Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios.
Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra.
Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.
Summary: Its been a week since the events of Forgotten blood and the crew have returned to pick Matt up, only to find that 8 months have passed for him. It seems like Avalar is at peace till the actions of an old enemy result in the release of the very race that brought the ancients to their knees…
CPS Chronicles
Soulless Abyss
Chapter 4: Warming Memories
Dante's Freezer
Dante's Freezer was not at the top of any Avalarians list of places to visit. Usually it was quiet except for the undead creatures that called the old fortresses home. It wasn't like that today. Marines from the Bladestorm were stuck in a desperate battle with ice Heartless that were swarming the ruins. "How'd they know we were coming?" said Techo. "Does it matter at this exact moment?" yelled Matt before he blasted a Blue Rhapsody.
A scream got his attention. A Heartless like the ones that had led the catacomb ambush had shot a ball of black energy onto a marine and it was apparently swallowing him. The marine disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later, the darkness cleared, revealing a Heartless which resembled a blue cannon. The Ice Cannon then started firing on its former teammates with freezing blasts. That stopped when Matt hit it with a fiery plasma blast.
"Techo...is that bomb ready?" said Matt. The gang had come to Dante's Freezer when they had realized that the undead would make a great source of troop power. The plan had been to collapse the fortress where Avarona's gem had been originally imprisoned...till the Heartless had ambushed the teams in the entrance hall.
"It's kinda hard to work and fight at the same time!" yelled Techo before blasting some Icy Cubes.
"Oh, stop complaining!" yelled Matt back, turning his hand to his draconic one to slash a lunging Heartless. He jumped back as a stream of various elements hit a group of approaching Heartless. Matt looked up to see Smoldron, Sonya, Cynder and Spyro fly overhead.
"It's a good thing you got here," said Matt, "We nearly got iced."
The four dragons landed, causing the Heartless to scatter in panic. The Raptor Heartless that had shot the marine could be seen yelling in a language of snarls, obviously trying to get some form of order back. "We're almost done here," said Chloe.
Sonya glanced down at the bomb Techo was working on. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked.
"Zara told us to stop this place from being a recruitment camp for the Heartless. She never stated how," said Techo, evilly.
"I don't think the undead here would appreciate that," said Sonya. Matt could be heard yelling, "THE UNDEAD CAN KISS MY ASS!" Techo said, "Matt has a kinda...grudge against undead in general." "Sure glad I'm fully alive," said Spyro to Cynder, "Hate for him to be after me."
"I don't mind some undead, but undead that try to kill me can expect nastiness," said Matt, shooting a Heartless peeking in before walking over to the bomb where Smoldron was also looking now. "Look...you've crossed the wires...just...oops," he said as the bomb started beeping.
Techo glared, "That's why I DO the technical stuff," as a countdown appeared, starting from 1 minute.
Just then, the Raptor Heartless started to charge the group, a ball of darkness forming in its mouth. It was followed by about 2 dozen regular heartless, all shooting. The group ran for the other exit, shooting as they went.
Matt had also made it when he heard a cry and turned to see Smoldron had been hit in the wing by one of the darkness balls. He and Sonya ran back inside. Matt blasted several Heartless while Sonya ran over to Smoldron. "Oh no, get up, we've got to go," she whimpered. Smoldron winced as wisps of darkness started floating around him. "No, I'm not losing you like that," said Sonya, "You have to fight it." "Erm...bomb?" said Matt.
--
Chloe and the others came to a halt and tried to rest. "They're not following. Where's the captain?" said Techo. A second later, a fireball blew out the door as well as smashing the ice covering the dozens of windows linking to the room where the bomb had been before the doorway collapsed in a pile of rubble.
Chloe looked panicked before Techo said, "I don't think they were close enough to the bomb to be hurt. But their only way out's been closed."
The remaining Heartless came into view, looking at the rubble before glaring at them. "GET THOSE LITTLE CREEPS!" yelled Chloe.
--
Meanwhile, Matt and Sonya were tending to Smoldron. "We better keep him warm," said Matt, as he lit a warm orb of plasma in his hand and held it close to Smoldron. "Too bad we don't have anything to burn," said Sonya.
Matt sighed before taking off his coat and shifting to dragon form. "Then again..." he said and breathed a stream of plasma flame onto it. In the light of the new fire, Matt and Sonya could see the darkness balls energy had covered Smoldron's entire wing and was creeping down his left front leg.
"Oh, that is not good," said Matt, "We need to bring him out of that coma he's in or he's gonna lose his heart."
Smoldron opened his eyes. The gaze was straight ahead, almost zombified. "Sonya, we gotta do something. That stuff's eating his memories. We got to keep him awake and aware. You've known him longer," he said. There were footsteps from a corridor and Matt turned to see several of the undead, one a bit singed...and all angry. They were just waiting. "What should I do?" asked Sonya.
