Chapter 11:
Flameaus the Brave
A deafening barrage filled the air as the Fearnaught fired its full starboard cannons, Flame and Ember quickly springing up and over as a salvo of cannonballs tore across the sky towards the gondola. The little airship had made a dive into the clouds, the last cannonball barely missing the stern, but her mast continued to give away her position as the Fearnaught turned itself to starboard to keep its guns aimed towards the fleeing gondola. Flame and Ember stayed close together, banking evasively in tandem as the sky was crisscrossed by streams of Ice magic, crossbows, cannonballs, and ballistae ordinance. Dreadwings and dragons battled across the air as they saw more of the Frostflyers making sweeping attacks on the Fearnaught, blasting coats of Ice breath across some of the broadside cannon ports. The four rotating turrets of each side of the ship and accompanying ballistae fired off again, knocking two Frostflyers out of the sky as the others quickly pulled away, Dreadwings giving chase to the survivors. Flame and Ember suddenly thought they should have listened to Hunter, keeping closer together as they found themselves headed for the airship completely alone, seemingly unnoticed in the chaos.
"Flame?" Ember began to ask uneasily.
"Later!" he replied panickily as their eyes grew as large as the cannon bores that were now aimed towards them, Apes shouting and running about the deck as they saw the approaching duo. Too paralyzed with fear to turn back, Flame and Ember both reacted as if suddenly possessed, frantically swerving and squirming through the air as the ironclad behemoth filled their view. The turrets and ballistae's opened fire, missiles of all types shot through the air at them as they flew across the deck with no rhyme or reason to their actions beyond the primal instinct to stay alive.
"Ember!" Flame called out spontaneously, as if doing so would make her safer. She didn't reply, banking and swerving around the mast of the airship as the starboard rotating cannons tried to keep track of them both while Ape soldiers yelled and swiped at them with every weapon close to hand. Dodging and weaving, the two dragons crossed over and under each other as their panicked bursts of Fire and Ice breath mostly missed their targets while they soared across the deck, reaching for the sky on the other side as they formed up on each other's wingtips.
"Don't stop!" Ember shouted as the Ape ballistae crews of the portside turned and made to cut them off at the railing, swords and axes raised high. The portside turrets were still aimed out to the sky as the young dragons saw the figures of dragons breaking through the clouds ahead. Immediately after, what looked like a barrage of glittering blue cannonballs came soaring in from them towards the airship, the nearest striking and bursting amidst the Apes in an explosion of freezing ice! The two young dragons gasped as the foes turned to icebergs, the two nearest portside cannons immobilized in an instant as specks of glass like ice filled the air. Freezing spheres impacted the ship from afar, with more coming right at them! Flame saw them coming, then saw Ember freeze in shock, moving too fast and seemingly doomed to stray into the line of deadly Ice magic.
In a heartbeat, forgetting about his own mortality, he banked to the right towards her, diving onto Ember as his forelegs clasped around her tightly, his wings enveloping her like a cloak. She squealed in fright as the pair tumbled down and rolled across the deck as the ice bombs shot over and around them! Flame and Ember rolled together and came to a hard crash against the feet of the frozen Ape soldiers, the former taking the brunt of it to his back as the soaring ice bombs blasted across the airship like freezing meteors. The aches and pains of the hard landing were quickly forgotten as Ember came to the realization of what state she and Flame found themselves in; the red dragon's paws were clasped tightly around her as she felt his body against her back, his wings clasped around her with his snout pressed into her neck, breathing frantically against her. She turned her head over and saw how they were, Flame looking up and immediately locking eyes with the pink dragoness, seemingly in no hurry to release her from his grip. For a slim moment she felt something in her heart more than just gratitude at the realization he had just saved her life, curiously noting how close her snout was to his.
"Are you okay?" Flame asked her swiftly yet softly, noting her warm expression, just as the flight of Ice dragons who had fired the freezing barrage zoomed over the ship, bringing them back to the reality of the situation. Screaming Dreadwings gave chase as the remaining cannons and ballistae fired at the Frostflyers as Ember became suddenly desperate to escape Flame's hold.
"Later!" she cried urgently just like he had to her, pulling herself out of his embrace as she bounded to her feet, the red fire dragon quickly scrambling upright as they heard approaching footsteps across the deck. Several Apes had been frozen in place from the barrage, the impacts which had missed forming small islands of ice across the deck which the approaching Apes scrambled around as they came rushing towards the two young dragons. Without hesitation, Ember rushed towards them as if Flame posed more of a threat than they did, hitting two of them with a blistering sheet of aqua blue Ice breath that crystallized them in an instant. Flame charged in on her left, taking a second pair with a burst of Fire breath that caused them to flail in agony as he narrowly avoided a low swipe from a larger Ape's hatchet, the red dragon knocking him back with a quick jab of his horns as he lost sight of Ember.
Before he could press the attack, he was suddenly crash tackled by a barehanded Ape soldier, knocking his heart into his mouth as the scowling monkey knocked him on his side and slashed his claws across the red dragon's back and wings, drawing blood. Flame snarled, kicking out his hind legs and knocking the assailant back before he pounced to his feet and delivered a spinning blow with his tail, sending the Ape reeling back into a pile of crates. An Ape Lieutenant rushed into view as he brought a spiked hammer down towards the red dragon's head. His heart stopping, Flame dodge rolled to the left in a flash as the hammer came down and smashed the deck where he had been, the red dragon clambering back to his feet as the Ape reeled back for a second blow, just as a demon in pink latched onto his back and sank her teeth into his neck. Flame was momentarily taken aback by Ember's ferocity, though relieved to see her again. He did not watch the rest of it unfold as the Ape dropped its hammer and collapsed on the deck, looking to his left as he saw the nearest turret had rotated around, the Ape hunched in the seat aiming towards him!
"Cripes!" Flame exclaimed as he instinctively pounced into the air as the muzzle blasted at him, the cannonball shooting under and blasting through the railing on the other side as the red dragon's feet touched back down. He responded as quick as a beat, desperately casting a scorching fireball towards the turret before it got off another shot. It was only half the size he could normally conjure, but the fireball struck the Deathhound shaped muzzle like a ball of lava, the bore melting and distorting like a lit candle. The Ape cannoneer, fearing an explosion, leapt from his seat and ran down the deck as the cannons and ballistae further up continued to hurl ordinance at the Frostflyers. As he watched him, Flame saw the second turret along turning towards him as well, just before a beam of shinning Ice breath from his right washed over the Ape in its seat, casting the hapless cannoneer in place as the turret, controls frozen in place, continued to slowly turn around on its pedestal as Ember finally joined the red dragon's side.
"Thanks," he said breathlessly as Ember backed up to him.
"Guess you owe me twice now," she panted tensely.
"I saved you first!" he protested quippingly. They watched as another salvo bought down another four of the Ice dragons in a painful scene, their bodies swatted from the sky like flies or crashing limply across the deck of the Fearnaught to the cheer of the Apes, even as the dragon's streams of ice accounted for some of their number as well. The swarms of Dreadwings that harassed the Ice dragons only complicated matters as Flame and Ember looked at each other and saw they were of the same mind; they had to destroy those weapons if the Frostflyers were ever going to bring down this damned airship!
"We've got to do something!" she declared as more Apes came running across the deck towards them, snarling for blood.
"We don't have enough mana left for all these guys!" Flame replied as he nervously gritted his teeth, knowing they were both near exhausted. The Apes came to a halt, standing across the breadth of the deck with those armed with crossbows and javelins stepping to the forefront. There was more than twenty of them, more than enough to riddle them with ordinance even if they tried taking to the air
"Why didn't we stay like Hunter said?" Flame asked damningly.
"I was following you," Ember said nervously, "I wish Cynder was here."
