(Meanwhile, in the present…)
It was between daylight and late afternoon, at least that was believed, because the sky was no longer as clear as before: black clouds covered a large part of the sky and from time to time they released a dark purple ray. This phenomenon made them all nervous because any lightning could be followed by a new attack.
The city of Warfang had suffered an attack after the early hours of the morning. Luckily the dragon army was in top form and well fed by this time, not to mention that the dark army wasn't much if it was just made up of grublins without golems. There was no trace of the Dark Ones or worse, but one could never trust in a war.
From the walls, Spyro, Flame, and Thorr kept careful watch over the walls and the group of earth dragons that was in charge of the outer barriers. In the distance, a group of warrior dragons, including two guardians, had arrived from a short trip to Skycity.
"Something new?" Spyro asked once Johnny and Ray landed.
"Skycity and the Grand Council are safe" Ray told them, "They've only had small attacks with flying grublins and Wyverns, the city is strategically located in the sky and it's impossible for a land creature to get there"
"And the Dark Ones?" Flame asked.
"Not a trace" answered Jhonny, "It's… as if they had vanished into thin air. And that's not good…"
"True, it may seem crazy to think so" Ray supported him, "But knowing that the enemies still exist, it only increases the tension and it is something that we must preserve to win the battles"
"How's the city?"
"The outer defenses have been preserved. But there is no trace of the Dark Ones either. We don't know how or when they will attack..."
An explosion made them alert: one of the fire dragons had just launched an enemy sighting signal.
A large army was approaching from the front: at least six trolls rode in front, rumbling the ground and making themselves felt in the distance, ground grublins, orc warriors, and archers followed, and some were riding on the backs of the trolls. Across the sky, a cloud of grublins was coming closer and behind it all, there was something worse: giant catapult towers.
"Looks like they're serious this time," Spyro exclaimed, "they even brought those towers."
"Magnus!" Johnny ordered the mole sergeant, "Shoot the towers, don't let them tear down the walls."
"Yes sir!" said the mole before commanding his companions towards the cannons.
"Thorr, we need external defenses: there are more golems than usual. We shouldn't let them get close."
"Understood," the earth guardian said before going with the rest of his defense team.
"Flame. We need them to cover Magnus from those fire catapults, can you support them?"
"Don't worry, we'll protect him" Flame replied, "Where will you go?"
Jhonny exhaled a fireball into the sky that divided into several more and exploded, making a fireworks effect. Immediately, a group of twelve dragon soldiers appeared.
"Spyro, Ray and the others will take care of giving them some casualties" he replied, "While Magnus and the others fire, we will attack those towers close, come on guys!"
Spyro and his friends with his small group flew towards the enemies.
"Electric storm!"
"Blazing Dragon!"
"Ether Breath!"
Three attacks from different elements combined, wiping out half the army in a second, the other dragons seized the opportunity and began to fight with the others. While the three protectors flew in the direction of the huge towers.
But before they could continue on their way, a Dark dragon stood in their way.
"Good strategy," he told them, sarcastically, "Attack up close while the moles attack from afar…why do they trust a tiny pest like them? you alone can with this war. The little ones are just a nuisance."
"The city was built thanks to the union between moles and dragons" Spyro snapped, "They are our best friends and great fighting partners. You, who only ally with beings that cause destruction, cannot understand it."
"Well that does not matter. In my time as a soldier, our superiority in size and numbers gave us victory."
"It's ironic that you say that, considering that it's three against one…" Ray told him.
"Ha, and who says that I am only one…?" taunted the Dark One (named Vane), as dark mana spread from his body.
For a moment, the body of the enemy shone and, as in a mirage where you think you see double or triple, the enemy multiplied from one to ten.
"And that's not all…" Vane told them. And, by repeating the action, the number increased to fifty.
"This is crazy…" Ray commented, "There are too many"
Vane smiled as he lifted fifty copies of him up into the sky.
"Arrowstorm Chaos!"
A flurry of black arrows savagely attacked the three friends. Ray tried to protect them.
"Electro Sphere!"
An electric sphere interposed itself in the aim of the arrows; however, each arrow caused a small explosion on impact and a series of these ended up completely breaking the only protection and hitting the target squarely.
