Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Expedition: High Powered Battle

Spyro, Spike, Ember, and the rest of their friends, and Cynder was counted in that at this point, found that the celebration banquet went on for a few hours and it was a nice thing to experience, as Malefor and the Guardians wanted to make sure they were thanked for their efforts to save both Warfang and the rest of the world, even though none of them had raised their hands or claws to defeat the Destroyer, something that only the first purple dragon had been able to take out with his power. Despite all their skills Spyro was still under the impression that they wouldn't have been able to deal with the rather large beast that Gaul had released, and there was a chance that the only way they might have been able to topple it was with Akilesh, but thanks to the timely arrival of Malefor they didn't have to worry about it, so he pushed that thought from his mind and focused on the celebration banquet that was happening all around them. Of course he was still surprised by the fact that Malefor wanted to face him, his siblings, and even Cynder in battle, to see what sort of powers they had for himself and see how his daughter had progressed since the last time he had trained her or had watched her train, something that none of the group knew since they only had a limited knowledge on what happened in this city, though Cynder seemed ready for it and that was enough for Spyro and Ember, even if Spike was focused on the knowledge that rested inside the library they had looked through earlier.

In addition to all of that there were some stories being shared by the rest of the table, Nestor and the other Leaders telling Ignitus and the other Guardians about some of the things that the siblings had done before their first adventure, like the time Spike accidentally bit into a gem when he first started taking to the lifestyle of a scholar, even though Ignitus was impressed by the fact that Spike had started being a scholar so early in his life, something that had surprised the Artisans when it happened. Elora and Hunter also had a few tales to tell both the dragons of Warfang and Hunter's parents, where they told them about the events that had caused them to seek out someone to help them with Ripto, even if Hunter was no longer the scared and cowardly Cheetah he had been when those events happened, and how they ended up with Spyro, Spike, and Ember helping them deal with the threats their realms faced. Of course Akello and Sarah were surprised by the fact that Moneybags was willing to start a terrible cross realm war between the Breezebuilders and Land Blubbers, one that the siblings had to stop once Avalar was safe and sound, which was around the time that Bianca took over the conversation and told them about how Moneybags arrived in Avilion, which she and the other residents had been calling the Forgotten Realms since the Sorceress, or Morrigan thanks to what Malefor said, took over and started ruling over everything with an iron fist. That eventually brought them to the fact that the siblings, Elora, and Hunter gathered an army of soldiers from the realms of Avilion to face the army of Rhynocs their foe had created, using the same spell Gnasty Gnorc had used to create gem soldiers, before they invaded the Treasury that they unlocked and eventually found that Morrigan had fled to it, resulting in Spike using the staff from their first villain to imprison Moneybags and Morrigan in their own crystalline statues and were now on display in Avalar and Avilion.

Malefor remained silent as the stories were shared, mostly because he was interested in what Nestor and the others were saying at the moment and didn't want to interrupt the stories that were being told, just like how the Guardians, the Chronicler, and even Cynder were interested in the stories, though Hunter's parents seemed pleased with how the greedy bear was punished and the fact that the residents of Avalar were making sure no one touched the statue, since that was the only way for him to be released, someone from his home needed to touch it to free him. In case anyone was confused by something Spike explained the spell he had used on Moneybags and Morrigan, since it was one that Gnasty Gnorc had used on the Dragon Realms and he, Spyro, and Ember had saved the day by freeing the dragons, recovering the gems and eggs that had been stolen, and how they beat Gnasty Gnorc and used his own spell against him, to trap him inside his own statue, one that none of the other Gnorcs had touched since they beat him. The most interesting part about all of that was the trick that Spike and Ember had played on their first villain, the lava immunity trick that surprised many of the dragons that were in the banquet hall, and that included Malefor since none of them had that sort of skill and he was unfamiliar with someone even having such a power, but they had used it to good effect to stun both Gnasty Gnorc and Ripto a year later, causing some of the others to laugh in the process, showing that it was funny thing to hear. Spike using Gnasty Gnorcs scepter on Moneybags and Morrigan seemed to be a stroke of genius to the dragons that were in the hall, as now they understood why they had trapped the pair in statues, before they moved onto the next story that was lined up, one that Elora started since it involved how she went from a simple bystander and developed into the warrior she was, thanks to the training she underwent and the armor she wore almost all the time.

