The Realms of Chaos
Chapter 9: Psychic Revelations
Rating: Good old PG never let me down yet, but anymore cussing or violence and the rating goes up.
Author's Notes: I'm moving ahead of schedule, it seems. Some fancharacters will appear in this, but they aren't going to be major characters. The only major characters are my characters, Spyro, and Ripto. Nothing is going to change that. If anyone expects to have their character to become a permanent team member, then they have another thing coming...
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Sunlight bathed the campsite of three lonely creatures with its warm rays. One by one, the reptiles stirred from their sleep and shielded their eyes. Snowflake let out a yawn as she scanned the horizon. No longer did she see the sea; they were traveling at an angle inland in the direction the GCT was pointing them. Now, instead of sand and surf, she saw dirt and mountains to the horizon. Ripto stretched his arms as he woke himself up.
"That's the last time we travel in the middle of the night, I tell you. I hate waking up at one in the afternoon expecting breakfast..." Spyro stretched in a cat-like manner before agreeing with Shorty; after Bane had left them they had traveled through the night until they simply dropped from exhaustion. Luckily, the land they were in had no raiders to speak of. They had gotten off lucky this time.
"Well, this is the right way to the Mystic Mountains. Course I didn't have to travel by foot; a portal just took me to that area to save some orbs from the likes of you!" Spyro said, his voice laced with venom. Ripto opened his mouth to retort, but Snowflake interrupted. "We're getting nowhere fast! For all we know, Changeling could be at the foot of the Mystic Mountains while you two are bickering about days long past! Either you two shut up about your past adventures or I'll stuff something down both your throats to make you shut up!"
Ripto snickered. "Boy, it looks like a certain someone isn't a morning person!" Snowflake said nothing as she packed all their things into her backpack and pulled out the somewhat helpful GCT. One dot to signify the Purple Gigas, three to signify the ones captured by Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto, and two dots that Snowflake could only guess meant that Changeling had also done some collecting. Snowflake gasped; Changeling's position was moving in the direction of the Mystic Mountains as well. That gave her impetus to hurry her male companions to start the march.
They walked for two hours at a jog, following the path that the GCT said was the fastest route. No one spoke, save for Snowflake and Ripto. They were busy talking about what forms of torture they planned for Changeling. Soon, they were completely surrounded by mountains tinted with purple. No doubt about it; they were in the Mystic Mountains. The wind whistled through dead trees lining around the mountains, and not a soul scurried through the brush. Shivers went up the heroes' spines. For a place that was next to a very cheerful spring filled with strange wildlife, it seemed pretty dead.
"No wonder Elora didn't hide any orbs in this place." Spyro said as a dead tree branch fell at his feet. "You would expect the dead to live here!" Snowflake couldn't help but nod in agreement. As the dragon walked on, she felt something crack underneath her feet. When she looked down she saw that she had stepped on a long-dead faun skull. She began to feel quite uncomfortable.
"I heard something in that direction!" Ripto stated. Snowflake and Spyro strained to hear. Ripto was right; the chatter of conversation was not far off. Snowflake and Spyro didn't bother to catch it because the dead land had taken them into a state of despair. Without a second thought, Ripto led them towards the noise, dry brush crackling beneath their feet. What they saw couldn't be believed.
Three armed-to-the-teeth fauns were harassing three dragons. The three crept closer, holding their bodies close to the ground so as to go undetected. Soon, they could make out the shapes. The fauns were more rugged then anything from Fracture hills; their fur was thick and black, almost like mountain goat's fur. The hooves were also shaped differently, for they were more pointed for mountain climbing. They were all male, and they had several knives attached to belts around their waists.
The dragons were strange indeed. They were all Spyro-shaped dragons, and that was enough to make Ripto grip his scepter nervously. Two were male and one was a female. One of the males had bronze scales, wore a green tunic, had a short sword with the sheath at his waist, and had a small wooden shield with a red magical rune on it attached to his back. The other male had red scales, a broken horn, and a torn left wing. The female was light blue with darker blue wings and pure gold horns. They caught snippets of the conversation.
"We're going to cut you all up real nice and good. Wear your skins too. I always wanted a belt made of dragon scales!" A faun hissed, his voice like a rusty nail through sandpaper. The bronze-scaled dragon stood up on his hind legs and pulled out his sword. "Why don't you come and try, mountain fauns?" he shouted. The second faun hissed like a wraith, and then the short sword flew out of the bronze dragon's hand as an invisible force yanked it out. The dragon paled a bit, but he did not move.
