TLOS legend of the black dragon chapter 24 not invincible?
Author note: Here is chapter 24. I wanted to show Wilmfe in a different light this time. She is Ember's mother, never forget that. Also I wanted to up the level of battling with more tactics and strategy instead of just brute force. I have almost used up all my reserves so the next update will be uncertain.
The legend of Spyro
Legend of the black dragon
Chapter 24 not invincible?
From her exclusive spot in the honour box, Georga was watching the matches unfold underneath her, one by one.
She never really paid it that much attention. She was merely waiting for the match of Oxidus to start.
"Hello again everyone" Georga turned her head and was quite surprised to see the small aqua blue figure of Frost enter the honour box again.
She was indeed surprised to see him. After the mood his father was in Georga had been sure that Frost wasn't going to leave home today at all. Let alone go to the honour box.
"Frost? What are you doing here?" she asked right away.
"Well, after dad finished his little, or rather endless tirade about how low Igüsa is and how stupid Cyril is he went to his room and has yet to come out" Frost said as he walked towards Georga.
"So, what's stopping me?" he asked smirking as he laid down and put his paws in front of him.
"Maybe, big time trouble" Georga hinted looking at him with a strongly suggestive look.
"I'm sure your dad is not in the best of moods now" Georga said her face getting fearful by just thinking about it.
However Frost didn't seem concerned.
"He's much too concerned with his own wounded pride to worry about me right now" Frost said waving his paw reassuringly.
"Well, I know that I sure wouldn't take any risks if Volt was in a bad mood" Georga said quickly shaking her head in fear at the thought.
She felt lucky that Volt wasn't here, otherwise he most definitely wouldn't have liked that.
Volt had left her for the day and he had ordered her to be home before dinner. That meant 6 o'clock as it was their usual dinner time. Georga hadn't told him anything about yet Ember's match later that evening but Volt rarely protested. Georga was convinced that he would allow her to view the match.
However, while Volt rarely stopped her from doing things, when punishments were concerned, he wasn't as soft.
"If he was scorned then I would watch my step" she said almost like a warning to Frost.
"Well, unlike you Volt is not my parent" Frost said.
"We'll I'm just saying that I wouldn't take that risk"
"Don't worry" Frost waved his paw again like nothing was the matter.
Georga just forgot about it and turned her eyes back to the arena as a match started that she didn't want to miss.
"And now Volcano Master Oxidus faces Smouldering Soldier Feusus" Cyril shouted.
Georga locked her eyes on the arena as the gates opened.
She looked at Feusus and now also recognised him.
"Hey, isn't that dragon the one that defeated Igüsa?" Frost asked her.
"That's right" Georga nodded.
"Let's see if her brother can do better" Frost said.
"I'm sure he can beat him" Georga said mostly to herself and Frost also didn't say anything more.
Oxidus also walked into the arena.
He looked cold, calculative, ruthless and ready for battle. Like always.
The two fire dragons walked to the middle of the arena and Fuesus lowered down his tail to get to Oxidus' smaller height.
Oxidus slammed his hooked tail against it. The barbs made a few scratches but that didn't hurt Fuesus.
As Fuesus turned Georga thought she spotted a hint of fear in his eyes. It was faint and might just be her imagination but it seemed to be there. Not that it was strange. Oxidus was extremely powerful, Fuesus knew that.
The two fire dragons walked back to their original position and cringed down, waiting for the starting sign.
"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril announced.
Oxidus right away used a lightning fast comet dash and reached Fuesus had even seen him.
Fueses just managed to brace himself for it but Oxidus was way too powerful and knocked him off his feet. Like the massive fire dragon was feather light he rammed him up in the air and crashed him into the wall.
Using his own momentum Oxidus got upwards by shifting his bodyweight and made further speed using his wings.
He shot upwards, the fire not dissipating and grabbed the neck with all four.
He put his tail hook at Fuesus' throat and made his win.
"The winner is Volcano Master Oxidus" Cyril announced.
These things were starting to get so characteristic of him. Winning in mere seconds.
He was having no challenge in beating any of his opponents. He was fighting flawlessly.
A perfect machine of battle. No emotions to interfere or chance. Just pure battling.
Georga hated it. It was just so unlike him.
She doubted Oxidus even cared about the battles. He fought without having any passion or fun.
It just was just wrong.
Georga had not forgotten about her promise so she walked out of the honour box to speak with him.
