The Key to Dragons Chapter 6

The Boy Behind the Mask

The group traversed down the forest path with Hunter leading the way.

Luke walked right next to him. The two were sharing experiences with each other about their childhood. Spyro and Sparx followed right behind. They were arguing about something completely off the wall.

She was pondering over what Luke and Spyro said to her earlier. With a glance back up at the group in front of her, she felt instantly felt alienated. How could she feel like a part of the group? Luke to Hunter and Spyro to Sparx. Both pairs were bonded from non-blood brotherly relation.

"You know that he doesn't respect you." A voice in the back of her head taunted her. The bad side of her was trying to tempt her. Cynder looked away from the group and attempted to suffocate the negative thought.

"Cynder! Are you coming?!" A voice called.

Cynder shook her head out of the trance and looked back up at the group. Hunter and Luke were staring at her awkwardly.

"I'm coming. Sorry, I kind of let my mind wonder off." She replied as she rejoined the two.

"Wander off where?" Hunter questioned. His voice was filled with concerned.

Shrugging her shoulders, Cynder struggled for a convincing answer. She did not what to say without the possibility of worrying them.

"Just thinking about that Golem. I hope it's not still alive." She answered.

Hunter sighed.

"We will worry about that if that time comes. Right now we need focus as a group on making it back to Warfang." He reminded her.

"Hey Hunter! Is this the entrance to the underground passageway?" Spyro asked.

The four all looked forward to see that Sparx had reached a dead end on the forest trail. All of it was solid rock and there was no stone door or cave hole to be seen. Luke figured there had to be something more to this. Just like last night with the secret entrance to the caverns.

"Are you sure we went the right way?" Sparx questioned Hunter. "Because there is nothing here except a freaking rockwall!"

"Patience." Luke urged Sparx.

Sparx folded his arms and grumbled.

"I'm waiting." He replied.

Hunter stepped forward without a word to the edge of the cliff.

"Luke, come here." He instructed his friend. Luke did as he was told and walked up to the cliff-face and felt across it with his paws.

"Feel along the walls to my left and you should find some kind of loose switch or something. There is two opening locks for this door." He explained.

Luke placed both of his hands on the hard rock and feel it.

Click.

He had found it. Luke, to his luck, was still struggling to locate the other secret switch.

"It should be at an exact horizontal level as mine." Hunter explained.

Looking back up at the keyhole, Luke placed his hand next to the keyhole and slowly slid it to the left until he found the other switch.

Click.

"Step back." The cheetah ordered. Doing as instructed, Luke, Cynder, and Spyro took a couple of steps backwards.

A portion of the rock-face wall in front of them collapsed to reveal a plain and barren stone door.

"So that's how you find it. That's really cool." He thought. His mind was just aching to figure out how he could recreate that kind of device for his own uses.

Pulling out the key from his coat pocket, Hunter put it into the keyhole of the door and unlocked it.

"It's more than likely going to be dark inside. Take this." Hunter handed Luke a lantern.

"Thanks Hunter, but you do know I could have just made a light with my staff." The human replied.

"Yes, but that would also require you to use your magic. Until you have mastered your spells and figured out how to conserve your power, I don't want you using your special abilities unless we are in a battle. Do you understand Luke?" Hunter sounded like he was Luke's older brother.

Sparx snickered a little bit, watching the two.

"Okay." Luke nodded in understanding. "But can I at least use my fire spell to light the lanterns?"

Sighing, the cheetah shook his head giving the answer as a 'yes'. Snapping his fingers, Luke created a spark and started the flame in his and Hunter's lanterns.

Hunter pushed the door open and entered the cavern as the lead with the four following behind. For the next few hours the five perservered through the seemingly endless and narrow path. It wasn't until after three and a half miles the cave opened into a large and wide chamber with a bridge going over a very dark pit. A very large exit door about fifteen feet high rested at the other side of the stone bridge.

The entire place was illuminated by the reflected light of several crystals along the walls.

Cynder and Luke were stunned and thought it was beautiful.

"I've never seen such a natural massive natural collection of priceless gems. There are diamonds everywhere!" Luke exclaimed.

He raced forward half-way the bridge and looked in awe at the sight.

"This room is more sparkly than me." Sparx remarked. "Perhaps it's time I invested in some jewelry to boost my shining good looks."

"The reason why this cave is sealed off is because of the fact that there are so many diamonds here that we try to keep greedy people from making off with it." Hunter explained.

