Chapter 9: The Burned Path
#9 of The Spyro Chronicles SE
Chapter 9: The Burned Path
Dragon Realms, Uncharted System
March 3, 2204
1842 Hours
Echo 1-3, UER Assault Convoy, inbound to The Burned Lands
Journals log-
Private First Class Jacob Marley
Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon, 72nd Marines
March 3rd, 2204
Dear Journal,
Ever since I came here, this world has been so much different then any Colony I've ever been to. It's... weird... I can't explain it. I've only been here a day and it's already turned into a hell hole. I've managed to regroup with Alpha, only after a hellish fight through the forest... and then we went to this city today and I was with the recon squad that almost got our asses handed to us by those damn creatures. Wagner says that we should only be here a bit longer...but from what Dyke said we're stuck here. I want only to be home so badly...
Well... now we're here. I'm on a drop ship inbound to what the Dragons (that's right, I said Dragons) refer to as 'The Burned Lands'. It's a large volcanic crater of some sort surrounding a large mountain that's collapsed in on itself. Its outskirts are surrounded by mushrooms... rather large ones to.
1st and 2nd Platoons from Alpha are moving in with 3rd and 2nd from Theta. We're clearing a landing zone for the heavy stuff so more troops can hit the dirt. We're pushing towards the mountain cause while we were in 'Warfang' a large dragon called Fang attacked us and is supposed to have his base here. He's also trying to revive the 'Dark Master' or something. That one dragon that travels with us- Spyro- seems pretty pissed about that and he and his girl friend don't want that to happen. This world is so screwed up that I'm betting he's some big bad evil dude bent of destroying the world... there's already enough people shooting at me... I don't need another... All I know is that once we kick his ass we're out of here.
I sort of regret joining the Marines... but I needed the money for College and I couldn't get a job anywhere else... but now we're in this damn war. I guess I would have been signed up one way or another. Jessica... I'm sorry I left... but I needed the money... as soon as I can I'll try to get this out... but that's if I get the chance. It looks like I may die here. Jessica, if you ever read this, I love you and I will come home to you and this'll all be over, you'll see.
"Hey Jacob, get in the game we're almost there." Corporal Henderson said from across the troop bay of the Nighthawk.
"Yeah... I know..." Marley sighed and put his journal back into his pack and sighed. Marley looked over to the purple dragon standing in the troop bay, looking at the burned landscape that passed beneath.
"Hey, what's up with him?" Henderson asked. The black dragoness- Cynder- walked up to Spyro and set her paw on his shoulder.
"You alright?" She asked. Spyro sighed.
"There's... just too many memories here..." He said as he looked at the landscape beneath him turn into that of a scorched forest with huge lava flows, enormous craters, and collapsed structures- the result of the near Great Cleansing. The once brilliant floating castles that hovered above the Realms now sat in the lava, their bricks scorched in the hot fire. As the planet cracked, this area had collapsed into itself, creating an even more massive lava pool and out of it a new series of small volcanic islands were born.
"Spyro... sometimes we just have to learn to just let go..."
"What's the matter?" Allison asked as she sat next to them.
"This used to be my home... before the Dark Master destroyed it... and then..." Spyro trailed off... feeling an deep sorrow ignite inside of him as he remembered Ignitus, the fire guardian, giving his life so they could make it to Malefor's lair.
"... And what?" Allison asked.
"Spyro... lost someone very close to him here..."
"He was like a father to me..." He said, watching the lava pools pass beneath him. Allison frowned.
"We all lose people sometimes Spyro... sometimes its hard but it's the truth..." Allison said as she remembered Karson. She had no clue where he was. The recon squad that finally regrouped with Alpha in the Valley of Avalar didn't say much but said he went off somewhere by himself. They seemed to keep that information to themselves.
"Oh Karson..." She said lowly.
"Karson?" Cynder asked, looking at her.
"Oh... it's just somebody..."
"That you like?" She asked with a sort of grin.
"What?! No! We're just... friends." Cynder smiled at the statement.
"We're nearing the drop zone! Get ready!" Wagner yelled from his seat.
"Here we go..." Aaron said as he got ready.
"Yeah... time to go to work." Spyro said as he sighed.
"C'mon guys, why so serious? How about some knock knock jokes?" Sparx said as he buzzed around them, trying to keep himself inside the troop bay and not fly out. They merely glared at him.
