Chapter 6

Chapter 8

- - -


Four days and four nights. I flew across the breadth of the realm with the singular goal of reaching Törg, only stopping to hunt, sleep and let Ubuntu reheat himself. It was only now carrying a passenger that I realized dragons thick hides and ancestral traits granted us other feats that enabled flight: like not suffering from frostbite and low levels of oxygen. Oddities I never noticed until I found Ubuntu short of breath with small ice crystals forming on his dull gray fur when we came to rest. I knew the temperature declined the further one ascended from the earth but I had not grasped the true severity.

Even as a dragon, it was always amazing to see the world sprawl out before you. Green rolling hills marched towards the base of far away spires to the left and descended to the endless sapphire expanse of the ocean to the right. I felt completely unfettered and free by the forces of our world. Gravity would not be my master today.

On the second day of the flight, having long left the borders of Avalar we came across multiple small and isolated hamlets of people. Humble and mostly agrarian they had not the numbers or resources to fend off a skybound attacker and many fled or panicked when they saw my shadow in the sky.

“Just like old times....” I deadpanned internally. Before I could dwell on the sour memories Ubuntu bade me land as he could no longer weather the cold or the windchill. We landed in the village and were met with closed doors and shudders but could occasionally catch the odd fearful or jaundiced eye peeking out of the cracks.

My ape sorcerer companion knocked on the door of what must have been a trading post. The language was unintelligible but the picture on the wooden sign betrayed its purpose. No one answered.

“Der is no point in ignoring me salesman. If I really want dis door gone, I will make it so. Please open.” The old man said. Odd seeing him sound intimidating.

A second later the door opened a crack to reveal a short armadillo man with glasses. Ubuntu spoke with the man. They eventually exchanged items. Ubuntu gave the man some gems of no real significance in exchange for a thick fur coat. Later in the sky again Ubuntu was more sociable now that he was not battling freezing to death as much.

“Why did you threaten to demolish that man's door?!” I asked shouting over the wind with the land thousands of feet below us.

“Dat is how de people of Törg operate Cyndah. Avalar is a land of manners and congeniality. De people of Törg do not use such mannerisms. They lacked the means to stop me, therefore my will should overcome theirs. If you are to survive in Törg long enough to end the Seven you must also learn to survive her inhabitants. You must dominate or be dominated. They will not think you cruel.”

“Be cruel?!”

“You must balance the soft with the hard Cyndah. Too soft and no one will do as you say, too hard and they will curse you and rebel. You must find the right balance when dealing with da people.”

“How do you do it so well?” I asked.

“I've done it all my life.”

- - -

The night of the third day we had made camp on the spire of a lonely mountain overlooking a large forest. I was eating a deer I caught while Ubuntu roasted some rabbits on a skewer. He mentioned he used magic to break their necks for a humane hunt and less stress on me to gather food. I enjoyed hunting usually, what little times I actually had to hunt anymore seeing as me and Spyro were almost celebrities in Avalar. It felt humbling to say the least. But it was for the best. Time was of the essence and all I could think about was getting to Törg. Only now in the dim of the night and perhaps being closer to Törg did the spectral screams and wails of the Seven seem to increase. Still a whisper but now I did not have to focus as hard to hear their pain.

“We are in Törg you know. They are easier to hear and I'm sure they know you come.” Ubuntu muttered vacantly as he eyed the rabbits and turned the skewer.

“We're in Törg?!” I shot up to attention craning my neck.

He nodded. “Yes. But the Iron Coast is our destination in Törg. That is where the Seven seem to haunt. I believe it is because they have to stay close to Faranthia and she 'lives' in an abandoned cathedral near the Iron Coast.”

I digested what he said. We had arrived in but my true destination was in the heart of Törg. This, Iron Coast sub-region. “At the risk of sounding dumb, I have a few questions about the Iron Coast.”

Ubuntu chuckled the weak chuckle of frailty and took the skewer off the fire. “Der are no dumb questions Cyndah. Ask and I shall answer to the best of my knowledge.”

For hours me and Ubuntu spoke about our destination. The Iron Coast was indeed the heart of Törg. The capital city of Anvil lies in a crater on top of a mountain built by the ancient Törgonauts. The city is controlled by the young King Konan or Konan the Mighty and is a ruthless if inexperience warlord. I also learned to my dismay the League of Light also operates in Törg and in fact is where the League was born no less. Ubuntu told stories of how Golan arrived at Anvil with a humble but valiant army of do-gooders only two years ago and pledged to keep the city safe. From there the league grew and grew until they expanded into Avalar.

