Not even a few moments after Terrador and Volteer departed from the temple, the former heading for the Isle of Bozibig and the latter making their way to Dante's Freezer, Spyro, Spike, Ember, and the rest of their group decided that it was time for them to do the same thing so they could decide with of the three islands they would be hitting next, so they could take out the Apes that were attacking the areas in question. Based on what the group had seen so far Spike was able to determine that the Guardians would likely be leaving the Apes to them, which would mean Volteer would focus on checking on the Ice King and Terrador would do the same with the Molten Golem, both making sure that the Elemental Scions that lived on their islands hadn't been captured by the Apes, and if there were collars around their necks they would have to break the metal collars to free them. Of course they weren't the only ones that left the temple and followed the pair of Guardians, as Ignitus happened to leave the structure not a few seconds after they did and took off, heading off in the direction of Concurrent Skies so he could make sure the Thunder Prince was safe and sound, and they weren't counting the recent addition to their group as they walked through the city and headed back to where the airship was located, as by the time they reached it Spyro would have an idea as to which island they should head to. Cynder walked besides them as they retraced their steps through the city and headed back to the dock, making sure to stay close to Spyro as she studied the rest of the group and what they were doing at the moment, almost like some of them were doing something wrong in her eyes, yet she didn't speak her mind while they walked.
Spike had the feeling that Cynder would ask them something at some point in time, mostly because she had to have questions about them and why they were walking towards the dock, though he decided to say nothing as they walked and let her be the one to open the conversation when she felt like it, as he was more focused on the three islands that needed to be helped and what he could learn about them before they arrived at each of them.
"So, um, can I ask you guys something?" Cynder spoke up, showing that Spike's thoughts were correct, she felt that something was wrong and wanted to get it out of the way before they reached their destination and took off for the island Spyro picked out, though it wasn't long before the group nodded their heads, as all of them were interested in hearing what she might ask them, "I know Spyro's my age, and I would have to assume the same is true for the two of you as well, but that brings me to my question: why aren't you flying to the area we're heading towards?"
"Because they're underage and haven't reached the age where they mature?" Bianca replied, though she felt that it was a rather weird question for Cynder to ask them, especially since all of them were likely thinking it would be something more like who they were or even what sort of memories Spyro might have of her, and she could tell that the others were a little caught off guard by what she had asked them, "From what I've learned dragons mature when they reach the age of fifteen and become adults, which is when they can fly freely and not be restricted to the ground for the most part, save for when they glide from place to place or head to one of the Flight Realms that gives them the ability to fly."
"Really?" Cynder said, almost as if she was caught off guard by that fact, though that was when she flapped her wings a little and took off from the street they had been walking on, where she actually flew into the air and did a few tricks as the group stared at her, before she landed in front of them and noticed the shocked looks on their faces, "What? I started to learn how to fly when I was younger, even though I could only glide and perform a few moves, and I've been flying for the last two years now... are you telling me that none of you can fly yet?"
"Normally, that would be the case," Cosmos stated, though the group resumed walking as they headed back to where the dock was located, so they could board the airship and be on their way to the first island Spyro wanted to help out, as he knew the young dragon was considering their options before he said anything, but it was clear that he had a reason for making this comment and that interested the others, "and by that I mean a dragon, or a group of dragons, would have a moderate amount of exposure to the nature of the Flight Realms and their power, so they would know what flying is like before they matured... however, due to the fact that Spyro, Spike, and Ember have gone through more Flight Realms than any dragon their age, I do believe that, if they tried to fly, they would be able to do so with little problem."
Spyro, Spike, and Ember glanced at each other for a few moments as they heard what Cosmos had to say, and that was followed by the other four Leaders nodding their heads in agreement, showing that all of them agreed with his words, to which the three of them recalled what they did when they first learned how to fly in the Flight Realm, where it wasn't all that long before their wings were flapping and the three of them actually took off from the ground. It was a surprise, due to the fact that they had been under the assumption that flying like the adults would come when they turned fifteen and took on their adult forms, though none of them were going to complain about it since this could help them at some point in the near future, how they weren't exactly sure and would figure things out as they discovered them. From there they returned to the group and continued down the street they had been walking down, where it wasn't long before the dock and their airship came into view, allowing them to climb aboard it and give Fury the rundown on what they were going to do, even though the rest of the group turned towards Spyro for a moment, as they were curious as to which island he was going to pick out. Cynder, on the other claw, tilted her head a little as she observed them, mostly because she was curious as to how they functioned as a group, though she could easily tell that Spyro was the leader of the group, despite the five Leaders actually being far older than him and the others, but she said nothing as she joined the others in waiting for him to pick out where they were going.
"Fury, set our course for Dante's Freezer," Spyro said, because he had taken the time to think about it and from what he could tell it was best to get the colder island out of the way first, even though he knew Spike would be able to put the Heat Aura spell on all of them so they wouldn't have to worry about the cold at all, though as he said that Fury nodded his head and headed back to the command structure of the airship, so he could give the order for the crew to get them a good distance away from the dock before activating the propellers.
It wasn't long before the airship took to the skies and headed for the island that Spyro had mentioned, where it would take them maybe an hour to reach the island in question, as that was about the time it took for them to get to Doxantha from where Tall Plains rested and everyone was sure the time would be true for this flight, giving all of them some time to rest and prepare themselves for the next part of their adventure. Of course that was what Elora and the others did, but Spyro, Spike, and Ember took to the skies themselves and flew around the airship, making sure to stay away from the four propellers as they got used to actually flying, instead of waiting for a Flight Realm to be made known to them, something they likely weren't going to find on this continent, since it was so different from what they were used to. None of them were all that surprised by the fact that Cynder joined them, mostly to show off her skills and see if they could mimic what she was doing, where they proved to her that they were capable of replicating her moves with ease, even though there were some hard ones none of them had tried before and knew that it would take some time for them to master, which would be something for the future, when the fate of the continent wasn't in danger. One thing Spike noticed, as he and his siblings observed Cynder as she flew through the air, was the lack of a dragonfly that all young dragons had, to protect them from danger and everything that Nestor had told them about, and even all of the hatchlings back home had their own dragonfly friends, even though it had taken Bruno and the other Beast Makers a long time to find all the dragonflies that were necessary for the young ones to be safe, at least until they got older anyway.