"Um, try to remind of good things like, I don't know, how you two first met," said Matt. He paused and said, "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard that story." Two of the undead however seemed to have decided the trio were too lively and were walking forward, blades ready. "You talk, I'll keep gate crashers away," he said. Sonya nodded, "Smoldron...Smoldron? Do you remember when we first met?"
--
Two Avalarian weeks after the events of Soul Gem 1...
Sonya flew behind the three Elders. It had been a fortnight since Matt had left in the Maelstrom Star and the Elders and Sonya had been clearing out the last of Malefor's grublin minions. Despite their master's demise, several had remained and the fortnight had been spent getting rid of them.
They had recently heard of a nest of grublins hiding in some caverns near the land that Malefor used as his main base. They were flying over there to deal with them.The small group landed in front of the caverns just as the grublins charged out, weapons at the ready. However, several charged back into the caverns instead.
"They're guarding something here," said Terrador, "That's why they haven't left. We shall deal with these and then proceed to whoever or whatever's in there."
Sonya said, "They might have destroyed whatever they're guarding by them. I'll go deal with them," and ran into the cavern after the grublins before the Elders could react.
The grublins Sonya was chasing came to a stop in a room decorated with several dozen dark crystals like the ones used to corrupt Cynder. Two more grublins came in, dragging a young dragon between them. "The master's enemies are close. We must do the ritual now," hissed the apparent leader.
Sonya wasn't sure what ritual they were talking about. But since it involved an unwilling dragon being involved, it couldn't be anything good. Then again, having grublins doing anything couldn't be good either.
The young dragon was pushed in between the gems and cowered in place, as far from the grublins as he could.
The lead grublin was about to start when Sonya leapt out and sent a scream of ice into it, flash-freezing the luckless minion.The grublins immediately went on the offensive. They started throwing spears and poisonous needles at Sonya, but her icy breath froze them all in midair before crystallizing the grublins themselves.
She walked past them smugly. "NSC training has alot going for it," she said to herself smugly, smashing a grublin with her tail as she passed it on the way to the new dragon. "Hey there," she said cheerfully.
The dragon flinched away from her. When she got a good look at him, she saw that he was a fire dragon about her age. He also had a close resemblance to Matt, only his captivity's made him rather thin.
"Don't worry, I'm not with those icicles. I'm here to help," she said.The dragon didn't flinch, but he still looked scared. Sonya noticed his malnourished appearance and asked, "How long have they kept you here?"The dragon shrugged. Sonya stopped as realization dawned. This dragon must have been hatched here...like Cynder had been. "Poor guy, don't worry. These guys are toast," she said.
The doors flew open and a grublin flew across the room to smash into gems on the opposite wall. Terrador came in behind it, his paws still glowing from the earth shot he'd used. "Sonya? We found dragon eggs..."He looked at the fire dragon who had been chained down to the ritual platform. "Poor thing," said Terrador, his voice thick with sympathy, "As if the destruction those grublins cause isn't bad enough, but enslaving hatchlings?"
"Not just enslaving them," said Sonya, "Rearing them to be slaves."
Terrador looked up to see the dark gems lining the wall. "Cynder's replacement...even from the grave he treats hatchlings like tools," he muttered, before using earth power to break the chains. The hatchling immediately fled behind a pillar.
Just then, Volteer came in. "Terrador, wonderful news! The unborn hatchlings that those rapscallion simians have absconded have been repossessed!"
Terrador and Sonya looked confused, as was the usual reaction to Volteer's warp speed speech. "Erm...I think he found some dragon eggs," tried Sonya.
"But I thought the apes smashed them years ago," said Terrador.
"Clearly, they were stockpiling them to use for a future army," said Cyril as he stepped in.
Sonya said, "We found the first future recruit. He's got PPST," before walking slowly towards the hiding dragon.
"Er, what's that?" asked Terrador.
"Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome," said Sonya, "His captivity made him a nervous wreck. It'll take some time for him to recover, if ever."The dragon hatchling had obviously got some courage as he spat a half-hearted fireball at Sonya. "Wow...guess he's not totally catatonic," she said, dodging it.
"Yes, but he'll need time to heal," said Cyril, "His scars would run very deep. It would be best for him if he left this cave."
The young dragon seemed to slip into a trance. "Can't leave...master'll get angry...punish me again," he said in a terrified voice, backing up even further.
Volteer looked sympathetically at him. "His trauma is indeed very grave. The boy will require much social time with a healthy peer."
Sonya said, "You've got lots to do. I could look after him."
"Sonya, this is not a task to take lightly," said Terrador, "A dragon in his condition could be a danger to himself and others. Also, you do not have as much experience with dragonkind."
