Skylanders Academy: New Horizon
andresponceb2002
Chapter 4) In the Hall of the Dragon King
Jet-Vac was sitting down on the shotgun seat of the Tomb Buggy as he and the Skylanders were driving full steam back to the Academy. The wind blowed against the senior Skylander's face and pushed him back into his seat.
"I really must thank you for showing up so quickly! And on such short notice!" Jet-Vac said loudly as the sound of the wind blowing and the supercharger's engine roar, muffled some of his voice.
"No problem!" Sprocket answered back as she drove the vehicle through the floating isles in the sky. "You said it was an emergency after all!"
The Skylanders had recently fought against a group of evil dark dragons in a mabu village far from the Academy. On this battle, the portal that had gotten them there and would get them back home, had been destroyed, leaving them stranded. However, thanks to Jet-Vac's useful vac gun and its communication function, the Skylanders were able to contact Sprocket, who quickly picked them up on one of the superchargers and was now taking them back to the Academy.
"You're a lifesaver Sprocket!" Jet-Vac thanked his friend. "But it is a shame you could only bring the one supercharger."
"True that." Said Stealth Elf, Pop Fizz and Eruptor in unison. The Skylanders were all cramped on the vehicle's back, having a really bad ride.
"I don't know what you mean Jet-Vac." Master Eon said mellowly. "I have actually enjoyed this little trip." The portal master said as his ethereal form followed the supercharger through the air.
"Easy for him to say." Eruptor mumbled angily. "He doesn't need to be cramped back here. He can't get cramped back here! He's a ghost!"
"Now, now Eruptor." Jet-Vac said. "No need to get salty just because you didn't call shotgun first."
"Guys, we're almost at the Academy." Sprocket announced.
The large outline of the Academy came into view as the supercharger began to reach the large training arena on the far edge of the Academy for landing. Once the Skylanders landed, they parted ways with Sprocket, who had other things to do apparently, and got on their way to the main hall as Master Eon followed.
"What do you think Spyro did to entertain himself while we were gone?" Eruptor asked as he walked by his friends on his way to the main hall.
"I'm sure he used his time productively." Stealth Elf said. "Or who knows. Maybe he just looked at the horizon, thinking about how things have changed so much recently."
"Well as long as he stayed in the Academy grounds, I'm sure he will be fine:" Eon said from behind the Skylanders. "Besides, I'm sure Spyro and Cynder kept each other in magnificent company while we were gone." The portal master finished reassuringly. Then, Eon's gaze wandered upward to the sky. "Ah! Speak of the devil!" He said cheerfully as he noticed Cynder's bright violet scales, as the dragoness approached the Skylanders from high above the sky. But as Cynder got closer, Master Eon noticed something strange. Cynder seemed to be carrying something, someone, and she looked quite distressed.
"Help!" Cynder yelled. "Spyro is hurt!"
Eon's face turned pale and panic spread through his body. Cynder was carrying Spyro. He was not moving and had eyes closed. "What in the Skylands happened?" Eon asked weakly, dread building up inside him.
The Skylanders were in the common room. Cynder was sitting down with her head low as Master Eon paced anxiously through the room while the Skylanders followed his example. Spyro had been taken into the Relics room, where Kaossandra would try to see what she could do to help the purple dragon.
"How is this even possible?" Jet-Vac asked in awe. "I thought Spyro's scales were impenetrable."
"Well you were wrong JV!" Eruptor snapped angrily. "Else our friend wouldn't be knocked out inside of the Relics room with a huge burn on his side!"
"Kaossandra can get him better though, right?" Pop Fizz asked worriedly, looking to any of his friends for an answer.
"Kaossandra is trying her best to keep Spyro stable." Eon stated. "But this is a very unprecedented case. Dragon flames are quite a powerful energy, but I've never seen anything close to the intensity of what caused this." he said gravely. "Cynder." Eon called the dragoness, causing her to lift her head. "I need you to tell us everything you might remember from what happened, anything that might help us piece something together to help Spyro." The portal master said, urging Cynder to speak.
The dragoness hesitated, unsure of where to start. But she colected herself, and after a short sigh, decided to start at the beginning. "I was going to visit Spyro, to see how he was doing." She started. "But when I got to his house, I saw him leave at full speed, like he was chasing something. So I followed him to this strange island where we." The dragoness paused. "Where we found another purple dragon."
"What?!" Everyone shouted together, awestruck.
"You found another purple dragon besides Spyro?!" Master Eon inquired energetically. "What was that like?!"
"His name was Cyrus." Cynder said dryly, her face turning into a frown as she remembered how unpleasant the dragon had been on their meeting. "And he wasn't exactly fun to be around."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Eon asked, his enthusiasm visibly dwindling.
"Master Eon." Cynder started slowly. "It's him. He is the one behind all of this mess!" She said, causing Eon and the Skylanders to gasp in surprise. "He calls himself "The Captain of the Knights of Solitude". He is incharge of the black dragons we've been fighting and." The dragoness paused, trying to steady herself. "He is the one who hurt Spyro."
Everyone was speechless. Cynder's reveal was quite hard to process. Master Eon seemed to have taken it the worst. His glowing form had dimmed down, less bright than usual. A pained, sorrowful look was on his face.
"Wait, hold up." Pop Fizz interjected. "You're saying that a purple dragon, one of the good guys, is actually a bad guy? How does that work?" The gremlin asked confused.
