Spyro Fan Fiction ❯ A Turbulent Life ❯ The Dead Ruins ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Charmeleon 
Spyro unknowingly enters the most deadly place ever known.
Non Anime: Spyro Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.20.2006 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 415 | Status: Completed
Spyro unknowingly enters the most deadly place ever known.
Non Anime: Spyro Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.20.2006 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 415 | Status: Completed
Recap: Spyro, Sparx, Red, Hunter and Bianca were in Lofty Castle, hoping to have some peace from Misteria for a while. The peace did last up to a certain point. But trouble had eventually found Spyro, Hunter, Bianca, Baruti, Useni and Mudada. The devil-looking enemies had confronted them and were quick to seriously hurt Spyro. His friends could do nothing because the devils threatened to kill him if they did. Fortunately, Red sensed Spyro's plight and was quickly on the scene. One of the devils attempted to kidnap Spyro, but Red was all over it. In Stone Hill meanwhile, a battle of supremacy between the Sorcerer and Misteria took place. The Sorcerer came out the winner. Now he, Misteria and Ineptune have joined forces in their quest to eliminate Spyro and Red.
/ is Cosma mental talk
// is Red mental talk
' is thoughts
&n bsp; Chapter 6: The Dead Ruins
A week has passed since the nearly fatal incident at Lofty Castle. If not for Red, things would've been very tragic. The devils were still around and had confronted Spyro and friends. They quickly put Spyro out of commission, leaving him just barely alive. Because the devils had Spyro surrounded and their weapons pointed at him, there was nothing his friends could do. It seemed hopeless until some of the devils were mysteriously sent flying. The culprit turned out to be Red using the Banish spell. Unnerved by the show of force, one of the devils made off with Spyro.
Red went after the kidnapping devil, only to be stopped by another devil. That devil didn't get too far at all before Red permanently took care of it. Red soon caught up to the devil holding Spyro, countering the electricity that it shot at him. Then the devil made the fatal mistake of stabbing Spyro in front of Red. Red went into a rage. His anger turned the sunny sky ominous.
Lightning struck from the sky, not only disarming the devil of both its weapon and Spyro, but also destroying it. Having done its job, the sky quickly cleared. Red caught his gravely injured son and headed back to the others to see that the other devils had been taken care of. Then Red healed Spyro. Spyro, Red and friends were currently in the largest of the castles with Mudada.
"I think I should spend some time with my father and brother. Seeing all the family reunions made me realize how much I miss them," Hunter said.
"I'll take you home then. I didn't think that I would be thanking the Sorcerer for something. If not for him, then I wouldn't know where your home is," Red said. He took Hunter's hand and teleported, arriving at the exact place. Then he returned to Lofty Castle
"Let's head to Sheila's Alp. It's been a while since Spyro, Sparx and I have last seen her, and I'm sure that Sheila would love to meet you Red," Bianca said.
"I would love to see her again," Spyro said.
"Me too," Sparx agreed.
"I'm looking forward to meeting her. Let's go," Red said.
Because Bianca knew exactly where Sheila's Alp was located, she provided the teleportation. Sheila was outside at the time when she saw them arrive. She was absolutely thrilled to see Spyro, Sparx and Bianca because it had been at least 2 years since they've last come in contact with each other. Over the following week, Spyro had told Sheila all that had happened since they last saw each other. As of the present, it was early afternoon.
"It appears that you have been busy Spyro," Sheila said. She and Spyro were curretnly in the bedroom of Billy's house.
"Yeah, every time things seem to quiet down, something new happens," Spyro said.
"But the things that happened between you and your father are something. He had been evil for a while but then changed for the better," Sheila said.
"Yeah, and I owe him my life," Spyro said.
"From what you told me, he feels the same way towards you. After all, it was you who helped him get back on the right track," Sheila said.
"Indeed it was," a voice said from the doorway.
Sheila and Spyro looked to see Red standing in the doorway with a large tray of food.
"May I come in?" Red asked.
"Sure," Sheila responded.
Red came into the room. "I thought that you two might be pretty hungry since you skipped breakfast," he said before putting the tray on the nightstand.
Right on cue, Spyro's stomach growled loudly. Red chuckled and Sheila giggled at the blush of embarrassment on Spyro's face. Not to be left out though, Spyro laughed when Sheila's stomach suddenly growled.
"I guess we're both pretty hungry," Sheila said.
"Yeah, let's eat," Spyro said. "Are you going to join us dad?" he added.
"No Spyro. I had lunch already. Thank you for the offer though," Red responded before returning to the living room.
Spyro and Sheila began eating the food from the tray. There was enough food to satisfy them both. Neither had realized just how hungry they were.
"I didn't think that I was that hungry," Spyro said.
"I know. Me neither," Sheila agreed. "Let's join Red in the living room," she added.
Spyro nodded and he and Sheila headed off to the living room. They noticed that Bianca had left.
"Hey, where's Bianca?" Spyro asked.
"Oh, she went home. She said that she wanted to spend time with her cousins," Sparx responded.
"So Spyro, do you want to go flying or something?" Red offered.
"Flying would be great," Spyro responded before heading out the door.
Red was close behind. After stepping outside, Red picked Spyro up. Then he spread his wings and was airborne with a powerful flap. He couldn't help but wonder what the muffled sound he heard was. 'I wonder what made that sound. I just barely heard it. Maybe I should've investigated. Someone may have needed help,' he thought.
Sheila watched until Red was no longer in sight before heading back in. She stopped upon hearing a muffled cry for help. She looked at the rocky wall to see a goat trapped in it. Pete was standing not too far away.
"What happened?" Sheila asked.
"I don't know. I just happened to come by when I heard Billy. I looked at the wall and was surprised to see half of him sticking out of it," Pete responded.
"Well, let's get him out. You grab one foot, and I'll take the other," Sheila said sighing.
Pete nodded, and they tried to pull Billy out. Billy was stuck in the wall pretty good this time because they couldn't pull him out. It was as if he was jammed in the wall.
"He's in there farther than I thought. We usually had no problem pulling him out," Sheila said ten minutes later.
"Allow me to assist you," a familiar deep voice said.
Sheila and Pete looked up to see Red descending. Red soon landed and put Spyro down.
"Back so soon?" Sheila asked.
"We really didn't go too far actually. Dad had a pretty troubled look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that he had heard something the moment we came outside. We both wanted to know what it was so we came back," Spyro responded. "Is that Billy? If it is, then how did he get half his body stuck in the wall?" he added.
"Yes, that is Billy in the wall. I have a hunch to why he's in that position. But we have to get him out of there to find out if I'm right," Sheila responded.
"I'll get him out," Red said. He walked over to the wall and wrapped his arm around Billy's middle. Then being as gentle as possible, he started to pull Billy out.
Soon, Billy was completely out of the wall. Red then placed him down. Billy shook his head several time to clear it. He opened his eyes to see Spyro, Sheila, Red and Pete looking at him.
"Did you tease the moose again?" Sheila asked.
"Yes I did. I'm sorry Sheila but I can't help it. Taunting the moose is one of my favorite things ta do," Billy responded.
"Well, you're lucky that Red heard ya. Otherwise ya would've been stuck in there for a lot longer. You were so far in the wall that we couldn't pull ya out," Sheila said.
"Thanks Red," Billy said.
"You're welcome. Next time, find something else to do besides taunt the moose. I'm sure that there's got to be something more interesting than that," Red said. "Well if nothing else is wrong, then Spyro and I have some flying to get back to," he added while picking Spyro up.
Spyro giggled as Red picked him up. "See you guys later," Spyro said before Red took to the air.
Sheila, Billy and Pete went back inside the house.
"What was that noise a few moments ago?" Sparx asked.
