Chapter 8:
Frozen Secrets
Hunter jumped back and held his sword out to engage, the torchlight bringing the beast into full view as Flame pounced readily to Hunter's side while Ember rushed up beside Cynder, ready for action. The dancing flame of the torch showed the snarling, unmoving mouth and the cold, piercing, dead eyes of the foe as the group beheld the unmistakable form of a dragon. A static, cold, statue of a dragon. There was a moment of awkwardness as they realized the lack of a threat, Hunter calmly lowering his sword as the rest of the group caught their breath. Cynder clenched her teeth hard together behind her gums as she tried to not show her embarrassment.
"Jumped the start a little, I guess," she muttered meekly, doing her best to avoid Ember's smug gaze.
"No harm done," Hunter remarked dryly, "It had me fooled for a moment."
"Yeah, I was about to roast it into the next century!" Flame joked anxiously. Hunter approached the statue curiously; the edifice was a fearsome life-sized depiction of an Ice dragon; seated on its haunches with broad thorny wings stretched out behind it. Its forelegs were raised up with claws reached out as though it were holding something, though its paws were empty. Behind the statue, its stone tail rose up like a great snake with its tip covered in numerous spines like a hedgehog as Hunter's torch revealed the tunnel had narrowed behind the statue, the mined black surroundings of the cave changing as a great stone archway appeared above. The group saw two sets of large, grey stone steps rising several feet either side of the statue, Hunter cautiously stepped up as he hung the torch low, eyeing the steps as he placed his foot onto the lowest of them to the left of the statue, lifting his head and the torch to it curiously as he ascended the dragon sized stairs.
Cynder, Ember and Flame each stepped up closer to the statue, taking in its frightful appearance. It was carved of dark grey stone, its sharp angular design seemed more stylised than the more realistic statues they were used to seeing in Warfang and the Dragon Temple. Its eyes were made of dark blue opals, looking like some kind of nightmare version of a dragon recalled in some ancient scare story, a menacing force that existed for no reason than to spread fear. Cynder found it hard not to have that impression as she stood between Ember and Flame as they stood beneath the statue's raised claws. There was little about it that resembled Cyril or indeed any dragon, Ice or otherwise, that they had seen before, the statue looking like a vile, propagandized version of a dragon the Apes might create to demonize their opponents.
"It's almost scary, I guess," Flame remarked confidently, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he raised a curious eyebrow, "Is this what the dragons who lived here used to look like?" he asked as he leaned over to Cynder. Inside, she found his confidence endearing and amusing; the black dragoness could easily imagine how he would have reacted a few years ago, when he had been easily scared by his own shadow. Now he just shrugged it off, doing exactly what he knew Spyro would have done.
"It isn't," Ember cut in sharply, hurriedly, "It's just stylized is all. Someone who wanted to make something that look menacing. Probably just somebodies pet project."
Cynder turned her head to Ember, her hastiness to defend the Ice dragon race from criticism was uncannily like how Cyril might have done had he been there with them. The pink dragoness hardened her gaze before she looked ahead and began walking around the statue, seemingly trying to look more interested than she really was.
"I'm not so sure about that," Hunter proclaimed as he reached the top of the stairs, raising his torch up as it illuminated the fearsome edifice of another statue to his left, identical to the one they had first seen, but with a shimmering blue cluster resting at its feet, which he knelt to pick up.
"What is it?" asked Cynder as she and the others turned to him, Hunter rising and turning side on, holding up a ball of blue crystal in his paw as he glanced at his entourage. He set the torch down before he reached up and carefully placed the crystal ball in the paws of the ferocious looking statue. As soon as the ball was clasped in the statue's claws, a bright blue flash lit up inside the crystal sphere, causing Hunter to quickly step back towards the stairs as the sphere glowed with a swirling life of its own! The eyes of the statue lit up as blue light illuminated more of the tunnel as the sphere glittered like a sea of diamonds, showing the group the silhouettes of more statues and fine masonry through the darkness, revealing a second statue directly across from the one which held the glowing orb. An instant later, the opposite statue with its own orb and opal eyes lit up as well, the tunnel exploding in a dazzling glow of aqua blue light as orb after orb lit up in sequence as statue after statue lit up the dark! Only the statue that had caused the brief fright remained unlit with no magical sphere of its own to power it.
Cynder, Flame, Ember and Hunter all watched in wide eyed astonishment as a long white tunnel stretched out ahead of them, lit by more than a dozen pairs of statues with their glowing blue orbs swirling and shimmering like stars captured in crystal. The floor, walls, and ceiling all shone with the greyish white stone of the large steps, the tunnel shaping into a more diamond like form with sturdy stone archways evenly spaced along its length. Between each archway were dense clusters of silvery white, pointed gemstones emplaced in the ceiling like inverted garden lots, each cluster providing more luminescence as the blue orbs slowly dimmed as the white light of the crystals took pre-eminence in the tunnel.
"Wow…" Flame uttered simply, too dumbstruck for any further observations. Hunter stood tall as he scanned the newly lit tunnel, stepping up the top of the stairs as the three young dragons followed behind him. Ember's eyes lit up as she stared in amazement at the eerie but beautiful aura of the furbished tunnel, the glowing crystal orbs seeming to take her interest most of all as she approached the nearest one on her right.
"These are beautiful," she declared in a strangely hushed, reverent voice. Cynder wasn't immune to the lure of them, gazing into the orb that had first shown its light as it glowed with a most sparkling beauty, each little glitter in its sphere not surprisingly like tiny crystals of ice floating in a magical sea. It was enough to make one forget the cold fierceness of the statues that held them, until one lifted their gaze and saw their glowing eyes and demonic faces staring back at them.
"So why is this place all spruced up but the rest of the tunnel isn't?" asked Cynder curiously.
"Guess they never got around to finishing it," Flame suggested as they slowly crested the last of the great steps as Hunter stood ahead with the torch still in hand.
"Let's move on; don't let your guard down," he said carefully as he led them down the hall, the Cheetah warrior and young dragons passing under the white light of the first gem cluster, the ferocious statues passing by ominously as they moved on by, hoping they were in fact only statues.
