The Darksield Chronicles

Chapter 15: Nightmares

Darksield POV

Darksield glanced around his new room. It had an open balcony like all the others with a bed in the corner that was pitch black. He had a fountain in one corner, and a crate against one of the walls. When he opened it, he found red and green crystals.

"Sorry if there aren't that many items in here," Cynder said apologetically from behind him.

"Are you kidding?" Darksield asked. "This place is way better than the orphanage. So, I guess I'll see you in the morning?"

She nodded. "Spyro's room is to the left; mine is to the right, and Flame's is right next to Spyro's room. See you in the morning." She turned and walked out the door with Flame and Spyro walking after her.

Darksield sighed and sat down on his bed. A week ago, he wouldn't have believed any of this was possible. And now he was here with his own room in the dragon realms. He smiled. Life was good. He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes.

Darksield opened his eyes and looked around a large rocky chamber. It looked like the inside of a massive underground temple. He turned around and saw something that made his heart stop. An enormous purple dragon was standing twenty feet away, facing three dragons. Darksield immediately recognized the purple dragon. It was Malefor. And the three dragons facing him...

Darksield gasped. It was Cynder, Spyro, and himself. As he watched, the three of them attacked Malefor. Malefor slammed Spyro with his tail, sending him flying into a column. Malefor charged Spyro and would have killed him if Cynder hadn't slammed into his side. As he watched, Cynder unleashed a shadowy fireball and knocked Malefor away.

But Malefor wasn't done yet. Malefor got to his feet and charged Cynder. Suddenly, he blurred, and he was right behind her. Darksield shouted a warning, as did the dream version of himself. Too late. Malefor slammed Cynder to the ground, and before she could get up, he impaled her through the heart with his tail blade.

Darksield was in shock. He watched as the dream Darksield charged at Malefor. Darksield closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to see the sight of... he trailed off. Wait a minute, he thought. If Malefor had killed Cynder, where is her body? He opened his eyes. It was true... Her body was gone, as was Spyro's. This wasn't real, he thought. It was just a dream. He closed his eyes. He concentrated on the falseness of the dream and could sense it all around him. He imagined ripping into it with his claws, and when he opened his eyes, he was in an entirely different place.

He glanced around. He was in some sort of arena. Across from him stood Cynder and Spyro. But something was off. Cynder's normally black scales were even darker, and Spyro's were pitch black. Both of their eyes were glowing white. They charged.

Darksield's body acted on autopilot. He charged forward and slammed Spyro aside with his tail. When Cynder leapt at him, claws out, he used his wings to push himself up and power his uppercut. Cynder flew into the air and landed across the arena.

He turned just in time to see Spyro charging some kind of black energy. It was convexity. Before Darksield could move, Spyro released. It shot straight at Darksield and slammed into him. Darksield cried out in pain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cynder get up and launch her own blast of convexity. It slammed into him as well. Darksield could feel the energy digging into him, slicing him, destroying him. The two dragons advanced.

Darksield closed his eyes, mentally turning away from the pain. He concentrated on himself. He could feel another kind of energy that was foreign to him. It seethed below his scales, waiting to be used. He pulled on it. When he opened his eyes, he unleashed a blast of pure silver energy that cut through the convexity attacks and blew up the ground between them, sending Spyro and Cynder flying. He teleported and appeared behind Spyro, slamming him into the air, before teleporting above him and slamming him toward Cynder. As soon as Spyro was near enough, Darksield teleported again and sent Spyro flying into Cynder. They both cried out.