"That was Billy in the wall," Pete responded.
"Let me guess. He teased the moose again right?" Sparx said.
"Exactly mate," Sheila said.
Meanwhile, Red and Spyro were flying through the mountain peaks. The reason why they got there so quickly was due to Red flying pretty fast. Of course, Red slowed down upon reaching the mountain peaks. Spyro had actually liked his father's speed increase. To him, it was like supercharging, but much faster and that they were going through the sky. Now, he was almost speechless as he looked at the icy peaks.
"Whoa. This is amazing," Spyro said in awe.
"It is isn't it? I always loved flying through the mountains," Red said.
They soared through the mountains for an hour before Red landed on the peak of the tallest one and put Spyro down. Spyro just looked on at the breath-taking scene in speechless awe. He felt like he was at the highest point in the world. He moved just a little closer to the edge and looked over the side at the spectacular view. Red just smiled upon seeing the awed expression on Spyro's face.
But the moment was short-lived however. Spyro and Red soon heard an ominous crack. Then they felt the mountain shake a little bit. Even thought Spyro moved only a little, it was enough to begin shifting the terribly unstable snow pack. Before either of them could react, the snow began sliding down the mountain. The occurring avalanche buried Spyro instantly, sending him straight to the bottom.
"Spyro!" Red cried. He had managed to fly out before the snow could bury him as well and saw Spyro sink into the sliding snow. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything to help Spyro until the avalanche came to rest.
About twenty minutes later, the avalanche finally came to a stop. Red relied on his senses as he flew over the avalanche area. He sensed a weakening aura about halfway between the avalanche's start and finish areas. He flew down lower and immediately started breathing down fire, knowing that Spyro wouldn't survive much longer under all that snow. He had burned through two feet of snow in only a minute due to his enhanced powers.
He knew that being able to burn through that large amount of snow in such a short time was a very good thing because he sensed that Spyro was buried deep under the snow, ten feet to be exact. Five minutes later, he had uncovered an unconscious Spyro. He reached down and pulled Spyro out. He was very relieved to see Spyro regain consciousness. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"I-I-I-I-I-I f-f-f-f-f-feel r-r-r-r-r-r-really c-c-c-co-co-co-cold. O-o-o-o-o-otherwise I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine," Spyro responded, shivering uncontrollably.
"I'll fix that," Red said. He closed his eyes in concentration.
An orange aura had soon engulfed Red and Spyro. Spyro could feel the warmness of the aura. Ten minutes later, he had stopped shivering completely. The aura lasted for several more minutes before landing completely.
"Is that better?" Red asked.
"That's much better. Thanks," Spyro responded. "How could that avalanche had started though? I only moved a little bit," he added.
"The snow must have been pretty unstable at the peak. On a mountain, the more unstable the snow, the less effort it takes to set the snow off. I have to guess that your movement, as slight as it was, was enough to cause the avalanche," Red suggested.
"That does make sense," Spyro said. "Maybe we should continue on."
"All right," Red said before flying off.
They soared through the mountains for another hour before heading back to Billy's house. They arrived several hours later. But the mood wasn't exactly happy. Red landed and saw Sheila sadly staring at a picture. Red put Spyro down before they both went to see why Sheila was so sad.
"What's wrong Sheila?" Spyro asked.
"Huh?" Sheila asked upon hearing the question. She looked and saw Spyro and Red in front of her. "Oh, just thinking," she responded.
"Who are the young and older kangaroos in the picture?" Red asked.
"This is a picture of my mother with my grandparents. My grandparents suddenly went missing and haven't returned to this day," Sheila responded.
"Do you know how they went missing?" Spyro asked.
"My mother was with them that day. When I asked her about my grandparents, she told me that she was lucky to have gotten out with her life," Sheila responded.
"Gotten out of where?" Red asked. 'This could be very bad,' he secretly added.
"My mother always tried to evade the subject. But she told me that she and my grandparents had wandered into a place known as the Dead Ruins. She said that they had encountered something very bad. They told her to get out while she still could. She was stubborn about leaving them, but they convinced her to leave.
As I told you, she was lucky to make it out. After making it out, she hoped that they would make it home as well. But they never came back. I really don't know how long it has been since then but my mother never could forget that day," Sheila responded. She looked into Red's eyes and knew that he must know something about that place.
Spyro also came to that conclusion. "Do you know anything about that place dad?" he asked.
"Yes, I have heard many stories about that place. Not only that, but I had also unintentionally wandered into it several times. I was lucky to escape with my life all those times," Red responded.
Spyro and Sheila gasped upon hearing that.
"You mean that my grandparents may have died in that place?" Sheila asked.
"I'm afraid so Sheila. Let's just say that the Dead Ruins got its name for more than one reason," Red responded.
Spyro could tell that Red was trying to evade the subject as well. 'That place must be pretty bad if dad really doesn't want to talk about it,' he thought. "That must be one bad place," he said.
"It's the worst place that you could ever be in. The worse news is that you never know where it will appear," Red said.
"It's not in one area?" Sheila asked.
"I'm afraid not. However, the good news is that it doesn't appear often. It only appears when the moon and stars aren't visible on a clear night, which is rare," Red responded.
"So it seems that we'll have to keep an eye on the sky at night," Spyro said.
"That's what I would advise," Red said.
"Well I don't think we'll have to worry about that here in my Alp since it's a small world inside a bigger world," Sheila said.
"That has puzzled me to this day. The Dead Ruins only appears in home worlds, not the lesser ones," Red said.
/Something feels terribly off/
//I know Cosma. I feel it too//
/You don't think that the portal to the Dead Ruins will appear soon do you?/
//I really hope not//
/I know what you mean. I too had wandered into that dreary land and was lucky to get out. The fate of all those who could never return to the world of the living is omething that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy/
//I know//
About an hour later, Spyro and Sparx decided to pay Sgt. Byrd a visit. They went through the exit portal and arrived in Sunrise Spring. They headed over to the balloon. They found Snappy the seal standing in front of it.
"Hiya Spyro," Snappy said.
"Hi Snappy," Spyro said.
"Go ahead and jump on," Snappy said.
Spyro and Sparx got into the balloon and were off to Midday Gardens. About ten minutes later, the balloon landed. Spyro and Sparx got out and made their way to Sgt. Byrd's Base. They went through the portal and saw Sgt. Byrd upon arriving.
"Good day Spyro," Sgt. Byrd said.
"Hello sir," Spyro said.
"How have things been going?" Sparx asked.
"It's been pretty normal around here," Sgt. Byrd responded. "The Professor told me about your incident with the Sorcerer. He also told me that Red had changed. How is Red doing by the way?" he added.
"My father's doing just fine," Spyro responded, earning a pretty surprised reaction out of Sgt. Byrd.
"He's your pop?" Sgt. Byrd asked.
"Yep. Believe me, I was just as shocked as you were when I found out," Spyro responded.
"So where is he now?" another voice asked.
Spyro and friends looked and saw Cpl. Gabrielle come up.
"He's with Sheila," Sparx responded.
"So what has happened with you since you defeated the Sorcerer?" Sgt. Byrd asked.
Spyro told Sgt. Byrd and Cpl. Gabrielle what has been happening. Sgt. Byrd and Cpl. Gabrielle were very disturbed.
"Trouble knows who to follow huh?" Sgt. Byrd asked.
"Yeah and I wish that it would just leave me alone," Spyro responded. "So how are the privates doing?" he asked.
"Oh they're just fine. They're no longer privates though. I've promoted them. They're lieutenants now," Sgt. Byrd responded.
Then the four friends went inside the base to spend time with the lieutenants. Lieutenants Claire and Eloise were the first to spot them. They flew over and hovered in front of them.
"Spyro, Sparx, it's always a pleasure to see you," Lt. Claire said.
