The Legend of Spyro

Warriors of the Fallen

Chapter 06 New and Old Friends

Spyro let out a huff as he threw down another destroyed sword of ape make. This was the third group of dead apes they had come across since they had started to follow the trail of Marshal's fiends. It was not the third ambush they had come across. It was more like the tenth. Though the other seven were either empty, or they had to go around because of a patrol.

Spyro looked about at what must have been a small patrol, there were not many bodies, and it was not much a fight if he was any judge. To him, it very much looked like a successful alpha strike ambush. Said alpha strike being a magnitude more potent than it probably needed to be given the fact that it had destroyed even the ape's equipment.

Ape equipment, while of low quality, was usually incredibly durable. Actually, scratch that, it was because they were so durable that their equipment sucked. It was designed to cut a rock in half and not break, but that also meant that the weapons could not hold an edge or were so just this side of unbalanced enough to be scrap worthy. And do not get him started on the Armor. The number of field patching and jury-rigging to any ape armor they found and used spoke for itself.

Either way, as Spyro pushed over the charred corpse of a dreadwing, hoping to find something of use, he could help but think that maybe there was such a thing as overkill.

"It wasn't strength. It was numbers."

Spyro came up and looked over at Marshal. The older man had walking around the battle zone, trying to find their next lead.

Cynder, who had been leaning in the center, having decided to try and work on her own magical sensing, stood up and looked at him. "How so? It feels like what happened to them was pretty strong."

Marshal turned to them, "Oh, I'm not saying there wasn't in any strength in the attack. But that isn't what caused the apes to be defeat so quickly. If it was, I think I would have already been able to find the trail. However, I'm sensing multiple attacks that came from multiple directions."

Spyro tilted his head slightly as he thought about this, then he started to look around, and he began to see things had missed before, "I see what you mean. I didn't notice before, but they are magical scorch marks...it looks like every direction?"

Marshal nodded, "Just about. This ambush isn't like the other."

Cynder nodded, "You're right; the others looked like small groups. This must have been much more than the three or four of the others."

Marshal turned and looked at the trees around them, "You're right; it was definitely a large group. Sadly, I can't tell if it was twenty or fifty. There's too much bleed over from some of the powerful ones among them." He looked at the two of them again, "And that's not even covering what the boost and support spells are doing to the echos."

Spyro pricked up at hearing that, "Support and Boost Spells? Your group has people who can use support and boost spells, like on others?!"

Support and Boost Spells were big things. Everyone knew of combat spells. They were easy, and since they were seen on in the fight more often, they were generally thought of first when it came to combat. But the backline was just as crucial as the frontline.

Support spells were spells that helped a person, while boost spells improved magic. It was a gross and horribly simplified summary of the two categories, but it worked in Spyro's mind. Some enchantments also fell into the two types but only when the enchantment affected the person instead of the equipment.

Between him and Cynder, they could use a few support and boosts on themselves. Specifically, physical reinforcement types and temporary healing. The problem was they needed Crystals of Power to use them in a meaningful manner or for longer than a few minutes. So the fact that Marshal's group includes some honest to ancestors Support and Boost capable casters could be a big thing.

Marshal nodded to Spyro's question, "Yes, there's a few. Not many. Most of the better…" He took a breath. By this point, Spyro and Cynder knew it was because he was remembering them and had to process it. "...Most of the better ones did not last long. The bastard didn't want healers and other rear fighters."

Cynder gave a light but angered snort, "No, of course not. He wanted fighters. In his mind, the more berserk, the better."

Marshal gave one sharp nod in confirmation, "Yes. So those of us who could do rear line action can also do frontline. And if you want to be crazy, even our frontliners can do some rear line work. They aren't very good at it, but we all learned it."

Spyro waved Marshal off, "Don't worry about that. From what the guardians told me, almost every dragon worth their magic can do the most basic of support and boost spells. Granted, most are only on themselves, but it's not too hard to do it on others."

Cynder snorted at her partner, "Speak for yourself, purple boy. I have a hard enough time casting them on myself. I wouldn't even know where to begin to cast it on others."

Spyro shrugged, "I can guess, but I probably wouldn't be able to do it without Crystals." Spyro looked to Marshal, "If your guys can do it, I don't care what your pasts are or even if any of you never want to touch a weapon again. I'll help you guys with moving a damn mountain just have you guys be able to help out on the rear line."

Marshal chuckled, Spyro would almost call it a dark chuckle, but there was just enough control that it was not. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that Spyro. I doubt everyone will want to fight or be near the fighting for a while. But I can't see any one of them staying away for too long. Too much...too much fuel, let's say."

Spyro smiled lightly, "Whatever works, I guess. Now then, were you able to catch the trail again? We can't be too far off from them if they're starting to group up in good numbers again. Small groups are easy to miss, but larger ones are going to catch more attention."

