A Lost Dragon's Journey

by Spirit Of Fantasy

They were twins at birth, and even as eggs, he tried to protect her. But Cynder inevitably became the evil black dragon who served Malefor. This lost twin was forced to be without her as Spyro's legend came to pass, and Cynder was rescued and redeemed for her sins. Now it's this lost twin brother's turn, twenty years after Malefor was destroyed. Asher's search for Cynder has begun.

18. Chapter 17:A Land That Always Burns Pt3

Chapter 17:A Land That Always Burns Pt3

Grublins were rolling like dogs doing tricks in the ash after flying through the air, All a tribute by Hunter kicking and punching those who dared to get too close, but a distant attack was no better. For he knew how to use his bow and arrow, using it like a club for the Grublins that got too close. While he was able to draw his arrows and shoot before a whole second had passed. The numbers were impressive, but as long as he remained firm and focused, he could hold them all off.

Three charged, and he simply smacked the away with his bow. Before letting an end piece of his weapon drill into the back of one Grublin, giving him a stable and steady paw to fire. As he shot two arrows that splintered the other two Grublins in the back of their heads, just before they could stand. He was quick to back flip over another that leaped with a dagger at the ready. Hunter was able to draw an arrow out and fire, piercing the cretin's heart from the back.

Once he had landed, Hunter immediately had to start swinging in every direction. Grublins attempted to swarm him the minute he dropped, some took the wood of the bow across their faces. While others managed to back step away, letting Hunter yell out in a war cry when his body felt the pulsing rush of battle. The fight went from a range battle, to a mix of other battles. It was much more like a single animal fending off numerous animals, and he was ready to fight to the end.

"It has been long since I felt my heart beating so hard and wildly…! The threat of death… The urge to survive,"He assessed his minor scratches and bruises, as well as the intense rush his body had not felt in decades,"It's actually quite…exciting…! It's like I'm a young cat all over again…"

"Like a cornered fawn, surrounded by the pack of wolves, ready to die…!"A Grublin mocked Hunter as he raised his bow at them to continue fighting.

"I'm far from ready to accept death… Not when I'm so close to the start of this journey."Hunter denied the idea of surrendering himself to the scourge of Grublins.

This defiance was only met with a dagger slicing right across the back of Hunter. He screamed, feeling the rush of blood fly from his back as a stray Grublin rolled to his side. Holding a dagger stained by his blood, the devilish critter licked that very blade to savor the taste of it's prey. Only to suddenly get an arrow clean through his eye thanks to the Avalarian's quick draw. The remaining enemies jumped for him, taking full advantage of their now injured foe.

Hunter growled, and swung, smashing the skulls of two Grublins, but missing three others. Those other three manage to climb on Hunter, one tried to put him in a choke hold. While the others hung on the sides of his chest, one punching his stomach, the other drove his curve sword into his shoulder. His screams fueled the Grublins blood lust as they started moving in. Hunter swung his bow wildly, trying to keep them back, but the rising pain in his shoulder was making his right arm grow numb.

The fight was nearing it's end, Hunter fell to one knee and started to waver. He manage to shake off the one around his neck and stomp it's head in till it oozed with it's vile orange blood. But two more took it's place, holding him in place by it's neck while the lead Grublin prepared to make the kill.

"This could have gone nice and easy. But you Avalarians always have to be so dignified and bold,"The Grublin mocked as he readied to ram a small knife into the stomach for a slow death,"We just wanted to know where the dragon was… All you had to do was tell us…!"

"And condemn my comrade to being a prisoner to you dark servants of Malefor…? Never…!"Hunter continued to defy them to the very end.

"Comrade, eh? So you befriended that giant oaf, Smolder, did you?"The Grublin suddenly revealed a name that was not the name of the dragon Hunter traveled with.

"Smolder…?"Hunter did not recognize the name, but it certainly did not sound like they were talking about Asher.

Any confusion he was feeling in that moment faded with the threat of dying right on the spot. And right after he had finally manage to stretch his legs and plunge himself into great adventures again. He waited for the searing pain of a blade going into his gut, spilling his stomach contents out. And dying of the internal burning pain of his stomach acids frying his insides nice and slow. Thankfully, there was more than just Asher accompanying him on the search for Cynder.

And he finally showed his worth as a vein suddenly opened in the side of the Grublin's neck. His eyes widened at the sudden pain and rush of blood spurting from his neck as he grabbed it. Just as Sparx suddenly flew up from behind, wielding his small tooth pick of a sword stained in blood. He flew back down, as the Grublin staggered away from Hunter, confusing his cohorts. Before Sparx flew in to the right, and plunged his weapon as deep as it could go into the right side of the Grublin's neck.

