Legend of Spyro AoH BkII Ch.68

"Tremor!" Candice screamed when she saw another earth bullet reflected back at the young guardian. The blast struck Tremor in the stomach and launched him into the ceiling. The young dragon cried out in pain before hitting the floor. "Look out!"
Tremor rolled away as several stones fell from the ceiling. But just as he dodged those, Snarl rushed in with a savage slash with his claws across Tremor's chest, sending the green dragon tumbling across the broken floor.
"Get up!" Candice cried helplessly.
"Yes! Get up!" Snarl bellowed and yanked Tremor off the floor. He pinned the dragon to the wall and punched him hard in the stomach. Tremor gasped as all the air rushed out of him. His stomach ached and his insides burned. Blood still trickled from his nose and mouth. There was a new gash along his forehead as well as his right shoulder and his body was peppered with dark bruises.
Snarl frowned. "I have to say that I'm rather disappointed in you dragon." He turned and hurled Tremor against the opposite wall again. He lumbered over as the guardian struggled to recover from the blow. The wolf bent down and grasped Tremor around the neck and brought their faces together. "For being a supposed guardian you're not as strong as you should be." He growled and tossed Tremor again.
"Leave him alone!" Candice shouted. She could feel her temper rising.
Snarl ignored the ice dragoness and grabbed Tremor again. "You dragons pride yourselves in your abilities to use your special elemental powers. But I'm willing to bet my life that you couldn't hold your own against another with the same gift as you."
"I said to stop it!" Candice shrieked. Her eyes were glowing and her icy energy was beginning to swell up inside of her. The Alpha turned his head and gave her an annoyed look.
"Don't be in such a hurry to die. I'll get to you soon enough."
"You don't have guts!" Candice hissed as clouds of frost jetted between her bared teeth. Her icy power was beginning to expand out from her body. The frozen water droplets began to harden across her body, forming an extra layer or armor. Icicles grew out from her shoulders and across her chest to form a protective guard. The wall behind her was white with frost and seemed to glow as angrily as Candice's eyes.
Snarl dropped Tremor's body and turned towards Candice. "As you wish. If you'd rather die before him then I suppose it will be more enjoyable to watch him suffer even more."
Candice had heard enough. She gave a sharp cough and Snarl bellowed in pain. The Alpha staggered back, clutching at the icy spike that was lodged deep in this shoulder just above his clavicle. He had just narrowly missed being impaled through the throat because he jerked just in time.
Candice hissed menacingly and fired another spike into the knee that Tremor had struck earlier. The Alpha howled and fell to his knee. Outside the guards opened a hatch on the door and peered in. Candice's energy was spreading rapidly throughout the chamber, covering the walls and ceiling in a ghostly pale frost.  The guards stepped back and clutched at their faces, whimpering like cubs as the jagged ice particles stung their eyes.
"I think Tremor is a saint for not going ballistic on you and keeping his promise to me," Candice growled. "But I can never forgive you for what you did to his sister and put him through."
"I'm not asking for your pity or forgiveness dragon!" Snarl grabbed the spear that was lodged in his leg and with an agonized yell, yanked it out. His blood spattered across the floor and hands as he gripped his wounded limb. He took a couple of quick breaths before grabbing a stone off the floor and crushing it in his hand. The broken bits fell onto his wound and meshed together to create a hard, protective brace for his leg.
Candice glared at the wolf as he began to glow with green energy. When snarl raised his head his eyes were glowing. He rose to his feet and grabbed his bladed weapon. Candice remained steadfast as the wolf leader approached her. Snarl slowly raised his blade and brought the point to Candice's eye level.  The dragoness narrowed her eyes and ice began to form on the blade. Snarl bared his fangs and growled at her defiance. He barked furiously and swung the killing blow.

"I feel weak," Spyro whimpered to himself. He was curled up in a fetal ball, surrounded by darkness again.
"You are weak," Malefor's voice echoed in his head.
"No, I'm not weak. I'm a lot stronger than you are," Spyro snapped subversively.
"That may have been true at one point in time young dragon," said The Dark Master. "But you are in my realm now. And here I rule!" A pair of sinister yellow eyes appeared and the darkness shattered. Spyro opened his eyes slightly. His vision wavered slightly but focused after a brief moment of nausea. He was no longer inside the cage anymore but still remained suspended by an invisible force. Down below he could see Malefor smiling at him.