Eventually the celebration ended as nighttime arrived, to which Malefor quickly escorted them across the street and let them use the building in question, a building that had more than enough rooms and beds for everyone, so they could get a good nights sleep and recover all of the energy they expanded during the battle for Warfang, while making sure all of them gathered their weapons and gear before leaving the banquet hall, since he knew none of them wanted to leave their stuff behind, even though the Guardians did hand over the runeblades they had been allowed to use, which would be returned to the Arcanaeum in the very near future. Of course Spike did ask a rather important question to the first purple dragon, that being if he was going to take back the Arcanaeum now that he knew it was safe and sound, since he figured Malefor hadn't tried to reclaim it due to Morrigan being near it almost all the time and revealing it would have given her the weapons to take over Avilion, and possibly the rest of the lands that existed in the world, something that caused Spyro and the others to pause so they could hear what the answer to the question was. It was clear that Malefor wasn't sure if he should take the ancient vault back or leave it in the hands of the next generation of purple dragons, Ember, and, of course, his daughter, so his answer, as it turned out, was that he would decide what to do about it at some point in the future, to which Spike nodded his head and headed towards the room that he was being given for the night, so he could join the rest of the group and rest at long last.

When morning arrived Malefor, the Guardians, and Hunter's parents joined the group on the airship as they headed to the southeast of where the continent rested, coming from the direction of the Dragon Realms, as there was an island he used as a training area since he didn't want to use the Arcanaeum, mostly out of worry that Morrigan might discover the whereabouts of the vault and the treasures that it held, but now he didn't have to worry about that, an island that was an hour and a half away from Doxantha.

---

The group did nothing major while they traveled through the air, not since they would be witnessing the battle between Spyro, Spike, Ember, who were the heroes of three lands, and Cynder, who would be facing off against Malefor, the first purple dragon and possibly the greatest dragon in the history of the world, in terms of magic and strength, so they knew that this would be a grand fight and that everyone needed their strength for what the future held for them, hence the reason Titan refrained from trying to have Ember and the others train while they traveled. The island in question was one of the larger ones they had seen, as it seemed to be the same size as the White Isle and had a mountain or volcano in the center of it, though the rest of the ground seemed to be flat and rocky, with some patches of grass here and there, though as they approached the island Malefor directed them to an area where the airship would be safe and sound, to which Fury nodded his head and descended towards the area in question. Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember found that the island was the perfect place to have a fight, a destructive one considering the power they were going to be facing, so once the airship was in position the four of them flew off the deck and headed out into the area that was in front of them, where Spike left Akilesh on the deck, because despite the fact Malefor knew he could wield it he wanted to see how he measured up to the legendary dragon with his own power, before trying the staff. Malefor followed after them as the Guardians, the Leaders, the Chronicler, and the rest of the group remained on the deck so they could see what happened when the five of them started to fight each other, especially when they considered the powers that the five individuals had, so they kept quiet and waited to see what unfolded.

It took them a few moments to put some distance between them and the airship, though once they were five to ten minutes from the airship the first ones that landed were Spyro, Cynder, Spike, and Ember, where they looked at the area they were in and readied themselves for what was coming their way, as all of them knew that Malefor was strong, he would be quick, and his magic was unlike anything they had seen in the past, so it would be a tough fight for all of them and they knew it, though they remained silent as Malefor landed nearby and stretched for a moment, showing that he was ready for the fight and that he was interested in seeing what they had to show him.

"Well then, you can come at me whenever you're ready to start this battle," Malefor said, though at the same time he quickly switched from his stretching stance to a stance that indicated that he was ready for them to come at him, as his stance was more of a sideways one and he was staring at them, showing them that he was waiting for them to make the first move before he did anything, hence the reason the group gathered near each other for a few seconds, before even charging into the fray to battle the dragon that was in front of them.

One would have expected the four young dragons to talk about something, like a plan of attack, but the siblings knew how the others fought and they had gained enough experience from fighting with Cynder to understand her movements as well, meaning that all four of them had an idea of what they might do when the battle started and how they could use the techniques of the others to their advantage, especially when they considered that their foe might be looking into the future with his Sage's Vision, according to what the legends said. As such the four of them quickly dispersed from where they had been standing and spread out in a circular formation around Malefor, though Cynder was the one that rushed right at their foe and leapt into the air, where she swung her front claws at her father as she attempted to scratch him, to which he replied in kind and parried the incoming attacks, even though this did show the siblings another way to fight in their current state, as Cynder used her wings to stay aloft while she went on the offensive. Ember realized something she and the other Peace Keepers must have missed over the years of training, they could attack while being in the air and could use their wings to stay in the air, and she meant that in the sense of a young dragon and not an adult, but it gave her some ideas on what they could do in the future, to which she turned her attention back to the fight as Spyro, mimicking Cynder's movements, flew into the area from Malefor's right and swung his claws at him, though she figured he'd do that given the memories of his old life. While all of that was going on Spike gathered his magic for a few seconds, where Ember was sure he was going with a large Fireball to start things off, before he loosed it and sent it flying right at his target, no doubt intending to hit Malefor while he was distracted by Spyro and Cynder, even though that didn't work all that much as their foe knocked Cynder backwards a bit and then punched the Fireball with his bare hand, blowing the entire thing up and casting some smoke into the area that was around him.

