Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Expedition: Ancient Grove

Spyro, Spike, Ember, Cynder, and the others remained silent as they considered what Spike had told them, about what the Apes were planning and how close they were to fulfilling their plan, though one thing they made sure to do was return to Warfang so Ignitus and the other Guardians could handle the panic that might have arrived due to the awakening of the long dormant volcano, something that worried him and the others. Spike had made sure to take a piece of paper and sketch out the path that they needed to take so they could reach the landmass that the Well of Souls was located on, because now that they knew Gaul and his Apes were planning on releasing an incredibly powerful entity, one that could destroy the world if it was allowed to be freed from the prison that Malefor had constructed, with the aid of his elemental allies. With the Apes residing on the landmass the Well of Souls was located on, and the Night of Eternal Darkness approaching, there was a high chance that the Apes might be able to acquire the final Elementium Key, something they needed to either acquire before their enemies could or prevent their foes from getting their hands on the item in question. Other than knowing that their world was now in jeopardy, and that the Apes were far more dangerous than what the Guardians had assumed they were, the majority of the group was silent and didn't have much to say as they returned to Warfang and started to walk back to the structure that the Guardians usually stood in, where the group had met Ignitus and Terrador earlier.

While they were doing that another dragon, this one wearing what Spyro assumed was leather armor and had the same bipedal stance of all adult dragons, with brown scales and light gray under scales, landed nearby and whispered something to Ignitus and the other Guardians for a few seconds, something that seemed incredibly important based on the looks on their faces, before the dragon took off and headed deeper into the city.

"This is not good, it appears that the Apes have been sighted inside the Ancient Grove," Ignitus said, where he and the other Guardians took a moment to shake their heads as they thought about what they had just heard, because it wasn't what they wanted to hear after learning the truth of the attacks on the four islands that were around Doxantha, before they glanced at their allies for a few seconds, "its supposed to be a place untouched by civilization, though we have built a temple about ten to twenty minutes away from the forest in question, and the rivers that exist in that area are filled with poison, meaning the only ones that can actually inhabit that area are the true residents of the forest... though I'm fairly sure that the Apes have brought in their own supplies so they don't have to drink from the rivers or eat anything that the forest provides."

"Sounds like they're going after the Elemental Lord of Poison," Spike commented, referring to the fact that the four elementals that served as the Lords of the Minor Elements, like the Windlord, had to live near Doxantha due to a pact that they must have made with Malefor a thousand years ago, or at least that was what he assumed was the case, so he had to assume that another Elemental Lord was in danger, which seemed to be a common trend with the Apes, though it did make him wonder where the Lords of Shadow and Fear were, "and, based on the globe, it seems like this Ancient Grove is on the way to the landmass the Well of Souls is located on, so we can either stop the Apes and then move forward or just ignore the forest and continue towards our main goal."

"We should take care of the Apes, then move for the Well of Souls," Spyro replied, showing that he had snapped out of whatever trance he had been in, since he and Cynder had been silent since they learned what the Apes were doing and where the final Elementium Key was located, before he considered something as he turned towards Nestor and the rest of the Leaders, "Nestor, in the off chance that we fail to acquire the final Elementium Key, we should gather our allies and get ready to guard Warfang with our lives, as I'm sure Gaul and his Apes will try to take over the city before they do anything with the being that can, well... you know, wipe out everything, which gives us a chance, however slim, to take Gaul down before he has a chance to awaken whatever is inside the volcano."

"Understandable. We shall gather as many allies as we can," Nestor stated, showing the Guardians that he and the other Leaders were used to hearing Spyro suggest something and usually went with it, to which the five of them headed over to the area that Nora was in and started to move to a more private area, where Spyro and the others turned towards the Guardians, who were a little surprised by what was going on and decided not to question what they were seeing, as this meant that if the Apes succeeded in getting the last Key they would have allies to aid them.

"And this time Sheila, Bentley, Agent 9, and I will assist you in battling your enemies," Sgt. Byrd stated, informing the group that they would be joining their friends this time around, because whenever they stopped to explore the islands it didn't appear that any Apes were cared about the airship, as they never came to attack it despite the fact that the group used it to travel between the islands, so instead of sitting on the sidelines he and the others had agreed to join Spyro and the others in their quest, especially in light of what they had discovered.

Spyro, instead of arguing and claiming that they would totally wipe out any Apes they encountered, decided to just nod his head and they headed back to the area that the airship was located in, where Ignitus joined them so he could direct them to the area that the Ancient Grove was located in, while the other Guardians remained behind and worked to set up their defenses, in case the Apes tried to attack the city. It was clear that the citizens of Warfang were in the middle of making their preparations for whatever the future held, those that couldn't fight were staying safe while the guards made sure everything was fine while they waited for orders from the Guardians, though they also paid no attention to the group as they returned to the dock and boarded the airship without delay. Once everyone was aboard it Spyro had Fury take off and Ignitus gave him the directions that would allow him to get them to the area that the Ancient Grove was in, to which the group simply spread out and made sure they were comfortable for the ride towards the part of Doxantha that the forest was located in, even though it would likely take forty-five minutes to an hour to reach it. After the Apes were taken care of, and the group was sure about that, they would likely regroup on the airship and head towards the Well of Souls, their true destination, to stop the Apes from acquiring the last item their King needed to bring about the end of the world, something that made all of them remain silent as they waited for the airship to reach the Ancient Grove, all while Spyro and Cynder stared off into the distance as the airship moved through the air.

