RotI Ch. 48

Another Golem

Obeying her command the mighty Ice Golem raised it's fist and brought it down towards where Spyro and Murghus were standing, but only hit the stone stairway they once stood upon. The two dragons had dove out of the way just before the strike came, and to avoid another one they both took to the sky. After finding where Spyro was the Golem took a breath and shot large icicles towards him. Wasting no time Spyro quickly flew out of the way and shot a fireball at the beast, but came to no avail when it put it out with a mist of ice.
With the first attempt failed Spyro continued to try to melt the monster, but the reactions were too quick to get a good shot off. Seeing the purple dragon having trouble Murghus decided to try to distract the Golem to give him a clear shot, but before he had the chance to get close he was tackled from underneath and brought to the ground with a crash. He looked up and saw Alexis pinning him down with an evil grin.
"Can't let you fight my monster, I wouldn't want that handsome face of yours to get damaged." She said to him while stroking her paw over his cheek.
With a growl Murghus raised his hind legs and kicked her off of him and back onto the stairway. Before she had time to react Murghus had gotten up and pinned her to the ground.
"Well, I prefer being the dominant one, but I guess you can have your turn." Alexis stated with an evil laugh.
"What will it take for you to know I do not love you?!" he asked her.
"From the position we're in I doubt that." she replied with another laugh before licking his cheek.
With his eyes widened in shock Murghus replied to the lick with a scratch to her face.
"I do not love you! I love Glacia! She and I are mates, and are expecting a child soon! Face it Alexis, we were never meant to be!"
Hearing Murghus say those words made Alexis' heart sink, but she kept her composure and kicked him off of her.
"Very well, once that golem finishes off your friend and captures you I shall go to Warfang and take care of the problem." she told him while getting up.
"You, will not, touch Glacia!" Murghus roared.
Alexis instantly knew she had made a mistake by saying that, for Murghus quickly got up and shot four pieces of ice at her, each piece grabbing her claws and pinning them to the ground. Without being able to move Alexis could do nothing to prevent what Murghus was going to do to her. With his mind controlled by his rage Murghus approached the helpless dragoness and struck her with his claw across the side of the face.
"That's for Brohn!" he roared. Another strike came shortly after across the other side of her face. "That was for the innocent people you have killed! And this is for Glacia!" Murghus added with a final punch to her lower jaw, knocking her out instantly.
Once Alexis was unconscious the Golem felt the loss of connection and turned its gaze to Alexis for a second. With the clear opening Spyro took the shot and landed several fireballs on the Golem's head, making it roar in pain. Immediately Spyro followed with shooting a line of flames across its back and chest.
Murghus watched from the ground as the legendary Golem began to melt from all the fire. Spyro continued to cover it in flames to ensure that it would remain hot and did not stop for a second. Without its sight all the Golem could do was swing its arms in an attempt to hit Spyro, but the purple dragon was too quick for his strikes. Eventually, though, the Golem's arms broke off from the heat and shattered on the ground. This was closely followed by its legs all breaking at once, leaving the Golem's body to smash into the ground, breaking into three giant pieces that were slowly melting away into the snow underneath.
Once the last part of the Golem was gone Spyro landed next to Murghus and patted his shoulder.
"Thank you for giving me an opportunity to strike." he said to him.
"And thank you for taking out that monster." Murghus replied. "The deaths of many have now been repaid."
Spyro nodded and turned to Alexis. "What shall we do with her?"
"Every fiber of my body wants to kill her right now."
Spyro looked at the ice dragon and could see the resistance in his eyes. "But, she is still another dragon, and deserves a fair trial?" he asked.
Murghus nodded in reply and said "she will get what she deserves, but it wont be by my claws. For now, we lock her up in the dungeons, if they are still intact that is."
"But who will watch her? What if she escapes?" Spyro asked.
"I would be happy to do it." A new voice stated from behind the two dragons.
They both turned and saw Tundra standing with six other dragons standing behind him with Taraxus standing next to him.
"Was this all you could find, Tundra?" Murghus asked the prince.
"Yes, I looked all over the city. Everyone else was already dead." Tundra answered.
"Including my sister." Taraxus added. "Which is why I wish to stay and watch Alexis. I will not let her out of my sights and I will stop her from escaping, even if I have to die for it."
