A/N Hey all this will be my first venture into writing on this site, as well as creative writing in this selected style. It's not something I often do, but I'm currently looking into more creative and productive outlets with my spare time, and this seems a good as place as any to start. I hope you all enjoy, and if you can, please provide some feedback, I hope for this to enhance my writing capabilities, as well as ability to convey a captivating story! Don't be afraid to be critical, any feedback is good feedback.
I hop you all enjoy the story, if so, I'll make writing the whole thing out a priority!
p.s I do not own any characters originating from the Legend of Spyro games.
The Legend of Spyro: Violet Dusk
Chapter 1: The End of the World
Violent cracks and the sporadic movement of stone filled the air with noise, tectonic movements shifting and breaking the crust of the world into tethers around them. Magma rose and spurt from every direction, forcing its way from the core of the earth outward, like a wound desperately unable to keep its lifeblood from escaping. The magma filled the gaps between the multiplying cracks like the rising waters of a flooding stream between stones. Far above, outward towards the sky which now seemed an impossible distance away, was the rim of the volcano from which entry had occurred, a mere speck in the distance of an impossible amount of moving detail within the shifting earth. The night's sky, nearly unrecognisable, was thick with ash beyond the shifting rim, and the violent tempest of an unnatural storm churned and mixed with the magma escaping from within the earth. However, being gifted with the keen eyes that he was, he could see something just within the eye of the storm, a single light shining through, one bright star from the clear sky that lay just beyond the churning chaos beneath.
Below, violet streams of energy shot forth from a massive crystalline structure, cutting through everything in their path with a darkeningly harmonious hum. It emitted a powerful force outward, pushing the crumbling decay of the earth's structure into oblivion, removing any lingering suggestion that the world may still be salvageable from the brink it currently sat at. The structure itself was massive, the size of a mountain, and was clearly of supernatural forces, from what the two of them had witnessed just moments prior. What it's purpose was however, was unknown to either of them; was it something of the ancestors? Had it always been here, at the core of the world? From all that could be gathered in either way, this was the massive purple heart of the dying planet. Whether this purple energy now pouring forth from this heart was the work of the dark entity that now resided within, or the final response of a world damaged beyond repair was unknown, but in either case, it didn't really matter.
This was the end, and despite the violent shaking of the earth around him, an apocalypse sparing nothing, within this central core of the Earth, he finally felt some measure of peace rising within himself. His life had been tainted by the tremendous beast that had been vanquished only just moments prior. Draconic spiritual entities had arisen from within the heart and dragged the wicked and cruel beast by what seemed to be his mere existence, into the core. Wherever he was now, his body and soul were removed from this plane of existence, and had been consumed by the planet's core.
This beast, which he had tried to prevent from causing any more harm to the world and those within it, could no longer do anything to spread darkness across the land. This came as a relief to him, to know that the quest he had been set upon, his destiny, had finally come to pass. This would surely be an even greater relief to the dragoness beside him, who'd spent nearly her entire life poisoned by his dark influence, made a tool to his bidding. A breath of spiritual serenity came across them both, if only for a fractional moment. The tyrant that had seeped his dark talons into their lives was finally no longer, though the cost of such a feat had been great.
The purple dragon motioned to move after his short moment of contemplation on the state of the world around him. Accompanied by his jet-black dragoness companion, they glided down to the heart of the world on exhausted wings that struggled to hold them up any longer. The purple dragon's appearance had once been of pure royal purple scales, a golden underbelly that matched his horns, and golden spines with orange membranes that stretched from his head to tail spike, matching the composition of his wings. The dragoness on the other hand, was of jet-black scales, having a red underbelly, and a crown of silver horns around her head that matched the sharp blades adorned by her tail and wing thumbs. Now however, the pair were pale reflections of themselves, being spattered with bruises and lacerations, with layered coats of mixed ash and earth marring their once attractive appearances. The final battle with the beast had been hard fought, both physically and spiritually.
