OK! shut up! I know I said I wasn't going to do this, but I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy writing about Spyro, and so it begins. Another full length story is in the works, and this will basically follow the last game...so you don't need to read anything first.
Now I would normally give you some vague details of what I am going to do in the new story here, but I'm not sure where I am going with this...lol. I mean I know what the main plot is gonna be about...I think.
Anyway, A taste of what is to come.
Epilogue
The warm thermals that constantly rise up from the river of lava below could hold a Fire dragon in the air for an hour without a single beat of his wings. And Cole, who now looks at the magma flow by his home, would spent an entire day lavishing in the invigorating heat of his favorite spot, just outside the Burned Lands.
An expert at flying, this powerful adult drake once fought side by side with Ignitus, during the first dark age, before Spyro's egg had been rescued from the Rookery. And like his father, he was deadly to the evil ape armies of the Dark Master's henchman, raining hellfire on Gaul's army from above.
However, as another blast of this wonderful warmth caresses his face, Cole's eyes fill with tears. He opens his left wing, allowing his beautiful black appendage to take in the strong currents of warm air, releasing millions of pleasurable endorphins. But then the pain of his damaged right wing, which remains a constant nag, takes all that pleasure away.
He cranes his head around, staring at the remaining portion of his destroyed wing, wishing he could have a single moment in his life back.
I was so stupid to think I could beat him
He recalls the day he took on more than he could chew, and the exact moment he drew his wing up to defend himself from Gaul's giant sword. Then the laughter the one-eyed ape blared as he left the wounded drake crippled and helpless.
Cole looks up at the sky, speaking to someone who he hopes may be listening from the heavens.
"Why didn't he just kill me, Dad? How could anyone be so cruel?"
"It's what Malefor wanted."
Spyro's voice slightly startles Cole, but only because he thought he was still alone. He knew the purple dragon was at his home, as the red drake's mother had asked the great hero, and family friend, to come talk to her son.
"He enjoyed watching the world suffer, feeding off the hopelessness and despair of others." the purple dragon continues, placing a paw gently upon the shoulder of the fire breather two decades his senior.
"But he failed, Cole, cause I still see that spark of life in your eyes."
"I don't know anymore, Spyro." The red and black winged dragon lowers his head with depression, as he has been wondering about this himself. He looks down at the river of lava he has hovered over a thousand times in his life, thinking now only of diving off into the thick molten rock, and drowning himself from this difficult existence.
However, as Spyro suddenly lunges forward, his paws extended out to shove the fire breather, Cole loses the idea of jumping. He digs his hind claws into the ground and grasps the purple dragon's right arm with both paws.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY!?" He yells with anger and fear, pushing back against Spyro's powerful paws.
Cole is then immediately yanked away from the ledge, suddenly finding himself nose to nose with the Hero of Avalar.
"See... You don't wanna die." Spyro says with a slight grin, then pulls the larger red dragon chest to chest, embracing him tightly. "You're still fighting to live, my friend."
The young adult knows he don't want to die, but also knows he has little in his life to look forward to without his wing. He sees no future and no joy, only the pain of being a burden to his family, as well as the physical pain he cannot get a break from.
"How do I go on like this, Spyro?" Cole whispers, having little strength to speak.
Spyro hesitates to answer, having none to give, and his grip becomes tighter. He weeps for the poor dragon, understanding the inabilities of their race now, reduced to only a faction of what it once was by Malefor's war.
"I wish I could tell you how you can fix this, but no one has the knowledge of how to repair this kind of damage to a wing." His voice is soft as his eyes look upon the sliced appendage only a foot from his face. Spyro backs away to look Cole eye to eye once again. "The healers were the first Malefor's henchmen killed, knowing they could keep the dragon race thriving during a long wa..."
Spyro is suddenly startled as a single grublin appears a hundred yards away, on the other side of the lava flow. It squeals several times at the purple dragon, making sure he has his attention.
The Hero of Avalar's eyes are immediately to the dwelling Cole resides with his mother and younger sister, believing they must evacuate quickly.
"You need to run, Cole" the purple dragon remarks sternly, seeing a swarm of smaller grublins moving into the area. He quickly gestures his head towards the cave Ignitus had called home before becoming the Fire Guardian. "I will get your family away from here, but you need to start running now, if you're gonna get away from them."
The Fire dragon gives his father's one time best friend a very confused look
"I remember my dad would talk about how brave the purple dragon was." he says with a very sarcastic tone, watching as the small swarm of insects simply fly by, as he expected them to do. He looks down at Spyro, showing a very cheeky grin.