Outside the capitol was the Iron Coast that was connected by a great road spanning the width of the coast. Along these roads were the very few farmlands not controlled by the current ruler of Anvil. These farmlands had been the source of much of the warring through Törg's tumultuous history as groups seeking independence from Anvil would garrison these farmlands while the ruler of Anvil would seek to expand his or her influence upward along the coast. Currently Anvil was unable to take the upper farms as the more nothern settlements had banded together under the banner of the Törg Minutemen, a civilian militia of independent communities in confederation to defend one another from Anvil aggression and nowadays they fought with the Seven as well. Ubuntu noted that with the Seven weakening the minutemen that Anvil may use this to take territory.

The major towns in the minutemen confederacy were Will's Mill, the northernmost town responsible for exporting the most timber. Ash, a city on the coast which grows the most food. Legend says thousands of years ago volcanic ash made the land as healthy as it is and therefore earned it's namesake. Oreburg naturally specialized in mining, smithing and metallurgy.

Outside the towns and cities, to the north Törg was dominated by thick hinterlands that few dared to enter. To the south Törg became very mountainous until the very coast which flattened out into a small stretch of farmland. In the heart of those hinterlands lay the Nachtwald, where Faranthia's cathedral stood as a forgotten and crumbling specter amidst the gloom of the ancient forests.

Curiously, I asked Ubuntu if it was possible to assault Faranthia's cathedral directly to which he spoke against. He said the Seven's negative emotions fed Faranthia and with their power going to her that it would be ill advised to seek her out. He then amended by saying if the opposite happened and Faranthia came to us then we should flee and in fact he worried that might be her plan. I confess that thought did put me ill at ease.

We talked a little while longer before It became time to rest.

- - -

The final day. The sun was high in the sky when we departed the previous night's camp but now I found us flying into a sea of dull gray clouds that threatened to unleash a storm down on the world below. Even now I could feel rogue winds begin to make me fly awry and a lightning strike would mean our peril. I internally anguished. We were so close! We had fair weather so far but why now! I did not exclude the possibility that this storm was a machination of Faranthia in an attempt to ground me and slow my quest.... But whether omen or nature I would be forced to land while I still had most control of our flight and were near no towering thunderclouds.

“Ubuntu! We have to land. I can't fly in a lightning storm!” I shouted over the furious winds and distant booming of thunder. If Spyro had come along I'm sure his electric powers could redirect any lightning this storm could muster.

“Cyndah- look!” Ubuntu cried and jabbed his staff towards the earth, paying little to no attention to my warning.

I looked down and focused my sight. There was... something. A light, bright and red. Almost as though something was charging..

A second later a column of red magical energy surged past us with a boom loud enough that I felt my teeth rattle in my head! The sheer magnitude of the blast sent the two of us barreling towards the earth at a heart stopping speed. Ubuntu cried and it was then I realized his latch had snapped! The ape was plummeting! I remembered the guardians advanced flying techniques. Untrained dragons in free fall often panicked to get air back under their wings but without the right coordination all they would do was struggle. 'You had to make your velocity work for you, not against you! I brought my limbs and wings close to my body and became a black scaled dart falling head first from the heavens. Steer with your tail! I curved my tail backwards and felt the air resistance act on me. I turned upright in one fluid motion and opened my red webbed wings and began flapping for air. I was safe- until I saw another red charging ball!

“Ubuntu!” I shouted and looked frantically for the ape. He was falling and fast from above! I rushed flapping my wings hard for every gust. There was no way I could catch him with my hands without breaking his fragile bones. When I was as close as I could get, in a breath of time I reached out with my elemental powers of wind. At my command Ubuntu was wrapped in a sphere of magical wind and mercifully brought his plummet to a calm descent to me. I grabbed the elderly ape in my forelegs and now began to chase the ground on my own terms. Not too soon too as the sky was again torn and cast in red lights as another blast ripped through not twenty feet from where we were seconds ago! The shockwave was intense and threatened to make me fumble Ubuntu but I steeled myself and held on to my agencies.

I sent a silent prayer and thanks to the ancestors when I finally reached the wet muddy earth with an ungraceful but injury-free landing followed by a thud of me hitting the ground and falling to my knees.

My blood was running hot. Adrenaline was shooting all throughout my body. My shoulders shook and ached. My breaths were deep and harsh. I had not exerted myself like that in a while! Perhaps I had let myself go soft during those two years....

