For the first time since Quartz joined the team she did not wake up at the crack of dawn. A delightful fact for Spyro and Marble indeed as it meant they could at least sleep in till more presentable morning times but brought down with the fact the peace only lasted an hour more.
Sitting around the campfire Quartz was making her own idea of Coffee as Spyro and Marble worked on the plan for today. For today the area to clear was a flight level, and the first one for Quartz too, but the issue was that this location was brutally cold. The aptly named “Icy Flight” was nothing but harsh blizzards and biting snow. “Does that mean there would be no Gnorc planes?” Marble asked. “Possibly, they might have other things though.” Spyro replied to which Marble gave a thoughtful nod. Between the factories, planes and boats the flight worlds was often some of the most heavily defended. “What kind of things does this place have?” Quartz chimed in. “I mean, the last one had powerful and rare crystals so the Gnorcs was setting up a mining base, does this place have anything you know. Cool?” She continued with the pun making Spyro almost groan but, she did have a point. “Unfortunately i do not really know. The Dragons around here are not going to tell us anything and i have never been to this place before.” He explained before his expression fell, “I just hope the lighthouses are still up. Without them the whole area would only grow colder till...nothing good.”
Quartz came over with the drinks. An odd mix of strong coffee, creams and topped with what seems to be powered chocolate that she had been obsessed with lately. Spyro shrugged, it looked nice and nearly everything in it was sweet so how bad could it be. Taking a sip he found it delightfully hot and as sweet as a brick of sugar but by the elements did it wake him up right quick. Marble looked like her eyes was going to explode out of her head just from the first mouthful of the stuff while Quartz just drank it like it was water.
Shaking his head to try and focus past the buzzing in his brain he stood up, thanking Quartz for whatever she just made but maybe less sweet next time...just a bit. Now for the first challenge of the day, getting to the portal. Normally this would not be hard but the only way to get to this one was to go through the castle and since the Dragons around here was so cold to their presence as to not even offer a room to sleep in he had doubts of just walking through. At least the gardens they was camping in was close as they rounded the corner and headed down the shady path that would take them to the castle entrance. As pleasantly warm of a day as it always was thanks to the bubble of magic making it so but the grey clouds forming outside it did forecast rain.
The castle was as lovely as ever. Beautiful greens and blues with marble and gemstones. The halls tall and long as they stretched their way along while being illuminated by pale blue light crystals. They had expected to see one of the Dragons to ambush them along the way but so far they had not seen anyone. “I wonder if they are still asleep?” Marble asked, voice quiet just in case they was. “Well...they are old.” Quartz replied electing a chuckle from them both. Spyro on the other hand only counted it as lucky. They only had to get to the main hall and head along the sky bridge to the floating island where the portal stood but at the same time he could not help but shake his curiosity. What else was in this castle? What was the kitchens like? He could try and sneak around to see but that would risk not being able to make it to the portal and so with a sigh of annoyance he headed forwards. The main hall was quite big, really quite big. With a dozen doors at least lining every wall, each one made of grand wood, but they was here for something else. Up the center stairs and along the bridge that led outside they made it to the island.
Normally Marble would be the first to leap through the portal but this time Spyro wanted to be careful. Quartz while slow was a great help in flying combat since her electric orb shots was fast and strong but Marble was more of a grounded fighter as all of her abilities was melee. Even so there had to be something she could do that could help out here. Her armor was heavy and could only bind to herself, the strength magic was great but did not allow her to fly but as Quartz and Spyro was debating what to do Marble herself came up with an idea. “Hey Spyro.” She spoke up. “Do you still have that big pouch of sand we used for practise?” He thought for a moment but nodded, it was in the chest somewhere. Curious he helped her dig it out to which she opened it and ran her hooves threw it a few times. “Ok…” She began. “I learned how to do this a while ago but saw no use in it.” As she spoke she took a bunch of sand and threw it into the air but instead of falling it stayed where it was like a dusty cloud. “I can only hold something as light as this for a few seconds too but i figured that if we was about to be hit i could this to block it right?” Just as finished explaining the sand fell back down. “That could work...” Spyro commented while wondering what else she knew how to do. “It is also really amazing! We really need to do it more.” Quartz said while giving spyro a nudge to his side. It was blunt enough to break him out of his focus but seeing his confusion she continued before he could ask. “You have not noticed my magic is twice as strong since we started having those lovely little breaks? I have nearly learned a whole new kind of spell in a few days while my first one took me 5 years!” Both Marble and Spyro could only take looks between each other as they realized what that could mean in the long term but if it meant she could learn magic faster Marble was more than ok with it...as was Quartz.
