Legend of Spyro: Stormfront
Chapter 28
So hi. I'm still here. xD
Cynder's legs tensed at the sound of the bowstring. The black dragoness watched on the edge of her claws as the feathered projectile flew through the air. The arrow disappeared momentarily in the glare of the sun. Her emerald eyes directed themselves at the purple dragon. She drowned the urge to call out to him, to tell him to move, to get away. Yet she did nothing, catching sight of the arrow once more plunging down towards the unwary purple dragon.
The arrow struck the purple dragon just above his shoulder. Spyro roared with pain as the arrow buried itself into him. The force of the impact made him stagger sideways a few steps, away from the captive dragoness and whelping.
Cynder burst from the bushes, the rest of her group following close behind her, all sprinting the distance towards the beleaguered and burning town.
Several of the grublins turned to face them and began to run at them, swords and clubs held high.
Cynder screamed a blast of red fear at their approaching enemies and several more still guarding the captive dragons. Hunter was letting loose with as many arrows as he could fire whilerunning, downing several of the panic stricken grublins.
The others and Cynder volleyed their elements into the crowd of dazed grublins: a stream of fire from Flame and Flare, shards of ice from Glacia, bolts of electricity from Electria and globs of deadly poison from Cynder.
The group kept up their sprint, running past the charred, broken remains of the now deceased grublins. Glacia and Electria broke to the right of the main road that led into the village proper and towards the hostages who were now rebelling against their few remaining grublin captors. Cynder, Flare, Flame and Hunter broke to the left angling themselves at Quake and Rey who had rushed to Spyro's side.
The purple dragon quickly recovered from his wound, pushing the other dragons away. He stamped his paw on his uninjured side, a wave of earth sendingthe stunned dragoness and whelpling flying away from him. They landed haphazardly a distance away, neither of them moving. He snorted a challenge directed at Cynder.
Cynder let out an enraged shriek and continued her charge at the purple dragon, Flame and Flare each pairing up with Quake and Rey respectively. Hunter stopped his sprint and steadied his stance for firing. Cynder took one last glance over her shoulder to gladly see that thecaptives had already dispatched their guards and were running to the forest led by Glacia and Electria.
Only need to hold them for a few moments.
Cynder dove into her shadow and made her way to the purple dragon. The purple dragon stopped his charge upon Cynder's disappearance. She heard two distinct thuds of colliding bodies followed by vicious snarling, and gnashing of teeth.
Cynder began her movements to surprise the purple dragon, but halted when she noticed the perfectly calm expression of Spyro. His eyes wereclosed, and hisbreathing wassteady. Cynder then moved towards the purple dragon's undefended rear, but again stopped herself when her mind screamed at her. The years of fighting brought her great experience; she couldn't forget that now.
Cynder then crept in her shadow just beneath his scaled chin, and prepared herself for her attack. She sprung from her shadow with unmatched ferocity, scissoring her wing blades in a strike that would have decapitated any normal opponent. But Spyro was far from normal.
A stalagmite of rock burst from the ground catching her blades before they could reach his throat. Another burst from the ground aiming for her own neck, but the skill and experience of the black dragoness saved her as she back flipped away, her eyes coming to meet his.
"You were once a strong dragoness…" His icy voice trailed off, before beginning again. "You could be once more…"
It took a moment for Cynder to realize what he was implying, before an incredible anger welled up in her chest. "I'd rather die than become that monster again!"
The purple dragon's unfettered anger became evident as he snarled, "You're a fool to deny my offer. This world will burn underneath the destroyer's feet with or without you."
"Why would you do this? You're a good dragon! I know it!" Cynder screeched in rage.
"You follow the filth that is the Guardians! I tried to find a route for peace. I asked both sides to back down… Both of them denied their chance for peace! Then the thought came to me… that the inhabitants of this world do not deserve it. That is why my goal is to raise the Destroyer like my predecessor, and wipe these pathetic peoples from existence! Once all but a few chosen remain, I will bring it back together again. Then, the world will be born again, no hatred, no violence, and no death. Everyone will live in a perfect world, a perfect life."
Cynder gagged at what she was hearing. "And what?! You'll rule over this promised land forever?"
"For a time… until everything is set right. I'll offer you a life after this once more, take my offer or perish with the rest of this pathetic world."
"Like hell I will!" Cynder took a stance preparing a deadly globule of poison.
"So be it," thepurple dragon answered.
To Cynder's shock the purple dragon began to float off the ground. The black dragoness ceased her attack before it began.
"No!" Cynder screamed. "You wouldn't!" The black dragoness started backing away, like terrified prey before a predator.
