A/N: I want to thank TLOSpyrogirl for allowing me to use her story but due to her commenting on my Private Messages (PM) she told me that I can use some and anything that is already in the game like what Sparx said, "Seeing and catching are two different things, ah big boy." I also want to thank her for allowing me to use Crystal in the story as well. She gets the credit for Selective Scenes and her OC (Crystal). I also want to thank everyone that read the other stories about Spyro and Cynder, the Empire Rising series, and I want to be clear, that series is not connected to Legend of Spyro and Cynder series.
Chapter 1: The Twists of Fate
What do you have for life when everything will just go to Hell? Nothing but destruction from then on. Something that makes people think 'What happened to me?,' but yet get no answer for they are in the snow looking down and became king nothing. It becomes a blur and many don't know what to do. If they do fight, how can they win at something that they lost already to. So really, it is impossible - which is funny that the word says 'I'm possible' but it is ironic that it doesn't meant anything to with good, only bad.
The day that led to betrayal, no sign of any anguish that would have made the temple become forgotten and little hamlet that made its little cozy home in the forest nearby, with the swamp just to the north. Nobody would have expected what would happen – in fact, nobody did expect it, expect that their own lives would be torn apart from even being close to being complete at the end, when night fell. A day that all Dragons would remember.
It was all just too perfect, too perfect to be true if you asked anyone. The blue sky that was calm like Lake Placid, not even a sight of a cloud to disturb its natural beauty; it was just humid enough to be comfortable - well for any reptile - without being unbearable like summer was never even real. And the residents of the small village that surrounded the Dragon Temple among with the tall trees of the forest seemed to go about their day, without not a single worry in on their minds. They thought they were safe. Meanwhile, the Guardians, the few parents of the eggs that lived within the village and not elsewhere like in the cities like Warfang and Skylandina, and Ignitus' alongside his mate Nova, with her son, Shine – also Ignitus' son – were gathered at the Temple, watching over all the eggs, every single one of them unable to wait until they heard the sound of tiny paws skittering on the stone filled halls. Candle lights would show the shadows and it was nearly time.
Ignitus entered the small, cozy room with his son as the door slid open before them; just like the rest of the Temple due to magic barriers to protect the people inside, worn brown and yellow stone made up the walls and floors. The ceiling was pure red with yellow circles on the red tiles. The only decoration consisted of four tapestries - banners- that adorned the wall, one of the core elements colors and symbols on each one. A green one with the earth symbol was on the west wall, a yellow with the electricity symbol was on the east wall, red with fire symbol on the north wall and light blue with ice symbol on the south wall. One the floor was a purple rug with the convexity symbol on it. Ignitus remembered when he heard about that forbidden element but then he had to remember that the purple Dragon has to learn it. A few torches that lit up the room with a fiery red-yellow glow, setting the shadows dancing. But the main attraction here was the counters, sticking out the walls and the beautiful rainbow of colors dragon eggs that were nestled into nests carefully arranged on top of them. And separate from the other, two pale purple eggs that stood proudly on a great pedestal in an alcove in the wall with a black egg. Ignitus remembered the day when that black egg came from Nova, and he was proud of it. Even Shine was glad for it.
Ignitus looked at Shine, who let a smile come on his face, dark blue eyes brightening just a bit, as they walked past the little eggs. They would be hatching soon; the other Guardians estimated that it would be a week at the most before they were all out, and if that wasn't the limit, then it would be a month then.
Ignitus then smiles at the eggs as he looked over them. But that smile soon faded unbidden as he mused over the whole past of Malefor, the Dark Master and the first Purple Dragon that was corrupted. Ignitus knew these little unborn lives were his only hope - actually, not just his only hope; the only hope for all races that are terrorized and tormented by Malefor's forces; the Apes, Grublins, Wyverns, Orcs, and even normal creatures that became hostile. The number of known dragons were just hanging by a thread as it was a few thousand might be more if they looked for the old colonies but they didn't have time for that due to Malefor getting more persistent of finding his two children - the purple eggs. And at the rate that Malefor was doing, it would be ten years before all the Dragons were extinct or enslaved. Ignitus didn't like having to take the eggs from any of the parents if they wouldn't listen to any type of reason - but surprisingly they would allow their eggs to go to the Temple - but what choice did he have? Leave the eggs to the parents and allow the Dark Master's forces to destroy the egg while others were protected by the Guardians. He didn't want to do that. Malefor knew the prophecy as well, as he did because he was a purple dragon and even now ape spies were skulking in the shadows just waiting to find Malefor's two children that they 'had' to return back to their master. And if that happened... it would be then end for everything the Guardians have fought for.
Well, nobody was safe anymore. Ignitus didn't have all the components needed to open the lock that led to the Dark Master's prison but he did know that the blood of the Purple Dragon and a dragon born in the Year of the Dragon was just one piece of the shattered key. Malefor was not allowed to have that key at all, even if the Apes wanted freedom. It couldn't be given under any circumstances.