With both sheep on his back, Quartz facing forward and Marble on the back, they went through the portal. Falling out of the portal into the frigid air felt like jumping through a frozen glass wall, every breath aching on the inside as Spyro went low across the water. With the sight of the first lighthouse coming into view his fears was quickly realized. The fire magics within had been turned off and thus left the area to only grow colder over time but thankfully there was a easy fix. A single passing puff of fire breath ignited the magic within, not only causing the glass topped tower to flare into light but needed warmth. As he passed a glint of gold caught his eye on the cliff side. A golden armored chest used to keep huge amounts of gems inside, each one set up by the Gnorcs but why they chose to scatter them instead of locking them up was anyones guess.
The ravine they flew through continued just so. Snaking his way from lighthouse to chest with Quartz getting some target practise in herself. Apart from the intense cold it was not difficult but still time consuming, especially if they missed one along the way. Eight towers lit and eight chests destroyed, with Quartz keeping score of 5-3 in Spyro’s favor, and they reached the end of the ravine. Instead of a rocky cliff wall however they found that there was train tracks peeking out between two tunnels in the island, a clear hint to Gnorc buildings and a clue to where to go next.
Swooping left into the pale tunnel Spyro followed the tracks hoping that no train came along but thankfully the tunnel was quite short and they soon exited back out into the frigid air once again. This time in a small enclosed cove where a beautiful blue lake stood. A tall building of dull brick built into the side of the cliff ahead opened up to greet them with several Gnorcs flying using huge spinning propellers. One of them shot out of the sky by a sheeky electric orb from Quartz with another crashing into the water below in an attempt to dodge the wreckage. Two more fell as Spyro cut past in a blaze of hot wind, overheating the engine that needed the cold of this world to function but also igniting the Gnorc as if to add further insult. Spyro did not stop however. His goal was not the helicopter Gnorcs trying to scramble but instead the hanger door behind them that was starting to close. They had no idea till the noticed the Dragon not turn but instead picked up speed, no chance of stopping him now they watched in horror as he slipped between the doors just as they came to a close.
Skidding to a halt Marble went flying off him and straight into a Gnorc engineer while Quartz fired the last shot she could summon for now straight into a far fuel tank. The resulting explosion bathing half the hanger in sticky fire as Spyro stood amazed. “8 for the hanger idea but 4 for the landing.” Quartz spoke as she hopped off his rough scaly back. Back legs almost numb from sitting on something so hard for so long but at least the spines was not sharp too. “I think it worked well.” Marble replied as she smashed a Gnorc straight through the elevator doors. “Right. Ok guys, in the basement should be the main fuel store that gets piped all over this place, we hit that and no more Gnorc base.” Quartz explained as she took a wobbly walk over to Marble, still amazed at how strong she was with that magic but glad to have her as well. The elevator however was a fight fit. With two fluffy sheep and a Dragon there was barely room to breath let alone stand but thankfully the odd position was not any more embarrassing than what they did to each other already.
Marble was first out of the doors as it opened. Her speed allowing her to easy take care of the few Gnorcs around the elevator while Quartz and Spyro untangled themselves. The room was some kind of storage area, with containers on the ground and many pipes twisting their way in and out of the walls but what was noticeable was the air. It was thick, sour even. To Quartz nothing new but for Marble and Spyro it was like trying to breath underwater. “Quartz…” Spyro started between breaths as he covered his mouth. “How are we going to explode this without getting caught in it?” “We just have to overload it, i know how so just keep me covered.” Quartz replied as she trotted around the various metal containers and whirring machine. Understanding Spyro turned to go watch the elevator while Marble stuck more close to the grey Ewe. There was no more Gnorcs it seemed around but occasionally they can be tricky so it was never good to let your guard down. Marble watched closely as Quartz ran up to a big clanking machine with dozens of pipes going in and out of it, pressing buttons here, levers there, it was more complicated than other machines indeed.
Spyro meanwhile had been waiting at the elevator when suddenly Quartz, followed by Marble, came running like their tails was on fire. The panicked expression and constant yelling to get in the elevator only serving to confused him but he did what they said still. Crammed in the small box with hooves and muzzles sticking into more tender areas he spoke up about what the rush was. “We have like...40 seconds till it blows, did i forget to mention that?” Quartz replied sheepishly. While difficult they did manage to shift around so they was back on his back in preparation of the escape and by a stroke of luck the left over Gnorcs outside had opened the doors to come after them only for Spyro to swoop past at speed. The trio watched, at a nice distance, as the doors just managed to close before the entire ground shook and black smoke poured out of the vents to the fortress. Spyro being the first to break down into laughter but quickly joined by his girls.