"I don't know." Cynder said, looking down again. "But that's what happened."
Eon then turned around and began stroking his beard in concern. "This is bad, Skylanders." He said. "Very bad indeed. This situation seems to become more and more problematic at every turn. I have no idea how a creature as noble as a purple dragon was seduced to the side of evil, but it just goes to show the severity of this matter." The portal master finished gravely. Eon felt greatly conflicted about what Cynder had said about this new villainous purple dragon. He had always told Spyro that purple dragons were heroes, the defenders of the Core of light. He had seen it himself for crying out loud! But Cynder had no reason to lie. The fact one of the Skylands most revered bloodline of heroes spawned a villian of this caliber, was shocking to him. He could only imagine the crushing disappointment Spyro must have felt.
The vault gate to the Relics room suddenly opened, surprising the Skylanders and focusing their attention. Kaossandra then slowly emerged from the passageway, a severe look on her face.
"Well?" Stealth Elf asked eagerly as she teleported over to Kaossandra. "How is he?"
Kaossandra looked at the floor and spoke in a solemn voice. "I tried everything." She started. "Every spell and every charm, from every book. That wound just won't heal."
"Wha-what?" Eruptor stammered in a panicked voice. "What does that mean? Is Spyro going to be alright?"
"Whoever did this." Kaossandra began. "Used some heavy duty stuff. I can't heal Spyro as I am now. I doubt anyone can."
After hearing that, Cynder started panicking. She started shaking slightly as tiny drops of sweat ran down her head . She then took her paws to her head and began thinking frantically for something, anything that might help her fiend.
"How is that even possible?" Stealth Elf asked incredulous. "What kind of crazy fire did Spyro get hit by to make it so that someone as powerful as you, can't help him Kaossandra?"
"It's called Hellblaze." Kaossandra answered. "They are found naturally on the deepest, darkest pits in the Underworld and I have no idea how it even possible they found their way to Spyro's side. It is said that they could burn for as long as seven days and seven nights and that they can burn down even the most resilient materials. Wounds caused by them are also exceedingly hard to mend."
Cynder then lit up, as if she had heard a trigerword. She had remembered something important. "Guys!" She exclaimed. "I think I know how to help Spyro!"
"Really?!" Everyone asked eagerly, happy for even a chance to help their friend.
"Yes, but." Cynder stopped, raising one of her paws to calm everyone down "It is really dangerous and a last resort kind of thing. So I will only say, if you are sure it's the only way."
This made everyone simmer down. But then Kaossandra spoke, calmly "Cynder." Kaossandra began. "I can tell you right now, if you know about anything that might help Spyro, that would be the only way."
"We don't even care if it's dangerous." Stealth Elf said as she teleported in front of Cynder. "This is Spyro we're talking about. If there is any chance this can help him, we're taking it." The elf finished determinately.
"Yeah!" Eruptor, Pop Fizz and Jet-Vac agreed, ready to help their friend.
Cynder smiled. It felt good to be amongst such caring friends. So, seeing the determination in her fellow Skylanders, she spoke up. "There is this artifact called the "Healing Elixir". It's said it can cure any wound, even really nasty ones like say, hellblaze burns, just by drinking a few drops." Cynder said.
"Well that's great!" Eruptor said. "We just get this Elixir thingy, get it back to the Academy and give to Spyro! Ha! I love it!" The magma elemental cheered.
"There's juuuust one catch Eruptor." Cynder said, making Eruptor stop cheering. Cynder then took a deep breath, and spoke up. "The Elixir is in the Underworld." She said, shrinking slightly, making everyone freeze. "In Darklight Crypt." She continued swaying her head to her left. "Which is kind of like my dad's backyard." She finished, swaying her head to her right, and grinning nervously. "See what I meant by last resort?" Cynder said.
By the time the dragoness finished, everyone looked a little nervous. Fighting the Undead dragon king in his own backyard didn't really sound like all that great of an idea.
"Well." Jet-Vac spoke up first, starting a little shakily. "If going to the Underworld and facing off against Malefor again, is what it takes to save our friend." The Skylander composed himself. "Then that's just what we're going to have to do."
The rest of the Skylanders followed Jet-Vac's example and got themselves together. They weren't letting fear get in the way of saving their friend.
"Yeah." Stealth Elf said. "No offence Cynder, but there is no way your grumpy old man in going to stop us." She said with a confident smile.
Cynder then smiled her self. "None taken. Let's go save our friend."
The Skylanders were on their way to Darklight Crypt aboard their superchargers while Cynder flew beside them. They were already at the entrance to Malefor's domain, where they sky was a dark grey and the isles were brown and dead.
"Where to now Cynder?!" Stealth Elf asked the dragoness.
"It's over this way!" She responded.
The Skylanders then took a series of turns and dives through the gloomy land as they followed Cynder to Darklight Crypt. As they moved deeper and closed to the Crypt, the sky turned an unnatural greyish blue, the air started to get foggier and foggier and ghostly moans could be heard in the distance. All the scary ambience unnerved the Skylanders.
"C-C-Cynder?" Eruptor stammered. "Are we there yet?"
"Yes, actually." The dragoness responded. "Look!" She said as she slowed her flight and pointed in front of her.
