Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Expedition: Tall Plains

The first thing Spyro, Spike, Ember, and their friends discovered was that the way forward was broken between a couple of floating platforms that stopped when they reached what appeared to be an entrance for a ruin, no doubt belonging to the people who lived in this area, so their first course of action was to jump off the ledge and glide down to the first grassy rock so they could begin this adventure. Of course Elora had to activate her metallic wings to follow the siblings, Sol spread his own wings to do the same, and Bianca used magical platforms so she and Hunter could join them, even though she was sure Hunter would be able to jump the gap if he so desired, before they jumped over to the second platform and found that there was a stone resting in the ground near one of the edges that overlooked the sea below them, only it was near the area that the entrance was in. Spike took a moment to stare at the stone as they approached it, taking in the carvings that made him wonder if the residents of this land worshiped one of the Elemental Lords, the ones that Malefor had bested in the past and forged the Runeblades they had found in the Arcanaeum, but the stone didn't give him very much information as to what the locals worshiped, to which he sighed and hoped he could find a tome or something like a Guidebook to give him and his friends the information that would tell them what was going on with the stone. From there they jumped up to the main platform that was in front of them and stared at the stone entrance that reminded the siblings of what they had seen back in Idol Springs, just not as refined as the passages that were in the realm they were thinking about, even if Sol was the only one who didn't know anything about that.

The interesting thing was that there were some wooden fence posts around the area, which seemed to be set up so no one fell over the edge, and there were a number of bushes and vines near the entrance, giving the group the chance to take in what they were seeing before they headed into the actual ruin and explored the rest of the floating islands that they had stopped at.

"Fascinating." Bianca commented, as she had seen some interesting ruins in the past, thanks to the realms that she had watched over while she was 'learning' from the Sorceress, but it was another thing to actually discover something that was entirely brand new and made them wonder what else they might discover, before she glanced over to Spike, who was already sketching out what they were seeing, "Spike, what do you think they might have worshiped?"

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure... not yet, anyway." Spike replied, something that would normally bother him, since he would have a Guidebook to answer his questions and then some, but this was one of the rare times where he and his siblings would discover something entirely new that they knew nothing about, before he finished his sketch and quickly put away the materials he had pulled out, which was when he turned towards the entrance, "Come on, let's head inside the ruin and see what else we might discover while we look for whoever fired off that attack earlier, since I'm sure they're still in the middle of fighting whoever their foe is."

As the others nodded their heads, to show that they understood what he was saying and so they could get started on their new adventure, they paused as a red furred ape, which was wearing some golden bands on its arms and legs, some gold on its native-like headpiece, and some cyan blue tribal clothing, emerged from the ruin and paused as it stared at the group for a moment. It was clear that the ape, an Ape Soldier as the group quickly decided it would be called, was shocked by the fact that they were standing there and clearly had no idea what to do as it looked at all seven of them, even though it was staring at the siblings, before it turned around and fled as it make noises, no doubt warning whoever its superiors were, meaning they might have discovered who their enemies were, which they were used to finding out based on all of the other realms all of them had been to. Instead of standing around and doing nothing, after being surprised by the Ape Soldier's actions, the group stepped forward and entered the ruin that was in front of them, where they found that the walls on either side of them weren't as smooth as the other ancient structures they were used to exploring, though they found that it didn't last very long as the passage came to a stop and revealed that a path had been carved into this area, and the Ape Soldier was in the middle of fleeing from them. Spike did make note of the raised sections of earth that had blocked the way forward and caused them to turn in the first place, meaning that whoever built these ruins had built them into the islands themselves, instead of transforming the area and then building the ruins, so they were going to run into areas like that and the group decided not to worry about it, as the path seemed pretty straightforward and it didn't look like there were any obstacles in their way, save for the lone Ape Soldier.

Of course that was when the Ape Soldier they were following turned around as a second one jumped down into the area the group happened to be standing in, showing that the apes wanted to take them down, though as that happened Sol charged at the Ape Soldier that had been leading them through the ruin, where he disappeared from where he had been standing and then slammed into his target's chest with a small burst of fire erupting from him as he did that, which knocked down his target instantly, while Hunter used his short swords to parry the incoming attack from the other foe that was in the air and used his Peace Keeper training to take him down.

"Hunter, I know you have been training with Titan and the others, but that was amazing," Bianca said, showing that she was impressed by the change in Hunter's style since he started learning what Ember had learned in the past, just like the others were a little interested in what he might be able to do now if his reflexes were this good, before she glanced over to Sol for a moment, who was tapping the Ape Soldier's body, no doubt assuming it would turn into a gem after he took it out, "and Sol, that was amazing as well. What was that skill you used?"

"We call it Phoenix Dash, which is mostly a charge move... and I wasn't expecting to do that much damage to my foe, especially since this is my first real fight," Sol replied, though at the same time he tilted his head as he focused on the Ape Soldier that was in front of him, because he was waiting for something to happen and it wasn't happening, which made him wonder if his foe was going to get back up and attack them from behind, "Um, aren't they supposed to revert back to being a gem when we beat them up, or is this normal?"

"Sol, these guys are actual apes, so they're not the gem creations we're used to facing," Spike replied, though none of them were going to blame the Phoenix for thinking that any foe they faced in battle was going to revert back to being a gem when they bested them, since he and his siblings were used to that being the accepted norm for their adventures, but from what he could tell there was no magic surrounding the Ape Soldiers, so they were the real deal for once, which was rather odd given what they faced in the past.