They moved quickly but cautiously, passing by the glowing orbs of each pair of statues and under each archway towards the end of the hall. Cynder glanced over at Ember and saw how enchanted she seemed to be with the quality of the stonework, of course taking it as part of the pride of being an Ice dragon herself, a part of her that seemed to have become all the more apparent in recent times. She was sure it would have made Cyril so proud of her, being as pompous and egotistical as he was, but the black dragoness still hoped to hear his stout accent soon enough, assuming they found Volteer first. As they moved onward, they saw the tunnel leading towards what looked to be another chamber at its end where more light could be seen, Hunter tilting his head unsurely as they approached. He motioned for them to wait as he peered through the archway, glancing around for a moment before he beckoned them to follow. The Cheetah warrior stepped through, followed by Cynder, Flame and Ember, the chamber widening out as the ceiling suddenly shot up high above them.
The four found themselves standing in a wide circular chamber, gazing up at the inside of a great tower that wound its way up high. In the centre of the floor and taking up most of its space was a heavy stone pedestal that rose a few feet off the ground, on the outside like the four points of a compass were four blue crystals, each the size of an average mole embedded in purpose built stone slots. It was quite obviously a lifting platform, a kind they had all seen before but evidently had not been in use for quite some time. The stonework of the tunnel continued as across from the doorway where they stood was the base of a great spiral staircase, winding its way to the top some few hundred meters above. Great blocks of greyish white stone formed the inside of the structure and the stairs, dozens of clusters of crystals shinning along the stairs as it corkscrewed its way in several revolutions to the top. From below they saw a great blue light shining from a chandelier far up the top, the light of a great Ice crystal, shining with the brilliance of a great blue star.
"Looks like we are in the fortress proper now," Hunter mused as he thoughtfully scratched his chin, "So far no sign of trouble."
"I'm sure that will last," Cynder remarked with dry sarcasm as her emerald eyes stared up at the dazzling chandelier above them. Flame stepped ahead of the group, trotting over lightly towards the platform with a dull expression as he hopped onto the great stone disk.
"So, are we taking the stairs of the elevator?" he asked wryly as Hunter scowled at him.
"Not so hasty next time," he warned, "That platform could have been booby trapped!"
"No problem," the red dragon assured him as he playfully hopped up and down on the stone disk, "I don't think the Trolls know about this place, so they couldn't have put any traps here."
"Maybe not," Ember added coldly, "But what about the Ice dragons who built this place? They might have set traps for somebody to fall into, somebody like you!" she sneered as she strode up to him and pushed her nose close to his. Flame feigned confidence with a childishly toothy grin, even though Cynder could tell he was genuinely frightened by her gaze.
"Ember's right," Hunter concurred, "So let's not slip up now. But this seems safe enough," he said as he stepped onto the platform and gazed upward at the looming tower. Ember stepped on herself, followed by Cynder as she stood between her and the red dragon in case she needed to protect him from Ember's wrath.
"It's a safe guess what powers these crystals," Hunter observed as he turned around to face the pink dragoness, "Ember, would you please?"
"Hold on," Cynder cut in abruptly, "Maybe one of us should check out the top floor first, just in case?" she suggested. It was true, of course, the three young dragons could simply fly to the top if they wished, but as time was of the essence, they could not wait for Hunter to scale the stairs to the top. Even with his speed and endurance, the elevator was the preferable choice.
"Good idea," Hunter nodded, "But I won't have one of you going alone. Flame, you and Cynder fly to the top. Ember and I will stay here until you give the all clear."
"Sure," Flame nodded readily. Ember looked glum at the prospect of being reduced to a humble elevator operator, saying nothing as she looked away.
"Alright then," Cynder agreed, turning to the red dragon, "Let's go."
With only a short nod, Flame and Cynder spread their wings and took off together in unison, soaring up the tower with only inches between them. They locked onto the brilliant blue crystal above as they passed by the coils of the ascending staircase as Hunter and Ember watched them from below. Cynder spun in the air in a moment of light-heartedness, hoping to forget for just a moment they were on a mission that could decide the fate of their fight against the forces of Gaul. Flame followed her example and did he same, chuckling warmly as they neared the top floor of the tower.
The pair came to a hovering stop as they floated in the air just off the edge of the top floor, the top of the stairs off to their right as they surveyed the floor. Ahead of them was a wide platform with seemingly no doors as two more of the fearsome dragon statues sat in place several meters apart against the featureless wall, both clutching clear and colourless crystal balls. Cynder and Flame both set down on the floor, peeking down the winding staircase as dozens of crystal lamps lined the walls of it like a belt of stars. They quickly deduced there was no apparent danger as they walked to the edge and gazed down, seeing the distant figures of Hunter and Ember gazing up at them. Cynder turned her side to the edge and stretched her wing out, waving it to them rather than calling out to maintain noise discipline. Hunter waved in return before turning back to Ember.
"Take us up, please, Ember," he said shortly but politely. The pink dragoness only grunted as she turned and breathed a short cloud of shimmering Ice breath onto the nearest crystal, which immediately shone to life as she and Hunter stepped back into the middle of the platform. Ember turned to each crystal and repeated the process, the crystals emitting a glowing blue pulse as a sound like an icy wind suddenly came, followed by a pulse of magical energy from the crystal high above them. There was a flash, the crystal shinning white for an instant before returning to blue, a spiral of glistening blue magic rose from the four gems of the lifting platform, each one no wider than the gems themselves as they rose above the platform and swirled into each other, the group marvelling as a glittering blue twister shot to the top of the tower to the chandelier and vanished in another flash!
Hunter and Ember were nearly startled as the platform finally began to lift, rising silently and effortlessly as its four gems and the fifth on the chandelier glowed with elemental magic, powering the lifting platform up the empty space until it finally reached the top floor, a feat that took under a minute compared to the several had they climbed the winding stairs. The lip of the elevator rose level with the curved edge of the top floor as though it were an extension of it, Cynder and Flame waiting to greet Hunter and Ember as they hovered up.
"Guess it's a good thing we brought you along, huh?" Cynder jeered, "Or who else would do all the hard work?"
"Funny," Ember replied sourly as she and Hunter stepped off the platform, "But they're not likely to use windchimes to lock their doors and power their elevators now, are they?"
