RotI ch. 45

The Prince's Duties

Morning came and awoke the citizens of Warfang. The Ice Queen, Krystal, barely slept though. Not because of the quick change in scenery but because of the fear of losing her son for good to the ice golem. After the sun had been up for a couple of hours she stayed in her room and continuously stared at the floor in a trance as she prayed for her son's safety. Only when there was a knock at the door did she move.
"Co… come in." she announced.
The door opened as Eirlys walked in, carrying a tray full of food. "Hello your majesty." She said with a bow.
"Hello Eirlys. How are you doing?" Krystal replied as best she could.
"I couldn't sleep well last night. I was too worried about Tundra."
"As was I my dear."
The young dragoness approached and placed the tray of food in front of Krystal and sat down, saying "I also felt bad for not being able to stop him. I honestly tried my hardest to make him stay, but he wouldn't listen! I wanted to go with him but he froze over my feet, and I…"
The queen silenced her with her paw and said with a calm and gentle voice "it is alright Eirlys, I do not blame you at all for Tundra running off. I do not blame anyone. I am just worried for him, he is all that I have left of a family." She gently stroked the top of Eirlys' head as she continued with "my parents died in a war a long time ago, my mate is being held captive in Volos, you and Tundra are all I have left. I cannot imagine what life would be like if I lost him."
Understanding what she meant Eirlys walked closer to Krystal and hugged her arm. "I know what you mean, Tundra is the only dragon I could ever love. I sure hope Murghus and Spyro will take good care of him." she said.
Krystal huggeed her back, saying "as do I my child."
After a minute of hugging Eirlys broke away and said "I need to go now, my mom is leaving for the city of Ishkur now and I want to say good-bye before she does."
"Alright, thank you for the breakfast."
"Anything to help, your majesty." Eirlys replied with a bow.
The queen of Pyry smiled and watched her soon to be daughter-in-law walk out of her room, closing the door behind her. She sighed and looked out the window and whispered "ancestors, please give Adrian a chance to get out."

Phoenus was in the middle of another dream given to him by Spyroena when Demetrius entered his room and woke him up. "It is time for us to go." his master stated.
The apprentice nodded and followed him out of the room and back into the room they first saw Drakath in. There the saw him standing over a vision pool, looking into it. "Hello Demetrius. Are you ready to go now?" he asked without even looking up.
"We are ready. What about you?" Demetrius replied.
"Almost, just give me one more minute."
Demetrius nodded and awaited for his grandfather. In a couple of minutes Drakath looked back up at them and said "alright, I'm ready!"
"Great." Demetrius replied before heading towards the door.
"Where do you think you are going?" Drakath suddenly asked.
"Outside, so we can fly to my castle." Demetrius replied.
"There will be no need for that. Come over here."
Once Demetrius and Phoenus arrived next to him he pointed down to the pool. They followed the claw and saw an image of a room inside of Demetrius' castle. "Is that…" Demetrius began.
"Your castle? Yes, it is. Actually, it is the vision pool you have. I have learned of a way to connect our two pools and use them as a portal." Drakath finished.
"You have?! That's amazing!" Phoenus stated.
"How does it work?" Demetrius asked.
"Just step in and you should be inside of your castle."
"Should?" Phoenus asked.
"What? I haven't tried it yet!"
Demetrius examined the pool a bit more before placing his paw inside of it. Just as he predicted his paw went straight through to the other room. He pulled it back and looked at his paw, checking for anything bad. Once he found nothing wrong he lowered his head and poked it through and saw the vision pool room.
He brought his head back out and said "it seems safe."
"Then lets get going! I want to hurry up and see what you have done with your life!" Drakath exclaimed.
Demetrius nodded and stepped into the pool then into his castle with Phoenus and Drakath right behind him. He then lead them into the hallway and spotted Ciqala immediately. "Ciqala, has anything happened in my absence?" he asked.
The ape jumped in shock by his masters sudden appearance. "Master?! When did you get here?" he asked.
"Just now." Demetrius answered.
"Oh. Well we've been sending messages to several tribes of apes letting them know about us. We already have a couple of tribes already here, not enough to consider an army though."
"That's pretty good, we must start somewhere. Where's Cynder at?"
Ciqala paused for a minute before saying "almost forgot, she's…"
He was interrupted by an ear piercing roar emanating from somewhere in the castle. When it stopped Demetrius bolted off running towards his room. Once he arrived he busted through the door to see Gaul standing in front of Evil Cynder.
Demetrius looked down at his mate and saw her breathing heavily and looking back into his eyes. "Hello… Demetrius…" She managed to say.
She lifted her head and motioned for him to go to her. As he did so Gaul respectfully bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him. When Demetrius arrived at her side Evil Cynder gave him a smile and pulled back the sheets to reveal three black eggs leaning on her. The sight left Demetrius speechless. Even with his heart of evil he couldn't help but feel, happy. He couldn't explain it but the sight of the three eggs sitting there filled him with joy.
"Cynder… these are… our eggs…" he stuttered.
She nodded and said calmly "they are, Demetrius. Our three beautiful eggs."
Demetrius couldn't stop smiling as he climbed onto the bed and laid down behind her and nuzzled her gently. His plans for his children didn't even cross his mind in this moment, all he could think about was the three eggs and his mate.

