-AUTHOR'S NOTES-
Again, thanks for the responses. It's good to see the fic's been read upon still, so all's good.
I know that there were so many people that were upset at the prospect of the incarnation of Spyro as we knew through the original storyline getting killed at the hands of the Sorcerer, and to be honest it even haunted me too. It's just that the way I see it, the franchise got a reboot for a reason (there's almost no way to expand the simple platform genre on advanced systems these days). Add to that Shadow Legacy never concluded a definite closure between the conflict of Spyro and the Sorcerer, and I felt that it needed exploring in a twisted fashion.
And we also have another burning question from one of the anonymous readers. Thanks, CynderXSpyro rock. The question of Spyro's feelings for the Dragon Village will be addressed in this chapter luckily enough. And you have a point that the original style Spyro won't stand a chance against the enemy set in A New Beginning, but we aren't dealing with that kind of enemy roster, aren't we:p Likewise, a similar struggle ANB Spyro combating monsters from the previous storyline – specifically the type of monsters seen in Shadow Legacy – will also be highlighted here as well.
Detailing the chapter in depth would only spoil it again, but I hope it goes well. I've only just had time to sneak this in thanks to my University graduation tomorrow, and I hope it gets transmitted well.
Enjoy and thanks for the feedback so far!
Peace out,
-Rexy-
The Eastern path started to become slightly unlevelled as it went higher in altitude. Yet in comparison to the Northern passage, it was felt to be considerably lower towards the sky than anticipated, making way for significantly more ease to ascend the gentle slopes that graced them.
But it wasn't to say that it didn't look without danger. Just like at the way to the Sorcerer's lair, the path was shown to end at the edge of a cliff. However, it didn't result in a purple light below, but rather a drop several hundred feet towards the ocean beneath them, glistening eerily with a haunting maroon color scheme to match the sky.
Right at the end of it stood the bright pink object, which in turn looked significantly clearer when approached much closer. And that was exactly what Spyro, Sparx, Ango and Cynder were doing – the object was reflected into their eyes as sharply as a flashlight shone into a mirror.
"Whoa, look at the size of this thing!"
For once, Sparx showed excitement and anticipation, leaving him to release his grasp from the top of Spyro's head and be the first to come close towards the object. In fact, all it looked like was a simple vortex twisting in place. The sight of it allowed for the colors to reflect upon the dragonfly's flesh like lights from a disco ball.
"This looks just like the portal that took us to Convexity and back", Cynder blinked as she looked at it from her position, mere feet behind the dragonfly. "But what is it doing out here?"
Spyro reacted by looking at her with an insecure glance. "I don't know, but it could mean something."
Spyro's remark caused Sparx to look behind him. And there, he saw him and the others catch up with the object as well, though in comparison to the eager stance as shown from the dragonfly, they approached the object with more tentative footsteps, shown on the ground by shallow footprints left behind.
As soon as the purple dragon reached the object, he stood right next to Sparx and looked straight at it. The light energy was in turn reflected from his flesh as well, and it was there that he felt a strange yet pleasant breeze flow right past him like feathers in an aviary.
"It feels surprisingly warm", the purple dragon whispered with awe.
Though the colors swirling in the vortex seemed to welcome more fearful overtones than pleasant, in comparison to the rest of the surroundings they were shown to be the brightest and hopeful set of guiding lights that were portrayed upon his braving journey so far.
It got to the point that he was left to look on at the swirling patterns, his curiousness starting to turn more relaxed, and his eyes left to stare that them as if he was welcomed into a hypnotic trance. His state of mind felt more at peace and reassuring of what was beyond the strange contraption.
"I have a feeling that this could be our way home, but…"
Before Spyro could even finish off his sentence, he observed the lights more, and then several seconds afterwards he hastily turned towards the village once more. And as quickly as his moods picked up once more, his face dropped again, looking just as hopeless as he felt in the varying dangerous situations before.
"Out with it, buddy!" exclaimed Sparx as he suddenly lurched over the dragon's head. "I know you can share a few words with us. Best friends never keep their secrets!"
Sparx's remark left Spyro to turn towards him with a cautious blink. As reassuring as his companion felt towards him, it felt like nothing in comparison to thinking about the situation at hand. Wanting to hear as much as possible, the dragonfly quickly hovered around the other side of the dragon's head, clutching his hands tightly.
