Tales of the Hidden Dragons.

Chapter One: The beginning

It has been a month since The Dark Master had been defeated, and the war that ravaged the lands has ended. A month since the world was shattered by The Destroyer, and then restored to its former glory. A month since creatures of many species had to live in fear from the many dangers of the world.

But, it has been 5 years before a young dragon had finally left the cave in which he was hiding.

Inside the caves of the mountain range, a dragon, 15 years of age, ran around. He was gathering the few possessions he owned; which wasn't much. The only items he owned he had found on previous trips, which-when he thought about it- was too long ago to remember. He carefully placed them in a sheet of cloth, which he then carefully tied into a bag by knotting the corners together tightly. The only item he kept outside the bag was an old map that he had found in a deserted campsite. Satisfied that the bag was tight enough, he left them for a moment to check outside.

As he walked outside, the suns bright rays blinded him. His eyes were adjusted to the darkness of the caverns in which he had lived for so long. He could barely remember the light of day shining in his bright green eyes, the warmth of the sun on his vivid, cobalt scales. His memories of the light making his white horns glisten and the smell of fresh air in the wind were all so blurry. The three scarlet scars on his left legs shoulder lit up in the sun's rays. He breathed slowly, expanding his brilliant, silver chest. "Well, today's the day."

He ran inside and grabbed his belongings in his mouth, and the map in his right claw, then returned outside and sat, enjoying the sun for a little while longer. After he was satisfied, he picked up his belongings, and took to the sky's. He was glad that he decided to practice flying before he set off, as he had never had the chance to inside the confined spaces of the caves. It felt good to be flying again.

He set out with one goal in mind, and that was to find the dragon city of Warfang. He had never been there before, as the trip to Warfang from the mountains was a dangerous one, filled with The Dark Master's minions. But now that the war was over, he flew peacefully towards the city he had only heard tales of.

He thought to himself as he glided in the direction the old map had shown him. "Look out Warfang, here comes Caldor."

It's now mid-day; Caldor had been flying for almost four hours, his wings aching from the time spent in the air. Leaving the mountains behind, he was now flying over an open grass field with very few tree's or bushes. There was a river running in a straight line heading the same way he was going. He finally decided to stop, and check where he was. He landed on the soft grass on three legs, almost toppling over as he tried to prevent any damage to the map. He released the bag from his mouth and decided that this would be as good as any other spot to take a quick rest.

Heading towards the river to get a drink, Caldor's mind was filled with thoughts about what the dragon city would be like. All of the tales he was told all varied in description of what the city looked like. Would it be a dark, war torn city with few inhabitants, or would it be a peaceful paradise bustling with activity. One thing he knew about the city for certain, was that it was huge. No story had failed to mention that detail.

After he was no longer thirsty, Caldor headed back to where he left his map, and then spread it out over the ground, carefully checking where he was.

"According to this, I should be about a day's flight from the city. I'll spend the night near this valley, and then continue on in the morning, so, I should make it in about… just over a day and a half. Perfect." He said feeling satisfied with his plan. "It's a good thing that the evil purple dragon is gone, or else I probably never would have made it this far." Caldor laughed softly to himself. "I just hope the dragons inside Warfang aren't un-trusting of outsiders."

Caldor rolled up the map, collected his belongings, and set off again in the direction of the valley, which on the map, was clearly labeled "the Valley of Avalar."

As he was flying, his thoughts were drawn once again to what the city would look like, who he would meet there, what their reactions would be to see him approaching. He thought long and hard, hundreds of possibilities in his head, so hard in fact, that he almost forgot to look where he was flying, and almost collided into one of the few trees on the plain. Although no-one was around to see, he still thought it would have been silly to have collided with an inanimate object. He laughed the thought away, and gazed at the horizon, seeing that he was approaching a forest, he raised his altitude, so to avoid running into any more trees.

The river he was following started to twist and turn through the trees; Caldor found that he had to fly lower, just under the tree tops, so he didn't lose sight of the river. He couldn't afford to get himself lost; the river was his only guide he had to the valley. Soon, the trees became too close for him to continue flying, and keep track of the river at the same time. He knew he couldn't walk with the map in his paw, so, he held the map in his tail instead. Caldor walked next to the river, taking in the sights and sounds of the local wildlife. In the trees, birds were chirping and fluttering about, while small creatures were scurrying through the bushes. Caldor peered into the river as he walked, he noticed that a small group of fish decided to swim by as he had looked, but were soon gone.

The trees finally opened up again, allowing the dragon to take flight once more. He had lost valuable time during his walk, so he pushed himself to reach the valley on schedule. Luckily, he was able to regain his lost time and found himself back on schedule.

