(In the realm of darkness…)
Malefor's shadow had grown stronger.
"Rhea and Talvot have failed," he said to himself, "But no matter, with that amount of dark energy they emanated during their fights, added to the mana left over from Spyro's and Fire Guardian's powers, I have enough power to redo to my dark army.
With just one move, various creatures: grublins, gargoyles, wyverns, trolls, and so on appeared before him. Unlike last time, they were a larger quantity.
"Interesting that so much evil can emanate from a selfish human and another abusive..."
"Malefor," one of his dark generals (the so-called Blagden) told him, "Two have already fallen. These powers they've been given are useless."
"It's not that they're useless," Malefor replied, "Your powers are unique. Spyro and his friends were too close at the moment. Now that the war will start, they have spread out to get everything ready. Let's start before they meet again…"
"What's the plan?"
"I have some left over from Spyro's Ether mana and Jhonny's Fire mana. I need someone to fight the guardian of the earth, Thorr" Malefor explained, "If you manage to drain all the mana from him, then my resurrection will be even closer. If not then... at least you tried and got a small part"
"Am I supposed to help you if you say something like that to me?" Blagden replied annoyed.
"You see: it doesn't matter if they fight or not. The energy that each battle gives off leaves traces. Just do a bit of combat and extract some of the guardian of the earth. If you extract more, your investment will be bigger"
Blagden seemed hesitant. However, for Malefor's plans, he had a way to tempt him:
"Look at this" he said as he projected an image. In it, the Great Dam of the valley could be seen.
"You were some kind of trader before, right?" Malefor told him.
"Yes..." he answered, carried away by temptation.
"Look at this Dam... the dragons built that place and distribute water with it to several adjoining towns without receiving anything in return... what would you do if you owned the place?"
"Without gaining anything in return? Bah, those fools… they don't know what a business opportunity they're missing… I can't believe how magnificent that architecture is though…"
"That's right… If you succeed and come back alive, I'll give you several dragons as slaves to work in your world. Don't worry about the dimensions, I have everything fixed…"
"OK. I will do it…"
And Malefor, with another movement made it disappear.
"Blagden… I highly doubt you'll make it, but your greed and ambition will turn into delicious dark energy that I can harness…" Malefor thought.
(In the Great Dam…)
Spyro and Cynder had met up with Thorr and a group at the Great Dam, which was built with a dragon-shaped head, as well as a pair of wing- and leg-shaped structures. As soon as they arrived, the place gave them great nostalgia... although it was not so good, because that place had been destroyed to stop the destroyer in the previous war.
"We have reinforced the Great Dam after it was destroyed" commented Thorr, "Now it is bigger and we can store more water. If we need to use it…"
"I don't think the Destroyer will come up again," Spyro said reasoning a bit, "Not as fast at least. Malefor gave powers to the Dark Ones, but he doesn't have enough power to summon and control something that big. At least, as far as we know."
"So our biggest threat remains the Dark Ones," Cynder concluded, "We can't tell when they will..."
But at that moment, black clouds were spreading in the sky.
"Something tells me it will be soon," Thorr commented.
Just then, dark purple lightning struck one of the prey's legs, setting it on fire.
"If they destroy the dam, they will flood the valley" shouted the guardian, "You have to defend it"
"We have more problems," Cynder pointed out.
The war was beginning: in the sky, several Wyverns and gargoyles were flying in two directions. One of them was flying in the direction of Warfang and the other in the direction of there, the Great Dam.
"Defend the Dam!" Thorr shouted giving the order to the other dragons.
All the other dragons took flight in the direction of the approaching dark army. Spyro, Cynder and Thorr were no exception: they all headed towards the enemies as well.
The armies collided with all their strength, although the dark army was more numerous, the army of the dragons had superiority in strength. Somehow, both armies were balanced due to this fact.
Spyro had managed to fend off a horde of gargoyles single-handedly. Just as he finished a Wyvern tried to hit him from behind.
"Shadow Dragon!" Cynder yelled.
The shadow of a huge dragon pierced through the air and took all the Wyverns that Spyro hadn't foreseen. Cynder had helped him.
"Don't worry, I've got you covered," she told him.
"Thank you" he replied.
But at that moment, Cynder perceived a strange smell in the air. While she was not someone who had darkness inside of her, she did have the ability to perceive darkness.
"A Dark One!" Cynder yelled.
"Cynder! Watch out!" Spyro yelled.
Cynder turned. A flurry of air-propelled black spears was approaching at full speed.
"Earth-Shield!"
Thorr stepped in and blocked the attack with a hemisphere of rocks. When the spears hit, they got stuck in the barrier.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you," Cynder told him.
"Not for long, gentlemen" a voice told them.
Descending, a dark dragon appeared. He had marks on his body with wind symbols or some strange pattern. All around him, the same spears that had attacked earlier were flying, guided by powerful gusts of wind.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he told them, "My name is Blagden, bearer of the wind spears. I'm sorry, but that was an eviction notice."
"Eviction notice?" Thorr asked, "You have no right to claim that. These lands do not belong to you."
The dark dragon laughed.
"It's funny," he said, "Before I came here, I heard the same words from an old man in an Aboriginal village. I didn't mind getting him and his family out of it. That area was perfect for exploitation."
"Did you get them from his birthplace?" Cynder yelled indignantly (she knew how it feels), "You're a..."
But Thorr stopped her.
