Crimson and Viridian

Rating: High PG
Author's Notes: Desperately sorry with the lack of updates, what with me living my life as a highschooler and all that. That, and I'm very lazy and I found some parts of this chapter hard to write.

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"Hold still, Snowflake."

Elora aimed a two-hooved kick at the chains wrapped around Snowflake's right hand as the slave caravan rocked and tilted in many spontaneous directions. Over the sound of the Desolation Gnorcs carrying the caravan over rocky terrain, none of the guards could hear the loud snap of the metal breaking. Snowflake's wrist bones reverberated with the vibration of the kick. Without a moment's hesitation, the dragon swung her right hand to the chains holding her left arm in place.

Click!

Her claws found the lock. Snowflake fell to the ground on her knees, a bit shaken but smiling widely at the triumph of freedom. She immediately got to Elora and started undoing the bounds that shackled Elora in place to the slave caravan. Her claws found the chains and quickly broke Elora's bounds.

"We better hurry up. Didn't Mortigon say that we were going to arrive at his-"

As if on cue, the caravan ceased movement. The ever familiar bumping and swaying motion that the captured Holders and their friends have gotten used to finally stopped. Snowflake and Elora, free from their bounds, froze in place as raw adrenaline pumped through their veins. Quickly, they shot back into their broken bounds and clicked the chains together in a way that wasn't noticeable.

"All right, you slaves. Time to get your sorry hides on your feet. The King of Desolation wants to show you your nice and cozy new homes in his castle." Muugara proclaimed as he opened the door and stepped inside, his clawless feet thudding against the hardwood floor. Snowflake's and Elora's hearts raced as the Muu Dragon pried them from the caravan and forced them on their feet. Just when Muugara was about to unlock the already broken chains that wrapped around Snowflake's wrists, a chain wrapped around his left foot and he fell to the ground. A resounding whump reverberated through the air.

"Whoops, sorry. I guess I wasn't looking where I was going." Ripto replied, watching Snowflake and Elora drop inconscipiously to the ground as he did so. Claws scraped against the floor as Muugara scrambled to get up onto his feet. Eyes ablaze with fury, he socked Ripto in the eye with his left hand and then hooked Snowflake and Elora's broken chains to the team of shackled prisoners. Their pulses quieted; the dragon didn't notice at all the breaks in his handiwork. In fact, after Ripto lashed out at him, Spyro saw it as a cue to draw even more attention away from Snowflake and Elora.

"So, Muugara. Does Laigon's castle have any room service? I can certainly go for a bite to eat, and I can tell that some of his cooks know how to cook steaks." Spyro shouted obnoxiously, heightening Muugara's anger as he did so. But before Muugara connect a fist into one of his eyes, the shackled prisoners all were filed out of the caravan to behold Mortigon's castle.

Jaws dropped as eyes beheld the almost frightening beauty of the castle that stood before them. It was a castle that had once been beautiful in a long ago age, but time had ripped it apart at the seams. Some parts of the castle looked to have been smashed by some giant's hand, where statues and various structures lay streamed all around the building. Nothing was symmetrical within the castle; it looked that each and every building brick was a different size and shape. It looked as delicate as a castle made out of playing cards, and yet, they could also tell that the building has survived for hundreds of years.

They only came back to their senses when Muugara yanked on the chains and ordered them to follow him. Snowflake and Elora sucked in horrified breaths in unison as they felt their chains come completely off their wrists. Immediately Airazor, who was chained to the front of the line, kicked Muugara square in the back.

'Wow, everybody's suffering from blows just so that we could have a small fraction of freedom.' Snowflake thought as she hooked on her broken chain around her wrists just as Mortigon's second in command started to yell at Airazor. At that moment, hope seemed to swell in her heart. They were imprisoned, but they were working together as a whole. Nothing could separate them, even long lines of shackles and an ever-oppressing reptile with wings barking insults at every one of them.

By the time they entered the castle and into a horribly slanting hallway filled with pictures, statues, and stained glass, Muugara was fed up with all of the slaves. Instead of leading them to the dungeons himself, he handed the chains to some lizardmen and commanded that they took Mortigon's valued guests into the dungeons. One of them was about to complain when the dragon assistant hurriedly stuffed gems into his claws. Suddenly the lizardmen seemed a lot more interested in the task and practically ran down the hallway with the chains in tow.

Elora and Snowflake saw this as the right time to break away from the group. As soon as Muugara rounded a corner, they noiselessly slipped out of their bonds and flattened themselves against the adjacent walls. The other prisoners made sure to make as much distractions as possible to keep the disappearance of two captives from being known. When the lizard and their friends disappeared around the corner and they were sure that the coast was clear, a great weight seemed to lift from their shoulders. They both slumped against the walls, laughing lightly and clearing the sweat beading from their foreheads.