"I wish Spyro and Cynder were here!" he cried, feeling again like he had said the same before. The Ape Lieutenant behind the ranks called the order, "Fire!"
Flame and Ember both dived as if linked to one mind, turning and ducking behind the thick foremast as spears and bolts zoomed past or struck the mast with heart wrenching force! Quiet spontaneously, they found themselves standing on their hind legs like meerkats, tails wrapped around each other's feet as they held onto each other like lovers, pulling themselves together for balance to keep themselves behind their only cover as the Apes continued firing. They turned to face each other at the same time, quite accidently bringing their snouts into each other at once, the two young dragons only now realizing how they were as they stared in complete shock at each other. They pulled their heads back by only an inch, Flame's heart nearly burst out of his chest as he and Ember awkwardly yet comfortably stared into each other…
Suddenly the air whizzed with a sound like needles passing through the air, a bristling storm of blue daggers cut across the deck and tore through the ranks of Apes, bringing the suppressing barrage to an end. Flame and Ember broke from their gaze and looked up as a flight of Frostflyers strafed across the deck, barely missing the mast as they bombarded the airship with ice bombs and shards, the presence of the two young dragons still seemingly unknown. There was more cannon and javelin fire as the formation soared overhead, followed by the terrible screams of impact as the sickly thud of bodies, friend and foe, collapsed onto the deck further up. Flame and Ember remained standing together behind the mast as another dragon flight made a second pass low over the airship, glowing Ice magic of various forms striking all over the deck as the two young dragons pulled into each other for safety.
"Don't they know we're here?!" screamed Ember as she and Flame both pulled in their own direction, tripping on each other's encircling tails as they fell apart onto their backs as a glowing ice bomb erupted in a wash of blue and white light beyond the mast. As they awkwardly looked down their stomachs towards each other, the blast shattered the crates that had collapsed on Flame's earlier attacker, a sound like glass breaking amidst the timber crates rang out as loose clusters of green Spirt Gems were blown across the deck, several of which shattered on impact across the battle-scarred floor. The clusters flashed as they shattered, numerous greenish white spheres of light left snake like trails as the green magic twisted and twirled in the air like newly exorcised spirits, whooshing towards the startled young dragons! The spheres tracked and latched onto their bodies, evaporating in more flashes one after the other as their exhausted elemental energy was restored! It was well understood that shattering Spirit Gems allowed for instant replenishment of mana, but this in turn of course destroyed the crystals and left them useless, preferably only done in the most desperate of times.
Startled exclamations from the Ice dragons showed the young pair had finally been noticed as they passed overhead, Ember springing to her feet with the energy of a playful lamb, beaming with the exhilaration of survival and the good luck of the sudden re-energization. Nothing could lift the sullen face of Flame, however, even as his energy was restored, for he knew for sure that no other time or place would see them both holding each other the same again. The time they had was already forgotten as Ember ran across to him as he lay as uselessly as an upturned turtle.
"Come on! We've still got work to do!" she cried excitedly as she grasped Flame's right paw and yanked him forward, propelling him into a sit before he stood up and shook himself into focus, the renewed fire in his belly simmering under his scales.
"I'll follow you, this time," he said with a faint smirk which faded just as soon as he looked ahead towards the towering armored box the Fearnaught was controlled from, the outline of a great pair of central armored doors barring its entrance. Mounds and clusters of ice clung in patches erratically all over the ship, a trio of fallen Frostflyers laying amongst many more of the enemy as the last four turrets and their ballistae continued firing. Countless air battles raged around the airborne behemoth as more Apes stood with weapons in hand to protect the turrets, waiting for the young dragons to come.
"Let's go!" Ember bellowed, leaping into the air without a second thought as Flame took to the air beside her, scowling as he prepared to vent his emotional frustrations on the Apes who made the mistake of being alive and in his way that day. With he left and she right, Flame and Ember soared down the deck as the first javelins and crossbows were hurled at them, the newly energized dragons ducking and dodging them with an ease not possible to their adult compatriots battling around them. Twin streams of Fire and Ice breath streaked down the decks onto every foe that challenged them, fireballs and ice shards torched and tearing along the airship. Their actions drew the attention of the Frostflyers whose glimpses of the action inspired admiration and condemnation for those so young taking on such a daring assault. The two nearest turrets on both sides swung around towards Flame and Ember as their twin streams of flaming and freezing ferocity were unleashed.
The red dragon's scorching fire washed over the starboard turret, flames washing down the barrel and causing it to erupt in a devastating blast as he soared over, Apes and debris thrown across the deck as the ballistae beside it was engulfed. Directly across, icy shards ripped across the barrel of the second turret, cleaving the metal as easily as a hot knife through butter as well as the Ape mounting it, the ballistae beside it falling apart as it was cut straight through by the frozen blades. Flame and Ember banked around and swept by each other with inches to spare as crossbows bolts and javelins filled the air around them, the remaining cannons swinging around and aiming towards them.
"Back off!" shouted Flame to her, the pair soaring up in a spinning circle together as the deadly barrage chased after them. They climbed above the airship's sputtering smoke stacks beyond the range of the Apes below, just as a quad of blue and silver comets suddenly appeared above, shooting past them and plummeting towards the airship. They barely recognized Pyryius and his flight as they dived four abreast on the Fearnaught, Flame and Ember spinning around in awe as the silver armored dragons dove headfirst into the fray, wailing blizzards of Ice breath projecting from their maws as a shimmering mirror formed across them like a wall of interlocked ice shields that neither javelin or cannonball did anything to stop. In a flash, the shield vanished before one turret was crushed under a boulder of ice summoned by one of the four while another was blanketed in crystal as Pyryius and his flight slammed their feet onto the deck like four living icebergs!
The Ice dragons stood back-to-back for mutual protection as the dazed and frightened Apes tried to stand against them as ice, claw and fangs were unleashed. Flame and Ember could naught but watch from above as the four Frostflyers enacted swift carnage across the snow spattered deck, the remaining ballistae were scattered like bundles of kindling across the deck along with the Ape crews that had worked them. The deck mounted weaponry was now destroyed, though the broadside cannons continued to fire at any Frostflyers that passed their field of view as battles in the air raged on. Elated, Flame and Ember swept down to congratulate Pyryius and his force as they stood catching their breath amidst the destruction they had caused, the pair landing on the deck behind them.
"About time you showed up!" Ember exclaimed with good natured sarcasm as Flame stood by with a wide grin, their excitement met with a cold stare from the nearest of the Frostflyers, a regal dragoness with snow white scales and black horns and underbelly under her immaculate silver armor who looked over to them.
"What are you playing at?!" she rasped furiously, "This is no place of adolescents! This is a place for warriors!" The excitement vanished at once as a glance to the others of the flight suggested they shared similar sentiments, save for Pyryius who shuffled towards the young dragons staring glumly at those they had come to praise.
"I commend your spirits, but Arctykyira is right; this is no place for you," he said with an undertone of sympathy. The dragoness, Arctykyira, gave him a cold scowl before he resumed a stout, commanding voice as if in response to her, "You must return to the gondola with the others. Make haste!"
"We came to help!" Flame protested hotly, eyeing the dragoness with his own scowl, "Look at all we did before you guys showed up! We took down a giant Troll King all by ourselves!" he boasted.
"Did you not hear what you were told?" Arctykyira snapped, "Get out of here before you are charged with insubordination!"
"Eyes front!" came a shout from one of the others as Pyryius and Arctykyira spun around and looked towards the iron bridge of the airship as the heavy doors at its base made an ominous metallic clang as they were unlocked from behind.