"Good to see you're awake young dragon." The Dark Master gave an acknowledging nod.
"Malefor..." Spyro growled and bared his teeth. Then he realized what he was staring at. "Wait, you're alive? But how is this possible?"
"Spyro, when are you going to learn that anything is possible?" Liun shook his head as he walked up beside the Dark Master. "It's because of you that I was able to bring Malefor back."
"No! That's a lie!" Spyro snapped. "I'd never willingly do such a thing!"
"You didn't have to." Malefor snorted. "It's the same story as last time. Everything you've done has been a part of my plan to come back to make your life a living hell."
"If that's the case then why haven't you been able to steal my powers? You've tried so hard but you've gotten nothing out of it!"
Malefor frowned and struck Spyro with his long claws. Spyro cried out as he flew back and hit the wall before crumbling to the floor. The purple dragon tried to get to his feet but his energy was draining fast.
Malefor lumbered up to him and brought his massive head down close to Spyro's. "I will admit that you and your little guardian friends have been an immense thorn in my side from the beginning. But can I tell you now that they are all dead."
"What?" Spyro's eyes widened in horror. "Th-that can't be! You're lying!"
"I've never lied to you before young dragon. Why would I start now?" Malefor gave an insulted huff and a puff of fire burst from his mouth. Spyro shrank back and watched as the flames dissipated into a cloud of black smoke. "That was from your fire guardian Flame. He put up quite a fight, but in the end he succumbed to his injuries. And," Malefor turned his head and unleashed a wave of fire that melted through the stones in the wall. Spyro shielded himself behind his wing from the intense heat.  When the blaze died down Malefor looked back at Spyro with a malevolent grin on his face. "Thanks to his friend, Ember I believe is what he screamed for her, my fire breath is twice as strong as before."
"No, Ember..." Spyro felt his heart sink.
Malefor laughed and turned towards the opposite wall and roared. A blast of ice streamed from his throat surrounded bay waves of electric energy. The ice hit the wall, freezing the stones before destroying them with the bolts of lightning.  
"The ice dragoness didn't put up much of a fight." Liun explained as he walked up to a devastated Spyro. "She was too grief-stricken over losing Tremor that she just sat there and waited for Malefor to kill her."
"That's not true!" Spyro shouted with tears in his eyes. "Candice is nothing like that! She's not weak minded like that! I know she would have fought back with everything she had!"
"Believe what you want Spyro." Liun shrugged. "But Candice didn't die until after Stella threw herself in front of Malefor's attack to try and save her. It was because of Candice that Stella died. Though I would have liked her to stay around as my mate, I can't argue with the results." The black dragon thrust his chest out and spread his wings as he began to glow with convexity. "I have the power I've always wanted. Plus I still have quite a picking from the female black dragons we captured during the raid on the dragon city."
"You bastard." Spyro grit his teeth and swung at Liun but was too weak to connect with any power. Liun grabbed Spyro's wrist in his jaws and hurled him against the glowing hot rocks Malefor had melted with his fire breath. Spyro screamed as the scales on his back began to burn away. He flung himself onto the floor desperate to relieve the searing pain in his back on the chilled stones of the floor.
"Don't be so quick to judge Spyro," Liun continued with his verbal torment. "For a while I was beginning to hate you since it looked like I wouldn't be able to acquire the power I wanted. But now that I've got it, I'm willing to do you a favor."
"Do me a favor, and don't!" Spyro spat on the black dragon's chest. The gesture infuriated Liun and he slammed a paw down on Spyro's ribs before letting lose a surge of dark lightning. Spyro screamed in agony as he felt the energy tear him apart from the inside out.  When Liun removed his paw he stepped back, letting the purple dragon twitch and convulse on the floor like a dying fish out of water.
"I'm still thankful to you Spyro." Liun shrugged. "So in return I promise that after you're dead I will take care of Cynder for you."
"Cynder?" Spyro raised his head off the floor; it felt heavy.
Across the room a pair of white eyes shined through the darkness of the hallways. Spyro's eyes grew wide as the black dragoness strolled casually into the room. Her eyes were void of emotion and her scales were no longer the elegant, graceful black he had come to love so much, but rather a pitch black in which all light seemed to disappear into.
