Hi, new chapter here. With this one, I gave the plot a big turn. Hope you will enjoy this second part of the whole story. Let me know in the reviews!
-Azotac
Everything was calm and silent in the great dragon capital that morning. The sun had just begun its journey through the cloudy sky, shedding its golden rays over the asleep city. The red and golden banners waved silently, moved by the cold northern wind. The streets were completely empty since all the stalls were dismantled the night before.
A lone ice soldier was walking along the main street, following his usual patrol routine.
His pace was slow but steady. The noise of his talons on the cobblestone streets and the metallic sound of his armour were echoing into the silence.
All of a sudden a powerful noise came to his ears, slapping him out of his sleepy trance. A thunderous sound, like a thousand dragons roaring, boomed into the city. Instantly, a chill ran down his spine as his face tinted with pure dismay.
It was the war horn.
That old relic from the ancient wars stood silent for over one month, but now his gloomy call came back haunting his ears. He immediately darted up in the sky, directing to the northern wall. In the distance he glimpsed his comrades moving fast over the ramparts of the great barrier, but as soon as he landed, his heart fell. Far in the distance, near the hills that preceded the Burned Lands, he could see a black swarm directing at great speed towards them.
"Corporal Nemes!"Called a booming voice.
The young soldier turned around, only to find Captain Baldur standing tall in front of him. Nemes bowed his head.
"At your orders, captain."He said.
"I want you to gather fifty soldiers and organise the defences of the northern courtyard. Create barricades, trenches, whatever you need."Ordered the earth captain.
"Yessir!" Shouted the corporal, before taking flight towards the barracks.
"Lieutenant Cyreus!" Called Baldur. The other ice soldier arrived few seconds later in a hurry.
"You wanted to see me, captain?"He asked.
"Yes. Go to the Temple and alert captain Ashen. Tell him to inform as soon as possible the Guardians about the situation. Also ask if he can give us some reinforcements. We'll need all the help we can get."Said the captain. In an instant, the soldier took flight directing southwards.
Baldur moved his gaze towards the horizon. Now the mass of enemies was clearly visible at the sunlight. Few moments later, a wind dragon landed at his side.
"Ah, private Zephyrus. Report."Said the earth dragon.
"They're grublins, sir."Said panting the scout.
"I need numbers, soldier! Not you to tell me what I already know."He shouted. The wind dragon recoiled a little.
"At least one thousand between normal grublins and orcs, sir. Plus some trolls."Said grimly the soldier, clenching his underbelly. Baldur noticed it and inspected the dragon in front of him. An arrow had managed to pierce his armour, implanting in his flesh.
"Go to the infirmary and get this wound cured. We'll need your help out there today."Said the earth captain. The wind dragon nodded, then took flight.
Baldur turned his gaze once again to his enemies.
"How it's possible that a so large number of enemies went completely undetected from our scouts?"He thought, angrily.
In him a faint sense of fear began to rise, but he quickly shoved it away.
"May the Ancestors help us…" He whispered.
Spyro and Cynder were sleeping soundly when the war horn call arrived to their ears. They both woke up instantly, watching each other in the eyes with a terrified expression.
"What in the name of the Ancestors was that?"Said Cynder gazing out of the window.
"I don't know. But I don't think is something nice."Replied Spyro.
The couple stood up soon after, directing towards the balcony to try to understand the source of that terrible noise. They saw a series of dragons soldier flying towards the northern wall.
"This can't be good!"They both exclaimed.
"We should go to see the Guardians."Suggested Spyro. Cynder nodded and they both flung themselves in the corridor and down the stairs, hoping to find the three elders already awake in the main hall.
They arrived in the great room and, luckily for them, the Guardians were already discussing in the middle of the place, so the youngsters reached them in no time.
"Terrador, what's happening? We heard that noise and-"Began Spyro, but he was interrupted by the earth guardian.
"We also don't know what's happening, Spyro. That noise was the call of the war horn, an omen of misfortune."Said grimly the elder, with a concerned frown etched on his face.
