Spyro watched in awe as his father fought off the guards. One them tried to leap onto his back, only for Terrador to swat him out of the air with a swing of his tail. Spinning around he caught eye of his son alongside two other strangers, most likely others held captive in this place Terrador figured. Another came rushing over to him, sword raised above his head, ready to give a devastating blow. Terrador bashed the oncoming solder with the back of his paw before crushing him under his weight as he ran over to Spyro.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Spyro asked confused as to how his father even knew where he was in the first place.
Terrador pushed past his son and the two strangers, shaking his head. "We can talk later, right now, you guys need to get out of here!" Hearing his father's booming voice again made Spyro quiver to the bone and without hesitation he ran in search for a door.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Ember asked, surprising Spyro who was unaware that he was being followed by Elora and Ember.
"Not really no, but there must be one around here, somewhere right?"
"You're not going anywhere," a hulking man in armor stepped out from behind one of the displays. In both of his heads, he held a great sword, longer than himself and as wide as his arms. The knight swung his sword at an alarming speed, cleaving through wooden display frames and glass with ease, as if they were made of butter. Spyro and his friends ducked under the blade just in time, Elora losing a few hairs from the top of her head. "Hold still!" The man demanded as he quickly recovered from his last attack, and brought his weapon down from over his head down upon the three of them.
Once again, they managed to get out of the way just in time and unknowingly split up as they ran away in fear of the monstrous man.
Spyro ducked behind some stand with a strange looking stone statue inside, and peered back the way he came. The knight that attacked them and just wrenched his sword free from the ground and rested it against his shoulder.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are." the knight laughed in his armor as he walked down the same path Spyro had taken. Panicking, Spyro hid back behind the statue. He quickly scanned the room, hoping to find his dad somewhere around so that he may help him, but he couldn't find him. He could hear him just fine, the earth attacks Terrador generated shook the very foundation around him, and the scream of the guards he threw about, made it easier to guess where he was.
"I just need to get to him." Spyro carefully stood up, only to stop when he heard tapping on the glass beside him. On the other side of the display was the knight who was chasing them. Before Spyro even had the chance to run away, the knight shattered the glass and the statue with his fist and grabbed Spyro's tail, pulling him through the shards of glass and rock, leaving several lacerations along his belly and chest. The large guard had no problem lifting Spyro up by his tail and held him up so that he could look at him face to face. "I've got you know." The knight chuckled before dropping the purple dragon and punting him across the building. In desperation to catch himself Spyro unfurled his wing and tried to grab onto anything, causing him to spin around, before hitting the concrete wall with a crunch, before he slumped to the ground.
Spyro began to cough and wheeze, blood filling his mouth. He tried to stand up, only for a sharp pain to travel through his body and he slumped back down. Looking back behind him, he saw that his back right leg was twisted at a bad angle, clearly broken. "Great," he groaned as he tried to get up again, trying his hardest not to use his broken leg.
"Spyro are you alright?" Ember asked as she came running up to him. She noticed his leg and offered him some help, letting him lean on her for support. "I saw you hit the wall, what happened?"
"That big guy" Spyro paused to gasp for what little breath he could breath. "has a very strong kick. I'd advise staying away for him." He began laugh for a second before coughing violently again.
"Save the jokes till after we get out of here." Ember pushed him forwards, trying to get him to move. "Come on, we need to find an exit quickly before that guy finds you again." The two of them stumbled around, trying to find their friend and an exit. Glancing over, Spyro saw that Ember was looking around frantically, properly looking for their other friend.
"Did you see which way that Elora ran?" Spyro asked, in hopes of calming her down a little. Ember shook her head.
"No, not really. I was more focused on getting away from that monster." Her eyes quickly began to fill with fear. "What if they got her?"
"Hey now, don't talk like that." Spyro snapped back. "She will be ok, I'm sure she is capable of handling hers-"
Spyro was cut off as a massive sword swung and imbedded itself into the concrete flooring only a few inches away from Ember and him. The towering knight from before laughed as he saw the two dragons jump nearly out of their scales from his sudden appearance.
"You're not getting away from me that easily." The knight twisted and pulled his weapon out of the ground and prepared to swing again, just before Spyro shot several tiny shards of ice at him which all bounced off his thick armored chest. The large knight just blinked a few times, wondering if something else was going to happen, before proceeding to laugh at Spyro. "Is that the best you got? And here I thought that purple dragons where meant to be all powerful."
Ember left Spyro's side, running up to the knight and slashed at his feet, her claws also bouncing off his armor, causing him to laugh even more. "Oh, dragons are so funny. You've got a better chance to kill me from laughing to hard than anything else." He said before kicking Ember aside. She hit a nearby display, and slumped to the floor, passing out shortly afterwards.