"Well, now what?" Snowflake asked, her voice a whisper against the hallway. The strange thing about Mortigon's castle was that nothing echoed. Somehow, the way the building was built made none of their voices carry down the halls.

"We have to see what that monster-"

"Demon. Airazor insists that we call him a demon."

"Right, demon. We have to see what that monster wants with our children." Elora said, her green eyes constantly in search of any intruders. When they heard footsteps approached, the two women immediately darted behind a marble statue of a hideous dragon rampaging over a mountain ridge. Luck was on their side; the statue was big and wide enough for both of them to crouch behind.

"I think we have a pretty good idea from what Muugara, Spyro, and Airazor have told us. Mortigon wants to murder them to fulfill some prophecy to become the greatest person in the entire universe." Snowflake replied, her voice forced into a steady hiss.

"Yes, but I want to know is how." Elora retorted. There was an uneasy moment of nothing but the sound of their breathing as Snowflake registered that thought.

"How?"

"Yes, how. Why drag us, the family of the Gigas Holders, to another realm with the Gigas Crystals in hand, just to kill our children to fulfill a prophecy? If he only needed to kill them, he would've done so while he was still in Avalar. Something's fishy and I don't like it." Elora answered. Her eyes were riveted at one end of the hallway, with Snowflake watching the other end. The white dragon couldn't help but smile at the idea.

"Well, we got far enough as it is. While we're still taking in the breath of liberty, we might as well figure out what the hell is going on. I personally wanted to make a break for it-"

"And die out in the middle of a desert in some strange realm, prey to whatever the heck lives here." Elora cut into Snowflake's thought. The dragon blushed a little, realizing just what would happen if she dashed out of the castle in broad daylight. "Snowflake, I do believe the course of action we should take now involves research. And lots of it. You search for any document about this prophecy, I'm going to the source."

"To Mortigon's room? Elora, we're playing with our lives already..."

"Snowflake, don't you see? They're going to kill Pyran! If finding out just what that demon plans on doing with my son is worth risking my life, then so be it." And with that, the conversation was over. Any attempts to change Elora's mind were wasted, for as soon as the coast was determined clear, Elora marched down one end of the hall and Snowflake marched down the other.

Elora didn't run into any trouble as she walked through the castle and winded down the seemingly endless cascade of hallways. It seemed like the entire castle was devoid of guards. It confused her until she took a look out of one of the stain glass windows and found out why Mortigon didn't keep any guards around; all the guards were either in the courtyard training or guarding the extensive collection of prisoners and slaves. The lion serpent felt no need to have guards marching down the hallways; he was confident enough to believe that nothing would ever oppose him.

She walked for a good twenty minutes down random hallways, ever alert of the telltale signs of approaching guards and trying to keep her cloven hooves from making too much of a racket, before she heard familiar voices coming from down one hallway. When she entered the hall, she was presented with a door more adorned and much larger than any of the other doors she passed. Elora pressed her hands gently on the beautifully carved wooden frame and slowly pushed the door open until the crack was big enough to see and to hear what was going on.

"...Last seen around the area where your brother was stationed, Muugara. Lucky for your good-for-nothing sibling, some gargoyles escaped the attack. From what we know from Telemnar and Amandil, the brats have teamed up with the monster known as Gnasty Gnorc."

Elora stifled a gasp when her eyes fell upon Mortigon. The lion serpent was sitting casually in a throne that looked to be made out of the carcass of a giant dragon. The seat in which the King of Desolation draped himself over was made out of the skeleton's leg bones, with a few satin pillows colored red thrown across them for good measure. Carried by the jaws of the deceased dragon a detailed tapestry of Mortigon's "liberation" of the Muu Dragons, which, in morbidly beautiful detail, depicted a scimitar-carrying monster standing among a flood of dying dragons. The wing bones of the dragon, which still bore the tattered remains of rotting brown membrane, bore the markings of Mortigon's regime.

"Freeing Gnasty Gnorc and letting him slaughter every Muu Dragon in the camp. Those little punks are cleverer than we made them out as. If I ever get my hands on one of them..."

Muugara hissed and flicked his wings irritatedly as he adjusted the same glove he used to defeat Airazor at the dinner party he had crashed alongside his master. With the dexterity of a master craftsman, he slipped several devices onto his right arm that looked a lot like wrist watches, only with screens and buttons that Elora couldn't tell from her point of perspective. He then attached what looked to be miniature versions of the cannons that Gulp often toted around when he was needed for attack. Elora knew what Muugara was preparing himself for even before Mortigon stated it out loud.