He dug it into the flesh, before yanking it out, ripping open another vein. The devilish Grublin gagged and began to choke on his blood as blood spurted out the other wound. He went into a panic, trying to grasp his neck and stop the bleeding, but the blood was squirting out. Filling his throat and staining his chest as he finally fell to his back, flailing and struggling with the blood he choked on. He scratched at his neck and pounded his fist against the ground, before he finally passed out.

With that, the Grublin would be dead within minutes from blood loss and suffocation. Knowing that, Sparx rushed to Hunter's aid while the Grublin's looked on in confusion. They did not understand the sudden appearance of the dragonfly and the death of their group leader. This gave Sparx the openings he needed to get behind the Grublins and start killing them fast and effectively. He did this by simply stabbing them in the back of their heads, just deep enough to pierce their brains.

The two Grublins that head Hunter's neck immediately dropped, a sharp pain in their heads forced them to let go. Just before they dropped dead just a second later from the tiny stabs into their heads. The rest let go, but Hunter saw this as an opportunity to capture a live prisoner. Once he had grabbed one Grublin by the back of his neck and headbutt him to the ground. He used his bow to leg sweep another and whack the last Grublin in the back of the head, forcing him to go out cold.

While Sparx finished off the other stunned Grublin and manage to thrust his weapon deep between it's eyes. This killed the fiendish Grublin instantly, leaving Hunter to slowly sit down. His body exhausted from his injuries as well as the heat of the fiery lands making his limbs start to cramp.

"Thanks… You got here just in time…!"Hunter panted and sat back to relax, collecting himself,"Asher will never believe that you just saved my hide."

"Yeah… Spyro probably wouldn't believe it either, but I did it…!"Sparx replied and cleaned off his weapon before looking to their unconscious prisoner.

"We need…to go find Asher immediately…! There's…another dragon here…!"Hunter caught his breath, and shrugged off the wounds before tying up his prisoner.

"As in…the good kind or the bad kind?"Sparx froze and was hesitant to ask the question.

"Don't know… But if the Grublins want to find him then we want to keep him safe and hidden."Hunter explained while picking up and throwing the Grublin over his shoulder.

"Maybe sleeping beauty will know something when he wakes up."Sparx gestured to the sleeping Grublin they now had in their possession.

"And Asher will be able to interrogate him much better than we could,"Hunter insisted and looked towards the north west, where he expected the black dragon to be,"Come… Lets go see what our friend has gotten into while we were busy here."

Sparx followed Hunter cautiously, noticing the wounds he took in the back and the shoulder. As Hunter walked with their victim dangling on his good shoulder, hopefully the heat was merciful. For an injured being in a land like this would easily just die right on the spot before long. So Sparx was watchful and hopeful, hopeful that Asher was having better luck than they were. Thankfully that was starting to be the case, for Asher was in a Grublin fight of his own, and the odds he faced were greater.

But he proved a lot more dangerous and challenging for the Grublins that found him. Grublins flew and slammed to the ash land when they dared to charge in to capture Asher. Any who dared to grab at him met a worse fate, from broken necks to smashed up skulls. It was looking like there was going to be a stalemate, if not an inevitable end to the Grublins. The dragon realized this, seeing their numbers dwindle while he remained defensive, attacking when they made their dismal moves.

"You're not going to win this…! Your Grublins can barely hold their weapons properly,"Asher decided to offer up some choice words to convince them of an impending defeat,"And half of them are scared to approach…! I can see their knees trembling."

"Hah! Your bravado is impressive as well as repulsing. You really were better off in an egg!"The Grubling leader grumbled and scoffed at the dragon's bravery.

"Do you really say that out of mockery, or is it really out of fear for how this will end,"Asher questioned as the Grublin furrowed his look, finding annoyance in the boldness of his enemy,"Because I'm not the one sitting back and watching my comrades fall around me."

The leader growled, the bravado was starting to actually make his stomach curdle. Before the curdling turned to a boil, filling him with rage as he watched a dragon that was once so vulnerable suddenly so cocky. It started to raise the blood lust in the old Grublin, he wanted to see his blood be spilled.

"We need the muscle if we're going to bring down our friend here…! Has he reawaken yet?"The large Grublin questioned to the minions that stood behind him.

"Yes, it's just taking him a bit to traverse through the fire belt, Enard."A minion finally responded to the leader by his name.

"Take the rest of the Grublins and guide him here. I'll do my best to keep this dragon here,"Enard quickly formulated a plan for the other Grublins to follow,"Well don't just stand there, get going…! I'm not certain of how long I can occupy this sibling of Cynder."