The wind dragon nodded, "You're not wrong; I've started to notice more areas of high-density echoes. At this point, we're more just following the densest groupings instead of the scattered one-offs."

Cynder smiled as she reentered the conversation, "Then let's get moving. If there's more popping up, it won't be long until we find them or a dedicated hunting parting. Either way…" She filtered off at the knowing look the two boys were giving her.

Nothing more need be said as they moved on following the trail of carnage.

The term Spell covers a wide range of magic and, even more so, a wide range of types of magical ability. Spells generally range from weakish and straightforward cantrips to Legendary levels of power and effects. The following will first be a description based on a spell's power level and the two categories any spell could fall into based on impact and amount of magic needed. And then, afterward, we will go through the spell type categories.

The two descriptors for a spell are Power Level and Effectiveness.

For Power Level, we start with the basic Cantrip. These spells are the lowest level of magic. This type of spell can be cast in a relative infant amount. The only limiting factor is the caster imagination the time it takes to cast the spell. Cantrips are used for both everyday use and for combat but are, on average, weak in power. A powerful caster can use cantrips, which seem more powerful. However, it's more accurate to say they can cast the spell with more efficacy and thus cast more. An excellent example of this The Fire Magic type cantrip, Fire Bolt. A simplistic spell that throws a small ball of fire to strike a single target. Most casters are only able to throw a single bolt. However, there have been reports of fire dragons able to send as many as four or five bolts with a single cast.

Next is the D level Spells. D Level spells are not much more potent than Cantrils. Their effects on average reflet this. The most significant difference between a Cantril and a D Level spell is the amount of magic needed. Like cantrips, any magic-user can use D spells. Unlike Cantrips, most magic users can only use a small number of this level a day. Of course, the more powerful and experienced caster can use more. It is not unknown for certain dragons to use this level of spell near as quickly as cantrips, but it is not common.

The remaining levels are not much different from D. The levels of C, B, and A go up in power from D. In some circles, it is considered exponential increases, but this depends on the type of Magic. The most significant difference between each of these levels is simply the amount of magic needed and thus how many times they can be cast.

The last level of Power Level is Legendary, also known as L Level. These spells are rarely seen, not just because of the magic they take, but because in casting them, most magic users will be drained and vulnerable after or during casting these types of spells, to what degree depends on the caster. Most Dragon Furies are considered to be at this level of Power even if the weaker dragon's furry would be more comparable to one of the lower classes. L level of combat spells can end fights in an instant. Legendary spells of the other categories can have a whole host of effects depending on what class they are in, and as such, examples are difficult to quantify.

To talk about effectiveness, one must first understand categories. There are two overarching types of Magic, in general, Active and Passive. Active is one-off spells that are cast then no longer exist after the effects are done. In contrast, passive lasts over a much more extended period of time. There is debate on if all passive requires a constant stream of magic or if spells that are cast and set to expire after a time are considered passive. The difference between these two are commonly academic as passive spells typically cause active ones to go off, blurring the lines.

The basic types of spells themselves are Attack, Support, Boost, Enchantments, Wards, and Affect.

Attack spells, also known as combat magic, are precisely as they sound, spells used to cause direct damage. The previously mentioned firebolt is one type of attack spell.

Support spells are spells that help a person. The most straightforward examples are Healing type spells and the Physical strengthing type spells. Support spells are common confused with Boost spells. However, Boost spells improve magic versus a body as done by support. Most boost spells are rarely seen, but some common ones like Back Wind speed up how fast a spell travels, and Magic Transfer, which allows one to give magic to another.

Enchantments are spells imbued into an object, said spells ranging from increasing durability to infusing the item with elemental strength. This is, again, similar yet different to Wards. Wards cover an area instead of a single object. The spells that can be cast for both categories are so similar that they are the same in all but the most specific instances.

The last category is the Affect type of spells. This category covers everything the other types of spells do not. Because of this, Affect spells have also been called general type magic. On average, these spells do not do damage but instead cause some kind of effect, hence the name. The various types of Elemental walls are great examples of this. This is not to say these spells can not cause damage or do things similar to the other categories, but those are very much a by-product of the original intent.

With that in mind, Effectiveness is mostly self-explanatory. Effectiveness is determined by how many a spell can affect. From smallest to most considerable, the categories are: Individual, Squad, Company, Battalion, Army, City, Continent, and World.

Much like many things involving Magic, many categories cross into each other. You will rarely go wrong when you define a spell-based on observed effects. But be ready to change the description based on any information you can acquire.

-The Science of Magic: What are spells?

Cynder was ready, or at least she hoped she was. They had heard it, or at least the faintest hint of it. Marshal was definitely sensing it based on the steady uptick in magic swirling around him.

