Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Expedition: Defending Warfang

Spyro, Cynder, Spike, Ember, and the rest of the group left the temple that the Chronicler lived in and headed for the area that the airship rested in, as it was time for them to return to Warfang and get the defenses ready, because if their thoughts were correct Gaul and his army would arrive at some point in the near future, to try and take down the dragons in a war, and that was the only opportunity they had to take the Ape King down, before he released the Destroyer from the prison it was currently trapped inside. Nestor and the others rushed out to greet them, to see how their mission went, only to pause when they noticed that none of them were happy and inquired as to what happened during their mission to the Well of Souls, where Spyro had Fury get the airship into the air before he explained that they had failed, that Gaul had outsmarted them and he now had the last Elementium Key, meaning he was posed to destroy the world and their belief that he would be marching on Warfang in the very near future. By Spike's estimates, and the airships that their enemies possessed, they had half a day to prepare for the incoming war that would decide the fate of the world, giving them time to prepare all of the city's defenses and send their allies out to the Dragon Realms, Avalar, and Avilion so they could recruit all of the allies that they possibly could, as they were going to need all of the warriors, mages, rangers, and everyone they could get their claws on, especially since their enemy's army consisted of the Apes, Trolls, and Skavengers, along with their leaders, Captain Skabb, the Lord of the Trolls and his nine Troll Wraiths, and King Gaul himself.

Cynder was the one that informed them as to who the Troll leader had been and who the nine robed figures had been, all so they understood who they would be going up against, though as she said that Fury informed them that the airship was now in the air, which was the moment that the Chronicler had them head in the direction of Warfang and then channeled his power into the space that rested in front of the airship, creating a portal that allowed them to instantly travel back to the city their enemies would be attacking in the near future.

"Nester, you and the other Leaders need to head back to the Dragon Realms and recruit as many warriors and mages as you possibly can," Spyro stated, where he turned towards the Leaders of their home islands for a moment, to which the five dragons in question nodded their heads in agreement to what he was saying, and while he said that Fury lowered the airship back into the water that was near the city's dock, before he focused on the orders that needed to be given out to the rest of the group, "Elora, you and Hunter should head back to Avalar and do the same thing, to gather the Royal Guard and whoever else you can recruit for this battle, while Bianca and the others from Avilion should do the same thing with the lands they live in, as there's a chance that many of them will rush to Warfang's aid, especially when we consider what Malefor and the ancient dragons did for them."

"I will assist Nora in opening portals to the lands in question, and then I will head out to speak with the Cheetahs and the various elemental leaders," the Chronicler said, showing that he knew that Spyro was looking for allies and that he had an idea that would give him a vast number of warriors for the battle that was coming their way, to which Spyro nodded his head to show that it was a good idea and that he was fine with him doing that, before he turned towards the dragon that he had mentioned, "Come, let us head to the center of the city and get to work."

Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember headed out as their friends used the portals that Nora and the Chronicler quickly made for them, allowing the four of them to focus on warning Ignitus and the other Guardians as to the danger that was coming towards the city while their friends gathered as many allies as they could, even if Spike knew where they could get some additional warriors, though it didn't take them long to locate the dragons in question, as they were standing in the middle of the city, no doubt taking a break from directing the other residents of the city.

"It is good to see the four of you again, after we parted ways above the Ancient Grove," Ignitus said, though even as he said that the group could see that a number of the city's residents were in the middle of preparing all of the defenses that protected the city from danger, before he and the other Guardians noticed the looks on their faces and frowned as he considered what they had been trying to do, "What's wrong? The looks on your faces, the frowns to be exact, tells me that something bad happened while you were exploring one of the lands you went to, after we parted ways, and that we need to be made aware of what that something is."

"Gaul recovered the last Elementium Key, but he and his allies will be marching on the city in the next twelve hours, or at least that's what Spike thinks," Cynder replied, where the four Guardians had shock written on their faces when she gave them that piece of information, because they were expecting the group to acquire the Key that was the main goal of their mission, before all four of them determined that their foe must have done something to get to the Key first, before the group were able to stop him, which was when she gestured towards Spyro with a wing, "Spyro is having the others head back to the three sets of islands that he and his siblings have explored in the past, to recruit as many allies as they can get their hands on, while the Chronicler will be assisting us by opening portals for our allies to march out of and then he'll be heading out to speak with the various elemental leaders... and that's not counting whatever else Spyro, Spike, and Ember might have in store for us."

"How are your preparations coming?" Spyro asked, because he wanted to see how much progress Ignitus had made in preparing the city, or at least since they parted ways to be exact, and from what they could see right now it sure looked like the residents were in the middle of preparing a number of cannons and catapults that would be firing in the direction of the Belt of Fire, as that was the most likely direction their enemies would be coming from.

"Those that can fight are readying themselves for the battle that's coming our way, while those that cannot fight, like our hatchlings for example, are being escorted to a safe area of the city," Terrador stated, showing the group that either he was in charge of the defenses or he just felt like talking, though at the same time it didn't matter in the slightest since it allowed the group to understand what was going on at the moment, before he glanced at the walls that surrounded the city, the main areas that their enemies would be targeting, "It has been some time since we've even used our defenses, so we've been busy making sure that they're ready for battle and that they're stocked with everything we can use against our enemies, where our forces are being positioned to protect our weapons, so once the initial siege is broken they can gather in an army formation and march out to battle our foes."

"Good, though we can do better than this," Spike said, where he had been thinking about something and realized that he could actually boost their chances of repelling the initial siege that Terrador was talking about, which was when all four of the Guardians turned towards to him as his siblings and Cynder did the same, something that was followed by a smile appearing on his face, "remember, we have access to the Arcanaeum as well, and inside that vault we have a number of weapons and items that would be useful in a situation like this, namely the Runeblades of the Elemental Lords, which we can temporarily lend to the four of you until we figure out what to do with them, and the Deepcore Army."