Through the thick fog the sound of ghostly laments had gotten louder and felt closer. And a large stone archway, decorated with a big stone skull with wings sprouting from it's sides could be seen. Rusty Iron fences, adorned with skulls and bones stretched out from its sides and dead, twisted trees stood in front of it, creating a singularly spooky entrance.
"Well." Cynder started as she landed in front of the archway. "Let's get going." She said cheerfully, unaffected by the ghostly ambient as she calmly trotted into Darklight Crypt.
As the Skylanders parked their superchargers in front of the archway, and got off their vehicles, a sensation of fear loomed over them, preventing them from moving forward.
"W-Well lads." Jet-Vac started. "You heard her." The senior skylander said as he ran off after Cynder, at a suspiciously high speed, unaware of the trail of eggs he was leaving behind.
Stealth Elf looked over to Eruptor. The lava Skylander looked like he was one jumpscare away from being scared to death. She then remembered the last time she had seen him so paranoid and asked. "You watched Undead Invasion again didn't you?"
"I wanted to get over it." Eruptor responded in a small voice. "But I was not counting on something like this happening."
"Guys can we move please?" Pop FIzz asked nervously. "You all know what happens when people split up in scary movies." At that, the Skylanders all rushed to catch up with Cynder and Jet-Vac.
Once grouped up, they Skylanders followed Cynder as the dragoness led them through the gloomy landscape. Thick fog, gravestones, creepy statues and bones lying around made the whole place look like a massive graveyard. The ghostly moaning definitively did not help the atmosphere.
"Cynder, where are we going?" Pop Fizz asked in a frightened voice. "I think none of us want to stay here any longer than we need to."
"I agree with Pop on that one." Jet-Vac added while he looked around nervously with his vac gun at the ready, pointed out at the thick mist.
"We should be almost there." Cynder responded calmly. The dragoness walked through a path of mossy grey stone that eventually turned into a stairway which connected to a very large island. The Skylanders followed Cynder as she began to fly slowly up the stairs. "My father keeps all sorts of stuff locked up in a mausoleum around here." The dragoness said. "If he still has the Elixir, he's got it stashed away in there."
"Kind of freaky for your dad to keep stuff in a mausoleum." Pop Fizz pointed out as he followed the violet dragoness.
As the Skylanders finished rising up the stairway, they were faced with an impressive sight. The island was huge. There was a massive circular platform made of gray bricks, with a large hole in the middle. On the other side of the platform lay an intimidating building. It was rectangular in shape, built from the same gray stone as the platform. It had two braziers alight with spectral blue flames on each side of it's entrance and three gargoyles, that seemed to have real skulls instead of stone heads, looked down menacingly from the roof. There also was a gate. It was quite large, black and made of metal, intricate cobweb patterns etched across its surface.
"That's it!" Cynder exclaimed. "The Elixir should be in there! Let's go guys!" She said as she began crossing the massive circular platform while her friends followed close behind.
As the Skylanders approached the center of the platform the ground suddenly began to shake, startling them.
"Woah, what's going on?" Stealth Elf asked worriedly.
Suddenly a disembodied voice boomed, gravely and rough and dreadfully familiar. "Did you really think you could simply walk into the depths of my realm without my consent, unnoticed?" The voice scoffed scornfully. "You are more foolish than I remember." Then, from the large hole in the center of the platform, a large dark violet claw emerged and slammed down on the ground, followed by another claw and then the horned head and the rest of the Skylanders' old enemy.
Malefor stood with wings stretched and chest puffed out, posing intimidatingly over the Skylanders who had all taken more than a few steps back as they shakily got into battle positions. There was something about fighting the Undead Dragon King in his own turf that really put them on edge.
"If you would be so kind." Malefor began. "As to tell me why you have come here, I will do you the courtesy of eating you all in single bites!" The massive dragon threatened, giving a menacing look and growling loudly.
"Dad!" Cynder shouted, surprising her father and her friends alike. "We are not here to fight you." The dragoness said. "I-" She hesitated. "I need your help." She managed, looking up at her father's orange eyes.
At this, Malefor flinched slightly, but barely showed it. "Is that so?" He responded. "After you leave home, renounce your birthright and join up with these Skyfools. Twice!"He said, shouting the last word in rage, making all the Skylanders shrink. "You come and ask for my help?"
"Cynder, I don't think this is a good idea!" Jet-Vac said nervously, but the dragoness was focused on her father.
"I know we didn't leave things on good terms." Cynder responded, a little sorrow in her voice. "But I wanted to give you a chance to mend things. You don't always have to be evil dad, and I know you don't always want to."
Malefor stood still for a moment, just a moment, as he ran his daughter's words through his mind. He then narrowed his eyes and lowered his head slightly. "Suppose I want to, "Mend things" between us." He said, rolling his eyes. "What would you have me do? And for what reason?"
"I need the Healing Elixir from the mausoleum." Cynder responded simply, cutting to the chase. However she hesitated on her second answer, something Malefor noticed. "A friend of mine is hurt."
Malefor smiled maliciously, seeing right through his daughter. "This friend, wouldn't happen to be the purple rat, would it?" He asked, making Cynder flinch. "It is him, isn't it? Oh daughter at least this time you bring me good news!" Malefor said cruelly as a smile tugged at his mouth. "I wonder who was genteel enough to finally eradicate that irritating purple fool." Malefor said, putting one of his claws on his chin in thought. "Whoever it is, they have my gratitude." The dragon king finished with a pleased smirk.