"Make ready!" the silver and blue Wing leader ordered, "You two, get out of here!" he shouted behind to Flame and Ember, who naturally instead stood in fearful wonder as they peered between the four great Ice dragons as the doors to the bride opened inwards as a sheer black hole was revealed. From the darkness, four Ape Lieutenants came rushing out, screaming and snarling with swords and axes raised high as they charged, forming a parallel line across the deck as they ran. Flame and Ember watched as they came with seemingly no fear towards the four Ice dragons that it seemed could easily dispatch them with little effort from where they stood. Something about it seemed wrong.
"Fire at will!" Pyryius bellowed, the Ice dragons unleashing their Ice breath in double tandem, just as a dark lavender glow shot fourth from the darkness, four streams of lightning like energy latching onto each of the charging Apes! They were suddenly encased in a veil of blooming energy that glowed over their bodies, a web of crackling dark magic stretching from inside the door to them as they charged headfirst into the oncoming blasts of ice. The freezing magic washed over the deck like a blizzard, icing the deck and crystallizing everything between the two forces, but doing nothing at all to the glowing Apes that screamed for blood! Flame and Ember watched in horror as the first blade struck the first Frostflyer, the shielded Apes pressing the attack as the other Ice dragons reeled back in alarm, their Ice breath passing over them as harmlessly as water!
"It's not hurting them!" Flame cried in fear, "What's going on?!"
From the black doorway came the answer as another figure emerged. A massive Ape Commander weighed down in bulky armor stepped out, shuffling almost mechanically under its immense weight. It was not the armor they were used to seeing worn by the Apes, seemingly designed with no thought to mobility for the arms and legs, the huge gorilla's face covered by a long metal faceplate with narrow rectangular slits for his eyes. In the center of his chest plate was the source of the shielding energy that empowered his subordinates; a cluster of dark purple crystals inside a round glass sphere the size of a cannonball, the crystals contorted and thorned, alluding to its unnatural creation. Four streams of sizzling energy beamed from the crystal to the attacking Apes as they continued their merciless assault.
"What dark magic is this?" yelled one of the Frostflyers before they were cut down in a frenzy and slashes and thrusts, Pyryius and Arctykyira stepping back in shock as the shielded Apes turned their eyes towards them and charged. The two Ice dragons did not shy away, blasting the deck in front of them with blankets of Ice breath, the shielded Apes stumbling and slipping, but still unharmed. Flame and Ember stayed back as a fierce melee broke out, Pyryius and Arctykyira swiping with their claws and tails at the attacking Apes, the heavily armored Commander slowly shuffling closer as the dark crystals continued to shield the others. A daring swipe with his head from Pyryius knocked an Ape back into another while an icy tail slash from Arctykyira battered back the other two, but the pulsing energy left them without a wound to show for any of it; the Apes simply climbed back to their feet.
"Form a barricade!" shouted Pyryius, he and his partner casting twin funnels of ice across the deck, solidifying into a frozen, spiked palisade that rose above the heads of the Apes before he and the dragoness backed away down the deck with Flame and Ember remaining behind them. Arctykyira glanced sideways and was stunned to still see them.
"Get out of here!" the dragoness shouted when she saw them, "Follow your orders!"
"We're staying!" Ember declared determinedly with a stamp of her foot, "We won't run from the fight!"
"Then what are we going to do?" Flame asked frantically, just as a spin chilling roar came from beyond the frozen barrier. All eyes turned to it as the deck beneath them shook with the force of an earthquake rushing towards them, the roar turning into a snarl as a hulking mass charged through the barrier, chunks of solid ice spraying through the air in a cloud of blue debris that the dragons all ducked to avoid. As they dared look to see the cause of it, they saw the Ape Commander pause as he unfolded his arms from the charge, staring across at the four dragons, his bulky armor now glowing with the haze that had imbued his subordinates with seeming invulnerability. The pulsating crystal in his chest plate sparked, the monstrous gorilla empowered by dark energy as he bellowed and broke into a charge towards them, summoning a terrifyingly unnatural speed as his body sparked with lavender lightning!
"Get clear…!" Pyryius began to warn, just as the colossal Ape crossed the deck in a blurry, blazing half moment as his armored fist slammed into the dragon's upper chest, the great Ice dragon bowled over with the force of a cannonball, the others watching in disbelief as he flew back through the air like he weighed nothing.
"Pyryius!" screamed Arctykyira as his body finally touched and then tumbled along the deck, her companion falling with a painful gasp as the glowing Ape glared at the startled white and black dragoness as she jumped into a hover several feet back from him. Flame and Ember did not hesitate, springing into action as Fire and Ice breath struck the Ape juggernaut in interlocking streams of orange and blue for several moments, but just like with the others, to no effect!
"Come on, that's not fair!" Flame complained with juvenile like pettiness as they cut off their streams, the shielded Ape growling under his mask and turning towards the young dragons, the crystal in his chest pulsating with a web of dark purple energy. As they braced for his attack, Arctykyira took advantage of the distraction, launching herself with all her speed as she lowered her head and aimed for the giant Ape's back.
"Ember, watch out!" cried Flame, seeing what was coming, barging the pink dragoness out of the way as Arctykyira slammed into the juggernaut of an Ape, eyes burning with vengeance as her mass proved enough to knock him down on his chest, crashing down hard with Flame and Ember barely avoiding the avalanche as they clashed.
"Get out of here!" Arctykyira shouted to them as the energized glow surrounding the juggernaut vanished, his armor returning to its normal state as the white and black dragoness savaged at his back, his thick armor keeping her at bay. Flame and Ember had fallen together in another heap, facing the broken ice blockade where they saw the quad of Ape Lieutenants who had massacred the rest of Pyriyius' flight funneling through the breach towards them, weapons clutched eagerly. Ignoring Arctykyira's demand to leave, they sprang up to meet them, seeing that the energized glow that had made the Apes invulnerable before like there Commander was noticeably gone, none of them now shimmering in the ominous lavender glow.
"They're not shielded…" Ember remarked sharply, just as the quad descended on them. Bounding apart in opposite directions, the two young dragons scurried around the four Apes, ducking their heads to avoid the expected swipes and lunges that were made, the pair skidding around and bumping back into each other like the two halves of the Ying and Yang coming together. On the other side, they saw Arctykyira hovering just above the deck as she skillfully side swept again and again as the massive Ape, on his feet but no longer empowered, failed to keep pace a he lunged after her, her ice attacks sheeting him in icicles but failing to penetrate his armor. Perhaps the crystal's power was finite, only able to shield the user for a short amount of time? The thought gave a microbe of relief as they stood shoulder to shoulder against the Ape quad.
"Looks like he can shield himself or his lackeys, not both!" Flame added to Ember's remark as they both took note of something they had not before; the four Ape Lieutenants in front of them all wore cross shaped harnesses over their chest plates, bracing a small round dark gem in their center the same color as the empowered Commander. Glancing to each other quickly, they intuitively concluded that they were what allowed the Apes to have the same shielded power as their leader. Just then, an evil snicker from behind made them look back, Ember turning her head and gasping, "More behind us!" before she spun her back to Flame and took a ready stance. Several more Apes had appeared from the direction of the bridge, gathering around the gap in the broken wall of ice as even more came from inside the great armored doors, the pair now blocked in front and rear!
"Could use some help!" Ember said to Flame uneasily.
"I'm kind of full up!" he retorted as the four Ape Lieutenants grinned viciously, daring the young red dragon to attack them. He was terrified that the invulnerable shields would shimmer to life again any moment, trapping him and Ember with invincible foes! How could they beat that? How could anyone beat that? A shrill scream sounded from above, Flame looking up just as the falling mass of a Dreadwing came crashing down, the Apes looking up too late as the winged beast slammed down right into them, crushing two of them outright under its enormous wings! Behind him, Ember's mouth dropped open as the dozen or more Apes in front of her were suddenly torn across by a hail of ice shards fired from above, a flight of four Frostflyers strafing across the deck in a hailstorm of Ice breath, felling a good number of the Apes in a single pass as the survivors ducked for cover. A second flight of four came in behind the first in shades of blue, grey and white under silver armor, zooming into view as they slammed down onto the deck, the Ice dragons snarling with fury as the Apes rushed to contend with them.