Landing on the giant crystal, the two were surprised to discover the gem to be cool to the touch, though neither of them spoke of it. This was strange, the apparent immunity to the heat that raged from flowing magma around them, and the destructive violet energy that coursed outward from within, though the state of things pressed these observations to that back of their minds.
First, the Dragoness spoke;
"Spyro…." she said in a defeated tone "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry".
"Don't be, its over now" he responded calmly, accepting that the great conflict of his life, and the world, was finally done with.
"So, this is it?" she asked, unable to hide her concerned tone at the apparent fate of things.
This question cut Spyro deeply, how was he supposed to respond to such a statement? How could he tell the dragoness he had secretly come to admire over the past few years that this is where they would both perish? The culmination of a long journey they both shared together, and sacrificed together, ending in a bitter finale. Spyro shut his eyes harshly, the stain of this thought marring the usual smile he adorned into a painful frown.
This set off a panic deep within Spyro, realising the sheer magnitude of the situation. He had had lost, and the Dark Master, the evil entity whom they had finally defeated amongst all odds, had won anyways. Was there even victory to be considered here? They would now suffer the fate of the dying world, damaged by the evil beast in a final act of malice. This panic and dread was only enhanced upon his last thought, 'dying world'. This wouldn't just be their fate, but that of everyone in the world. Spyro closed his eyes shut hard, and images of his brother, his parents, the guardian mentors that had shaped him into the hero he had become, and allies amongst various races and cultures shot across his mind. None of these people would make it, despite their success in defeating the dark master, the outcome would be the same crushing result.
The weight of this failure overwhelmed Spyro, and even with his eyes shut, the bitter reality of what had transpired caused tears to form in the corners of his eyes. He looked deep within for an answer, a solution to what could be done; "there must be something that I can do, there has to be, please!" he thought to himself. Emotions began to overwhelm the young dragon, fear, sadness, pity, nostalgia, anger, melancholy, though he still dove deeper, hopeful to find the answer he needed.
His thoughts held no answers.
But there was something else there, strangely enough, a whisper, what is that? It began to form into a voice.
This voice was not of his own, but of another, and it echoed within his head. And as Spyro focused on it, the message of this voice spoke louder and more clearly than the swarm of emotions coursing through the purple dragon. Unbeknownst to him, an ethereal likeness of whom this voice belonged to formed around him, with the dragoness standing closely nearby shocked at whom it was. Spyro could barely believe it as the voice of the deceased Ignitus, a dragon whom had given and sacrificed everything for him, passed wisdom to him;
"…. Spyro, when a dragon dies, he does not truly leave this world. His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature, offering hope for the future…."
As the voice of Ignitus faded away within his head, so too did his spiritual form, lifting off the ground into the space above the crystal, and soaring off upward to the rim of the volcano.
The swelling tempest of emotions within the purple dragon was now quelled. He knew now what he needed to do, it was the same as what he was always knew it would be, save the world. He was nature's response to all of this, given great power to balance things, and if that tyrannical beast could bring destruction and chaos to the world, couldn't he bring the opposite? "No" Spyro thought "I know I can". Though deep within, he knew this would come at the expense of himself.
Again, seeing the faces of all of those he cared about and struggled with flash through his mind, and finally opening his eyes to look upon the black dragoness whom he had become most fond of, he knew he would gladly pay that price.
"I know what I need to do" he spoke confidently, stepping forward towards the centre of the crystal.
He took pause though, realising what he was about to do might kill his companion. While his affections for her were great, he didn't expect them returned. She had been unwillingly magically chained to him by the dark master for most of their adventure, and often spoke keenly of separating their bond. And while this attachment had initially been viewed as a detriment, he couldn't help but feel it had brought them closer together, and form both a stronger team, as well as relationship. This proximity only made Spyro's affection for her grow more as well. To see someone who had been a slave to a dark force for so long have the courage to stand up and fight it head on, is what he admired about her most, though he'd never had the chance to say it. He could never ask her to stay with him here in his final moments, as much as he wanted to. And as afraid as he was to be alone, keeping her safe would bring him peace, to know the one he loved would live.
