Spyro: Dawn of Light, ch. 15

SPYRO: DAWN OF LIGHT



CHAPTER 15



"But I'm cold!"

"It's freakin' warm in here!"

"B-but I'm cold!"

Does she ever shut UP?! Spyro thought to himself.  "I'm sorry, but I can't protect you and keep you warm at the same time.  So stop it already!"

"I'll scream at the top of my lungs!!"

"You already are."  Spyro led Ember through the dim tunnels, trying to find his way out.  He felt that something was going on around him...the tunnels felt...darker.  Almost as if the stone of the mountain was transforming into an evil being.  And it didn't help that Ember was talking loudly enough for any evil creature nearby to easily locate them.  "Ember, do I need to tell you again that you're pretty much telling our enemies where we are?"

"So what?  Some firebreath from you would warm up this place."  She suddenly screamed and Spyro was thrown against the wall as some strange shadowy creature raced by them.  "How did you not see that?!" she shrieked as Spyro kicked back at his attacker.  "He was right there and you let him hit you!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" Spyro roared.  Ember watched as gnorcs started pouring in from the direction they were headed, and Spyro held them off, using the closeness of the tunnel to his advantage.

"Oh Spyro," she sighed, and Spyro paused.

Good flamebreath I hope she didn't just use that tone...

"You're so strong, Spyro!" she said as he kicked another gnorc.

Yeah, I kinda need it to withstand your constant whining and catering needs...  He snorted and a powerful fire bomb flew from his jaws, exploding in the midst of the gnorcs and sending jewels scattering.  Spyro tore through his enemies and stood there bristling at the final shadow.  It screeched and fled, but fell over in a shower of sparks and jewels as Spyro hit it in the back with a bolt of electricity.  Panting, he eyed his work and grinned, but stopped when Ember scampered past him and snagged some jewels.  "Hey whoa!  Those are mine!"

"No they're not!  I got them!"

"But-- dammit, nevermind, why bother reasoning with you?"  He ran past her and gathered everything else, then glared at her.  "It's not 'first-come-first-serve'.  Next time, you want gems, you fight for them."

"But I can't fight..."

"Tough luck.  Now let's get outta here.  We're running."

"I'm tired!"

"So what?"  Now Spyro was having a hard time holding himself back.  "You're tired, whaddaya think I am having to come all the way down here to rescue you?  We're running.  If you wanna stop, fine by me, but I'm not waiting for you anymore."  

With that he walked off, leaving Ember gaping at him.  He kept walking, not stopping when she shouted "WAIT!", and she finally caught up to him.  "Spyro...what if...what if Tephra finds us?"

"I'll kick her tail," he snorted.  "Now c'mon, we're running."  With that they both ran along the tunnel.



"CYNDER!!!  RUN AROUND ITS BACK!!"

"OWWW!!!"

"DRAGON DOWN!!!"

"Dammit Flame..."

"Hunter, can't you shoot it?!"

"Too much armor!!"

Cynder leapt onto the back of a huge four-armed monstrosity that has herded them into the cavern they were fighting in.  No matter what they did they couldn't hit it at all, and it was resisting all their elemental attacks.  Cynder especially was having a tough time; it was focused solely on her.  "PLAZYMA!!!  SHOCK ITS WEAPON!!"  The enemy swung its staff around itself and Cynder screamed as a spike on it caught her shoulder and the haft smacked her into the wall.  Caelos blasted its armored face with a powerful blast of air, knocking it backwards just enough to give Plazyma time to charge her electricity.  Neves rushed in, grabbed Cynder's neck in his mouth, and pulled her out of the way.  Plazyma roared and the whole room shook as a blast of lightning shot from her to the monster's weapon.  Its roar almost made them deaf as its armor shattered, and it stopped and fell to the ground with one of Hunter's arrows stuck in its throat.  It disappeared in a large shower of sparks and jewels, but they didn't really notice as they all gathered around Cynder.  She looked dead.

"Why was it so intent on her?" Neves asked, feeling her pulse.  "She's still alive..."

