Chapter Fourteen: A king's Duty

Chaos swept throughout the treetops of the Rainwing village. Structures burst into flames

when struck by flaming arrows, which caused some to collapse and fall towards the ground.

Screaming filled the air as Rainwings tried to flee into the forest, only to find their exits had

been blocked by the Drunn, which engulfed a few poor dragonets who flew ahead of the

others. Gargoyles scales the trees up to the village, but before one could swing his spear at

a mother and her dragonet, a plasma blast flew through the air, striking the gargoyle and

sending him falling. As the mother looked towards the source, Glory alongside Toothless

quickly descended from the sky, followed by Spyro and Sisu, who kept onto the treetop

underneath the pair. "You're Majesty! What's going on? What are those things!" The rainwing

looked over the edge, and as Spyro leaned over, a gargoyle sneered in Spyro's face,

causing the purple dragon to blast a reactionary fireball in his face. As the gargoyle fell, all

the guardians could see the army climbing their way towards them, causing Toothless to turn

towards the panicked rainwing. "Get your child and everyone you know to the closest body

of water!" Toothless added, before Glory nodded, adding "You'll be safe there!" Although

frightened, the rainwing nodded, ushering her dragonet into the air as the flew up out of her

forest.

Toothless turned towards Glory, who knew exactly what he would ask. " The river's just

through that stretch of trees." She pointed in the direction she spoke of, receiving a nod from

Toothless. "Tell your people to fly towards it and stay in the river," he instructed. "The

gargoyles and Drunn won't be able to reach you there." As Glory nodded, she lifted into the

air, flying towards the centre of the chaos, as Toothless turned towards Sisu and Spyro.

"What will we do?" Sisu asked, receiving a sly smile from Toothless. "See who can hit the

most amount of Gargoyles." Spyro laughed, as Sisu turned towards him. "Now that's a plan I

can get behind!" As the three leaned back towards the edge, Spyro and Toothless heated up

their shots while Sisu jumped down into the abyss below.

As two gargoyles reached for the peak of one platform, a firebolt hit one in the face, while

the other was blasted in the back by a plasma bolt, causing him to slam against the tree, and

fall on top of three below him. Across the forest, a rainwing couple screamed as a gargoyle

lunged over the surface, before another plasma bolt collided with his chest and sent him

flying. As they ran away, Toothless landed in their spot, watching as they made their way

over to the others.A gargoyle approached from behind as he did so, but Toothless simply

swept the legs with his tail, causing the soldier to somersault over the edge. At the corner of

his eye, Toothless noticed an explosion that sent gargoyles flying in every direction

imaginable, before Spyro emerged with a smug grin on his face. "Fifteen!" he declared with a

prideful smile. Toothless simply raised his eyebrow, before charging up with electricity and

blasting a beam of lightning down into the gargoyle mob below. As Toothless turned back, he

saw Spyros' jaw suspended towards the ground. "Twenty," he responded with a blank, yet

amused tone. Spyro huffed, as he flew away, before circling back and accelerating towards

more gargoyles. As they pointed their spears towards the purple dragon, his horns suddenly

combust into flames, before he collided with the one in his way, temporarily forming a stone

kebab before ascending and causing the gargoyles to fly out of the trees. "Twenty five!"

Spyro shouted at Toothless, with an annoyed look engulfing his face. Toothless chuckled,

seeing how seriously Spyro was taking this challenge, and jumped off the platform down into

the enemy hoards. Spinning super fast as he did so, Toothless emitted a barrage of plasma

blasts, which struck every gargoyle in his radius. Recovering quickly and flying up to Spyro,

stopping as the purple dragon jolted back, Toothless bared his teeth."Thirty five."

Before Toothless and Spyro could continue bickering, a violent gust of leaves wooshed

through the trees, and while the gargoyles didn't notice, Toothless and Spyro did, gasping as

a giant stream of water zoomed through the air, ramming into the gargoyles underneath the

two dragons, sending the army flying into the forest. Looking back at each other to figure out

what happened, Sisu suddenly popped up behind them, startling the two as she gave an

innocent smile. "All gone!" Sisu closed her eyes and smiled, unaware of the two dragon's

gaping mouths and their former challenge between each other. Shaking his head, the Night

Fury jumped into the air, beckoning the others to follow. "We need to make sure there aren't

any more stopping Glory or her subjects from reaching the river." As Toothless dashed

ahead, he could see Sisu and Spyro follow close behind, as the dragoness ran across the

tree branches, and the purple dragon manoeuvred around them with ease. After a while, the

three eventually caught up with the Rainwing tribe, only to find Toothless' hunch was right.

