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Spyro the Dragon, both the game and all related characters (c) Insomniac. They own the Spyro that's in this story, so nyeh.
Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, as well as all related characters (c) blah-blah, same copyright.
CHAPTER FORTY: Spike's Arena
"You bumbling, idiotic, worthless fool! One thing! ONE SIMPLE TASK, that's all I asked of you! And you FAILED me!"
The Sorceress scowled, bashing the base of her staff against the tile floors. "I should've known better than to leave such an important task in the hands of a child."
Bianca bit her tongue, her head dropped low. 'Child' was a harsh term - she was in her twenties, after all - but when you're as old as the ancient and almighty Sorceress, anyone could seem like a child. "I'm sorry-"
"Oh, don't worry about it," the Sorceress sighed. Even at her angriest, she couldn't COMPLETELY despise her best and brightest student. "I'll deal with the dragon from now on."
Still, the young apprentice was curious. "Are the dragon eggs really worth THIS much trouble, though?"
"Bianca! Bite your tongue!" Taking a moment to calm down, the Sorceress escorted her apprentice to the window. Their castle sat at the tip of Midnight Mountain, allowing it to be filled with the eternal light of the Sunrise Springs in the distance. By far, their mountains were the most magical places left in the Forgotten Worlds, since they contained the dragon's most powerful relics in the Haunted Tombs and Crystal Islands. But it was obvious to all that the magic was beginning to fade, even from here.
"Your youth spoils your imagination, Bianca," the Sorceress began. It was another of her long-winded lectures, but Bianca much preferred the ramblings of a senile mind to being yelled at. (If anything, she enjoyed hearing stories about the ancient age of dragons.) "The Forgotten Worlds are a shell of what they used to be. Without the dragons, it'll continue drying up until there isn't any magic left.
"I'm not a dragon, Bianca. I can't live forever. Once all of the magic is gone, so am I. And so are the rest of the Crystal Islands wizards. And so is your chance of ever growing up to be a sorceress."
Bianca swallowed the lump in her throat. Becoming a great sorceress had been her dream since she was a little girl. Her grandmother was one of the finest, an instructor at the Crystal Islands Academy of Magicks where the wizards started their witchy crafts. She passed before Bianca could even begin her basic witch training, and the rabbit swore that she'd uphold the family name by becoming one of the greatest sorceresses Midnight Mountain had ever seen. Unfortunately, with the magic drying up as quickly as it was, many of the old crafters were drying up as well. The Sorceress was not only the most powerful of her kind, but she was quickly becoming the ONLY one. Nobody else could teach her magic, at least not to those kinds of extraordinary levels. (And the rabbit gagged at the thought of going back to magic shows and levitation tricks at the Crystal Islands.)
She had always admired dragons. She grew up hearing her grandmother tell the ancient dragon legends, and tell the stories of the days when the Forgotten Worlds were still flooded with their magic. She never wanted to hurt them, but if she was going to save her grandmother's memory, she needed to save the magic. And to save the magic, she needed the dragons here.
"I understand."
"That's right," the Sorceress smirked. "Now, let me show you how a REAL sorceress deals with her enemies."
She snapped her scaly fingers, getting the attention of the first rhynoc she could find. "You there!" The rhynoc looked up in a panic, rushing to tend to his almighty ruler. "How would you like some dragon for lunch?"
The rhynoc gave a nervous swallow; confronting the dragon hadn't worked well for the last soldier that got picked to be gemcrafted, or anyone else that had to try and stand in its path. But it was too late, the Sorceress had chosen her target. He had no choice but to give a nod.
The Sorceress waved her arms and staff, the powerful gestures fueling the ancient dragon tongue that boomed forth, echoing down the old halls of the Midnight Castle. As frightening as her magic was, no one in the Forgotten Worlds could deny that she was the greatest sorceress alive. Bianca always took careful notes on the rare occasion she could watch her mentor perform, spotting her own gemcrafting flaws in the process. The Sorceress commanded her magic, twisting and warping it through the air, never once losing her focus. She spoke the draconic tongue flawlessly, never stumbling on her f's as Bianca frequently did.
In a blinding flash of light, the rhynoc emerged transformed, forcing all who were near (including Bianca herself) to take a step back out of fear. He was a monstrous beast, well-built with thick arms and a series of razor-sharp horns. He flexed his clawed fingers around the heavy hammer in his hand, watching it spark to life as he tensed the thick trigger on its handle.