When Eirlys finally arrived at the council chamber her mother was just walking towards the entrance. "Hey Eirlys, has the Queen been given her breakfast?" Statica asked.
Eirlys nodded in reply and said "yeah, she should be good for awhile. Where's dad at?"
"Walking Thunor around. He is so restless during the mornings so he's keeping him out of the chambers as to not disturb our meeting."
"You're having another meeting? What for?"
"I do not know, Flame just told me that Gravel summoned us here." the electric guardian answered.
"Oh, may I come in?" Eirlys asked.
"I don't see why not. I saw Blazelight and Shadow walk in with Flame a minute ago."
"Yay!" Eirlys cheered as she walked in with her mother.
When the entered they saw the other three guardians and elders along with Messick and Wasp. "Hello Statica." Wasp announced with a smile.
"Hey Wasp." Statica replied. "What is this meeting about?"
"I don't know. A mole just came to my house and requested me to come here." Wasp answered.
Before Statica could say anything else Gravel stood up and spoke with his usual booming deep voice, saying "I have called this meeting for two reasons. The first is to confirm that both of the guardians are prepared for their journey. And second, to dicuss their safety."
"What do you mean by our safety?" Statica asked.
"As we are all aware the Earth Kingdom is attempting to take down Warfang. What I fear is that one of their goals to do so is to take out the elemental guardians, thus crippling the city of its leadership. I cannot bear to think of the chaos that will consume the city if one or more guardian is killed.
"So, for safety precautions I recommend that each guardian be escorted to their location by another dragon of the same element."
Flame stood up and protested by saying "I see that your intentions are good, Master Gravel, but I will not risk the life of another dragon for the safety of ours! We have both been trained well enough to take on several earth dragons at once!"
"I know, but we do not know how big their army exactly is. Your training will not help against an entire legion of dragons, after all we have been trained to fight apes, not other dragons to the death. With a companion your chances of survival increase."
Before Flame could protest again Statica stood up and stated "I believe this is a good idea. It would also give us some company on the long flight there."
"Yeah, and yours is the one I fear for the most, Statica," Gravel replied. "Ishkur is not that far north of Volos, so I would imagine there will be pleanty of earth dragons scouting that area."
Statica nodded and said "I am aware of that danger, which is why I shall more than happily take Wasp with me."
Wasps eyes widened in shock, for he had just now realized why he had been summoned. "Wasp, do you accept this request of you?" Gravel asked.
The electric dragon was too deep in shock to realize the question that was asked. It tooks a quick tap from Statica to wake him up. "What? Oh, uh, yes, I, accept." he answered with a stuter.
"Good, now what about you Flame?" Gravel asked.
"I guess I'll accept, even though I do not see the point of it." Flame answered.
"Alright, do you accept this request Messick?"
"Of course I do! I have wanted to go to visit Mt. Kennith again ever sine I retired ten years ago!" Messick anwered.
"Very well, if you are both ready you may leave as soon as possible." Gravel stated, finishing off the meeting.
Flame immediately walked out with Messick, Blazelight and Shadow and headed towards the hospital. Statica, on the other hand, just walked out with Wasp and Eirlys and found Glacier with Thunor waiting outside. "How did it go?" Glacier asked.
"It was alright, just a safety thing Gravel was worried about."
"Really? Why was he worried?"
"He fears the earth kingdom is after the guardians to create chaos in Warfang, so he recommended I have Wasp accompany me to Ishkur."
"Huh, interesting. I am thankful he was thinking of your safety. When will yo be leaving?"
"As soon as Wasp is ready." Statica answered before looking to Wasp.
"I'm ready whenever you are." Wasp replied.
"Well then, I guess this means now." Statica stated.
Glacier chuckled then hugged his mate lovingly. "Hurry home, Thunor is going to miss you a ton."
"He better not be the only one."
Again Glacier chuckled and said "of course! Eirlys will as well!"
"Ha ha, I know what you mean." Statica stated.
Glacier smilled innocently and gave her one last kiss. She then hugged both of her kids at the same time, saying "be good to your daddy. I'll be home soon."
"Ok mom, I will." Eirlys  replied.
Statica kissed them both on the forehead and turned bac to Wasp. With a nod they took off flying towards the northwest, to the city of Ishkur.