"Look, dad." Cynder said loudly, making her father focus. "A lot of things have happened recently. There are these new villains who call themselves the Knights of Solitude." Cynder said.
"Well with a name like that, they can't be too troublesome." Malefor interrupted.
"But they are!" Cynder responded. "They are a group of evil dragons that are trying to kidnap me and Spyro for some ritual their master is trying to do."
"What?!" Malefor leaned closer to his daughter. "They are after you?" He asked concerned.
"Yes." Cynder responded. "And Spyro too. We've both been attacked by some of them and eventually got caught in a fight with their captain. He was really dangerous and he almost captured us." Cynder continued. "He knocked me out and tried to attack me, but." She paused. "Spyro got in the way, he took the attack for me and got himself really hurt." Cynder finished in a low voice. "So that's why I need that Elixir, so I can help my friend!"
Malefor slowly pulled his head back. He then closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "I warned you:" He said quietly. "I warned you that joining the Skylanders would only bring about a huge mess for you. Even now, when you are being hunted by some freaks and these, incompetents-" He gestured at the Skylanders. "-Have shown themselves incapable of protecting you, you still wish to be like them."
"They are my friends dad." Cynder responded softly. "I need you to trust them."
The dragon king exhaled. "That does it." He said simply. "From what you have told me, this situation is well beyond the Skylanders' capabilities." He paused, a somber look on his face as he looked down at Cynder. "You were right Cynder, I don't always want to be evil." He said, shifting his now hardening gaze over to the Skylanders. "Sometimes, I just want to be a good parent." Malefor then raised his massive claw and tried to swipe at the Skylanders.
The Skylanders desperately tried to get out of the way of the dragon king's attack, dodging and using their powers to avoid being flattened. When Malefor's strike landed, the paved stones on the platform cracked and the ground shook slightly.
"No, dad! Please stop!" Cynder cried as she flew off the ground, trying to prevent the fight.
But Malefor didn't listen. The massive dragon bent his head back and forward again, releasing a huge stream of flames at the Skylanders, while attempting to avoid attacking Cynder.
Stealth Elf picked up Pop Fizz and teleported together out of the way. Jet-Vac tried to use his vac gun at full power to cancel out the dragon king's flames. A powerful wind current flew out of the vac gun and stopped the stream of flames from reaching the senior Skylander. Then Eruptor, who had been behind Jet-Vac, jumped in front of his friend and fired two firebolts at Malefor. When the projectiles struck the dragon king who grunted and closed his eyes from the impact..
"Insect!" Malefor shouted, making Eruptor give a small welp. The dragon king then raised his claw and slammed it over Eruptor creating a loud crashing noise.
"Eruptor!" Stealth Elf cried as Malefor raised his claw to reveal a flattened puddle of lava.
But suddenly, a pair of eyes poped out of the puddle and a muffled voice sounded. "Don't worry about me!" Eruptor said. "Watch out for the gigant evil dragon!"
Stealth Elf sighed in relief. "Regeneration powers, right." She reminded herself as she readied her daggers and tried to teleport over to Cynder. "Cynder!" The elf called, causing her friend to look down at her. "I don't think this is going according to plan!"
Cynder had a feeling something like this could happen. But she felt like there was still some good in her father "Sometimes, I just want to be a good parent." Her father's voice sounded in her head. But as she looked over to see how Malefor was now lunging forward trying to swallow Pop Fizz as the tiny blue gremlin ran around the platform flinging potions that did very little other than annoy her father, she realized that little bit of good she had felt, was buried a very deep way down.
"I'm sorry dad." Cynder whispered. "But I have to save my friend" She said as she readied her breath. She felt a surge of energy rush out of her mouth as she released a huge chain of lightning at her father, who was turned around, too busy fighting her friends to react to her attack.
When the attack connected, Malefor stumbled and crashed onto the ground. The power of Cynder's blast knocked the dragon king to the ground, making him grunt and hiss as he struggled to stand up again.
"Cynder." Malefor growled. "Do not test me young lady."
"Don't lose focus big guy!" Eruptor said as he stood, now healed from Malefor's flattening. "Pop! Let's go!" Eruptor called his friend.
"Right!" The gremlin responded.
Then, Pop Fizz flung a fiery red potion at Malefor, the which before hitting his dark violet scales was hit by Eruptor's firebolt. This impact made the potion detonate extremely violently. The blast caused the dragon king to shout out in pain and stumble to his side. However he was then stuck by another one of Cynders powerful electric blasts, the which, after hitting Malefor around the neck, caused him to fall to the ground.
Cynder and Stealth Elf regrouped with their friends, together they stood their ground in front of the staggered dragon king.
"Dad." Cynder began. "Just give up. We don't have to do things this way." She said pleadingly, still not wanting to finish her father off.
"Cynder." Jet-Vac interjected. "I don't think this a particularly good idea." He said. "Just remember what happened the last ti-"
The senior Skylander was interrupted by a sudden burst of blue mist that covered him and his friends. The mist had been released by Malefor. The dragon king had waited for the Skylanders to gather up in one place to paralyze them, just as he had done on their previous encounter. As the blue mist dispersed, the Skylanders stood frozen before the dragon king who now loomed over them triumphant but exhausted.
"Yup." Jet-Vac grumbled. "That."