"Let's see how well the dragon fares when he's up against REAL gemcrafting."
oo00oo00oo
With the whirligig fully assembled, as well as a fully-stocked bamboo supply for fuel (thanks to some grateful pandas in the Bamboo Terrace), Spyro, Hunter, and Sheila started their trip towards the Evening Lake with over seventy of the eggs in tow - just shy of halfway to having all of the eggs home safe.
It was well into the night by the time they could take off, making their journey over the mountains that connected the Icy Peak to the Frozen Altars an unnerving one, to say the least. "I sure wouldn't say no to a pair'a rockets keepin' watch durin' the ride," Sheila said with a shiver. (After what happened last time, she and Spyro were keeping their eyes peeled for any Sorceress intervention.) " 'ow come that Byrd fella ain' comin' with?"
"Just has his helmet on a little too tight, that's all," Spyro huffed. He hadn't seen Byrd since their clash in the Enchanted Towers, and didn't mind leaving it that way when they packed up to continue. Byrd gave the same promise Sheila did, to tag along once his home was in order and help save the rest of the dragon eggs from the Sorceress' grubby hands, but Spyro assumed that promise had gone up in smoke.
And speaking of smoke...
"WHOA!" The whirligig gave a creaky lurch as Hunter slammed the wheel to the left, forcing it out of the way of the fiery blast that came from the mountains below them. "Who put lasers all the way out here?" the cheetah snapped, struggling to maintain control.
"As if you gotta ask by now?" Sheila pointed out.
Spyro rushed to the edge of the whirligig, scanning the area as quickly as he could to find the attacker. "I don't see anyone...Hunter, try to keep this thing flying. If we rush out of here, I think we can-"
What the Artisan THOUGHT became inconsequential as another blast rocketed from the depths of the mountains, smashing the base of the whirligig. Hunter and Sheila managed to keep hold, but Spyro, perched on the edge, went flying. The purple dragon was thrown from the vehicle, spiraling down to the jagged mountains of ice below.
With a last-minute fervor of flapping, Spyro righted himself and managed to tumble into a safe clearing below...though safe was using the term loosely. After getting to his feet, the Artisan was quickly knocked back down as the clearing shook with a mighty roar, as the spike-laden addition to the Sorceress' army began to give chase.
"Hey, easy there, big guy!" Spyro tried to reason, easily able to outrun the towering beast. "Can't we sit and talk about this or something?"
The dragon received his answer when Spike brought down his hammer, only missing Spyro's wing and tail by fractions of a second. "As usual, I guess that's a no."
So Spyro went through his usual tricks - Spike's hide was fire-proof, and his size made it impossible to blow him over with a charge. Add his constantly-thrashing hammer that made it impossible to stand too close, and Spyro quickly found himself out of options.
Spike continued to tear up the battlefield, kicking up molten debris from underneath the mountains and shaving holes in their icy battlefield as he fired blast after blast of electric energy from his hammer-gun. Using his blind thirst for destruction as a chance to look around, Spyro searched the edges of their field for something to give him an advantage.
Finally, one tumbled down in the form of a hardened lava rock. Figuring he had nothing to lose, Spyro wound up and rushed at it, pushing the projectile into the air with his horns.
Pow! The lava rock erupted once it hit Spike's face, leaving a trail of burn marks and rock debris down his mighty chest. Spyro took a moment to revel in his victory, spying plenty of other rocks to assist the battle. "Aw, what's the matter? Can't handle a little magma to the face?"
Apparently, though, he could. Spike quickly wiped away the debris, then made a mighty leap. When he hit the ground, the shock-waves fissured the ground, covering it with plumes of blistering steam. They also loosened the lava rocks, just enough for them to shatter when they hit the ground, eliminating Spyro's slim advantage. "O-kay, so much for that."
He took a second to look towards the skies, where Hunter and Sheila spiraled off with the whirligig. This would be a REALLY good time for them to come back, but of course, he had no way of signalling them.
In his panic, Spyro forgot the number-one lesson of battle: never turn your back to the enemy. Spike took advantage of the half-second slip and blasted his Artisan foe with a hit of electric energy. The dragon was blown back by the blast, his legs and wings frozen in a twitchy spasm as the electric jolt shot through his spine. Spike bellowed a dark laugh; the puny dragon wouldn't make much of a meal, but it would do. Ready to finish the job, he brought his hammer high, wound up a swing...