She just was casually as she didn't really feel like she was in any sort of hurry.
The only reason she kept up a decent pace was because she didn't want to miss him.
The citadel was quite packed as it was rush hour but with the start of the victory tournament it wasn't as crowded as it once was.
Now that there were less dragons participating, there were also less friends and family watching.
Because there were less dragons participating there also were less friends and family watching.
Georga now spotted Oxidus already walking out and sped up her pace to catch up.
"Hey Oxidus!" she yelled to get his attention.
Oxidus stopped and after crawling underneath a large ice dragon Georga caught up to him.
As she looked him in the eye Georga quickly thought of something to say.
"Well, another win eh?" she said shrugging. She didn't really have much to say on it.
The battle was short and decisive and Oxidus was cold, strong and calculative. Everything was exactly like it was during all the matches in the preliminary rounds.
"Yes" Oxidus said and he turned to walk out and get back home. Not spirited, not even a little excited, nothing.
Georga hated the sight but found no reason to stop him and just watched him go and fly away.
"Oh, Oxidus" Georga muttered to herself.
She just so would love it to see the true him battle again. Even just one time only would be enough for her.
Just for one more time she wanted to see her best friend, at the moments where he shone the brightest. To see his fiery passion, to see him battle it out until exhaustion. To see his heart filled with passion, excitement and most of all; fun.
To see the fun that Oxidus always had. The passion for battling that was unique only to him.
She wanted to see that burning fire in his large bright eyes again. Those beautiful orange circles. It was like they were truly aflame. She would be so happy to see the real Oxidus again.
But, what she now saw was-
A shell, that's the closest thing she could describe it to. A shell of a dragon. Just bones, flesh and scales, nothing more.
Realising that she was pondering Georga got moving again back to the honour box.
As she walked back she kept thinking about her cold hearted friend.
"Just what kind of dragon are you Oxidus?" Georga thought as she walked aimlessly through the crowd. "What could I ha-"
"No! No! No! Get that out of your head Georga!" Georga said sharply to herself, shaking her head wildly.
She had promised her friends she wouldn't despair. Her common sense also knew it was pointless. Beating herself up over it wasn't going to help him.
She had proved that. She had to keep hope, for him.
As Georga walked into the honour box she rejoined Frost again.
"So, what did he say?" Frost asked.
"Not much" Georga sighed.
Frost still looked a bit intrigued but didn't ask anything further. He saw it was painful on her.
"So have you already picked a favourite?" he asked instead.
"Huh? Favourite?" Georga asked a bit clueless.
"You know, who do you think will win the cup?" Frost cleared up.
"I still believe Oxidus will win" Georga said with a rather sad voice.
"Yeah, he is still unchallenged" Frost nodded "No one seems to be able to match him. Oxidus sure is very powerful" Frost praised.
"He sure is" Georga nodded a bit sad.
Frost was right. Oxidus was one of the most powerful fire dragons. Georga already knew that he wasn't going to be kicked out of the tournament anytime soon.
Yet the way that he fought.
"I'm just so anxious to the day Oxidus finally finds himself a rival" Frost said still excited.
"A rival?"
"Yeah, you know. Someone who can match his power and push him to his limits. That would sure be one of the greatest matches ever"
"Yeah" Georga nodded, half smiling.
It indeed would be incredible to see Oxidus and another dragon push each other to their limits. No special rules or advantages to bind Oxidus. An opponent who could face him at his best.
"I'm sure that one day Oxidus will find a rival" Frost said almost like he was a guardian.
"You're right Frost" Georga nodded.
Now having a little more hope Georga turned her eyes to the matches again.
After some time Cynder also arrived again having to do a few things for the guardians.
Georga and Cynder discussed a few things about Oxidus but nothing really important.
Then Cynder asked her something "Hey, when are Spyro and Ember going to come back anyway?"
"Well-" They had already been away for a long time.
Georga didn't really know how long but Oxidus' match was already over so they must already be away for hours for certain.
"I think that I'm going to go and pick her up" Georga said and got up.
She turned her eyes towards her black companion "You know where she is?" she asked Cynder.
"Well, my guess is at the inn Spyro's parents stay" Cynder answered.
Cynder closed her eyes like she was thinking hard "Off the top of my head it was called Polystay" she said a bit uncertain.
"Thanks" Georga nodded. The inn called Polystay was in the same neighbourhood as her house was. Georga knew the place.