Sol took a few seconds to think about that and then decided not to worry about it as Spyro continued forward, so they could explore the rest of the ruins and see what else they might be able to discover, though now that they knew about the Ape Soldiers, at the very least, all of them remained on their guard as they moved once more, since there was no telling what their new enemies might do since they were actually smarter than what they faced in the past, since the Rhynocs and Gnorcs had been rather dull in their tactics, while the Apes seemed a little smarter. Of course they weren't able to get very far from where the two downed Ape Soldiers were resting, as two more of them had appeared further along the path they were following and they brought a friend, a leader type enemy that was wearing more armor than the Ape Soldiers were and was carrying what appeared to be a mace of some kind, meaning they were dealing with an Ape Leader as well, which was why the group readied themselves for battle. Ember rushed forward as the Ape Leader swung his mace at them not even a moment later, where she shifted her weapon with a single thought and used the metal claws to parry to attack and stall it, surprising the Ape in the process, though while she did that the two Ape Soldiers rushed to attack her sides so they could bring her down, unknowingly opening themselves up to being attacked themselves. By that Ember meant Spike and Bianca firing off a pair of Fireballs at their targets, blasting their targets backwards and putting some distance between all of them, allowing Spyro and Sol to charge right into their exposed chests and knock them out, giving Ember the chance to push her for backwards and swing her metal claws at her foe's chest, cutting apart his chest armor and helmet before she hardened her head and headbutted him, knocking the Ape Leader to the ground.

The group waited for a few moments, to be absolutely sure that none of the Apes were thinking of getting back up so they could hit them while they were distracted, but it appeared their enemies were unconscious and that meant they were allowed to move forward, which was exactly what they did as they rounded the corner and found a massive hollowed tree trunk that seemed to be the passage that would take them to the next part of the ruin. That brought them to an open area that looked a little like a combat arena, despite the lack of stands and everything else since this was just a square shaped chamber of the ruin that had one high wall that an even larger Ape was standing on, one who looked like it might have even more armor on its arms, legs, and head, especially the head since the helm it was wearing seemed to be a bird of some kind, and its mace was slightly bigger than the Ape Leader they had taken out. The Ape Commander, as they felt it should be called, stared at them for a few seconds before hooting some orders to its minions that were in the area, which was why four Ape Soldiers jumped down into the area to challenge them, even though only three made it as Hunter was the first one to react, interestingly enough, and one of his arrows pierced the shoulder of the Ape Soldier he happened to be targeting, pinning it to the wall before Bianca knocked it out with a Fireball to the chest. As they did that Spyro and Sol charged into one of the other three Apes, as in they picked the same one and took turns hitting it, while Elora parried the incoming attack from the Ape that challenged her, surprising it by how well her armor kept her arms safe, which was when she kicked it in the side and knocked it into Ember's tail whip attack, knocking the Ape out in seconds. The last one fell to Spike using the wind to send it flying backwards, though this time he wasn't the one to knock it out, rather his spell was the distraction that allowed Hunter to punch the Ape Soldier in the face and knock it out, which, at the same time, caused all four of the Ape Commander's minions to be defeated, causing the seven of them to glance up at the Ape that was in the middle of trying to bring them down.

Instead of hooting out more orders the Ape Commander glanced behind it for a moment and two Ape Leaders came running out from the area it was glancing at, where they jumped down into the arena and glared at the group as both of them readied themselves for battle, which was that the group did as well once they found out what both of the Apes were planning on doing. Those weren't the only enemies they had to worry about, as two more Ape Soldiers joined the fray by using a nearby hollowed tree trunk, one the group hadn't been in yet, to assault the area they were standing in, to which Elora and Bianca turned to deal with the pair of Ape Soldiers that were joining the battle and left the other pair to the rest of their group, knowing that they could handle their enemies. Spike and Ember were the first ones to react, where Spike set up a barrier to block the incoming attack that the Ape Leader that was coming at him happened to be sending his way, the magic stopping the mace in its tracks, while Ember, instead of defending this time, jumped into the air and avoided the mace that was coming her way, allowing her to headbutt her target not a few seconds later. After doing that Ember pulled back as the Ape Leader fell backwards, separating them so Sol could flash forward with his Phoenix Dash and slam right into his target's chest, knocking it out in the process, while at the same time Spyro charged into the other Ape Leader's side so he could push it away from Spike, sending it right into the kick that Hunter had prepared for it, something that let them take the final foe down and was followed by the barrier being dismissed as the group got back together. The pair of Ape Soldiers that Elora and Bianca had tangled with were laying on the ground nearby, as Elora had punched her foe a few times, until it was knocked out, and the other one fell as Bianca blasted it with a Lightning Bolt, allowing them to regroup and turn their attention to the Ape Commander, as it had two options before they challenged it.

The Ape Commander stared at them before throwing a stick of dynamite down into the area they were standing in, no doubt expecting it to blow up when it came into contact with one of them, but Bianca just waved her hand and knocked it back up to where their foe was standing, letting it blow up in its face, before it raged and tried to send down a few more so it could blow them up, to which the group sighed and headed for the second hollowed tree trunk, as they figured that the Ape was no threat to them and they were eager to see what else the ruin had to offer them. During their brief trek through the hollowed tree trunk they found a pair of clay vases that seemed a little out of place, especially since there was nothing inside them to tell the group what sort of purpose it served, though when they exited the trunk Spike stopped them when he noticed the pressure plate that was in the ground, one that was no doubt connected to the square stone head that was off to their right. Of course he tested his theory not a few seconds later and they watched as a few darts flew out of the stone head, where the mouth actually opened to fire the projectiles, only to come to a stop when they hit another tree trunk that would allow them to get further into the ruins they were in, though Spike made a quick note of what the stone head looked like and what the pressure plate looked like, for future reference and for his next book, before they climbed into the next hollowed tree thunk and continued to explore the ruins.

What they discovered was that the next hollowed tree trunk was broken in the middle, as a third of the central part of it was missing and allowed them to watch as an Ape Soldier jumped down into another area that they hadn't seen before, which appeared to be part of the way out of here, or so they assumed, but Spike did set up a barrier in front of them as he spotted an Ape using what appeared to be a cannon that fired wooden stakes at them, which were stopped by the magic, allowing Sol to use his Phoenix Dash to smash into the Ape and ruin the weapon.

"A stake cannon, interesting." Spike commented, as it was an interesting item to find in the middle of the ruins, due to the fact that it looked like something that might have been salvaged from the materials in the ruin and made by all of the Apes that were running around these ruins, meaning they must have had the time to set up their defenses from what had been here beforehand, though he made a quick sketch of it and put his materials away.