Once they were done flying around the airship, after about ten or fifteen minutes, the four of them returned to where the others were waiting and joined them, allowing them to rest for a time as they waited for Fury to get them close to the area that Dante's Freezer was in, so they could figure out where Volteer was headed and what the Apes were trying to do to the Ice King that called the island home.
Sometime later Fury announced that they were getting close to the island that Spyro had specified earlier, where they headed outside and noticed that it was lightly snowing, which was liekly due to the nature of Dante's Freezer and it was nice to see that the airship's propellers weren't bothered by the snow, though it did give them a chance to stare out at the island that they would be exploring for the next hour or so. The island was covered in snow and ice, not that they were all that surprised by that since they had seen it earlier, but the landmass, as they discovered, was actually larger than what they were expecting and Spike determined that it could easily be a small continent in its own right, smaller than Doxantha anyway, and there was a massive fortress resting on the island, one that had been frozen in time. Spike's best guess was that either the ice King, the first Guardian of Ice, or both were responsible for what they were seeing at the moment, as it would have taken a lot of power to transform an island like this, not unless Malefor was involved and used the Aether to create what they were seeing. Thanks to what Spike had seen they knew the Apes were here, somewhere, and that meant the Ice King was in danger, hence the reason Volteer was likely heading for the area that the Elemental Scion was located in to see if their ally was in trouble, leaving them to take care of any enemies that might be between the start of the island and the area he was heading towards, though Sgt. Byrd insisted that he and the others would repeat what they did during their visit to Tall Plains, to keep the airship safe while the main heroes headed out and took down the Apes. Just to be sure no one got cold Spike made sure to put the Heat Aura spell on himself, the group that was heading down into the frozen fortress, and made sure Cosmos did the same with those that would be guarding the airship, though as they did that Fury got them close to what appeared to be the entrance, even though they would have to jump down to some broken ice spikes that must have covered this area at one point in time, confirming that the Apes were here.
Cynder seemed confused as she watched what Spike did, either due to the fact that she wasn't familiar with magic or this was a spell she wasn't used to seeing, but she decided to say nothing about it as Spike and Cosmos finished making sure all of them were ready for their stay in this island, before the main group dropped down into the starting area that was below where Fury docked the airship, as in Spyro, Spike, Ember, Cynder, Elora, Hunter, Bianca, and Sol headed down to start their trek through Dante's Freezer.
"So, this is the island that the Ice King claimed as his home," Spike stated, where he and the others stared at the old metallic fortifications that had been frozen at some point in the distance past, even though there were a few ice statues near them that looked like they might have been more recent, like within the last few years, though it was hard to make out what exactly the statues were supposed to be, before he glanced at the black flag that was ruined and the barricades that were supposed to keep someone off this island, "it looks like whoever these guys were tried to attack the Ice King and were frozen for their actions, meaning either the same thing happened to the Apes or they haven't gotten to the area that Volteer is heading towards."
"According to what I learned, as part of the history lessons all dragons learn, these were Trolls," Cynder said, showing that she knew something that might help Spike understand what they were discovering at the moment, while she glanced at the area they were in for a few seconds, mostly testing the Heat Aura spell that had been put on her and found that she wasn't at all bothered by the snow and ice that was around her, "Supposedly they came to the island, either in search of resources or to take down the Ice King, and they were stopped by the Elemental Scion that calls this place home, freezing all of them where they stood... Cyril even said that there's a chance..."
In that moment, as they passed by one of the statues, the ice shattered and a green skinned individual, wearing black armor over the majority of its body while carrying an axe in its right hand and a shield in its left hand, emerged from the icy prison that it had been trapped in, where it growled for a moment before lashing out at the closest individual that was near where it was standing... though Cynder surprised them by parrying the blow with her tail blade and then pushed her foe backwards as she gathered her magic and swung her claws, where the wind responded and cut into the Troll Warrior's armor as she knocked it down.
"...that they might wake up again." Cynder finished, showing that she was able to defend herself just fine and that she didn't need someone to protect her, that she was a warrior in her own right, something that impressed Ember a little, as that meant they weren't carrying any dead weight around with them, before she glanced at the other statues that were in the middle of breaking apart, "It seems he was right."
Sol was the next one to move forward, where he used his Phoenix Dash to both melt the ice that was keeping the only other Troll Warrior contained and take it out at the same time, showing that he wasn't wasting any time, though with that foe taken down the group moved into the area the pair had been guarding, finding something odd, as there happened to be a cauldron that seemed to have some hot stew inside it, which seemed to make sense when they noticed that there just so happened to be a Troll Warrior that hadn't been frozen. Spyro took that one out as the others looked around the area for anything that might be able to help them, as in he headbutted the Troll Warrior in the chest and then unleashed his blade, keeping the power contained inside the weapon so all he really did was use the blade to cut through the armor and take down his foe, before he sheathed Windshear as his foe collapsed on the ground. Cynder nodded her head to that, as it was time to see what Spyro was capable of for herself, though at the same time that was when Elora found that if they took one of the nearby cannonballs, even though there was no cannon that used them and a catapult rested nearby, and rolled it in the snow they would have a projectile that would break apart part of the ruined wall that was blocking the way forward, or at least that was the theory. Hunter kept his bow at the ready as she, Bianca, and Sol did that, preparing a big snowball that seemed to fit on the catapult in question, mostly because he wanted to be sure nothing came at them when they opened the way forward, though as they loaded the catapult he loosed three arrows into the area that was in the area that was in front of them, as three Ape Soldiers, wearing coats instead of armor, rushed at them and were hit in their shoulders, allowing Spike and Ember to strike them down.