"Come on!" she heard Flame call to her, now that their rear flank was covered. The pink dragoness turned back to him, seeing the red dragon rushing into the fight against the two remaining Lieutenants, leaping over the mangled heap of the dead Dreadwing as he went after the one to his right, Ember rushing to the one of his left. The two melees occurred almost in unison, Flame's Fire breath lighting his opponent's right arm as it swung at him, the panicking Ape then knocked aside by a rightward strike of his horns before a deadly final blast of fire finished him off. Ember's attack was almost comically easy, a misty cloud of Ice breath from her struck the Ape in the face, blinding him in a mask of hardening crystal as he dropped his weapon and tried desperately to pull it off amidst muffled curses.
Beyond him, Arctykyira's Ice breath formed a frozen island around the feet of the Ape juggernaut, sealing him in place for the assured final blow as Ember made her move. As the blinded Ape stumbled about in circles, Ember turned her back and delivered a two-legged kick that pushed the Ape towards the railing, whereupon he stumbled and fell overboard with the timing of a comedy play. The comedy ended their however, as a bright flash and a roar drew the attention of Flame and Ember as the juggernaut of an Ape flashed in the lavender glow of the shielding energy again!
"Get back!" Flame shouted to her as the icebergs around the Ape's feet shattered like exploding glass, Arctykyira's eyes shrinking in horror as the infused Commander came at her again! The dragoness gasped and leapt back with a great thrust of her wings to get away, but the Commander surged ahead in a purple streak in the blink of an eye, grasping her by the throat with both hands, the dragoness crying out as the crystal's paralyzing energy surged through the Ape's gauntlets and into her body like an electrified whip, convulsing her into paralyzed agony before he hurled her with a catapult like swing right into the lower mast with a gut wrenching thud.
"No!" screamed Ember, watching as she fell in a heap at the base of the mast, head bobbing with barely any life, "Come on, Flame!"
Without hesitation, the young dragons broke into a side-by-side gallop towards Arctykyira, completely unsure of how they would even contend with the impassible shield, but there was no time to do anything else, for flee they would not. Desperate for anything that might stop Arctykyira's imminent demise, Flame projected a spinning fireball towards the Ape Juggernaut, hoping fire would prove more effective than ice against the energy shield. The fireball soared across the deck and struck the glowing Ape in the back, the force of the blast enough to cause the giant Ape to stumble, its glowing shield flashing and sparking like a lightning strike, the Juggernaut spinning in a near instant to face his attackers.
A second fireball exploded against his chest almost immediately, the blast stunning though not harming the Juggernaut as the shield seemed to fizzle and crackle, the crystal in his chest plate sparking wildly as if signaling distress. As the fiery blast fizzled out, Ember was in the air in a flash, sweeping ahead of Flame as she flew with her mouth glowing in aqua blue, a spiked mace like ball of ice charged and fired from her maw that hit the Juggernaut with another stunning blow. The Ape gave a cry that could have only been pain as the shield sparked and then flashed into nothing, the Juggernaut collapsing to his knees and clenching his fists into the deck, the crystal continuing to crackle and flash in his chest. Flame caught up to Ember as they flew over to the beast, the pink dragoness snapping a swift glance to him as she barked,
"Go help her! I'll keep him down!"
Flame was about to argue, but she at once turned her attention to the collapsed Ape, her maw opening into a dense, white stream of rocky Ice breath that crashed and shattered like a hailstorm against the shielded Ape, pinning it down as icy fragments scattered like sparks across the deck. He relented, the red dragon flying on towards Arctykyira, the stunned white and black dragoness laying at the base of the lower mast with her head slumped down as he made a running landing on the deck and rushed towards her. Further down the deck he saw Pyryius still where he had rolled to a stop, too far to tell if he was alive or not. Arctykyira's chest was heaving as she struggled to recover the breath that had been choked out of her as Flame skidded up next to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, glancing back over at Ember whose stream of Ice breath had covered the Juggernaut in a coat of snow-white hail, the Ape struggling against the torrent as he observed how quickly the strain was draining Ember's mana.
"Why are you still here?" Arctykyira rasped coarsely as she looked up at him "Leave now!"
"Seriously?" Flame sneered crossly at her lack of gratitude, unbale to say that rest he had in mind as the crackling wail sound of Ember's Ice breath suddenly ended, Flame looking back to see the pink dragoness gasping and coughing sharply as her wings struggled to keep her in the air. The deck around the Juggernaut was covered in a thick carpet of snowy hail, the great Ape began to shake from beneath the ice that clung to him, but not from the expected cold.
Suddenly the Juggernaut leapt back to its feet, Ember gasping in fright as she swept away in retreat as the icy coat shattered in a misty white cloud, the empowered Ape roaring with its fists in the air as its armored body surged with the glowing shield again, Ember landing next to Flame and Arctykyira as the latter rose unsteadily to her feet. The Juggernaut's body sparked in flashes of dark purple energy like strands of lightning, twisting and convulsing erratically like a machine that was malfunctioning. The crystal in his chest plate glowed as if white hot, sparking inside its sphere-shaped case as the armored Ape struggled to control itself.
"I guess something's working," Flame remarked dryly as a loud thump behind them drew their attention, the trio seeing another group of five Frostflyers landing on the deck. The three nearest Ice dragons, all in shades of blue, immediately ran towards them as the two further back moved towards Pyryius to determine his condition. Flame and Ember felt dwarfed in their presence as they strode up in line with Arctykyira, eyes locked warily ahead at the erratically behaving Juggernaut as it finally struggled to turn about and face them, its shield flashing intermittently with the sparks of the dark crystal.
"He's not done yet," Ember added with a scowl, just before a deadly glare from Arctykyira nearly made her jump.
"Leave this to us!" she snapped coldly, "Go help our comrades with Pyryius and then GET OUT OF HERE!"
The rise in her voice seemed to trigger a response from the Juggernaut, the Ape snarling as its arms flexed with seemingly only partial control, the dragoness taking off with her comrades as they rushed to meet the Juggernaut head on, not caring to see if her orders were followed. Ember turned to Flame as he did to her, beckoning him towards Pyryius,
"Come on, better do what she says this time!"
Flame silently agreed, sure that now the Juggernaut couldn't stand up to the Frostflyer's in its weakened state. They took off in a short flight down the deck where the two other Ice dragons were tending to Pyryius, one a muscular dragon with middling grey scales and the other a dragoness in the more typical aqua blue scales. The pair only glanced at the young dragons as they came up, Pyryius's moving chest showed he was still alive, but in great pain from the enhanced blow he had taken.
"Can we help?" Flame asked quickly as the first sounds of renewed battle erupted behind them, the grey scaled Ice dragon turning to them.
"He is wounded. We need to evacuate him," he said gravely, "We should take him back to the gondola."
"And you should come with us," the blue dragoness said disquietly, just as her expression changed to one of shock as a cry from the battle drew all their attention towards it. Flame and Ember spun around and saw the Juggernaut strike a devastating uppercut to the chin of one of the Ice dragons, launching them into the air where they spun over like a wheel before crashing back down to the deck, the rest led by Arctykyira sweeping and lunging as numerous blasts of Ice breath converged. The Juggernaut's malfunctioning shields glowed and flashed sporadically, its movements jerky and unpredictable but still deadly as it thrashed and made blows with the surrounding Ice dragons. As the shield gave out, a Frostflyer took the chance and pounced on the enraged Ape from behind, his jaws clamping around the helmet of the Juggernaut, only for the shield to rekindle moments later. The Ape threw his fists back and launched the dragon off his back, sending it falling into debris as the others tried to batter its shields down with attacks from a distance.