Spike knew what was going on with the pair without having to be told anything by Ignitus, as Spyro and Cynder had memories of a previous life and it was possible that they were recalling something they had seen in the past, which was the most likely, or the mention of the Well of Souls had stunned them and they were thinking about it, but until someone said something all he could do was guess as to what was going on. Ignitus, however, did tell him something interesting, and that was the fact that there should be a small island between Doxantha and the Well of Souls, which was the area that the Chronicler was supposed to be residing in, so if they were willing to stop for a time they could awaken the memories that were slumbering inside Spyro, or they could wait until later, once they were done fighting the Apes. Spike found that to be interesting and realized that Ignitus was right, there was something between the two landmasses that they might want to stop at for a time, but he would leave that decision up to Spyro when they reached it, since his brother was the leader of their group and he usually came up with some good ideas on what all of them should do, like what they had seen in the past, so he was going to wait and see what happened in the Ancient Grove. Ignitus seemed to agree with him, as he had seen Spyro in action, at least how he fought thanks to the battle with the Thunder Prince, to which he remained silent as they headed for the area of Doxantha that was their destination, even though he was likely thinking about the terrible nature of the plan that the Apes were setting in motion and how they had failed to see it until now, though Spike knew he would overcome his thoughts and focus on preparing for the future.

He was hoping that the reports of Apes being sighted in the Ancient Grove were just imaginings and that nothing was there, mostly so they could focus on the Well of Souls and the army of enemies that would be standing between them and the last of the Elementium Keys, though he knew that time would tell and there was nothing he could do if they discovered Apes in the next area they would be checking out, to which he laid down and decided to get a little rest before the airship reached its destination and they started fighting any enemies that were waiting for them.

---

The group found that Spike's estimates about the time were correct, as it took them about forty-five minutes to reach the outskirts of the Ancient Grove, which was a massive forest when they looked down upon it, one that seemed like a dark and foreboding place, though that didn't stop Fury from maneuvering the airship to a spot where the enlarged group could disembark and start their trek through the forest, even though they knew Fury would be looking for a suitable area to act as their pickup point. Sheila came equipped with nothing, showing that she was relying on her jumps, her kicks, and whatever she learned from Titan on the way to Doxantha, Sgt. Byrd made sure his jet pack was operational and that he had plenty of rockets to fire at their enemies, even though he was leaving a good portion of them on the airship since he couldn't carry all of it, Bentley carried his club and that was about it, showing that he was going to smash whoever got in their way, and Agent 9 held his trusty blaster at the ready. Once the four of them were ready they walked over to the ramp that the rest of the group was standing near, to which all twelve of them disembarked from the ship and touched down in what appeared to be the starting area of this forest, where they found dark green grass, a purple poison river that cut right through the entire area, and the trees grew in a variety of heights, the tallest ones being about a hundred feet in Spike's estimates, and due to the leaves and the moonlight the entire forest had an ethereal feel to it. Spike made sure to note down everything that they were seeing in one of the pages of his journal, since Ignitus informed them that no one really knew anything about the Ancient Grove, where the only exception was the first purple dragon, though this just meant it was his chance to reveal something unknown to the rest of the world, provided they stopped the Apes from fulfilling their incredibly insane and dangerous plan.

Once everyone was standing in the starting area of the forest Ignitus wished them well and headed off in the direction of Warfang, to help with the defenses, while at the same time Fury started to move the airship to a more suitable location, leaving the group alone as they considered what they were doing in this forest and if they would find any enemies, as right now it didn't look like there were any Apes in the Ancient Grove, though that wouldn't stop them from searching and just making sure the reports were correct.

"It looks like we have some company, of a sort," Bentley stated, where he beckoned to three small beetle-like critters that reminded the group of the Magma Beetles from the Isle of Bozibig, though these ones had violet colored shells that had glowing purple spots that resembled the color of the poison that was in the nearby river, though Spike felt that these were allied with the Elemental Lord of Poison, just like the Magma Beetles were allied with the Magma Golem, though as he thought about that the Poison Beetles became angry and started to move towards them, which was when Bentley took them all out with a swing of his ice club, "judging from Spike's expression, and the rest of the group's, I deduced that these were minions of the yet to be named Elemental Lord of Poison that was mentioned earlier, so I went easy on my swing, doing enough damage to knock them out for a time while making sure I didn't do too much or too little, as the former would have broken them and the latter would have dazed them for a few seconds."

"That was a good move, as it might show the Poison Elementals, if there are any in this place, that we aren't here to hurt them and that we're only here for the Apes," Spyro commented, as while it was interesting to see Spike being beaten to something, even though his brother was in the middle of studying the creatures and confirming Bentley's statement for himself, he was more focused on the fact that the Poison Beetles had attacked them without warning, meaning that if one of the other three Elemental Lords was inside the Ancient Grove it was either being attacked at this very moment or it was under the control of the Apes, where he was hoping the former was correct so they could repeat what they did on the four islands they had been to so far.