"We live near a colony, Spyro, I see them all the time...they don't ever bother us." Cole continues, following the group with his eyes until they turn beyond a rise in distance. He then focuses his attention back to the single grublin, who remains standing across the river.
"But this one has been the odd one out." The red dragon stretches his back to alleviate some of the pain he constantly feels, then points a sharp talon at the large grublin. "He has actually been following me around for the last three weeks."
Spyro glances across the river and gets a loud shriek barked at him.
"Wow! I don't think he likes you." Cole remarks with some sarcasm, knowing how many grublins Spyro and Cynder were forced to kill while making their push to Malefor's Lair.
"I really don't blame him..." Spyro replies, feeling the sorrow of what he did. He takes his eyes from the grublin that continues barking and gesturing angrily, lowering his head with depression.
"...Cynder and I destroyed nearly half their race."
Cole places a paw upon Spyro's slumped shoulder, knowing the pain both he and Cynder feel, having learned the insect race was forced into a war they wanted no part of.
"I would push you off the ledge, but I am afraid you might not fight back, young dragon." Cole does his best impression of his father's voice, which places a smile on Spyro's face for a moment. Then, also like his father would do, the red dragon settles the young hero with his wisdom.
"If you didn't do what you did, when you did, then all of their homes would have been destroyed, ending their entire race. Like what would have happen to every single race on Avalar."
The purple dragon never finds much comfort in this statement, knowing how much innocent blood stains his paws.
"But... We did destroyed their home, Cole." he replies, his head still lowered as the large grublin finally stops screeching at him from across the river.
"And now they just swarm and attack me every time I come close to their colonies, trying to offer my help and my sincerest regrets."
Cole lowers his head as well, seeing the pain in Spyro's eyes. He knows the purple dragon never fought back against their hatred, simply running away from the confrontation when it got out of hand. But that is when Cole gets an idea that just may work.
"Hey! There's only one of them...you can tell him you're sorry without getting the crap kicked out of you this time." His voice starts out sarcastic, however, as Cole finishes his thought, Spyro can hear how serious he is. "And just maybe, it will allow you to feel some closure."
Spyro raises his head, looking across the river at the angry insect-like citizen of Avalar.
"The moment I try to go over there, I'm sure he or she will fly off..."
"Chicken."
Spyro snaps his head back to Cole, who smiles in his face.
"What are you gonna do, Tiny?" the physically stronger dragon remarks with a slight tone of arrogance. He then looks across the river of lava, at the large insect, and simply gestures his paw to come over. His sarcastic tone remains as he speaks to a dragon he considers to be like a brother.
"I promise... I will protect you if he tries to hurt you."
Spyro rolls his eyes, but does not stop Cole's waving paw. He too wants the large insect to come, as the thought of apologizing to this single grublin seems a good way to being a healing process he has longed for. However, as the large insect-like creature backs away several steps, the purple dragon realizes he may never get a chance to convey his sorrows to the race he was forced to attack.
"I don't think he wants anything to do with me." Spyro remarks as the large grublin turns around and begins walking away faster.
"Are you sure?" Cole returns, as this single praying mantis looking insect stops his retreat, then turns around.
Both dragons suddenly become confused when the grublin soldier begins running towards them, gaining as much speed as it can before reaching the bank of the river of lava. At the last second, it plants its strong hind legs and leaps into the air, trying its hardest to clear the nearly hundred foot wide gap.
"He's not gonna make that jump..." Cole remarks with confidence and that is when he finally notices why this one insect may be following him. In fact, both Spyro and Cole notice the reason, as this large insect tries desperately to open his wings.
It squeals in pain before losing altitude, coming up almost twenty feet short of the far bank, then dropping down into the deep crevasse made by the moving flow.
"STOP!" Spyro's voice calls out, distorted by time as he bends his way through it.
With his eyes focused on the two dragons across the scalding hot lava river, and the welcoming gesture of a red paw, the large insect decides he wants to join them on the other side of the river. If only to yell in the face of the one who nearly annihilated his race. However, it is something more personal that makes this insect begin backing away, prepping himself for a dare-devilish feat.
As fast as he can move, the large insect with powerful hind legs motors to the ledge of the deep canyon, knowing he must clear the gap with only his momentum.
Being a member of a jumping species, the mantis like insect uses his powerful hind legs to propel him into the air, while moving at an intense speed. However, after only a few feet the grublin knows he has made a critical mistake.
