Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar

by Blackdrag-rose

Hero: Trek through the Citadel

Once everyone was ready to get underway, and continue their trek through the rest of the land that they were currently exploring, Bianca weaved her magic through the air and formed some platforms out of some of the nearby ice so that those who couldn't fly would be able to get up to where the opening, a window or something, that would allow them to enter the realm known as Ice Citadel was located, though as soon as she did that everyone headed up to the decent sized opening and passed through it, discovering a large chamber on the other side as soon as they reached their destination, allowing them to descend into the area they had discovered. What was interesting about this area was the fact that there was a hole in the middle of the chamber and a rather small cage hanging in the air above it, meaning whoever this place was supposed to contain it also would serve as a way to dispose of them, as from what the group could tell the hole seemed to be connected to a pit that could be impossible to escape, but no one was inside the cage and that fact let them know that they could move forward once more, even though they were sure that this area might have been reserved for them, due to the fact that they were messing with Red's plans. With that thought in mind the group headed over to the opening that would allow them to leave this chamber and walked into an area that had a decent number of gems resting in behind a pair of bear traps while a pair of straw baskets and a bullseye chest rested behind them, so Spike loosed a pair of low powered Lightning Bolts to deal with the bear traps and opened the way for Ember to smash the containers that were behind the gems, though as soon as that was done they turned to their right and found a lone Gnorc Warrior who seemed to be patrolling this part of the citadel, to which it paused for a moment when it saw them standing there. What was interesting was the fact that this Gnorc Warrior, instead of charging at them so it could try to cut one of them down, actually dropped its weapon as soon as it realized what was going on and turned around so it could run away and warn someone that the citadel had been invaded, though that was when Elora rushed forward and spun around so she could kick it into the wall to her right, as none of them wanted their presence to be known to their enemies just yet.

Once that foe was taken care of the group walked down the passage it had been patrolling, finding a metallic chest to the right and a trio of bear traps that were ahead of them, where the latter appeared to be in the middle of a small area that was connected to another passage, though while Cynder dodged all of the bear traps and struck down a Gnorc Warrior that guarded the next area they would be walking through, Hunter and Amelia found the weakness of the bear traps and used their blades to break them in seconds, at the same time that Flame smashed the metallic chest, before Spike walked up to where a golden chest was resting and unlocked it, though he was rewarded with a few Fire Bombs, which he put into a bag before moving away from the chest. With that area cleared out, and they made sure to smash a few straw baskets as well, they found that there were actually two Gnorc Warriors guarding the next passage, though that was followed by Bianca blasting the first one in the chest with a Lightning Bolt as Aurora rushed over to where the second one rested and flamed it with her Fire Breath, but as soon as those enemies had been taken down the group collected the gems that were nearby, and made sure to smash a pair of straw baskets and a metallic chest, before they headed for the door that their enemies had apparently been guarding for some time. On the other side of the door, however, they found a larger area than the two small chambers they had been inside, where it was easy to find a few dark crystals resting all over this place, a Gnorc Warrior that seemed to be patrolling the area, a pair of platforms that would allow them to reach the upper part of this area, and a shop pad that seemed entirely out of place, especially since Red and his allies didn't trust Moneybags and likely wouldn't have set up one of his shop pads in an area like this, though none of them were going to complain, as this could give them a chance to pass on a message to the Professor, since they had no idea how long it would be before they found another of his gadget pads. Of course, as soon as they stepped out into the chamber that was in front of them, it was easy to determine that there was more than one Gnorc Warrior in this area, as there were two of the left side of the chamber, where Spyro flamed the first one and Ember struck the second into the ground with her tail, while one more was on their right, who was taken down by Flame and his swift charge to the chest, allowing them a few moments to collect all of the gems that were on the level they were standing on, smashed all of the straw baskets that were near them, and also shattered the couple of dark crystals that they could see, before regrouping at the shop pad.

"Ah, hello my friends, it seems that you found another shop pad, though I have no idea how one ended up inside the area the Professor told you about," Moneybags commented, showing the group that he either didn't know that someone had stolen one of his shop pads and just put it inside the area they had found it in, or he did know it had been stolen and what Red had done to the subordinates that gave him bad news had distracted him enough to forget about the shop pad, but given that this was a new version of the bear it was likely that the former option was the correct one, "Is there anything I can do to assist you? I only ask since I know you don't need any of the items I have for sale, meaning you've discovered something that needs to be passed onto someone else."

