Chapter 1: Prologue

Suspended high in the western sky, the brilliant sun continued on its lazy journey across the heavens, raining down innumerable beams of golden light on the land below. The waving trees were bathed in the golden light, their lush and vibrant leaves shimmering and shifting in the light breeze. Ahead, there was a small mountain range, the slopes covered in a twisting maze of bright wildflowers and grass. In the other direction, the high plateaus of the Tall Plains reached up into the heavens, each platform a booming ecosystem with abundant flora and fauna. If one paid close enough attention, they might just be able to discern a thin dirt road stretching from the base of the nearest plateau and winding out into the forest. Many miles had already gone on by on the dusty road, and there were many more to go.

With a few graceful flaps of his stark white wings, the drake observed the serene landscape, taking in all the details of the blissful day. Twisting his head to and fro, the dragon scanned the few clearings he could glimpse through the trees, searching for any sign that something could be amiss. But the peace prevailed, with the only other creature the drake spotted being a flock of pitch black crows skimming over the treetops. Nodding his approval, the adult dragon tucking his wings in close to his body, making a beeline down to the road below, and the small convoy of wagons meandering along it.

A gust of sudden wind announced the dragon's arrival, the dust blowing into small eddies as the dragon folded his wings along his back, the white contrasting sharply with his dark gray scales. He had landed next to the third and final wagon, an open topped contraption guided by two oxen. Almost immediately, a mint green female dragoness walked up beside him, both of them effortlessly keeping pace with the slow moving work beasts. Her rich brown eyes scrutinized his face, scanning for any signs of distress. "Well? Did you see anything? Are we safe Theron?"

Theron half turned and smiled, draping on of this wings over the back of his mate. "Yes Visema, there's nothing out there that's going to hurt us. If I had known it was going to be this safe a trip, I would have insisted we leave months ago. It looks like it's going to be smooth sailing, at least until we run into those mountains up ahead."

The dragoness let out a sigh of relief, glancing up through the sporadic canopy to the cloudless sky above. "Thank the ancestors. We've been through quite enough war and bloodshed, I would hate to be thrown back into that all over again. Especially with her-"

"Daaaaaad, I'm boooooored." Right on cue, another gray scaled head popped up over the edge of the wagon, the dragoness resting her chin against the side of the wagon as she gazed at her parents with drooping eyelids partially obscuring her sky blue eyes. "There's nothing to do, except sit in the wagon, stare at the sky, stare at the trees, stare at the road, stare at the other wagons..."

"Your turn." Visema whispered in his ear before pulling free of his embrace, increasing her pace until she reached the second wagon. A half grin twitched at Theron's face as he glanced over toward his daughter, who was still listing all the many sources of entertainment to her disposal.

"You known Vera," Theron began, gently speaking over his daughter's monologue. "If you're so bored at watching the road, maybe you should come flying with me. You'll be able to stretch your limbs, and it certainly is a marvelous view."

Vera grumbled, turning around and bending her neck backwards across the side of the wagon so that the longer pair of her four horns lightly scrapped against the wagon's exterior. "But then I'll be bored and tired. Honestly Dad, if that's the best suggestion you got, you're slipping. I mean, I'm looking forward to actually getting there, but that's still days away! If we could just fly instead of taking taking the road, we would have already arrived!"

"Now Vera," Theron began, taking on a slightly more serious tone. "The Atlawas have done everything they could to keep us safe in the Tall Plains during the war, and making sure they get there safe is the least we could do. Besides, you know full well that these-"

"These wagons are full of everything we own and everything we need to get set up again, I know I know." Vera sighed, her tail sliding idly across the floor of the wagon. "Doesn't make this go any faster though."

Looking forward again, Theron jerked his head towards the second wagon, where Visema was deeply engrossed in a conversation with the only other dragoness in the convoy. "Well, what about doing something with the twins? I'm sure they'd be more than happy to let you join."

Vera followed her father's gaze into the back of the second wagon, where two young earth dragon boys were busy wrestling across the wooden flood, oblivious to the collateral damage they were causing in the process. Vera rolled her eyes. "No offense Dad, but I think they're a bit young for me. Besides, they keep telling me that wind isn't a real element and acting like real jerks about it. I think I'll pass."

"In that case, how about doing something with the Atlawas? I hear they have a some form of board game set up in the lead wagon. You never know, you could end up enjoying it." Theron suggested, mentally resolving to have a few words with the twins when they stopped for the night.