"Pointy sticks have no need for the children of the Balance Stone. Our mind alone can make you defenseless!" The third faun rasped. He pointed a finger at the bronze dragon, and soon the creature crumpled to his knees as if an unknown weight was pressing down on his shoulders. Snowflake had enough.
"Leave those dragons alone!" Snowflake yelled. She went crashing through the underbrush and towards the fauns. Several things happened at once. The bronze dragon sprang to his feet and rushed after his sword. The red and blue dragons, inspired by Snowflake's war cry, joined in the attack and breathed fire and ice. Snowflake tackled one of the fauns to the ground and started beating the crud out of it. Ripto and Spyro, mouth and scepter ablaze, torched any faun that happened to escape Snowflake or the strange dragons' wrath.
"ARGH!" The three fauns scattered in a panic, tails lit by fire. The group took a few seconds to catch their breath, until the questions and exclamations started.
"Wow! We got saved by Spyro!" "We finally found you!" "Why is Ripto and Spyro working together?" The three dragons called out in unison. The tumble of words confused the three heroes. Snowflake held up a hand for silence. "Okay! We're going to do this in an orderly fashion! One by one, tell us your names. Then we'll answer questions."
The bronze dragon bowed his head. "My name is Scott." The red dragon puffed out his chest. "Spyris is the name, and flaming is my game!" The blue dragon did a form of curtsy. "My name is Spyretta." Ripto did an involuntary twitch. Two of the three dragon names sounded dangerously close to his worst enemy's name. Snowflake kicked him playfully when he did so, stopping any unborn insults to break a forming friendship.
"Tell us why you're in this dangerous territory, Scott, Spyris, and Spyretta." Spyro asked them politely. Spyris cleared his throat and explained. "Word traveled pretty far throughout both Avalar and the dragon realms. When me, my sister Spyretta, and my brother Syi heard about your adventures with a monster named Grunge, we banded together and decided that we were going to help you on your quest. However, while we were crossing through the rainforest, Syi broke down and dashed away to goodness knows where. Luckily, we met up with Scott sometime afterwards. We traveled together, and well, here we are."
The group was a bit humble that their mission to collect the crystals was famous. Spyretta smiled at Spyro sweetly, and the purple dragon backed away a few steps. "Well, since we've met up at all, why don't we join you on your quest?" Ripto went into a hissy fit, despite the look that Snowflake gave him. "What? You three join us on this Gigas Crystal quest? No way! Two dragons in the company of me is enough, but FIVE!?! I'll go insane before the sun goes down!" Ripto shouted. Scott gave him a venomous glare, Spyris shook his head, and Spyretta looked down at her front claws as if she were sorry.
"I have another idea." Snowflake said as she calmed Ripto down. "Do any of you know where the Purple Gigas Crystal is?" The three dragons exchanged glances with each other. Finally, Scott piped in. "We know where the Purple Gigas Crystal is, but the natives around this place refer to it as the Balance Stone. It's hidden within this sacred cavern that the natives visit all the time." The three seemed shocked. The other two Gigas Crystals were well hidden from anyone that wasn't worthy enough to hold the crystal. Why was the Purple Gigas Crystal available to the general public?
"Apparently, the Gigas Crystal is shown off like some religious symbol among the natives. In fact, the Gigas Guardian is their queen!" When Scott mentioned Gigas Guardian, Spyro felt something crawl onto his shoulder that was both wet and slimy. When Spyro turned his head, he saw Kraken at the size of a lizard sitting comfortably on his shoulder. His purple eyes widened.
"Before you asssk, Blue Holder, we Guardiansss are generally invisssible to your eyesss but we can appear in any ssssissse except for sssomething bigger then our regular sssissse. I prefer the lissard sssissse. Very nissse and compact." Kraken hissed, his streamlined head watching Spyro with glittering red eyes. "What I don't like isss how Robin isss breaking the rulesss. Flanking her lovely like a peacock'sss tail! Bah! Ssstupid girl!" Good thing no one else noticed the hissing creature riding Spyro's shoulder. He felt Kraken scramble off his shoulder, and soon their was no sight of the Blue Gigas Guardian.
"Wait a minute, how can a large monster be their queen? The Blue and Green Guardians were large, frightening creatures!" Snowflake asked. She had remembered how Grunge had described how his people had fled from the Ruins of Mist, and goodness knows how many sea dragons died at the hands of Kraken.
