Hello everyone! This one-shot is for a challenge on discord. Before we get into it, I have a couple of people to thank. I want to thank SKdaGamer and MysticOTDH for beta-reading this for me. You two have really opened my eyes and now I have a lot more to think about when it comes to my writing. All of your advice will be taken to heart. Anyways, let's get into the story, shall we?

Tsunami of Hate

It was a dark, gloomy night as the rain splashed against the stone, filling the cracks. The water pooled together into groups of small puddles, mixing its salty contents with the blood. About ten dragon corpses were scattered on the stone and in the mud, yet there were three figures still standing. On one side, Spyro and Cynder stood next to each other, the rain lightly tapping against their scales. The other side was occupied by one dragon who had a mixture of red and white scales, an aura of malice and aggression seeping out from him. His expression was that of indifference.

"Spyro and Cynder, why do you continue to interfere? This has nothing to do with you!" he growled, taking a step forward and crushing the skull of a decapitated dragon beneath his feet. "Leave; I don't want to have to kill you."

Both Spyro and Cynder were scratched up and had a couple of small bruises. They were lucky to have gotten this far with minimal damage. But now, they had to fight a friend.

"This has everything to do with us. We don't want to fight you, Glacius. Stop this madness before it is too late," Spyro pleaded. His paws were trembling with frustration.

"Hmph," Glacius scoffed. "That is where you are wrong. These dragons were the reason why my life has been hell! I warned Cynder what would happen if she sent a warning to Warfang; now, I have no choice but to kill you both!"

"But-"

Cynder grasped Spyro's shoulder. "That's enough. He's made up his mind. The only thing we can do for him is to stop him." Her words pierced Spyro's heart, making it swell with sorrow and regret. He could fight anyone else, but he could never bring himself to fight someone he shared fond memories with. They were friends and comrades, defending Warfang with their paws alone. But now, Glacius had slaughtered almost all of the Elite Guard for his secret promise for vengeance.

The purple dragon stood, realizing that he had only one option. He needed to stop his friend, without killing him. The pair assumed their battle positions, relaying their intentions to their opponent.

Glacius shook his head in disappointment. "I see...If you wish to stand in my way..." he growled. All the liquified blood around him began to form a circle. His blood-red eyes snapped open. "...then I will have to walk over your corpses!"

A Week Ago

There was a warm atmosphere resonating throughout the tavern. It was bustling with conversation and celebratory energy. In the center of it all was Cynder, Spyro, and Glacius, sitting at their decently sized table for three. The three had come back from a successful mission to save the Earth Village from the apes.

Spyro leaned back against his chair. "That mission sure put a lot of strain on my back. I think I might need to see a chiropractor when we get home," he complained.

Glacius bumped him with his elbow with a friendly chuckle. "I never knew you were so cranky. Are you sure you're not becoming an old man?"

"W-What is that supposed to mean?!" Spyro spluttered, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Glacius burst out laughing, and to Spyro's chagrin, Cynder also started chuckling softly. Teasing Spyro had to be one of their favorite pastimes, especially for Glacius. The purple dragon mumbled to himself, a little flustered at the teasing and attention that was now being brought his way. Many eyes turned to their table, but not out of suspicion or caution. In fact, a couple of dragons caught the joke and chuckled along with Glacius. It was just the kind of aura that followed him, a feeling of relief and joy.

Cynder patted Spyro on the shoulder, trying to distract him from all the teasing, despite the large smile on her face. Spyro covered his head with his wing, trying to hide from the embarrassment of it all.

Glacius' laugh quieted down to a quiet chuckle as the rest of the tavern quieted down and resumed their nightly conversation and beer. The three dragons were still sitting at their table when the waiter finally came, and they ordered their meal for the night.

Spyro looked at Glacius. "So we've known each other for a while now, but we don't know a lot about you. Where did you live before you came to Warfang?"