The entire village had been herded into a crowd by the Drunn, which was now surrounding

them as Gargoyles approached from the outside. However, as Toothless got a better view,

he could see the gargoyles weren't advancing like he thought, and were instead swinging

their spears in various patches of air, clearly trying to hit something they couldn't see. While

Toothless was initially confused, he immediately remembered Rainwings could turn invisible,

which was confirmed when the invisible force kicked a gargoyle into another. Before a pair of

gargoyles could launch their spears, Sisu and Spyro rammed into the duo, knocking them to

the ground, as Toothless landed beside them. Glory reappeared, clearly stressed and

working overtime to fend off her enemies. "Took you guys long enough," Glory accused, as

her scales bled colours of red and orange. Spyro tilted his head in anger. "Hey girl! If you

wanted to have our job, you should have said so!" Before the two could fight, Toothless got

in the middle. "Now's not the time for arguing." He then turned to Glory. "Is the river too far

from here?" Glory shook her head in response, pointing to a clearing behind them. "It's just

past those trees, but I can't get to Deathbringer or the others, because that thing is keeping

me out!" Looking back towards the Drunn, Toothless could see the Drunn had in fact not

moved since they had arrived, and was instead circling around the rainwings.

"It must know we're trying to reach the river!" Sisu assessed. "Water is its biggest

weakness!" The others exchanged looks of dread and worry. "So how do we get rid of it

then?" Glory panicked, looking back and forth between her subjects and the guardians.

Toothless looked at the situation before him, thinking as quickly as he could, in hopes of

getting an idea. Luckily, a plan presented itself. "

"I have an idea!" Toothless announced, causing the other three to turn towards him. "Glory,

you can turn invisible, so make your way into the crowd without alerting the gargoyles, and

tell your people to shield themselves." Glory looked at Toothless in worried confusion, yet

Toothless continued. "Sisu, I want you to conjure up as much rain as possible, and send it in

my direction. Once you do, Spyro will blast it with his fire, and then I'll emit my plasma echo

to send in the Drunn's direction." The three exchanged looks, as Toothless knew they were

all likely having doubts or concerns about Toothless' plan. They probably thought it was as

ridiculous as he thought it sounded. "Is that the best plan we have?" Glory asked, confirming

Toothless' doubts. "Probably not," Sisu started, before adding, "but it's Toothless' plan, so

I'm in." Toothless looked at Sisu in shock, before she turned towards him and gave him a

smile. Toothless returned to deed. "Me too," Spyro added, which resulted in Spyro winking

at the Night Fury, as Glory let out a sigh. "Well, we're all gonna die."

As the plan sprung into action, every dragon flew to their respective positions according to.

Just as Toothless instructed, Glory disappeared into the darkness, allowing herself to enter

the crowd of rainwings without being detected by the Drunn. While Glory was unsure as to

why the entire tribe couldn't turn invisible, Toothless had stated it wasn't worth the risk, in

case the Drunn reacted in a way that jeopardised her tribe's safety. Luckily, it didn't seem to

notice her, which allowed her to appear in the middle of the crowd, much to the surprise of a

few Rainwings. "Everyone! Listen to me!" Glory's command gained the attention of every

head in the crowd. "I know you're all scared, but you need to duck!" Predictably, every

dragon looked between each other in confusion. "Duck? Glory there's a giant death cloud

circling us like a flock of hungry vultures!" Deahtbringer's body eventually accompanied his

voice, as he made his way through the crowd towards Glory. "We should be escaping, not

cowering!" Although she wanted to agree, deep down she knew he was wrong.