There was a small flash and Hunter pulled out a glass vial of a greenish liquid.  "I was hoping not to use this...Neves, open her mouth; this should help her if she's been poisoned."  Neves opened her mouth and Hunter poured a bit of the liquid down her throat.  Cynder coughed and groaned, looking at everyone in front of her.

"Why's everyone standing on the ceiling?"

Hunter picked her up and she shrieked as he slung her over his shoulders.  "C'mon, we need to get lost before more enemies show up."

"Shimmer?" Neves asked, seeing her staring at the floor intently.

"Hunter, check that...let's get lost before the whole mountain explodes!"

"I can walk fine!" Cynder said, but her eyes were jerking around a bit.  "Ceilings are fun..."  At that moment there was a loud, air-shaking groan that drove right through their bodies and made them feel sick as it made everything vibrate.  The walls started shaking and huge cracks began to appear, and suddenly everything shook violently as huge impacts shook the room, like something hammering on the walls.  

"CAELOS GET FLAME OUTTA THERE!" Neves shouted, but suddenly only saw Hunter, Cynder, and Shimmer.  

"Already done," Caelos said, but Neves was confused...hadn't Plazyma been standing there before?  The walls shook again, and they ran out of the cavern as fast as they could.  Neves saw Shimmer out of the corner of his eye, running right next to him.  

"You okay?" he asked, but when he didn't get a reply he saw that she was at the back of the group..."What's going on?"

"I'll check this hallway, maybe there's a shortcut!" Flame said, limping.

"Spyro!" Cynder shouted as she saw purple running down the hallway.

"Spyro's not here," Plazyma shouted from...the front of the line?  Where was Neves?

"Neves!" Shimmer called, and shrieked when he was suddenly right next to her.

"Something's not right here," Hunter said to himself... The hallway shook as something behind them roared loudly.

"EMBER!!" Flame shouted, thinking he'd seen her in the hallway.

"FLAME, GET BACK HERE!!" Plazyma shrieked.

"Flame, is that you?" Ember asked, thinking she'd heard Flame's voice call for her.  "Spyro, did you-"

"Yeah I heard it too...something's wrong here though, this tunnel doesn't split off..."  Spyro ran ahead cautiously, grateful that Ember had finally decided to shut up.  Spyro felt like they were being led into a trap, and somehow he felt that Cynder wasn't very far away.



Ripto laughed loudly as he watched through the orb, his staff glittering brightly.  "Yes...a little confusion to scare them..."

Tephra watched in silence as Hunter and Cynder were sent down one hallway, and the others down another.  "Sir...what're you planning now?"

He just grinned evilly.  "Did the guardian hit Cynder with his weapon?"

"Yes."

"Then the new plan is working."

"Sir, what is it?  When do I get to beat Spyro senseless?"

"Soon, Tephra...but not until I work a little doubt into them."  The air flashed behind them and a huge armored rhynoc appeared.  He wore a plated peaked wizard hat and a thick robe laced with chains on the inside, which covered blue armor on his body.  Beneath the hat they couldn't see his face except for the horn from his nose.  "Ah, Grendor...the plan is working perfectly."

"So I heard.  Tephra, your new earth-based army is ready for your signal at any time."

"Fine...I'll go look over what you've done."  She walked out of the room.  Grendor turned to Ripto.

"Is she always so moody?"

"She's been like this as of late...I can't fathom why, but it shouldn't be a problem for long.  Has Gnasty returned?"

"Not yet.  My rhynoc army can't be contained with his gnorcs for long...stupid ugly creatures..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing of circumstance.  Crush and Gulp are stationed and ready."

"Actually, retract that order."

"Sir?"

"Cynder's been injured by that weapon, that's all we really needed.  Watching them, I've figured it's better to let her go."

"What?!  You're letting her go?!"

"I'm letting them ALL go...but not without some parting gifts..."  Ripto smirked as he watched a ghostly figure rise up from the heart of the mountain.  "They're slowly becoming more active...but they can't be freed just yet.  The ultimate plan cannot be fulfilled just yet...and I believe those little scaly brats can help us quite nicely."