The purple dragon observed the other two guardians, which seemed to be preoccupied as their earth colleague.
"So what do we do?"He asked. Terrador was about to answer, when the great wooden door suddenly blasted open. A dragon rushed inside, travelling in the corridor at great speed.
The figure arrived in the main hall, almost slipping on the marble floor.
"Captain Ashen! I sincerely hope that you're bringing us some needed informations about this unknown situation we're about to face."Stated Volteer. The Fire Captain regained his composure, before bowing his head.
"My Guardians, young dragons, I bring the word of Captain Baldur of the Warfang Guard."He paused, slightly panting.
"A swarm of enemies has been spotted at the border of the forest before the Burned Lands. They're directing towards our city at great speed."He begun.
"I don't know yet the composition or the numbers of the enemy, but the soldier that reported to me seemed utterly dismayed."He continued.
"What are your orders, my Guardians?"Asked finally the fire dragon.
The three elders watched each other, a deep frown etched on their faces, while the two youngsters couldn't yet realise the news they just heard. After all they've done to ensure peace in the realms, their world, their life, was on the verge of war. Again.
"Prepare the defences of the inner city and escort here at the Temple all the civilians that dwells near the northern wall."Ordered Terrador.
The fire captain nodded, then left in a hurry.
"Volteer, Cyril and I will reach captain Baldur at the ramparts."He continued. Then his gaze verged on the two youngsters near them.
"What do you want to do, young ones?"He asked gently. Spyro and Cynder watched each other, and nodded in unison.
"We will help, as best as we can."Said the purple one, with a firm determination in his eyes. The earth elder smiled proudly at the couple.
"Very well, follow us to the northern wall."Said Terrador in response.
Then, they all departed from the main hall in a hurry, exited in the courtyard and took flight directing northward.
Auros woke up in a jolt too, at the hearing of that booming sound, as he almost fell from his bed from the fright. In an instant, a bad feeling rose in his chest. He had already heard a similar noise once in his life, that same night of the attack at his village. A series of images of that fateful hours began rushing in his head. The fire burning and consuming the houses, the screams of terror, the smell of smoke and blood…
He clenched his jaws and put his paws on his head.
"C'mon Auros! This is no time to have bad memories."He said to himself, trying to shove away those images. After few minutes he regained his composure and directed towards his balcony. He only glimpsed few dragon soldiers flying back and forth from the northern wall. He came back in his room, thinking about what to do.
"Maybe I should see if Spyro and Cynder are already up, they surely will know what to do."He thought directing towards the upper floors. Few minutes later he arrived in front of their doors. He knocked Spyro's one for first, but no one answered. He then tried Cynder's one, but again, no answers. He peeked inside the room, only to find it completely empty.
"They already left…"
The white dragon closed the door and directed towards the stairs and to the main hall of the temple, hoping to find the Guardians or his friends somewhere.
Auros arrived in the main room, but he found no one again. Then a voice came from down the corridor.
"Are you looking for someone, young one?"
Auros moved on, only to see a dragon guard coming in his direction.
"Yes sir. I was looking for Spyro or the Guardians, did you perhaps see them?"Asked politely the white dragon.
"They all left few minutes ago for the northern wall."Answered the soldier.
"Ok, thank you."Said Auros, moving for the great wooden door.
"Be careful, young dragon. I fear there will be blood in the wind today."Said the guard grimly.
"Let's hope it won't be ours."Replied the white youngster, before exiting the Temple.
He stood on the staircase, watching the cloudy sky, which was getting darker and darker.
"I should fetch Nix and Gaia, I'm sure they would like to give a paw."He thought. Then, without hesitation, he darted up in the air, directing towards Nix's house, hoping at least to find her. He soared fast over the city, which now was waking up, after the call of the horn. He could see many citizen moving quickly in the streets, probably running home. Many were barricading inside their dwellings or others were moving towards the Temple, in search of protection.
He glimpsed a squadron of soldiers directing to the northern wall, they seemed in a hurry.