"What is it father?" Shine asked. Ignitus looked at his son, who was white with five horns on that were grey. His underbelly was light blue, like his wing membranes; his wings were golden color and had an extra shine to them when light reflects on them. A light Dragon; Shine was - which explains why he is called Shine. Shine is to be future Guardian of the Light element but had competition with his twin sister, Spotlight.
"I like all the others, awaited the birth of the Dragons of whom the prophecies foretold," Ignitus said as he looked down. "But the Dark Master heard the prophecies as well." He looks down with his ember eyes and scans the floor. He then looks up to see Shine walking towards the Black egg, putting a smile on his face, he was glad that the black egg will have a brother, a family to take care of it."
"I just hope that Malefor pays for what he did." Shine said as he gently places his paw on the egg.
Ignitus allowed a smile to slip onto his face again as he approached the great pedestals that held the eggs he watched over, Gently, he turned them, exposing the other side to the unusually warm air in this room, then headed back to the other nests to do the same.
As Ignitus and Shine left the room, Ignitus looked back and allowed his fears to dissipate into the darkness of his mind. They were safe here. Malefor's forces could not know about the eggs hiding place and even if they did, the dragons were prepared for it. Well equipped to fight the forces. Nothing, and the Guardians can agree with Ignitus on this, nothing would harm these little growing lives, including the life of his and Nova's own child that lay in the room with the eggs.
Or so he thought.
When Ignitus returned that night to check on the eggs again, his previous happy demeanor was gone, replaced with an uncertainty thought. He looks up and sees Nova - she returned from Darkhallow and drove the Ape forces back into retreating where they came from; Mount Malefor - patrolling the outskirts of the Temple with their daughter, and the other Guardians off doing other things as well, Ignitus had been left to his own thoughts for so long, those thoughts were very grim indeed.
His mind wandered to dark futures, examined the most shadowy crevices that will come. What if the apes did discover the location of the eggs? What if he couldn't stop them from doing their job? And worst of all, what if Malefor got his paws on those two purple eggs? What could Ignitus possibly do then? How will he atone of that sin?
The future was far more grim than he could ever anticipated. And it was getting close to it.
Ignitus slowly made his way past the eggs that lay in peaceful silence in their warm nests, stopping once more before his egg then at the two purple eggs and then heard the door open, broke his train of thought until he looked back to see Shine smiling. The Fire Guardian stared at it blankly. No thoughts crossed his mind, only an inexplicable emotion: a mix of fear of what might happen to the egg, as well as mild surprise - surprise at the thought that Malefor's mate gave birth to two little eggs that would one day save the world or become like their father. Ignitus didn't want that to happen, he wanted the purple dragon or dragoness to be safe and have a nice life without evil.
Even as he began to sense that something, something was wrong, just barely detected Volteer's pounding footsteps in the halls that led to this room, and though he didn't know it realized just exactly what was going, or in this case happening right now. He knew his heart that one day these tiny, helpless unremarkable eggs would save all of those that have fallen under their father's tyranny and pitch blacks shadow. And even as the years after that one terrifying day, tiredly wore on but the struggle for his very existence did not cease, even as his mind clouded with doubt, deep inside the old fire Dragon never once lost hope.
Ignitus snapped from his trance, alarmed, as his friend and the felled Electric Guardian, Volteer, burst through the door. Panting wildly as he tried to regain his breath, he straightened suddenly and gasped out, "Save them! The Dark Armies have come!"
Shine looks down at the floor and shook his head. "We should have hidden the eggs long before this, now that they know," Shine stopped talking and turned to look at his father Ignitus. "It's the end, isn't it?"
Ignitus looked up, waiting for the gravity of the whole conversation to sink in. "No, it's not, this is just the beginning." He walks up to the center of the room and grabs a stone tile. He gently lifts it up and a portal is seen. "Shine, get the eggs to safety, but don't put the purple and black eggs in the portal because we don't know when Malefor will come out of his prison." Eyes flashing like the fire he wielded in himself. "Where are the others?" He did not panic - experience had taught him that he had to remain calm, but he could not help the glimmer of fear that rose up in him.
Catching his breath, Volteer hurriedly said, "Cyril, Nova, and Spotlight are warning the villagers, and Terrador is trying to hold them back."
"And what about our sister, Quartz?"
Volteer didn't answer for a few moments, mustard-colored eyes scanning over the ground as it it was a book with all the answers but no answers were found. "W-we don't know - but you two must hurry."
"Save them! I'm afraid Terrador can't hold them off for much longer, and I have to stay here to protect the eggs." Shine grabs two blue eggs and gently places them in the portal. "Where does that portal lead to?"