"You will get your hands on them. And since you know where they are and where they're heading for, you can be sure to pay them a nice little visit. We can't let our little hybrids get too bored on their mission for their mommies and daddies." Mortigon crooned in a relaxed tone, a tone that seemed almost more threatening than his venomous shouts.

"What happens if my attacks kill them, King of Desolation?"

"You're giving yourself too much credit, Muugara. We're talking about six brats that have lived this long in my realms without losing a single of their numbers, plus they managed to get through a Muu Dragon camp without suffering any losses. The moment you kill them is the moment that blood-flavored pudding starts raining out of the sky and the ground starts sprouting posies." Mortigon replied as if it were fact. A bit of Muugara's ego deflated right then and there; his claws shuffled against the ground sheepishly as he avoided Mortigon's gaze.

"Think I should take a portal? The flight's extremely long and I want to surprise them." The Muu Dragon found a way to change the subject. The change of topic didn't make his lord and master any less irritated, for he yelled a sharp reply that reverberated in Elora's bones.

"Of course you're taking the portal, you bone-headed piece of crap! Even you can't fly that long distance in such a short amount of time!" And then immediately the self-proclaimed King of Desolation was on his feet. Muugara whimpered and bowed his head, but he didn't expect Mortigon to grab him by the neck and forcibly drag him to a console that, up until now, Elora thought was a golden vanity desk without any glass for the mirror. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was a Teleportal, a portal that could, if you entered the right coordinates, could open a portal in practically any place. With one hand Mortigon pressed a few buttons, and with the other he held his lackey.

"Sir, please! I can do it my-" Muugara didn't finish his statement. As soon as the machine was booted on, his voice was drowned out by the sound of the whirling of the gears and electricity crackling around the machine. The golden ring that was hooked in place above the console, the so-called glassless mirror above the vanity desk, started to turn so fast that it became a blur. There was a sound like fabric ripping, and soon there was a portal, glimmering within the ring like a film of bubbles.

Without another word, Mortigon heaved Muugara into the portal and didn't even blink when his departure caused a bright flash of light. The console silenced itself immediately and Mortigon, his eyes red with fury and his very stance bristling with irritation, decided to pester another one of his lackeys who, up until now, Elora didn't realize he was in the room.

"You! Scientist!" Mortigon hissed, stomping his foot on the tiled floor as he did so. A small bundle of scales that Elora assumed was a dead skin with a white cloth draped over it immediately sprang to its feet. An Artisan's dragon with dull brown scales, black spikes running down his spine, lime green membrane, and bloodshot brown eyes scurried to his call, his lab coat trailing behind him as he did so. Elora froze when the dragon passed inches away from her, but in his hurry, he didn't seem to notice the brown-furred faun. The scientist dragon shuffled his feet and gave a hesitant cough.

"The name's Vincent. If you want to refer to me as a name, you'd better-"

The dragon was cut off when a muscular yellow hand wrapped around his neck and cut off all access to his lungs. He coughed and struggled as he was lifted from his feet and was eye-level with Mortigon.

"You do realize that your life is as meaningless as the specks of dirt that the wind blows in my castle every morning. Start throwing your weight around here, and I will be forced to crack your head like a freshly laid egg." Mortigon snarled, his eyes boring into Vincent's. Elora pressed herself so hard against the wall in hopes of becoming less visible as the dragon desperately clawed against Mortigon's grip.

"But I am worth something. I'm the only one that can power the Dimens-aaaaagh!" Before the scientist could finish, Mortigon tossed him in the direction of the wall, delighting in hearing one of his legs break against the impact. Tears spilled from the creature's eyes as he nursed his broken leg. A scimitar point buried itself into his foot to prevent him from crawling away.

"Wrong there, genius. You set it up, I'm the one that powers it. Not even you can give it the energy it needs. And believe me, any more smart talking, and I will be forced to take...drastic measures." Mortigon said with a smile, genuine and sinister in its own right. Elora felt her heart fill with pity as the dragon whimpered and blubbered, resembling much like a five-year old who was caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

"Please...don't kill me..." he pleaded, his face coated with tears. Mortigon slapped him across the face to silence the whines and whimpers from him immediately.

"Kill you? No...I can think of much better punishments for you!" the lion serpent hissed, his scimitar pointed at Vincent's throat. Magic sparkled around Mortigon's yellow and brown-striped body as he stood there, grinning at his scientist. Vincent sat up straight and remained perfectly silent as Mortigon gave him orders.