"Ouch," Flame remarked grimly, "I felt the heat from that burn."
"So what do we have here?" asked Hunter briskly, hoping to distract them from their petty squabble as he stood before the seemingly featureless wall. The importance of their task overtook the desire for a comeback as Cynder turned her back on Ember as they gathered with their leader before the two statues that seemed to guard nothing. The statues were the same as before expect for two aspects; they sat higher than the previous ones owing to them being placed atop circular pedestals engraved with blue elemental hieroglyphs. The other aspect was that the mouths were not solid carvings like the others, but hollow openings as if ready to cast elements of their own. At the front of each pedestal were curious stove like openings about the size of a dragon egg and their purpose seemed obvious. They appeared to be a cosmetically different but functionally the same version of the statue locks the three survivors has been led to by Mason in their escape from Warfang, which had been empowered by Ember's Ice Breath to unlock the secret passage they had used. Armed with this knowledge, Ember confidently strutted forward as she eyed the statue to the right.
"I know how this works, I'll get us through," she declared boastfully, hunching down with her tail straight out as she eyed the first opening; a glistening cloud of blue Ice breath funnelling into the opening of the statue's base. Ember cut off her stream after a few moments, the glittering blue cloud swirling and hardening inside the opening, doing nothing but turning it into a miniature ice cavern.
"What?" she exclaimed in as much offence as alarm, "It didn't work!"
Cynder could not help but feel a little satisfied by Ember's failure, even if she too had presumed that Ice would be the logical key to any elemental lock or puzzle they may encounter in a fortress once belonging to Ice dragons.
"Lemme try," offered Flame, the red dragon stepping up beside Ember as he cast a short burst of orange fire into the opening. The flames swelled into the miniature ice cavern, melting away the ice that had formed but then only blackening the inside of the opening. Neither statue stirred or reacted to either element.
"Hunter, are these things broken?" asked Flame in a worried voice.
"No, they are working as they should," he replied gruffly as he slid a paw to his hip in thought, "The architects of this place have thrown us a needle in a haystack. We should have known they would be smarter than to have Ice be their master key for all their locks and tricks."
Cynder stepped forward and cleared her throat, drawing the eyes of the others as she announced, "How about giving Wind a chance?"
"If it's not, we'll be in trouble unless one of us can summon Earth or Electricity on the spot," Hunter replied cynically. Ember seemed to regard the very notion with scorn as the black dragoness moved her way to the front, Flame giving her a hopeful nod as he stepped aside for her. Knowing their whole endeavor rested on her, and with her heart fighting to breakout of her chest, Cynder ducked down and drew a breath, opening her beak like muzzle as she summoned a silver snake of Wind breath that funneled like a tornado into the seared opening of the statue's base.
All at once, the elemental hieroglyphs changed from blue to white, the eyes of the statue lighting up the same way as the magically infused air launched up into the belly of the stone dragon! Through the hollowed-out throat of the statue, the air came forth from the stone dragons' mouth as if it were alive, the cloud of shimmering wind enveloping the crystal sphere like an autumn updraft carrying leaves through the air. The sphere began to glow in response, turning a blue grey color that was shared by the statues eyes as a white swirl appeared in the crystals center, briefly mimicking the elemental symbol of Wind before the swirl morphed into an apple sized glowing white ball that stayed in place. Cynder looked up at the surprised faces of her companions, Hunter giving her a proud nod as Ember remained gormless.
"Hey, it worked!" Flame exclaimed cheerfully, "Good going, Cynder!"
"We all have our moments," she smirked with feigned modesty, quickly moving over to the second statue and hoping the process would repeat. Ember stood off repugnantly to the side as the black dragoness cast another funnel of Wind breath, the statue lighting up like its brother and the crystal sphere showing the symbol of Wind once again. The symbol dissipated into another white ball, the floor beginning to rumble as the wall between the statues began to creak. Hunter at once stood in front of the group as he held his torch and sword at the ready, Cynder, Flame and Ember bunching up behind him.
The statues started to rumble as they turned slowly in towards each other, in moments staring at each other as the group watched with heightened senses. The blocks of the wall between the statues began to shift, descending slowly into the floor as a sudden bitter cold flowed in from behind it, chilling the already frigid bones of those witnessing it as the sound of cracking and breaking ice echoed through. In moments, the temperature dropped below freezing at the blocks finally sunk into the floor, a square doorway leading past seemingly into a chamber of snow.
"I thought we were already in the castle!" Flame complained bitterly as he shuddered from the newly empowered cold. Hunter stepped forward cautiously, keeping the torch held out as he gingerly stepped from the stone floor to the carpet of snow just beyond the doorway. He scanned left and right, pausing for a moment as he pulled his tunic tighter.
"We are," he answered slowly, gravely, "Come on," he beckoned. The three young dragons looked at each other before they followed through in single file, Flame taking the lead as Ember pushed in front of Cynder, earning an eyeroll from her as the three of them emerged out the other side and stepped into the snow.
"Holy ancestors…" Ember said in a hushed tone.
The hidden doorway had bought them into the inside of a glacier, or so their first thoughts had been. All around they saw the glimmering, ice covered walls of what looked to be a massive underground cavern, yet certain oddities contradicted this. On the wall behind them were two more of the dragon statues they had seen so many off, caked in a thick layer of icicles as if they had endured a blizzard. A closer look revealed the existence of a stone wall now covered in a layer of ice nearly a meter thick, the unlocked passage managing to break away enough of it when it had been opened. There was no immediate sign of any opening or exposed sky to explain the plentiful snow covering the ground, nor did the shape of the chamber look like any naturally formed glacier.
From what they could see, there were several ice-covered pillars rising out from the snow towards the ceiling which was high and seemed to follow a curved or vaulted pattern that repeated throughout the vast chamber. The ceiling was covered in razor like ice picks ominously pointed down at the small group who looked more like insects in the vastness of the frozen chamber. A heavy rumble echoed through the chamber as they all paused and looked back, seeing the doorway they had passed through closing behind them, Cynder unable to shake the feeling they had wandered into a trap as they watched it close up, an eerie silence settling over the chamber, save for the whispers of the freezing air chilling their very souls.