"That my old friend, is the portal of Daggerfang." Volteer nodded, he knew the history with Daggerfang. Daggerfang was the most protective city of all the Dragon cities there were but was not the best place to let the eggs go to. But Volteer then remember that it was in the Dark Forest, making it impossible for any Ape to find the eggs due to the thick woods and - to say the least - haunting of the undead roaming. For Daggerfang, the city had to be protected because the undead would rise each night and attack the outside walls. "The forest will give great cover to the eggs, so that they can be hatched but I fear that if we put them purple and black eggs in there, the Apes will try anything to find them. Most devastating, horrible, ravage, trash, devour, raid, waste, undesirable news. We can't have that happening because if there is a slightest chance that they do find the eggs, then it will be over."
"Agreed brother," the fire Dragon said as he looked at the eggs. "We can't have that happening at all. How do you get past a lie?" He thought for a little while then smiles, "By placing it under their noses and wait for the outcomes." Volteer shook his head when Ignitus said that. It was a proud saying Dragons had when they wanted to get something done under Malefor's rule. Ignitus, turning around grabbed the purple and black eggs and looked at Shine. "You get the others, I'll get these."
"Yes father," Shine said as he placed more and more eggs in the portal.
Ignitus knew he needed to act fast if he was to save the eggs in time, so he focused on this as best as he could as Volteer, slipping back into a panic of fear, headed outside to guard the entrance. Ignitus' eyes scanned over the eggs, but they immediately feel on the pale purple and black eggs in his arms, and he knew what he had to do; there was no other choice really. He must put the purple and black dragon above all others - only they had a chance to defeating the Dark Master one day but that chance was very small, it was all the world had.
"Hope is what makes us strong. It is why we are here. It is what we fight with when all else is lost." Ignitus said as he ran out of the room with the eggs to his chest with one paw. Dashing wordlessly past Volteer as he continued down the hall after twisting, turning the corner. Eventually he reached the great training room, where Malefor's statue was at, looking condescendingly upon all those who passed in and out. Every time Ignitus met it, he closed his eyes and hoped that this time it would be different. But now he didn't have time for that, it was save the eggs or let them get crushed. Ignoring the flashing eyes of the great sandstone and marble statue, he rushed out onto the balcony. There he burst into the air without delay, as his wings flapped he could feel the wind touch each of his wing scales. Movement around him as he looked down to see the fighting. He then saw a black dragoness fighting the Apes and then smiled, know full well that it was his mate, Nova. He then had to focus on the eggs so his smile had to fade away before he could fly off once more.
he heard them before he saw them. Shrill screeches that rippled through the air and clawed through your brain, grinding against Ignitus' skull and making him flinch, as it was always like that. Swooping down, he just barely saw them, their furry tattered leather bodies shining in what little light the moon slivers gave. Dreadwings. The bat-like creatures, with their sharp teeth, long wings with tattered membranes, bulky, furry body, and the scream that can stop you dead in your tracks literally after paralyzing you with fear, looked and sounded like something that crawled out of its way of a forbidden nightmare. Nightmares that were dangerous to speak off and yet the Dreadwings might have came from those types of nightmares.
Panic shot through him when he too saw another figure flying against the strong winds, had just picked up before bashing through the Dreadwing squad. Quartz!
He saw her form, barely a silhouette against the pitch black sky. Slipping through the air while dodging the attacks of the Dreadwings and the range of their screams. One by one, the great creatures were knocked out of the sky by the green dragoness' blasts of Earth missiles. Ignitus glanced at the eggs hesitantly and made his choice. Nova might need help, but if the Dreadwings were here then the Apes would be after the eggs as well and it was more important that their child with the purple dragons be brought to safety.
Just as Ignitus began to turn and speed off towards the Silver River, barely visible through the heavy mushroom forest, two screams tore through the air - one was the piercing shriek of a Dreadwing and the other was a cry for a dragon. Whipping around, Ignitus was just in time to see ripples of the wavelengths of the Dreadwing's visible cry and something else darting down into the darkness of the forest.
"Quartz," Ignitus screamed over the whipping winds. He then saw a light coming down through the starless sky, Ignitus looks up and sees Shine following the Dreadwing and Quartz. "Shine? Quartz?" Quartz didn't respond - paralyzed, she only continued to fall down, down, down into the darkness until she was grabbed by Shine. Ignitus let a sigh of relief as Shine is flying towards him with Quartz in his paws. "Thank you my son."
"Anything for family," Shine said as he looked at Quartz. He starts to descend towards the ground and gently places Quartz on the ground. "The eggs are safe but the Apes are trying to find the portal. Volteer told me to come and find you because if they find that portal-"
"The end will begin," Ignitus finished Shine's sentence. He looks over to Quartz and gritted his teeth before turning back. He knew very well that he needed to put the eggs priority - Quartz and the family would want him to. And, too, if he went to help, she would said she was perfectly alright and chide him for going after her. He sighs as he gently lands in front of his son,. Ignitus then looks at Shine and hands him one of the purple eggs. "Here. You need to find a way to get these young ones out of here."
"As-" Shine was interrupted by a spear that went through the egg. He sighs "Fuck this..." He quickly grabs the eggs from Ignitus and flies off. "Go, you are needed at the temple. I'll do this."
