A/N: Here we are, the second-to-last chapter of The Legend of the Three: The Eternal Night.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro series, only my OC's.
Chapter 15: Into the Darkness
Jolt's POV
I don't know how long we spent traversing the tunnel away from the White Isle, but after what seemed like hours, we emerged from the passageway, and in the distance, we could see our destination: the Mountain of Malefor, AKA The Well of Souls.
It looked just like it did in our nightmares: like a dragon's head, snout pointed to the sky. We stepped out onto a rocky cliff on the outskirts of the area. And took a moment to ready ourselves for what lay ahead. We looked up to see the moons were almost in alignment. We had very little time left if we were to rescue Cynder.
"There it is," I said, "the Mountain of Malefor… we better get going".
Spyro then turned to speak with Sparx.
"Sparx, you don't need to come with us," said Spyro, "we won't think any less of you if you stay behind".
"No way," said Sparx sarcastically, "and miss the chance to face my worst nightmares?"
Spyro gave Sparx a slight nod, and then we started forwards.
"Yeah, boy," said Sparx quietly, "what am I saying… hey wait for me!"
We dashed forwards and glided across the huge gap to the first rocky pillar, then across a shorter gap to the next. As we climbed up the ledges on the sides of this pillar, we saw a couple of apes, but either they didn't notice us or they were in too much of a hurry to bother with us, as they leapt away towards the fortress surrounding the main peak of the mountain.
We leapt across the next couple gaps and reached the front gate of the fortress, which swung open ominously as we approached. We stepped through the doorway, and entered the first courtyard. We were attacked by a group of Apes in this area, but after only about a minute, they fled deeper into the fortress.
"You know, I think they might be leading us into a trap," I said.
"You're probably right, but we don't have many other options," replied Spyro.
We stepped through the next doorway, and were greeted by a laser guarding the hall. We used our Electric Whirlwind to past it. In the next chamber we watched as the same group of apes again ran away from us, into a room with a small circular room with a large dragon statue.
"Uh… Spyro?" I said, "Isn't that the same statue from the Dragon Temple?"
"It looks like it," Spyro replied, "but why would the same statue be both here and there?"
"Remember what the Chronicler told us?" I said, "Malefor, the first Purple Dragon was highly revered in his time… at least at first. I think that this might be a statue of him, most likely made before he was corrupted. I think that this place may have once been a counterpart to the Dragon Temple, hence the similarities in some parts of its design".
After this, we dropped down into the hole next to the statue, arriving in a small cave. We saw the Apes fleeing once again, but this time I thought I saw… something else moving along with them. It appeared to be a slight distortion in the air… and it was big.
At the end of this small cave, we rode a moving platform up again, coming out in another courtyard. As we hopped off the elevator, a large ape brandishing an axe came out of the door ahead of us, then immediately turned invisible!
We quickly turned and smashed the nearby green crystal to refill our energies. We then moved to engage our cloaked foe. It was difficult to hit something we couldn't see, so Spyro triggered him Dragon Time to slow the enemy's movements. It turned out to do more than that however… it also disrupted the Ape's cloaking ability!
Now that we could see what we were hitting, we were able to take it down with ease. As soon as we did though, several waves of enemy reinforcements dropped in on us. After dealing with them, we passed through a roughly hewn tunnel, and came out onto a balcony.
Here, we spotted another ledge off to our right, but as we started climbing it, an Ape further up started throwing kegs of dynamite down the mountainside at us. We climbed up the slope, carefully dodging the explosive barrels along the way.
When we reached the source of the barrels, Spyro lit an exposed fuse line, then quickly back away, letting the barrels explode, thus clearing the path forwards… that is, only after we fought off another group of Apes. Next we passed through another short cave, coming out next to one of the mountains 'horns'.
Glancing around, we saw another path below us and to our left. We jumped down to this path, and were quickly attacked by undead soldiers, similar to the ones from Dante's Freezer. We continued down the path to what could only be described as a fluorescent green waterfall, with rocky platforms sliding down it in a distinct pattern.