Glacius was smiling brightly when his expression suddenly changed from happiness to sorrow. His head drooped and his smile had slowly faded into an emotionless, closed-mouth expression, his lips pursed. "I...I don't think you want to know. So let's just drop it," Glacius mumbled eventually, his voice low.

The purple dragon didn't drop the subject. "I do want to know. After all, I want to get to know and trust you more. We are friends and friends trust each other."

Glacius avoided his eye and sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you."

He took a deep breath to keep himself calm. "You see, a long time ago, I used to be a part of this group of water dragons traveling the land. Since we wanted nothing to do with the war between Malefor and the dragons, we left shortly after."

Spyro jumped in. "So you were travelers? Where are the rest of them now?"

The water dragon bit his bottom lip. "They're...all dead," he murmured softly, his gaze hazy. "Apparently, Malefor knew where we were and attacked us during the night. Only my parents survived the onslaught that came after. Once they avoided death, they ran and hid in the mountains to the west. I wasn't born until after the war was already over and by that time, my parents finally decided to come out of hiding."

Glacius' paw was shaking. "But...when we were about to reach Warfang, a group of apes attacked us. It was a long battle; luckily I was eventually saved by a guard that was patrolling that day. However...my parents...were killed."

His head hung low, but Spyro patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for what happened to you back then. Let's be glad that you're here with us. You're valuable to us and we couldn't have accomplished this mission without you," the purple dragon said.

Glacius let his thoughts brew before smiling. "Thank you, Spyro."

Present Day

Glacius fondly looked back on those memories. Sadly, things had changed. The water dragon let out a loud, forceful roar as he slammed his paw into the ground. All the moisture in the air and corpses began to circle around him. The water was stained with the blood and several gunks of mud floated through its translucent form. Spyro stepped in front of Cynder and dug his paws into the ground. He heaved at the mud covering the stone ground, causing a large mud wall to form in front of him.

"Cynder, get behind me!" Spyro exclaimed, causing Cynder to duck behind him, bracing for impact.

"Your pathetic wall of dirt won't protect you," Glacius snarled as he swung his paw, shooting a stream of water at the mud wall. As the two made contact, the mud started to give way from the pressure. Though the ground contained stone, the soil was mainly composed of mud. Spyro backed up before pressing his paws against the wall, creating another layer made of ice.

Spyro growled to himself. He and Cynder were in a tough position. All the mud around him was extremely weak compared to the solid earth he was used to. He knew that if he didn't do anything then pressure from the water would slowly eliminate his shield.

A lightbulb flickered on his head. He turned towards Cynder and whispered something in her ear. He spoke fast, knowing she would comprehend quickly.

Once they were both ready, Spyro leapt out of cover. He took a breath before letting a yellow lightning bolt shoot out of his mouth. Its target was the water stream and if it landed, the fight would essentially be over. However, Glacius noticed Spyro when he left his mud wall. Using the water still surrounding him as a whip, he chucked the clumps of mud that were floating in it. The brown chunks were thrown in the way of the lightning's trajectory; when the lightning struck the mud, the soft earth turned into a glass-like rock.

"Dammit!" Spyro cursed as the rock fell to the ground.

Glacius met his gaze. "Nice try, but I'm not going to fall for it!" he scowled, a dark smile pulling at his lips. The stream of water smashing against the mud wall suddenly changed course and re-directed itself at the now exposed purple dragon. Spyro quickly sprinted out of the way and started to circle Glacius. The water kept lashing out at him, trying to stop him in his tracks.

"Cynder, now!" he shouted, giving the signal. Behind the mud wall, Cynder ascended to the air, putting Glacius in firing range. With a few quick breaths, she shot three shadow fireballs at him in quick succession. The water around Glacius quickly moved between them and expanded, creating a blanket for the fireballs to hit. Once they made contact, the black flames fizzled out and were swiftly extinguished.