A strong plume of heat from below pushes the jumping insect higher, taking a good amount of momentum from his leap. His wings, unable to move due to a devastating injury, just flutter in the intense thermals. His eyes then lock upon the purple dragon, who put him in this position.
"HELP ME!" he begins squealing, knowing he has no chance to clear the gap, falling to a certain death.
His life begins flashing before him, remembering the most intense moments of his existence, including his fight with the mighty purple and black dragons that attacked his nest. He closes his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, when suddenly everything changes. It shocks the insect-like creature, who believed this death would be intensely painful, yet he feels only a cool breeze in his face.
"What the!?" he remarks, as his eyes open wide and see the world as it looked when he could fly.
"Got ya!"
With the unique ability of slowing time, Spyro leaped into action, catching the mantis before getting to close to the intense heat. The purple dragon quickly opens his wings, taking in the uplifting thermals and pulling away from the bubbling molten rock, without singeing a single hair on the grublin's body.
However, while securing the insect roughly his size, Spyro sees the reason he was yelled at earlier. Several claw marks from a dragon scar his back, telling the tale of why this grublin was angry. And also why he tried jumping a boiling river of molten lava, instead of flying over it.
"GET YOUR DIRTY PAWS OFF ME!" he squeals in his native tongue, and luckily it is not understood by the purple dragon, as the large grublin remembers they are still flying above the intense flow. He hooks his arms around Spyro's paws, holding onto them for dear life.
"I mean don't let go!"
Spyro circles high, using the warm currents to take him away from the river and back to the ledge where Cole awaits. He gently releases the large insect, just as his hind legs touch the ground.
The grublin, upon feeling solid ground, shoves Spyro away and begins yelling again.
"Not much gratitude there..." Cole remarks sarcastically, while smiling at Spyro. However, his voice becomes stern as he turns his attention to the angered grublin. "...and I find that rude."
The large insect stops yelling, suddenly realizing he is standing alone with two dragons, and one now looking at him with hate in his eyes.
"Look at what he did to me!"
The shrieking voice is not understood, but the gesturing of his damaged back and an angry finger pointed at Spyro is easily translated. However, that don't stop Cole from increasing his rage.
"We all have scars!" the large red drake barks, showing his wing to the grublin, then wincing in agony as he moves it too fast.
The throbbing pain forces Cole to calm himself, and he slowly folds his damaged wing back to rest against his side. This reaction draws an odd look from the insect-like creature, whom takes a step closer to the larger dragon.
"How, and when, did this happen?"
Again the grublin is not understood, but his actions are, as he inspects the sliced black membrane of Cole's right wing.
"Do you have constant pain?" The insect asks, seeing the wing continually flinch as Cole tries keeping it in place.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Cole barks, turning away from the mantis-like creature as it reaches out to get an even closer look. However, this does not stop the grublin from grasping the severed end of the black wing.
With his momentum moving away, Cole's wing is yanked harder than he has felt in years. The red dragon falls to his stomach in agony, writhing in pain, causing the grublin to back away with fear.
Spyro immediately places a paw upon Cole's neck, feeding him a abundant amount of his energy, helping to ease the pain. The purple dragon quickly looks over to the now terrified insect and tries to comfort him to.
"It's OK! You didn't meant to do it...I know." he remarks with a sincere voice, however, he is completely stunned as the large grublin reaches for the black wing once again.
"I'm sorry, but this has to be done."
"HEY!"
With his paw holding Cole's neck, sending a soothing energy to halt the pain, Spyro is unable to reach the large grublin, who takes the damaged black wing with both hands.
He stretches it out, causing Cole to buck with a pain that is immeasurable, forcing Spyro to stay where he is and keep a soothing paw on his neck.
"STOP IT, YOU BASTARD!"
Spyro cringes as the large insect suddenly draws the wing back and strikes Cole's right flank with a powerful blow at the base of his wing. However, nothing could shock him more as Cole stops writhing in pain.
"OWWWWWWW!" the red dragon grunts, suddenly able to take a breath and speak. He cranes his head around to look this crazy insect in the eye.
"What the hell do you just do to me?"
The large insect smiles, then gently grasps the red dragon's black wing once more. He holds it secure with both hand, then looks Cole in the eyes.
"This will hurt even more."
With a little shriek of noise, and a expression of sorrow, Cole understands he is going to be brought to tears again. But feeling the relief from the first unorthodox move this grublin performed, the injured dragon just clinches his paws in preparation.