"That's if we find any Apes in this forest," Agent 9 remarked, where he help up his empty hand the moment Cynder turned to look at him, no doubt believing that he was trashing the scout that had made the report earlier, though even as he did that the rest of the group started to look around the area and see if they could figure out how they were going to move forward, since they were all sure this wouldn't be as easy as the four islands they had been to, "I'm not saying that the scout was wrong or anything, just that its possible they might have fled when one of them realized that a dragon had seen them and was reporting their existence to Warfang."

"I will admit, it is a sound strategy... fleeing to avoid confrontation," Sgt. Byrd added, because he had a great deal of military experience and he was all for using it to determine what the Apes were up to, given whatever they learned about them, though at the same time he had to admit that this place was rather interesting and he could see why the dragons would have built a temple near it, to make sure they were close in case something happened to their ally, "Either way, we won't be able to figure anything out if we stand around talking, so we should be moving forward and take in everything that this forest has to offer, and maybe we'll find out what our enemies are up to."

Cynder nodded for a few seconds and then they joined the rest of the group in exploring the starting area they were currently in, each of them looking for the path that would allow them to move forward and see if they could find any Apes, like the scout had told Ignitus and the others earlier, though that was when they found some pale large lily pads that were floating on the poison river and slowly fell down the small waterfall that happened to be near them, which looked like they might be usable in jumping up to the next area. Those that could make the jump on their own did so without delay, while the rest of the group took turns jumping up onto the lily pads, which were strong enough to support their weight, which all of them found to be odd and Spike said it was the nature of this place that made it that way, before all of them were up on the area near the upper part of the waterfall and they started to move once more. What they discovered was that there wasn't much up on the left side of the river, if they were looking from the forest's opening, so that meant they needed to head to the right and that was what they did, each of them jumped over the river and headed for the wider area that was near them, which allowed the group to head for a tall tree as they delved deeper into the forest, meaning they had found the way forward. Not a few moments later they passed by the rather tall tree, which was maybe fifty feet tall, and started to head down the path that was in front of them, only to stop when they noticed some pillars, or rather long tree trunks when they got a better look at them, which fell in their way and would either have to be smashed to pieces or just jumped over to avoid them, but before someone could speak up they paused as they heard a growl in some of the nearby bushes and turned towards the area in question.

That was when a dog-like creature, which had dark purple fur and greenish skin, an odd mix to be sure, jumped out of the bush it had been hiding in and faced the group, where it growled at them and howled, something that was followed by a second one jumping down into the area while a third one smashed through the logs that would have been in the group's way and tried to attack them from behind while the other two did the same thing from their side. Spike discovered that these creatures were very fast, their teeth would no doubt hurt if one of them was allowed to bite any of them, and they seemed to have a vast interest in dragons, as instead of heading for, say, Sol, Bianca, Hunter, or Sgt. Byrd, where some of them were the closest to the creatures, the hounds actually went for Spyro, Ember, Cynder, and himself, meaning they had to be pets of the Apes that were bred to hunt down dragons. Spike felt that it was easy to name them, going with Death Hounds due to the fact that they were dog-reptile hybrids that were bred for the purpose of killing dragons, showing them that the Apes really didn't like the dragons of Warfang at all, to which he loosed a gout of flames that torched his target and didn't bother the surrounding area, while Ember headbutted her foe with her hardened body and then used her metal claws to cut it down, leaving Spyro and Cynder to take turns bashing their target with their tails before they knocked it to the ground with a combined blast from their fire and wind breaths. The rest of the group, while the four of them took care of the Death Hounds that were trying to tear them apart, walked over to the area that the fallen logs were resting in and made sure their path wasn't blocked at all, to which they moved any fragments out of the way and made sure they were able to move forward, that way once all of them were together again they could jump over or duck under the larger log and advance into the next part of the forest.

When they bypassed the larger log they found that three of the Death Hounds and a small group of Poison Beetles were waiting for them, though this time around Agent 9 decided to turn to the side as soon as they spotted the couple of flying enemies and opened fire on them with his blaster, allowing Sheila to land in front of one of the Death Hounds and kick it right into one of the raised bits of earth that were around them, with Bentley whacking the other two in the side so they landed on top of the first one, giving way for Sgt. Byrd to loose a rocket at the three of them and deal enough damage to totally knock the three of them out for the foreseeable future.

"Its nice to see that you guys can handle yourselves in a fight," Cynder commented, as she had been a little worried about the four new additions to their group, mostly since she knew nothing about them or their skills, but after having this chance to see them in action she knew that she didn't have to worry about rushing to their aid, as they could handle the enemies that they would be fighting in the near future, though now she understood why Spyro and the others didn't ask Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9 to stay behind this time.

"I'm just happy that we're no longer waiting on the airship," Sheila replied, though at the same time the group started to head down the path that was to their left, which seemed to be the way forward since it was the only path in the area for them to take, and while she said that the rest of the heroes from Avilion nodded their heads in agreement, "Don't get me wrong, I know you guys can handle yourselves in battle, but it was starting to get a little boring as we waited for you to return after seeing what the Apes were doing to Dante's Inferno, the Isle of Bozibig, and Concurrent Skies, though now its time we kicked the Apes to the ground and make them regret putting their plan into action."