As Georga walked out of the honour box she checked the time on the clock.
She was partially shocked when she saw it was already 14:30.
Checking the time-tables again just to be certain Georga spotted indeed what she thought.
"That Ember has some nerve" Georga thought a bit angry as she walked out of the citadel.
When she was outside Georga spread her wings and flew into the sky.
Ember had missed the match of Oxidus and was about to miss the match of her mother as well.
"Not if I have anything to say about it" Georga thought.
Meanwhile Spyro and his family were engaged into a lively talk together with Ember about their life in the swamp.
They talked about a whole lot of different things, however Spyro's favourite topics by far were those that in one way or another turned out embarrassing for Sparx.
"You see and then Sparx got stuck into that frogweed then I-"
"I hope you are having a good time" Their conversation suddenly came to a halt as a dry and humourless voice interrupted them.
Ember turned around to see who it was and was a bit surprised to see Georga standing in the room.
However even more surprised she was at the deep frown on her face and the sharp look in her eyes.
"What is it?" Ember asked trying to quickly think of something that could have off-set Georga.
"Well I don't know if you knew it Ember-!" Georga said a bit angrily raising both her eyebrow and voice.
"But your mother's battle is coming up soon" She finished after a five second wait.
Ember gasped in surprise "What?! It is that late?" she exclaimed, unbelieving.
"Yes, at least view the matches of your family if you're not interested in your friends" Georga snapped to her.
"Of course" Ember said quickly, bowing to Georga for some reason.
She quickly bowed her head back up and raced out of the room.
However just as she passed Georga and was about to go through the curtain she stopped to look back at the dragonflies.
"We'll follow you" Nina assured her before she had even asked it.
"Goodbye" Ember bowed again before quickly continuing her way out of the room.
When she was outside Ember flapped her wings a couple of times and took off while still running.
Georga hadn't really told her how late it was exactly but Ember flew as fast as she could.
Maybe the match of her mother was already underway.
When she had reached the citadel Ember had to stop for a moment to catch her breath but quickly pulled herself together. As fast as she could she sprinted through the citadel and to the young dragon stands.
She ran through the maze of corridors and reached the front of the honour box where the young dragons sat.
She quickly set down and gasped, trying to regain her breath.
After a second she turned her eyes to the match that was unfolding. Hoping it was her mother.
It was a battle between a male and a female but Ember could quickly see that the female wasn't her mother.
She didn't know if the match was already over or was yet to start so she decided to wait and just hope for the latter.
"Ember? What are you doing here? I thought you got yourself a spot up there?" A female voice said next to her.
Ember turned and saw that Inge was sitting next to her with Flannery sitting one seat further.
"Well, yes I did" Ember said a bit embarrassed. In her rush she had totally forgotten about it.
However she didn't bother getting up again, she had a pretty good view from here as well.
"So, ready for our fight?" Inge asked her.
"Of course Inge, you know I am always ready" Ember said sneering doing her best to give Inge her best evil face without her thermal coat.
However that didn't seem to intimidate the dragoness at all "Well let's see about that in the arena" Inge said confidently shooting back the same curved evil face.
This intrigued Ember, maybe Inge had something planned.
"Yeah, Inge is going to whip your tail big time in the arena this time around" Flannery said chuckling loud enough for Ember to hear.
"Not a chance there!" Ember warned her.
She shifted her view back to Inge again. Inge was smiling and still kept a sort of wicked grin on her face. She sure looked confident.
However Ember wasn't worried.
Inge wasn't all that strong. Ember had beaten her once and she could beat her again.
"And now, the Infernal Diva Wilmfe will face the Lava Hammer Therofous" Terrador announced his low voice booming through the stadium.
Ember quickly turned her attention back to the arena below. She hadn't yet missed her mother's fight.
The iron gate creaked opened and revealed Wilmfe walking into the arena with the same confided look on her face that Ember was used of her.
Her mother was a strong battler and an excellent warrior. She was confident in her abilities, but not cocky. Ember really admired that of her and tried to be just like her. However sometimes she could still catch herself on being cocky about her abilities, there was still a lot she could learn from her mother.
Her mother's opponent looked also impressive.
Therofous was a large fire dragon who looked very robust.
It was no wonder that he had reached the victory tournament as he looked very tough. Even for a powerful dragon like her mother, this wouldn't be easy.
