And now the final act of the trilogy: The Legend of Spyro: Rise of a Hero
ACT II: THE CHOSEN
And we will lead the earth into a new era,
of purity and sunlight,
and free it of unwanted burden,
causing it to rise out of the clouds
and allow the creator to shine down upon us.
Us, the Chosen few.
The Scriptures, Book of Trials 1:17
You were afraid that you would disappear,
That you would be lost and forgotten.
I held you tight against the dark and
Said that I would always be there for you
Then one day it happened. You were
Torn from my arms and vanished
From this world...
It was late, the moon shown bright through the trees as Ezio dipped his claw into the ink again, looking out through the window and entrance to Ignitus's study. He thought for a moment as the ink drained back into the pot, then brought his claw back to the scrap of parchment.
Maybe you don't remember
Maybe you don't want to, it might scare you
I doubt it...
Maybe your mad at me. You didn't seem like it when I last saw you, held you in my arms
I'd like to think you hadn't forgotten, that you knew and you were planning on it
My promise and all. But I meant
Every word.
I hope your not afraid,
Wherever you are.
You don't need to be...
I'm not...
I WILL find you.
The night may grow dark around us, but I promised. I think promises to a dragon are different. But the magic of this place, and of you had already begun to change me. I'm not sure how, but I feel different.
I can feel you wherever I can go. Frost looks at me with worry. Like I should do something rash.
I'm not angry. I'm determined. To find you, and end this. It's time it stopped.
I'm determined to find you and ask you.
Say hello to our mutual friend...
Yours, forever and always,
Ezio Starfire
"Hello?"
No answer.
"Anyone there? I'm sorry, I can't see anyth - "
Sudden light blinded Spyro. He thought the sun had exploded, it was so bright. Finally, it died down, and he gaped at what he saw. Arrayed before him was the universe. But not just our universe, all of them, every single one beyond the reach that any mortal could ever achieve.
"Wow." He said quietly. He looked down too see what he was walking on, and was startled to see he was standing on nothing. It felt as if he were upon hard solid ground, but there was nothing there. He lifted a foot, and placed it down, and there was a slight ripple from the impact on the image below him, but nothing more. He looked up again, and addressed the area at large.
"HELLO!" He shouted out.
"Spyro?" It was a whisper, almost as if a breath of wind had spoken it. It had no source, yet it seemed to come from all around him, even from inside him. He shivered at it and felt fear creep into his heart.
"Am I dead?"
"No, you are early, my son."
"Am I in heaven?"
"Your spirit shall always sit among the stars."
"Of all the messages I was expecting, yours was the least of them." Malefor said, staring down at the leader from his throne. The dragon shuddered, but spoke up.
"My interest in my peoples well-fare drives me to be here Sir. To be honest, I'm tired of fighting, tired of this war. It is my understanding that the legendary purple one has been defeated. Thus I believe our last hope of winning has been vanquished. I have come to discuss our terms of surrender."
"Very well, these are my terms: One, I shall request warriors from your host, volunteers whom wish for great wealth. They shall be assigned to the task force whom is too hunt down the remainders of the resistance. Two, your subjects shall live on this moon, with me, as earth is no longer suitable for us. Three, your subjects shall work for their living and pay a standard tax for taking room on my planet. They shall assist me by a pre-ordained task every day, including yourself. Four: I will rule them, not you. You may still speak for them if you wish." The dragon was taken aback by the terms, but sat and thought them over.
"Here are my terms." He finally said, speaking up, "You will treat us with respect and dignity. You shall not take advantage of us. If we request an act or law or wish, you will listen to it and the judge as you see fit. We want nothing more then for this war to end." Malefor smiled, but only agreed. He conjured up a scroll, and signed it with a claw, dipped in ink.
"And now you sign?" The dragon looked at it carefully, and then signed, and handed back the scroll. Malefor's grin had widened.