"We found Bentley while we were exploring Gloomy Glacier, who told us that he stepped through a portal and ended up in the previous realm we cleared out," Spyro replied, though while he knew several of the others had to be worried that this shop pad had been modified to listen in on their conversations with Moneybags, and he couldn't fault them for thinking about that, he figured that Red had more important things on his mind than whatever they and the bear talked about, so he was more than willing to give Moneybags the information on what had happened so far, "and we were hoping that you would tell the Professor about this situation, so he can set aside some time to help Bentley get back to Castle Hills, since he was supposed to be heading to Monkey Monastery before he appeared in Capora."

Moneybags paused for a moment, where they could see that he was actually writing down what they wanted him to tell the Professor, and once they confirmed that he had everything down right the connection was terminated and the group headed over to where the pair of platforms rested, where each of them quickly made their way up to the upper level of this chamber and found that there were two enemies patrolling the area, a Gnorc Archer and a Gnorc Warrior, but since neither of them had noticed the group it was easy for Spike to loose a Fireball into the ranged enemy's back and blow it away in a matter of seconds, even though Amelia loosed an arrow into the melee foe's chest and took it down, opening the way for them to jump down onto the area their foes had been guarding. Once their enemies were taken care of they took care of the couple of straw baskets that rested nearby and smashed a few dark crystals, before they discovered that there was a firework up here that raced down into the area that was below the walkway they were walking on, revealing that there was more below them to explore, which was followed by the sound of some metallic containers being blown up in the process, which Spike was sure they had seen previously and had ignored due to the fact that the group wanted to tell Moneybags about Bentley and the message they had for the Professor. While most of the group headed back down to the area that the firework had flown through, and headed towards the opening in question, Spike spotted another small platform and noticed that it lead up to where a Light Gem rested, to which he collected it and added it to the Light Gem container, though once that was done he headed down to where the others were waiting for him, but as he joined them he watched as Flame and Aurora dealt with some containers that were near them, one targeting a pair of straw baskets while the other dealt with a trio of metallic chests, and once all the gems that had been resting in this area had been taken care of they headed for the area the firework had passed through. There just so happened to be three Gnorc Warriors just beyond where the pile of gems had been resting, to which Cynder used her Shadow Play technique to take them all down so the rest of the group could deal with the straw baskets that were beyond her targets, before finding another Gnorc Warrior standing near a Gnorc Brute, who seemed to be guarding something, but that didn't stop Elora from kicking off all of the armor the bigger enemy was wearing so Spike could shock it, nor did it stop Hunter and Amelia from loosing some arrows right into the Gnorc Warrior's chest.

As soon as those enemies were taken care of, and that included breaking some bear traps and a container of explosives, the group reached the area that the metallic containers had been resting in and gathered all of the gems that must have been inside the containers, though while they collected the gems Flame approached the furnace that the Gnorc Brute had been guarding and noticed that it was inactive, making him wonder if it might be connected to the door that was on the level that was above them, to which he flamed the machine and activated it, only for the machine to spit out a Light Gem that Spike added to their collection. Once they were sure that this area had been cleared out the group headed back over to where the pair of platforms rested and headed back up to the upper level of this chamber, where Aurora used her new Water Breath on the water wheel that rested nearby and caused a metallic beam to move out of the way, allowing them to open the door it had been resting in front of so they could enter another part of the citadel, even though the passage that rested on the other side of the door happened to have a Yeti on the other end of it, to which Hunter loosed an arrow at it and took it out in seconds, allowing the rest of the group to smash the couple of bear traps that rested in their way as they walked over to where the Yeti had been standing. There was also another Yeti down to the right of where the first one was standing, who Amelia took down with a well placed arrow as well, where the rest of the group smashed a straw baskets, a metallic chest, a bear trap, and a dark crystal before noticing that there was a metallic version of the bullseye targets that yielded gems to them when they were smashed, where the metallic one did the same thing, which was when they turned to the left at the area the second Yeti had been standing in and found a few more containers to break, a bullseye chest that had some straw baskets and a bear trap near it, though that was when Spyro smashed the button that happened to be resting in front of the door and opened the way into the next chamber. The area in question wasn't a chamber, like all of them had been expecting, rather it seemed more like a rocky tunnel that had been dug into the mountain that the rest of the citadel had been built into, where it came complete with metallic tubes, a number of bear traps that Ember started to smash as soon as she saw them, some straw baskets that Aurora took out so she could get some more gems for them, and another furnace that Cynder lit with her shadowy Fire Breath, which, interestingly enough, didn't yield anything to add to their collection, unlike the previous furnace.