"I'd better be quick."He thought, flapping faster his wings.
Auros landed on all four in front of the residential tower where Nix lived. He was about to knock the door, when it blasted open, almost hitting him in the face.
"Auros, what are you doing here?"Asked a concerned voice.
"Gaia?What are you doing here?"Replied the white youngster. Meanwhile, behind the earth dragoness, Nix emerged from the door, closing it. She then noticed the presence of the white dragon.
"Oh…Hi Auros."She said, a bit shyly.
"Hi Nix"He replied smiling.
"You know, it's actually a good thing that you came here. We were coming to get you anyway."Said Gaia.
"To do what?"Asked Auros quizzically.
"Duh. To help Spyro and Cynder, of course. I saw them flying with the Guardians to the wall few minutes ago. They all seemed to be pretty worried."She said.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."Said the white dragon taking flight, the other two dragoness following him suit.
While they were getting closer to the wall, Auros glimpsed a purple figure.
"There they are!"He said diving. Soon after the three youngsters landed on the northern barrier, just behind the Guardians. Spyro turned around in a jolt.
"Guys! What are you doing here?"He asked worriedly.
"We came here to help, we want-"Tried to say Gaia, but Terrador interrupted her.
"Young dragons, we really appreciate your will to help the city in this situation, but this is far different from training. Here there are your lives at stakes, we don't want to put you in danger."He said.
"Spyro and Cynder have a lot of experience in fighting and they already helped us in dealing with the previous siege. That's why we are letting them participate."Explained Terrador.
The youngster fell in silence, bowing their head in defeat.
"Terrador, maybe we should let them stay with the defence party in the courtyard below. I'm sure that corporal Nemes will take good care of them."Suggested Cyril.
The earth elder pondered the suggestion for few seconds before finally nodding.
"Fine. You three will help-"Terrador was interrupted by a booming sound coming from the catapult. They all turned to face their enemies which now were few hundred meters from the wall.
"It has begun…"Said Cyril.
"Quick, you three reach Corporal Nemes. He's an ice dragon, pale blue scales with golden eyes. Tell him that I've assigned you to his squadron."Said the earth guardian.
Auros, Nix and Gaia nodded in unison and dived down behind the rampart.
"Captain Baldur!"Called Terrador.
"Yes, Master Terrador?"Answered the dragon.
"Prepare your soldiers and tell them to begin the aerial attack. We need to get rid of the archers before we can engage frontally."Ordered the guardian.
"Yessir!"Shouted Baldur, before turning around and begin to call his troops. In few seconds, eighty or so dragons took flight in the direction of the grublins.
A shower of elemental attacks invested the enemies, creating also a deep wall of dust that ascended from the terrain. The archers didn't lose time and prepared to retaliate to the dragons.
A cloud of dark arrows came out of the dust, hitting several soldiers.
"Attack from the sides to the middle. I need two wind dragons to cover us."Shouted Baldur.
Immediately the soldiers split in two groups, which directed to the opposite sides of the swarm. The squadrons did as commended the captain, one wind dragon stood in lead, deflecting most of the arrows with its wind blow, while the other soldiers attacked fiercely the grublin archers. Baldur hovered above the battlefield, watching pleased the enemy being annihilated.
"This can't be so easy…"He thought. After few minutes of repeated attacks, he and his soldiers returned quickly to the rampart.
"My Guardians, we succeeded in eliminating most of the archers. We are ready to engage frontally at your command."Said the captain.
"Very well, Baldur. Engage. We will be covering you from the air."Answered Cyril.
"Young dragons, follow Captain Baldur and stay close to him."Said Terrador. Spyro and Cynder nodded and followed Baldur and his soldiers in their dive to the battlefield. They landed in the dust, forming a line in front of the main gate. Before them, the swarm of grumblings was getting closer and closer. A droplet fell over Spyro's muzzle, as he gazed the sky above him.
It was going to rain soon.
He turned his look to Cynder, who smiled fondly at him. He knew that no matter what happened that day, he would always have her by his side. It was the only thing that mattered to him.
