Chapter 8: Of demons and mountains
Spyro and Cynder returned to Warfang after a battle with Argus' forces. The scene in Warfang isn't exactly a beautiful sight. Dead bodies and limbs were everywhere and the air was filled with the stench of blood. They were silent as they passed by the bodies of those who were killed by the artillery fire.
"This…this is terrible. Why would anyone want to strike on such a day?" Spyro asked angrily.
"Spyro, evil strikes anytime, even during the most important of moments. We were too busy to keep our guards up," Hunter said.
They met up with humans in the area busy tending to the wounded. They assured them that they will be alright. Sven was there, looking at a wounded canine being treated.
"We got here as soon as we got news of the attacks. It seems like your phoenix governor has informed us about it," Sven said when they arrive at the scene.
Tiberus clicked his beak and nodded. He looked at Spyro and Cynder and let out a puff of smoke.
"Did something happen to the two of you?" he asked with genuine curiosity.
"Ask the monkey who did this did to us," Cynder said.
"So, I bet that Argus did that to you eh. I'm not surprised," Tiberus said.
"How are the kids? Are Flame and Ember okay?" Spyro asked.
"They're hiding inside a building. A little shaken but alive nonetheless. However, there is…a problem," Tiberus said.
"What problem?" Cynder asked with a worried expression.
"Well…it's concerning the Scared Room and…" Tiberus hesitated a bit.
"What happened to the Sacred Room?" Spyro asked, feeling a bit agitated.
"The door has been blasted open and…" Tiberus said but Spyro and Cynder had quickly dashed off to the room.
Upon arrival, they entered the room and the two of them gasped in shock. The room had been ransacked and things have been overturned. Many artifacts were missing, including the chalice that Spyro had kept there for safety.
"No, the chalice!" Spyro said with wide eyes.
"Not only the chalice, everything is gone!" Cynder added.
Tiberus seemed unmoved and he just smoked away. Hunter didn't look as devastated but he sure was shocked. It seemed like someone used the attack as a diversion and a way to open the door.
"How can this be possible? I thought Terrador enchanted the place," Hunter said.
"I know but whoever broke into here must be a powerful magic user. Search the place for any clues and I want the items back if possible. If they succeed in reaching Argus with the items, only time will tell when they are about to resurrect the Dark Master," Spyro said.
"Will do my Lord," the Overwatch dragons said.
Ravager came in with Fiona and the black dragon let out a low whistle.
"Now that is one mess," he muttered.
He caught sight of Spyro and Cynder and he scratched his head.
"Who are you two?" he asked.
"Don't you even recognize your own parents, Ravager?" Spyro asked.
He stared at them for 5 whole seconds and raised his eye ridge.
"Are you sure? My dad and mom are big and ferocious while you two are whelps," Ravager said.
"I don't think they're lying, Ravager," Fiona said.
"Fiona is right dear, we're Spyro and Cynder. Argus cursed us and made us turn young again," Cynder said.
"Oh yeah? Prove it," he said.
"Look, I'll ground you this instant if you continue being stupid," Spyro said impatiently.
"Well, that's you alright," Ravager said.
The young dragon nodded his head and grinned.
"So this is how you look like. I thought I looked like you," Ravager added.
"Not really. Your looks were more towards your mother's whereas your younger brother looks more like me," Spyro said.
Cynder was glad that Spyro was being calm about their situation. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable and walked out of the Sacred Room. Outside, she tried to avoid eye contact with the dead bodies and let the soldiers do the cleaning up. She softly sung a song that she learnt over the years that was a prayer to the Celestial god dragon. It sounded like a song of lamentation yet melancholic at the same time. Sven was picking up a dead phoenix and shook his head sadly when Cynder got close.
"Poor bastard got his leg blown off," he said softly.
He placed the body in a body bag and chucked it one side.
"I don't know about you but this attack is nothing but a distraction. Am I not right?" Sven asked with his arms on his hips.
"You can say that again. After that battle we had with Argus outside of Warfang, we return to the city only to see the Sacred Room ransacked. In other words, it may be a distraction," Cynder said.
"It couldn't be the apes who stole those items you were protecting. It has to be an inside job. Although it is not my right to get involve in your realm's affairs, I can only suggest that you tell Spyro to allow some scout drones in your realms so we can scout for the enemy. I hope you don't mind," Sven said.
"That is up to Spyro. I'll go tell him," Cynder said.
At the village where Argus lived, the ape returned to his home with a scar on his face and a scorched arm. Instead of looking angry, he was smiling evilly as if he got something he wanted.
