The Realms of Chaos

Chapter 8: Escape From Under the Waves

Rating: Good old PG never let me down yet, but anymore cussing or violence and the rating goes up.

Author's Notes: This chapter came fast. O_o Inspiration has struck me! In case you want to know, the official website for The Realms of Chaos is www.turquoisephoenix.tk. Oh, and sorry about the fact that I can't do battle scenes justice. There's another one in here, but it's more of a-well, you'll find out.


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It's been two hours since the group of four had won the battle against the Blue Gigas Crystal Guardian. The past two hours were spent finding a safer exit out of the cave then the raging current outside the main entrance. After a while of searching, Spyro announced that they should try in the morning. (Time was kept track by the fact that Eledor had a waterproof watch on her wrist.) By finding some flammable paintings among the piles of treasure, Spyro and Ripto started a fire for the group to cook the only food left in Snowflake's backpack; some fish from the rainforest and some beef jerky. They chewed on their food in silence, until one of the group members couldn't take the silence anymore.

"How is it that I've been working magic throughout most of my life, and yet Snowflake was the one to summon a magical creature to save us? It's unbelievable!" Ripto stated, his claw still holding half a dried fish. Snowflake smiled smugly at Ripto.

"Oh, a dragon is not supposed to perform great feats of magic. I forgot about that rule! Really, if a female rhynoc can lift a giant ball of acid and fling it at a giant squid monster, then a dragon can summon a plant monster out of nowhere to battle said squid monster. Let's face it; this quest has bent more rules then ever possible." Snowflake retorted.

"What other rules were there to bend?" Ripto asked. Snowflake shrugged. "Well, you specifically stated that you hate dragons, and yet you're close friends with one. Explain that." Spyro gave her a mental high-five for that question; the look on Ripto's face was priceless. Eledor snickered softly as Ripto tried to come up with an answer.

"Err...well I, that is to say..." Ripto began. He met Snowflake's green eyes, their brightness rivaling that of the crystal that was strung around her neck. He smiled to her; he was sure glad that they couldn't tell that he was blushing. "Well, unlike Spyro and the flaming brimstone spewers of my world, you actually helped me in more ways then one. You actually stuck your neck out for me, and for that I'm grateful. Besides, you don't breathe fire, which is a major plus!" He stuffed the rest of his fish in his mouth and swallowed, pretty satisfied with his answer.

That wasn't a good enough answer for Snowflake. She inquired, "What are the dragons in your world like, anyway?" Ripto frowned as he described them. "They make the dragon elders of Spyro's kind look like bugs compared to those monstrosities. They towered over most of our buildings. Their breath turned anything that met their blaze into ash. Slitted red eyes as high as me could see well in both night and day. They were masters of the air and earth. They commanded the world with an iron claw with their high leader ruling over us like slaves. My family along with the rest of Riptoc race would slave for the dragons, digging in their mines to mine out the food that they ate. Nothing green grew in this world. No sunlight shone except during the hottest parts of the day, for the sky was always cloaked in ash."

Spyro, Eledor, and Snowflake were speechless. Spyro, for once, had no snide comments to Ripto's talk. Eledor and Snowflake were on the brink of tears. Who could live in such a terrible place? Ripto continued. "In fact, me and two other Riptocs named Crush and Gulp just happened to be fleeing from the dragons that fateful day. They had caught me practicing magic, which was a crime punishable by death. I was fleeing from their claws, riding on top of Gulp with Crush following. Suddenly, as I was running, a portal opened in our path and swallowed us, sending us to Avalar."

Then Spyro stepped into the story. "Then you fall into Avalar and declare yourself the new king. How could you even say such lies? Dragons as tall as buildings? A world cloaked with ash and brimstone? Who would buy that junk?" Spyro shouted.

"As a matter of fact, I believe him. Spyro, what he said was true. I saw it in his eyes." Snowflake said. "There are dragons like that back in Tylia; the law makes it so that those monsters don't overbreed and consume the world." That cut off any further conversation on that topic. They sat in silence, Spyro and Eledor finishing their meal and Snowflake and Ripto exchanged some mild conversation between the two. Time seemed to pass on by at a quick pace, for soon the four heroes were curled in different places of the Kraken's Cave.

Despite the fact that none of them had any idea how to escape, all of them were sleeping soundly almost instantly.

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"Kraken's Cave. Dead ahead! What did I tell you?"


Laigon steered the craft forward towards the floating cave, eerie blue light glowing out of the headlights of the machine. Night was even darker at the bottom of the sea, and yet Laigon had no trouble of all steering. Wart felt a shiver travel up his spine when one of the lights fell down upon a ghost ship littered with bones...