"Do all under your rule agree with you?" The dragon looked down and sighed, facepawing.
"No, my sister does not. She thinks you will take advantage of us. But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You seem trustworthy, even if you might have bad intentions at heart."
"Why do you come to me then?"
"Sometimes, as a leader, you do bad things for good reasons..."
"I'ma kill him."
"You don't actually want too."
"I want to, but I won't, cause I know I'll kill myself right after."
Sunset over the Sahara. The small group of dragons had already settled down for the night, and had taken refuge on the far side of a small dune, lighting a tiny smokeless fire, which Blaze had provided the ignition for, and Brooklyn the fuel, in the form of coal, burning embers, and a few weak flames. Blaze and Brooklyn themselves were sitting by the fire, side-by-side, and were joined by two others, one gorgeous female, whom was curled up under Brooklyn's wing, and a small hatchling curled up on his fathers back. The family had come looking for them the day before yesterday, and had finally caught up to deliver some bad news.
"I can't believe my brother did that." Hestia whispered to herself. They had been discussing the turn of events that the small band of warriors had brought, which was that Zeus had defected, along with the entire dragon race basically, to Malefor. Ezio was scared now. He had only the remainder of Alpha squadron, and he had no idea where he was leading them.
Ezio watched as Brooklyn played with his son, wrestling slightly with him. The youngling let out a large belch from dinner, which despite the fact that it had been dry, had tasted quite nicely. Camel, he decided, wasn't his favorite, but it would do. Brooklyn smiled down at him and then belched even louder, showing his son up.
"That's a real mans belch." Brooklyn said, grinning.
"Awe come on dad, no fair!" Brooklyns mate smiled, and then turned towards her husband, opened her mouth to say something, then paused. She held a claw up, then...
"..." Brooklyn went wide eyed, and his son fell over laughing. Ezio smiled at himself. It was good too see a family enjoying each others company. They weren't the only two lovebirds in the camp though.
Another pair he had been keeping a close eye on was Frost and Blaze, whom had stuck together spectacularly well. Frost was even curled up under Blaze's wing, just like Brooklyn's mate. However, from what he could tell, they were just good friends, not mates.
Ezio doubted Frost would ever mate again...
The group had been traveling through the Sahara for a few days now, sleeping between two dunes every night. The only thing was, he had a vague idea of what needed to be done, but not what he needed to do.
"So what exactly IS next, Ez?" Now THAT Ezio hated. He hated that the others kept looking up to him, what with him being the only purple dragon with any sense of decency left. Cyder had left Warfang a couple hours before them. Now they were in a race against her. They had seen her a couple of times over the desert, but whenever they approached her, she had banked away and ran. Ezio didn't want to have to confront the dragoness, but he knew that at some point he would. And despite he was her friend, she might not see him as such. Frost thought the female had lost it when she saw Spyro go down. Ezio thought she just couldn't wait for the others to recover.
Ezio knew better than to push himself endlessly in chase of his beloved...
Now he found he had three goals.
Find Nova.
Keep these dragons around him alive
Kill Malefor.
In that order.
Ezio looked over at Kali, whom nodded, silently telling him it was OK now that they were out of Warfang.
"And what IS that thing?" Blaze asked pointing with his free wing at the Blade protruding from Ezio's front right forepaw.
"This is the sort of thing we are going after."
"Were going after MORE of the things whom contain our leaders soul?"
"Don't be ridiculous Blaze." Kali said, "Do you not know what that is?"
"I'm SORRY, but when I was young and in the academy, I had no clue I was to be the future fire guardian. I was more concerned about getting a date." Ezio facepalmed.
"Blaze, do dragons have a religion?" Blaze was caught off guard by that.
"Of course. Theres this one all powerful deity, right. Supposedly, he takes the form of a wingless dragon curling around Sol, our star. We call him The Ancient, for he surely is. He is one with our Sol, yet different. Sol is the representation of our God, whom created the universe, and watches us all, yet he is also the ancient. It is complicated. And there's a third part as well. The spirit of both, whom we call The All-Seer, for he does exactly that and more. He inspires us, drives us forwards to do justice in the world, and bring righteousness to places where there are none.