"Cynder!" Spyro called out to her but the dragoness paid him no attention.
"She really is a great catch." Liun sneered as the dragoness stopped beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. Liun turned and brought a paw under her chin. Spyro's eyes widened in horror as the black dragons locked lips. Spyro's pupils shrank as his heart rate quickened. Liun broke the kiss and licked his lips lustfully. "Yeah, I'll be sure to take very good care of her."
"Nooooo!" Spyro roared. "Cynder!" The purple dragon was suddenly on his feet, convexity erupting from his body. Spyro's faded purple scales flashed silver before turning to the darkest black Liun had ever seen. His purple eyes flashed with violet energy before shining with pure white hate. Flames of dark magic licked at the rims of his mouth and convexity came in steamy gusts from the gashed Malefor had left across his body. Liun did his best to remain calm in the face of the enraged dark dragon but Malefor sensed his fear.
"Do not worry. He's no threat to us here."
"That's what you think!" Dark Spyro snarled, his voice warped by the darkness inside his heart. "I'm going to kill every last one of you!"

Cynder screamed and collapsed to the floor.
"Cynder what's wrong? What's going on?" Stella cried. She rushed over to her friend who lay on the floor, clutching at her head and trembling in fear.
"I-it's Spyro! I can feel him! I feel his pain! We're losing him!"
"What?" Flame gasped. "Losing him?"
"We have to get out of here!" Ember shouted. "We can't afford to wait for a rescue!"
"But how?" Flame demanded. "That barrier is what's keeping us in here!"
"Well we have to try!" Ember shot back. "I'm not going to sit back and lose another friend without a fight!"
"Then let's get to work!" Stella fumed and pushed past the two fire breathers. She planted herself in the middle of the room and spread her wings wide. With a piercing cry she unleashed a burst of lightning at the door. The wood shattered and started to come back together. Just as it was nearly fixed the splinters stopped moving. The guardians gasped as they saw the splintered wood hover around the area where Stella was focusing her lightning.
At last Stella needed to take a breath. Lightning crackled around her body and her manifested adult self appeared with an angry roar. The dragons pitched their heads forward and fired another concentrated bolt that smashed both doors. The electric energy warped against the barrier but the shield still refused to yield.
"Have some of this!" Ember inhaled with everything she had and fired a white-hot beam of burning energy.
"You're not leaving me out!" Flame growled. He let loose a furious roar and his body shook as the energy rippled through him. The red, flame-like markings lit up across his hide and his eyes burned with scarlet energy. The fire guardian's jaws opened wide and a crimson beam burst from the back of his throat. The barrier warped even more but still remained intact.
Cynder got up off the floor and staggered over to the three dragons. Her head spun and her stomach churned violently. The black dragoness spread her wings, her tail blade lashing the air as she gathered her power. Cynder let out a cry and unleashed a wave of convexity. The combined roars of the dragons thundered throughout the castle. The barrier began to warp itself and bend from the combined powers of the guardians.
"I think we've got it now!" Flame called. No sooner had he spoke than the barrier began to fight back. With a bright flash of light, the energy was reflected back at the young dragons and sent all four of them crashing into the far wall.
As the dust began to settle Ember opened her eyes to see the door repairing itself again. "Oh no you don't!" She growled and sprang to her feet. She fired a barrage of sparklers that exploded against the wood, shattering it again. This gave her the time she needed to draw up her power from deep within. The pink dragoness released everything she had into one concentrated blast of fire.
"I've got your back!" Flame yelled and moved up beside her. His red markings were glowing bright and sending up wisps of fire and smoke. The guardian reared his head back and roared with all his might.
Stella shook her head and staggered to her feet. After a couple deep breaths her body shook as her power began to rise up once again. The lightning guardian lunged forward and her manifested self struck the door head on, pushing with all her might against it.
"Hang on Spyro." Cynder whispered as she became shrouded in convexity. The black dragoness began to grow as her energy billowed from her body. The adult dragoness's eyes flashed red and she let loose a piercing cry that shattered the remains of the door and the wall around it. "We're coming for you! Just hold out a little longer!"