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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The Purple Essence

Chapter 11

Derp

Malefor continued on and smiled in relief. His ears weren't deceiving him. Earlier, he had heard the sound of rushing water and was wondering if it was his ears playing tricks on him, or was it the real deal, and was actually Silver River. It turned out it was. Before him, laid the familiar free flowing river, Silver River; somehow, the river seemed to have kept on flowing even though there was a Volcano blocking the path where it usually flowed. It puzzled Malefor why, but he couldn't be bothered right now to answer the question. He just wanted a cool drink.

Approaching the river, he lowered his head to take a cool sip but stopped midway. He was transfixed and was surprised to find the dragon staring back at him at the water. He had three horns, jutting out from either side of his head and the third one resting on the top of his head. His scales were of dark rich purple, and his underbelly was of faded yellow.

It took him a moment to realize who it was.  

"Is that me?"

It was actually his reflection at the water. That was him. What took him by surprise was the fact that he didn't look like that. He used to look menacing; a malicious grin normally plastered across his striking face. His horns used to have a gradient like color, ending with a blood red shade at the top. An aura of danger used to surround him, giving him the image of not to be messed with. Now though…he was just utterly the complete opposite. He no longer looked striking; no longer looked…evil.  Master Gale was right. The Dark Essence truly does consume the dragon and changed him once it is awakened.

After the moment's reflection, Malefor leaned down and took a fresh sip at the water. He wondered now though, at his change of appearance, if dragons would still recognize who he was. Then that got idea got shot down the moment it inflated itself. He was still a purple dragon. And aside from Spyro, there was only one other purple dragon that dragons of the Dragon Realms knew. If Malefor wanted to be incognito he needed to at least change his scale color. And to do that…he needed to do magic.

Unlike other dragons, Malefor WAS taught how to do magic, both by self study and a few lessons learned from Master Gale himself. But due to the time he hasn't been honing it, he pondered if he still had the skill to perform it. He was about to try doing some magic himself, when all of a sudden a sound of a twig snapping destroyed the peaceful atmosphere.

He quickly turned around, alert and ready to fight with his bare claws. He still wasn't sure if he still had enough energy in him to try using his element. Seconds ticked by and it began to reach a minute soon after. He slowly relaxed, still wary and not letting his guard down. Throughout the entire time he had been walking to the river, he felt eyes burning his back.  

Now THIS happened and it only made his suspicions all the more reasonable. It was as if someone was following him. He was about to check his surroundings to call out his suspicions when his attention was drawn upwards. He smirked, letting out an annoyed snort. The sky was beginning to become dark and the sun was slowly going down, casting an orange hue at the clouds above. It was getting dark, and he needed to find shelter soon to rest. Wandering around at the Forest was dangerous at night.

With wary eyes, he immediately began to set out to find a place to rest in. A cave would be suitable for a dragon of his size.

0 0 0 0 0

"How much farther is it?"

They were flying for what seemed like hours now, and Izrayl couldn't help but voice his concern. His wing muscles began to burn, and he was losing his stamina. He needed to take a break soon to catch his breath.

"Not much farther Izzy," said Cynder, flying close to him. "It's right over there."

She pointed towards the side and sure enough, the Tall Plains was becoming evident. The seemingly floating pieces of lands were slowly fading into view as there destination came closer. Izrayl marvelled at the sight of it. This was the first time he saw lands 'floating'. Of course, he wasn't naïve to think they really were, but the illusion it portrayed was highly convincing.

"Is this your first time to see this place Izzy?" asked Spyro, flying close to his left.
"It kind of is," answered Izrayl, smiling at Spyro. "Are the locals there your friends?"
"Of course they are!" said Sparx. He was lazily hanging back, resting on Spyro's horns as they flew from Warfang to the Tall Plains.
"Kane's a good buddy of mine!"
Izrayl nodded. "I see."

The three of them slowly began their descent and soon touching down on one of the islands that made up the Tall Plains.

"We can walk it from here," said Spyro, flexing his wings as they touched down.
"How?" asked Izrayl. "Aren't these islands independent from each other?"
"Not really. It's a chain of tall fauna covered plateaus connected by long wooden bridges," answered Spyro.
"Really? How do you know that?" asked Cynder.
Spyro chuckled. "I've been here before."
"Oh, right. That was when you rescued Terrador…?"
"Cyril."

It wasn't long after that that the group began to traverse the Tall Plains. Nothing much changed over the course of time. It was still the same as ever. Tall looking trees dotted the area, and the usual birds flying about. Spyro remembered back then how when he was still young that he and Sparx were here, battling it out with the apes.
Time flew so fast, it was like one moment he was in his childhood, the next thing he knew, he was in his teens. Izrayl and Cynder on the other hand looked around like tourists enjoying the foreign scenery. This was their first time at the Tall Plains, and they were soaking up the eye candy. It was quite relaxing, as they walked down the forested path, eventually reaching a break from the trees. Not long after that, the hanging bridge Spyro talked about was visible before them. It was bigger than your average, and looked quite rickety and fragile.

