Everyone walked back into the makeshift cave built into the side of the enclosure. Inside of it seemed out of place with the surrounding as it reminded him a lot of the home he and Cynder use to live in when they were back in Warfang with Hunter. In the back, there was a fully custom kitchen with a white tiled floor matching the white cabinets, that Spyro assumed where filled with food, plates, and cutlery, a fireplace to cook or roast anything they might want, and lastly there was a wooden table, covered up in claw marks, work of Ember Spyro figured. To the right of the kitchen there was a door that was slightly ajar, letting him see inside the bed room. There were only two beds inside, which made him question where he was going to sleep.
Lastly, there was another room, but the door was closed. Spyro figured he'd find out what was there another time as the girls where taking him to the table and sat down around it with him.
"Hungry?" Ember asked.
"A little yeah." Spyro gave her a thankful smile, not use to such hospitality. Ember got up and walked over to the kitchen and pulled out all sorts of food. Spyro noticed that there was a lot in the cabinets as well. "Where does all that food come from?"
"Moneybags have people put food in from a hole on the other side of the cabinets. And before you suggest anything, no we can't use them as a way out. We've tried that already." Elora grumbled and rubbed her arm, recalling how painful it was to squeeze into such a small space.
"Is there any way out of here?"
"None that we could find." Ember called over from the kitchen. Spyro nodded, wondering how long he would spend in this place. Elora noticed this and punched his shoulder.
"Hey, cheer up, it's not that bad. At least you got company."
"That's true." Spyro said a hint of sorrow in his voice. He shook his head, wanting to think about other things than being trapped in that place. "So how come you two are in here?"
"Well if you haven't already figured it out, Ember over there has no scales, which is why she is in here." Elora explained, pointing over to the pink dragoness.
"How is that even possible?" Spyro looked confused.
Ember shrugged. "No idea really, as long as I remember I was born like this, and then one day, when I was young, Moneybags must have heard about me and took me away from my family in the middle of the night."
Spyro was shocked to hear such a thing, and pitied the pink drake. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that Ember."
"Thanks, but I'm fine. This was ten years ago, I've gotten over it. Mostly that is. Elora's story isn't much better." Ember walked over with a plate of roasted beef for herself and Spyro, and an assortment of greens for Elora. Spyro thanked her for the food and took a bite while Elora told him what happened with her.
"I come from a very rare race called Fauns. A lot of people called us forest spirits, due to our abilities to commune with every living creature. This is also since we mostly live in the forest and are near impossible to track in our home… well Moneybags find the right guy and they captured me. I'm not sure if you can fully understand, but we Faun are a very proud race. People have spent years trying to catch us just to prove that it's possible. For the longest time, I use to think that we were impossible to catch, but well, here I am. To be honest with you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself being trapped in here if it wasn't for Ember, and the big fish outside." The leviathan's whale like voice boomed through the cave, making Spyro's ear's ring. "It was only a joke, I still love you, big guy" Elora called back before addressing Spyro again. "He doesn't really like being called a fish."
"How did they fit something that large in here?"
"From below the foundation." Elora shrugged. "Before he got here, they moved us to a smaller cage, and started to dig up this massive hole in the ground and once that was done they filled it up with water. Next thing we knew the Leviathan emerged from the surface and they moved us back here afterwards. According to him, they had sealed off the way he came in and he has no way of reopening it."
Spyro felt his heart sink. "So, we really are stuck in here forever then."
"Well aren't you a downer." Ember had felt a similar feeling to the one Spyro was feeling when she first got there, and she put a paw on his back to help comfort him. "I know it seems bad, but we'll figure of a way out, don't you worry."
Suddenly, there was a banging on the glass dome, which nearly made Spyro jump out of his skin. It was three swift knocks and then silence before it would pick up knocking again. Spyro looked over to the two girls and saw that they didn't move, nor did they pay any attention to the knocking. Did they not hear it or something? Curiously he walked out of the cave to investigate. It quickly came to Spyro's attention that the two inside were just ignoring the knocking, when he found Moneybags standing behind the glass knocking on it to get someone's attention.
"Oh good, you showed up, I was rather hoping you'd come." Moneybags looked excited to see him, as he could hardly stand still.
"You wanted to see me?" Spyro was confused at first, but after giving it a thought he came to understand that Moneybags wasn't just keeping him here as a trinket.
"I've heard that purple dragons can control all four elements, and I've heard rumors that they can harness a fifth one as well." Spyro had never heard anything about a fifth element, but he was now curious himself to know if he could us it, and what exactly that element was.
"Show me what you can do." Moneybags looked more excited than before after he asked this, but Spyro just gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean?"
In that instant, most of Moneybag's thrill died as he let out a sigh. "I mean show me what you can do with your powers." Spyro grew nervous. He felt like an animal on state, set to perform in front of an audience.