"Yes sir."The minion responded, and tapped the shoulders of his comrades, convincing them to follow.

Asher tilted his head, taking notice of the grunts running off and leaving their leader to face him alone. As much as he wanted to believe that this Grublin was simply being abandoned by a cowardly crew. He knew there was more to this than it appeared, they were up to something and he needed to keep his guard up.

"Going for back up? That just means more Grublins I can take some aggression out on."Asher offered up some more mockery, antagonizing the enemy, maybe fooling him into spilling out his plan.

"You'll see soon enough. Till then, I am your opponent…!"Enard challenged and aimed his blade at the dragon.

"And here I thought you Grublins were just a bunch of cowardly devils,"Asher snickered at the sudden bravery of the Grublin leader,"As brave as it is to face me on your own, it will only end up getting you killed."

"By the end of this fight, you will be the one killed by the best of the beasts…!"Enard bravely stood his ground, even when the words Asher spoke felt true.

"Right…"Asher responded with great mockery and skepticism.

This resulted in finally prompting the Grublin to go on the attack after all the hiding he did. With a growl, he charged, thrusting his blade forward, only for it to lock into Asher's wrist spike. He tried to push, but the large Grublin did not have the strength to even approach Asher's. The black dragon took advantage of the lock in and grabbed his enemy's wrist to yank him in. He punched him in the nose, nearly knocking him away, but Asher only needed to yank him back in before turning Enard into a punching bag.

Each yank was followed up with a jab that cracked and crunched up the Grublin's nose. Blood began leaking out of his face, his lips splitting up and swelling from the barrage of fists. Until Asher felt him getting weak in the knees, and decided to flip him over and slam Enard on his back. A cloud of ash puffed up like a tiny explosion from the slam, while the Grublin was in a daze. He grasped a handful of ash to keep himself conscious, dying this fast was not an option.

Thankfully, he was ready to fight dirty and do whatever he must to buy time. So the ash he cupped up was put to good use the moment the cloud of ash settled, the first thing Asher saw was Enard's hand. Before ash littered and pelted Asher's eyes, blinding him with burning substance. He yelled out, growling and frantically rubbing at his eyes with boy claws, before Enard leg swept him. Asher was taken by surprise as he fell back and slammed to his back, while Enard readied his sword.

On instinct, Asher put his arms up to block an obvious follow up attack, even when it was a sword. He felt the hot blade slam down on both arms, he felt the bleed slowly start to cut in deep. He tried to sense his foe's heat, hoping his flesh would keep the Grublin in place till Asher found a way to see him. Sadly, he needed to roll away the minute Enard ripped his blade out to slash again. Once Asher got to his feet, he learned there was no sensing the Grublin's body heat, thanks to the land that they fought in.

He only had sound to work with, for his tongue could not taste or smell this enemy. Everything was volcanic and burning ash in both smell and taste, too strong to use on the Grublin. Thankfully, Enard wasn't the most stealthy Grublin in the world, his tall and lanky size made him loud. Asher could hear the patter of his feet in the ashes that went poof with each step he took. This allowed Asher to spin when Enard went to take off his head, avoiding the blade completely and even countering his foe.

His left wrist spike had just enough reach to slash upwards and across Enards chest. Before he stopped and back handed the Grublin's sword clean out of his hand before raising his fists to Enard. Challenging him to a more physical fight, see who was truly the stronger of the two.

"Oh… Is that what we're doing now…? Very well."Enard accepted the challenge and crackled up his fingers as they curled into jagged fists.

The Grublin rushed in, throwing in some curving hooks that Asher simply back stepped to avoid. Before he rushed in and countered with three jabs that stung Enard's nose and lip. A hook then followed up, smashing against the side of his head to knock the Grublin back. Enard quickly rushed back in with quite the reeled back jab, and Asher simply stepped to the side. Where he could start throwing hooks that rattled the sides and stomach, finishing with a strong punch to the gut.

Oozy orange blood blasted from Enard's mouth as Asher yanked him back in front. Delivering a hard jab that sent the Grublin flying and cracking open a boulder with his back. Enard fell to one knee as Asher rushed in for a kick to the head, but Enard lunged back up and caught him with a hook to the jaw. He then crushed his follow up uppercut into Asher's gut, breaking two fingers to force Asher back. He rushed in once more to crack another hook against Asher's jaw, daring to grow cocky from making a couple marks.

