Welcome back to The Violet Riddle. Last time, Langdon's claustrophobia reared its head at the worst possible time, right in the middle of the cavern. But in an almost maternal moment on Cynder's part, she manages to calm him down just enough to get them through to the exit from the cramped part. So, what awaits at the end of the tunnel? Read on to discover...
(Our story resumes exactly where the previous one ended, right at the exit of the tunnel into the Catacombs. And on the edge, our heroes descend into the structure, a cavern with a waterfall descending from the ceiling.)
Spyro: Careful, it's slick in the structure below.
Langdon: No offense, but the waterfall kind of gave that away.
(Within a few minutes, everyone is down in the Catacombs themselves, and soon, they're looking around for the Altar of Shadow.)
Cynder: The Altar's got to be around here somewhere...
Langdon: Keep an eye out for the glint of the gem necklace. That's probably going to be our dead giveaway.
(And before long, the search concludes, as in the darkness, Cynder spies a familiar purple glint.)
Cynder: I think I've got my eyes on it.
(Within seconds, Cynder swoops over towards the wall, grabbing onto some creeping ivy growing up the walls, leaning into the shadows and plucking from it a black gem on a leather string)
Cynder: Got it!
(At Cynder's cry, the entire group looks to her location and sees the glimmering gem in her hand. As Cynder descends from the ivy, Langdon searches his pockets for a flashlight to throw some light on the situation. Realizing what he's up to, Flame breathes a stream of fire onto the ivy Cynder just descended from, revealing the violet gem in the shadows.)
Flame: There you go.
Cynder: (Handing the gem necklace to Spyro, who adds it to his collection) Five down, four to go.
(At this point, everybody sees Langdon is on edge)
Ember: You okay, Professor?
Langdon: This is usually where that Sorcerer character shows up and tries to kill us.
Flame: Did anybody see him follow us in?
Ember: I couldn't see anything in that cavern. But I'd think we'd have noticed that guy coming in by now.
Spyro: Either way, we better get moving quickly if we're going to find the next Altar before he does.
Flame: What was the next element in the chain?
Ember: I think it was Fear.
Spyro: That's one of the real wild card elements to me. I can't think of a single location that's connected to either of them.
Cynder: Well, we're just going to have to figure it out as we go. I'll go activate the Altar. Better cover your ears, unless you want to suffer the adverse effects.
(With that, Cynder flies up to the Altar of Shadow, almost recovered by darkness as Flame's fire burns out. As she nears it, everybody covers their ears as Cynder unleashes a scream infused with the Fear element, as evidenced by its visibility in crimson rings. As the sound waves hit the gem, it glows violet and starts to vibrate, before releasing a beam of violet light, curving out of the cavern they came through. Knowing exactly what they need to do, the group takes off straightaway, with Cynder grabbing Langdon before they leave. Transition to outside of the cavern, the group exits, with the Sorcerer watching them from a distance, before he follows them, ending our scene)
And that looks like a good spot to end for today. Admittedly, this chapter wasn't much. Just like the Altar of Fire, it was kind of a gimme. But there's a reason. You'll see more of why in the upcoming chapters and upcoming Altars. So, where is the Altar of Fear? I'll tell you this, fans of a certain Spyro fan comic on Deviantart might be able to guess where we're going next. Other than it's a canon location, I will say no more than that. But for the answer, tune in next time to find out! Same time... same channel!