Once they were sure that this area had been cleared out Flame activated the button that was in front of them and opened the door so they could enter the next section of the citadel that they would be exploring, revealing a tunnel that had a lone Gnorc Warrior guarding the end of it, to which Elora rushed forward and kicked its sword and shield out of its hands, all in a few seconds, before she punched it in the chest and knocked it into the wall that was behind it, leaving a pile of gems for her to pick up as the others smashed a straw basket and a metallic chest she had ignored so she could deal with the foe that had been in their way. What was interesting was the fact that the wall she had stuck her foe into, which happened to be the left side of the tunnel they were following, the wall collapsed and a golden chest was revealed for Spike to walk up to, where he unlocked the chest and discovered a dragon egg with a flame design inside it, one that he checked out for a few seconds before sending it back to the Nursery, though Ember checked the other wall that was in the area their enemy had been in and found that her luck wasn't as good as Elora's as her wall didn't fall apart. As soon as she was done doing that, and claimed that she was ready, the group headed down the next passage and found a Gnorc Warrior with a Gnorc Brute standing further beyond it, to which Spyro quickly drew his runeblade and swung it at the first foe that was in their way, reducing it to a pile of gems as Ember and Cynder lashed out at the Gnorc Brute, the latter knocking its armor off so the former could headbutt it in the chest and knock it into the wall that was behind it, opening the way for the others to join them as they headed down the next passage that was near them. What caught them off guard for a moment was the fact that the door that the passage brought them to happened to have a Dark Gem on the other side, in a small chamber that had no other openings, almost like they were going to have to backtrack in case they missed something, though that was when Aurora smashed the sinister gem to pieces and caused its darkness to fade from the area they were in, which also caused the floor below them to shatter and drop them into a straight passage that lead right to a new chamber, but as the dragons and Elora spread their wings Bianca made sure that she, Hunter, and Amelia had a Slow Fall spell active so no harm came to them as they descended down into the new area they would be exploring.

The chamber, as it turned out, was actually a prison cell of some kind for a number of gems, a straw basket or two, one of the bullseye chests, two metallic chests, and, more importantly, a green scaled bipedal dragon who had a pale chest, only it was carrying the staff of a Dragon Elder and wore the same attire as the rest of the Elders they had met so far, and due to the fact that Flame and Aurora seemed happy about something meant that this had to be the Elder the Professor told them about earlier, when they first arrived in Icy Wilderness, though with the ceiling opened that meant it could leave the prison that it was trapped in, something they could tell by the number marks on the walls.

"Ah, heroes, it is good to finally meet you," the Dragon Elder said, his tone revealing that he was happy based on what they had done, though at this point none of them were all that surprised by the fact he knew them, as the Professor had told all of the Elders that they would be coming in the near future, without telling Flame and Aurora his plans, though that was the moment he glanced at the ceiling for a moment and he grinned, almost like he knew what he needed to do next, before he glanced at the group once more, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Elder Alain, and I have been trapped in this cell for some time, ever since Red returned from his exile and captured me."

"Its a pleasure to meet you, and don't worry about Red, we'll..." Spyro started to say, though that was the moment that he stopped speaking as Elder Alain tapped his staff on the ground and demanded their attention once more, despite the fact that he felt that such a thing was unnecessary since most of the group had been focusing on the Elder, as he might have a technique to share with them that would allow them to bypass some of the obstacles they had faced in Frostbite Village, something that only made him wonder why the Elder was being rude to them.

"Yes, yes, I get it, you've met the other Elders and they've taught you everything you currently know... however, there is, in fact, one more technique you have to learn," Elder Alain stated, though that was when he looked at the group for a second or two as he thought about something, almost as if he was seeing something that wasn't actually there, but the group took the time to remain silent as they waited to hear what sort of information he had to share with them, before they tried to leave this cell and continued their trek through the rest of the citadel, "some place to go, have you? Oh very well, I'll get to the technique and you can be on your way: the technique I have to offer you is the Wall Kick technique, one that allows the user to jump from one wall to another, though they have to be within a certain distance of each other to give you any real height, and if you want an example of the types of walls you can use it on just look at the one that's by us, you could use the Wall Kick on it if you wanted to... also, you must learn what types of walls will allow you to use the technique on them, so hopefully your A.D.D. doesn't get in the way."