Scott shrugged. "That's because Robin comes in the shape of a sorcerer. A human sorcerer at that. I mean, why have large claws and teeth when your power is all controlled by your mind? Robin is on a search for her Gigas Holder, because she can't escape that room until she sees the Holder with her own two eyes. She'll know; the holder won't be a Mystic Mountain native and he or she will not be effected by the mind-altering radiation the Purple Gigas gives off."
Ripto grew tired of hearing all this. "But do you three dragons know where this sacred chamber is?" They all nodded at the same time. Spyretta then said, "The fastest route. We found it out when Scott brought out his map of the Mystic Mountains that he had bought from a traveling native of the area." With the girl dragon's words, Scott unraveled a yellowed piece of parchment with a very clear sketch of the dangerous mountains. Pink highlighter was circled around a peculiar structure that was shaped like a hawk, with a bridge leading into its mouth. Spyro, Ripto, and Snowflake examined this map with wary eyes. Finally, Snowflake made their decision.
"Okay, you three can tag along. But, after we reach the Purple Gigas Crystals we part ways!" Despite the harshness in her voice, the three dragons burst out in whoops of happiness. As the number of dragons boosted up from two to five, Ripto wondered if his sanity was going to stay intact within the Mystic Mountains...
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Before Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto had woken up and started their march to the Mystic Mountains, Changeling's army was already awake at the first light of the day. Hordemembers of every size and shape were woken up by Changeling's shouts. Immediately, without any stopping for breakfast, the hordemembers grabbed anything they could carry and set off in the direction that Changeling led them; east to the Mystic Mountains.
Fortunately for the three heroes, Changeling was taking the longer route to the mountain range by traveling along the coastline. While Snowflake and her friends were taking the fastest route to the crystal, Changeling was taking the way that she remembered would end up at the foot of the Mystic Mountains. While she marched in the lead of the horde, Wart and Laigon's slave caravans were not far behind. Behind the Slave Master, Horde Leader, and Second in Commander, the hordemembers trudged loudly with the thoughts of new towns to slaughter and plunder on their minds.
Laigon rode on one of the wooden wagons with a whip at hand, forcing all the chained slaves to drag the heavy cart behind them. To add insult to injury, the slaves weren't allowed to actually ride in the caravans that held them while the camp was stationary. Whimpers and wails filled the air as sickly creatures expended most of their energy just to keep themselves from fainting. Every once in a while, an elderly slave dropped to the ground and was soon crushed underneath the feet of the others during the march.
Eledor felt the pain of the slaves. She too was forced to walk against her will. However, she had it much better off. Her captor would always stop when she stumbled against something and he always shot venomous glares at the male rhynocs that happened to look at her wrong. She turned to Wart, who was walking beside her at a reasonable pace so that her chains didn't limit her movement.
"What does that serpent think he is? He's going to kill those poor creatures!" Eledor cried. She started to walk towards the caravan, but Wart firmly tugged on her chains. "Don't even bother. Laigon has the right to do that to his slaves. Argue to him, and he sticks one of those scimitars down your throat. I'm not getting you killed!"
Eledor wanted to argue, until she saw the firm look on Wart's face. She sighed to herself; this injustice would not go unsolved. They walked in an awkward silence until they heard a blow of an ancient hunting horn. The hordemembers squealed with glee; it was now lunchtime. Changeling, almost relunctantly, stopped the march and soon every hordemember was dashing towards Cobra, the camp's snake-like cook. Cobra hissed in approval as he spooned leftover stew into stone bowls held by greedy hands.
Wart hurriedly pushed through the crowds to grab himself a bowl. The hordemembers reluctantly parted away before their second-in-commander. They never liked Wart, but his authority over them was reason enough to move away from him. However, some did stick around to "accidentally" elbow or shove the dragon as he made to the chef. Cobra looked Wart in the eye.
"I sseess ya feedin' mah sstew to them ssslavesss. Did ya ferget that ssslavesss only get ssscrapsss to eat?" Cobra hissed, his forked tongue flickering out indignantly. Wart sneered at the snake. "Tell anyone about me feeding the slaves and I'll report you to Changeling, Cobra. I'm sure that red, black, and white skin will match perfectly with her purple cloak!" Wart stated as-a-matter-of-factly. That was reason enough to Cobra to shut up afterwards.