From there they discovered that the only thing they could do was jump down into the area below them, where they found a wall of stakes set up to prevent someone from moving to the left, even though they could head forward and climb the steps that were in front of them, though they found that there were four stone heads, two on either side of the wall to be exact, which happened to be firing stakes at the stone walls that rested across from them. Interestingly enough one set fired with the top head first and then the lower head next, while the one that was on the other side of the wall was lower first and then the upper one, though after seeing that for a few moments Bianca raised her hand and blasted the spikes that were in the ground apart, meaning all they had to do was avoid the spikes and investigate the area that was beyond where they were standing. They discovered a few vases resting on the ground and two Ape Soldiers that seemed annoyed by their presence, though that didn't stop Elora and Hunter from punching them into the walls while the rest of the group explored the rest of the area, something that involved Ember finding a square stone that the Headbash technique could be used on, where she sunk it into the ground and was sure there was a sound of some stone moving, no doubt back in the area they had seen the Ape Commander in. That, of course, was when three of the Ape Leaders landed behind the group and tried to lash out at them, where Spike threw up a barrier for a moment and blocked all three of their attacks at the same time, though when he dropped the magic Ember flipped into the air and smacked her hardened tail into the face of their first enemy, Spyro and Sol charged into the second one, and Bianca knocked the third back with a quick spell so Elora and Hunter could push it into another wall, effectively clearing the area of enemies once more.

After clearing out the side area they returned to the stake traps and avoided them once more, though that was when they climbed the steps that seemed to be the main path and found a side area, where an Ape Commander, an Ape Leader, and two Ape Soldiers seemed to be standing guard over a pair of cages, ones that contained bipedal llamas inside them, one in each cage to be exact, and that was when an Ape riding an orange furred creature that had yellowish-orange wings, blue legs, and a dark blue face, something Spike was going to call a Dreadwing based on what they were seeing, used its mount's feet to carry one of the cages away.

"It seems we've found the natives, and they're in trouble... which isn't surprising," Spyro commented, because he and his siblings, at the very least, were used to the fact that the natives of every realm they went to help had been in trouble, in some way, shape, or form, and this was just following the norm for them, hence the reason the three of them were ready the moment they noticed what was going on, leading the others to do the same.

As the group engaged the Apes, and by that Sol crashed one of the Ape Soldiers into the ground while Ember tripped the other with her tail and smacked it a few times until it was knocked out, the Ape Commander tried the same tactic the group had seen earlier, with it throwing sticks of dynamite at them, but that was easy for Spike to take care of as he blew them up before they even touched the ground again, allowing Hunter to loose a few arrows into the Ape Commander's body, in the none vital areas, while Elora punched it in the face a few times as she made sure to avoid the arrows. The Ape Leader, on the other claw, was brought down in seconds by Bianca restraining it with magical chains for a few seconds, as that allowed Spyro to charge into it and knock it out, eventually allowing them to clear the area of enemies as the four Apes were knocked out, though the battle was far from over as the Dreadwing, minus the cage, returned to the area they were in and landed on top of the platform between them and the other cage. What they discovered was that their new foe was somewhat quicker than the Apes they were fighting, which was interesting since it was nearly as tall as one of the Ape Commanders they had seen, and it had two styles of attacks, a bite attack for anyone that happened to be in front of it and a wing bash, where it would lash out with its wings whenever someone was on either side of it, so that meant they had to be careful in how they approached this creature. That caused them to go on the defensive for a few moments, watching the bat-like creature as it tried to swing at them or bite whoever was the closest to it, and it came pretty close a few times had Spike and Bianca not summoned some barriers to stop the attacks in their tracks, though a loose arrow from Hunter was all they needed, as the moment the arrow was lodged into the back part of the Dreadwing's back, just behind the Ape that was controlling it, that was when lashed out with it as some of them actually hit the creature, Spike and Bianca used some Fireballs to wounds it, and Sol used his Phoenix Dash to inflict some damage.

Between the seven of them it took them no time to deal with the Dreadwing, which collapsed after a moment or two of their battle, allowing the group to jump up to where the other cage was resting and smashed it open, where the llama creature, who was wearing tribal attire, watched as the walls and lid of his wooden cage collapsed around him, as they made sure none of it hit him, before he stepped out and focused on them, allowing the group to see that his only weapon seemed to be a blowgun, a simple wooden rod that one could fire darts out of by exhaling.

"While I appreciate the assistance, as those Apes had us locked up good, I was under the impression that Cyril was the only one coming to aid us," the llama creature said, showing that he was grateful for the aid, even though he and the rest of the residents of this land must have been told that only a single person, a dragon most likely, had come here to assist them and that no reinforcements were coming to aid them, which meant something had happened for them to call for help, which came in the form of this Cyril, and then the Apes came later, "Who are you guys? And do the other Guardians know you're here?"

"I'm Spyro, along with my siblings Spike and Ember, and our friends Elora, Hunter, Bianca, and Sol," Spyro replied, as he gestured to the rest of the group as he said their names, mostly to let the llama creature know who they were and to show him that they were here to help, which was rather obvious since they tore into the Apes that had been trying to cart him and the other resident somewhere else, before he considered the other part of the question, "Also, we have no idea who this Cyril is. We were heading to Warfang, or at least the continent its resting on, and we noticed the battle that was raging off in the distance, so we stopped and decided to see if the residents of these floating islands needed any help with what was going on."

"I... I see..." the llama stated, his tone revealing that he was a little surprised by the information he was being told, no doubt due to the fact that he and the others of his kind were used to their being only one island full of dragons and that this would reveal that there was more to the world than what he was used to seeing, before he shook his head and shifted his stance a little as he glanced in the direction of the fight that was still going on, "Cyril came here to assist us, the Atlawas, after the Stone Sentinel, our God of the Earth, started to become aggressive and lashed out at whoever was near it, though we suspect that the Apes are the cause behind our god's strange actions... I must go make sure the others are okay, and that none of them have been harmed by the Apes, before I assist the Guardian of Ice in his battle."

