Chapter 19: The Defiled Church
Time was running out fast and two days ago, Spyro and the others fell into a trap and it took them one they to get out. It was close to midnight on the day when the planets in the system will align. That means they only have 3 hours left.
"If you had seen that stupid floorboard, we wouldn't have fallen into that trap hole," Cynder said.
"Well, sorry if I hadn't seen it when you're busy asking me to run," Sven shot back.
After running up a spiral stairway, they reached a great wooden door. Sven pushed it open and in that instant, cold air blasted at their faces.
"At last, we have reached the church," Spyro said.
The church was ruined with many parts of the building cracked and crumbled. Remarkably, it was still intact in many other parts. What caught Spyro's attention was the scenery around the church. Surrounding the church were the peaks of the 4 mountains, standing tall and they looked like castle turrets. The night sky was clear and one lone star shone in the sky so ever brightly. It has to be Polaris.
"I never knew the scenery on this small highland could be so beautiful at night. Too bad Argus has decided to ruin it all," Collette said.
"That is why we're gonna ruin his resurrection ceremony. Let's pick up the pace; we don't have much time left," Spyro said.
They didn't need telling twice so they ran across the snowy plain. The church was quite far from them and Sven looked at his watch.
"30 minutes left. We may still have time to reach the church," Sven panted.
They ran into a few apes but the 4 of them quickly dispatched them and quickly ran towards the church. Argus was standing near the window of the church and stared outside. He saw someone fighting and he just smiled.
"I see that your parents are here along with a human warrior and the Prime Minister. They prove to be more resilient than I thought," Argus said to Juno.
"If that is the case, then I guess you have no chance of winning against them," Juno smiled cruelly.
"I wouldn't count on it. By the time they finish off the guards, it will be a bit too late. Now, I'm going to prepare for the final stages before the alignment happens. With the gems crushed into fine powder and the Heart of Vitality crushed into pieces, all we need now," Argus said and took out the ceremonial dagger, "is the blood of a virgin dragoness and the needed incantation from the magic tome. Just as the beam falls on the chalice, all I need to do is to summon Malefor's spirit after the incantation," Argus said as he approached Juno menacingly.
"Tell me monkey man, what do all these items do?" Juno asked.
"You're one curious dragon. Fine, I'll tell you since you won't have long to live…perhaps. These gems have spiritual energy in it and to bring someone back from the dead, that is most required. As for the Heart of Vitality, this will act as an artificial heart for the forming spirit so that it may exist and materialize in the world of the living. As for the chalice, it is the Golden Chalice transmutated into silver to hide its magical properties. It was hard turning it back into gold but I still managed it in the end. While it was silver, it displayed some magical properties and I'm sure your father has experienced it," Argus said.
"Come to think of it…I think he did. He said it was always cold and one time, he said blood poured out of it but disappeared after that," Juno muttered.
"The true purpose of the chalice is to grant the owner a wish but only if it involves bringing someone back to life. This is the chalice of life, not some chalice with a genie in it. I'm surprised that the ancient humans have better understanding than you dragons," Argus sneered.
Juno just remained silent. Argus looked at the sky and saw that the planets were aligning fast. The first ones to align were the two moons that nearly caused the eternal night followed by the planet Tritus.
"It has begun," Argus smiled evilly.
Spyro had just whacked away a guard when they saw the celestial bodies aligning. He felt a lot of dark energy accumulating and he knows what is going to happen.
"Forget about the guards! We have to go now!" Spyro yelled.
"I'm right behind you," Sven said.
The four formed a line and dashed towards the church. Collette created a defensive aura around them that bounces anything off that tried to hit them. Sven looked at his watch again and his eyes widened.
"30 seconds!" he yelled.
"Run!" Cynder said.
They closed in on the church with 20 meters left to the entrance.
"20 seconds!"
Argus stabbed Juno in the stomach and blood spurted from her wound. She yelled in pain and tears flowed from her eyes.
"10 seconds!"
Spyro and Cynder dashed ahead of Sven and Collette and burst through the church door. Argus was waiting for them and smiling evilly.
"You're a little late, purple dragon. Blood has been spilt and the alignment has been completed. All I need now is the incantation and the wish to bring Malefor back," Argus said.
The planets aligned at the same time and a beam of dark powers struck the altar. Magic sparkles surrounded the chalice and the contents glowed green.
"Stop him now!" Spyro yelled.
Suddenly, two very large apes got in the way. Each of them was armed with gigantic clubs with spikes on it and giant metal shields. They glared menacingly at Spyro.
"Meet Jorg and Yorg, my two powerful generals. They're gonna take pleasure in smashing you into a pancake," Argus said.
"Wait, Yorg is the one with the eye patch," Jorg said.
"Boss, you got us mixed up," Yorg replied.
"Doh, I don't care! Just finish them off while I complete the incantation!" Argus said irately.
The two apes nodded and smashed their clubs down on Spyro. Being a small dragon, Spyro easily dodged the blows and the ground where he once stood cracked and fissured.
'These guys are serious. Collette, Sven, disrupt the ceremony!" Spyro ordered.