"It's over now." Malefor said breathing heavily. "I am sorry Cynder, but if this is how things must be, then so be it." Malefor said to his now frozen daughter as she looked up at him bitterly. "Because by the Skylands. I am not having my only daughter kidnaped by some dragon degenerates and their madman of a master! So, I am afraid." Malefor lower his head to level with Cynder. "You are grounded young lady."
Cynder was about to snap something back at her father, but a strange voice sounded before she could speak.
"Actually…" The voice came from behind the Skylanders, who were unable to move around to see it's source, but Cynder didn't need to. She recognized the sleepy sound and tiny rasp of that voice. She knew exactly who it was. "If you could give me a minute of your time to talk about that, your highness." The last words sounded derisive and mocking rather than reverential. "That would be great."
"Guys, who is that?" Pop Fizz asked, trying to look to his side to see the source of the strange voice.
"It's not possible." Malefor said in a down tone, looking behind the Skylanders. "The moment one purple vermin is destroyed another one takes its place."
The Skylanders' faces lit up. They all remembered what Cynder had told them, about an evil purple dragon.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Malefor asked demandingly.
The Skylanders saw from the corner of their eyes as a slimm, tiered looking dragon, with black markings on his chest and red "A" over his left eye, passed beside them and positioned himself in front of them. The dragon had indigo scales as well as sharp golden horns and spikes similar to Spyro's. His wings hung on his back behind him and had he his head down, making him seem really tired.
"I am Cyrus." The dragon introduced himself, composing his posture and lifting his head. "Captain on the Knights of Solitude." He said with fake prestige and a smug smirk as he bowed exaggeratedly, exactly as he had done when Cynde first met him, making her growl angrily as she remembered the dragon's cruel satire.
The Skylanders looked at the newcomer in dismay, they knew Cynder had told them about seeing another purple dragon, but it was still shocking to witness. Spyro had been the only one of his kind they had known and seeing another one was like finding a four leaf clover.
"Now, your highness." Cyrus began. "I was hoping you and I could come to an arrangement."
"I think you are new around here." Malefor said with disdain. "But I don't come to arrangements with your kind."
Cyrus contemplated the dragon king. He stood still as his eyes moved slowly across the scene. Malefor was clearly not cooperating and the Skylanders' reputation for incompetence preceded them with disturbing accuracy. The purple dragon then sighed, lowering his head and then spoke in a quiet voice with a disappointed tone. "Why is it never easy? Why does it always have to hurt?"
Malefor then lowered his head almost to eye level with Cyrus. "What did you say?" Malefor asked. "Speak up, pest!"
The Cyrus raised his head suddenly, and stared right into Malefor's eyes. The dragon king flinched and took a step back. Those eyes, he felt like hate and agony leaked out of the purple dragon's venomous snake-like eyes.
Then Cyrus breathed in, the black markings in his chest began to glow the same poisonous color as his eyes and then, after a short pause, a ball of black and green flames shot out of the purple dragon's mouth and crashed violently against Malefor's face. The dragon king then belowed in agony. He stood on his hind legs and arched back in pain as he took his claws to his now smoke-covered face. Then with a thunderous crash he slumped over on his back and lay motionless. Complete silence, coming from both the dragon king, the now shocked and speechless Skylanders and even the previously moaning ghouls in the distance, took place.
The silence was then pierced by a sudden coughing fit. The skylanders turned to see Cyrus, coughing harshly and with one of his paws on his throat. He looked like he was having a really sore throat and he spoke in a raspier voice that before. "Nope, never easy." He mumbled to himself. "Neeeever painless." Then Cyrus turned around and cleared his throat, facing the Skylanders.
Cynder looked over to her father. He had stayed still and silent since Cyrus attacked him. "Dad?" Cynder asked weakly. A small tear running down her cheek. She had recently had trouble with meeting her father eye to eye. He was about to take her to the depths of the Underworld, away from her friends once again. But, as hard as it was to admit, he was still her father, and seeing him hurt did not fill Cynder with any kind of joy.
Meanwhile, the Skylanders could hardly believe what they had witnessed. Malefor, the Undead dragon king, one of their most fearsome enemies, struck down in one blow, by a dragon about Spyro's size, no less.
Stealth Elf was the first to compose herself. She shifted her gaze from the fallen evil dragon, to the one in front of her. "So, you're the ringleader?" Stealth Elf asked, remembering what Cynder had said about this guy being the one responsible for all that had happened recently. "You're Cyrus?"
"Yup, that's me alright." Cyrus said, turning around and putting on a fake-looking smile.
"So, you really are a purple dragon?" Pop Fizz asked shakily.
"Yes." Cyrus responded in an obvious tone. "Is there like a color blindness epidemic around here I should be concerned about?" Cyrus asked, a little too honestly. "I swear you are like the third person to ask me that."
"Man, when Cynder told us you were a jerk." Eruptor growled. "I wasn't expecting this."
"Well I'm happy to surprise you." Cyrus responded, with a honied voice as he bowed his head, causing Eruptor to frown in irritation.
"How did you even know how to find us?" Jet-Vac asked. "We didn't even notice you were following us."
"Well, that's because I had someone else following you." Cyrus answered, starting the Skylanders. Who had been following them then?. "I wanted to see what you were up to. But when you got into a fight with the big guy." He gestured behind his head, at Malefor. "I had to get a little bit more, involved." He finished, rubbing his apparently still sore throat. "Thanks for that by the way." He added disdainfully, making the Skylanders flinch.
