The Spyro Chronicles Ch. 19

Chapter 19: Friends and Foes
Dragon Realms, Uncharted System
March 10, 2204
0012 Hours
Marine LZ, Enchanted Forest

Spyro trotted in the grass, boots landing nearby as well. Wagner walked next to him, followed by Karson, Allison and Cynder. Zephyr walked nearby. The two Nighthawks flew into the sky and flew overhead, providing cover.

The Marines walked through the grass, looking around. Wagner shouldered an M22 Shotgun and over his back an M23A Assault Rifle sat. Karson had his M74C with an M6 sidearm, with Allison having the same weapons except the M74C, she had the D variant.

“We picked up the distress signal from around here. The signal was really choppy but it came in enough for us to hear.” Wagner said as he motioned for the two platoons from Alpha to move forward. Buckman walked near Wagner.

“Any clue what we’re dealing with?” He asked.

“Not much. Probably Lakadors or some more Orcs.” Wagner said in response. Spyro looked around and Cynder trotted up next to him.

“You feel that?” She asked.

“Yeah… something evil… it’s close to…”

“Alright, let’s find that platoon from Epsilon and those Alliance troops that came here too!” Wagner said and motioned the Marines forward with his hands. The Nighthawks were seen making passes overhead, staying within the air space for speedy pickups if need be.

The Marines moved through the grass and entered the grass, Spyro, Cynder and Zephyr trotting alongside. As they moved through they saw charred grass and small fires lighting up the night. The Marines broke up into several small squads and combed the area, finding several Marine bodies.

“Damn, they got Brown…” A Marine said as he stepped over the fallen Epsilon Company Commander. Other Marine bodies littered the ground, all hit from dark energy weapons.

“Looks like we got Lakadors in the area, stay sharp!” Wagner said. The others did so, a few Marines checking bodies while the others lifted their rifles to engage any hostiles that might come.

“Buckman, stay behind and check for wounded! Get them aboard the Nighthawks while we go ahead and search for the Alliance soldiers and find that crystal!” Wagner instructed.

“Yes sir!” Buckman said.

Spyro and Cynder looked around. They felt a powerful chill run down their spine.

“Spyro…” Spyro heard a cold, faint voice enter his ears and his blood ran cold. There was a powerful dark presence here… very powerful… even stronger then Malefor’s…

“You feel that…?” Spyro asked, now beginning to feel worried.

“I feel cold…” Cynder said silently. Spyro didn’t respond but felt it too.

Ignoring it, they followed Wagner’s platoon as it went up ahead, falling in behind Karson, Allison and Zephyr.


Off in the distance, a pair of eyes tracked the purple dragon as he trotted off behind the Human soldiers. Two black dragons sat a top a mountain, their powerful eyes tracking every motion down below.

“This Spyro… he is becoming more and more interesting with each passing day.”

“Yes Master… he is proving to be something…”

“Keep an eye on him, but do not engage. Have the drones take care of his Human companions and ensure that I get a moment alone with that dragon in the near future. I wish to meet him face to face. He is proving to be a better asset then Malefor ever was...” The dragon beside him nodded, flapped his wings and flew down to get a closer spot. The dragon that remained huffed and flew off into the sky, returning to his lair.


Roxy ran. Her legs hurt, a sign that she needed to rest, but she couldn’t dare to. She had to keep running. It was either that, or die. She rolled behind a boulder just in time to have dark energy spheres streak past it and hit a tree near her. She pulled her sword out from its sheath and readied herself. Her two pursuers snarled in their strange tongue and rounded the boulder, their dark energy rifles ready to fire.

Roxy met them with her sword, which knocked the first one off of his feet and sent him into a tree. The other tossed its rifle to the ground and drew its own sword. It swung, as did Roxy. She caught his sword and applied as much strength as she could, gaining a stalemate between her and the Lakador.

She then twirled the sword, letting the Lakador fall into her attack and used the butt of it to hit it in the groin. The Lakador backed down a bit before she slashed, releasing energy from her blade. The Lakador was sent off his feet and into a tree, shattering its metal armor. The other Lakador pulled a pistol from its harness, only to get an arrow to the throat, silencing the Lakador.