The Nighthawk landed on a plateau of scorched ground sitting in a lava drift. The second Nighthawk with them touched down yards away and the Marines came out of the drop ships.
"Alright, we've got to clear a landing zone for the other soldiers and armor, let's move!"
They walked down the pathway, a long bridge of rock that was elevated about 20 yards from a river of molten lava. The smoke coming from the lava made some of the Marines cough and sputter.
"Damn this ash is thick..." One of the Marines commented as they ran down the path.
"Let's hope nothing comes out..." Aaron said as he looked at the lava.
"The last thing we need is an attack..."
"Well we're in the heat of it now. If Fang is here to free Malefor, his army will be here too. Keep your eyes peeled." Wagner said as the Marines moved.
As they reached the other end of the rock bridge they came to where they were atop a ledge overlooking an opened up path beneath them. They heard dull thuds and looked down to see a group of Lakadors engaging a group of flying Grublins and a few Orcs.
"Lakadors? What're they doing here?" A Marine asked. The Lakadors were pushing towards the volcano... where Fang and the Dark Master were.
"They're headed for the Volcano... they're probably after the same thing we're after or worse... c'mon, we need to get there first." Wagner said. He keyed his mike.
"Theta, be advised, there are several Lakador infantry units in the area. Advise you proceed with extreme caution over."
"Copy that, we have eyes on a Lakador armored convoy heading towards the volcano."
"Roger. Don't engage, try to move around."
_ "Acknowledged, Theta out."_
"C'mon, we have to get their first!" Wagner hissed to them and they moved along the ridge, watching the Lakadors engage the Grublins in a long range firefight. A large creature emerged from the ground, holding onto a large staff and a scorpion like tail protruding from its backside. It slashed at the Lakadors, knocking them away and roaring at the rest.
"Damn, that thing is huge!"
"Let's keep moving!"
They moved along the ridge until they reached a large, opened up mesa that stretched for a good 100 yards. They heard distant sounds of gunfire, meaning the Marines of Theta had been engaged in combat.
The ground up ahead gave way and collapsed, giving way to several Orcs who came up from the ground and a few more Grublins came up from the ground and screeched at the oncoming Marines.
The Marines immediately responded, their rifles blaring and the constant tat, tat, tat, of automatic weapon's fire broke the distant roar of lava. The Orcs fell over from the gunfire and the Grublins dashed forward between the crossfire and slashed their swords.
Aaron slashed his tail and smacked one of the Grublins down. Another slashed his sword and Aaron had to roll to the side to dodge. Spyro had to also do the same as three slashed swords. These Grublins, unlike the ones assaulting Warfang, were airborne and they swarmed every which way, attacking the Marines.
A few of the Marines fell victim as they swarmed and overpowered them.
"Damn, these guys are tougher!" A Marine said.
"We're near the volcano, they're a lot tougher here!" Cynder said just before one hit her across the face with its claws. She screamed and gripped her face, the scales in that region being cracked and the pieces digging into her skin, electing small pings of pain.
Spyro bit one on the leg and tossed it aside, just as another grabbed the back of his head and tried to drive a sword in it. He tried to fight back but these were a lot tougher then the ones from Warfang... a lot tougher. He had fought them before, when he last came to the Burned Lands, but they had gotten stronger since.
He tried to swing the creature off but it smashed the tip of its sword into the back of Spyro's head and pushed harder. Spyro felt the sword penetrate his scales and slice into his skin. He yelled in pain and suddenly felt the pressure lessen. He saw the Grublin fall to the ground and heard the sword clatter to the ground as well. He turned and saw Wagner, his rifle pointed at him and smoking from its recent usage.
Spyro nodded, feeling blood oozing from his wound and pain smashing through his head like a sledge hammer.
"Spyro, you alright?" Aaron asked as he walked over, making his way to the other side to deal with an Orc archer.
"I'm fine, just go!" Spyro said and with a look of skepticism Aaron dashed over to deal with that Orc.
Meanwhile...
Earth, UER Homeworld, Sol System
June 23, 2192
1244 Hours
Florida, United States
"C'mon Karson, you're too slow!"
"No fair, you're cheating!" Karson stumbled as he ran through the grass. Allison evaded him once more as he dashed at her. She laughed and he groaned. It was one thing to miss her... it was another to have continue chasing her.
Their small 6 year old bodies dashed in the June sun. The heat warmed up the area and it was surprisingly only around 80 degrees outside. It was a gorgeous day outside with nothing more then giggles and the distant sounds of cars driving on the freeway.
