Crash and Spyro, A Friendship Across Lifetimes

Chapter 12: A Dynamic Duo

SPYRO, Sparx, and Crash stood around a statue of Cynder that was unmoving and stricken with fear. None of them were sure is she was still alive. The sky returned to its normal color, the wind died down, and lightning strikes could no longer be heard over Artisans.

"What happened to her? Is she still alive!"

Come on Aku-Aku, Crash thought to himself, I need your wisdom. He placed his hand on Cynder lifeless figurine, and Crash began to understand what has happened to Cynder. Sparx landed on Cynder's head and examined the statue himself. Crash could feel that there was still life within the crystalline structure, but this barrier sealed Cynder within this effigy and would keep her prisoner until the source of the magic was interrupted. There had to be a way to free Cynder right now, Crash thought, but Aku-Aku was drawing a blank.

"Crash," Spyro barked at him, snapping Crash out of his contemplation, "Do you know what has happened to Cynder?"

Crash stared at Spyro for a moment, and then spoke using his regular voice "She... is alive... Spyro." He switched to his SAD to continue. "All Dragons on Artisans have been imprisoned using this enchantment; however, I do not know how to break the spell."

"How do you know she is alive, Crash?" Spyro looked genuinely scared and confused. Cynder must have been someone close to him, possibly a sister or love. Crash pointed at the pendant attached to the neckless he was wearing.

"She's going to be fine, Spyro. I promise." Crash surprisingly managed to get through the entire sentence without using his SAD.

"When I find out who has done this I'll... wait a minute, the dark magic the Gnork's learned. Gnasty!" Smoke left Spyro's nostrils upon saying Gnasty's name. Rage consumed him as he turned in the direction of Artisans. He launched into the air and flew towards his home. Sparx followed him.

"Spyro wait!" Crash shouted obnoxiously in his high pitched normal voice. Spyro didn't turn around, and Sparx paused for a moment in midair to look at Crash before heading off to catch up with Spyro. Crash sighed and looked at Cynder one last time. "I promise" Crash said privately to Cynder, before running into the forest.

Wrath flooded Spyro as he flew through the air. A blue glowing Sparx trailed behind him and did his best to keep up. This was the fastest that Spyro had ever flown. He was determined to make it to Artisans as fast as he could. He had to see the damage for himself. And any Gnorks he saw were going to pay. He landed in the center of the Artisans and gazed at the dozens of Dragons frozen in place. The looks on their faces were horrid. Not even the youngest of Dragons were spared, as the youngest Dragons who were all playing together were frozen and scattered around in whatever game required this formation. Spyro may have been the only Dragon in Artisans who was spared this fate. He was going to make the most of it. Just then, the portal near the Senate Building activated and Gnorks began filling out from it. They were wearing steel armor and carried a large assortment of weapons. One of them noticed Spyro and notified the other Gnorks. Two Gnorks approached Spyro and soon regretted it. Spyro charged horns first into one of the Gnork's, and sent him tumbling backwards. He flew left to avoid a club that landed violently into the ground where Spyro was standing. Spyro let out a torrent of fire in that Gnork's direction, engulfing it in fire. The Gnork ran out of the smoke in a blaze and made its way to a fountain in the center of the village. More Gnork's began to charge toward Spyro, and even more began to emerge from the open portal. Spyro was faster than the Gnork's since they were wearing heavy armor, and used this to his advantage and avoid being surrounded. He took to the air and landed atop the nursery for infant Dragons. Some of the newer Gnork's appearing from the portal had archery gear and took aim at Spyro. He dogged the first assault of arrows from the archers and took cover behind another building. Sparx arrived shortly after.