The purple dragon didn't even acknowledge her pleas. He levitated further off the ground, and a purple bubble appeared around him.
Cynder roared in rage at the purple dragon and mentally gathered herself. She looked inwards upon herself, finding the stream of power that flowed through her, and grabbed for it. She too began to float above the air. She opened her eyes and saw the malicious grinning teeth of Spyro opposite her. The gaze of his eyes was piercing. Cynder felt the urge to flee, to run as if she was a scared child before the monster that haunted her.
She collapsed to the ground. The feeling of the power within her was missing, as if she had only used in moments before. "No! Not now!" She screamed in desperation,gripping the dirt in her talons, and she tried to reach for the power of convexity again, yet she felt nothing.
Cynder turned back towards her friends. Flame and Flare were still battling it out with Quake and Rey. The groups of villagers were on the edge of the forest, Glacia and Electria on their heels.
The black dragoness turned on her heels to face her friends and stood upon her hind legs, rearing into the air. She opened her fanged jaws and screeched a terrible sound, one that all mortals would run and cower in a hole to get away from.
The effects sent Flame, Flare, Quake and Rey to the ground, all of them dropping mid-fight and trembling violently in the dirt.
Cynder ran towards Flame and Flare, shouting as much as her heaving lungs allowed her.
"Run! Get away. We have to get out of here!"
She made it half of the distance before Flame and Flare regained some sort of control over themselves. Quake and Rey were still completely incapacitated, since the blast was directed at them, Flame and Flare only getting a fraction of the blast's power.
Both fire dragon and dragoness rose to their paws giving stares of incredulity directed at Cynder. Soon, however, they noticed her panicked expression and frantic pace to put distance between herself and the purple orb behind her.
Cynder continued her sprint, glancing behind her to see the purple orb had been set ablaze with purple convexity fire. Meanwhile, Quake and Rey had regained their footing.
Flame and Flare turned towards to the forest and fled for their lives, pushing their muscles to the limits, and leaving their helpless opponents on the ground.
Cynder was only a few feet behind Flame and Flare when she spotted two huddled forms. One of them,the older yellow dragoness, was gazing around her in a stunned shock. The other smaller blank and white splotched whelping was huddled up against her leg shaking violently. Cynder, without a second thought, changed direction towards them.
Her muscles were aching now, her heart pounding out of her chest. The pair of dragons had noticed her charging at them at a break neck speed. Their terrified bodies didn't allow them to run; they were merely staring at her with looks of horror upon their faces, the little one now crying and squeezing the older dragoness's leg.
Cynder ran until she was within a few feet of the pair and pounced upon them. Her eyes were engulfed by a blinding purple light. Her paws reached the pair of dragons, holding them in a tight grip. Then the black dragoness felt an astounding amount of heat nipping at the end of her tail.
*.*.*
Flame and Flare reached the tree line and crashed through the bushes. Stopping and spinning on his heels to look back out at the field.
Flame managed to get a few words out between his panting breaths. "I think this is far eno— Where's Cynder!"
Flare panicked looking from side to side, only to be greeted by a blinding flash of light when she looked towards the village. Both dragons threw up their wings to shield their eyes.
Soon the light died down, and smoke and a metallic smell filled their nostrils, like that after a thunderstorm. Flame and Flare removed their wings to be greeted by devastation.
The village was gone, all of it. The fields around it were a blackened burnt out hell hole. Little purple fires nipped at the singed trees and bushes around them, and in the field.
A triumphant roar burst from the direction of the village, sending Flame and Flare into automatic battle stances. There, Spyro stood upon his hind legs and sprayed a swath of purple flames high into the sky. Then he took flight and wheeled away to the east. Twosoot covered dragons soon emerged from the burnt out rubble apparently unharmed and followed the purple dragon into the air.
Flare looked to Flame with tears in her eyes."Cyn-nder?"
Flame pulled her into a hug, tears forming at the edge of his eyes as well. "I should have stayed with her," he said choking on his words.
The rustling undergrowth alerted them to the approach of another, and Flare cried out hoping beyond hope. "Cynder!?" shecalled.
Glacia and Electria came running through the undergrowth.
"We got them away safely, Hunter is watching them," the pronounced joyfully beaming with smiles.
"But what was that astoundingly bright light?" Glacia asked curiously.
It was then that they noticed the tears on Flame's and Flare's faces. Their own faces contorted to frowns."What's wrong?" Electria asked quietly, her voice trembling.