Breathing hard, Roxy returned the sword to the sheath and placed her bow over shoulder. She signed aloud before jogging back to where she left the others. Aaron was doing better, his wound healing. Krypto was still breathing hard, his face showing visible signs that those wounds were taking a toll. Aaron had tried to help heal them but it wasn’t working too well.

Krypto also refused to let any of those ‘damn humans’ touch him. This was proving to me more and more challenging. Tom had stayed with them to watch for any attacks while Roxy went out to search for the surviving Marines, if any were left at all.

What she found was a whole lot of Lakadors. Two of them had given chase while the others were fighting a large group of Orcs and Grublins along a lakeshore.

She finally returned to the cave. She neared its entrance when movement started her. She looked up to see Tom camouflaged in the bushes nearby, only revealing himself to show her he was there.

“Oh… you startled me…” She said. He gave a low laugh.

“Have to keep hidden. Those Lakadors are everywhere.” He said in his usual gruff voice. She smirked at him and walked into the cave to find Aaron sitting down, watching her enter, his wing now fully healed and Krypto sitting on the far side of the cave, staring at one of the walls.

“Well… there’s nobody out there…” Roxy said while putting her hands on her hips.

“Figures… well we should probably find a way back to Warfang…” Aaron said in a sort of agitated voice.

“Well how are we going to get there? It’d take us a whole day to get there.” Roxy said in a defeated voice.

They had not other choice… it was either walk or stay here, with the Lakadors. Krypto huffed, not wanting to have any part in a decision involving humans. None of them really understood his hatred towards Humans. He even showed a dislike to Roxy. It was slight, but it still existed and Roxy knew it.
Suddenly Tom entered the cave.

“We’ve got trouble. There are lots of those Lakadors heading this way. They’ll be here any minute.” He said. Aaron sighed and Krypto huffed. He was eager for revenge for getting shot several times in the chest.

“Looks like we’re gunna have to fight…” Roxy said with a smile as she drew her sword out.

“Looks like it.” Aaron said with a smile. The two had known each other for quite some time, even before this incident. They fought well together. Now it was time to test their ability against these new foes.

Tom nodded and Krypto hugged once more. They left the cave and ran smack into a squad of Lakadors. The Lakadors snarled and prepared to fire, hissing in their language. Before they could, Aaron fired a blast of darkness at them which consumed them and overloaded their weapons. The initial Lakadors were blown into the ground and their weapons exploded in a purple haze. One of them drew a sword and charged Roxy who swung her sword in turn.

The swords collided and Roxy applied some of the swords energy to create an overcharge which shot the creature off of her and into the grass. It rubbed its head and prepared to come again. Tom charged it and knocked the Lakador into a tree. Another Lakador ran up, grabbed the fallen Lakador and helped him along as they retreated with a few others.

“Well that was easy.” Aaron said with a smile.

“Oh there’ll be more…” Tom said with a smirk. Roxy sighed and smiled. Krypto had a neutral look to him as he walked past them, going to where the Lakadors had retreated to. The others followed and they ended up in a field with several Lakadors looking at them. They had a crystal with them- the crystal they were supposed to destroy.

One of the lead Lakadors hissed at them and the Lakadors opened fire at them. The group took cover except for Krypto who took to the sky and unleashed a wave of fire down upon the Lakadors. The initial group caught fire and screamed in agony. Aaron joined in, firing acute beams of darkness from his muzzle and nailing 3 in the chest, cracking and shattering their silver armor.

Roxy fired her bow from long range, but she had to carefully aim for their exposed upper arms. She hit 2, and a few other arrows pinged off of their armor. Firing another shot, she nailed one in the neck, an instant kill.

The Lakadors broke off from the crystal and began to fire upon them, dark energy hitting all around. The excess energy caused the group to take cover from the barrage, trees, grass and rocks being charred from the super heated dark energy.

As Roxy tilted her head to see the Lakadors, she saw the dark crystal give off a pulse of energy- the thing the Dark Master was using to map the crust of the planet.

The Lakadors caught in the wave started to grasp their heads, as if something was attacking them mentally. They dropped their rifles and some fell to their knees. The other Lakadors continued to fire at the group, trying their hardest to kill them. A few grenades were lobbed at them, electricity and ice flowing from the explosions.