Spike's eyebrow twitched for a moment, as he couldn't believe that this Elder had the nerve to claim that they had a hard time paying attention to whatever was going on around them, especially when he considered the thought that everyone was able to focus on the events that were playing out before them and could accurately tell anyone what had happened, but instead of doing anything they headed over to the pair of close walls in question and Spyro stared at them for a few seconds as he recalled what Elder Alain had said, to which he jumped onto the right wall and then used his contact with the wall to get some extra height as he jumped to the other one. Spike and the others watched him for a few moments as he made his way to the top of the close walls and smiled when he finally reached a passage that would allow them to head even deeper into the citadel, to which he moved out of the way as all of the other dragons did the same technique that he had just shown off, eventually reaching the area that Spyro had stopped in, though that didn't stop Elora and the others from trying it out as well, because this seemed more like a commonplace technique and not something exclusive to just the dragons, and sure enough they were able to reach their friends, much to Elder Alain's surprise, showing that he wasn't expecting them to perform the Wall Kick technique so well. The passage the close walls brought them to had a trio of dark crystals waiting in the middle of the area they would be walking through, so Ember quickly smashed her targets apart as Cynder did the same thing to some straw baskets and a bullseye chest that were near the crystals, though Spike was more interested in the golden chest that was nearby and walked over to it so he could unlock it, revealing another Light Gem to add to their collection, and once he safely stored it inside the Light Gem bag they headed through the opening that was to the right of the now unlocked chest, where they found a few more containers to break and a Gnorc Brute that seemed to be blocking the way forward. It didn't take the group all that long to take their next foe down, especially since Aurora hit its armor off with a swing of her tail and opened the way for Flame to use his Fire Breath to finish it off, where they found a crate full of fireworks, a straw basket, and a bullseye chest resting behind the area their foe had been standing in, though as those were smashed and blasted open Spike spotted a Gnorc Archer in the next part of the passage and used a small bit of his magic to form a barrier to stop an incoming arrow, opening the way for Amelia to return the favor.

With that foe taken care of the group took a moment to smash some straw baskets and a bullseye chest, so Sparx and the rest of the dragonflies could pick the gems up, before they headed down the rest of the tunnel that was in front of them and kept their guards up as they waited to see what sort of danger it would bring them to, even though they would be able to handle anything that was thrown at them, but that was when they discovered that the tunnel brought them outside, as in to a section of the citadel that was outside, and a new area was confirmed by another shop pad, something they weren't interested in questioning at this point and took stock of what rested in this area. What they discovered was a gadget pad in front of a circular metallic door, meaning it had to be the Supercharge Gadget this time around, some metallic containers off to the left of where the large door was resting, a Dark Gem resting on a platform that was above everything, and a pair of breakable containers to the left of the tunnel opening that they emerged from, a straw basket and a bullseye chest to be exact, so what they did was make sure the containers to the left were broken before they stared out at the rest of this new area and formed a plan of attack. From what Spike could tell it looked like the water in this area was frozen over, due to what rested near the couple of metallic containers, though even as he came to that determination Ember walked onto the gadget pad and empowered herself instantly, where she smashed through the metallic door and entered what the rest of the group felt might have been a sewer of some kind, or maybe it was a way of transporting water throughout parts of the citadel, to which they stood still for a few moments as Ember emerged from the upper part of the passage that had been on the other side of the door and landed on the area that the Dark Gem was resting on. Of course that was swiftly followed by her performing the Horn Dive on the sinister gem and shattered it into a thousand pieces, though while all of the darkness faded from this area the frozen waterfall shuddered for a moment before it shattered before their eyes, an action that revealed a hidden tunnel that had to be the way forward, something that would normally be hidden by a good sized waterfall, though that was followed by Ember restoring her Supercharge power and rushed through the new tunnel she had discovered, something that was swiftly followed by her gliding down into the area they were standing in, revealing that there was an opening above the tunnel opening that had brought them to this section of the citadel in the first place, and she also happened to have a pink dragon egg with a white flower design with her.