Eledor felt her stomach grumble when she saw her captor return with a steaming bowl of stew. Her body was well aware of the many hours of marching she had been doing; she felt like she was going to faint right there on the sand. Suddenly, she felt the weight of the heavy stone bowl being pushed in her chest. Wart smiled at her as she sat dumbfounded in front of him. "Only eat half of that bowl, and do it quickly. I want to show you something..."
She never ate so fast. The warm stew seemed to replenish the life back into her body. It was difficult to let the second half of the stew just go uneaten, but Eledor was true to her word. She got up to her feet, the muscles in her legs no longer sore, and handed Wart the bowl. Without another word, the two reptiles ran towards the slave caravans. Wart thanked the heavens for the fact that Laigon was too busy getting drunk with his buddies to look after the caravans.
"Elora!?!" Eledor had recognized one of the slaves instantly. Indeed, Elora sat sullenly among several other slaves. She was now dangerously thin, thanks to the treatment given by Laigon. Her hair fell ragged over dirty shoulders. Elora looked up at the sound of Eledor's voice, her eyes no longer filled with the spirit they normally possessed.
"Changeling captures rhynocs now? I never thought I'd see the day..." Elora's voice was hoarse. Wart handed her the bowl of stew, which she gobbled up immediately. Wart then explained about how Eledor was related to Grendor and that she had helped Spyro snatch the Blue Gigas Crystal. At the sound of Spyro's voice, Elora's face lit up. "Spyro. He's doing well in his mission to steal the Gigas Crystals. I'm glad to hear that."
"How did you get captured?" Eledor asked. Elora looked at her hooves sadly. "Well, just a few minutes after Spyro left into the Rainforests of Mist, I realized that he had forgotten Sparx. So I quickly dashed after him, Sparx following me. However, I didn't know which direction I went in, so I ended up getting lost. Sparx and I hopelessly stumbled through the rainforest for two days, mad with hunger and despair. We thought that as soon as we saw a yellow sea serpent walking through the rainforest that we had been saved. But then, as soon as the serpent saw us, he grabbed me by the shoulders and said that Changeling would be pleased to see me. Now look at me. I've become nothing more then skin and bones and Sparx is locked in a glass container in Changeling's tent..."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Elora. You're lucky Laigon didn't decide to use you in an embarrassing way, knowing how he likes to play with females..." Wart said, not going any further then that. Elora smiled sweetly, and handed Wart the empty bowl. Wart bid Elora farewell, and turned, only to bump into Crystal and Dark.
"Umm...Hi?" Wart said, not knowing of anything to say to the two Crimson Scales. He knew he was in hot water; Crimson Scales were always the first to report to Changeling of any mutinies or strange things in the horde. Crystal said nothing, but in her pink claws was a stone bowl filled with stew. Dark held four bowls of stew, each one balanced perfectly in his hands. Crystal glared at Wart, her lavender-colored eyes narrowed suspiciously. "This isn't what it looks like, Wart. We're only-"
"-Feeding the slaves. I know, I do it too. I can't stand to think of them as living off the inedible parts Cobra tosses." Crystal seemed surprised. "You feed them too? We thought we were the only people in this horde with a sense of compassion. It's a good thing Laigon passed out around one of the fires out back or else we wouldn't be allowed to do this..." The pink dragon handed a large green Gnorc-like dragon named Syi a bowl of soup. The paranoid dragon gave her an insane glare before it started to fill its aching belly.
"Believe me, Wart's a really nice guy too." Eledor pitched in. Wart blushed; he never had someone actually stick up for him before. Crystal looked at Eledor, and then exchanged a surprised glance to her silent guardian Dark, who had given the bowls to gaunt looking creatures that Wart could not remember their names. "Wow, that's a first. There's actually a girl that likes you. I say, you're getting lucki-"
"UP ON YOUR FEET!" Changeling's voice ran through the camp like a bolt of lightning. She stood tall and proud on an overturned wooden box. In one of her hands was a primitive microphone. Laigon was standing next to her, but his swaying motion and the empty rum bottle in his hand pointed out that he was still drunk. Crystal, Dark, Wart, and Eledor all dashed away from the slave caravans before Changeling could notice them, their clawed footprints the only sign that they were ever there. Just as they did so, the horde was up on its feet again and they continued moving.
Laigon, drunk off his scaly tail, swaggered as he climbed onto the caravan and ordered in a slurred voice for the slaves to get moving. Elora gave Laigon a disgusted look; with all that alcohol pumping through his veins, it was a surprise he was able to balance on the caravan's roof.