"Someone has to look after him, plus he's quite literally the only one my age," she said."Just be careful with him," said Cyril, "He's only known these dark caves. There's no telling how he'd react to anything foreign.""We'll be fine," she said, smiling at the hatchling.
--
Just then, Matt finished fighting off the last of the undead soldiers. "You know...next time I go shopping...I'm getting some undead fighting weapon...like an enchanted sword or something," panted Matt. A third zombie clocked him over the head with a warhammer. "Or a thicker helmet," gibbered Matt.
Sonya turned and shot an icicle through the ribcage of the zombie. It didn't kill it, but it pinned it to the wall.
"Nooooobody knows...the headaches I've had…" gibbered Matt, his eyes spinning.
Smoldron's condition still wasn't good. Darkness still swirled around him, but it didn't seem to progress. His eyes didn't look as glazed, but there wasn't any emotions behind them. "Urgh...I remember...I was so frightened…" he muttered, his eyes flickering.
"Well, that didn't last so long," said Sonya, "Remember when I was showing around Warfang for the first time?" Smoldron nodded weakly.
--
Sonya had finally gotten the young dragon to talk. The grublins had named him Smoldron. She was showing him around the city. "I know it a bit run down. We had a problem with a small army," she said.
Smoldron was amazed. He had never seen any sort of building before. Now he was surrounded by large buildings on all sides. "Do all dragons live in cities?" he asked."I don't know. I haven't been one for very long," she said absently.Smoldron looked confused but then spotted a group of moles working on a wall. "What are those things?" he asked.
"Oh, those are the moles. They live here too," said Sonya, silently sighing with relief that Smoldron hadn't fled screaming at her slip up.
"Really? Do they rule over us?" asked Smoldron, who was having trouble grasping that dragons weren't a second-class species.
"No. Course not. They built this city for us...I think. I always sucked at history," said Sonya.Smoldron looked at Sonya and asked, "So, how long have you lived here?""A few months," said Sonya, "It's a nice place...or it will be once we've fixed the place up.""I hope the people here are as nice as you," said Smoldron."Don't worry, they are," said Sonya, smiling again.
A little while later, the three Guardians came to see how Smoldron was progressing.Sonya said, "He's a little timid. He's convinced we're slaves. Just managed to get him off that track of mind," before noticing a fire dragoness. "Who's that?" she asked
"Since we've lost Ignitus, we need a new Fire Elder," said Cyril, "This is his replacement, Zara."Sonya looked at Zara. "Nice to meet you," she said.
Zara snorted and said, "There's something wrong with this dragon. Is she the foreigner you told me about?"
Sonya glared and said in an icy tone (and this was something she was getting good at), "This foreigner can talk for herself."
Zara ignored her and looked at Smoldron. "Well, at least we have some fire dragons here. But where has he been? He looks like he's been trapped in a cave all his life."
Sonya glared. "That's because he has, sister," she said, her tone now practically an ice age all by itself.
Zara glanced at Terrador who explained, "We found him and several dragon eggs in the clutches of the grublins. Apparently, they've been preparing to use them as an army."
"The boy will require much time to recuperate from his traumatic ordeal," said Volteer, "We hypothesized that extended experience with a peer of average health should increase his rate of recovery dramatically."
Zara said, "But she's not even as proper dragon. We all remember the trouble humans caused. I hear it was a human who let the generals loose."
Sonya growled and the air temperature dropped rapidly. "Well, I'm not human anymore and I can never be again. But even if I were, I'd still be a better influence on him than you," snarled Sonya, wisps of icy mist escaping from her mouth.
Cyril said, "Sonya, you're still not used to your abilities." Sonya glared but the ice mist stopped emerging. Smoldron however was staring in terror.
Sonya looked at Smoldron and noticed his scared expression. "Sorry," she said, "I just got a little angry."
Smoldron however backed up, frightened into silence. Zara said ,"Hmm...I can see what a good job you're doing."
Sonya glared back at Zara and said, "I was doing fine until you shoved your big snout in it."Cyril, with great sense of mind, said, "Why don't I show you the temple, Zara?" "I would glad to see it," said Zara as the Elders walked away.Sonya sighed before turning to Smoldron. "Sorry about that...Smoldron?" she said
Smoldron was shaking. "You looked so...scary," he said.
"I know, I'm really sorry about that. I shouldn't have gotten angry," said Sonya.Smoldron calmed down a bit. "You really had it hard," said Sonya sadly.
"When someone gets angry, it means pain," said Smoldron, "That's what happened with my masters."
"Your masters can't bother you ever again," said Sonya, thinking angrily of her time trapped as a voice in Avarona's head."Are you sure?" asked Smoldron."I was there when Malefor was got rid of," said SonyaSmoldron's eyes widened. "The Dark Master is gone?" he asked.