"Hey, if it makes up for you, I'll share one of my own secrets. I found this weird red mushroom with white spots on it on your birthday, and-"
"I don't want to leave this place behind."
Spyro's sudden remark caused the dragonfly to quickly widen his eyes. Of course, the initial goal at the end of the day was to find this temple and settle down, or at least go straight there and return to the village not long after that with help from anyone that remained there.
But in spite of the thought, the dragon's expression felt more insecure. What if he left the village and never came back? What would happen to the village and the landscapes around it? And what would become of everyone that he came to meet there, regardless of the connections he had with them or lack thereof?
"What's wrong?" Sparx started to challenge his thoughts. "I thought now that we found a way back, we can return to the Dragon Temple in peace. That's what Cynder wants, right? That's what Ignitus would probably want as well."
"I know, but this place is in danger", replied Spyro, turning back towards the Dragon Village helplessly. "I can't just leave them unprotected."
His focus soon shifted towards the dark cloud that hung directly over the village, still remaining in place as eerily as it was when he saw it for the first time. The sign of the setting's hopelessness was enough for him to re-align his head and lower it down to the ground.
"I can't leave them behind, not in a state like this", the purple dragon brashly spoke in a breezier tone than the usual. "There's something that needs to be done about this. And I need to make haste on it!"
Almost rashly, Spyro started to take a few footsteps back towards the village, but upon turning back to see his comrades… he already saw Cynder approaching the vortex, as if she was ready to make her way inside. Concerned for her actions, he started rushing towards her quickly.
"Cynder, where are you going?" he asked her semi-impatiently.
"There's something coming through the portal!"
Upon the shout, Spyro quickly came close towards the edge of the vortex, looking closely to the inside of it. And there, there was a faint black blur sweeping through it from the distance – too far to make out any details, but enough for them to wonder about the strangeness behind its use.
Eventually the shadow started to become more and more defined. A pair of wings was graced upon its back, along with a long tail and a set of horns on its head. The signs were enough to know one thing upon the faces of Spyro, Sparx and Cynder – they had seen that figure somewhere before.
"Is this a dragon shadow?" Ango quickly jumped to a conclusion. "But… this one also looks different from the creatures at the Dragon Village."
Before the kid could finish his sentence, Cynder paced backwards briskly. "Quick, make a step out of the way so it can land!"
By her command, they all took several steps backwards, making room for the creature inside the vortex to make its landing. And just like that, the shadow came faster and faster towards them, before arriving straight out of the entrance of the swirling vortex itself and landing just outside it.
It showed itself as a quadruped dragon just like Spyro and Cynder, though this one stood significantly taller than them both, sporting a main red flesh color with touches of bronze shown upon his chest and nearly-straightened horns. Other details that were made out were shallow dark orange eyes along with general flesh textures that resembled sharp flickers of fire.
"Ignitus?" Spyro identified the creature with awe.
"Spyro, you're here!" he joyfully responded with an aged yet fatherly vocal tone. "I never would have thought I would find you!"
With a joyful facial expression, Ignitus made a brief footstep towards Spyro, lowered his head towards the dragon and reacted with a warm smile graced upon his face. The purple dragon tried to respond the same in return, yet the least he could do was look towards the floor, away from the red dragon's direction.
"I don't know what kind of strange place the storm might have brought you in", the red dragon spoke with concern, "but we need to get you out of here and back home."
"I think old guy Ignitus needs the explanation again, Spyro", beamed Sparx, flashing his teeth like a circus clown. "Give it all you've got!"
Sparx's remark caused Spyro to turn straight towards the dragonfly, his face looking really optimistic to the point that he was sure that Ignitus would understand his reason for wanting to stay. With a morbid sigh, the purple dragon turned back and looked back at him with widened eyes.
"Are you saying there's something about this place that affects us in some form or other?" Ignitus asked him, noticing Spyro's expression.
"Believe in us, Ignitus sir", nodded Cynder with confidence. "We faced enough sinister events here to match with back home."
And so, bit by bit, Spyro started to make his explanation towards everything that he saw since the calm of the storm. Everything from the dragon village's situation to the plight of the Sorcerer to even the destiny of another purple dragon was referenced to Ignitus, who managed to understand his words clearly in spite of the fear that gradually built in his voice over time.