"PREPARE!"Shouted Baldur, his gaze fixed on the wall of enemies in front of them.
All the soldiers assumed a battle stance. Some roars and snarls elevated from the squadron, as they prepared for the fight.
"ATTACK!"Ordered finally the captain.
The dragons charged at full speed towards the grublins. A series of elemental attacks sprung out of the offending squadron, hitting frontally the first line of enemies. The grublins roared fiercely in response as they got closer to the dragons. Eventually the two forces crashed onto each other, as the real battle begun.
Spyro and Cynder didn't lose time, as they engaged brutally the grublins in front of them, tearing their flesh and spilling their dark blood. They stood back to back, disseminating destruction and death all around them, mindful of their experiences in dealing with those creatures. Nevertheless the two young heroes quickly found themselves surrounded by the enemy, which now was attacking from every direction. They dodged every attempt of offence, retaliating with their claws and elemental attacks. Spyro let his right flank exposed for a brief period of time, a grublin caught the occasion and raised his crude blade, aiming straight for the purple dragon. Spyro noticed too late to dodge. He braced himself for the hit, which never arrived, as the soldier in font of him fell dead soon after, with an arrow implanted in his head.
Spyro looked up to the rampart, only to glimpse Hunter with his bow who had join the fight.
"Thank you, my friend…"Thought Spyro, before returning his focus to the brawl. Behind them, few grublins managed to breach the line of soldiers and began to punch the gate and to dive into the terrain.
"Don't let them pass!"Ordered Baldur.
Meanwhile, behind the wall, everything was ready to contain and annihilate the enemy in case it managed to pass the main gate. The noise coming from the battle raging outside and constant booming sound of the catapult where enough to send a chill running down Nix's spine.
"I hope they're good out there…"She said.
"I'm sure they are. We're talking about Spyro and Cynder, after all."Answered Auros.
Then a noise caught everyone's attention.
There, in the middle of the northern courtyard, a hole had suddenly appeared. Everyone stood silent, while a grublin came out from the terrain before their eyes.
The creature watched itself around angrily, before raising his sword to the air. It didn't have enough time to scream, that an ice shard pierced its throat and impaled it on the wall. The corporal raised an eyebrow in disbelief, before turning to the source of the attack.
"Nice shot, young one."Stated Nemes, watching the white youngster.
"But next time, await for my orders."Continued the soldier.
"Sorry sir." Said Auros bowing his head.
"Everyone get ready! They're coming!"Said the corporal to his forces.
New holes began to form in the terrain as a series of grublins jumped out and charged the soldiers. The dragons retaliated fiercely, killing every creature as soon as they got out of the ground.
"Keep going!"Shouted Nemes.
For a brief period of time, the enemy seemed to be defeated, but soon after a new wave of grublins came emerging from the terrain, more numerous than before. The dragons began to engage in close range combat, tearing apart those horrid creatures.
The three youngsters were fighting together, back to back, when an orc suddenly emerged from behind the barricades, raising its axe towards the unaware azure dragoness. Auros noticed it and shot an ice shard that punched through the creature's head, making it fall dead to the ground.
Nix turned around to thank him, but the smile on her face turned instantly into terror. In helping her, the white dragon had left his defences down for a moment and a grublin took advantage of his sudden weakness to slash his crude sword along his left flank. The youngster snarled in pain as the sword tore his flesh. He retaliated almost instantly, killing his attacker, before falling on his belly to the ground. Blood poured from the gash over his white scales and onto the muddy terrain. The azure dragoness flung herself by his side, while he patched his injury with a thin layer of ice to stop the bleeding. The white youngster managed to stand up, his hind legs trembling a bit.
"Bring him to the infirmary, quick!"Ordered Nemes upon noticing his wound.
"I can still fight, sir-"
"No, you can't!"He then turned to the ice dragoness." Bring him to Aramis, we will cover you."Said the corporal, returning to the fight.