"C-Cynder didn't mak-Ahhh!" Flare screamed. Everyone jumped away, staring in shock at a black paw with silver talons that had risen from the ground and grasped Flare's ankle in a death grip. A thin black mist swirled off of it where it came out of the ground.
Flare tried to pull her forepaw away from the thing, but its grip was unrelenting. Although, when she tugged, the paw and leg seemed to grow in length.
"Flare pull as hard as you can! I think it's Cynder!"
"Huh?" shesaid, tilting her head to one side and staring incredulously at him.
"Pull!" Flame yelled once more.
Flare grasped the black paw with her own paw and reared backwards on her hind legs. Three dragons came flying out of the mist, all four dragons landing in a heap, the smallest, a black and white splotched whelping sitting pretty on top with a blank stare on his face.
A wheezing voice emanated from the bottom of the haphazard pile."If you could get off of me..."
"There are more on top of me," an aggravated voice from somewhere further up answered.
"Cynder,is that you?!" Flame pleaded.
A grunt that sounded somewhat like an affirmative came from behind an orange wing.
The little whelping looked down on the bodies he was sitting on, who were now all squirming to get free.
"Levi!" hescreeched and tried to embrace the much larger dragon beneath across its belly.
"Yes, it's me Domino. Now if you don't mind,let me up," the voice responded, clearly feminine.
"But I like it up here," he responded pleadingly.
"Domino…"
"Alright,sis*," he* responded dejectedly before climbing down from the pile of dragons. The dragonesses got to their feet, annoyed at the whole ordeal.
The yellow dragoness named Levina turned to Cynder. "Thanks for saving us."
"Whatever. We need to get moving, it's not safe here," Cynder spoke, looking at her comrades.
The yellow dragoness was taken back for a moment but soon busied herself looking over the whelping. Meanwhile Cynder retrieved her satchel from inside a bush and returned to the group.
"The villagers are in a clearing a little ways from here, Cynder," Glacia interjected.
"Good*. Let's* get to them and get out of here. He might return at any moment."
Glacia and Electria turned and disappeared into the forest, and the rest of the group soon followed. Flare stuckclose to the new pair, Flame at her side.
"Listen," Flare said to the yellow dragoness as they followed Glacia and Electria, making sure to keep her voice low.
"What's her problem?" theyellow dragoness responded irately.
"She's… been through a lot lately.I'm sorry if she seemed… insensible back there."
"Where are we going Levi?" the little whelping on her back interrupted.
"That's a good question Domino…" The yellow dragoness looked to her new companion.
"First, I think we'll go back to the encampment. After that the Guardians will probably find a spot for you."
"The Guardians? Encampment? What are you talking about?"
"Levi,what's an en-camp-ment?" The whelping tilted his head to one side.
"Later Domino..."
"We were sent to warn you to get out… A battle is going to take place soon, but Spyro got to you first."
"I-I thought he was different from the last purple dragon…" the dragoness answered.
"I thought so too," Flare answered solemnly.
They emerged into a large clearing, where quite a number of dragons were milling about. Disheartened and mournful faces were prevalent everywhere. Hunter dropped from a tree just above them, landing ever so gracefully.
The whelping scrutinized every inch of the cheetah.
"You smell funny," Domino announced to the world.
Levina glared at him for a moment, and then looked at the Cheetah hoping he wasn't offended.
The feline smiled, and gave Domino a pat on the head, before pulling his cowl back over his head and disappearing back into the trees.
"Levina! Domino!" oneof the indistinguishabl edragons shouted. Levina turned to look back at the crowd.
The throng of dragons turned to greet them, several of them smiling and a few cheers erupting. A large pale green dragon stepped forward. His horns and spikes were rounded down, and his eyes were somewhat white, as if balls of cotton were in them.
His voice was sterner than Terrador's and far raspier. "I must thank you young dragons. Without your timely interference we would have surely been carted off like cattle."
"The Guardians sent us to evacuate you… It's obvious however we were too late," Cynder answered.
"We heard rumors of conflict, but never expected it to be so close to our village." The elder dragon paused for a moment before continuing. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that the identity of our attackers is most shocking… Was that not the great purple dragon that toppled the wretched Malefor?"
The words seemed to stick in Cynder's throat. "Yes, it was Spyro."
"How unfortunate… then you must be Cynder."
Cynder nodded and let her gaze fall to the ground for a moment before finding the courage to speak. "We need to get going… they could come back any moment."
"I concur. Lead the way, young Cynder."
*.*.*
"They should have been back by now…" Terrador said, thumping his mace of a tail into the soft grass that was the tent floor.