With those enemies taken care of, and they were sure nothing was going to get in the way, Elora fired the catapult and the snowball they had prepared smashed through the ruined part of the fortifications and opened the way to the interior of the fortress, meaning they could continue fighting their way forward and see just how many Apes were on this island, even though they suspected it might be the same number as the ones they had faced in Tall Plains. When they entered the next area it was easy to find one of the Ape Commanders, this one dressed up with what looked like bear pelts over its armor, standing on top of the next wall they needed to pass through, though it did use the magic in its hammer to seal off the opening they had to pass through. Four of the Ape Soldiers jumped down into the section of the fortress they were in, where there were a number of barricades that were supposed to keep them from reaching the main gateway, so what the group did was lash out at them without wasting any time, as in Spyro tripped one that Cynder charged into seconds later, Spike and Bianca blasted another with a pair of Lightning Bolts, Elora and Hunter punched another into the wall behind them to knock it out, and Ember and Sol took turns charging into the final foe that was in their way. As those four enemies fell to the ground four more Ape Soldiers rushed out to face them in battle, where the first thing that happened was that Hunter knocked one out of the air with one of his arrows and let the others faced the remaining three, though while all of this happened the Ape Commander started to light some sticks of dynamite, where Bianca waved her hand and bounced it back at the foe that was watching them, blowing it up in the process and deactivated the barrier it had cast.
As soon as that was done they passed through the opening that it had been guarding and discovered that it had to be a dead end, the end of a section of the exterior of the fortress, though not even a few seconds later they found an opening in the stone wall to their left, which looked like it might have been an entrance at some point and the attackers had made sure to smash it to to pieces so they could invade the fortress. As it turned out the opening went into a hallway and then out into another part of the island, meaning that the stone wall was just another wall that had been built as part of the fortifications, so they paid it no mind as they moved into the new area and discovered another Ape fortification a short distance in front of them, with an Ape Commander standing on top of it. Spike stared at the area for a few seconds and found that there was a catapult nearby, meaning that it was going to try and use the barrier spell on them so they couldn't move forward, so when the spell was cast Spike countered it and allowed the others to move forward, though it was easy to clear the area out when Bianca spotted a pile of gunpowder and had everyone stand back, which was followed by her hurling a Fireball onto the barrels as Spike threw up a quick barrier around them, allowing the explosion to take out all of the fortifications that were in their way, knocking all of the Apes out in the process. With that done Spike dropped the magic and they moved into the area that was beyond the fortifications, only to stop as another Ape Commander came into the area that was beyond the wooden structure and sealed the way forward with its magic, allowing a number of Ape Soldiers and Ape Leaders to jump into the area that they were in, showing that they had planned this and they were trying to ambush them.
Spyro charged forward and slammed his head into some of their enemies, Spike lashed out with some Ice Bolts that he made from the snow that was around them, Ember summoned her metal claws and cut down those that opposed her, Cynder used the wind like she did earlier and knocked a few of them out of the air, Hunter hit one with an arrow and then used his blades to take down another one, Elora kicked one and blasted a second into the rock wall, Bianca used some fire to blast her foes backwards, and Sol used his Phoenix Dash to take down his foes, effectively taking out the enemies that were in the way and the barrier fell so they could move forward.
"You know, you guys are better at fighting than I thought you would be," Cynder remarked, as she had been curious as to how the group would have fought when they encountered enemies, and she had to admit that part of her had been a little worried that she would be the one helping Spyro carry the others through this island, but it seemed that her worries were unfounded, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Titan trained us, and we learned from fighting the enemies of the various realms we visited," Ember explained, but as they said that the group moved towards the area the second Ape Commander had been in and turned the corner, where it didn't take the group long to locate what appeared to be an icicle cannon, the icy version of the stake cannon they had seen in Tall Plains, "Don't worry, we'll tell you all about our lessons when we're back on the airship... it would be nice to spar with you, if we're given the chance."
Before Cynder could say anything Bianca teleported herself into the air above the ice cannon and blasted it with a well placed Fireball, blowing the weapon apart while knocking out the Ape that was commanding it, allowing the others to take a moment to break the couple of barricades that were in the way and joined her, allowing them to progress deeper into the island as they kept their eyes and ears open for more enemies. With the cannon taken care of they moved around the corner and quickly found yet another Ape fortification, this one slightly more armed than the previous ones they had seen since they arrived in this area, though that was off to their right and to their left appeared to be a small group of Trolls that were trying to overcome the explosive barrels that were coming their way, but that was when the group discovered both groups didn't care for their existence. The reason for that decision was due to the fact that both the Trolls and the Apes lashed out at them from both sides, where Spyro and Cynder smashed into the Troll camp that was nearby, by charging into the Troll Warriors and used their elemental breaths to take down their foes, by smashing them into the ground or hitting them into the walls of the area that was around them. One thing the pair discovered was that there was an even larger Troll that was decked out in more armor than what they were expecting, so it was a Troll Leader or a Champion, and they lashed out at it together, Cynder striking with her wind and causing it to stagger so Spyro could strike it with both his sword and his flames, allowing them to take down the Troll Leader before turning to see what the others were doing with the Ape camp that was in the way.
What they found was Spike and Bianca channeled their power into the area and stopped the barrels before they could explode, surprising the Apes in the process, before they tossed them backwards and let the others blast them with their skills when the opportunity presented itself, blowing apart the encampment that was in front of them and opening the way for the group to move forward.
