LoS Into The Shadows Ch1
#1 of Into The Shadows
Chapter One:
Escaping Enemies!
It was nearly a year after Spyro and Cynder defeated Malefor and saved the world. All was peaceful except for an occasional robbery, mugging, or natural disaster.
"I'm bored," a yellow dragonfly complained.
"Come on, Sparx. It's not that bad. At least we don't have to worry about Malefor anymore," a purple dragon responded.
"I agree with Spyro. I think it's nice," a black dragoness said. "Besides, there's plenty to keep us busy." she added as she spread her wings and took flight with the other two behind her.
"Yeah, yeah. Finding a theif and then we end up paying the merchant for the food he stole!" Sparx said crossing his arms. "That was pointless."
"The kid was starving. And he agreed to work for the merchant as payment," the dragoness said looking at Spyro.
"Hay, what is that," Spyro said turning to a forest and diving down until his wings skimmed over the canopy.There was a loud roar as a black figure ran under them followed by several monsters. "He might need help. come on, Cynder," he said as he and the dragoness reversed direction. The two dragons began too speed up until they caught up to the black figure and land in front of him. The figure skidded to a stop and growled at them. Spyro saw the figure was a black dragon with a large white claw-shaped mask over his right eye that extended over part of his right horn and curved around his cheek. He had gray-silver horns except for a small gold area over the mask. His claws, long serrated tail blade, and wing-membrane were gray and his left eye was the same color as Spyro's.he kept his wings folded. A ear-splitting roar caused the dragon to spin around and face the creatures that were chasing him.
"Come and get some!" he yelled as the six ceatures began to line up. Each mutant creature was hideously deformed. Some had over-sided or under-sided limbs while others were missing part of or all of their limbs. They started to howl and roar so loud that Sparx, Spyro, and Cynder were forced to cover their ears. The creatures began to stomp their feet and pound their fist into the ground. "Well?!" the black dragon yelled over the noise and lowering himself into a fight position, keeping his wings folded. The creatures stopped for a second before roaring loudly and charging toward the dragons. The black dragon lunged forward and tackled one of the creatures. Spyro, who had recovered from the roar, spat out a flame onto two of the creatures. They howled in pain but continued to charge, swinging their arms wildly. Cynder jumped over Spyro and impaled her tail blade into one the burning creatures. It roared before falling silent as it hit the ground. When she pulled her tail, out she saw it was covered in a foul clear slime.
"What are these things?" she yelled as she barely dodged the other burnt creature's arm. She swerved to avoid its other arm. She try to use a fear scream but it had no effect. The creature stopped as earth bullets hit it and turn to Spyro. A third creature charged after her. Snarling, it raised it larger fist and slammed it in front of Cynder. Cynder spit poison into the creature's face. It screamed and tried pull the poison off with its smaller hand. It swung the other arm at Cynder. She moved to avoid it but was to late. The creature's claw-like fingers cut into Cynder's leg.
Spyro shot earth bullets at the burnt creature before it could go after Cynder. "Where do you think your going," he said shooting more earth bullets at its face. The ceature howled as it fell backward, covering its face with its hands. Spyro took this time to freeze it were it lay. Another creature trampled over Spyro.It swung its club-like hand at Spyro, senting him spiraling into a tree. When he recover, he saw the creature baring down on him with its fist in the air. it roared, bringing its fist down before falling forward.
"Spyro, are you okay?" Cynder asked, ripping out her tail from the creature's back.
"It's crushing me." Spyro answered. Cynder pushed it off of Spyro. She was still surpized by how much it weighed. She helped him onto his feet. His face went sour as he said "What is that SMELL?!"
Cynder stepped back and tried to shake as much of the slime off her tail and claws. But that didn't reduce the stench. "Sorr..." She was cut short by a fireball barely missing her head. Both Spyro and Cynder looked over to where the fireball originated.
The black dragon was charging for another attack. "Why won't you leave me alone?!" he said launching the fireball at Spyro. "I haven't done anything to you!"
"I think you might be confused," Spyro said dodging the fireball. The black dragon began charging another fireball. "We came to help."
The dragon stopped and relaxed a little, letting his fireball deteriorate into nothing. "Come with me. It's not safe here," he said as he walked farther into the woods. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other questioningly before following the mysterious dragon.