"Hold up, you guys have access to the Deepcore Army? The ancient army of stone statues that were used to keep the lands of Avilion safe?" Cynder asked, as this was the first time she had heard them being mentioned by the group, which made sense due to the fact that Spyro and his siblings were more focused on stopping the Apes from fulfilling their plans, even if they had failed to stop Gaul in the grand scheme of things, before she considered something as the three dragons nodded their heads to inform her that they did have access to the army in question, "Well, that would certainly help us, if you can get them to wake up and leave the Arcanaeum, and after everything I have seen so far I have the feeling that you would be able to do such a thing rather easily."

"While we were in the Arcanaeum we found the awakening spell," Ember remarked, recalling what she had seen when Hunter lead them to the area that the army of stone statues had been resting inside, and what Spike had discovered at the time, before they found the globe that revealed the Aether icon that brought them here in the first place, though that was when she tapped Spike with her wing for a moment, "and Spike, being the youngest Archmage in the world, should be more than able to cast the spell, though we'll need a portal between the Arcanaeum and here... so either we need the aid of the Chronicler or Spike can try his luck with the spell."

"Given how many times I've seen the spell in use, I should be able to do so on my own," Spike said, where he readied his magic for a moment and found a wall that was nearby, to which everyone watched as a portal opened nearby and took a look at it, something that was followed by them discovering that it lead to Midnight Mountain, before they glanced back to Spike for a moment, "and, once the Deepcore Army is awakened, we should be able to hold off the siege while the rest of our allies prepare themselves."

"That sounds like a plan, so we'll stay here and make sure the defenses are ready for when they arrive," Ignitus said, while at the same time Cyril and Volteer nodded their heads in agreement and then flew off to make sure their stations were ready, though Terrador headed over to the area that their warriors were gathering in so he could share the goods news with them, leaving Ignitus with the four dragons that were in front of him for a few moments, knowing that they would do everything in their power to defend the city and save the world.

Spyro, Cynder, and Ember followed Spike through the portal and appeared in the area near the portal to where the Arcanaeum was located, to which they headed back into the realm that they had found the vault in and quickly made their way to the structure in question, where it didn't take them long to reach the vault and walk inside the structure once more, where Cynder still found herself in awe over what they were seeing. This time around Spike didn't stop to look at anything he hadn't catalogued yet, even though it pained him to do such a thing in the first place, and he headed over to the room that the army of statues would be located in, though as they stepped into the area in question Cynder paused as she took in the vast number of stone statues that were resting in the massive room, as she never thought that she would lay eyes on such a sight, despite what she had seen during this adventure.

"So, this is the Deepcore Army... amazing." Cynder said, taking in the fine work that went into making the statues and their weapons, as they looked lifelike and looked ready to do battle with whoever their enemies were, just like all of the tales she had heard over the years, before she glanced at Spyro and Ember for a moment as they focused on Spike, who was in the middle of focusing his magic, "So, how long do you think this will take?"

"Not long, actually." Spike replied, because while he knew that many tales mentioned that awakening the army was hard and time consuming, like many of the major spells in the world, the truth of the matter was that the spell was one of the more simple ones, especially after all the time he spent studying the spell after discovering the existence of the army in the first place, and he didn't even need Akilesh to do this, to which he channeled his magic into the chamber that they were now standing in, "Piertotum Locomotor!"

Spyro, Cynder, and Ember watched as Spike's magic was channeled into the chamber and the stone statues suddenly started to twitch for a few seconds, something that was followed by the first line of statues awakening from their thousand year slumber as they fully woke up, where the lines behind them started to wake up as well and stand at attention, before he started opening portals in front of the army he had awoken.

"Soldiers of the Deepcore Army, I have awakened you from your thousand year slumber because the safety of our entire world is at stake," Spike called out, where the group watched as the heads of the statues snapped up and looked at him while he talked, showing them that whoever used the spell to awaken the army acted as the commander, or at least that was what it looked like from their side, "I have also opened the way for you to assemble in Warfang, the city that the last dragon who called upon you built after he and his people were forced to leave Avilion, who are preparing to stand and defend our world, and I would ask that you join us in defending our world!"

The statues of the army tapped their weapons on the ground and marched through the portals that were in front of them without delay, where Spyro walked through it and discovered that the portals lead to the front of the city and that all of the warriors were gathering in front of it, assembling in the same rows that they had been standing in back in the room, before he headed back to the Arcanaeum and joined the group that was gathering the four runeblades from where they were resting, so they could be delivered to Ignitus and the other Guardians for the time being. As they did that Ignitus and the others readied themselves for the battle that was coming their way, dragons, Cheetahs, and Moles moving around so they could have their various stations ready for what was coming their way, even though there was no word from Nestor and the others, which made sense since only ten to thirty minutes had passed since the order was given. Other than that Spike knew they didn't have much time to look at the rest of the Arcanaeum and see if there were anything else they could use to defend the world, to which he closed the portals once the rest of the army was through, while he and the others made sure they were on Warfang's side when that happened, before they armed the Guardians with the runeblades and readied themselves for the wait that would come before the alliance of villains arrived to do war with them.

---

The hours passed slowly for the defenders of Warfang, which was fine since it meant that the Apes and their allies hadn't appeared yet and they had more time to ready their defenses, even though there wasn't much they could do except wait for either their allies to appear or for their enemies to suddenly appear and attack the city, something that all of them were eager to get to so they could defend the world. Spike knew that the worst possible outcome would be if Gaul just decided to give up on his plan to attack the city and just released the Destroyer, something none of them were ready for, but even without peering into the future he had the feeling that such a thing wouldn't happen until the Ape King felt that victory was no longer an option for him and his forces, which they would discover over the course of this battle. The only problem that Spyro and the others found was that Elora and the others had yet to arrive, meaning either they were having a hard time getting allies or their allies were forcing them to stay put for the foreseeable future, which would be the worst case scenario, but they would have to deal with whatever their friends could get them, especially since they were expecting them to arrive at some point. Other than that there was nothing else they could do but wait for the Apes to arrive and see how many soldiers their dark alliance brought with them, since that was something they didn't know, because even if they had managed to smash the guardians of the Well of Souls the siblings and Cynder knew that Gaul wouldn't have made all of his forces stay near the mountain, rather he would have prepared a good chunk to wait for his arrival.

In fact the only way they knew their foe had arrived was due to the Belt of Fire growing in intensity, no doubt due to Gaul adding the final Elementium Key to the prison and likely gaining control of the Destroyer, or at least that was Spike's thoughts on the matter while the others felt that it was just a normal occurrence that they were seeing, before a number of shapes appeared in the flames, which was when the group and the defenders of Warfang noticed that their foes were creatures that looked like corrupted earth given a more humanoid form.

"What is the name of our Ancestors are those fiends?" Ignitus inquired, because from what they could see these odd beasts seemed to be a fusion of the Apes and the earth itself, as Spike even noticed that some of them were the same size as the Ape Soldiers, the Leaders, and the Commanders, meaning they had to be the same level of beings in a new army that they hadn't seen before, while at the same time the rest of the defenders that were along the wall seemed eager for their foes to arrive and do battle with them.

"Grublins, arranged in sizes of Soldiers, Leaders, and Commanders," Spyro commented, recalling all of this from his memories about his past life, while at the same time Cynder nodded her head in agreement not even a few seconds later, before he considered something as he scanned the enemies that were making their way towards Warfang, even though it appeared that their true enemy might be closer than they were thinking he was, "they're dangerous warriors, ones that Malefor might have sealed away with the Destroyer so Warfang could be built in the first place, and the Deepcore Army should be able to deal with most of them, but they aren't the most dangerous creatures the Dark Master used against us in our past lives. We need to keep an eye out for the Golem, a massive creature of fire and earth that smashed through Warfang's defenses, the walls to be exact, like they were butter and dealt some major damage to the city itself, before we were able to bring it down and destroy it... so Spike, if you see such a massive beast, lay into it with your magic and take it down before it reaches the city."

"Given that we're fighting for the future of our world, if it shows up I'm going to blow it up," Spike stated, though he did smile for a moment, because he was eager to see if the creature even showed up or not, due to the fact that this gave him the chance to test out a few spells he had picked in his reading before this point in time, thought that was when they all paused as a war horn sounded off in the distance, something that was followed by enemy airships entering the space near the Belt of Fire, "though it looks like our enemies have arrived at long last."

"Good, then use the cannons to fire at the back of their army while our soldiers deal with the front line," Ember said, where she twitched for a moment, showing the others that she was eager to do battle and that she didn't like the idea of standing on the wall while the Deepcore Army fought their battle for them, but she was willing to stand her ground and listen to what Spyro told her to do, before she expanded her metallic claws for a moment, "but anyone who gets up here will have to face my claws!"

Spyro and the others nodded their heads in agreement as Ember said that, just as the Apes, Skavengers, and Trolls joined the force of soldiers that were marching out of the Belt of Fire, revealing all of their enemies were here and that it was only a matter of time until the commanders showed up, even though Spyro could see the imposing form of Gaul off in the distance, flanked by Captain Skabb and the Lord of the Trolls. That was followed by the enemies charging forward as they rushed towards the front gate of the city, where the Moles and dragons that were manning the cannons started to loose elemental charges at their enemies, as in massive fireballs, boulders, bolts of lightning, and ice shards out into the incoming army, blowing up the back lines of the Grublins as massive twisted siege towers entered the battle, but those didn't last very long in the grand scheme of things as those on the cannons displayed surprising accuracy with their shots, meaning they held the advantage at the moment. It wasn't long before the front lines of the enemy army neared the area in front of the Deepcore Army, to which the stone warriors shifted and charged into battle, using their weapons to hack and slash into their enemies, though that was also when Ignitus and the other Guardians, as well as all the dragons that weren't using the cannons, dropped down into the pray and started attacking the enemies that were in front of them, all while the Cheetahs that called the city home used their strongest arrows to deal as much damage as they could to all of the Grublins, Apes, Skavengers, and Trolls. Ember, seeing that their enemies had reached the gates, even if their army of statues were stalling their foes, flew down into the battle that was going on at the moment and slammed into one of the Skavengers that had some space around them, knocking it to the ground as she engaged both her Warrior's Armor and the metallic claws as she attacked her foe and started cutting down the enemies that were around them, and it wasn't long before Spyro and Cynder flew out into part of the army that was near Ember.

While the three of them did that, and tore into the enemies that were near them, Spike focused his magic and blasted a number of smaller Grublins out of the air, as those ones looked like large flies for some odd reason, meaning that while his siblings and Cynder fought their enemies he was focusing on making sure the cannons remained unharmed, which was the same thing that some of the Cheetahs, Moles, and dragons were doing, the first loosing arrows into the air to take their targets down, the second using crossbows to do the same thing, and the third followed his lead to blast the flying enemies out of the air, before they became a problem. What was interesting was that they weren't the only ones fighting the dark alliance that was marching on Warfang, where one of the Moles pointed to the west of the battlefield when a new war horn was sounded, where Spike paused for a moment and spotted an army of Cheetahs, dressed like the ones that were currently standing around him and were heavily armed by the looks of things, who paused for a few seconds as they took in the army that was trying to lay siege to the city, before they charged forward and slammed into the dark alliance that their allies were attacking, as they hacked and slashed into the Apes, Skavengers, Trolls, and Grublins. As Spike turned his attention back to the battle that was unfolding before them, and blasted some of the Grublins out of the air, one of the Moles mentioned that the one leading the Cheetah forces at the moment was Chief Prowlus, a well known warrior among his people and the residents of the city, not to mention one of the best leaders they had seen since the founding of their village in the valley that rested a few hours from Warfang, and Spike had confirmation of his skills as he parried an attack that was coming at him, disarmed the Ape Leader he was fighting, and then cut it down before moving onto the next foe that dared to stand in his way.