"You set up the equipment and make sure it's running perfectly, or else you'll be in the same boat as the batteries I've stolen. I've waited twenty years for this moment, and if you even think about screwing it up, well, let's just say that you'll be begging for me to kill you." Mortigon replied with a sneer. Vincent swallowed the bile that was rising to his throat. "Understood?"

Vincent nodded vigorously. "Good. Now get your sorry carcass to work!" Mortigon shouted to him, resulting in the dragon to scurry into a corner to collect his things.

Elora was shocked. Mortigon had a dragon of Spyro's species working for him. Her mind tried to work out the meaning of what Mortigon had said. He needed a scientist in order to work on something called the Dimens-something, and he threatened Vincent with a mention to the batteries. The Gigas Crystals? But why would a dragon be threatened with the idea that he'd placed into a machine that ran on Gigas Crystals...

The faun didn't realize that her presence was discovered until the flat of a sword hit her square against the back of her head and she crumpled to the floor, the world fading into a mesh of swirling colors...

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Torin was shaken out of his slumber when he heard a loud thump near the front of a cave, followed by some rather venomous cursing combined with a somewhat-familiar chuckling. His vision blurred by sleepiness, the only sense that told him what was going on was his sense of hearing.

"Just turn him into a shiny already, Gnasty! He's a loudmouth when he's alive!"

"Unhand me, you monsters!"

"Look who's calling who a monster, Brandimuu."

Torin rubbed his eyes and slowly the details faded into view. He was the only one awake, and from the looks of it, Gnasty Gnorc was keeping captive a Muu Dragon that was littered with scars and bruises. Brandimuu, his former captor, struggled and hissed against the bonds. The Muu Dragon was wrapped around the same stake that held Gnasty back at the camp, ropes restricting most of his movement save for his head and neck. Sitting on his head was Kannica, who was currently holding two scimitars made out of green crystal. When the riptgon recognized who the gargoyle was, he shouted loud enough to rouse the rest of his friends from his sleep.

"Hey, it's that sword stealer!"

"My name's Kannica. If you want to refer to me as any sort of title, The Best Thief in the Universe would also do." Kannica replied with a mocking bow. Pyran took one look at her and then immediately sprang to his feet, his sword in hand. The gargoyle would've been cut clean off of Brandimuu's ears had not Gnasty stepped in beforehand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. She doesn't deserve to be killed." Gnasty replied. When Pyran gave him a look of disbelief, the gnorc decided to explain. "Consider her a hero. If it wasn't for the fact that that gargoyle stole your sword and led you to the Muu Dragon camp that held me captive. One would say that the situation was almost staged, but I say Fate had a hand in bringing us together." The old enemy of Spyro was considering the possibility of what the hybrids would do if they found out that their "chance meeting" was on purpose and that was the only reason Kannica took his sword, but from the looks of it, none of them were any the wiser.

"Yeah, Fate. Right. But she still took my sword!" Pyran yelled.

"Pyran, you still have your sword. Why not keep that ego restrained and let the little gargoyle live?" Glacier replied. She reached her hand to tickle Kannica's tummy, but the little winged beast replied to this action by snapping her fangs close enough to the riptgon's fingers to make her draw back in fright.

"I ain't no house pet, you freak. I'm just here for my shinies...but I'm sticking around to see this little piggy be tortured."

"No, not tortured. Interrogated." Gnasty corrected her, leaning against his club as he did so. Kannica shrugged, since interrogation sounded a lot like a fancy word for torture, and continued to watch the Muu Dragon from her spot on a large rock in the cave. He looked Brandimuu square in the eyes and smiled when the blue eyes that stared back showed no mercy. "It'll be interesting."

"Interesting? Not likely. Mortigon will kill you for this." Brandimuu growled. He fought with all of his strength against his bounds, only to appear as some sort of cruel entertainment for the six awake hybrids, the large armored gnorc, and the clapping gargoyle. Gnasty sneered at the form of cruel irony, but he had to ask the jerk a few questions.

"Brandimuu, I want to know how to destroy The Queen. I'd figured you of all people would know some weak spots!" Gnasty replied, flexing his hands as if picturing The Queen's throat inside of them. Brandimuu threw his head back and laughed, a cruel mocking sound that made some of the smaller kids cringe.

"You want to kill something that's been living for thousands of years? You? By yourself? You'd have better luck against The King of Desolation himself!" Brandimuu laughed, his slender but muscular frame shaking against the ropes.

"I won't be by myself. I have a whole team of fighters to help me kill the leader of the Desolation Gnorcs, so don't even think about pulling that on me." Gnasty retorted. He received strange gazes from some of the hybrids, most of all Glacier and Karydor, who were somewhat terrified at the odds against them, but Pyran seemed quite cheerful that the gnorc was including him on the action.