"May the ancestors look over you."
"May they look over us all."
Shine then quickly flies off as Ignitus took one of the three apes by the head and slammed him into a mushroom with a comet dash. Screaming in pain, Ignitus looked down and saw blood coming for his leg. When he comet dashed, the Ape must have took his sword and cut the scales to the skin. He then looks towards the final two before unleashing a barrage of firebolts towards them. As each firebolt hit the ground, the explosion quickly expanded as a reversed type of fire rain hit the Apes' fur, making them run away as the fire burnt them alive.
"Brother, go help Shine," Quarts demanded. Ignitus looked at her and closes his eyes. "Please brother, he is your son and he needs your protection until he is the Light Guardian."
"Okay," Ignitus said as he patted Quartz's hand. "I love you as my sister."
"And I love you as my brother. I wouldn't trade you for anything because you care about the family." She looks at him and smiles. "Go."
Ignitus looked at her before flapping his wings. "Go back to the temple, okay?" Quartz looks at him and nods, this made Ignitus have a smile on his face. As he turns around, the howling of the Apes are heard. He takes in a deep breathe and starts flying. "May the Ancestors give you comfort and strength." It only took a few minutes to reach an opening where Shine was at. Ignitus knew that Shine was trying his best to protect the eggs and he knew that Shine would die for his unborn sibling's protection.
Shine stops what he was doing, by the looks of it - it looked like he was trying to see if he can get the eggs to float on the river. The silver Dragon stopped at the banks of the Silver River - appropriately named; though in day the river was like dazzling gold but at night it was gentle waters that bathed in the soft silver glow from the moon light that shone through right to its darkest depths. Shine then stops again and looks over his shoulder to see his father. "What do we do?"
Ignitus glances back at the Temple, illuminated not by even one candle within the halls or rooms, as they had all been blown out by the harsh winds or were thrown out due to a small pillar of smoke was coming from somewhere close to the Temple within the forest. "We see where we bring the eggs."
"I'll take the eggs and see if a family will take them."
"NO!" Shine looks at the old Dragon with wide eyes. "Sorry, but I don't think that is a good idea. No one has seen a Dragon for a long time. But even if they did, due to Malefor's forces taking in wyverns it would be hard to trust a dragon."
"And what are we going to do," Shine asked. "We can't leave them. We have to do something. Anything."
Ignitus looks down at the soft soil that is below his paws. "You're right. Not only as a parent but as the prophecy must happen." Shine smiles as he walks towards a mushroom. Ignitus looks over what Shine was doing, and knew Shine had something planned. "What are you doing?"
"This," Shine said as he took a mushroom cap and removed the insides of it. "This is what I'm doing." He then places the purple egg in the cap's interior and gently pushes it down the river. Ignitus then got the idea and took a small mushroom and removed the interior insides of it after breaking the stem. Shine then grabs the black egg and places it Ignitus' mushroom cap's interior. Ignitus then gently pushed the mushroom down the river and watched as the eggs floated away from their sights.
"May the Ancestors look over you," he raised his voice before pausing. He bows his head for a few seconds while saying, "May they look after us all and hope there won't be another Malefor." Raising his head, he watched as they disappeared behind a bend, watched as his only hope - the world's only hope really - slipped away from the Ape's grasp. Shine then flaps his wings before flying, Ignitus took to the air and did not look back as Shine started to cry. "What is it?"
"What if that black egg is destroyed then what?" Ignitus' son asked with heavy grief.
"It won't come to that, I promise that because you are going to watch them, they should be hatching within hours." Ignitus assured. Shine looked back at him and gives a nod.
"Very well, father." Shine's last words before turning around to follow the eggs. Ignitus gives a warm smile as he saw something in Shine that he remembered well - a brother figure like he was with Quartz. Ignitus smiles at the memory and flies down to the Temple's balcony that he jumped off of. "Ancestors, hear my plea. Watch over my son, my unborn child, and the purple dragon. Watch over them and give them a sign that they should see me before Malefor is released. Please…" He then turns around and prays again, "Ancestor's keep my daughter and my wife safe." He then walks towards the doors towards the hatchery to see Volteer isn't there, he halts. He looks around and sees blood is around where Volteer is at, as were the charred marks from the electricity on all walls, floor, and ceiling, marring the prophecies written on it. Apes were know to be unstable and energetic but to have the prophecies marred, it was a sin that can't be forgiven. Fear jumped into Ignitus' heart, but he tried to shove it down. The apes surely couldn't have gotten past the other guardians - Volteer, Cyril, Nova, Terrador, and Raito - could they?
Ignitus, sucking in the breath that escaped from his lungs, breathed a great burst of fire from his breath sac. Only elemental attacks could open the doors - there has, no was no way the dirty Apes could have gotten inside.
The first thing that greeted Ignitus was the sight of Ratio and Volteer fighting against the Apes. Ignitus breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to them. "Anything I need to know," he asked.