What they discovered was that the way forward must have been blocked by trees at some point in the past, and while it was possible to use a tree to make a walkway for them to jump over the tops of the couple of trees that were in front of them, as one did seem like it might collapse in the near future, Spike decided not to mess with nature in such a way and instead channeled his magic into making an opening for them to walk through, allowing him to create a temporary oval shaped opening that was tall enough for all of them to use. With the way opened they stepped into a circular chamber-like area that reminded the group of when they found the Magma Beetle colony, back during their visit to the Isle of Bozibig, which meant that this one had to be for the Poison Beetles they had seen so far, though it didn't appear to be all that active and was surrounded by a small pool of poison, to which the group walked around it for a few seconds, giving Spike time to close the path he had opened, before they found a passage that had a few holes that beetles were coming from, and they were still aggressive towards the group. As such the group engaged the Poison Beetles, where Elora, Hunter, and Agent 9 opened fire on them and blasted all of the enemies out of the air with enough force to knock them out, just like what happened to the last couple of groups they had encountered, allowing Bianca to work her magic as she sealed the openings that their foes had been coming from, meaning they had some time before more of the Poison Beetles tried to break through the wood and hunt them down. With that done the group headed through the passage they had discovered and found that it was rather short, leading them to an area that was filled with the poison water and had very little ground for them to walk on, save for some separated sections which formed a path for them to take, so the group decided that the ranged individuals would stay put for now and open fire on any enemies that tried to attack whoever was making their way across the area, where Spike was chosen to be first since he could ensure the other side of the path was clear so they could resume moving forward.

It took them a few minutes to get everyone across, even though Spyro, Spike, Ember, and Cynder could just fly over the entire thing thanks to what Cynder told them back in Warfang, but in the end there were no enemies for them to even worry about, which was rather weird since this would have been a place they would have made sure some soldiers would have been positioned if they were the villains, so they were allowed to regroup on the other end of the gap and continue their exploration of the Ancient Grove... which was followed by them finding a bipedal creature that looked nothing like any of the other creatures in the forest, even though it had a mossy green color to its body and seemed to be made out of fallen branches and moss, like it was a creature straight out of a swamp.

"Here, let me try something out," Spike said, where he stepped forward and approached the creature, which he was going to call a Swamp Growth since it didn't scream Poison Elemental like the creatures of the islands they had been to, though while that happened he made sure to present himself not as a warrior bent on taking over the forest, like the Apes could have if they were here, but rather as someone who was here to help the creature take its home back from those that were in the middle of invading it, "Hey there, my name is Spike and I'm an ally of Warfang, as are the rest of the group that's behind me, and we came here to find the Apes that were sighted here earlier and take them out, and liberate whatever land they have taken from those that call the forest home..."

He didn't get a chance to finish what he was going to say as the Swamp Growth rushed at him and swung its arms at the area he was standing in, hence the reason Spike quickly teleported out of the area that he had been standing in and reappeared in the area that was behind where the creature had been standing a few moments ago, to which he followed that up with a Fireball to the back, causing it to stagger as the rest of the group moved in to knock the creature out so they could see what else was wrong with the forest. Ember rushed in and barreled into the Swamp Growth's chest while she was channeling her armor skill, knocking it to the ground so Bianca could blast it with some Ice Shards, though that only made it stagger for a few moments as it picked itself back up, only for Bentley to appear nearby and smack it with his large club, sending it into a tree and knocking it out in the process. They were only knocking these creatures out so, in the off chance that they were minions of the Elemental Lord of Poison, each of them would come back to their senses and join their master in attacking the Apes that were in the forest, or whatever enemies were in this area since something had to be pissing off the creatures that called it home, though once everyone was sure the creature wasn't going to get back up anytime soon they headed to the right and followed the path that the Swamp Growth had been guarding. That brought them to another area that was like the one that they had just walked through, as in there was a single path and it was made up of several small pillars that they would have to take turns jumping on so they could reach the highest point of the area and move forward. This time around Elora, Hunter, and Agent 9 were able to hit a few Poison Beetles out of the air, as there were actually enemies in this area and they did try to stop Spyro and the others, though it didn't take them long to take out the foes that were trying to stop them, by knocking them out, which allowed everyone to make their way through the area and reach their destination.

Once they were back together the group continued to move down the path that the segmented stone pathway had brought them to, where they had to smash their way through some twisted branches so they could access the next part of the forest, which was when three Death Hounds and a Swamp Growth appeared in the area beyond the branches and attacked the group. Cynder used her Shadow Play skill to dive into her shadow and appeared several times in the next few seconds, lashing out at the four enemies that were in the area and knocking them away from each other, allowing the rest of the group to attack their foes while they were distracted by what she had done, which was just fine with the group as spells were loosed, punches were thrown, and enemies were pushed around the area they were in. Those weren't the only enemies that were in this area, as there were three more of the Death Hounds and a Swamp Growth passed another set of branches, hence the reason they made sure to break down the barricade that was in their way so they could fight all of them at the same time, allowing everyone a chance to fight the enemies they had discovered while making sure no one missed a chance to engage their foes. Bentley even surprised them by swinging his club at one of the Death Hounds and smashed some branches that were blocking the way forward, so the moment all of their enemies were taken care of, and they were sure of that none of them would get back up for a time, Spyro started to walk forward and the rest of the group followed after him so they could figure out what else the forest had to throw at them and how many additional enemies might be waiting for them.