The Lakadors being affected by the dark energy crystal then snarled, grabbing their rifles again and fired at their fellow Lakadors.

Lakadors let out wails and howls of pain as the energy bore through their armor and singed their skin. Several fell from this initial outburst.

Roxy, Tom and Aaron watched in amazement as this happened. The Lakadors had just… turned against their own! Was this the secondary effect mentioned by the Human Commander? Hostilities aroused amongst species from the wave of energy?

Whatever it was, now they had just been given a free be. They didn’t have to fight.

As they watched, two Lakadors nearest to the crystal howled out, their skin and armor beginning to morph. They started to change into these vicious creatures that resembled Lakadors but were horribly disfigured and corrupted by the dark energy. With red eyes and small droplets of drool coming from their muzzles, they charged the other Lakadors, killing them in swipes with their razor sharp claws.

“Holy cow…” Aaron commented.

“Shit…” Roxy said under her breath. Those things looked really mean. They ripped through the other Lakadors and while they were distracted, Roxy, Tom, Aaron and Krypto snuck through the grass to get a clear hit at the crystal. As they were about to attack, a Lakador drop ship sailed above and dropped a clamp like object. The clamp secured itself to the crystal and lifted it up. Another drop ship swooped in to attack but was getting harassed as lights danced from the ground and hit it. They were tracer fire, from Human assault weapons.

Lakadors engaging each other were now facing Marines as flashes emanated from the trees, Human gunfire. .22 rifle rounds hit the Lakadors and caused them to fall over. The remaining Lakadors not under the crystal’s influence fought the Marines and a few engaged Roxy and the others. Krytpo sailed high, smashing into the ground to knock the Lakadors away while Aaron fired a beam of concentrated darkness at a cluster of Lakadors. Roxy drew her arrows out and fired several out while Tom pounced on a Lakador and attacked the defenseless enemy.

The remaining Lakadors scrambled to their drop ship and boarded the air craft. The ship floated into the sky and sailed off. The remaining Lakadors that were under the crystals control began to howl out, their skin starting to morph into the same creatures that had been closest to the crystal.

“What the hell are those things?!” A Marine called out. Spyro and Cynder flew over and landed near Roxy and Tom.

“You guys alright?!” Spyro said as they landed, avoiding a bolt of dark energy.

“We’re fine! But they got away with the crystal!” Roxy said while pointing to the drop ship with the crystal clamped to it.

“We know, we’re going to get them back!” Cynder said, with a worried voice. Wagner came over just as he put a burst into a Lakador and was followed by Karson and Allison as they unleashed elemental attacks onto the enemies.

“We need to hurry if we want to catch them!” Wagner said to them. They nodded but before they moved, another figure joined them. It was Diablo.

“Spyro, Cynder, you must hurry. I have the plan in place and I need you at the Volcano in the Burned Lands Spyro. Time… is running out.”

--------------------------------
As the Lakador drop ship flew on, Sondohwa fell onto a seat and gripped his wounds. That damn human had hurt him badly… Yahade’ had even chuckled at him for his actions… but he felt only anger towards the Humans… they all needed to perish… and nothing would stand in his way…

1211 Hours
Volcano in the center of The Burned Lands

The Sparrowhawk dropped the group in the Burned Lands before flying up and away from them. The small squad of Marines, Roxy, Tom, Aaron, Krytpo, Karson, Wagner, Spyro and Cynder moved through the scorched lands and Diablo stopped to address them.

“Only the chosen ones can come. The rest stay and form a barrier to ensure nothing attacks us.” Diablo instructed.

“I go where Spyro goes.” Cynder said calmly.

“Can’t let them get into trouble now… I think I should go to…” Wagner said as well. There were a few seconds of silence before Diablo nodded and allowed them to go. They walked to a small metal platform that was just big enough to hold them all and have some extra room

“This is where your plan is going to be?” Spyro asked as Diablo lead him onto a platform outside of the volcano and once Spyro, Cynder, Wagner, Karson and Allison boarded, the platform rose above the lava and scorched lands. It hovered in place and Diablo looked at Spyro.

“It is good you came at this time. I feared we would have been too late to stop this…” Diablo muttered. He turned to Karson and Allison.

“You two are the chosen ones… you two foreshadow the firing of the Final Solution… we must do any and all things within our power to stop this…” He said and they nodded.

