Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.

Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.

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Legacy of Legends 2

Chapter 46

Cave In

The area looked like a complete mess. There were obvious signs that a battle had happened there. Trees were bent at awkward angles. Some were missing branches whilst others were completely chopped off. Some of the trunks of the trees had burn marks on them as well. The group slowly examined the area in search of finding some signs of their missing friends. Light was slowly dying away as the sun began its descent. A cool chilly breeze washed over them as nightfall began to approach. The mountain before them cast an eerie shadow, darkening the area even more. But tried hard as they might, aside from the obvious chaos that had transpired there, any sign whatsoever as to point where their friends had gone, were no longer there. They even tried calling out; shouting their names, hoping to hear some sort of response.

“This is hopeless…” said Phase, looking around dejectedly. “Are you sure this is the right spot?”
“Positive,” replied Hunter, lowering his bow. Throughout the entire time, he had had it ready, just in case there was a problem that would show up.
"This is hopeless you guys. I don't think they're here," said Phase.
"We'll if they're not here, where else could they be?" asked Latis.

Nobody had an answer to the question that hung in the air. Thoughts of dread were beginning to show in everyone's minds. The longer the minutes ticked by, the lesser their resolves went. Zaze on the other paw wasn't giving up. He had a strong feeling they were here. Just when all hope was lost, a sound of bushes rustling grabbed their attention. Everyone turned their heads and saw it had come from the area in front of Latis.

"H-hello?" she called out. "Spyro? Cynder?"

There was no reply. It seemed like time stood still for a moment, as everyone waited for something to happen. Maybe this was the break they needed. That was when a distinct sound entered Zaze's ear. One sound that was all too familiar. His body began to move as he realized the danger they were in. A glint of shimmer confirmed his suspicions, and he quickly ran towards Latis.

"LOOK OUT!"

Out from the dark bushes came a flying axe that headed straight towards Latis. Zaze mentally cursed at himself. He wasn't going to make it at the pace that he was moving. But just as she was about to be hit, Latis disappeared in a yellow blur, the flying axe missing her just in the nick of time. A roar came out, snapping everyone back to reality. It was a roar that was familiar to everyone. That was when the bushes gave way and out came a familiar enemy.

"Grublins!" Hunter shouted as he notched an arrow and quickly took aim. With fast reflexes, he managed to hit one that was about to pounce on Celsius.
“Thanks!” she shouted, falling back.

Crombe quickly revved himself up and punched the ground, summoning rock pillars that launched the poor enemies up in the sky. But before he could try to land another hit, the sound of a flying axe whizzed by forced him to duck out of the way. From his left came another bunch of grublins followed by an orc. They were no doubt getting surrounded. Zaze on the other paw frantically looked around, trying to find his missing friend.

“You okay?” a voice came from behind him. Turning his head, he saw Latis being helped by Phase. Apparently his brother beat him to it.
“I-I’m fine,” she replied, surprised at the sudden turn of events. “Thank you, Phase.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“ZAZE! GET DOWN!”

Instinctively, the electric dragon followed the advice and ducked just in time as an axe whizzed by his head. It was then followed by an icicle, which stabbed at the grublin that threw it at him. Zaze needed a moment to collect his thoughts. That was too close. Rolling to the side, he shot electricity at a bunch of enemies that disappeared in the familiar puff of black smoke.

“Thanks for the warning!” he replied in between bursts of electricity.
“Next time,” Celsius huffed. She then chucked another icicle at a grublin before turning to Zaze. “Pay attention!”
“I will!” The electric dragon replied before turning around to fight another bunch that had appeared.

Hunter was equally having a hard time. He was quickly running out of arrows and the enemies just kept coming and coming. He quickly stowed away his bow and grabbed his alternative weapon; two sharp steel daggers that were slung and hidden by his cape at his back. Reading a fight pose, he charged at the nearest grublin and attacked. The grublin tried to counter attacked, but Hunter’s quick reflexes easily allowed him to dodge it with ease. Turning around almost gracefully, he stabbed the grublin at the back, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. Hearing a scream, Hunter saw that Celsius was getting surrounded by a bunch of grublins. He quickly grabbed his bow, took aim and fired. It hit one of them square in the head as it jumped into the air. The arrow harmlessly stuck itself into a tree trunk as the grublin died.