"What brings you here?" Lt. Eloise asked.
"We just wanted to visit," Spyro responded.
"Spyro look out!" Sparx suddenly shouted.
"What?" Spyro asked before turning around in time to dodge a large flower pot. "Who threw that?" he added.
"I'l take care of it," Sgt. Byrd responded. He took careful aim and fired.
Spyro watched the missile hit a Rhynoc. The impact caused the Rhynoc to flip a couple of times before disappearing.
"Man, the Rhynocs are pretty persistent aren't they?" Sparx asked.
"They are. But they make good target practice I have to admit," Sgt. Byrd responded.
"And good fun," Spyro added. Let's take out the Rhynocs."
"Capital idea chap," Sgt. Byrd said.
The group of six headed off to clear out some Rhynocs. Sgt. Byrd was right. The Rhynocs made good target practice because they did whatever they could not to be hit. They were successful but for only so long as Spyro and friends had begun to hit them. Two hours later, they had cleared the base of Rhynocs.
"That was fun," Sparx said.
"They'll be back though," Cpl. Gabrielle said.
"And that means that the fun will never truly stop," Lt. Eloise said.
"Yeah, even though we use the Rhynocs for target practice, it's still fun," Lt. Claire added.
"Well, I think that Sparx and I should be heading back," Spyro said.
"All right Spyro. It was good seeing you," Sgt. Byrd said.
Spyro and Sparx said their goodbyes before heading to the exit portal. They came out at Midday Gardens and headed to the balloon. They got aboard and headed back to Sunrise Spring. Upon arriving, they headed back to Sheila's Alp.
"So how did things go?" Sheila asked.
"Very well. Sparx and I had fun taking out the Rhynocs," Spyro responded.
"Yeah, kicking Rhynoc butt is a pretty fun thing to do," Sheila said.
"So, where's Red?" Sparx asked.
"He wanted to explore for a little bit," Sheila responded.
"Let's head to Molten Crater for a while," Spyro said.
"All right Spyro," Sparx said before he and Spyro headed out of the Alp again.
They headed towards Molten Crater when a strange portal suddenly appeared in front of them. One look at it sent chills down their spines. The arches were a dull gray and infested with cracks. The portal had so many cracks in it that the strange thing was that it didn't just collapse on itself. Another strange thing was about the portal is that it didn't say where it led.
"Where do you think this portal leads?" Sparx asked.
"I don't know. It's strange that it's not labeled. I'm going in to find out where it leads," Spyro responded. If he'd taken time to look at the night sky, he would've noticed that the moon and stars weren't visible although the sky was clear.
"Well let me go with you," Sparx said.
"No Sparx. It will be better if one of us stays here," Spyro said.
"All right Spyro," Sparx said, watching Spyro enter the portal.
Spyro instantly regretted his decision the moment he arrived. Everything around him was dull and gray. The sky itself was light gray, the grass, plants and trees being a darker gray. Gathering up his wits, he went exploring through the practically dead place, not yet realizing that he was in the Dead Ruins. Things were ominously quiet for a little while.
Half an hour later, Spyro heard wailing all around him. He anxiously looked all around him. He saw at first what looked like regular people and looked all around him. But as the creatures got closer, Spyro could see that they were as dull and gray as everything else was. Just then, one of the gray dragons breathed gray fire at him. He quickly dodged to the right.
He turned around and saw a creature coming out of the ground. He breathed fire at it, appearing to destroy it. Then he watched in horror as the creature simply reformed itself. 'What are these things?' he wondered. He backed up to the edge of a gray pond. The odd-looking creatures were actually zombies, also known as living dead.
Then he felt something grab onto his leg. He looked back and saw a bony arm sticking out of the water. The arm began to drag him down. Spyro struggled to get out of the arm's grip, but the owner of the arm was much stronger than he expected. He tried breathing fire on the hand. The hand temporarily fell off, allowing him to get away from the pond.
But then the hand reattached itself to the arm. Another zombie then came from out of the dingy gray water. Spyro was fortunate to have temporarily stopped the zombie from pulling him into the water because once a creature is fully submerged in the water, the living creature becomes a living dead for all eternity.
"You will become a living dead like the rest of us," the zombies said in raspy voices.
"I prefer being alive period," Spyro said before fleeing.
It wasn't that easy at all because the zombies literally came at him from underground as well as from the air. But the only thing on Spyro's mind was getting away. Even after an hour, the zombies showed no signs of giving up. Spyro was running on pure adrenaline now as the zombies kept coming after him.
Meanwhile, Sparx was getting very worried. He hoped that Spyro was all right in there. He wanted to go in and see, but Spyro instructed him not to. Several hours later, he had yet to see Spyro come out. 'Spyro's taking a long time. I hope he's all right,' he thought.
Meanwhile, Red was in Agent 9's Lab. He was currently speaking with the Professor.
"As if we didn't have enough things to worry about. Now the Sorcerer is back," the Professor said.
"I know," Red said. He suddenly gasped.
"What's wrong?" Agent 9 asked.
"Spyro's in danger. I must go," Red responded before heading towards the exit portal. He was back in Midnight Mountain several minutes later and used the rocket to return to Sunrise Spring. Upon arriving, he got out of the rocket and took to the sky.
Meanwhile, Sparx had gone through all of Sunrise Springs' lesser worlds. Not finding Red in any of them, he headed to the balloon, hoping to find Red in Midday Gardens. He was almost at the balloon when he suddenly made out a large figure heading his way. He hovered in place, as the figure got closer. He sighed in great relief upon being able to see who the figure was. "Red!" he shouted.
Red was heading back to Sheila's Alp when he heard Sparx. He saw Sparx approaching and held his hand out because he sensed that Sparx was pretty tired. Sparx gratefully landed in the offered palm. He was exhausted and began to catch his breath. After a little while, Sparx had fully caught his breath.
"What happened?" Red asked.
"Spyro and I were heading to Molten Crater to spend a little time when a strange portal appeared out of nowhere," Sparx began, flying out of Red's palm and hovering in front of Red.
"What did the portal look like?" Red asked. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' he secretly added.
"It was all gray and full of cracks. I'm surprised that it didn't cave in on itself. What was even weirder was that the portal didn't have where it led to on it," Sparx responded, neither hearing the gasp of horror that came from Red nor seeing Red quickly look at the sky.
'He's in the Dead Ruins,' Red thought in horror.
"Spyro was curious and decided to go through the portal. I wanted to go with him but he told me to remain out here. He hasn't come out yet," Sparx continued. "I don't know what's going on in there," he finished before feeling a gust of wind that nearly bowled him over. He looked up and saw Red heading off. He was able to catch up. "Whoa, what's the hurry? And do you have an idea why the moon and stars aren't visible on a clear night like this?" he asked.
"Spyro was right in telling you to stay behind," Red responded.
"What do you mean?" Sparx asked in confusion.
"That strange portal with no name on it leads to the Dead Ruins. After wandering into it several times myself, I started looking at the sky to see if there was anything unusual. What I noticed was that the Dead Ruins portal appears when the moon and stars weren't visible on a clear night. I've seen the portal only once after I made the discovery and made sure to steer clear of it," Red responded.
Sparx gasped upon hearing that simple response. He had heard many terrifying stories about the Dead Ruins. "We have to get him out of there," he said.
"Exactly. Lead the way," Red said.
Sparx led the way to the portal. Upon reaching it, they both flew through it. Sparx felt shudders going through him. Hearing about how the place looked didn't compare to actually seeing what it looked like.
"This place gives me the creeps," Sparx said.
"Look out!" Red shouted before grabbing Sparx and flying up. He let go, and he and Sparx saw a stream of gray fire pass underneath them.