"Okay, now I can see how you took care of the Apes that were assaulting Tall Plains," Cynder remarked, referring to the fact that she had heard that they faced these enemies in the area that Cryil had gone to, since they had talked about it on the flight to Dante's Freezer, but now she was seeing what the group was capable of and had the feeling that the Apes really didn't stand a chance against them.
"Yeah, we've got warriors capable of taking care of themselves, an archer that can hits things better than he did when we first met him, and two mages, one an Archmage and one an apprentice, capable of grand feats," Spyro replied, though at the same time he and Cynder joined the rest of the group and continued to move up the ramp the Apes had set up to block them from moving forward, because thanks to Spike and Bianca shifting the explosives, and the others hitting them, the way had been opened for them to move forward.
"Really? You guys have an Archmage? At thirteen years old?" Cynder asked, because while she wasn't a master in the magical arts, and hadn't mastered her own elemental powers yet, she still knew about the Archmages and that most of them were adults, meaning over fifteen years old when they obtained the title, and based on Spyro's words she knew that it had to be one of the two spell users that were near them.
"Actually, I was twelve and a half when it happened, the youngest Archmage in all of history," Spike answered, though at the same time they reached the top of the wooden ramps and discovered an area that looked like it had been under attack recently, but as all of them looked at the area they were in it appeared that it had to be the Apes and Trolls, which meant that the Apes had pushed the Trolls back to this point and they had interrupted the battle that had been going on before their arrival, and they carefully investigated the area they were in as they moved forward.
"Interesting." Cynder said, but even as she said that they found that they couldn't move forward anymore, so they had to jumped down into the area that was to their right and found what appeared to be a tower that either the Trolls had built or had taken over at some point in time, though that was when a thought came to mind when she considered the power that Spyro had shown earlier, or, to be more exact, what he hadn't shown, "Hey, Spyro, why aren't you using one of the other elements you used to use against our enemies?"
Spyro tilted his head for a moment, wondering what Cynder was even referring to, before he considered the Prime Elements that Spike told him and the others about, before he focused his mind for a moment and thought about one of the other three elements he knew about, where he felt a power stir within him, this time without one of the Powerup Gates to aid him, and loosed a burst of lightning from his mouth that struck the three Troll Warriors that were marching out of the tower, knocking them to the ground and dazing them so Elora and Hunter could knock them down without even wasting a moment.
"Because he was used to using Powerup Gates and never tried to channel his inner power," Bianca remarked, as she knew all about how often Spyro and his siblings used the magical gateways that granted them powers, so it was easy to determine that he had focused on only his fire breath and nothing else, but now it looked like Spyro was starting to tap into his true power, or at least the power that a purple dragon was capable of wielding, "though adding lightning to his skills means that we'll be better suited for whatever the future holds for us."
Spike nodded for a moment, mostly caught in the act of watching Spyro use the Lightning Element for the first time so he could write it down in the future, though as that happened he noticed four more Troll Warriors emerge from the tower, all intending on striking them down and heading to war with the Apes again, but as they did that Spyro charged forward and smashed into them with the new power he just unlocked, striking all four of them down purely on his own. It gave him a chance to understand his new skill, to a degree anyway since he would need to practice with this more in the future, and once he was sure the four enemies had been taken care of all of them waited for a few moments, to make sure no more enemies were coming from the tower, and when they found that there were no more foes for them to worry about all of them started to move forward. What was interesting to them was the catapult that was near the entrance to this area, one that seemed to be aimed at the tower, though that was odd because the Trolls had been the ones that built the catapult and they had pointed it at their own hideout, even though there weren't a lot of forces inside it, but as they moved forward the group discovered that they needed to pass through a tower in one of the walls and moved into a new area, an area that had more Apes and an even greater heavily fortified area that they would have to fight through. There were several Ape Soldiers, a few Ape Leaders, and even an Ape Commander who was standing on top of the ramparts, reminding the group of what they had seen back in Tall Plains, a large group of enemies that were intending on stalling their quest to save the day, and that meant they needed to be ready for whatever was going to be coming their way.
As such the eight of them rushed out from the tower they had been standing in and charged out of the tower, where Spike blasted some of the Apes with a few Lightning Bolts, Ember charged into a few Soldiers and used her claws to cut down a Leader that tried to attack her while she was distracted, Hunter used a few arrows to knock down a few Leaders that marched into the area they were in while Elora kicked a few of the Apes that were near him, Sol charged into a few of his targets before loosing a few Fireballs at them, and Bianca used her magic to make sure none of the sticks of dynamite even reached the area they were in. Spyro, despite the fact that he had just unlocked a new type of power and had no idea how to truly wield it, thought back to what had happened when they were in Avalar, or Metropolis to be exact, and felt the chill in the air, despite the spell Spike had used on him and the others, before he loosed a wave of frost that froze some of the Apes that the others weren't attacking, something that allowed him to charge into and knock his foes out. Cynder also got in on the action by using the wind as she lashed out at her foes, cutting gashes into their armor as she hit them with enough force to knock them out, but even as she did that Spyro could see a faint smile on her face, either due to the fact that they were fighting together again or due to the fact that he had unlocked two elements during their visit to Dante's Freezer, even if they were far from done and had to keep an eye out for any Dreadwings that the Apes might use on them, even if he knew that the Dreadwings would be in for one tough fight if they landed now. As the last of the Apes fell that was when they discovered that the force that truly controlled this fortified area was actually the Trolls, as a number of the Troll Soldiers stepped out of the fortress and one of the Troll Champions marched out of the tower that happened to be behind the group, indicating that their foes had noticed what was going on and were letting them overextend themselves before even attempting to ambush them.