They had found who they were looking for. And they were fighting something.

The female was almost positive it was a couple of apes, but that was based on the faint sound of an explosive going off. But either way, it was the first real evidence that they were getting close and not just following an unknown trail.

The three of them had been following the trail of battles. It had been less than two days since they had run into their first mass ambush. From what they could tell, that had only been the first of many. But to go with that, there was also evidence of numerous small squad battles, patrols running into patrols. They knew they had to have been getting close, but the fog of war was massive and covered not just the enemy anymore.

Now, they were rushing to what they hoped was a group of friendlies locked in battle. And by rushing, Cynder meant running so fast that if they tripped, they would probably take out any tree in their way.

Out of the corner of Cynder's eye, she could see her partner was in a similar state to herself. That being concentrating on keeping up with the near cyclone that was Marshal.

Their first sign that they were getting close was not the increase in the volume of sounds but rather the wind dragon actions. Said actions starting his primary leg shifting from running to collapsing into itself and then springboarding out to propel the male with a massive burst of wind and magic up into the air.

Seeing him act, the couple moved to follow. Spyro infused his legs with electricity increasing their movement. Meanwhile, Cynder mimicked Marshal. Instead of jumping up, though, Cynder burst forward.

The couple arrived at the edge of the fight just in time to see Marshal's opening strike.

Said strike was the wind dragon dropping, spear pointing straight down just below him, center mass into a larger than average dreadwing. The resounding thud and burst of pressure originating from the crushing landing first disoriented and then shocked those already locked in battle.

Cynder took a moment to assess the situation quickly. Upon arrival, there were five humans, seven apes, and ten dreadwings. Nine dreadwings now, Marshal had all but deleted the largest dreadwing with his landing. Cynder could also see several dead apes and another dead dreadwing.

From her quick look, Cynder could tell that at least two of the humans were awakened. Those dragons had defensive barriers up. They had been trying to defend themselves and the others from whatever the apes had been doing before they had arrived.

Now though, the apes were on the back foot. Cynder locked eyes on the nearest ape, said ape sitting on a dreadwing directing it. With a twitch, the female enclosed herself in shadows and rushed forward. She had hoped to decapitate the ape then transition to the dreadwing. Instead, dreadwing reared back, probably from panic. This caused Cynder to shoulder check into the mass of the dreadwing.

As she noticed the movement in time, she was able to reposition her sword so that when she did slam into the creature, she could stab it at the same time. With her blade inside the beast, she could use some of her new knowledge and flash cast a spell dedicated to creating and intensifying a wave of pressure and vibrations. This spell quickly caused the creatures' internals to vibrate violently, breaking apart muscles, blood vessels, and several of the creature's hollow bones. In total, it turned the animals inside into bloody and messy mush.

Her spell cast, Cynder used her legs to throw herself off of the quickly dying creature. As she sailed through the air, she swung her sword around, sending a slash of acid at the ape. While it did not cut through the ape's entirety, it did enough damage to cut deep into the body and start to dissolve it from the inside. Said ape started to trash and cry out in pain as it began to die.

As Cynder landed again, she looked for her next target. As she did, she heard the dying screech of a dreadwing. Her head snapped to the source.

Marshal had transitioned from crushing a dreadwing to spearing one. Now with a dreadwing lodged on his spear, he gave a warcry and swung the spear around and used the flailing beast to bat aside two smaller apes into a tree. If they were not dead when they collided, the slowly collapsing tree would do the job of crushing them.

Meanwhile, Spyro was engaged in giving some shock therapy to three dreadwings at close range, through shallow strikes of his sword, locking them up. They would be dead soon.

The motion of a pair of small apes moving to jump on her partner caught Cynder's attention. Cynder launched forward into a corkscrew motion assisted and boosted with a wind stream with barely a thought. Her movement allowed her to be on the apes in an instant, cleave their heads off with a single motion.

Dropping a foot to the ground, she redirected her motion to take out another dreadwing. Just as she was about to move, the dreadwing she was aiming for was taken out. Specifically, it was hit by a dreadwing that had been lodged on a spear. Marshal had struck out and not only hit a dreadwing but succeeded in forcing his spear to travel through the remainder of the dead dreadwing lodged on it but also into the new creature piercing several vital organs.

Releasing his now almost worthless spear, Marshal swung around and used a motion of quick drawing his sword to send a wind slash towards a medium-sized ape. There was enough force and magic in the incision that the ape was bisected at the hip.

Her original target was taken out; Cynder tried to require a target. Before she could, she saw a stick of explosive bounce in front of her. She had to jump back and throw up a wall of shadow to protect herself from the explosion.

As her actions were quick, her landing was uncoordinated. The second it took to recover from her jawing collision was enough for one of the remaining dreadwings to jump and reach the apex of its trajectory, a trajectory in which Cynder was the target.