"Go ahead, risk your life. I won't care. I probably won't live long enough to see you..." Brandimuu stopped to count all of his captors. It took him a while; arithmetic was never his strong suit. "...eight get killed so shamelessly. The Queen will bathe in your blood just like she did to your army of weak and pathetic gnorcs."

Brandimuu had pulled the wrong strings in terms of conversation, for Gnasty immediately seized the Muu Dragon's skull with one of his hands. For a few seconds, the heroes all feared that Gnasty Gnorc was going to squeeze Brandimuu's brains out, but instead he hissed very harshly into his ear as he fought to keep his temper in check.

"Just tell me of any weak spots before I split your head open!"

The Muu Dragon, for the first time in his life, feared something besides The Queen or Mortigon. He gazed into Gnasty's brown eyes, tears brimming in his large blue eyes at the pain surging through his head.

"She's weak against any sort of fire magic! She's coated head to toe in fur, so I suspect your minds can put two and two together! That's all I know! Honest!" Brandimuu pleaded. Gnasty couldn't help but feel the sting of malicious glee to hear his former captor begging for mercy.

"Thanks for the info, Brandimuu. Be sure to tell Mortigon or whatever his name is that we stopped by." Gnasty replied. The comment immediately changed the Muu Dragon's mood, from pleading to absolutely hysterical. His eyes swept the small cave the group of heroes were currently sheltering in as if Mortigon was going to spring out of the shadows at any moment.

"No! I can't reveal my failure to Mortigon! He'll torture me! He'll send my soul to Hell! He has many punishments for people like me!"

And with a jerk of his arms, Brandimuu freed one of his arms from the ropes. He pointed the pink blades that adorned the wrists of every Muu Dragon to his neck, his eyes staring down at all of his captors in craziness. He gave a barking laugh as if understanding a hilarious joke.

"And I'm not going to let any of them happen!"

And with a quick movement of his arm, Brandimuu slit his own throat with his claws and died in front of his captors.

An eerie silence filled the cave, with the sound of Karydor weeping into Pyran's shoulder prevalent. Gnasty Gnorc felt the need to bottle up some of the blood into a canteen that he was wearing around his belt. It may be only useful after three days, but the gnorc planned on fighting a certain enemy in his life before it expired.

"Kannica, I want you to lead us to The Queen." Gnasty Gnorc asked. The little gargoyle had already stored the three statues of her last deed in a crack in the cave, marking the spot with a rune so that she can return to her prizes later. She looked up from her task, her red eyes glimmering with greed.

"Five more shinies and I'll do it. Sure, the walk's short; only about three hours, but The Queen doesn't really stand my company well..." Kannica replied hesitantly, not choosing to relate the time she thought it would be funny to shave her name into the fur in-between The Queen's ears. Vendea still hated her for that encounter, and chances are, she was going to get an earful from both monster and gargoyle.

"No, three. My price is three emerald statues." Gnasty insisted.

"Four."

"You can have Brandimuu as a statue then." And with those words, Gnasty Gnorc crystallized the dead Muu Dragon. His position and blood crystallized too, revealing a rather creepy statue of an emerald dragon with a gaping hole in its neck and with emerald blood crystallized around its claws. When Karydor saw the statue, she fought to keep herself from vomiting.

"Ooooo...Grotesque and violent." The group of hybrids and Gnasty then waited as Kannica dragged Brandimuu's crystallized corpse to the spot where she hid her other three statues. She cast another tracking spell on the spot and then turned to the group.

"Okay, I'll take your offer. But we'd better leave immediately; the walk's a bit tedious and we don't want to be out when the desert sun reaches its afternoon position."

Within twenty minutes, the cave that was nestled near the destroyed Muu Dragon Camp was empty, the only signs of nine creatures ever dwelling there being the four glittering statues lodged inconspicuously from scouting eyes. Nothing could move them from their spot except for Kannica, and no one bothered to, since the statue that happened to be sticking out was Brandimuu, his lifeless green-tinted eyes staring vacantly at the world around him.

Had Brandimuu been alive, he would've seen six hybrids, most of them with dragon wings on their backs, crawl out of the cave entrance and follow a gnorc and a travelling gargoyle partner towards the now nearing mountain range, eagerly awaiting the chance they would get to battle a large winged monster whose only name was a title fit for royalty.

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"Here it is. The Queen's lair."

Kannica flitted in the air and landed on a rock just outside the entrance. She tapped her foot impatiently on her perch as the group she was leading was too busy gazing at the cave in wonder. The opening resembled the stony jaw of a great yawning beast, emitting horrible smells and sounds from its maw as it sat on its haunches in front of them. Giant strings of moss fluttered in the breeze, giving the cave the impression that it was armed with rows of stale green teeth.

