XXIII

THE PAST ARC is Finally DONE!

The sun shined brightly above the adult Ignitus. The dragon stood alone at the graves of his old friends with a melancholy expression. He couldn't cry anymore, he'd done enough of that in the past. They say all good things must come to an end, but he wished these two hadn't face their own ends in such horrible ways. They didn't deserve their deaths, especially not in the way that they happened, but, this is life around he and the Guardians. No one was ever around for long, whether they left by choice or we practically ripped away from them.

Their gravestones were simple, granite carved into a rectangular bottom with a rounded top, very similar to other gravestones. These, however, were much larger than normal, and had the shapes of their respective tail-blades carved into either sides of the gravestones; Karaia's crescent moon blade, and Eozack's spade-shaped one (he never understood why he got that particular blade).

Ignitus was destroyed inside when Eozack had revealed to him that Karaia had died at the hands of Figura. Guilt swallowed him up when he didn't take notice of her strange behavior, which should've been an indication that something was wrong. Her life might have been saved that way, yet, she was dead, likely a corpse chained up somewhere far, where no one could ever recover and properly bury her body. He felt like he was no friend to her at all, having betrayed her himself.

The pain was multiplied tenfold when he heard years after Eozack had left to join the fight, that the dragon had passed. He had passed from a stab wound, filled with a rare Wyvern poison that killed in only seconds. How the opposing army managed to get such a potent substance both dumbfounded and terrified him, but he couldn't dwell on that for very long, because the sadness he felt was almost equivalent to that of him losing his parents many years ago.

"I couldn't have ever hoped for better guardians, or better friends. May the both of you rest in peace." He managed a smile as the memories of the two in times of happiness and peace flooded into his mind.

He started on the short walk back to the temple on the dirt path. He wanted to escape reality, if only for a moment. Spyro hadn't returned, and he and the others were becoming worried. Hopefully, the young dragon returned before long, or else they'll have to assume that something had happened to him.

Spyro boredly watched another battle from his cell. From what he'd heard, his next opponent was to be another dragon, this time though, it'd be a female. He really didn't want to fight anyone, especially those of his own kind.

"Yo, Dragon..."

Spyro turned to the guard who awaited outside his door, with a sour look on his face.

"Your turn..."

...

To say that Spyro didn't expect this would be an embarrassing understatement. He knew he'd be facing a dragon, but... her?

"BEGIN!"

Cynder wasted no time, darting for him with a roar. Spyro rolled, dodging her horns. But she spun in place, slashing his legs with her tail blade. Shouting in pain, he fell, faceplanting into the wood. That was fast.

"Ow."

Cynder looked disappointed. "Is that all?"

He smiled. "Not at all."

She was flung back at the strength of the bomb he spat at her, body crashing against the arena's wall. Her vision cleared, and the Purple Dragon stood, bleeding in his legs, but having a confident look on his face. 'I guess this could be fun after all.'

She arose to her legs, shaking over the pain in her back. "You giving me a real fight now? Not that schoolyard scuffle you gave that over dragon?"

"I am no weakling. It's time I started thinking believing so."

Spyro had heard about her before. He knew of the powers she once possessed as well. He'll have to awaken them again, somehow, and use them to his own advantage.

"RAH!" He fired shards of ice at her, intentionally aiming only at her legs. The dragoness took flight. Her followed her, keeping his shards steadily aimed at her. To his surprise, she spun in the air, using her wings as protection from the barrage of ice.

Feeling his mana drop, he stopped the barrage. Cynder saw her chance, plummeting from the air, aiming to crash into him. Spyro jumped back before she could, and she landed hard on her paws, shaking the arena around them. The crowd continued to howl in excitement around them, and even the Captains and Commanders were beginning to enjoy the show.

The two dragons began to circle each other, keeping each others eyes on the other.

"You're a surprisingly good fighter, Cynder. Who would've thought?"

Cynder narrowed her eyes. "You learn things when you've been trapped in such a place."

Spyro stopped circling, and she copied. "You don't have to stay here, y'know."

"Ain't it obvious that I don't have a choice? Nobody's going to help me escape, and those guards will make me suffer if I try."

Spyro's expression became a serious one. "I can change that."

She served him her best glare with her green emeralds. "Oh really? How?"

"Your shadow ability. If we can use it, we could escape the ship, and fly back to the ground."