It was in that moment that Ember rushed at Malefor from the back, intending on using the smoke to cover what she was going to be doing, and leapt into the air so she could spin around while she was in the air and then bring down her tail on her target's shoulder, something that would have the Warrior's Armor wrapped around it since she figured that the base attack wouldn't do anything to the powerful dragon and that she needed the skill to wound him, though as her tail got close to Malefor's shoulder he suddenly reached up and gripped it, giving her enough time to deactivate her skill as he used her like a flail and knocked both Spyro and Cynder backwards, before releasing her.

"How did he know my attack was coming?" Ember remarked, keeping her voice low so only Spyro, Cynder, and Spike could hear what she had to say, while at the same time Malefor shifted his stance back to what it had been like when they launched their assault, even though it had ended with him using Ember as a weapon, which was why she was glad she had deactivated her skill, otherwise that attack would have done some damage to Spyro and Cynder, before she glanced at the dragon that was near them, "That smoke should have prevented him from noticing me... was he using Sage's Vision to see what was coming?"

"That's the power that gives one those red rings around the eyes, right?" Cynder asked, because she knew the legends that revolved around her father and the various powers that he could use whenever he was fighting someone, and there were her own experiences whenever she trained with him, though as she said that Spike nodded his head a little to show that she was correct in what she was saying, "I've never seen him use that, in all the years that I've spent training with him, so I would have to say that him dodging your attack and using it against us was his reflexes, even though it was a good tactic that would have worked against the Apes and their allies."

"I agree, he was using his reflexes to turn the tide of this battle in his favor, for a few seconds," Spyro added, though that was due to the fact that he had seen his own brother use the power a few times and he could have sworn that the air was different whenever he used the Sage's Vision skill, just like whenever he used Conqueror's Spirit or when Ember used Warrior's Armor, so since the air had been the same as when the battle started it had to be Malefor's reflexes that allowed him to overcome the attack and show all of them that they had to be careful during this fight.

"I doubt he'd start using Sage's Vision, right at the start of our fight, so I'd say reflexes as well," Spike said, as he had been observing Malefor's movements and knew that this wouldn't be an easy fight, especially given the fact that their foe had broken their first attack by simply defending himself and then using one of them against the rest, before he glanced at the older dragon and knew that he was patiently waiting for the four of them to come at him again, to which he turned back towards the others, "Come on, let's test a few more tactics out and see if we can't find something that works, before we resort to simply attacking him with everything we have... that should be our last ditch effort against Malefor, especially with all the skills he is said to have, and, before any of you ask, Akilesh is for when we run out of options."

Spyro, Cynder, and Ember nodded their heads in understanding, mostly because they knew that Spike was trying to see if there was a hole or weakness in Malefor's defenses, something they were unsure of due to the fact that this battle had just started and there was no way for them to know the answer to that in the first few moments of the fight, to which the four of them rushed out of the area they had been standing in and headed for Malefor again, though this time around Spike gathered his power and blasted the area that their foe was in with a bunch of Lightning Bolts. None of them were supposed to hurt Malefor, regardless if they hit him or not, and the smoke that was generated by the attack increased as both Spyro and Ember loosed bursts of their fire breath into the area, aiming for the ground and not their target, allowing Cynder to focus on the element she was picking out as she dived into her shadow and disappeared, even though the others knew what she was up to. Not a few seconds later Cynder burst out of her father's shadow and swung her tail right at his neck, intending on knocking him to the side so that Spyro and the others could rush in and do some damage, but her plan was ruined as her father avoided the attack by moving his body out of the way, which was the moment that the rest of the group rushed into the area and lashed out at Malefor, where Spyro gathered his flames around his claws and swung them at his target, Ember readied a Warrior Armor reinforced headbutt, and Spike loosed a volley of Ice Shards at the same time, combining the three attacks with Cynder's Shadow Play technique. For a moment it seemed like they were actually going to hit him, even if it would result in a scratch or two on Malefor's platinum armor, though that was about the time that Spike noticed the magic around their foe's wings, where when he flared them the sheer gust he produced with his wind magic knocked all four of them and their attacks away like they were nothing.

Instead of pausing Spike gathered his magic again and sent out a number of copies of himself, Mirror Images to be exact, into the area that was around them so he could confuse Malefor to some degree as he searched for the real one, as this spell was designed to basically copy whoever used it and the copies would mimic the motions of the user, so any spell he used they could use and any tactic he had thought of they would use, so it was like there were eleven Spikes, instead of just one of him, and that meant there might be a chance for them to do something.

"Ten Mirror Images, very impressive for one so young," Malefor commented, referring to the fact that this was a spell that was in the middle ground of what a mage could learn how to wield, and the fact that most users could only summon about three to four copies of themselves, even though the dragon that was speaking, according to legend, could easily do the same thing that Spike was doing, which would be bad if he decided to cast the same spell, but based on what they were seeing it appeared that he might be sticking to what they've been facing so far.

Spike bowed his head a little, to show that he accepted what Malefor was saying, and the copies followed his lead not even a few moments later, though as soon as that was done he burst into the space between them and the ten copies did the same thing, though while the real Spike loosed a burst of Ice Shards while the others tapped into the other elements, with some repeating what the others were using, using spells that he practiced and hadn't really used in battle, and just as he expected Malefor used his wings and the wind to knock the spells back. Once that was done he punched the wind with his fist and destroyed the spell in seconds, creating an opening that Spike was waiting for, as that was the moment that Spyro, Cynder, and Ember rushed into the area that Malefor was in and lashed out at the dragon that happened to be in front of them, hoping to take him by surprise this time around, even though he was waiting for something to happen that would derail this tactic. Cynder dove into the shadows and used them to make shadowy copies of herself as she fired a burst of shadowy energy at her father, a deviation of the usual fire breath that dragons used, meaning that most of them were fake and one of them was real, while at the same time Ember roll forward through the air with her Warrior's Armor up, making her a wrecking ball, in the words of some of the residents of the realms they had saved in the past, showing that they were going to hit him from two different directions. Malefor, just as Spike expected, turned around and dealt with both attacks, using the bottom of his foot to pause Ember in the air by kicking backwards, before pushing himself and Ember into the air to avoid the incoming attack that Cynder sent at him, making the shadows pass under them without even touching him, something that was followed by Spyro swinging Windshear and loosing a wave of wind magic through the air, one that rushed at where their foe was standing.

Malefor raised his arms and blocked the incoming attack with his bracers, where Spike determined that they had to be magical to some degree, as they stalled the wave for a few moments and that gave Malefor time to force his arms apart a few moments later, breaking the attack into two halves and sending the fragments away from the area they were standing in, and when the smoke cleared Cynder noticed some light gashes that were in her father's bracers, showing that platinum could stand against the power of a runeblade, to a degree anyway.

"Impressive. Most impressive. All of you have good abilities, and you're able to work like a grand team with only a day or two of working together," Malefor commented, though at he said that he brushed off his attire and checked the bracers he was wearing, looking at the scratches that he would have to mend at some point in the future, before he shrugged and glanced at the four young dragons that were in front of him, where he didn't count the Mirror Images that were lingering in the area that was around them, though it was easy to see that they were ready to attack him again, "Well then, I guess its time I went on the offensive a little."

Spyro and the others readied themselves as they charged into the area that was in front of them, where the images Spike had summoned readied several spells as that happened, though that was followed by Malefor spinning around as he loosed a number of Lightning Bolts through the air and struck down all of the copies of Spike that were around them, cutting down on the number of enemies he had to deal with, but Spike determined that it was a good tactic for both sides of this battle, as it would open the way for the others to do something. Of course he also channeled his magic and loosed a burst of lightning magic at Malefor, even though the lightning danced around his horns for a moment before it rushed at the area his target was in, where he found that their foe raised his hand and loosed an identical spell to counter his, which blew up the area between them and kicked up some smoke as the others rushed towards their foe, each of them having their own tactic at the ready. Cynder used the Shadow Play spell again, though this time she increased the number of copies she created and made sure some of them focused on loosing bursts of wind, shadow, poison, and fear magic at her father, even if she was sure he would block the attacks as they came at him, while at the same time the rest of the copies went on the offensive with her claws and tail, where Ember hardened her entire body and rushed down at Malefor from the area that was above them. Spyro loosed balls of fire out into the area that they were fighting in, purely to set the grass on fire and cause some additional smoke to rise so they could block Malefor's sight and allow the others to strike their foe, because now that he knew they could scratch his bracers, even if a runeblade had done the deed, though he was hoping for this to do something to push the tide of the battle in their favor.

Malefor, however, called upon the power of his lightning magic and blasted all of the copies that Cynder had created, wiping all of them out in a matter of seconds, though that was followed by him waving his hands and using the flames that Spyro had created to loose Fireballs at the dragon he was targeting, before he jabbed his elbow backwards and struck Ember in the chest before her attack could hit him, to which he grabbed her and sent her flying towards Cynder, who had to dodge the attack as Ember staggered and coughed for a moment. Ember realized that Malefor had punched through her Warrior's Armor, showing that his strength was far stronger than the skill she was wielding and that his base strength was nothing to be trifled with, rather it told her that they needed to be careful as they continued the battle that was going on, because if a single punch was enough to cause her to stagger and cough, when she was wielding the skill, it made her worry about their chances to actually bring him down or make him bend the knee towards them. At the same time this did confirm the legends that Spike had read about the first purple dragon, the ones that he told her and Spyro about so they understood just how strong Malefor was supposed to be, and this was after saving Avilion and the Archmage Ceremony he had gone through, so being careful sounded like the best thing they could do at the moment, especially since they had no idea when their foe would go on the offensive for real, since this was mostly him responding to their attacks, just like when they first started this battle. She and Cynder stood there for a few more seconds, allowing them to take a breather as Spyro and Spike rushed into the area that was in front of them, where Spyro alternated between firing bursts of of his fire breath, loosing some bursts of Ice Shards, firing off bursts of Lightning Bolts, and then even surrounded himself in a ball of earth magic and rushed at the area Malefor was standing in, intending on pushing him backwards a little. What he discovered was that their foe was ready for those attacks and jumped into the air to avoid the majority of them as they struck the area he had been standing in, though he raised his fist and smashed through the Earthen Ball Spyro had made, scattering the stones in a matter of seconds as he grabbed onto the dragon that had been inside the sphere and sent him flying through the air.

In that moment Spike did something the others hadn't seen before, he loosed a number of large Fireballs into the air and they disappeared a few seconds after leaving the area that he was standing in, reminding Spyro and Ember of their brother's rather unique Teleportation ability, the green flames, and the first Fireball burst out of the ground that was right below where their foe was standing, where the first one struck him in the chest and prompted him to jump backwards for a few seconds as the next couple missed him and rushed into the air. Spike was fine with that as he called upon the power of the earth for a moment and shifted the earth that was in the direction that Malefor had moved in, where he created a thick wall of stone that pushed him into the air, while preventing him from going anywhere but the way he had come from a few seconds ago, but that was followed by Spyro gathering the power of the wind as he loosed another wave of wind magic at Malefor, this one larger than the one he had used to damage the platinum bracers earlier. Malefor, in response to what was going on, gathered some of his magic and channeled the wind around one of his fists, which he swung at the wave and paused it for a few seconds, something that was followed by him breaking the attack and his defensive measure at the same time, though that wasn't the only thing the group had planned for him as Ember and Cynder appeared in the air that was above him, to which Ember loosed a massive burst of her fire breath and Cynder combined her own shadow breath into the attack, making it a massive shadowy flame that rushed down at the area that Malefor was standing in, all while Spike readied a spell in case their foe moved from where they were attacking. Interestingly enough the attack wiped out the area their foe had been standing in, though that was when Spike noticed a hint of magic and followed it for a few seconds before he loosed a fast moving Fireball through the air, where Malefor appeared not a few moments later, only he uppercut the spell and sent it into the air so it could explode and not damage anything in the process.

Spike paused for a few seconds as Spyro, Cynder, and Ember rejoined him, so they could look at Malefor and figure out what their next plan of attack was, because so far it seemed like all they were able to do was loose attacks and blow up the area that was around them, as Malefor was just as strong as the legends and stories claimed, even if Spike felt that he had actually lowered his power so he could fight on their level without totally overpowering them with his true power, and if that was the case he needed to come up with an idea to turn the tide of this battle back to their favor, one that didn't involve Spyro and Cynder exhausting themselves with the Aether.

"I have an idea, based on what I've seen so far," Spike commented, once more keeping his voice low so Malefor didn't hear what he had to say, even though he had the feeling that the first purple dragon needed to be preoccupied before he was ready to launch his attack at their foe, to which he glanced at the sky for a moment and then turned his eyes back to their foe, giving no chance for someone to figure out what he was doing, "just remember what happened to the airship some time ago and you'll be fine."

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Cynder said, to which Spike gathered his magic and disappeared from the area that they were standing in, though as that happened she tilted her head for a moment as she thought about what Spike had said and discovered that she really had no idea what he meant by his statement, to which she turned towards the others for a few seconds, who clearly knew what Spike was talking about, "Um, what did he mean by that? The airship is perfectly fine, and so were the other ones that came to our aid earlier."

"Don't worry, Spike knows what he's doing," Spyro replied, as while he knew Cynder had no idea what his brother was talking about, due to the fact that they might not have said anything about their first visit to Breeze Harbor, their focus had to be on Malefor and not on Spike, especially since they weren't really doing anything to the dragon, which was why Ember activated the Fangs of Felinia and readied her metallic claws for the next round of their battle, "we just have to keep your father busy so he doesn't ruin what Spike has planned."

Cynder nodded as Spyro and Ember rushed forward, where the pair seemed to be gathering their magic as they made their way over to where Malefor was standing, though that was when Spyro swung Windshear and loosed a powerful wave of wind magic at his target, while at the same time Ember channeled her power into the metallic claws to create a flaming wave of energy as she swung her claws, which made it appear that they were sending two powerful elemental waves at the dragon they were fighting. The reality of the situation was different from what Cynder was actually expecting, as both of the waves quickly combined into a flaming inferno as it rushed through the air, the wind from Spyro's attack fueling the flames of Ember's technique, where her father summoned the power of the earth and formed a Stone Wall between him and the attack, simply to block it while he focused on what he was going to do next, which was why Cynder was moving once she noticed what her father was doing. She got into the air and waited for the combination attack to reach the wall her father had thrown up, where the moment it happened she gathered her magic and fired a sphere of shadowy energy downward, intending on taking her father by surprise since he was distracted by the attack he was stalling, though he did surprise her by breaking the attack by using the same element, with a greater force, to break her attack, to which she had to flap her wings to get out of the way so she didn't get hit by the attack. Cynder knew her father's reflexes were great, as she had never actually won a fight or training session whenever he was her opponent, but right now, when it was four on one, part of her was wondering if he was using their own cloud cover against them, by taking a few seconds to peer into the immediate future while no one could see his face, though Spike had said that her father wasn't using his Sage's Vision against them, something she was having a hard time believing based on what she had seen so far.

While Cynder moved backwards, so she could get a good view of the area as she avoided the counterattack that had been sent her way, one thing she noticed was that Spyro and Ember seemed to be drawing in the power of the Aether as they moved away from each other, no doubt to pin her father between two attacks, to which she did the same thing and landed at a third point, so they formed a triangle to the viewers, before they loosed a beam of magical energy that raced through the air and zeroed in on their opponent. Malefor, seeing the attacks coming since Spyro, Cynder, and Ember didn't bother to hide them this time around, called upon the power of the Aether as well and showed them that it could be used in more ways than one, as instead of using it as a breath attack, a pure and simple form that was quite powerful, which was seen when Gaul was smashed to pieces by Spyro and Cynder during the battle for Warfang, he used it like a barrier that wrapped around him, something that would keep whatever was inside it safe for a time. Sure enough he found that the barrier shuddered when the three attacks struck it, mostly since it was the Aether hitting the Aether, but the one thing all three of his opponents lacked was the experience needed to truly wield the power of this element, without exhausting themselves anyway, and he knew that Spyro's old memories would have given him a bit more control over the element in question, while Ember was sort of like Cynder, something was allowing her to tap into the Aether, despite not being a purple dragon like he, Spyro, and Spike were. He was sure that Spike, from what he had learned of the young dragon since they had met each other, would be interested in figuring out why such a thing was possible, how a blue dragon could tap into the power of the Aether, a power reserved for purple dragons and Cynder, but for now he had to focus on the fight and that was when he swung his arms and the beams stopped as his foes staggered for a moment, allowing the Aether to disappear while leaving a scorched mark on the ground to show where each of them had been standing, three beams for the three that attacked him and a circle to show the barrier he had made.

"That was a good effort, using the Aether against me, but I'm afraid it wasn't good enough, though if Spike had been here you might have had a chance," Malefor said, though as he said that he glanced around the area they were in, showing the others that he was now looking for the missing dragon that was preparing something, since Spike had been absent for a few moments, though that was when lightning flashed in the sky and he paused for a moment as it started to rain on all of them, to which he raised an eyebrow for a few seconds, "Interesting, it wasn't supposed to rain on this island, at least not for another day or two, and yet here we are, getting rained on... just what could he be planning with this?"

Not even a few moments later lightning arched up towards the center of a storm that appeared to be unfolding right before their eyes, with the element appearing to come from multiple spots that rested all around the area that they had been fighting in for the last couple of minutes, though Spyro and Ember knew this attack well, as it just so happened to be one of Spike's favorite spells, even if it was rather destructive and needed some time to be put together, hence the reason they were heading away from where Malefor was standing. Cynder, not understanding what spell was being used right now, did the smart thing as she followed Spyro and Ember, leaving her father in the middle of the area, where he stared up at the spell that was currently forming in the center of the storm, before she spotted Spike in the middle of the air, as it appeared that this spell required a high place and he was forced to fly in the air while this was happening, even though she was sure he could create a stone platform to stand on, but decided not to question his logic. That was swiftly followed by a roar sounding throughout the entire island, something that would have shocked anything that lived here, of which there wasn't very much since her father had picked this island for a reason, before everyone watched as a massive serpent made out of lightning emerged from the center of the storm and coiled around Spike for a few seconds, making Cynder wonder why the spell needed to do something like that before it was used against their opponent. Once the serpent had done that it moved back into the clouds that it had come from, which was swiftly followed by Spike channeling the power of the spell downwards, towards the area their foe was standing in, causing the serpent to burst out of the sky like a large bolt of lightning that collided with his target and blew the entire area that Malefor was in apart, blasting a massive crater into the ground and wiping out the storm in the process.

When the smoke cleared the group was allowed to see the crater that had been blasted into the ground, where Spike and Ember noticed that it was about the same size as the last one their brother had made when this happened, to which their brother flew down to where they were standing with Cynder, who was shocked by what she was seeing right now, but all of them were eager to see what sort of damage was done to Malefor, since he had been the target of the attack and that was one of the strongest lightning spells in all of existence.

"What... was that?" Cynder asked, because she had no idea what sort of spell that was and was amazed by all of the damage that had been done to the part of the island that was around them, while at the same time Spike huffed for a few seconds, mostly because that was one of the most draining spells he could have used and it appeared that he might have been able to do something to the first purple dragon, or at least he hoped so since there was no telling what his spell had done to Malefor, given his history.

"A spell known as Storm's Wrath, one of the strongest lightning spells in the entire world," a voice replied, where the group watched as Malefor appeared in the smoke that was in the center of the crater, meaning he happened to be floating in the middle of the area, though there were bits of smoke that were emitting from his body and there appeared to be some scuff marks that indicated that he had definitely been hurt by the attack, or at least that was what they assumed was the case given what they were seeing, "a spell that requires five dragons to channel and contain the power of the storm in a single form, which classifies it as one of the master level spells of our world, and yet the surprises continue, for Spike is able to do what takes five dragons to do, showing that he deserves the position of Archmage. You also packed more than enough power into the attack, allowing it to scratch up all the platinum armor I'm wearing and even break a few parts of it off in the process, though you would have done a lot more damage to me had I not activated a powerful spell I have been working on for the last thousand years."

Before Spyro, Cynder, Spike, or Ember could say or do anything a burst of brilliant purple energy quickly formed all around Malefor's body, taking the shape of a massive sphere at first, though that was before it expanded into the shape of a bipedal dragon that seemed to be wearing a shroud or robe of some kind, where Spike's mouth nearly dropped as he and the others felt the massive amount of magical energy that was rolling off of whatever Malefor was doing, as this sort of spell wasn't in all of the books and scrolls that Spike had read in the past. Before they even had the chance to take in and understand what they were seeing Malefor's power flared for a moment and the sphere started to transform before their eyes, the bottom of the mass taking on the appearance of the legs of a bipedal dragon, the middle shifting into the tail and chest of a dragon, and the upper part turned into the arms, wings, and head, though that was when armor started to appear all over the transparent construct their foe was making. The armor in question looked identical to the samurai armor that the Moles of Warfang were wearing, only it covered more of the construct's body and there were even pieces that covered both its tail and its wings, before the group noticed that it had a pair of sheathes attached to its belt, where they looked like they were katanas and one rested on either side of the being's body, and because the blades had to be massive they knew that it would be hard for them to get close to Malefor, if not impossible. Malefor, however, was resting in the middle of the construct's forehead, in what appeared to be a flattened gem of some kind that was a different shade of purple from what the rest of his creation possessed, though it was hard for them to see if the construct would mimic his movements or follow whatever he was thinking.

The group gulped for a moment as they took in what they were seeing, as this was far beyond everything that any of them thought Malefor was capable of when they recalled what all of the tomes and scrolls said about the dragon, and they were sure that the Guardians and the rest of the watchers would be thinking the same thing, as the construct was massive, around the same height of the Destroyer, and it possessed a massive amount of magic, which was either Malefor's given life or the construct had its own magic that was brought to life whenever Malefor called upon it.

"This is the power that I spent the last thousand years working on and perfecting, so called the Spirit of Valor," Malefor said, his voice reaching them rather easily, no doubt due to a spell that he had cast after the construct completely formed, though at the same time the group realized that fighting this would be rather difficult, if not impossible, which was about the time that the construct's arms started to move, as it slipped the sheath that was on the left side of its body out of the sash and held it in its left hand for a moment, even though it was horizontal towards where the mountain rested, and its right hand was moving towards the handle of the blade, "here, allow me to show you the true power of this ability, and the gap that rests between us."

Before the group could say anything the air around them seemed to shake as the construct's power flared as the right hand gripped the handle of the weapon it was reaching for, which was about the time that Spike, sensing that something big was coming, quickly summoned a magical barrier around himself and the others as Malefor had the construct draw its blade and swing it in one swift motion, where the power rushed out as a wave of energy that flattened the land that was between them and the nearby mountain, before it actually cleaved the mountain in half thanks to the clean horizontal cut that removed the upper half of the entire mountain, and the barrier protected them from the wind pressure of what their foe had done, until everything settled down.

"I developed this power to wipe out the Destroyer, but, upon seeing how destructive it can be, I switched to trying to make an Elementium combination spell," Malefor explained, showing the group that he had switched from this power as soon as he realized just how powerful it was in its current form, though at the same time Spike lowered the barrier as he and the others stared at the massive construct and realized just how strong Malefor's true power was, and that was if this was his true power, because if he had anything greater than this they knew they would never be able to touch him, much less beat him, "So, what do you want to do now?"