The Silver dragon with five horns with black membranes on his wings looked at him. "They found a way," he pointed up as he swatted three Apes with his tail. "They breached the Temple from above with Dreadwings and what not." Ignitus had to give it to the Apes, they really wanted to get their job done and is willing to do anything. "They tried-" he takes his paw and throws a large Ape to the wall. "They just keep coming."
"Hold it together brother," Volteer said in a brotherly voice. "We have to close the portal. But if we do that, it leaves us vulnerable to the Dark Armies."
"You focus on the enemy, I'll close the portal," Ignitus said as he walked over to the portal and placed one brick at a time back to their slots they were to go. As the final brick is placed back in, the Dark Armies start to float in the air and then start to spin around. "Security measure I think we should need it more."
"Agreed," Ratio and Volteer said.
"Where are the others," Ignitus asked.
"Terrador is outside, making sure no more are coming," Ratio unleashes a wall of Blinding Light as shards kill every Ape in the room. "Cyril, Nova and Spotlight are getting people down in the bunkers as we speak. I'm about to head there myself."
"Brother, don't," Ignitus stopped Ratio. "We need you more than ever because you are close to appoint your nephew or niece as the Guardian of Light."
"And I have," Ration walked to the door and opens it. "My favorite nephew, Shine will be the Guardian. Tell him he will be Guardian because I have a feeling that I'm going to die today because of Malefor wanting something from me."
"And what would that be," Volteer asked with a demanding voice.
"Malefor's mate had a third egg." The two Guardians - they listened to Ratio - their eyes grew wide. "I didn't want to tell you; but there was a third egg. And all three eggs are Malefor's children. Two purple eggs and a red egg - well, it was a red egg if it didn't hatch already."
"Oh no," Volteer was in complete shocked. "Where is the child?"
"The Apes took her."
"Her?" Ignitus and Volteer asked in unity. Not once have they heard about. "TOOK?!"
"Yes, they took her…," Ratio commented.
"And her name," Ignitus asked.
"Ember," Ratio said with great remorse. "I named her Ember. But it's the end now. And it's my fault. I should have protected her and got her away from the Apes hands but I watched in fear as they attacked me and Volteer."
"Her egg hatched and one of the Apes called her Ember and said something about what Malefor wanted her for something 'good'. But we all know what Malefor is, anything but good."
"You mean Malefor wasn't after the Purple and Black eggs." Ratio nodded his head. "But why? Why wouldn't he want them instead of a fire Dragon."
"Because that fire Dragoness was going to replace you," Volteer replied. He looks at Ratio and gave a sigh. "Right?"
"Yes. She was to replace Ignitus and if he corrupts her and brings her back, then she will be more powerful than Ignitus because Ignitus is the one that-," Ration was about to say another word before blood splattered out of him. He looks down and sees a spear tip from his back. He grabs the tip and tries to take it out but fails every time as his paws slipped off. "I… die… now…" With that, his last breathe was given and his lifeless body falls down to the ground. Ignitus and Volteer looked at each other and quickly breathed their breathes at the door, making it shut before any Apes would enter. As the door closes, an Ape's arm is seen and cut off by the pressure of the door.
"No, brother!" Ignitus quickly ran towards Ratio's body. "No, you had so much to live for."
"Ignitus, we'll let him have a burial at the end of this day, okay?" Volteer asked. Ignitus looked at Ratio's body but Volteer closed his eyes, trying to see if he can think of a way to help him. "Ignitus, please see reason with me?" Volteer thought to himself. "Ignitus?-"
"I heard you!" Ignitus said as he got up from the ground and walked out of the room. "I lost my twin brother today, I don't need to lose anyone else." As he walked out of the room, he could hear himself cry about what happened, losing someone that is a brother like Ratio will be hard for him - it will be hard for anyone really. Hell finally broke through but it wasn't the end because Ignitus knew that the Purple and Black Dragons would defeat Ember and Malefor. He feared this day would come when Malefor got his paws on a Dragon that he had to corrupt in order to be released from the prison.
Ignitus took a few unsteady paces forward, not sure what to do. His head was spinning and despair flooded his mind; his vision blurred and he felt as if he might just drop to the ground and die right then for failing to protect the world. As the realization came back to him and sank into his mind, the Guardian's heard dropped. He failed to protect the world, but he failed to protect his own brother, Ratio, from demise and failed to protect the Temple. Something he didn't want to live by.
What do you have to live for, when only life you ever known comes to a sudden end, when you had to protect everything, protect your own life, and the fate of others, your child torn from you, and when the future is only death, despair and pain is utterly inescapable?
Even as Ignitus' days turned into nightmares, he knew even when he truly lost everything but his mate and his twin children, even when he felt as if the only reprieve from the torture would be death, the purple and black eggs he had saved still gave him something - something that, even within the darkest of days a single light would light it, still lingered in the back of his mind - something called hope.