"Thanks. That was a close one," Sparx said.
"It's not over yet," Red said.
Sparx looekd ahead to see a horde of gray flying creatures coming their way. He prepared to shoot at one of the small birds.
"Sparx no! You won't be able to destroy it," Red warned.
It was too late. Sparx shot at the bird. The bird appeared to break apart. But then it simply put itself back together and flew back up to its initial spot.
"How did it do that?" Sparx asked in horror.
"It did that because it's a zombie. I also found out the hard way that none of my attacks fazed them," Red responded.
"What's a zombie?" Sparx asked.
"A zombie is a living dead. And as they say, 'You can't kill something that's already dead,'" Red responded.
"What are we going to do then?" Sparx asked.
"We need to find Spyro and get out of here before dawn. If we can't get out before dawn, the portal will disappear, trapping us here," Red responded, holding out his hand. "We need to lose these zombies first though. One of my abilities is greater speed. It will be best for me to carry out. You're able to keep up with Spyro when he supercharges, but you won't be able to keep up with me because I can go much faster than that," he added.
"You may have escaped the last time. But you will become one of us," the zombies said.
"Not in this or any lifetime," Red retorted.
Sparx landed in Red's palm. Red then shot off like a bullet
'We're coming Spyro. I just hope you're all right,' Red thought.
The zombies had instantly given up when they saw how fast Red flew off. They knew that there was no possible way to keep up with him. Red slowed down a bit upon sensing that the zombies weren't pursuing him. But he still flew at a pretty fast clip.
//How are we as far as time?//
/You've got four hours until sunrise/
//I hope we're in time. This place is pretty big//
/I just hope that Spyro is all right/
//So do I//
Meanwhile, Spyro had momentarily ditched the zombies. He took the time for some much-needed rest. He had been running for several hours straight. 'How I was able to run for that long is beyond me,' he thought. As much as he wanted to go to sleep, he knew he couldn't because there was no telling what would happen.
But his rest would be short-lived because a group of zombies was almost on top of him. He heard a whistling sound and looked up. He saw a large group of dragon zombies diving right towards him. He just barely got ouf of their path. The zombies crashed to the ground, breaking apart. But they quickly rearranged themselves. Spyro was off running by then.
Spyro soon stopped at a gray river. 'I might end up like them if I even touch the water. So how do it get across it?' he wondered. He looked around and saw giant lily pads. Between dodgingt he zombies while trying to stay on the lily pads, it took him an hour to get across. He then charged ahead, putting a little more distance between him and the flying zombies. He had several more close calls with the water, but luckily, he made it across those.
About two hours later, he slowed down to a stop. That's because he was at a cliff. He was just able to make out a large body of gray water at the bottom. The water was all he saw. There was no stretch of land. Before he could go the other way, the zombies landed. He was trapped. Meanwhile, Red and Sparx were back on Spyro's trail. They were back on Spyro's trail because Red had to stop Sparx from making a big mistake. Wanting to have a drink, Sparx flew towards a lake. But Red stopped him from doing so, telling him that the water was enchanted by a dark spell.
"Thanks for not letting me drink that water," Sparx said.
"I've seen what happened to those who did drink the water. Although drinking the water doesn't turn you into a zombie, as I told you, it puts you under an unbreakable spell. The spell was made to make those who drank the water submerge themselves in the water. Those who have gone completely under the water surfaced as zombies," Red said. He suddenly gasped.
"What is it?" Sparx asked.
"Spyro's trapped. I can sense that we're just about there," Red responded. 'Hang on Spyro. We're almost there,' he thought.
Back at the cliff, the zombies began to close in on Spyro. Spyro had involuntarily begun backtracking. Soon, he had backed up too much and fell over backwards, straight for the gray ocean below.
"Spyro!" Red and Sparx cried.
"Stay here Sparx," Red said.
Sparx nodded and flew out of Red's palm. Red dove after Spyro. The zombies were waiting to see a splash when a red blur sped past them. Spyro looked up upon hearing a whistling sound. He panicked, thinking that it was a zombie.
"Spyro I'm coming!" a familiar deep voice shouted.
'That's not a zombie,' Spyro thought with relief. Several seconds later, he saw Red closing the distance between them. He looked down to see the distance between hismelf and the ocean also closing. "Oooof," he said a few moments later upon his fall suddenly stopping. He looked down to find himself suspended in the air. He felt strong arms around him.
"Gotcha," Red said. He flew back up. Several minutes later, he got back up to where he left Sparx. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"I am now," Spyro responded. "But what are those things?" he added.
"Those are zombies," Red responded.
"And here they come," Sparx said.
Red quickly used his right wing to shield Spyro from an oncoming stream of fire. The gray fire bounced back to the zombie that fired it, knocking it out of the sky. Red managed to stay aloft on one wing, although it wasn't easy. Upon not feeling the fire on his right wing, he started flapping it again. He, Spyro and Sparx saw the dragon zombie come from all sides.
The dragon zombies soon had them surrounded. You will be one of us," they said.
"Oh shut up," Red retorted. He was pretty annoyed at this point.
"What do we do?" Spyro asked.
"We're going to ditch them," Red responded. He unwrapped one arm from around Spyro and held Sparx. Then he sped off. He left the zombies in the dust in practically no time.
/You must hurry. You have less than an hour to make it out/
Red sped up even more. He went at full speed but he wasn't sure if he would make it out in time. But he was determined. 'I'm not about to let us be trapped in this wretched place,' he thought resolvedly. He didn't have to worry about the zombies because he knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up with him less catch him. About fifty minutes later, he could see a whirlwind in the distance. we're almost out of here," he said.
"How do you know?" Spyro asked.
"Look ahead. That gray whirlwind is the exit," Red responded.
Spyro looked ahead and saw a gray whirlwind. A few minutes later, Red flew into the whirlwind. After coming out of the portal, Red landed before letting go of Sparx and putting Spyro down. The trio watched as the portal disappeared a few minutes later.
"Whoa, that was too close for comfort," Sparx said.
"Yes it was," Red agreed.
"What was that place anyway?" Spyro asked.
"That was the Dead Ruins Spyro," Red responded. //Thanks for keeping track of time Cosma//
/Don't mention it. I'm just glad that all of you are all right/
"Well at least now we're wiser eh Spyro?" Sparx asked.
"Yeah," Spyro said yawning.
The adrenaline rush had worn off, leaving him utterly exhausted. He fell asleep right where he was. Red smiled and picked him up.
"Let's head back to Sheila's Alp. We can all use a good sleep," Red said.
Sparx nodded before landing on Spyro's head and falling asleep himself. He was also pretty tired from staying up all night. Upon arriving in Sheila's Alp, Red carried Spyro and Sparx to Billy's house. Sheila was just standing outside the house when she saw them. She was confused upon seeing Spyro and Sparx fast asleep. Red saw the question in her eyes.
"I'll explain later.&nsbp; Right now, Spyro, Sparx and I need a good rest," he said before entering the house.
"Well you can sleep in the bedroom if you want. I'm sure that Billy wouldn't mind too much," Sheila said.
Red nodded and headed straight for the bedroom. Upon arriving, he placed Spyro in the bed and put the covers over him. He found an extra pillow and blanket. He got settled next to the bed before falling asleep himself, his adrenaline rush also having worn off.
Billy came into the bedroom and saw three sleeping figures. He heard Sheila coming up behind him. "Why are they asleep now?" he quietly asked.
"We'll have to wait until they wake up to find out. They're pretty exhausted," Sheila quietly responded before leaving.
Billy closed the door before leaving as well.