Once again, Eledor and Wart were near the front of the horde, walking at their own pace. Eledor gave Wart a quizzing look. "You're thinking about something. I can see it in your eyes." Wart nodded. He swung the ends of Eledor's chains over his shoulders, ignoring the sting of when sun-baked metal hit his still tender back. A smile played on his lips, revealing his sharp yellow fangs.
"You'll find out what I'm planning just when Changeling grows over-confident. No more starving creatures. No more innocents chained and forced to work until they dropped dead. No more of cruel serpents jeering over dying creatures with two poisoned blades on his belt. Believe me, when I put my plan into place, Changeling won't know what hit her!"
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The group of six had traveled through a long and twisted path using the map that Scott carried. They all walked without conversation or breaks, fearful of meeting up with any other vicious fauns along the way. They walked up a mountain called Condor's Ridge until nightfall, when their sore feet finally got the better of them. The dead brush burned easily under the flames of both Spyro and Spyris, and soon they set up camp inside a cave that was next to both the trail up the mountain and the edge that would send anyone stupid enough to walk too far plummeting over several thousand feet.
"And then, Spyro said 'Looks like I got things to do!' as the evil Gnasty Gnorc turned the dragon species into crystal statues!" Spyretta described over the campfire. Ripto snorted as he popped the rest of the jerky into his mouth. "He should've kept them that way. Stupid Gnorc; he had more muscles then brains in his head!" Ripto shouted grumpily. Snowflake nudged him softly with one of her wings, but she said nothing to upset his mood. One thing was for sure, Ripto was as stubborn as the hippogriffs back at Snowflake's home. The sudden thought of hippogriffs sent the thought of her home back to her head. Snowflake felt tears spring to her eyes. Home...Will I ever see it again?
"What's the matter, Snowflake?" Scott asked. Snowflake flicked a drop of salt water to the ground and sighed. "I'm fine; a little bit of smoke got into my eye..." She said. The three newcomers just looked at each other and shrugged. Snowflake hunched her shoulders as she stared into the fire, watching shapes in the flames take the shape of her friends and enemies back in her realm Tylia. She saw the violent dracogriff Stormwing laugh at her before her human friend Crystal shot an arrow through her neck. Two phoenixes, Minerva and Doomfeather, danced in the fire like they were flying in a red sky. A smile formed on her face; she was happy enough without thinking about her friends.
"Oh my goodness! Spyris, are you oka-" Snowflake's head snapped up in an instant. Spyris and his sister Spyretta were slumped on the ground unconscious, their breathing halting and painful. Scott tried to wake them up with several pokes of his sword, before he too fell to the ground unconscious. What was going on? She turned to Spyro. "What happened to them? Is this cave not ventilated enough or wha-" Snowflake was cut off when her mind suddenly went black. Snowflake fell to the ground with a crash. Spyro followed suit before he had any clue what was going on.
A sinister laugh filled the air of the cave. The remaining member of the once happy group looked at the slumped forms confusedly, his hands gripping his scepter to his chest. He saw a shadow stir in the back of the cave. It stood about as tall as Snowflake, but instead of soft wing-like ears springing from its head, humongous goat's horns curved around tufted ears. Ripto feared the worst. Without even knowing he did so, Ripto sprang in-between the shadow and Snowflake's senseless form and pointed at the shadowed form.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Ripto hissed, the Gigas Crystal on his scepter glowing much brighter then it ever did before. The shadowed form stepped closer until the form became apparent. A gray mountain faun with curved goat's horns and soft tufted ears stared at Ripto in a panic. She, for it was obviously female, had thick fur just like the two fauns they ran into earlier, but she wore rather fetching leather clothes. She held up her furry hands.
"Hold it, Master Ripto! I'm a friend!" Ripto lowered his scepter to the ground in shock. Did that faun just call him "Master" Ripto? He didn't know whether to be happy or angry. She did cause his companions to faint, but then again, she was loyal to him. The faun cocked her head to one side. "You don't remember me, do you Ripto? I'm Jira, one of the soldiers you sent to the Mystic Marsh to retrieve the orbs there. I never did find them, and I'm still unsure that we have Avalar or not..."
Ripto sighed. Jira was in the past; he had tried conquering Avalar two years ago. At least he knew that the fauns were capable of great mind power. Ripto glanced over at Snowflake, who still looked confused in that unconscious state. If the fauns had that kind of power, why weren't they ruling Avalar with an iron hoof?