"Fish got your tongue, Toad?" Laigon sneered. "Or is it just because I proved to you that I'm a better second-in-commander then you are?" Wart was tempted to say that he'd gladly give Laigon the position of being beaten for every mistake and getting needles filled with chemicals jammed into his blood-stream, but he knew better then to say anything to him. The sea dragon drove the machine into the cave, and soon the dangerous craft emerged from the waters of the cave's entrance.

Laigon hopped out of the hull of ship with graceful speed, Wart following with a more reluctant exit. No light was in the cave except for the glowing embers of a dying fire and the faint light still glowing from the cockpit. Laigon nodded wordlessly to Wart, and the mutated dragon lit two lanterns for the two to use. The flames flickered strange shadows across the cavern walls, creating monsters from trivial things.

"What the? Where's the Blue Gigas Crystal?" Laigon whispered harshly in fear of waking up any unseen foes. He had found the cavern's pool that had normally housed Kraken. The sea serpent dived into the water without making a ripple and searched the briny deep for a clue of the missing jewel. Not only was the crystal missing, but the monster that guarded was also gone. Only the bones that littered the pool's bottom ever gave them a clue that Kraken had really lived there. Laigon was enraged.

"Who did this? Who dares to defy Laigon of his prize?" Laigon shouted. He threw down his lantern to the ground with a shatter, his sense of secrecy forgotten by rage. The sea serpent ignored the burning sensation of hot wax on his feet; his chance to impress Changeling had just slipped through his fingers. The loud noise of shattering glass caused something out of the corner of Wart's eye to stir, so he quickly turned his light to that direction.

"Who's there?" called out the dragon nervously. The flame's dim light was cast upon a bundled form. Without any second's hesitation, Wart scurried over to the stranger in the cave. He was standing at the feet of Eledor, who was wrapped with some blankets stolen from the treasure heap. Wart held his breath as he watched the sleeping rhynoc breathe in and out deeply as if enchanted by the sleeping form. She looked so peaceful, something that Wart had never seen from any of the hordemembers or slaves. Laigon found Wart and ran up to him.


"Big deal. A female rhynoc. Nothing to ogle about, Wart." Laigon said. Wart growled in annoyance. "Easy for you to say. The only girls I've known in my life made me miserable. I'm part rhynoc on my father's side anyways, so I find girl rhynocs somewhat attractive." Laigon just shook his head and pulled out a scimitar from his belt. "Whatever. Girl or not, she's still in the very same cave as the missing Blue Gigas Crystal. I say we kill her and search her corpse!"

At the word "corpse", Eledor stirred from her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, only to focus on Wart's candle-lit face. Her scream would've alerted the others had Laigon not covered her mouth with ultra-fast reflexes. "Damnit, Wart! If you weren't so ugly, she would've kept quiet!" Laigon harshly whispered. Wart rolled his eyes; like his mutations were his fault. " Just get me some rope! There could be others in here." As quickly as possible, the ugly dragon dashed to the craft and pulled out the twine rope.

Within a few minutes of struggling with an angry rhynoc, Eledor was decently bound and gagged from the waist up. Laigon wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and headed towards the ship. They would've gotten away without alerting Spyro, Ripto, and Snowflake of their presence had Wart not had stepped in front of Eledor's kicking range...

Several things happened at once. Eledor let out a furious kick with all her might at the dragon's stomach, which sent Wart sailing through the air. The wart-covered creature landed on a warm pile of scales that happened to be sleeping near the painting embers. Snowflake woke up in an instant with a cry of pain. Ripto and Spyro, both alerted by the white dragon's screech, stirred from their slumber.

"You!" Snowflake hissed venomously when her eyes adjusted on Wart. She remembered the dragon all too well from the battle that almost got her wing and leg torn off by lizardman that he sent. Wart slowly backed away from the seething female, only to bump into a dragon and a dinosaur. Wart turned his head and neon yellow eyes met forest green. "So, you followed us all the way to the bottom of the sea?" Ripto growled. "Well, let us show you how we take care of misshapen creeps!"

Wart never ran faster. He hopped into the sub just as Laigon was about to close the hatch. The sea dragon machine came to life, lighting up with an eerie blue light. Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto ran as fast as they could after the submarine, but they were too late. Laigon, Wart, and Eledor disappeared beneath the water.