"Sparx? Sparx,where are you," Spyro yelled, looking around for his bother.
"I'm over here," Sparx called from behind a tree.
"You can come out now. The fight is over," Spyro Said.
"I'm not going anywhere near the 'Queen Stink'" Sparx replied, holding his nose and pointing to Cynder.
"I had no idea I was in the presents of royalty" the black dragon said bowing to Cynder. He kept his eye locked on her.
"Actually, my name is Cynder. this is Spyro," she said pointing to the purple dragon. "And that annoying glowing mosquito you heard was Sparx." She yelled The last part to make sure Sparx heard her. "What's your name?"
"I don't know." the black dragon answered. He inceased his pace. "I can't remember." The dragons came upon the base of large cliff. The black dragon dashed toward the cliff and quickly climbed up into a crevice near the top. he turned around and yelled "You coming?" Spyro and Cynder opened their wings and flew up to the crevice with Sparx behind them. The black dragon led the trio deeper into a cave in the back of the crevice.
"So, you can't remember your name?" Sparx asked. The black dragon nodded. "Great! An amnesia dragon!" he flew over to the exit. "Lets go." The black dragon walked over to a hole in the cave wall and pulled out a small bag.
"Here, rub this anywhere the slime touched," he said throwing the bag to Cynder. She opened it and started to scrub the green sludge on her tail.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Herbs... mostly," the back dragon said looking at Cynder. His eye widen when he looked at the blood on her leg. "How did you get that?!"
"One of those creatures scatch me," she said washing her claws in the sludge. "It's nothing."
"I beg to differ. The munant's claws are toxic," he said running his claw over the cut. A cloud of darkness formed over Cynder injury and over the black dragon's claws. Cynder's eyes widened in pain as the blood began to retreat back into the wound and seal. "That should help."
"What were those things? I've never seen them before," Cynder asked checking where her cut was. The cut was gone, not even a scar was left.
"I don't know what they are, or what they're called. I call them munants," he answered as he grabbd the bag and began to wash his tail blade.
"I was meaning to ask, why didn't you fly up here," Spyro asked. The black dragon's only responce was his wings moving slightly. A glowing red chain appeared wrapped around the wings, binding them together. "Cynder, doesn't this look familiar?"
She walked to the black dragon. "It looks like the same magic that Malefor used on us but it's a different color. I think we should have the guardians look at this back at the temple."
"Wait, you mean the dragon temple?" The black dragon asked smiling. "I know a shortcut." He led Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx, who joined the group after Cynder's herb-sludge bath, through the cave to another exit. The entrance was much higher and at a sharper decline than were they entered. The sun shone brightly onto a large complex roughly two miles away. "It won't be long now."
"Cynder, Sparx fly ahead. I'll grab..." before Spyro could finish, the black dragon jumped off the ledge. His tail dug deep into the cliff, leaving sparks and dust on his way down and scarring the Earth . He slowed to a stop a few feet above the ground. He dislodged his tail and landed on his feet.
"You coming?" he asked looking up at Spyro's Shocked face. "What?!" He heard a bellow and turned to face three huge munants, similar to he fought earilier but covered rusted armor and holding axes. "I thought we gave you the slip," he complained as Cynder and Spyro joined him at the bottom. "These things are why we went through the cave."
"We beat them before," Cynder said preparing to fight. "We can do it again."
The middle munant stepped forward. "Give dragon now. Die quick," it roared slamming its axe into the ground.The other munants bowed their heads as the it spoke.
"And if we don't," Sparx yelled shaking fist at the creatures before hiding behind Spyro.
"Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain," the bowing creatures chanted swinging their axes in the air. The three roared loudly before running after the dragons. The black dragon launched a fireball into the largest munant face. It was pissed off but uninjured. He rolled to avoid its axe. The earth clung to his scales, encasing him in rock. He walked slowly up to the munant, enduring each swing of the axe. His stone armor lessen each attack. The munant roared, bringing its axe up in the air and then down onto the earth-covered dragon's back. The dragon growled in pain before thrusting his talons through the munant's helmet.