Once he exhausted one more hook, Asher manage to bring his leg up and knee the large Grublin in the stomach. He got a painful yell from Enard in response along with orange blood staining his scales. As the dragon then gripped his head and started smashing his enemy's face into his knee. His face began to crack with each knee he took, blood gushed from his nose and eyes. His mind and body wavering, threatening to force him out cold as he tasted so much of his own blood

With one more knee that stunned Enard, he was released to stumble back in a daze. Only for Asher to get a good running start and swing a merciless hay maker with just half his full strength. It was enough to launch Enard back, and smash into a large slab of obsidian. He was stuck in it, as his head lazily looked around weakly, while Asher only needed a deep breath before continuing. He rubbed his shoulder and started to make his approach to the defeated enemy.

"You're not experienced with being a leader, are you?"Asher questioned, while Smolder the giant dragon looked on in secret with so much fascination.

Enard began to get his bearings from the fight, but he was slow to start moving around. He struggled to even get out of the obsidian piece, as it's broken sharp edges tore at his body. Asher ultimately had to be the one to yank the Grublin out of his predicament and hold him up by his neck.

"You don't start a fight, unless you know you'll win this fight. The sacrifice was noble I'll give you that,"Asher admitted as Enard slowly grasped at the dragon's arm to stay firm,"But it was in vain, unwise, and it accomplished nothing…! It was simply a waste."

"Like you would know the first thing about sacrifice… All Cynder cared about was her own redemption. It was never truly about others,"The Grublin chuckled and looked into the eyes of Asher, seeing the same eyes as Cynder,"You're clearly no different…! Everything you've ever done has been for yourself…! And even now, it's all about what you want."

"And you think doing something for someone like Malefor is any better? A dragon with a dark heart and a god complex,"Asher questioned, letting his grip tighten while Enard started to smile,"These are the words of a truly sad and pitiful pawn…"

"At least… We can fight and die… For a greater purpose… While yours is pointless and will only end in disappointment,"Enard defended while his blade had been recovered before he was picked up from the ground,"But… The offer to die for a purpose… is still on the table…!"

With that, Enard brought up his sword and rammed it right into Asher's right leg. The dragon screamed before taking a head butt in the forehead, knocking him to his back while Enard was freed. He then quickly raised his blade and rushed in, leaping and landing right on top of Asher. Before attempting to dive the blade right into the chest of Asher, hoping to mortally wound him. Smolder's shock turned to horror, as he looked away, not wanting to see what could happen next.

Asher grabbed it by the blade itself, letting his claws get sliced up in place of his chest being pierced. As the two of them were now engaged in a fight of endurance and strength to determine the outcome.

"You could end up dying to bring our mighty lord back to this world…! You would become a god,"Enard spat and rambled about what he believed to be the highest of honors,"Instead, you want to walk the same path as your worthless sister! Living in a meaningless realm, desperately in search of nothing that will redeem your soul!"

"Cause you Grublins know all about having a soul, don't you?"Asher spat as they continued to fight for control of the blade that touched his chin.

Enard only responded with laughter as the sword trembled and dangled before the face of Asher. Any sort of weakness or wavering would end in getting skewered like a pig. It felt like hours, when it was merely one long minute of struggle, before the blade threaten to take an eye. Thankfully, an arrow became the saving grace of this struggle as it splintered over Asher's head. Before it drilled nice and deep into the shoulder of Enard, forcing him to fall back with an agonizing yell.

This allowed the dragon to quickly roll to his feet before Hunter and Sparx arrived to his side. He looked to both of them, noticing Hunter sporting a couple significant wounds like himself. While Sparx appeared to be untouched, for him, it seemed easy to figure out what had happened.

"Let me guess. You got jumped by more Grublins and Sparx was off on his own little fairy ride."Asher assumed as Enard ripped the arrow out of his shoulder and began to stand up.

"More like I got to Hunter just in time to save him…! What's your excuse?"Sparx defended and snipped at Asher for his mockery.

"I met a giant dragon they were searching for and I started fighting this guy while his minions ran off."Asher explained while Enard chuckled at his constant assumptions.

"Interesting, this one said something about a giant dragon by the name of Smolder!"Sparx rolled the Grublin they captured off Hunter's shoulder, letting him crash before Asher's feet.

"Forgive me, Enard…! We let our tongues loosen out of confidence for the odds."The small Grublin apologized while Asher looked down on him with pity.

"Yeah, they want Smolder to revive Malefor. Apparently his giant body would serve as a powerful host for Malefor's soul or something,"Asher explained further from what Enard spoke of,"Imagine a gigantic Malefor with muscle to spare and a lot of fire. Sounds like a lot of fun, right?"

"WHAT?! NO!"Sparx fell for Asher's sarcastic tone before sudden rumbles in the ash began to thunder around them.

"That can't be good…"Hunter feared, and he had every reason to fear these thuds and heavy rumbles.