This was made even more notable when they clashed tails. Her mother only came to Therofous' shoulders. She also was much thinner and fragile.
The two nudged and walked back again.
When her mother's got into her battle position Ember's heart rate shot up. This was going to be good.
"Ready, get set, Fight!" Terrador shouted.
Wilmfe quickly used a comet dash and as a fiery bullet she raced towards the much larger fire dragon.
Strangely enough Therofous made no move to dodge the attack.
Instead he dug all his claws deep into the earth and bent down, stabilizing himself firmly to take on the attack.
Wilmfe crashed full force into him and a pressure wave swooped across the arena from the impact.
Therofous however was forced back but less than a metre. His posture barely chanced at all.
The second after her mother hit him, he bit in her wing and purposely fell over forwards. Taking Wilmfe with him and forcing her to lie down on her back.
Wilmfe tried to resist but that was futile. She only had her hind legs on the ground and they were much too weak to stand against the weight of such a massive dragon.
When the two crashed into the ground Therofous immediately grappled her limps to keep her pinned down.
She kept scratching and squirming but she seemed nowhere near breaking out from under him.
Seeing that he was her superior in weight Therofous moved his bodyweight forwards and laid down on her chest.
Wimfe's face creased from pain and she wheezed as almost twice her own weight was placed on her.
She kept squirming to keep him from making a win. Wilmfe was a strong fighter but it seemed she just lacked the brute strength that she needed to beat him.
Therofous now had all his paws free because just his body weight was paralyzing Wilmfe.
He grabbled her struggling limps and moved closer to her neck with his jaws. Wilmfe was trapped, her body squashed by the enormous weight of the dragon laying on top of her and all her limps held down. She was powerless from her position on her back, pinned down by the huge fire dragon.
However Wilmfe still wasn't out of tricks just yet.
She bend her head upwards and bit Therofous in his sensitive nose.
Therofous howled in pain and jerked back up.
Thinking fast Wilmfe rammed him in the chest with her horns and with Therofous confused she managed to get him off.
As fast as lightning Wilmfe shot out from underneath and regained her posture.
Wilmfe panted as the crushing weight on her was finally gone.
Therofous now seemed to recover from the bite but he was only suppressing the pain and staggered a bit.
With high speed Wilmfe ran up to him while he was still down.
She spun around like a top and smashed her large tailblade hard into his soft chest.
Therofous coughed but just like last time he seemed just too big and too heavy for Wilmfe to do any serious damage on him to win.
He counterattacked and swiped his tail hard towards Wilmfe. But this time Wilmfe was one step ahead of him.
She chanced her spin into a full pirouette and with a flap of her wing she moved backwards.
She dodged Therofous' attack just narrowly and landed on all four. Right away she countered with a comet dash, heading fast for the massive fire dragon.
However again just like before Therofous dug his claws in and waited for it. Trying to get her close to him so he can grab her again. This time however, he made a crucial mistake.
Just a he was about to grab her Wilmfe suddenly spun her bodyweight around and her dash stopped for second.
Therofous swiped out but missed her body.
Just as Therofous' paw flew past her Wilmfe lashed out with her tail and knocked out Therofous' feet from underneath him.
Keeping the momentum going she contracted her hind legs and jumped forwards, paws forward.
She grabbed his body with all four paws. It didn't look very graceful seeing her hang on to him like that but Wilmfe wasn't about grace.
She quickly put her jaws on his throat and locked it in place.
Therofous was still busy regaining his balance and that gave Wilmfe the tiny opportunity she needed to make her win.
"The winner is the Infernal Diva Wilmfe!" Terrador shouted.
"Mom" Ember felt really proud on that her mother had won. She never knew Wilmfe could be so fast and agile.
The battle was awesome except for the one detail that her mother had bitten Therofous in the nose.
It wasn't an illegal move but it seemed like a rather dirty way of fighting to Ember.
"So, like mother unlike daughter" Flannery sneered.
Inge growled and poked Flannery, indicating that she shouldn't have said that.
Ember just ignored them and got up now to congratulate her mother.
She walked towards the participants entrance and waited for her mother there.
After a minute her mother appeared and because it the citadel wasn't so crowded anymore she spotted Ember right away. With her one of a kind bright pink scales Ember was easy to spot.
"You did good mom" Ember said although it sounded a bit empty.
"Well, when sometimes you have to put clean fighting on hold Ember" Her mother said a bit stern. She was Ember's mother, Ember's response told her everything she needed to know.
