superiority of purple dragons. Though that was probably this bastard's plan.
Fangs grit and with a tug Savron yanked on the limp chains with everything he had left. It wasn't even enough to rattle them together. Dammit. There were so few chains left, he could feel it! If only he had the strength to fight back, to help his friends!
Hot, sulfurous breath scalded the back of Savron's neck and he shuddered as he felt the Shade's attention turn back to him. Hesitantly he cracked open an eye, to peer into the ruinous abyss of his ravaged mind.
The condemned museum stared back up at him from where it lay, a corpse of its grandeur all that was left. No ceiling remained intact, artifacts buried with enough stone that the museum would better be classified as an excavation site than a historical monument.
From beneath tortured anchors hordes of wood and metal abominations teamed forth, to scour the halls for life. Armoured with the facsimiles of once fond memories. An army bent on twisting all he loved to ruin.
A flash of lightning drew his gaze, followed soon by glimmering ice, blazing flame and shadow so dark it blotted out the midnight horizon.
Savron's face broke into a weary smile at the sight. His friends, still fighting, still going despite everything. His mistakes, the army on all sides… the Shade's constant threats.
A snort cracked Savron's dry throat, eyes upturned to the two remaining windows, both empty of image. Tirren's gone quiet long ago, Typhous's just recently. Whatever lay beyond not terrible enough to inspire the Shade's vile attention.
Which meant they were winning. Against all odds, they were pushing back.
If only Savron could do the same.
The Shade's voice suffocated all enjoyment. "What about this situation is so amusing, Savron? Hm?" Chains snaked about Savron's throat once more, threatening more pain to come.
Savron paid them no mind, turning his sneer back to the monster. "Your whole puppet show is funny," he said with a croak and a grin. Laughter bubbled forth as the Shade's eyes narrowed. He continued, words tumbling forth in an effort to escape before the chains closed in once more. "I was actually scared of you for a while, you know! The whole big dark spooky act, the threats, everything! But now? You're just pathetic!"
Chains tightened and Savron blanched, waiting for them to dig deep, to cut off words and air alike. It never came. Instead they slackened, falling away from his neck, to settle snugly upon his chest. Green eye cracked open once more, to meet the Shade's glowing gaze.
Fragments of light spilled from bared fangs as the Shade grinned, mouthing only two words: "Go on."
Savron stumbled, confidence faltering at the sight. Wait… that wasn't supposed to be the reaction he'd get! The Shade was supposed to roar and rage and spit fire and venom! Not… smile at being called out!
"I…" Savron swallowed, braced himself and continued on regardless. It had to be said. "You can't do anything to me! Or my friends! You can't even make me take this crystal! You're pitiful!"
"Pitiful you say?" the Shade replied with a sneer, violet flames licking the corners of his maw. "After everything you've seen you have the gall to call me pitiful? I'm but a shadow of my former glory and I've broken your friends and laid waste to your-"
"No you haven't!" Savron roared, the chains rattling around him as he finally jerked with enough force to tug them. "You can't even hold them off with an army! Tirren's fighting back against you right now on equal footing! And every minute you lose more of these chains! You have nothing to threaten me with!"
"Tirren's fury shall end any minute now," the Shade snorted. "And threats? Why I haven't even-"
"Brought out your full power, yeah," Savron said with a roll of his eyes.
The Shade's eyeridge quirked upwards. "This has nothing to do with power, Savron. It has to do with will."
Once more Savron's brow furrowed, muzzle pursed tight. "Will?"
"I think I understand your… misconception now, Savron," the Shade mused as it turned away. With a wave it dismissed the crystal draken, reverting it back to its natural form. "Just as I had a misconception about you and your friends."
Savron's eyes narrowed but he said nothing. This was much better than the same stale shit the Shade had been shoveling him before. And maybe there'd be something here he could use…
"I'd presumed you and your friends were all weaklings. Not just in power, but in will." The Shade gestured out to the battle around them. "I hadn't thought your friends would follow you out into the swamp. I hadn't believed they'd come up with a plan as idiotic as challenging me here in your mind using dream magic. I had been sure they'd crumble before the manifestation of their nightmares and fail to escape. I thought the prince would just run back to the Temple for help, rather than risk everything by foolishly jumping back into your mind to fight a hopeless battle. Just as I thought you, like every so-called 'hero' before you, would fold immediately when those you cared for most were threatened. Your stubbornness has proven to be as great a problem as your skill in magic. You and all your friends."
The Shade shook his head, violet mist burst from nostrils as it sneered at the distant figures of Igneous, Voltlyn, Sleet and Danrah rampaging through hordes of monsters.
"So I arranged my forces assuming a swift and bloodless victory was imminent. Clearly I was mistaken."
Savron chewed his muzzle in thought, watching, brow knotted. What was the Shade leading up to? Why had all of its rage and bluster faded? This didn't smell good.
"Tell me, Savron," the Shade mused as it turned back to his prisoner, head tilted to one side, tail twitching. "Why would I create an army of mannequins that can be destroyed with but a tap of the claws?"
Savron's muzzle opened, only for the first thought to cause everything to come crashing down. That… didn't make any sense. That sounded like he wanted to fail? But… Savron's gaze flicked up to the Shade, maw agape.