From the basic explanation, added details were placed into the discussion. His mention on how Ango ended up being a help initially saw the red dragon end up with confusion on how a creature that came from the same line of monsters that once served under Cynder would come to help them, yet his hopeful and optimistic pair of eyes were more than enough to accept him just as quickly as Spyro did.
And then there came the mention on the Sorcerer's lair and the familiar Convexity-style surroundings. By then, Ignitus knew that that aspect of the realm couldn't have been there by coincidence, leaving him to blink with a curious blink, thinking so hard to picture the situation in his head.
As soon as the final detail was mentioned, Spyro ended up lowering his head towards the ground beneath, knowing that in spite of explaining everything it all felt so painful to leave it all behind. He didn't say much beyond then, yet his expression was everything that Ignitus needed to know how he felt.
"So THAT'S why you don't want to go back", he responded with consideration.
Calmly yet shakily at the same time, Spyro brought his head down to the ground. The sight was enough for him to end up looking towards the village, and then back at the personnel in front of him; seeing them in the state that they were currently in was enough for him to know that if something needed to be done, then that was that.
"I don't know how much use I could be to you, but if you want to save this realm, then there's no stopping you", Ignitus nodded, accepting the situation at hand.
Calmly he took a few steps towards the village, eyeing its structure as well as the black cloud that hung above it. And then he looked back at Spyro, raising an eyebrow in concern, thinking about the last time he placed himself into a life-threatening situation similar to this one.
"Are you sure you're ready?" the red dragon asked softly.
Spyro responded with a slow yet confident nod. "I can breathe fire and charge on my own accord again. I may not be as powerful as I was when I fought Cynder, but I am sure I'm capable enough to restore this realm."
Spyro's words felt really convincing and honest, Ignitus thought calmly to himself. But regardless of that meaning, his thoughts ended up being really insecure. Sure, the purple dragon ended up facing more types of power than he currently had in the past, but his changing levels of confidence may be of concern, he puzzled quietly once more.
Meanwhile, Spyro looked his way back towards the village, and back at the group. One thought remained on his mind – if he was only just able to survive the encounter with the Sorcerer back at his lair, then odds are there would be something more powerful required to be able to tackle the rest of the quest.
"I think I need more than my current skills to overcome this", he remarked cautiously. "I've heard about a Shadowstone previously used against the Sorcerer to control an energy force powerful enough to weaken him, and I want to see if it can be useful enough to overcome the restoration."
"Be careful", blinked Cynder. "It might be your decision for doing this, but you also need to make sure you keep safe. We don't want you to fall like you did when leaving his lair again."
Spyro blinked briefly for one second. He thought back towards the time when he left the Sorcerer's lair, desperate to leave the void and attempt to fly his way back to the mountainside, not at all realising that he would be struck by a burning rock on the back of his head.
The feeling was left stuck in the back of his mind, with a feeling that he almost certainly didn't want to run in that situation ever again. And there, he looked on at Cynder, his expression showing gratitude for her efforts in his rescue from the strange abyss.
"I promise I'll be more careful."
He responded with a brief nod of the head before he focused his attention back towards the village once more, and then up at the cloud that surrounded it, and then the mountain range that stood to the north. But in spite of seeing what he was to fight for, he couldn't help but lower his head to the floor once more.
"Now that I think of it, I can't stop thinking of the appearance of Convexity around his lair", he questioned uneasily. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Hey, if anything helps, we all do", Sparx sympathised, patting one of his hands on top of Spyro's head. "If I was seeing you guys as a spectator, I'd instantly think I've seen happier people at cremations."
Sparx's remark caused the dragon to look back with a widened glare, ending up with the dragonfly responding with a sheepish smile before hovering straight towards Ignitus's direction. But just before he got there, Spyro's glare calmed down; maybe he might be telling the truth, he thought curiously.
Before any further puzzling could take place, Ignitus stepped forward and outstretched his wings, signalling that he was ready to give the group a ride. Just like with Red, they took similar positions upon him – Spyro and Cynder on opposing shoulders, Ango being held by his front paws, and Sparx riding on top of his head.
He brought himself into two wide strides with his back legs; as soon as he did, he leapt into the air and took off, leaving the group to soar through the sky once more. This time, it wasn't for a chance to go home – it was for the destiny of the Dragon Village and its civilisation.