For a time it seemed like the two forces, despite the power of the Deepcore Army, were evenly matched and that none of them were going to get the upper hand, which seemed to be when Gaul ordered that the Skavenger airships take to the field and soon they emerged from the area that they had been kept in, but even as they emerged from where they had been hiding Spike and the others noticed a few portals open up in the air near the eastern side of the battlefield and an airship that looked like the AS Harmony emerged from it. What Spike discovered was that this airship was heavily armed and that it fired on the enemy airships as soon as it emerged from the portal that had been opened for it, though out of the other portals came the flying saucers that Spike and the others had seen in Avalar, who fired upon the Ape airships as they joined the battle, blowing several of them out of the air in the process, causing the defenders of Warfang to cheer for a few seconds before returning to the battle. Of course those weren't the only allies that joined them, as several portals opened up on the ground and Elora, who was joined by Hunter, marched out with the residents of Avalar behind them, and all of them were armed so they could hack into their enemies when they charged into the side of the dark alliance, all while Elora flared her wings as she took to the air and kicked a Dreadwing in the side of the head, knocking it out of the air and making it collide with some of the Apes, while Hunter loosed some arrows and knocked down a few more Dreadwings so the rest of their forces could emerge from the portals they were using. As Spike expected the Chronicler was behind these allies coming to their aid, as he appeared on this side of the portals and made sure everyone had arrived before he closed the portals he had opened a few moments ago, which was around the time that he opened some new portals and the Artisans, Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, Dream Weavers, and Machinists marched out to do battle with all of the enemies that were attacking Warfang, even if Nestor and the other Artisans headed into the city to tend to those that weren't joining the battle, despite the fact that Argus and the other scholars stayed safe to watch the outcome and record what they saw for themselves.

"You know, I knew we would be facing incredible odds," Hunter commented, where he came to a stop beside Spike for a moment and loosed an arrow into the air, one that exploded into a cluster of arrowheads and rained down on the foes that were in the air at the moment, which stopped some of their enemies from advancing and allowed their allies to strike out at their stunned enemies, something that prompted the nine Troll Wraiths to take to the field, "but even then I never imagined that we would be facing all of these enemies... we've got a thousand enemies, possibly even more that we don't know about, standing between us and Gaul, before he releases the Destroyer from its prison."

"Don't worry Hunter, we've got this." Elora said, where she landed near the pair for a moment, as if she was going to talk to them for a few seconds, before she spotted some larger flying enemies coming their way and launched herself at them, knocking the three Dreadwings out of the air in rapid succession before blasting a fourth one while Hunter hit it with one of his arrows, something that caused her to land once that one fell as well, "We just have to keep an eye on Gaul and what he does, though if we can get Spyro, Spike, Ember, and Cynder to him we might have a chance at stopping this war from going on for too long."

As she said that Lady Eterna and the Phoenixes, the last ones to emerge from the portals to the Dragon Realms, took to the air and rained Fireballs down on their foes, joining the battle as Spike and the others noticed that they were wearing metallic armor that looked like they had been enchanted to resist the flames that the Phoenixes could generate, while the arrival of such allies shocked their enemies and inspired their allies, no doubt because of the stories they had heard about the majestic birds, before the defenders knocked their foes backwards and gained some control over the battlefield, which allowed Titan and the others to push the dark alliance away from the main gate. Spyro was pleased with what was going on at the moment, because that was when he drew his runeblade and swung it through the air, blasting several of the Apes that were in front of him backwards while avoiding his allies, either due to them getting out of the way in time or the weapon reacted to who he considered enemies and allies, something he would have to ask Spike about, though his action caused Ignitus and the other Guardians to unleash the power of their runeblades and blast holes in the army that they were currently fighting. While that shocked and surprised a good number of their enemies, even if they would be fighting to the bitter end from the looks of things, it did make the defenders of Warfang cheer as the Troll Wraiths finally reached the area that they were fighting in, where they dispersed and targeted those that they deemed to be the pillars of the army that was defending the city at the moment, where one of them, who looked more like a king, stepped forward with a sword and a mace, an odd combination to be sure.

Spyro found that the one with two weapons was targeting him, out of the entire army, meaning that it deemed him to be the most important target to take down, though that put him at a disadvantage since he really couldn't fight like Titan or the Guardians could, with two legs instead of four, so he had to dodge both the sword and the mace, picking when to parry and let himself be pushed backwards, even though their fight cleared an area since none of the defenders or their foes wanted to be near the fight that was going on. It was times like this, where he was fighting a much more experienced opponent, that he wished he had access to the Warrior's Armor skill, something that Ember loved to use whenever she was in a fight and was currently using in addition to the Fangs of Felinia, as she cut down the enemies that happened to be around her at the moment, or even Spike's skill, Sage's Vision, so he could predict some of the moves that his foes made, though his attention was returned to reality as he dodged the incoming attack the Troll Wraith sent his way. While he was doing that, however, he noticed that Cynder was moving towards them and an idea formed in his head, to which he used his new elemental powers and loosed them at his foe whenever he dodged one of the incoming attacks, either firing some Fireballs, Ice Shards, Earth Shots, or Lightning Bolts at the Troll he was fighting, attacks that actually annoyed his foe, even though it didn't dodge them at all, which was rather weird and made him wonder if his foe felt that it was unable to be beaten in battle. That was perfectly fine with him, because foes that believed them to be invulnerable or untouchable were the ones that usually left a hole in their defenses and never bothered to correct it, thinking that such a thing would never bring about their end, and he was sure he had spotted something that might turn the tide of this fight in his favor, even though his foe likely hadn't spotted it yet.