The group had to be more cautious whenever they engaged the Trolls, as they were more organized than the Apes in this island were, which was interesting considering the fact that Apes in Tall Plains had been way more together and much more organized than their friends in Dante's Freezer, so they stayed on the defensive for a while and struck out at their foes whenever an opening revealed itself to them. Sure, that meant it would take a little longer for them to clear the area out and move forward, but this was just fine for the group as Ember parried attacks as Hunter, Elora, and Sol did the same thing, with either their own weapons or whatever they had on hand, while leaving the offensive to Spyro, Spike, Cynder, and even Bianca, when she wasn't busy making sure none of their enemies tried to hit them from behind or from the skies while they were distracted. When the group of enemies fell the metal doors of the fortification opened and four more Troll Soldiers marched out to tear them apart, while at the same time two more Troll Champions marched out of the tower, something that was odd because they knew they cleared out the area in question and that there shouldn't be any enemies coming out of that area, but instead of questioning it they lashed out at the new group of enemies that were coming at them, so they could clear out the area and then move forward, even though some of them had to worry about the Troll Champions and fight them away from the area the couple of Soldiers were in. One thing they used to their advantage were the couple of explosive barrels the Trolls on the other side of the fortifications sent towards them, to which Spike and Bianca covered themselves and the ground in a protective barrier when they hurled the explosives at their enemies, which blew their foes up and cleared out some of them so they could focus on those that remained.
What was hilarious for the group was that whatever Trolls were on the other side of the fortifications were bombed by some Apes that were flying overhead with some Dreadwings, blowing apart the tower that was behind the wall in front of them, though that was followed by an Ape Commander and several Ape Soldiers walking out to confront them, as if they didn't mind the fact that the group had smashed their earlier groups despite the larger numbers their enemies possessed, but they weren't the ones that ended up fighting the Apes, as a group of icy blue creatures, who stood on two legs and looked like they were made out of ice and snow, lashed out at the Apes.
"Well, it looks like the Ice Elementals are on our side," Spike commented, referring to the minor elementals that had just sprung up out of the snow that was around them and lashed out at the couple of enemies that were blocking the way forward, where he and the others watched as their new allies beat the daylights out of the Apes, even though he knew that the elementals would depart for another area so they could continue hunting down the intruders, "though if they're like all of the elementals we saw in Tall Plains, who dislike those that attacked their leader and lash out at them accordingly, that means the Apes might have already found the Ice King and attempted to put a collar on it... and if they succeeded then Volteer is likely fighting their leader to free it."
"You got all of that, from seeing the Ice Elementals attack the Apes?" Cynder asked, because while she could follow the logic that Spike told them, about how these guys were ticked off at the group of Apes that had been getting ready to face the eight of them, she was impressed by the fact that he was able to determine all of that from just seeing them appear in this area and attack their enemies, from the little bit of information that they had on the matter.
"Spike is the most intelligent dragon in the Dragon Realms, who has read everything inside our archives, the archives of Avalar, what little archives Avilion has left, and has started in on the Arcanaeum's library of knowledge," Ember stated, though at this point she wasn't even surprised by that fact, because she had gotten used to Spike being able to draw all of the connections she had Spyro had heard over the years with little information on what's going on, and about ninety-five percent of the time he was right about whatever was going on, so if he said that the Ice Elementals were on their side, all due to the Apes pissing off the Ice King, she believed it.
"...the Arcanaeum..." Cynder said, revealing that the knowledge of Malefor's vault wasn't a secret to the dragons that lived in Warfang, in fact it would have been a surprise if she didn't know about it, especially since she was one of the few beings that seemed to be allowed to barge into the Temple of the Guardians without being reprimanded by Ignitus and the others, though before she could say anything else the Ice Elementals finished beating up the Apes, turned towards the group and lowered their heads, like they were nodding to them, before they departed, "Well, I think its safe to say that we can move forward again."
With the way opened the group passed through the fortifications as the Ice Elementals headed off to whatever area they were heading to next, to smash the Apes that were invading their home, and walked around the ruined tower that the Apes had blown up, where they found one of the Ape Soldiers standing near a doorway that would have sealed a bridge between this part of the island and the next part, though it fled as soon as it saw them. The group paid it no mind as they continued along the same path the lone foe was running along and found it on the middle of the stone bridge, where it hooted at them for a moment before heading through the other side of the bridge and closed the gate, where they took a few seconds to watch as a pair of Dreadwings flew over the bridge and dropped the same oddly shaped containers that had blown up the tower and the Trolls, to which Spike threw up a barrier around them and made sure none of them were harmed by the explosions, even though that was when they discovered that some of them were explosive and some had some of the Ape Soldiers inside them, as four of those enemies were between them and the gate that was behind them, no doubt to keep them from moving forward. The four of them didn't stand much of a chance as Cynder gathered her magic for a moment and then dove into her shadow as Spike lowered the barrier, something that interested him for a few seconds as he studied what was going on, before she rushed forward and lashed out from the shadows of the four Ape Soldiers that were in front of them, where she momentarily appeared from each shadow to hit them before disappearing a few seconds later, and it was easy for the rest of the group to know when she was done, as she jumped out of the shadow that Spyro was casting and faced them as the Apes collapsed on the ground.
As that happened the gate opened and revealed the couple of Apes, Soldiers, Leaders, and a Commander, though the group noticed none of them were moving and that meant they could pause for a moment and figure out what Cynder had done, as what she had done was rather interesting and it wasn't common for someone to use the shadows like that, and Spike knew that based on what he had read in the past.
"What was that?!" Sol asked, as he had been quite during their visit to Dante's Freezer and he figured that it was about time for him to speak up and figure out what was going on, even though he was sure Spike would quickly figure it out and tell them in no time, or Spyro might awaken some of the memories that they had been told about and could inform them as to what she had done.