"C'mon Auros, let's go. Can you fly?"Asked Nix apprehensively. Auros exercised his left wing, flinching for the pain.
"Yes, but not for too long…"He finally answered.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, now let's go."
Outside the wall the fight was still raging. Everyone tried its best to keep a consistent line of defence to prevent the attackers to pass over, but as soon as they seemed to have gained an advantage point, new hordes of enemies arrived from nothing.
Worsening the situation the trolls had arrived at a dangerous distance from the main gate, as they became the top priority of the defence party.
Spyro and Cynder offered to take down the bigger troll on their own, since their multiple encounters with those kind of creatures. The couple immediately charged the enemy, with Cynder using her venom element to melt away great part of the outer shell, while Spyro, using his ice breath aimed to the joints and managed to slow down the monster.
The troll growled ferociously, trying to smash with its massive fists the two youngsters. They easily dodged the attacks and retaliated with both venom and fire, dealing an impressive amount of damages. The troll began to give some signs of abating as its movements were visibly slowed and desperate. The two youngsters kept attacking relentlessly, until the monster was almost on the verge of crumbling. They reunited in front of it, preparing to inflict the killing blow, when the troll suddenly jumped with an impressive speed towards their direction, smashing its forelimbs to the ground and sending the two young heroes in opposite directions, far away from each other.
Spyro hit hard the ground, tumbling for few meters in the dirt and the mud. His head was pounding like a drum and a dull pain was beginning to diffuse from his chest to the rest of the body. He grunted, trying to stand up on his paws. His vision was partially blurred, but he could still distinguish what was happening round him.
The last grublins were still going on with the attack, launching themselves in the direction of the main gate, completely ignoring his presence. He raised his head in search of his black dragoness, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"CYNDER!"He called desperately.
"Cynder!"He tried once again, but his voice got completely lost in the noise of the battle. Suddenly a sharp pain came from his right shoulder, as a dark arrow implanted firmly in his flesh. Spyro snarled in agony, before retaliating and killing his attacker. He removed the arrow from his shoulder and patched the wound with ice, as he was taught during his training. He threw the arrow to the ground before making his way towards the wall, when a sudden dizziness caught him by surprise. Few steps later his legs began to fail and he fell into the mud, with his vision becoming all a blur. The last thing he felt was that someone or something grabbed him by his tail and began to drag his body in the dirt. Short after, his senses failed completely and his vision plummeted into darkness.
Cynder managed to soften her landing with a gust of wind aimed to the terrain. Her head was spinning a bit from the hit received by the troll. It took her few minutes to gain back the control. She stood up on her paws to gaze at her surroundings, when a loud and guttural roar broke through the battlefield.
All the grublins and orcs remaining suddenly raised their heads in the direction of the noise and soon after they began to retire at great speed.
Cynder had to take flight rather quickly to avoid being crushed under the charge of enemies returning towards the woods that preceded the Burned Lands.
"Did we win?"She thought smiling, but her happiness didn't last long, as her thoughts flew to her missing purple companion.
"Spyro! I need to find him."
She gained height trying to see if she could find him in that sea of dead enemies and mud. She soared over the battlefield for over thirty minutes while the soldiers drove away the last grublins. To her dismay, she found no sign of the purple dragon.
"Maybe he already returned…"She said to herself, finally directing towards the main gate of the city. She landed on the rampart, were many other soldiers were regrouping. She glimpsed the guardians talking with captain Baldur and she directed towards them.
Upon noticing the young dragoness the elders turned to her.
"Cynder! Thank you for your help today. You and Spyro have been essential in the battle."Said Cyril smiling. She was about to ask about him when Terrador interrupted.
"About that, where's young Spyro? Wasn't him with you?"Asked the earth elder to the black dragoness. At that question a sense of discomfort began rise in Cynder.
"I came to ask you the same question. We got separated during the fight and now I'm not able to find him anywhere. I've already checked the battlefield but I found nothing."She said with a tinge of sadness in her words.
"I'm sure Spyro is fine, maybe he went to the infirmary to check your friend Auros. You should look there."Said Terrador.
