Chapter 20: Unfortunate Son

Mountain of Malefor…

Malefor…

If there was one thing I hated more than most… one thing I simply could not stand, it was being idle. I felt like I was wasting precious time, but circumstances forced me to abstain myself from action. I had used up far more power throwing around the Power Rangers than I had previously believed. I wasn't completely drained like I was when I first awoke, but I wasn't strong enough to lay waste to the Human Realms like I wanted to.

"Lord Malefor,"

Ugh, the last thing I needed right now was to deal with my worthless underlings. "What is it Scorn?" I grumbled.

Scorn hesitated a little, "There's uh… there's been a development with our order's sect in the Dragon Realms, something you might be quite interested in," he explained to me.

"Get to the point," I snarled.

Scorn took a moment, but finally, he came out with it. "They've captured Cynder," he said.

My eyes widened, I had wondered where my former general had gone. I honestly had expected to find her aiding Spyro and the Power Rangers. "Elaborate," I commanded Scorn.

"They found her searching for Spyro in the northern territories, in her old castle actually," said Scorn. "They uh… lost a few members trying to capture her but they eventually managed to knock her out with a spell," he explained. "They're currently holding her in the catacombs, waiting for your command as to what to do with her," he said.

The image of Cynder being bested by mere mages was a humorous one, I guess age had dulled her abilities. But this brought up a curious question, what do I do with her? I could simply kill her and be done with it, I certainly had no love for my former general considering she was equally responsible for my imprisonment. But on the other hand, I felt like killing her was too merciful. No… like Spyro, I wanted her to suffer. I'd do it myself, but as I've mentioned before, I wasn't at my full strength yet.

However, there was another concern I had. "What about the Power Rangers, any news on their whereabouts?" I asked. I knew Spyro far too well, if there was any sign his precious little girlfriend was in danger, he'd send his stooges running to her aid.

"None," Said Scorn.

I sighed, "Very well then, tell them to hold her for now," I said. "But I also want you to ask Rikor to make another monster and take it to the Catacombs for some extra insurance," I told him.

"Y… You want me to go to the Dragon Realms?" Scorn asked.

I glared at him, "Did I stutter?" I asked him rhetorically. "Cynder is a slippery little minx, she's already slipped from my claws twice, I won't risk a third," I told him. "So you will go to The Catacombs, and I will hear no complaints, or I will tear the tongue right from your mouth! Am I understood?" I roared at him.

Scorn shrunk inwardly, "I… It shall be done my lord," he said before dashing out of the room to go do as I asked. Scorn put up an impressive front, but I was more than aware that he was afraid of me. He was wise to be, I could kill him with a single blow if I wanted to. But so far he proved useful.

For now, I had things to ponder… specifically, the fate of my former general…

Meanwhile…

Outside of the Catacombs…

Dylan Foutler…

Flame had elected to be the one to take us to the Catacombs to go rescue Cynder. On the way there I couldn't help but wonder what Cynder was like, I mean… Spyro never talked about her to us so she was kinda shrouded in mystery. I honestly would kinda like to know what to expect when we reach her.

Maybe Flame knows? "Hey Flame, weird question, but what was Cynder like?" I asked.

Flame was caught off guard by the question. "Uh… well… she was… uh..." he fumbled. It kinda seemed like Flame was desperately searching for good things to say about Cynder. "She was kinda… assertive… strong..." he said. It didn't sound like Flame thought much of Cynder, he almost sounded like he was afraid of her. "She was definitely a good guy! E… even if she yelled at me a lot," he hastily added. "She didn't like me much, always thought I "didn't take things seriously enough"," he said. Yeah… called it. "Don't worry though! I'm sure she'll like you guys!" he added.

Well this had done very little to help me feel any less nervous about confronting her. I mean, from the sounds of things it seemed like she hadn't taken Spyro's departure very well. And consider we were the reason he departed… what if she took it out on us? I don't want to have to fight Spyro's girlfriend is what I'm getting at here.