And that's the end of this chapter. Real nail biter huh? Red made it out with Spyro and Sparx with not much time to spare. Moving on, preview for Chapter 7: Return to the Shadow Realm: The Sorcerer, makes a move. Spyro is sent to the Shadow Realm.&nsbp; Even worse, Spyro will have no chance against the monsters that the Sorcerer sends after him. Red finds out a helpful secret and goes to the Shadow Realm. What is this secret and can he get Spyro out of the Shadow Realm safely? Stay tuned for the answer.
Well, I'm out of work right now. I learned this past Thursday that I had been let go. But I was only a Temporary Employee, which meant that how long I would work was unknown. But for now, it gives me time to update faster. I'll do my best to have the next chapter up as soon as I can.
/ is Cosma mental talk
// is Red mental talk
' is thoughts
&n bsp; Chapter 6: The Dead Ruins
A week has passed since the nearly fatal incident at Lofty Castle. If not for Red, things would've been very tragic. The devils were still around and had confronted Spyro and friends. They quickly put Spyro out of commission, leaving him just barely alive. Because the devils had Spyro surrounded and their weapons pointed at him, there was nothing his friends could do. It seemed hopeless until some of the devils were mysteriously sent flying. The culprit turned out to be Red using the Banish spell. Unnerved by the show of force, one of the devils made off with Spyro.
Red went after the kidnapping devil, only to be stopped by another devil. That devil didn't get too far at all before Red permanently took care of it. Red soon caught up to the devil holding Spyro, countering the electricity that it shot at him. Then the devil made the fatal mistake of stabbing Spyro in front of Red. Red went into a rage. His anger turned the sunny sky ominous.
Lightning struck from the sky, not only disarming the devil of both its weapon and Spyro, but also destroying it. Having done its job, the sky quickly cleared. Red caught his gravely injured son and headed back to the others to see that the other devils had been taken care of. Then Red healed Spyro. Spyro, Red and friends were currently in the largest of the castles with Mudada.
"I think I should spend some time with my father and brother. Seeing all the family reunions made me realize how much I miss them," Hunter said.
"I'll take you home then. I didn't think that I would be thanking the Sorcerer for something. If not for him, then I wouldn't know where your home is," Red said. He took Hunter's hand and teleported, arriving at the exact place. Then he returned to Lofty Castle
"Let's head to Sheila's Alp. It's been a while since Spyro, Sparx and I have last seen her, and I'm sure that Sheila would love to meet you Red," Bianca said.
"I would love to see her again," Spyro said.
"Me too," Sparx agreed.
"I'm looking forward to meeting her. Let's go," Red said.
Because Bianca knew exactly where Sheila's Alp was located, she provided the teleportation. Sheila was outside at the time when she saw them arrive. She was absolutely thrilled to see Spyro, Sparx and Bianca because it had been at least 2 years since they've last come in contact with each other. Over the following week, Spyro had told Sheila all that had happened since they last saw each other. As of the present, it was early afternoon.
"It appears that you have been busy Spyro," Sheila said. She and Spyro were curretnly in the bedroom of Billy's house.
"Yeah, every time things seem to quiet down, something new happens," Spyro said.
"But the things that happened between you and your father are something. He had been evil for a while but then changed for the better," Sheila said.
"Yeah, and I owe him my life," Spyro said.
"From what you told me, he feels the same way towards you. After all, it was you who helped him get back on the right track," Sheila said.
"Indeed it was," a voice said from the doorway.
Sheila and Spyro looked to see Red standing in the doorway with a large tray of food.
"May I come in?" Red asked.
"Sure," Sheila responded.
Red came into the room. "I thought that you two might be pretty hungry since you skipped breakfast," he said before putting the tray on the nightstand.
Right on cue, Spyro's stomach growled loudly. Red chuckled and Sheila giggled at the blush of embarrassment on Spyro's face. Not to be left out though, Spyro laughed when Sheila's stomach suddenly growled.
"I guess we're both pretty hungry," Sheila said.
"Yeah, let's eat," Spyro said. "Are you going to join us dad?" he added.
"No Spyro. I had lunch already. Thank you for the offer though," Red responded before returning to the living room.
Spyro and Sheila began eating the food from the tray. There was enough food to satisfy them both. Neither had realized just how hungry they were.
"I didn't think that I was that hungry," Spyro said.
"I know. Me neither," Sheila agreed. "Let's join Red in the living room," she added.
Spyro nodded and he and Sheila headed off to the living room. They noticed that Bianca had left.
"Hey, where's Bianca?" Spyro asked.
"Oh, she went home. She said that she wanted to spend time with her cousins," Sparx responded.
"So Spyro, do you want to go flying or something?" Red offered.
"Flying would be great," Spyro responded before heading out the door.
Red was close behind. After stepping outside, Red picked Spyro up. Then he spread his wings and was airborne with a powerful flap. He couldn't help but wonder what the muffled sound he heard was. 'I wonder what made that sound. I just barely heard it. Maybe I should've investigated. Someone may have needed help,' he thought.
Sheila watched until Red was no longer in sight before heading back in. She stopped upon hearing a muffled cry for help. She looked at the rocky wall to see a goat trapped in it. Pete was standing not too far away.
"What happened?" Sheila asked.
"I don't know. I just happened to come by when I heard Billy. I looked at the wall and was surprised to see half of him sticking out of it," Pete responded.
"Well, let's get him out. You grab one foot, and I'll take the other," Sheila said sighing.
Pete nodded, and they tried to pull Billy out. Billy was stuck in the wall pretty good this time because they couldn't pull him out. It was as if he was jammed in the wall.
"He's in there farther than I thought. We usually had no problem pulling him out," Sheila said ten minutes later.
"Allow me to assist you," a familiar deep voice said.
Sheila and Pete looked up to see Red descending. Red soon landed and put Spyro down.
"Back so soon?" Sheila asked.
"We really didn't go too far actually. Dad had a pretty troubled look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that he had heard something the moment we came outside. We both wanted to know what it was so we came back," Spyro responded. "Is that Billy? If it is, then how did he get half his body stuck in the wall?" he added.
"Yes, that is Billy in the wall. I have a hunch to why he's in that position. But we have to get him out of there to find out if I'm right," Sheila responded.
"I'll get him out," Red said. He walked over to the wall and wrapped his arm around Billy's middle. Then being as gentle as possible, he started to pull Billy out.
Soon, Billy was completely out of the wall. Red then placed him down. Billy shook his head several time to clear it. He opened his eyes to see Spyro, Sheila, Red and Pete looking at him.
"Did you tease the moose again?" Sheila asked.
"Yes I did. I'm sorry Sheila but I can't help it. Taunting the moose is one of my favorite things ta do," Billy responded.
"Well, you're lucky that Red heard ya. Otherwise ya would've been stuck in there for a lot longer. You were so far in the wall that we couldn't pull ya out," Sheila said.
"Thanks Red," Billy said.
"You're welcome. Next time, find something else to do besides taunt the moose. I'm sure that there's got to be something more interesting than that," Red said. "Well if nothing else is wrong, then Spyro and I have some flying to get back to," he added while picking Spyro up.
Spyro giggled as Red picked him up. "See you guys later," Spyro said before Red took to the air.
Sheila, Billy and Pete went back inside the house.
"What was that noise a few moments ago?" Sparx asked.
"That was Billy in the wall," Pete responded.
"Let me guess. He teased the moose again right?" Sparx said.
"Exactly mate," Sheila said.
Meanwhile, Red and Spyro were flying through the mountain peaks. The reason why they got there so quickly was due to Red flying pretty fast. Of course, Red slowed down upon reaching the mountain peaks. Spyro had actually liked his father's speed increase. To him, it was like supercharging, but much faster and that they were going through the sky. Now, he was almost speechless as he looked at the icy peaks.
"Whoa. This is amazing," Spyro said in awe.
"It is isn't it? I always loved flying through the mountains," Red said.