"Hehehe…! Back up has arrived…! Tell me if you can recognize this old enemy, Hunter."Enard mocked before the three of them felt the shadow of a great giant arriving to the fight.

As the horde of Grublins returned from their retrieval, they brought along the last of their forces. An old enemy Hunter immediately recognized, thanks to it's missing left eye he himself destroyed. The beast roared as it's three prong legs stomped forth far behind the Grublins that approach. They all chuckled and snickered with deviant glee, feeling a boost of confidence from the return of the fiery earth golem. This half blind beast had a history with Sparx and Hunter, as well as Spyro and Cynder.

It roared as it cast a great shadow over the trio that nearly covered the light of the fire belt. It's burning eye gazed upon the targets in the distance, while Sparx and Hunter looked on with a touch of doubt. Asher looked to them, sensing fear and faltering confidence before such a large beast.

"We can take it…! We can't let them have Smolder. A giant Malefor is not what this world needs right now,"Asher decided to pep up his comrades to brush aside their doubt,"If he doesn't have the stones to defend himself, then we'll just do the fighting for him!"

"You're cracked! We can't fight that! Spyro and Cynder could barely beat that thing!"Sparx dared to continue doubting as Enard weakly aimed his sword at the three.

"Says who? It may be big but it's slow and more clumsy than you think."Asher encouraged as the Grublins readied for a final clash with all three allies.

"Asher, at least think about this before you just charge in and start fighting-"Hunter tried to preach a bit of rational thinking and strategy, but Asher silenced him by saving his neck by catching a knife that was about to go between the eyes.

The Grublins immediately ran forth with a battle cry, ready to swarm while golem came in slowly from behind. Enard stayed back to nurse his wounds, letting his minions take over the fight. One look from Asher, and his two comrades were officially on the same page when it came to the dragon threw the knife back, returning it to the skull of the enemy that threw it. While Hunter quickly drew out his bow and fired off three arrows to splinter the chests of three Grublins.

While Asher lunged toward the group, using his fists to crush the heads of two more unlucky fiends. Sparx flew above him, looking for opportunities to sneak in and attack quickly. He flew in once he saw Grublins trying to get around Asher to strike a blind spot. His tactic was the same, a simple poke up through the skulls and scramble the brains, letting them drop like stones. While Asher simply fought on all fronts, blocking fists to the left till he grabbed a Grublin's wrist to use him like a weapon.

He growled, swinging the Grublin like a rag doll, while his purpose was similar to that of a mace. His spine cracking every time his was twirled around and smacked against a comrade's skull. His own skull cracking after Asher kicked one back before using him to uppercut another into the air. After several more were whacked away, their legs broken, and their heads smashed till dazed. The helpless living weapon was no longer living, after his head completely broke open from a repeated bashing.

Their battle was growing admirable, a group of three fighting the odds for him. Only then did his admiration slowly turn to guilt for not fighting his own battles, cowering while others fought for him. He turned away, once more Grublin blood sprayed in the air from arrows that pierced their skulls. Before Hunter once again had to use his bow like a club to smack two Grublins away. This distracted Hunter from Asher, as he slammed his used up weapon down on another Grublin.

Only to be grabbed by the throat from the side by a jumpy shrimp of a Grublin. Thankfully, Sparx was there to plug the back of the creature's had with his needle like sword, he was dead immediately. And fell before Asher and Sparx met each other face to face, proving their was more to the dragonfly than Asher thought.

"I just saved your hide so hard!"Sparx bragged a bit, only to get a snicker in return for his boasts.

"Right… You just wait, and I'll be the one saving your hide a thousand times over by the end of this journey,"Asher laughed and decided to put up a challenge for these bragging rights,"I'll tell you what. If you can save me one more time in this adventure. You'll get my full respect from here on out. How about that-"

Before he could finish his challenge, a giant three fingered punch drilled into him. Asher stuck to the fiery giant fist like a fly against a high speed carriage, Sparx barely saw the mighty blow. While Asher growled and struggled against the force of the golem's punch. He manage to grasp the fingers before he felt himself slam against a sturdy hill of ash, a shock wave erupted. Blasting a giant dense cloud of ash that flew to the air and flowed down the hill, covering the last of the combatants.

Sparx took the advantage, his glowing body gave him all the vision he needed. As he flew among the ash made fog, making what remained of the Grublins drop like flies from pokes in the neck and heads. A sharp grind was the only thing heard before bodies dropped in front of Enard. But he never saw his minions fall, for he was more worried about defending himself from any more injuries. It was only when the blinding ash cleared after several minutes did Enard see how quickly the tides turned.