As soon as the egg was sent back to the Nursery the group made sure to smash the metallic containers that were resting near a passage that seemed to be the way forward, after Spike corrected himself once he figured out what the path Ember had taken had actually been, before they found a Gnorc Brute guarding the passage and it happened to be wearing armor this time, so Cynder smashed the armor off so Spyro could use his Flame Breath to take it down, which revealed a golden chest for Spike to unlock, which revealed a pair of Fire Bombs for him to collect, even though none of them used these odd items and he simply collected them so their enemies didn't take them to use against them. Once that was done the group headed into the next part of the tunnel that they had to go through and found a dark crystal that had three bear traps, a bullseye chest, a pair of straw baskets, and a metallic chest near it, not to mention a Gnorc Archer that Hunter quickly took out with one of his arrows, allowing the rest of the group to smash the containers and collect all of the gems that had been inside the various containers, before they resumed following the rest of this passage, which seemed to be bringing them to another part of the exterior of the citadel, one that happened to have a portal resting off to their right. That was when the group spotted a brand new enemy that they would have to contend with, a golem that was made out of ice and just so happened to have the form of a troll, or at least something like that, so Spike labeled it as an Ice Golem and the group took a moment to move out so they could surround it, where it tried to swing its club at them and that was the moment that Sgt. Byrd, who had been standing near the portal they had spotted, loosed a missile at the creature and blew it apart, but none of them were worried once they saw the gems that fell on the ground, indicating that this foe had been yet another gem construct and that the rest of the Ice Golems had to be the same way. Regardless of what Sgt. Byrd did Spike made sure the rest of the group understood what his thoughts on this new foe were, as he believed that their Fire Breath would be the key to defeating these enemies, due to the fact that he knew there would be more of them in the citadel and it was easy to see that they agreed with his thoughts, though with everyone in agreement they headed over to where their friend was standing, as it appeared that he had found another Speedway, which was rather odd given the nature of the citadel that they were currently exploring, meaning another dragon egg and Light Gem would be theirs in due time.

"Sgt. Byrd, how are you doing?" Spyro asked, because it was interesting to see their friend in an area like this, though even as he said that he knew what was going on before anyone said anything, as Sgt. Byrd must have uncovered another area of a realm to tackle, one that only he could fight since Red had placed a rule on all of the Speedways and Flight Realms to prevent him and the others from tackling the challenges for once, though this time around they also had someone to help them get around that rule and return the stolen dragon eggs to their rightful owners.

"Oh, you know, still soldiering on," Sgt. Byrd remarked, to which he chuckled for a few moments, meaning it had to be a bit of military humor that only he would understand, even though that didn't stop him from doing what he was doing for a few moments, before he stopped and focused on the group once more, showing that he was also being serious about the situation they were in, as it sure seemed like they were in the middle of invading Red's stronghold, or maybe one of them since it was hard for them to determine how many locations Red had prepared before their arrival, "So, shall I take to the skies and do what I do best, or is this a social visit?"

It didn't take Spyro long to nod his head and let Sgt. Byrd head through the portal that he had been standing near, though while they waited for their friend to return to the area they were in, with the spoils from the Speedway he had discovered, Ember returned to the area that they had found the Supercharge Gadget in and swiftly made her way back to them so she could ram her head into the metallic door that they had seen earlier, smashing it to pieces, though as she did that Spike walked over to see what was inside the chamber she had opened up, not to mention unlock the nearby golden chest so it could be crossed off his list. What they found inside the small chamber were three metallic chests, two dark crystals that needed to be smashed, and a pair of straw baskets that were easily taken care of, though there was one item in this area that was far more important than anything else and that was a pink dragon egg that had a white flower design on it, where Spike sent it back to the Nursery so it was out of the way, allowing Ember to smash the rest of the containers and crystals that were in this small chamber, before he turned around and used his magic on the golden chest, which was followed by a sigh when he realized there were just a few Lightning Bombs inside the chest, which he pocketed inside the bag that he had placed the rest of the bombs in earlier. Flame also made sure to break the metallic chest and the pair of straw baskets that were near the golden chest, though Aurora also shattered the two dark crystals that were in this area, but once they had done all of that the group simple sat down and waited for Sgt. Byrd to return, as it appeared that there were two more paths for them to pick from and they would do so as soon as their friend had returned with news of his success, including the stolen items that he was looking for, giving Spike the time to write down everything that had happened after they had climbed into the citadel and started to explore what was on the other side of the opening they had discovered. As it turned out it only took a few minutes for Sgt. Byrd to walk through the portal and return to them with new of his success, and he also told them that it was just a Speedway and nothing else, and the first item was a purple dragon egg with yellow stars, where Spike sent it back to the Nursery as soon as it was in their possession, before he handed over another Light Gem, as he had found one by doing the second challenge the area had to offer, one that was added to the bag the others had been stored in earlier, though once he had handed over both of the items Sgt. Byrd wished them well and took off, heading for yet another portal that would take him to a Speedway, even though he was looking for something else he might be able to help the group with in the future.

Once everything that was on the other side of the portal was in their possession, and Sgt. Byrd had taken off, Flame took a moment to walk into the chamber that rested near where they had found their friend and they discovered a pair of straw baskets, a fireworks crate, three metallic chests, and a button that they suspected went to the door that was near them, so the group dealt with the containers that were around them and pressed the button so they could force the door to open, which revealed a chamber that had three Gnorc Warriors and a Gnorc Brute guarding it. What happened next was what all of them were used to at this point, Flame tripped one of the warriors with a swing of his tail and let Aurora flame it, Elora stunned the brute with a punch so Hunter and Amelia could loose a pair of arrows into its chest, Bianca quickly shocked one of the other warriors which was followed by Ember smashing it into the ground, leaving Spyro and Cynder to take out the last warrior with a combined sword swing, effectively clearing out the chamber before they started to check it out and see if there was another way forward or if this was a dead end. The only things they discovered in this chamber, one that was a dead end, were that there were a number of straw baskets that were broken open and a furnace that Spike was able to activate with a burst of his Flame Breath, something that gave them another Light Gem to add to their collection, and once it was inside the bag the others were in Hunter noticed that there was a metallic cube nearby that was below an open tunnel, one that he, Elora, Amelia, and Bianca would have to duck to enter, though they followed it towards the area it was connected to and appeared in an area that had another furnace, this one giving them nothing when Spyro activated it, so they headed through the opening that was nearby. That brought them to an area that had a shop pad in it, a pair of straw baskets, a bullseye chest, and a golden chest, all of which rested on the other side of the chamber they walked into, but that was when they found something interesting standing near the elegant glass windows that were on the left side of the decent sized chamber they had fought, a bipedal female fox who was wearing a nice blue dress that had a few white spots on the arms, possibly additional fluff, who had a sapphire pendant around her neck, where it looked like she might be a princess or something, and she was shivering as she spotted them.

"Oh, hello there, I didn't realize that I had guests. I am Vicky, the Ice Princess," the bipedal fox stated, where she made sure to gesture to herself in case they didn't understand what she was saying, though they understood what had been said and were waiting to see if she needed help with anything, even though it was pretty clear that she needed some assistance, so they figured that they could help her out before they made their way back to the other part of the citadel so they could see what else was in this place, before heading back to Frostbite Village to see what they might have missed, "so named due to the fact that this island is called Icy Wilderness, and the fact that its freezing in here! Please, could you find and light all of the boilers that are scattered around my castle? I'd ask my servants to do it, but I haven't seen any of them for some time, as I've only seen those green skinned creatures, a red dragon, and all of you, and I trust all of you far more than I trust the other two groups, especially since the former ignores me and I haven't seen the latter for some time."

Spyro quickly agreed to help out the Ice Princess, Vicky as she called herself, who informed them that they were allowed to smash the items that were in this chamber, referring to the containers, and open the golden chest, as none of them were hers and she didn't want anything that was left behind by the red dragon, which had to be Red, and his allies, so while the majority of the group gathered near the opening that left this chamber Ember smashed the containers while Spike took a moment to unlock the golden chest, earning them a number of gems to add to their collection. Once that was done they headed through the opening the others were standing near and headed through the tunnel that was on the other side, as it brought them to another section of the citadel, or castle as the Ice Princess called it, that had a Dark Gem resting nearby, though there just so happened to be a Gnorc Brute standing guard over the sinister gem and it waved its axe towards the area they were standing in, no doubt trying to scare them off so it didn't have to waste time fighting them, where Elora was able to kick the armor off and open the way for Hunter and Amelia to use a pair of arrows to take it down. The moment it was reduced to a pile of gems Ember smashed the Dark Gem with the Horn Dive, not to mention the trio of dark crystals that were near it being broken by the force of her attack, where the others watched as the darkness in this area faded and restored it to what it had been like before Red put the sinister gem in this place, revealing a cannon that Hunter climbed into almost immediately, where he quickly turned it on all of the metallic containers that were in this area and fired on all of them, blasting them to pieces so the gems that were trapped inside could be freed at long last, though he also made sure to take down a metallic door that was blocking something to the right of the cannon and another metallic that was in front of where the cannon rested, but once that was done he let the dragonflies collect the gems before he climbed off the weapon as they picked out where they were going next. What they did was head through the tunnel that was to the left of the cannon's position and found that there was a Yeti standing in the middle of the passage, where Spyro flamed it not a few seconds later and opened the way forward, even though Bianca shocked the next Yeti that was just beyond where the first one had been resting, before they smashed the bear traps that were positioned all over the tunnel, smashed the dark crystal the Yetis had been guarding, and made sure to take care of the straw basket and metallic chest that rested nearby, before they truly headed down the rest of the tunnel.