Before the group could say anything the llama creature, or the Atlawa as he called himself, jumped down into the area that the unconscious Apes were in and headed off for another part of the floating islands, no doubt to fulfill what he had just told them, to which the group shook their heads and kept moving, though one piece of information Spike noted was the title their new ally had given one of the combatants, the Guardian of Ice, meaning Ice Magic, which interested him way more than he was willing to admit and made him want to meet whoever was fighting the Stone Sentinel. With the Atlawa rescued, however, the group headed back into the ruin and jumped up to an area that contained another stone square and, more importantly, the Ape Commander they had seen earlier, the one they hadn't taken out, so while Ember made sure to activate the stone trigger, and likely raised some steps in the process, Spyro and Sol charged into their target's back and knocked it into the area below them, taking it out with the lit explosives it was carrying, a fatal mistake that let them take it out. From there they jumped back down into the arena-like area they had seen and located the trigger they had missed earlier, to which Spyro performed the Headbash on it and raised the fourth and final pillar into place, which formed a set of posts for them to jump up onto and allowed them to move deeper into the ruins, even though Spike had to form a whirlwind to get all of them back up to the area the Ape Commander had been in. Once that was done they took turns jumping on the tops of the pillars and found that the way forward was by walking on top of the first hollowed tree trunk they had used, where Spyro was the first one to head down the path on the left and waited for the others to catch up with him before he went too much further.

Once they were together again the group headed down the passage they had discovered, which was when they found two Armadillos, only slightly more armored than the normal armadillo that all of them had learned about, come to a stop a fair distance in front of them, but it was clear that there was another enemy to worry about and that they would have to take them down as well. Hunter, realizing that his bow would do nothing and his melee attacks would only hurt him, drew the blades he carried and used them to cut into the shell of his target, finding that it was actually softer than what he had been assuming it was and that meant he could have used his arrows or fists to fight these guys, though that didn't stop Sol from loosing a burst of fire on the other Armadillo, which took care of it in no time. With those two enemies defeated, and the group made sure no flames spread to the rest of the ruin, they continued forward and kept their eyes open for any other enemies that might be new, since there was no telling what else they might find in this land, even though they did find an area they had to jump down into not a few seconds later, where three of the Armadillos were waiting for them to come down and face them. Ember was more than willing to do that, as she jumped down and engaged the metal claws as she lashed out at the first one, leaving Spike and Bianca to blast the second one with a pair of Lightning Bolts as Elora took a moment to kick the third with her armored hooves, allowing Hunter and Sol to deal the finishing blow to it, before they regrouped in the lower area and moved forward once more. That eventually brought them to a chamber that had three Ape Soldiers and two Ape Leaders, where the Soldiers looked like they were ready for battle and the Leaders actually hid behind some crumpling stone statues while preparing sticks of dynamite to use against them, though Bianca had an idea and cast a blinding spell that gathered the power of light, so named Solar Flare, to take away the vision of their enemies for a few seconds, just long enough for the lit dynamite to spell disaster for their enemies.

As soon as the smoke cleared the group investigated the area their enemies had been guarding and found that there was another stone trigger that Ember used the Headbash on, which caused one of the two sunken pillars to raise like they had seen in the other chamber, along with noticing that there was a large log that was resting on a post in the middle of the area, meaning it might be useful later, before discovering that there was no actual way forward and that there was a second stone trigger opposite of where they entered the area. Once that one was smashed into the floor the second pillar raised out of the ground and came to a stop near the log they had spotted when they first entered this area, though when they jumped up to the highest point of the second pillar Spyro discovered that they would have to make sure one of them was on the log at any moment, as it moved in the opposite direction of where he was standing. Of course that was when he noticed something and made it so that the log's lower side was pointed towards the second stone trigger and the other side was higher in the air, as there was a ledge they could jump to that would allow all of them to reach a platform that would require a small jump to get to the pathway that might take them to the next part of the ruins, maybe even the exit if they were lucky. As such he stayed on the lower part of the log and let the others go single file up the log and jump over to the ledge he had spotted, where he watched and made sure everyone got up to the opening he had spotted, and once he was the last one left he rushed up the log and glided over to the ledge as well, quickly catching up with the rest of the group so they could move forward and see what else they would have to do while they were in this place.

Of course they rounded the next corner and found that there were a number of Apes in the next area of the ruins, not that they were expecting anything different at this point, and so far it looked like one Leader, one Commander, and one of the Soldiers that was commanding one of the stake cannons, though the area between them and the Leader looked like it was a trap, given the large leaves on the ground. Instead of wasting time on the trap Hunter jumped over it entirely, once more showing off his agility now that he was actually acting like a warrior and the fact that he had improved himself after the events of Ripto's visit to Avalar, where he punched the Ape in the face and knocked it to the ground, though as he did that Sol joined him and then used his phoenix Dash to smash into the Commander's chest, giving Hunter a chance to take out the Ape Soldier that was on the cannon, eliminating three enemies in rapid succession. Spyro had to admit that what they had shown Hunter two years ago, when they were pulled to Avalar to deal with Ripto, had a massive effect on both his personality, since he had left behind his cowardly nature, and his fighting skills, as training with Titan and Ember had improved his melee skills to a degree that even he wasn't expecting. Once the pair were sure their three enemies were taken down, however, Sol beckoned for them to jump over the trap and they resumed exploring the rest of the area they were in, each of them looking for any exits that would allow them to leave this particular ruin, which was larger than what they were expecting it to be, allowing them to jump over two other traps before heading towards what appeared to be the exit of this area.