-Week Later - Silver River to Lake Sioldila
Through whatever force of nature, the eggs survive. Some might have said it was by intervention by the Ancestors, guiding the eggs to safety; others could believe it was merely fate itself; while many others thought it be no more than something called blind luck that characterized the unborn dragons, but the others would say that Shine had to do something about it because he followed the eggs for a long time - a week to be processed. Whatever the case, they would soon be somewhere safe, somewhere the war's ravages had not discovered yet, and would probably be years before the war would come up.
But as morning dawned over the world, the river's waters were set like fire was underneath it due to the sun's light, the eggs was only just beginning their journey to respite. Though the river was thankfully calm and mild that day, it made the trip much slower and Shine was glad of it as he walked on the side banks, smiling. And the eggs were getting closer to the end of that particular part of its life cycle… Shine knew they would hatch soon, any minute now, but he also knew if they hatched, he couldn't return to the temple.
The creatures inside were beginning to stir from their slumber and awaken to a new life. A new beginning, a beginning spared from the sufferings of war, if only for a little while. And who knows how long that would be.
The egg traveled for a long time, for a full week as Shine followed it and gave daily updates via hawk to Ignitus - about five hour or six's walk from the Temple, if that. Still, despite its close proximity to a place that been previously swarmed by Apes only a week ago, the location was deep in the heart of the swamp and yet seemed to be untouched by any type of war.
When the egg arrived to its final destination, coming to rest on the muddy, sloped shore, it was perhaps midday. Shine looks up to the sun and tries to see what phase of the day it is. He then came to the conclusion that it was in fact midday. An hour before, the only three residents of the area - a group of Dragonflies, Flash with his wife Nina and their newborn son Sparx; who was only yet a few hours old - had decided to take a fly to the river to get some fresh air. Now only just arriving, they were greeted with a rather surprising sight; the eggs sitting placidly on their caps and rocking gently in the sparkling water that looked golden, the current pushing it to the shore and keeping it from drifting back out again. Then they see Shine laying next to the bank as if he was watching the eggs, a small smile was on his face.
Fear sprung up within the Dragonflies' minds - all except Sparx due to him being asleep in his mother's arms while the soft golden glow was dimming - but curiosity touched them as well. Never have the seen a Dragon up close like this. What could this white Dragon possibly be protecting in the great eggs? It was unlike anything both of them had ever seen… But Flash remembered seeing a big red Dragon that was Ignitus during his time of being on the mainland in a colony that Ignitus had to protect then return back to the Dragon Temple. Flash owed Ignitus everything. For without Ignitus, the whole colony would have been burnt to the ground. But when Flash saw Shine resting on the ground, he saw Ignitus' features in him. But after what Malefor did, he had to run from because he was associated with a dragon and by law, he had to die. Escaping the colony's martial law's strict laws and very torturous punishments; traveling over the ocean he found a small island and, exhausted if you were traveling for several days, decided to find a safe place to rest there.
After wandering into the swamp, he came upon Nina, whose mother just recently passed, hand raised her there all her life. Nina did not remember her early childhood, her father's death and her mother's just narrowed it to escape from it; all she knew was the Swamp. But Flash, who had seen the outside, had seen only one dragon before, Neither dragonfly knew what to make of this.
Curiosity seized the pale red dragonfly and she could not help but fly slowly forward, towards the eggs, but Shine quickly places his paw in front of them. "Stay away from them!" Shine ordered. "You are not going to hurt my siblings and the Legendary Purple Dragon." Nina and Flash flinched when Shine said that, but that didn't stop Shine to give a shocked looked at them. "Sorry, I thought you were with the Apes."
"Why do you say that?" Flash asked.
"Y-you haven't heard?" Nina and Flash shook their heads. "Apes attacked the Dragon Temple and I was tasked to get these eggs out of there." Shine looks down at the eggs and sees them start cracking. "Good timing." The creatures in the eggs, instinct seizing them, began to pound upon the thin shell from the inside. Shine just smiled as Nina and Flash had terror seizing them, they flew back without a word and they both backed away from the eggs. But they weren't willing to run; they wanted too much to see what lay inside this strange egg that Shine was protecting.
A large crack split down the middle of the egg, then another and another one, and finally, with a loud crack, the shells broke open. Shine looked over to see two purple Dragon hatchlings sitting down next to each other, but he looks at the black egg and sees it stop moving. Fear struck him as he thought the hatchling in the egg died. He bows his head but then lifts it when he heard a loud crack. As the egg finally cracked open, a small female black Dragon comes out. Shine smiles and looks back at the purple hatchlings, soft scales with discolored purple. They looked at each other then jumped on them, making them roll down the bank of the river. When they stopped rolling upon reaching the grass, the two twins, confused, just laid there for a moment. The black hatchling crawled towards them and laid beside the male hatchling.
"Wow," the shocked Nina breathed, unsure what to even think. "What are they?"
"These are hatchlings - a baby version of a dragon," Shine replied as he walked towards the hatchlings and grabs them before moving them back to his side. "Cynder…" he said as he looked at the black dragon. "I name you Cynder from our native language - Draco Mindah - for dark shadow."