"Ok thanks, see you later."She said swiftly, before darting up in the air.
The Guardians saw her disappear quickly behind the great buildings of the city, before returning their attention to the earth captain.
"So, you were telling us, Baldur?"Asked Cyril.
"Sir, I'm happy to confirm that we suffered no casualties during the defence and that the injured are being all transferred to the infirmary. Also the walls are completely undamaged, so there's no need to repair."Stated the soldier.
"Very well, captain. Thank you for your service today. You're dismissed."Said Terrador. Baldur bowed his head and then left. There was a contemplative silence for few minutes, as the Guardians gazed the cloudy sky gradually clearing form the rain clouds.
"What do you think about the missing of Spyro?"Asked suddenly Cyril, with a worried tone.
"I'm sure he's fine. That young dragon can look after himself."Said confidently Terrador.
"Yeah…"Answered Cyril, with Volteer standing silent beside him with a concerned face.
Cynder arrived few minutes later in front of the infirmary. She entered quickly the white building and, upon indication from a mole, directed towards Auros's room.
She opened the door, only to find Auros laid on his right side with a layer of bandages over his left flank. He smiled as soon as the black dragoness entered the room.
"Oh, hi Cynder. I'm glad to see you are ok."He said.
"What happened to you?"She asked, getting closer.
"I got distracted… But I'm glad I did, otherwise there would be Nix on this bed, maybe in a worse condition than me."He stated.
The black dragoness smiled at the white dragon.
"Are her and Gaia ok? I didn't see them around today."Asked Cynder.
"Yes, yes. Nix went to her parents and I think Gaia is looking for her dad to check if he's fine."Answered Auros.
"What about Spyro, is he ok?"Asked then the white youngster.
"Didn't he come here after the battle?"Asked anxiously the dragoness.
"No, I haven't seen him since we parted this morning."Said Auros. At that answer, Cynder began to get seriously worried.
"Sorry Auros, I've got to go. Hope you get well soon."She said before running out from his room, leaving the white dragon alone on his bed.
She darted up in the air as soon she left the building. She began searching every place possible, hoping to find some indication of his presence. She searched the great hall, the temple and his room, Ignitus's memorial monument, the main street, but she found even asked Sparx if he saw him that day, but his answer was the same as all the others. Nobody saw her companion since the beginning of the battle. Frustration and grief began to grasp Cynder's chest as she finally returned to the Temple to meet the Guardians. She flung herself along the corridor and into the main hall, where, fortunately, the elders were discussing with Hunter and the two captains.
"Terrador! I can't find him!"She said, halting in front of them.
"Calm, young dragoness. Who can't you find?"Asked gently the guardian.
"Spyro! I looked everywhere, but he seemed to be disappeared, nobody has seen him since this morning!"She said with a high pitched voice. At that news, all the present in the room frowned deeply.
"Are you sure that nobody saw him anywhere? It's kinda difficult to miss someone like him."Stated Ashen.
"I'm certain. I am the last one who saw him during the battle."She answered.
At that statement, the Guardians understood the seriousness of the question.
"Very well. Ashen, Baldur, I need you to organise a small search party to look for him around the city. Tell the citizens that whoever saw Spyro, must immediately report to us."Said Terrador, turning to the soldiers.
"Yessir!"Said in unison the captains, before leaving. Hunter meanwhile, knelt near Cynder, putting his paw over her shoulder.
"Young dragoness, would you like to show me where did you see him the last time? Maybe we could find some useful informations there."Said the cheetah. The black dragoness nodded silently.
It took them some time to arrive at the main gate, since the poor Hunter couldn't fly, but eventually they arrived in the northern courtyard. They exited the barrier and Cynder led her friend to where she and Spyro had fought with the troll.
The creature was still there in the same spot where it died soon after its final attack. She watched her surroundings, trying to orientate.
"This troll attacked us here, I was sent in that direction, while Spyro went on my opposite side. So he must have gone in that way."Said Cynder, pointing her wing.
