Legend of Spyro: Stormfront
Chapter 25
Hi guys before I start. I want to point out the wonderful cover art that RiverStyx did for this story. If anybody has not scene it, I would suggest going to her DeviantArt account to see it in full.
Cynder flew through the air high above the treetops scanning the ground below her. The sun was just rising in the distance. Cynder would have taken time to admire the red, purple and blue streaks if she had the want to. However the worries on her mind kept her from doing so.
They have to be here somewhere! her mind screamed in frustration. Why would he take her? Her body began to shake with rage, all of it directed at Spyro.
One moment she had been quietly waiting for the Guardians to return from their meeting with the opposing commander. The next, all hell had broken loose.
*.*.*
Cynder sat some distance from the camp that Warfang had mustered together, quietly watching the sunrise. None of the guards that patrolled the camp dared approach her, at least after the first one she snarled at for walking in her direction.
Cynder put her paws up to her head, racking her brain for something. She felt it. She knew she was missing something, something she was overlooking. She just couldn't remember what.
What caused him to turn on us? her mind screamed at her. What could it have been? What could have changed him so much?!
Nothing presented itself to her, and she yelled in frustration and pounded on the ground with the flat of her tail blade. If they we could only find him, they could start to form a plan. The Guardians had sent out search parties to locate them, but all had returned with not a trace. This left them in the dark with no plan and no action. She once more slapped the flat of her tail blade in frustration.
A tremendous concussion rang out. The sound felt like it would rip apart the very earth Cynder was on. She closed her eyes when the shockwave reached her. The wind itself nearly blew her over. Her hearing was completely gone, a dull monotone ringing in its place. She opened her eyes.
A bright mile high pillar of flame leapt from the center of the camp. Dragons and moles were running everywhere, many staring at the pillar of flames in shock, others milling about in panic thinking they were under attack; no one was actually fighting the fires.
Another explosion sounded, not as loud as the first, but still deafening. Cynder covered her face in her wing just in case of any shrapnel.
Cynder knew these were no random explosions. Someone had set fire to the powder for the cannons in the middle of the camp. There secret weapon against the colonial dragons was obviously no secret.
Cynder leapt towards the camp, sprinting full speed towards the blaze. She began yelling commandingly at the panicked individuals who were running about. At first they ignored her, but after she shouted and yelled enough she managed to round up a group. She ordered them to follow her, and then sprinted towards the fire.
Smoke began to sting her eyes and cloud her vision. She ignored it as much as possible. By now she could feel the heat so she knew where she needed to go. The glow of the fire then entered her vision, and within in she could see the wagon train. The rear cars were missing, only wood splinters scattered everywhere from the massive explosions left. The cars farther up were on fire, their canvas covers feeding the blaze.
"Earth dragons! Throw dirt on the caravan!" Cynder yelled to any in the group behind her. "Ice dragons ice everything!"
The dragons immediately heeded her orders without question, the earth dragons throwing large mounds of soil upon each car in the caravan. The ice dragons were spraying everything they could with a thick coat of frost.
Cynder was running from group to group offering encouragement, and doing whatever she could to make sure the dragons kept going. She knew her elements would be no help here, in fact they would make it worse, but she did what she could.
"Keep it up!" She yelled to ice and earth dragons that were battling the flames. She was running to the next group of dragons when she saw a shadow on the other side of a burning cart.
Cynder squinted trying to peer through the flames and smoke. She saw the fire glinting off of a set of orange-red scales. The fire swirled underneath a strong breeze, and Cynder's blood ran cold and heart froze. She realized that the orange-red scales belonged to Flare, who was slung on the back of none other than Spyro.
They locked gazes for a moment. His eyes of purple seemed cold, as if they had lost all emotion, nothing meant anything to him anymore.
Cynder felt her blood begin to boil at the sight of him. Her limbs began to tremble with rage.
She screamed furiously, and then let her anger spill into a ferocious blast of wind. The blast sent the burning cart towards him. Spyro disappeared long before the flying carts came close to hitting him.
Cynder searched frantically looking all over for where the beast had disappeared. She felt something step beside her. She attempted to lash out with her tail as a last resort, but her tail wouldn't budge. She tried to lift her legs, but they too would not respond. She looked down to see manacles of earth pinning them to the ground. Her body froze where she stood, all her anger leaving her in an instant as fear gripped her heart. She was going to die. She knew it. His next move would end it. It would all be over. One quick movement and her life would end.
She felt something brush the back of her head. She stood rigidly in place waiting for the inevitable death stroke.
"Weak," a taciturn voice spoke softly into her ear. A screech of pure fear then resounded through her skull. Images passed through her head. Old enemies and memories of past evils were brought to life before her. She lost all focus on where she was, the images consuming her. She screamed out in horror. She saw the city of Warfang crumbled, and the valley of Avalar was burning.