"Just get out of here Cynder" he spoke again, hiding his both his fear and dread of the request
"Spyro, No! You Don't have to do anything, let's just go!"
"Where Cynder? There will be nothing left, the world is breaking apart…. but I think I can stop it, I think I'm meant to"
Cynder and Spyro stared at each other for what seemed like minutes. He couldn't believe it, this dragoness, at the end of everything, was trying to save him. It brought a great sense of alleviation to his heart that she was trying to save him as much as he was her. Was this compassion? Affection? Something more? It didn't matter, it was something that sparked a great energy within him that began to build.
Similarly, Cynder couldn't believe that after everything that had happened, everything that Spyro had sacrificed and given to bring peace and defeat the dark master, that he was willing to give himself at the end of it all. His self-sacrifice and caring for others was something that she had come to admire over their adventure. While at first, she thought he might have been trying to play the hero, and his sense of duty and caring both for her and others was an extension of that projected persona. However, in the dark times that had come, he never faltered in his ideals or compassion for others, and she had come to realise that this was no falsehood, this truly was the real Spyro. This enamour only grew as the two had come to rely on each other, and ironically through a magical chain that had brought her closer to him and freed her from her mistrusts of others. Thinking back at how he had saved her from enslavement to the dark master, from Gaul, and from countless other dangers, she realised how much he had cared for her, and how deep down, she now felt the same.
It broke her heart to realise he was willing to die for her to save her one last time. No, she wouldn't leave him at the end of all of this, she wouldn't leave him to die by himself, it's not right. If she couldn't save him, then she could at least be with him to the end, there's nowhere else she'd rather be.
"Then I'm with you" she finally spoke.
After being freed from the dark master's control, Cynder had always made her own decisions, she only did what she truly wanted to do and nothing less. Spyro, realising that not only was she trying to save him, but that she truly cared enough to stay with him even into death, felt serenity in his fate, knowing he wouldn't go it alone. The spark of energy that had been lit within Spyro ignited and grew exponentially.
As the energy expanded, he extended his wings majestically as his body lifted off the cool crystal surface, and an illustrious purple glow began emanating from his body. Spyro mentally braced himself for what he was about to do. He looked up intently at the rim of the volcano above, and the sky beyond. That single star still shined brightly through the darkness of the world above. "That's what I'll bind with, that's what I'll try to be", Spyro thought, "hope".
Just then however, Cynder Spoke to him a final time. "I Love You"
This final message came to the purple dragon's ears as nearly a whisper, and although uncertain if it had been a figment of his imagination, it was the last push he needed.
The energy that had been building within Spyro, the purple dragon's true element of convexity, a force to balance the darkness of the world with light, expanded to near immeasurable quantity. The energy exploded out of his body in a cascade of tremendous purple light in all directions. Unlike the violet energy that had been emitted from the earth's core, this was different, a spiritual energy that was full of life instead of destruction, and the sheer amount of it was overwhelming.
Energy fired out of the purple dragon's body in waves, passing through solid rock, and travelling as fast as light itself. It pushed valiantly outward, reaching the surface of the planet coating everything in a silky purple hue, and shot furthermore into the stratosphere beyond. Unexpectedly, the destructive energy ejected from the core of the planet began to calm and redirected itself toward Spyro. The energy cast itself out at a single point, connecting with the young dragon's tail. It began coursing through him as it was siphoned into his own spiritual lifeforce, spreading to every corner of his body. He took this excess energy and forced it outwards, thanking the ancestors as he did so.