"Deathbringer you brainless oath, the Drunn will just consume you if you try to escape!" she

pointed towards dragons who had been caught within the Drunn's space. "You saw it turn

dragonets to stone like everyone else." Deathbringer raised an eye as he tilted his head

unconvinced. "Well that certainly makes me feel a lot better!" As Glory placed her talons to

her temples, the voice of Toothless projected from behind the Drunn. "Spyro! Glory! Me and

Sisu are in position." Glory turned away and saw Spyro, who was giving her a look that

asked what she was doing. "Just give us a minute," Glory yelled towards Spyro, making it

loud enough for all three to hear. She then turned accusingly towards Deathbringer

"Someone's being a pain in the tail." Deathbringer huffed, as he stood on his hind legs,

crossing his arms. "Hey, what I'm being is concerned for your wellbeing and the wellbeing-"

Deathrbinger's remark was suddenly cut off by Spyro yelling from above. "GUYS!

LOOKOUT!" Both Glory and Deathbringer turned around to find three gargoyles lunging

through the Drunn with their spear extended. Multiple dragons screamed and crouched in

fear, yet Glory's instincts were as quick as her reflexes. Extending her jaw as wide as

possible, a hiss left the rainwing's mouth before shots of liquid zipped out of her rear teeth,

hitting the three square in the face. As smoke started to emit from their faces, the gargoyles

shared an agonising scream as their faces began to melt, causing them to lose their

direction and momentum, crashing into the ground just before the rainwings. As

Deathbringer looked towards Glory in shock yet relief, Spyro looked towards her with wide

eyes. "What the? You could do that this entire time?" Glory waved her wing away, giving

Spyro the side eye. "Like Toothless said, not the time!"

As Spyro rolled his eyes, a rumbling noise could be heard from above, as multiple rain

clouds materialised and started hammering down upon the leaves forming the roof of the

rainforest. As massive puddles began form amongst the ground, Sisu closed her eyes and

concentrated her magic, focusing on all the water she could sense around them. Gradually,

the droplets that fell from the trees began to slow in their descent, before halting entirely, and

instead ascending. The pools of water soon began to follow as well, as the various bodies of

water formed into a massive boulder of H20. Once the last few droplets had joined the wet

mass, the ball sped towards the location of the guardians, being guided and held together by

Sisu's magic and focus.

While Sisu didn't open her eyes, Toothless could see when the massive entity of water flew

towards them, cutting through the trees accompanied by a tsunami of leaves. Readying

himself, he turned towards the others. "Spyro! Coming in hot!" As the Night Fury then

focused on charging up, the purple dragon nodded. "You got it!" He turned towards the

Rainwings. "Glory!?" Realising they were out of time, Glory spun towards Deathbringer, as

her scales flashed shades of lime green and blood red. "DEATHBRINGER!" she yelled

violently, causing dragons around her, including the Nightwing himself to jump back in shock.

"I'm ordering you and everyone else to duck NOW!" Realising and slightly admiring that

Glory wasn't backing down, Deathbringer nodded "Do what the queen says!" he bellowed,

and almost instantaneously, every dragon within the Drunn's imprisonment ducks down,

covering their heads with their wings. Almost in sync, the water bubble reached the

guardians, and taking a gigantic huff of air, Spyro ejected a huge ball of flame, which

instantaneously turned the mass of water to fog. As the gas and remnants of Spyro's flames

fell upon the rainwings and the Drunn, Toothless emitted his sonic screech, sending

shockwaves through the air, entrapping the Drunn with the fresh fog formed by Spyro and

Sisu. A loud and petrifying screech emitted from the sinister entity, as it quickly disintegrated,

leaving only the fire and the fog, which quickly vanished without harming a single Rainwing.

A few moments passed where no one spoke, practically because everyone was either frozen

in shock or waiting for an after effect. However, once it was clear the Drunn was well and

truly gone, the rainwings began raising their heads slightly, as Toothless let out a sigh of

relief. As Sisu opened her eyes, she turned towards Toothless and Spyro in disbelief, smiling

as Spyro punched his fist in the air. Following Spyro's celebration, a few rainwings began

cheering, before some more joined in, and before long, almost every dragon in the tribe was

celebrating. Toothless looked on in pride, feeling a sense of satisfaction, knowing he had

managed to save one kingdom. Making her way through the crowd, towards the guardians,

Glory's scales had shifted to a mixture of yellow and pink. "That worked?" she exclaimed,

sounding more awe struck than joyful. "That actually worked?!" Sisu walked besides

Toothless, placing a paw on his shoulder while facing Glory. "Told ya he could do it," she

exclaimed. Toothless gave her a grin, which she noticed and exchanged back. Out of all the

dragons he had met along his journey, she was by far the one he had no regrets bonding

with. Making a note to himself, he swore he would make sure she got to see his kingdom like

they promised. He even wondered if she would get along with Light Fury once freed, or if

Stormfly would share her weird sense of humour.