She was awakened from her nightmare when a kick to her flank sent her tumbling to the ground eventually rolling to a stop. She tried to stand but a sharp pain to her side stopped her from even rising. A rib had cracked if not broken, nothing a red gem wouldn't fix, but in the middle of a fight it could be lethal. She turned her head to see Spyro already standing above her.
"Let go of me."
Cynder heard a feral snarl come from behind her. Then Flame leapt over her and jumped immediately into a battle stance between her and Spyro.
"Put Flare down!" he yelled with all his fury. He then spat a fireball at Spyro. Without a move Spyro raised a shield of convexity that blocked the attack completely.
Cynder struggled to even speak. "Flame you could hurt Flare." This seemed to snap him out of his rage for a moment, and he turned around nodding that he understood to her.
"I don't have time for this." Spyro growled, letting out another fear screech. The images again returned, and once more Cynder was terrified. She saw images of Malefor and Gaul. The two most evil beings she had ever encountered were laughing maniacally at her. She wanted to hide, to run away, but the images paralyzed her. Slowly, agonizingly her vision began to clear, the fear induced visions leaving her at last.
She could just barely make out the writhing form of Flame next to her. Spyro was nowhere to be seen.
He screamed in terror. "Flare! Flare come back!
Cynder slowly rose trying not to aggravate her wounded side, and walked as quickly as her body allowed her too over to him. She shook him saying, "Flame, snap out of it!"
He continued to writhe for a moment before his eyes burst open. "Where is she?!" he asked desperately, his face seemed to plead to her, to tell him Flare was safe.
"S-she's gone Flame, he took her." She tried to be as comforting as possible to him, but she was not Flare.
"I can't let her be taken." He stood trying to push Cynder away so he could take off.
"Flame he'll kill you! You don't stand a chance against that kind of power!" she pleaded.
"I don't care!" He shouted back, trying to push her away.
"Please Flame!" she screamed trying to hold him. "I don't want to lose another friend today," she said softly.
Flame seemed to calm down, and then he locked gazes with her. She could tell that something had changed within these past few moments. Something was different in his eyes, where once had been compassion for his teacher and friend, she sensed hatred. She could tell that this was no longer a rescue mission for him.
*.*.*
Flare sat crammed into the corner of the hot dry cell. She hadn't moved in the last few hours. Only when her limbs began to tingle from lack of blood flow would she get up and move around the space that confined her.
Sadly neither of them were earth dragons or it would have been easy for them to escape. Rey had tried several times to heat the rock into melting, however it had always ended in failure, not to mention a significantly hotter prison. His last attempt had left him particularly crestfallen, and had left him pacing in front of his obstacle.
"Will you stop that? You are going to wear away your paws."
"At least I'm trying." Rey spat back. He scowled at her before going to lie in the opposite corner. They sat in silence once more for several more minutes. Rey's only entertainment was to stare at the wall and look for any irregularities.
Finally Rey couldn't take the silence any longer. He decided he should at least try to talk to her. He looked away from the wall he had been gazing upon, and over to her.
"Look, I know you don't very much like me, but if we keep feuding we are never going to get out of here."
She snorted audibly. "And what do you plan on doing to get us out of here? Cook us alive?"
"Okay that might have not been the best plan…" Before he could continue Flare interrupted, her temper obvious and her voice demanding.
"And what gives you the right to lead? What gives you the right to be over me? What gives you the right to attack us in the first place?!" she finished yelling at him, her posture livid.
"I-I don't know," Rey responded ashamedly.
"What do you mean you don't know?! You and your friends had to take away peace, and now I'm stuck in here rotting away because of it!" She was now panting, heat escaping from her maw.
The prison door was thrown open so suddenly that both jumped back in surprise. Two dragons stood looking upon them from the outside. One of them stepped into the dark of the room. Flare's anger disappeared instantly.
Flare gasped in horror when she saw Quake standing there, a vile smirk upon his face, the dragon behind him still silhouetted in the darkness. She had a feeling she knew who it was, however.
"Follow us," Quake stated harshly. He locked eyes with Rey for a moment. Rey shrunk back for a moment in fear.
"Where are you taking him?" Flare questioned her voice pleading and desperate. I'll be alone. The words echoed around her mind for a moment. Suddenly all her feelings changed. She had to fight to keep him here, or else she would be lost in the darkness.
"You'll find out soon enough, sweetie," Quake stated manically, a vile smile spreading across his lips.
"Don't go Rey! You don't know what will happen!" Flare yelled in horror as she stamped the ground.