Sonya nodded and said, "Yes, I helped get rid of him along with Spyro, Cynder, and Matt. Would you like me to tell you about them?"
Smoldron nodded. He'd heard some of the grublins speak of Spyro and Cynder when he had been in prison. he presumed Matt had been the 'annoying psycho' mentioned. "Ok," said Sonya, "Let me take you back when me and Matt first came to this world..."
--
Matt said, "So...what did you say about me?" he said in an accusing voice. "Well, I described most of your notable qualities, in a positive light," said Sonya. "And the rest?" said Matt. Sonya winced and said, "I was honest." Matt sighed, "That's not good."
"Well, what would you want me to say? That you were some space-faring paladin here to fight for justice and vanquish evil?" asked Sonya. Matt said simply, "Yes...you coulda left out the fact that I'm a little...nuts. It looks bad on a resume."
"Well, you should be happy to know that Smoldron took you up as his role model," said Sonya, "He wanted to be as strong physically and mentally as you. And he definitely made rapid progress with that, didn't you Smoldron?" Smoldron nodded weakly. "Yeah," he said, cracking a grin.
Matt sighed. "Oh boy...so what happened and how much property damage occurred?"
--
Part of Smoldron's recovery was to get him back into physical shape. Fortunately, there was a training area just suited for that. However, Sonya was a bit worried that Smoldron might have been too influenced by her stories about Matt.
The main clue to this was the new 'windows' that a few over-enthusiastic fireballs had caused, one of which had nearly hit her...hence why she was almost frozen in shock. "Ok...you've got the hang of fireballs...now we work on the aim," she said weakly.
"I don't think I've heard of that word," said Smoldron, "What does it mean?"
"Neither had Matt," muttered Sonya.To Smoldron, she said, "Ok, now instead of just flinging fireballs at random, try to hit the target with them."
The ape dolls for the first time in history had actually been hiding up to this point: a first and proof that dummies they may be, idiots they were not.
"But how can I hit them when they're moving?" asked Smoldron. "Just run after them," said Sonya.
The dummies tried to flee when Smoldron started chasing after them with a laugh that made Sonya's mind turn to thoughts of Matt.Now that she really thought about it, Smoldron resembled Matt in several ways. The bigger differences was that he was larger, more in control of himself, had somewhat more dignity, and he looked really cute.
Smoldron appeared to be doing ok, until a dummy landed a retaliatory strike and he cringed back."It's ok," called Sonya, "No pain, no gain.""As if there was any gain to be perceived," said a voice. Sonya turned to see Zara walking in."Oh, what do you want, creep?" said Sonya.
"To take over Smoldron's training," said Zara, "An ice dragon cannot train a fire dragon as well as another fire dragon.""I know more about combat then you do," said Sonya, smugly.Zara looked at Sonya like she said an amusing joke. "Can you back that up?" she said.
"6 years in Executive Genetics' private security, 4 years in Black 13 PMC, 2 in the NSC military rapid response force, and a year as pilot of the Maelstrom Star," said Sonya, even more smugly"I see, but how much of that is applicable to a dragon?" said Zara.
"I helped Spyro beat Malefor," Sonya said, dropping what she thought was a conversation stopper."Hmm, well, your fighting ability is impressive," admitted Zara, "But how good are your teaching skills?""I'm a professional," said Sonya, just as a piece fell down from one of the holes behind her.
"A professional at what?" said Zara, "Collateral damage?""Nope, I'm a mercenary," she said before looking behind her, "Though I admit the similarities are there.""I still think Smoldron should train with me," said Zara, "You're an ice dragon. Ice is the opposite of fire. How could you possibly train him if you use completely different elements?"
"You should have seen the interesting tricks me and Matt pulled by combining fire and ice," said Sonya, glaring. Zara raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" she asked. "A whirlwind once, a lightning storm was another one too," said Sonya, tactfully leaving out that the storm had taken to zapping Matt more often than villains.
"Hmm, could give a demonstration of this combination?" asked Zara in a tone which clearly meant she didn't believe a word of it. "No, Matt's currently several thousand lightyears and several dimensions away...and he didn't leave a contact number," said Sonya before looking at Smoldron.
"Well, there's another fire dragon. I think he'd be able to work just as well. Unless this technique doesn't actually exist," said Zara. Sonya wandered over to Smoldron and whispered in his ear.Smoldron gulped and said, "You sure about this?" "Trust me," said Sonya.
Sonya aimed a stream of ice into the middle of the room while Smoldron did the same with a stream of fire. Slowly the two breaths circled each other, making a corkscrew of clouds form above it.Zara looked on with surprise. "Huh, I thought you were bluffing for a minute," she said.