Hunter cleared his throat, trying to hide his own anxiousness as he turned his eyes forward and motioned them to follow. He pressed forward with the young dragons in tow, all four staring up and around in awe at the frozen structure they had blindly wandered into. As they moved through the chamber, they passed the first of the frozen pillars and saw the vast cavern was illuminated by numerous white gems just like those in the tower and tunnel, revealing that they were in fact not in a glacier, but inside the fortress of Perishers Keep, seemingly now overcome by the icy wilderness it resided in. The Cheetah warrior and the three dragons now stood together in the middle of the frozen mausoleum, now truly appreciating the vastness of its size. To the right the great chamber continued on, entering a slight downward slope as it descended deeper, a foggy mist preventing them from seeing all the way down.
They observed two columns of snow-covered rectangular mounds running on both sides of the central path, each one double their length apart as they continued on further into the chamber, Flame curiously stepping towards one as the others gazed around. Along the path between the mounds were pairs of the glowing crystals sat atop ice covered poles like the street lamps of Warfang, some still glowing whilst others were flat and dead, smothered by the ice. To the left some distance away was a great iron portcullis gate, now covered in thorny icicles which Hunter quickly turned towards.
"Wait here," he instructed as Flame approached the first snow covered mound, swiping away the white mush from it as Cynder and Ember curiously approached. Clearing the snow revealed a heavy stone chest, the red dragon freezing in a moment of shock as the true nature of the chamber was revealed to them.
"It's a tomb!" he exclaimed frightfully, "This place is a crypt!"
"Great," Cynder replied sardonically, "Like it wasn't creepy enough already!"
Hunter looked over his shoulder as he heard of their discovery, seeing the trio standing back from the tomb as he marched on through towards the gate, presuming it would eventually be their exit if they could not get back through the passage they had come. The revelation was less surprising to him, having made the guess when they first entered, but it was still unsettling to know they were in the presence of the dead, hopefully not fated to join them. The great iron arch stood before him, encrusted in thick worms of ice. To the sides of the gate was a familiar scene; two more of the frightening dragon statues covered in ice, the means to open the gate. Peering through the thick icicles that covered it, he could see a row of frost covered steps that led upwards, the frost gradually fading away the further on it went as he saw the steps rise out of view. He wondered what lay beyond them, but for now had to focus on what awaited them here, among the frozen tombs.
As Hunter made his way back, Cynder Ember and Flame remained gazing at the tomb, the black dragoness using a short burst of her Wind breath to blow off the rest of the snow, revealing the full form of the sarcophagus. It was dragon sized as was to be expected, as were the others still covered in snow, all likely untouched for centuries. The three of them looked at the intricate carvings of the tomb, the lid bearing the carved effigy of a dragon as if it were laying on its back, clutching a broad 'heater' shaped shield in its claws across its chest. The rest of the body did not appear, only depicting the top half of the deceased. The stonework was, as ever, immaculately detailed, looking almost as if the figure was merely asleep and prone to wake up at any moment. The trio traced their eyes over the extravagant grave, reading the story it told with equal fascination and fear. The longer they looked, though, the fascination quickly turned to shock, enough that Ember's pink face turned white.
"Oh…oh my…" she whimpered despairingly.
The carvings depicted seven Ice dragons, each one proud and fearsome, with the central dragon among them depicted as the largest, whose face was the same as the effigy on the lid. The details of each figure were astounding, down in induvial scars, muscle tones, horns and spines. But it was the lower half of the image that had caused such a stir among them; standing beneath those figures, lined up in row, bound together in chains and clearly subservient to the proud dragons above were moles. Enslaved moles. Cynder's eyes widened and her mouth hung open as the bundle of chains Flame had found in the wagon came to mind and his words of how they were far too small to be used by a dragon revealed their terrible true nature.
"They used moles as slaves…" the red dragon stated in horror, "They're the ones who built this place!"
"No, no it can't be!" Ember shook her head in disgust and disbelief, "That could never have happened!"
Cynder could say nothing herself, her sense of horror too great for words. She found herself looking over the engravings again and again, hoping they might somehow change or reveal an entirely different scenario that they had misread. Yet nothing about them changed; nothing about them was open to reinterpretation; it was all plain to see.
"I don't get it," Flame said despairingly as Hunter joined them, "Moles and Dragons have always been friends! They never told us anything about this!"
Hunter's arrival prompted Cynder to look over her shoulder at him, the Cheetah warrior's glum expression was tinged with the discomfort of guilt as he ducked his chin against his chest. His left paw tightened around the torch as his right paw clenched hard into a fist, so tightly she observed that his claws may soon make him bleed. Her eyes widened as she realized what his body language all meant.
"You knew about this, didn't you?" she accused in a modest but sharp tone, "You knew all along!" Flame and Ember were shocked at first at Cynder's insolence, until they turned and saw the look in Hunter's eyes as he looked up and across the three of them, his deep sigh as much of an admission as what he said next.
"It's something you all would have learned about when you were old enough," he replied with grim simplicity.
"Oh, of course!" Cynder retorted crossly, "We're old enough to be sent to our possible deaths but not to learn this particular part of our history?"
"It's not my place to say…" Hunter said as he turned his head away from her gaze, Ember making an almost attack like leap towards him.
"The Ice dragons kept slaves?" she admonished him frantically, "Why didn't they tell us? How could Cyril keep this from us?"
"Are you really surprised?" asked Flame bluntly, "He always talked about Ice dragons like they were better than everybody else. These carvings don't really fit into his story…or maybe they do…"
"Don't you dare speak of him like that!" Ember snapped harshly, chilling the icy chamber even more, "He must have had a good reason for it…"
"That's enough," Hunter tried to say, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Ha!" Cynder laughed mockingly, "Of course you'd say that. Never speak against one of your own kind, huh?"
"Shut your mouth, nobody asked you!" Ember snarled, marching towards her with exposed fangs as the black dragoness was visibly shocked by her aggression.
"Ember!" Flame exclaimed in horror.
"Enough!" Hunter hissed, staring them both down in turn, "Keep that up and you'll wake the dead! This is no place for such behavior. We have too much at stake for you two to start fighting each other! I expect better from you, especially with all you've been through together. What would Spyro have said if he saw you like this?"
