Chapter 3: An Escape and Meeting
AGENT 9
I bit my lower lip, my finger was on the trigger to my blaster. The beast I was looking for was staring right back at Tara and I. Tara stayed calm as she held her pistol firmly.
"What... err... who are you?" I asked, trying not to whimper at the yellow beast eyes staring back at me.
"They sspeak, my preciouss," the beast in the dark said.
"You're supposed to answer!" Tara snapped. She pointed her pistol right between the yellow eyes.
"Thosse nassty things want to hurt uss. We hatess things that try to hurt uss!"
"We? Us?" I muttered. "Don't tell me that there is another one of you." The eyes staring at me blinked, I shivered as they did.
"My preciouss iss losst! Losst!"
"This is going nowhere," Tara muttered into my ear. She turned her attention back onto the beast. "Alright, who are you, what are you doing, and why are you here? Answer the questions and come quietly!"
"They speak in riddless," the beast said. "Do they like riddless?"
"Riddles?" said Tara. "I know that the Dogs use riddles to protect the Tomb. Yes, we like riddles." She still aimed at the beast in the dark but she seemed interested in the riddles.
"What's with all these riddles and stuff?" I asked.
"When preciouss assks," the beast said, "and if they don't answer, we eatss them."
"Right," said Tara, "go on."
"When they ask and if we do not answer, we shall come quietly."
"Nice deal," I murmured under my breath.
"We shall ask the firsst riddle," the beast hissed. "Hard as stone, taller than trees, stands still, can not grow. Can they guess the answer?"
I scratched my chin, "What is hard as stone, taller than trees, stands still and can not grow?"
"I think I know what it is," said Tara. "It could be either a mountain or a tower."
"Tower iss the ansswer!" the beast hissed. "Now they shall assk."
"Who will ask first?" I whispered, trying to avoid the beast's horrible stare.
"I will," Tara replied. "All what you do are dirty jokes."
She faced the beast, her index finger stroking the trigger of her pistol. "I have a riddle: I am a face, I have one gold eye and one silver eye, one of my cheeks is pale and the other is dark with silver freckles, I will show one side and switch to the next. What am I?"
The yellow eyes blinked twice, "Let us think... Yess, yess! It iss the ssky! We have not sseen the ssky in agess!"
"Damn it!" Tara cursed under her breath.
"It iss our turn," said the beast. "It is heavy, but makes you light, it is cold, it is wet, it is dry, what is it?"
"I think it's water," I said.
"Water iss the ansswer!"
"My turn to ask," I said. "What is big, grey, and surrounded by flies?"
"Iss it a dead animal?" the beast asked.
"Nope, you're cold."
Tara grinned at the little trick I was using, she faced the beast again. "If you can't guess, you lose and you have to come with us."
The beast hissed, "Iss it fliess on a rock?"
"That is incorrect," I replied. The riddle I used was a retarded joke, the original answer was a dead elephant, but I changed the answer to a dirty sock.
"Then what wass it?" the beast asked impatiently.
"Sorry," said Tara, "I'm afraid that my friend won't give away that part. Now come with us."
"They cheated! They cheatss us, my precious!"
"The answer was a dirty sock," I said quietly. I felt the beast's cold stare undressing me, I bit my lip and held up my blaster. "Come with us slowly, nothing funny or we'll shoot."
"My precious doess not want to go with those nassty, little cheaterss!" The beast made a rumbling growl.
The sound of a beast growling was a bad sound. Taking action, I checked to see if my blaster was on stun. Tara had her pistol in one hand and the torch in the other. I aimed my blaster at the yellow eyes, "Tara, stand clear!"
Tara backed a couple of steps and stood beside me, holding the torch outward to keep the beast away. I pulled the trigger and a red beam of light struck between the yellow eyes.
The beast roared loud enough to wake the dead. My blaster only angered it.
"Agent 9, get down!" Tara shouted. I crouched down as Tara shot a few bullets at the beast. After five shots, there was silence, then...
"GRRRRRERERERERERER!!!"
"Run!" I heard Tara scream. I jumped to my feet, then Tara gabbed my arm and half way dragged me out of the passage.
"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to keep up with Tara on the run. "Why aren't we fighting the beast?"
"Because," she replied, still looking ahead, "I don't think our ordinary weapons can deal with it! We need more help! Hurry, the portal out of here is to our right! We will be able to escape!"
I could see the glowing portal not far away. As Tara and I got closer, I felt something sharp swipe across my back. I turned around to see the yellow eyes and jaws full of sharp teeth.
"Look out!" Tara yelled. The torch came flying over my head and it hit the beast.
"We hatess light!" the beast hissed with anger. Tara grabbed my arm again and dragged me through the portal.