"He's being taken to become one of us, and you will also be one of us Flare," said Spyroas stepped into the room.
"How could you! Why are you turning on us?! We are your friends!" she cried in sheer desperation.
Spyro broke out into a fit of evil laughter. "We don't need friends, they make you weak. And when the world is gone, what will it matter?"
"W-what do you mean?" Flare asked losing her nerve, a terrible feeling creeping into her throat.
"I'm going to destroy it, Flare. Then remake it. There will be no wars, no crime, no pain and all will be perfect."
"Y-you can't do that," she said backing away slowly.
"I can do anything. I'm the purple dragon after all," he responded flauntingly.
"Now get moving, before we make this painful." Quake added.
"Don't go Rey!" she screamed in one final act of desperation.
"I-I'll go. What am I to do? Fight? I wouldn't last a minute. Just promise me you won't hurt her alone."
Flare's eyes widened. "No, there is another way Rey."
"Deal. Now before this gets anymore sappy, get moving." Quake kicked him forward with his front paw. Rey was sent stumbling into the hallway, before he was led away. Spyro stepped once more into the shadows. He turned towards Flare for a moment. Flare thought she caught a glimpse of purple eyes before the door slammed shut again, leaving her alone.
She pounded the walls of her cell in fury. She was doomed, doomed to be alone in this godforsaken pit. She slumped against the wall, sobbing, tears running down her snout and dripping to the black stone. She cried for what seemed like hours. She wanted to get away, for someone to rescue her, but she knew none would come.
Suddenly she heard the sound of falling footfalls, and panting as if someone was running for their life.
"Flare!" Rey's voice called from outside the prison.
Flare jumped up leaping for joy at the sound of his voice. "What—" she began but was cut off by Rey's frantic voice.
"No time! I escaped! Stand back away from the wall!" he yelled.
Flare did so, however half-heartedly, as she knew of nothing that would move that wall except for an earth dragon.
A small round wooden object then was shoved into the small shaft that gave her prison light. "Cover your ears!"
"What are—" She was cut off as the room was lit with a blast of flame from outside. She recognized the object now that was shoved inside, a barrel of cannon powder.
She covered her ears as tight as she could and wrapped her wings around her face, waiting for the blast. A sudden rush of wind blew her wings against the wall, and her eardrums popped as her body was thrown against the wall with bone jarring force.
She blinked open her eyes to clear the dust that had accumulated all over her. She could see that the hole was significantly bigger now, enough for her to fit through. Her ears still ringing she jumped through the blast zone to freedom, only to be greeted by another dark tunnel, except it had a light at one end.
"Rey, where are you!" she yelled frantically.
The sound of coughing attracted her attention to her left away from the light. She could barely make out the dim form of a dragon lying on the ground, a large boulder on top of his hind legs.
Flare gasped in horror before running over to him.
"Rey are you all right?"
"Of course not, dummy," he replied in a joking manner his voice weak before continuing. "I'm not getting out of this one. Now go, before they get here! Don't let me have done this in vain!"
"No! I won't leave you. We'll get out together," she pleaded desperately trying to lift the rock, which did not even budge in response.
"Don't be a fool! Get out while you still can." He reached for her paw and placed it on top of hers. "Go." He whispered.
Tears running down her face, she said, "I won't forget your sacrifice," before turning and running down the tunnel towards the light, towards freedom.
Rey rapped his talons on the floor of the tunnel, waiting a moment. The boulder that lay on top of him rolled to the side, having not even been lying on his legs, but someone in the dark tunnel would have not seen that.
"Good acting,"a voice came from further down the tunnel, as Quake stepped out from the shadows.
"Yeah, nice touch with the joke, and now our message will be delivered." Spyro said as he stepped out from behind him.
*.*.*
Cynder and Flame continued their search pattern to the east of the Warfangian encampment. The sun was now sinking away behind them. A whole day and they had found no trace of Flare. Cynder noticed Flame flying too fast.
Cynder pulled forward, beside him. "Flame, if you fly so fast you are going to miss her," she yelled over the wind.
Flame looked back for a moment before grudgingly slowing down.
"We'll find her. Don't worry."
Suddenly Flame dove beneath her rushing towards the ground.
"What is it Flame?" she called as she rushed to follow him. She saw Flame land in a field and run at full gallop towards the tree line. Cynder flew in lazily behind him. "Maybe he has to relieve himself," she shrugged nonchalantly.
She looked over towards the tree that Flame had run towards, and she noticed that a different set of scales was with him.
There two dragons were embracing and crying: Flame and Flare.
Lastly... 100 reviews!
*Begins running around his room*
Thanks everyone for spending the time to give your thoughts and comments. It really means a lot. This is the only present I need for the 13th anyways.