Cynder wasn't done, having descended down towards Glacius, following her fireballs. With her wings, she pierced the veil of water and spread them out violently, puncturing a hole in his defense. The water dragon quickly reacted, swinging his tail. His tail blade caught her side, sending her off course and spiraling into the mud. But, it was merely another distraction.

Spyro charged into the ring of suspended water, panting from having to run around the water dragon twice, and leapt over it. As his paw touched the clear liquid, it suddenly froze into ice. At the same time, Spyro was charging a fireball in his maw. The water dragon turned around, noticing Spyro's attempted surprise attack. He quickly took some of the rain that was falling on him to form a water whip, using it to extend his range, before he swung it at Spyro. Though the purple dragon brought his wings to protect his face from the impact, the strikes landed against his side. The sound of cracking ribs popped loudly in the air. Spyro collapsed, his body unable to support itself due to the cracked ribs, and he released his fireball at the floor. A torrent of blood followed as he coughed hoarsely.

Glacius was panting, but he upheld his composure. "Very few dragons have pierced my defenses that quickly before. You two...truly are the greatest dragons in the elite guard. I see why others call you two the perfect pair."

Cynder pulled herself up from the ground, wincing as pain shot through her body. "Glacius...you don't have to do this," she growled with a wobbly, pained voice. "There is a path other than violence and revenge!"

"I know. But my fate is clear. I am to avenge my parents by killing the bastards who murdered them!"

Earlier That Day

Cynder was walking through the temple early in the day. She had bags under her eyes and her mind felt uneasy, the thunderstorm outside keeping her awake all night. She was strolling through the temple hallways when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A dragon was sitting atop the balcony railing, their back facing her, glistening with the rain running down their scales, which looked like small sapphires even in the dark of night. She changed course and walked towards the dragon. Something about that dragon felt wrong, especially if the uneasy, nauseating feeling inside her stomach was anything to go by.

The only sound echoing through the dimly-lit temple was that of her claws tapping against the stone floor, as well as the rain pounding relentlessly against the roof. It wasn't until she reached the dragon that she recognized him as Glacius, who was clearly deep in thought. He was staring out into the darkness, despite its cloak of obscurity.

"Glacius," she murmured, tapping him on the shoulder. He gave her a side glance, indifferent towards her presence.

"Oh, it's you," he sighed, turning back towards the ocean of darkness. "I was hoping I could slip out without you or Spyro noticing. Guess I was wrong."

Cynder pushed herself onto the balcony railing to sit next to him. She was concerned. "It's unlike you to be up this late. What's on your mind?"

He remained silent, yet his eyes said everything. Despite his indifferent posture, his eyes burned with unending hate and sadness. His paw was clenched against the stone railing, holding onto it with so much force his arm shook, his wrath waiting to be unleashed.

She noticed all these signs. "I know that you're trying to keep a straight face. But I can tell that something is bothering you deeply," she said softly, her voice betraying her worry for him. "As your friend, I would like to help you. To do that, I need to know what you're thinking about." She laid her paw on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"There...There is no helping me," he snapped, pulling his shoulder away from her, "because nothing you could say to me will ever help me forget the truth."

"Please then, tell me the truth," she begged him softly. She knew something was wrong the moment she saw him. All this was doing was confirming her suspicions.

He sighed, "Very well. You may come to hate me after hearing this." For the first time since she had found him, Glacius turned and met the gaze of her emerald green eyes. "I was heading to Warfang to rid the city of the elite guard by killing every single one of its members."

Cynder was taken aback by his sudden declaration. His face remained stone cold, completely lacking emotion. She took a step back, frozen with shock. Her mouth hung open, her lips quivering as she tried to find the words to say. "But...but why?" she finally gasped. "This doesn't make any sense. What could possibly be the reason why you would want to do such a thing?!"