In the Midnight Mountain home world, I stood in front of the Haunted Tomb portal, thinking on how lucky I was to escape a painful death. The mysterious beast was more dangerous than I thought.
"Agent 9," said Tara from behind me, "you're bleeding."
The pain started growing in my back. "The beast must of scratched me good, damn it hurts!"
"Come on, Charian's palace isn't far. You can get patched up and we can tell everyone what happened."
SpyroHunter and I followed Bianca down the halls of the castle. The walls were decorated by portraits and paintings of landscapes. Faeries in blue and grey uniforms stood at the entrances to all the rooms. At the end of the hall, two doors made of silver vines with a small tree on either side. A female faerie in a uniform every other faerie wore, was standing on a branch of the left tree. I could tell that she was an Ice faerie by her silver hair, light blue skin and dark blue wings.
"Lady Bianca," she said when she saw us approaching. "Your father and the Professor are waiting inside. They have been expecting Chief Hunter to arrive." She looked at me and Sparx. "Oh... pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself to the dragon! My name is Heloth from Frozen Altars, it is an honour to meet the dragon who has freed us from the Sorceress!"
"Hi," I said, "just call me Spyro."
Bianca cleared her throat, "Heloth, can we go inside now?"
"Yes! Of course!" Heloth pointed her wand at the door lock. The doors swung open and Bianca lead Hunter and I inside a large room. There were no walls to the room, the ceiling was supported by stone pillars, in the centre of the room was a round wooden table in a circle of chairs. I could see the Professor standing with a rabbit man wearing a night sky coloured robe and silver circlet.
"Spyro," the Professor spoke in an excited voice, "you decided to come!"
"Yes he has," Hunter spoke. He faced the rabbit man who was Bianca's father, "Lord Charian, Spyro and I are here and at your service." He bowed to Bianca's father.
"At your service," I said bowing with Hunter. I stood up on my hind legs to see Charian smiling at me.
"Feel welcome to take a seat, Spyro," he said to me. "The Professor and I have things to discuss with you and Hunter."
I took my seat beside Hunter, Bianca sat between him and her father. Sparx sat himself down on the table in front of me.
"What's so important to tell us?" Hunter asked.
"Well, Hunter," the Professor replied, "I was studying the victim's remains in my laboratory, and I found something that can help us. There were teeth and claw marks in the flesh, the teeth and claws that made them belong to a dragon."
"A dragon!? That's impossible, no dragon I know would kill that brutally!"
"I have to agree with Hunter," I said. "None of my fellow dragons would do such a thing, not even I."
"I know, Spyro," said the Professor. "The teeth and claw marks were dragon made, but the dragon that made the attack had to be mutated because the damage was too advanced to be made by a normal dragon."
"How would a dragon be mutated?" Bianca asked.
"That, dear daughter," said Charian, "would be Dark Arts of magic. In an old book about dragons, there is information on how Dark Arts can darken a dragon's mind, body, and soul."
I gulped, "So if I ever used Dark Arts, my soul, body and mind will be mutated?"
Charian nodded. "Yes, it could happen."
"What other events have occurred lately since the attack? Hunter asked.
"There has been sightings of a beast in the Haunted Tomb," the Professor answered. "I've sent Agent 9 there to investigate. After Agent 9 was sent to the Tomb, I examined the victim's remains."
"Will Hunter and I go there instead of Desert Ruins?" I asked.
"There will be no need for you to investigate the attack scene," said Charian. "Sgt. Byrd has that covered."
"Then what will Hunter and I do?"
"You will only track this dark dragon down. Residents of the Forgotten Worlds will share information on where the dragon was lately seen. Faeries and other Patrol Rangers will help you on your mission."
"I have my men protecting every town in the Forgotten Worlds," said Hunter. "If they see a dark dragon, they will be sure to..." The male faerie who was at the gates interrupted as he flew into the room from the open walls.
He stood on the table to catch his breath. "My Lord," he said to Charian, "Agent 9 has returned from the Haunted Tomb with Tara the Tomb Raider! He said that he encountered the attacker and he escaped with a wound and he now awaits at the doors."
I froze, "Agent 9 was wounded?"
"Yes, a horrible scratch across his back."
Charian stood up, "Thank you Garith, you may proceed with your duty." Garith bowed and left. "Bianca," Charian continued, "go fetch the medic. Professor, Hunter, Spyro, I think we should see what Agent 9 has to tell us." I, with everyone else, stood up and started walking back into the hallway.
"I can't believe that Agent 9 survived," I murmured to Sparx. "That mysterious dragon could have ripped him to shreds."
"That is why your uncle dislikes the idea about you chasing a mad killer," said Sparx.
"You're right about that..." I trailed off as thoughts poured into my head. I thought about what Agent 9 had seen, what I was in for, and how Gildas would react if something horrible happened.