The mention of his name was like a mountain being dropped on their heads; Cynder and Ember stared across at each other as the anger of the moment was allowed to simmer out. Hunter stayed between them with Flame worriedly standing off to the side as they waited for the tension to settle. The Cheetah warrior turned himself towards the tomb that had started the ordeal, stepping up to and leaning over it as he eyed the lid of the tomb. Cynder and Ember watched each other cautiously as they turned towards the tomb, keeping their eyes on each other as Flame stepped in between, hoping his presence would help to deescalate them.
"Now let's move on," Hunter said bluntly, turning to go.
"Hunter," Cynder said sternly, all eyes turning to her as she looked at him with a hardened gaze, "Before we go anywhere, let us hear the truth about this place. You can't ask us to go on and ignore what we found. What do you know that we don't?"
Her tone was anything but suggestive. It was worded more as an order than a request, something that was unthinkable in a strict military hierarchy. Fortunately for her, Hunter had always taken a more communal approach to leadership and knew that appeasing her might go further than a blunt order. Even so, he groaned irritably at her stubbornness and the concurring glances of her companions, turning his back and staring across the tomb his paw was resting on.
"Very well, I suppose I can spend a minute to explain," Hunter sighed gravely as he stepped around to the other side of the tomb, the trio looking up at him as Hunter placed the torch down across the head of tomb, rubbing his now free paws pensively together as they looked upon the tomb and the shield clutched in the effigy's claws. Unlike the rest of the tomb, the shield was metallic and not carved, purpose built to be attached to the tomb when the bearer died. The shield itself was dark blue with gold lining with a notably gruesome crest; depicted in its center was a magnificent pure white Ice dragon, surrounded by a sphere of pointed ice shards summoned by an Ice Fury attack.
Outside the sphere of shards in the four corners of the image were four other dragons, one red, one green, one yellow and one grey, each representing the dragons of the elements of Fire, Earth, Lightning and Wind. All four figures were reeling back in grotesque death poses, impaled by the unstoppable power of the lone Ice dragon. The fact a Wind dragon was featured at all was, in a twisted way, somewhat gratifying to Cynder who was used to members of her element barely being mentioned even in the more enlightened times she was living. The violent depiction was as frightening as it was detailed, a menacing display of ideological belief. Just beneath the shield was a name inscribed into the tomb lid which read,
"Hydrax III: Scourge of the Soul Stained. Hero of Blizanthriya."
"Blizanthriya?" Cynder repeated in a dumbfounded way as she read the text.
"At one time, that is what this realm was called," Hunter replied steadily, "The name carries too much shame nowadays."
"Scourge of the Soul Stained?" Flame repeated next, "What does that mean?"
"It means any dragon who is not of the element of Ice," Hunter explained hesitantly, wary of how the lone Ice dragoness with them would react to such revelations. Ember's face was drained of color, her eyes wide and glassy as Hunter sighed heavily.
"There was a time when the dragons were not united as one, but warred against each other for dominance of the world. That you already know, but what you were not to learn until your final years of education was the nature your kind once abided by. In those savage times, dragons were feared by all creatures, including my ancestors long ago."
"I barely remember that part," Cynder remarked dryly as Flame looked up at Hunter like he was in pain. "Is that…" he began unsurely, "Is that why Prowlus always hated us?"
Cynder watched as Hunter shuffled anxiously across from them and looked down, making a sound like a groan in his throat that seemed neither a yes or no to the question. Her instincts told her to press the issue, but Ember's sudden revival stopped her short.
"And Ice dragons kept slaves…" she said woefully, letting herself fall back on her haunches as her claws scratched off the surface of the tomb. Flame at once hopped down to comfort her, suddenly becoming hesitant as he beheld her sullen form, her bigoted words still fresh in his mind as he remained unsure how to react to her. Cynder too had mixed feelings, privately finding the way Ember was affected both pitiable and pitiful.
"They were not the only ones," Hunter added solemnly, "But that peculiar institution was one the Ice dragons were particularly fond of, I hate to say."
Ember looked up in her sorry state, her eyes now wet with tears that shone like the crystals lining the chamber. Flame assumed the position so to speak, sliding over to her and trying to comfort her, but she sharply turned her face away, putting up her wing like an arm to wave him away. The red dragon looked back to Cynder in surprise, who could only pity him for how blind Ember was to his true feelings. For all the courage he had amassed since Spyro's passing, telling her how he felt was the one thing Flame never seemed brave enough to do.
"I'm sorry this upsets you, Ember. I don't tell you this to get you down," Hunter said apologetically, moving around towards her and taking a knee beside her, gently brushing her wing aside so that her face came into view. She looked away from him towards Flame, only for her eyes to then divert over to Cynder who was the furthest away from her. The black dragoness swallowed uncomfortably as she felt Ember's sorrow beam across to her as Hunter gently wiped her tears with his paw, a task that seemed to make Flame blush with envy. A dark realization suddenly came to the black dragoness that caused her face to harden as she looked across to Hunter.
"It wasn't just moles that were slaves though, was it?" she asked coldly, fearfully, "How else do you explain how I was able to unlock those statues back there?" she said as she nodded towards the closed passage.
Hunter's mouth twisted grimly as he could only nod his head in shared shame, "My knowledge isn't exhaustive, but it does seem that was the case," he admitted sorrowfully.
Ember let out a gasp like wail as fresh tears burst from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whimpered, "I had no idea…"
"No blame rests with you for what happened so long ago," Hunter told her gently, "I wish you didn't have to find out like this."
"Why?" Cynder demanded, strutting over angrily, "Why was this kept from us? Why did we have to come here to find out?"
"It was not my decision, Cynder, it was the Guardians and the Dragon Council who decided," Hunter explained calmly, "This knowledge was to be kept from you until you came of age. All other dragons your age don't know this, I am breaking that secret to you."
"How come they told you then?" asked Flame crossly, "No offence, but you are not even a dragon and they told you this?"
Hunter frowned, "They didn't tell me; Ignitus did! The year after you three were born. He trusted me with this knowledge that is supposed to be off limits to outsiders, even me."