"How do we stop this thing?" Ember exclaimed, equally in fear as in frustration. The audible pain in her voice made Flame look to her with instinctive concern, whereupon his eyes widened as they fell on what he saw behind her. There was the portside cannon he had dealt with earlier, its bore melted courtesy of his Fire breath. Beside it was the second turret, still spinning in its platform with the Ape gunner frozen in place under the stream of Ice breath courtesy of Ember. Other than that, the cannon appeared to be intact and still able to be used. In that moment, an idea took over the red dragon's mind as Ember happened to look over to him and saw the bizarrely stupefied look fixed on his face.
"Flame?" she asked queerly.
"Come on!" he cried in a frenzy, running past her towards the turret as the two nearby Ice dragons watched him incredulously.
"What are you doing?" called out the female of the pair, "You need to come with us!"
Swiftly, Flame arrived at the turret as Ember finally made to follow, the red dragon looking at the hardened mound of ice that had been cast over the gunner seat as the turret still slowly spun anticlockwise. As its right side become exposed to him, he cast a sweeping blanket of his Fire breath over the mound, the miniature iceberg that had been created melting away down the sides of the turret and onto the deck, the frozen Ape gunner still ridged in his seat.
"What's the idea?" Ember asked quickly, even though she knew deep down what the idea was.
"Help me with this!" he responded as he stepped onto the platform and stood on his hind legs, pressing his front paws onto the side of the turret in front of the seat as Ember stepped on beside him on the left. Flame pulled himself up onto the cannon in front of the frozen gunner as Ember jumped into a hover at the rear, keeping her feet on the backseat of the turret as it continued to spin. Together they grasped and lifted the 'Ape-sicicle' from the seat, pushing him aside as he fell to the deck, frozen solid in his seating position. Flame then clambered into the seat of the turret, thought since was much larger than the original design of the Moles since it had been adapted for use by the Apes, his tail was awkwardly pressed up against his back.
"You know how this works?" asked Ember as she remained perched on the back of the turret as it continued spinning, leaning over the red dragon's shoulder as he looked at the controls.
"Can't be that hard if an Ape can do it!" he replied thoughtfully as he looked at what lay before him, relieved that the layout was the same as the Warfang defensive turrets that they were familiar with. A metal lever was on his right with three positions, up for left, center for stop and down for right to control which way the turret would swing, a small handwheel on his left that controlled the elevation of the cannon, and in the upper center was a double handled lever still locked in the up position, telling him the cannon was still loaded. Flame quickly grasped the right lever with his paw and pulled it down, the turret coming to a halt. He only then realized how close he and Ember were yet again with her face close to him over his left shoulder as he swallowed hard as he pulled the lever down, the turret swinging around to the right as the raging battle against the Juggernaut came into view. He locked the lever in the center, bringing the turret to a halt as he aimed it down the deck towards the scene of chaos.
The deck around the battle now resembled an artic tundra, layers of ice covering the riggings and lower mast as the Ice dragons fought the Juggernaut in a frantic melee on their side of mast, crisscrossing and dodging across the deck and in the air, nearly all of them wounded in some way by the nigh invincible foe. The infused Ape swung and slashed, his glowing shield phasing in and out erratically, but remaining active enough to brush of most of the elemental attacks directed at it. Arctykyira slammed hard into the Juggernaut, pinning it on its back as the shield shimmered out, Flame and Ember watching the clash from behind the cannon bore. The Juggernaut then, with a single hand as the crystal flashed back into life, launched the dragoness off to the side where she collided with another of the Frostflyers.
"Flame, hurry!" Ember cried out desperately, "He'll kill them!"
The red dragon aimed at the colossal Ape, reaching up with both front paws to the firing mechanism, his claws clenching around the handle as he pulled down and hoped for the best.
Nothing happened, the handle did not budge! His heart racing, Flame pulled harder, but the mechanism felt frozen stuck, which he then realized it still must have been from Ember's freezing attack.
"It's stuck!" he yelled in despair, just as the Juggernaut was getting back to his feet. He tried pulling again, but the handle would not give as the monster Ape swung around and met the red dragon's eyes, the crystal in his chest pulsating like a lavender star. In that moment, Flame froze, sure that in the next moment the Juggernaut would beam itself across like a streak of lightning and crush him and Ember with its infused gauntlets…
The next moment came, opening with a beam of billowing Ice breath sweeping across the left side of the Juggernaut, the giant Ape caught off guard as a second beam started across from the right; a pair of Frostflyers stood on their hind legs on either side of him as their mana channeled into a crisscross of ice over the Juggernaut. In seconds, the Ape's arms and legs, without the protective energy of the crystal, were seized and frozen in streaks of ice like frozen chains, the Juggernaut stuck in place as only its chest and head remained covered by the pulsating energy. He roared and wrangled, threatening to break free any moment as Flame tried again in vain to pull the trigger.
"Come on!" came Ember's exasperated yell, the pink dragoness half falling across Flame's shoulder as she slammed her paws down on top of his, the handle bending down with a hard metallic clack. After the clack, the turret felt as though it had been blasted from its mountings as the Death-hound shaped muzzle erupted in a deafening orange blast, a jet-black cannonball soaring across the deck as the Juggernaut's eyes narrowed to the speeding black sphere! The cannonball slammed into the armored Ape's chest with the force of a meteorite, the projectile shattering in a fiery storm of lead against the pulsating dark crystal. In the moment of contact, the withering energy shield erupted in a blinding flash of dark purple light like a wave crashing on a rock, the dark crystal hissing unnervingly as it shattered into a cloud of shards, the giant Ape letting out a blood chilling bellow.
Flame and Ember were frozen in shock, paws still clutched together on the trigger as they stared along the smoking barrel of the cannon, the Juggernaut's armor fizzed and sparked a final time as the twin Frostflyer beams cut off, the frozen shackles breaking apart as the great Ape slammed heavily onto his knees. The Juggernaut hung there for a moment, the gaping hole in his chest where the crystal and cannonball had blown straight through his back soon filtered with blood before the beast finally fell forward, shaking the deck as his hulking mass fell into a lifeless pile. The two young dragons remained transfixed as the Frostflyers gathered cautiously around the defeated Juggernaut, their hearts still racing as they still felt the vibrations of the shot from the smoking cannon. Their adrenaline began to subside after a few moments as the Frostflyer's seemed satisfied the giant Ape was in fact dead, though the red dragon was still as cautious as ever. Was that the only one on board? How many Apes like that were there? How would they cope if they had to fight one again?
"Is it dead?" Flame finally asked anxiously, "We've already fought one giant monster today!"
"I think its… Ah!" squealed Ember as she tried to climb out of the turret, but instead slipped and fell headfirst into Flame's lap, the red dragon blushing hotter than the sun as Ember's legs and tail were suddenly thrust over his left shoulder, her right wing slapping him across the face as they both jostled to untangle themselves.
"Hey! Watch it!" Flame complained as he tried to shield his face with his paws, Ember somehow managing to turn herself around and found herself facing him as she accidently knocked the right-hand lever downwards, the turret beginning to spin clockwise as it appeared as though the two were fighting to get out first.
"Ouch! Those are my feet!" Flame snapped as she seemed to be trying to climb over him.
"You're pushing my back into the controls!" she retorted as the turret slowly completed a half rotation before finally, something gave way and the two sprang upwards like they had been squeezed out, the pair holding each other on impulse as they fell out and rolled onto the deck. The deadly atmosphere did not lend itself well to the comedy of the moment as Flame and Ember groaned and grumbled as they came to a stop, the turret still slowly turning on its own as the two young dragons, yet again, found themselves in a most awkward placement. She was flat on her back with he laying directly on top of her, the pair seemingly stunned as they stared wide eyed at each other, seemingly unable, or unwilling, to break the tight hold they had on each other as their startled gaze began to soften.