"She tapped into the Shadow Element, one of the Minor Elements," Spike stated, as he understood what Cynder had done within the first few seconds of her using the power, though at the same time he was actually impressed by the fact that she had access to two of the four Minor Elements, which all his studies claimed were weaker than the four Prime Elements that he and the other magic users could tape into, but from what he had seen all eight of the elements, nine if one counted the Aether, were equal in power, before noticing the confusion that was around him, "You know how Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth are the Prime Elements, right? Well, there are four more elements that are collectively known as the Minor Elements, mostly because not many dragons have ever tapped into them, and those are Wind, Shadow, Fear, and Poison... and technically there is a ninth element, the Aether, but that's even rarer than the Minor Elements."
The reason he didn't mention that three of them had access to the Aether was because none of them really had a fine control over the element in question, and the reason he was counting himself among his siblings was due to the fact that he needed Akilesh to channel the element, so since he needed something to assist him in controlling the element he didn't feel like labeling himself as someone who could control it, though Cynder tilted her head for a moment before nodding, to show that she understood what he was talking about. As soon as the conversation was over the group walked over to the other side of the bridge and lashed out at the Ape Soldiers that were standing in their way, though as they did that Bianca made sure to use her magic to knock back several sticks of dynamite so they didn't explode on her and her friends, rather they exploded on the Ape Commander that had thrown them and the Ape Leaders that were behind it, basically clearing some of the enemies so they wouldn't have to worry about engaging and wasting time on them. With those enemies taken out the group found that there was another cauldron in front of them, where they determined that the Apes might have been in the middle of making some food before they showed up, before discovering a hole in the wall to the right that was the way forward, to which they walked through the hole in groups of two, something that was the right move given the fact that they discovered a long hallway on the other side of the opening. What they discovered as they walked was that there were a number of icicles that looked rather sharp, all hanging from the ceiling of the hallway, so instead of leaving all of them as a potential danger Bianca used her magic to break all of them before the group even reached them, clearing the way forward so no one had to worry about being impaled by ice, even though she and Spike could have protected the entire group with a barrier spell if such a thing was necessary.
At the end of the hallway they discovered a lone Ape Soldier that seemed to be minding its own business, though as they came into view the Ape in question pulled out what appeared to be some flint and steel so it could light a trail of what appeared to be gunpowder, which raced towards the inside of the wooden fortification that was in front of it, blowing the Troll base to pieces as some Dreadwings dropped troop transports into the area, deploying more Ape Soldiers, and maybe even some of the Ape Leaders, to this area. From what the group could tell there were six enemies for them to deal with, so Hunter and Bianca stood back as the others charged into their enemies, mostly because they wanted to keep their eyes open for any enemies that might drop into the area while the rest of the group was taking care of their enemies, and it wasn't long before another pair of containers were dropped into the area and six more Ape Soldiers were dropped into the area, where he and Bianca took care of them, him by loosing arrows at them while Bianca blasted them with some of her Lightning Bolts. From there, once the enemies were down for the count, the group walked forward and quickly passed through the gate that was in front of them, entering what appeared to be a makeshift arena of some kind, though when all eight of them were in the middle of the area the gate behind them closed and the one in front of them opened as a Troll, riding some sort of armored creature, which Spike identified as an oxen that looked more like an undead than something that was alive, meaning it was possible that the Trolls were defying the natural order of things by rising the dead, which would prevent the unfortunate souls in question from resting.
In that moment he growled and channeled the power of ice into the area, freezing the oxen before their foe, who he was labeling as a Troll Horsemen, despite the nature of the steed, where it was standing so the rest of the group could hit it without having to worry about it riding around and possibly escaping the area, where he watched as it was charged into, blasted by fire and lightning, struck with several wind gashes, and hit by both Elora's fists and Hunter's arrows, before it finally collapsed and took the rider down with it. As soon as the first Troll Horsemen fell the group watched as the gate opened once more and six more enemies rushed out to fight them, four of the Troll Soldiers and two more Horsemen, to which Spike focused on sealing the movement of the Troll Horsemen so the group could focus on them, before worrying about the Soldiers that were standing between them and the entrance. Based on what Spike knew defeating the couple of Troll Horsemen meant that their steeds would be freed from what they had been cursed with, or at least that was what the stories about this sort of thing claimed would happen, but after a time he shifted his attention to the four Soldiers as well and the group quickly took them out, since they seemed to be stunned by the fact that they had taken out all three of the larger enemies that had been sent into this area. As soon as those six enemies were taken care of they quickly moved through the gate their enemies had been guarding and then paused when they found three Troll Champions standing between them and the barricades that lead to the next tower they would be walking by, meaning they had to fight them and whatever the other enemies of the area were before being allowed to move deeper into the island. Instead of the eight of them facing off against the Troll Champions, and wasting more energy on them, about ten Ice Elementals picked that moment to jump out of wherever they had been hiding and smashed into the Trolls while they were distracted, which meant the group wouldn't have to worry about them at all, and while the Ice Elementals were beating up the Trolls they spotted an Ape Commander level its mace with the top of the tower and break it, opening the way forward so the group could continue towards where the Ice King happened to be resting.
Instead of moving forward the group actually assisted the Ice Elementals in dealing with the Troll Champions that had been waiting for them and quickly brought them all down, even though they had to be careful not to hit their allies in the process, though once the deed was done the Ice Elementals nodded their heads towards the group and then disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, no doubt heading for another area to battle their enemies.
"Okay, so the Ice Elementals really don't like the Trolls or the Apes," Spike commented, though at the same time he made sure to make a note of that information, by writing it down in his journal anyway, before slipping all of his writing materials back into his satchel and turning his attention towards the opening the Ape Commander had been standing in when it broke the top of the tower, as now they knew where they were supposed to go.
"Maybe we'll be lucky and the Ice Elementals will take care of our enemies for us, so we can focus on finding the area the Ice King is in and assist their leader," Hunter added, as there was always the possibility of what happened in Tall Plains to repeat itself, as in the elementals of the island to join their battle and open the way towards where their leader called home, and while he had gotten better at fighting he was silently hoping for the Ice Elementals to do the same as the Stone Elementals they had seen on the other island, though he guessed time would tell.