Silence entered the chamber once again as the trio of young dragons digested the new knowledge, the Cheetah warrior looking between them as it all sank in. The mention of their deceased mentor and the young purple dragon was enough to divert their low feelings away from the revelations of the tomb and back to the memories of those two lost heroes. That was something at least they could draw on and use as fuel for the cause. With a deep breath, Hunter stood tall again and brushed the snow off his knee and tunic.
"Now, that's all the time I'm going to spend on this. We have a job to do and we must move on. I need you all to put your minds to the task at hand. Whatever you want to ask about this, you can ask when we get back to Terrador. Do you all understand?"
Ember brushed of her face with the top side of her paw, drawing a breath of the cold air with a weak, "Yes."
"Are you sure?" asked Flame as he leaned in closer to her, staring painfully at her still watery eyes.
"No, but I have to be," she replied grimly, her tone exuding little confidence as she stood up. She lifted her head and looked across to Cynder, who remained staring at her with eyes that couldn't decide if they were angry or sympathetic to her. The tension that had already been steadily brewing between them had fermented into something grotesque now she knew that in another time and another life, she may have been a slave to Ember or someone like her, even Cyril. The sorrowful gaze of the pink dragoness conjured little empathy as Hunter picked up the torch from the tomb and exhaled deeply.
"Come along," he ordered simply, sharply, turning his head away to avoid their eyes as he marched around the tomb and back onto the center path of the chamber, not looking to see if they were following. The time for sentimentality had passed.
"Let's go then," Cynder declared flatly, taking off briskly to follow him as she turned her back on Flame and Ember, the latter whom she was most indifferent to.
"Cynder, wait!" she heard Ember plead, the black dragoness pausing against her better judgement and glancing threateningly back to her puffy blue eyes. Flame watched the pair with steep concern.
"I'm sorry," the pink dragoness begged, "Cynder I'm so, so sorry I was mean to you! I never knew… I would have… I mean, I couldn't…"
"Sure," Cynder cut her off with a sneer, "Whatever you say."
Without another glance, she took off in a run to keep up with Hunter, leaving Flame and Ember alone by the tomb as she looked up forlornly at him.
"She hates me," she cried, "Flame, she hates me!"
"Come on," he assured her softly, "She's just mad right now. Come on, it'll be alright. We gotta go find Volteer, now, okay?" he said as he tried to leave, hoping she would follow him. Instead, he was bought to a sharp halt by the desperate query she asked after him;
"You don't think I'm like that, do you? You don't think that I would…"
"No! No, of course not," he replied with a nervous smile as he looked back, anxious they should not be left alone by a creepy tomb in an equally creepy mausoleum, "I mean… you were kinda' mean to me earlier…and Cynder… but I know you didn't really mean anything really bad by it. Come on, Ember we've got to catch up!"
Despite his desire to keep moving, the red dragon still waited as Ember walked up alongside him, her sunken posture making her seem so small despite their equal size. She lifted her head only enough to look into his eyes, Flame holding his breath as she sighed sulkily.
"You're always such a good friend, Flamaeus," she said lowly, the first time in forever he could recall her calling him by his full name, "You're right about one thing… I was mean…"
Leaving that tidbit, she sniffled and then strove ahead, following the path in the snow Cynder and Hunter had made as Flame shortly followed her. He remained further back from her than he perhaps should have, but he needed the space in case he gave into his sudden urge to bury his head in the snow from her unintentionally painful compliment.
"Always a good friend…" he murmured to himself, "But never good enough to be Spyro…"
At the lead, Hunter and Cynder pressed on through the snowy mausoleum, entering the icy fog that seemed to envelope the deeper reaches of the chamber. Through the snow they could feel buried steps as the floor began to decline even lower. Cynder turned her head as she heard Ember and Flame close up behind her, the black dragoness paying the former no more heed than she needed as the group continued their decent. They passed on by many more snow-covered tombs, each one likely bearing similarly offensive carvings that none of them cared to see, the light poles keeping them on the central path even as fewer and fewer of them remained glowing, their frozen pillars at least marking the way. The cold grew ever more brittle the further they went, the fire of Hunter's torch beginning to wither as the icy mist grew thicker. The decent finally ended as the ground became level, the group coming to a halt at the base of the incline as Hunter's torch finally withered out.
"Flame," Hunter forced out through clenched teeth, "I need your light," he instructed as he stopped and looked back through the group to him
"S-sure," the red dragon trembled, shuffling past Ember whose natural immunity to cold was almost a sore point to them now as he moved up between Hunter and Cynder. The Cheetah took a knee, holding out the torch as Flame cast a burst of Fire breath that lasted a few seconds, necessitated by the extreme temperatures. A painful chirp suddenly rang out as Hunter looked over to the cage slung over his back, Boyden expressing is disdain for the cold as well.
"Of course, my friend," Hunter agreed, passing the torch over to Cynder who clutched it in her mouth as he unfastened the cage and rested it on the ground. The young dragons instinctively formed a triangle around him and watched their surroundings as Hunter lifted the cover off the cage and peered at the shivering Falcon apologetically.
"I can only take a moment," he explained as he opened the cage and let the bird step out onto his arm. Hunter retrieved the torch from Cynder and held it up as close to the bird as he dared, Boyden ruffling his feathers as he turned his head side on and locked his eyes on the flaming torch. The falcon lifted out his wings and lifted his head, warming himself as best he could as Hunter gently stroked the feathers of his belly with his thumb.
As the others kept watch, Cynder took her eyes off their frozen surroundings for a moment and glared over her shoulder at Ember, who seemed to sense her gaze and looked over in return, her eyes pleading for forgiveness. Despite the pang of guilt that Cynder felt, her gaze towards her was as sharp as the icicles hanging precariously from the ceiling above and perhaps just as dangerous. Flame anxiously looked over at them, thinking he may have to interfere if their tensions flared up again. Fortunately, a minute or so later, conflict had yet to break out as Hunter shivered bitterly.
"I'm afraid that's it," he told Boyden reluctantly, setting him on top of the cage as he stroked him along his back a final time, putting his arm out again for the bird to climb on to be returned to his cage.
