Hi everybody! Well, you ever have one of those days where nothing particularly interesting happens and then suddenly BAM! An idea hits you? I swear these random ideas keep popping into existance like popcorn. Plus, sorry I haven't updated recently. My home is going through renovations and I'm trying to help out whenever I can.
As always, review or PM me if you like it.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE SPYRO UNIVERSE. ONLY MY OCS.
Prologue: Shadows of Light and the Chaos of Order
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The battlemage gave a great sigh of relief as the dark fireball rebounded from his wards and struck the castle ceiling. He quickly looked at his opponent and began reciting his next spell.
"Release the fifth seal! Seal of Lightning!"
A massive bolt of lighting appeared over the dreadmancer's head and dropped on him. Only a timely dodge saved him, but the force of the spell blew him across the large chamber in the castle and into the far wall behind the broken throne with a sickening crunch, his living yet undead body creating an impression in the blackened stone wall.
The dreadmancer stared daggers at the battlemage with his sunken yet bright red glowing eyes and, with a prominent lisp, began speaking.
"You are a fool, Champion! The darkness of this land has already weakened the seals on my Master. Soon, he will be free to stalk the land again and not even you or anyone else of your pathetic order will be able to stop him. Darkness is rising, and with it, the shadows will consume all!"
The battlemage snarled and rather than waste breath on speech with this abomination, he poured his will into a powerful spell. The energy gathering around him made his deep blue cloak whip as if in a windstorm, underneath the cloak like cape, his silver armor standing out amidst the dark shadows that continually crept across the forlorn castle.
The castle, once called Kyng's Haven, was now little more than a ruin perched precariously on a cliff overlooking the Great Western Ocean. The castle and the surrounding city had been abandoned when the King had given a necromancer a prominent position among his advisers, despite the objections of his knights and paladins. Within a fortnight, the king, the queen, the knights, the paladins, and the commoners were undead slaves of the necromancer who became known as Vasran the Macabre and he, with his undead legions, plunged the Kingdom of Phyziin into a long and bloody war.
However, a group of knight who also knew of the methods of the arcane, banded together and fought Vasran. Unfortunately, the necromancer proved too powerful to destroy and so the knights sealed him inside a tomb deep beneath Kyng's Haven with the hopes that he would never be freed.
The order of knights became known as the Aegis Arcanum, warriors and magi who strove to keep the peace and also destroy dark magic wherever it may be. Despite their best efforts though, they never expected that someone would try to free Vasran.
The battlemage, having finally gathered enough energy for his spell, lifted his left hand and shouted in a voice that rang like a series of bells: "Release the Seventh Seal! Seal of Light!"
So powerful was the spell that the storm filled sky above the castle parted and a beam of light enveloped the entire city and rent it asunder. Ruined houses sank into the earth and the mighty throne room echoed with a sharp and mighty crack that split the floor open.
The dreadmancer gave one scream akin to that of a damned soul before he was crushed by a flight of stairs. The spell having drained his power tremendously, the battlemage was unable to move and collapsed to the floor as the tiles and stones underneath him groaned and shifted as the castle, city, cliff and catacombs began to fall into the ocean below. His sword and staff fell from hands that didn't seem to want to move. Through his dimming eyes, he saw a crack open in the roof and a golden dragon came through the roof. He recognized the dragon but could give no word or action.
The dragon, or rather, dragoness, dove to him and tried to sieze him in her claws before he fell but he knew that she was too weak from the battle outside, slaying the dreadmancer's army, to carry him to safety. Summoning the last of his strength, he managed to rattle out a sentence.
"G-Go...Rehne, s-save yourself..."
The roof split open and quick as a whip, another dragon was there and latching on the protesting dragoness, he shot another hole in the roof and the two of them escaped the collapsing castle.
The battlemage gave a sigh of relief and slipped into unconsciousness, his last feeling was of falling through the air for a moment and then a loud splash and the feeling of being soaked from head to toe in cold salt water.
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Spyro woke from his nap and gazed around the beach where he lay, sunning himself. It had been two years since he and Cynder had defeated Malefor and still he felt the after-effects of the battle. Not only did it take several months before his mana replenished enough to allow him to use his elements again, but also the Guardians still technically considered him and Cynder as adolescent dragons and therefore still students.
Today was the first day in a month he'd had a chance to relax. Aside from all the people wanting to meet the Purple Dragon and the occasional (constant if you include Ember) wild eyed request from a dragoness to go on a date or sometimes something even more, ehr...'romantic'. Not that Spyro ever even considered it. His heart belonged to only one female and that was the ebony scaled dragoness that still slumbered nearby.