BANGBANGBANG-BANG! Spike cringed slightly as a rain of fire came down from above, swinging at the sky as if he were under fire from some invisible attacker.
With the Sorceress' new pet distracted, Byrd rocketed down to meet the recovering dragon. "My apologies, Spyro; I got here as quickly as I could. Have you sustained heavy damage?"
"Just my pride," Spyro groaned, (though Byrd could see that was less-than-true by looking at the sudden blue glow of his trusty dragonfly), stretching his legs to kick them back into running shape. "What're you doing here?"
"My tactical instincts told me the Sorceress would try to attack you here," Byrd explained. "The Frozen-Icy path is riddled with these hot springs that make for the perfect place for an ambush."
"Thanks for the warning." Seeing that Spike had recovered from the blasting, Spyro grabbed Byrd and tackled him down, rolling them both out of the way of another electric barrage. "Any ideas how to beat this thing?"
Byrd frowned. "Well, I, erh...I thought my rocket-launchers would, y'know-" He was thrown into the air with a squawk as Spike took another shot, landing it directly between his targets. "No, I'm afraid I don't! But if I come up with something, I'll be sure to let you know!"
As Byrd circled the battlefield, trying to catch Spike's attention and lure him away, Spyro was vaguely remembered of another titanic battle - his throwdown with Gulp in the Autumn Manor. With Byrd's flapping and how it was being drowned out by the energy blasts, Spyro was half-expecting a pterodactyl to come down and...
...Drop some ammo. "Byrd, quick! Do you have any ammo you can unload? A bomb, a rocket, anything?"
"What good is that going to do?!"
"Trust me!"
As anybody with enough experience in explosives would be, Byrd was a bit apprehensive about dropping live ammunition into a battlefield with an armed giant, but with both warriors at a loss for other ideas, he had no choice. He loosened a spare missile from his clip, trying to drop it as close to his partner as he could.
Spyro rushed towards the spiny projectile, rolling out of the way of another electric barrage once he had it locked in his jaws. Swallowing as much boiling air as he could, the Artisan heated up a flaming breath attack and spat the projectile in a roaring blast.
Normal explosives? Eh. Explosives backed by dragon-fire? Look out. As Spike was too slow to realize when the projectile lodged in his chest and blew him back into the magma pools around the mountainsides, they pack a bit more of a punch.
oo00oo00oo
Once Spike was taken care of, penguin and dragon could meet and catch up. "By the blazes, Spyro, that was brilliant," Byrd complimented. "How did you know that would work?"
"Experience is everything in the heat of battle, soldier," Spyro said with a laugh. It was a piece of advice he heard over and over again from the Peacekeeper elders, but never thought he'd actually use himself one day.
An awkward silence. "So...why'd you come back?" the dragon finally asked.
Byrd softened his stance apologetically. "Thinking back upon things, I may have been a bit harsh on you back at the skate-park. I attacked an ally, which is dishonorable enough, but I did so without giving you a chance to tell your side of the story."
"Actually, you did," Spyro reminded. "I was just too mad at the moment to take that chance." Now that they had a free moment to chat, the Artisan fully extended his golden wings, giving them a few rough flaps. "My wings just aren't big enough to carry my body weight yet," he finally explained. "I can flutter a little bit, and I'm an amazing glider, but if I want to get REALLY airborne, I need a superfly enchantment to get the wind under me. Trust me, it's not for a lack of trying, it's just a lack of growing."
"Runt of the hatchlings, are we?" Byrd asked with a smirk.
Spyro frowned slightly. Just because he knew that, it didn't make it any easier to swallow. "Maybe. Got a problem with it?"
"Not at all," Byrd assured as Hunter finally came around with the whirligig to pick them up. "From one overambitious runt to another, I think it's rather commendable."
Daw, lookit the bonding (and totally ignore that we skipped Bamboo Terrace. Sorry, baller soundtracks aren't enough to get you a chapter). Most annoying boss fight in the game, by far, but somehow came to be one of my favorite chapters. Go fig.
Anyway, we've got some chaos to pull in the Evening Lake! And weirdly-paced segments means you guys have three super-special, extra-long chapters to look forward to! So make sure to tune in for all the magic next time! Thanks for reading, guys! See you next week!
§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §