Forgotten Truths

Book one of the Heroes of Avalar Trilogy

Chapter one: The End of Darkness

The sun rose up over the peaks of the snow-topped mountains in distance, for what seemed the first time in a million years. Its everlasting glow covered the world in a welcoming embrace as it shined off the dew on the waves of grass blades and lakes. The citizens of Avalar were all gathered on the edge of a cliff, staring at the world as it's insides fixed itself, and to their knowledge, with Spyro and Cynder still inside. Sparx scanned the skies, awaiting the two dragons to come swooping down from nowhere, just barely making the blast of the fixing insides. However, no such sign came to him, and he bowed his head in shame. He should have gone with them, but it was too late now. A tear fell down his cheek as he sniffled.

"Oh Spyro… buddy. It's not fair. It's just not fair… I'd do anything to bring you back. Anything at all." Sparx started to cry a little more, silently as to not attract unwanted attention by the rest of the melancholy group. Sparx looked back up to the bright blue sky: not a cloud, nor dragon in sight. The sun shone brightly into Sparx's eyes, causing him to squint and put his hands above his eyes to shade them. Even though with his partially covered vision, he could see something in the distance. He opened his eyes more and made two distinct figures in the sky, coming towards them. Sparx, took one last look then shouted with glee.

"SPYRO! They did it!" Sparx shouted pointing at them. The rest of the inhabitants looked in the direction the glow bug was pointing, and soon found the same two figures, bringing new hope to their hearts. Sparx could not take it anymore as he rushed off to them, flying as fast as his wings could carry him. Soon he saw the reflecting sun off of Spyro's purple scales as he raced towards him. Spyro and Cynder could now see the welcoming committee formed on the cliff side.

"We did it Spyro! The world is saved." Cynder said with glee, doing little flips and twirls in the air.

"Yep," Spyro began as he laughed at what she was doing, " the land is safe once again. Thank you Cynder." Cynder stopped her happy tantrum to look at him.

"For what?" Spyro just gave her a raised eye ridge.

"For helping me. You could have left, yet you stayed. I thank you for that." Cynder blushed and nodded a welcome to him. She looked back in front of her, and then gave a puzzled look.

"What?" Spyro asked.

"What's that?" She pointed. Spyro followed her claw that was extended to see something coming their way. Then out of nowhere the bright light got closer and started hugging Spyro's muzzle.

"You crazy, purple, thing you! You did it!" Spyro laughed at this. He didn't think Sparx would miss him this much.

"I missed you too Sparx. Did everyone make it too safety?" Sparx pulled himself off his brother and hovered in front of the now stopped dragons.

"Yeah. They are all accounted for."

"Nice job Sparx." Sparx nodded, then looked over to Cynder. She kept her promise to make sure Spyro was safe. Sparx flew over to her.

"Cynder…" Sparx said. Cynder tensed up for an insult, but was shocked at what came instead, " Thank you." Cynder's jaw dropped. Never had she heard those words from him, especially to her.

"Oh, ugh, it was nothing really." Cynder said still shocked. Sparx smiled and rushed to hug her too, Cynder was dumbfounded, but not only that, Spyro's jaw dropped as well. Cynder cleared her throat and looked over to Spyro who just chuckled and shrugged. Sparx let go of the embrace and smiled again.

"You're not so bad… for a she-dragon." Cynder chuckled.

"You're not either for a… annoying lantern." Sparx, completely oblivious to the comment went back to Spyro.

"Spyro! Terrador is awaiting you down there. Let's go! I'm sure everyone would like to thank you, and stuff." Sparx then began to take off, then suddenly stopped. He flew back to Cynder.

"Don't you tell anyone I hugged you. OK?" Cynder zipped her lips with her claws and crossed her heart. Sparx, satisfied with this, then flew back down to the ground.

"You're going to tell everyone aren't you?" Spyro said smirking.

"Maybe later. Let's go." Cynder acknowledged and they both flew back to the ground after Sparx. As soon as they reached the cliff, they were bombarded by congratulatory comments and thanks. Cynder felt awkward receiving so many thanks. She always thought everyone hated her for what she once was, but now, its like that never happened. Like her past is gone and she can forget about what happened before. But she knew, deep down, that her memory will never vanish. No matter how hard, no matter how much she tried to rid it from existence, it will always be there to haunt her. But right now, was the time to celebrate. And everyone knew that nobody could throw a better party than Sparx.

Last year, on Spyro's birthday, he had the whole dragon temple decked out with party streamers, wicked good music, and tons of food and drink. Though Spyro and Cynder only drank water during these parties, for they didn't know what was "intoxicated" or not. Cynder could only imagine what Sparx had planned for this event.

"Spyro, Cynder… I feared the worst." Terrador said remorsefully.

"It's fine Terrador. Everything is safe now." Spyro assured.

"And darkness is conquered." Cynder said walking forward to speak.

"Well done young dragons! Well done, indeed." Cyril said out loud.

"I just knew you would do it. No one believed me, of course, but I knew." Volteer babbled on. Spyro and Cynder giggled to themselves at this; even Terrador hid a smirk. But the laughter was silenced when Cyril spoke up.

"Ignitus? Where is Ignitus?" Remembering what had happened before, Spyro's smile faded away, and he hung his head in dismay.

"He…." Spyro tried to speak, but the words would not come out.

"He's gone. He sacrificed himself for our safety through the wall." Cynder spoke out. She would not let Spyro have to say such words. Terrador cursed under his breath, Cyril hung his head, and, for once, Volteer had nothing to say. Even Sparx was hiding a few tears. The entire valley seemed to fall quiet when Cynder said this. What were they to do without their leader? Where would they go? Spyro wiped away a tear as he looked up to the guardians.