Ubuntu scrambled and kissed the dirt. Thankful to be on solid ground. “Oh sweet terra firma!” He bellowed and kissed more. I chuckled a little. Laugh off the near-death encounter Cynder...

“What.... what was that!” I managed to exclaim when I finally managed to catch my breath but still stayed sat on the ground. We had landed in a clearing in a forest where the trees were relatively small. While Ubuntu began to collect himself I felt the first soft drop of rain.

The ape picked up his walking stick and turned looking battered by the wind. “I tink... dat was-”

“Stop right there! You are surrounded! Reach for the sky!” A gruff bark called out over the damp air. I jerked and saw multiple humanoid forms dash from behind trees and boulders. A moment later they had all mobilized and pointed wood and metal instruments at Ubuntu and I. They were just like the people of Avalar but they seemed that much more rugged and beaten from the rough ways of life in Törg. Foxes, wolves, rabbits and even the odd reptile made up this gaggle of soldiers. Diverse in race as they were, their uniforms were all the same. Dull brown jackets, pants with tall black leather boots for keeping mud out, harnesses across their chest in an X pattern with multiple pouches on it and on their heads rested metal helmets with wide rims to keep rain out of their vision. On those helmets were makeshift tarps of leather or cloth but I could not hazard a guess as to their purpose.

Ubuntu slowly raised his hands. “We have not come to fight you. We come in peace.” He spoke evenly obviously not wanting to agitate these fellows into using their odd hollowed staffs.

“Ubuntu? You actually came back!” The voice boomed again but much more naturally indicating it's origins were closer.

A figure parted two soldiers and approached us. Still smaller than me of course, this man who was no doubt their commander, was a mountain of bulldog. He stood a little under Hunter's height but his barrel chest and meaty arms more than made up for what he lacked in height. His uniform was an olive drab with several medals and honors on his right breast and a neat wintergreen tie descended from his neck. His face was mostly obscure as he wore a large helmet with several dings and dents in it that bespoke the conflicts it had witnessed. What could be gleamed from his face was the telltale cheeks known to bulldogs and a cigar that was nearly finished.

“Commander Rawhide. I told you I was going to return.” Ubuntu said casually to the cartoonishly robust man.

Commander Rawhide grabbed his cigar and puffed out a plume of smoke that would have been pitiful for a dragon. “I guess. I thought ya were just wantin' to leave to die.”

Ubuntu's grasp on his staff tightened. “Not yet. I still have to leave Törg a better place before I die.”

Rawhide looked... well... 'looked' up at me but I still did not see his eyeballs. “And you've come back with Cynder no less. When the scouts told me they saw a dragon in the sky I reminded them dragons in Törg are extinct.... then I thought it might be Faranthia paying us a personal visit. That would have meant we'd be in for a long day.... or a painfully short one depending on how fast she killed us.”

“C-Cynder!?!?!” A young rabbit soldier piped up. The lad was barely old enough to grow chin hair... if that saying worked on the furry races.

Commander Rawhide snapped to the young man. In an instant he was in the boy's face and cheeks flapping. “DID I ASK FOR YOUR COMMENTARY PRIVATE?”

The rabbit snapped to attention, back straightened. “No sir!”

“I THOUGHT SO. NOW DROP AND GIVE ME THIRTY!” He roared. Without protest the boy handed his stick to Rawhide and began to do pushups.

I felt awkward. I've heard of elephants in the room but what about the dragoness at the armed reunion with the monkey and the drill sergeant.

“At ease. Lower your weapons men.” Rawhide ordered now back to a normal decibel. The men returned to resting position.

Turns out we landed close to their camp. Apparently they saw us coming and thought we were incoming to attack and quickly assembled and took up positions but when we did not attack Rawhide gave the order to attack only to realize it was Ubuntu, causing him to rescind it. Finding my voice I asked them why they tried to shoot us down and beside the jaundiced and confused looks I received for it all I got was Rawhide's insistence to simply follow him. We walked into the woods and overtime it became much thicker letting in less of the already muted sunlight of the storm that was also beginning to worsen. The air smelled of sulfur and gasoline which did not inspire pleasant scenes in my head.

The camp was more like a light fortress than a makeshift camp. It had all the amenities an outpost would need. Log walls with pointed tips made up the wall around the heart of the camp but the most curious thing was the train station the fort was built around. The locomotive was still parked with a few cars attached to the behind. This train looked similar to the very same train Spyro told me about when he assaulted the Munitions Forge five years ago- just loss the 'evil' decals. This locomotive looked mundane but serviceable.