Ember let it sink in. The situation was indeed quite desperate, if she was in that situation Ember also couldn't think of any other way out. Now that she thought of it her thermal coat wasn't really all that clean either.
"You're right mom, you won the match fair" Ember nodded forcing back a little bit of her excitement.
Her mother gave a toothy grin. Her demonic appearance made it look very frightening and Ember's blood dropped a few degrees from it.
Just then Ember heard a very embarrassing sound causing her cheeks to flush red.
It was the low rumbling of an empty stomach and it was hers.
Her mother laughed from it as the topic was of so high morale just know.
"Why don't we go home and get something to eat?" She suggested.
Ember couldn't help but smile as well "Maybe we could also go to the kitchen here and order something" She suggested carefully.
"Okay, we will" Her mother said as she walked to the kitchen together with her daughter.
Ember was indeed hungry but Wilmfe never rushed anything. She always walked calmly so Ember had to walk as well.
Being smacked to the floor wasn't really all that much fun.
When they arrived at the kitchen it was quite busy but they found a place to eat.
Wilmfe ordered two sheep for both of them.
Because of the amount of cooks the meals arrived quickly and the two fire dragonesses enjoyed their lunch.
They talked about Wilmfe's battle just now and Ember's coming battle this evening.
"How did you do that mom?" Ember asked amazed "That in the end, that win?"
"Well, I just knew that he would try to swipe at me so I figured that might distract him for long enough to allow me to win after a stun him" her mother explained.
Ember didn't understand it but she had to eat up her piece of meat before she could talk again to ask "But how did you know he was going to do that?"
Wilmfe also took some time to reply because she swallowed a bite now herself "He didn't come me of as very intelligent so I guessed that if I pretended to use the same move I used before he would use the same counter. Always know how your opponent will respond" Wilmfe said.
Ember now told her about her coming match with Inge and when she was finished her mother retreated her snout from her food and took a breath like she was going to say something important.
"What do you think about it?" her mother asked with a very serious voice, looking at Ember intensely.
Ember gulped from it but stayed strong "Huh? I don't know, I guess it is just bluff" she replied.
"Are you sure?" her mother asked her voice more sceptical then ever.
"Every battle style has it's weaknesses Ember" she said.
"But my thermal coat has no weaknesses" Ember repelled.
Her mother let out a deep sigh "How naive" she said shaking her head.
Wilmfe turned her head away and wouldn't hear anymore of it.
Ember thought about it while she ate her sheep.
Did her style have weaknesses? Could Inge maybe have some sort of a counter against it?
No! Her thermal coat was mastered perfectly. Inge was just bluffing.
"Maybe she had spend a bit too much time hanging around with Flannery" Ember thought grinning.
When they had eaten their meal her mother got home and partially forced Ember to come along as well.
She couldn't go against her so she followed her mother back home and she knew that she would stay there until her match was.
When they arrived home Ember got training in the garden right away. She didn't have anything better to do. Also what her mother had said about the possible weaknesses in her special ability made her fearful and she wanted to take every precaution she could to ensure she would win.
She was busy with practicing when to her surprise her mother walked into the garden.
"Let's say we have a practice round now Ember" Her mother said as she bend down into her battle position without waiting for a reply.
Ember wondered if it was because of the talk at lunch or not but that actually wasn't really important.
"Okay mom, let's do it" She said and bend down now herself.
Her mother knew her better than anyone so if she wanted someone to help her find own weakness, her mother would be the perfect candidate.
She lightly activated her thermal coat so that her mother would feel it but she wouldn't feel real pain.
Taking the initiative Ember raced towards her mother and when she was close enough jumped up to burn her.
Wilmfe moved sideways to dodge it with the greatest of ease and as Ember flew past her she swiped her daughter away with the side of her claw.
Ember rolled along the ground a few metres before coming to a stop. She was not hurt or anything but that just didn't feel pleasant. Wilmfe hadn't felt any heat because the claws of a dragon don't contain any nerves sensors.
"That won't do Ember, that was way too slow" Her mother said mostly as an instruction.
"If that was too slow than this could be a problem" Ember thought. With her thermal coat low her mind wasn't effected by it very much.
She tried again to burn her mother but time after time Ember missed and got another swipe.
After about an hour of practicing Ember's body was riddled with scratches from constantly rolling on the ground and getting knocked around by her mother.