As Cynder moved to try and protect herself, a voice called out, "Marchas, Boom Clap!"

The response was almost instant. A thundering and physical wave of sound crashed through the fight.

Cynder's ears started to ring, and the spell battered her body. But as bad as she felt, the effect to the dreadwing was more than evident. The creature was hit, thrown, then flattened by the wave of magic.

No longer in danger, Cynder put her hands to her ears and started to use her magic to first canceled out the ringing in her ears and get back into the fight.

Before she could altogether cancel it out, she felt a hand on her shoulders. She looked up to see the concerned look of Spyro. She forced a smile and started standing up. Before she could stumble, her partner caught her and helped her the rest of the way.

Her head cleared she looked around. Given that Spyro was next to her, the fight was over. The "Boom Clap" looked to have hurt the last few dark creatures enough that taking them happened well before Cynder was able to recover.

Spyro motioned her to where Marshal was. The wind dragon was near the new awakened, one of which Cynder now guessed was an Audio user. Marshal looked to be talking with the two of them; it looked like he was trying to judge their condition, judging by how he was looking them over and the minor healing spell he was casting on one of them.

The three other humans Cynder had seen at the start were standing off to the side. Now that she had more time to look and a bit closer, she could tell two essential things. One, one of them was injured and looked like he was only up because of his fellows.

The second observation, all thee for them had fox tails and ears. The giant boomerangs they were wielding did not interest her in the least. But the fact that the three of them were from a Tribal Magic-user group was far more interesting to her.

Spyro had to whisper, not wanting to disturb Marshal or the "foxes" as they seemed to be more interested in conducting medical. "I thought most Tribal Magic had been enslaved or wiped out."

Cynder noticed one of the fox's ears twitch as she responded, "Apparently, some managed to stay hidden. Or escaped."

Spyro shrugged, just as uncertain as she was.

Before the two of them could contemplate further, Marshal called out to them, "Cynder, you alright? Boom Clap can be pretty disrupting if you're not ready for it."

The couple looked at the wind dragon, who was looking at them. He was also slightly motioning them over.

Figuring they might as well, the couple started to move over. Cynder also responded to Marshal's question, "Was mostly disoriented. My ears are still sort of ringing, but it's going down."

Marshal nodded, "Good. I was worried it had done more, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be able to help you fast enough."

Cynder waved him off, "It's alright, rather injured and alive than anything else." At saying that, Spyro squeezed her shoulder slightly. Not liking the thought of her getting hurt, but also understanding that it would happen.

One of the new dragons rubbed the back of his head; Cynder could not describe him much. This was less because she lacked terms but more because he had several bandages covering most of his face. Several looked recent. While the man was rubbing the back of his head, he looked at Cynder, "Either way, sorry for that." He had a very soft voice; to Cynder, it almost seemed like it hurt for him to talk at anything above a whisper. "We should have been trying to help you, but…"

The other dragon they had helped put a hand on his companion, stopping him. He then looked straight into Cynder's eyes as he spoke for him. "We were hunting when we ran into that patrol. We probably would have escaped eventually, but it's hard to say what our condition would have been."

Spyro raised an eyebrow, "You were hunting?"

The first dragon, who Cynder assumed was the one Marshal had called Marchas, nodded, but it was the un-named dragon who responded, "With the foxes."

Cynder had to fight not to sigh. That seemed to explain nothing.

Marshal put a paw on the un-named man, "What Kyle is trying to say is that they were not prepared for a fight. Why, is probably not best covered here."

The newly named Kyle seemed to try and glare at Marshal, but a look from the wind dragon stopped him. The guy sighed and motioned to the group of foxes.

Said group had been watching them and seeing their attention started to move off.

Not knowing what else to do, they followed.

AN: Moving forward and rapidly catching up to TDJD. Then again, I'm not describing as much of the day-to-day stuff as in that one. I've learned that time skips are helpful, even more so when one only has two perspectives to work off! Granted, this means you miss out on some things, but it also means I don't have to type as many events and personalities. I promise there is a lot of stuff going on in the background, some of which we will see, some we'll hear about, and some you'll have to guess about!

If the ending felt rushed, that was because it was. I had some difficulty in getting the interaction down, so I sort of just threw it together.

Either way, I hope my muse continues to be friendly, and I can continue to get chapters out. Of course, this also depends on if my computer whats to cooperate. The poor thing has been slowly dying for a few months now, and as I type this, I'm dealing with lag outs. It's incredibly annoying!

Side note, from here on out, most chapters in this story very much have mature warnings. Describing how something dies (even in the loosest of terms) is only a glimpse of what is to come.

Well, I got nothing else to say, so until we meet again, Happy Reading.