Grendor paused in uncertainty.  "Ripto...what of Ember?"

Ripto laughed loudly.  "Oh ho, she's one...but not yet.  I'll give her a little gift if you want, though."  His staff glowed brightly again.  "Though Spyro isn't quite following the plan the way I'd hoped...may need to get a little more drastic.  Somehow, I don't see this part of the plan working.  Now that they're all good and lost, I'll toy with them, but other than that the kidnapping plan is scrap."



Spyro yawned and stretched, standing up and flexing his wings as he shook the sleep from himself.  Behind him Ember twitched and mumbled something in her sleep before rolling over and falling silent again.  He shook his head.  "She's kinda pretty, I'll give her that, but the sooner this is over the better."  Something caught his nose and he breathed in cautiously...then more deeply.  Fresh air...there was an outlet nearby.  Finally, an escape from this place.  Spyro looked back at the tunnel curiously...he'd expected far more of a challenge than this had been.  Ripto and Tephra and whoever else was in here could've had him for breakfast several times over, and that voice...where had it gone?  Something wasn't right, there was a trap somewhere in all this...

Ember yawned and stretched lazily, looking up at Spyro.  "Hey Spyro..."

"C'mon, we're close to an entry, we should be out fairly soon."

"Yay!  You're the best!" she said excitedly.  Spyro froze in pure shock as she licked him on the cheek and passed by as she scampered down the hallway.

"Girl...tongue...bad...eww...GAH!!!"  Spyro shivered violently and wiped his cheek on his wing.  "Cynder's one thing but...GAH!!"  He raced after her, and when she noticed she slowed down until she was skipping alongside him.

"So, gonna kick some more bad guy butt today?"

"Hopefully not."

"Why not?  You're so awesome when you fight!"

Flame...how do you deal with this girl?!  "Personally, I wanna get out of here before any more of Tephra's drones locate us."

"How far is it to the Settlement?"

"A few days.  Shh, I think I hear something."

"Oh, okay," Cynder said, as the purple dragon crept ahead of them.  It struck her as odd...he'd just appeared out of a nearby tunnel like nothing was wrong.  As Spyro crept away, Neves leaned towards her and lowered his voice.

"Somehow, Cynder, I get the feeling that isn't really Spyro..."

"I'm not surprised; if Tephra could suck him into the ground like she did outside, she might make an illusion..."

"Well it's not only that, but where's Ember?  Would he leave her?"

"I dunno, and personally I could care less," she said a bit forcefully.  "That little brat can--"

"There's a way out not too far ahead!" Spyro called.

"YAY!!" Ember squealed, rushing up to him.  He dodged her as she tried to lick him on the cheek again.  Before she could ask, the mountain suddenly started shaking and rumbling.

"RUN!!" Cynder shouted, losing sight of Spyro as a cloud of dust fell from the ceiling.  All at once, everyone except Hunter and Neves simply...vanished.  Cynder looked around in shock.  "Wh-where is everyone?!"

"SPYRO!!" Neves called, and Spyro looked up sharply as a large slab of ceiling fell too close for comfort nearby.

"Neves?!"

"Tephra's screwing with us!" Neves shouted to Cynder, "I just heard Spyro again!"

"SHUT UP AND RUN!!" Plazyma shouted at Flame, dodging a piece of ceiling.  Without question everyone ran as they saw light ahead.  Cynder was almost in tears from fear and confusion and frustration...where the heck was everyone?!  Had they all been illusions the whole time?  The same question ran through everyone's heads...

"Go get them, Tephra, but let them survive."

Tephra snorted and walked out of the room, passing through the floors to the underground chamber.  "Thinks he can boss me around...Spyro's got something comin' to him, and I'm making sure he gets it."



"Whoa!!  Watch out!!" Spyro shouted, his voice echoing through the huge lava-filled chamber as he steadied himself on the edge of a ledge on the wall.  How the heck a fresh-air exit had become a lava chamber confused him to no end.  Ember stopped right behind him, looking over his wing at the room before them.  The mountain was still shaking, but as he crawled slowly along the ledge going around the room, Spyro felt that what had scared them down this way was just a diversion...Tephra or someone had been messing with them...again.  "Is this whole mountain just a big funhouse?"