With a beat of his wings he headed across the lake and down a tunnel in pursuit of the trains. The sooner they get these destroyed the sooner they could get back into the warmth of the Dream Weavers again after all. But after long minutes of following the tracks they only managed to find one train, thankfully quickly destroyed thanks to Quartz’s long range shot, but there was still several more to get. The tunnels made it impossible to track them from above and they had to rely more on sound and luck to find the rest. It was after the 3rd train was destroyed that Marble spoke up, the cold was just too much for her.
Too far from the exit portal Spyro instead landed on the snowy island. A beat of his wings clearing the still frigid ground while a breath of fire light a fire for them. Just as they hopped off him to go seek warmth however he took off again, shouting down that he would return soon before flying off. Even with their wool providing some defence from the cold and the lighthouses now relit it was getting later into the day, every passing minute bringing the deathly chill of night closer to them. Spyro was at least quick to return. Bringing with him as much spare oil soaked wood from the wreckage of the nearest train that upon touching the tiny fire exploded into a plume of heat. He landed happy in that his girls would not have to be cold for the moment but even so wrapped his wings around the pair of them as further shielding from the wind.
“At least this is the last ice world…” Spyro mentioned trying to make some small talk but Marble only nodded while Quartz let out a yawn. His expression grew soft at how weary the pair of them was but it had been a long day full of fighting after all. With the once hot fire now flickering dimmer he decided that it was time. “Come on girls, ready to go?” His question full of care as he would rather get them out of his icy wasteland sooner rather than later. They agreed too and so with sluggish movements stood up and climbed onto this back once more to depart. Spyro now more careful not to go too fast lest he knock them off as well as putting more effort into keeping his wing beats steady. At night this place would be one of the most beautiful as a vibrant veil of lights would span the sky and snake it’s way around the snowy island. But the cold was apparently too much for non Dragons, a fact that he constantly worries about lest he one day take them to somewhere that they could never survive for a minute.
Arriving back into the warmth of the Dream Weavers was like jumping into a pool of scalding water. Skin flushed with heat as the ache of muscles defrosting replaced the numbness several times over. The two young ewes did not realize they was still lying on his back nor did they noticed him placing them down on a comfy little blanket next to a fire. Sitting nearby Spyro watched with caring eyes as they rested in a shallow slumber. To see breathing becoming steady while frigid bones regained some warmth made him finally relax himself. Spyro’s gaze moved to focus on the pot that he had been sorting out for food, giving it a shake to see powdered sugar fall out of it. He smiled at Quartz’s love for all things sweet even if she did get things rather sticky.
Some time later thanks to the interesting smell of food nearby Marble was the first to wake up. “What's cooking?” Marble asked as she lifted her head up off Quartz’s side. Looking far more lively now but her movement had caused Quartz to start to wake up too. “Glassroot hotpot.” Spyro stated casually as he lifted the lid off the hanging stone pot to check how it was cooking. Marble and Quartz both could only exchange a look, trying to find some semblance of an explanation but neither of them had heard of that one before. “Glassroot…” He continued without letting them ask. “Is a really brittle odd root that grows through very hard ground but when boiled becomes much more tasty.” He explained as he spooned out some into bowls but they could only look on at how thick it was. Trying to eat it was even more weird as while it did have the normal tasty bits of veg or meat the pale purplish gravy was barely a liquid...but at least it did make it impossible to spill. Marble was the first to try it out since she had lived with him the longest and did have more of an application for Dragon cooking. With drinking it out of the question and the lack of hands making tools like spoons to be useless she opted to lick it instead. It was like that ice cream she once tried but hot and even thicker however the taste was indeed very nice. Well seasoned in a way that made her feel warm and content even if it was strange in texture. With Quartz seeing Marble happy with it she joined in as well while Spyro could only feel relieved, his cooking was hardly the best but even so they ate everything he made like it was perfect.
Spyro let out a sigh. With the sun going down it had been a long day, long and far too cold, but even still they had stuck with him. His gaze moved to watch them as Quartz had tried to help Marble with getting some of the sticky gravy off her mouth but only ended up in a playful fight. It elected a quiet laugh from him as while Marble was his fiery little pillow Quartz only seemed to add even more chaos into the mix, even if her jokes was terrible. In fact no, that only made it better. Spyro’s mind wandered for a bit. In a few days the last general of Gnasty would be defeated and in a few more days he too will fall. After that what was going to happen? This entire situation had already spiralled so far out of control but at least there was other Dragons who supported the relationship of them. Would they still support it if it became permanent...His eyes looked up from his daydreams now full of a resolve as in that moment he made a choice that would change everything.
I have been working on other projects and stuff at the same time which has slowed me down quite a bit lately. Links to pictures and info at bottom of story.
