Dusk of the Dragon (Soru)

[Mashugana]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Breath attack: 8vs8: success! Damage 9, Bat 2 is down!
Tail strike: 17vs18, fail! Bat 3 is still up!
Bat 3 attempts to intercept Cynder's shadow! 6 vs 2! Success!

Your breath envelops the first bat before it has a chance to make another attack or even scream as your shows envelop it, snuffing out it's existence in the blink of an eye. However, your tail just barely misses the head of the second as it desperately sidesteps the attack, and as you attempt to use your shadow powers to meld into the castle floor, it rams into you, not enough to do any damage, but enough to stagger you before you can get away and aid Spyro as his opponent lunges forward! The purple dragon attempts to evade, but his opponent tackles into him, carrying him out of the window and dropping them both towards the rocks and streets below.

And Spyro cannot fly.

It's then that the doors near your permission explode, and the battle roars of the Guardians of Frost and Thunder shake the room, both of them arriving just in time as new enemies arrive through the hole in the ceiling!

[Soru]

Cynder covers the bat in front of her with shadowy flames and she has her tail slash out at the one behind her but it misses and she decides to head straight for Spyro by melting into shadows. However just as she was the bat that she missed is already back on the counter and manages to ram her enough to make her stumble before she could use her ability. Then to her horror she sees the bat ram at Spyro and right through the window. "Spyro!" She cries out to him as the other two guardians charge in while more bats dropped in, but she didn't care about any of them as she could only focus on Spyro. She then tries to call on a power she wasn't sure she still had or could use alone, but she had to try. She tries to call force the power of Aether to boost her strength and speed so she can bolt right through the window and to Spyro and hopefully in time.

[Mashugana]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Aether roll:54

It had been a long time, and circumstances had been quite different when you last touched the Aether, but as you desperately reached out for it's power, you could still feel it, the newfound energy of your body allowing you to easily repulse the bat interfering with you before it has the chance. However, you can already feel your bones shaking and your muscles straining as your body attempted to regulate the mystical energy flowing into you as a burning pain started in your core and began spreading throughout your form, most likely, you'd have precious seconds before you'd be forced to let go of it lest it did horrible damage to you, potentially crippling or fatal. The foes that had just entered attempted to stop you as you charged the window, but found themselves blasted by sheets of ice and bolts of electricity, allowing you to bypass them and hurl yourself through the window and down towards Spyro's tumbling body as he flailed helplessly, desperately attempting to slow his descent as the ground below seemed to began cracking and splitting open, revealing a horrid red light below.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Rolling to catch Spyro: 8 vs 12, fail

Your aether enhanced speed allows you to overtake the bat that had forced Spyro out the window, screaming through the air and getting closer, ever closer to Spyro, his claw reaching out towards you as you both raced for the cold, hard ground.

Then, the world exploded into red light, enveloping you, Spyro and everything else in your immediate area as smoke that smelled of sulfur and molten stone billowed around you, and you were thrown back by the force of the blast as Spyro let loose a horrific yell of pain, though that was soon overtaken by a deep, cruel laughter.

[Soru]

Cynder tries to ignore the pain she felt from using the Aether after so long, the pain not meaning anything to her if this power could help her. With probably only seconds to use before it gives out she rockets to the window and luckily the guardian's cover her charge and she dives out the window and down to the falling Spyro. "Spyro!" She cries out to him a she moves past the bat with her speed and she reaches out to him. Her claw gets close to his and then suddenly...

She cries out as a red light explodes and envelops them, some force throwing her back into a wall and she hears Spyros yell of pain and a deep and cruel laughter, both of which made her blood run cold. "Spyro!" She cries out to him as she quickly tries to recover to him and rush to his aid while wondering what the hell that light and blast were.

[Mashugana]

It doesn't take you long to find where Spyro is, even with the choking smoke and blood red light from below, but when you do find him, he isn't alone.

You find Spyro unconscious, held almost like an infant in the claws of a great dragon easily two or three heads taller than you, with great twisting horns and deep purple scales, with tattered wings and hellish orange eyes, his tail lazily swinging from side to side as he looks down on the comparatively tiny dragon in his grasp, before turning his attention to you, a cold smile on his face as he regards you.

"Ah, there you are Cynder. So good to see you and little Spyro again." he says with a slow, insidious tone of voice. "It has been a while, hasn't it? Do forgive my sudden appearance, I was... indisposed."

[Soru]

Cynder is in a panic as she tries to find Spyro but soon she finds him and her blood runs completely cold when she sees who is with him. If she wasn't in such shock she might have let out a scream like she is doing right now in her head. In front of her was Malefor himself holding Spyro in his claws. It was surprising to see how large the dark purple dragon was compared to them.

It takes a bit before Cynder can make herself speak and uses her anger to try to cover her fear. "H-How are you here?!" She demanded to know. "And give Spyro back to me!" She shouts as she charges forward with her claws out and shadowy flames leaking from her muzzle.