We carefully leapt up these ledges, with help from Spyro's time bending powers. We then proceeded to follow the glowing green river upstream. As we continued along, the undead on the far shore started throwing energy projectiles at us. Spyro and Sparx were able to dodge in time, but I got one caught struck me. Luckily, though I was able to bring my tail up in time and adsorbed to energy in contained. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling type of energy to take in, but I managed.
Spyro used his Polar Bomb technique to create platforms for us to cross the river on, and then we climbed up to the opposite bank and took out the undead that had been shooting magic at us.
Next, we passed through a second laser-guarded hall, coming out into a larger cavern. We climbed up past some gem clusters recharging along the way, and hopped over to this cavern's main platform, where apparently every last remaining undead warrior in the mountain decided to attack us at once.
It was a long and fierce battle, requiring us to use every trick we'd learned. Partway through, they really started piling in, so I released my Light Fury, completely destroying them. Finally, after many, many rounds of combat, the last of the undead warriors fell, and the exit opened. We climbed up to the exit, only to discover it was a third laser hall. As before we use the Electric Whirlwind to slip past it.
As we reached the end of the hall, we found ourselves outside on another balcony. Then out of nowhere a barrage of bright red energy orbs came flying at us. We quickly rolled out of the way, then turned towards their source: the same Ape Assassin riding a Dreadwing who'd attacked us back at the temple. And he was apparently still wearing the same voice-muffling mask.
"Mwahahahaha! It's time to feel some pain!" said the Assassin.
"Ahhh! He wants to steal my brain!" shouted Sparx.
"Actually," said Spyro, "I think he said it's time for pain".
"Really? Whew!" said Sparx, who then added to himself, "For a second there I thought I lost you, buddy".
We quickly took to the skies and started circling our foe. We took turns blasting it with our elements, keeping it distracted. The assassin tried it dive away, but we kept on its tail. Before too long, the assassin fell, and we returned to the balcony.
Next, we climbed up a series of moving platforms, eventually coming to another doorway leading back into the mountain. After passing through a short set of hallways, we came out into a small courtyard, where we were attacked by a massive group of Apes and attack hounds, which came in several waves. After a lengthy battle we took them down.
"Hey Sparx," said Spyro, "You can come out now!"
We continued down the next hall, which was again guarded by a laser beam. We then entered a short shaft where we climbed up a series of ledges, then walked down a passageway, which lead us to an enormous room that contained what looked like some sort of altar.
It featured the same statue we'd seen earlier within this region, which was the same statue from the Dragon Temple, and now that I think about, the same statue that was featured within our dreams! This particular statue was larger than any of those, though, and it seemed to almost radiate malevolence. We pulled our eyes away from the statue, and climbed up the ledges around the perimeter of the room.
After quite a bit of climbing, and a few missteps, we reached the exit of the chamber. We then discovered we were almost at the summit of the mountain. We hopped up the last few ledges and arrived at the top of the Mountain of Malefor. Here, we found a cleanly cut shaft leading into the heart of the mountain.
"Whoa," said Spyro, "what is this?"
"It looks like the entrance to a horrible pit of despair, of which we will probably never escape," Said Sparx sarcastically, "But, we should probably go inside to be sure".
With that, Sparx zoomed ahead of us into the shaft.
"Whooo!" shouted Sparx.
"I suppose we should follow him?" I said.
"He's so weird sometimes," said Spyro.
We then leapt into the hole after Sparx.
Main Altar
After gliding down some unknowable distance, we came to an ornately decorated chamber. It had a domed ceiling, six braziers around its perimeter, currently unlit, and a hole in the center of the floor similar the one we'd entered through. Coming from the hole above and entering the one below was a beam of purple light. Sparx was hovering slightly off to the side.
"Where are we?" asked Spyro.
"The better question is… what's that smell?" said Sparx, holding his nose.