Anywho, there is a story. One moonfilled night, when the stars were bright, Sol decided to free the world of pain and misery, and thus he created and sent his son, The Ancient to us, to show us a better path, a path that whilst narrow and hard, and had many stones which stung our feet, it would eventually lead us to Sol's halls." he explained looking into the firelight.
"And what was the path?"
"Him. One day, a serpent comes along. He says to The Ancient then, 'Why do you torment my people? Are they not happy?' The Ancient nods and replies 'Aye, but they know not of what you lead them too. Begone serpent. I have no need of your treacherous lies. These people are my people, and they do not deserve to be led to your pits.' The serpent grew angry, and in retaliation, he turned to the Ancient and says 'I will not have this! These are my people for me to use as I wish!' And he turns to the people, and attempts to swallow them whole. In his righteousness, The Ancient leaps in front of them and shields his subjects, and instead, he himself is eaten." Blaze shuddered at this, "It's a violent story, but many people believe in it wholeheartedly. Anyways, for three days and nights, the Ancient spends his time in the serpents stomach, and on the morning of the third day, he bursts out the serpent, killing him instantly. The Ancient turns to what are now his subjects, and says 'Follow my sacrifice, and you too may conquer death." He finished.
"And what do you think of this?" Ezio asked. Blaze raised one brow.
"I think it's utter rubbish. Whoever heard of such a thing?" Blaze said, grinning. Ezio chuckled to himself.
"We have a similar story. Our ancient was named by the name of 'Emmanuel' or 'God with us' in Hebrew. He lived the life of a prophet, traveling from one town to another, teaching his fathers words. He even predicted his own death. On Palm Sunday, or what we consider palm Sunday, he rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, fulfilling an ancient prophesy of the son of God coming to vanquish the enemy of the Hebrews. Many thought he would finish the Roman empire. There was a group of teachers in Jerusalem, whom we know only as the teachers of the temple located in that city. They refer to them in the bible as 'Hypocrites'. A week after Palm Sunday, Emmanuel is arrested for blasphemy. He is humiliated beaten, whipped, and finally crucified on a cross with two other criminals. We humans call this day Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, the morning three days after Good Friday, he rises from the grave, rolling away the stone to his tomb and emerging to ascend into heaven, beginning the first church before he goes.
To be honest Blaze, I'm not a believer. My mother was, but she was never around long enough to have an influence on me. My dad hardly ever saw me, he'd be gone for months or years at a time, so I learned the law of the streets, not that of heaven. But anymore now, I'm not sure whether I made the right choice. With the death of Nova, I'm beginning to feel my mortality." Blaze's grin dropped, and he nodded his head, "It is said that during those three days whilst Emmanuel was dead, he took the sins of our race upon his shoulders, and spent an eternity in hell for every person whom he took the blame of for three days. I can't imagine the devil would be terribly nice to him, being his mortal enemy. However, on the third day, he rose, conquering death in the process. And now by following him by dying, and being born again, it is said a Christian can rise to heaven with him."
Blaze nodded, "It sounds similar. Our stories of ancients are different, because they use symbols and figures more than real life scenarios. However, it sounds similar still. Do you think they can be one and the same?"
"I think they are, simply because of this blade."
"Now were getting somewhere."
"What be it, Ezio?" Brooklyn asked. The dragon had been considerably quiet, but Ezio thought thats because he had been enjoying his family and spending time with them.