"You sure this is where The Queen lives?" Pyran asked hesitantly. He was losing all of his pride in fighting and saving since, for the first time in his life, he knew just what happened in battle. He had the healed bones to prove it. Kannica, however, did not give the dragon/faun hybrid any sort of leeway as she sat on the rock, filing her claws casually.

"Yep."

"Positive?"

"Definitely possible."

"Really, really, absolutely-"

"Listen, hero-boy. You want to be like your father? Go attack some giant green thing in a cave and then shout 'You're toast!'! Stop whimpering at the gate like a sissy!" Kannica, obviously fed up with the hesitant hero, shouted. Pyran remain rooted to his spot in fear, but it took the kind and caring shove in the back by Karydor to get him moving.

With Kannica leading the way, the children brought here by both Fate and a thieving serpent, and a gnorc that was once and probably still was the enemy of the Dragon Realms, marched into the cave's gaping maw. It wasn't long before the noon sun behind them became nothing more than a glowing little dot, all but completely swallowed in the damp darkness that consumed the cave. Most of the children were frightened by the cave, especially Glacier. The little dragon/riptoc hybrid would jump at every other sound and swear that there was something crawling around on the ceiling.

"Hey, Gnasty." Pyran started when the opening of the cave disappeared into a sea of black and Glacier had to create a fireball in her hands for them to be able to see. When the gnorc turned to look at him, the draun finished his reply uneasily. "Did you ever live in a cave like this?"

Gnasty knew why the kid was asking and laughed. Glacier screamed beside them as the laugh echoed off the cave walls and made something skitter near her feet. "You know, it does parallel with your father, I guess. You're going to fight a giant green gnorc leader in a cave! That's rich." And then suddenly, his mood changed. With the small fire's light reflecting off his grim face as he clenched his club tightly in one of his hands, he looked almost like something out of a horror movie.

"Course, this gnorc won't survive for another go."

The rest of the trip continued on without any conversation save for Glacier's pleas to go the other way and leave the cave. When her complaints went unheeded by everyone, Calub decided to have a little fun and bounced a few stones off her shoulder blades. This immediately caused the little winged reptile to scream and jump onto Gnasty's shoulder to keep away from the creepy crawlies.

A piercing scream sliced the silence once again. Torin stomped his foot in irritation. "Glacier! We're not leaving this cave until we defeat The Queen! Quit screaming!"

"That wasn't Glacier." Harmony replied. An eerie silence filled the air, only to be broken again by another ear-piercing shriek. A shiver traveled down Torin's spine when he realized that those screams were not far off and that they were coming from a full-grown male. Probably being tortured, from the amount of pain within each cry of terror. Gnasty's ears twitched when he realized that those calls were familiar.

"That's Red!" And soon the gnorc was racing down the cave, Glacier and her tiny ball of fire bobbing on his shoulder as he raced. Kannica, for the first time realizing that she was no longer in the front, raced after Gnasty. The other hybrids had no choice but to follow, lest they be left behind in pitch-black darkness.

A light began to glow at the other end of the cave, and when Gnasty entered it, the long cave passageway became a large circular dome-shaped room big enough to comfortably fit the entire castle in Autumn Plains in. The only source of light came from the giant hole in the ceiling, which gleamed an orange-tinted light down upon the inhabitants of the cave. As soon as Gnasty entered the room, he froze when his eyes made contact with The Queen's. She smiled sinisterly as she flexed her muscles on her bed of wet and bloody gnorc skulls. When Gnasty Gnorc beheld her bed of his troops, he screamed in rage.

"Ah, see there now, Crimson Jutjaw? You have guests!" Vendea replied, pointing to the just-arriving hybrids. Red could only pant in reply as he felt every ounce of power drain out of his body. The torturing Vendea had supplied him had tired him out. The burnt flesh on his chest, caused by Vendea's taser, didn't help matters as he turned his head to look at six hybrids, a gnorc that looked somewhat familiar, and a flying gargoyle. Red made a mental note to make the gargoyle species extinct before he passed out.

"Kannica? What are you doing hanging out with slime-skidding lizardbellies like these creatures that stand before you?" Vendea exclaimed. She was answered by a blast of Gnasty's club that turned her into a green statue. Before the gargoyle statue could shatter, Kannica swooped down from the air and caught it. Kannica couldn't help but grin at a shiny already won, but it somewhat creeped her out to own a statue that used to be one of her buddies.

"Ah, I knew you were my equal, Dragon Realms Gnorc."