Flame took Blazelight and Shadow to the hospital so he could say goodbye to his entire family at once. He first hugged Blazelight tightly.
"Help out your mother while I am gone, and just be the good girl you have always been." he said to her.
"I will daddy." Blazelight replied.
The fire guardian kissed her forehead before moving onto Shadow, saying "take care of my two girls, ok?"
"I will guard them with my life!" Shadow replied.
Flame chuckled and said "only if there is another attack."
He patted Shadow's head and moved to his mate and hugged her tightly. "Fly safe and quick my love. I will be waiting for you here." Ember whispered.
"I already cannot wait for the moment I am by your side again." he whispered back.
With a kiss they backed away from each other, allowing Ember to hug her grandfather. "Do not worry, I will take good care of Flame. No harm will come to him during the trip." she assured her.
"Thank you grandpa, and take care of yourself out there as well." Ember replied.
"I will. Now, we best be going so we can get good distance before the sun sets!"
Flame nodded and walked outside with the rest of them. After giving all of them one last smile he began flying towards the north towards Mt. Kennith.

Spyro and Murghus had been flying ever since they started in the morning and only stopped to take a quick lunch break. During their flight Spyro kept thinking over the plan to take down the Ice Golem. He believed that if it really was just made of ice he could just melt it with his fire breath. If that were to fail then he would try finding its weak point, if it was anything like the one he defeated with Cynder many years ago then the black crystal should be inside its head.
"Hey!" someone shouted from behind them, taking Spyro out of his thoughts instantly.
They both turned and saw Prince Tundra flying towards them. "Tundra?! What are you doing here?!" Murghus asked.
When Tundra finally caught up to them he answered "I came to help you guys fight the Golem!"
"What were you thinking? You are the prince of Pyry and cannot be flying around by yourself!"
"And we do not need anymore help, Murghus and I can deal with this ourselves." Spyro added.
"But I am the prince of Pyry! It is my duty to protect the city!" Tundra argued. "I don't care how but I want to help in some way!"
Murghus sighed before saying "very well, but I cannot risk getting you hurt. When we arive you must find some cover. Once Spyro and I are fighting the Golem I want you to sneak around and look for any survivors. If you find any lead them to safety."
"But I…"
"No buts, you shall do as I say or else I'll send you back to Warfang!" Murghus interrupted.
Tundra was wanting to protest but after seeing the seriousness in his voice and eyes he gave up by saying "alright, I'll do it."
"Good, now lets get going. We can make it there by mid afternoon tomorrow if we continue flying now."
With that the three dragons continued their flight to Alexis and the Ice Golem.