The skies above the eastern plains faced just as much as a peaceful situation as those that were near the mountain side. Thin clouds soared past Ignitus as he flew further and further across towards his destination, the feeling trickling peacefully down his spine and tail as he flew further and further.
From up on top of him, Spyro and Cynder couldn't help but focus their attention straight towards the northern mountain range. If they had to go and aid the village to some degree, they knew that they had to return to that area and find whatever means possible to restore it.
As they were left in deep thought over the situation, a shadow was seen dashing among the rocks beneath them. The sight of a small green light was more than enough attention for Sparx to twitch an eye and try to lean forward, attempting to look closer at the shadow below.
All that was heard from the clearing below was a faint sound that resembled half a snicker and half a tree rustle. In addition, the green light started to grow brighter and brighter, until it started to glow from green to purple and back again, increasing in speed as time went on.
And then, the light was launched straight up into the sky in a fireball formation, leaving a dazzling trail of light behind it as if it was nothing more than a shooting rocket. The essence continued to burn more and more as it got further and further up in altitude.
And then, it stopped on a surface – right on the surface of Ignitus's right wing. That somehow caused him to flinch and tilt in his right direction, almost causing the riders on his back to fall off. As quick as he recovered himself, Spyro focused his attention towards his face, equally curious about the light that struck his wing.
"Ignitus!" Spyro cried out to him with concern for the red dragon's safety. "What's going on?"
"I felt something penetrate my wing!" he winced with pain. "I need time to refocus!"
Showing a facial expression filled with pain, Ignitus started to hover slowly towards the ground. In that time, Cynder looked over his shoulder and saw what happened – the purple energy bolt must have ended up singeing a part of the membrane on his right wing.
Yet in spite of the damage, the red dragon was able to land safely. And as soon as he landed, the others dismounted and looked eye to eye to the dispatcher of the vicious energy – the shadow that crept along the mountain slopes, its intent consumed by its obscured identity.
And finally, it brought itself into the light. The look of a familiar-looking staff and cloak instantly identified the creature as the Sorcerer; the sight of him standing there, as if the conflict in the lair never happened, was enough for the dragon to gasp lightly in shock of his presence.
"You again?" Spyro dropped his jaw at the sight of him. "I… I thought we killed you!"
"I have a bad feeling about this", Ango frowned with a shake of his arms. "And I mean it – these are genuine bad vibes that I'm sensing from the Sorcerer. What if what we fought back at his lair was a doppelganger?"
"You got that correct, kid", the Sorcerer scowled as he folded his arms. "I can't believe your purple dragon friend escaped the lair, AGAIN", he growled towards Spyro.
Quickly, he brought himself into a scowling stance, leering at the Sorcerer. "I'm glad to know that I found out the truth. You killed another purple dragon, didn't you?"
"There were TWO of you?"
With a wide blink from his glowing eyes inside the hood, he ended up starting to shake with shock as he somehow started to come to reality with the situation. This is why Spyro might have 'come down with amnesia', he thought almost sheepishly to himself.
Regardless of hearing the information, he retained his expression to its initial calm state, shaking his head gently and holding onto his sceptre with a tight grasp through his hands, being completely obscured by the long sleeves that graced his equally loose cloak.
"I must be seeing way past my old age, that's for sure", he remarked puzzlingly. "But nevertheless, I sense something inside you. It seems as if you want to save the realm from an eternity of darkness. But I'm not going to have that!"
"I'm not going to let you take over this realm either!" counter-remarked Spyro. "I've heard enough of your demonic schemes to boot, and I'm ready to take you down!"
"But without your Shadowstone, you're still powerless. What a pity."
Having made his remark, the Sorcerer cackled back, cracking his knuckles as he did so as he walked further and further away from the group, his cloak slowly trailing behind him among the dense mud against him – lucky enough not to spoil the fabric to any extent.
Maintaining a look that showed the prospect of success, he clutched tightly upon his staff and leered directly at the group, his grasp becoming tighter than an anxious cat's grasp upon a tree branch. And then he raised his hands in the air, almost creating a wind current around himself.
"You may have survived my doppelganger, but you won't survive the real thing!"
The self-created current allowed the loose rags around his arms and feet to breeze gently for several seconds, before finally becoming loose in the stale air again. And just like that, he smacked the lower end of the staff onto the ground at a force so powerful that it could pound the ground, though not quite as powerful enough to break the instrument.