Interrupting his thoughts, Spyro pointed towards a clearing in the trees, calling Toothless'

name."Drunn safe space! Ten o' Clock!" Following Spyro's line of sight, Toothless saw the

river Spyro spoke of, perking up as he turned back to the rainwing queen. "Get all your

people to safety. We'll prepare the gateway." Glory nodded, not needing him to tell her twice

as she turned to her tribe, instructing them on what to do, as Deathrbinger aided her.

"Wait a minute?" Sisu spoke up, turning towards Toothless with a distraught expression.

"What about Charizard? Toothless, we can't just leave him here!" Toothless looked back

towards the river, realizing she had a point. It wasn't right to just leave him here, especially

since he was the one who had brought them here in the first place. Then again, he was the

one who had decided to be a stubborn horn-nose, so it shouldn't be their job to delay their

plans just to go on a wild goose chase after his tail. "It's not my preferred option," Toothless

confessed, turning towards the water dragoness, "but we need to get back to Elderess so he

can help us put a stop to this nightmare." Sisu looked back at Toothless, before hanging her

head in sadness. "Oh. Ok." Now the Night Fury felt regret once more, as he couldn't help but

feel once again he had said the wrong thing. Then again, given the way Charizard had

treated them, it could be seen as baffling that Sisu would still care about his well being. It

confused the Night Fury, yet at the same time, he admired that."But even the worst

nightmares can turn into the most wonderful dreams," Toothless decided to add, causing

Sisu to lift her head and look at him with intrigue in her eyes. Toothless then entwined his tail

with hers. "Besides, I'm sure someone as prepared as Charizard can find his way home."

Sisu thought for a moment, before chuckling, realising the metaphor was over. "You're right.

He's pretty capable."

Across from the group, Toothless noticed that Glory had been taken aside by Deathbringer,

who looked like a dragonet staring longingly at a pond of fish. "Please tell me you're not

actually going with them," he pleaded with Glory, who sighed in response. "It's the best

option we have, Deathbringer, and even I have trouble believing that. But how else do you

think we can stop those things?" The queen's guard hung his head in defeat, as Glory

reached for his claws, he accepted, as they held each other's palms. "Just stay safe,"

Deathbringer requested, with a look that Toothless guessed was how the Night Fury looked

after meeting his mate. "And come back to us as soon as possible." Glory rolled her eyes,

yet she looked back at Deathbringer with a look similar to his."Just look after our tribes," she

instructed. "And yourself."

As Deathbringer left to rejoin the villagers, Glory walked back to the guardians, though she

didn't make eye contact, as she was glancing back. Toothless noticed and conveyed a look

of sympathy. "Are you okay, your majesty?" Toothless' question caused Glory to turn around,

with a sarcastic expression. "Never better. And don't call me 'your majesty'. I'm not your

queen." Toothless nodded, as he could tell her snarky tone was a key part of her personality.

"No problem, 'Glory.'" From behind the two, a bored looking Spyro let out a long groan,

gaining the attention of all three guardians. "Are we all done talking yet? I'm ready to save

the world and get back home if you don't mind?" As he turned around and pulled out a

transport crystal, Glory strode up behind him, giving an amused eyebrow. "Wow, not much of

a social dragon, are you?" Instantaneously, the purple dragon turned around with an almost

insulted look. "I'm social!" he argued, placing his paw on his chest. "Just when it's not a life

or death situation. Just ask Eruptor or JB." As the two eyed each other challengingly, Sisu

chuckled. "Alrighty now guys. Let's save the bickering until we're home free." Toothless

nodded, taking the crystals out of Spyro's hand, catching the three's attention."I agree." As

the Night Fury spoke, he smashed four crystals against the ground, causing a gateway to

Elderess' crystal filled temple. "Alright, who's first?" As the Night Dury turned back, Spyro

raised his wing. "I'll go." He then pointed his wing at Glory. "Might as well prove to Ms

