I feel like I should have posted this after book three of The Malefor Chronicles, but it was fresh in my mind so I wanted to write it down. This is my first story without Dragonheart being the main character and it will most certainly not be the last, I hope you enjoy this little project (this is what I hinted to at the end of Vacation in book 2 of The Malefor Chronicles).
The Origin of a Hero
A short story
It was 11 o'clock when everything got weird. The day started like any other, just wake up and go to school. The only thing that was supposed to break the norm was a field trip. Liam knew for a fact that the giant squid was not part of the schedule.
It was mid-September, Liam and the rest of the sixth graders were on their way back to school from a local science museum. As usual, Liam was looking out the window due to not having anyone to talk to. Being a social outcast, Liam didn't have many friends to talk to, but this was something he was fine with. He never liked being the center of attention or large groups of people, only having one or two friends. He preferred being off to the side, rarely spoken to or about. In short, unimportant. As the bus passed over a bridge, Liam saw a huge shadow move across the face of the river below. Normally, that wouldn't be a strange thing but today it was clear out, not a cloud for miles.
"Did anyone else notice that?" Liam asked. In response, he was greeted "Shut up," and "Go kill yourself," which was a normal reaction to things that he said. He went back to looking out the window.
"Lately the weather has been acting weird, freak heat waves and snow storms. There have also been reports of giant creatures attacking people all across the nation." Liam thought, "But the creatures are probably fake reports made up by someone who wanted publicity." As for the weather, he admitted that it was a little odd, but not as outlandish as the creatures, the last time it came close to snowing in Louisiana was five years ago, so snow storms were rare but not impossible.
There was a loud crash farther up on the bridge. Liam looked out of the bus's front windshield and saw a large slimy tentacle laying on the road up ahead. There were screams up and down the bus but Liam sat there, staring transfixed at the tentacle, an odd feeling building up inside him. It wasn't fear, but something else. Because he was too busy looking at the tentacle, Liam didn't notice the head of a squid rising up. It turned its giant, unblinking eye to look at the bus. It saw Liam and let out a low rumble. The tentacle lying on the bridge came rocketing towards the bus, smashing into it, sending glass and metal flying.
"Everyone, out the back!" yelled a teacher.
"They'll never make it." Liam thought, "If they go out there now, that things going to ground them into paste." Liam ran, not to the back like he was instructed, but to the front of the bus. As he got out of the bus, he looked for something, anything, that he could use as a way of defending himself. On the ground, he found a metal pole, he bent over and picked it up.
"It's not the best weapon in a life or death situation, but it will have to do." he thought. He grabbed a chunk of asphalt of the ground and threw it at the squid. It bounced harmlessly off of the squid's body, but it was enough to get the thing's attention. The squid roared in anger and slammed one of his tentacles down where Liam stood. Before the tentacle hit, Liam rolled out of the way and slashed downwards with his pole, which, like the asphalt, did nothing but anger it more.
"Is there no way to hurt this thing?" Liam thought.
Taking advantage of its adversary's distraction, the squid took another of its tentacles and wiped it across the bridge, making sure there was no way to avoid it. Liam was hit and launched over the side of the bridge into the water below. After the boy disappeared into the water below, the squid disappeared off the side of the bridge, moving away from where Liam fell.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The last thing Liam remembered before blacking out was a flash of bright light and his descent being slowed. He woke up on the shore of the river, the ruined bridge outlining the horizon, his head pounding and his body aching all over. That was an hour ago. He now found himself outside his house after a long, painful walk. He was about to open the front door when, out of nowhere, a meteorite flew overhead and it was glowing. . . purple? He watched as it crashed in the pipeline behind his house. Unable to contain his curiosity, Liam ran into the pipeline.
"First a squid and now a meteorite that glows purple," Liam thought, "I wouldn't be surprised if I found a zombie."