"Ember?" Flame asked softly.
"Flame?" she asked him equally.
"What are we doing?"
"I don't know. What are we doing?" she asked with a faint slither of humor as he couldn't help but smile back, feeling his heart move forward in his chest just to be closer to her.
"What are you doing?!" rasped a voice off to their right, "This is no time for a lover's embrace!"
The spell was cruelly broken as Ember's face immediately changed, her paws suddenly pushing against him as the young Fire dragon was abruptly rolled off to her left as they looked up and found themselves being stared down on from both sides by a pair of Ice dragons, including Arctykyira.
"Lovers?!" Ember exclaimed with profound offence as she hurriedly climbed to her feet, "No, no we just fell out! That's all, it's nothing like that!"
Flame swallowed the scream of anguish he so desperately wanted to let out with a meek mutter of, "Yeah, that was all…." as he gloomily rolled onto his feet and stood up, thrashing his wings angrily in the guise of straightening them.
"Well done, you two!" one of the Ice dragons commended stoutly, "I feared that beast would never be subdued!"
"Well fought!" added another.
"Such skill at a young age!" said an Ice dragoness, Flame and Ember looking around at the bright faces of the Frostflyers as they congratulated them on their accomplishment. All of them except Arctykyira, who still scowled at them as she stepped forward. Flame and Ember watched her fearfully as her eyes narrowed to them, the white and black dragoness then looking over her shoulder at the fallen Juggernaut as beyond that, fighting was still occurring by the broken wall of ice between the remaining Apes and Frostlfyer's. She then looked ahead to Pyryius who was still being attended to, finally lifting his head as he regained consciousness. The young dragons saw this too, briefly looking across to him before they turned back to face the inevitable.
"You've certainly outdone yourselves," Arctykyira commended begrudgingly, "I certainly did not count on your help to bring that abomination down."
Flame could not help himself to begin to remark, "We've never seen an Ape like that before…"
"Quiet!" she hissed, glaring at them crossly, "It does not change the fact that you are not supposed to be here! You have the thanks of my fellow flyers, but now I will see to it that you do what you have been told to do and leave!"
"And to think I was happy when you first arrived!" Ember retorted with a sneer that made Flame look at her in shock, his face twisting in panic as he was sure they would both pay for her remark. Arctykyira's scowl deepened as she turned about with alarming speed, Flame sure her tail was about to lash them, breathing a sigh of relief when it merely swept around in an angry swipe behind her.
"See these two are returned to Hunter," she addressed the two Ice dragons nearest to her, "The rest of us will stay and finish off any wretch left aboard this ship! Carry on!" she ordered swiftly, the white and black dragoness turning around again and running past Flame and Ember, who had to move aside to avoid being trampled under her feet as she did so. They indignantly watched her as she rushed over to the injured Pyryius, her hard expression softening as she took a place next to him, the Wing leader meeting her with a pained but grateful look. Flame and Ember's bitter feelings mellowed slightly, looking across to each other as if to confirm this, Arctykyira saying something to her companion and superior which they could not hear. They saw Pyryius and Arctykyira turn their heads and gaze across at them, the former coughing harshly as he reached for his injured chest, but he still managed a smile as he nodded across to them, mouthing something which looked like to them like,
"Well done, young dragons…"
Ember didn't notice she was the only one to smile back, just before two great shadows loomed over them as she and Flame looked up and saw the two Ice dragons they had seen addressed a few moments before.
"Come along then, young dragons. We mustn't keep Hunter waiting," kindly said the one looming over Ember, his companion nodding silently in agreement.
"Right," Flame said resignedly, gruffly, the red dragon quickly turning his back in apparent readiness to go, his wings and tail fidgeting. They strode over to the starboard railing by the spinning turret, the two Ice dragons standing behind them as if to be able to catch them should they try to defy instruction yet again. In truth, Flame's shuffling and fidgeting was not from an eagerness to go, but simply his body trying to release the burning frustration of Ember's harsh, albeit unintentional, rebuttal to the notion they were anything like lovers.
'But the way she looked at me…' he thought despondently, banishing the thought as quickly as it came. Now was not the time. He could be heartbroken later when the danger had passed. Looking out across the sky, the clouds had thickened and blocked out the sun again, the Fearnaught seemed to be no longer tracking the fleeing Gondola which had long since vanished from view. This was hopeful, especially since there were far fewer Dreadwings in sight and only a few lingering air battles still raging. Flame and Ember watched as a trio of the bat monsters made a desperate dive into the clouds below, streaks of ice chasing after them as a flight of Frostflyers skimmed the edge of the cloudbank but did not pursue them through it, satisfied they would not return as they climbed back up victoriously towards the Fearnaught, a few active broadside cannons firing off and missing them by a wide margin.
"Come on!" Ember elatedly called across to Flame, "Let's go before Hunter blows up at us more than he already will!"
Flame's response was anything but elated, "Yeah, well, you can tell him it was my idea," the red dragon replied in a bitter tone, causing Ember to give him an odd sideways glance before he suddenly leapt over the balcony with his wings aloft!
"Hey, wait!" she called after him, the pink dragoness taking flight as their two startled Frostflyer escorts both took mighty leaps upwards before their broad wings fanned out and carried them swiftly after the two adolescents. Flame raced ahead as if trying to leave them behind, soaring upwards to avoid the trajectory of the still active cannons before levelling out and headed straight for the massive grey curtain of clouds that stretched out before him. He heard Ember call out his name, but he ignored her, a behavior he was not used to for he normally felt giddy anytime he heard her utter his name. But right now, he wished only to get away from her and her ignorance, even though he knew deep down he would always come back and hope against all odds that she might acknowledge his feelings for her, feelings he increasingly didn't understand why he had. The air was freezing and soon he could see nothing but the approaching cloudbank filling his view like a giant grey blanket stretched over the sky. The sounds of battle were winding down as the Fearnaught was left behind for the remaining Frostflyers as Flame heard the beat of the wings of the other members of his flight, but he didn't pay enough heed to look at them, even as Ember's voice was now closer to him.
"Flame, what's wrong?"
His heart finally forced him to look across to see her just off his right wing tip, evidently exasperated for how long it had taken him to do so. No sooner though, did he look ahead again to ignore her.
"It's nothing," he replied tensely.
"What's wrong?" she asked again in a more demanding yet concerned tone as they breached the edge of the dense cloudbank like a veil of thick fog, the two coming in and out of view of each other every few moments, their escorts nowhere to be seen behind them, though they knew they were close. The red dragoon refused to look at her.
"Look, let's just get back to the gondola and check on Cynder!" he snapped coldly, "Then Hunter can say what he likes. I'm too tired to care!"
It was true, Flame was feeling exhausted from all the flying and fighting of the day, but he would have gone through it all a second time if it meant he would not need bear the pain his heart was feeling. He redoubled his efforts and forced an extra thrust of speed from his wings that put him ahead of the others, blinking as the condensation of the cloud cover brushed over his eyes and body. He could see nothing but the grey haze and he was glad for it, enjoying the feeling of solitude while it lasted, for he knew in moments they would be through the other side and searching for the gondola. After they were dressed down by Hunter and Volteer, maybe he could find a dark corner below decks and go to sleep. Maybe then he could dream away the hurt of knowing Ember would never acknowledge or return his feelings, no matter how long Spyro had been gone for. He was flying with his eyes closed when the sunlight touched his lowered eyelids, Flame drawing a deep breath of the cold air as he did not hurry to open them, until he heard Ember scream behind him.
"FLAME!"