Spyro flew over the leader launched a stream of fire at its feet. The munant roared in annoyance, stomping after the purple dragon. Spyro tried firing bolts of electricity, hitting the munant in the head. The munant staggered then roared angerly. "This is not working," he said to himself evading the munant's gubby hand. he firing the coldest breath he could freezing the hand solid. The munant look at its hand as it shattered then defiantly back to Spyro. It swung its axe quickly, hitting Spyro with the blunt of the axe. Spyro hit the ground so hard it knocked the what wind was left in his lungs out.
Cynder growled at the smallest of the munants, who only grinned at the minute dragoness. It began to walk up to the dragon dragging its axe on the ground. Cynder jumped at the munant clawing at its chest. The munant laughed and grabbed Cynder by her throat, her claws didn't leave any marks on the munant's armor. She howled in pain as the munant began to slowly crush her throat. The munant smiled at the squirming dragon. Cynder stabbed her tail into the munant's wrist. The munant's grip loosen enough for her to spit the smallest amount of poison onto the munant's face. It screamed, dropping Cynder and covering its face with its hands. Cynder wheezed letting fresh air rush through her brused throat. She spewed as much poison as she could at the frantic monstrosity. The munant ripped off all of its armor trying to rid itself of the poison that covered its body. Cynder launched herself at the flailing munant and clawed its back before retreating away. The munant looked at the dragoness with its angry black eyes. It swung at the dragon, spraying poison on the ground. Cynder had enough. She charged at the creature. She impaled it in the chest. The munant howled before collapsing to the ground. She sighed. The battle took alot out of her. She never felt this exhausted since the battle against Malefor. Then she remembered about Spyro and began to look around for him. She saw him laying on the ground overshadowed by a munant. The munant held its axe over its head. Cynder's eyes widen as time seemed to slow. She ran as fast as she could, using her wings as a boost.. She smashed her skull into the munant so hard, she saw stars. "Spyro, are you alright?" She asked, still dazed.
"Uh... Yeah," Spyro said, weakly getting onto his feet. "I swear they're getting stronger." The two dragons heard roaring and turned to face it. The three munants stood ready to fight again, their wounds already healed. "They just don't give up, do they?"
"They won't stop until we're dead or that we're out of their territory," the black dragon said walking up to the other dragons. his armor turned to sand and fell off, showing all his cuts and bruses from the axe. "It's not that far. We just need to stall them." The munants roared before charging. Cynder stepped forward, odviously tired from her fight, inhaling the best she could and use a gale wind. The munants stopped to brace themselves then continued to walk slowly toward the dragons through the wind. Spyro staggered up beside Cynder and combined his sub-zero breath with her wind. The munants slowed as their feet began freeze. By the time Cynder and Spyro stopped the munants were half frozen in ice. They roared defiantly and smashed the ice with whatever they could. "Lets not wait for them to get free," the black dragon said putting Spyro on his back. Spyro winced as the black dragon began to run with Cynder behind him. They heard the roars get closer and closer as they ran. A burst of light binded the dragons as they broke out of the forest. The black dragon stopped abruptly, throwing Spyro off. Cynder ran to Spyro, who groaned in pain from the fall. The black dragon's eye widened in fear and his body began to tremble. The munants howled angerly at the edge. His body cover itself in clouds of darkness before he blacked-out.
...
In a dark cavern, a tall munant carefully carried a small sleeping black dragon chick with large wings in its arms. It walked into a large chamber dimly lit by dark crystals on the walls. At the far end of the chamber was a huge hairy creature with sharp claw-like nails, wearing a dark blue cape and brass boots, sitting on a large crystal throne. In the center of the room was a pedestal constructed of dark crystals. The munant dipped its head as it placed the dragon on the pedestal before backing up to the wall. The hairy creature stood and slowly walked down to the pedestal. It looked studious at the young dragon. "Welcome into the world, my little Crimson. You will make a perfect specimen," it said gently, stroking the dragons cheek. "Put this one with the others." The munant walked up to the pedestal and grabbed the dragon.
...
"uh..."
The black dragon slowly opened his eyes. The rush of light caused him to squint. "Hello, your awake," he recognized the voice as Cynder's. "We had to wait until you woke up. I can't carry both you and Spyro." he looked around and saw Spyro was sleeping lightly and cynder laying close to him. "What was that all about."
The black dragon struggled to stand. "My...My...My name...My name is...Crimson."