A/N: Okay, so this is another Brius chapter!

Reply to un-signed in review: Thanks! Yeah, I wanted to make Aptifor more cowardly than Spyro, otherwise he would be too much like him (unless I made him super brave) lol. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! xxx =)

Enjoy, everyone!

__

"Gaul, send word back to the Master that the siege is about to begin." The huge golden dragon instructed, turning his formidable scowl on the ape. Gaul looked slightly fearful of him, and Brius kind of got a kick out of that. Loud shrieks of excitement came from behind Brius. He sighed.

He turned to a smaller monkey. "Ouphraigus, tell Sailor Hunter to be quiet, will you? The Temple is in sight!"

The ape named Ouphraigus turned to the other monkey and started telling him off, LOUDLY. Brius rolled his chocolate eyes.

"Never mind, Ouf. I'll deal with him later." Brius turned his gaze back to the Golden Temple that stood in front of them. The war would soon begin.

Brius' face hardened, slipping into the mask he assumed for battle. Emotionless, cool...calm. In truth, Brius was not a violent dragon. He just knew he had to be. He was his Master's best ally, the slave that was counted upon to keep others in check and serve Malefor willingly. Many times, Brius had thought of running away, being free of the Dark Master, but the same thought would always stop him.

Who would he go to? Where would he hide? Brius had no one. The Dark Master had killed Brius' mother when he was born, and his father (unless his father was Malefor) was presumably dead as well.

So Brius knew he had to be faithful to his Master, because there was no one else. And so her prepared his troops for battle.

"Apes, break any door stupid enough to get in your way. Dreadwings, guard the entrance. Gaul, come with me."

Gaul looked apprehensively at Brius. "What are we doing?"

Brius grinned, though he was far from happy. "We, my friend, are raiding the Nursery."

No one moved. Brius glared around him. "What are you waiting for?" He snarled. The apes and Dreadwings scattered.

The apes, Ouphraigus at the lead, threw themselves at the door, hammering on it with their fists, attempting to charge into it, using their brute force to weaken the entrance.

Finally, with a great groan, the doors creaked open, surrendering. The monkeys raced through, Brius and Gaul striding slowly through after them.

"Right, left, then right again." Brius directed. One ape crossed his arms.

"Why are you in charge, anyway?" Brius recognised this ape. His name was Scar-Lip, and he was a stubborn, yet cowardly ape. Brius wondered what he was doing in the war force, when he could have been on the defensive guard.

"Because I have my orders from the Master, that's why!" Brius retorted sharply. Scar-Lip stalked off, shoulders hunched.

"Bossing us around...huh..." he muttered, apparently unaware that Brius could hear him. "Who does he think he is? Next thing you know we'll be calling him Master..."

"That's the LIMIT!" Brius snarled, his brown eyes sparkling with fury. And he opened his mouth.

And out poured a thick, glittering golden mist. It enveloped the screaming ape, blinding him, cutting off his senses. He felt nothing when Brius struck him, his sharp claws tearing through flesh and tissue.

When the mist evaporated into the air, one could see the little ape lying feeble and shrunken on the ground, bleeding from the head.

The other apes set to work on the next door, terrified of the golden dragon who stared at the body of Scar-Lip with secret grief in his heart...

__

"Brius, I have discovered the Nursery."

The words spoken by Gaul reached Brius through a vast pool of guilt. Brius didn't recover from killing easily, though he feigned indifference. He listened instead, hearing the voices coming from behind the door to the room where Dragon Eggs were kept.

"Take them! The Dark Armies have come!" A panicky, high voice yelled. From the sound of electricity crackling through the air, Brius guessed that this was Volteer. Malefor had told him of the Guardians.

As the apes smashed through the door, Volteer screamed in fury. "Heathens! Vandals! Breakers and enterers!"

As Brius stepped through the shattered remains of the door, he caught a glimpse of purple and scarlet in his peripheral vision. He instinctively sent a flash mist after it, a second too late.

Brius didn't care about that. He strolled along in the wake of chaos, examining the eggs.

They were all so bright. Vivid colours of blue, green, red, orange...and black.

The ebony egg sat away from the rest of them, separated from the glowingly bright colours of the other eggs.

Brius felt strangely drawn to the creature inside the black shell. He knew this was the one the Master wanted.

And yet...he didn't want the baby dragon to be born into this life, the life that Brius hated with a passion, but knew that he was bound to live. He felt pity for the dark creature inside the egg. No, he did NOT want to do this.

But the Dark Master's orders were stronger than his will. Stuck in this inner turmoil, Brius only vaguely caught the noise coming from behind him.

"NOOOOO!" Gaul shrieked. And Brius saw why.

In the centre of the room, a purple cushion lay, much higher up than the other eggs, in an almost revered position.

And on that silk cushion...a shard of a purple dragon egg.

Brius knew what this meant. The prophecy had been fulfilled. The Purple Dragon lived...

__

A/N: Please review! I swear it helps heaps! xxx =)