"Well, um, I can try." Spyro took a few steps back and concentrated on what Cynder had taught him. He took a deep breath to help calm his nerves, before breathing a rather pathetic flame from his mouth that only sustained itself for a split second. He unfurled his wings and stood on his back legs to unleash his electricity abilities, forming a barely visible spark. He smashed the ground with his paws when he dropped back down, which created only tiny bumps jutting out from the ground. Lastly Spyro performed his ice talents to the best of his abilities, making several ice shards fly from his mouth that were about the size of Moneybag's finger.
Spyro was left panting afterwards, his body felt like he had just ran a mile. He cursed himself in his head for being so weak. He looked up to Moneybags to see his reaction. Unsurprisingly, Moneybags didn't look to happy.
"That was the best you can do?" he sounded very disappointed, as if someone had just robbed him. "That was all?"
Spyro's grew nervous again. "Sorry, I-I wasn't really um trained very well." Moneybags pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed yet again. "Ok Spyro, let me be very clear about something." He looked back up at the purple dragon and let his hands fall to his side. Spyro could tell that he wasn't happy based on the look he was giving him. "While in here, you do as I say. When I tell you to do something, you do it. When I tell you to go somewhere, you go there. When I want to see a display of magical power that only a purple dragon can perform, I EXSPECT TO SEE SOMETHING AMAZING!" The bear slammed his fist against the glass which made Spyro jump back from the sudden fright. Moneybags took a moment to breath and make himself look proper. "I'm going to give you three days to sort yourself out. If you give me that same sad attempt to amuse me again," he paused to look Spyro square in the eyes. "You'll pay dearly." That was all he said before turning around and leaving.
Confused and dazed after the encounter, Spyro turned around and walked back into the cave and sat down with the girls again. "That was… strange." Spyro commented. Ember huffed in annoyance.
"You got off easy. Don't exspect Moneybags to go so easy on you next time." As she said this, Spyro couldn't help but notice that she looked both angry and sad, yet when she looked up at him she gave him a warm smile. "I'm glad that you're ok though."
Now confused again Spyro had to ask, "What do you mean?" He looked over to Elora. "What does he normally do?" The faun sighed before looking over to Ember.
"He's bound to find out sooner or later. Better to tell him what to expect."
"Expect what?" Spyro tried his best not to shout at the two.
"Even though we are his property, Moneybags has no problems sending his guards in here to beat us, to teach us a lesson." Spyro looked up and down both female's bodies.
"I don't understand, neither one of you have any bruises or wounds." Elora gently placed her hand over her left arm and rubbed away makeup that was hiding a nasty black bruise. Ember did the same, revealing a long thin cut that run down her side.
Elora still looked depressed, while Ember only seemed to get madder. "He warns us that if we don't cover up these wounds, he'll just inflict more till we listen. He doesn't like to see his property damaged." Ember said, venom oozing out of her mouth with each and every word.
"Oh…" Spyro felt like he should say something, that he should do something to make them feel better, but there wasn't anything he could do.
"We could end their misery." His darker half whispered, making Spyro growl back.
"No one asked you."
"Who are you talking to?" Elora's brought Spyro back to reality, realizing that he was talking aloud again.
"Oh, it's nothing, never mind." Spyro nervously walked away from the girls, hoping to keep his dark half a secret from the others for as long as possible. "Hey, um, you know, both of you look really clean, is there some sort of bath around here?"
Both girls looked at Spyro questionably. "Yeah, it's just around the corner." Ember pointed with her tail.
"Thanks." Spyro ran into the bathroom before they could question him any further.
"Smooth" Dark Spyro taunted once inside the separate room.
"Shut up," Spyro hissed. "Why can't you just stay quiet for a change?"
"But what would be the fun in that?" his evil laugh echoing in his head. "Besides, eventually, you'll break and you know what will happen when you do?" Spyro growled at him. "Come on, lets her it."
"You'll get out." Spyro said reluctantly.
"Bingo!" Spyro could tell that his counterpart had the largest grin on his face. "You know, I bet you that I can get you out of here. You just have to let me out, and I'll get you out." This only made him huff.
"I would if I'd believe that Ember, Elora, and the big fish would be safe if I did." Just as he finished that sentence, the leviathan's voice echoed throughout the room and the cave. From behind the door Spyro could hear Elora calling back.
"He didn't mean it big guy." This was followed by the faint sound of Ember giggling. "Spyro, I don't know what you're doing in there, but just know that the big guy out there has really good hearing." Spyro felt his heart freeze.
"Did… he tell you anything?"
"Don't worry Spyro, he hasn't said anything about your secret." Spyro felt a little better, but wasn't sure if she was being truthful or not. He did is best to keep quite as he continued.
"Just stay out of my way and be quite." He whispered.
"I make no promises."
Hey guys, I'm really sorry that this one took so long to finish. I'll be honest, I've fallen into this feeling where I feel bored with everything I do, and it's more than just this story. That being said I still plan on finishing this story and I promise to finish it before the year is over. Thanks again guys for reading and I promise to have the next chapter out soon.