"If you must know, we fauns like staying within the area of the sacred Balance Stone. We hate politics." Ripto jumped; he didn't know that the fauns could actually mind read! Jira smiled at her leader, not revealing the confusion she had when she had read the other thoughts Ripto had in his mind, the ones that seemed to be centered on the white dragon at his feet. Was her master infatuated with that dragon? Jira shook the thoughts from her head. "I can restore their minds back to order, unless they are your captors, Ripto. Then, I can kill them for you."
"No, no, that's fine!" Ripto said a little bit hastily. He looked over at the dragons he despised and Snowflake. He could tell Jira to just wake up Snowflake and leave the rest of the dragons unconscious in the cave, but then he remembered exactly why Spyro was there in the first place. If he woke up and found him and Snowflake missing, he might suspect the worst and rally up all of Avalar against him. He could leave the three dragons, but they could also cause the same amount of trouble. Finally, after much debating in his head, he ordered his older loyal companions to wake them up.
"Whaaaa....My head is pounding..." Snowflake groaned, the spell broken by a single motion of Jira's hand. The others followed suit in much the same fashion. When all of them were up and conscious again, Ripto introduced them to Jira. The group had mixed feelings; how could they trust a mind-reading creature with the power to knock them unconscious at any given moment?
"I know the way to the Balance Stone." Jira called out. The dragons jumped, but Ripto smiled inwardly. But the element of surprise didn't last long; Scott stepped towards Jira and pointed his map at the faun's furry throat as if it were a sword. "We already know the way. We don't need a vile creature like you leading us to a place we can already go." he said venomously. Jira said nothing as she snatched the map from him and unraveled it, but a smile spread on her lips as she studied it.
"That map is a fake. What you're really heading towards is a deathtrap that no one was ever able to escape from." she said as she handed the map back to Scott. The bronze dragon looked down as if saying Jira couldn't be serious. Jira raised an eyebrow. "Where exactly did you get that map?" Scott refused to say anything, but Jira was able to read his mind like an open book. She laughed, which was a mocking sound to their ears.
"You silly dragons are going to get yourselves killed if you follow directions given by the Mystic Mountain fauns! A race so secretive as us tends to give false directions on purpose for the sake of plurging our land of meddling strangers. If you had followed this map all the way to the marking, you would found yourself trapped in a place where sentries can easily let loose falling rocks to ground you all into paste." The mountain faun watched the group fall into a dead silence. She smiled.
"Not to worry. I'll be sure to steer you on the right track. By tomorrow morning, we'll be heading in the right direction to the Balance Stone and the revered Robin of the Mystic Mountains!" With that, the group settled back down, hopefully to rest up for tomorrow. The three new dragon partners fell asleep quickly, with Ripto and Snowflake falling asleep afterwards chatting about what lay ahead. Everyone had a sense of security now that they knew they were heading the right way.
All except for Spyro; his purple eyes were locked onto Jira's form now keeping watch at the cave's entrance. Smoke trailed from his nostrils as he remembered the tone of voice that Jira had when she was talking about steering them in the right track. He watched Jira until his eyelids became too heavy and he fell asleep. However, there was one little thought in his mind, one that wouldn't waver from Spyro's mind.
Jira's up to something, but I'm not sure what.
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"Ahh...So this is the Mystic Mountain range..."
After a half of night of marching underneath poor torch light, the horde of Changeling was finally there. The sand had turned into dirt underneath their feet, and everyone reveled in the feeling of cold loam beneath their toes. The rising sun, filling the world with warm colors of red and purple, illuminated the mountains. Everything was silent as they breathed in the fresh mountain air from the magic mountains.
Changeling was speechless, but not because of the wonder. She was finally at the last of the crystals that had yet to be collected. The other three could wait; she could always pry the jewels off the reptile's dead bodies. Sleepily, Wart stumbled to her side, rubbing the sleep sand out of his eyes. Eledor followed suit, stepping slowly behind Wart like a loyal zombie. Changeling took no notice of the rhynoc as she turned to Wart.
"Somewhere in those mountains, the final Gigas Crystal awaits its rightful owner to seize it before that scepter-toting fool, his girlfriend, and that purple lizard gets to it first. As the legend goes, only one that is quick of mind can claim the crystal." Changeling explained. 'Well, then Laigon certainly can't touch it!' Wart thought to himself, a smile spreading to his lips.