"I think that is enough for today Ember" her mother said a bit degrading when she swiped Ember away again.
As Ember climbed to her feet she was shocked by her poor performance. She hadn't even managed to hit her mother a single time! Not even once! Maybe she did still have a lot to learn before she could win the cup.
Her mother left her without saying anything.
Feeling now additionally motivated Ember spend the remainder of the afternoon coming up with new battle moves. She also tried to improve her speed as that seemed to be her weakness.
She kept the energy of her attacks low to save power so that she would be able to battle in the evening. Her training stopped when her mother called her for dinner.
It was a small dinner because they had already eaten in the citadel. It was just half a deer for the both of them. Like normal they didn't talk that much unless they had something to discuss.
After the dinner was gone Ember looked at the clock and saw that it was already time to head to her match.
"Mom, I'm going to the match okay" She asked.
"Okay, I will come along with you" Her mother said as she got up from the floor.
"You will?" Ember thought out loud in surprise.
Her mother didn't reply and walked out.
"Thanks mom" Ember said warmly as she quickly rushed to fly out together.
Her mother took off without saying something and Ember went along.
As they headed towards the citadel her mother still didn't say much. However Ember was very glad that her mother just volunteered to escort her so that didn't bother her.
They landed near the citadel and went inside, Ember never leaving her mother's side. She was feeling a bit nervous for some reason, plus she didn't like the crowd so she stayed close.
"So have you've been able to improve?" Her mother asked.
Ember sighed and shook her head.
Her mother didn't say anything as they entered the crowd.
The two walked towards the entrance and then Ember broke free from her mom and went into the entrance.
"Good luck" her mother said.
"I won't need it" Ember sneered as she suspected her mother wanted to hear that from her.
But her mother snorted and walked away.
Ember was curious about that but she shifted quickly her mind to other business.
She had to because now her battle with Inge was coming and she needed to be focused on that.
She reached the iron gate and like last time patiently waited.
She expected the verification question but she it didn't come.
She looked at the sentry and saw that it was the same one as three days back. He knew who she was so he didn't bother asking it.
Despite her newfound weakness Ember still believed she could beat Inge. Inge wasn't an adult like her mom was and she was not as powerful like Oxidus and Flame were.
"I will burn her and win" Ember thought as she waited for her chance to go and put it in action.
She had defeated Inge before so why should this time be any different?
Ember heard Cyril announce her and she raced into the arena full of excitement.
The crowd now didn't bother her as much as it once did since she had experienced it many times before.
Ember turned her eyes towards her opponent.
Inge was looking confident and strong just like last time, but what caught Ember's eye was that she had a sly grin on her face indicating that she might have something up her wing.
The two dragonesses walked towards each other and clashed tails.
"Ready to burn again?" Ember asked her friend.
"Not this time Ember" Inge replied sneering.
They nudged and returned to their positions.
Ember now activated her thermal coat and she could feel her mind drifting away into the intense heat of her body.
Her doubts quickly vanished as the heat took over her brain. She was now ready for battle.
"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril shouted.
Ember stood idle and waited for Inge to make a move.
However this time Inge just stayed where she was and seemed to be focusing on something.
The two kept staring until Ember was out of patience.
"If she won't take me then I will take myself to her" Ember thought sadistically and she ran up to her friend to try and burn her scales off.
However still having a confident grin Inge swung around and unleashed a fire whip from her mouth that struck Ember on the side and knocked her off balance.
Ember grunted as she got to her feet again. The blow was not all that hard and her thermal coat protected her from the fire but it still was a hit on her.
Ember's problem was that her movements were slow and predictable because she needed to focus to keep inner fire under control.
"Is that all you got?" Inge said using an imitated version of the evil voice Ember used.
Ember snarled viciously at her but Inge didn't seem impressed.
She glared at her and stuck out her tongue "Want to get me again you pink bag of hot coal?" She teased.
"I will burn you to cinders" Ember spat feeling enraged at being taunted.
"I would like you see and try" Inge mocked never dropping her cocky attitude.
Ember walked up to her again but Inge spun around using her tail as a top. She somehow kept hold of the fire and it whipped Ember away now with quite an amount of force.
Ember flew into the wall and fell coughing on the floor.
"Looks like you're not invincible after all are you my princess" Inge said.
"Queen!" Ember corrected.
"More like concubine" Inge chuckled.