"Oh I doubt that would happen," said the voice of Ignitus. "Cynder may be a little rough around the edges, mostly due to her less than ideal upbringing, but deep down she's a good dragoness,"I have faith that she will recognize the good you do," he explained. A much more glowing explanation than the one offered by his successor. I really hope Ignitus is right…

But none of this would matter if we didn't rescue her first. Speaking of, Flame finally came in for a landing. "This is as close as I can get without the mages shooting magic missiles at us," said Flame as he landed. "I'm afraid the rest is going to have to be up to you guys," he explained as we all got off one by one. "Don't worry, I'll be here waiting until you get back, I'd offer you backup but… age hasn't exactly made me a better fighter," he said. Yeah that figures, we always end up having to do it ourselves in the end.

We all moved in, hiding behind a bush as we saw two mages guarding the entrance. I turned to the other rangers. "Okay guys, we need to do this smart, we tip them off and they might just end up killing Cynder," I said.

Kevin just cocked his head to the side, "Dylan, we're five teenagers in brightly colored spandex that scream our attack names and occasionally pilot giant robot dragons, we aren't exactly built for stealth," he explained.

"Well excuse me for wanting to keep Spyro's girlfriend alive!" I protested.

"I'm just saying, unless they're both blind and deaf, they're gonna notice us," Kevin said.

I grumbled to myself before deciding to change tactics, "Okay, fine, so we aren't exactly built for subtlety," I said. "But can we at least do this in a way that doesn't make the cultists panic kill Cynder? I'm pretty sure Spyro wants us to bring her back with her head still attached," I asked.

"Purple Dragon Saber! Blaster Mode!"

Out of nowhere Zenith had apparently lost his patience and decided to just snipe the two guards with his saber… blaster… thing. "There! You two can stop bickering like cubs now!" he said.

I looked to the now probably dead guards and back to Zenith a few times. "DUDE!" I snapped. "We were trying to come up with a plan!" I complained.

"Well the guards aren't a problem anymore," Zenith said. "The Catacombs are quite large, we have a lot of ground to cover and I don't want to waste precious time listening to you and Kevin argue about strategy!" he said.

Okay, he kinda had a point there. "Okay, fine, let's just go and try to save Cynder," I said before heading for the entrance. The other rangers followed closely behind. As I passed the guards, I could hear them groaning slightly, letting me know Zenith hadn't just straight up killed them.

However, things got instantly complicated once we got in. I could only describe the inside of the catacombs as someone trying to transform underground ruins into a lousy platform game level. There were gaps and platforms everywhere, how the hell did those cultists manage to drag a fully grown dragoness through a place like this?

Dean looked around, "Man… where do we even start?" he asked.

Zenith stepped forward, "The catacombs stretch for miles, it's been used as a tunnel to and from Warfang before and used to connect to the Mountain of Malefor," he explained. "My guess is they took her to where the Well of Souls used to be," he theorized.

Kevin approached Zenith, "And where exactly would that be?" he asked.

"The center of the catacombs," he said, "But that's only speculation, I've never explored them myself, I've only ever heard stories from those who have," he admitted.

"Wait… why take her there?" Jess then asked.

"It's where Malefor's connection to the Dragon Realms was at its strongest," Zenith explained, "And from what I hear, The Order of Malefor are quite big on historical significance," he said before turning his back to us, "Come, this should be the way to the center," he said before walking off, the rest of us following behind him.

Meanwhile…

Catacomb Center…

Scorn…

I can't believe I'm back in this place again. This had been our chosen place of operations back when we were still searching for Malefor. I thought I had left this place behind when we became aware of his presence in the Human Realms. But I wasn't about to go against the wishes of my master. Of course… as bad as it was being in this dark, smelly underground hell hole again… it was made even worse by having to travel with one of Rikor's monsters.

"Are we there yet? How about now? Now? Now?"

This had been going on since the very second we arrived in this place. Rikor's monster was some kind of bizarre squid creature. It's tentacles were flopping all around as it walked as if it were just a rubber costume. It's eyes were comically large and stupid looking. Rikor had named it Kalamitamari, it's ink could apparently immobilize it's enemies for a short period, a skill obviously meant to prevent Cynder from attempting an escape.

But by Lord Malefor… did he have to give it such a high pitched, annoying voice. "Are we there yet? Are we-" it continued to ask before I finally had enough and grabbed it by one of it's many tentacles.