"Wart, be prepared to climb those mountains!" Changeling said as she placed her cruel claws on his left shoulder Once again, Wart felt the ever-familiar feeling of his heart sinking. He turned to her, his eyes swirling with confusion. "WHAT!?! Why do I have to climb those mountains? You're capable of scaling those peaks yourself!"
Normally, Wart would've been sent sailing backwards into the dirt by Changeling's quick claws, but she ignored his protests. She looked towards the mountains, watching their splendor being highlighted by the rising sun. "Legend has it that only people who are not residents of the Mystic Mountains can touch the Purple Gigas Crystal. My castle is in the most secluded area of those mountains, so I'm unable to touch it. I'll bring the army to a slower pace towards my castle, and you with three other slaves go and collect the Purple Gigas Crystal for me."
Wart didn't know what to think. She was giving him the option to leave with three other slaves into a place unknown to grab a crystal for her to use incorrectly. He slowly backed away from her. "Make your decision now on whom you're taking, or else Laigon is coming with you!"
"Eledor, Elora, and Nazza!" Wart blurted out almost instantly. After Laigon had nearly succeeded in killing both Eledor and him, he was reluctant to let the dragon come near him so soon. He remembered the sea serpent's cruel, beaked smile as he pointed a scimitar at Wart's throat. Eledor remembered, and she wordlessly thanked the mutated dragon for bringing her along. Changeling sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I'll let you bring the brightly colored mongrel and that scantily clad goat. I think you a fool for not choosing one of the older slaves to go with you, but okay." She turned to walk to the horde, leaving Wart and Eledor alone on the mound. Wart watched Changeling go; words could not describe how confused he felt. Eledor felt the same way. She turned to Wart, and their eyes met.
"Wart, do you think we'll find a way to get the Purple Gigas Crystal without Changeling nabbing it for herself?" Eledor said quietly for fear that being too loud would alert the others. Wart said nothing. He imagined Changeling with three of the Gigas Crystals; two was enough to give her enough power to blast a full-grown dragon into cinders. He saw it himself when the former Crimson Scales protested against going into the Rainforest of Mist...
He slammed his tail down to the ground with a thump. "I don't know, but by my scales we'll find a way!"
~*~*~~*~*~~*~*~
"...Your sister has been kidnapped."
Grendor felt his knuckles turn white as he heard the sting of every word spoken by Bane. The sea dragon lowered his head in shame as he watched the rhynoc fume near him. He had taken his time to get to the rhynoc's house because he had spent all of his time spying on the army marching near the coast and also bringing Azura City into arms. Grendor looked up at him, his eyes ablaze with fury. "Who kidnapped them?"
"A yellow sea serpent with two swords strapped to his chest and a green toad-like creature with wings that has obviously got his eye on your sister." Bane explained. He knew only what he saw through the sea dragon vessel as he was attacking it. Still, the descriptions hit Grendor home. He remembered the two reptiles that had questioned him several days ago on the whereabouts of Snowflake, Spyro, and Ripto. The sea serpent had been glaring at him with utmost disgust, but the toadish dragon was very courteous. However, he had never guessed they would end up stealing his sister! Worst of all, one of them was infatuated with her!
"I'm going to save her!" Grendor declared. He started to run towards the house, but a giant finned claw stopped him. "NO! You mustn't rush off towards that army and kill yourself! I saw the size of those forces, and you'll be captured or killed for sure."
Grendor narrowed his eyes at the dragon. "What do you suppose I do? Do you want me to just sit here and twiddle my thumbs while my sister is at the hands of two thieves? She's my only sister, Bane! I can't just abandon her..." he cried. Grendor had the nerve to say that he could perform the super powerful spell on himself again like he did back in his last adventure with the dragon, but then the fairies wouldn't let him off easy like they did last time. Bane said nothing as he thought about the current situation. Then, he had an idea.
"We need to alert the people of Avalar to be prepared for a war. Azura City may be protected from unwanted visitors, but what if Changeling decides to come back for her sea dragon machines?" Grendor shuddered at the thought of thousands of sleek machine ready for destruction, gliding towards the peaceful city of Azura...
"You're right, Bane. But, why be prepared for a war? Changeling can't be as big of a threat as Ripto used to be, and that didn't cause a war..." Grendor trailed off. Bane shook his head sadly. "I've seen this happen before. Three times actually at my home. A hordeleader that looks harmless at first, but then ends up causing a full-scale war in which there is no retreat." Bane lowered his head sadly, his voice ringing out like a requiem bell.
"Don't you see? Changeling's going to start the biggest war in the history of Avalar!"