Despite being a hero, vanquishing Malefor, Gaul, and several other villains, Spyro still hadn't plucked up the courage to speak to Cynder. Truth be told, when he defeated Malefor and thw world began to fall apart, he doubted he had the strength to fix the damage done. However, Cynder, despite his erging for her to go, remained by his side and she had whispered three words that he shouldn't have heard with all the chaos around him but he did.
When Cynder whispered 'I love you' to him, he felt a strength well up inside him that he'd never felt before. He knew then and there that no matter what, he'd repair what had been done if not for anyone's sake other than for hers. He imagined the life they would lead from that point on, finishing growing up in a land that knew only peace, where the future might lead and what it might bring. He glanced again at Cynder and sighed deeply as she continued to sleep. With no apes, pirates, creatures, giant mechanical scorpions, undead creatures, grublins, or crazed evil dragons to vanquish, he discovered that, if given the choice, he was a heavy sleeper and didn't prefer to be awoken until late morning or midday. Much to Master Terrador's chagrin.
Cynder herself was an early riser although she did like a nap in the heat of the day. Something about the sun relaxing her she often times said. Spyro often found that no matter how tired he'd been that previous day of how heavily he slept, when he awoke to Cynder either shaking him to get up or something outlandish as dumping a bucket of chilled water on him, he never felt the least bit angry towards her. On the contrary, if he woke up seeing her, he considered it a good day and a good morning. The same could not be said when, more often than not, Sparx was the one who disturbed his slumber, either with loud obnoxious noises or (and Spyro could never remember why he got the blasted thing) ringing a gong that sat on the ledge by Spyro's bed in the new temple.
Spyro glanced again at Cynder, smiled and lay back down. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard a loud, shrill scream that woke both him and Cynder. They looked down the shore and saw Sparx flying at great speed, gibbering like an idiot. Cynder rolled her eyes as Sparx flew over and took cover behind one of Spyro's horns. He sighed and glanced up at Sparx.
"Sparx, what happened this time?"
"S-Spyro...t-there was s-some t-t-thing on the beach that leapt out of the water and tried to eat me! It was b-big and looked like an ape! Come quick!"
At the word 'ape' Spyro, Cynder, and a few dragons, cheetahs, and moles also on the beach shot up and stared aghast at the dragonfly. Spyro got up and stretched.
"Where is it?"
Sparx shot from behind Spyro's horns and flew off in the direction he'd come from. The dragons and others followed him as well, more out of curiousity than concern as no apes had been seen since Malefor cursed them.
Spyro and Cynder followed Sparx to a remote section of the beach where, as Sparx had said, something was laying there in the dirt. One of the cheetahs, Spyro recognized as Hunter, came forward. Also Spyro saw among the dragons among the crowd was Ember and Flame. Sparx pointed to the location then retreated back a safe distance. Spyro, Cynder, and Hunter walked cautiously towards the creature.
The creature looked like an male ape but didn't have any fur on it's body except for the top of it's head. It's wore tattered clothes and clutched a staff of some sort in a white-knuckled grip in its left hand and held a sword in a likewise manner in its right. A chain fastener held on the remnants of a deep blue cape that was soaked and shredded beyond repair. Hunter eased forward and tapped the creature with the end of his bow.
It didn't move.
Spyro however, examined the staff, or more presicely, the runes carved into it. The blue gem at the top of it glowed and a vision appeared. It wasn't a complete vision but he did see the creature laying before him fighting a monster that filled him with dread.
He saw the creature cast a spell that, in a manner, slew the monster but also destroyed the castle they were in. The last image the staff projected to him was a dragoness, obviously distraught, and then he heard a voice echo.
"G-Go...Rehne, s-save yourself..."
The vision faded and Spyro woke to see Hunter and Cynder looking at him with fear.
"S-Spyro, are you alright? Y-You touched that staff then you got this blank look in your eyes, t-then you started crying. What happened?" Hunter nodded.
"Furthermore, I found a heartbeat, this thing is alive. I need to know before it wakes, is it an enemy?"
Spyro slowly shook his head.
"N-No, I don't think so. I...I saw a battle. This creature was fighting a monster that looked as if it were cloaked in shadows. He defeated it, but at the same time he was lost to his comrades. Once it wakes we may be able to find out more."
"I don't think that's possible."
Everyone turned to see a dragon with dark silver scales approaching. Spyro recognized the scale color as belonging to the rare telepathic dragons. Hunter frowned.
