Chapter 37

The Fall
Part III: Imperia

I completed Dark Souls Three. The song for this chapter belongs to the final boss of the game, that fight was one of the most incredible gaming experiences I've had.

The music for this chapter is Dark Souls 3 OST: The Soul of Cinder

There are two stages to the battle, you will recognise the change in the music between the stages.
In stage one you fight a boss with abilities that are very like your own, but belonging to a darker version of your character. The music is intimidating, intense and powerful.
In stage two the music changes, the boss uses new attacks, moves that anyone who played Dark Souls One will find very familiar. The Soul of Cinder takes the power of legend, of Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, the fallen hero and final boss of the first Dark Souls game. The music is beautiful, yet sad, and victory is a bittersweet feeling.

A twisted version of the hero's character, and the legend who has fallen to darkness. What could more perfectly exemplify Spyro?

I hope you have the song ready, because here we go.

Malefor was in no state to intervene, lying on the ground and only barely remaining conscious. Cynder was unable to move more than a few steps in any direction, and while she could have used long rage attacks or even just shouted at them, she didn't know who's side she was on anymore. Did she help Dark Spyro, or did she help Malefor and Imperia? Cynder didn't know.

And so the silver dragoness was alone against the dark purple dragon.

Imperia laughed nervously, unable to fully hide her concern, but she gave Dark Spyro a smile.

"That was a bit close! I hate to interrupt, but you looked like you were about to do something that you'd regret later. And also I didn't want Malefor to die."

Malefor managed a faint glare at the slender dragoness, but then his eyes glazed and his body went limp. Imperia watched him with concern. She stepped over to him and nudged him towards the hole Spyro had blasted in the floor.

"What's going on?" Dark Spyro looked confused.

"Aww, you recognise me Spyro, so I'm sure you can see what's going on." Imperia laughed lightly. "And may I just say that your voice is making me shiver? It's rather intense. I like it." She bumped Malefor over the edge and he vanished from sight, a moment later there was a soft thud from below and she winced. "Sorry about that…" She turned back to Dark Spyro. "You know me, and you know why I'm here. I'm here to keep you safe."

"What?" Dark Spyro faltered, the anger in his eyes faded slightly.

"Oh you've been battered haven't you? Look at those poor wounds!" Imperia looked sympathetic, she stepped forwards, but a growl from Spyro drove her back. "Are you in pain? We should get that leg bandaged."

"You're doing something. Stop it." Dark Spyro spoke warningly.

"You feel it?" Imperia looked at him innocently; her confidence was growing raipdly. "You're getting weaker, aren't you? That's because deep down you don't want to hurt me. Your power is cancelling itself out, you're nowhere near as powerful as you were before you and I started talking."

Dark Spyro growled; he stepped forwards, the Dragonslayer moved to point at Imperia's silver throat. "You know nothing about me."

"Oh please, I know everything about you, Spyro dear!" Imperia laughed.

"I am NOT SPYRO!" Dark Spyro leaped forwards, Imperia took a smooth step towards him and grasped his horn in her forepaw, and then she pushed off lightly and flipped acrobatically over his head. Imperia landed gracefully, her head lowered in a passive stance, looking cute and unthreatening.

"Is that a sore subject? I'm sorry." Imperia spoke soothingly. "You must be confused by all of this, I can help you. You know, this is how you defeated the Dark Master. This same self conflict, Malefor was trying to help you back then, just as you're trying to help me now, Spyro. That's why it's so much easier for me to fight you then it was for Malefor to fight you. It's ok Spyro, you know I want what's best for you."

"You want to kill me!" Spyro spat a fireball at the silver dragoness. Imperia used wind to deflect the attack.

"I've seen you do much better when we've done sparring together. That attack wasn't intended to do me any harm at all."

"Yes it was!" Dark Spyro roared in anger and spat another fireball. Imperia again deflected it.

"You want to destroy me superficially, but the real you doesn't."

That comment struck Dark Spyro's nerves. "This IS the real me!" He spat another useless fireball that Imperia sidestepped.

Dark Spyro leaped at her; Imperia slid low, dropping her belly to the floor and sweeping her tail in an arc. Spyro's feet were brushed out from under him and he fell.

"It really isn't. I'm your friend Spyro, and you can't bring yourself to fight me with your full power. Just let me talk to you and everything will be ok. The real Spyro will come back. You'll be gone, but Spyro will remain. Then we get rid of you altogether and bring back the Spyro we all know and love. And don't feel bad about tripping, everyone falls for that low sweep the first time I use it. Then again… Spyro fell for it already, so you have no excuse."

"Stop talking!" Spyro spat lightning at her, Imperia rolled aside with a laugh. He rose to his feet and stalked after her.

"I never stop talking, that's one of the things that make me so fun! You're still aware of Spyro's memories about me; you know why he's fighting to keep you from hurting me. He doesn't want what you want, and he'll stop you."

Dark Spyro charged up a larger surge of electricity, he focused the energy within the Dragonslayer until the spear crackled with power, he leaped forwards into range, but even as he thrust the spear lightning Imperia blurred out of the way of the channelled bolt, her speed was incredible. Spyro whipped around, trying to track her but barely able to keep up.