The first thing he saw once the ash settled, was one final minion standing before him. Only to immediately fall back and slam before his feet dead, his blood from the neck stained the ashes. While Sparx hovered over the body with his arms crossed, Hunter had also readied his bow and his sights were on Enard. The tall Grublin began to back away towards his only remaining minion. The very golem that seem to have Asher dealt with, but even that hope was tarnished immediately.

"No…! I will not fail my lord! I am to revive the dark master!"Enard roared, his battle cry signifying his blind defeat.

"You already failed, pal!"Sparx pointed his weapon at Enard while the Grublin dropped to one knee against the golem's leg.

"And you're foolish if you think we'll ever allow Malefor to walk the realm again!"Hunter added before the golem's fist began to tremble, and it's strength began to waver.

"And you're insane if you think me or Smolder will happily become that jackass!"Asher roared from under the giant fist, his body completely bulk and inflated as he began to lift the fist away.

The ground threaten to crack and give away to his weight and the force of the golem. But Asher stayed strong and kept pushing, until finally, he held the fist in place with one claw. While the other curled up into a fist, power already poured into his own punch as he reared it back. The impact of his own punch was great, as he swung it strong and slammed it against the golem's fist. The beast's hand completely crackled and folded, his fingers broke into many different places.

While the force of Asher's punch made the golem stumble back a bit, nearly crushing Enard under it's feet as the force nearly blew out every one's ear drums out. It roared with sharp agony before looking to it's broken fingers, crooked and bent in all the wrong directions. It turned back, and unleashed a quaking roar of both rage and pain. Both Hunter and Sparx stood their ground after rubbing their ears. Waiting until Asher had joined the both of them at their sides, ready to settle this fight.

"Wretched…interloping…meddlesome bastard! KILL THEM ALREADY!"Enard roared with outrage and desperation, nearly earning him some pity points from the three combatants.

The behemoth of a golem roared to the sky, flames bellowed in it's throat. As it's eyes conjured the black static like magic of darkness, the very darkness Malefor had mastered. With both hands raised in the air, the darkness began to form within it's clutches into a great ball of shadows. One of it's strongest attacks the golem had on reserve, and now it could finally be unleashed. Even then, Asher and his allies stood their ground, ready and already formulating a plan to counter this next move.

Thankfully, their fight was already about to conclude, as the ash hills behind them exploded. Spreading tinder and embers into the sky as another mighty roar sounded into the air. As the head of Smolder erupted and lifted into the sky when he roared, Enard was taken back by this sudden arrival. The three comrades looked behind to see Smolder as his whole body crawled out of the ground. Before his giant head lowered and his burning eyes glared to the giant golem.

"Is that…?"Sparx started off as the gargantuan dragon roared and charged at the golem.

"Smolder? SMOLDER?!"Enard gasped and stumbled back as the dragon finally found his courage and went in for the kill.

"JEG HAR HAFT DET MED DIG GRUBLINS! JEG ER FAERDIG MED AT GEMME SIG!"Smolder roared with a wide open jaw, clamped down completely on the golem's head.

The giant golem's eyes widened before vanishing into the dragon's mouth, he immediately tried to grasp at Smolder, hoping to pry him off, but Smolder showed immense strength. Holding his arms in place to the point that they were breaking away. Before the dragon suddenly yanked with extreme force, and ripped away the golem's head. It slowly broke off like a fragile statue, before it was crunched to pieces and spit out as rubble. The giant reptile then finished it, by grabbing at the belly and one of the legs to lift the golem up and over it's head.

"DET ER TID TIL AT VOKSE LIDT TARM OG TOGE MIT HJEM TILBAGE!"Smolder stated as he roared and began to pull with every ounce of strength he had.

The golem body struggled and strained against the might of Smolder, and it was all in vain. For the body constricted before the headless torso was violently pulled clean off the lower body. With one more mighty roar, Smolder held up both pieces of the fallen foe to signify his victory. Before he only grumbled and growled, tossing the body parts in opposite directions without any sort of interest. With the golem disposed of, there was only one last piece of trash to clean off his home front.

"Say hello to a friend I accidentally made…! Smolder the giant fire dragon…!"Asher introduced the giant dragon to his comrades, as his eyes slowly darted down to Enard.

"SIGDEN DEN MORKE MESTERS ALDER. JEG HAR GEMT SIG SOM EN SMALIG FE, BANG FOR AT GORE NOGET FOR AT REDDE MIT HJEM,"Smolder growled at the lone Grublin as he fell back and tried to grovel away from the inevitable,"NU ER DU LOGN…! FORDI DU IKKE JAGER MIG MERE…! JEG JAGER PA DIG!"