"They're all going to pay!" Spyro yelled in indignation. A Gnork with a long sword appeared from one side of the building and charged at Spyro. Spyro again took to the air to avoid the sword strike. Arrows were again fired at the young Dragon, and this time he was just barely able to avoid them. He landed on the ground to avoid more arrow fire, and was promptly greeted by more Gnorks who were carrying large metal shields. Fire breath was ineffective, and Spyro was slammed by a shield after unleashing his fire breath towards the Gnorks. The sword wielding Gnork approached from behind and narrowly missed a retreating Spyro. Spyro took to the air again to avoid being ambushed, and this proved to be a mistake. An archer took aim with his long bow and fired an arrow at Spyro. A steel tipped arrow tore throw Spyro's left wing and Spyro fell in agonizing pain. He fell twenty feet before crashing onto the roof of the nursery. The arrow had gashed a hole in his wing and blood seeped from the wound. Spyro was immobilized in pain on top of the nursery. There were just too many Gnorks to take on all at once. A Gnork had climbed his way onto the roof and pulled out a dagger from its sheath attached to his waist. He approached the Dragon and was met with a torrent of flame. He fell backwards and landed on the ground hard. Two more Gnorks climbed up from two opposing sided of the roof that was now on fire. The Gnorks had flame shields and approached the injured Dragon. Spyro got to his feet and dropped to the unoccupied side of the building and began to run towards his School. The arrow was still logged in his left wing, and it hurt immensely just to run.

The pain was excruciating and this wound probably meant he couldn't fly again for the foreseeable future. Spyro was determined to get away from the small army of Gnorks. When he arrived at his school, he entered the building and hid inside. The Gnorks had been following him, so he didn't have long of a reprieve. He tried to bite one side of the arrow so that he could dislodge it from his wing, but did not succeed and caused even more pain. Spyro grimaced in pain, and then noticed all the frozen crystallized Dragons in the school. He made out Flame and Ember, along with Mrs. Shoutfire and some other young Dragons he knew. Spyro again was consumed in anger, but was losing the will to fight. A bolder came flying in through a window and struck a Dragon statue. The bolder ricocheted off the statue, which remained intact. Spyro made his way to the back exit of the school and left the building. He continued to run but was slowed by his injury. It was just too painful to move quickly. The Gnorks were catching quickly. He stopped running and confronted his peruses. He stared at them intensely, prepared to go down with a fight, and the Gnorks returned the greeting. Spyro charged at one of the Gnorks, but was instead stuck by a huge club which sent him flying to the right. Intense pain could be felt in Spyro's ribcage; the blunt force probably broke a rib or two. It was hard for Spyro to breathe, which may have just eliminated fire from his repertoire to defend himself. Two Gnorks approached him and prepared to finish off their prey.

A Gnork raised his heave club above his head and prepaid to deliver the final blow. A rock struck him directly in the face, and he dropped the club and put both his hands on his face. The second Gnork looked around alertly, and then noticed an orange creature appear from the forest, perpendicular to the location at which the Gnork thought the rock had been thrown from. Before he could react, the creature slid into his legs. The Gnork's feet were swept from underneath him, and he toppled to the ground. The other Gnork growled angrily and charged at the creature full speed. Crash waited for him to get close, then leaped forward in the air and spun attack him directly in the face. The Gnork flew back farther than Spyro thought he should have and did not get back up. Other Gnorks were approaching from the school. Crash lifted Spyro onto his shoulders, grunting has he did so, and ran into the tree line with Sparx following closely. Once they had gotten a good distance into the forest and in some cover, Crash laid Spyro onto the ground and caught his breath. Crash reached for a thick stick and told Spyro to bite it.

"Why?" Spyro asked while still reeling in pain.

Crash placed the stick near Spyro's mouth and he obeyed Crash's order. Once he bit down firmly into the branch, Crash put one hand on Spyro's wing and gripped the arrow with his other hand. He carefully removed the arrow from Spyro's wing, and Spyro yelled in pain. The branch did not prevent Spyro from biting down hard, and snapped in two. Sharp canines, Crash thought. The sound revealed Crash and Spyro's location to the Gnorks who had followed them into the woods. Sparx landed on Spyro's wing and Spyro started to feel some relief. The flesh surrounding the puncture wound began to regenerate, and the bones in Spyro's ribcage began to heal. Sparx blue glow shifted to green. Crash leaped onto a tree, and began climbing it. He nimbly traversed to another tree and positioned himself over a Gnork. Crash dropped down and slammed onto the Gnork, taking it to the ground hard. The other Gnorks converged to his location; Crash gripped the shield that the unconscious Gnork had dropped and used it to block a sword strike. Crash leaped backwards to avoid another sword swing, and ran away from Spyro and Sparx in order to give Sparx enough time to heal Spyro without being spotted.