When Caldor had finally arrived at the Valley, the sky was dark. However, this wasn't a problem for him, as his eyes, which had been adjusted to the darkness of the caves, were still able to see quite clearly. He could vaguely make out the surroundings, but not well enough to be able to see what they were. He decided he would figure out in the morning, and searched for a place to sleep. He found himself a small grove to sleep in, covered by thick bushes and surrounded by trees. Laying down his bag and map, Caldor curled up and dropped his head onto the soft grass, letting out a long yawn, his eyes closed from exhaustion, and before he knew it, he was already fast asleep.

"Ha ha, you'll never catch me."

"Oh yea, just you wait"

"I'm telling you you'll never ca- huh? Where'd you go?"

"Boo!"

"Ahh."

"Ha, you're it, tee hee."

"Wait till I get my hands on you."

"I'd like to see you try"

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"But the elders told us not to go there."

"Pfft, what could possibly happen?"

"Look out!"

"Aaaaahh!"

"Noooooo! "

Caldor woke with a shock, his brow sweating and his heart beating rapidly.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream." He reassured himself.

Breathing heavily, he slowly tried to remember what the dream was about; he knew the voices sounded familiar, but he just couldn't remember who they belonged to. He sat there for a solid 10 minutes before finally giving up, telling himself that he would leave it for another time.

Caldor walked out of the small grove where he had slept, to see that the sun was just rising over the distant horizon, allowing him to see the Valley clearly for the first time. It was larger than he had guessed, but not by much. The river flowed right through the centre of the valley, twisting around bends and rock formations. The grass was tall and soft, there were multiple flowers' spread all through the valley, and many bushes bearing, what Caldor believed to be, fruit. The valley was surrounded on all sides by tall trees, so close together their branches were touching, forming a natural wall around the valley.

The landmark that caught his eye the most was the great waterfall in the centre of the valley, watching it as the water fell down, then splashed into the river below, causing a fine white spray. Leaving his belongings in the grove, he flew over to the foot of the waterfall, and gazed upwards in awe. He then submerged his head under the flowing water, and felt it run down the scales on his neck and back. The water was cold, causing him to send a quick, small shiver down his spine. He stepped out from underneath the falls, and shook his head dry.

Feeling refreshed by the water's of the fall's, he wondered over to the bushes containing a large spherical object that Caldor believed to be fruit. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever tried a fruit before. Such plants and foods didn't grow in the mountains, and he had to live on eating rats, lizards and scraps he found in deserted camps. He picked it out of the tree with his claws, allowing the juice to squirt out of where his claws had pierced the fruits skin. He sat down with the fruit in hand, and proceeded to take a large bite out of it.

Caldor scrunched up his face at the very taste of the fruit; never had he tasted something so sweet. He sat there rolling his face for a few moments before he finally swallowed the bite of fruit. And yet, he enjoyed it, so much so that he quickly devoured the rest of the fruit in his hand and reached for another one. After two more pieces, Caldor finally decided it was time to head off for Warfang.

As he was walking back to the grove, he went over his flight plan for about the fifth time.

"Ok, so if I leave now, I should be able to make it to Warfang just before the sun starts to set, giving me enough time to enter the city and get to know what it's like before its dark."

But, as the dragon entered the grove where he had left all his belongings, he was left there standing with a shock. His bag and map were both missing. With unbelieving eyes, Caldor quickly started to search the small area he had slept in, believing that they were still there, quickly shifting his eyes from one spot to another, desperately trying to find his possessions. Then, he heard a rustle in the bushes. He turned his neck around slowly, scanning the area for where the sound had come from. But before he could find out, he was smashed in the face with a large object, the blow caused him to be knocked to the ground where he started to slowly lose consciousness, until finally, he passed out.

"The elders told us not to go down there. You heard of what they spoke of, dark creatures that hunt helpless dragons and take them away"

"Pfft, you believe that story? Please. If anything was down there, don't you think we would have noticed it by now?"

"Maybe, but they could be hiding, come on, let's turn back now, before we get in trouble."

"What, too scared? Aw, that's too bad, seems I'll just have to explore by myself"

"Me? Scared? No way, it's just that I have a bad feeling."

"What could possibly happen?"

"Shh, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"There it is again, it sounded like… Look out!"

"What the- aaaaahh"

"Noooooo!"

[DISCLAIMER] I do not own or hold any rights to the legend of Spyro. All characters (besides my own (e.g. Caldor)) respectfully belong to their rightful creators/owners.