The Shade's eyes gleamed, muzzle stretching wide. "Do you get it? They're weak, so weak they can do barely anything but fill space, seem threatening. A constant swarm of fodder to wear your friends down, to bleed them dry, but nothing else."
Savron whispered, eyes wide. "You never intended to kill them in the first place, did you?"
The Shade's laugh frosted Savron's spine with slick ice. "No, I didn't. Just as I didn't actually want to rape Tirren," the Shade paused, muzzle twitching. "Mostly. Temptation was there, but she's… off limits as it were. To be taken only if necessary. Why do you think I delayed for so long in the attempt? Why else would I fight her physically and resorted to dream magic only after minutes of combat?"
"But…" Savron stumbled, words cascading out. "Everything you've said, everything you've done!"
The Shade rolled its eyes. "A show to convince you to give in as fast as possible, you ignorant, stubborn child!"
Something cracked, fangs grit so tightly Savron tasted blood. "Why?" He roared, trembling in the bonds of his chains.
"Think of it as a favour."
Savron blinked. A favour? To whom?
The Shade's expression darkened. "A favour I can no longer uphold. Congratulations, Savron. You and your friends proved that I must take you seriously." He turned to the distant battle of magic and lifted a chain-coiled claw. "And since you've proven to me you aren't just children, you won't have the luxury of playing with mere toys any longer."
As one, the mannequins stopped, frozen at the Shade's silent command. Savron watched, muzzle agape as into the shadows they fell, vanishing from sight. For just a moment the halls were empty, quiet for the first time since the Shade invaded.
The rumble of the museum changed that. Back from out of the darkness new forms emerged, armoured monsters, twisted horrors of bone, rot and shadow encased in plate steel. Swords, axes and claw blades lifted to the air in salute of the Shade, before they turned and rushed back into the fray, to the panicked screams of familiar voices.
The Shade's sneer grew wider, but he spared Savron only a glance before he got to work once more. From his own shadow-flesh he pulled two anchors and poured violet convexity and azure blue magic into them.
Cowering within the chains, Savron shivered, eyes wide as the anchors hatched, two vast forms of shadow bursting to life, wings of darkness spreading as incandescent albumen ichor dripped from familiar forms.
Spyro and Cynder alighted upon the broken ceiling, darkened heads bowed low to their master, chains of convexity wound around each of their necks.
With a snort the Shade gestured to the renewed battle in the distance. "Go. Kill them. Start with Igneous. Bring me his skull."
With a nod, their wings unfurled and the shadows of Spyro and Cynder took off, winding through the halls towards their prey.
"No, wait!" Savron choked, a claw out stretched towards his false parents. "Stop, I…" The Shade's gaze fell upon him and he balked once more.
"Are you ready to submit? If you do, I will let them all live."
Distantly the sounds of battle rose, Igneous's battle cry high above the din, joined by Sleet and Voltlyn's, while Danrah issued commands from the back. They were giving everything to save him. Vash could've helped them all escape and ran back to the Temple. But they didn't.
How could he abandon them, abandon all their efforts? Bloodied fangs flashed and Savron's eyes turned to the Shade. It was time he trusted them. He wasn't the hero of this adventure, it wasn't he with the power to save all his friends from danger, from the traps and monsters. It was about time he let them take charge, for once.
"If those copies of mom and dad are as pathetic as you, then I've got nothing to worry about."
The Shade's fangs darkened the inferno of power that raged within. "Amusing. You seem to think I'm gambling everything on your friends' deaths."
Two vast claws reached forward, to grip Savron in umbral talons. Savron just rolled his eyes.
"Oh, scary. What'll you do, tickle me to death? Oh! Or are you going to tell me you've secretly been able to mind control me into submission all along and were inexplicably refusing to do it for some reason! Please, if you could've done that you would've!"
The Shade's grin widened. "You aren't wrong."
Savron blinked once more.
"If I could just mind control you, this would've been over in seconds. But there's one misconception you've seemed to have made, Savron." The purple stiffened as the Shade's umbral talons coiled around his wings. Green eyes widened. The Shade leaned forward, breath a sick miasma that poured over Savron's senses, crushing all reason. "I can always coerce you."
"No. No no no!" Savron shouted as he writhed in the Shade's grasp, yet nothing dislodged him from the terrible vice.
"No more favours. No more vague threats. Your friends will die, one by one, until you give in. And should they all die before you do? I'll turn your body around and start anew at the Temple. One friend, one acquaintance, one stranger at a time until you finally see reason. You will submit to me, Savron. Even if I have to forge those chains from the bones of everyone you've ever met." The Shade's talons tightened, settling his grip upon Savron's flailing wings.
"But I'll start with your bones first."
The museum quaked as the halls echoed with the snap of breaking wings and Savron's shrill scream.
Dardarax's Characters
Aephion, Danrah, Igneous, Lyrith, Savron, Sleet, Tirren, Typhia, Typhous, Vash
This chapter took so long to finish. Holy moly. _ I'm giving myself a bit longer for the next one. So Chapter 54 will be posted on April 15th, two days after my birthday! =D
GoldenGriffiness also helped me write a small portion of this chapter, where I struggled the most. Specifically the beginning Typhous bit, and the very start of the second Typhous section. Thanks dear!