"Who was following us then?" Jet-Vac demanded, confused at the whole situation.
As if on cue, a strange hissing noise sounded behind the Skylanders, who tried to look behind them to see it's source, but failed, still trapped in Malefor's spell. Then out of the corner of their eyes they saw as a pitch black figure walked beside them, and positioned itself beside Cyrus. It was one of the dark dragons, it's small figure and multiple horns, as well as it's destinguishing eyes revealed it's name.
"Green Eyes." Cynder said. "The little one that got into the Academy."
"Indeed." Cyrus began. "This little fella tagged along with you since you left the Academy!" The purple dragon said, putting his paws on Green Eyes' shoulders and surprising the Skylanders. "I mean, it's not like its particularly difficult to find anyway. He informed me of where you were going and allowed me to get here. He is definitely one of the, at least, top three most useful of the Knights of Solitude." He said with something reminiscent of pride in his hoarse voice.
"Well that's great." Cynder snapped, not looking forward to the malevolent purple dragon's sarcastic antics. "But why are you here then?" She asked, cutting to the chase and making Cyrus focus on her. "Are you going to kidnap me and make you little puppet destroy my friends?"
Cyrus looked at Cynder. He looked into her deep blue eyes, they looked fierce and angry, reminding him of that other purple dragon. "Tempting." Cyrus said slowly, managing to not blink for a disturbingly long time. "Veeeery tempting. But-" The dragon said, finally looking away from Cynder and suddenly beginning to scratch his red mark, confusing the Skylanders. "I have a little bit of an issue." He said, turning around. "I need you two alive."
Cynder looked confused at that remark. Kaossandra had not specified if the dragons the rituals needed hed to be alive. But, thanks to the evil purple dragon's input, she figured that apparently they did need to be.
"So that's why." Cyrus picked up. "I, am going to help you this one time." He said, baffling the Skylanders.
"What is that supposed to mean!?" Cynder asked outraged. "You tied to kidnap me and Spyro, you almost kill him, you attack my father and now you want to help us?!"
Cyrus turned around with a small frown on his face. "Wow, when you put it like that, you make me sound like a huuuge jerk." He said in a mockhurt voice, making Cynder even angrier. "Here is how I remember things." Cyrus began. "I wanted to have a talk with your friend, Spyro about something in private. Then you came along, uninvited. And when I politely asked you two to do me a solid, you ganged up on and attcked me."
"You wanted to use our fiends as batteries for some crazy ritual!" Stealth Elf ojected.
"Yeah, for like ten minutes while we got it finished." Cyrus responded.
"You almost killed Spyro!" Eruptor yelled.
"That was an accident." Cyrus explained calmly. "Look. The bottom line is: You guys are in a little bit of a sticky situation, and your friend is taking a walk to death's door." Cyrus said, making the Skylanders slowly simmer down. "Since none of us can really have that happen, I will assist you, this time."
"And how are you going to do that?" Cynder asked bitterly. "The only thing that can heal Spyro is behind that door." She gestured at the mausoleum door. "And its locked and sealed with my dad's magic."
Cyrus looked behind him at the imposing mausoleum and then at the fallen dragon king. He then turned around completely and faced the mausoleum. He stood on his hind legs and breathed in. As his black markings began to glow, he released a firebolt at the large black door with surprising accuracy. Once the black and green flames struck the door a cloud of smoke rose and strange sound resonated. But then, once the smoke dispersed, the Skylanders noticed in surprise as a large smoldering hole had appeared on the black gate.
"Woah." Stealth Elf said surprised. "That's a lot of firepower." Surprised that a single firebolt could pierce both metal and magic so easily.
The elf was suddenly interrupted by a harsh coughing fit. The Skylanders looked at Cyrus. The purple dragon was hissing and coughing, as if he was in pain. They noticed some smoke come out of his mouth. The dragon then cleared hit throat roughly and composed himself slowly, looking wounded.
"But at what cost?" Stealth Elf finished, looking down at the purple dragon.
Suddenly, Cyrus turned around and grabbed Stealth Elf's thoat, shocking the Skylanders. Then, the dragon's paw glowed a blood red and Stealth Elf started to feel cold as she gasped for breath.
"As long as you help me pay it." Cyrus whispered. "I don't care."
"Elf!" Eruptor shouted. "Let her go!" The magma Skylander struggled to move but couldn't. Malefor's spell was prodigiously strong and had not yet dispersed.
However Cyrus seemed to heed the Skylanders command, causing Stealth Elf to breath heavily as she recovered form Cyrus' magic. Cyrus then turned to Green Eyes, who had stayed still and silent until that moment. "Get the blue bottle, please." Cyrus commanded, gesturing at the breached mausoleum. The dark dragon then took flight and headed to find the Elixir. The small fry was rather speedy, but not outstandingly fast.
"Now." Cyrus began. "How about we play a game? Whoever speaks first, gets a handshake." He said in grimm tone, raising one of his glowing paws, leaving it clear to the Skylanders what the situation was.
A few moments passed. The ghouls in the distance slowly began to wail again and the Skylanders stood still being Cyrus, who was sitting down, licking one of his paws, similarly to how Spyro does when no one is watching. Green Eyes then returned, emerging from the mausoleum and landing beside Cyrus, with a large blue bottle. It was of a thick tinted glass and had a small grey insignia, with the symbol of the ankh in its middle.