"Man," Spyro said relieved, "what would I do without you, Sparx?" A green Sparx flew forward in the direction of Crash and flashed twice. "Right, better help out Crash." A reinvigorated Spyro soared into the sky and dived toward a Gnork that was pursuing Crash. The impact dropped the Gnork hard. Crash stopped running and gave a "thumbs up" sign to Spyro.

"What are you doing with your hand?" Spyro asked confusedly. Crash's right ear twitched and he turned to face that direction. He singled with his hand for Spyro to get down. Spyro stood confused for a moment and was about to say something, but did get down once he began to hear noise coming from the direction that Crash was staring at. A group of Gnorks was approaching their location.

"Why are we hiding? Let's just attack now." Spyro whispered to Crash.

"Ambush them. It's safer." Crash whispered back using his normal voice. Crash stealthily moved his way through the forest making virtually no noise, something Spyro wasn't practically good at. Crash got to the Gnork's location quickly and sprang into action. He spun into the first unsuspecting Gnork and sent him careening into a tree. He then charged towards the second and nimbly avoided its club. He spun into that Gnork, too, and he went flying backwards. The third Gnork was prepared to attack Crash, but was blindsided by Spyro who charged into his back and slammed him to the ground.

"How in the world do you do that spin attack? It's really powerful!" Spyro looked at the first Gnork who Crash attacked. The tree had actually had fracture lines where the Gnork had struck and would most likely collapse soon. Crash shrugged his shoulders and then looked at Sparx. Crash then became aware do to a message from Aku-Aku what has happened to the Dragonfly.

"Spyro," Crash said using his SAD, "Sparx's life energy has greatly diminished in the past hour. When he healed both you and me, he sacrificed great amounts of his own life energy to do so. If he was to attempt to heal you or me again, he would die."

"Really? Sparx, I... are you killing yourself to heal me?" Though he was so small, Spyro could see the fatigue in Sparx's face. Sparx landed on Spyro's right horn to conserve energy.
"He will be fine given time, but if you were to be severely injured again, Sparx will have to sacrifice his life in order to heal you, and I know he would if he needed to."

Spyro looked up to see Sparx, and was smiled softly.

"Cynder mentioned something about Gnorks and a Sorceress on the beach before she was crystallized. Are they responsible for this?"

Spyro was suddenly reminded of the situation, and became enraged again. "Yes, it is the Gnorks who have invaded Artisans and the Sorceress that has unleashed this spell onto the Dragons."

Aku-Aku eyes began to light up again, and Crash frowned in concentration. "According to Aku-Aku, the source of the enchantment is not on this Island."

"The thing on your necklace is called Aku-Aku? What, does it talk to you or something?"

"Let's just say that like you and Sparx, we have an interesting way of communicating. If we are able to interrupt the spell that has caused the imprisonment of all Dragons on Artisans, they should all be released. Do you know how to find 'Gnasty'?"

"Yeah, we need to take the portals between Realms to get to the Realm of the Gnorks. However, I do not know how to activate or change which island the portal in Artisans lead to. Plus, there are a lot of Gnorks in Artisans right now holding the place captive."

Crash paused and proceeded to sniff the air. He walked over to a tree and climbed it; he picked to orange and red fruit from the tree and descended to the ground. He offered one to Spyro.

"Ugh... what is that?" Crash took a bite out of his fruit and offered the other fruit to Spyro again.

"Wampa" Crash said with his normal voice. Spyro clutched the fruit awkwardly with his two front paws and took a conservative bite out of the fruit. He had never eaten anything but meat in his life. This "Wampa" wasn't half bad.