“What is the plan?” Cynder asked. Diablo looked at them.

“It is something only a purple dragon can do… at this spot… we must awaken the destroyer.”

“What?!” Spyro asked. He looked at Diablo for a second and backed off.

“But that will destroy the world!” Cynder cried out.

“Are you insane?!” Wagner asked as he pointed his rifle cautiously at the larger purple dragon.

“I feared this might come.” Diablo straightened himself and cleared his throat.

Spyro glared at Diablo. Singe was right. Diablo was not to be trusted.

“Spyro… you have committed an error in what you’ve done… and have brought about these events. This is the only way to right your wrong.”

“What? What did I do wrong?! I stopped this before to halt the end of the world!” Spyro said in anger.

“Correct. You STOPPED this. That is what you did wrong.” Everyone stood silent as Diablo said this.

“The Great Cleansing is not the destiny of the purple dragon. It is the duty of everyone. It is your destiny to safe guard the Final Solution from the forces of darkness, by bring about the Great Cleansing. By stopping it, you’ve doomed us all. Malefor committed a similar error and now he is paying the price.”

“But how is it the way to stop this?!” He cried out once more, his mind in turmoil.

“The Final Solution was buried within the planet during the original Great Cleansing. The one I brought about. As tectonic plates shift and move, the weapon slowly rises to the surface. The only way to stop it from being revealed and allowing the Dark Forces to access it is to once again bury it in the core of the planet. The Great Cleansing is the way to do that. It reshapes the world, sending the weapon back to the core. By stopping it you just speed up the weapon’s rising and sent it straight towards the surface. Now it could be mere inches from revealing itself.”

“But…”

“I am telling you the truth Spyro. At the end of the previous age, after the light capacitors were permanently damaged, the Council decided that defending it was no longer a viable option. They had to do more… sacrifice more… and they recruited me and all purple dragons, the keepers of the weapons, to use this new method to safeguard the weapon.”

“But… there… there has to be another way!” Cynder said.

“You cant just kill all those people!”

“We can. We must. Sacrifice one world for all other worlds. It is… the way of things…”

“No…no… NO!!! This isn’t the way! There must be a better way! There just has to be!”

“There is no other way Spyro. This is the only way to stop this. If we don’t do this now, Malefor will rise that weapon and use it for his own needs. Nothing good will come out of it. If you don’t bring about the Great Cleansing, I will. I cannot let this go on any longer!”

“No! I stopped it before and I can do it again!” Spyro charged the large purple dragon and knocked him off of the platform in one charge. Diablo roared out and fell off the platform along with Spyro.

“Spyro!” Cynder yelled. The platform lurched from the sudden displacement of weight and Wagner tumbled off. He yelled out as he flew downwards.

“Wagner!” Karson yelled out as he grabbed a hold of a railing and held himself on the falling platform. They were elevated above the volcano. Easily 1000 feet above the ground. Spyro, Diablo and the Marine Lieutenant tumbled to the ground below. Karson lost sight of Wagner but saw Spyro and Diablo battling on their decent down.

Diablo used his wings to catch the wind and kept a balance. The updraft from the volcano blew against them and Spyro did this as well, breaking his fall. Spyro glared at Diablo and Diablo did the same.

“I’m only doing what needs to be done. Every other purple dragon has done this before… now it is either going to be you or me that does this.”
“No! There has to be another way!”

“You don’t understand! This IS the only way!” Diablo said as he kicked Spyro away.

“It is our destiny Spyro! Our duty to protect the weapon! This is the only way!”

As the fight raged, Cynder held onto Allison’s hand as best her paw would allow. The female Marine dangled and was going to plummet straight down, just as Wagner had. Karson clutched onto the edge and moved his hand to allow a second grasp for Allison.

“Allison! Take it!” He said. She groaned and reached out. For a few seconds they kept reaching out and Cynder gave a pained grunt as she shifted her weight to allow for her to grab his hand. The platform dangled dangerously and would tip over if they didn’t do something. Obviously the lack of Diablo’s magic had caused this. They had to correct this. How, Karson had no clue.