"What's a funhouse?" Ember asked, and Spyro turned to her wide-eyed.

"I'm an outcast, you're a dweller, yet I'm the one who's heard of a funhouse?!"

"My parents don't really let me out..."

Spyro just stared at her, then shook his head.  "So all those stories were just stories for the sake of talking?"

"Pretty much."

"This is one of those times when grown dragons cry," Spyro said to himself.  Off on the other side of the room he saw something moving along the wall, and he looked closer.  "CYNDER?!"

"Go away Tephra!  Stop making illusions!!" Cynder shouted back.  "I'm gonna tear you apart if you don't stop!!"

"Why'd you guys follow me?" Spyro shouted.

"I'm not telling you, Tephra!  Now give us Spyro back!"

"Cynder, it's me!!  I found Ember!!"

A good 20 feet below Cynder, Plazyma, Flame, Caelos, and Shimmer appeared on a ledge as they came to the end of their passage.  Cynder glanced down.  "Plazyma?  Please tell me it's you!"

"It's us, Cynder!" Shimmer called back.  "Where've you been?"

"Tephra's making another Spyro illusion on the other side of the room."

Caelos and Flame looked at the other side of the room and just barely saw purple and pink on the far ledge.  "SPYRO!!  YO!!!" Flame shouted.

"FLAME?!?" Ember screamed.  "FLAME, GET ME OUTTA HERE!!"

"Spyro's gonna hafta do that," Flame called back.  "I don't think there's a way over there!"

"Is everyone here?" Hunter asked, Neves trailing after him as they came out of the tunnel Cynder had entered from.  "Spyro, is that you??"

"Yes, would you get that into Cynder's head please!  Be careful guys, there's a reason we all ended up here!"

"Oh there is, indeed," came Tephra's voice from the rock of the walls.  They all jumped back with terrified yells as the lava suddenly swirled up into a towering tornado of molten rock, searing them with the intense heat as the air began spinning and shimmering.  The whole mountain trembled and the magma shot straight up to reveal Tephra as she flung her wings apart with a roar.  When everything settled down Spyro rolled his eyes.

"Tephra, the dramatic entrances are getting really lame."

Tephra snarled at him and Ember cowered behind him as the sleek green dragoness clung to the wall and brought her face right to Spyro's.  "Well, that's just too bad, you purple runt!  I don't care if you're supposed to--"  She screamed as a fireball hit her square in the back and made her fall almost into the pit of magma, which was now a lot lower thanks to her explosive entrance.  "WHO THE HELL DARES TO INTERRUPT ME?!?"

"Who else?!" Cynder called.  "You may be growing bigger between our fights, but you're still stupid and annoying!"

Needless to say, Tephra did not take well to that at all, and pretty soon a vicious battle was underway.  Unable to do anything, Hunter reluctantly sat back in one of the tunnels and watched, wanting to shoot Tephra down with his arrows but unable to because of her resilient hide.  Other dragons he could take down with no problem, even without his arrows, but Tephra was enhanced by some unnatural power that put her way out of his league.  He watched as the young dragons glided from ledge to ledge, using the updrafts from the magma to glide straighter than normal.  Plazyma tried to shock her out of the air, but Tephra's protective field again sprang up and absorbed the electrical energy.  Tephra held still and absorbed that accumulated energy, and Cynder and Flame shrieked and fell as a horizontal blast of earth energy shot from the green dragoness as she flung her limbs apart.  Caelos used his wind powers to help them regain aerial control while Neves and Shimmer distracted Tephra.  Up on the ledge, Spyro growled as he watched.

"Ember, I kinda need to help them here...please let go of my tail."

"B-but who's gonna protect me?" she whimpered, holding even tighter to his tail.  

"Can you breathe fire?"