Two Armadillos were waiting for them, along with a Stone Elemental that seemed to be blocking the way out of here, so while Ember and Sol charged into the first two enemies Elora jumped into the air and brought her leg down on the Stone Elemental's arm, causing it to stagger, meaning it had to be one of the weaker elementals Spike had read about, and she was joined by Spyro charging right into the creature's chest, shattering it in seconds... though after that happened the group paused for a moment as they found a rope and wooden flank bridge that was connected to another patch of land, meaning they were allowed to leave the ruins at last.

"I wasn't expecting those ruins to be that big, as it almost felt like exploring a realm from Avilion," Bianca commented, as she wanted to talk for a moment as they walked across the bridge and then used another one that connected to what appeared to be the next major floating island, bringing them even closer to the area that Cyril and the Stone Sentinel had to be fighting in, if what the Atlawa had told them was true, which she had to believe it was.

"Things probably changed since Malefor and the others left Avilion," Spike stated, though he shared the thought that Bianca had come up with, that ruin felt like a realm that he and his siblings would have run through in the past, but he did have an idea as to why these floating islands and their ruins were so different from everything else, making him curious as to what they would find when they finally reached the main continent and discovered Warfang, "though we'll have to wait and see what the future has in store for us."

"Enemies, that is what the future has in store for us," Elora remarked, gesturing to the three Ape Soldiers that were in the middle of charging towards them, though at the same time she and the others noticed that the bridge that connected their path to the next major floating island was broken, meaning they would have to be careful as they moved through the rest of this area and entered the next floating island.

Instead of knocking the Ape Soldiers off of the bridge, and letting them fall into the water below the islands, the group pushed them back towards the smaller patch of land that happened to be resting behind their enemies, giving them more room to move around, though the siblings turned their attention to a Dreadwing that flew down into the area, letting their friends deal with the Apes while they focused on their main foe. Spyro found that this was the best chance for him to use the weapon he had picked up in the Arcanaeum, the wind elemental Runeblade, and drew it as best as he could while his siblings distracted their opponent, allowing him to swing the weapon a few times and use the wind to deliver some cuts to his foe, though it would take him some time to master wielding this weapon. That was when Spike loosed a few Fireballs at the Dreadwing as Ember used her metal claws to cut into it, where the three of them quickly brought down their foe in a matter of moments and once that was done they turned and watched as Elora, Hunter, Bianca, and Sol finished beating up the Ape Soldiers that had been in their way, allowing Spyro to sheath Windshear before they resumed moving forward, which involved walking across the other bridge. On the patch of land that the bridge lead them to they discovered two of the Stone Elementals and one Armadillo that seemed to be waiting for enemies to arrive, where Sol used his Phoenix Dash to smash the Armadillo into the ground while Ember charged her way through a Stone Elemental as Spyro and Elora beat up the other one, and once those three enemies were taken care of they reached the end of the path they were following and stared at the broken bridge that would have allowed them to walk down to the next major island. As such the siblings glided down to where the opening was located as Elora and Sol spread their wings to join them, while Bianca used her magic to move herself and Hunter down to where the others were standing, before they headed into the potential ruins that were in front of them.

It was easy to get through the short passage that would allow them to enter the next ruins, and that included avoiding some stake traps along the way, before they paused as they entered the circular area and watched as an Ape Commander stepped into the area, who raised his mace into the air and seemed to channel some magic into the area that Spike knew was designed to trap them in this area, but he used his magic to grab that magic and then blasted their foe in the chest, knocking it backwards so they could move forward. That was when six Armadillos and a number of Ape Soldiers revealed themselves and lashed out at the group as they walked up the circular ramp that would bring them to the top of the area, to which the group defended themselves as each of them fought back against their enemies, bringing each of them down as they carefully made their way towards their destination, no doubt surprising all of the Apes with what they were able to do in the process. Of course it didn't take them long to reach the area that the Ape Commander had been standing in, who was still unconscious from what Spike did to it, to which they headed through the opening that was beyond it and headed outside the circular ruins, where another Dreadwing dropped down into the area that was in front of them, like it wanted to challenge them, though it really couldn't handle the sheer power that Spyro, Spike, Ember, and their friends brought to bare against it, as it took them a few moments to bring it down and knock it out so they could move forward. From there they jumped over to a small patch of land that had a small stone pillar on it, as in rough stone and not the smooth pillars that had been inside the ruins, before they found a bridge that would allow them to head over to an island that looked like it might be where the Atlawas had to be growing some of their crops.

What was interesting was that there was a river that seemed to be moving through this island and the Atlawas were using it to possibly power something, based on the couple of waterwheels that were in the area, though each of them had some Ape Soldiers on cannons guarding them, or just guarding the level they happened to be on, though there were a few stone triggers near a windmill, or the tribal windmill, so they figured out what needed to be done. Sol charged into the Ape that was commanding the stake cannon while the others dealt with the couple of Armadillos, five to be exact, before they used the Headbash on the three stone triggers to cause the first windmill to spin, which caused the first waterwheel to start moving again, though it was the large wings of the waterwheel that were their ride up to the next level of this island and that was what they did. Once they arrived at the next level of the farm the group was assaulted by three Ape Soldiers, two Armadillos, and an Ape on a stake cannon, so Spyro dealt with the stationary Ape and smashed the cannon, while the others quickly took down the rest of their enemies, allowing them to Headbash the two stone triggers that were resting near the windmill and found the third one resting near the next waterwheel, allowing them to turn it back on and let them ascend to the next level. After reaching the third level of the area the group dealt with the two Apes on the cannons and made sure to press the stone triggered into the ground, so they could reactivate the windmill and the waterwheel that it was connected to, even though they did have to fight their way through a few more Armadillos before they could reach the device that allowed them to head up to the highest point of the area, which was when they smashed the two cannons that were up there and headed into the passage that the Apes had been guarding.

The waterway that the Apes had been outside had three Stone Elementals inside it, though unlike the others they had seen so far these ones seemed more neutral and allowed them to move through the rest of the short path, though as the group walked through the other opening they found the Atlawa from earlier standing in front of three Stone Elementals, though they, too, were neutral and it seemed that he was asking them for assistance or an audience with the god that was going berserk at the moment, but he did spot them and nodded as he resumed his work, no doubt silently thanking them for clearing out the Apes before he moved out of the area.