[Mashugana]

"It wasn't easy, I will admit. My blunder in our previous encounter left me rather... depleted." Malefor responded, a simmering anger underneath his normally casual, smooth voice as you charged towards him, making no move to defend himself.

The lack of action was answered when you struck his body, feeling a jolt of violent, chaotic energy strike back in retaliation, repulsing you and sending you staggering back. As you do, you feel the aftershocks from your use of the aether taking it's toll, wracking your body in agony!

"Ah, It seems like you've gone to your limit little dragon. Perhaps if you were your former, more... agreeable self you might have a chance against me alone, but alas, that isn't the case." The horrid purple dragon remarks as Spyro appears to stir, attempting to extract himself from his captor's grasp as he laughed mockingly, but unable to escape.

"Ah, I will be borrowing young Spyro unfortunately, but I will bring him back once I am finished. Well... what's left of him anyway." Your former overlord and now nemesis adds, his tone almost making it sound like he'd just borrowed something inconsequential like a cup or tool as he turned to leave, facing down into the burning, raging inferno in the fissure below.

[Soru]

Cynder was about to grin as she manages to strike Malefor who didn't seem like he was going to move which made her think he was too weak from his resurrection to defend. However she is quickly proven wrong as a shock of chaotic energy strikes back at her and she staggered back and lets out a small cry of pain from the shock which combined with her earlier uses of the aether.

With a wincing face she looks up at Malefor, hate and anger in her eyes as he makes a remark at her about her current strength and the dark form he turned her into before. However her expression then turns into one of fear when he said he was about to take Spyro away. "I won't let you take him from me!" She cries out, ignoring the pain in her body as she charges at him again, though this time when she got close she quickly sunk into the ground, becoming shadows and moving behind Malefor to reappear with her mouth filling with acid to burn through the evil dragon's scales from behind.

[Mashugana]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Breath attack: 11 vs 19

Malefor doesn't even make any moves to intercept you as he sets one foot into the abyss, and your blast of acid strikes home, slathering the center of his back and his wings in the corrosive substance as it smokes.

However, rather than be harmed by this, Malefor whirls around, grasping you round the throat as he glowers at you in annoyance.

"It seems that you don't understand your place yet, little flea." the great dragon intoned, smoke beginning to billow out of his mouth. "As you are now, you are powerless before me. Have you forgotten who I am? The one who made you who you are, gave you all that you have? I may not have sired you, but I, more than anyone, am your creator, your father. Perhaps this will be a reminder." he remarks, raising a talon to your forehead and touching it.

In an instant, white hot excruciating pain explodes into your skull as Spyro yells your name frantically, before all turns black.

[Soru]

Cynder smiles to herself as she sees the acid cover his back and some of his wings as she thinks she managed to get some damage in. However she is quickly proven wrong as he turns as if nothing happened and grabs her by her neck. She grunts as he squeezes her throat as her talons try to dig into his arm to make it let her go.

As he seems annoyed and talking to her Cynder just glares, showing her defiance towards him now that he no longer had control of her and that she and Spyro defeat him once. Just as she was about to make up a taunt at him and then slash at his face with her claws he touched her forehead and pain suddenly explodes through her head and she lets out a scream. "Spyro…" She weakly calls to him with a hand reaching out as her vision fades into black.

[Mashugana]

Your dreams are feverish, often jumping from one to another. Images of the attack on the castle came first, followed by your own attacks on dragon kind, battles for and against Malefor, the heat of volcanoes, the cold of the arctic tundras, but most vivid of all were the nights when you served Malefor, both in battle... and in bed. Often times after returning from one mission or another, you'd find yourself called into his chambers, meant to relieve the apocalyptic dragon's urges as he took satisfaction in the conquest and destruction of his foes, the heat and sure weight of his body pressing against yours, the scraping of your claws on the hard stone floors and engraved walls as you braced against his thrusts.

[Soru]

Wherever Cynder physically was her body shifts and turns, her claws clenching and unclenching as her dreams assault her mind. First were memories of the attack, then memories of past battles and her times being the Terror of the Skies to the rest of the world. The bad things she has done and the good afterwards all go through her head in the form of dreams. These dreams and images are somewhat hazy, but the ones that come later are the ones that are the most vivid...and the ones she wished the never remember. The dreams show her the times back in her evil adult form; tall and slender body with curves scales darker than black. She was used more than to cause terror for Malefor; she was a source of amusement and relief and she remembers the many nights he kept her up to satisfy his own lusts and due to his control over her she was more than willing to be his toy as her claws dug into stone floors and walls as he took her in many different ways as much as he pleased. In her sleep small gasps and groans would escape as those dreams were very vivid and caused her body heats up despite how she felt about those dreams now.

[Mashugana]

Through the haze of your dreams, you could hear what were at first distant voice, familiar and reassuring, but not entirely discernible.

"heating up... bed... wet cloth... Spyro..." and other words floated in and out of your perception as you dimly felt yourself be carried up, then gently lowered onto a soft material, probably bedding before the dreams came back, servicing Malefor in various ways, attending to the missions and tasks set before you, even having to seduce some potential servants to his side for him while he busied himself with his schemes and dark magics.