Suddenly, the braziers lit up with green flames, and we saw that a ring of Apes around the outer edge of the room, including one particularly large one sitting on a throne, wielding a staff with a diamond-shaped green crystal on its tip. He also had a green gemstone where one of his eyes should have been.
It was a face I knew well: the one who'd lead the attack on Concurrent Skies, the one who'd killed Gneiss' father, Granite, the one who'd stolen Cynder's egg and forced her into the Dark Master's service.
It was none other than Gaul, the Ape King himself.
"Hahahahaha! The purple whelpling and one of his companions!" Said Gaul, "It's fitting that you should be here tonight, as we bear witness to the dawn of a new age and the failure of your pathetic race of dragons!"
"We wouldn't miss it, Gaul," said Spyro.
"Then please have a seat!" snarled Gaul, as he pointed his staff at us.
The staff shot out a bolt of energy, draining us of our stored elemental energy, and forcing us to the ground. I could tell we hadn't been stripped of our abilities, only prevented from using them.
"Hahahahaha! Foolish dragons, you are no match!" snarled Gaul.
Spyro and I pulled ourselves back to our feet.
"We've… made it this far, haven't we?" I said.
"Yes, you have been quite elusive," said Gaul, "had I but known that all it would take would be your miserable amity for Cynder…"
"Psst… what's amity?" whispered Sparx to one of the Apes.
"… How tragic really," Gaul continued, "that she would be the one to destroy you!"
As Gaul finished his little speech, a black shape dived down on us from the shadows, surprising us. It was Cynder. She knocked us over, but struck us in such a way that she didn't cause any actual damage.
"Ahhh!" Screamed Sparx, "The nightmare never ends!"
We got back up, and started pacing a circle with Cynder.
"You don' t need to do this, Cynder," said Spyro.
"Yes, remember… you can choose your own path. Is this really the one you want to follow?" I said.
"Just like old times, huh guys," said Cynder, who then leaned in close to us and added, "same as last time… line me up with his staff".
We quickly nodded in conformation to her plan. We continued circling each other for a short while, until Cynder was in position. She indicated she was ready, and faked an attack on us. We easily dodged the attack, and watched as she continued towards Gaul. She leapt straight towards his staff… only to be grabbed out of the air by Gaul.
"This isn't over!" shouted Gaul.
He then threw her very hard against one of the support columns holding up the roof, fracturing it. Cynder then fell to the floor at the base of the column, unconscious. Spyro and I stood watching this in shock and horror. I wanted to check on her condition, as did Spyro, but now wasn't a good time. The Apes positioned around the edge of the room then started to move in to attack, but Gaul waved them back.
"Don't touch them!" growled Gaul, "The welplings are mine!"
Gaul then moved to the edge of the platform his throne was positioned on, then leapt down heavily onto the floor near us, leaving a small crater. Gaul then placed his staff across this back, and drew his wickedly curved dual swords. Gaul then snarled at us, and the battle commenced.
Tried to attack Gaul, but he kept blocking our every strike, even when Spyro used Dragon Time. Eventually, after Gaul performed five jump attacks in a row, he go his sword stuck, and we managed to slip through his defenses, only to find that our attacks didn't even faze him. Even the Blade of Storm's Fury seemed to just bounce off him.
"This isn't working!" shouted Spyro.
"I know!" I said, "There has to be something we can do…"
I dodged away, trying to thing of some way to defeat Gaul. It was at this point that the sword on my back spoke up.
"Young dragon," said the spirit of the blade, "concentrate for a moment: your foe is being strengthened by an external source".
I did as it suggested, and I noticed an unusual energy flow in the room… between Gaul and the braziers!
"Spyro!" I said, "Smash the braziers! I think Gaul is drawing power from them! I'll hold his attention".
Spyro ran towards the closest brazier, not that far from where Cynder was lying, while I continued to distract Gaul. He leapt back, and then brought both blades down in an overhead strike. There was no way I could have possibly evaded in time.
I braced myself as best as I could, closing my eyes, knowing that this was quite possibly the end…
CLANG!