The blue sky dominated the area and a few white fluffy clouds floated above. A bird flew above as well and landed on a tree branch nearby, watching the children dash across the green lawn.
It was a simple game of tag, but Karson thought it was torture. Allison was always much faster then him. She always had the advantage when doing this. She ran atop a small mound of dirt that sat nearby. The mound was a good 4 meters tall and as she ran up, small rocks fell under her feet.
Determined, Karson ran over to the dirt and started to climb its rocky surface as well. She smiled down at him and laughed. He grumbled and kept up until the dirt started to shake and they both let out a small scream as the dirt gave way from under them. They landed on the dirt as they looked up to see the inside of a cave.
The dirt had given out and had revealed a small cave just underneath where they had been playing. The light filtered in and illuminated the passage. On the far end there was a large silver door. They both walked up to it and looked it over. Karson kept his distance while Allison approached it... almost in a trance like state. She touched it and Karson was amazed as the door began to shine a brilliant blue. A small ice emblem appeared on the door and it slid open.
Inside there were two gemstones. An orange and a blue one. Karson and Allison looked at each other before they slowly entered the new room. A small mysterious light shined upon the pedestal in which the two gemstones were perched on. They gave each other inquisitive looks before they both touched them and a bright flash blew through their visions.
...
UER Colony World New Athena
November 23, 2203
1322 Hours
UERMC Training Camp, Ft. Evergreen
"C'mon, keep running, don't fall behind!"
"Karson, keep your ass in line, don't fall behind!"
Karson breathed hard as his Drill Sergeant bellowed orders. He sprinted a bit faster, trying to catch up with his fellow Marines. Being a trainee wasn't easy... He ran as fast as he could, but couldn't keep up with his fellow Marines.
"What's the mater Private? You too fat to keep up? Run you maggot!"
Karson huffed and sweat flew from his head as he gave it his all. He nearly fell over in his attempt to catch up with the rest.
Their dash across the mountain finally came to an end and Karson sat down, panting excessively. Allison sat down next to him with her canteen.
"I know the Sergeant won't allow this... but here's some water. It's a bit hot so sorry."
"Allison you sure? He'll yell at you and-"
"I'll take the blame for it. Just drink it." Karson looked at her before sighing and taking a hold of the canteen. The casing was cold... and as he took a sip the water was ice cold, unlike Allison's claims.
"This is actually cold. You sure it's hot?" He asked.
"It was when we put it in. Remember he boiled the water to make sure we didn't drink it. You sure it's cold?"
"Have a sip." She took the canteen and drank a bit of water.
"It is... cold. What the hell?" Karson took a hold of it and in the process, brushed Allison's hands. They were cold as ice.
"Ah, Allison, your hands are cold! What've you doing, it's about 92 outside right now!"
"I uh... don't know..." She looked at her hands but lowered them as Karson took another sip from the canteen. A loud booming voice brought them to.
"What is this?! I THOUGHT I ORDERED NO WATER DURING THIS EXERSISE! Corporal, did I not say that?!" The Drill Sergeant's voice boomed as he stood nearby the two Marines. The Corporal in charge of them walked up.
"Sir yes sir, no water during this exercise today!" The Corporal said.
"Punish these Marines accordingly Corporal!" With that the Sergeant angrily strolled away and the Corporal looked at them.
"You two, latrine duty, now!" He said. They groaned but obediently went to their duties.
...
Dragon Realms, Uncharted System
March 3, 2204
1945 Hours
Unknown Location, 33 Meters Below Ground Level
"We're getting close." The words brought Karson back to the present and he looked at the origin of the voice. The dragon ahead of him kept walking forward and he sighed and gripped his M74C tightly as he walked. He speed up a bit, trying to catch up with the dragon.
The passage they were in was lit by small purple torches and wasn't too terribly large. He walked up to the dragon, a question sprawling in his head.
"So... what do you want me for?" Karson asked, breaking the silence. The dragon didn't turn to him to respond.
"Your destiny is very complicated. Just your presence, as well as the others, means something great or something horrible is about to happen."
"Uh... what?"
"I don't expect you to know every detail... but have you been having visions lately?"
"Yeah... most are of this big silver tower with a purple beam shooting out of it... and this dragon... this purple dragon... hovering above it... as if in control."
"Just as I suspected. That dragon is Spyro. That vision holds the key to the very fate of every being in existence."