They soared through the mountains for an hour before Red landed on the peak of the tallest one and put Spyro down. Spyro just looked on at the breath-taking scene in speechless awe. He felt like he was at the highest point in the world. He moved just a little closer to the edge and looked over the side at the spectacular view. Red just smiled upon seeing the awed expression on Spyro's face.
But the moment was short-lived however. Spyro and Red soon heard an ominous crack. Then they felt the mountain shake a little bit. Even thought Spyro moved only a little, it was enough to begin shifting the terribly unstable snow pack. Before either of them could react, the snow began sliding down the mountain. The occurring avalanche buried Spyro instantly, sending him straight to the bottom.
"Spyro!" Red cried. He had managed to fly out before the snow could bury him as well and saw Spyro sink into the sliding snow. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything to help Spyro until the avalanche came to rest.
About twenty minutes later, the avalanche finally came to a stop. Red relied on his senses as he flew over the avalanche area. He sensed a weakening aura about halfway between the avalanche's start and finish areas. He flew down lower and immediately started breathing down fire, knowing that Spyro wouldn't survive much longer under all that snow. He had burned through two feet of snow in only a minute due to his enhanced powers.
He knew that being able to burn through that large amount of snow in such a short time was a very good thing because he sensed that Spyro was buried deep under the snow, ten feet to be exact. Five minutes later, he had uncovered an unconscious Spyro. He reached down and pulled Spyro out. He was very relieved to see Spyro regain consciousness. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"I-I-I-I-I-I f-f-f-f-f-feel r-r-r-r-r-r-really c-c-c-co-co-co-cold. O-o-o-o-o-otherwise I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine," Spyro responded, shivering uncontrollably.
"I'll fix that," Red said. He closed his eyes in concentration.
An orange aura had soon engulfed Red and Spyro. Spyro could feel the warmness of the aura. Ten minutes later, he had stopped shivering completely. The aura lasted for several more minutes before landing completely.
"Is that better?" Red asked.
"That's much better. Thanks," Spyro responded. "How could that avalanche had started though? I only moved a little bit," he added.
"The snow must have been pretty unstable at the peak. On a mountain, the more unstable the snow, the less effort it takes to set the snow off. I have to guess that your movement, as slight as it was, was enough to cause the avalanche," Red suggested.
"That does make sense," Spyro said. "Maybe we should continue on."
"All right," Red said before flying off.
They soared through the mountains for another hour before heading back to Billy's house. They arrived several hours later. But the mood wasn't exactly happy. Red landed and saw Sheila sadly staring at a picture. Red put Spyro down before they both went to see why Sheila was so sad.
"What's wrong Sheila?" Spyro asked.
"Huh?" Sheila asked upon hearing the question. She looked and saw Spyro and Red in front of her. "Oh, just thinking," she responded.
"Who are the young and older kangaroos in the picture?" Red asked.
"This is a picture of my mother with my grandparents. My grandparents suddenly went missing and haven't returned to this day," Sheila responded.
"Do you know how they went missing?" Spyro asked.
"My mother was with them that day. When I asked her about my grandparents, she told me that she was lucky to have gotten out with her life," Sheila responded.
"Gotten out of where?" Red asked. 'This could be very bad,' he secretly added.
"My mother always tried to evade the subject. But she told me that she and my grandparents had wandered into a place known as the Dead Ruins. She said that they had encountered something very bad. They told her to get out while she still could. She was stubborn about leaving them, but they convinced her to leave.
As I told you, she was lucky to make it out. After making it out, she hoped that they would make it home as well. But they never came back. I really don't know how long it has been since then but my mother never could forget that day," Sheila responded. She looked into Red's eyes and knew that he must know something about that place.
Spyro also came to that conclusion. "Do you know anything about that place dad?" he asked.
"Yes, I have heard many stories about that place. Not only that, but I had also unintentionally wandered into it several times. I was lucky to escape with my life all those times," Red responded.
Spyro and Sheila gasped upon hearing that.
"You mean that my grandparents may have died in that place?" Sheila asked.
"I'm afraid so Sheila. Let's just say that the Dead Ruins got its name for more than one reason," Red responded.
Spyro could tell that Red was trying to evade the subject as well. 'That place must be pretty bad if dad really doesn't want to talk about it,' he thought. "That must be one bad place," he said.
"It's the worst place that you could ever be in. The worse news is that you never know where it will appear," Red said.
"It's not in one area?" Sheila asked.
"I'm afraid not. However, the good news is that it doesn't appear often. It only appears when the moon and stars aren't visible on a clear night, which is rare," Red responded.
"So it seems that we'll have to keep an eye on the sky at night," Spyro said.
"That's what I would advise," Red said.
"Well I don't think we'll have to worry about that here in my Alp since it's a small world inside a bigger world," Sheila said.
"That has puzzled me to this day. The Dead Ruins only appears in home worlds, not the lesser ones," Red said.
/Something feels terribly off/
//I know Cosma. I feel it too//
/You don't think that the portal to the Dead Ruins will appear soon do you?/
//I really hope not//
/I know what you mean. I too had wandered into that dreary land and was lucky to get out. The fate of all those who could never return to the world of the living is omething that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy/
//I know//
About an hour later, Spyro and Sparx decided to pay Sgt. Byrd a visit. They went through the exit portal and arrived in Sunrise Spring. They headed over to the balloon. They found Snappy the seal standing in front of it.
"Hiya Spyro," Snappy said.
"Hi Snappy," Spyro said.
"Go ahead and jump on," Snappy said.
Spyro and Sparx got into the balloon and were off to Midday Gardens. About ten minutes later, the balloon landed. Spyro and Sparx got out and made their way to Sgt. Byrd's Base. They went through the portal and saw Sgt. Byrd upon arriving.
"Good day Spyro," Sgt. Byrd said.
"Hello sir," Spyro said.
"How have things been going?" Sparx asked.
"It's been pretty normal around here," Sgt. Byrd responded. "The Professor told me about your incident with the Sorcerer. He also told me that Red had changed. How is Red doing by the way?" he added.
"My father's doing just fine," Spyro responded, earning a pretty surprised reaction out of Sgt. Byrd.
"He's your pop?" Sgt. Byrd asked.
"Yep. Believe me, I was just as shocked as you were when I found out," Spyro responded.
"So where is he now?" another voice asked.
Spyro and friends looked and saw Cpl. Gabrielle come up.
"He's with Sheila," Sparx responded.
"So what has happened with you since you defeated the Sorcerer?" Sgt. Byrd asked.
Spyro told Sgt. Byrd and Cpl. Gabrielle what has been happening. Sgt. Byrd and Cpl. Gabrielle were very disturbed.
"Trouble knows who to follow huh?" Sgt. Byrd asked.
"Yeah and I wish that it would just leave me alone," Spyro responded. "So how are the privates doing?" he asked.
"Oh they're just fine. They're no longer privates though. I've promoted them. They're lieutenants now," Sgt. Byrd responded.
Then the four friends went inside the base to spend time with the lieutenants. Lieutenants Claire and Eloise were the first to spot them. They flew over and hovered in front of them.
"Spyro, Sparx, it's always a pleasure to see you," Lt. Claire said.
"What brings you here?" Lt. Eloise asked.
"We just wanted to visit," Spyro responded.
"Spyro look out!" Sparx suddenly shouted.
"What?" Spyro asked before turning around in time to dodge a large flower pot. "Who threw that?" he added.
"I'l take care of it," Sgt. Byrd responded. He took careful aim and fired.
Spyro watched the missile hit a Rhynoc. The impact caused the Rhynoc to flip a couple of times before disappearing.
"Man, the Rhynocs are pretty persistent aren't they?" Sparx asked.