"EMBER!" Spyro shouted. He attempted to run over to his friend, before being quickly reminded of who was in front of him, as the knight tried to swing his sword at him. Spyro jumped out of the way of the attack but landed on his bad leg, causing his legs to buckle under him again and he collapsed to the ground. The knight laughed as he slowly walked up to him, feeing satisfied that he was going to kill the purple dragon.
Spyro watched the large being walk closer to him and he shut his eyes, not wanting to see his end coming. He began to cry, thinking back to Cynder, Hunter, Elora, and Ember, and even his father for a moment, saying his last goodbyes to them in his head. He heard the Knight grunt as he lifted his sword high up into the air. The next thing Spyro heard was a soft buzzing sound.
"Am I dead?" Spyro thought, not daring to open his eyes, fearing the worst. This was quickly proven wrong as he heard that Knight grunting some more, his armor clicking as he moved about, and a very familiar voice.
"Come on, you can catch me. Or is your bulky body keeping you from touching your face?" Sparx said, taunting the Knight who was grunting in frustration as he tried to reach and grab the bug.
"Sparx?!" Spyro sounded both confused and excited to see his golden friend again. "How'd you get here?"
"Is now, really the best time to be asking that?" Sparx asked as he flew around the Knight's head. "How about you just get out of here, I'll catch up with you later." Spyro nodded and took his chance to limp over to Ember. He nudged her with his snout.
"Come on Ember, wake up!" Ember groaned and moved her body slightly. "We are in danger Ember, please get up!" She slowly opened her eye and hissed as the pain that she felt reached her brain.
"What happened?" She groaned as she struggled to stand back up.
"You were used as a ball for a moment there. Think you can still walk?" Ember stood up slowly, wincing in pain with every moment she made.
"yeah I can still walk. I don't know if I can support you very well."
"That's fine, let's just get out of here already."
"Oh no you don't!" The knight ignored Sparx's taunts, and turned around and tried to grab the two dragons, only for an earth missile knocked his hand aside, denting the armor around the impact. Terrador growled at the knight as he stepped forth, Spyro only now noticing all the cuts and arrows that were sticking out of his father's back.
"If you want my son, then you'll have to go through me first!" Terrador charged at the knight and the two struggled to gain dominance over the other. Sparx flew over to the two younger dragons.
"Follow me, I think I remember were the exit was." He was about to fly off when Ember stopped him.
"Wait, we need to find Elora, have you see a faun somewhere around here?"
Sparx had to think about that one for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Oh, you mean that goat lady? Yeah, I pointed her in the direction me and the green guy came from. She asked where you guys were, and I told her that I'll find you for her. So, she should be out of here already." Ember let out a sigh of relief when she heard this.
"Alright let's get out of here then."
"Wait, what about my dad?" Spyro looked back his fathers as two more guards join in to help the massive knight.
"He'll be fine Spyro," Ember assured him. "He seems like he knows what he is doing." Spyro wasn't too sure about this, but figured that there was no point in arguing. There was nothing they could do to stop the knight, let alone any of the guards and agreed that it would be best for them to just leave. Still, he was still very worried for his father.
Sparx flew above them, playing as look out for any guards that may be around as well as helping them find the exit. Thankfully the commotion and destruction that Terrador was causing was preoccupying most of the guards, thus letting Spyro, Ember, and Sparx escape with little resistance. Both Spyro and Ember shielded their eyes from the bright sun light as it hit their faces for the first time in a while. "Follow me, your friend should be over here." Sparx said, guiding them to some of the trees that surrounded the building. They saw Elora pacing back and forth under the trees, clearly worried about Spyro and Ember. Seeing Elora, Ember broke into a sprint and tackled the faun to the guard as she hugged her tightly as she began to cry.
"We got out!" Ember rejoiced.
Elora chuckled and ran her hand from Ember head down her neck. "Yeah, we finally did." She said as tears formed in her eyes as well. Spyro watched from a distance alongside, feeling happy for the two for finally getting what they wanted, but a thought crossed his mind. Would he get what he wanted someday? To live in a place where he wasn't hated by everyone. Then it accrued to him, that he already lived in such a place. Alongside Cynder and Hunter, and ever since he ran away from them, he'd gain more friends, and even started to repair his relationship with his father, as well as start to learn to forgive himself. This mere thought brought tears to Spyro's face as well. Seeing everyone crying, made Sparx smile himself, happy to have done something to help someone bigger than him and he flew over to the girls to join in on their fun and playing. Spyro was also about to join the others, when he stopped to look back at the building that Moneybags had kept him in, and his smile left him as he began to worry about his father.
"Maybe I should go back." Spyro said aloud. Ember heard this and stopped her fun and walked over to him.
"Why would you go back? Are you worried about that dragon who saved us?" Spyro nodded.
"I am actually. That was my father." Ember nodded and sat down beside him and pulled him closer to her with her wing, something Elora would do for her whenever she needed to be comforted.