"Very good. Let's see if we can find something."Said Hunter.
They moved where Cynder had indicated, searching the terrain for any sign of the purple dragon. The duo rummaged around the dead bodies of the grublins for quite some time, when finally Hunter called for Cynder.
"You found something?"She asked expectantly. In his paws, Hunter had the tip of an arrow, incrusted with mud, dried blood and a weird bluish mixture.
"I think he was here, before getting hit by this."Said the cheetah, jerking his head towards the ground. Even if was partially cancelled by a series of foot prints, a shape of a dragon imprinted in the mud was still recognisable. Hunter sniffed the arrow, before carefully putting it in his pouch.
He moved forward for few meters, inspecting the terrain. The sign of a body being dragged were also clearly visible. The cheetah halted and Cynder almost stumbled on him. He crouched. His muzzle almost touching the mud. He then carefully piked up something small with his sharp talons and cleaned it from the sludge with his cloak. A deep frown etched on his face as he showed the small object to Cynder, who was waiting expectantly a response.
When she posed her eyes over the thing he held, her heart skipped a beat.
It was a purple scale.
Hunter closed his paw and stored the scale into a different pouch.
"Come."He then said, following closely the trail before him. They walked for some more minutes until Hunter halted once again.
"The tracks stop here."He stated. "They must have lifted him, to carry him more easily."He added, inspecting the ground.
Cynder frowned deeply."You say that they…took him?How…"
"Venom. The tip of the arrow was coated with a sedative mixture."He said coldly, holding in his paw another purple scale he just found.
"We must immediately report to the Guardians. He's to be considered in serious danger."Said Hunter, turning to the dragoness. It took a moment to Cynder to process all that was happening, but she finally nodded, following closely the cheetah.
It took them almost an hour to return to the Temple, where they found the Guardians speaking again with captain Ashen. They entered quickly in the main hall, interrupting their discussion.
"Hunter, Cynder! I hope you bring good news."Said worriedly Cyril.
"I'm sorry, but it's not the case."Answered Hunter.
"Cynder and I have found enough proofs to suggest that young Spyro has been captured by our enemy."Said the cheetah. At his words the Guardians recoiled in dismay, as deep frown formed on their faces.
"We found traces of a small dragon being dragged for dozens and dozens of meters. On the trail we found a couple of purple scales embedded in the mud. They seem to have used a sedative venom to take him down."Reported Hunter, showing what he and Cynder had found in the battlefield. Terrador got closer to the duo, inspecting carefully the tip of the arrow. He retracted his muzzle and, with a snarl, he addressed the other guests.
"Spyro's scent is on that arrow. This confirms your theory, Hunter."He stated grimly.
"This is utterly terrifying! How dared those filthy monsters to kidnap our young friend with a so infamous, horrible, unsavoury method! I swear they going to pay. Ancestors know what are they doing to him!"Exclaimed Volteer angrily.
"The thing that scares me more is… Why did they take him in the first place? They can't ask a ransom. This means there's something more under all this problem." Said Hunter, caressing slowly his chin with a worried frown on his face.
"It's a thing that we'll figure out later."Interrupted the Earth Guardian." The top priority now is to locate where he's being hold captive. Ashen, I need you to send a group of scouts following the direction of the retreat of the enemy. Tell them to report any kind grublin activity. We don't have time to waste."Ordered Terrador. Instantly the captain dashed out of the Temple and to the barracks. The earth elder got closer to Cynder, placing his strong paw over her shoulder. She gazed at him, with pure sadness in her eyes.
"Don't worry Cynder. We'll find him, no matter what."He said.
"I hope you're right."She said, before directing to her room.
The black dragoness opened her door slowly before throwing her exhausted body on the bed. She gripped firmly the neckband with her right paw, her thoughts flew again to her purple dragon.
"Spyro…"
With the last image of his smile planted in her mind, she closed her eyes trying to rest, while a silent tear slid through her cheek.
Thank you for reading! See you, hopefully, next week.