A few moments later Spyro did something that surprised some of the defenders, he hurled Windshear at his foe and the Troll Wraith moved a little to avoid it, though he was perfectly fine with that as he channeled his Ice Magic into the area and summoned a burst of ice that trapped the lower part of his foe's body, before Cynder, who was up in the air and was in the direction that he had thrown the runeblade in, caught Windshear and drove it into the Troll Wraith's back, causing it to stagger to the best of its ability for a moment before going still as its spirit departed and left behind a lifeless robe as the pair regrouped as the battles around them resumed.

"These guys are tough, I'll give them that," Spyro remarked, though at the same time he huffed for a moment, as that battle had been rather intense due to the pair of weapons his foe had been using against him, despite the fact that his foe might have been playing with him and underestimated the power that he had, or the tricks that he might have learned over the years he and the others had been adventuring around the islands of the world, and Cynder took a moment to slip the runeblade back into the sheath he was wearing.

"Not as tough as the Golem was," Cynder stated, because based on what she remembered the Golem that had torn a hole in Warfang's outer wall, ripped apart the main gate, and broke a good part of the city in their battle, even if it was just a past life she was recalling and using to help her understand the new reality they were in, meaning it was one of the most difficult foes she and Spyro had ever fought, even though it was nothing compared to the Destroyer and the Dark Master, with the latter being the toughest foe either of them had fought in their entire lives, before the ground shuddered for a few seconds and they glanced towards the Belt of Fire, "though I was hoping we had time before one showed up on the battlefield, just like the last time we fought it, or that it wouldn't show up at all."

The creature in question stood at a fourth of the total height of the volcano in the distance, or one and a half times the size of Warfang's wall, that was made out of earth, fire, and lava, due to the fact that its chest looked like magma, and while it walked on four legs, sort of like a spider, it had a more humanoid body with two massive earthen arms and a tail that looked like it would smash something to pieces, though it roared for a moment and caused the dark alliance to cheer as it started to advance into the fray. Of course that was when Spike took to the field for real, where he flew through the air and loosed a torrent of Ice Magic at his foe, by blasting it in the chest and knocking it off course so it would stay near the Belt of Fire and not get anywhere near the city, since he knew that allowing it to get anywhere near the city was a bad idea and that keeping it near where it had showed itself was the best thing he could do, even if that seemed to annoy his foe in the process. The Golem, growing annoyed with Spike rather easily, swung its arms at its target and Spike either fly around the air to avoid the attacks or even utilized the teleportation spell he had used to great effect back in the past, like when he fought Blowhard, where his greater control over magic allowed him to use the spell a great number of times and not get tired, though he focused on loosing bursts of Ice Shards at the Golem's back, arms, and chest, since those seemed to be the best targets for him at the moment, while the legs would wait until the moment his foe started to move out of the area, or tried to at the very least. One thing he noticed was that there were a few dark crystals attached to certain parts of the Golem's body, the arms and chest to be exact, and he was sure the head had a few as well, which was why he targeted those areas with his ice spells so he could slow his foe's movements down, not by a lot since his foe was massive and there was a lot of ground to cover, but at the very least his thoughts were proven to be correct when one of the dark crystals on the creature's right arm shattered and it staggered for a moment, revealing that this enemy had a weakness that he could use against it as he continued to target the crystals as he dodged the incoming attacks.

Normally this would be the time where Spyro, Ember, and possibly Cynder might join him in his battle, though they were more focused on the enemies that were around them as they guarded the main gate of Warfang, so Spike turned his attention towards the Golem and rained his Ice Magic down on his targets, weakening the dark crystals that were all over its body and even blew a good number of them up as it tried to hit him, before he found the main core and blasted it with a powerful beam of magic, blowing the Golem's heart up and causing it to fall backwards so that it was halfway in the Belt of Fire and half was pointing at Warfang, before he landed near Spyro and Cynder.

"Okay, either the Golem is weaker than I remember, or you are much stronger than I thought," Cynder remarked, all while she tripped a Skavenger over and knocked it out with a powerful headbutt to the chest, which was when she turned towards Spyro and Spike for a moment as Ember flew over to where they were standing and knocked down another foe that was advancing on them, an Ape Commander who dared to approach them, even though she glanced out at the army their allies were fighting at the moment, "however, defending Warfang this time around is going much more smoothly, as we were able to arrive before the battle began this time, instead of arriving while the siege was already happening, so we should be able... to... oh you have got to be kidding me!"

Spyro, Spike, and Ember glanced in the direction that Cynder was looking in and found that there were several more massive enemies, Golems to be exact, emerging from the Belt of Fire and roaring as they touched the ground that was on this side of the flames, causing the soldiers of the dark alliance to cheer while the defenders of Warfang paused, as while it was possible for Spike to take one out one his own there were at least eight more Golems standing before them and that meant the advantage had switched back to Gaul's side. That was followed by all of their enemies pausing for a moment as a portal opened near the group of dragons that were leading the defenders, which was when they watched as Bianca and the rest of their missing friends marched out of it with a smile on their faces as they stared out at the area that was right in front of them, though the reason behind their smiles became clear not a few moments later as Spyro noticed Prince Azrael and Princess Ami, the latter armed with a powerful looking wand, marching out of the portal. Not a few seconds later a few Cat Witches flew out of the portal, using their brooms like they had seen in the past, and flew around until they came to a stop by their leader, who was carrying the scepter they had returned to him, which was when a number of other portals opened up between where they were standing and the main gate of Warfang, something that brought a smile to the faces of the group as they realized what was happening. The forces of Avilion, lead by Bianca and the council that now ruled in place of the Sorceress that they beat a year ago, were finally joining them as they marched out of their realms and assembled on this side of the portals, all of them armed for battle and appearing to be ready to take down the soldiers of the dark alliance, including their commanders, and while they marched Prince Azrael declared that they were here to fight and that all of their soldiers repeated it, like a chant for some odd reason, but the group wasn't going to bother stopping it since it seemed to help them out.