Sonya looked smug and put a wing round Smoldron, who was also looking smug. "See? It's a whirlwind...oh..." she said, before realizing what she'd just said.The small tornado grew in size and power.
Very soon, the practice dummies were flying through the air.Sonya wore the same stubborn look that Matt would have had in her place. "It's meant to do that," she said."Well, I think-" Zara didn't get to tell what she thought because one of the flying dummies slammed into her head. She was knocked onto the ground, totally out cold.
The tornado luckily vanished. "Hey, Smoldron...did I show you the sheep pens? No? LET'S GO!" said Sonya, all but dragging the bemused Smoldron out the door.
--
Matt was laughing pretty hard. "Oh man, I wish I could have been there to see that," he said.
Sonya sighed. "Well, it wasn't so much fun when Zara caught up with us."
--
Sonya and Smoldron were sitting in front of the Elders, Zara wearing a bandage and still a bit concussed, wearing a look that said her brain was a little behind on current events.
"You shouldn't have unleashed that attack in such small quarters," said Volteer, "The lack of space could have created a much more violent meteorlogic upheaval."
"Still, some good came from it. Zara's not insulting me anymore," muttered Sonya. Zara looked around. "Did someone say mah name?" she said in a slurred voice.
Smoldron said, "We're sorry, don't punish us. Sonya only wanted to prove that she wasn't lying."
"It was an accident," said Cyril, "and the damage wasn't that severe. Besides, I was started to get a little tired of Zara myself."
Zara appeared to snap out of it at this. "They nearly killed me," she snarled. Sonya just made a face at her.
"You brought it largely upon yourself," said Terrador, "You should have known how dangerous creating a storm indoors could have been."
"I didn't tell them to do it. Smoldron needs a proper training," said Zara.
"I've yet to see an incompetence of Sonya's regarding Smoldron's training," said Cyril, "The more advanced and exclusive techniques can be taught by you, but I think Sonya is more than competent enough to handle Smoldron's basic training."
Sonya stuck her tongue out at Zara. "See? The ex-human's competent."
--
Just then, Matt extinguished the plasma fire on what remained of his coat. When Sonya looked at him questionably, Matt explained, "We're starting to run low on air in here. If we kept that on, we'll run out too soon."
Smoldron nodded. "Yeah..." he said weakly. The darkness had engulfed his front arm and the wing behind it but appeared to have stopped.
"So, it sounds like it was all gravy for you guys," said Matt, sitting back down with them.
"Not really," said Sonya, "Smoldron may have been able to get stronger in body and mind, but his standing in the community wasn't very good."
--
It had been a month since Smoldron had been found and more dragons had emerged from hiding, some bringing families with them. She was walking to the temple to carry on Smoldron's training when she heard some laughter...and not the kind sort. "What the smeg?" she muttered, heading for the sound.
She headed around a corner and spotted a group of younger dragons forming a circle around Smoldron."HEY! WHAT THE FUCK'S THE BIG IDEA!?!" she yelled, running over.The other dragons didn't even turn to look at her. "Hey! Don't just ignore me! That's my friend over there!" snapped Sonya.
"What? You're with the grublin worm?" said a burly-looking earth dragon.Sonya snarled and said, "What did you call him?""He was raised by those grublins," said the earth dragon, "We gotta teach the traitor a lesson.""He is no traitor," growled Sonya, "He didn't have any choice in the matter.""Yeah, they all say that," said an unknown type of brown dragon next to the earth one.
Sonya snarled and said, "You lot have no business here. Leave at once.""Or what? You'll make us?" said the earth dragon."You think I can't?" snapped Sonya."Hah. Get lost ice princess," said the earth dragon and turned back only for a blast of ice to hit him in the back, freezing him solid.
Sonya had an aura of chilled air surrounding her. "Anyone else want to try me?" she shouted. The others looked at each other before charging her. Sonya tail whipped the first one and clawed his leg as he passed before blasting the ground in front of a second. The last one left was the brown dragon who sent a ball of green goo at her that melted the rock behind her.
As the dragon prepared to spit out another glob, but Sonya was faster and she sent a steam of ice that froze the poison just as it was appearing in the dragon's mouth. The dragon made a choking noise and coughed up the frozen poison glob in time to be clocked across the head by Sonya. The others were just getting up, trying to thaw their leader. "Go away," hissed Sonya, baring her fangs.
The dragons didn't need to be told twice and they ran off, carrying the frozen dragon with them.
Sonya made a final hiss at them before turning to see Smoldron was gone.
--
Smoldron had ran off as soon as the other dragons were focused on Sonya. His eyes burned with unshed tears as the humiliation of their taunts hurt him deeply. He ran out of the city and far into the countryside. Plus he'd been terrified when he'd seen the way that Sonya had fought.