"Wait, what's so special about him? And who are you exactly?"
"My name is Diablo. I am the first purple dragon."
"I take it purple dragons are really special?"
"They are the ones to save the world from a fate worse then death. As the first it is my duty to ensure that history does not repeat itself like it has so many times before."
"What happened... before?"
"The silver tower from your visions, you remember it? And the purple dragon above it?"
"Yes."
"That... is the end of the world itself. The purple dragon above it, Spyro, he is to be the one to bring about that ending."
"How do you know?!"
"By you being here, as well as the others."
"The others? What're you talking about?!"
"You are the sign, and Spyro is the one. He is the one to bring this about, and you- and the others- are to stop him."
"How, how do we stop him?!"
"I will explain more, but right now your friends are walking into a trap. They are playing right into his hands... we cannot let him win."
"You're not answering me! Who is 'him'?"
"Just follow me, I will tell more later!"
Karson grunted and with much distaste followed the purple dragon as he bolted down the hallways and into the darkness.
Meanwhile...
March 3, 2204
1722 Hours
'Fire Canyon', heading to Objective Alpha
"Grenades, right there!"
"Contacts, on the right!"
"Provide suppressing fire!"
"Spyro move to the right and provide support!" Wagner yelled as he pulled down on the trigger of his assault rifle. The heat from that and the surrounding lava caused sweat to fall from his face and he whipped his forehead as he pointed his rifle at more Grublin and Orc as they came at them.
"Lieutenant, we have more contacts moving on our flank!" As the Private said this, he screamed aloud as an arrow collided into his arm and he fell over. Wagner turned and saw archer Orcs standing atop a ridgeline.
Spyro and Cynder dashed up and breathed their attacks, Spyro using fire and Cynder using her shadow attack. The Orcs screeched and fell over. Aaron flew nearby as well, slamming his claws into enemies and using fire to fend them off.
They finally knocked off the last stragglers and ran down the scorched path once more. The volcano was less then two clicks from them. They were close.
As they went on further, they saw a structure protruding from the lava. A small path of rocks lead directly to it and they'd have to traverse that to get to the next stretch of volcanic area. They dashed across it, lava boiling and smoke columns rising.
The structure looked like a castle that had fallen into the lava and had gotten stuck inside of it. The castle had several structures coming out from it and was pretty tall. Several golden statues of dragons dotted it and it looked like a part of Warfang.
"What is this place?" Allison asked as they walked across it.
"These used to be floating in the sky... when the Great Cleansing happened, they fell into the lava." Spyro said to them. Wagner looked at him a bit odd.
"You've mentioned this 'Great Cleansing' a few times now, what is it?"
"It's..." Spyro didn't finish his statement. Instead, he looked at the ground in shame.
"It's something." Cynder said for him.
"Well if this was a castle, what was this place before? There seems to be a lot of places that looked as if they were something before." A female Marine asked as she inspected the area.
"This used to be my home." Spyro said as he looked around.
"You mean our home. This place is a dump now." Sparx commented as he looked around.
"This was your home? What happened? What was it like before?" Allison asked the purple dragon.
"It was a beautiful mushroom forest. It stretched out for miles and there was a beautiful dragon temple perched atop a cliff... now this is all that remains..." Spyro said while looking at a scorched tree trunk sitting atop a cliff in the distance.
"Where's this dragon temple, is it still here?" Wagner asked. Spyro merely pointed to pieces of debris scattering the incline of the volcano.
"Oh..." Wagner simply said. A low rumble happened and lava began to spout from the volcano in the distance. Huge columns of fire and ash flew from it and a black cloud formed above it. Small lightning strikes were visible and ash and small molten rocks rained from the sky.
One of the Marines coughed and covered his mouth.
"Damn... this ash is getting thick..." He commented.
"Yeah, let's keep moving! We have to reach the LZ!" He yelled before they started walking across the castle floor. They got to the other side and reached a ridge that overlooked a plateau. It was the LZ. However, there were hostiles in the area, large amounts of Orcs and Grublins. There were several varieties of Orcs- heavily armored ones, sword toting ones, archers and several others. There was even one of those large creatures with the large scorpion tail and huge body.
"Looks like a patrol... doesn't look like they know where we are..." Aaron said as they got down to their stomachs and observed the enemy patrol. Wagner pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked them over.
"Defiantly a patrol." He said.
"We have to clear them out before the main forces can land." Allison said.