Cynder looked over to her right. There was a waterfall emptying out on the far wall into a stream.

"That light must be coming in from that underground stream. Maybe it leads to the surface?" She suggested.

"That groundwater flows in from the city of Warfang. We are getting close." Hunter said.

"Well then what are we waiting for!?" Spyro asked. "We should be on our way right now!"

Ahead of him was the large door that was the final exit to the underground cavern and the entrance to the city of Warfang.

"C'mon guys! Let's open this door and get going!" The purple dragon commanded.

Hunter looked around. Something seemed a bit off. So far they had come and not encountered any kind of dangers. No enemies or Grublins of any kind.

"Hold on just a second Spyro. Don't you think that this is a bit puzzling?" Hunter asked.

The cheetah scanned about the area. He tried to see if there was some kind of hidden trap.

"No! Perhaps we gave those Grublins a scare with our butt kicking we gave them back in your village. We toasted them. Literally!" Sparx reminded them.

"Those Grublins were just small game!"

"Yeah! Those Grublins were just-" The dragonfly stopped mid-sentence. He realized that it was not Spyro, Luke, Cynder, or Hunter whom had said that.

Instantly, the human boy felt a sharp pain in his chest and he collapsed to his knees. Hunter saw what happened rushed to him.

"What's wrong? What's hurting you?" He questioned.

Luke panted heavily, his hand clutching his chest.

"Luke! Hunter! Watch out!" Spyro and Cynder warned them.

A huge black mass came crashing down from the ceiling at them. Grabbing Luke, he pulled him out of the way.

Ka-Boom!

The loud mass exploded, blowing the bridge in half.

"What was that!?" Sparx cried out, hiding behind Spyro.

The dust and debris cleared A small floating metal form in the shape of a human.

"Vice." Luke said.

"I see you remember me from yesterday." The figure taunted at him. Hunter looked over at Vice puzzled. The cheetah had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yesterday?" Hunter questioned.

"Not you! The boy!" Vice barked.

Hunter glared at him. "I have no idea who you are, but I can tell you aren't here on peaceful terms." He remarked, unsheathing his sword and readying for a fight.

"Oh. That man looks scary. It's a good thing he is looking at them and not me." Sparx breathed a sigh of relief. Simply being in the presence of Vice terrified him.

"He's outnumbered Sparx. Unlike last time, this guy is also fighting Spyro and me." Cynder reminded the dragonfly.

The floating metal figure let out a laugh. He was mocking the dragonness.

"Oh! You crack me up black lizard! The two dragons can't see that things are never as they appear. As much as I would like to play with the likes of Barney the dinosaur and his black side-kick, I am afraid that somebody else will be dealing with you." Vice sneered with his back still facing Spyro and Cynder.

"A certain individual whom is still pretty mad about yesterday and what you two did to him."

Grunt.

"Did you hear that?" Spyro asked Cynder and Sparx. He looked around him attempting to identify whom or what made the sound. Sparx remained clueless.

Suddenly, it hit Spyro. "The Golem!" he exclaimed. "It's-"

"Heading right towards us." Cynder stated.

As expected, the same rock menace that the group had dealt with yesterday was there.

"Don't worry Spyro! We will be right there to help you!" Luke called out to his friend.

Vice chuckled. He raised his hand up into the air above him, the palm of his hand remaining open. A black mist collected in a small sphere shape. Closing his fist, he reached behind him and dropped the mass. Instantly the object exploded and expanded outwards. It grew into a solid black wall, separating Luke and Hunter from their friends.

"Let us all find out who deserves to live while the other ceases to exist! You and your cat friend will never leave these caves alive!" Vice proclaimed.

Vice raised one hand in front of him, a black wispy mass appearing on his open palm. He closed his fingers. The entire object suddenly transformed into a weapon. It beared several traits in resemblance to Luke's staff with the main edge curving outward into the blade of a scythe.

"Prepare yourself!" Hunter gave a heads up to Luke.

He and Luke stood their ground with weapons grasped tightly in hand. They were not going to be beat down without a fight.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the room, a couple of dragons were busy fighting off a Golem.

"Do a barrel roll Spyro!" Sparx yelled. Standing on the sidelines, the dragonfly was busy coaching the dragons when he felt was necessary. "Give him some of your fire Spyro! That ought to burn him up!"