He kept running until he came to the edge of the landmass that Warfang was on. Without a second thought, he jumped off and started flying over the gaps between the floating landmasses.
He just wanted to get as far away as possible. He could hear someone behind him calling his name.That only spurred him to fly even faster. He didn't care where he'll end up, as long as it's not where there's any more fighting.
He finally came to a stop in a barren land, a large volcano on the horizon. "Least nobody can find me here," he said before hearing someone land behind him.Smoldron flinched away until he heard Sonya's voice say, "Relax, it's me."
This didn't calm him down, her fighting technique still fresh in his memory. "Leave me alone!" he said, running for it."Smoldron, wait!" called Sonya as she ran after him.
She ran after him and ran into him on the edge of a cliff. "Now you've stopped maybe we can...oh boy," she said. The valley surrounding the volcano was a hive of activity. Sonya had never seen one in person, but she knew a construction bot jamming support girders into the bedrock when she saw one. The two dragons ducked instinctively as a dropship roared overhead to land in the middle of the construction site.
"What are those things?" whispered Smoldron.
"Not from here," said Sonya, "They're construction bots." When Smoldron looked blank, Sonya said, "They're...builders made out of metal. And it looks like they're building something."
Her eyes went wider when she spotted… '"Battle droids? They're illegal," she said angrily, spotting a dozen of the skeleton-like robots march off the dropship, followed by a human in an air mask. "Is this bad?" asked Smoldron. "If they're doing what I think they're doing, it's very bad," said Sonya, "We have to go tell the Elders about this."
There was a series of clicks behind them and an Irish-accented voice said, "I don't think so kiddies. Let's all go meet the doctor." The two dragons turned to see a dozen troopers in combat armor and holding heavy leaser rifles. Sonya growled and was about to freeze them before the same person said, "I wouldn't do that, unless you want to try breathing through new holes in your neck."
Smoldron whimpered and tried to get behind Sonya who said, "I dunno who you are but we're not going anywhere with a bunch of marauders."
The leader laughed and said, "Who said we were marauders?" and fired.
--
When Sonya woke up, but she and Smoldron were inside a metallic room. Chains were connected to collars on their necks and kept them tethered to the wall. Smoldron was also awake, but not as panicked as Sonya would have expected.
Sonya looked around. "Smoldron...are you ok?" she said, pulling on her collar. Smoldron shrugged and said calmly, "I'm chained to a wall in a room I've never seen before. I'm fine." Sonya said, "Dammit...guess Matt didn't manage to convince the Council with his story. Hope they weren't too harsh on him."
A voice echoed from a loudspeaker, "Oh, I'm not with the N.S.C, Lieutenant Adams." Sonya looked up towards the loudspeaker. "How do you know who I am?" she asked. "Your implant, all NSC forces have them, in the spinal column. I was curious as to how the NSC found us so quick...and why they sent someone who apparently died 3 years ago. But that's not for me to ask," said the voice
"Oh, then who wants to know?" demanded Sonya."My name is Dr. Gregory Johnson, head of the Empire's Bio-research division. You are Lieutenant Sonya Adams, lost when the Maelstrom star strayed into a Z class dimension within the Dragon Eye Nebula. You've definitely adapted to this world," said Dr. Johnson.
"Gee, what gave that away? My loss of hair and thumbs? My sprouting wings and a tail?" asked Sonya sarcastically.
"That and the fact that you've gone so native, you've even selected a mate from the local populace," said Johnson.
Sonya and Smoldron both went wide eyed and started making coughing noises. "I'm his teacher," she said, glaring as Smoldron started laughing his head off.
Also adding to her annoyance, Johnson was joining in the laughing. "Oh my, what would your mother think?" said Johnson mockingly."Laugh it up. I'm getting out of..." she said running head down at the door and was electrocuted by a charge in the door. "Ow..." he mumbled.
"You didn't think we came unprepared for you flying lizards, did you? You won't be able to break out of that room," said Johnson.
Johnson added darkly. "Well...not till we know how to put you in your place...""I think you'll find that we dragons don't submit that easily," said Sonya."Like I said, you've gone native," said Johnson, amusement evident in his voice.
Sonya growled and said, "When I get out of here, I'm giving you the worst case of frostbite you'll ever have."
"That's the problem. Part of my job is bio-weapons...and I will need a few...test subjects. Guess who's it," said Dr. Johnson.
Sonya looked shocked before saying, "You can't do that. There's a law against testing on sentient species."
"Dragons aren't on that list," said Johnson, "They're just mythological creatures. And I highly doubt anyone would believe you used to be human."