"Listen you, if you don't shut up right this very minute, I will destroy you myself!" I snarled at the thing. Thankfully, this scared the accursed thing enough to finally get it to shut it's gob. "For once I'd like Rikor to make a monster that can't talk," I grumbled to myself before we finally reached the main chambers.

I knew the place well, this was supposedly where The Grublins had tried to sacrifice Spyro and Cynder during the original war. My brothers had a black dragoness chained to the center platform. She was quite slender, her horns thin but long. Looking at her, you'd be forgiven for thinking she was younger than she actually was. Her dark black scales almost made her fade into the darkness of the poorly lit chamber. Her emerald eyes however seemed to practically glow in the dark.

I knew full well who this was, everyone in the Order knew of the former Terror of the Skies, Cynder. "Well well well, at last we meet Terror of the Skies," I said.

The very mention of her old title ignited a rage within the old dragoness. "No one calls me that!" she snarled, she even tried to lunge at me, but her binds prevented it. "Keeping me here is pointless, I don't know where Malefor is and even if I did I wouldn't tell you," she said.

Oh my… she didn't know! The very idea of it caused me to laugh, which noticeably worried Cynder. "Wh- What's so funny," she said, trying to act tough but her stammer gave away her fear.

"Malefor has been free for quite some time, Cynder," I said.

Her face dropped upon hearing that, but it quickly contorted into a vicious snarl. "Spyro and I will stop him, just like we did before!" she said.

I just shook my head, "No… no I don't think that will be happening again," I said before turning to Kalamitamari, "Me and my friend here are going to make sure of that, Kalamitamari, show her," I ordered the monster.

The second that command left my lips the squid hit Cynder point blank with an ink shot. I noticed her face begin to strain as her limbs refused to move. "W-What is this?!" he questioned.

"Kalamitamari's ink has a paralysis agent in it, consider it a little bit of insurance," I said. "You might as well give up now Cynder, no one's coming to save you, and you can't save yourself," I explained before something occurred to me, something I had always wondered about Cynder. "Such a pity, you were once feared… respected… only to throw it all away by joining Spyro's worthless cause, what a waste," I said. I worded it more as a put down than a question. But I always wondered why she would willingly give up the power Malefor bestowed on her and turn on him like she did.

Cynder glared at me, "You say that like I ever had a choice," she said. "What Malefor did to me… what he made me do… turning my back on him was the best decision I ever made," she said.

"Amusing response, given your current situation," I commented.

"Go to hell!" she spat at me before she seemed to come to some kind of realization. "Why so interested wolf boy? You have doubts about your master?" she asked me.

I felt my lips furl and a growl rumble from my throat. "You dare question my loyalty to Lord Malefor?!" I snarled. "I gladly serve his righteous cause! A righteous cause you turned your back on! I don't question my loyalty, I question your sanity for denying the gifts he bestowed upon you!" I corrected her. I was not about to be questioned by a treacherous cur like her!

Cynder snorted, "Gifts? Is that what you call being abused and manipulated for most of your childhood? Having every ounce of my free will slowly chipped away at until I was little more than a hollow husk, a marionette on strings," she said. "You think you're special? How long until Malefor gets tired of you and casts you away like he does all of his toys?" she asked me.

"I AM THE HEAD OF THIS ORDER!" I snapped, shocking everyone in the room with my outburst except for Cynder, who just kept her stone cold glare. "Do you know how long I've worked, how many bodies I had to step over, how much blood I had to spill to get this position?!" I roared. "I am Malefor's greatest prophet! His chosen champion! You were nothing more than a puppet who lost her strings," I said.

Cynder however just laughed, I felt my anger build as she continued her insulting cackle. My devotion to this order was not to be laughed at! It was my life! My reason for being! "That's so adorable," she said. "Did he tell you that himself? Or is that what you tell yourself to make yourself feel important?" she asked me.

I felt myself losing myself a little… doubt beginning to creep in. Malefor never did refer to me as such… she was right about that. But he treated me as his second in command, I was his chosen warrior! "I have nothing more to say to you," I said, turning my back to her. "I will not waste my breath on a fool who spurned her higher calling for some foolish notion of "free will"," I said before walking off. She was a fool, Malefor's cause was a holy one, the world was diseased and he was our salvation.