On the other side of the tunnel the group found an area that had a yellow dragon egg with white spots off to their right, where Aurora jumped onto the pole that was nearby and allowed it to move as she used the Pole Spin for a few moments, something that was followed by her jumping to the second one and let it move her up to where the egg was located, which she jumped over to and beckoned for the others to catch up with her, which was mostly Spike doing it since he wanted to check out the egg and then send it off to the Nursery, before she found a metallic platform that needed a burst from one of their Lightning Breaths to activate. Spike, however, also helped her out and powered the platform so she could use it to move over to the other platform that something was resting on, a Dark Gem to be exact, to which Aurora used it to get over to where the gem was positioned and then smashed it when she reached the area it was in, causing the darkness to fade away and restore a snow covered walkway that seemed to lead to another tunnel, where she waited for the others to catch up with her before they followed Spyro down into the area and found three enemies waiting for intruders, a Gnorc Archer, a Gnorc Warrior, and a Gnorc Brute. Flame smashed the archer into the wall to their left with a swing of his tail and a short burst of fire, Spike blasted the warrior with a Lightning Bolt, and Ember smashed the armor off the brute so Elora could rush forward and spin kick their target into the opposite wall that Flame had hit his foe into, though once all of the gems had been picked up they headed down the rest of the tunnel, though Bianca shocked another Gnorc Archer that was around the corner and stopped when they discovered there was an electric device that, when powered, opened the way back into Vicky's chamber, who didn't seem to have noticed them. As such they headed back to where the cannon rested and Cynder flew into the circular structure, where she used a platform to reach the upper level and whatever was resting up there, only for her to call Spike over to the area that she was positioned in and revealed that there was a purple dragon egg with yellow stars up there, to which he sent it off to the Nursery after making sure no harm had been done to it, which was where she glided over to the other area that Hunter had opened up and claimed a Light Gem that happened to be in the short tunnel in question, which she returned to Spike as they watched as Spyro headed over to the other structure that was in this area, the last place they could explore before having to backtrack.

As it turned out there was a Gnorc Warrior guarding a pipe passage, just like the one that had allowed them to enter the chamber that they had found Vicky in, and Spyro flamed his foe into submission before heading into the pipe, which was when the rest of the followed after him for a few moments and discovered a chamber that had a few Gnorc Warriors and some bats inside it, where Hunter and Amelia focused on the flying enemies while Bianca blasted one of the melee foes with a Lightning Bolt, Flame hit another into the ground, and Aurora dodged an incoming attack to burn the last one so the area would be cleared out. Once their enemies had been taken care of the group made sure to smash the couple of straw baskets and a dark crystal as Ember ignited the furnace, which spat out another Light Gem for them to take, which was added to the collection they were gathering, though before they headed through the pipe that brought them to this area Spike spotted a platform that lowered down into part of the chamber that they were standing in and determined that they could use it to get to another part of this realm, to which Amelia leapt into the pipe's opening and then jumped up onto the platform. What she discovered was that it brought her to another passage that rested inside the citadel, or castle since that was what Vicky called this place, and it was possible that Red or the Dark Master's magic was at work on this area, but she called down for the others to follow her as she smashed a bullseye chest and a straw basket as she memorized where they had been resting so Spike knew how to write about this part of their adventure, before she turned her full attention to the rest of the passage, where a Gnorc Brute and a Gnorc Warrior happened to be guarding, even if it was possible that there might be more foes waiting for them. Once everyone was up where she was standing, however, Spike loosed a small group of Wind Shuriken that took out the more imposing Gnorc Brute, opening the way for Elora to rush over to where the other foe was standing and kicked it into the wall, allowing the rest of the group to catch up with her, even though Flame took a moment to smash a dark crystal to pieces along the way, before Ember smashed three metallic chests and three straw baskets that were near where Elora was standing, before Hunter and Amelia loosed a few arrows into the rest of the passage so they could take down the three Gnorc Warriors that were guarding a door.

The group wasted no time in pressing the button that was in front of the door, only to discover that it brought them back to a section of this realm that they had been in already, to which they turned around and headed back the way they had come from, as it was time to tell Vicky that all of the furnaces, or boilers as she called them, had been lit, where it didn't take them long to reach the chamber she was standing in and discovered that the Ice Princess felt much better than what they had seen when they first entered this area, making Spike wonder if there was something wrong with something she was wearing or with the twisted castle itself.