"You got it my Lord!" Collette said.
Sven ran past the apes. Yorg swung his club at Sven but he slid on the ground and slid under the swinging club. Collette leapt over their heads and kicked them at the same time before landing behind them. Sven took out his handgun to shoot at the chalice but it bounced off a magic aura. He tried to shoot at Argus but again a magic aura protected him. Argus didn't really bother to look at any of them and he continued with his incantation.
"In that case, I'll just save young Juno," Sven told himself.
Sven found Juno lying on a bench in front of the altar. He slowly removed the dagger and treated the wound. She just clenched her teeth in pain.
"You'll be alright. Just hang on there," Sven assured her.
He was down to his last aid kit and the contents in it were not much so he had to use sparingly. He hated himself for using up his medical supplies and now a young dragon needed it. Sven got some anesthetic and slowly applied it over her wound. The strong-smelling liquid numbed her pain for now and Sven proceeded to treating the hole.
"Hold still, this won't hurt much," Sven said softly.
Sven cleaned the wound with alcohol before taking out a surgical needle to sew up the wound slowly. Juno gasped a bit in pain.
"Hang on, you'll be alright," Sven whispered.
After a few minutes, the wound was closed up and Sven cut the remaining thread. He smiled at his handiwork and dusted his hands.
"That wasn't so bad for a rookie medic. Dr. Anthony will be proud of me," Sven grinned.
Juno was out cold and Sven let her rest. It was surprising that Argus didn't ask his men to bother him. Maybe he was just lucky…again.
"Now to settle the score with the big boys," Sven muttered and went back to fighting the large apes.
Spyro had defeated the first ape Jorg and now Yorg was the only one left. Cynder and Spyro attacked it relentlessly and kept the ape off balance. Sven came and attacked from behind with his handgun.
"Where is Collette?" Cynder asked.
"She's busy taking care of Juno. I've just treated her," Sven said and fired three shots at Yorg.
"Take this ape down and we'll deal with Argus," Spyro said.
Spyro's light blast broke the ape's large shield while Cynder launched three air blades at the ape, slicing him into three parts. However, Argus had already finished the incantation and he was smiling evilly at all of them.
"Malefor rises," he said.
The whole place started to shake and the beam of energy from the alignment grew brighter. Suddenly, the chalice erupted into a fountain of dark energy and there, they saw him. They saw the Dark Master's soul hovering within the dark energy and he was grinning at them.
"I live again," he said in a hollow voice.
"By the gods…so this is the famous Malefor the Dark Master," Sven muttered.
"You have served your purpose well, Argus. I thank you for that," Malefor said.
"Now that I've freed you, grant me power as you have promised," Argus said.
"Grant you powers? Hmm…oh yes, I have not forgotten," Malefor lied.
He grabbed Argus by the neck and slammed him into the wall behind the altar, knocking him out cold. He then turned to face the others.
"I never keep my promise when it comes to making deals with whelps and fools. I hope you've been having a good life, Spyro and Cynder. It has been centuries since we last met," Malefor said.
"I'm not exactly happy to see you either, Malefor," Spyro growled.
"Oh but I'm so pleased. I hope Argus hasn't been getting on your nerves," Malefor sneered.
"You have no idea," Collette muttered.
"Oh but I do. I've been watching from the Realm of the Dead and I say he is far more competent than Gaul. Unfortunately, in the end he's still just a pawn. Now that I'm back, how about I entertain you people instead of letting you guys listen to me talk nonsense?" Malefor said in a gentlemanly kind of way.
His spirit entered Juno's body and at that instant, Juno's eyes opened and it was glowing yellow with a red slit in the middle of each eye. Her body grew as large as an adult dragon and her fangs grew long. She snarled at the 4.
"Well, it seems like this body fits just nicely even if it's a girl's body. Since I'm kept alive by her blood, her spirit and mine are one. She will do my bidding far better than you, Cynder," Juno said in a voice mixed with Malefor's voice and her own.
"Don't you dare touch my daughter! I'll kill you!" Spyro said in an evil voice as darkness consumed him.
"Let your darkness take you, Spyro. I want to see if you have what it takes," Malefor taunted.
Spyro roared and charged at Malefor…or Juno. His sudden disregard for his daughter scared Cynder.
"Spyro, stop it! You'll hurt Juno!" Cynder cried out.
"If that is Juno, then she won't hurt us!" Spyro snarled at Cynder.
She was taken aback and she reeled back a bit.
"Spyro, how could you?" she whispered.
"It seems like darkness has consumed you to an even greater stage," Malefor laughed.
Sven yelled and ran towards Malefor and took out a knife to stab him but Malefor whacked him away and knocked him out cold.
"Humans nowadays are so weak, relying on non-magic things to win a fight. Compared to the ancient humans, you are but a speck of dust. You are a disgrace," Malefor spat.
Smiling, he raised his left arm into the air and the sky darkened. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as Malefor grabbed his hand into a fist.
"Come on; let's take the fight to Convexity. It's far better fighting there than in this crummy church," Malefor said and his eyes glowed red.
A lightning bolt from the sky struck them and they disappeared in a flash.