"Ha, pathetic defense!" Vane laughed, but all the clones spoke at once, confusing which one was the real one.
"Burning Wall!"
A fire tornado acted as a second defense and held back the rest of the attacks that the first defense could not withstand.
"Wow, so don't give up…" Vane told them, "If fifty me, you're not impressed with what you think… one hundred?"
"One hundred?!" Spyro yelled.
Again, it multiplied until the number reached the frightening number one hundred.
"Again, take this… Arrowstorm Chaos!"
Now, the defenses were useless and the three friends were abruptly hit by the explosive arrows. However, Spyro got back up just like the others.
"They're with one foot in the grave…" Vane sneered, "I guess just half of me will do…"
Fifty of Vane's copies made their way to the rock wall of the earth dragons, who had had enough of the Trolls pounding the walls incessantly; on the other hand, the small group that had come was also starting to look overwhelmed.
"We won't give up…" Spyro exclaimed.
"What do you think if we entertain ourselves to fight hand to hand?" Vane said, "Sure, if they still have the strength…"
The Dark One's clones attacked Spyro and his companions. It was a battle of forty or fifty against three, the numerical superiority was clear and as if that were not enough, the catapult towers began to collapse the earthen wall.
"If this continues..." Ray said in the middle of the fight, "The walls will fall..."
But, just in time, a wall of ice reinforced the wall of earth.
"Shadow Dragon!"
"Freezing storm!
A shadow attack brought down a pair of catapult towers, and an ice attack froze another pair.
"Cynder!" yelled Spyro.
"Edel!" Johnny yelled.
The female dragons came flying over them.
"Did they miss us?" Cynder laughed.
"We'll take care of the towers, you defeat that Dark One!" Edel warned them.
"Agree!" Spyro answered them.
Both dragons flew in the direction of the last tower, but they were being chased by Vane's clones.
"I won't let them get away," Vane said.
The males tried to get away from the clones, but their superior numbers prevented it.
"We must... take down the real one..." Spyro said, reasoning despite the overwhelming number of them.
"That's too many…" Jhonny mentioned as he blocked a claw strike from one of the clones. It was then that he felt something strange in the touch of the copy.
That was the answer. With some difficulty of movement he managed to meet with his companions.
"Guys, I need you to cover me," he told them, "I have an idea, but I need to focus."
"Okay," Spyro said as he shrugged off about five copies, "Don't be long."
Jhonny closed his eyes: he didn't need to see, or touch… he needed to perceive. Meanwhile, Spyro and Ray struggled to hold off Vane and his copies while Jhonny executed his plan.
So, Vane got bored.
"This is boring," he commented, "if one of you refuses to fight, this will be done very quickly."
He rose again with copies of him. Just then, Johnny opened his eyes.
"Arrowstorm Chaos!"
"Blazing Dragon!"
The huge fire and lava dragon and the explosive arrows met in the air. But, instead of hitting each other, the fire attack moved faster and between the arrows until it reached one of the Vanes... when it hit the enemy, the arrows disappeared, as did the huge number of enemies that the Dark One had created.
Vane fell to the ground, badly hurt from the blow, but still alive.
"Damn you…" the Dark One yelled as he got up again, "How?"
"Every one of your clones was not real. Everybody, even that of an ice dragon, has a tiny part of body heat in its blood. When one of the copies attacked me, I could sense that" then he turned to Spyro, "It's all yours, Spyro"
"Okay," Spyro said, emanating mana from Ether, "Ether Rage!"
Spyro's breath ripped the Dark One to shreds, which dissolved into darkness once he was done. Moments later, the last tower was destroyed and the dark army was defeated…for now.
"Cynder!" Spyro greeted him once everyone was reunited, "Are you alright?"
"Calm down, you know they need more than to beat us both" she replied.
"I have no doubt" said Jhonny approaching Edel, "Yesterday, I sensed your mana in the distance, one of the Dark Ones couldn't beat you, right?"
"You know me, Jhonny," his wife replied, "I always give my enemies a cold welcome."
"Speaking of enemies..." Ray interrupted, "That last one was a little harder to beat."
"That's right," Spyro reasoned, "and they get stronger. We hope that the young dragons can return in time…"