"In ancient Rome, after a criminal was crucified, it was custom to break the legs of the crucified and then bury them on the edge of town. However, when a roman soldier saw that Emmanuel was dead, he took his spear, and stabbed Christ in the side, and blood and water flowed from his body, signifying that he was both human, because of the blood, and divine, because of the crystal clear water. The man whom stabbed him was named Longinus, whom used a custom Roman lance. At that time, the symbol of the roman army was an Eagle, which fit well, but many soldiers customized their weapons. It is possible this was convenient as Longinus appeared to have customized his." At this Ezio brought the blade out over the fire, holding it in the light. Blaze looked at Ezio, looked at the blade, and then his mouth dropped. Engraved on one side was a dragon pristine as if it had never faded from age. The blade emitted a faint blue glow itself, as if it were alive.
"Your joking!" Blaze said as he extended his paw to grab it, but Ezio yanked it out of reach.
"Blaze, this is just more than an ancient lance blade. The lance of Longinus had to be powerful to pierce holy flesh. Either that, or, I think the more likely opinion was that the lance was imbued with power when it stabbed Emmanuel. The origins of it I know. At that time, there were other creatures besides humans living on the earth. I think that this lance came from a dragon warrior, whom had left when they had been attacked by humans, or when the roman empire came. Probably the later. Longinus simply saw it, and thought it looked nice."
"So it's draconian?" Blaze asked, looking at it.
"It's better than that, this lance was made during the reign of the Ancestors. It was probably forged by them." Blazes eyes went wide.
"Anyways, the Knights Templar searched for the artifact for ages, finally finding this piece in stonehenge. A knight wrote about it, and Ignitus had a copy of his research in his library. The rest of the pieces are scattered. Last lead was in the great pyramids in Giza."
"Why was it broken down and hidden?"
"The pieces can't be destroyed as far as we know. Thus the best the ancestors could do when they found out about the powers of the Lance was break it down, and scatter them to the four corners of the earth."
"OK, so what does this piece do?"
"It captures souls." Blaze, if anything had sudden dawning comprehension.
"Then that means Spyro is..."
"Right..."
"How do we get him out?"
"We need his body. But we can't get that without getting past Malefor. And I'm not strong enough to fight him alone. I need the rest of the pieces." Blaze shut his mouth and nodded.
"Are there not protections around the other pieces?" Brooklyn asked quietly.
"Probably. We must be cautious."
The next day found the group soaring low over the terrain in the early morning light. Ezio lead the pack, winding through the hills. They had to keep low to avoid radar detection. Brooklyn's son, whom was called Cleveland, had been the first to spot the great pyramids of Giza. He had surprisingly come of great use. Frost had retrieved Thundra the day before the dragons had left, and Cleveland had proven to be very good with younger ones. Ezio banked towards the structures, and scanned the ground for tourists.
"Ez! We have to make sure we aren't spotted!" Frost shouted from behind, against the wind. The group landed then as Ezio turned towards the ground.
"We don't have to walk in there anymore like cowards Frost. We just have to make an impression of solidity. Don your armor, ten minutes." Ezio walked off, calling his armor out of the magical void he used to store it. The thing had dents in it from the last time he used it, in the siege, but it would only make him look more opposing. He had had some good contacts recently from some friends of his, and he had determined he could use their help. Hefting his armor up on himself, he hid the Blade between the gap of the plating and the crook of his back, making sure he could yank it out at any time. Returning too the group, the others were there, although Frost was looking a bit discouraged in her translucent blue spiked armor. Blaze had his wavy red armor on as well, which seemed to spark in eagerness with being back in the real world with the right warrior. Brooklyn had donned the blocky tan armor, which made him massive, even next to Blaze, as it made him two feet taller than normal. Even still, he just barely stood at Blaze's height. Ion, whom had chattered so much from the trip from Warfang to Giza that Ezio had threatened to have Brooklyn cement his jaw shut was also standing there, eager apparently to go, as his own jagged spiky armor set flashed in the bright morning sun. Kali had also donned her own minimalist shadow force armor. Brooklyn was kissing his mate good-bye.
"We will send word before sundown, I promise." He said quietly.