"No!" Spyro screamed. The dragon slumped slightly, like the weight of the situation was pressing down on his back. Snowflake patted his back. "I'm sorry, Spyro. I'm sure Eledor has the strong enough will to avoid being tortured by Changeling's tricks." Snowflake said, but it didn't take a scientist to tell that her tone was unsure. The trio just stood at the edge of the only exit of the cave, sleep forgotten. Suddenly, a shape rose from the waters. Everyone braced themselves; the submarine probably returned to unleash a rage of hellfire on the group. However, instead of a sinister machine, a friendly sea dragon emerged, his silver scales glittering.

"Bane! Boy, are we glad to see you!" Spyro shouted. Bane made an attempt to smile, but the thoughts that were circling through his head were anything but happy. "Those two lizards in that craft were Changeling's goons. I've been following them since they first arrived at Grendor's mansion to find out anything about your whereabouts. If we are to have any chance of saving Eledor, we have to act fast!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Spyro agreed. Bane needed no other words; he lowered himself to the ground and let the three heroes climb onto his back. Before Bane dove into the waters, Snowflake let him swallow her backpack again rather unceremoniously and in turn Bane coughed up the four shells that were used to breathe underwater in their last trip. As soon as they were ready, Bane dove into the water and sped after the craft.

As they sped through the waters after the machine, Snowflake could feel a bad feeling come to her gut...

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Laigon was cracking a rather smug smile to himself. He didn't have the Blue Gigas Crystal, but he did have a hostage to torture and to maim. Wart wasn't so happy; Eledor was putting up a good fight through stubborn struggling. Because of his over-confidence, Laigon was steering the craft at a lower-then-average speed. That is, until Wart spotted a large shape speeding towards them.

"Go faster, you fool!" Wart shouted. A claw scraped the side of the submarine, rocking the craft and shaking all the passengers from their seats. Laigon didn't need anymore persuasion. He turned on the engines and the sea dragon machine sped through the water out of harm's way. But Bane wasn't going to give up just like that. With a sinister roar, the sea dragon charged the craft and seized its tail. The sound of metal being torn apart reached the passengers' ears with a sickening sound, and soon the tail was torn off by Bane's sharp teeth.

"Wart! Attack him with the back claws!" Laigon ordered. Wart complied for once; he didn't like the idea of being lunch for a sea dragon. The back claws gave a swiping motion that would've torn Bane's throat open had he not moved out of the way in time. Bane roared in pain as claws racked across his torso.

"BAAAANE!" Eledor shouted; the gag around her mouth had fallen off during the struggle. The water became dark red as the wound inflicted by the machine bled freely. Bane quickly shook off the pain and went speeding at the machine once again. Scale met metal and the craft was knocked to the side uselessly. Laigon gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"That is one persistent sea dragon!" Laigon exclaimed. He turned to Wart, who was swiping the claws in a defensive manner. "Wart, activate the lasers!" the serpent ordered. Eledor's eyes widened; the diamond claws alone caused damage to her friend. Lasers would slice Bane and her friends to pieces. She had to do something, but what? Her hands were bound and kicking Wart's seat didn't do much...

Wart saluted half-heartedly. "Aye, aye captain." As much as he hated to inflict pain on others, the sea dragon had to be subdued before they get crushed like an orange. A wart-covered claw reached for the button.

"YOWCH!" Eledor's teeth pierced Wart's skin. Wart instinctively stuck his finger into his mouth, filling it with the bitter taste of blood. At the same time, another blow shook. The glass on some of the monitors shattered, showering Wart and Laigon's feet with sharp shards. Laigon ignored it. "Wart, use whatever weapons that are available to us now!"

"The defenses are disabled, sir. The sea dragon tore off two of the legs and the laser's hardware was crunched in that last attack." Wart replied, scanning the one remaining computer on the ship. Bane swiped the craft with his two frontal limbs, and at the same time the computer turned to static. Suddenly, the worst thing that could happen in a submarine happened near Eledor's head; a stream of water burst into the craft.

"Laigon! We have to retreat!" Wart cried as he tried unsuccessfully to stop the water flow with his hands. "Bah! Running away is for cowards. We're not moving until this sea dragon is floating to the bottom!" Laigon scoffed. Bam! Bane rammed the ship once more. Two more holes appeared at Wart's feet. He tried unsuccessfully to plug them with his knees. Tears sprang to his eyes; they were going to die, and he will never tell Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto about how he wasn't the enemy they thought he was. As all of this was happening, Laigon just sat there surveying the situation in front of him. Suddenly, an insidious smile spread to his lips.