Doubtfire here that we can be trusted?" As the purple dragon charged forward, Glory's head

spun towards him with pure irritation. "I was already convinced pipsqueak, but I'll go next

regardless." Following through, Glory trailed after Spyro, glancing briefly at the electricity

surrounding the gateway as she entered the crystal cavern. Despite having their backs

turned, Toothless could see both dragons taking in the surroundings of the cave. "Three

moons," Glory commented. "I've never seen this many crystals." Turning towards Sisu, the

dragoness bowed her head gracefully. "After you, your majesty." Toothless rolled his eyes,

although smiled as he did so. "Seriously, how long are we gonna do this Sisu?" the Night

Fury asked, as he entered the gateway, with Sisu following behind." The water dragon

shrugged in response. "Who knows, one time, I teased Jagan- Aaaargh!"

Spinning around, Toothless saw that Sisu had been yanked by her tail back through the

gateway, as a giant more damaged gargoyle loomed over her. "You're not going anywhere,"

he growled, as the water dragoness tried to get up. "Sisu!" Toothless cried, rushing through

the gateway, as Spyro and Glory turned to see what was happening."Toothless, wait!" Syro

called, following after before the Night Fury turned and lifted his paw in front of the purple

dragon. "No! Don't follow me through the gateway, or you'll close it!" Spyro looked to Glory

and back at him helplessly, as the Night Fury turned and flew into the rainforest, blasting the

gargoyle with a plasma blast. Though the blast didn't fully knock the fiend off Sisu, it did

cause him to stagger back briefly, allowing Sisu to move as he lost his grip. Before the

gargoyle could tackle Sisu once more, Toothless flew into him, grabbing hold and sending

them both flying, before the gargoyle grabbed hold of Toothless' wing, yanking them both to

the ground. The Night Fury grunted as he landed, yet he managed to recover quickly enough

to avoid the gargoyle slamming his fist into the ground. The stone giant swung at the Night

Fury again, which Toothless intercepted, only for his opponent to sweep the Fury's legs with

his tail. As Toothless fell, the gargoyle prepared to strike, before Sisu's blue tail wrapped

around his arm, holding it in place momentarily. The gargoyle noticed, and swung his arm

with full force,lifting the dragoness off the ground, causing her to land beside Toothless.

Distracted by Sisu's intervention, the gargoyled failed to notice Toothless charge up his

scales, before blasting the creature back with a plasma screech. As the gargoyle landed,

Sisu noticed a precarious tree standing near where their enemy had landed, and pointed it

out to Toothless. Realizing what she was suggesting, the Night Fury blasted the base of the

tree, causing it to falter and land on top of the gargoyle.

Realising they had but only moments, the Night Fury turned towards the water dragoness.

"Are you okay," he asked, offering his claw, which Sisu accepted, while clutching her mane.

"I'm fine, I think." Toothless nodded, before clutching the dragoness' arm, causing her to

wince in shock. "Good, now listen to me carefully. I want you to run to that portal, and to not

stop once you're on the other side." Toothless saw the confusion within Sisu's eyes, yet that

did not dissuade him. "No matter what happens, do not turn back. Do you understand?" Sisu

looked at Toothless as if he had given her the world's hardest riddle. "Toothless, what are

you saying?" she questioned, causing the Night Fury to growl in response. "Listen Sisu!

More of those things will be here soon, and they'll be worse off with only one of us, so just

get through to the other side, and go to Elderess for more transport crystals." Now Sisu knew

what Toothless was saying, and she didn't like it one bit. "What? We're not leaving you!

Prophecy or no prophecy, you're my friend!" Upon hearing that, he hung his head. Toothless

knew Sisu seemed like the sweetest dragon alive, but hearing her refer to him as a friend

was heartwarming. "I'm grateful you feel that way about me. But that's why I can't let you or

anyone else get hurt." Sisu's eyes filled with despair, as she realised the Night Fury wasn't

backing down. She clutched his talons hard, as a tear formed at the side of her eye.

"Toothless, please…"

A loud roar interrupted Sisu, and as the two dragons looked behind, they noticed an army of

gargoyles approaching from behind. Some were even in the shapes of Nightwings and

Rainwings, and they were closing in fast. "Guys!" Spyro called out, "What are you waiting

for?!" Toothless turned back to Sisu, with a stern look. "Sisu! Run!" he commanded, "NOW!"