And I was the sword which would lead the charge of his holy crusade. However, as I was about to leave, two of my brothers came running up to me. "Brother Scorn! We have a problem," one of them said.

"What?" I snarled, still a bit angry from Cynder's ignorance.

The two seemed hesitant once they realized I wasn't in the best of moods. But eventually, one of them had to come out with it. "We spotted the Power Rangers in the south tunnels," he said.

My eyes widened. What were they doing here?! No! NO! They'll ruin everything! "Kalamitamari!" I called. The squid monster came running, "The Power Rangers are in the catacombs! I want them destroyed before they even come within a mile of this chamber!" I ordered him.

The squid bounced around, "Oh boy! You got it boss! I'll make those Power Rangers wish they were never born!" it said excitedly.

I turned to the two Order members. "Take him to where you saw the Power Rangers, if even one of them reaches Cynder, it will be your heads!" I warned them. Without another word, the two took Kalamitamari to go deal with the Power Rangers.

This was the last thing I needed right now! I felt a slight headache throb in my head, too much stress… it was starting to get to me. I needed to lay down…

Meanwhile…

Outside the Catacombs…

Sol…

I flew as fast as my wings could carry me, I was never a particularly fast flier, it was something the other young dragons constantly mocked me for. But I had to push myself as much as I could, go as fast as my body could allow. Mom was in those catacombs! Mom… who had been missing since I was little… she was there… she was waiting for me… we could be a family again!

All I had to do was knock down a few cultists and I could have my mom back! It was all I wanted… just to have at least one of my parents in my life again… just a little further Sol… just a little further and you can get your mom back! However…

"Sol?!"

Suddenly something snatched me out of the air, grabbing me by the wings. I craned my head over to see Flame was holding my wings in his claw. "What the hell are you doing here?! You should be back at the temple!" he snapped at me.

I struggled to get free, "My mom's in there! You can't keep me from her, Flame! Let me GO!" I protested.

"We don't know that for sure!" Flame pointed out, "But even if she is, you can't go in there, Sol! You can't fight with breath elements, remember?" he told me.

"I can too!" I protested, demonstrating my wind breath.

"I meant you can't use it effectively," Flame said flatly. "Sol, I know you miss your mother, but if you got killed she'd be devastated! I'd be devastated!" He said as he came in for a landing, plopping me onto the ground. "The Power Rangers will rescue her, there's no point in you going in there and getting yourself killed," he told me.

The Power Rangers… I knew the name all too well. Mom said they were why dad had to disappear… and by extension… they were why mom disappeared. "I don't trust them!" I snapped. "If it weren't for them mom wouldn't even be in there!" I argued.

Flame seemed downright offended by that statement. "SOL! That is not fair!" he growled. "Your father left because of Malefor, not the Power Rangers, if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at him, not the selfless heroes who are currently risking their lives trying to save your mother!" he lectured me.

"NO!" I snapped, "I'm going to save my mom! If they get to her first they'll just take her away like they did dad!" I said before bolting for the catacombs.

"SOL! GET BACK HERE! DON'T BE STUPID!" Flame protested as he gave chase. I blew my wind breath at him, tripping him up and causing him to fall right on his face. I'm sorry Flame, but I have to do this… I won't lose mom… not like this.

Meanwhile…

Back in the Catacombs…

Dylan Foutler…

These stupid ruins just seemed to go on forever.

I didn't dare even try to guess how long we've spent down here just walking and occasionally hoping between platforms like we were Super Mario. I also didn't even want to try to think about how we were gonna get Cynder out of here if she was too weak to walk, which was a pretty likely scenario given the situation. God… why can't these cultists just keep her in their creepy basement like most kidnappers?

And apparently, I wasn't the only one growing tired of our little adventure. "Dude, how much father?" Kevin whined from the back.

I should mention that Zenith had no problem traversing the catacombs. Thanks to our powers, we were all ridiculously nimble, but Zenith was on a whole other level. Effortlessly bounding from platform to platform like a… well like a cat. "Will you stop whining?" he asked Kevin, "It shouldn't be that much farther," he said.

"Dude you've been saying that for the last hour and a half!" he said. God, was that really how long we've been in here? Or was Kevin exaggerating?