"They are. But they make good target practice I have to admit," Sgt. Byrd responded.
"And good fun," Spyro added. Let's take out the Rhynocs."
"Capital idea chap," Sgt. Byrd said.
The group of six headed off to clear out some Rhynocs. Sgt. Byrd was right. The Rhynocs made good target practice because they did whatever they could not to be hit. They were successful but for only so long as Spyro and friends had begun to hit them. Two hours later, they had cleared the base of Rhynocs.
"That was fun," Sparx said.
"They'll be back though," Cpl. Gabrielle said.
"And that means that the fun will never truly stop," Lt. Eloise said.
"Yeah, even though we use the Rhynocs for target practice, it's still fun," Lt. Claire added.
"Well, I think that Sparx and I should be heading back," Spyro said.
"All right Spyro. It was good seeing you," Sgt. Byrd said.
Spyro and Sparx said their goodbyes before heading to the exit portal. They came out at Midday Gardens and headed to the balloon. They got aboard and headed back to Sunrise Spring. Upon arriving, they headed back to Sheila's Alp.
"So how did things go?" Sheila asked.
"Very well. Sparx and I had fun taking out the Rhynocs," Spyro responded.
"Yeah, kicking Rhynoc butt is a pretty fun thing to do," Sheila said.
"So, where's Red?" Sparx asked.
"He wanted to explore for a little bit," Sheila responded.
"Let's head to Molten Crater for a while," Spyro said.
"All right Spyro," Sparx said before he and Spyro headed out of the Alp again.
They headed towards Molten Crater when a strange portal suddenly appeared in front of them. One look at it sent chills down their spines. The arches were a dull gray and infested with cracks. The portal had so many cracks in it that the strange thing was that it didn't just collapse on itself. Another strange thing was about the portal is that it didn't say where it led.
"Where do you think this portal leads?" Sparx asked.
"I don't know. It's strange that it's not labeled. I'm going in to find out where it leads," Spyro responded. If he'd taken time to look at the night sky, he would've noticed that the moon and stars weren't visible although the sky was clear.
"Well let me go with you," Sparx said.
"No Sparx. It will be better if one of us stays here," Spyro said.
"All right Spyro," Sparx said, watching Spyro enter the portal.
Spyro instantly regretted his decision the moment he arrived. Everything around him was dull and gray. The sky itself was light gray, the grass, plants and trees being a darker gray. Gathering up his wits, he went exploring through the practically dead place, not yet realizing that he was in the Dead Ruins. Things were ominously quiet for a little while.
Half an hour later, Spyro heard wailing all around him. He anxiously looked all around him. He saw at first what looked like regular people and looked all around him. But as the creatures got closer, Spyro could see that they were as dull and gray as everything else was. Just then, one of the gray dragons breathed gray fire at him. He quickly dodged to the right.
He turned around and saw a creature coming out of the ground. He breathed fire at it, appearing to destroy it. Then he watched in horror as the creature simply reformed itself. 'What are these things?' he wondered. He backed up to the edge of a gray pond. The odd-looking creatures were actually zombies, also known as living dead.
Then he felt something grab onto his leg. He looked back and saw a bony arm sticking out of the water. The arm began to drag him down. Spyro struggled to get out of the arm's grip, but the owner of the arm was much stronger than he expected. He tried breathing fire on the hand. The hand temporarily fell off, allowing him to get away from the pond.
But then the hand reattached itself to the arm. Another zombie then came from out of the dingy gray water. Spyro was fortunate to have temporarily stopped the zombie from pulling him into the water because once a creature is fully submerged in the water, the living creature becomes a living dead for all eternity.
"You will become a living dead like the rest of us," the zombies said in raspy voices.
"I prefer being alive period," Spyro said before fleeing.
It wasn't that easy at all because the zombies literally came at him from underground as well as from the air. But the only thing on Spyro's mind was getting away. Even after an hour, the zombies showed no signs of giving up. Spyro was running on pure adrenaline now as the zombies kept coming after him.
Meanwhile, Sparx was getting very worried. He hoped that Spyro was all right in there. He wanted to go in and see, but Spyro instructed him not to. Several hours later, he had yet to see Spyro come out. 'Spyro's taking a long time. I hope he's all right,' he thought.
Meanwhile, Red was in Agent 9's Lab. He was currently speaking with the Professor.
"As if we didn't have enough things to worry about. Now the Sorcerer is back," the Professor said.
"I know," Red said. He suddenly gasped.
"What's wrong?" Agent 9 asked.
"Spyro's in danger. I must go," Red responded before heading towards the exit portal. He was back in Midnight Mountain several minutes later and used the rocket to return to Sunrise Spring. Upon arriving, he got out of the rocket and took to the sky.
Meanwhile, Sparx had gone through all of Sunrise Springs' lesser worlds. Not finding Red in any of them, he headed to the balloon, hoping to find Red in Midday Gardens. He was almost at the balloon when he suddenly made out a large figure heading his way. He hovered in place, as the figure got closer. He sighed in great relief upon being able to see who the figure was. "Red!" he shouted.
Red was heading back to Sheila's Alp when he heard Sparx. He saw Sparx approaching and held his hand out because he sensed that Sparx was pretty tired. Sparx gratefully landed in the offered palm. He was exhausted and began to catch his breath. After a little while, Sparx had fully caught his breath.
"What happened?" Red asked.
"Spyro and I were heading to Molten Crater to spend a little time when a strange portal appeared out of nowhere," Sparx began, flying out of Red's palm and hovering in front of Red.
"What did the portal look like?" Red asked. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' he secretly added.
"It was all gray and full of cracks. I'm surprised that it didn't cave in on itself. What was even weirder was that the portal didn't have where it led to on it," Sparx responded, neither hearing the gasp of horror that came from Red nor seeing Red quickly look at the sky.
'He's in the Dead Ruins,' Red thought in horror.
"Spyro was curious and decided to go through the portal. I wanted to go with him but he told me to remain out here. He hasn't come out yet," Sparx continued. "I don't know what's going on in there," he finished before feeling a gust of wind that nearly bowled him over. He looked up and saw Red heading off. He was able to catch up. "Whoa, what's the hurry? And do you have an idea why the moon and stars aren't visible on a clear night like this?" he asked.
"Spyro was right in telling you to stay behind," Red responded.
"What do you mean?" Sparx asked in confusion.
"That strange portal with no name on it leads to the Dead Ruins. After wandering into it several times myself, I started looking at the sky to see if there was anything unusual. What I noticed was that the Dead Ruins portal appears when the moon and stars weren't visible on a clear night. I've seen the portal only once after I made the discovery and made sure to steer clear of it," Red responded.
Sparx gasped upon hearing that simple response. He had heard many terrifying stories about the Dead Ruins. "We have to get him out of there," he said.
"Exactly. Lead the way," Red said.
Sparx led the way to the portal. Upon reaching it, they both flew through it. Sparx felt shudders going through him. Hearing about how the place looked didn't compare to actually seeing what it looked like.
"This place gives me the creeps," Sparx said.
"Look out!" Red shouted before grabbing Sparx and flying up. He let go, and he and Sparx saw a stream of gray fire pass underneath them.
"Thanks. That was a close one," Sparx said.
"It's not over yet," Red said.
Sparx looekd ahead to see a horde of gray flying creatures coming their way. He prepared to shoot at one of the small birds.
"Sparx no! You won't be able to destroy it," Red warned.
It was too late. Sparx shot at the bird. The bird appeared to break apart. But then it simply put itself back together and flew back up to its initial spot.
"How did it do that?" Sparx asked in horror.
"It did that because it's a zombie. I also found out the hard way that none of my attacks fazed them," Red responded.
"What's a zombie?" Sparx asked.