"Be careful." She replied softly. Brooklyn nodded, kissed her once more, then hugged his son.
"Can't I come pop?" He asked excitedly. Brooklyn just laughed.
"No, I need someone to stay here and protect your mom and Thundra. You'll be the man of the camp now, do you think you can do that?" Cleveland stood at attention then, and saluted with his wing, though it was very short. Ezio smiled at that. Brooklyn saluted his son, and then turned towards the group.
Blaze nudged him as they left, "Can you get any sappier?" Brooklyn rolled his eyes, but smiled.
Hestia had no armor, but she had fashioned herself a convexity energy shield in the ten minutes he had allotted, covering herself in the areas armor normally would. The strange armor gave her a very unique appearance. The group ran together in no particular formation, towards the Valley of Kings. Ezio knew that his contacts were residing in the village of Thebes, which many considered modern day Luxor. However, his contact had assured him that Thebes still existed down the Nile, upstream.
It took half a day to get to the tiny village at their speed. They covered about one hundred miles in that time, stopping only to drink from the water canteens they had to keep themselves hydrated. By the time they arrived at the tiny village, they were all tired sore and hot, all fo them sweating profusely. They entered the village at speed, but soon were forced to slow down as the crowds grew. It was rather packed for being such a small village.
It was the strangest sight to be honest. For the first time ever, dragons, and other creatures were walking among humans. And it seemed normal. They packed underneath the canvas roof over the street seeking shelter form the shade. On either side there were merchants hawking their wares wherever they went. Ezio headed up the small hill the village was built on to the town center, then stopped a young human.
"Can you tell me where a red dragon whom might be looking for me is staying?" The boy smiled up at him and pointed.
"He'll find you."
"Apparently so." The group turned and wandered down the street, shoving their way through with their bulk. Despite the fact that the town was small, Ezio knew that they were being searched for, so he had told the squadron to keep their eyes peeled for any sign of trouble. When he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he knew he was in trouble.
"CONTACTS!" Brooklyn roared. Five black shadows dove out from a side alley as the crowd shouted and scattered, trying to get away from the powers they were launching from their maws. Ezio raised his paw, took careful aim, and fired his light element to try and ward them off. Two bolts escaped him, one barely missing his head, and the other smiting Frost in the chest, whom was thrown back. Blaze roared then, causing the crowd to turn and run in earnest, and raised up on his hind paws, his forepaws flaming. Ezio had thought Blaze was a massive dragon before, but now he was towering at at least twenty-five feet. He had broken through the canvas street-roof, and the cloth had ripped beautifully to show the sun. Blaze came down on top of one dragon, , crushing his spine beneath his weight. The other paw came down and sent a wave of fire out, white hot. Two dragons got a face of third degree burns. The waves of fire slipped over the buildings and surrounding material, but none of it caught fire. Ion took down his own enemy as well, shooting the dragon through the heart with a bolt of lightning from on high. Hestia however delved into her power best. Several shots glanced off her armor as she rocked toward the remaining trio. She conjured a convexity spike, shoved it through one of the dragons heads, and then shoved him back into his comrades. She lept over the two as they fell, and sent out two quick beams of convexity, finishing off the last.
"Frost! Frost!" Blaze was shouting and all was a haze of confusion. Frost had hit a merchants stall. The merchant, being good of heart was holding her head in his hands. The female was still breathing, but there was a smoking hole in her chest, having gone through her armor. The fire dragon fumbled on the clips on the chest piece, and then yanked it off finally when they came free. She was still conscious amazingly.
Coughing up blood, the female looked up at Ezio.
"Ez? Whats my damage?" Ezio looked down. He knew just enough to know it was incredibly serious.
"Severe lacerations. Blood loss. Internal bleeding. Severe trauma to both heart and lungs. Incredibly though, it didn't hit anything vital from what I can tell." Frost chuckled and closed her eyes, but suddenly lashed out and grabbed Blazes paw, yanking him towards her.