"It's only been twenty minutes," Zenith corrected him. Okay good, I really hate to think we've kept Cynder in the clutches of an evil cult for over an hour.

"It sure felt like an hour!" Kevin replied.

However, suddenly Kevin got nailed by a mysterious black substance that knocked him right off the platform he was on and into a thankfully not too deep pit. I looked over the edge, "Kevin? You okay down there?" I asked.

Kevin's response wasn't a good one. "I… I can't move!" he said.

"Of course not!"

We all turned to see a giant squid monster flanked by two cultists on the opposite side of the platform we were on. "My paralyzing ink will freeze you rangers in your tracks!" the squid cackled in an annoyingly high pitched voice. Considering we were dealing with The Order of Malefor, and by extension, Malefor himself, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to see a monster down here, but still… this was the last thing we needed right now.

"Guys, don't let him hit you with his ink," I said before dodging an ink shot.

"Really?" questioned Zenith, "We never would have figured that out without your help Dylan," he said sarcastically. Ya know Zenith, I really don't need your sass right now.

Zenith quickly moved from platform to platform before summoning his saber and going straight for the monster. The squid suddenly wrapped his tentacles around his saber "Uh-uh-uh! You shouldn't play with knives! Someone could get hurt!" the squid said before ripping the weapon right out of his hands and tossing it into a pit.

Great, not only could the squid paralyze us with his ink, he could easily disarm us too. Zenith tried fighting it hand to hand, but the squid just batted him away like a pesky fly. I leaped over the gap between me and the squid and nailed it with a flying kick, knocking it to the ground. "OW! No fair!" the monster whined.

"Dude! You have paralyzing ink! Don't you talk to me about "fair"!" I scolded the squid before dodging a tentacle swipe.

"Well I'm a bad guy, I'm not supposed to play fair," the squid said before firing his ink again. I didn't have time to dodge and it nailed me dead on. Suddenly I lost all control of my limbs and fell limply to the ground like a marionette who's strings just got cut.

Let me tell you right now, being fully awake but unable to move is a terrifying experience made even worse when you know there's a monster right in front of you that really wants you dead. "Aww… looks like the Red Ranger can't play anymore!" the monster teased me.

God this sucks…

Jessica Fox…

Dean and I had elected to try to get Kevin out of the pit, hoping Dylan and Zenith could hold the monster off long enough. Kevin was in a bad way, he couldn't move a muscle thanks to that stupid squid's ink. "Guys… please tell me this isn't permanent," Kevin said as Dean picked him up off the floor.

That was a good question, we had no clue if the ink's effects wore off or not. That was a scary prospect to be faced with though, permanent paralysis of the entire body. I shivered at the very thought. "You can't move anything?" I asked Kevin.

"Nothing but my face," Kevin said.

"Interesting," puzzled the voice of Volteer, "This doesn't seem to work like any paralysis I've seen… it seems more magic based than biological," Volteer explained. I guess, I mean, the face is an oddly specific thing to spare from paralysis, but how exactly does that help us? "Give me a minute, I need to ponder this further," Volteer asked me.

Dean turned to me, "Jess? You okay? You're zoning out," Dean said.

"It's Volteer," I said, "He might have an idea but he needs time to think it over," I explained.

Dean leaned Kevin against a wall, "Sorry bud, but you'll be safer down here until we can think of something," he said.

"Oh no, please, it's not like I can offer any sort of resistance since… ya know… my body isn't working right now," said Kevin.

Dean looked at me, "Hold long does Volteer need?" he asked me.

I could almost feel Volteer pondering it for a minute, "Tell him I'll need at least five minutes," he told me.

"Volteer says five minutes," I told Dean.

Dean summoned his ax, "I can do five minutes," he said before we both leaped out of the pit and onto the platform Zenith, Dylan, the cultists, and the monster all occupied. But things looked to have gotten worse as Dylan looked like he got hit by the ink himself.

"Hey guys… got inked… please help," Dylan whined.

However, before we could do anything, the monster stepped between us. "Oh look! Two more rangers to paralyze!" he cackled before Dean and I just barely managed to dodge another ink shot.

Zenith quickly joined our side. "Please tell me you two have a plan," he asked us.

"Volteer might, but he says he needs five minuets," Dean told Zenith.