With the area cleared they headed over to where the Ape Commander had been spotted and started to walk down the long hallway that it had revealed to them, something that eventually brought them to a higher location, as there had been a few steps at the end that they climbed up, before the foe they had been following appeared in the doorway of the structure that was in front of them and then used a circular barrier to keep them contained in the middle of the area, all so some Ape Leaders could throw dynamite into the area and Ape Soldiers popped out of the snow to attack them. What happened was that Spike and Bianca took turns sending the sticks of dynamite at the Apes that were throwing all of them into the area they were standing in, so that way they would blow up on the ones that had thrown them, leaving the rest of their enemies to the rest of the group, where the unfortunate Ape Soldiers didn't stand much of a chance as they were beaten up by Spyro and the others. What was interesting was that the Ape Commander actually came back out and took part in the last couple moments of the fight, which was bad timing on its part as the group turned its full attention on it as the last of the Ape Soldiers fell to the ground in defeat, so it wasn't all that hard for them to lash out at the new foe and take it down before any of them could be hurt, causing the barrier to fall so they could head into the structure this group had been trying to guard. It appeared that the structure the Apes had been guarding had been the area that particular group had called home, based on the cauldrons of stew and the tents that the Apes would have slept it, and there was a door that looked like it had been smashed to allow the Apes greater movement in this area, though there were a few Ape Leaders in this structure, three anyway, and they tried to bomb the group with dynamite, only for Spike and Bianca to do what they normally did in this situation and bounced the sticks back at their enemies, blowing the Apes up while the rest of the group headed for the other doorway and headed outside.
On the other side of the door they found what could have been a small courtyard of some kind that rested between the building they had walked through and the next one that stood in their way, though there was no door to break down for the next structure and that meant that they could just walk down to the other end of the building, where they found six Ape Soldiers waiting for them. Instead of engaging the Ape Soldiers the group smashed the door they were guarding and headed into the larger chamber that was on the other side, where they found an Ape Commander and charged at it, something that caused the Ape Soldiers to charge at them and was when the group divided their attention between the seven enemies that were in the chamber at the moment. Spyro and Cynder charged into the larger foe and smacked it around with their elements, this time going with fire and wind, leaving the others to deal with the other six enemies that were in the area, though the Ape Soldiers didn't stand much of a chance against them as Spike and Bianca blasted them, Hunter opted for his blades to cut them down, Elora punched her target into the wall, and both Ember and Sol charged into their targets. The battle ended in the seven Apes laying on the ground, all of them knocked unconscious from all of the attacks they had suffered, before they headed through the doorway the Ape Commander had been guarding and found a path that seemed to head to another structure, which wasn't surprising at all, though Spike did use his magic to bounce some sticks of dynamite back at the Ape Leaders that were further along the path, blowing them into the walls and knocking them out, allowing them to progress without being bothered by enemies, at least for a time. After that they took down the door that was to their right and walked into what appeared to have been a storage building at one point in time, and that seemed to be what the Apes were using it as, based on the couple of explosive containers, small barrels based on what they could see, that were in the side chamber, and the three Ape Soldiers that were in the room with the cauldron weren't expecting any company, despite them breaking the door down, so they were able to quickly knock them out and move through the other doorway as they continued exploring Dante's Freezer, which was far larger than what Spike had originally believed it to be.
The moment they were on the other side of the doorway, and by that they smashed down the lone barricade that was in their way, the group turned to their right and found an area that some Apes Soldiers happened to be in, four of them to be exact, though it didn't take them all that long to attack the group of enemies and take them out, allowing them to reach another ruined building that seemed to be the way forward, where they found four Ape Leaders sitting at some tables, as if they were minding their own business. Sure enough the enemies hooted at the group as they entered the building and ignited some dynamite so they could blow them up, where Spike and Bianca sighed for a moment as one of them set up the barrier and the other made sure the sticks of dynamite were knocked back to those that threw them, which allowed them to clear the way without having to actually fight their enemies. Once the group of enemies were taken care of they found the way forward and continued moving, though outside the building they found another bridge to cross, this one not having any gates or doors that would close on them, so they simply climbed the steps and started to walk across to the next part of the island they would be clearing out, even though all of them were curious as to how much more they would have to fight through before they reached the Ice King's domain, before Spyro stopped them as most of the bridge fell apart before their eyes, leaving them with a few sections of stone to jump on. It was rather odd that the structure picked that moment to fall apart, just as all eight of them were starting to walk across so they could access the other side, but this wasn't as bad as some of the things the siblings had faced in the past, as all they had to do was take turns jumping over the stones that were left and soon enough everyone was on the other side, already putting the collapsed bridge out of their minds as they sought out the rest of the path that they were following.
As they stepped out into an area that looked like it had been the site of a battle, even though there weren't any of the usual fortifications this time, Hunter spotted four Dreadwings off in the distance, ones that looked like they were carrying explosive containers that were going to be dropped on them, so he, Spike, and Bianca decided to knock the four enemies out of the air, Hunter sticking to his arrows while Spike and Bianca blasted their targets with Lightning Bolts, causing them to crash into the ground and be knocked out by their own explosives. From there they approached the next bridge that seemed to be taking them away from the fortress, which was rather interesting when Spike thought about it, before they spotted a few Ape Soldiers, an Ape Commander, and a Dreadwing waiting for them, or maybe waiting for the Trolls to come and attack them, though it didn't matter in the end as the Apes lashed out at the group, causing them to go on the defensive once more. This time around Cynder was the one that faced off against the Dreadwing, using her command over the Shadows to dive into them and attack the creature from any direction she wanted, including from below if she wished, where Spike took a moment to sit this battle out as he studied how Cynder fought, all while determining that the power she was displaying was a spell known as Shadow Play, so named due by the one who created it because he felt like the spell was similar to playing a game, even though it was clear that their new ally was very serious when it came to fighting and used the spell appropriately. Other than checking out the spell that Cynder was using there wasn't much for Spike to worry about, as the others were able to clear out the Apes that were in the area as she dropped the Dreadwing to the ground as well, allowing them to scout out the area and see if they could figure out where they were supposed to go from this point, as their options weren't that great.