He opened his eyes in a flash, his heart kicking his chest like a mule as the red scales of his face turned pale. He was through the cloudbank and careening like a rocket right into an apparent wall of red and white stripes stretched out before him, too stunned and moving too fast for any hope of missing it! Flame yelped and closed his eyes just before he struck it, slamming into the striped wall that had appeared from the clouds, the expected bone crushing impact instead replaced by the sound of tearing sheets as he blindly tore through the red and white striped canvass sail. The fabric clung to him as his muffled cries were drowned out, still speeding like a shooting star as he crashed into the sail behind, this time failing to crash all the way through as he hung for a moment with his head poking through the hole it had made.
The impact stunned him like a bird striking a windowpane, the canvass rags slipping from his face as the red dragon barely summoned the awareness to realize how he was, his claws tearing into the canvass as he began to fall! So shocked was he that his wings would not flap, slipping down the canvass sail like a cat tearing up window drapes as he fell clear the last twenty feet and slammed into the deck. He was immediately winded, pain lashing at his back as he stared wide eyed and gasping at the place he had just fallen from. He saw the torn fabric hanging down from where he had ripped it, a vast colossus of a mast with three red and white striped sails stacked on top of each other soared above him behind the single foremast he had shot through like an arrow.
'Get up!' his brain screamed at him, Flame grimacing as he rolled on his right side and tried to stand, but his dazed body and mind was groggy as he slipped down before finally dragging himself around and onto all four of his feet. He rocked unsteadily as he looked down at his front feet to see they were how they should be, the young Fire dragon only then noticing the heavy, thumping steps coming towards him and looming shadow that had darkened the spot where he was standing. He suddenly became aware he was not alone on this giant ship. Tentatively, he lifted his head as a broad silhouette rose above him, making out in the few moments he had a crimsons tunic and a long purple tongue hanging out of a scarred, doglike face. He saw the hook in place of a right hand and a large cutlass clutched in the left, right before its golden handguard was swung with a crippling blow to the side of his head. In the moment before his vision went black, Flame heard Ember's voice echoing somewhere nearby…
"FLAME!"
That evening, in the dragonfly swamps….
The Celestial Moons gleamed in their twin green and red hues in a near cloudless sky, shinning down atop the countless towering mushrooms that covered most of the landscape, their gills radiating in soft purple light that shimmered like soft lanterns. The rhythms of the night were settling in as, from behind a clump of tall grass, a thorny and dark spotted figure cautiously raised its head from amid the undergrowth. A sickly croak reverberated through its swollen throat as the unsightly, pudgy body of a Toadweed leapt out from cover and into the open, its poisonous, orange tongue hanging out from its pitcher plant like mouth as it cautiously turned it head side to side, observing its surroundings. It repeated the motions for several more moments before its head lurched forward as if belching, making another louder, sickly croak as the undergrowth behind it rustled in response. Rising up were two more of the toad-like plant creatures, hopping out behind their companion as their slimy bodies jiggled with every movement, one lashing its tongue out into the air in anticipation.
Just ahead, along the path of earth that cut through the radiating mushroom forest, a single moss-covered toadstool stood out from the rest, growing out in the open just away from the edge of the others as a small ball of yellow light dangled from it like a lamp. The three plant like pests all looked ahead at the round dragonfly hut as it hung down so invitingly to them, quiet and unguarded, its tiny windows just the right size for their long tongues to reach through and pluck out the dragonflies that lived within. Even with the apparent stillness, the Toadweeds did not let their excitement get too much to them, bouncing cautiously but steadily ever closer to their prey, their lumpy, thorny bodies swaying with every hop. The dragonfly hive was now just meters away, the trio of hopping hunters formed a circle around the base of the hive, hanging just above their heads as their pitcher like mouths hung open expectantly. The first of the Toadweeds lashed its tongue out, striking the bottom of the hut, making it rock ever so slightly as the second Toadweed joined in and then the third, a crescendo of poisonous tongues striking the hut like whips, hoping to make it fall or force the inhabitants out to claim them as prey. The little hut jostled under the assault, but remained steadfastly attached to the toadstool as the air sounded with the snapping of tongues against its underside.
"Hey!" a voice suddenly called from out of the dark, the three Toadweeds locking in place and turning themselves in its direction. From the same place, a glowing sphere of green energy the size of the hut launched at them like a vengeful spirit, the orb landing between the three pests as they croaked and belched in alarm! The sphere erupted with a fizzling blast that lit up every root and speck of dirt beneath it, the ground beneath them erupted like a luminous green volcano of earth, launching the Toadweeds into the air without disturbing even an ounce of moss on the hut, the pests tumbling over in the air before crashing hard down on their squidgy bodies, flailing and shrieking. The point of impact continued to glow as the last drop of dirt touched down, the glowing spiders web of green energy grew and shrank likes earthy veins, the Toadweeds tripping and stumbling to their feet as they bounced away in a panic, scattering into the undergrowth with a speed they had never before achieved.
Spyro chuckled heartily as he strode out from the pathway which led into the dragonfly village, stepping over towards the spot where he had cast the sphere of Earth energy. From behind him, another bright orb of yellow light fluttered into view, taking up the form of Sparx as he hovered in from the same path.
"You'd think those guys would learn by now!" he remarked tersely.
"Guess they're three who didn't get the message," Spyro replied with a smirk as he paused before the glowing green web that was laid out before him like a cracked piece of pottery. The purple dragon drew a deep breath as he moved his front paws to just inside the glowing circle of green light, his eyes closing over as he exhaled and his paws sunk down into a shallow depression like the ground was mud. As the soles of his front paws became fully immersed, the dirt and roots thrown up by his sphere of Earth breath began to shift and move as though sentient, flowing like water as the glowing green webs began to shrink like snakes slithering away to hide. They slowly receded as the ground rolled and smoothed itself like icing gently spread over a cake, the point of impact morphing and erasing as the green web shrank to the size of coin before fading away out of existence. Spyro opened his eyes as he drew in another breath, lifting his paws up one at a time and watching as the depressions of his feet rose up level with the rest of the ground, the dirt beneath the hut now just as it had been without a hint of the earlier disturbance. The purple dragon smiled to himself as he sat down on his haunches and gently flexed his dirt-free paws.
"It's a heck of a green thumb you got there," Sparx jeered with a grin, "If you had thumbs, I mean…"
Spyro cast a sarcastic side eye to him, balling his paw into a mock fist that he jokingly held towards him just as he caught sight of the blue and green light of Flash and Nina, Mum and Dad, fluttering into view from where they had come.
"Boys, your mother told you not to get too far ahead," Flash called across to them in his mild but authoritative voice, "Its much safer for us all to move as a group at night."
"Sorry, Dad," Sparx and Spyro said lightly together as though they were a duet.
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to your mother," Flash told them sternly as he and Nina floated up to them, the purple dragon and yellow dragonfly noticeably more sheepish when they saw her disappointed gaze as she waited expectantly for them to make it right.
"Sorry, Mum," they said with lowered heads and pouting faces. Flash tried to hide a smirk behind his hand as he pretended to cough as Nina hovered up towards them as Spyro guiltily avoided her gaze while Sparx was forced to lift his head to meet her as she flew up to him. He clenched his hands together uncomfortably as his eyes shifted around to avoid her judging gaze, Spyro gazing off into the sky like he was pretending she was not there.
"It's alright, boys," she smiled warmly as the two foster brothers suddenly felt the weight of the universe lifted off their shoulders, "I'm just glad Firmin did not make a huge fuss at dinner about your race through the village today."