The group headed for what appeared to be an intersection, where both paths would likely take them deeper into the forest and take them to different parts at the same time, though when they reached a certain point Spyro disappeared from the path that they were following and the rest of them stopped for a moment as Spike stepped forward, to see what they might have accidentally discovered, where he tapped the air in front of them and it vibrated for a few seconds, which caused the group to raise their eyebrows for a moment.

"I don't believe it, we found a temporary portal between two points," Spike stated, causing the group to recall what Nora had done when he was telling them about what the Apes were up to after he investigated what was inside Warfang's library, though at the same time he knew that it was weird for them to discover something like this, since there were no magic using dragons in the area that could do something like this, meaning someone was watching them and was either trying to assist them or was trying to mess with them, "I wonder where this leads..."

Spike stepped through the shimmering wall and appeared in an area that looked like a cave of some kind, or at least a mix of a cavern and the forest they had been in a few moments earlier, though it didn't take Ember, Cynder, and the rest of the group all that long to catch up with him and Spyro, even though they were staring at the massive pool of poison that was nearby, before discovering that there was only a single path for them to take, meaning there was only one way for all of them to move forward from the area they were now in.

"I think someone is trying to assist us, so we don't get lost in the Ancient Grove," Bianca commented, as she felt what Spike had felt, even if she wasn't as used to determining what the magic was just by touching it or seeing it in action, like she assumed her mentor had done when Spyro walked through the shimmering wall, alerting them to the fact that it even existed in the first place, before she considered something, "Spike, what are the chances that this is the Chronicler that we have heard about, thanks to the couple of times that the Guardians mentioned him?"

"Personally, with what little we have discovered so far, I'm willing to bet its fifty-fifty," Spike said, though even as he said that he and the others glanced at the area they were in and wondered how far away they were from the area they had been in a few moments ago, since none of them had any idea how large the Ancient Grove actually was, but if this was an ally helping them they would be able to save some time, especially since they were in a race against the eclipse that would happen in a day's time, based on what he saw in the Arcanaeum.

That was when they spotted a few individuals walking in the area that was in front of them, where all four of them had white fur with red stripes on their arms and legs, though three of them were small and resembled Ape Soldiers while the fourth was taller and resembled an Ape Leader, and they had the same amount of armor that their Ape counterparts had, meaning they might have found some new enemies to fight for the foreseeable future. Cynder revealed that they were called Skavengers, with a 'k' where the 'c' would have been, and that she understood why the scout would have thought that there were Apes in the Ancient Grove, since the Skavengers looked very similar to their main enemies and it had deceived whoever had scouted out this area, but at the very least the dragon had been truthful in the fact that there were enemies in the Ancient Grove, since these guys didn't like dragons either. As such the group rushed forward from where they were standing and attacked the enemies that were in front of them, where they knew that they were enemies due to the fact that each of them drew their blades and rushed at the area the group had been in, indicating that they wanted to cut them down and do whatever they wanted with the twelve of them, though since Ember was the first one to reach their foes she activated her armor skill and parried the attacks with something they couldn't break. Once she forced all of them to stop in their tracks, much to their surprise, Ember pushed all of them backwards and opened the way for the rest of the group to lash out at their enemies by Spike and Bianca blasted one of them with magic, Bentley quickly whacked the Skavenger Leader out into the massive flow of poison that was in front of them, Sol and Sheila tripped one of the Skavenger Soldiers and knocked it into the wall, and the last one fell to Elora kicking it into the ground.

With those four enemies taken care of the group walked towards the edge of the area and found that there were no bridges between where they were standing and the next patch of land that would allow them to move forward, so Spike used his magic and forced an ice bridge for everyone to walk over, making sure it was reinforced enough so that the large amount of poison didn't destroy it all that quickly, though as they moved forward the ranged members of their group dealt with the critters that were in the poison, which could be the Poison Beetles, and knocked them out so the path they were following was safe. They had to do that two more times, where Spike created longer ice bridges than the first one he had made and allowed the rest of the group to move towards the next patch of land, and that included making sure to take down the bridge that they no longer needed, while allowing Hunter, Elora, and Agent 9 to take out any Poison Beetles that were lurking in the poison water that they were moving over, though as they did that, and reached the other edge of the poison filled area, Spike noticed that the critters they had assumed were Poison Beetles were actually worms that did look like the Magma and Electric Worms, so these would be Poison Worms. When they reached the other side of the area the group followed the path that was in front of them and found that there were a few Poison Beetles and two of the new Poison Worms in the poison pools that were to their right, though once more they dealt enough damage to the beetles so they would be knocked out, something that caused the pair of Poison Worms to pause in what they were doing and stare at the group for a few seconds, before diving under the poison again. The group glanced at each other for a few seconds, as they were curious as to whether or not these worms might have realized that they weren't enemies and were only defending themselves against the attacks that the Poison Beetles sent their way, though if that was the case it was very possible that the elementals that called the Ancient Grove home might realize that enemies had come to aid them, though time would tell if that thought was true or not.