The voice echoed through the cave, a terrifying howl that echoed through all of their bones. But only Gnasty could understand her. With a trembling hand, he instructed Glacier, Pyran, and Karydor to stand beside him and for Harmony, Torin, and Calub to help Red. The hybrids immediately acted on his instructions without any words or complaints. The two woltocs and the son of Ripto found it easy to climb to where Red was; since the entire wall was coated in a sticky substance. Pyran, Karydor, and Glacier all withdrew their weapons as the winged monster inched closer.

"How predictable you are, Dragon Realms Gnorc. My equal may be able to speak the Universal Language, but he still will always fall to the faults that plague your weak and pathetic species." The Queen spoke in a language that was filled with howling, snarling, and savage growls, and yet Gnasty understood every word. His grip tightened on his club, and with a holler, he threw himself at the monster.

CLANG!

Claws met metal as The Queen lunged at her prey. She pinned Gnasty Gnorc to the rock cave and scraped him against the floor. Bones and skeletons yielded to the two green monsters locked in combat.

"Prepare to die!"

The shout came out as a savage roar to the ears of the hybrids and to the gargoyle watching from the safety of the room's entrance. And yet they could understand the meaning well enough. The Queen snapped at Gnasty Gnorc with her mouth full of blood-stained fangs, but instead of crunching down on his face, she chomped down on enchanted wood. The gnorc pushed against his club with both of his hands, forcing the monster backwards. Saliva and old blood dripped on the cave floor as The Queen remained her grip on Gnasty's club with her mouth and began to slash at Gnasty's legs with her winged claws.

"Karydor!" Pyran called to the winged rhynoc beside him, his sword outstretched. While The Queen was distracted with her main target, Karydor cast a spell on Pyran's sword. The faun-forged metal glimmered with a bright light of its own as the magic-user chanted spells of fire to be temporarily infused in the metal. With a grin, the draun hacked against The Queen's legs and caused fire to burn the wounds he created.

"KEEEEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Gnasty momentarily forgotten, The Queen turned around and slashed at the air with her giant claws. She would've sliced Pyran's head clear off his shoulders if it wasn't for Glacier. A white blur darted through the air, distracting the monstrous winged gnorc and saving her friend's neck at the same time. Pyran was instead swept off his feet by The Queen's lashing tail, his back connecting against the hard stone floor and driving the wind out of his lungs. The monster began to scratch at empty air, wailing in confusion and frustration.

Her frustration grew when a great fireball of flame hit her right in the face.

"Yee-hah!" Glacier cried when she landed on The Queen's head and grappled to her long green hair. The spirit of battle pumping through her veins, the little white hybrid used her brother's scepter to set fire to a large area on The Queen's back. Fueled by all the creepy-crawlies that had nestled in the monster's fur, the creature burst into flames. However, instead of giving up, The Queen only laughed in a feral matter and launched herself backwards into a cave wall. Glacier jumped off before her body could be crushed by the impact. All the fires she had created were put out in an instant.

"You're really going to have to do better than that, Dragon Realms Gnorc. Instead of letting your little hybrid friends help you." The Queen hissed, her body dripping with burnt fur and her own blood. She crawled viciously towards Gnasty Gnorc, who was leaning against a boulder for support. His legs were scratched up so badly that his bones were showing through some of the cuts. With a grunt, he heaved himself onto his feet and flinched at the pain. He nodded almost in agreement and he met The Queen's lunge with his club, although one could tell that he wasn't going to last long underneath her blows.

"Harmony! We got to help Gnasty!" Calub called. The three hybrids not involved in the fight were now level with Red in his place in the wall. Several feet up from the air, they all knew that one slipup would be fatal. But luckily, the blood and saliva mixture that pinned Red to the wall was sticky enough for them to have no worries about slipping off.

"We'll help him by freeing Red." Harmony replied. Her paws began to tear at the bounds around Red's arms. She turned to Torin, who was currently examining the dragon's wounds. "Torin, you got to pump some life into this dragon. He's useless unconscious like this!"

Torin nodded in agreement, and with a few arcane words, the son of Ripto placed his hand on Red's chest and began to feed magic of healing into the dragon's body. Wounds began to heal, energy began to return, and bones began to mend. Torin couldn't exactly restore the dragon to full health, since that would mean that Red would absorb all of Torin's energy, but it was enough to get the dragon going. Red's eyes fluttered open and focused on Torin's face.

"Ripto?"

"Close enough. Red, you got to help Gnasty!" Torin shouted. With a sickly wet ripping sound, Red pulled himself from the wall. His wings flapped in the air, still wet with what The Queen had imprisoned him with. His yellow eyes ablaze with fury, the dragon used up all of the energy that Torin had restored him with to expel a blast of fire breath.