And just like that, several shadows popped up from out of the ground, almost like a set of zombies. Except, they were nowhere near zombies; the pincers that were on their body and their obvious color scheme were more than enough to make Cynder take a step back at the sight of them.
"Those things!" she shouted, thinking back to her prior experience with the beasts at the mountains. "Those are the same scorpions we found at the summit!"
"They may look intimidating, but I am sure that we will prevail."
Ignitus showed an expression of determination as he lowered his eyes towards the scorpions. Their pincers gave off cracking sounds, and their eyes glowed with a vicious lemon yellow color, yet that wasn't enough to bring down his confidence one bit.
Calmly he started to approach them, his tail twitching gently from side to side as he came closer and closer. And just like that, he stopped and focused his attention towards Spyro and Cynder, using his tail to gesture them to come straight towards his direction.
"Spyro, you go for the left!" he exclaimed his commands. "Cynder, take the right!"
Both dragons nodded back, although Spyro was the one that showed the most confidence out of the two. Cynder looked back at him, concerned that they were about to instantly run into a losing battle, based on her previous experiences with these vicious and almost invincible monsters.
Regardless, they knew that they had to follow Ignitus's orders in spite of the consequences that could be brought over. And as if he was reading Cynder's mind, the Sorcerer responded with a stealthy smirk before he raised a hand, lifting himself high into the air, away from the fight.
"It's time we sent you to oblivion!"
And with that, he was left to hover his way on top of a nearby tall rock, with his feet positioned firmly upon the ground as soon as he got to the top. He then smirked viciously as he saw the creatures get closer towards the group, determined to make their assault.
Spyro made his charge straight towards a pair of the creatures in particular, and as soon as he was close enough, he breathed fire right in front of them with the intention of burning them. But… the creatures reacted with cackles, their body plating reflecting as if they were wearing steel armor.
"They're resistant to the fire!" he blinked shakily. "How am I supposed to combat them?"
"I found out the same!" replied Cynder as she got trampled over by one of the larger creatures.
As Cynder continued to wrestle with one of the other scorpions and Spyro tried to combat with means of any physical attacks he could pull off, Sparx looked on with deep concern on him. He thought back to what the battle scarred dragonfly said back at the village – if Dragon Kata techniques are all that is required to defeat them, he knew that he had to find a way to apply it.
"Ango, do you know of any Dragon Kata techniques?" he questioned him with a lightning tongue. "Surely you can help us!"
"I… I can't do it!"
Ango looked down below, his face showing panic at the question. All that Sparx could do was hover lower, bringing his eyes straight towards the kid as he did so. But in spite of his best efforts, the kid continued to show a pessimistic glare, with an obvious reason showing in his mind as well.
"I'm not a dragon, honestly! I can't pull the techniques off!"
All that Sparx could do was blink cautiously, thinking that learning a technique from Ango was completely out of the question. The least he could do was turn straight back to the scene of combat, watching the other dragons slowly get weakened by their practically invincible statuses.
"Stand back, everyone!" Ignitus called out to the other dragons. "I think I know another way to penetrate their defences!"
Ignitus's eyes started to glow to a brighter orange color, reflecting the images of five of the scorpions coming straight towards him. And out of the blue, he briefly stood upright, and summoned a giant ring of fire from his body – a fury attack that instantly turned them over.
But instead of taking any serious damage, they were left to steadily pick themselves up from there feet as if nothing ever happened to them. That attitude was enough for Ignitus to take several steps back, puzzling over other kinds of techniques to try and weaken them further.
"I can stun them, but I can't seem to exterminate them", he shook as he saw the creatures re-approach him.
"Hang on, Ignitus!" the purple dragon called out to him.
Quickly, Spyro made his run towards Ignitus's side, and just like that he managed to take position in front of the creatures that started to swarm his feet. As firm as he could, he brought his tail upon the ground and tried to trip them up with it, sweeping with a trail of dust being left behind.
But not even his best tactic was firm enough to drive away the monsters – some of which were pushed away, while others simply jumped out of the way or made a sidestep towards the tall rocks around them. All that was assumed by that point was that it would be a struggle to weaken them at all if anything.
"Spyro, look out!" Cynder called out to them all of a sudden. "There's a shadow up above!"