From there they headed through an opening that had two of the Death Hounds hanging out in the area, to which the group wasted no time in attacking them by Sheila jumped to the side of one and kicked it in the side, pushing it into one of the walls, while allowing Spyro to charge into the other one and knock it into a log before he opened fire with his flames, as it appeared that fire was the weakness of these enemies, while making sure not to burn down the forest, and once the other one was knocked out the group resumed moving forward... which was when they stopped as they found a fortress in the massive cavern they had found themselves in, one that had an airship, a flying pirate ship by the looks of things, off behind the fortress.

"Well, I have no idea what I was expecting to find down here, but it certainly wasn't this," Spyro commented, where he did notice that there were a few pools of poison around the area in front of the fortress, though at the same time this did reveal that Ignitus' statement about there being no civilizations in the Ancient Grove wasn't totally true, as there was a reason the Skavengers were here and it likely wasn't a good one, especially since the dragon temple was so close to the location of the forest they happened to be exploring, "Keep your guards up, as I have the feeling that we'll find some of those dog-like enemies, those Skavengers, in this area and discover what they're doing in this forest... even though I'm sure whatever they're doing can't be good for Warfang or our allies."

"Well you're right about the fact that the Skavengers are here, since they're coming for us," Cynder said, where she moved her tail for a moment and pointed at the area that was in front of them, which was when the group found at least ten of the Skavenger Soldiers jumping off the airship and rushed out to the area that they were standing in, hence the reason she readied herself for battle and the others did the same thing, since they knew that these individuals wanted all of them dead, or at least knocked out.

Not even a few moments later the group was engaged in a massive battle with the Skavenger Soldiers, where Spike and Bianca hurled spells at the enemies that stayed on the fortifications that were in front of them, Spyro and Cynder smacked around their targets with their claws and tails, Ember parried several attacks with her metal claws so Bentley and Sol could beat up her foes, and the others assaulted the rest of the Skavengers Soldiers that were in the area, before any of them discovered that several Skavenger Leaders were joining the battle. Bentley proceeded to smash one of the larger dogs into one of the walls of the fortifications, Sgt. Byrd opened fire on a few of their enemies that were hanging out in an area that was away from the rest of the group, Sheila jumped into the air and then rushed down to use the force of her attack to smash a Skavenger Leader into the ground, stunning it in the process so she could kick it in the chest and knock it to the ground, and Agent 9 focused on those that were hanging off at the back of the pack, so the others could focus on the foes that were in front of them. What was interesting was that Bianca found a trail of gunpowder that seemed to head behind the fortifications and proceeded to light it with a Fire Shuriken, something that all of the Skavengers missed her throw through the air since they assumed she had missed her target, though not a few seconds later the crates that had been in the way exploded and opened the way for them to reach the airship at long last, so the moment they finished off the rest of their enemies, who were unconscious on the ground, they moved towards the new opening to see what else they would have to fight, in addition to the Skavenger Leaders that were on top of the fortifications and were trying to rain down sticks of dynamite on them.

While Spike found the way forward, which was by heading to the edge of the area and then jumping around the slim corner that was right there, something that he formed an ice walkway around so everyone could move forward, Bianca stayed back and used her magic to bounce the dynamite back to the enemies that were around them, blowing up the couple of Skavenger Leaders that were trying to bomb them. With the couple of Skavenger Leaders taken care of it was easy for them to jump on the various crates that were in the air and get them high enough so that they could glide over to the deck of the airship that was resting in this area, and as they landed they found one of the dynamite throwing enemies waiting for them, who didn't last very long as Bentley punched it in the face and knocked it out. From there the group took a few moments to study the ship they were on, finding a cannon that had been pointing at the area they had been fighting in earlier and wondered why none of the Skavengers had bothered to use it on them, though that was when Spike took a moment to look out at the area they had been fighting in and found that the cannon was pointing had been positioned to face somewhere else, a wall of trees that seemed to have a slightly different color than the rest of them. Instead of firing the cannon, like the Skavengers would have done, the group started to move forward and made sure the cannon was smashed to pieces, though that was followed by them heading over to the trees in question and Spike used his magic to open another oval opening for everyone to walk through, just like he had done at the start of their trek through the vast forest that made up the Ancient Grove.

On the other side of the oval opening they found a short path that had two flaming piles of branches, so Spyro used his Ice Breath to disrupt the flames and opened the way for the group to smash their way through them, which was when they found a Skavenger that seemed to be riding on a bird-like beast that looked similar to a Dreadwing, something that Cynder identified as a Skurvywing, though the red feathered creature didn't last all that long as Hunter loosed an arrow right into its unprotected wing and sent it right into the wall of trees to their left, knocking it out in the process.