Crombe roared as he smacked one of the orcs that charged at him with his tail. It sent him staggering to the side, landing on one of the smaller grublins who had a misfortune of standing behind their leader. It inevitably crushed the minion, dying a quick death. But the orc quickly stood back up, unfazed at the friendly fire he committed. Charging his axe, he threw it at Crombe who was busy fending off other grublins. Zaze saw the incoming attack, and released a lightning bolt. The two projectiles collided, resulting in a metallic twang that sent the axe flying back.

“You’re welcome!” Zaze said before Crombe could even say anything.
“Where are they all coming from!?” Phase asked, amidst the sound of fighting.
Hunter dispatched another grublin with a mighty kick before replying, “I don’t know! But I think there’s no end to them!”
“We need to get out of here!” added Latis, freezing a grublin in its tracks.

Phase looked around, and examined the situation. They could easily fly out and leave the clearing, but that would mean they’d be leaving Hunter behind. They could try to lift the cheetah, but the sheer number of the enemies would be hard to fend off if some of them stopped attacking. They had no choice but to travel on ground. And the ground they were fighting at was beginning to lessen as the seconds ticked by. They were clearly getting surrounded as more and more grublins emerged from the thick bushes. They needed to get out of there, and fast.

“There!” he shouted, catching everyone’s attention. Everyone turned their heads to get a glimpse of where the electric dragon was pointing. “Everyone! Into that cave! We can lose them there!”

There were no questions asked as everyone fled. They quickly abandoned the fights they had and ran. Phase shot some lightning bolts as Latis, Hunter and the others passed beside him before he too ran. The grublins were right on their tails, not letting up. A few orcs charged and threw their axes at them, barely hitting as it hit the ceiling of the cave they entered. One of which hit a stalactite that made it crash to the floor, and set off a chain reaction. Before they could even catch their breath however, the ground beneath them began to shake.

“What’s going on!?” Zaze asked

But they didn’t have enough time to answer as the ground and ceiling crumbled. Shouts of panic and fear escaped their maws as they fell into the dark abyss below. They tried to fly out, but rocks were falling on top of them from the broken ceiling. And the darkness made it even harder to see the big obstacles.

That was all Zaze could remember until his head came into contact with the bottom of the cave floor.

0 0 0 0 0

Zaze didn’t know when he had woken up. But the throbbing headache quickly snapped him back to reality. He let out a tired groan as he tried to lessen the pain that was running through his entire body. It wasn’t just his head. His entire body ached all over. A few moments of looking around made him realize why. Looking up, it would seem they had fallen quite a long ways down. He could faintly see the entrance to the cave they entered, since it was illuminated through the cracks of the rocks. Apparently, it had caved in whilst the floor beneath them gave earlier. He wasn’t worried though; they had Crombe with them. He could easily move it with his element. Speaking of his friends, he looked around and saw nothing but rocks. He was relieved that he wasn’t hit by the big stalactites that had fallen along with them, but was worried that his friends were. He went over to the side and tried to move a few of the rocks, calling out to them to see if they had been buried underneath it. It was hard though. He could barely see anything. The only light source he had was from the gems that were conveniently etched into the walls of the cave. It gave the place different hues of color as they shimmered under their natural light. But Zaze had no time to appreciate the natural beauty. Panic grew in him as he tried to look for signs of anyone at all. Moving rock after rock only to find nothing worried him. The fact that he was alone was beginning to be evident. He gave up a few minutes after, tired and exhausted. His body was aching enough as it was, so he had to stop before he strained something completely.
He took a moment to think rationally; collect his thoughts.

Since he concluded from his search efforts that his friends weren’t underneath the rocks beside him, they must have been somewhere else. If they had died, Zaze cringed at the thought, their bodies should be there. But they weren’t. He knew for sure they had fallen alongside him. So where could they be? And most importantly, why did they leave him? He looked around, his eyes squinting under the low light. Sure enough, he managed to find a path he didn’t notice before. His eyes had now finally grown accustom to the low light, making him see somewhat normally again. With wary steps, he proceeded down the small path, wondering where it may lead him. It reminded him completely of the time he had followed Terrador to his hideaway, a small clearing accessible by means of going through a dark cave. That was when it hit him. He had been fumbling around in the darkness for a while now, when he had a light source all along with him. He mentally smacked himself for his forgetfulness as he used his element, and out came the familiar yellow orb of electricity he used before.