The shout was enough to cause both Spyro and Ignitus to look straight up into the sky, where they saw a black shadow make its way towards the scene ahead. Its shadow started to expand, showing it to have a pair of wings and a pair of horns – another identifiable dragon shadow.
"TAKE THAT!!"
A bright purple charge was sent from it, being launched straight towards the barrage of scorpions that were clawing away at Ignitus's feet. Upon the aura's contact with them, they instantly froze in place before evaporating into nothingness - not even leaving behind a trail of dust.
The shadow then managed to make its landing upon the ground, thudding onto the ground with a thunderous quake that managed to trip up more of the monsters all at once. Quickly, the group looked towards the figure behind the shadow; upon the sight of it, Cynder beamed right at the sight of him.
"Red!"
The Elder cackled with delight as he saw the monsters ahead. "Stand back and see what a dragon trained in Dragon Kata can pull off!"
Holding back his hands, he leered straight on at the surrounding scorpions, all approaching Red with such sinister looking eyes as they came closer and closer towards him. However, the least that the Dragon Elder could do was sneer back at them as time went on.
And then, he started to make his assault. He leapt straight over the first wave of monsters and charged straight towards a group of larger creatures, sliding on the ground with his right leg first. That knocked the large enemy straight over the cliff side, falling to the waters beneath.
Yet, Red's power didn't stop there. He quickly recovered, using his tail to trip up multiple enemies at a time before picking them up and throwing them into one another as easily as a monkey with a bag of fruit. Some of which were even tossed towards the Sorcerer's direction, almost tearing away his cloak in the process.
"What are you trying to do, you oversized monster?" he retaliated while trying to remove a scorpion from his face.
"Just taking care of business, that's all", Red sneered in return.
There, he then made a charge straight towards the Sorcerer, maintaining a sharp two-legged running stance and lowering his head down so that his horns were pointing straight forward, making it almost too easy to inflict a single poke of damage straight at the Sorcerer.
"This is for everything you did to the realms in the past six months!"
And then, Red made his contact. However, the Sorcerer vanished in time leaving him to zoom right past the emptiness that he left behind, running straight into a smaller pack of Scorpions. The Elder's never-stopping charge knocked one into the other like a set of dominoes, sending them straight into the wall one by one where they vanished with a black poof of smoke.
From the sidelines, the others were left to look on at awe as they saw Red overcome the scorpions at an amazing set of odds. Even Cynder looked as if she felt a ray of hope through what she witnessed – all to the point that she brought herself in a stance that made her ready to run.
"Cynder, what are you doing?" Spyro asked her, concerned over her next decision.
"Red's moves looked easy to pull off", she smiled with encouragement. "I want to give it a go!"
"No!" the purple dragon reacted by trying to bite onto her tail. "It could be too dangerous!"
It was already too late. By the time he could finish off his sentence, Spyro noticed Cynder making her run directly towards Red, her running stance resulting with deep foot prints that went among the ground. Each step she took allowed for a brief thunderous pulse on the ground that was immediately felt by any entity in the surrounding ten meter radius.
It wasn't long until she found herself eye to eye with the scorpions once more. Now having witnessed a potential technique to defeat them, she leapt into the air, performed a somersault, and brought herself hovering down so that her tail was over her head.
"I see you're catching on!" the Elder looked on at her with awe.
Red faced a smile as she saw Cynder striking the scorpion enemy with her tail, instantly pounding it to the ground. And then it remained limp and lifeless all before fading out with a black puff of smoke. Red then made a daring kick to knock another senseless, before going on to finish off another; after that, all the scorpions had been knocked out.
"Let's see if we can take care of the Sorcerer together!" the Elder remarked, twirling his staff like a majorette's baton.
He confidently looked towards Cynder, whom stood behind him while maintaining a bold expression. They both focused their attention towards one prime figure ahead – the Sorcerer, now starting to show signs of deep concern as he knew that his line of defense had been depleted.
Together, Red and Cynder made their dash towards him together at blistering speeds, yet before either of them could even make horn contact with him, he completely vanished into the air around him, leaving them both to storm straight past the area that he once stood.
"What's he doing?" she hastily questioned as she slid upon the ground. "He just won't stand still!"
"He just seems to vanish from one point to another!" the Elder shrugged back.