"You'd think these guys would put armor on their mounts, instead of leaving vital areas exposed like that," Hunter said, though at the same time he checked his arrow supply and found that he still had quite a lot of them, which was good since he had made sure to shock up ahead of time, before he sighed as the rest of the group nodded their heads, showing that they agreed with his assessment on the fact that the Skavengers were foolish in how they prepared the Skurvywing for battle, even if it allowed them to take it out in seconds.

With the Skurvywing taken care of the group moved down the other path that was in the area and moved towards an area that was larger than what they were expecting, though there were a few pools of poison that had some of the Poison Worms hanging in them, and that was followed by a creature, who was like the Swamp Growths in terms of how it was built, smashing its way through some branches and revealed that it was more like the Poison Beetles, at least in the sense that they shared the same coloration in places, and it looked angry, which made sense then they thought about what the Skavengers were up to, before Spike determined it was a Grove Beast.

"So, what do you think?" Spyro asked, because the last time Spike had tried to tell one of the creatures of this forest that they were allies it lashed out at him and tried to kill them, even though the Poison Worms knew that they meant them no harm and were only after the ones that were disrupting the peace, hence the reason he was even willing to entertain the thought of allowing Spike to try talking to the creature, because there was always the chance that he might convince it to let them move forward so they could continue fighting their enemies.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to approach it and see what happens." Spike admitted, mostly due to the fact that he wasn't sure if the Grove Beast would attack them or allow them to move forward and attack the Skavengers, since the last time he tried something like this he was attacked for his actions, though as soon as he said that he glided down into the area that was below them and the rest of the group did the same thing, either gliding or jumping down, where he focused on the Grove Beast and walked up to it.

As the group moved into the area another Grove Beast burst out of the ground nearby and stared at them, no doubt to see what they were up to and if it needed to be worried about them, before they stopped in front of the first one and it just stared at all twelve of them, taking in the fact that there were dragons, a cheetah, and a number of species that were likely new to it, which was when Spike wove his magic through the air and created a basic image of them beating up the Skavengers that had invaded the Ancient Grove. As he did that the Grove Beasts seemed to focus on the magic for a few more seconds, making the group wonder if they even understood what Spike was trying to show them, before they took a few steps back and started to head for the path that lead to the next part of the forest, while at the same time the couple of Poison Worms dived into the poison and disappeared, reminding them of what happened during their visit to the Isle of Bozibig, or at least the group that had visited the island anyway. As such the group followed after the Grove Beasts and walked behind them as they lead them deeper into this part of the forest, where they headed up some steps and made their way to an area that had a large root inside it, where a few more Grove Beasts happened to be waiting and the pair that they were following approached them, even though it appeared that they were communicating with each other even though none of them were saying anything. It didn't take the newcomers long to understand that the group was here to take care of the enemies that were attacking the Ancient Grove, as none of them made a move to attack any of them and beckoned for them to follow, to which Spyro followed after the creatures of the forest as the others followed after him, all while Spike made notes on what they were seeing so he could tell Ignitus and everyone else about this.

The tree trunk that the Grove Beasts brought them to actually put them in an area that seemed to be under the rest of the forest, even though Spike was sure that whoever had sent up the temporary portal earlier had done so again, all to move them deeper into the forest, and from what they could see it appeared that they were going to have to take turns jumping on tree branches and land on massive jellyfish to move forward. As that idea came to mind, however, it was when Cynder opened her wings and took to the air, where she flew along the path that was in front of them and headed for the opening that had to be the exit for this area, to which those that could fly took off after her while Bianca gathered her magic around the rest of the group so she could teleport them to the area that would take them back to the surface. They also discovered that there were no enemies down here, which meant they could just fly and not have to worry about their foes for a few moments, though the path was a lot longer than they originally thought and it took them a few minutes to reach the highest point of this area, which was passed all the jellyfish that would have been a nightmare to bypass if they couldn't fly like they did. When all of them landed at the top of the area, and they were joined by Bianca and the others, it was then that two more of the Death Hounds tried to ambush them, though it was also the moment where some of the Grove Beasts showed up and beat the stuffing out of the deadly hounds, showing the group that the hounds weren't part of the natural order and that they were likely allies of the Skavengers, before they turned and moved the branches out of the way for the group could progress to the next part of the forest, even though none of them really had any idea how much more they would have to go through to reach the end of this place.

Those weren't the only enemies that appeared in their path, though the group didn't have to worry about the other Death Hounds that they found on the way, as the Grove Beasts insisted on punting the Death Hounds into the trees and that told the Swamp Growths that the group were allies, causing the couple of swampy critters to bow their heads for a few seconds before they joined the force that was taking the fight to the invaders, allowing Spyro and the others to save their energy for the real danger that was inside the Ancient Grove, be it an Elemental Scion, the leader of the Skavengers, or an Elemental Lord, all of which were possible in their minds.