Once everyone was on this side of their various portals the Chronicler stepped through the one that Bianca and the rest of their friends had stepped through and closed them all, where they focused on the enemies who stood between the city and where their target was standing, who was no doubt considering if it was time to take the field himself or just fold and release the Destroyer, before Spike landed near the group that was near Bianca, as there was something he wanted to confirm before the battle resumed.

"So, is that everyone from the other lands?" Spike asked, because based on what he was seeing it appeared that all of their allies were present and that they shouldn't be expecting any additional forces, not unless the Chronicler knew where to find some more allies and could convince them to join the battle for the fate of the world, while at the same time he did notice that it appeared that everyone was waiting for something to happen, either for Spyro to issue the command to charge and resume the battle or something else they didn't know about.

"Not quite." the Chronicler replied, though that was when he opened eight more portals, off in the distance so they were away from the rest of the army that had gathered in front of the city, before Spike and the others noticed something interesting, the forces that started to march out of the new portals were elementals, like the Fire Elementals of the Isle of Bozibig or the Lightning Elementals of Concurrent Skies, which caused smiles to appear on the faces of Ignitus and the rest of the Guardians when they realized what was going on.

The four Elemental Scions, being the Stone Sentinel, the Ice King, the Magma Golem, and the Thunder Prince, joined the battle while they were joined by the four remaining Elemental Lords, the Windlord, the Poison Emperor, and the other two the group hadn't met yet, a shadowy elemental dressed in the armor of a lord and a deep red elemental, dressed in special cloth to keep it contained and caused some Apes to shudder as they laid eyes on it, where Spike knew the former was the Shadow Master and the latter was the Fear Monger... and all of the elemental leaders had returned to their true height, just like they had seen during their visit to the Isle of Bozibig, meaning they were ready for battle.

"Defenders of our world!" Spyro called out, allowing his voice to carry all over the battlefield as he assumed the role of their commander, which made sense when he considered the power he had access to and rarely used, which was where all of the soldiers that were guarding Warfang glanced at him for a moment as he drew Windshear from its sheath for a moment and pointed it right at the dark alliance that was resting in front of them, even though his true target was Gaul, because if they could take him out they would prevent the rise of the Destroyer, "Charge!"

The moment the word left his mouth the assembled army charged forward and rushed towards the area that the dark alliance was gathered in, who seemed surprised by the amount of enemies that were suddenly in front of them and needed Gaul to command them to charge before they moved, before the battle resumed as the two sides smashed into each other once more, even though this time around it appeared that the dark alliance wasn't prepared for the amount of foes that were now in front of them, as several Apes, Skavengers, Trolls, and Grublins were knocked back the moment the battle resumed. While that happened the massive Elemental Lords, to refer to both the Lords and the Scions as a whole, collided with all of the Golems that had been summoned to the battlefield, where a look of shock had to appear on Gaul's face as the Stone Sentinel punched one in the face to stun it and then quickly shattered the core so it could move forward, the Ice King totally froze his foe where it stood and shattered it a few seconds later, the Magma Golem manipulated the flames that were in its foe's body and blew it up from the inside, and the others followed a similar pattern as they beat down the Golems that Gaul had summoned. Spike was pleased by what he was seeing, because the power of the four remaining Elemental Lords and the unbound fury of the Elemental Scions, who the Apes had attempted to mind control, was more than enough to turn the tide of the battle in their favor, more than even he was expecting when he watched what was going on at the moment, before he turned his attention back to the battle and blasted a Skavenger backwards with a Lightning Bolt to the chest. The smaller elementals that followed the Elemental Lords were eager to punish all of their enemies for the crimes that had been committed against their leaders over the last couple of days, which the group was expecting given what they had seen during their visits to the various locations the elementals called home, and it was nice to see that the Apes, at the very least, were getting scared of what they were seeing.

Of course the elementals weren't the only ones that dominated their enemies, as Spyro and Cynder charged right into a cluster of enemies and blasted them backwards with a combination of fire and wind, Spike focused on the larger foes and wrapped his magic around some of them so he could either freeze them or shock them into submission, Ember used both her Warrior's Armor and her metallic claws to deal some impressive damage to several of the enemies that dared to challenge her, and Sol charged into an Ape Commander and pushed it into the air, allowing him to gather his flames for a moment and then charge into its chest so he could dive bomb several enemies. While that was going on Elora flew around the battlefield and punched several of their enemies into the ground, and she made sure to blast some of them with her blasters as well, though Hunter and Agent 9 focused their fire on the skies as they targeted the Dreadwings and the couple of Skurvywings that were in the air, to reduce the amount of enemies that were in the air so the defenders that were on the cannons would be able to lock onto their targets that much easier and ensured that they and their allies didn't get overrun with enemies. Sheila jumped around the battlefield with the Mountain Goats from her home realm following her around, where she kicked her targets into the ground and the others beat them up so they would stop fighting the rest of the defenders, before she moved again and sought out some enemies to kick, even though she did leap into the air and rush downwards to smash some cannons that were being brought out when she found some Skavengers trying to even the playing field with what the defenders had. Sgt. Byrd, on the other hand, took to the skies with the Hummingbirds that he had been training and they proceeded to drop small missiles behind enemy lines, targeting the middle and back ranks of Gaul's forces before any of them had a chance to join the battle, while at the same time Bentley and a few other Yetis smashed into some of their enemies and smashed them around with their weapons, even though Elora was sure that one of them was the Yeti from Colossus, given that the individual uppercut an Ape Commander like a boxer would, just like when she and the others found him in Avilion. Bianca also got in on the action, blasting several of her enemies with either her Fireballs or her Lightning Bolts, though she also kept an eye on the sky and loosed some Ice Shards into the air when some of the flying enemies tried to pass over her head, making sure they didn't get to the city they were defending, even if she was looking for the leaders of the dark alliance.