The bridge that they had been heading towards was shattered, though from what they could tell it lead deeper into the massive forest and wouldn't be where the Ice King would have made its home, while at the same time the only gate that was in their area was sealed tight, no doubt due to the Apes, so the next best thing was the hole in the snow that was between the two, a small cave that required Elora, Hunter, and Bianca to crawl after the dragons and Sol... which brought them to a cave that was much larger than what they were expecting, and, as it turned it, it was right where they needed to be, as they quickly found Volteer off to their left, and he wasn't alone. Standing near the Guardian was a tall black armored figure that had to be the leader of the Trolls, a Troll King or Lord, and it carried a sword and shield that looked like they were partly frozen, no doubt because of the fact that it was fighting a much larger foe, an elemental who stood as tall as the Stone Sentinel did and was made out of what appeared to be hardened ice, though its features had been molded to resemble a suit of armor, a helm, and carried what Spike had to assume was a scythe, due to the curved blade it held in its right hand. The power he felt in the chamber indicated that they had found the Ice King, something that must be correct due to the collapsed tunnel that was nearby, no doubt left behind by the Apes to trap Volteer and the Troll Lord inside this area, so they would have to fight the enraged Ice King, though that was when the group noticed the blackened collar that rested around the elemental's neck, informing them that they were too late to stop the Apes from seizing control of one of the Elemental Scions, but if they acted fast they might be able to save it before the Apes had full control over it, which was odd since all of the Apes had fled the area. Another thing that interested Spike was the throne that was far behind the Ice King, though it was the odd hollowed indent where a key of some kind would have been placed, no doubt to be hidden based on what they were seeing, but before he could think about it too much the Ice King struck the Troll Lord in the chest and sent its foe flying into one of the walls, where the Troll didn't move at all, causing it to turn on them.
Volteer, noticing their arrival, nodded his head as he lashed out with his weapon, doing next to nothing as he hit the chest of the Ice King, and the same thing happened when Hunter hit it with one of his arrows, Elora's fist did nothing at all, and Ember's claws barely made a dent in the armor, though when Sol used his Phoenix Dash that seemed to have some effect on their foe, indicating that magic was the key to weakening the Ice King, but while that was nice to know, in case they failed to free it, the group focused on their true target. By that Spike and Bianca lashed out with their magic, where they tapped into the earth below them and formed chains around the Ice King's arms and legs, mostly to keep it from attacking any of them, but once that was done the rest of the group understood what they needed to do and focused on their true target, the collar that had been placed around the elemental's neck, because if what they had discovered back in Tall Plains was to be believed once the collar was broken the Ice King would return to normal. Cynder, despite only hearing about what they had done during their visit to the other island, helped out as well, where she lashed out at the collar with both the wind and then used the shadows to deal some extra damage to the metal, before moving out of the way so the others could use their skills to lash out at the metallic collar that had been forced around the Ice King's neck, no doubt with an enchantment that prevented it from shifting form to get rid of the object. Of course the real problem was when the Ice King shattered the Earthen Shackles that Spike and Bianca had cast, showing them that it had more energy and wasn't as tired as the Stone Sentinel was when they first found Cyril earlier, so they decided to scatter as the Ice King swung his scythe at them and cut into the wall that lead to the part of the cave the tunnel had lead the group to, though that didn't stop them from lashing out at the collar with all of their might, since it was the key to returning things to normal, even if it might take some time to break it.
After a few minutes of dodging both the scythe and waves of ice, which made sense due to who their foe was, Spyro noticed an opportunity and took it, where he launched himself into the air with his wings, where he was happy that Cynder had made the comment about them flying earlier so that he and his siblings could see that they could fly without the aid of the Flight Realms, and flew at the Ice King, where he pulled Windshear out and sliced through the collar like he had done when they fought the Stone Sentinel, breaking the object in seconds while not harming the Ice King, who staggered for a moment before looking around like it was confused, before nodding its head in thanks.
"I must say, while I had my doubts that the Apes would be capable of such evil, it seems that the impossible has been made possible before my eyes," Volteer stated, showing that he now believed the story that Cyril had told him, Terrador, and Ignitus, despite the fact that he had a few doubts about the Apes being capable of pissing off and annoying not one, but two of the Elemental Scions, where the group realized what their foes were going to do next as Volteer rolled up his whip and returned it to where he held it as he turned towards the group, "I must return to Warfang and inform Cyril that the Apes are more of a threat than we initially realized, that they might try to attack the city at some point and that we need to organize our defenses before its too late."
"Good, and while you do that we'll head to the Isle of Bozibig and Concurrent Skies," Spyro replied, though even as he said that the Ice King seemed to realize something and waved one of its hands towards the wall that was behind them, as in the passage that had allowed them to reach the cave in the first place, where it manipulated the ice and formed a path for them to leave the area it had been residing in, "if the Apes assaulted two of the islands and the Elemental Scions, I'm sure that Terrador and Ignitus will discover the same thing when they find the Molten Golem and the Thunder Prince, so they'll be needing our assistance in saving our allies and figuring out what the Apes are up to."
Volteer nodded and departed from the area they were in, heading through the passage the Ice King had opened for all of them to use, to which the group followed him so someone could direct Fury to where the broken bridge located and pick the rest of them up so they could head to one of the other islands and repeat this process, all while trying to figure out what the Apes were really up to, something that was going to be known to them in due time.