FWOOSH!

As soon as Red's massive flames connected with The Queen's body, Glacier and Karydor helped by casting all the fire magic they could muster. Pyran helped as well by expelling all the fire breath he could create.

The resulting maelstrom of heat seemed to consume the entire body of The Queen. The cave became so hot that Kannica darted into the cave passageway to keep cool and the sticky wall of blood and saliva melted. Harmony and Torin slid off the wall without a problem, but Calub got entangled in the dried-up husk of a dead gnorc. His scream of terror could not match The Queen's howl of pain, her red eyes barely glinting through the fire in which she was trapped by.

And it was over just like that. The fire died out and the four casters of it collapsed from exhaustion. Red's wings crumpled against his body and he fell to the cave floor. Karydor and Pyran both fell against each other, their bodies tired and wasted. Glacier shouted another cry of joy before she too fell back gasping for air.

"Well...done..."

The Queen's fur had come completely off, and all that remained was black scorched skin. Her eyes, still wet with tears of pain, gazed into Gnasty's pain-stricken eyes. She pulled herself to her feet and swished her rat-like tail in an almost puppy-like manner.

"You've shown that you have enough friends to defeat me. However, the next time you see me, we fight alone."

And with a quick movement of her wings, The Queen launched herself through the hole in the roof and disappeared into the sky. Gnasty didn't care that his target escaped alive; instead, he smiled in prideful joy as he slowly wiped his own blood from his armor and from his hands. He then slowly limped to where Red was resting.

"Gnasty, thank the Dragon Elders that you came in time." Red replied, his breath raspy and short. He reached out a quivering hand to his comrade for support, only to be rammed against the cave wall. Yellow eyes widened in surprise at the sudden change in Gnasty's emotions. The gnorc glared at Red with such hatred, the opposite of his prideful happiness just a few moments ago, that it almost frightened him.

"Gnasty...What are you-" his voice was cut off when Gnasty grabbed both ends of his club and rammed the blunt of it against Red's throat, cutting all air circulation. The dragon weakly struggled, his body weakened by what Vendea and The Queen had done prior to his rescue. Normally, he would've been a match for his partner. Now, with all of his strength gone and his source of magic still in possession of Muugara, the dragon sunk to his knees in weakness.

"Listen here, Red. It's because of you that I'm stuck here in this godforsaken wasteland with the memory of an entire army of gnorcs being shredded to pieces by a cloud of flying monsters. The only reason those gnorcs died is because you had to get your staff back. Give me one reason why I shouldn't honor the fallen lives of my troops by killing the very thing that got them killed?"

"...Because killing him will not make you any better."

Gnasty turned his head and found himself staring at Torin and his sister Glacier. The daughter of Ripto was still clutching a glowing scepter in her hands, a good memory of her battle with the monstrous winged creature alongside the gnorc. Torin's hands were still coated with the sticky red ooze that The Queen had plastered Red with to the wall.

"Gnasty, let him go. Crushing his lungs is not going to bring all those gnorcs back. If you kill Red, are you any different from The Queen? The only reason you're not her equal is because you think with reason and don't kill needlessly. Remember the battle you had with her? Besides, Red helped save your life, so he deserves to stay alive...if not for a little while longer."

Torin's words seemed to connect. With an exhausted sigh, Gnasty Gnorc removed his club from Red's neck and let the dragon breathe. Red rubbed his neck slowly, his eyes looking at the gnorc warily but at the same time seeming to understand. With a yawn, the dragon leaned back against the cave wall and fell asleep, the blows Vendea and The Queen inflicted upon him taking its toll on his body once more. Gnasty then took the cue to do the same, wrapping his injured legs with some bandages provided by Karydor before also taking an energy-restoring nap.

Pyran couldn't help but gape at the scene unfolding in front of him. Here he was, standing in a cave after helping defeat a giant winged gnorc, and yet he was considering two of the biggest enemies that his father Spyro had ever fought against as friends.

'There's enough irony on this trip to kill someone.' Pyran thought to himself as he joined the circle his friends made to rest up against the weariness of the battle he had just fought.

And soon, the cave became filled with not the screams of a Desolation Gnorc's victims, but instead the pleasant chatter of six children and a gargoyle resting next to the sleeping forms of two of Spyro's biggest enemies, their innocent demeanor and their friendship shared amongst one another never faltering against the blows they have received on their quest.

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End of Chapter Five

Gnasty Gnorc and Red's relationship is not based on anything that I've written in the past (especially not that one-shot), but rather from events that took place in A Hero's Tail.

If you made suggestions in a review, do not fret. I'll take your kind words to heart and use some of your ideas in later chapters. Just be patient.