"Wart, turn on the jet engines. We're going to ram into this dragon on my signal." Laigon commanded. Wart hesitated; the metal hull was damaged. If they rammed the sea dragon, the pressure would cause the protective layer of the cockpit to shatter. "That sounds a bit suicidal, Laigon." Wart mentioned. Laigon turned his beaked head to Wart, his eyes narrowed cunningly. "No it won't be. I can survive in the water for up to an hour and a half. I'll just tell my mistress that you were too incompetent to steer the ship properly..."

Eledor let out a gasp of terror. Wart felt his blood go cold. Laigon wasn't retreating because he was a stubborn perfectionist; he wasn't retreating because he wanted the ship destroyed while Wart was inside. Wart's eyes met with Eledor's and he could see that she was as frightened as he was. Of course, the dragon knew there was no time to comfort her. Suddenly, a button stood out in a middle of the large cluster, a teal one labeled "Emergency Jets". The mutated dragon wasted no time. He pressed the button, much to Laigon's chagrin, and the sea dragon soared through the sea in a cloak of bubbles.

Bane was disorientated by the sudden appearance of blinding bubbles. Spyro, Ripto, and Snowflake, who were still holding on to the dragon for dear life, blinked in wonder. Bane paddled his tail like a big fan and scattered the mist away.

The mist of bubbles cleared. Snowflake was so surprised that she almost dropped her oxygen-supplying shell. There was no sign of the sea dragon craft anywhere at all. The only evidence that they were attacked was the many wounds on Bane. Bane let out a saddened roar that sounded a lot like the sound of a humpback whale; Eledor now belonged in the hands of the enemy.

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The very damaged submarine in the shape of a sea dragon dragged itself onto the shore where Changeling's camp was, its body battered and dented by Bane's attacks. With a final shudder, the machine fell to the ground, lifeless. A yellow fist punched the protective glass covering with all his might, and soon Wart and Laigon were out of the ship, sucking in sweet air and happy to be alive. Eledor was not so happy. Just because she was safe from drowning didn't mean that she was safe from Changeling. She didn't know what the sorceress was going to do to her.

As soon as someone spotted them, the whole horde had surrounded the dead machine with torches at hand. Oohs and ahhs greeted the two reptiles and their captured bounty, until a rather angry Changeling pushed through the crowd. Changeling grabbed the first creature from the craft that was within grabbing range, which was unfortunately Wart, and started to violently shake the helpless individual.

"What is the meaning of this? I ask you to do one little thing and my beautiful ship comes back in pieces! There better be a good explanation for this, Wart!" Changeling snarled. Wart opened his mouth to say something, but Laigon was quicker.

"When Wart and me were exploring the briny deep for weaknesses in the Azura City walls, we find out that some prissy girl forgot to install the torpedoes." Laigon said, glaring at Crystal as-a-matter-of-factly. Crystal was about to claim that it was Wart's job to install until she saw the pleading look in Wart's eyes. Laigon continued. "Seeing as we didn't have a way to attack the city, my brilliant mind came up with a great idea. I would follow the current that protects Azura City from outside invaders and see if that takes me to a weak spot. Oddly enough, when I follow the current, I end up at the cave of the Kraken!"

Wart rolled his eyes; following the current was a pretty dumb way to cover up the fact that Laigon was keeping the direction of the Blue Gigas Crystal away from Changeling. Lucky for both him and the heroes, if Changeling knew where the crystal was she'd have Laigon steer her to the crystal so she could grab it herself. If she had found Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto in there...

"While in there, my mistress, we found the sad news that the Blue Gigas Crystal was taken away by robbers and-" Laigon was cut off by a horrendous scream from Wart; Changeling had dug her claws into his shoulders. She tossed the dragon down onto the sand in rage; Wart's shoulders were now bleeding rather freely. She growled in annoyance. "Those reptiles! Just like the Green Gigas, they go and steal the Blue one just when I have it in my grasp! ARGH! Those little brats will pay with their blood!" Laigon tried to find a way to placate the seething sorceress.

"Wait, milady! We found a hostage from the thieves! A female rhynoc!" At those words, Laigon dragged the frightened Eledor out of the machine. Changeling walked up to her and studied the girl; as she looked at Eledor a smile spread on her lips. The rhynoc shivered; she did not like that smile at all.

"Well, well, well. It looks like we bagged a friend of those annoying reptiles. You're going to come in handy, little one." She then pointed a clawed finger to Wart, who was applying some bandages to his hurt shoulders. "Wart, I want you to take the female and interrogate her. From now on, she's your personal slave. She will do everything you say or else you give her some of this!" At the word "this", Changeling tossed Wart a medical needle. Wart gasped, for the needle was filled with the same stuff Changeling used on him to make him the misshapen monster he was now. He could only imagine what the stuff would do to Eledor...