"I'm sure your dad will be fine. He seemed to know what he was doing, but I get why you're worried… But you're in no condition to even think about going back in there, none of us are."
"Ember is right." Elora add in as she walked over and sat on the other side of Spyro. "What we need to do is fine some red gems for the two of you, and then we can discuss what we do next." Spyro didn't like this plan, but he knew that this was the best thing to do.
"Yeah I suppose you're right." His eyes flashed with joy for a moment as a new plan came to his mind. "Sparx!" he shouted at the golden bug.
"You don't need to shout, I'm right here." Sparx rubbed and shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "What do you want?"
"Could you fly back in there and help my dad get out?"
"You want me to go back in there?" Sparx sounded insulted that he would even ask that. He folded his arms and looked away from him. "I nearly got killed the first time."
"Please Sparx," Spyro begged. "You're the only one who can help him." Sparx sighed and let his arms fall to his side.
"Yeah, I guess I am…" his mood quickly changed, a smile growing on his face. "Yeah, I'm the only one who can! Ha, HA! That's right, I the all-powerful and brilliant Sparx, am the only one who can do it!" Without another word, Sparx flew back the way they came.
"Think he's going to be ok?" Ember tried to hold in her laughter before Elora poked her side.
"It's not nice to laugh at him Ember, he clearly needed the confidence boost."
"Oh, fine, I'll be nice." Ember rolled her eyes, but still held her smile. This time Spyro laughed at the girl's antics.
"I trust in him, and I believe that he'll make it out alive with my dad." Spyro couldn't help but laugh some more. "Despite his… ego, he's the bravest dragonfly I've ever met."
"Isn't he the only dragonfly you've met?" Elora asked, thinking back to his life story that he told her.
"Well, ok maybe, but based upon what everyone says about dragonflies, I feel that he deserves as much as he can get."
Ember tilted her head. "What do people say about dragonflies?" she asked confused, "Are they all mean or something?" Spyro shook his head, though he couldn't blame her for not knowing, seeing that she'd been stuck in that prison for most of her life.
"I'll explain while we look for some gems Ember." Elora said as she stood up, followed by the two dragons. The two girls left, but Spyro stayed behind for just a moment to look back at the building.
"Good luck Sparx."
Hours went by, and Sparx still hasn't return. Soon it became dark out, and the three of them moved deeper into the forest surrounding the compound to keep out of site in case any guards came looking for them. The fact that it was taking Sparx so long to come back made Spyro worry even more than before.
"Maybe he's dead." Dark Spyro commented on the situation, his voice startling Spyro.
"Everything ok Spyro?" Elora asked, noticing Spyro jump suddenly. Spyro gulped nervously, a blush forming along his face.
"Uh, yeah I'm fine…" he let out a nervous laughed. Elora looked at him skeptically but shrugged and went back to tending to the fire.
"How are you still talking to me?" Spyro asked his dark half. "I thought I locked you up?"
"Just because we are locked up, doesn't mean we can't still talk and harass you. Isn't that right buddy?" Spyro waited for his third half to speak, but he didn't say anything. "Anyways," Dark Spyro continued, sounding tired and a little annoyed. "You know the drill. I'll get out and take over your body blah, blah, blah. Just watch your back and all the fun stuff."
Hearing this, Spyro couldn't help but question his dark half, but held his question for another time. Right now, he was just happy to see his dark half being miserable. Soon afterwards, nearby bushes began to rustle. The three of them all jumped and prepared themselves for whoever it as, but they quickly relaxed when they saw a familiar golden ball fly through the plants, who was shortly followed by Terrador.
"Dad!" Spyro ran over to his father, noticing the terrible injuries that coated his body from the fight. Terrador mere push Spyro aside and laid down by the fire.
"I'll be fine Spyro. I just need some rest."
"I'll go find you some red gems," Elora offered. Before Terrador could protest, she left to go find some.
Spyro sighed, just happy to see his father alive. He looked over to Sparx. "What took you guys so long?"
"Well, you see after I saved this guy from getting his tail handed to him, he begged me to-" Terrador cut him off with a sharp growl, flicking his tail towards Sparx who moved out of the way just in time. Sparx nervously laughed. "I mean, after he had killed everyone, we went back to where I thought you guys were, but we couldn't find you, so we looked around till night came and we saw a fire in the distance and we figured that it was you."
"Oh, well lucky us. Thanks again Sparx for helping my dad."
"Hay, don't mention it." Sparx said before flying over to the fire and relaxing with the others. Not to long after, Elora came back with the red gems and gave them to Terrador. It wasn't enough to fully heal his wounds, but enough to assure that he would live.
Spyro sat down beside his father, while Elora sat beside Ember. Looking up at his dad, Spyro asked. "So, what do we do know?"
Terrador just let out a long needed deep breath. "Right now, we just rest. We can talk in the morning."