"Come along now," Hunter said gently, waiting for the bird to step on. The Falcon looked down as if preparing to do so, when suddenly he paused and his head snapped up level, raising alertly as he seemed to ignore the encouragement of his master and stared ahead into the freezing mist. Boyden let out a shrill squawk, taking them by surprise as they all looked to the startled bird as he gazed ahead at something they could not see.
"What is it, Boyden?" asked Hunter quickly, the bird letting off another squawk as he suddenly leapt from the cage and took flight, soaring ahead of the group and disappearing into the mist ahead of them!
"Wait!" Hunter called, running forward a few steps before stopping, the bird calling out again beyond the mist as the three young dragons quickly grouped up behind him.
"What's the matter?" asked Cynder briskly, "Where's he going?"
"Where we are," he replied sternly, quickly turning back to the empty cage and looping it over his shoulder, forgetting about the second strap.
"What do you mean?" queried Ember hesitantly.
"There is something up ahead he has sensed! Come on!" Hunter cried as he held out the torch and rushed forward, following the squawks of his companion as the three young dragons could only run to follow.
Cynder, Flame and Ember rushed in line with each other, the frigid air biting into their lungs as they rushed through the snow as to keep up with Hunter. The spontaneous rush of excitement was invigorating, even as the sense of danger strengthened with it. Running in tandem behind their leader, passing by yet more tombs and crystal lamps, the trio for a moment forgot the tensions that had arisen between them as the tangible possibility that they may be closing in on their goal lifted their spirits. Perhaps they would now not be doomed to wander the frozen halls of a seemingly abandoned fortress forever. Another loud call from Boyden echoed down the chamber, the mist beginning thin out as the party abruptly began to slow down, the now clearing chamber bringing back the sense of vulnerability they had briefly forgotten in the rush through the mist. Hunter came to a stop as the charge through the snow finally ended, the group beholding the brown feathers of Boyden as he seemed to appear out of thin air and flew back towards them. Hunter held out his arm as the Falcon landed squarely upon it, chirping excitedly as if trying to tell them what he had found.
"What is it? What is it?" demanded Flame hurriedly as he stared wide eyed and panting behind the Cheetah warrior, his mouth dropping open as he, alongside Cynder and Ember, stood beside Hunter as the foursome looked ahead at what Boyden had led them to. The mist had cleared to reveal two more of the great frozen pillars ahead of them, just beyond which was a massive wall of solid ice with a conspicuous gap leading through into another chamber. The wall's sudden appearance spoke to its unnatural origin; it did not appear to be part of the original structure but then there was no way a blizzard had naturally occurred to turn the entire crypt into a frozen chamber of ice. This wall, some four or five meters thick, had been placed here by intelligent design. Boyden squawked and chirped again to Hunter, his urgency apparent to all four of them.
"Let's find out," the Cheetah replied gravely, sticking the torch up in the snow and unslinging his cage again. He carefully placed the Falcon back inside before slinging it over his back again, picking up the torch and drawing his sword.
"Let's do it," Cynder nodded with a scowl, her eyes scanning across the roughly triangle shaped passage through the great wall of ice, of which she could only see yet more ice beyond. Flame and Ember looked to Hunter as he steeled his gaze, sword and torch out in front as he took the first step, the three young dragons moving in tandem with him as they pressed forward towards the gap in the ice wall. The air became colder still as they passed through the gap, to their surprise seeing and halting atop a short flight of snow-covered steps leading downward as they entered the new chamber. The steps went down and curved to the left towards their end, a sudden drop in the floor of ten meters or so leading down to the snow-covered floor of the chamber. From where they stood, most of the chamber was out of view, seeming to open further to the left around to where they could not yet see, the view ahead of them showing a curved wall of ice shaping around to the left and a spire of ice poking out of the snow and rising to the ceiling. Whatever Boyden had found was just around that bend.
"Head down, eyes open," Hunter ordered cautiously, unslinging the cage and quietly placing it down to unencumber himself, gently tapping it to signal Boyden to stay quiet. He then motioned the group onward, steeping forward as one as they made to take the steps down into the chamber. They each stepped down, expecting to feel the first step beneath their feet, but instead felt the snow slide away as they all realized their mistake too late! Cynder gasped as the snowy decline was revealed to not be steps at all, but a slope of sheet ice! She immediately slipped and fell on her haunches ahead of the others as they were equally rendered helpless, crying out in alarm as they did. Hunter fell over and crashed on his side as he tried to claw at the ice as they slid down, losing his sword and torch as Flame spun like a leaf in river current. Ember was no better off, managing to keep herself pointed towards the top but sliding with the rest of them as she left a line of claw marks along the frozen slide as they all crashed into a heap at the bottom of the icy slope. The snow thankfully cushioned their stop, but did little to soften the sense of shock and embarrassment they felt as they lay in an undignified heap of fur and scales at the bottom of the ice slide.
Cynder blew the snow off her nose as she pushed herself up, shaking off her wings before she looked around to her companions who were jumbled up behind her. Hunter growled crossly as he pushed himself to his knees, rubbing the side he had fallen on as Flame dizzily tried to sit up, Ember looking over her shoulder sheepishly as her tail end was facing the back of the others as she lay like a lizard flattened by a wagon wheel.
"Everyone alright?" asked Hunter hastily as he looked around at the others before checking on himself.
"I'm fine," Cynder answered as she shook off the snow that had slid in between her claws.
"I'm alive!" Flame declared most surprisingly, "Dizzy, but alive!"
"Me too, if anyone cares," Ember remarked lowly as she picked herself up. Hunter stood up and quickly flexed his limbs for any injuries before he began to check that all his weapons and gear was accounted for. In the fall he had lost his sword and quickly set about finding it, seeing it just a short distance away. Unnoticed by the others, Cynder had wandered out a short distance ahead of them, her eyes drawn forward like a moth to a flame as her bottom jaw slowly dropped open in startlement. So much so that she lost her voice for a moment as the others continued to tend to themselves, the scene going unnoticed until Hunter looked up from collecting his sword, his eyes widening while Flame made his way to Ember to check on her.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked her quickly, peering over her for any sign of a scratch as she dully waved him off.
"It's okay, don't worry," she said flatly.