"I can still make it." she said quietly, "But just in case, go ahead."
Blaze went wide eyed, "I thought you said no?"
"Better to die in a lovers arms than to die in a person whom you regret never telling." Blaze leaned down then and pressed his lips against the females, holding her head. Ezio gave them all the time they wanted. Finally, Frost broke back.
"Now get me a medic for Ancients sake." She said quietly. Blaze hefted the female up on his back and then launched forwards.
"Ezio? Where is that damn contact!" Ezio turned and ran up the street, looking around frantically. Suddenly, a door opened to his right, and several brightly colored dragons ran out, armed for battle. Ezio collided full on with Bane. The dragon snarled and tried to get on top. Ezio felt his stomach drop to the ground as he realized it was gravity being used on him. Only THEN did he stop. Bane held one claw under his chin, then smiled in surprise.
"Well if it don't be me contact. Your a bit out of your zone here, aren't ye Ezio?" He said, smiling down at the purple legendary, and then getting off.
"Speak for yourself ya crazy Scotsman. And save the clap-trap, we - "
"Blaze! Brooklyn! You brought everyone!" His eyes fell on Frost the lying across Blazes back.
"Little help?" Frost said, smiling weakly at him.
"Bloody hellfire. Get her to the upstairs bedroom! Come on! GO!" Bane said, dragging Beam and Photon forwards. Ezio fell into Blaze running next to him, feeding his Life energy into Frost. The group reached the upstairs bedroom with difficulty. Blaze lunged ahead and jumped the entire flight of stairs inside the home, and then dashed down the hallway, lying the dragoness softly on the bed.
"MOVE!" The red dragon shouted as he shouldered past Blaze. It was Anvel, with healing supplies in hand. He instantly shot Frost through with Morphine, then dived his paw inside the gaping wound, barely squeezing through. He had a gel on his hands, and a plastic tube in the other. Finally, as an artery suddenly sprayed his chest with blood, he called to Blaze.
"Don't just stand there! HELP ME OUT! One of her heart champers has a small open wound." He said, as more blood splattered him. Blaze grabbed the gel as well and saw that it was instant synthetic flesh. It was meant for exterior wounds, not interior. But it'd have to do. The male slathered it over his hands, then nodded at Anvel, whom suddenly withdrew to let Blaze in. The fire dragon dove in and felt around for the lumpy mass of the females heart.
His females heart...
He was slightly disgusted at first, but when he felt the organ bump his palm, he seized it firmly, making sure it didn't escape his grasp, then gently pressed his palm up against the side, where he elt a tiny hole, which was very rough. He knew the shadow lance had burned through the tissue cauterizing it. He felt the synth-flesh make contact, and instantly begin transforming to the tissue it had met.
It felt like vertigo, holding the heart of another being, especially one who loved him. Frost looked up at him, eyes wide with fear as he made sure the synth-flesh healed in place. Finally, he felt the organic tissue form. It felt very fragile. Anvel dove back into the ice dragoness, inserting the tube into one of the arteries, then drew back out. He checked her pulse with bloody paws, then felt her head. Finally, he offered the female some water, which she leaned up and grabbed, drinking as if her life depended on it.
Anvel finally took the last of the tube of synth-flesh, spread it over her open wound, both entrance and exit, and then retreated to the doorway, where he addressed Blaze.
"Is she going to be fine?"
"She will be extremely tired, so she must rest, and at best, she must not even sit up in her bed. And I'm going to suggest someone be with her at all times." He said, then opened the door. Blaze walked over to the bed, hopped up on it, and lay his head across the females chest, whom looked down at him.
"Sleep. I'll be here." She sighed, then leaned back and relazed, falling asleep instantly. Brooklyn poped his head inside the door, smiled at the younger fire dragon, then whispered, "Can you get any sappier?"
Blaze smiled, and then whispered back, "Shut up." Brooklyn chuckled at that.