"That big one's gunna be a problem." Wagner said and pointed to the one with the scorpion tail.
"We can take him." Spyro said, ignoring the pain coming from his wounds.
"Spyro, you need to have that checked out." Allison said, pointing to the blood dripping from his wound.
"I'm fine, we need to get to the volcano."
"Spyro, what's the matter? Cynder asked, putting a paw on him. He was never this serious, nor this stubborn. Something was wrong.
"Cynder... we have to stop Fang from freeing Malefor... too many have died... we have to make sure this is the final push..." Spyro said, looking her in the eyes. She sighed and looked at him.
"Spyro... you're hurt. You need to rest. I can do this." Cynder said to him.
"Cynder, I have to do this, for Ignitus." She looked at the ground in defeat and Aaron had a frown on his face from this. Sparx had nothing to comment on and sat in the ash, watching them.
"Well we'd better act fast and get that landing zone secure, the Nighthawks can't wait forever." Wagner said as he watched.
Spyro sprang from the group, his claws itching for a fight. He latched onto a Grublin and sent it flying into a ground of Orcs who were knocked off by the attack. Spyro flinched as an arrow nailed his left arm but only shattered the scales in that region.
"Spyro, let us take over!" Aaron said as he flew down with Cynder. The Marines atop the ridge opened up and reluctantly, Spyro let them take over. Cynder smiled affectionately at him before going off with Aaron who was already busy blowing fire at the oncoming Grublins. Cynder threw in her own breath, coating the enemies in poisonous gasses which caused them to gag and grasp their throats.
The large creature plowed through the dead or dying Orcs and charged at Cynder and Aaron. It knocked them both out of the way and was headed for Spyro who snarled and readied himself.
The Marines fired upon this target, coating it with .22 ammunition. However, the rifle ammo did little to nothing against it as it charged Spyro. Spyro breathed fire at it before rolling out of its attack. He cringed in pain a bit as his wound from the Lakador shot burned at his side. It felt like the charred flesh was digging into his arm like a knife.
His wound on his neck also sent pain through his body, blood starting to trickle out of the wound. He went to the right and fired several bolts of electricity at the creature which only served to anger it even more. It barreled at him and was only deterred by the gunfire being outputted by the Marines and a barrage of attacks by Cynder and Aaron.
It broke off its attack but snarled at the pair before making a swipe at them. Spyro grabbed onto its back and bit it as much as he could. The creature snarled and tried to smack him off but his jaw was firmly planted into him. Finally he used enough force and Spyro flew from his position and landed on the ground. He picked himself up to find the creature walking towards him.
Suddenly the creature let out a howl and fell over, its back singed from a large amount of dark energy. Spyro looked and saw a large group of Lakadors firing at them, a tank also supporting them.
"Spyro, get out of there!" Wagner yelled. Spyro dashed away but dark energy flew all over. He was trapped, as were Cynder and Aaron, taking cover behind a fallen pillar of rock.
"Spyro!" Sparx called out but just as soon dashed behind a rock for protection.
More dark energy flew overhead and the Marines of Alpha tried their hardest to fight back but lacked anti-tank weapons. They couldn't do anything against that tank rolling into the area.
The tank fired, blowing a large chunk of ground from where Spyro was. He landed hard near the fallen corpse of the creature he had been fighting earlier and dragged himself behind it to take cover.
He heard a loud screech sound, followed with a thud and looked over the fallen creature to find the tank spouting fire and smoke as it exploded. Behind the tank there was a smoke trail that lead to a Marine on the opposite end of the plateau who clutched a tube like weapon.
Several other Marines fired and hit the Lakadors, causing them to fall back. Hunter, having gone with the other Marine group instead, was also with them.
"Alpha, this is Theta! We've got this area, move on to the Objective!"
"Copy Theta! Come on Marines, let's go!" Spyro reluctantly got up and with Cynder and Aaron returned to Alpha and they began moving until Wagner stopped them in front of a series of small ravines, canyons and other land masses that lead to the Volcano itself.
"This is it Marines, we stop Fang here and now! We gatta stop him before he awakens the Dark Master! If he does, we may never get out of here! We've got to take this volcano, let's go!" With that the Marine of Alpha headed down a path, and to the fight of their lives.
End of Chapter 9
Spyro and Cynder @ Sierra Entertainment
Aaron @ Dragonfreak1112 from DeviantART.com
UER Marines @ Me