Ember's rage flared up to boiling point but using her will she forced it down to analyze the situation.
She was itching to make some big burns on Inge but that just wasn't possible, Inge wouldn't let her.
Seeing that getting close was impossible Ember reconsidered her options.
Inge, confident of her victory, made a huge mistake by not attacking right away. This gave Ember the time she needed to think up another battle plan.
Suddenly an idea occurred to Ember at what might be a weakness in Inge's fire whip. Her mother had said that every style had it's weaknesses.
But the plan was a risky one. This was the victory tournament so there were no second chances. She needed to put it to the test first.
She ran towards Inge again seeing if it was true.
Like last time Inge spun around and whipped Ember away, Ember looked very closely to the whip and was hit full in the face because she wasn't paying attention to how to defend herself from it but only how the whip moved and Inge was controlling it.
"I know all about your special powers Ember, that's why I made this attack" Inge said as she had whipped Ember away three times now.
"If you can't get close then you are doomed" She said.
"You don't know as much about my powers as you think Inge" Ember shot back grinning.
"What?"
Ember now deactivated her secret weapon and let the energy back inside her body.
The slight red light disappeared and Ember was no longer the burn queen.
"What are you doing?!" Inge shouted in disbelief.
"Winning" Ember now sounded more kindly as the heat was off.
Ember now sprinted towards Inge, her specialty off.
Inge was still very surprised but she spun around and used her fire whip again to try and keep Ember away from her.
However this time didn't play out for her. Just as the fire whip was about to hit Ember she jumped and dodged it.
When she was at close range Ember used a comet dash and because she was spinning like a top Inge couldn't do a single thing to defend herself from Ember.
Ember hit her in the chest and she was slammed into the opposite wall.
Inge wheezed as she was crushed by Ember despite that Ember was slightly smaller. Ember was a strong fire dragon. Even without her thermal coat she was still a force to be reckoned with.
Ember wrestled with Inge and tried to grapple her and make a win.
Inge however was not out of the battle just yet.
She rolled over underneath Ember to get lose and bit her in the shoulder.
Ember cringed in and using her powerful tail Inge managed to throw her away.
Inge was physically stronger than Ember was but still Ember seemed more powerful.
This time not giving her the time to recover Inge breathed a stream of fire at Ember as she threw her away.
Ember however spotted it and rolled to the side what caused the attack to miss.
"Ember is fast" Inge thought as she had never knew that Ember could move so swiftly.
Using her superior speed, Ember rolled the entire way around Inge until she was aligned with her flank. Then she stopped and shot a high speed concentrated fire stream at her.
Inge tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough. She was blasted away and into the wall again.
Inge jumped back up and shot a fire attack of her own towards Ember.
Ember spotted the attack and countered it right away with a fire breath of her own.
The two attacks clashed and both dragonesses dug their claws into the ground while they increased power.
But as much as Inge tried to push back Ember's attack, she was simply too powerful for her. Inge couldn't keep the clashing point away from her and was engulfed in flames, pinned down against the wall by the sheer of the attack.
When Ember had stopped Inge knew that her body was quickly losing power from the heavy blows. If she still wanted to win then she had to do something and fast.
She used her fire whip again and this time she swirled it around in circles so that Ember would be hit for sure.
However Ember gracefully jumped and twirled past the flames without any hits and when she had again reached Inge she gave a heave with her head.
Her horns rammed Inge on her jaw and threw her up into the air. Ember right away flapped her wings and jumped after her.
She put her paws around the midsection of the dazed fire dragon and intertwined their tails.
She laid her body the right away and while still in the air she moved her head upwards.
A second later they both crashed into the ground. Ember on top of Inge, crushing her.
Ember made the extra few centimetres and now had her jaws around Inge's throat. Winning the match.
"The winner is Queen of Burns Ember!" Cyril shouted.
Ember immediately released Inge and took a few steps back from her.
She offered her paw and stretched it out in front of Inge.
Inge looked up a bit disappointed but by seeing Ember's warm smile she grabbed her paw and raised herself to her feet.
Ember wanted to talk but she knew that wasn't expected. So after she had helped Inge back to her feet she turned around and walked out of the arena.
"Well mom was right. I can't rely solely on my secret weapon" Ember thought.
She might have won this match because she was more powerful but sheer power was not the way Ember could win.
Inge was tough but not as strong as some other opponents.