"Are you all seeing this?" asked Cynder from the front. All eyes followed hers as they beheld themselves standing on the edge of a vast, circular chamber, with four uneven ice columns forming an equal square from floor to ceiling like the legs of a great table in the center of it. The columns were perhaps twenty meters tall and were wavy and jagged like splintered bones, they with the walls and ceiling all made of hardened, azure blue ice. All semblance to the previous chamber was gone as the element itself shaped the entire chamber, the walls and ceiling covered in an array of razor-sharp ice picks, surrounding the whole chamber in a sphere of frozen daggers. Each icicle was as round as a tree stump and as long as any of the young dragons with points as fine as needles and seemingly anxious to impale anything that touched them. It was clear to anyone these structures had not formed naturally, which made them feel even more endangered as they stood and stared. Hunter clenched his sword tightly, anxiously gazing about as though the spikes might come crashing in on them any moment.
"Cynder, don't go too far," he warned as Flame and Ember peered around him hesitantly.
"Do you see this?" the black dragoness asked with sudden found excitement before she exclaimed, "Hunter, its Volteer!"
"Volteer?!" Flame and Ember burst out together, Hunter gasping as he suddenly threw caution to the wind and rushed across the snow to alongside Cynder, who stood up on her hind legs and pointed with her right paw across the chamber as Flame and Ember bunched up with them. Across the other side of the circular chamber, hidden in partial darkness, a large wooden square frame stood out imbedded in the center of the wall of ice with a dug-out recess behind it. Strung up limply in the frame by heavy chains was a large yellow and blue figure, dangling like a carcass strung up to be gutted, his forelegs held up tightly in chains with heavy weights clamped to his legs and tail, rendering them immobile. Though partially obscured by the serrated bars of ice that gave the appearance of a prison cell, the slumped but breathing head of the figure was unmistakable; it was Volteer!
"By the falls of Avalar, he's alive!" Hunter exclaimed, his reaction triggering an immediate response from the bravest, or perhaps foolhardy of the group; Flame.
"It's him!" he shouted as he sprang into the air, hovering above the heads of the others, "We found him. Volteer!" he called out as he lunged forward in the air, surging straight towards the frozen prison.
"Wait! Flame, don't!" called out Hunter desperately, putting his hands out to stop the others, "It could be a trap!"
Caught up in the excitement, the red dragon swept across the frozen floor up to the icy bars of the cage, hovering like an excited hummingbird as he peered through the frozen gate. It was Volteer without a doubt, his chest slowly expanding and shrinking with each weak breath, seemingly in a state of semi consciousness. Flame's natural instinct was to shout out the Guardian's name in hope of waking him, but the closer view stopped him short as he observed more of his appalling state. Volteer's great wings were folded against his back, clung to his body by a heavy steel belt that was clamped around his belly, his mouth was covered in a heavy steel muzzle with a band that wrapped around the back of his head, presumably to stop him from using his Electric breath powers. Standing out against the blue of his chest was a dark green crystal in the shape of an inverted pyramid, dangling below the muzzle clamped over the Guardian's mouth. It suddenly flashed, a web of green energy tightened around the captive dragon's body, making him convulse as the webs vanished before he fell limp again.
"Flame, get back here!" called Hunter.
"Hang on, sir!" Flame said through the bars, ignoring the Cheetah, "We'll get you out!" From behind, the others cautiously approached the frozen prison as Hunter growled in frustration at his inability to call back the reckless red dragon.
"I don't like this," Cynder remarked hesitantly, "It's too quiet, too easy…"
"What about this was easy?" asked Ember bitterly, "Sneaking past an army of frozen ghouls and nearly getting blown up by the Apes?"
"No, I agree," Hunter said with a sudden trepidation in his voice, "Something's not right."
Still hovering before the cage, Flame spun in the air to face his companions, shooting up several feet as he pleaded, "What are we waiting for? Come on, let's get him out of here!"
At that moment, every heart stopped as the chamber echoed with a rumbling, cracking sound as each of them instinctively looked up, thinking the icicles above were about to come falling on them. The chamber rumbled on but the icicles remained still, the cracking and shifting of ice growing louder as if something were awakening.
"What is that?" Flame cried frightfully as he swung his head around everywhere in front of him, oblivious it seemed that the noise was coming from directly behind him and above Volteer's prison! Looking towards it, Hunter, Cynder and Ember's pupils shrank as they stared into the darkened ice behind the red dragon; the ice that had suddenly grown a pair of glowing green eyes.
"Uh, Flame?" was all a terror-stricken Ember could say as Flame finally became aware of what had made them so fearful. Turning in the air, he felt the heat in all his body vanish as he beheld the pair of glowing, ghoulish green eyes barely ten feet from him. Had he not been distracted by the discovery of Volteer, he may have noticed the heavy stone throne of which a pair of curved black horns rose up from, partially hidden under a blanket of snow and ice in the shadows. Had he been more observant, he may have noticed the orange outline standing out from the hard black of the armor-clad, bipedal figure that was seated in the throne, now rising to its feet as more ice broke away from its form.
"Is that what I think it is?" he asked more himself than anyone else as the giant armored figure now stood to its full height, at least ten meters tall with the curved horns of ice on its helmet giving it an extra meter or so as they curved around in a bow like shape.
"Flame, get back here NOW!" Cynder shouted with force enough to break stone, the red dragon finally reacting as he should have and spinning around and flying back down to them, taking a place firmly next to Ember as the figure took its first, lumbering step. The chamber shook as the armored ghoul stepped down from its throne, its steps echoing like boulders falling to the ground as the black and spiked sabatons of its feet came thundering down. Draped behind it was a weathered black and orange cape, in the armored gauntlet of its left hand was clutched a shield of solid ice, seven links of frozen chain formed across its crest as three protruding spikes, one at the top center and one at the bottom of each side, aimed out towards them. Stepping out into the better light gave a full view of it, the creature pausing and slowly angling its head down, looking down at the small party that had dared enter its chamber. Ember swallowed hard as the glowing green eyes settled on them,
"So I guess this would be…"
"Yes," Hunter answered sharply, despondently, "The Ice King."
End of Chapter 8
Next Chapter: The Ice King Cometh
Volteer may be alive, but can Hunter's small band hope to defeat the frozen might of the Ice King of Dante's Freezer? (Cue Boss Music)