Vera opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get any words out, a loud shriek echoed through the woods, sending the convoy screeching to a halt. Vera sat bolt upright, eyes darting side to side as she searched for the source of the disturbance. "What in the world was that? It almost sounded like someone was screaming. Do you think someone got hurt Dad? Dad?"

"Stay here Vera, I'll find out what's the matter." Theron instructed, breaking into a brisk walk as he moved up the convoy. The young dragoness looked like she was about to protest, but wisely choose to say nothing, instead resuming her scanning of the trees in search of the noise.

As he approached the second wagon, a large earth dragon crossed in front of him, nodding as Theron approached. Ulysses, the father of the twins and quite an intimidating figure. All told, there were seven dragons present in the convoy, with another eight Atlawas in tow. It wasn't a lot, but Theron had been confident that they would be able hold their own against any trouble they ran into on the road. Looks like he would soon find out it he was correct.

Ulysses paused as Theron slowed to a halt, gesturing with one of his gigantic paws out into the brightly lit forest. "So, you heard that too I'm guessing. What ever it was, it didn't sound like no wild animal." As Ulysses finished speaking, another shout echoed through the woods, slightly quieter than the first, but no less distressed. The earth dragon narrowed his eyes, squinting into the unyielding trees. "I don't like it, we should just keep moving. Feels like a trap."

"Or someone in need of help." Theron cut in, shooting Ulysses a pointed look. The two dragons were really allies by necessity only, and often didn't see eye to eye. To Theron, Ulysses was always a bit too quick to assume that a situation was going end with combat. That may have been the case a year ago, but times were changing. Theron just wished Ulysses could see that as well.

Nearby, several of the Atlawas had gathered in a rough clump, watching the two dragons decide on a course of action. A bipedal species, the Atlawas were slightly more adept at driving the caravan and performing precision tasks. But armed with only a set of wooden spears, they appeared to be differing to the dragons in this matter. Theron might be able to convince them to stay and help, but only if he could cut in before Ulysses made his argument. Well aware of the Atlawas staring at him from down their long and protruding snouts, Theron took a deep breath. "I understand your concern Ulysses, but I just can't leave someone behind like that. Just give me five minutes to check it out, you can stay with the caravan. If this is a trap, I need you to make sure everyone comes out of it alright."

Silence reigned over the stalled caravan, Ulysses considering Theron's proposal. A third yell drifted through the woods, the voice only getting fainted. Theron groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose with one clawed paw. "Two minutes, Theron, no more." Turning away, Ulysses set about organizing the Atlawas into a crude defensive perimeter. Not allowing the relief to show on his face, Theron toke his first steps toward the tree line.

"Hey, wait up!" Theron turned just in time to see Vera leap down from the wagon and skillfully weave around Vesima's protective envelope, her teal green chest scales glittering in the sunlight as she crossed the road toward him.

Theron shook his head, pointing a talon back to the wagon. "Vera, I need you to stay with your mother. We don't know if it's safe or not." A brief smile flickered across Theron's face. "But if I do need help, you'll be the first one I'll call." Vera stopped and scowled, reluctantly sitting down in the middle of the road as her mother came up behind her. After exchanging one last nod with Visema, Theron turned and strode into the woods.

It wasn't particularly hard to track the source, as the further he went from the convoy, the more he began to notice that something was amiss. It was small things mostly, a freshly broken branch, a disturbed pile of leaves. A light splatter of dark blood clinging to the underbrush. Theron pressed onward, adrenalin buzzing through his system as he drew closer and closer to the source. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Just as Theron stepped around the trunk of a large oak tree, a blur of sudden motion and color caught his eye, and he snapped his head up in response. A ball of orange and yellow flames barreled towards, the fireball writhing and boiling with suppressed energy. Without thinking, Theron drew from his own power, an elemental energy stored deep inside every single dragon, allowing them to bend the world in marvelous ways. A split second after he noticed the fireball, Theron returned fire, exhaling a sphere of tightly compressed, nearly invisible air. The two attacks collided in midair, the fireball splitting into several tendrils of flame as the sphere of wind broke it apart. Separated and divided, the flames danced in the air for a few moments before blinking out of existence.

Theron retreated, taking cover behind the oak tree before the shooter had a chance to retaliate. Several seconds ticked past before Theron finally found his voice again. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, alright? We're both dragons, I'm sure we can agree on that. Just let me help you."

Silence followed Theron's hail, the woods now utterly devoid of any bird songs or other animal life. Just when Theron was considering stepping back out, he heard a voice. "R-Really? You're a dragon? You're not going to hurt me?"