Spyro focused on everything he wanted to save, the planet, his family and friends, the innocent peoples of the world, all of those who had suffered and struggled through the terrible things the dark master had done, and Cynder, especially Cynder. Spyro forced even more energy out of his body, sending endless waves of energy out in every direction. The purple energy began to form around the planet, grasping the fleeting remains of the planet which had nearly cracked itself into oblivion. It formed itself into a shield and began to pull these parts back closer together, and down towards to remaining landmass of the world. He focused on pulling these points all towards himself, though if he could truly be called himself anymore was unsure. He no longer felt the sensation of being in his physical body, and instead felt that he had become something of convexity itself, something of energy, and he felt he was part of the massive amount of energy he had cast out. Though strangely, there was also another energy there, something else.
Spyro could see and feel everything the energy touched. He felt the dislodged parts of the planet he was pulling back together, and he protected and pulled back together the swamps where he had grown up in. He saw and shielded a cave where his brother, parents and dragon mentors had taken refuge in, and meanwhile, fended the citizens of Warfang from falling buildings and debris. He warded the valley of Avalar in all its beauty and made it whole again. And he defended Cynder, unconscious Cynder, who lay just below his glowing body of energy.
Cynder had passed out from the sensory overload that came from being so close to the immense energy coming from the purple dragon. Spyro knew that despite the near limitless energy he now commanded, he couldn't do this forever, and upon seeing that he had managed to preserve the dragoness he had come to love, he knew there still might be a chance to save her in the end.
Forcing even more energy out, Spyro grasped the planet with his energy, and pulled hard, sending parts of the planet on a course back to their original resting place. Even without further intervention, the sheer amount of residual energy he covered the world in would be enough to guide his intentions to the safety of their original resting places. The crystal core itself had also stopped emitting energy, and seemed to have been calmed, with its once destructive energy having been contained and channelled through Spyro himself.
Seeing all of this come to fruition, a sense of contentment swept through the purple dragon, that he had saved the planet and all those on it. He had no regrets with his role as purple dragon and the part he played in the grand scheme of things, it brought him honour to have saved so many. Slowly, Spyro began to lose his vision on the places and peoples that his spiritual violet energy touched and began to regain minute feeling of being back in his body. It was with this feeling that he realized his time was beginning to end, and that his life and energy was nearly spent. "No" he spoke in a booming echoing voice, though one that was becoming increasingly frail.
"not yet, I have one last thing I need to do".
Spyro grasped Cynder with some of the remaining energy he still possessed, and created a shield around her, like what he had done to bring the planet back together. Focusing now solely on this one objective as opposed to the entire planet should have been easy, but as Spyro felt more of his energy and life seeping uncontrollably out of him, the task became increasingly laboured and difficult. He lifted Cynder off the ground and used his will to send the violet energy protecting her upwards to the volcano rim entry above. The difficulty was immense, and as she neared the top, he worried he may drop her, as his energy flickered and laboured under stress. Finally, seeing the energy pass through the rim, and out of the earth's crust, Spyro sent the energy rocketing off in an unknown direction, carrying Cynder off to safety.
"I'm sorry Cynder, I won't be there to see it all with you, I hope you can forgive me. I love you…. Goodbye" he spoke to himself
Collapsing back to the ground, the energy that had once poured forth from the purple dragon had completely ceased, and what remained was simply holding his lifeforce together. What he had done had taken everything he had, and it showed. What was once a majestic sight to behold, the appearance of the dragon had transformed into one devoid of colour and sheen, becoming nearly stone-like. Subtle movements in the dragon's muscles caused his scales to crack and break into dust, and he could hear his laboured breathing squeaking and slowing as the moments passed. Despite the irreversible condition his body was in though, Spyro felt no pain, and even bore a quaint smile across his brow, the reward of a journey hard fought and won. His life had been short, and if there were any regrets, it was that he wouldn't get to see Cynder, his family or friends again, or live in the peace he had fought so hard to bring to life. He hoped that by some chance, he would get to see them again, and that by some measure of his role in all of this, would be granted this wish for a destiny completed.