~*~*~~*~*~~*~*~
Hawk Mountain was a very forbidding place. The mountain, shaped thousands of years ago by unknown workers, was in the shape of a giant bird-like monster, with outstretched wings, head flung upward to the heavens, and a sharp beak with a rickety bridge hanging out of its mouth. Inside the head of the mountain, a large room about the size of Kraken's cave was inside, lined with purple glowing candles and sacred ornaments. In the very middle of the room, a fancy pedestal held a glowing purple crystal that was sought for by both Changeling and Snowflake's friends; the Purple Gigas Crystal.
A female human watched the Purple Gigas Crystal with a devotion seen only in a Guardian. She was very tall, with long, black hair. Her eyes were dark violet and she wore a long, form fitting purple dress and tall but flat-footed boots. Her nails were long and painted purple, and to show her rank as a sorcerer she wore a dark purple amulet around her neck. Yes, she was none other then the mighty Robin, Guardian of the Purple Gigas Crystal and ruler of the Mystic Mountains.
A frightened faun pattered into the room, fur still smoking. "Mistress Robin! There are dragons in the Mystic Mountains!" It was none other then one of the fauns that had been teasing Snowflake, Ripto, and Spyro's new friends. Patches of fur fell off of its body, and the sickening sweet smell of burning fur filled the room. Robin turned towards him, her eyes expressionless purple.
"A dragon, you say? Well, that fulfills one of the steps towards the identity of the Purple Gigas Crystal holder. The visions I had today were strong, and they featured a dragon that I could hardly make out. But, the mind waves I received from him were amazing. Only the true holder could possess such cool-headedness, a heart of gold, and a mind that could outwit the fox." Robin described to the faun, her purple dress swirling with each step. The faun narrowed its eyes in thought.
"Well, there were five dragons in that group, including a small ugly one without wings that carried a scepter." Robin stopped, her foot hovering over the next step. She slowly turned to the faun, her eyes now black with fury. "Ripto's here in my mountains! Ah, the nerve of that little lizard! How dare he pollute my fair mountains with his evil?" Shards of purple crystal went flying as she kicked a sacred statue of herself, even though the fauns had made that out of solid crystal that a diamond axe would be unable to break. The faun backed away nervously; Robin rarely got angry, but when she did, it was for good reason.
"But what harm could he do? He wasn't even able to take over the Mystic Marsh downwind!" he cried, his raspy voice full of terror. Robin seized the faun's throat, and tightened it.
"I know that, but if he can get into my mountains, then that Changeling girl can too! I will not abide to her plans of stealing the very thing I have to guard!" She stopped suddenly in thought, and then quickly dropped the faun. The quivering bundle of fur gasped in sweet amounts of air. Robin rubbed her chin in thought. "Although, if Ripto and Changeling happen to cross paths with the Outlaws of the Balance, then our problems will be solved!"
"The...Outlaws of the Balance, Mistress?" he asked. The Outlaws of the Balance were a widely feared band of outlaws consisting of fauns, humans, and dragons that were both powerful in Mystic Mountain magic and had a hatred for the Purple Gigas Crystal. They were famous because time and time again they would try to murder Robin so that their leader could rule all of the Mystic Mountains. Robin smiled as she casually picked rock shards out of her boot.
"Yes, the Outlaws of the Balance. Since they're so into power, Changeling and Ripto won't be able to step three feet into my mountains before those murderers ambush them. Considering how much of an ego their leader possesses, I shouldn't have to worry. All I need to be worrying about is the fate of my true Gigas holder." She stepped closer to the Purple Gigas Crystal until she was close enough to feel the power radiate off its crystal face. As she did so, she pulled out a flyer from within her robe. It was a Wanted Ad, and a picture of the Outlaws' leader was on the front.
"Here. Use this to identify the leader. When this whole Changeling ordeal is over, you'll be able to make yourself one rich faun!" Robin handed the Wanted Ad to the faun. After that, she turned his back to him, her signal that the conversation had ended. The scorched Mystic Mountain resident looked down at the picture and admired the price on the Outlaws' leader's head.
Had the faun had been one of members in Snowflake's group, he would've noticed that the picture on the Wanted Ad was that of Jira's...
~*~*~~*~*~~*~*~
End of Chapter 9.
Yeah, sorry this took so long. Once again, Writer's Block seized my mind and kept me from continuing this for a while.
Remember to review, okay? I need your thoughts on this!