When they reached the next area they found that the Skavengers had been blown out of the sky, due to the fact that one of their airships was resting in a massive pool of poison, so the group flew over to the ship as their allies headed for another part of the forest, where they found a lone Skavenger Leader and ambushed it, taking it down in a few seconds since it wasn't expecting something like this. Since that was the only member of the ship's crew that they had found, and it was already unconscious, the group disembarked from the ship and headed over to another part of the area that housed the next part of the path that they were following, which brought them to a large tree trunk that they used to get even deeper into the forest, despite the fact that Bentley had to duck a little so he could fit inside it. What the group discovered was that the area that was on the other side of the tree trunk was somewhat different than what they were expecting it to be, as there was a large tree that seemed to be growing in the middle of a pool of poison, a tree that seemed like there was more to it than what they were currently seeing, so all of them kept their guard up as they explored the area, as none of them had any idea what was in here and knew that this could very well be a trap. While the majority of the group did that, however, Spyro and Cynder stood near the tree trunk that had allowed them to enter this area and stared at the tree for a few moments, mostly due to the fact that Spyro was sure he had seen something like this in the past, or maybe it was one of his previous life memories surfacing, which wasn't the first thing he had felt something like that happen since it had occurred during their visits to the previous islands, only he had seen a different version of events and preferred what he and the others had been able to do.

"This is where I fought Arborick, the Guardian of the Grove, when I was looking for you," Spyro said, though he had to assume the part about him looking for Cynder was his past life, since this was the first thing he had been to this place and he had the feeling that it was the same for the dragon that was beside him, before he focused on the tree for a moment, as he was sure the creature was waiting for something to happen, "Arborick! We come in peace! We have driven off all of the enemies that were invading your sacred forest and seek your blessing to move forward with our quest!"

He honestly wasn't sure why he had said that, mostly it felt like something appropriate to say since this place was the domain of the ancient tree sentinel that was resting in the area before them, while at the same time the rest of the group joined them, which was a good thing since they were in time to see the tree shift as the branches were moved to a safer position while large arms, a large chest, and a large head were made out of the wood, forming the upper torso of a being that looked similar to the Stone Sentinel, only this one was made out of wood and had to be the Elemental Scion for the forest, if they were right about this being the domain of the Elemental Lord of Poison. Arborick stared at all of them for a few moments, no doubt going over what Spyro had said and the fact that it had likely tossed out several Skavengers at some point before their arrival, not that they had seen any of those creatures, and while it did that the group could make out their airship off in the distance, where Fury was no doubt having the crew stop so they didn't get any closer. That was when the poison that was around Arborick shifted for a moment and an even larger being, this one looking to be one and a half times larger than the Magma Golem they had freed, appeared before them, where it appeared that it was wearing a suit of metal armor that kept the poison it was made from contained in a single space, with the metal being silver colored and didn't really clash with the purple colored poison it was made from. Spike instantly understood what they were seeing, as this had to be the Elemental Lord of Poison, one of Malefor's ancient allies, and in its hand were two twisted collars that looked like the ones the Apes put on the Elemental Scions, confirming his beliefs that someone had tried the same thing to the rulers of this forest, to which he crafted a magical image showing the pair that they knew who tried to do such a thing to them and that they were in the process of taking the Apes down.

The Poison Emperor, as that was the true name of the Elemental Lord of Poison, eventually nodded its head and set the broken collars down in front of them, allowing Spike to add them to the sack that contained the rest of the pieces he had been collecting, before both it and Arborick started to move out into the forest, even though the latter had to fashion itself some legs to do so, though once they were gone the group breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, it looks like both the Elemental Lord and Elemental Scion for the Poison Element are just fine, and, if I'm right, we might have just gained some new allies for the battle with the Apes." Spike commented, as that would be the best case scenario for this entire venture, even though it did tell them that the Skavengers were allies with the Apes since there were no Apes in the forest to start with, meaning one of the Leaders they had seen, due to there being no Commanders, must have tried to put the collars on the pair and had failed, resulting in everything in the Ancient Grove being mad.

"Let's head back to the airship and get out of here, we still have a world to save and a dragon to meet." Spyro said, as he was more worried about what the Apes were up to and what the Chronicler might say whenever they reached the area that he called home, to which the group nodded their heads before he and the other flyers took off, leaving the forest behind so they could focus on more pressing matters.

Spyro was sure that the Poison Emperor and Arborick would be able to take care of the other enemies that might still be inside the forest, as it was a large place after all, though when they landed on the deck of the airship, and were joined by Bianca and the others, he made sure Fury got them underway once more, as it was time to head toward the landmass the Well of Souls was on and stop the Apes from fulfilling their terrible plan, and maybe stop in to see the Chronicler, if he was willing to entertain guests, before they reached their true destination.

Comments

[zachary12]

nice work

[PrismStrike]

was interesting to see the B team in action again though definitely was not unwanted or unliked as they can still hard kick some evil tail. the group also got lucky here due to not having to fight a boss. an interesting chapter, looking forward to the next, keep up the great work

ps if anyone is capable there so needs to be art done of the dragon sibs

[Comickook]

VERY good job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I especially liked Shelia, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley and Agent 9 joining in the adventure as well as the run-ins with the Death Hounds and the Poison Guardian, the introduction of the Elemental Lord of Poison and Cynder's description of the Skavengers.

VERY certainly looking forward to more of this.

[Moon_Fire]

Kinda wondering why Spike didn't explain the whole story to the Poison Emperor but it's still a good chapter.