"Alright." Cyrus began putting his paw down. "I'm guessing this is what you're looking for?" He asked as he grabbed the bottle and showed it to the Skylanders.
"Yes." Cynder responded. "That's the Elixir." She confirmed, remembering the last time her father had show it to her, a long time ago to heal a wound of her own. However there was, as always something off about this dragon, and Cynder voiced her concern. "Why are you doing this?" She asked. "Really?"
"I need you friend alive." He answered. "He is no use to me dead or dying in that Academy of yours. So, the best way to get him out of there, if for you to do it for me." Cyrus stated simply.
"You think Spyro is going to come to you?" Jet-Vac asked. "Does that really sound like something he'd do?"
"I don't know. Does it?" Cyrus responded, making the senior Skylander turn pale. That sounded exactly like something Spyro would do.
Cyrus then smirked at Jet-Vac's silence and continued. "Once you get to your Academy and patch your friend up, he is going to want to come after me and man, will he be saving me a lot of time." The dragon continued and then turned to Cynder, who had a worried expression on her face, unsure of what to do now. Cyrus then walked over to her,sat down in front of her and spoke softly. "So," he began. "Let me-" He gestured at himself. "Help you,-" He gestured at Cynder. "Help him,-" He placed the Elixir in front of the dragoness "Help me." He finished with a smug little smile.
"Alright then." Cyrus stood up and turned around. "This spell is quite powerful." He said, poking Pop Fizz, who winched in pain under the purple dragon sharp claws. "I think you should all be released in abouuuut." He paused, calculating in his head. "Five minutes? The big guy should be up in ten, so you should have a very good window." Cyrus said as he began walking away, with Green Eyes moving after him. "I suppose we will be seeing each other soon." The dragon said. "See ya later." Then, Cyrus took off, and Green Eyes followed him closely.
The Skylanders were then left paralyzed and humiliated. They were left for five minutes that felt felt like five hours. They didn't speak, they didn't even try to move. They just waited, defeated.
After a while, Malefor's spell vanished and the Skylanders were then able to move once again. They stood with their heads low, a somber air hung over them.
Cynder then picked up the Elixir Cyrus had placed in front of her. She looked at the blue bottle, then she looked at her father, who was still laying down. Then, Cynder began to fly over to him, surprising her friends.
"Cynder? What are you doing?" Stealth Elf asked confused.
Cynder didn't answer. She landed beside her father's head. The dragon king had eyes closed and stood still, with half of his head, pressed against the ground even as Cynder stood near him. "Dad." Cynder spoke in a low voice, quiet enough for her friends not to hear. "I'm sorry." She said. The dragoness then approached her father's mouth and uncorked the Elixir. She then tilted the beaker over and held it over Malefor's mouth. A few drops of the potion began dripping out of the vial. After the drops landed on Malefor's mouth, Cynder placed the cork on the potion once again and backed up from her father. She then turned around and flew over to her friends. "Let's go guys." She said, before they could ask about what she had done. "Spyro is waiting for us."
It was dark. Pure black. Spyro couldn't see anything and he felt like he couldn't move, but he didnt feel panicked. It was warm, and he felt comfortable. Despite not being able to see, Spyro felt like someone was watching him. More accurately he felt like he was being watched over. He felt safe.
"What do you think we should name him?" A voice said through the darkness. It sounded male. It also sounded excited and seemed to be talking to someone else. Spyro listened eagerly, wanting to find out who the voice was speaking to.
After a short pause another voice spoke. "I don't know." The new voice was female. I sounded silvery and pleasant, Spyro was calmed down and could feel himself smile just by listening to it. "Buuut" The voice sounded again. "You know, I've always really liked-"
Spyro opened his eyes.
The purple dragon was laying down on his side on a bed. He felt really drowsy and tired to close his eyes again. He tied to remember as much as he could from the dream he had just had, but, dreams being dreams, Spyro could barely recall anything. He remember being in pure darkness, and he remembered feeling really warm and comfortable. He also remembered hearing two voices. However. that was all he could remember. Not what they said or even what they sounded like, and he didn't know why, but Spyro felt really sad about that.
"Who were they?" He asked himself, opening his eyes. "Why did I hear them in my dream?"
Spyro's drowsiness had faded really quickly. Must have been his attempt to think together an explanation for his dream. The dragon stood on the bed, which he now realized was his own, meaning he was in his room.
"How did I get here?" Spyro asked himself, not noticing anyone around. Then the memories flooded back, making his temples hurt from the sudden recollection as he took his paw to his head. Spyro remembered Cyrus. The sarcastic, apathetic jerk who was responsible for all of Spyro's recent troubles, the dragon who almost kidnaped him and hurt Cynder. Spyro growled and bared his fangs just thinking about him. But then he remembered. "You're a purple dragon!". Spyro's angry expression, softened into one of sorrow. He still hadn't gotten over that meeting nor what it implied.
Spyro also remembered getting hit by Cyrus' attack. The one that had landed on his side and hurt like the devil. Spyro looked to his side. He was surprised when he saw, not a scratch on him, not even a mark of where he had been hit. That confused Spyro, as he could have sworn he felt like those cold, green flames burned his scales right off. "So much for completely impenetrable, huh JV." Spyro thought to himself.