"Ah, that's much better... I mean, you certainly fixed most of the problem, but its still chilly," Vicky commented, where she took a moment to shiver and reveal that things seemed to be just like they were when they were fist in this area, though that was when she reached into part of her dress and pulled out something, a Light Gem as it turned out, before she held it out towards the group for a few seconds, almost like she was offering it to them as a reward, "however, you tried to do me a service and that should be rewarded, so here, take this crystal that was left with me when I woke up in this twisted version of my castle, as a note called it a personal heater or something like that... it didn't work, but I feel that you might have a use for it."

"Don't worry, we'll put it to good use," Spike replied, where Spyro accepted the Light Gem and kept it near him, as once the group left this chamber he was going to store it inside the bag once Vicky was out of their line of sight, just so she had no idea how many Light Gems they had collected so far, before he thought about something as he studied the magic that was in the air, as there was a massive sinister signature that had to either be Red or the Dark Master, possibly both of them working together, and that it was manipulating the castle into its current form, before locating a smaller signature that he could work with and change in some manner, "Um, do you mind if I take a look at your necklace? I think someone might have cast a foul spell on it after you were captured."

Vicky raised her eyebrow for a moment as she knelt for a moment so Spike could get a good look at the magic that he had spotted during his investigation, though that was followed by him gathering his magic for a moment as he focused on the magic that had been placed on the necklace and quickly shattered it rather easily, where a look of relief quickly appeared on Vicky's face, to which Spike explained that whoever had kidnapped her had made sure she was always cold, regardless of the state of her furnaces, something that was followed by the princess actually picking him up and hugging him, as this totally solved her problems for the foreseeable future, before she put him down and allowed them to leave. Elora seemed a little annoyed by that, but she made sure that no one else realized what expression she had shown for a moment, even if she understood it was a gesture of gratitude and not something else, before they exited the chamber Vicky was standing in, and could finally enjoy for the first time since she woke up in the apparently twisted version of her castle, and headed back to the area that the other path was resting in, where the portal that Sgt. Byrd had been standing near. It didn't take them all that long to return to the area in question and found that the stairs that lead to where the next Dark Gem had to be resting, due to the darkness that was above them, had been frozen over, something that was followed by Bianca using her magic for a moment and shifted the ice away, allowing them to walk up to where the sinister gem rested so Aurora could smash it to pieces, dispelling the darkness and causing the bridge that was in front of them to lower into place, only it brought them to an area that had a Thief running around and it didn't take Ember long to smash the creature into one of the walls, claiming the white egg with green spots so Spike could send it back to the Nursery. Once that was done it was easy for them to find a button that revealed an area that had a Supercharge Gadget, one that allowed them to empower themselves and charge through the tunnel that was in front of them, where Spyro lead the way and smashed the couple of metallic containers that happened to be resting in the middle of the path, though that didn't stop Spike from claiming a Light Gem that was long the way while Ember smashed a side door to get break some additional containers she found in the small area she unlocked, before they smashed through one final door and came to a stop as they realized that they were back in the village that they had started at for this realm.

The group decided that a brief rest was in order, especially after all of the enemies they had faced on the way through the citadel that was actually a castle, though once they had a chance to rest up they would tackle the rest of Frostbite Village, as each of them knew that there were some areas that they had missed during their first trek through this realm and that meant more eggs and gems could be recovered, something everyone was looking forward to doing once they had a brief moment to rest before they tackled whatever Red had prepared for them.

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter content in here. And congrats on making it to the one million word mark on this story. Anyway, once again, the gang continues to work rather effectively as a team; kicking butt and collecting eggs and gems as usual; and now the gang knows how to wall jump (even if the Elder who taught them was being a bit insulting about it). And yeah, they were able to pass the info on to Moneybags concerning the encounter to Bentley (though I have a hunch that Spyro might be wrong concerning Red not paying attention to their conversations with Moneybags and, in fact, Red might be playing dumb purely to lull the gang into a false sense of security [at the very least, the Dark Master probably is]).

VERY certainly looking forward to more of this.

[badninja]

I think the bleed over from the previous timeline is affecting some of these characters. It is like they know one thing to expect and are getting another and it is causing a glitch.

[zachary12]

nice work.

[PrismStrike]

Ice Citadel:
Eggs Recovered: 7

Total Eggs Recovered: 53 / 80

well that was fun though i don't really have too much to say that i have not yet before or has already been said by the others save for it seems Elora got kinda jealous over that hug which was absolutely adorable to me. AS always another great chapter, Looking forward to the backtracking and filling out my count (even though i think its currently only like 2-7 eggs that are needed to bring it up). keep up the great work