From there they climbed down the steps that were in front of them and found four more Stone Elementals that, once again, were oddly passive despite the fact that their superior elemental was going berserk, either meaning that Cyril was doing so much damage to the Stone Sentinel that it couldn't convert the others into being angry or it didn't have enough time to do it before the dragon's arrival, but they weren't about to question it as they walked through the opening that the elementals were guarding. After that they entered an area that appeared to have another Ape Commander that beckoned to them and started to throw sticks of dynamite down on them, though Spike and Bianca used their magic to bounce all of it back up to where it was standing, knocking it and the other Apes out in a matter of seconds, allowing the group to climb the stone platforms so they could reach the highest point of the area and then walk through a hollowed tree trunk so they could reach the next section of this island. That was when they discovered what was in the next area, as there were a few Ape Soldiers on some cannons, a pair of Ape Leaders that were readying some dynamite, and a pair of swinging log traps that looked like they had been triggered by the Apes, no doubt because they were thinking of using it against the group, but Ember was the first one to charge forward and smashed the cannon in front of them to pieces, knocking out the Ape that was behind it instantly, while Sol jumped into the air and blasted one of the Leaders in the chest as Bianca did the same with a Fireball to the other one. Spike used his magic to stall the traps and make them useless, so that the Atlawas could reset their traps once their ruins were no longer being overrun by Apes, leaving the others to break through the stakes that were in front of them and break the other cannon that was halfway through the area. There was even one of the Ape Commanders waiting at the end of the passage, though it just stood there with a shocked look on its face as it held a lit stick of dynamite, so all the group had to do was wait for the Ape to blow itself up, which it did, before they jumped up to the area it had been 'guarding' and moved towards the next part of the area.

That brought them to a chamber that looked like they could fight someone in it, or more like an Ape Commander and two Ape Soldiers, so Spike and Bianca used their magic to take down the larger Ape while Spyro and Sol charged into one of the smaller ones and Elora and Hunter punched the other in the face, prompting a few more Ape Soldiers to come running up the passage they had just walked through, meaning they must have been surveying the battle and were just waiting to be called into the fray. Ember, as it turned out, was more than enough to take down the three Apes that were trying to sneak up on them while they were busy, using her hardened body and her new metal claws to take them down, and once they were all laying on the ground, unconscious, she regrouped with the others so they could continue moving towards the exit and reach the area that Cyril was in. This time around there was nothing in the next passage to slow them down, unlike the last couple of new passages they had entered while they were exploring these ruins, though they kept their guards up as they followed the path that was in front of them and quickly reached an opening that revealed a larger area than the last chamber they had been in, but as they took that in Hunter noticed the Atlawa from earlier fighting some of the Apes in an area that didn't connect to this chamber, meaning that they couldn't help him even if they wanted to, and they did want to assist him, so they focused on the enemies that had to be in this area and moved forward to see what sort of traps and tricks were in store for them. Something interesting that they discovered was that someone, but it the Apes or the local Atlawas, had set up some stone pillars between the raised sections of ground, meaning that it would be a little harder to move around this chamber and figure out where the exit was, so all they could do was head to their right and both Elora and Hunter knocked the unsuspecting Ape Leader into the ground.

Once that was done they found a curved socket of some kind that had been built into the ground, which the Ape had been staring at, meaning a key of some kind needed to be delivered to this area so they could move forward, to which the seven of them headed through the other opening that was near the fallen Ape and entered a larger portion of the area that was unlocked, which had more Ape Soldiers for them to deal with. It was clear that none of the Ape Soldiers were at all ready for their arrival, as Spyro charged through a few of them and used Windshear to actually cut one of the stake cannons that were above them apart, Ember charged into all of her targets and knocked them down with her metal claws, Spike and Bianca used their magic to blast or freeze those that came near them, Elora and Hunter punched and kicked the ones that decided to oppose them, with Hunter loosing a few arrows to stun some of the other Apes, and Sol made good use of his Phoenix Dash to smash his targets into the ground and even used his breath attack as well. Spike was sure that the Atlawa, if he was still around, would have been shocked at the display, as while none of them were actually holding back none of them were going all out either, otherwise this place would have been wrecked by their combined skills and abilities, but once the fighting was done the group took a few seconds to relax before they headed out to see if they could find the key that would open something, preferably the exit so they could find Cyril. Eventually they made their way up to the highest point of the area and found where two stone triggers were resting, though when Ember and Spyro struck them into the ground the group discovered that the doors that were below them opened and revealed that there were four large stone spheres for them to move around, meaning there were three other slots they needed to find.

With the Apes cleared out of the area it actually didn't take them all that long to find out where the other three slots were located, as one was near the opposite end of the area, from where the opening rested, and the other two rested in an area that was unlocked thanks to them striking both triggers, though with that done they found that the wooden gate that was blocking the way forward lowered and allowed them to meet up with the Atlawa again, who just so happened to finish pounding on the door that was in their way, allowing the group to leave the area.

"The seven of you are strong... maybe you can help Cyril face the God of the Shrine." the Atlawa stated, showing that he must have seen part of the battle that they had been in, or he was just assuming that since they had made it this far all of them were skills warriors in their own right, though at the same time he stepped out of the way and headed once more, no doubt to continue rescuing his tribe members.