Red pointed to the other end of the area, where they indeed saw the Sorcerer standing firmly on the top of a nearby boulder, smirking while holding tightly onto his sceptre. The sight of him was more than enough for the pair to start making their dash towards him once again.
As if he almost stopped time, his head-first dash towards the boulder was more than enough for him to break the boulder apart upon contact, leaving the Sorcerer to struggle to gain balance as he tried to refocus himself. And in the midst of all that, a faint burning sensation was felt from his back – the sight of Cynder breathing fire was enough for him to retaliate and hold onto his cloak with his free hand.
"Get away from my cape!!"
With a bitter response, he clicked his fingers and vanished once again. His cackle was then heard a few seconds later, causing them both to turn towards the Sorcerer's direction, only this time he was positioned right on top of a rock too tall to break and too slippery to climb.
"You guys aren't strong enough to defeat me yet", he smirked victoriously. "Your attacks are way too pathetic to inflict even a stroke of damage. I'll be interested to know how far you get if you try to reach my lair again."
And so, he brought up his staff once again, allowing it to shimmer with a deep indigo aura around it. The lengthy amount of time for him to charge the light looked like a chance for Red to try and tackle him with any means that he possibly can, regardless of the circumstances of the rock.
He then flew straight up into the air, his claws showing the intent to do actual harm towards the Sorcerer. But before he could even cause as much as a swipe in front of him, a puff of black and indigo smoke soon showed in front of him, almost obscuring his view.
He then looked straight on ahead as the smoke started to clear. And there, he saw that the Sorcerer had completely vanished from his viewpoint, causing him to clutch his fists together as he slowly and bitterly made his hover back towards the ground once again.
"Rats!" he hurled a fist to his thighs. "He got away!"
"That may be unfortunate, but at least we gave it our best shot", nodded Cynder.
The black dragon made her walk towards Red, expressing her eyes straight at him. Though she knew that they both failed to catch the Sorcerer, she also knew that there was something that she had to mention to a bipedal dragon brave enough to help them out of an otherwise impossible situation.
"I want to thank you personally for coming out here to help us", she smiled gently. "Goodness knows how we could have taken down those scorpions."
"Don't worry", said Red. "I heard you from the village, and I thought you could need some help."
With his looks showing a little bit more confidence, he soon ended up making a soft landing upon the ground, creating shallow footprints upon doing so. He then focused his attention straight towards the scenery ahead, his expression looking more perplexed as time drew onwards.
"The fact remains that the Sorcerer is going to stop at nothing to get his ultimate goal", pondered the Elder. "But from what I saw of you and Spyro, you both have the potential to halt his ambitions."
He made his turn towards Spyro and Cynder, expressing a keen smile in return. The sight was enough for them both to look back at one another; in spite of struggling in front of the scorpions, they knew that if they could face a group of scorpions, they could do almost anything possible together.
"But we can't overcome him without the necessary requisites", the Elder frowned. "The pirate kid may be one of them, but there is more to it."
Ango's eyes instantly widened. "You mean… I could eventually fight more aggressively?"
"I think so; at least that's what I feel."
Red's remark soon caused Ango to jaw drop with excitement. He thought back about everything that he ever did for Spyro and Sparx as long as he was there; all he did was open barriers, while not being much of an assistant in battle outside from their first encounter with the Sorcerer.
Hearing that he might eventually find his own opportunity to fend for himself was something that made him maintain a joyful glance, anxious to wanting to see what he could do himself. Yet, he soon hid his own facial expression, thinking that it may be a while before he could witness what Red's words meant to him.
"But if we question the situation any further, the Sorcerer might get his way", Red scowled bitterly. "We should return to the village to think things over."
As steadily as possible, Red started to make his walk down the passageway that Spyro and the group initially walked up from, but before he could go any further than a few paces… he turned back, seeing Ignitus struggling to fly due the damage on his right wing.
"Are you okay, Ignitus?" Spyro asked him, concerned about the injury.
"I'll be fine. I'll walk my way back."
Looking upset that he couldn't help much at all, Ignitus was left to lower his head towards the ground, trying to regain his strength as he did so. That left only one option left – if there was ever any quick way back, there would need to be a different ride.