"Why not? Either the creature will answer our questions or the Guardians and Chief Prowlus will put the creature to death." The dragon shook his head.
"When Spyro zoned out, I recognized this as a manner of visions and attempted to scry the creature's mind. I found a black void where his memories are." The dragons and cheetahs looked at him curiously; the dragon sighed.
"He has a condition we telepaths call 'amnesia'. It happens when someone recieves a terrible and traumatic emotional or physical shock, or a particularly nasty blow to the head. He has forgotten who he is, what he was, and most improtantly, how he got here. I can say this though, he knows something of magic due to the staff's reaction to Spyro. It's quite possible you saw his last memory before he developed amnesia. Spyro, what did you see?"
Spyro explained the vision in great detail, even including the dragoness and then the floor collapsing beneath the creature. The dragon nodded.
"Okay, so then either magic shock from using too powerful a spell, or physical trauma from being hit in the head by falling debris, or possibly both. However, I can say this. Gold scaled dragons are among the rarest of dragons, rarer than my kind but not as rare as purple dragons. Furthermore, they are dragons of what we call absolutes. A gold dragon would never show compassion or concern towards a creature of evil or darkness, but on the other claw, they have been known to fight alongside all manner of races in pursuit of noble causes such as crusades, wars against tyranny, oppression, etcetera, etcetera. It is also said that some have the ability to change form and disguise themselves in order to appear inconspicuous. If a gold dragon showed fear or concern for this creature's well-being, it means that he is a person of good alignment and was either on a crusade, a pilgrimage, or some other such thing. Hmm...let me try something."
The dragon closed his eyes and concentrated on piercing the darkness that clouded his mind. He also created a small thought bubble that everyone would be able to see what he saw. The bubble flickered but then an image, or rather a memory, surfaced.
The creature was in a hall surrounded by both dragons and creatures similar to him. Before him stood a council of five elder dragons and elder creatures. The one in the center spoke.
"You stand before the council of the Aegis Arcanum. An order of dragon and human alliance and protectors of all that is good and just in the Kingdom of Phyziin. You are among the strongest and most noble of King Zexian's knights and have also proven yourself to be adept at spellcasting. To take the vow of the Arcanum, is to dedicate your life to preserving the peace of our nation and protecting its people from all manner of darkness. The gold dragoness Rehne vouches for your skill with both sword and spell which is no small feat, having a dragon acknowledge your skills. Rehne is, like you, a newcomer to our order and, should you accept, you will be paired with her as her knight and champion. What say you sir knight? Do you wish to join us?"
The creature, human, held his head high and nodded.
"I do, and also swear that with my strength of arm and will of mind and soul, I shall fight evil and darkness wherever it may be."
The dragons nodded as well as the council.
"Then we welcome you, brother, to the Aegis Arcanum. The Arcane Shield of Phyziin. Walk in the Light, and it will never lead you astray."
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Spyro stood dumbfounded as the memory closed and faded back to darkness. More than one dragon, cheetah, and mole had harrumphed as as though they did not believe the memory. In fact, Spyro himself didn't believe the vision. Cynder was unsure, the telepathic dragon, who then introduced himself as Psijic, was certain the human meant any harm.
Spyro pondered the question softly, then nodded to himself and looked up.
"I've decided. If the creat- this human will be taken before the Guardians. If he proves hostile, he will be executed. If not, then maybe we can help him restore his memory and perhaps discover his mission. I need someone to carry him back to Warfang."
Most of the dragons balked at the idea of carrying a possible ape on their back. Then, Psijic mumbled something about 'scaleless lizards', and grabbed the remnant of the cape in his mouth and, craning his neck around, deposited the human at the base of his neck. A very vulnerable position for him. He looked at Hunter.
"Tie his body to my neck with some rope. Spyro, Cynder, I'll accompany you back. In all honesty, I find the whole thing about this human interesting and as you know, mysteries and riddles are a weakness of our kind. We are inquisitive by nature."
Sparx flew over to the un concious human and, once he was sure that it would jump up and bite him, lighted on his shoulder and faced them.
"Yeah, I know at least one electric dragon that will be very inquisitive about this, eh, human." Those that knew Volteer chuckled lightly at the mention of the Guardian's name.
Spyro turned and with a great flap of his wings, he was airborne. Cynder and Psijic were right behind him and he angled his body towards Warfang, curious about what he had just gotten himeslf into.
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Well here it is, a new Spyro fanfic. I hope you all enjoy it and as always, please rate and review.
By the way, Rehne's name is pronounced as Renn just so you know.
And remember: Go ninja, go ninja, GO! I made another funny! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!