He looked back out towards the sea of darkness. "When the guards took me to Warfang, I was told that the apes were the ones who murdered them. But...I found this when I was rummaging through the elite guard archives." He pulled a file out of the pouch that hung against his waist and handed it to her. She grabbed it cautiously, nervous of what Glacius' next move might be. Opening the file, she pulled out a couple of pieces of paper. It looked like some kind of report. She skimmed over it, taking in the more important details before she gasped with shock, raising a paw to her agape mouth.

"Now you know. The same guard patrol that killed those apes and saved me," he explained darkly, his paw clutching at the railing tightly, increasing the angry quaking in his arm, "were also the ones who killed my parents! I've been fed lies for most of my life! They claimed that the water dragons were traitors to all dragon kind because they left when the war started. Apparently, they had planned on killing me too, luckily the reason why they spared me was that two members of that patrol defended me. They were the only kind-hearted dragons in that group, but that doesn't change the fact that the elite guard covered up the investigation and dropped the case. The elite guard killed a couple of innocent dragons in cold blood!" His anger was finally starting to seep through the cracks. Cynder had no idea that this was the reason why he was so distant recently.

He stood up, raising his haunches off the ground and glaring angrily at Cynder. "I'm leaving. After tonight, I will cleanse the elite guard." He looked at Cynder with a slight glint of sympathy in his eyes. "You and Spyro have truly been great friends to me, but you are both part of the elite guard. So I'm warning you," he threatened her, the rain suddenly stopping in the air and pointed at her, like needles, "if you try and warn Warfang of my intentions, my wrath will not just extend to that of the Elite Guard. I'll find and kill every single dragon you care about. And if you try to stop me, I will kill you and Spyro too. Now, this is where we part ways." His wings flared out as he suddenly jumped off the balcony.

Cynder sprung up. "Glacius, wait!" she exclaimed, however, it was too late. Glacius had already disappeared into the darkness.

Present

Glacius stood above the pair as they were laying on the ground. "Well, I believe this is the end of my journey. You two really were great friends to me, but I must satisfy my vengeance; and sadly, that means you both have to die!" he shouted defiantly as the water that still surrounded him began to swirl around him, Spyro and Cynder turned towards each other, before nodding their heads in nonverbal understanding.

They both raised themselves to their feet, ready to continue, a blue-ish glow began to emanate from Spyro. As a precaution, Glacius assumed a fighting position either to dodge or counterattack. Spyro tapped the mud under his feet with one claw and ice began to form, heading towards Glacius. Glacius allowed the water around him to rapidly speed up; as a result, the heat built up and steam was starting to form from it. Once Spyro's ice was close enough, Glacius launched the thin layer of heated water at the ice. When they made contact, the ice was stopped in its tracks, coming to a steaming halt.

Glacius didn't relax and kept his eyes trained on the steam. He knew that their next attack would likely come out of that steam or from behind. He remained postured there, ready for Spyro and Cynder's next move; and while he hid in the steam, it would buy him more time to regain some more water.

One minute passed, then two. Glacius started to grow suspicious. There were clearly planning something, but what? He coughed from all the steam and kept looking around, but he felt something was wrong. A cough wracked his throat again, but it was deeper and a bit raspy. When he coughed the third time, he covered his maw, trying to control the sudden urge; however, when he removed his paw, he could see small drops of blood on his pads. That's when he finally realized what was happening: the steam was poisoned. Cynder must have released some kind of poisonous gas into the steam.

He spread his wings and bolted into the air, the poison having already entered his body. He didn't stop until he was above the steam. Surprisingly, the steam cloud was only small but focused around a central area, which was where he had been standing.

"Why those cowardly-"

"Hey!" a voice called out above him. He swiftly turned around, forgetting about the possibility of an attack from above. Cynder was hovering over him, having easily predicted where he would emerge from. She took a deep breath before letting out a powerful wind blast, using her roar as a medium. The volume of the attack released a powerful shockwave, strong enough to destroy an entire building.