Spyro responded by widening his beams of attack, no longer bothering with the dragonslayer and instead breathing out clouds of electricity. The conical blasts effected everything within their radius. After several attempts he got lucky and hit her with stray forks of lightning, making Imperia yelp, but she didn't seem hurt or even annoyed.

"I date Volteer, I enjoy a little bit of lightning. It gives me the loveliest tingling in my scales. Although you'll have to forgive me for not being too keen about those big thunderbolts you were throwing around before."

Imperia sashayed around Dark Spyro, confident now in her ability to outmanoeuvre him, and poked him in the side with her tail. Dark Spyro lurched away from her and Imperia giggled.

"Oh that was a love tap! Even if I had a tail blade it wouldn't have hurt you. I'm not stopping you with force Spyro."

"You're stopping me using the power of friendship?" Dark Spyro snarled. "You betrayed me and Cynder! You're not worth saving!" Spyro shot a cloud of ice spikes at her; Imperia fell back out of range of the attack.

"That was a cruel thing to say." Imperia said with a hint of hurt in her voice. "And I know it's not true, because you're still not able to fight me with your full power. If you can hear me Spyro then don't give up, keep fighting the darkness, you're winning!"

Dark Spyro grasped the Dragonslayer in both of his paws, rearing up and swiping at Imperia with it several times. Imperia dodged back and then darted forwards when Spyro overextended. She bumped him with her hip and then used wind to dance away before he could retaliate. Even Imperia's fighting style was flirty.

"Tag!" She laughed. "You know you're not using that spear properly. When you're not in a combat formation you shouldn't use it solely for thrusts and swipes. It's just so limiting." Imperia balanced on her hind legs, spreading her wings for stability and of course for stylish effect. "Hold it in one paw and at a wide angle."

Imperia demonstrated, holding an imaginary spear in a way that would leave her underside exposed to attack.

"Everyone thinks it's a pose done only to look good, and I won't lie, it does indeed look good." She smirked and posed. "But if you think I'm giving you an easy inviting target to attack…"

Imperia pivoted a full circle on her paw, evading an imaginary attack and bringing her paw across to indicate her retaliatory swing, the whole movement was sinuous and smooth.

"You turn your back on your opponent for only a moment, but the spear slashes them before they could take advantage of that. I almost wish I'd taught you about fighting with a spear earlier, although if I had then you might be skilled enough to beat me now, which would be awkward."

Dark Spyro attacked her, sweeping and thrusting the spear, trying to hit the elusive dragoness. Imperia acrobatically dodged and deflected the flurry of strikes without any effort or urgency, she retaliated by poking and nudging him lightly whenever Dark Spyro left himself exposed. There was no point trying to beat Spyro into submission, she instead focused on talking him down, trying to find some way to connect with the purple dragon whose personality had been eclipsed by the darkness.

"The head of the spear is only one of its dangerous parts; the crossguard can be used as a blunt piercing tool capable of penetrating scales or bone, while the haft and butt of the spear make a good quarterstaff. You should change your grip and vary your attacks a lot more. Also wielding it with only your forelegs is very limiting; try using it in your back paw, the uninjured one of course, or with your tail."

She hopped up into the air and fought Dark Spyro from above, gracefully dancing around his attacks, forcing Spyro to chase her in frustration. Imperia allowed him to close in, and then she leapt onto him and pushed off his back, touching down at the edge of the platform. Her wingtips and tail left elaborate swirling contrails, Imperia was using the contrails solely for dramatic effect.

"You could at least try using the stance that I demonstrated, you'll find you have more range and cover more area with your sweeps and thrusts, the force is reduced but the Dragonslayer need not be swung with full power to deal damage."

Dark Spyro growled; he adjusted his hold on the spear, taking the stance Imperia had showed him.

"Very good! I'm glad you still want to learn." Imperia smiled warmly, Spyro looked handsome, the golden spear matched nicely with his golden highlights, even though at the moment his colour was dull compared to the bright gleam of the Dragonslayer. She took a moment just to look at him, and then she yelped and leaped upwards as the Dragonslayer cut apart the air where she had been a moment before. "See? You're less predictable now."

Spyro came out of his spinning attack, growling at her. Imperia giggled as she landed nearby. She posed and swished her hips to draw his attention to her curves, she was trying to tease out a reaction from Spyro, but he didn't seem inclined to be distracted by the sexy.

"Nothing? Not even a blush?" Imperia scowled playfully. "You're not fooling me darling! You wouldn't have paid any attention to my advice on spear wielding if Spyro wasn't beginning to reassert his control."

"He is NOT!"

"Oh stop shouting will you? It's unbecoming of a noble dragon like Spyro." She poked her tongue out. "I think he can hear me. Spyro I simply have to ask, is it really the power of friendship that you're fighting for? I mean it's fine if it is, but I want to tell you that the times I've flirted with you or teased you it's been… more… than just playing around."

She hesitated, feeling slightly self-conscious.