"What am I going to do about Flame, or Oxidus if they find a counter for me as well?" Ember pondered. Ember knew she was strong but Flame and Oxidus had way more power than she did.
Ember kept thinking about it while she walked through the room.
"Ember" Ember looked up and spotted her mother waiting for her.
"So did I do good?" Ember asked.
"You did" Wilmfe said simply. Her voice not betraying any emotion.
"Let's go home now" her mother said as she turned away.
"Um, mom, can I go and talk to Inge? I still have some things I would like to say to her?" She asked a bit uncertain.
"Be back before eight o'clock" Her mother ordered.
"8 o'clock" Ember repeated. The time firmly planted.
When given a curfew Ember knew that a spanking was the thing for failing to meet it.
Her mother nodded and walked away.
Ember watched her walk out of the citadel and fly back home.
After her mother was gone Ember walked towards the opposite side of the stadium to meet up with Inge.
It was a long walk as the arena was huge.
Ember's legs were a bit wobbly because she was very tired and her body was aching.
That battle had really taken it out of her so walking around looking for Inge wasn't much fun.
She hoped to find Inge quickly as Ember really longed for her soft comfy bed back home.
After walking all the way around the stadium and still not finding Inge anywhere Ember just assumed that she had gotten home already.
Feeling very tired herself she walked out of the stadium and spread her wings. She flew back home and walked into her house using the backdoor.
Just as she entered she spotted her mother at the reading table.
"Back already?" She asked. Wilmfe didn't even look up.
"I couldn't find her" Ember replied.
"I'm just going to talk about it tomorrow, I'm sure that I will walk into her somewhere" Ember said.
"You do as you please" Her mother said.
Seeing as her mother had been content of her Ember decided to try and talk about it.
"Hey mom?" She asked.
"Yes?"
"What kind of strategy should I use when my secret weapon doesn't work?" She asked. "I won today because I have more power than Inge has but I know dragons who have far than I will ever have"
"Ember-" Her mother put down her book and shook her head. "A true warrior finds that out for herself" Her mother lectured. "You never ask someone to do your strategy for you. Then you might as well ask me to fight your battles for you. When one has reached the top it must be because of his or hers own hard work and efforts. Not from the help of someone else"
"You're right mom, I will find a way to beat them" Ember said determined "And I will find that way on my own and in my own way"
"Good Ember" Her mother turned back to her book.
Ember walked towards the garden to practise somewhat but her mother stopped her.
"I don't want you to be outside at this hour" she said a bit stern.
Ember let out a sigh but didn't protest and now went to her room instead.
She puffed down on the bed and began thinking about her battle style.
"What could I do? Maybe I could use my speed?"
"No! No!" That won't do, what is my edge over them?"
Ember kept pondering about it but then her eye fell on her vibrator crystal on her toys shelf.
"Ah, that can wait" Ember thought.. Her mother wouldn't allow her to train at this hour. she had also seen and heard enough today about powers and wanted to do something else for a chance.
She picked up the toy from the shelf and put it in her mouth.
She forced her controlled fire into it and right away the thing started shaking violently.
She kept charging it up further and further until it jumped out of her mouth and started to shake so much that it was moving all around her room.
Ember was not going to let it get away and jumped after it.
The diamond shaped crystal made all kinds of random movements so it sprang to the right just when Ember closed her paws to grab it.
Ember then jumped at it again and this time she caught it.
However she couldn't hold the struggling crystal for long and it jumped out of her paws while still dancing around the room.
Ember kept trying to catch her toy and quickly forgot about the worry she had about her power.
"Come here you" She snarled as she just couldn't get a hold of it.
"Ember, bed-time" She suddenly heard her mother say.
"Can't I play some more?" Ember protested as she was really into it now.
"Ember" Her mother said stern
Ember gulped and quickly put her toy back on her shelf without any further words.
"Good night mom" She said.
"Good night Ember" her mom replied as she walked out of the room.
Ember now could really feel her tiredness. The game had filled her with excitement but now that it disappeared it seemed her body was completely empty.
She now almost stumbled to her bed and puffed down.
Despite that she feared about the limit of her power she happily closed her eyes.
"Meeting Spyro's parents was nice and getting that seat was even better. That battle may not have been pretty but I won it nonetheless" She thought as today had been a very good day.
Ember so very tired so she didn't even get the chance to fully recall the day before she drifted off to sleep. In a more comfortable spot this time.