Spyro flapped his wings and charged at Diablo. He was tired of being told it was the only way. There had to be another. There just had to. He was NOT about to sacrifice all those lives. This whole world had just recovered from the pervious Great Cleansing, and Spyro would be damned if he allowed another to happen, and by him. This was not the destiny of the Purple Dragon. Spyro was sure of it.

He fired his fury breath at Diablo, scoring a hit on the other dragon’s chest. The Dragon roared out and sailed downwards before catching himself and correcting his flight. Diablo snared and fired a beam of energy at Spyro, hitting the young dragon. Spyro yelled out and flew downwards, narrowly missing a spike sticking out of the molten landscape.

Blood coming from his muzzle, Spyro flapped his wings and sailed upwards to meet the other purple dragon, who was busy charging a large crystal nearby. He was going to try to erect the Destroyer once more! Spyro couldn’t allow it!

Spyro felt anger rush through his veins and his throat tie into a knot. He would make Diablo pay for this… PAY!!!! With strength that Spyro never knew he had, he flew at breakneck speed at the purple dragon, catching him in his groin and knocking him clear across the area and next to a to the edge of the rocks. Beyond that edge, a river of molten lava sat. Diablo struggled to get up and Spyro charged, knocking the dragon into the lava. The Dragon’s wails of death resonated throughout the area… music to Spyro’s ears.

Spyro roared out and energy coursed through him. Anger mounted to an all high within his stomach and his breath was becoming faster and faster paced. Spyro had never felt this rush before… it was… glorious! The most energy Spyro had ever felt… all this power… and it was his… he needed more… much more!

Spyro looked out to the crystal that resonated energy. It pulsed with intense power.

Perfect.

Spyro flew at it and with a bright smile, touched it. He absorbed the crystal’s energy and at once the ground began to shake. The top of the volcano blew out and a large creature crawled from its peak. It was the Destroyer. It didn’t matter to Spyro. He had the power. He would find more… much more… he needed more!

“What’s going on?! What’s happening to Spyro?!” Allison cried out as she watched the whole event unfold. A black aura had encased Spyro’s body and his scales had turned a pitch black. His eyes were pure white and a sickening feeling resonated from him.

“What? What’s going on?! Is he alright?” Cynder asked as she held onto the rails.

“I… I don’t know! But he just killed Diablo!” As Allison yelled this. Neither Karson or Cynder spoke. They were in utter shock.

“Spyro… did what?!” Cynder asked, her voice quavering. She had never known Spyro to do anything like that! She knew that Diablo was about to do something wrong, but still! He wasn’t the enemy!

They held onto the platform, trying to keep their grasp until whatever magic had held it vanished along with Diablo. The platform fell down, Cynder flapping her wings and trying to hold onto both Karson and Allison. She couldn’t support their weight and fell down with them.

Suddenly they felt themselves being lifted up and cradled in the arms of someone. They looked up to see a large grey dragon with silver belly scales and a pattern running down his head holding onto them. The dragon set them down onto the ground and turned to Spyro. They saw a few bits of steam rise from its nostrils and the dragon took flight over to Spyro.

“Who is that?” Karson asked as he rubbed his head.

“I don’t know…” Cynder said silently. Allison recovered herself and looked up. The grey dragon walked over to Spyro and stood his ground. Spyro stared at him for a few seconds before shattering the crystal he had just absorbed and walked nearer, black energy coursing through the nearby air.

Spyro suddenly attacked the new dragon, firing his dark energy at him. The grey dragon formed a shield and deflected the energy away in a fury of lights and smoke. Spyro snarled at the dragon and charged, hazy energy escaping his body.

The dragon readied himself and caught Spyro midst ride, knocking the smaller dragon down onto the ground. The grey dragon huffed and blew a wave of energy which knocked Spyro across the ground and near the same lava river Spyro had knocked Diablo into just earlier.

“No, don’t!” Cynder cried out as she got to her feet and ran over to the large grey dragon. The dragon shot her an ignoring glance before Spyro got up and tried once more to attack the dragon. The dragon grabbed Spyro’s head and smashed it onto the ledge of the rock, his face hanging over the edge and the heat from the lava hitting it and causing steam to rise from it.

The others crowded around, scared that the new dragon might hit Spyro into the lava below. Cynder was the most worried, her face showing her emotions.