I realized I was still alive, and looked up and saw that the Blade of Storm's Fury had leapt forwards and was blocking Gaul's attack, and was connected to me via a streamer of energy. Sparks were coming from the point where the blades met. I realized that the blade was matching Gaul's strength, holding him off.
I tried mentally pushing my sword forwards, and was rewarded when the blade moved closer to Gaul. I kept pushing, and heard the sound of stone shattering in the background, and saw a shell of green energy around Gaul fracture like glass and fall away..
"That was the last one!" said Spyro, "Hang on Jolt, I'm coming!"
I kept, pushing against Gaul's attack, and finally broke through defenses. I slashed him fiercely with my sword, and bashed him with my horn and tail. Spyro then charged in and slammed into Gaul with more force then seemed possible, throwing him several feet. We kept up our attacks, and soon enough, Gaul was knocked to the ground seeming significantly weakened.
Gaul then struggled back to his feet.
"Your time is over, dragons!" Gaul roared.
Gaul then leapt towards us, swords raised for another strike. We managed to roll out of the way, and Gaul's swords slammed into the ground HARD. The floor rumbled, then began collapsing. We both tried our best to escape from the collapse.
I managed to reach a safe section, but Spyro wasn't so lucky. He was caught in the collapse, and both him and Gaul fell to whatever was below. Not sure what I should do, I went over to where Cynder had fallen to check on her. She was a little bruised up, but was otherwise surprisingly unharmed. In fact, as I approached, Cynder got to her feet.
"Ow… that didn't exactly go as I'd hoped," said Cynder.
"Are you okay, Cynder?" I asked.
"I think so, Jolt," replied Cynder, looking around, "wait… where's Spyro?"
I pointed over to the hole Spyro and Gaul had fallen through.
"Down there," I said, "I hope not he's hurt…"
Just then, the beam of purple light streaming down through the room intensified, and I realized we were out of time… the Night of Eternal Darkness had come.
Main Altar, Lower Chamber
Spyro's POV
Down Gaul and I fell, down into the depths of the mountain. As we fell, Gaul lost his grip on his staff, which then fell into the darkness below. Eventually, we crashed down in a rough-hewn chamber.
Gaul landed near the edge of the floor of this chamber, his staff landed crystal end down, shattering apart. I landed right in the middle of the floor, in the beam of light.
Just then, the moons eclipsed completely, and the beam changed from a calm flow of energy to a harsh torrent, with me right in the middle. I felt something flowing into me, empowering me. It felt completely WRONG.I heard the same dark voice from my nightmares… only it was coming from within me!
"YESSS," said the voice, "FREEDOM… I AM FREE AT LAST… GAUL HAS PLAYED HIS ROLE WELL… BUT HE IS NO LONGER NEEDED…"
I felt my thoughts being overwhelmed by something darker that I knew wasn't mine, yet I couldn't fight back against it.
Is this what Cynder felt like when she was corrupted? I thought.
I saw Gaul getting back to his feet, and watched as he roared at me. I felt nothing but hatred for him. He didn't deserve to live! As I moved out of the beam, I passed by a shattered fragment of the crystal from Gaul's staff, and shocked by what I saw: My scales had become as black as possible, and in fact almost seemed to be adsorbing light. Clouds of pure darkness were rolling off my body, and my eyes were glowing white and were pupil-less.
I moved forwards and attacked Gaul hitting him with every thing I had: Melee strikes, dive attacks, and blasts of Convexity, which I found I could now use. After a long and heated battle, Gaul was almost defeated.
"What are you waiting for, dragon?" said Gaul, "Finish me!"
I stood there staring at him, and realized that my actions during this battle were not entirely my own. The dark entity that had forced its way into my mind was controlling me like a puppet. I tried to resist its influence, while decided to Gaul interpret my hesitation as cowardice.
"Hahahaha! Coward! Hahahahahaha!" said Gaul.