The pressure from her roar sent Glacius back spiraling back towards the ground; the water that was around him forcibly dispersed. He was frantically flapping his wings, trying to regain control over his own body in the air. His heart was pounding against his chest and his body was starting to weaken from the poison. The wind was whipping around him, throwing his balance off every time he tried to stabilize himself. Then his whole body came to a screeching halt as his back hit something incredibly hard.

His vision went blurry, dazed from the impact. It took a couple of seconds for him to realize what had happened. As he was falling, he landed back-first against a large pillar of ice, likely formed by Spyro on the ground. From where Glacius impacted the ice, several chunks had broken off and had fallen to the earth below. His entire body ached with pain, especially his back, which had been punctured by multiple shards of ice. His vision got clearer as he gazed around. Then, he remembered what was happening.

He tried to pull himself off the ice, blood gushing from several wounds on his back. He growled in agony, desperately trying to claw the ice out of his backside. Glacius glanced upward, his eyes widening as he saw what was coming at him; Cynder was rushing right towards him, diving at max speed. The water dragon became more panicked, reaching and grasping for the ice in his back. He looked for his water only to realize that it was dispersed when Cynder's wind blast hit him and the rain had completely stopped, thanks to Cynder's wind element being able to part the clouds. Without any water to use, his element was completely useless.

Cynder had him in her sights, slowly beginning to spin in the air, pushing her wind to increase her velocity. She closed her wings completely, letting her body essentially become a living drill. The wind around her was like a vortex; nothing could hit her even if they tried. The distance between her and Glacius closed, and she slammed into him with all of her strength. He coughed up a pool of blood as her horns pierced his stomach and his intestines; the ice in his back was pushed further in, tearing into multiple organs. The ice structure shattered, completely collapsing under the pressure of the impact. Like a meteor, Cynder and Glacius continued their descent until they struck the earth, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

Spyro watched as his icy creation crumbled to the ground. He knew that Cynder could've taken him on her own; but, he couldn't help but launch an attack of his own. From the looks of it, the fight was over; Spyro still had a look of disappointment. He was half-conscious and barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Why...why did it have to...come to this?" he cried out to the ancestors, regretting that he couldn't protect his friend from his suffering. Spyro reached out towards the rubble and begged softly, "Forgive me...Glacius." His eyes drooped closed and his paw limply sunk into the dirt; he let his consciousness fade into the deep recesses of his mind.

…

The dust hung over the battlefield and obscured the large pieces of ice that were scattered through the mud. In the center of it all, there were two silhouettes, one standing and one collapsed in the dirt. Cynder was the one standing up, clutching at her wing. As Cynder and Glacius descended from the sky, a piece of ice had clipped one of her wings; but it was a mere scratch compared to the injuries Glacius had suffered. His stomach had been ripped open and chunks of his scales and muscle had decorated the ground with blood. The shards of ice from earlier were shoved deeper into his back, piercing one of his lungs and his heart. Glacius' face wore an expression of agony; his eyes were wide open and the light in them was already gone.

Cynder couldn't celebrate a victory like this; her face was wracked in grief. "I-I'm...I'm sorry, Glacius," she sobbed, unable to keep her feelings back, and burst into tears. She sat on her haunches with her head remaining close to the ground. This outcome was the last thing she wanted; no one should have to kill one of their friends. She kept her head bowed, paying her respects to her fallen comrade.

With sorrow in her heart, Cynder wept, "Rest in peace, Glacius. May the ancestors see you for your joyful heart and guide you to your parents, so you may reunite with them." The dark and gloomy clouds joined together and the rain resumed, washing away the blood that had stained the earth.

…

Thank you all so much for reading this. I had a ton of fun writing this out and coming up with the concept. Once again, a big thank you to SKdaGamer and MysticOTDH for helping me out. Thanks to you two, I feel a little proud of this than I would without you. Thank you guys and I'll see you in DRII!