Spyro, using the last bit of his strength, bit the new dragon, eliciting a roar from it and causing the dragon to bring his tail down onto Spyro’s side, getting a similar roar. Before they knew it, a large explosion ripped the small quarrel, light and darkness colliding into a massive ball of energy.

The dragon landed on the ground nearby and picked himself up. Spyro, however, flew downwards to the lava. The dragon snarled and flew straight at him.

Cynder eyed the dragon as he flew down towards the lava, snatched Spyro up, and flew back to them. He set the dragon down onto the ground, Spyro’s purple scales now replacing the pitch black ones that had once dominated him, just like his anger.

The dragon placed a paw on Spyro’s head and looked up the sound of a thud. The Destroyer had made some progress, almost clearing the Burned Lands. The dragon huffed and took off, vanishing into the smoke.

Spyro moaned and they looked at him.

“Spyro…?”

“Cynder? What happened?” He asked. She looked at him sadly.

“Where’s Diablo?! Is he…?” Spyro asked frantically. The others looked at him and their looks confirmed his fears. He had killed the purple dragon.

“What the hell is going on?!” Roxy asked as she and the others ran up.

“Where’s Diablo?” Aaron asked.

“And what the hell is that?!” A Marine said as he pointed to the large mile long dragon that was the Destroyer.

“That… is the Destroyer… and it will end the world if we don’t stop it…”
Cynder said as she stared at it. Spyro was silent.

“Wait, where’s your leader… Wagner I think?” Roxy asked.

Karson and Allison shot glances to each other.

“He’s… not here…” They finally said. The Marine Lieutenant would not have survived that fall. They had to go on without him.

“Looks like I’m in charge then…” Lieutenant Buckman said with sadness.
“Well what do we do against that?” A Marine asked as he pointed to the Destroyer.

“We stop it. No matter the cost.” Karson said as he looked upon it with rage.

“Spyro… c’mon. We have to do this.” Cynder said as she nudged Spyro. The purple dragon sighed sadly before looking at her.

They flapped their wings and took flight into the sky, after the large mile long Destroyer.

“Call in everything we can… we need to stop this thing… now…” Buckman said as he pointed to a Marine with a helmet microphone.

The Marine raised the Typhus and called in for back up, but Buckman wondered if it’d be enough. The others with them ran off to cut off the Destroyer since it was heading in their path and they could intersect it atop a platform not too far from here.

Spyro and Cynder were already at the platform and as the squad of Marines and the group got on the platform from their position and saw the Destroyer just ahead of them. It was less then a mile and closing to their position. They had to act fast.

“How do we stop it?” Karson asked as he raised his M74C.

“How’d you guys stop it last time?” Allison asked as she turned to Spyro and Cynder.

“We… didn’t . We slowed it down long enough to fight Malefor.” She responded with a guilty voice.

“Great…” They heard one of the Marines mutter.
“How did you stall it?” Karson asked, getting a bit frustrated.

“We destroyed the dark gems on it and had filled a valley with water to stall it long enough to do that.” Cynder said.

“Even when we did that… it still went on because Malefor’s dark powers controlled it and drew it towards him… a last dark gem…” Spyro muttered.

“Well let’s try to destroy those gems and stall it then!” Buckman said.

“Looks like we’re going after crystals!” Aaron said with joy and Krypto smirked as he flapped his wings and went airborne, along with Spyro and Cynder.

Roxy smiled and glowed a bright white before the group and unveiled herself to also have a dragon form. Zephyr smirked and smiled as he too glowed white and morphed to a dragon form.

“What, is there something in the water here?!” One of the Marines, Corporal Henderson, asked as he saw this.

The two flew up to join the group and Tom stayed behind, along with Karson, Allison and the other Marines.

The group of dragons sailed up and towards the first leg. They had to find a way to keep it from moving so they could destroy the crystals, for the Destroyer was moving too much for them to get a good hit off of it.

“Damn! How do we keep it from moving?!” Roxy asked.

“Sure as hell isn’t water around here!” Zephyr said as he flapped his wings to correct himself after almost getting hit by the Destroyer’s claws.

Spyro and Cynder flew and tried to land on a part of the Destroyer’s arm but were knocked off from it moving too fast. It would be impossible to destroy the crystals.