"Get her out of my sight, Wart. Chain her somewhere so she won't get away like that Maryne girl I found traveling up the shores. Do anything to get any possible weaknesses of her friends! That's an order!" Wart, sighing to himself, grabbed the rhynoc's ropes and led her to his tent like a trainer leading a horse. The sounds of Changeling discussing about how they were going to get the Purple Gigas Crystal in the Mystic Mountains died away in his ears; all he could feel was the glare of pure hatred at his back.

"If you think that I'm going to let you turn me into a freak-show like yourself, then you have another thing coming, Wart!" Eledor screamed as she struggled against the ropes that held her. By now, Wart was at his rather unfancy tent. It won't be long before Changeling packs up the horde and they all start heading for the mountains, so all of his possessions were flung in the corner. A driven stake in the sand was the only thing he could tie Eledor to, using the chains that he had taken off of Maryne a while ago. As he did so, he started to talk to his new slave.

"I'm sorry this has to be this way, but what Changeling says goes. However, I will promise you that I will not harm you in any way." Eledor's glare did not falter. "Why should I believe Changeling's right-hand monster?" Eledor asked in an acidic tone. Wart flinched; the last thing he wanted to hear from a female was the fact that she thought of him as a monster. He blinked his eyes to disguise the fact that unshed tears were hiding in his yellow-green eyes. "Have you ever heard of Warrior Against Raging Tyrants?"

Eledor showed no sign that she heard him except that her glare softened. Wart lowered his head until his chin touched his chest. "How did you know about Warrior Against Raging Tyrants?" Eledor asked, her voice losing all of its hardness. An ironic smile played on Wart's lips. "It's because I'm Warrior Against Raging Tyrants. I used the letters of my name to create that identity in case Changeling ever found out. I wanted to make sure that what she did to me wasn't going to happen to anyone else."

With those words, Wart left the tent to tend to Changeling, his feet shuffling against the sand. Eledor sighed and slumped sadly against the stake that held her, for she had no idea whether her position with Wart was a good one or a bad one...


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"I'm sorry. Very sorry. I did the best I could do..."

Bane had dropped the three heroes off at a safe spot in the coast, avoiding Changeling's camp very well. It was a coast different to the one near the Ruins of Mist; mountains were not far off to the horizon and the sand was blanketed in a coat of thin grass. Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto bid the sea dragon farewell, and soon Bane disappeared into the waves.

"I can't believe that we led that scum get away with Eledor. We should've posted a sentry..." Spyro said, his wings drooping sadly over his back. Snowflake was angry at the dragon for blaming himself. "Cheer up, Spyro. We were too tired from the fight with Kraken to do anything, not to mention we didn't suspect that little dragon and his thug partner to appear in a submarine." She patted him softly on the shoulder. "Besides, we can't mope around when there's Gigas Crystals to obtain!"

She removed her backpack from her shoulder and searched for the GCT, which was hard in the middle of the night. Soon, her sense of touch felt the tool and she pulled it out. The screen lit up and she could see a single red dot marked in-between some signals marked for mountains. Spyro looked over her shoulder and he smiled. He was now focused on the job at hand.

"I know that place! That's near the Mystic Marsh! Elora told me about those mountains. She said that they're called Mystic Mountains and that the people who live there can climb up rock walls with their bare hands and has the power to use their minds in phonemical ways!" Spyro explained. Ripto rolled his eyes.

"Please. I was all over Avalar, and I didn't hear anything about any rock-climbing superminds." Ripto complained. Spyro shot him a glare. "That's because they're a secretive race. No one's ever seen them; they can't get close enough to them without having their psychic power knock them unconscious."

Snowflake frowned; from the sounds of it, these powerful people will be more difficult then navigating through the sea or traveling through the rain forest. Still, they had a job to do. Starting tomorrow, Spyro, Ripto, and Snowflake are going to set out to the Mystic Mountains. Will they actually succeed in foiling these smart creatures of the Mystic Mountains, or will their lives be distractedly cut short? One thing was for certain; tomorrow was another day...

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End of Chapter 8

Okay, now instead of the heroes mucking around in the briny deep, they're going to be exploring the inside of some mountain for a Gigas Crystal that controls the powers of the mind. (Psychic, Intelligence, Balance. Stuff like that.) However, with Changeling working even harder to obtain the only crystal not yet claimed, it's going to be tough work...

And what about Eledor? What exactly is in store for the wizard while she's in the hands of Changeling's second-in-commander?

Review, unless you are Da Dark One. Then you can go crawl back under your rock, you filthy son of a bitch. Your reviews don't hurt me none. Rather, they give me a good laugh.