All together, Spyro, Cynder, Sparx and Ango made their way towards Red, whom approached them ready to have them mount him in their usual positions again. Yet the purple dragon showed deep concern as he looked back at Ignitus, worried for what might happen to him when left alone in the state that he is.
"Spyro, Ignitus will make it. I'm sure he's been worse", beamed Sparx with confidence as he looked at the purple dragon and then at the Elder. "Either way, there's no time like the present. It's time for take-off, Red!"
Red clutched his teeth together as he took a step back, ready to make his run upon the ground once more. And then he did so, bringing himself into a steady sprint. Though, before he could even take off, he lightly tripped up over a rock, causing him to send himself down a nearby slope briefly before escalating himself in the air.
However, he didn't realise that it would cause Cynder to struggle to maintain her grasp and just slip off him just before he reached the slope. With grave concern, she started to make her run across the clearing, her face showing worry as she was left further and further behind them.
"Wait!" Cynder exclaimed towards the group as soon as she recovered. "You forgot about me! You forgot a-"
Before she could run any further… a crunch was heard from the ground. She looked beneath her, and right there, she saw an upturned set of dirt on the ground. Quickly, she crouched down and started to dig away at it with her claws, curious over what was underneath.
And there, she found something shining within the dirt. That urged her to dig significantly faster with the will of seeing what was there. And finally, the item was completely uncovered and left to lie out along the cleaner rockier grounds to the left of her.
"What is this?" she blinked at the sight of it.
She looked towards the object with curiosity. And she found it to be some kind of amulet on a golden chain. In spite of it being buried for an unknown period of time, it still looked as if it was recently crafted; the sight of its endurance left her to show a curious glance right off the bat.
Looking towards the amulet itself, she managed to see the image of two dragons crested inside a circle. The top dragon was an orange one, obviously breathing fire. And the bottom one was a cyan-blue color, with ice coming straight out of its own mouth.
"Cynder, what is it that you found?" Ignitus asked her from behind.
"I think one of the scorpions dropped it. It looks… mystical."
Upon response, Ignitus made his walk towards Cynder, observing the object for himself. The sight of the amulet amazed the red dragon to the point that he too looked just as amazed as she was, firstly for how it survived for so long and secondly for how it could be beneficial for the village due to the first aforementioned reason.
The sight of it was more than enough to show enough determination on the black dragon to take it back to the village as quickly as possible. Yet she forgot one last thing – Ignitus's damaged wing would only slow down any means of trying to catch up if she chose to fly with him.
"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up!"
His plea left her to look up at him with widened eyes. Sure, it was hard to see her mentor taking a hit near this area of the field, but if it meant that he will be able to return safely, she knew that she could trust him regardless of the risks that were involved in it.
Picking up the amulet in her mouth and jumping towards the slope that lead straight towards the village, she once again faced a déjà vu situation as she ended up taking a hold upon the gravel and slid down on all fours, leaving behind a quadruple of long line marks from directly behind her - ready to get a temporary etching into the ground.
As soon as she reached the bottom, she ended up falling on her stomach, letting go of the amulet in the process, before she soon brought herself up. There, in the sky, she managed to take note of Red flying into the distance, presumably having Spyro, Sparx and Ango still in his possession up there.
"Spyro! Red! I have something to show you! Please wait!"
Holding feelings of anxiety, she picked up the amulet once again by placing it securely around her teeth, and started to make her dash towards the distance, destined to catch up towards the group ahead. Several shallow footprints were made on the ground as she ran faster and faster.
The amulet felt foreign to her, she thought to herself. Yet there was something about the markings on it that felt as if it could be useful in any shape or form. Even inside her mouth she felt its energy to be warm enough to almost turn her tongue into a savannah.
But instead of burning her mouth, she felt a pleasurable warm feeling that crept inside, almost as if she ended up consuming a warm cup of coffee. The feeling continued to persist as she ran, not quite painful but not quite natural to the touch either.
The Dragon Village soon came directly into her view. And there, she already saw Red come to landing right in the middle of the market square. Though she was urged to make a continued run towards him… she suddenly stopped, looking back with the intention of having Ignitus catch up with her.
The scene seemed strange enough as she heard its interiors from the gate that she initially came from. All that was heard was this strange silence, with only a wind current providing the only source of sound. And thus she then assumed that the village that she, Spyro and the others were fighting for had faced a drastic turn, one way or another.
-end of chapter-