He can feel the same pain begin returning, when his wing is suddenly pushed forward, making a loud popping noise. A flash of white light and a pain that nearly makes him pass out quickly strikes the red drake. Yet as fast as the agony starts, it disappears.
And this time, the pain does not return.
Cole stares at the smaller creature with a humbled pair of eyes.
"How?"
"Your wing is fine... Short but fine. It was only a ball and socket dislocation. Probably happened when your wing was injured, not a big deal." The large insect can see gratitude in Cole's eye, but he can also see the red dragon still favoring his damaged wing. "See if it works... Slowly." He gestures his hand toward the black appendage, spreading out his fingers as if to ask him to open the wing on his own.
More shock fills Cole's eyes, as he has not been able to unfurl his broken wing in almost two decades, but yet both open out in unison.
"Ahhhh!" he remarks with such relief in his voice, as a soothing sensation is felt by muscles that have been bound up for twenty years. Cole immediately steps over to the ledge, allowing the warm air to funnel under both of his wings.
"By the Ancestors...Does that feel good"
Cole returns his eyes to the large insect, whom has a confident smile on his face. However that disappears as the fire dragon lunges toward him. He scoops the stunned insect up with both paws, squeezing him into a tight embrace.
"How can I thank you for this?"
"You can start by not breaking my back!"
Cole, not understanding the squealing sound from his new best friend, keeps his hold for a few extra seconds before replacing the grublin's feet to the ground. He then opens his wings again, and with caution, the fire breather flaps them up and down.
"Do you think they will able me to fly again?" he remarks, feeling that lifting sensation he hasn't felt in over twenty years.
"I don't know..." Spyro begins to say, however, an emphatic answer comes from the large insect.
"NO! What are you an idiot?! Not yet! It will just pop out of the socket again. You need to let it heal first." he squeals, grasping the red dragon by his shoulder, keeping him from stepping off the ledge.
"You need to give it time..." The grublin pauses, looks back upon his own wings, then lowers his head knowing they cannot move until his scars fully heal. "...and with luck, you may find yourself in the clouds once again."
The mantis-like creature tries opening his wings, but the scars that mar his back cause him to stop. A deep look of pain crosses his face, not from the injury, but from the knowledge these claw marks will never heal enough in his lifetime. His eyes quickly focus on the purple dragon, who struck him only a few months ago, causing his pain and agony.
"I only wish I could say the same for me."
Unable to understand a word, but confident in what was said, Spyro lowers his head.
"I'm so sorry for what Cynder and I did to you and your people..." his voice is filled with the same pain this grublin feels, as the sight of the scars on his back make the purple dragon's stomach twist. "...I only wish I could fix what was done."
Spyro reaches out his paw, placing it upon the large insect's back. But this time instead of inflicting damage, the powerful dragon gives a portion of his energy.
At first, the mantis-like being is unsure what to think, as he feels the exact pain he always feels since being sliced by this same paw. However, only a millisecond later, an unmistakeable soothing relief spreads down his spine and encompasses his entire body.
Spyro also becomes shocked, when a bright glow begins forming at the tips of his talons. And more so as the scars upon the grublin's back begin shrinking. This power only lasts a second, or the same amount of time it takes for the purple dragon's thoughts to change in his mind.
And that is when it strikes him.
"By the Ancestors. I didn't know I could do that." he says, looking at this paws with complete disbelief. He then gazes upon a completely stunned grublin, who is suddenly able to open his wings without extreme pain.
The mantis gives his wings a good flutter, then smiles. He can feel a twinge in his back, but compared to how this injury would bother him before, the large insect could care less about the slight discomfort he feels now.
"How did you do that?"
Spyro, seeing the same look in this grublin's eye as his own, actually answers the question correctly.
"I don't know what happened..." he replies, then a wide smile crosses his face as he holds out his paw. "...but I'd like to see if I can repeat it."
The grublin smiles too, and quickly he turns his back to the purple dragon.
"By all means!"
With the same thoughts of how he caused this, and wanting nothing more than to repair the damage, Spyro replaces his paw upon the grublin's back. And once again, a white glow emanates from the purple dragon's talons.
Cole's eyes fill with amazement, watching as the scars disappear from the mantis' back. He looks at Spyro, who begins grinning like a child on Christmas day, as he suddenly comprehends another magical power he possesses.
"Holy sh..."
So, Spyro has found a new power, and possibly some new friends. They will come in handy as the world moves into a new age.
The Age of Healing