"That's beautiful." Nina said. Shine looked down at the ground and sighed. "Something wrong?"
"My father hasn't even contacted me. I sent messages about me and the eggs. I fear that he may be dead. And that's something I don't want to hear or see about it. He wanted to see another child of his, if he is dead, then Cynder will know the truth."
As Nina looked at the purple ones with yellow horns, spikes jutting out of their head and back but the female one had spikes going down her back to the end of her tail; large, orange, membrane wings, plated underbellies that were yellow as their wing membranes, their wings were red as blood, one of them had a tail blade that was shaped as a spade while the other had a tail blade that was shaped as a sword blade, and - as they noticed as one of them yawned as it struggled to himself off his back and talking them just talking to Shine before the eggs hatched - very sharp teeth fit only for a carnivorous species - or, in this case, omnivores with carnivorous tendencies - they seemed almost like monsters out of a nightmare despite their innocent faces, wide, purple eyes and helpless infancy.
"Don't worry, they won't hurt you." Shine assured them. He looks at them and chuckles as Cynder grabs a hold of the male purple dragon and brings him down to the ground. "Reminds me of the time Spotlight and me had fun before father grounded us for breaking the family urn."
"I have to ask." Flash started, Shine looks at him and nods. "Are you related to Ignitus? I'm just asking because you look like him but white."
"Yes, I'm his son."
The stupefied dragonflies watched in utter bewilderment as the three hatchlings, despite their own surprise managed to roll onto their stomachs. Though at first they crawled forward slowly, unsure what to do and where to go in the amazing world, they began to climb onto their feet. One managed to walk a few steps on unsteady paws, claws digging into the soft soil, before falling back down again but Shine quickly catches her. He gently places her back on her four paws and chuckles. "Stumble a little, learning quickly," Shine said as he got on his stomach. As he looked down at the ground, he brings the hatchlings next to him. Nina and Flash could tell he was in great pain and wanted to help.
Nina and Flash looked at each and flown behind a mushroom. She then bows her head as her new-found maternal instinct kicked in, "What do we do?"
"What do you mean, 'what do we do?"" Flash asked, turning to Nina with a confusion on his face, most of it was that he doesn't know what the hatchlings would do.
"We can't just leave them there, Flash. And that dragon might not want to return until he is certain that he can return. He's been here for a while by the looks of it."
"We don't even know what they might do… They could be dangerous. And we can't put our newborn in danger." He takes his head and looks past the mushroom they are behind and sees the dragons resting, many grim possibilities passed through his mind. He didn't know if they would attack them while they were sleeping, or hurt Sparx. Or much worse.
"What they are, are three helpless children and a young Dragon that might not know if his father and mother are alive… And I'm not going to leave them here to die." Had Nina not been holding Sparx, she would have crossed her arms in the most intimidating manner to scare Flash. "That dragon can help us with this, he knows what Dragons need to live. Let's keep them safe until he is ready to leave with them."
Flash, glancing at the hatchlings and Shine, sighed. She was more than right; how could he protest? Sure they were little but they would fall into the river and drown or get eaten by frog weeds if they left them. "Alright, Nina. Just until that dragon is ready to leave with them."
Shine had to leave the next day after getting the letter from his father, he was glad and happy that he got a letter from him but was in complete fear when he heard that Ember, sister of the purple dragons, got the other four Guardians already. Malefor was busy, and when he learned about this, he feared what would happen later. He went to Flash and explained the whole situation and asked if they would keep the young dragons until it was time for them to learn their elemental attacks. Flash was glad that Shine got to hear from his parents but was shocked that they didn't want the young Dragons back until Shine told him that Apes could be still there and it would end everything. Like always Flash agreed, he knew Ignitus wouldn't have forgotten that, but he understood that if the world is to have hope, the purple and black Dragons need to be prepared and not killed before the age of accountability.
But Shine didn't turn up. Nina would always plead, "Please, Flash - he will come but we have to have them safe for Shine. Shine will come, I promise you that. Just one more week." A week turned into a month, a month into a year and by then they had to accept it. Shine wasn't coming back but then Flash remembered that Shine will come when it was time and knew that the young Dragons' time wasn't ready until Shine comes back. They had to accept the strange little hatchlings into their hearts and their lives long ago. Both of them dreaded they day they knew would come someday, the day when they had to tell them what the truth is. But they agreed to let Shine tell them when it is time. They just hope it would be years from here but it was just like that, it was years.
For the moment, though, this worry did not pervade their minds. Now, they were only focused trying to get the hatchlings home. Drawing their attention, Flash and Nina gently coaxed them forward. Interested in these talking bright lights, they once more stood up and stumbled forward, but this time they managed to stay on their paws, and step after step they slowly followed their 'family' home.
On the way, the purple female hatchling broke away from her brother and Cynder, attracted by a new light source that was glowing blue. Though Nina continued to lead the other hatchlings onward, Flash went after the girl while Shine followed him, who had tripped off behind a large mushroom.