"I am grateful of your offer, but Alexis is much bigger and very much stronger than you, how do you plan on keeping her locked up?" Spyro asked.
"There is a plant in the gardens that if consumed will knock out a grown dragon for hours. If I keep giving it to her it should work until everyone comes back to get her." Taraxus answered.
"Very well, if you are up to the challenge then you shall do it. I will notify the Queen about this immediately once we return to Warfang." Murghus stated.
"I am, thank you for trusting me master Murghus." Taraxus said with a bow.
Murghus replied with a nod then turned his gaze back to the survivors.
"Are any of you unable to fly?" he asked the group. After everyone shook their heads no he said "alright, we will lead all of you to Warfang where you shall be reunited with your loved ones and will be fed and taken care of. Let's move, I want to get back as soon as possible."
The survivors obeyed Murghus' orders and followed him, along with Spyro and Tundra, into the sky and towards Warfang.

With the amount of energy he had used the night before, Wasp enjoyed every minute of his nap in Ishkur, even with Statica in the condition that she was in. He cared for her with all his heart, even though she already had a mate and two kids, but he knew he did all he could to help her. Now it was the healers' turn to do their best to save her.
For several hours he slept without disturbance on the comfortable bed. He even slept through someone knocking on the door repeatedly.  When there was no answer the door opened gently and in walked the same dragoness that led him to the room he was in now. She examined him and figured he was still worn out, but the news she had to tell him was extremely important and he needed to hear it!
When she moved her paw to wake him up she stopped for a moment to take a better look at him. She noticed how muscular, yet skinny he was. It seemed to her that the only thing he had eaten for his life were small rodents, once a day. Once he told her what she needed to she figured she needed to get some more food into him, she had been wanting to try a new recipe of hers but no one was willing enough to try it.
The next thing she noticed about him was his face, or the lack of one. She could see his eyelids, but everything else was covered by the black mask he was wearing. It struck her as odd for a dragon to be wearing a mask, especially while he sleeps.
Letting her curiosity get the best of her she moved her paw to his head and tried to gently pull the mask off of him, but nearly jumped through the ceiling when one of his paws pushed hers away. Wasp was now wide awake and looking at the intruder with wide eyes.
"Oh, hello Voltara." Wasp finally said.
"Hey, Wasp." she replied, still trying to catch her breath.
"Sorry about scaring you, I have gone through so much in my life my body has a natural reaction to defend myself."
"It's alright, I shouldn't have been doing that anyways."
Wasp nodded slightly then looked at her confusedly and asked "what are you doing here anyways?"
"Oh, right. I was sent to inform you that Statica is doing well and is on the path to a full recovery." she answered.
With a sigh of relief Wasp said "good to hear, I was afraid she wouldn't have made it much longer."
"It was a good thing you brought her here when you did. From what I was told she had lost a lot of blood, anymore in fact and she might not be with us now."
Just the thought of that made Wasp's body shiver. He had just found Statica he was not ready to lose her again.
"Also, the King is ready to see you." Voltara added.
"King? I thought the ruler of Ishkur was a Queen."
"It was, but Queen Virara has passed the honor to her son, Jolt. The ceremony was last week, which is why the dragons of Warfang are not yet aware of the change."
"I see, well then I am ready to see him as well, I guess." Wasp said while getting off the bed.
"Alright, I shall lead the way." Voltara replied.
The two walked out of the room together and Wasp followed Voltara through the halls of the castle, this time getting a better look at how the interior looked. It had basic castle designs, but with this being the first castle he had ever seen wasp was looking around in awe. His entire life had consisted in living inside a small stone house or in a forest, never had he imagined even seeing a castle.
Voltara glanced to her side and saw Wasp looking around. She could hear the who's and awe's coming from him, which made he giggle a bit.
'He is a rather cute dragon, even with the mask and hidden life story.' Voltara said to herself in her mind.
After getting a good few of the place Wasp began walking normally again, but still checking out every other thing with the corner of his eye. Within a few minutes the two dragons arrived at the entrance to the throne room where two guards stood.
"Welcome Voltara, what brings you here today?" the guard on the left asked.
"The electric guardian calls for a meeting with his majesty, but she is unable to attend so in her place she sends Wasp to meet with him." Voltara answered.
"Very well, you may proceed." the guard replied.
The guard on the right then pushed the door open for them to enter. Once they were both inside the door was immediately shut.