Spyro and Cynder, both of whom narrowly dodged the Golem's fist, struggled to find a weak point on the creature. They attempted a battery of wind, storms fire, flurries of ice, and even some combination attacks. None of them made a bit of difference.

"How can we fight this thing when all of our attacks are totally useless against it!?" Cynder questioned.

Spyro shrugged. He was out of ideas.

"Rahh!" The Golem roared across the room.

Several flaming projectiles fired from its maw at the small platform which the trio were on.

"Take to the air!" Cynder ordered. The duo flapped their wings, pushing backwards off the stone platform and performing a steep dive towards the river below.

They arched back up and soared above the creature. Using their wings to steady themselves, they glided above the Golem in hopes of stalling for a bit of time for an idea.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Spyro yelled in his own frustration.

"I can't find a weakspot at all on this guy." Cynder stated. She had scanned the entire area for some kind of open area, but the Golem's skin was too thick at any current point to do major damage.

"Damn!" Spyro cussed. "I wonder if Luke and Hunter are having any better luck than us."

Bang!

Having narrowly avoided a small energy attack, Luke struggled against Vice. The small boy was swift and constant with his attacks. Hunter backed against a wall with sword in hand. He too was overwhelmed by Vice's quick movements.

"I'm too fast for you."

Everywhere Hunter and Luke could hear, Vice was taunting them.

Luke gripped the hilt of his staff.

"All you proving is that you are nothing but a big fat-"

Bam!

An invisible force knocked him off his feet and onto his back.

"Ow..." He groaned, his body in pain from the sudden impact.

"Luke! You alright?" The cheetah rushed to his friend's aid.

Luke slowly pulled himself to his feet. He nodded yes in answer.

"That was a cheap shot!" Hunter shouted. "Fight fair!"

He knew that fighting dirty was something to be expected with his enemies, but he still despised it all the same.

"Behind you!"

Anticipating some sort of an attack, the cheetah turned around to meet Vice.

"It was a trick." He commented upon seeing nothing there.

"Duck!" Luke ordered.

Hunter did as he was told. Luke swung his staff right over the cheetah, it connected with an invisible solid mass and sent it careening back into the dark barrier.

"Damn you!" Vice screamed. "How did see me coming there? I hadn't even made it there and you anticipated my move!"

Luke smirked a bit. It was easy to him to figure that one out.

"You were faking us out. I was well aware your intended target was my bro. And knowing me, I would have struck there as it would be the quickest and most lethal blow." He explained.

Hunter was very surprised by his friend's move. Luke saved his life.

"Impressive perception I must say, but that will only last you for so long!" Vice cackled at them.

He positioned himself with his weapon gripped in both hands.

"Enough of the games!" Luke yelled. He fired a barrage of ice spears at his enemy.

The projectiles passed through their intended target. It came as no surprise to the two warriors that it was nothing more than a projection.

"Damn!" Luke cussed, now even more frustrated than before. "We can't hit him!"

"You don't say!"

Hunter snarled. He lunged forward with his sword at the small metal suited boy only to miss by a huge margin.

"You may not be able to strike me, but I can most definitely strike you!"

Luke jumped back, thinking he had avoided another attack from Vice.

"Ahh!" Hunter screamed.

He was struck on the left shoulder by Vice's scythe and forcefully kicked to the ground. Hunter struggled to his feet. He felt the edge of the boy's scythe now wedged against his neck.

"Now let's have you listen good kitty!" Vice laughed.

Not able to have reacted fast enough, Luke could do nothing but watch as Vice was easily seconds away from executing his friend. Seeing the look of Hunter's eyes, fear had overtaken him completely.

"Let him go!" Luke demanded.

"No. No. No." Vice said shaking his head and pulling the scythe a bit closer to Hunter's neck. "That is not how this works. The kitty's life is what I'm holding for ransom and you are the one that has to watch!"

"Hunter!" Luke tried to make a move.

"Nah. Ah. Ahhhh. One more step and he's dead." Vice taunted. Luke lowered his weapon, knowing he had been done in by Vice.

"What do you want?!" The disgruntled teen screamed.

Vice snickered under his helmet lightly. He was the only one laughing.

"I want you to suffer." He chimed, sounding almost completely thrilled with the thought Luke experiencing pain.

"The original person shall live on and the copy shall seize to exist! I want you to die while I continue to have a purpose!" he proclaimed.

"Now call off your staff and surrender to me!"

Luke dropped to his knees. Hunter was shocked. All of that determination of Luke's, crushed under the threats of one person.