Indeed, the night had been calm and uneventful, even with the chaos that had occurred during the day. Every night in the village of Dragonfly Falls, the dragonfly families would gather for the evening meal which usually consisted of harvested fruits and plants alongside the usual diet of mosquitos, butterflies and tadpoles caught from the river. One of the things Spyro had quickly taken notice of in the first days of living with the dragonflies was how rare mosquitos were, not realizing until later it was because they one of the things they primarily ate. Although he appreciated rarely being bothered by them, he had not developed a taste for the bloodsucking pests, nor the butterflies which Sparx particularly considered a real delicacy, speaking as if eating them would extend his life rather than just sustain him. He had not grown so much in three years from eating insects and even if he had, Spyro would have had to consume the entire village supply every day to keep himself from starving. He had become used to mainly feeding himself, catching fish or swamp rodents in addition to the fruits and plants that grew around the swamp that he did eat.
"Me too," added Flash as he hovered up beside his wife, "I heard enough about it all day. But you boys did a stand-up job on making it right. Now let's all of us get ready for bed."
Spyro opened his mouth in a wide yawn as if to illustrate the point, "Sure, Dad," he said tiredly. The infection spread to Sparx as he too yawned heavily and sighed,
"Yep, it's going to be a big day tomorrow."
Spyro snickered, "Oh yeah, what have you got to do tomorrow?" he asked jokingly. Sparx suddenly stiffened as he spun around towards him, a noticeable flash of alarm in his eyes as Flash and Nina seemed to glare at him. With his mind already on sleep, Spyro failed to notice.
"Oh, well y'know," the yellow dragonfly stuttered, "Every day is a new adventure!" he proclaimed with a hearty wave of his arm, his nervous grin straining his mouth in a way that was comically obvious. Spyro tilted his head oddly, knowing there was something that he wasn't getting, but before he could press the matter, Nina suddenly fluttered up to him, her glowing green wings twinkling in his purple eyes.
"Tomorrow will come soon enough," she declared sweetly, lifting her tiny hands up to touch Spyro on the sides of his pudgy snout. In her grasp, his head suddenly felt as light as a feather as his cheeks warmed to her presence, her chocolate brown face leaning in close to him as the purple dragon smiled contently as his eyes drooped. His head tilted down a fraction as she placed a tender kiss on top of his snout, brushing her head against him as her arms stretched out over his muzzle, his heart melting like snow in the summer.
"Goodnight, sweetheart," she said warmly as she sadly could not keep him in her embrace forever, Spyro opening his eyes as he felt her arms slip away from him. Behind her, Sparx hovered with his arms folded as he averted his eyes and pretended to not be jealous, to which Flash responded by quickly putting his arm around his shoulder and dragging him roughly but affectionately into his side, Sparx blushing as he half-heartedly pushed back.
"Goodnight, Mum," Spyro replied softly, Nina smiling at him again as she slowly turned and fluttered over to her husband and first born, Flash and Sparx laughing together as their wrestle finally broke up. As the laughter died down, Flash left Nina with their son as he fluttered over to Spyro, the blue dragonfly coming up on his left as he reached out towards his head, patting his hand above his left eyebrow. Spyro tilted his head sideways like a dog having its ear scratched as Flash scrubbed his hand harder on top of his head, finishing with a one-armed hug as he pulled himself tight to the side of the purple dragon's head.
"Goodnight, son," he wished earnestly as he tapped his left hand on Spyro's left nostril, the purple dragon's head rocking to the right with another warm sigh as Flash finished his embrace.
"Goodnight, Dad," he answered gladly as the blue dragonfly floated up Sparx and Nina, taking her hand gently in his as they then glittered up towards their home, the pair passing through the largest of its round openings as Sparx followed slowly behind. He paused on the outside of the hut with his hand on its outer wall as he gazed across at Spyro.
"See you tomorrow, purple boy," he wished with feigned arrogance, grinning as he turned and then slipped in through the hole as Spyro giggled mildly to himself.
"Goodnight, Sparx," he wished back, his mouth opening wide in another heavy yawn as he slowly spun to his left and wandered around behind the lone toadstool. On the ground, behind the thick stalk and covered under the great rim of the toadstool was what at first appearance was an oval shaped mound of moss. Pegged into the ground were the singular stalks of four green Spirt Gems, one top and bottom and one on each side, the moss rising a short height above the ground as Spyro pulled himself onto it and eased down on his belly. There was more to it, for he had dug a wide pit a few feet deep and then had filled it tightly with a salad of leaves and roots he had collected for padding. Over top of this was sheets of moss that some of the other dragonflies had help him to collect, their smaller hands far less likely to tear them apart than when he had tried himself.
The four Spirit Gems served to keep the earthy bed alive and healthy, which rustled beneath him at times like a nest of snakes, but he had long since grown used to it. This little piece of comfort came from lessons he recalled with Terrador and other Earth dragons of how they could use their Earth powers to enjoy a few creature comforts while 'roughing it' in the wild. It was a marked improvement over the upturned mushroom head he had slept in his first night in the dragonfly swamp, though that had been comfortable enough. Spyro lay down on his right side, his eyelids heavy as he felt himself sink into the mattress of green plants he had made. He managed to keep his eyes open as he stretched out his limbs and tail as he loosened himself up for sleep.
His heartrate steadied as a gentle breeze passed over him, feeling that he was doing anything but 'roughing it' as he sighed happily. After a few moments, he rolled over on his back, his wings spreading out behind and stretching out across the mossy bed, the purple dragon staring at the underside of the great mushroom with its glowing gills gently radiating above him, its gentle purple shimmer relaxing him. He breathed easily and quietly, his chest rising with lungsful of the cool evening air as he felt himself sink just that little bit more into the earthy mattress.
"Goodnight, Mum. Goodnight Dad," he repeated to himself barely above a whisper, the novelty of such a simple phrase sank deep into his heart. What a luxury he had been denied most of his life. What a privilege it was to be able to call them that! He had always felt envious in his old life whenever he saw young dragons like him or Moles with their parents in Warfang or the Atlawen people with their children when he had visited Tall Plains and elsewhere. He had always felt like he was missing out, but now things were different.
In the early days, Spyro had still called them Flash and Nina or Mr and Mrs Sparx, but as time went on and he and they had shown no desire for him to leave, he had eventually come around to calling them as Sparx called them; Mum and Dad. The only one who had protested had of course been the fiery village leader 'Red' Firmin, but after a time he had simply given up on trying to police how Flash and Nina wished to be called by their guest, now adoptive son. How much he and life as he knew it had changed in three years!
Spyro smiled to himself as he sighed peacefully, gently rolling back on his left side as he let his eyes close over, his legs and tail limply splayed out across the moss sheets of his bed, knowing there was no reason to have to rush to get up in the night or in the morning, no looming dangerous duties or threats to contend with now or in the future. The only day that mattered was the day he was living now, with the family that treated him like he had always been there. He quickly fell asleep, gleeful and carefree.
The night passed on around the isolated toadstool and its lonely hut, the twin moons blessing the world with their majestic glow while the stars glittered all around them. A large passing cloud like the woolly coat of a huge ram began to pass over the moons, dampening their light as the swamp was darkened by several shades. The glowing mushrooms continued to emanate their soft lavender light, creating an almost fog like effect in the densest parts of the forest. As the moonlight above the Sparx home was washed out by the clouds, there was a sudden movement on the mossy earth bed of Spyro's making, the purple dragon flinching as the shadow passed over top, as if he were aware of what was happening around him.
He did not wake, but the peaceful slumber of the last few hours was sudden tarnished. He flopped over on his back, writhing and shaking for a moment before rolling on his left side. His breathing quickened, his face cringing and twisting as he groaned like he was in pain. His groans slowly evolved into meaningless mutterings, half spoken, half formed words spilling out softly from his mouth. His eyes fluttered, teasing him mercilessly that he might wake up and be spared, but that, as fate would have it, was a dream all its own.
'SPYRO! SPYRO!'
End of Chapter 11
Next Chapter: Where the Heart Is
(Just a reminder that because of this chapter's earlier release, Chapter 12 will not be posted until the end of October)