The group really didn't have much to say to that, so instead of talking they walked through the opening that had been opened for them and found that there were a couple of small floating sections of ground that lead the way to where an airship was resting, one that was made out of equal parts wood and metal while having no propellers to lift it into the air, to which they headed down to the ship and climbed aboard it, as they were sure it belonged to the Apes. Once all of them were on the airship it started moving and their thoughts were proven to be correct, as a number of enemies, mostly Ape Soldiers, charged out from the front of the ship and the back of the ship, showing that they must have been sleeping or something since it was likely they came from a rather large crew quarters, given the number of Apes they had taken out since they stopped near the edge of the floating islands, but that didn't stop them from engaging their enemies. It was a repeat of what happened back in the large puzzle area, as Spyro soon discovered, as none of their foes were able to do much when they faced the power that was arrayed against them, though even when Spike stopped casting spells, mostly to observe how this airship could move slower than their airship despite the fact that it didn't have propellers, the Apes still didn't stand much of a chance against them. Even the couple of Leader and Commander ranked enemies didn't do much in the grand scheme of things, as the group, regardless if it was six of them or all seven of them, beat up anyone who came at them and left their unconscious body on the deck of the airship, though that didn't stop Hunter and Sol from actually engaging in a friendly competition to see how many each of them could take down, so much so that the others stopped fighting at one point and stood near Spike so they could see what happened, and all they could say was that they felt sorry for the unfortunate Apes.

Even the lone Dreadwing that came in to see what was going on, no doubt due to the Apes being worried about what might have happened to the airship, didn't last all that long as Hunter jumped up to the highest point of the ship and then propelled himself into the air, showing that he had been working on his jumping skill as well, and put a few arrows into the Dreadwing's back, causing it to crash into the side of the next area they would be exploring, knocking it and its rider out in a matter of seconds.

"That still only counts as one!" Sol stated, referring to the fact that Hunter had only focused on the Dreadwing and not on the rider at all, so he had taken out one foe instead of both of them, though even as he said that the airship came to a stop and they started to disembark from it, where Hunter landed nearby and joined them, only for him and Sol to learn that Spike had been keeping count and that the Dreadwing had actually tied them, meaning that if Hunter had hit the rider as well he could have won their little competition.

With the airship ride over the group jumped up to where the Dreadwing had fallen, making sure the rider was out as well so it didn't report anything when its mount woke up, before they headed through the opening that would take them to the next area they had to explore, before they were allowed to reach the area that Cyril and the Stone Sentinel were in, hence why they kept their guard up, since there was no telling what they would run into. What the group discovered as they followed the new passage was that some of the Stone Elementals were cleaning up the ruins of the Armadillos that had been trying to kill them earlier, meaning the group didn't have to waste their energy on fighting those enemies and could actually turn their attention to finding a few stone triggers to open the way forward, as that appeared to be the only way to move through the ruins they were exploring. They found one that was being guarded by a swinging log trap, one that Spike stalled so Ember could Headbash the trigger, though what it was supposed to open or interact with they had no idea, so they continued moving by jumping up a pillar that was more like stairs and then dropped down into an area that had another moving trap, causing Bianca to step forward and stall it with her magic so the next trigger could be hit, but as that happened Spike determined what the triggers were for, and that was to raise some pillars so some steps could form near the entrance of this area, to allow easy access back outside, so it wasn't necessary for them to mess with this set of triggers and they focused on leaving the area they were in. Fortunately the way out wasn't too far away from where they had found the second trigger and they came to a stop when they found a bridge leading to the final floating island in the long chain that they had been exploring, where they could see what appeared to be a decent sized shrine, even if parts of it had fallen due to the fight that was still going on, something that was easy to tell by the shards of ice that went flying through the air a few seconds later.

"So, he is still trying to calm the Great One." a voice said, where the Atlawa they were familiar with appeared near the group once more, though this time his gaze was focused solely on the area that was in front of them and not on anything else, which was understandable considering that this was a battle between Cyril and one of the gods that the Atlawa were worshiping all the time, "You don't have to join this battle if you aren't up to it... I'm sure Cyril will succeed in his mission and then my people can come home."

"Sorry, but we're heroes, and helping people out is what we do," Spyro stated, where the others nodded their heads to show that they agreed with what he was saying, not that he expected to disagree with them, before they stepped forward and started to walk across the bridge that was in front of them, as it was time to meet the Guardian of Ice and his foe, all while bringing peace to these islands.

On the other side of the bridge they discovered a massive Stone Elemental, which reminded the siblings of when they fought the Sorceress and she used the armor spell to stand in lava, that looked more primal than any of the others of its kind, and by that the group meant the crystals that were coming out of the creature's arms and shoulders, though the only odd thing about it was the black metal collar it was wearing, something that seemed out of place. The group knew that this had to be the Stone Sentinel, who was more imposing than what they were expecting, but that was when a blue scaled dragon while a light purple colored chest, standing like Nestor and the others, landed nearby, though they could tell that this had to be Cyril due to the fact that there were icy white colored spikes on his shoulders, elbows, legs, and tail, and he happened to be wearing a golden metal sash around his waist and golden metal scales that covered the upper part of his legs, which came complete with some short blue colored cloth and the icon of the Ice Element on the center of the sash that was positioned on his waist. In addition to all of that Cyril also had a pair of golden bracelets on, resting behind his wrists and stopping only halfway up to where his elbows were, and he had what appeared to be a golden collar around his neck, though as they took all that in Cyril revealed that he had one other thing for them to see, a polearm that was more commonly called a guandao, or at least that was what Titan called a weapon like this, which had a long blade at the end of the top of the shaft that the wielder would hold onto, only that could easily be mistaken for a dragon's head based on how it was shaped.

As the group took all of this in, however, the Stone Sentinel raised its right arm and swung it down towards the area that Cyril was standing in, which was the moment that Spike stepped forward and channeled his power into a barrier that stopped the attack in its tracks, even though he could feel the power behind the attack and realized that this creature was stronger than what he had the others might be expecting. Cyril, seeing that happen, glanced at them for a moment and paused as he realized that there were three dragons and four others coming to his aid, though it was hard for them to tell if he knew what their races were, before he nodded his head and beckoned for them to stand at his side, showing that he was willing to accept them as allies even though he knew nothing about them, hence the reason the rest of the group moved up and separated from each other as Spike let the barrier go, giving himself and Cyril enough time to move as well so they didn't get hit by the attack. Hunter stared at the creature for a moment, understanding that his arrows wouldn't do anything to such a beast, but that didn't stop him from switching to his blades and running up the still outstretched arm of the Stone Sentinel so he could hack into the shoulder or the collar, even though it was the latter that received his attention since it reminded him of what the siblings mentioned about Charmed Ridge, the mind control necklaces anyway. That drew the attention of their foe as it tried to grab him and crush him, which was why Bianca teleported Hunter to safety as the hand got close to him, before she loosed a bit of lightning at the collar, because everyone seemed to agree that it had to be their main target, though all of them had to be careful since they didn't want to accidentally kill the creature that they were fighting, something Cyril seemed to agree with as he spun his guandao around in a circle a few times and loosed a wave of ice that covered their foe's feet, preventing it from moving for a few moments.