This state continued to such an extent that it felt like you were in a timeless expanse, unknowing of what went on for who knew how long before you slowly felt yourself becoming solid, somewhat feverish and clammy as a wet rag was placed on your forehead, with calm, soothing words from the mouth of an older male dragon drifted down towards you.

"Apply the wet rag to help with the fever, prepare the tea to keep the body functional and hydrated..."

Opening your eyes would reveal the blue scaled form of a great dragon, with elegant, sloping horns and a thin face, his murmuring being a means of keeping his schedule in mind, most likely.

[Soru]

As Cynder was still in a state of unconsciousness her dreams become a haze for a bit as she hears voices, familiar ones she should know but she couldn't match a name or face to the voices. She hears words, though Spyro's name makes her tense a bit and while she couldn't recall why she knew something bad had happened recently but couldn't remember what. "Spyro…" She weakly calls out his name in her sleep as she is lowered on what might be a bed before the dreams of her old memories come back.

Ever since Spyro saved her she had tried to forget those old memories but now they have returned in her dreams. She remembers other ways she was made so serve Malefor, different positions and then tasks and missions he sent her to do and one of the more shameful ones is when she had to seduce those that Malefor wanted at his side though she wasn't sure what had happened to any of them.

Eventually though she starts to slowly regain consciousness and she felt feverish and weak while a wet rag was on her forehead. She hears a voice above her and her eyes slowly open a little though her vision took a bit to come back as well. She notices a blue and large dragon and she blinks a bit before she opens her mouth which felt dry. "Wh-What happened..." She asked in a weak voice. "Where's...Spyro?..."

[Mashugana]

"-nutmeg, ginseng... Ah, she's awake!" the huge dragon announces, blinking in pleasant surprise. After a moment, you realize that it's Cyril, the aristocratic Guardian of Ice. "We were worried after finding you so badly injured and delirious at the site! It looks as though the attacker put some kind of spell or charm onto you when he... when he..."

Cyril went silent, glancing at your forehead momentarily before looking you in the eyes again. The normally regal, unflappable blue dragon's expression turning sorrowful. "About Spyro... He's... he's gone." he said gently, trying to break the news to you as best he could. "He was... taken. We couldn't reach him in time before the ground itself swallowed him, and we weren't certain if you would survive, half the city was burning as well." he said mournfully. "We lost so many lives out there, even now there's more reports every day..."

[Soru]

Cynder's sight and mind clear enough for her to realize that it's the ice guardian Cyril that is talking and she is glad to see a familiar face right now. However she didn't like how he seemed to trail off, especially when he said that Malefor had put on some kind of charm or spell on her or something. Slowly she remembers what happened before she blacked out and weakly she starts to lean up from the bed, barely noticing Cyril glancing at her forehead and decides she'll figure out why later.

"I...I need to find Spyro…" She says as she tries to get up. "Cyril...It was Malefor...he's somehow back..." She tells the Guardian and she can't help but feel like this is somehow her fault, just like how she feels about anything related to Malefor. "He took him...I need to get Spyro back."

[Mashugana]

"We know it was, and we've got a small lead on where we might find Spyro, but for now you need to rest, we don't know what the mark might do to you." Cyril calmly but firmly said, placing a hand on your shoulder and giving it a light push. "One of the moles you assisted brought back a bag containing a broken statue of Malefor, it contains traces of his energy, and we've been studying it for traces of his signature. We've tracked it into a nearby swamp at the moment."

[Soru]

With how weak she currently is right now that small push to her shoulder is enough to push her back down, but only for a few moments as she tries to get up again. "I...I can help..." She tries to convince him but she wasn't doing too good of a job with how slow she moved. When he brought up the statue she gulps a bit. "I...I destroyed that statue...I didn't think it had any power I just...hated seeing him..." Cynder says as she lays back down and puts a claw over her face. "Oh gods...is this my fault?"

[Mashugana]

"No! No, it's not your fault." Cyril answers immediately. "No one could have predicted what could have or would have happened, and we have no idea whether or not that statue was connected to Malefor's return. It may be a coincidence."

Somehow, the slight tremble and reluctance to look you in the eyes told you that Cyril may not have entirely believed it. It did seem too close together to be coincidental. He brings you a cup of water, before taking a deep breath.

"About the mark, it's... well. Perhaps you might be better off seeing it." he murmured, trying to be gentle. "It's barely visible, but when exposed to magic..."

[Soru]

While Cyril's words did make sense, she didn't feel any power coming from the small statue now did it make sense for it to be able to trigger Malefor's return on its own, but the way he said it and looked at her let her know that these things happened way to close to each other for it to just be a coincidence. Seeing him holding out a cup of water she smiles weakly as she takes it and takes a sip.

He then brings her attention back to the mark. "What does it look like?" She asked as she tries to see if there's a mirror or something for her to use. "Do you know what it means?"