Sisu wanted to resist, yet to her shock, her body immediately moved upon Toothless'

command. She ran like her life depended on it, since it did, and although she attempted to

turn around, neither her head nor body moved a muscle outside of her legs. While the

dragoness was shocked and confused about why her body was no longer hers to command,

Toothless kept his control up as long as he could, until she reached the gateway. He had

sworn to never resort to using such a vile power, yet his determination to prevent harm from

befalling the water dragon now outweighed it. As Sisu ran through the gateway, the circle of

electricity began to shrink, causing Toothless to release Sisu from his control, causing the

dragoness to stop, and immediately look back in shock. Alongside Glory and Spyro, who

were unaware of what had just happened, the three saw Toothless running towards the

gateway, electricity surging through his scales as the stone and Drunn mob followed behind.

"KEEP RUNNING!" he instructed, before blasting a ball of plasma energy towards the

closing gateway. No hesitating second, the three turned and ran down the cavern, before

the plasma blast crossed through the rift, exploding just as the rift closed, causing the

section of the cave to collapse into itself. The force caused the three dragons to fall forward,

yet the cavern managed to only collapse where the blast had struck.

As the Night Fury smiled out of relief, a spear flung past his face, reminding him of the grave

danger he was in. Two gargoyles lunged at the Night Fury, yet he managed to swipe the two

away with his tail, while blocking another one with his wing. Another three jumped on top of

him, digging their claws into his scales as the Night Fury roared in pain. He managed to

shake the lot off before more took their place, until more and more gargoyles gained up on

the Night Fury, tackling him to the ground. The Fury writhed fiercely, trying to get the stone

warriors off him, but it was to no prevail. Their stone talons clamped his wings and legs down

to the floor, and one larger gargoyle held his mouth shut, preventing him from using his

plasma energy. He tried charging up his scales with electricity, yet the weight of the multiple

gargoyles pinning him down weakened his body, immobilising him.

As the Fury looked up, and saw the dozens of glowing purple eyes staring him down, he

began to wonder what they were waiting for. Didn't they want to kill him? Why were they just

standing there if they had him trapped? A few moments later, the larger gargoyle from earlier

marched up to the downed dragon, looking down upon him not with fury or a first for

vengeance, but what seemed to be apathy. "You should have escaped when you had the

chance," the gargoyle commented, that wasn't in the same tone as Kandikis' voice, but

rather in what appeared to be his own voice. The gargoyle beckoned a smaller troop to walk

over with a spear, which he took and sharpened with his talons. "If I am correct, you have

resulted in the loss of about half of my men over the last two days," the statue calculated,

eyeing the Night Fury like a Viking. Toothless didn't respond. Clearly this guy has more of a

soul than the others, he thought to himself, although what soul was there appeared to be

more watered down than a processed fish. "Your life won't nearly make up for that number,

but it will certainly exceed it for your allies' emotional state." As the gargoyle finished, he

lifted the spear above his head, readying himself for the kill. As the Night Fury shut his eyes

though, a laugh echoed from behind, causing Toothless to reopen his eyes, as every head

around him turned towards a dragon approaching behind the armed gargoyle.

"I'd say that's enough of a performance from you Sentinel," the dragon commented,

sounding more amused than grateful for his troop's action. "Besides, his usefulness is yet to

be determined." The dragon's voice sounded as if an eel had learnt how to talk, yet despite

his fear of eels, it didn't scare the Night Fury from growling, as he immediately recognised

who the voice belonged to. "Kandikis, I presume?" Toothless guessed, as the red dragon

leaned down. "In the flesh. You must be the Night Fury I've heard so much about." Stroking

his chin, Kandikis' face gave an almost contorted look of disapproval. "Hmmm, I must admit,

I'm disappointed. For a dragon of such importance, you look much smaller than I would have

imagined." Toothless snorted in response. If that was the game he wanted to play, then so it

will be. "Well if it's any constellation, you look just as ugly as I imagined, if not moreso."

Kandkis' head churned back, as the dragon let out a sickening cackle. "How humorous!

Even now, when you find yourself against the claws of death, you still have the courage to

crack jokes!" Toothless raised an eyebrow in response. "Jaws of death huh? Is it one of

those guys around you, because they certainly ain't those baby teeth." Toothless smirked as

he saw the evidence of getting underneath Kandikis' scales become evident across his face.