"Ah, welcome back Voltara." a voice said from the other side of the room. Wasp looked closer and saw a yellow dragon sitting with a similar, much older, looking dragoness behind him. "What brings you back into my presence?"
"I come with the representative of Warfang, Wasp." Voltara answered while lowering herself into a bow.
"Ah yes, welcome to my kingdom Wasp. Have you enjoyed your stay?"
"Other than the worrying for my friend I have. You have a real nice castle your majesty." Wasp replied with a bow.
"Thank you, it was built only several years ago, after the apes drove us out of our last one and gave it to the son of Malefor. But enough about the castle, if you came with the Electric Guardian of Warfang there must be something urgent you want to talk to us about."
"Yes your majesty, we flew here to inform you that the earth kingdom, Volos, has declared war on us." Wasp told him.
"The earth kingdom? Why would they do that?" the dragoness behind Jolt asked.
"We are not clear of their intentions, we can only guess that they want to rule the planet and prove they are the stronger race." Wasp replied.
"This is unbelievable! Never in my years as queen has there been anything like this!"
"My mother is right, Volos has been allies with all the elemental kingdoms during the war against Malefor, why would they change their mind now?" Jolt asked.
"I do not know the answer to that, all I do know is that they did and they must be stopped. We had also come to ask for an alliance between our two cities to…"
"Say no more Wasp! I accept your offer." Jolt interrupted.
"Thank you your majesty, you shall not regret making this decision."
"It is my pleasure to help Warfang in any way I can. Is there some sort of treaty I need to sign?"
"There is, but the guardians must all be present for it."
"Does this mean I must travel to Warfang?" Jolt asked.
"Not necessarily, Pyry sent a representative to initially sign it then bring it back to the queen." Wasp answered.
"Very well, we shall do the same. Voltara, would you do the honor of going to Warfang for me?"
"I certainly will your majesty." Voltara answered.
"Excellent. And while you're there, have fun. We are going to be allies with Warfang no matter what, so take your time and take a break. You have most certainly deserved it."
"Thank you, your majesty." Voltara replied with a bow.
Jolt slightly bowed his head in reply then turned back to Wasp and asked "what happened to the Electric Guardian last night?"
"She was shot in the neck by an ape archer." Wasp replied. "It only skimmed her scales, but she lost a lot of blood on our way here."
"Apes then. I will order more guards to be stationed near our borders. It will be hard for them to reach us with the defenses we have set up, but not impossible, and I do not want to risk anything." Jolt announced while getting up.
"I agree with your decision, they found a way to get to Pyry and destroy it." Wasp told him.
The three other dragons looked at him in shock. "You mean to tell me that the apes found a way to get to Pyry, which has the hardest defense to get through?" Virara asked.
"I am not so sure if it was the apes themselves, or Demetrius. Either way, if you see anything bigger than a dragon I suggest you evacuate the castle." Wasp replied.
"With that news I just might evacuate now to keep everyone safe!" Jolt stated.
"I doubt that they can get much more than a few apes through the storm. The lightning bolts are deadly accurate and will wipe out most of their troops." Voltara told him.
"Yes, I know. I just want to keep the citizens safe."
"You are doing your best my son. I am certain they are all grateful for what you do." Virara said to him.
"Thank you mother. Now, I best be off to inform the troops. Good luck Voltara, and thank you again." Jolt said before walking towards the door.
Wasp and Voltara bowed as he left and followed him out, but Voltara led Wasp in the opposite direction. She took him to the hospital wing and straight to where Statica was laying, still unconscious from the blood loss. Seeing her in this condition made Wasp tear up a little bit, but he shook it off when he saw her face.
"It looks like she isn't in pain anymore." he stated.
"Yeah, the healers did their best, but they are not trained for situations like this." Voltara told him. "We have not had any battles in years, but they seemed to have done well."
Wasp nodded and got a closer look at the wound. It was covered by a cloth, which was covered in dried up blood. He pulled the cloth up a little bit and saw the cut had been lightly sealed with something to stop the bleeding.
"That gel will stop her bleeding for awhile, but not permanently." A new voice announced from behind him, causing him to jump up slightly
Wasp turned to see another  electric dragon standing close to Voltara, whom he assumed was one of the doctors.
"What do you mean not permanently?" Wasp asked.
