Hello everybody and welcome to Lightning: Abenaki Legacy! I have been wanting to start this story for awhile now and I'm so happy that I can finally do just that. I've put a lot of thought into the plot for this story and you all should expect a bunch of new characters. There will be some characters that belong to other authors and they will be mentioned at the end of the chapter whenever they are introduced. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of this story and remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 1: Awaken the Dark Savior
It was a warm, sunny morning in the Awan Plains. That was the name given to the area that once was called the Well of Souls before it crumbled to the ground to form the plains. The plains were no longer the dead rock lands that they used to be when they were first formed; instead, they were simple grass fields with the occasional tree or bush.
The sky was nearly cloudless and the sun shined brightly upon the grassy fields. The various birds and insects soured through the air with ease while the land animals ate from the grass or wandered with their herds.
Within the fields of grass, two young dragons were chasing each other in a childish game. One of them was a young fire dragon and the other was an ice dragoness that was the same age. They both couldn't be more than four or five years old and they laughed as they chased each other.
The fire dragon possessed red-orange scales with a gold colored underbelly and wing membranes. His tailblade was sort of like a spiral-like barb that somewhat resembled Spyro's and his horns also looked like the purple dragon's. His eyes were orange and shone with shy curiosity.
The ice dragon was a female, unlike the other dragon, she had a more slender body with white scales that was reminiscent of snow. Her wing membranes and underbelly were both a shade of blue and she had six horns that curved upward, similar to Cynder's horns. Her tailblade at the end of her tail pointed outwards and resembled a spike. Lastly, her eyes were sky blue and were full of excitement.
"C'mon Flambian! Tag me if you can!" the young ice dragoness yelled as she ran away from the other child.
"You're gonna get it, Spirit!" the fire dragon, now identified as Flambian, called back as he ran after her.
'My brother thinks he can catch me. I'll show him.' the little ice dragoness thought to herself as she ran from her sibling.
The two young hatchlings ran through the field and laughed as they played. Flambian eventually tagged his sister and ran off in the opposite direction. She giggled and commenced the chase. The fire dragon ran as fast as he could away from her sister and he ran around a tall hill as they ran.
He stopped dead in his tracks however when he noticed a small cave on the other side of the hill. It seemed like that an adult sized dragon wouldn't be able to fit into the entrance, but teenage dragons could and he would probably fit in perfectly with little trouble. Spirit didn't even notice the cave and playfully tackled her brother to the ground.
"Tag! You're it!" she cheered victoriously before she hopped off of him.
The ice dragoness calmed down however when she looked up and saw the cave as well. As Flambian slowly stood up again, his sister started walking towards the cave. She was curious with what could possibly be inside.
"Spirit, where are you going?" the young fire dragon asked as he nervously looked at the dark cave.
"I'm going to see what's in this place." the ice dragoness answered with an excited smile as she got closer and closer to the foreboding cave.
"But mom and dad said that we have to be home for lunch." her brother reasoned as he backed away from the hill.
"We'll be home by then. Now let's go in and see what's inside." she encouraged before she ran inside.
Flambian really didn't want to go in after her, but he also didn't want to leave her sister alone where there was possibly danger. He sighed heavily and shook his head before he ran into the cave as well.
The interior of the cave was surprisingly quite the sight. The place didn't look natural at all; instead, it looked like the ruins of a fortress that has long been hidden from the world. The room the two dragons were in was dark and only the light from outside made things visible. What creeped both of them out however, was the bones of apes littering the ground and dust piles on the ground that could only be the ashes of fallen warriors.
"I don't like this place." the young fire dragon commented as he looked around the ruins, obviously scared.
"Yeah, but look at that." Spirit replied and pointed at a hallway that had a golden-yellow light illuminating from it.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, sis? There could be monsters down there." Flambian spoke as he stared at the hallway.
"No. Do I ever have good ideas?" she joked, trying to make him feel better.
The fire dragon wasn't comforted from her choice of wording, but he couldn't help but smile from her goofy tone of voice.
They both felt very uncomfortable being in that place though. They couldn't explain it, but something just felt evil about the ruins. It was as if they knew some very bad things happened there.
The two siblings walked at a slow pace down the hallway and they noticed it gradually got brighter the further down they went. They eventually ended up in a spacious room that was partially crumbled with debris. The main thing they noticed was that there was a large golden-yellow crystal in the middle of the room that was shining the bright light. They both gasped and their eyes widened when they saw the outline of a teenaged dragon in the middle of the large crystal.
"Spirit… who is that dragon?" Flambian asked nervously as they hesitantly walked up to the crystal that towered over them both.
"I… I don't know." the young ice dragoness answered honestly and she shivered when she noticed that the incased dragon was missing his or her right paw.