"Baby teeth?!" Kandkis roared as his eyes shot open with fiery rage. He lifted his claws

menacingly, before stopping himself, growling as he regained his composure. "Let me make

this clear, Night Fury," Kandikis commanded, as the Gargoyles pinning Toothless down lifted

him upwards, forcing him to stand on Kandikis' level. "As much as I want to slice you open

and use your intestines as a robe, there are more important matters that require you alive,

for the time being." As Kandikis finished, he then slashed his claws across Toothless' face,

causing the Night Fury to roar in pain. "However, that doesn't determine you need to be in

one piece, so think about what comes out of your retractable jaw next."

Toothless turned back to face the fallen dragon, showing a bloody mark across his face

where Kandikis had struck. Although it wasn't deep enough to scar, it did stain his face with

trails of blood. Kandkiks smirked a toothy grin at his work, before beckoning Sentinel to

stand back. "Now then, on to important matters." As Kandikis spoke, the entire gargoyle

army, outside of the ones holding Toothless down, took a step back. "You know where the

temple of Dilation is, and you're going to take me there." Toothless scoffed in response. "You

can do whatever you want to me diamondhead," he mocked, while trying to make himself

appear as tall as possible. "I ain't doing anything for you." Toothless expected a rage filled

reaction or ear piercing laugh, but confusingly, Kandikis expressed a fake look of sadness.

"Oh don't be salty, your majesty," he pleaded, before taking a step forward. "After all," Almost

as fast as lightning, Kandikis gripped Toothless' head amongst the blood he had drawn,

digging his talons into the Night Fury's scales. Toothless screeched in agony, first from the

pain of talons penetrating his scales, then to what felt like something digging through his

mind, and taking it out like a fishing trawler. Toothless felt his mind betraying him, and he

hated it. Being oblivious due to the pain, Toothless failed to notice Kandikis' toothy grin as he

scavenged around Fury's head, finishing his sentence with, "You won't have a choice." As he

continued searching, images within Toothless' mind flashed through to Kandikis' head,

showing him what he had seen from as precious as the last few days, all the way up to when

the Night Fury fought alongside other dragons against the vikings of Berk. Kandikis barely

paid attention to these memories however, as he was looking for one in particular. Once he

found what it was, or rather, who it was, a devilish grin contorted his face, as his eyes

flashed with the darkness that had long consumed his heart. "There you are. At last."

Back in the caves of the temple of dilation, a distraught Sisu was desperately clawing at the

rubble of the collapsed cavern. "Toothless! No!" The dragoness' cries were in vain as much

as her attempts to remove the rubble, which she eventually realised, and ceased as a result.

Leaning against the rubble, the droplets that left her eyes landed on the rocks below, as her

sobbing echoed through the caves. She didn't know what to do. She had tried to hold back

her emotions and maintain her positive outlook, but now everyone she knew or cared about

was gone.

Behind her, the disgruntled voice of Spyro signalled his recovery from the explosion.

"Why the heck did he do that?" he yelled. "Not only did he not follow after Sisu, but he almost

killed us instead!" Spyro then noticed a mourning Sisu leaning against the rubble, and

stopped himself before cursing once more. "He said the portal would close if we followed to

help him earlier," Glory replied, as she pulled herself to her feet. "Maybe the gateways have

a limit as to how many dragons can travel through them." Spyro's head spun towards her,

completely forgetting about why he had stopped cursing. "Oh, well that would have been

helpful to know BEFORE he got captured by a bunch of stone creeps with purple fireflies for

eyes!" As the two dragons kept arguing in the background, Sisu was lost in a void, incapable

of determining what to do next. They couldn't just leave Toothless behind, but at the same

time, Sisu didn't know a good way to rescue him that resulted in her and the others either

behind captured or turning to stone. The arguing continued as it grew in volume, and Sisu

began to grit her teeth as her emotions heightened. Finally, the water dragon spun towards

the other two. "Guys! Stop fighting!" she shouted as loud as she could, which proved to be

affective, as Spyro and Glory immediately froze and turned towards Sisu startled. "Toothless

is in danger, and he needs our help!" Looking around where they had been sent, Sisu was

unfamiliar with the Temle of Dialation, as she had been absent during its construction.