"You...what kind of monster employs you?" said Sonya, words failing her from anger. Johnson said, "The Emperor pays good...even if he is a bit short." Sonya looked blank at this and said, "I don't know who this emperor is, but you're no good if you're working for someone like that."
"You'll find out. Sleep well, my little test subjects," said Johnson, signing off with a nasty laugh.Sonya growled and tried to twist her head around so she could bite at her chains. "No way I'm going to be anyone's lab rat," she said.
An hour later and the door opened and two scientists in HAZMAT suits with four of the battle droids came in. One of the scientists had a vial marked 'E.X.P'. "Now...we don't think this'll hurt," said one of the scientists, grabbing Sonya.
"Get your hands off me," snarled Sonya before trying to bite them. One of the droids extended an arm and zapped her with a taser-like device. Sonya shrieked as the electricity arced over her body.
Smoldron watched in horror. Sonya had been his friend since rescuing him and now these people were hurting her for no reason. "Leave her alone!" he yelled. "Don't get your tail in a twist, we'll be getting you next," said one of the scientists.
Smoldron snarled angrily as something inside him bubbled to the surface. His eyes blazed white and he spat four arrow-shaped fireballs through the battle droids.The droids exploded with a loud bang. That distracted the scientists long enough for Sonya to freeze them in custom-made ice overcoats.
Smoldron was still snarling when he turned to look at Sonya, his eyes still glowing before the glow faded. "Sonya...are you ok?" he said, sending a burst of fire into the chain.
The fire quickly melted the chain away. "I'll be fine as soon as the moles can take off this collar," said Sonya.She sent a stream of ice into the chain, making the iron brittle enough for Smoldron to smash it. "Let's get out of here," she said, hopping smugly over the glaring frozen scientist.
"But how do we get out through that door?" asked Smoldron, looking towards the heavy metal door.
Sonya glared at the door and sent an ice fury into...and through the door. "I am not in a GOOD MOOD!" she roared."Clearly," said Smoldron, visibly shaken.
The two dragons walked into the corridor just as a siren began ringing. "Code red. Test subjects loose in sector 3. Security to move in and pacify," said an automated announcement."We have to move now," said Sonya, "They're not gonna let us by so easily."
On cue, two troopers ran round the corner. "Open fire!" yelled the leader and fired a hail of laser blasts.Sonya and Smoldron responded by shooting balls of ice and fire respectively.The troopers ran back into cover as the blasts bounced around them.
"Now's our chance, let's make a break for it," said Sonya.The group ran through the corridors, their small size allowing them to literally sometimes trip up the pursuit.
Eventually, they made it to the main gate. However, it was bolted shut and looked to thick to use a fury attack on. "How are we going to get out now?" asked Smoldron.
There was a rattling noise coming from the corridor they'd used. "Smoldron, use your breath on the door, heat it up," said Sonya. "But it won't melt," said Smoldron.
"I know, but trust me on this," said Sonya.Two metallic balls rolled into view. "Faster please," said Sonya as the 'balls' unfolded into tri-legged droids.Smoldron spouted a powerful flamethrower at the door. Like he said, it didn't melt, but it change from grey to red, then orange.The two new droids began firing at the group. "Smoldron, roast faster!" yelled Sonya, making a wall of ice between the two and the droids.The ice was thick, but the droids were steadily chipping through it with their machine guns.
When the door became bright orange, Smoldron stopped and gasped for breath. "I...don't think...I can get...any hotter," he panted.
"It's ok, my turn," said Sonya, sending a stream of ice mist into the door. The violent temperature change caused the doors to literally explode apart. "There...physics 1-0-1," she said smugly before a laser bolt just missed her.
"Let's get out of here!" called Smoldron as he spread his wings. The two of them flew out into the open air.
--
Dr Johnson looked out a window as the two dragons fled. "General Silvia's gonna be pissed," he muttered. "Send a communication, ask for instructions and send the security footage."
--
Sonya and Smoldron flew away from the base as fast as their wings could take them. They were going so hard, they nearly couldn't stop in time to avoid running into Cyril and Zara. Zara looked angry. "Where have you two been? You've been gone for two days." "It's been that long?" said Sonya with surprise, "I guess they've kept us unconscious longer than we thought." "Who kept you unconscious?" demanded Cyril.
A droid fighter flew overhead, firing a stream of alsers as it went by. "Those guys did." said Smoldron as several dozen battle droids and troopers ran into view, having even brought a AAT tank."Who are these people?" demanded Zara."I don't really know," said Sonya, "But they're not friendly."
This was confirmed as the tank fired, blowing a rock tower over their heads to boulders."That thing won't be able to get across the gap to Warfang," said Cyril, "But those flying machines can. We have to destroy them."
A larger hovering craft came into view, bristling with guns.