Also: five years? It feels like a lifetime ago.... so much had changed

“Eyeballing the train Cynder? You should know steam locomotion was invented in Törg. At least as far anyone around Törg is concerned.”Ubuntu commented to me when he noticed my curious looks.

“Really?” I replied congenially. It was just a passing glance but I had no real interest as of now.

Rawhide turned to us and his soldiers stopped in pace with their barrel chested commander. “You want to see what nearly vaporized you Cynder?”

At that moment I felt a chill run down my spine. Not just the rain but something wholly itself. I was left with the ominous sensation that someone or something knew of my presence. One of the Seven.

“I feel it too Cyndah. Dat is how you know they are close. But it works both ways.” Ubuntu muttered towards me.

“Show me.” I replied to the commander.

The bulldog extended his thick log of an arm towards a ridge at the end of the camp. “Beyond the ridge. You can't miss it. We've been trailing it for weeks.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat and walked past Rawhide and Ubuntu. The ridge he mentioned had no wall but multiple cannons on wheels currently hidden under leather tarps to fend off the rain. The ridge dipped drastically to a steep cliff with more thick forests below. Wingless creatures who were unfortunate enough to fall would surely perish from such a plummet. Even with the rain and muted sunlight from the billowing rainclouds I could see a vast expanse of forests and hills extending as far as the eye could see. I could only imagine what forgotten treasures and horrors called those woods home.

A moment later I heard thunder boom through the air but I saw no lightning. Then another boom and another. I flexed nervously and searched my surroundings. Then I saw it.....

It was gigantic! Easily mistaken for a small mountain in the poor visibility but now it was unmistakable. The thing was a monstrosity of steel and brick. A large piece of earth with roots and trees dangled from the earthy underside that was transported by long spider-like legs of steel and gears that ended in sharp points when they struck the ground. The metal of the legs screeched and groaned in its walking motion. Each time it took a 'step' I heard the telltale sound of what I previously mistook as thunder. It was massive from this distance. Memories of the Destroyer and its sheer size sneaked to the forefront of my mind.

However, what was on that suspended earth is what captured my attention the most in the end. A building of all things! From here I could make out what looked to be some kind of factory with a single smoke stack towering over the rest of the factory and bellowing smoke like it was going out of style.

“You look perplexed Cyndah. Not what you had in mind?” Ubuntu said ominously.

“I... I was expecting a person. Not.... that.”

Ubuntu turned to me and I craned my neck and looked down at the elderly ape who had donned his dark green hood. “Remember Cyndah the Seven are ghosts of memory and all unique. Some ghosts are tied to places they knew in life and when they returned they brought warped versions of those places wit dem. That ting you see in de valley is but a vehicle. Its pilot is one of the Seven. Defeat them and the machine will disappear.”

chink chink! I heard the noise and turned to my right and saw Rawhide appraising the monster as well. He stuff his lighter and put his new cigar in his toothy mouth. “That's the origin point of the beam. Whenever we get close it opens fire with that beam. Turns skirmishes into bloodbaths. When we lob enough artillery at the legs it does stop for a time but as I said it regenerates somehow.” Rawhide dashed the ash of his cigar before going back to smoking. “I'm a commander not a slave driver though. My men are damn good and we've stopped this thing more times than I can count but my men are tired, resources are scarce and our numbers aren't being replenished. Worst of all my scouts say this thing is on a trajectory with Will's Mill. If that thing gets to the city it'll be a massacre.”

“Dat is why I brought Cynder.” Ubuntu returned the commander's grim tale.

Rawhide nodded in affirmation. “And that is why my men are not fleeing from you. Trench humor does that to men and women. What's one more thing that might kill you out in these parts.”

There was a pregnant pause before I interjected. “I don't want to hurt your men. I need to stop that.... thing.”

“That's trench humor Cynder. I don't know the whole story of why you're here but I do know that we can't stop this thing on our own and if you think you can then well, beggars can't exactly be choosers.” Rawhide said but now his once deep and authoritative voice seemed meeker and possibly worried. Memories of Terrador telling us that even the strongest warriors have fear from time to time rang in my head. Rawhide had endured a long campaign with nothing to show for it but devastation and loss. It was for his men that I think his fear stemmed from. With no option left, he had to welcome my help.