However, she could tell by the light emulating in the open direction of the cave, the central

hub was likely in it's direction. "You heard what he said before," Sisu repeated, pointing down

the tunnel. "We need to find Elderess!"

Running through the crystal covered caverns, Sisu sped ahead of Spyro and Cynder, who

despite being far from out of shaped still weren't as equipped to running due to their wings.

Despite this they managed to stay relatively close behind the water dragon, and as they

entered the main hall where the Elder Crystal stood, Elderess' head pooped out of one of the

other caverns, evidently looking for the dragons. "What's going on?" he demanded, re

entering the hall, without noticing the three dragonets. "I heard commotion."Sisu's paws

screeched along the floor as she halted, startled by the sight of her brother's old friend. The

last time she had seen him, he was barely taller than Pengu, and his mane was as lucsious

as the rays of the sun. Not only was said mane now a tired fading grew, but the dragon

looked like if he stretched his wings, he would bring the whole temple down on top of them.

Sisu's mouth hung in amazement. "Elderess?" she remarked. "Is that you?" The question

gained the ancient dragon's attention, and as he looked down, he spotted the three

dragonets at his feet. "Wow. And I thought Eon looked kinda old." Spyro commented, before

getting flicked over the head by Glory, who shot a disapproving look as the young dragonet

yelped in response. Elderess didn't notice however, as he was transfixed by the dragoness

standing before him. "Sisu. After all these years." As Elderess looked in awe, his brow

suddenly fell in confusion. "Wait. If you're here, then where's your brother?"

Sisu shook her head, realizing they had gotten off track. "There's no time to explain. We

need your help." she pleaded, as the aging Titan looked down in confusion. "Toothless is in

danger." Elderess' brow rose in concern, as he glanced among the three dragons present.

"What? What happened to him?" Elderess' head began to turn more frantically. "And where

is Charizard?" Glory sighed, rolling her eyes in the process."He went off on his own, she

explained, gaining Elderess' attention. "Went looking for the 'real' guardians, in his words."

As she spoke the world real, she used her talons to visualise hyphems. Elderess looked in

shock and confusion, before his face fell and he clutched his temples. "The real guardians?

Oh no. I feared this would happen." As Elderess looked away, Spyro stepped forward. "What

are you talking about dude?" he questioned, as Elderess' eyes remained shut. "The entire

time I raised Charizard, I tried to teach him the importance of the prophecy and its meaning."

he shook his head as he spoke. "Now I fear he has learnt the wrong lessons over the years."

Sisu stepped forwards, reaching out to Elderess' talons, or rather talon, as Elderess' claws

far outsized Sisu's. "We don't know if Kandikis has him or not, but we can't just sit around

and wait. We need more transport crystals, and our powers to go back to the Rainforest

Kingdom and rescue them now!" As Sisu spoke, Elderess released his forehead and faced

the dragoness. "Your powers?" he asked, much to Sisu's confusion. "The ones you said

Titanwings were supposed to possess?" Glory answered. "We need those to save

Toothless," she finished before adding, "and Charizard too, I guess."

As the three dragons looked towards him eagerly, Elderess looked away, sighing as he knew

this was coming sooner or later. "A Titanwing doesn't have those powers," he explained.

"They don't have any powers. They're just like any dragon." Sisu looked up in shock, unable

to process what Elderess had just said. "What? Then how do we get these powers?"

Elderess didn't turn back, and instead looked at a bunch of crystals lining the walls.

"We needed all five of you." Sisu looked back towards the others in desperation. "Elderess?

Please, you need to tell us, how does the prophecy say we get these powers?" As Elderss

glanced back towards the three with a remorseful look, the realisation suddenly hit the

Rainwing queen, as she clutched her head in frustration, turning shades of read and orange

in the process. "Wait a minute. No. No, no no no. This can't be happening!" she yelled, as

the other two dragonets turned towards her in confusion. "Please tell me this isn't what I

think it is?" Spyro looked back and fourth between Glory and Elderess, while Sisu looked

towards the ground, as the pieces began falling into place.

What? What isn't what you think?" Spyro demanded. "What's going on?"

"The prophecy isn't real," Sisu whispered, before turning towards Elderess. "Is it?" As Spyro

and Glory's head followed Sisu's line of sight, Elderess hung his head, giving the dragonets

an apologetic look.

"No. It isn't."