"Spyro… let us return to the dragon temple." He turned his attention to Hunter, leaning up against a small boulder.

"Can you take the rest of the citizens back to Warfang, then meet us at the temple?" Hunter nodded his head and motioned for the rest of the dragons, moles, and cheetahs to follow him back through the tunnel to Warfang.

Then entire trip back to the temple seemed to go by so slowly. Spyro was lagging behind the bunch a little bit, due to his sad state. Cynder stopped her flight path, and after a brief moment, redirected it back to Spyro.

"Spyro? Are you ok?" She asked him when she reached his side. Sparx was on the other side of him, also trying to cheer him. Spyro had no response, and Sparx gave a clueless shrug to Cynder.

"Come on Spyro. Please speak to me?"

"Theirs nothing to be said!" He growled.

"He's gone. And theirs no bringing him back." Cynder indulged his tone and continued to comfort him.

"I know.. but he would want us to carry on.. for him. Together…. We can restore this land to it's former glory. I'll stand by you through anything that evil can throw at us." Spyro, still a little sad, looked up to her. They had stopped moving now, and were just hovering. Sparx, feeling a little awkward now, came up with an idea.

"Ok guys so you know your way back to the temple, right? I'll just ugh… catch up with the others. See you guys there." Sparx then took off while the two were still staring into each other's eyes.

"Cynder… I don't want you getting hurt. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you." Cynder felt a rush of warmth run through her body. Her heart sped up and she tried so hard not to blush.

"Why?" Cynder asked, awaiting the answer she longed for so long now.

"Because… I…" Spyro was getting choked up now.

"Yes?" Cynder lead him on.

"Because… I…" Spyro took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I love you." The words of extreme power passed his lips and floated deep into Cynder's heart and soul. Her heart was beating at a million beats a minute. She blushed immensely and smiled. She looked away from him, embarrassed for what her face was doing. Spyro, with his tail, dragged her face back to look at her. He took her paws in his, and said it again.

"I love you Cynder." Cynder grabbed is paws in hers as well and giggled. She started crying and with a smile she said;

"I love you too, Spyro." Spyro also smiled and blushed a little bit. Spyro leaned in to give her a kiss on her cheek, but instead, Cynder twitched her head and caught Spyro's lips on hers. Spyro was surprised, but didn't end the kiss. They felt the world twirling around them; they felt butterflies in their stomachs. As soon as they ended the kiss, Spyro closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He opened his eyes to see Cynders beautiful, emerald eyes staring into his amethyst eyes. Spyro let go of all remorse, for right now, was the start of something greater. The start of something not even the worst of all evils could break up. The love of two young dragons, destined to complete great things together. It was like part of a prophecy. A prophecy that was never told before, and one Spyro and Cynder had to create on their own.

Back at the dragon temple, Terrador was pacing outside back and forth. Sparx was waiting for the two dragons to appear in the sky, but to no avail.

"Where did you see them last?" Cyril asked him with a raised eye ridge.

"Cynder stopped to comfort him, and while that I followed you guys. They were just talking about what happened. That's it, I swear!" Sparx said. If he was good at anything, he was exceptionally good at lying. Cyril sighed then looked back up to the sky.

"Terrador, what are we going to do about Ignitus? It has left the citizens in despair. It has left us with no leader. It has…" Terrador silenced Volteer from rambling on more.

"It is a tragedy yes. But when have we not felt like this before? Things like this happen… and we must work our best around them. As for our leader, I'm not sure." Sparx then came in.

"What about Spyro? That was what Ignitus was training him for right?"

"Yes but we're not sure we can trust our salvation with a teenage dragon." Cyril said.

"Hey! That teenage dragon… is a hero. He saved this world from destruction. Him and Cynder, whom I thought was always going to be evil for the rest of her life, but I was wrong. She promised me something, she promised all of us something. That she would return Spyro to us, and now that he is here, we should embrace that fact. Spyro is ready for this, and not even that, but a dual leadership is called for and the second seat belongs to Cynder." Sparx said. Cyril looked at Terrador. Terrador took a deep sigh.

"For once, Sparx, you're right. Spyro deserves this honor, and not even that, Cynder also. From this day forward, Spyro and Cynder are the co-ed leaders of Avalar. We will give them the news when they get here."

"How do you think they will react to this information Terrador? What if it's too much for them?" Volteer asked concerned.

"They can handle it, believe me." Sparx assured him.

"But what if they can't, Sparx? This is a big responsibility." Cyril said. Sparx stared him straight in the eye.

"You will never know responsibility the way Spyro and Cynder do. They could have given their lives for this land, and we would have honored that. I know I've been selfish before, but right now is the time we have to prepare for evil if evil is to occur."

"Evil is gone Sparx." Cyril argued.

"Evil… is always here." Sparx said getting closer to Cyril's face.

"Truer words have never been spoken, Cyril. You know as well as I that we are never safe in this world. There are always creatures and forces that could attempt to overthrow us at any time." Cyril admitted defeat to the dragonfly's argument, and Sparx flew away from him out of his face.

Just then, Spyro and Cynder came flying down and landed in the courtyard with them. They both looked around to see the others staring at them.

"Are we in trouble?" Cynder said with a sigh.

"Far from it young one. Come with me into the room of the vision pool. I have something to tell you." Terrador then started walking into the temple.

"About what?" Spyro asked.

"About responsibilities. Come." Terrador looked back to wait for the two, and as they walked by him, they all walked into the temple, leaving the rest of the guardians and the dragonfly outside to wait.

~PoeticDragon