Light poured into Adrian's cell when the door opened again, letting a red dragon walk in. "I am here to releave you of your duties." he stated.
The guard currently watching Adrian nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him.
Adrian lifted his head and looked out the cell door. "Hello Comanche." he said.
"Hello Adrian, how have you been holding up?" the replacement asked.
"I've been better. Did you find anything out about Pyry?"
"I have not. It seems as Alexis has not even returned yet." Comanche replied.
"I see, then there is still hope. What about the other two cities? Does Silas have messengers going to them already?"
"It seems that he sent one to Ishkur yesterday, but for Mt. Kennith I believe he had one there a long time ago."
"That's not good! We must get this information to Warfang immediately!"
"I'm way ahead of you my friend!" Comanche stated as he lifted up his tail to show the keys sitting on them. "I think it's time we get out of here!"
Adrian smiled and nodded. "I agree, lets go!"
Comanche hurriedly put the key into the hole and opened the door for Adrian. "If you don't mind I would also like to cause some trouble around here first."
"Of course my friend, as long as we can get out do as much damage as you want to." Adrian replied once Comanche got rid of his chains. "These monsters need to be destroyed anyways!"
"Thank you! I shall rip apart any dragon or ape that stands in our way!" Comanche stated excitedly.
Adrian chuckled a bit before they headed for the door. Comanche opened it and looked around, making sure no one was around before Adrian made his way out. They both walked quietly through the city, being careful not to walk by any soldiers or anybody that would recognize Adrian. When they made it into an alley Comanche spotted his first goal, the armory.
"The armory, that will cripple their army for awhile." Comanche staed.
"Yes, but it will also be heavily guarded. We need to take out something smaller and not so well protected, or something that won't hurt the inocent civilians." Adrian told him.
"Very well. What do you have in mind?"
"I was thinking the entry way. It's guarded, but not by that many dragons and apes."
Comanche thought about it for a minute then said "that's a good idea, it will also assure us a safe way out."
"Exactly! Lets get moving!" Adrian ordered as they continued their journey.
They followed the many alleyways through the city until they finally spotted the exit out of the city. "I see it! Time to put the guards to bed. I'll give them a quick POW and BAM to the head, and we are done!" Comache exclaimed as he punched the air.
Comanche stood up and started charging at the group of guards stationed at the exit but Adrian jumped in front of him, saying "hang on my friend. Let's get there first and surprise them! If we just go charging in we'll just be picked of by the ape archers."
Comanche sighed and said "fine, but I still get to smash some heads, right?"
"Of course! We just have to get close enough to do so."
The red dragon nodded and followed Adrian out of the alleyway as they casually walked to the exit. When they were halway there Adrian felt like there was something wrong. Before he had time to react a group of earth dragons dropped down and surrounded them while apes pointed spears and arrows at them from the buildings above them.
"I did not see this coming." Adrian whispered to himself.
"I thought you were better than this Comanche! You were an excellent guard!" A voice said from above them.
"Silas." Adrian growled.
"Adrian is my friend! I will not allow you to torture and execute him for doing what is right!" Comanche replied.
"He is a traitor to our kind! Anyone that helps him will also be labeled a traitor!"
"Then label me a traitor! As long as I can get away from the filth you call dragons!"
Silas shook his head and said "That makes two good soldiers I have lost!"
The earth king then nodded at the lead ape, signaling  the okay to release the arrows. The apes shot the arrows at the escapees but were deflected by stone walls that Adrian shot up. Several earth dragons then lunged at them only to have Comanche grab one of their heads and swing them into their commrades. When he it all of the attackers Comanche twisted the earth dragons neck, killing him instantly.
A couple more dove at Adrian and managed to take him to the ground only to have Comanche summon up sharp rocks to come out of the ground and stab them through the chest. Adrian got up just in time to stop another volley of arrows with another stone wall. When they stopped Adrian shot several ice missles at the apes above, killing most of them.
Adrian roared in pain when he felt an arrow shoot into his shoulder. He quickly pulled it out and used it stab another earth dragon through the chest. He again pulled out the arrow and used it to kill an ape that had jumped onto Comanches back. He left the arrow in the ape but picked up a spear sticking out of the ground and stood on his hind legs to throw it at the ape commander.
"Fools! Get them! Kill them!" Silas roared.
One of the earth dragons that Comanche had knocked out earlier finally stood up and prepared an earth missile, aiming it for Comanche. He fired it only to have Comanche catch it in his mouth and blindly throw it behind him. Little did he know that he threw it straight to King Silas. The earth king had no time to react before the big rock hit his head, causing him to collapse immediately.
Every earth dragon around looked up in shock, giving Adrian and Comanche an opportunity to make a run for it. They flew through the exit and sealed it behind them, giving them more time to escape. Once they felt they were safe they landed on a sand dune to catch their breath.
"You do know who you hit bacck there, right?" Adrian asked once he could speak again.
"Yeah, I hit the earth king!" Comanche cheered.
"Yes, which will be bad for us! They will use this as a reason to empty Volos and find us!"
"Oh boy." Comanche said, realizing the consequence.
"Come on! We must hurry to Warfang! It is the only place we will be safe!" Adrian exclaimed before flying again with Comanche right behind him.

Boulder approached where the battle had just taken place and walked up to the first guard he saw. "What happened here?" he asked.
"Adrian escaped with the help of Comanche." he replied.
Boulder growled before asking "casualties?"
"Many apes dead, half a dozen dragons as well."
"Go find my father, tell him about what has happened!"
The guard bowed his head and took a deep breath before saying "the king… was one of those deaths."
Boulder stumbled backwards from the guards words. "N… no… he can't be!" he stuttered.
"I am sorry Boulder, we tried everything. He was dead before we arrived."
"H… how was he killed?"
"A witness said Comanche shot a boulder at him, hitting the side of his head. He was dead before he hit the ground."
Boulder stared at the ground in disbelief. The dragon that had helped him get to where he was now, was gone. He looked back up to the guard and said "go find me Leaf. Tell her, the king has a job for her."