Spyro, Cynder, and Ember had no idea what they were going to do now, especially with this power standing in front of them and resting between them and Malefor, but before they could do anything Spike flew up into the air and started to channel his power into the area around him, which was around the time that they and Malefor watched as he summoned Akilesh back to his side, where this time around the air around him vibrated as he unleashed his power and the magic that was inside the staff that he was now gripping in his right claw. Instead of focusing on the Aether, thanks to the elemental that happened to be resting inside the staff, Spike focused on what Malefor had said and what they had seen when the first purple dragon revealed himself to all of them during the battle for Warfang, as in he channeled all nine elements at the same time, the main eight in a circle around the Aether, which rested in the center, though he started to form it above his head, instead of right in front of him. The Elementium spell, so named by their opponent, might be the only thing that would allow him to deal any damage to Malefor, hence the reason that he was focused on building the spell as it started to form a massive sphere of energy above his head, one that caused the air around him to vibrate as Spyro, Cynder, and Ember vacated the area so they didn't get caught in what was coming next. From what Spike knew the attack Malefor had used to wipe out the Destroyer could be called an Elementium Blast, though what he was building right now was more like an Elementium Bomb, something that seemed to stall their foe as he considered everything that was going on, especially the fact that Spike was mimicking exactly what he had done against the Destroyer, and once he had a massive sphere, one that was the size of the remainder of the mountain, he sent it down towards Malefor.

Malefor sheathed the blade his construct had used to wipe out the mountain and raised both of its hands into the air so he could stall the sphere that was coming his way, where Spike found that his attack, despite the power that was inside it, stopped halfway between where he was flying and the area that Malefor was standing in, causing the entire island to shake as their energies clashed against each other for a few moments, though that was around the time where Spike gave his attack one final push and Malefor dropped the construct's arms so he could draw the other blade and cleave the Elementium Bomb in half, using his magic to direct the fragments into the remainder of the mountain to blow it away and make sure no one else got damaged.

"I... I concede." Spike said, where he landed near his siblings and Cynder, giving him a chance to huff since that was the first time he had created an Elementium type spell and it had failed, as Malefor had sliced it in half without it doing any damage to their foe, though as he did that the construct walked over to where they were standing and started to fall apart before their eyes, mostly because it seemed that Malefor knew the battle was over and there was no reason for him to use the Spirit of Valor against them.

"You fought well, especially against some of the powers I used against you... especially you, Spike, as now I know my staff has found a worthy dragon to wield it," Malefor stated, though he smiled for a moment as he raised his hand and took a moment to pat Cynder on the head while he talked, who was stunned by the sheer power her father wielded, not to mention the fact that she hadn't seen any of this in the past, before he glanced at the four of them, "Spyro, Cynder, Spike, Ember, I would like to kick your training to a whole new level and show you some of the tricks I have learned over the years, so that way when another threat reveals itself you and your friends won't need someone like me to step in and take care of something like the Destroyer... especially you, Ember, as you need to learn how to stop relying on the Warrior's Armor skill and really develop your own powers."

The group had no idea that they had impressed Malefor enough to make him consider personally training them, even if Spike was the one that had done enough for that to happen, but none of them were going to complain, and Cynder was of the same opinion since she had been trying to get her father to advance her training, even though now she knew that it was due to him possibly preparing for the Destroyer, and the four of them were now looking forward to what the future held for them, their friends, and the various lands of their world.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

yup just as epic as i had been expecting. the fight between the four young dragons and Malefor was just downright awesome though the ending of the chapter completely gobsmacked me. The trio is only going to continue to get even more op from here now that they are ging to be training directly under Malefor. Also Spikes Elementium Bomb was pretty dang cool, Really enjoyed this chapter, looking forward to the next. keep up the great work

[Kamen rider yokai]

Huh references to both Naruto and dragon Ball with this fight. Spirit of valor is like the susano'o ability Sasuke uses and the elementium bomb is like the spirit bomb. Still I wonder if using so much magic is going to start unlocking spikes past memories of equestria and his memories of twilight.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Dang now that was quite the epic battle, even though our young dragons lost they sure put one amazing fight against Malefor!

Can't wait to see what type of training our young heroes go though under his wing, should be a very interesting couple of chapters ahead!

[Comickook]

REALLY good job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in this chapter. Definitely loved the reflections of most of the group's allies before the sparring match as well as the tricks the four young dragons used in their spar against Malefor. Yeah, Malefor won, but their teamwork and Spike's magic skill was still enough to earn Malefor's respect and enough to get him to personally take a claw in training them. Of course, I'm still on the fence about Malefor (yeah, it's possible he HAS genuinely changed for the better from his previous life, but it's ALSO possible that he is just a lot more subtle (I've read enough about the first two seasons of "the Flash" on Wikipedia and TV Tropes to be cautious, but still willing to give a fair chance).

But anyway, VERY certainly looking forward to more of this.

[zachary12]

Nice work

[Tower of gray]

You gave Malefor the Susanoo.

[Epyrios]

Finally!
I was getting a bit annoyed at Embers complete reliance of Warriors-Armor. She mostly stopped bothering to deflect evade or block and instead just charged head on and let her ability take care of the defense. Had any enemy noticed that and bothered to come up with something to bypass it she would have been in huge trouble.