Then Spyro reflected on the subject of his wound for a moment. He then remembered how he had gotten it. He got in the way of its original target, Cynder. Spyro couldn't figure out why he had done that, he just felt really confused and strange, unable to put his claw on a name for what had driven him to put himself in so much danger for Cynder. Spyro concluded he would have done the same for any of his other friends, they were his friends after all. However, he felt like it wouldn't have been for the same reason as the one that drove him to do it for Cynder, and that bugged Spyro a little bit, because he couldn't tell what that reason was.
Spyro, decided to put that though on hold for it was a little too problematic for him right now. He then got off his bed. He felt normal, not weak or stunned like he remembered feeling during his fight with Cyrus. Then, the purple dragon walked over to his door. He swung it open slowly and looked out. He turned his head to both sides, and strangely, saw no one. "Guys?" Spyro called out as he stepped out of his room. "Guuuuuys?" He called again. It was unusual for his friends to be away from home all at once.
Spyro then flew down to the lower floor of the house and landed in the living room. He was still surprised he was able to move so freely. He had felt awful after Cyrus had used his freaky red magic on him. "What did they use to patch me up?" Spyro wondered. "It is really good stuff!"
Then Spyro heard the door behind him creaked open. The purple dragon turned around to see Pop Fizz entering the house. "Pop Fizz!" He called.
The blue gremlin looked at Spyro and smiled widely. "Spyro! You're okay!" Pop Fizz said as he jumped and tackle hugged Spyro.
"Of course I'm okay buddy!" Spyro said, hugging back. "What did you expect? How long did I go out for?" Spyro asked his friend as he pulled back from the hug.
"Not for long" Pop Fizz answered. "You were just banged up pretty bad is all."
"Well." Spyro began. "I'm all good now." Spyro said. "What did you use to fix me up? Cuz I'll be wanting more of it I ever get hurt like that again." Spyro said jokingly.
"Yeah, well." Pop Fizz said, advering his eyes and making Spyro feel a little concerned. "It's a long story and you know how I'm at at telling long stories."
"What?" Spyro began. "That you derrail into obscure things you abstract from the story once you lose focus and make everyone uncomfortable?"
"Exactly!" Pop Fizz answered. "So, how about you go talk to Master Eon? I think he wanted to talk to you about something." The gremlin informed his friend.
Spyro then deflated a little bit. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for the head's up Pop." Spyro said
"No problem!" Pop Fizz responded cheerfully. "Now, have you seen a large wedge of cheese around here somewhere?" The gremlin asked. "It's not a big deal, it's just that it is walking around and stinking up the whole place."
Spyro looked like he wanted to ask something but Pop Fizz spoke first. "Long story." he said. "You know how I get with long stories."
"Yeah, yeah." Spyro conceded, and began heading to the door to go meet master Eon. "See ya later Pop." Spyro said as he opened the door. and walked out.
Spyro was standing in the common room balcony, fiddling with some of the stuff on the many desks beside the Relics room vault. He was waiting for Master Eon to arrive for that talk he wanted to have. The purple dragon knew Eon would have a good number of questions to ask him, but Spyro had a good number of questions himself.
Then, the door to the Relics room opened. Spyro saw as Eon's ghostly body floated through the hallway. The portal master then looked at Spyro, and smiled. "Thank goodness you are okay." Master Eon said softly.
Spyro was about to smile back, but something came to his mind. "Am I okay?" He asked himself. He was unharmed sure, but there was something that was nagging at him. Or a lot of things were. For some time now, Spyro had kept to himself a growing list of concerns. This list had gotten longer and longer over time and now, all that unrest piled up and came crashing down on him.
Master Eon noticed this, and he tried to help. "Spyro? Are you alright?" The portal master asked tentatively.
Spyro looked at Master Eon. "I don't know." He responded. "There's just so much happening all at once, I just feel." Spyro paused, looking for the right word. "Overwhelmed." He managed to say.
Master Eon looked somber, but tied his best to help the young dragon with his doubts. "What are you talking about Spyro? What is on your mind?"
"Too much." Spyro said as he took flight. "I have to deal with these freaky dragons trying to kidnap me are actually being controlled by some psychopath just like I had been by Strykore, I have to wait even longer to see my family and don't even know exactly how much longer. And I have to get over the fact that the only purple dragon I've ever met is not just a villain, but the one responsible for everything else." Spyro let out, his voice shaky as he landed once again and faced down, making Master Eon concerned.
The portal master knew Spyro was having trouble with all that was happening recently, but didn't think it had affected Spyro so much. He felt ashamed, for once again he had failed him. Once again he had hurt Spyro with his ignorance.
"Master Eon?" Spyro said, lifting to face his tutor. "What am I supposed to do with all this?" He asked pleadingly in a brittle voice, at a full loss for an answer of his own, his red eyes glistening.
Master Eon looked at Spyro. He looked at the young purple dragon who he had raised and taught so much, beg him for an answer to problems he didn't even know could exist, for problems Eon, even in all his wisdom did not know the answer too. Slowly, Eon could feel his own heart break as he answered in a quiet voice.
"I don't know."
Author's Notes
Well. Here's the fouth chapter. Thanks for all the suport. Be on the lookout for more content!
- I still dont own Skylanders Academy.