The path he was walking on was illuminated, the gems lining the wall shimmering even brighter from the new source of light. Rays of yellow, red, green and all other sorts of combination of colors danced all around him as the light bounced all over the place. It was beautiful. But again, he didn’t have time to admire the scenery. His friends were missing, and he had to find them.

After walking for a few moments and beginning to wonder if he was walking in circles, Zaze managed to breathe a sigh of relief as he entered a big cavern. It was dimly lit, but this time with natural light. Looking up, he saw that there were holes that allowed light to pass through. He could even see the stars that now twinkled against the black background. It wasn’t big, but he knew he could manage to squeeze himself through if he wanted. Scanning his surroundings, it became clear that this was a very spacious cavern. There were a few stalagmites in the middle, and a cluster of stalactites that lined the corners of the ceiling. Some were small, but some reached up quite high. But that was when something caught his attention. There was a big rock formation at the corner that shined the moment his light passed through it. It was too big of a glint to be just a simple gem etched into the wall.

Zaze cautiously approached it. The moment his eyes registered what he saw he gasped.

It was a big orange colored crystal gem. And encased inside it were four dragons; two adults and two dragons the same age as him.  Zaze immediately recognized who they were. These were the dragons they were looking for: Volteer, Flare, Spyro and Cynder and even Sparx was inside. Questions buzzed inside Zaze’s head as he tried to understand what he was seeing. But one thing was clear. He needed to get these dragons out of their prison.

But that was when the earth shook around him. Then suddenly, the rock wall a few feet from him cracked and exploded outwards. Rock, gems and dust scattered themselves everywhere as the whole rock wall crumbled from an explosion. Zaze peek carefully from behind a big stalagmite. What in the world was going on?

“Well, that’s one way to clear a path,” said a voice.
“You’re like a one dragon demolition team, Crombe,” said another voice.
At the mention of the name, Zaze perked up.

“Guys!?” he called out.
“That voice…” said another. “Zaze!?”
“I’m over here!”

Zaze stepped out and joined the dragons that were standing at the hole that was now evident. Latis, Crombe and Hunter all smiled at seeing their fellow companion. But the expressions on their faces changed from glee to surprise when they themselves saw the gem that Spyro and the others were encased in.

“What is this!?” Latis asked.
“I don’t know! I just found them like that earlier. Listen, we need to get them out of there,” Zaze replied.
“This seems awfully familiar…” said Hunter examining the gem.
“What? What are you talking about?” Crombe asked.
Hunter crossed his arms and looked at them. His mind flashed back to when he first saw Spyro and Cynder. “It’s just that when I first saw Spyro and Cynder, they were encased in something like this too.”
“How did you get them out then?” Crombe asked. The cheetah shook his head. “I didn’t.”
Everyone was surprise at the statement, and they were about to ask. But Hunter cut them off. “You see, I wasn’t the one who got them out. It was the grublins.”

Zaze glanced back at the gem and wondered what those monsters could possibly want with them being encased in something like this. He glanced back at them, and noticed something.

“Where are Phase and Celsius?”
Latis shrugged. “We don’t know. We woke up earlier and they weren’t with us. We were hoping they were with you.”
He shook his head. “No. They’re not with me.”
The ice dragoness sighed sadly. “I hope they’re okay.”
Zaze placed a comforting paw on her shoulder. “They’re going to be fine, don’t worry.” Latis glanced at his paw and smiled at him. “You’re right.”
“Well, I for one am going to try something,” said Crombe.
“What are you going to do?” Hunter asked, looking at the dragon.
“Break it, of course.” He cocked his head to the side and stretched his body a little. “We have to get them out of that prison.”
“I agree. What do you guys say we hit it with everything we’ve got?” Zaze asked.

He glanced at Latis, and to Crombe who both nodded their heads. Seeing the agreement, Hunter took cover to the side, wanting not to get hurt by the sudden explosion of elemental power. He witnessed first-paw what Crombe could do. And he was about to see that tripled. Zaze’s small yellow orb of light dissipated as he channeled all of his elemental energy into his paw. All three of them were going to punch it and see if that would crack it wide open. Electricity crackled in the air, and it got slightly chillier as the two focused. Hunter felt the familiar shaking of the ground as Crombe charged himself up.
Just when they were about to unleash their punches, a voice pierced the silent air.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

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Author's Notes:

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