--
Dr Johnson looked at the small group through the feed from the gunship droids cameras as a technician ran up. "Sir, orders from the Emperor. They want you to back down. There's an NSC fleet headed for us."
Johnson looked at the technician and said, "That can't be right. The NSC think this place is a Z-class hellhole."
"Orders, the NSC found one of our ships. They've sent a full fleet," said the technician.
Johnson swore under his breath and said, "We'll have to evacuate. We cannot let them find the base. Tell all troopers we're pulling out until the NSC are gone."
--
The Elders and the two dragons were all geared for the onslaught when suddenly the ships began to turn away. "What are they doing?" said Zara, angrily."If I had to guess, they're pulling out," said Sonya.
"But why?" asked Smoldron, "They have the upper hand.""Never look luck in the mouth," said Sonya as the last fighter vanished from view.
Then Zara turned towards the young dragons and said, "You had a lot of nerve running off like that. Do you know how much of a panic you caused when you were gone? And now we find you two-" "Using excellent teamwork and cooperation," interrupted Cyril, "Zara, have you noticed that Smoldron doesn't seem shaken at all now?"
Zara looked at the confident expression on Smoldron's face. "Yes..." she said, "I suppose Sonya has helped him in that aspect."
"I'm sorry about running off," said Smoldron, "It was my fault we were gone so long." Sonya opened her mouth to explain about the bullies...and how she'd lost control when Smoldron carried on, "I wanted to explore and Sonya had to follow me. We ran into those guys."
"Well, you should have been more careful," said Cyril, "You should have brought a guide with you."
"Sonya was with me. She got the plan to help us escape," said Smoldron. "Right," said Sonya, "I'd always watch out for Smoldron."
--
Sonya said, "I said I'd always watch out for you...and I'm never going to break that word." Smoldron nodded his head slowly and said, "I know you will." Suddenly, the darkness that had been floating around him faded away.
Matt recognized a private moment and wandered off to check the rubble. Sonya hugged Smoldron. "You're ok," she said, sobbing with happiness.
Smoldron hugged her back and said, "Sonya, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'd never want to leave you."
Matt backed back out of a tunnel he'd checked. The undead appeared to have lost patience. "Erm...guys?" he said.
The skeletal warriors were now advancing with axes and swords raised. "We can't use our breath attacks," said Smoldron, "That would use up the last of the air."
"Well...been nice knowing you," said Matt to Smoldron. A rumbling was heard from the collapsed doorway. "Oh great, now it's Heartless too," said Matt. The trio ducked as the rubble exploded inwards and one of the APC's from the Bladestorm rumbled in, firing on the undead.
The three of them took a deep breath as the fresh air rushed in. "That's more like it," said Smoldron before turning and sending a torrent of flames at the undead.
Chloe, in dragon form, literally landed on a trio of advancing undead. "Ow...even I felt that," said Sonya as the furious Lynch went to town on the undead.
"Hey, can't let her have all the fun," said Matt as he turned dragon and started mauling a zombie.
Smoldron watched as the Lynches went to town on the zombies. "Wow, you weren't making up some of that stuff," he said, covering his eyes with a wing.
Smoldron was helped into the fresh air by a couple of marines with Sonya in tow. "We'd better go get the boss. Looks like he'll be here all day if we don't stop him," said one of the marines.
A skull whizzed out of the cave and landed nearby. It glared at the marines with its eye sockets and said, "Insensitive jerks."
The marines kicked it over the horizon and wandered into the cave again. Smoldron looked at Sonya. "Sonya...I...dunno how to say this," he said, nervously. "Say what?" asked Sonya.
"Well, Sonya, I've known you longer than any other dragon and you're the one I trust most of all. I'm not as great as Matt nor do I know what it's like to be human," said Smoldron. "What are you getting at?" asked Sonya.
"We have always had each other's back as long as we've known each other. I want to be for the rest of our lives. Sonya...will you be my mate?"
Sonya just stared. Smoldron gulped and said, "I know...stupid idea. Forget I..." and was stopped as Sonya kissed him. Smoldron was stunned for a minute before kissing back at her. They broke off after a minute and Smoldron asked, "Is that what human females normally do when they accept a mate?" Sonya smiled. "You could say that."
The mood was shattered a bit with another explosion and several of the ghouls ran out, running from a plasma dragon (Matt) giggling insanely.
"Erm, is there some sort of ceremony involved, because I think you'll need to wait a while before asking Matt to be best man, dragon, whatever," said Sonya. There was a cry of "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? UNDEAD...MWAHAHA!" Sonya rolled her eyes and said, "Much later."
So now you know what Sonya did in the time on avalar between the first and second soul gem saga and how she met Smoldron. (Note: though it was a couple of years for Matt…on Avalar, only a few months had passed)
Tune in next time and please leave a review.