"Those fools won't know what hit them," Argus said.
Suddenly, Malefor's voice came from the magic mirror. Argus picked it up and saw a smirking Malefor.
"My, don't you look pleased," Malefor said.
"You bet your fire-breathing mouth I am. My artillery strike worked and the room has been ransacked thoroughly…or so I've been told by one of my spies. Now I'm waiting for his delivery," Argus said.
"Excellent job, Argus. It seems like you were more competent than your father after all. So, you attacked the city and you already know that you can't win?" Malefor asked.
"I'm not some stupid primate so I know what I'm doing. Understand this Malefor, when I resurrect you, I want you to keep your promise since I kept mine," Argus growled.
"Of course," Malefor said absent-mindedly without looking at Argus.
"Don't turn against your word," Argus growled and put down the mirror when Wolfenstein came in with a rucksack.
"You're a rather quick fellow, Wolfenstein. I can safely say that the rucksack contains what I want, yes?" Argus said.
"Shut up and take it all. That is yours and now you must help liberate my land from the dragons as promised," Wolfenstein said.
"Oh, that promise yes…hmm, what will you give me in return?" Argus asked cockily.
"I already gave you what you want so keep it! Liberate my land from the dragons," Wolfenstein growled angrily.
"That will take some time my friend; can't you be a bit more patient?" Argus asked with a mocking smile.
Wolfenstein took out his sword and put the blade of his sword close to the ape's neck. Argus wasn't moved and he just looked at Wolfenstein. The gleam in his yellow bloodshot eyes seemed a bit brighter.
"Go ahead, you can try killing me now but I can't guarantee that you'll get out alive," Argus said.
"One of these days, I swear I'll tear your guts out," Wolfenstein said.
"You can try but you can't win. I," Argus said while standing up from his chair, "am more powerful than a whelp of a puppy like you. Do you know what I can do with this staff of mine? Not only can I raise the dead with it, I can also throw terrible hexes and magic spells at you before you can even swing that sword of yours. Don't forget, it was my late brother who gave you that enchanted sword so know your place and show some gratitude."
Wolfenstein looked at his sword and bared his teeth a bit. His growl sounded like thunder. After a minute of staring at each other, Wolfenstein sheathed his sword and turned around to head for the entrance.
"Fine, you win this time but when you gain your powers, I want you to help me. I saved your ass when you were young so you also better know your place," Wolfenstein said and exited the house.
"Oh, I will alright," Argus muttered darkly and snapped his fingers.
Before Wolfenstein could reach the gates to the village, someone knocked him in the head from behind and he fell to the ground unconscious. An ape overshadowed him and his pale eyes glowed under the full moon. In his hand was a club.
"Heh, it seems like you'll be staying here for a while," the ape said.
Argus came by and stood beside the unconscious body of Wolfenstein. He smiled and grabbed him by the fur of his head.
"I may know my place but I have other plans for you. You have yet to fulfill your purpose so stick around before I dispose of you," Argus said.
Turning to his aid, Argus snapped his fingers and his aid came to carry the wolf.
"Take him to the crypt and lock him there. I want to make sure his body rots along with the undead. Take his sword," Argus said.
His aid nodded and disarmed Wolfenstein before heading to the base of the second mountain. Argus smiled and kept the sword.
"With one more thing left, there is no stopping me," Argus said darkly.
The next few days were spent cleaning the city and repairing the damaged buildings. The humans sent scout drones throughout the realm to search for Argus but so far, they had no luck.
"No luck searching, Spyro. We have spent 5 hours searching the realm but we see no suspicious places around. Maybe they went underground," a drone operator said.
"Perhaps so. Can your drones go underground?" Spyro asked.
"They are flying drones. How can you expect them to go to impossible places?" the operator asked.
The drone that the operator was controlling flew across the Andale regions and there stood the Waldreich Mountains, four mountains close together that formed a circle. Mist was present all the time and looking at it gave them a foreboding feeling.
"Could it be that they're hiding in the Waldreich Mountains?" Cynder asked.
"Even the monkey couldn't be that stupid. Have you not hear about the rumors of the Waldreich Mountains? Those who venture there never return and some say demons exist there. It does remind me of the Valley of Kharnak," Spyro said.
"Thinking about it just gives me the chills," the operator mumbled and shivered a bit.
Suddenly, the drone view broke into static. The operator tried rebooting the systems but no contact was established.
"Damn, I lost contact with Drone-3 over the Waldreich Mountains. Can someone send a recovery team there?" the operator asked.