Zenith stared blankly at Dean. "Who the hell is Volteer?!" he asked.

"My dragon spirit," I said.

Zenith lowered his head in annoyance before shaking it off. "Fine, we keep it busy for five minutes," he said before turning to me, "You should keep your distance Jess, your bow can give us some much needed cover fire while Dean and I engage the squid," he said.

Well, I guess that's what I get for being the archer of the group. But I wasn't really complaining, the less likely I am to get paralyzed the better. Dean and Zenith quickly charged the monster, Dean slashing at it with his ax and Zenith trying to fight it hand to hand.

"Bow of Lightning!" I summoned my bow, the weapon appearing in my hands just as it always did. I began to take occasional pot shots at the squid. However, the second one hit… something odd happened. It just went nuts! Flailing around like it just found a spider in it's shirt before flopping onto the ground and writhing around.

This apparently meant more to Volteer than it did to me. "Of course!" he said. "Jessica, I know this may sound crazy, but try to hit Dylan with a lightning arrow," he told me. Wait… what?! Are you nuts?! "Just trust me," Volteer said.

Well, okay… I reluctantly aimed my bow at Dylan, who was still in the same spot we left him in. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Volteer," I said before firing an arrow at him. Dylan's body began to convulse as he cried out. I felt myself cringe watching it happen, feeling really guilty.

Zenith turned to me. "I meant shoot at the monster, Jess!" Zenith snapped at me.

Dylan suddenly sat up, turning to me. "Jess! What the hell?!" he questioned before he noticed he was moving again. "What the? I-I can move?!" he questioned.

I don't get it… why did that work? "Because the monster is weak against electric magic," Volteer told me. "That's why it reacted like it did when you hit it with your electric arrow, so I theorized that, since it's paralyzing ink was magic based, that using electric magic would cancel out it's effects!" he explained.

It kinda made sense… the squid was an aquatic creature, and water conducts electricity, thus making it more potent against a monster that probably had a lot of excess water in it so it could function on dry land, it did look particularly slimy after all… or it could just be magic mumbo jumbo and I could be putting way too much thought into this.

Speaking of, the squid noticed Dylan now standing upright. "What the?! How are you moving?! I inked you!" it objected.

"I guess you could say I got a little shock to the system," said Dylan.

Zenith turned to Dylan, "Really?" he said dryly.

"RAAAGH! NO FAIR!" The monster protested, even going to far as to stomp it's feet like a petulant child before turning to me. "Let's see you zap your friends back to life when you're paralyzed you little cheater!" it said before firing it's ink right at me!

I took cover behind a pillar before the ink could hit me. If I went down the team was screwed! "CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!" the squid continued to scream as it shot it's ink at me. It's not cheating you stupid squid! It's exploiting a weakness! Get it right!

However, while it was distracted with me, Dylan leaped up from behind it, sword held up high. "Elemental Power! Blazing Slash!" he cried out before cleaving the monster in two with his burning blade. "Again… paralyzing ink… you don't get to talk about playing fair," he said.

However, suddenly we heard someone cry out. All of us rushed over to the source of the sound to find a small black dragon clawing at a cultist. "Where is she?! Where's my MOM?!" he screamed. Judging by the voice, he couldn't be much older than a teenager.

Who was this dragon? Where did he come from? The poor cultist could do little more than throw his arms up and try to protect himself. "Get him off me! GET HIM OFF!" he cried.

Zenith marched over to the cultist and grabbed the little dragon by the abdomen, pulling him off. "NO! LET ME GO!" the dragon protested, thrashing his limbs around and trying to bite at Zenith's arms.

"Not until you tell me who you are and why you're here," Zenith said.

"That's none of your business!" the dragon snarled.

However, we suddenly heard the sound of a vial being broken, all of us turned around to see the monster we thought we just killed suddenly growing in size as the other cultist ran for cover. How the hell it managed to fit in here was a mystery in itself.

"Oh that's not good," said Dylan.

A/N: You see what you do Sol? How will our heroes get out of this one?

Sorry this chapter's a little late guys, I kinda got distracted with other things today and have no real excuse… sorry.

I also made the decision to make Sol a little bit younger in order to make his attitude and behavior towards the Power Rangers a little more believable.