While that was amazing, since it certainly took some skill to pull off a move like that, the opening Cyril created just so happened to be everything that the group was waiting for, as Elora started blasting the collar with the blasters that were in her armor, Ember used the whirlwind Spike created to get up and lash at the metal from another angle, Sol dashed up the arm that Cyril froze a few seconds later so he could channel the power of his Phoenix Dash into the collar, and Spike made sure to hit it with a burst of ice that weakened the metal even further. As that happened the Stone Sentinel roared and broke the ice that trapped it, causing the others to move, Spike sent Spyro into the air and his brother drew Windshear to deliver a short burst of power at the collar, enough to weaken it without hurting their foe, causing the entire collar to break before their eyes and caused the creature to topple forward, giving them barely enough time to move out of the way so all of them could avoid being crushed. From there they waited to see what happened next, since they were sure the collar had been the problem, and not a few moments later the Stone Sentinel rose from where it had crashed and returned to its full height, only this time around its eyes seemed less angry and more calm, hence the reason that it bowed its head to all of them for a few seconds, something that was followed by it raising its head and waving at the area the group had come from, where the Atlawa and the rest of his tribe appeared to be cheering. It was clear that they were happy that Cyril and the group had released their god from the terrible rampage it had been unleashing on the islands, which must have been contained on this one island based on how the area looked, meaning that they understood that they were free to return to their homes and what their lives had been like before this event had happened in the first place.

"You have impressed the Atlawa and Kane, their leader, which is no easy feat," Cyril commented, though at the same time he smiled as the group gathered near him, most likely due to the fact that they had helped him bring peace back to these lands, especially since he had been expecting to fight the Stone Sentinel on his own and not have a team of heroes suddenly show up and rapidly put an end to the fight he had been in, though he wasn't going to argue with the results since he had weakened their foe significantly before they arrived, before he focused on something else, "Now then, might you know of someplace private where we can talk? I would like the chance to speak with all of you, before I fly back to Warfang and tell the other Guardians what I have discovered in Tall Plains."

"Actually, since we're headed there anyway, we can give you a lift in our airship," Spyro replied, to which he turned his head for a moment and focused on Bianca, since she was the one that could quickly get to the airship and direct Fury to the area that they were in, not that Spike wasn't good with Teleportation Magic since he was able to summon Akilesh from the other side of the planet, "Bianca, do you think you can direct Fury to this location?"

Bianca nodded her head, showing that she understood what Spyro was asking of her, and gathered her magic as she quickly took off in a familiar stream of energy that the group was used to seeing whenever she personally teleported from one place to another, allowing the group to focus on Cyril as they waited for her to bring the airship over here, since they all knew that backtracking through the ruins would take some time.

"Well, that certainly raises more questions," Cyril stated, no doubt referring to the fact that they were headed to the same place he was going to be heading to, though the group was happy to hear that the city even existed and that they weren't chasing a ghost of the past, but that was when he thought about the other part of what Spyro had said for a few seconds and tilted his head a little, "Also, what's this about an airship?"

Spyro and the others chuckled for a moment, as it was possible that the level of technology they were just now getting used to was totally foreign to Cyril, and possibly the rest of Warfang as a whole, though at the same time they knew that it was going to be a long and interesting flight as they completed the final leg of their journey, so they could truly being their search for the individual that the third Aether icon had told them about.

Comments

[Comickook]

Again this was a rather well-done chapter. The exchanges, action, characterizations and future chapter set-ups are quite well done in all the right places. I especially liked the gang's reflection on how Hunter's fighting skills have improved, the surprise that the Ape Soldiers were real rather than created from gems like the Gnorcs and the Rhynocs and how the gang helped out Cyril against that Stone Sentinel.

VERY definitely looking forward to more of this.

[SageBrony07]

Wow. It looks like we are going into legend. But that leaves more questions. Is malefor evil? Is Cynder around? Was there a purple egg here. If this is legend series, will they go into the land of ponies. So many questions and so good writing!

[PrismStrike]

I am honestly not sure what to say. That was so amazing i have been left more or less speechless. We are not worthy of your talents as an author (and i am quite jealous personally of just how good you are). Another absolutely epic chapter (as there have been a few so far) looking forward to more of this, keep up the fantastic work

[SonicStreak5344]

10182272
Me too can't wait to see.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Wow, things are off to a great start! I love how the dragon sibs friends have evolve in terms of fighting skills, also think we got a Lord of the Rings jab with the competition between Hunter & Sol there!

Also unlike previous adventures this time there are no vanishing enemies when defeated, better be careful there. The appearance of another dragon (Cyril) was a welcomed one, looking forward to see what happens next time around!

[branman12345]

I wish I'm able to like a story more than once it says that you are such a good storyteller

[Kamen rider yokai]

10182374
Really the group more reminds me of the avengers with their dynamic. The competition between hunter and Sol reminds me of Hawkeye and his competitive nature.

[Autarch Prime]

This is great! Cyril!! Finally made contact with one of the Guardians. Hope to see an epic entrance by the AS Harmony once they reach Warfang.

Can't wait for Volteer to speak with them as well, examining the airship and more. Ignius and Terrador are likely happy to see other dragons for probably a long time.

So the Guardians are more like the mature dragons from the Dragon Realms, not their more massive form in the Legends.

Are there other dragons aside from the Guardians and maybe Cynder?

[zachary12]

nice work