Spyro looked up into the Sky one last time through the volcano rim in the distance, craning his neck upward slowly. The mere movement of his head caused more scales to crack and shatter, and upon tuning his head into position, he realised there would be no more moving after this.
The maelstrom of darkness that had once stood menacingly overhead had dissipated, and in its place, Spyro could see the single star, shining even brighter. Many other stars could now be seen accompanying it, and off to the side, the soft light of dawn was beginning to crawl over the horizon. Within each flickering light he could see a reflection of a family member, a friend, a guardian. This made Spyro realise that while he wouldn't get to see them, the same would be true for them never seeing him.
It was then a clever idea came to his mind, as he felt the tingling of the remaining energy within his body stir. This was an idea inspired by Ignitus parting wisdom not long before, and his own idea of binding with hope. "Thank you Ignitus" Spyro thought to himself, "This will be, so they always know where to find me".
With that final thought, the great purple dragon mustered all the remaining energy he could, and some he didn't even know he had, and focused it onto a single point in his core. Taking one last deep breath that caused much of his increasingly-hardening body to crack, Spyro fired the energy in a tremendously powerful beam outward and into the sky, splitting the clouds.
The beam fired forth from the volcano rim, shattering the structure of the volcano itself and causing it to collapse into the surrounding burned lands, obliterating a malevolent vestige of the Dark Master that would no longer plague the races of the world. The beam continued outward into space, and eventually, upon nearing the bright star and constellations that Spyro had seen from below, cast itself out over a colossal distance. The energy spread to fill the spaces between stars with brilliant hues of orange, gold and purple, his colours. The resulting shape of the beam formed into the visage of a mighty dragon, casting its wings out in a protective stance. The constellation would be something that could be seen across the land, and in the nights sky, would always be something for his friends and family to look to see him.
Below, deep in the core of the earth, now shrouded in darkness, Spyro was finally complete. His scales, wings, claws, and even his eyes had turned completely grey, and had hardened stiff as stone. His final stance of looking hopefully upwards towards the sky with a smile on his face was immortalized, as his last majestic stance petrified him into as good a statue as any hero could hope to be honoured with.
Elsewhere, an ancient being staggered worriedly within the stone halls of a timeless library. The dragon known as the chronicler looked intently over the magical book recording Spyro's life. "None of this makes any sense" he spoke in an old, crooked voice. Despite his millennia of serving as recorder of dragon history for the realms, nothing like this had ever happened. The book of Spyro's life had just written pages that would clearly indicate his death, as his energy was expended, and his body turned to stone. Frantically, the chronicler waved another book over to the lectern in front of him and began rapidly flipping through the pages. "I don't understand, it's like…. it's like he's not anywhere" he spoke worriedly. "Of all the contradictions, this is must puzzling" he began to trail off, hypothesizing on what the reason may be.
Despite their intended purposes, these two books were each contradicting the other. While the first was made to record the life of Spyro, with writing that magically appeared within as Spyro lived, it just implied that he had perished. However, most of the pages in the book were still blank, indicating that there was plenty life yet to live, yet all writing appearing within ceased completely.
The other book, made to magically record the names of dragons when they pass from the world however, didn't show Spyro's name anywhere, which would indicate that he was alive.
"I simply don't understand where he may be" The chronicler continued to think. "But perhaps, that is for younger minds to solve. I believe it is my time to pass on the torch, and while my era has passed, I am uncertain that is the case of Spyro, such a bitter ending for a hero looms too heavily in my heart to accept…". As the chronicler continued his chain of thought as to where the hero might have gone, the ancient dragon began to sense a presence approaching from the halls that entered the massive library he oversaw. "Ah" he spoke, "Be welcome friend. I have long been expecting you…"
Elsewhere, a young dragoness lying unconscious on the ground begins to struggle with dark nightmares plaguing her mind.