He unleashed a mighty roar, pounced down with an open jaw ready to chomp. Enard could only scream and pitifully hold his hands up to protect his face, before Smolder's head slammed down. Smashing up a tidal wave of ash and cinder as the Grublin vanished into his gullet. While the three comrades masked their faces from the ring of ash that battered and pelted their bodies. They waited for nearly two minutes, allowing the ash to completely settle before Sparx screamed like a lady.

While Asher and Hunter were given a complete surprise to meet Smolder up close and personal. His giant eyes able to see them perfectly while his snout nearly pushed up against Asher's chest. His mighty wings flapped and folded in, while gusts of wind blasted up more waves of ash.

"So…! You finally grew a pair and took back your home, huh?"Asher questioned and relaxed before Smolder did one of the most miraculous things yet.

"IT TOOK A SMALL YET STRONG NEW FRIEND TO HELP ME FIND MY SPIRIT TO FIGHT,"His accent was heavy, but Smolder began to speak loud and clear English,"THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE. I'M SORRY I EMBARRASSED MYSELF BEFORE A FELLOW DRAGON."

"You could speak English this whole time?! Why did you speak all gibberish before?!"Asher was a bit mad after the ride of confusion Smolder took him on.

"It wasn't gibberish, it was actually a rare and elegant language known as Danish,"Hunter suddenly pointed out from experience and crossed his arms,"Regions where the language is known tend to be very frigid and cold, so it's a struggle for the native creatures. Unless you're of course a giant fire dragon."

"APOLOGIES FOR USING MY MORE NATIVE TONGUE. GRUBLINS AND GRUBLIN ASSOCIATES DO NOT KNOW MY LANGUAGE,"Smolder apologized as he curved his tail around his three newest friends,"I HAVE SECRETS AND KNOWLEDGE THEY COULD EASILY LEARN OF, AND THOSE GANGLY BUGGERS DESERVED NOTHING FROM ME!"

"You-"Asher had an insult ready after the trickery Smolder pulled, but a paw to his shoulder stopped the dragon.

"Will you be ok to fix up your home with the Grublins gone now?"Hunter concerned themselves with Smolder's safety and the future of his home.

"IT'LL TAKE SOME CLEANING UP, BUT I'LL MAKE THIS PLACE A SAFE HOME AGAIN,"Smolder reassured the group while Asher cooled down and pulled back the frustration,"I COULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT THE THREE OF YOU! IF THERE'S ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP YA, PLEASE SAY THE WORD."

"Uh…ok…! Interesting you should say that! We actually do need a little help,"Sparx decided to be the one to talk of their own needs and mission,"We're looking for Spyro and Cynder! Our lead tells us that they came through here recently looking for this dark look alike!"

"SPYRO AND CINDER? OF COURSE! AS I SAID BEFORE, THEY WERE HERE SCOWERING THROUGH THE LAND, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING,"Asher huffed at the explanation he repeated before but in his Danish language,"FINALLY THEY MET EACH OTHER ON THE HILL TO SPEAK BEFORE HEADING TO THE WEST!"

Smolder pointed to a high hill that gave off a large view of at least half the fire belt. They all turned to look at it, and that became the spot to go after Asher raised his bracelet to it. The red light did in fact shine it's rays upon the hill, causing lights to pulse from the hill.

"We got our next lead, lets get up there and watch!"Asher decided before a shadow amassed over their heads.

Before they knew it, Smolder had gently curled his claws around them and gave the group a lift. He barely needed to even stretch his arm out before hovering his hand over the hill. He then released them, allowing Sparx to fly out without an issue while Hunter and Asher landed on their feet. Before the bracelet glittered and began to do it's thing, shrouded a large space in red and crystal like images. Asher lifted it higher before Cynder and Spyro appeared before them, allowing another piece of the past to play for them.

"He's not here…! Guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise."Spyro admitted as they both stood at the edge of the hill.

"Ugh…! I was hoping to find him right away! I even went back into that mountain…"Cynder admitted, stomping her foot in frustration.

"Hey… No one said this was going to be easy. A lost twin brother somewhere in all the Dragon Realm,"Spyro was honest, even if it upset the dragoness,"Chances are this is going to be like finding a needle in a hay stack."

"We need to find him, Spyro…! There's no knowing what he's endured on his own,"Cynder insisted that they needed to find him as quickly as possible,"I…can't lose him. Not now, not this time…!"

"I know… We just keep looking then. There's plenty more in this realm to search through."Spyro insisted that this was going to be quite the adventure, and it would not end easily.

"Right… So where do you suggest we go now?"Cynder decided to ask of Spyro, his consultancy seemed to have potential for progress.