As it turned out both Captain Skabb and the Lord of the Trolls decided to try and join the battle, but they were taken down with little effort by Ignitus and the other Guardians, who had been fighting several of the other enemies and only moved when their targets entered the battle, where Ignitus and Volteer took care of Captain Skabb while Terrador and Cyril dealt with the Lord of the Trolls, as in they dodged attacks and showed their targets why they were the Guardians of the four Prime Elements, blasting them with Fire, Ice, Earth, and Lightning, before toppling their enemies, allowing Spyro and the others to focus on their true target... and it looked like Gaul was tired of messing around, as it appeared that he was now advancing towards the army, to which Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember marched to meet him.

"Defenders of Warfang, I must congratulate you on your efforts to protect this city," Gaul said, where it was clear that his voice was being projected to every corner of the battlefield, causing the fighting to stop for a moment as everyone took a moment to listen to what the Ape King had to say, though at the same time that didn't stop the group of four from what they were doing, especially since his right arm, the one that had retrieved the final Elementium Key, seemed to be glowing at the moment, "and so I shall reward all of you with the honor of being the first ones to witness the resurrection of the Destroyer, and the end of the world!"

Before Spyro or the others could say anything the glow that was surrounding Gaul's arm intensified for a moment and made them pause for a few seconds, though that was followed by the ground below them shuddering as the now active volcano blew some lava up into the air for a few seconds, though as everything died down that was when they froze as a massive creature, made out of fire, earth, and lava, just like the Golems had been, raised its hands and gripped the edge of the volcano's opening, allowing it to pull itself free so it could climb down the volcano's side, even though the creature's sudden arrival shocked everyone, as there were some gasps when they saw it.

"No... no no no, we can't be fighting this thing again..." Spyro commented, as now that he had access to the memories from his old life he knew what the Chronicler said had been true, he and Cynder fought this beast and had beaten it, only for the Dark Master to cheat and allow it to complete its terrible destiny, leading to them sacrificing themselves so that the world could live on, and while he knew Spike and Ember were strong he didn't think any of them had a chance at stopping the Destroyer this time around.

"The Destroyer has commenced its journey to form the Ring of Annihilation," Gaul continued, showing the group that he was taking some sick pleasure in tormenting the defenders of Warfang with the knowledge that they wouldn't be able to stop the end of the world, while at the same time it looked like some of the Apes, Skavengers, and Trolls were thinking about what they had done to aid the Ape King in bringing his terrible vision to reality, before he continued with what he had to say to all of them, "though at the end of the journey, when it returns to this volcano and climbs inside it, the Belt of Fire will spread across the surface of this world in a torrent of fire and ash... there will be no escape!"

If Gaul was looking to install fear and despair into his enemies, with his forces suffering the same thing, he succeeded, as many of the defenders stared at the Destroyer and stopped fighting, knowing that facing such a legendary beast was not something they could do, and even the siblings, who were used to saving the day, had no idea what they could do, as Spyro and Cynder had failed to stop the Dark Master the last time this happened and even if they beat Gaul they would never be able to catch up with the beast, and they knew that not even the Chronicler would be able to assist them, so all they could do was watch as the Destroyer descended down the side of the volcano. Of course that was when the air that was all around them shuddered for a few moments, not in the way that the ground did when the beast emerged from the volcano or when the Golems appeared to do battle, rather it seemed much gentler than what everyone had experienced over the last few minutes, and it seemed to be emitting from a certain point, one that Spike traced back to the area that was some distance in front of the massive beast that was just starting its terrible journey. That was followed by a new portal, which seemed to be about the size of an adult dragon and not made for an army to march through, opening in the air that was in the Destroyer's path, where the beast actually stopped for a moment as it glared at the portal, meaning it didn't like what was happening, either due to wanting the path cleared or knowing what was coming, though with a beast like this it was hard to tell what was going on. What emerged from the portal was a dragon that walked on two legs, even though he had strong wings that allowed him to fly out of the portal and land on a floating rock that rested in the air, and they were sure it was a male dragon based on the body that looked similar to the other adult dragons they had seen, who was wearing a set of attire that looked a lot like what Ignitus and the other Guardians were wearing, only his seemed to be made out of platinum, like Cynder's jewelry was, meaning this had to be the High Guardian. The dragon also had three horns on his head, one on either side of his head and the third on top, like where Spyro had the curved ridge between his two main horns, and all three of the new dragon's were curved back towards his back, while the dragon also had a line of ridges that ran down his back, much like what Spyro had, and his tail ended in a triangular spade.

In addition to all of that the newcomer also had a rather imposing presence, which made sense given that he was the High Guardian of Warfang, but what really interested the group was that he had purple scales that were a little darker than what Spyro had, no doubt due to age or the fact that he was born with them, though as they noticed that Spike started to connect the dots that were in front of him, especially when he took in the sheer power that seemed to be emitting from the dragon as the portal closed behind him.

"Ignitus! Its father, he's come to aid us!" Cynder happily said, where Ignitus and the other Guardians, who had been in the middle of making their way to where she, Spyro, Spike, and Ember were standing, nodded their heads to show that all of them understood what she was saying as they stared at the dragon that was focusing on the Destroyer, even though both Spyro and Ember realized that Spike had figured out what was going on, even if there were parts of the mystery that hadn't been solved yet.