"Do what you want with me, but just let my friend go. No third parties involved." Luke pleaded desperately.

"Don't do it Luke!" Hunter begged.

"Ahhh!" Hunter coughed. Vice had pulled the scythe against his neck tighter.

"No! Bad kitty!" He reprimanded his hostage. "No talking!"

Hunter growled a bit and Vice laughed at the cheetah's expense. In a sick and inhumane way, Vice saw this as nothing more than a game. It was at this moment when Luke officially surrendered everything to fate.

"Please. I need a miracle. I need something. I can't win on my own!" He cried in the inner recesses of his mind, praying to whomever he could think of.

"I give up! You win Vice!" He screamed.

"No!" Hunter's voice echoed back at his friend.

"Wise choice, but I am still not allowed to let you leave here alive." Vice remarked. "I'm gonna count down starting five until I reach one. Once I reach one, your friend here will die by my hand."

"Five."

Suddenly, Luke could an overwhelming force beating inside his body.

"Four."

His chest now felt very heavy. It was like he had some kind of bad heartburn. The only difference? Luke's being felt overwhelmingly full of vigor and energy. A dam was spilt over to let loose a massive influx of power.

"Three."

Having reached his limit in the amount of energy he could contain, Luke suddenly unleashed an explosion of wind.

"Two." Vice exclaimed, pushing the edge of the scythe into Hunter's neck. It was close to puncturing his skin.

"One!"

Crack.

The entire bridge buckled under the outward flow of power from Luke's body. A crater was forming underneath his feet, literally distorting and breaking the stones.

"Where did... Where did this come from!?"

Vice screamed. There was no way he or Hunter anticipated this from him.

"Every soul has untapped potential that they can harness within this world. A certain person I know told me that yesterday." Luke stated. He smirked at Vice, with a new found confidence.

"Your power. It is...Oh wait!" Vice remembered. "I can still kill Hunter at any second. It doesn't matter if you are stronger than me now. You wouldn't risk your friends life. I... I know you!"

Hunter sensed that Vice was hesitant in following through with his threat.

"You aren't really going to kill me. I can see your only playing a big bluff Vice." He muttered.

The child's grip began to loosen as his arms were shaking. In the back of his mind, he was terrified of the aspect of murdering somebody.

"No!" He screamed, lowering his scythe and retreating backwards. "I can't do it! You were right! I can't kill somebody!"

Hunter turned back to see the floating Vice. There was a certain part of him that couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the kid.

"You are in pain. I can see it." He stated.

The boy looked back up at him and grunted.

"I don't need your help!" Vice screamed, swinging his weapon down at Hunter.

Hunter easily parried the attack and leaped backwards toward Luke.

"I'll handle this!" Luke ordered, stepping in front of Hunter.

Hunter didn't even object to his friend. The boy's power was so intense that he his energy produced a white afterglow surrounding his body.

"This is it, Vice!" He exclaimed.

Fear spread through the Vice like wildfire. But regardless, he remained calm and readied to engage his opponent.

"Spyro! A giant rocky fistful incoming at your right!" Sparx called to his brother.

Spyro and Cynder, easily seeing the attack coming towards them, dodged it with ease. They hovered in place for a few seconds. The Golem followed up with another punch directed at both of them.

"Whoops! Oh no! You missed them!" the dragonfly mocked the creature in its efforts. Spyro and Cynder were having an easy time playing dodge-ball with the Golem, but were still in no way closer to dealing any damage.

"This is getting ridiculous." Spyro grunted. He had just dived again with his chained partner to dodge another blast of fire from the rocky giant. "And much longer do you think that it could keep this up for?"

The golem, clutching the sides of the bridge with its hands, reared back and spewed forth a huge torrent of fire at Spyro and Cynder.

"That answer your question?" Cynder replied.

Almost like it was expected, the fire stream missed the two dragons. This prompted Spyro to counterattack with a blast of ice shards from his mouth. Several dozen of them hit the golem and merely bounced off its thick skin.

"Like usual, nothing." Spyro moaned. "You got any bright ideas?"

Cynder shrugged. She had not a clue.

"Maybe we could attack its eyes." She suggested.

The purple dragon looked at the Golem. They were too high for it to reach.

"Sounds like it could work, but we better aim it just right." Spyro stated. "We will slam it with a double dose of Convexity."

Cynder was surprised by Spyro's idea. Convexity? Didn't he know that Convexity was an element of pure unpredictability? It was the very power that corrupted Malefor into what he was now.