"You're aware that you're not the only dragon who I have feelings for, but that doesn't change the fact that I… I am genuinely fond of you. I'll give you space if you don't feel the same way… but… I think you might. Either way it's been fun, right?" Imperia's voice took on a playful tone; she cocked her head as if waiting for an answer.

Dark Spyro didn't respond, but Imperia began to smile again.

"Was that… a flicker of purple?"

"It was not." Dark Spyro tried to send his purple magic out at Imperia, but it was fading away even as he focused on it.

"Oh I think it was. I'm getting through now. Oh I am so glad that worked!" Imperia's smile grew as she cheered in happiness, then she returned to speaking softly and playfully. "I think your eyes are very beautiful when they're purple, go on Spyro, you should know that yellow eyes don't quite suit you."

Dark Spyro only snarled; he swayed slightly as he stood.

"Are you feeling faint? That'd be the lack of oxygen getting to you." Imperia began to smirk.

"What are you doing?" Dark Spyro stalked towards her, but he wasn't moving as easily as he usually did.

"Malefor studies magic scientifically. I know because I've worked with him, and occasionally been a test subject, sharing in the benefits of his knowledge. I've also learned from his approach to conflict, his example taught me how to arrange efficient and subtle ways to defeat my enemies, ideally without them even knowing when or how I do it. But I'm also close to Volteer, and he studies the world as a whole scientifically. I understand both views, although not quite so well as the boys do."

"So?" Dark Spyro hissed and swiped at her, but Imperia skipped backwards.

"There are guidelines that govern the world, like water always boiling at certain temperatures. Volteer's been furthering the research of centuries, trying to understand these principals."

"I already know those. I learned from Volteer too. Its worthless knowledge, it's never accurate."

"On the contrary, it's invaluable knowledge. The inaccuracies are caused by magic; if we never used magic on anything then the world would follow discernible rules, as it is water doesn't boil at a consistent temperature. Every time we infuse it with magic we change its boiling point. Volteer had me dip my tail in water and use magic on it; I could raise or lower the boiling temperature of any amount of water that I used magic on, simply by focusing. It explains quite a lot, actually."

"So you figured something out." Spyro looked dismissive. He frowned, there was definitely something wrong with his vision. What had Imperia said? The lack of oxygen? He growled and shook his head, willing away the dizziness; some channelling of his dark magic caused the feeling to fade.

"That's just a neat little side note I've used to keep you listening to me." Imperia said smugly. "I was just mentioning that magic can mess with aspects of nature. However some things are always consistent. Air is made of several types of gas, and we need one of them to survive, but not all of them. With the knowledge I got from Malefor I found a practical application for the information that Volteer and I discovered together."

Dark Spyro straightened up; the feeling was still there, but not as strong. How was he meant to stop it? He backed away from Imperia, and then used wind to leap to the other side of the platform.

Imperia smiled. "It's not as hard as I thought it'd be, sure it takes a while for the lack of oxygen to have an effect, but it's easy to maintain once I've started it. Do me a favour and don't tell Malefor about this trick please. Not yet, anyway. I want to have it just in case I need a way to fight back against him. I'm planning to teach it to him once I've gotten to know him a bit better face to face."

Imperia shrugged.

"It's good to be safe. Flare is the only one who knows I can do this, she worries about me, you see, so I told her I had this clever way to protect myself from anyone who might try to take advantage of me." Imperia frowned to herself. "She even knew that I was working with Malefor, that's probably one of the things that made her so concerned for my safety. But now I'm using it on you, not Malefor. Oh Spyro dear, I'm so sorry." The silver dragoness walked forwards with a gentle smile. "It'll all be ok though, you'll go to sleep and when you wake up everything will be fine."

Spyro shook his head, he backed away from her, but Imperia closed in until she was only metres away.

"Just look at me, relax. It'll be fine." Imperia reared up on her hind legs as she stepped forwards. She placed a gentle kiss on Spyro's forehead. "That's it. Good boy." She giggled slightly.

Dark Spyro growled, Imperia didn't flinch. She looked into his eyes and then played her trump card.

"When you wake up I'll be there for you, and so will Cynder."

The mention of the black dragoness has a sudden effect on Dark Spyro, but not one that Imperia had expected.

Dark Spyro's power flared for a moment and he snarled, then his eyes shone purple and his body colour lightened considerably. Suddenly it was Spyro, without darkness, looking into Imperia's eyes.

But that final flash of darkness hadn't been a harmless event. Even as Spyro looked at Imperia his expression turned to horror, the silver dragoness looked down, her breath had gone out of her and a sharp pain had taken its place.

The Dragonslayer was buried up to its crossguard in her chest. A tentative flap of her silver wings revealed that the tip of the blade was protruding from her upper back. It had gone right through her body.

Imperia stared at Spyro, seeing shock and guilt in his eyes. Deeper within she saw a hint of yellow already growing again. She hadn't saved him, and now her magic was failing and her body was too weak and she opened her mouth and no sound came out.

It took effort to speak, it hurt, and when she finally managed it her voice came out as a quiet whimper.

"You know Spyro… I was really… really hoping… that you wouldn't do that."

The final two chapters of The Fall will be posted together 24 hours after this chapter.

-4Dragons