"They possibly had complications attaining the villager's vacation of their households. The Ancestors know how stubborn we dragons can be," Volteer answered, giving Cyril a glare as he did so.
Cyril snorted contemptuously. "The scroll we gave them should have proven our authority and it explained the situation fully. If they refused to leave, then the entire village is comprised of fools."
Terrador swunghis mace once more, deepening the already substantial pit that was behind him. "If there is no word within the hour we'll send a full company after them." Terrador slammed his mace once more with extreme force, as if the ground were a grublin he wished to never have see the light of day again.
A strange sound, like that of a glass being struck, made the Guardians' heads turn, except for Terrador's.
"What was that? It sounded like a wine crystal," Cyril asked, looking around befuddled.
"There are no such objects in here, at least not to my knowledge, but my ears definitely heard something to that liking," Volteer answered.
"What was what? I didn't hear anything," Terrador said to his companions, staring at them ineven more confusion.
"You've been too close to too many explosions, Terrador. Hit your mace again," Cyril ordered.
Terrador complied, and again the noise rang out. "I heard it this time…look around." Terrador stuck his head beneath the table, and an all too familiar sound greeted him. The hateful voices and ghostly screams haunted his soul.
"Get back!" heyelled to his two companions, whom backed up against the fabric of the tent. Terrador reached his great paws to the edge of the table and sent it careening towards the entrance, before it struck the ground and shattered into wooden splinters. The guards that had been outside the door entered ready for battle, teeth bared.
Terrador stared at the object where the table had been. "This isn't good..."
"Oh dear…" Volteer fretted.
"Impossible…" Cyril said in stunned disbelief.
There in the center of the tent was a dark purple crystal, with living shadows moving around it. The whisperings were clear for all to hear now.
Terrador, with a quick strike,smashed it under a forepaw, grinding it into dust afterwards. Then he immediately began barking orders.
"Guards,have all commanders' tents searched immediately and advise General Erwing to do the same. There could be more about."
"Yes sir," one of them answered and immediately left to carry out his orders.
The other dragon guard remained. "I was just about to report to you sirs that a large group of dragons approaches from the east, estimated number of about sixty, sirs."
Cyril sighed. "Thank the ancestors they are alright."
"That crystal was undoubtedly positioned during the attack on the encampment" Volteer proposed and continued, "Its small scope must have made its draining affects imperceptible, and the voices could only be heard at very close distances. It's impressive that Spyro was so cunning. I never pegged him as such."
"Your revelations are too late to help us, Volteer," the earth Guardian said, the anger clearly perceptible in his voice. "We must assume he knows every word that was said in here from then until now."
*.*.*
Spyro's lilac eyes opened to the sight of the volcano and his comrades. "They found the dark crystal."
"They were bound to find in eventually..." the earth dragon Quake answered, and Rey nodded in agreement.
"We have nothing else we could have gained from it anyways… We know they're coming."
"By the way Spyro… don't you think you overdid it a little? You nearly killed them…" Rey asked sheepishly.
"Cynder was never in any danger. I did more than just block her convexity furry..." The purple dragon trailed off.
"What do you mean?" Quake asked confusedly.
"Cynder's furies have always been powerful. I just gave it a little nudge from attack to defense. She could have stood next to me during my furry and would have been unscathed."
"Why go so far though? Why just not breathe some fire and be done with it?" Rey asked still somewhat unsure.
"Because… she has to hate me," Spyro turned away from them, so he couldn't see their faces. "She needs to be able to go through with a killing blow. If she still has feelings for me, she won't fight me, and the plan will come crashing down."
"Why are you giving up everything? Just for the rest of us? You have the right to happiness too…" Rey answered him.
"I want to give her a chance at life… the large portion of her life was under Malefor's control. She never had a chance at a family or a normal life. I'm trying to give her that chance."
"But what about you?! Stop being so selfless." Quake broke into the conversation.
"My life was forfeit long ago… There is no place for a purple in this world."
Quake and Rey couldn't find the words to speak.
Spyro unfurled his golden wings. A fresh scar where the arrow struck him was evident on his shoulder. "I'm going to go out and patrol the perimeter." Without another word the purple dragon took flight from the mountainside.
Once again I apologize for the long update time. Life is very busy for me at the moment.
All reviews are greatly appreciated and read. The reviews are the best part of writing, and I look forward to anyone who wishes to post one.
Other news: RiverStyx did a picture of Spyro for me on her deviantArt called "Black Helm." Go check it out.
Only a few chapters left.
And thanks to DragonMaster000 for his continued betaing and support.