The two young dragons looked closely at the mysterious dragon within the crystal. They were trying to see his or her details so they could maybe figure out who it was or what type of dragon it was. They couldn't see anything about the dragon however because the crystal made it too foggy to see clearly.
"I don't like this place. Let's just go." Flambian urged as he took a step back away from the crystal.
"Aren't you at least a little curious who this dragon is?" Spirit asked, slightly annoyed from her brother's nervousness. "I've read that Spyro and Cynder themselves were once trapped in a crystal like this one. I bet we could help this dragon out too." she recalled as she walked up to the large, yellow crystal.
"Let him out!? Why would you want to do that!?" the young fire dragon demanded.
"Because he might need our help. Who knows how long this dragon's been here." she explained calmly.
"But he could be trapped in there for a reason. What if he's one of the bad guys?" he reasoned as he walked up to his sister to pull her away.
"There's only one way to find out. I'm not leaving until we at least try to free this dragon." the ice replied with a stern tone of voice.
Realizing that he could not dissuade his sister, the fire dragon sighed heavily nodded in understanding. She smiled at her victory and they both walked right up to the glowing crystal.
Flambian and Spirit placed their paws on the crystal's smooth surfaced and their eyes widened when it started to glow more brightly. They quickly pulled their paws away and took a few steps back, but that did not reverse whatever it was they caused. The crystal's light got so intense that they had to shield their eyes with their wings to avoid being blinded. They began to regret their decision when the ground under them started to lightly tremble and they began to hear voices.
"You're exactly what they say you are, a savage…" a dark voice was heard that sounded like multiple people were talking at once.
"No! Don't let him have the crystal…!" a worried voice was heard; this one sounded more normal than the last one.
"You could kill us both…!" the dark voice spoke again, this time sounding more panicked than before.
"I know…" a deep toned voice spoke emotionlessly.
Just when Flambian and Spirit thought that something horrible was about to happen, the bright light died down and the earth stopped trembling. They slowly moved their wings away from their eyes to see that the crystal wasn't there anymore and the dragon that was trapped in it was now lying on the floor. The two children very hesitantly walked towards the dragon that was lying on his side and Spirit lightly nudged his shoulder.
The dragon didn't react to her touch and the only thing that told them that he was alive was his amplified breathing from the strange mask he was wearing. This confused the children greatly. They couldn't understand why the mask made his breathing louder or why he was even wearing the mask in the first place.
"I don't get it. Who is this dragon? Why would he wear that scary mask? And why was he trapped in that crystal?" Flambian thought aloud as he looked at the black scaled dragon.
"I don't know. Man, look at all those scars." Spirit replied and shivered when she saw all the battle scars covering the muscular dragon.
The young fire dragon was about to comment on this when they heard a quiet grown at their feet. They looked at the teenaged dragon to see that he was awake and slowly raising his head to look at them. The black dragon slowly tiled his head to the side, expression his confusion, and stood up on his three legs the best he could.
Flambian whimpered quietly as he looked up at the intimidating dragon and hid behind his sister in fear, who was simply staring with wide eyes. The masked dragon simply stared at them through the angry looking lens on his gas mask and didn't utter a word. They simply stared at each other for awhile until Spirit finally broke the intense silence.
"Um… who are you?" she asked with slight nervousness.
"…Tamhigan." the masked dragon answered quietly with a very deep voice.
The two children were still frightened from the mysterious dragon, but they felt a little better now that they could put a name to him. The black scaled dragon took this moment to look around the area and he bore a deep frown behind his mask when he realized where he was.
"I… I'm Flambian." the little fire dragon greeted hesitantly.
"And I'm Spirit." the ice dragoness greeted with slightly more confidence than her brother.
"Can… can we get out of here now?" Flambian whispered to his sister, not wanting to spend another moment in the dark ruins.
"Sure. Would you like to come with us, Tamhigan?" she agreed and asked the dragon they freed.
The scarred dragon simply nodded, wanting to leave to and he followed the two children out of the room and down the hall. He had some trouble because of his severed paw, but he managed by simply hopping instead of walking like them. The children made sure to slow down so he could catch up and they eventually made it back to the cave's entrance and easily went through the entrance and into the open. Tamhigan had a tougher time with his paw and the kids had to help pull him out. They eventually succeeded and he hopped out of the cave.
The masked dragon looked up at the sunny sky before he looked out at the grassy fields. He didn't remember this place at all. He strictly remembered being on a mountain the last time he was away. He was brought out of his train of thought when Spirit tapped him on his good foreleg.
"Why were you in that cave and trapped in that crystal?" she asked curiously once he looked down at her.
Tamhigan didn't like to talk much and he wasn't too thrilled that he had to speak in order to answer her question. Nevertheless, he decided to at least partially answer.
"I was in a fight and we both lost." he explained quietly, hoping that his answer would satisfy her.