Cynder shook her head. "I can't. I haven't used my powers in so long that they've gone dormant. Besides, I'd just go right back to stealing food and fighting for my life again, every single day until I die."

"No you don't. In exchange for helping me escape, I'll give you a place to stay and a way to make money. I'm sure the Guardians can pull a few strings."

Cynder gave him a hopeful look, but it quickly switched back to a glare. There was no way he could be telling the truth. If she learned anything in her life, it was not to trust others in situations like these, where it's freedom or slavery. He's the purple dragon! Why would he keep his promise to someone like her?

She growled at him. "You're lying!"

Spyro met her attacks in melee in surprise. She'd caught him off guard though, and she managed to inflict more damage with her attacks. Spyro knocked her away from him to catch his breath, but with an angry roar, she was on her feet again, and was charging at him for another round.

"No! I'm not trying to deceive you. If you help me, we can both escape to safety and freedom! You won't have to fight and steal just to survive!"

"Go to hell!" She halted. "What if you deceive me after all?! What THEN?! I'd rather spend my life up here, with idiotic pirates! At least I'm fed and don't have to spend all my time running."

"But-"

"NO. You have a life, you have someone who expects you to be home, and loves you, and truly cares! No matter where I go, or what I do, I'LL NEVER HAVE THAT!"

'Sorry, Cynder. Just a little more...'. "We will protect you, and care for you, I promise-"

"SHUT UP! I want you silenced, now!"

Unconsciously, she sunk into her own shadow before her. She disappeared completely from the ring, and the crowd actually quieted down in confusion. The Captains leaned forward, trying to look for her in the arena. The only one who wasn't wrapped in a blanket of confusion was Spyro himself.

His forehead exploded in pain, but his smile stuck. Tumbling a few feet back, he was met with the shaking form of Cynder herself. An aura of black leaked off her body like it was smoke, and dissipated within seconds. Her eyes were at first black, but they gradually returned to green.

"Wha... how did I...?"

"Emotion."

She caught his eyes, utterly confused and astonished. "W-what?"

"A common way to bring out a dragon's element, among others, is pure emotion. Sadness, fear, distress, or anger, any emotion that can radiate power. I'm surprised it didn't happen to you sooner, but that's in the past.

She couldn't believe it. Her powers, gone for so long, were back. She could feel them right then, coursing through her body like it had never left. She was a dragon, again, a true one.

She couldn't even form words anymore. However, she didn't have much time to form any anyway. The ship was suddenly rocked, and an explosion hit her ears. The crowd screamed in terror from the explosion. Within seconds, they were falling, weightless.

'What's going on? That wasn't part of it!' Spyro tried to flap his wings, and get out of the ship before it crashed into the ocean. He saw Cynder do the same, and together, they attempted to fly through the open roof above.

Bad Idea.

Somehow, the shockers still worked above them. They learned this much too late, and before they knew it, they were flipping around in the open sky, electricity coursing through them, with the ship somersaulting below them in chaos.

Spyro tried to recover, but it was useless. The shock was too much for him, and he blacked out.

He awoke later, still exhausted and tired. He didn't know how, but he ended up in the forest now, less than a mile from the city.

Cynder stared at him, standing above him, an expectant look on her face. He groggily got up and onto his feet, returning her stare.

"Your welcome."

"T-thanks..." he then frowned. "But, why did you-"

Cynder turned away from him. "If you're lying, I'll send you through a shadow that'll lead you to a volcano. You owe me, now."

'What! I re-awoke your powers, you saved us both, and now I owe you?!'

Spyro sighed. "Well, I did say I would help you. But right now, that doesn't matter."

"What?! So you're already going to go back on your word?!"

"No."

Spyro observed the carnage in the skies. Cynder calmed down and joined him. Before their eyes, the ships dropped, one by one, all after being struck with a strange blast of pure black energy. The screams and shouts of terrified pirates were drowned out by the laughter of apes. Even the slowest grublins could deduce just who was the source of the laughs.

Gaul. He didn't know how, or why, but the Ape King was here.

Ack. SO HARD to find inspiration to execute some of these scenes in the chapters, but this one is out. A little early to. So, the first and final battle against Gaul will begin tomorrow, only, how will they fare?

It is the beginning of the end. If all goes well, it will all be over on or before 9/20/15, the final day of actual Summer. Lol.

Thanks for reading!