"The arrow cut deeply into her throat, that gel is not that strong, but it will stop the blood from coming out. It will eventually sink into her bloodstream and disapear, allowing the blood to flow again if it is not completely healed at the time." the doctor answered.
"How long until the wound will seal up?" Wasp asked.
"With a wound that deep, a week at least, and we are low on supply for that gel."
"What?! Can't you sew her up or something?!" Wasp asked, his fear rising again.
"No, and before you ask no I cannot try to fix the problem myself. It is far too deep for my expertise and I might do more damage to her."
Wasp growled and paced around a bit, trying to figure out what to do. In his time in the wild he had grown the natural instinct of protection, but nothing about healing.
"How long will that gel stay on?" Wasp finally asked.
"Twelve hours, maybe." the doctor replied.
"Okay, is there enough to go on a day of traveling?"
"Only if you were to stop only to put more gel on and get something to eat before getting back in the sky."
"Okay, then I have a plan, and I will need your help Voltara." Wasp announced.
"Alright, what is it?" she asked.
"We are going to strap her to a harness and fly her back to Warfang, where a, real, healer can help." Wasp answered, getting a glare from the doctor.
"Okay, I will certainly need that vacation the king promised me once we get there." Voltara stated.
Wasp chuckled a bit but quickly began searching for a harness to carry Statica in. He found one in a nearby closet and put it on Statica with the help of Voltara and the doctor. He then found the strongest rope he could find and placed it through the straps and around his and Voltara's neck. Once everything was set they rolled the table Statica was on outside and readied themselves.
The doctor put two small canisters of the gel inside a pouch on Statica's harness, saying "that should be enough to get you there. Now hurry, and good luck."
"Thank you doctor, if it wasn't for you she would have never had this chance." Wasp said to him.
"Hey, it's my job, now go!"
Wasp nodded and flapped his wings with Voltara. Once the rope had extended to the fullest there was a little resistance at first, but eventually Statica's body lifted off the table and into the sky, trailing underneath Wasp and Voltara as they flew towards Warfang.

The memorial service for Terrador was held at sundown, and the entire city gathered in the field outside the walls, surrounding the area his body was laid on the ground. Gravel stood over him with Glacia, Cynder, Infernes, Cyril, Volteer, Ember and his family standing close by. The crowd was silent with the occasional dragon crying in the crowd. All heads were bowed to honor the fallen guardian, and no cheek was dry of any tears, even  the children could not hold back their tears.
Gravel made sure a suitable coffin was made to honor his fallen mentor, made with the best ore anywhere. He also cleaned him up and made him seem noble, even in death. He found the spot that Terrador had taken the earth guardian recruits out to their last day of training. It was also the spot where he was told he was going to be the next earth guardian.
After Gravel had finished his prayer he looked up to the crowd and said "citizens of Warfang, we gather here to pay our respects to the elder dragon, Terrador. He was killed by an assassin from the Earth Kingdom, which has been caught and shall pay for her crime in time.
"We are not only here to mourn his death though. We are here, to celebrate the life he had. He was by far the most loyal and dependable dragon I know. If there was ever a dragon in need of help, he would help, no matter the cost. If he ever saw injustice being done, he would set things right.
"When I came to Warfang to become a guardian, he was the first dragon I met. He treated each and every candidate the same. He showed no favoritism to no one, not even me. Through the month I was here I made sure I did my best to be just like him in every way. You could say he was like a father to me."
Gravel paused for a moment to allow himself to calm down and wipe away his tears.
"He was a brave warrior, ready to die at the hands of the enemy if it would have helped the city, but he would most certainly not gone down without taking a few dozen more apes with him."
There was a light chuckle throughout the crowd, which allowed Gravel to lighten up and go on.
"He was the dragon everyone should try to be; strong, brave, kind, and noble. We will all miss you, Master Terrador." Gravel said, thus ending his speech.
Once he finished two dragons standing close by opened the casket to allow each dragon to pass by and get one last look at the mighty Terrador. For hours the citizens walked by and paid their final respects to him. Once the last dragon had passed by the moon was high in the sky and Aden had to set up large poles with fire on top to keep the burial site visible.
Everyone gathered on one side and watched as Gravel closed the casket and slowly lowered the earth beneath it to let the former Earth Guardian, Terrador, finally rest in peace.