The area around the crash site was scorched and barren. In the center of a giant crater was something that should not have caused so much damage for something its size. It was a small statuette of a purple dragon with golden horns standing on a pedestal covered in odd symbols. Liam walked over to it and nudged it with his foot. Noting that the statuette didn't react in anyway and that his shoe wasn't melted, Liam bent over it and picked it up.
"What are you?" he thought, "And where did you come from?"
The statuette started to glow the same color as the meteor and grew in size. Liam dropped the statuette and scrambled backwards. The statuette continued to grow and the purple light grew brighter. Liam heard something moving within the light.
"Great, now there's aliens I have to deal with." he thought.
All of a sudden, a purple blur shot out of the light and tackled Liam, throwing him on the ground. Liam looked up and saw the snarling face of a dragon two inches from his own.
"Where am I?" the dragon asked harshly.
"You're on Earth," said Liam, "and next time, say it don't spray it."
The dragon got off of Liam and started walking farther down the pipeline. Liam stared at him, confused about the creature and his motives.
"That's it?" Liam asked, "You're not going to eat me or anything?"
"Eating you would be a waste of my time," said the dragon, "besides, you don't look very edible."
"That's great and all, but where are you going?" Liam asked.
"I don't see how that matter concerns you." said the dragon.
"You won't get very far alone, not without a guide." Liam countered.
"I highly doubt you know how to get to Skylands." said the dragon.
"I don't, but I could help if you would tell me." said Liam
The dragon stood there, considering what the boy said. It was true that he had no idea where he was or the location of the nearest portal. Having a guide would be helpful in this situation; but was this boy really the one he should trust?
"Fine, I guess I have no other choice." said the dragon.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"So, you're a dragon named Spyro and you're from an alternate dimension?" asked Liam.
"Not an alternate dimension, a different Layer of Reality." said Spyro, "They're two completely different things."
"And you are part of a group called the Skylanders who protect your 'Layer' from the forces of darkness?" asked Liam.
"Yes." Spyro confirmed, "Now can we go find a portal?"
Another meteor flew overhead and passed out of sight behind the trees lining the pipeline, a second later there was a loud crash. Spyro ran in the direction of the meteor, not looking back to see if Liam was following.
"Spyro, wait." said Liam, catching up to the dragon, "It's not safe for you to go out there."
"Why not?" Spyro asked.
"That thing landed at my house, which is on a street filled with people," said Liam, "it's not safe for you to go out there."
"Alright, I'll stay here until you say it's clear." said Spyro
Liam walked through the trees and into his back yard. He turned to look at the shed that was to the left of him. Where the shed once stood was a giant hole. Liam walked over to the hole and peered inside. At the bottom of the hole was a circular stone object there was eight symbols carved in to the stone. Liam took one last look around the area to make sure no one was around.
"Spyro, it's clear." he said.
Spyro walked out of the trees and approached the boy. When he looked down into the hole, his face widened in surprise. Spyro jumped into the hole and climbed on top of the object. After a moment, he adopted a face of disappointment when he realized that nothing was happening.
"What is it?" asked Liam.
"The portal's dead, I can't go back home." Spyro said, "The magic is drained."
"How can we recharge it?" Liam asked.
"We need a strong source of magic energy." said Spyro, "Sadly we don't have one."
Liam walked down to the portal and ran his hand over its surface. When he did so, the portal started to glow. Liam backed up and Spyro jumped off as the portal reacted to Liam's touch.
"How did you do that?" asked Spyro.
"I have no clue, I just wanted to get a closer look." said Liam.
"Well whatever you did, it worked." Spyro responded.
"So, I guess this is goodbye." said Liam.
"No, if you're what I think you are, then Hugo will want to see you." Spyro said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Liam.
"Absolutely nothing." said Spyro.
And together, the two climbed on top of the portal and disappeared. That was just the beginning.
END
I hope you enjoyed this short story (even though it's about as long as chapter 1 of The Malefor Chronicles book 1). In case you were wondering, Liam's house is based on my house, the only difference being that the shed isn't destroyed. There should be something else coming out accompanying this and I hope you enjoy that as well.