"A zombie is a living dead. And as they say, 'You can't kill something that's already dead,'" Red responded.
"What are we going to do then?" Sparx asked.
"We need to find Spyro and get out of here before dawn. If we can't get out before dawn, the portal will disappear, trapping us here," Red responded, holding out his hand. "We need to lose these zombies first though. One of my abilities is greater speed. It will be best for me to carry out. You're able to keep up with Spyro when he supercharges, but you won't be able to keep up with me because I can go much faster than that," he added.
"You may have escaped the last time. But you will become one of us," the zombies said.
"Not in this or any lifetime," Red retorted.
Sparx landed in Red's palm. Red then shot off like a bullet
'We're coming Spyro. I just hope you're all right,' Red thought.
The zombies had instantly given up when they saw how fast Red flew off. They knew that there was no possible way to keep up with him. Red slowed down a bit upon sensing that the zombies weren't pursuing him. But he still flew at a pretty fast clip.
//How are we as far as time?//
/You've got four hours until sunrise/
//I hope we're in time. This place is pretty big//
/I just hope that Spyro is all right/
//So do I//
Meanwhile, Spyro had momentarily ditched the zombies. He took the time for some much-needed rest. He had been running for several hours straight. 'How I was able to run for that long is beyond me,' he thought. As much as he wanted to go to sleep, he knew he couldn't because there was no telling what would happen.
But his rest would be short-lived because a group of zombies was almost on top of him. He heard a whistling sound and looked up. He saw a large group of dragon zombies diving right towards him. He just barely got ouf of their path. The zombies crashed to the ground, breaking apart. But they quickly rearranged themselves. Spyro was off running by then.
Spyro soon stopped at a gray river. 'I might end up like them if I even touch the water. So how do it get across it?' he wondered. He looked around and saw giant lily pads. Between dodgingt he zombies while trying to stay on the lily pads, it took him an hour to get across. He then charged ahead, putting a little more distance between him and the flying zombies. He had several more close calls with the water, but luckily, he made it across those.
About two hours later, he slowed down to a stop. That's because he was at a cliff. He was just able to make out a large body of gray water at the bottom. The water was all he saw. There was no stretch of land. Before he could go the other way, the zombies landed. He was trapped. Meanwhile, Red and Sparx were back on Spyro's trail. They were back on Spyro's trail because Red had to stop Sparx from making a big mistake. Wanting to have a drink, Sparx flew towards a lake. But Red stopped him from doing so, telling him that the water was enchanted by a dark spell.
"Thanks for not letting me drink that water," Sparx said.
"I've seen what happened to those who did drink the water. Although drinking the water doesn't turn you into a zombie, as I told you, it puts you under an unbreakable spell. The spell was made to make those who drank the water submerge themselves in the water. Those who have gone completely under the water surfaced as zombies," Red said. He suddenly gasped.
"What is it?" Sparx asked.
"Spyro's trapped. I can sense that we're just about there," Red responded. 'Hang on Spyro. We're almost there,' he thought.
Back at the cliff, the zombies began to close in on Spyro. Spyro had involuntarily begun backtracking. Soon, he had backed up too much and fell over backwards, straight for the gray ocean below.
"Spyro!" Red and Sparx cried.
"Stay here Sparx," Red said.
Sparx nodded and flew out of Red's palm. Red dove after Spyro. The zombies were waiting to see a splash when a red blur sped past them. Spyro looked up upon hearing a whistling sound. He panicked, thinking that it was a zombie.
"Spyro I'm coming!" a familiar deep voice shouted.
'That's not a zombie,' Spyro thought with relief. Several seconds later, he saw Red closing the distance between them. He looked down to see the distance between hismelf and the ocean also closing. "Oooof," he said a few moments later upon his fall suddenly stopping. He looked down to find himself suspended in the air. He felt strong arms around him.
"Gotcha," Red said. He flew back up. Several minutes later, he got back up to where he left Sparx. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"I am now," Spyro responded. "But what are those things?" he added.
"Those are zombies," Red responded.
"And here they come," Sparx said.
Red quickly used his right wing to shield Spyro from an oncoming stream of fire. The gray fire bounced back to the zombie that fired it, knocking it out of the sky. Red managed to stay aloft on one wing, although it wasn't easy. Upon not feeling the fire on his right wing, he started flapping it again. He, Spyro and Sparx saw the dragon zombie come from all sides.
The dragon zombies soon had them surrounded. You will be one of us," they said.
"Oh shut up," Red retorted. He was pretty annoyed at this point.
"What do we do?" Spyro asked.
"We're going to ditch them," Red responded. He unwrapped one arm from around Spyro and held Sparx. Then he sped off. He left the zombies in the dust in practically no time.
/You must hurry. You have less than an hour to make it out/
Red sped up even more. He went at full speed but he wasn't sure if he would make it out in time. But he was determined. 'I'm not about to let us be trapped in this wretched place,' he thought resolvedly. He didn't have to worry about the zombies because he knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up with him less catch him. About fifty minutes later, he could see a whirlwind in the distance. we're almost out of here," he said.
"How do you know?" Spyro asked.
"Look ahead. That gray whirlwind is the exit," Red responded.
Spyro looked ahead and saw a gray whirlwind. A few minutes later, Red flew into the whirlwind. After coming out of the portal, Red landed before letting go of Sparx and putting Spyro down. The trio watched as the portal disappeared a few minutes later.
"Whoa, that was too close for comfort," Sparx said.
"Yes it was," Red agreed.
"What was that place anyway?" Spyro asked.
"That was the Dead Ruins Spyro," Red responded. //Thanks for keeping track of time Cosma//
/Don't mention it. I'm just glad that all of you are all right/
"Well at least now we're wiser eh Spyro?" Sparx asked.
"Yeah," Spyro said yawning.
The adrenaline rush had worn off, leaving him utterly exhausted. He fell asleep right where he was. Red smiled and picked him up.
"Let's head back to Sheila's Alp. We can all use a good sleep," Red said.
Sparx nodded before landing on Spyro's head and falling asleep himself. He was also pretty tired from staying up all night. Upon arriving in Sheila's Alp, Red carried Spyro and Sparx to Billy's house. Sheila was just standing outside the house when she saw them. She was confused upon seeing Spyro and Sparx fast asleep. Red saw the question in her eyes.
"I'll explain later.&nsbp; Right now, Spyro, Sparx and I need a good rest," he said before entering the house.
"Well you can sleep in the bedroom if you want. I'm sure that Billy wouldn't mind too much," Sheila said.
Red nodded and headed straight for the bedroom. Upon arriving, he placed Spyro in the bed and put the covers over him. He found an extra pillow and blanket. He got settled next to the bed before falling asleep himself, his adrenaline rush also having worn off.
Billy came into the bedroom and saw three sleeping figures. He heard Sheila coming up behind him. "Why are they asleep now?" he quietly asked.
"We'll have to wait until they wake up to find out. They're pretty exhausted," Sheila quietly responded before leaving.
Billy closed the door before leaving as well.
And that's the end of this chapter. Real nail biter huh? Red made it out with Spyro and Sparx with not much time to spare. Moving on, preview for Chapter 7: Return to the Shadow Realm: The Sorcerer, makes a move. Spyro is sent to the Shadow Realm.&nsbp; Even worse, Spyro will have no chance against the monsters that the Sorcerer sends after him. Red finds out a helpful secret and goes to the Shadow Realm. What is this secret and can he get Spyro out of the Shadow Realm safely? Stay tuned for the answer.
Well, I'm out of work right now. I learned this past Thursday that I had been let go. But I was only a Temporary Employee, which meant that how long I would work was unknown. But for now, it gives me time to update faster. I'll do my best to have the next chapter up as soon as I can.