Flash found her sitting on the ground, clutching something in her mouth - a small blue crystal. Flash had seen these crystal growths before, but he always ignored them, unsure what they were. Even he, a Dragonfly all but disconnected from the arcane, could feel the pulse of magic about them and was wary of the things.
Shine comes up and grabs the little hatchling with his paw before lifting her up on his head. "Let's go -," Shine then stopped, remembering that she had no name. Pausing, he slowly said, "Crystal…" The name felt right; it was unexplainable but it just seemed to suit the girl perfectly. And, too, she seemed to love it, despite the crystal in her mouth she smiled and agreeably wagged her tail like an energetic puppy. Shine chuckles as he followed Flash back to Nina.
Nina agreed with the name; like Shine and Flash thought, it simply seemed right and appropriate with her. As for the boy hatchling, she had an idea of her own.
"Blaze," she said. Shine looked at her and shook his head. "What?"
"Dragons go by the elemental powers and type they are. But since he is a purple Dragon, he can be named something different, like Spyro," Shine stopped talking and saw the young male hatchling wagging his tail. "He agrees with it." Ignitus' voice echoed in his mind as he told the young Dragon stories of his grandfather.
Flash glanced at Shine knowingly, but he nodded. "Cynder, Crystal, and Spyro."
"We'll just call them that until Shine leaves," Nina said softly, glancing sadly at the smiling hatchlings. Already she felt attached to them; though she knew she would have to give them up to Shine and the other Dragons, she didn't want them to go.
"Don't worry about it," Shine said. "I'm sure my father wouldn't want them to come back to the Temple if Malefor's forces," Nina and Flash shrugged at the name of Malefor, "attacked the Temple a week ago. We can't risk them or Malefor won't lose the war."
Spyro, Cynder, and Crystal happily spent that warm night outside under the stars, curled up together under a mushroom with Shine next to them, tailed wrapped around the three hatchlings. But Flash and Nina needed to find them another place to stay if Shine's words were true, and for when the hatchlings get older. Their nest-home that hung from the branch of a tree was smaller than one of the hatchlings so obviously they couldn't stay there. It didn't take them long - the answer was more than obvious.
Near their home, there was a small clearing, bare all except for a bit of undergrowth and one tall spruce tree. One that there was an old abandoned watcher's post that had been there even when Nina was a child. It seemed safe - though uninhabited, the tough wood had resisted years of rain and wasn't rotted. There were no windows and it was completely bare except for three chests with nothing but a small bag and inside and some dusty blankets, but it would suffice when the nights grew crisp and cold, but sleeping outside in the humid swamp was not a good option.
Now, at midday the next day, Flash and Nina watched with careful for Sparx as Shine lets his arm out to get a hawk's attention. As the hawk swooped down and latched itself onto Shine's arm, a not comes out of its mouth and the white Dragon grabs it with his left paw. He unfolds it and smiles as he recognizes the writing. "Father," he said in a soft voice. He then takes his tail blade and dips it in some berry juice he made for a substitute for ink. He then starts writing a letter with a smile. After a few minutes, he gives the letter to the hack and motions it to go, "To Ignitus, the Fire Guardian." The hawk then flies off while Shine looks over his shoulder to see Flash and Nina watched the whole event. "You saw that." The two Dragonflies nodded. "Then I must return, it will take me a few days to get there, I need to go now. Just protect them. I'll be back to get them after I find out when they need to come. "
As they were talking, they see Cynder, Spyro and Crystal are playing with Sparx - who had just learned out to fly about an hour ago, though he was getting rather tired by the expression on his face. The three young dragons both were careful, which surprised the older ones - even to Flash and Nina, who knew these fearsome-looking creatures could be such gentle giants? Even Cyrstal, who had seemingly lost her gem but was more excited and energized like a hyper child, was strong enough to run short distances in her play despite she was only a day old. Spyro and Cynder tried to keep up while Sparx was being chased by Crystal.
Shine chuckled for a little bit before flapping his wings, when he flapped his wings, the young dragons stopped what they were doing and looked at Shine. As he slowly lifted himself off the ground, they looked at him with wide eyes, they dreamed they would fly like Shine would do one day and they hopped it would happen so but that day won't be for a long time due to their wings aren't strong enough. As Shine was finally off the ground and in the air, he started to gain altitude. The young dragons were in complete awe for a while before Shine was out of their sight, but to Spyro it was something magical because he tried to flap his wings like Shine did but instead of hovering, he fell down on his stomach.
The three dragons seemed to like their new home, the dragonflies who were now their family until Shine would return. Even though someday they would wonder about how they could be dragonflies when they looked so different, and even though doubt would creep into their minds and they couldn't help but think perhaps - perhaps this wasn't their family… Deep down, they knew the Swamp was their home; where they belonged and where they would always come back to see their adopted parents no matter how far they wandered. For this was not only their home but their place in the world now.