"Cynder, there's only one other dragon, in all of our history, that has had purple scales... and you said that none of us would have believed you, even if you told us," Spike stated, though he was still shocked and surprised by what they had just discovered, despite the fact that it was hard to determine what was more worthy of his attention, the truth behind who Cynder's father was or the fact that the dragon in question was actually alive and well, even though everyone in the Dragon Realms thought he had disappeared entirely, "Your father is Malefor!"

Instead of saying anything, Cynder nodded her head to show Spyro and the others that Spike was correct, which really made Spike consider things for a moment, before everyone focused on the first purple dragon as he started to move once more, flying straight for the Destroyer's face as the massive beast realized that he was heading straight for it, which was when the beast swung one of its massive fists at him, only for Malefor to flap his wings and get above the arm without the attack hitting him, before he reached the area near the Destroyer's head and swung his right fist at the beast. That was when a circular crater formed in the side of the beast's head and the force of the attack knocked the Destroyer backwards, causing it to tumble into the ground that was near the base of the volcano, displaying the legendary strength of the first purple dragon, something that both stunned Spyro, Spike, Ember, and all of their friends while leaving them in awe as they waited to see what happened next. Malefor, instead of heading down into the area that the beast was resting in and using his strength to beat it into submission in a matter of seconds, remained in the air as he etched several symbols into the air that was in front of him, where Spike could have sworn that he noticed the nine symbols that were associated with all of the elements a dragon could tap into, those being Fire, Ice, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Shadow, Poison, Fear, and the Aether, and once all nine of them were in the air, eight in a circle around the ninth, which was the Aether symbol, he started to gather his magic as a sphere of magical energy formed in front of him, though it seemed like he was combining the nine elements into a single attack. Gaul, sensing that something was wrong, started to move as soon as the attack started to take shape, something that was followed by Spyro and Cynder nodding to each other as they loosed their own breath attacks at the Ape King, though instead of using one of the elements that they had access to, like one would think, the pair tapped into the Aether for a moment and Gaul used his magical scepter to try and parry the attack, though the magic in his weapon was no match for their attack and he was wiped out in seconds, as in the attack shattered him to pieces as it knocked his staff to the ground.

Once Gaul was taken care of, and the pair stopped their attack, Malefor seemed to nod his head for a moment as he returned his attention to what he was doing, which was when he loosed his own attack and it rushed down to where the Destroyer was resting, unleashing a powerful explosion that engulfed the area the beast was in and forced everyone to brace themselves as the shockwave came at them, though when the smoke cleared the Destroyer was nowhere to be seen, meaning Malefor had wiped it from the face of the world, something he must have spent years learning how to do, in the event that it was freed, before he turned around and landed in front of Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember.

"Cynder, it is good to see that you are unharmed," Malefor said, where his voice, despite having an imposing nature to it based on the fact that he had far more experience than anyone in the world, showed that he was happy to see that his daughter was just fine and that the residents of the city he was supposed to be protecting were safe and sound, though he also took a moment to embrace Cynder, before she returned to the ground as he turned towards them, "You must be the ones that the Chronicler told me about, when he came to warn me about Gaul's plans."

"That's right, I'm Spyro, and these are my siblings, Spike and Ember," Spyro replied, though he was still shocked by the fact that the first purple dragon was alive and that he was standing in front of them, something that had to be freaking out Spike at the moment since all of the records and stories said he just disappeared after a point in time, or at least that was what his brother had told him at one point in the past.

"Is that so?" Malefor inquired, where he sounded interested in what Spyro had said, no doubt due to the fact that he likely remembered what Cynder had told him once upon a time, about the other dragon that she recalled in her memories, the one she was linked to in some manner, before he smiled and walked towards them for a moment, "Come, its time that we returned to Warfang and celebrate your victory over this dark alliance, as without their leaders the Apes, Trolls, and all of the Skavengers will return to more peaceful lives."

Spyro and the others had no idea what was going to happen next, since they had been expecting the end of the world or something like that, but it appeared that Malefor was right, without their leaders the soldiers of the dark alliance were already starting to scatter and go their separate ways, meaning their army could relax as the Deepcore Army returned to guarding the walls of the city, allowing them to see whatever the future held for them.

Comments

[Comickook]

All I can say is wow. That was some excellent work on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I particularly liked how the gang gathered up all those allies to help out in the defense of Warfang (including everybody from the Dragon Realms, Avalar and Avilion, ALL of the Elemental Lords AND Golems and even the soldiers of the Deepcore Army) with pretty much all the heroes getting a fair chance to shine in that battle. Though Malefor coming to help has me thinking mixed thoughts. On one hand, I LOVED seeing him making short work of the Destroyer. On the other, I have to wonder if his helping was genuine heroism or part of a larger scheme to catch the good guys off guard later. The more optimistic side of me is hoping for the former (i.e. that he might have regained his memories, but just had a legitimate change of heart for the better, as other reviewers have guessed), but the other side of me is on the lookout for the latter. And, right now, both sides are about fifty-fifty.

At any rate, I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this.

[PrismStrike]

hooo boiii that was awesome! absolutely everything i was expecting from this chapter. The preperations were done perfectly, the battle and combat was epic. Seeing each of the allies show up as needed was also a nice touch. I also completely agree with the shattering of gaul as he is one enemy that cannot be allowed to ever have another chance at doing this (unlike the sorceress and moneybags who are technically still alive and with one mess up could be released) an absolutely fantasticaly done chapter. Looking forward to the next one. keep uo the great worl

[Kamen rider yokai]

This very obviously has had been influenced by avengers endgame. It really felt a lot like the final battle against thanos here what with the massive army. Still holy elements that was intense. Wonder how malefor will react to spike having his old staff and being the youngest archmage as a result. Or that ember can tap into the aether. Heck I'm wondering if hunter finds out he has family among the cheetahs of warfang. It will be very interesting to see how things change with this.

[zachary12]

nice work