"Lets see about taking a breather and visiting an old home of mine. My mother will take us in,"Spyro explained the swamp he once came to as an egg, before he was raised by dragon flies,"There's plenty to eat and we can rethink where to search next."

"But we'll lose precious time to be out there searching for him…!"Cynder argued against the notion of taking a break.

"A little loss time will eat losing our lives if we got out there withered, weak, and hungry,"Spyro wrapped a wing around the dragoness to comfort her,"It's gonna be ok…! We're not going to give up on finding him."

This was a bit for Cynder to accept, she was not a fan of loosening up or relaxing. She wanted to be out there until she did what she set out to do, but as hard as it was to accept, Spyro was right. If she went out there weak, sick, hungry or worn out, she would potentially die. This would defeat the purpose of what she set out to do, and she would never again have the chance to see her twin. Cynder let out a deep sigh, releasing all her frustration, and began to slowly nod.

"Then let's go to the swamp. You'll love my mother's butterfly stew!"Spyro encouraged, and Cynder relented with a chuckle at her loves spirit.

"Ok, you don't need to sweeten the deal. We can go to the swamp."Cynder agreed and finally manage to pick up a bit of her own spirit.

"Great! Let's get going then. I got the strength to get through the belt!"Spyro assured as he sprouted his wings to take to the sky.

Spyro immediately took to the sky, and a chuckling Cynder followed him. As they flew off towards the west, just like Smolder said, this was the team of three's next lead. And as the memory faded away, Sparx was more than elated with what their next destination would be.

"Alright! They were heading towards me and Spyro's home town!"Sparx cheered as the magic returned to Asher's bracelet.

"The swamps, huh? Guess that explains it a bit. Plus it is one of the more peaceful areas of the realm,"Asher admitted and looked out to where his sister vanished off to,"Will your people be as courtesy as Spyro seems to proclaim?"

"Of course! We were brothers, our mom will totally accept the three of us into the swamp!"Sparx insisted, confident that they would be welcomed in the forest.

"Plus if they learned of your sisters endeavor. They may be helpful to our journey."Hunter added and promoted some better thinking from the dragon.

"I would hope so… Fine. We'll go to the swamp, and see if they can help us,"Asher decided and remembered the belt of fire,"We may have to wait for a bit though… Nurse ourselves back to full strength before getting through that fire belt again."

"THAT LONG WAIT WON'T BE NECESSARY, MY FRIENDS!"Smolder suddenly bellowed and twirled his gigantic body around to face the belt.

Smolder decided to help them one last time, and even help his home just a bit more. He stood tall, till his head could easily peek over the belt itself and gaze into the horizon. He then tightened up his body, feeling and embracing the heat of his home before he felt the sting of the dark fires. The belt was evil, a construct to shut out the land to all others, and it needed to be disposed of. So Smolder took a big deep breath and with that inhale, the fires of the belt were being pulled.

The inhale was engulfing the flames, they spiraled like wind tunnels and tiny twisters. Allowing the belt to slowly shorten and weaken the flames, the group could only watch in awe. As the belt began to shrivel and fade away, like a small fire deprived of oxygen till death. The gaping jaws of the titan like dragon swallowed the fires as if they were his own, until the belt had finally vanished. With it, the dark clouds began to separate, allowing the rays of the sun to finally start smiling upon the Burning Lands.

Smolder witnessed the smiling sun gracing his home after decades of darkness and evil. The rays seem to turn the cruel scorching burns of the dark clutch into a warm comforting embrace. This freedom to his home filled the giant with pride, as he reared up and unleashed his most proud and longest roar. This became quite a sight to see, as Asher's first search with his new crew concluded. But there was much more for them to see and many more lands to search through for Cynder and Spyro.

"Not bad for our first time working together. And in the Burning Lands too."Sparx admitted as all three of them crossed their arms in somewhat of a triumph.

"Yeah… I guess you guys are pretty good for this journey. Just hope you can both keep it up,"Asher responded and lowered his head for the future of their travels,"Spyro said it best, there's plenty more in this realm to search through. So get your game faces on, and keep them strong."

"So long as you do the same, Asher… We will not waver. As they are doing for you,"Hunter decided to establish just how loyal and strong they were ready to be,"We will go to the ends of the realm to find them…"

"Good… Then when we're done taking in the view… Lets move out!"Asher decided, while enjoying the change of the land for just a bit longer.

Yeah, these chapters may take longer, but I can promise better quality in exchange, and I'm thankful for your patience. It's onto the nostalgic area where Spyro's legend first began, so stay tuned every one, and stay awesome.