"Are you sure this is safe? You know, crossing this?" Cynder asked, looking down at the edge of the cliff. They were so high up, clouds were resting at the base of the plateau they were on.
"Positive. I used to run through it and had no problems." Izrayl chuckled nervously.
"That was when you were still a kid right? That was like what? Years back?" Spyro rolled his eyes.
"Come on, let's stop wasting time."

Izrayl and Cynder just stared at each other as Spyro led the way, first one to start walking on the bridge. It creaked and leaned precariously, supporting the weight of the teenage dragon.

"Come on already!" Spyro shook his head, rolling his eyes, as smirk on his face. Izrayl turned to face Cynder.
"Ladies first," he said with a cheeky grin.
"You just had to go there," said Cynder, before slapping him playfully with her tail at his side.

It wasn't long before the three of them were crossing the long wooden bridge. Cynder couldn't help but gulp slightly as she could see the height they were in from the slits on the floor. They were high up.

"Just don't look down!" shouted Spyro back at them. He was now midway whilst the Cynder and Izrayl were just a third through it.
"Easy for you to say," shouted Izrayl back.
"Wow, the two of them must be scared of heights or something," said Sparx as he relaxed. He was sitting on Spyro's shoulder throughout the entire time.
"What is that?" he asked looking in front of them.

The end part of the bridge was covered in a slight mist of fog that seemed to have just passed conveniently. Through it, Sparx managed to see a silhouette of a figure, approaching the two poles that made the bridge completely stationary. At first, Spyro thought that it was an Atlawa, coming to greet them. Surely one of Kane's men must have seen them from afar right? But his idea was immediately dismissed as he saw the figure raise his hands up, and a weapon grasped between them. Spyro immediately realize what he was going to do.

"GUYS!! RUN!!!" he shouted.
"What!? What are you—"


Izrayl was cut off as all of a sudden the tension on the bridge they were walking on suddenly disappeared. The hanging bridge ropes were cut sending it swinging back, their footing giving way. Cynder screamed, immediately grabbing the ropes for dear life as it would seem. Spyro was the one that immediately regained his senses and jumped, reaching for the edge of the cliff. The saboteur let out a war cry, making Spyro realize who it was.

It was an all too familiar war cry. It was an ape.

Digging his claws to the ground, he used his wings to give him enough trust and climb over the edge. Not even taking a glance, he barked an order.

"Sparx, you help Izrayl and Cynder, I'll deal with this ape."
"Got it. What the heck are those two doing?"

Sparx followed obediently shaking his head, and trying to stifle his laughter. He flew close to Izrayl, who was grabbing the ropes and trying to support Cynder. The wooden plank she was grabbing on was slowly creaking away; some even fell down disappearing down the cloudy abyss.

"Uh…what are you guys doing?" asked Sparx in a flat voice.
"TRYING TO LIVE!" said Izrayl through gritted teeth. With dexterity he let go of the rope and grabbed it with his tail catching Cynder just as the plank she was holding gave way.
"Don't you dare let go!" shouted Izrayl, beads of sweat falling down his face. Cynder on the other just had this scared look on her face that Sparx could only classify to be priceless.

But all fun stuff had to come to an end; he now needed to make them realize the problem in the situation they were in.

"Uh…Izrayl…Cynder, you two do understand that um…you two…are uh…dragons right?" he asked, clicking his tongue.
"Get to the point!" Izrayl growled. "Either help us or leave us alone Sparx!"
"Touche," said Sparx chuckling. "Okay then, I'll get to the point. You two have wings. Use them," he said with a cheeky grin.

Almost immediately, Izrayl felt like he was slapped to the face for his own stupidity. What on earth did they just do? It was like their brains farted and they had forgotten for a moment that they had wings. His tail uncoiled from the ropes and he spread opened his wings, his face blushing furiously from the embarrassment. Here he was, valiantly trying to save Cynder from falling whereas this all could have been avoided if he had just opened his wings. No wonder Spyro didn't bother to come and ask if they were okay; naturally, they would have been okay, if they were only using their wings.

Cynder was equally embarrassed trying to hide her face from Sparx who was smiling smugly to himself. They had just made a complete fool out of themselves. Regaining her composure, the three of them turned their heads in unison, when a loud explosion just rang out. It came from the foggy area of the plateau they were headed to.

"What in the world!?" Izrayl asked.
"The rope was cut by an ape. Spyro's there, dealing with it," said Sparx flying ahead."
"Let's go then," said Cynder flying towards the rising smoke from the forest.

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