THAT really set off the dark entity within me. It made me blast Gaul with two long streams of Convexity Breath, and then I felt myself rising up and performing a Fury attack. A sphere of Convexity energy formed around me, and then released in three pulses. The first weakened Gaul further, the second burst petrified him, and the third blast utterly destroyed him, body and soul.
I then looked to the area above, and then flew back up towards the surface.
Jolt's POV
Cynder, Sparx, and I stepped over to the hole where Spyro had fallen, looking down into the darkness.
"What's happening down there?" asked Cynder.
"I don't know," I replied, "But probably nothing good".
"Spyro!" Sparx called into the darkness below, "You okay buddy?"
It was then that I sensed something coming up from far below… something incredibly dark and terrible.
"Get back!" I shouted.
A pitch-black form burst out of the hole, positioned in the center of the beam of energy. I realized with horror that it was Spyro, corrupted into a darker version of himself.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" screamed Sparx, seeing Spyro in this state.
"Oh, no!" Said Cynder quietly, just as anguished about this as me.
Cynder, Sparx, and I rushed closer to where Spyro was hovering.
"Spyro, stop!" shouted Cynder.
He glanced down at us. I could feel then malice rolling off of him.
"Whoa, calm down man, it's us!" said Sparx.
Spyro writhed for a moment, and briefly shifted back to normal.
"I… I can't," Spyro groaned as the darkness overtook him again.
Cynder then leapt at him, knocking him out of the beam. He fell to the ground, still enrobed in darkness. I could tell he was trying his hardest to resist it, but he just didn't have the strength.
I then realized what I would need to do. This was going to be very unpleasant for both of us. I dashed towards Spyro, and jabbed him with my tail, and started adsorbing the darkness.
It definitely wasn't easy, since Dark is the exact opposite of one of my elements, and it made me feel ill, but I kept working at it. I soon realized there was more darkness present that I could possibly adsorb. Luckily, I was able to remove enough of it to allow Spyro to regain control.
The force of Spyro reverting to his normal self pushed me back. I then vomited black… slime all over floor. Apparently, darkness REALLY doesn't agree with me, on top of me overstressing my abilities to such an extent.
I shook my head clear, and went over to the others, who were checking on Spyro.
"Spyro," said Sparx, "are you okay?"
Spyro looked at us with a melancholic glace, then lowered his head in sorrow as his mind caught up with what had just occurred.
"What have I done?" said Spyro in despair.
"You're okay, Spyro," said Cynder, "Your with friends".
"I'm sorry," continued Spyro, "I… I couldn't stop".
Just then, the entire mountain began to tremble, and the tunnel back to the surface began crumbling.
"Uh-oh!" said Sparx, "That's our only was out!"
Rock began to pile in, narrowing the passageway.
"Come on!" I shouted, "Now's our chance to escape!"
Spyro sat down and continued to stare at the floor.
"Just go," Spyro said sadly.
"Get up, Spyro!" Said Cynder, "We're not leaving without you!"
"Usually I would say ignore her," said Sparx, "but she's making sense this time!"
Spyro stood up, but it was too late. The exit was now completely blocked.
"Oh no… we're trapped!" said Spyro.
We all stood there, grim expressions on our faces. There was now no way we could escape the mountain before it collapsed on us. It was at this moment I though back to the Chronicler's words.
'Ride out this storm… and live to fight another day'.
I could see Spyro's eyes going wide as he had similar thoughts.
"Guys! Get close to me! Now!" Spyro commanded.
Not quite sure what he was planning, Cynder, Sparx, and I all huddled close to him. Spyro started glowing as he charged up to do what was needed. I could tell he was summoning some form of his Dragon Time ability.
A cloud of energy expanded outwards to engulf us all. I felt myself being lifted up as the energy solidified around us, crystallizing and encasing us. The last thing I saw before I was completely encased was a cloud of pure darkness rising up from the pit below, and flying up towards the skies above. Then, I felt myself descend into a dreamless sleep…
A/N: And there we go! Next time the finale of this story. see you then!