Thunderous metallic clanging echoed around us as the thing marched across the horizon like an ambient specter. I was now dedicated to stopping this thing before it reached Will's Mill. But where to start. I needed more information before I formulated a plan.

“Have you gotten any men on that thing?” I asked and flecked the rainwater off my wings.

“Only a handful. I sent avian soldiers to try to land on it. Most were shot out of the sky and fell to their deaths or were instantly vaporized by the beam.”

“And those who did make it?” I wondered raising my brow.

“They never returned. It's them I worry about the most....” Rawhide muttered grimly.

I wordlessly returned my gaze to the creature as it marched along soulessly. I needed to get on that monster. I had no doubt the pilot, one of the Seven, waited for me in there. But flying would not be an option as the beam was supernaturally accurate and it was only providence that I escaped unscathed at the first encounter.

“We need to disable it, one last time. If you could take those legs out of commission one last time I could get onto it and take down its master.” A tall order more easily said than done but we were not exactly swimming in options. Where's a dam when you need one...

“That's a lot to ask Cynder. More than half of my men are injured and supplies are low. We don't have room to mess this up. The second we get close to that thing that beam will pulverize us.”

“Sounds like we need a diversion then Cyndah. Draw it's attention to let the minutmen get into range. Distract it long enough to let them destroy the supports- and then we sneak on it and Rawhide's men retreat.” Ubuntu commented with a stroke of his long gray beard.

“Could that work Rawhide?” I asked now feeling a shred of hope take root.

The commander rubbed his chin in contemplation. “Well.... all the time we spent tracking it we only saw it fire one beam at a single time. It also does not appear to be very smart as it never destroyed our railways or attacked us in our sleep.”

“Where does the railway run?” I asked.

Rawhide pointed out and around the monster. “This ridge encompasses the valley and rail runs all around it and behind the monster.”

“Then we need the train! If I attack by air I'll be slaughtered but maybe that train could be fast enough to stop it from getting a target on me. Meanwhile the minutemen go the other way down into the valley and get up under the knee joints. I'll keep it's attention all the while.” It was insanely dangerous but all we had was a train, some artillery and a skeleton crew of able-bodied soldiers.

“You might come to regret that Cynder. But like I said, beggars can not be choosers and nothing we did works so far. If you think you can deep six it for good I'll defer to you. This is your operation now Cynder.”

- - -

An hour later Ubuntu and I had turned the locomotive on the track so now it would travel towards the factory monster. The minutemen connected two more cars with the little cannons they could spare. They needed the heavy cannons and with the rain, moving them through the mud would compound the time it took to get in position. Once she was fueled for the mission Rawhide climbed on the middle cannon car to address his men.

“Minutemen. I know this has been a difficult campaign. I know you've lost friends and even loved ones. This is our last chance to stop this monster before it has a clear shot to Will's Mill. Cynder, of all people, has come to help us in this dark hour. I know not why but we don't have time or the leisure to hear the whole story. Just know she is on our side in this fight and is the only way we can stop this thing. We know our duty and we will do it. Our confederacy is built on the loyalty of defending your neighbor in times of crisis and being defended by your neighbor in times of crisis. But I am still just a man. I will be commanding the bombardment squads in the valley. Anyone else who desires may join Cynder. But it is most likely a mission you will not return from and I will not order you to do something I would not do but I am needed more with the cannons. Therefore you may volunteer to help Cynder's distraction squad but it is not an order and you will face no punishment for not volunteering. Would any join Cynder, Ubuntu and the conductor?”

The soldiers looked haggard and torn. Many shied away or avoided eye contact all together. Many had families, businesses, lives to live. They were not warriors like me or Spyro, they were normal people with lives outside the battlefield. I did not expect any to-

“I volunteer sir!” Shouted a man in the gaggle of bedraggled soldiers. After coming to the front I saw it was the bunny lad from earlier. No, no not him. He was too young for this!

“Are you sure private?” Rawhide grumbled lowly.

The bunny nodded and almost lost his helmet. “Yes sir.”

Rawhide spared a glance at me. I needed help for the cannons. I merely shrugged.

“Very well private Peter.”

The private, Peter, I mean, climbed on the car and stood at attention.

“Anyone else?” Rawhide asked. But no one answered.

“Very well. Everyone else mobilize it's do or die time! Give me liberty!” Rawhide roared the slogan of the minutemen. The fatigue was torn off the remaining soldiers as they cheered in returned, “Or give me death!” and began scrambling for their equipment.

“Godspeed Cynder. Pray this works.”