The ice dragoness really wanted to ask him more questions, but she realized that he didn't want to talk about it and chose to hold off on her questions until later.
"Do um… do you have a place to stay?" Flambian asked nervously, wanting to be polite.
Tamhigan simply shook his head, no. He could always just go back to his mother's apartment, but he didn't know how long he was in that crystal or if she was even still there. He was also too tired to make the long journey at the moment.
"Maybe you could come home with us!" Spirit suggested excitedly. "I'm sure mom and dad won't mind!" she added with a big smile.
The black dragon thought about this for a moment. On one hand, he could say no and fend for himself like he usually did. On the other, he could go with them and possibly get some help. He glanced at his pawless leg to see the stump, which was severely burned when he stopped the bleeding by burning the wound with his electricity. He then at the children, who both had smiles.
"Okay." he finally spoke with his usual quiet tone of voice.
"Just follow us. Our house isn't too far." the ice dragoness promised before she and her brother started walking around to the other side of the hill.
Tamhigan followed them by hoping on his three paws at a slow pace. The children realized that he couldn't move too fast and slowed down so he could catch up. As they walked, the black dragon became lost in thought. He couldn't understand how he was alive after the battle with the Dark Master, He knew Malefor was dead because he saw him burn away before his eyes. He wanted to know how he survived, but first, he needed rest and to see his mother and brother.
After the three dragons circled around the hill, a wooden house could be seen about two or three dozen yards away. The trio slowly made their way to the house until they reached the front porch and Flambian opened the door so they could go inside. The two children walked in, but looked back at Tamhigan because he didn't budge. The two children walked in, but looked back at Tamhigan because he didn't budge.
"Um… you can come in." Spirit said awkwardly as her brother opened the door wider so their guest could have an easier time getting in.
Tamhigan hesitantly hoped through the doorway and Flambian shut the door behind him. The two children led him a little deeper into the house until they came upon the living room. There were two dragons sitting on a large seating pillow and the black dragon assumed that they were the children's parents.
The male was a slightly muscular fire dragon with crimson scales and an orange underbelly. His wings reminded Tamhigan of Cyril's and the dragon's eyes were just as crimson as his scales. His horns and tailblade exactly matched Flambian's.
The other was an ice dragoness who was noticeably muscular, but not too much. Her underbelly and wing membranes were both snow white and her eyes were sapphire colored. She possessed two silver horns that curved and her tailblade resembled Spirit's.
"Hi mom! Hi dad! We're home!" the little ice dragoness informed her parents as she and her brother walked up to the adult dragons.
"I can see that, but who is this?" their father asked as he looked at the masked dragon.
"His name is Tamhigan. He was trapped in some kind of crystal." Flambian answered, feeling comfort from his parents' presence.
"Wait, Tamhigan? The Tamhigan?" the adult ice dragoness asked as she and her mate stood up.
The post-apocalyptic dragon simply nodded in confirmation. He didn't understand why they were so excited, but he decided to just go with it.
The adult fire dragon stood up as well and walked over to the black dragon.
"Dude, you're a legend after what you did! You stopped the Dark Master and ensured our race's survival! We all thought you died from your battle! My name is Zach by the way!" he greeted excitedly with a warm smile.
"And I'm Frost, Zach's mate. It's nice to meet one of our Realm's great saviors." the adult ice dragoness introduced with a smile of her own.
"Um, he doesn't' have a place to stay. Is it okay if Tamhigan stays with us for the night?" Spirit asked her parents, trying to bring the conversation to the topic at hand.
"Why yes, of course. You're always welcome to stay here, Tamhigan." Zach told the masked dragon, his smile never fading.
Tamhigan didn't like all the attention he was receiving, but he was thankful that they weren't hostile towards them and nodded in appreciation. The two mates nodded back and sat back down on their seating pillows. The two children hopped up onto their father's seating pillow and sat down on both sides of him.
"Sit down. Make yourself at home." Zach offered as he motioned towards the seating pillow across from them.
Tamhigan didn't see the harm in it and slowly took his seat. The family took this moment to quickly look over Tamhigan. They were slightly unnerved by all his scars and intimidating appearance, but they put that aside because he was known as a hero throughout the Realms. They didn't expect him to be so quiet however and they felt pity towards him when they saw that he was missing his right paw.
"Well, I'm gonna make lunch for us all. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Frost informed them with a smile before she walked out of the room.
Tamhigan watched her leave and turned to the rest of the family once she was out of his line of sight. He noticed that Zach was playing with his kids and decided not to interrupt them. He knew that he had to get some answers, but he decided to wait until Frost came back with the promised food.
Zach, Frost, Flambian, and Spirit are all owned by Zach the Fire Dragon. Also, Awan Plains is named after a character that both me and Admiralkirk own. She's used in his story, Rise like the Phoenix.