"Yeah, but--"

"Stay back in the tunnel then and blast her when she comes near!  I can't 'protect' you easily if I can't openly fight her!"  He pulled free of Ember's grip and she shied back into the tunnel nervously as Spyro glided through the air and latched onto Tephra's back with his claws.  Tephra shrieked with rage and tried to throw him off, but Cynder joined him and they started bombarding her with fireballs.  Tephra latched onto the wall and Spyro and Cynder shot off of her like bullets as she coursed with earth energy and healed herself.  Caelos caught them in shar[ blasts of air that allowed them to regain their balance and glide to safety.  Meanwhile, Flame was charging his firebreath, powering up his energy-beam distance attack.  He glanced down and watched curiously as Neves and Shimmer ran around the pool of magma, just running in circles and quickly chatting whenever they met.  Something crackled nearby and Flame looked to see Plazyma charging her electric energy.  She yelled and let it loose, and an arc of lightning flew from her and zapped Spyro and Cynder.  They both yelled in pain, but their claws in Tephra's hide acted as a ground and sent the elemental energy into the bigger earth dragoness.  Tephra screamed and flailed in the air, and Spyro and Cynder both fell off.  Flame took the chance and the next thing Tephra knew she was blasted against the far wall as Flame's beam-breath smote her.  Down below, there was a loud hissing sound and a cloud of steam rose up suddenly, and Flame and Plazyma looked down quickly to see Spyro and Cynder land on rock slabs floating in the magma.  Shimmer and Neves were working together to cool off the lava, Shimmer fueling Neves's ice with her waterbreath and Neves using his enhanced breath to coat the lava.  Gasping from the electric shock and the scare form the fall, Spyro and Cynder glided to safety while the two water-based dragons dealt with the lava.

"Something's weird about this," Cynder said, glancing up as Tephra swiped at Flame and knocked him into the wall.  "She's not going at this very hard...she's a lot bigger than when we last saw her, she could easily kill us now but she's not."

"Well, I intend to end this battle before she does kill someone.  I wish Hunter could help but her scales are too tough for his arrows."  He ran up a slanted ledge nearby and started scaling his way up to the perfect vantage point.  Plazyma roared again and the air snapped with thunder as she blasted the ceiling.  A huge chunk of rock fell on Tephra's head, and she yelled in pain and fell to the rock that Neves and Shimmer had just finished cooling for everyone else's safety.  The boulder shattered over her head and she groaned, looking around with unsteady eyes as everyone glided down and surrounded her, Ember timidly coming down as well and standing behind Flame.  Spyro landed in front of Tephra's face and she grinned evilly.

"You still don't know what you are," she laughed, her eye twitching from the bruise forming under it.

"Yeah, I know already, I'm the purple dragon, hero destined to save everything and everyone, yadiyadaya the whole legends gig."

She laughed again and Spyro cocked an eyebrow at her.  "I say again, you still don't know what you are."  Spyro and the others covered their faces defensively as she was consumed in her usual pyre, the ground falling out under her and swallowing her and then filling in perfectly (somewhat) behind her.

"That was unusual for her...she gave up," Plazyma said.

"What I am...?" Spyro said to himself, and Cynder rubbed against him.

"Hey, don't worry about what she says, she's just trying to--"  At that moment the floor lifted up violently in huge shards, throwing them into the air.  The air started shimmering and shaking.

"THIS WAY!!!" Hunter shouted, and they stumbled after him in a frantic jumble of limbs and wings as the floor tossed them around.  The chamber suddenly exploded behind them and they were thrown headlong down the tunnel as the air behind them blew them forward.  Neves yelled and twisted around quickly, hitting his back on the tunnel wall and sparing his glasses, and as the explosion's power died off they tumbled painfully on the floor.  Scraped badly and bruising all over they scrambled up and raced to sunlight ahead of them.  Ember fell behind with a shriek as she tripped, and Spyro grabbed her by the neck with his mouth and pulled her to her feet.  Daylight engulfed the others as they flew out into the open, but Spyro yelled in pain as another explosive blast sent him hurtling forward into the light.