"Spyro, Cynder," he told them, "Please protect the Great Dam, many earth dragons I have put in charge have endeavored to replenish it after its destruction. We can't let someone as ambitious as him take away our life's work. I take care of him"
"Cynder," Spyro told his wife, "Thorr is right. We necessarily had to destroy the dam and several helped to rebuild it. We must collaborate to prevent the enemy from destroying it"
Cynder, becoming aware, only limited herself to saying:
"Thorr, give him a beating for me"
"I promise" he replied. The pair then flew in the direction of the army that was still trying to attack the dam. Meanwhile, the guardian of the earth stood up to the new enemy.
"Cynder is right," Thorr told him, "No one, not even the richest and wealthiest, has the right to take away their birth home or their land from another."
The dark dragon seemed not ready to attack…yet.
"I am…or was, a businessman," he said, "I don't care what other people think or do about me. In our world, men multiply every day and we need more places. That's why someone like me negotiates. We don't live without it. We sell parts of jungles and forests at the best prices to survive"
"Sweeping them away," Thorr corrected, "A friend of mine told me. The enrichment of a few individuals or groups impoverishes them all. Some do it because they need them, but others, more than because of their needs, do it because of their ambitions: they pollute and prey on rivers, lakes and seas, and in doing so they put an end to what walks, swims, flies and crawls. If you call that progress, I call it progress toward death."
Raising a claw, one of his spears leveled at her. However, the guardian was not afraid.
"That friend of yours must be half-human," Blagden scoffed, "It's a response from someone moral by nature. Someone without vision does not survive long in our world. However, I can make you a proposal: If you come to work for us, it may be that our world will improve and I will not disturb your nature."
"I won't fall for your tricks," Thorr replied, "I know you only want us as tools. Then someone like that Dark One who was a hunter will sell our head to the one who can best pay for it. And of course, for your 'business', you will pay very well"
"Ha, you mean Reah... Fine... if that's what you want... stop talking..."
And, with another movement, he flung the spear at him. Fortunately, Thorr was quick enough and covered himself with another shield. The spear stuck in him. Thorr countered with a blast of rocks, but Blagden, who had not only control of Thorr's spears, but also complete control of the air, unleashed a blast that fended off Thorr's attack.
"Ground Bomber!" Thorr yelled as he used his powers.
A large ground missile shot out of his mouth and split into five, which split again into ten missiles. Blagden defended himself again. However, each missile hit hit with a loud explosion covering all the air in green smoke.
It seemed that Thorr had won the battle, but out of nowhere, one of the black spears hit him in the shoulder. The dragon roared in pain.
"Did you like that?" Blagden asked mockingly, "Your ground attacks are no match for my wind attacks…"
Thorr held the spear and struggled to wrestle it away. But in that instant, Blagden plunged more of his spears into him, causing him to cry out more in pain.
"I hope you don't die from this…" Blagden sneered, "Dance of death, flurry of spears!"
Saying so, the sphere of air that once protected him, this time surrounded the guardian. The high speed of the air made breathing difficult, but then it got worse: a series of spears passed at high speed hurting the dragon and causing multiple wounds.
If that wasn't enough, Blagden used something worse: his spears formed into the shape of a misshapen dragon. From its mouth, a powerful gust of black wind shot out, sending the dragon flying like a piece of tree branch and causing it to fall into the woods. The next second, the dark dragon descended a bit to finish its job.
"You were overconfident" he laughed, "You had no chance of winning"
Thorr with some spears still embedded, it was about lifting. He could feel those spears stealing his mana.
"I hope you understand that they are just business…"
But he didn't continue as his hind legs couldn't move. Looking down, he understood the reason: the earth now covered his legs and, before he knew it, his front ones as well, and it wasn't just earth that moved, but also roots from underground.
He had to call the spears to him again, but he was surprised to find that Thorr was back up and holding them back.
"It's not possible" he said, "You should be dying with so many spears stuck in you..."
"You're the one you trusted, you must learn that earth dragons have the toughest scales of all" the guardian said to his surprise, "You're right, I specialize more in ground attacks. And now… you are in my element"
And saying that last, he broke the spears in front of him. Now, he had nothing to attack with.
"By the way, I hope you enjoy the feeling of nature," he continued.
"You did this to me…" Blagden claimed trying to free himself.
"Something like that. Earth dragons have a strong connection with nature, we cover our bodies with its power, persisting at all times. For us nature gives us life and we give to it the same…"
"Ridiculous, if you don't use the resources, you're just someone looking down on it.."
"And people like you are the ones who destroy it… It is better that you really feel the power of nature in your own flesh…"
Thorr began to glow, releasing the mana within him.
"Nature's Wrath!"
With the power of it, a series of whirlwinds appeared along with a shower of rocks that caused a great explosion in the terrain they were on, destroying everything around them except Thorr. Once the explosions ended, there was a hole where the Dark One was, about to disappear into the shadows.
"You defeated me..." he told him in agony, "But you destroyed the forest that you hold so dear..."
"That's what you think," Thorr pointed out.
Sinking claws into the ground, the dragon began to share mana with the ground, which in a few seconds grew grass again and from the space of fallen trees, they began to sprout and grow at a surprising speed, like regeneration.
"The base of the world is teeming with energy, filled with ancient magic and natural mana fields," he explained, "A trained Earth Dragon at the height of his abilities can draw strength from these, and he can also bring it to the Earth. "
The enemy laughed as a quarter of his being vanished.
"We are not like you" he said, "We cannot regenerate our world like this"
"No, not like us, but there is always a way to do it. Earth is a form founded on the precepts of strength over adversity, dogged resolve, and dogged determination. If the land can give you those values, can't you give them to restore it?
"It's not that simple, but who cares..."
And saying that, he vanished into the shadows.