Suddenly explosions dotted the Destroyer and it roared a deafening roar as UERMC Raptors flew over it, followed by fast moving UERNF Ravens which bombarded the Destroyer with heavy weapons and bombs. Rocks tumbled from the creature and fell into the lava below.

Tanks rolled up onto the platform with the Marines and fired numerous rounds at the Destroyer. Explosions dotted all around and the Destoyer was masked in a cloud of smoke. However it kept moving ever closer to the platform, now only half a mile away. It was moving fast.

The tanks and Marines began to fall back to another platform some ways back. The Raptors hovered and fired missiles at the Destroyer, hoping to cause some damage to it.

“If they can’t stop it, what can?!” Aaron asked as he watched the Humans pelt the creature with everything they had.

“We’ve got to stall it, destroy the crystals!” Spyro called out. It was impossible to stall it. There was nothing to stall it with. There was certainly no body of water that could be used… this was moving away from the rivers or valleys in the area. It would be impossible to stall it.

In a heart beat, their answer came.

The Destroyer fell to a knee and its forward legs snapped and tumbled, rocks exploding outwards. A few seconds later a CRACK exploded at their ears and they looked to see the UERNF Typhus approaching. The Human ship had used its LIC weapon and had fired a slug faster then the speed of sound. Smaller weapons like missiles and other guns blared at the Destroyer, blowing away chunks off of it and causing it to smash down hard.

It was stuck.

“Let’s go, now’s our chance!” Spyro called out. The group immediately spread out, finding crystals and smashing them.

As Spyro finished smashing another crystal, he looked to see the dragon that he had fought with smash a crystal. The dragon looked at him, huffed and flew away beyond a pillar of smoke and out of sight.

UERMC Raptors floating around saw this and flared their jets to adjust and opened up on crystals that they found. Soon, the other two legs blew off and the destroyer tumbled into the lava beneath.

However, it was still not done with. The creature still moved and tried to reach its objective- circle the world once over.

“Cynder, c’mon! We need to take out its heart like before!” Spyro called out and she nodded. They streaked down towards the mouth of the creature and entered. They flew into the bowels of the creature and arrived at the heart.

Just like before, they made several passes and shattered the heart. The heart exploded and they flew out of the mouth just before the jet of fire did. They flew down with the others as the Destroyer let out a howl. However, it still wasn’t done with. Its eyes flared and it crawled towards them still.

“What?! What’s it take to destroy this thing?!” Roxy asked. Suddenly they saw Spyro glowing purple and black- the same aura emitted from the dark gems.

“Spyro… you’re the final thing powering it… just as Malefor was to the other Destroyer…” Cynder said as she made a realization.

“Then I… can stop this.” Spyro closed his eyes and focused hard. He strained his mind and suddenly felt something inside him snap. In his mind, an image of a bright sunlight breaking through clouds filled his vision.

He opened his eyes and they were golden. He flashed white before the Destroyer’s eyes faded and it collapsed into the lava- finished.

Spyro’s eyes returned to normal and the others, keeping an eye on the Destroyer, had not noticed Spyro’s eye color. Everyone that is… except for Cynder.

She stared at him for a few seconds before smiling to herself. The Marines began to cheer, as did the Alliance soldiers and dragons that had also accumulated there to aid but were late to the party. Nighthawks, Sparrowhawks, Raptors and Ravens streaked through the skies, patrolling for anything.

“Spyro! You did it!” Buckman said with glee.

“Lieutenant! I found a downed soldier! He needs Medical attention!” A Marine called out as he dragged with him a beaten and battered Marine. The Marine let the unconscious Marine onto the ground for everyone to see. It was Wagner.

“Medic! Get a Corpsmen here now!” Buckman called out and knelt down to check the Officer’s pulse.

“Is he…?” Cynder asked, fear gripping her voice.

“No, he’s alive, but barely… Where’s that Medic?!” Buckman said as he looked around. A pair of Marines ran up with crosses on their helmets and attended to Wagner as he sat on the ground.

“Well, well, well… you actually beat it.” They turned to the sound of a new voice to find a Human in white armor and cape walk up. The Human had blond hair and looked like he had nothing to do with the Marines already here.

“Who… are you?” Spyro asked.

“My name is Rithul… and Spyro… I need to have a word with you…”

End of Chapter 19