"Go there yourself. I ain't sending no one to the mountains, not after what happened to Task Force 14," the sergeant said.
Task Force 14 was the ill-fated task force that was sent by the military to set up a checkpoint for trainees to check in. They were told to go to the base of the second mountain but none of them returned. Surveillance videos from the orbiting satellites show no signs of their bodies but only their weapons were left behind. It has been 5 years already and the weapons are still there, making it a reminder of an ill-fated trip to a forbidden mountain.
"Damn, I guess I'm gonna have to list that drone as destroyed. The military never liked it if one of their drones went missing," the operator said.
Suddenly, the view screens came online for a short moment. They saw a blizzard going on and snow was flying everywhere.
"Well, that explains it," Spyro said.
Suddenly, they saw something shuffling through the storm. Only the silhouette can be seen and it had a yellow glow where the head was supposed to be. After that, the view screen turned into static and went black.
"Transmission confirmed dead. What was that?" the operator asked.
No one said anything. Whatever it was, it was certainly unnatural.
"I dare not say anything because I'm not sure what the hell it is. We're not really interested in that because we're looking for Argus," Cynder said.
"Right," the operator nodded and wiped a sweat bead away.
Outside of the castle courtyard, the elders held a small meeting. Terrador and Volteer sat on the left side of the garden table while Ifrit and Crystella sat on the opposite side. Crystella was an icy blue dragoness with the power of ice. She was elected to replace Cyril as the next ice elder. In fact, she was Cyril's sister.
"The items missing, Wolfenstein missing and soul gems being illegally harvested…something is at play here and I think that Argus is involved," Terrador said.
"It's always Argus isn't it? I mean, he is the most wanted after all," Volteer said quickly.
"It could be Wolfenstein. During the festival, I noticed that he was acting strangely but before I can reach to him, the attack began," Ifrit said.
"Maybe the two are in cahoots with each other," Crystella said.
"It could be a possibility but we can't be sure without evidence. Spyro won't like us going around accusing someone without solid evidence," Terrador said.
"Didn't Collette collect evidence in the Sacred Room when the incident of break-ins first occurred? Wolf hair mixed with ape hair…it is clear that they are helping each other. There was no sign of the wolf guards defending the door and no signs of struggle and that says it all," Crystella said grimly.
"Your deduction is just as close as Tiberus'. He also thinks that Wolfenstein and Argus are collaborating with each other but he can't be too sure since the evidence wasn't enough," Ifrit interjected.
"But we all know that Tiberus' deductions and assumptions are always close to the mark. Given his remarkable deduction skills, it could be true," Volteer said.
"Does the Pool of Vision have anything to say about it?" Terrador asked Volteer.
"Well…I saw nothing but an old, rundown church located in some snowy place. At the end of the church was an altar that was covered with dried blood. I'm a sorry guy, that is all I saw," Volteer said.
"An old church in a snowy place? I've never known any churches in our realm. All of us build temples," Ifrit said.
"But many centuries ago during the human-dragon war, our ancestors do build churches to honor the gods of old. Many old celestial god dragons such as Titan, Polaris and Draconia have their worshippers build churches but those practices were dropped when Spyro initiated the start of the Fourth Age of dragons. Maybe it is an old human church that existed centuries ago," Crystella said.
"You're good in history, Crystella. Tell us some of the most notable churches of old," Terrador said.
Crystella took out a small notebook and referred to it. There were 5 churches listed in her notebook and each of them was described in detail.
"There are 5 notable churches of old. The Church of Titan located in Warfang but was destroyed, the Church of Draconia located in present day Skyrim but also destroyed, the Church of Zexir located in Halcyon but destroyed as well, the Church of Helm located in Schrim and the Church of Polaris located on the Waldreich Mountains. Only the last two churches are preserved to present day and both of them are located in snowy places. It could be one of them," Crystella said.
"Hmm…this is a rather risky thing. Both have been reputed to be places for occultists to practice their dark arts and both are in equally dangerous places. The Church of Helm is located on the top of Mt. Schrim while the Church of Polaris is located on a small snow plain located just a few hundred meters below the four peaks of the Waldreich Mountains. This plain connects to all 4 mountains and the only way that leads to the top of the plain has been cut off," Terrador said.
"If it isn't the Waldreich Mountains, it has to be Mt. Schrim. It is the only accessible church," Ifrit added.
Terrador tapped the table with his sharp claw and thought about it.
"I think we should pay a little visit to Collette. Maybe she can offer some answers," Volteer said after 2 minutes of silence.
A/N: What is your pick? Mt. Schrim or the Waldreich Mountains?