"Are you sure?" She asked. The dragoness saw the look on Spyro's face. He wasn't anymore sure at this point than at any other time.

"Let's do it." He stated.

The duo dive-bombed at the Golem, spinning horizontally around one another. A large visible purple-hued field of pulsating energy covered them both. Loose waves spun off of it, producing a sound similar to that of thunder.

Crash! Snap!

The attack inflicted a direct hit on the Golem, sending it flying backwards into the river and breaking its right arm off.

"Nice double team!" Sparx cheered from the sidelines.

Spyro and Cynder regrouped with Sparx. They watched as the Golem retreated into the deeper depths of the cave, incapable of fighting it because of its injury.

"Yeah! That sure showed him!" Sparx exclaimed. "The Golem was all like big and mean and you and Cynder just put him down like a sick animal being attacked by a predator!"

Spyro couldn't help but to laugh at his brother's remark. The Golem was gone, but the barrier still separating them from Luke and Hunter still hadn't disappeared. They were still in the middle of a fight.

Zip!

Vice circled Luke with incredible speed. He was too fast.

"I'm still faster!" he proclaimed.

Not even saying a word, Luke stepped forward and he swung his staff. With perfect timing, he smashed his weapon against Vice's helmet. Half of it had been severely shattered.

"Ah!" Vice screamed, going airborne and colliding with the dark manifest of a barrier behind him.

Smash!

In its entirety, the black wall cracked and came falling down. Vice crashed into the floor, rendered unconscious upon impact.

Luke dismissed his staff. He felt the weight on his chest began to subside as the incredible power he had just wielded suddenly shut off. The white afterglow surrounding him disappeared. Collapsed to his knees, he was exhausted. Sweat poured all around him and his heartbeat was racing.

"I did it!" He exclaimed, throwing his hand up with one last bit of excitment. A grin showed across his face.

"That was a great show you put up there. It's ashamed that it had to end like this though." Hunter remarked. He stood next to his companion and helped Luke up to his feet. Luke put one arm around Hunter's shoulder as the cheetah helped hold his balance.

"I don't know where that power came from though. Whatever it was that came over me..." Luke paused, deep in thought. And suddenly, that's when he remembered.

"My magic is now fully mine to command. Just like what the Chronicler told me yesterday. When I needed the boost, it naturally came to me." He thought.

"Hey! Hunter! Luke! Over hear!" A voice called out to the duo.

Standing in front of the two Spyro and Cynder.

"Glad to see that you are alright." Spyro said.

Luke nodded back. "Yeah. All three of you as well."

"We just barely managed to win." Hunter stated. "In a suprising twist of events, Luke overpowered Vice. He took him out in with one hit."

"One hit!" Sparx exclaimed, just as came out of hiding from behind Spyro's head.

Cynder and Spyro glanced over at Vice's still form on the ground. They couldn't believe it.

"He seems like he was weaker than he made himself out to be." Cynder remarked.

Spyro nodded. He agreed with the dragonness.

Luke and Hunter looked at one another. Both of them nodded in a silent agreement over something.

"What he could be hiding under that mask of his?" Hunter wondered.

"I want you to help me with something Luke." He stated, pointing over to the unconscious boy laying on the ground. Luke nodded. He had the same feeling inside gut about this as Hunter did.

"Uhh- What are you two doing?" Sparx asked as he watched Luke and Hunter walking over to Vice.

"I wouldn't go near that thing if I were you!" He warned. The dragonfly was paranoid that something bad was about to happen. And he had a good reason to. Several times in his past he had that happen when traveled with his brother Sparx on adventures.

"Guys relax." Cynder reassured Sparx.

"I'm pretty sure he's dead." Spyro stated.

Luke let go of Hunter's shoulder and he sat down next to the unconscious boy. Hunter knelt down opposite of Luke. Taking two fingers, he pressed them up against the under underside of Vice's neck.

"I got a pulse." He stated. "He's not dead."

A big rush of relief overcame Luke and he smiled, feeling better in the fact he wasn't a murderer.

The two removed the mask and for the first time, Vice's true identity was revealed. Luke couldn't believe his eyes. His mouth dropped. Cynder flinched, out of shock.

"That is...No...Way!" Sparx stuttered. He was completely trembling.

Spyro and Hunter were at a loss of words. Neither one knew what to say.

"That's me. He looks just like me." Luke said. "But why?"