The voice was female, youthful from the sound of it as well. There was a slight shake in the speaker's words too, signally that she had simply fired on him out of pure fear. Fear of what though, Theron couldn't help but wonder. Taking another deep breath, Theron replied. "You have my word. I just want to help you, okay? I'm stepping back out, so don't shoot."

Moving back around the oak tree, Theron finally caught sight of the other dragon. It was a fire dragoness, as he suspected, although one who could not be more than a few years out of adolescence. She was covered in bright, fiery red scales, which when combined with her vibrantly orange chest and wings gave her the appearance of almost being ablaze herself. Two slightly curved horns pointed skyward, each point sharpened to a knife point. The dragoness was sprawled out besides a rotting log, her tail curled around her prone form, a single tail blade propped up against a nearby rock. But what drew Theron's attention first was the patch of shinning dark red splattered across the dragoness' back and rear. She was injured, and quite badly judging from the amount of blood present. She needed his help.

The dragoness' two bright orange eyes darted up and down his frame, confirming who that he was indeed another member of her species. The dragoness' shoulders visibly dropped in relief, although her eyes continued to obsessively study the surrounding area. "Oh, thank the ancestors. I'm very sorry, I just thought that you were one of them."

"That's quite alright." Theron spoke smoothly as he stepped forward, trying not to do anything that might startle the dragoness. "If I was in your state, I'm not sure I would be so quick to trust a stranger either." Theron smiled, trying his best to ease the tension. But the dragoness appeared too agitated to be placated so easily.

"Who were you worried I was anyway? The same ones that injured you?" Theron inquired, now standing before the prone dragoness. In the back of his mind, he could tell that something was very, very wrong. The sooner they returned to the convoy, the better.

"Apes!" The dragoness blurted out. "Dirty, stinking, savage apes! They attacked us, killed almost everyone else, I had to run for it. This wasn't supposed to happen, none of this was not meant to happen. Now they're all dead. They're...they're..." The dragoness seemed to be on the verge of tears, apparently remembering the attack that left her stranded. Theron forced himself to remain calm. This must have happened nearby, and not too long ago either. The convoy was in terrible danger.

"Can you stand?" Theron inquired, checking over the dragoness' body in search of the injury. But between the scales in the blood, he would have better luck trying to find a pearl in a snowdrift. The dragoness meekly shook her head, unable to speak anymore.

Theron made a decision. "Right. Let me help you up." Grabbing the dragoness' extended forepaw, Theron hoisted her up, supporting much of the dragoness' mercifully light weight. "We have to get back to the road, there's others that can help us, okay? Just walk with me, alright?"

The dragoness nodded, stumbling forward with Theron. "Thank you." She muttered, her voice already returning to normal. "Thank you so much."

Theron gasped, the air leaving his lungs as pain exploded into his chest. He could feel the blinding pain spreading outwards and inwards, crippling him utterly. Unable to remain standing, Theron tried to lean on the dragoness, despite knowing that both of them would fall as a result. What had hit him? What had pierced his chest scales and lungs with such ease? Could it be that the apes had caught up with the dragoness, intent on finishing the job?

But they didn't both fall to the ground. And no simians yelling war cries came charging out of the undergrowth. The dragoness stood, allowing Theron to slide off of her to the ground below. Theron could feel the blood trickling down his once clean chest scales, slowly pooling beneath him on the forest floor. Theron reached a paw up, expecting the dragoness to help him, but she just stared. She stared down at him, her tail flicking out behind her, spattering the leaves with drops of blood. Drops of his blood.

"You...y-you..." Theron tried to form a sentence, but was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, each convulsion sending new flashes of pain through his body.

The dragoness bent down, placing one of her paws across his mouth. "Shhhhhhhh." She whispered, quieting him as one would a small child. "Shhhhhhh, just let it go. Let go." There was not a single trace of fear or remorse in the dragoness' orange eyes as she stared down at Theron, watching him slowly chock to death on his own blood. Theron tried to rise, but already his vision was beginning to flicker. He had to get up, he had to warn his family. He had to warn them, he had to warn...

The dragoness stood there, silently watching the dragon thrash about on the forest floor. She tilted her head, as if the sight before her was nothing more than a curious spectacle. She watched the dragon try and fight the inevitable, only for his movements to get less and less exaggerated. Finally, the dragon's eyes glazed over, and the dragoness could see a vague outline of herself still reflected in them. Turning her attention away from the now still dragon, the dragoness ran a paw down her bloodied side, wiping off some of the deer and dragon blood that coated her scales. She would have to find somewhere to wash up after this.

Leaving the still warm body behind her, the dragoness strode out into the woods. Weaving in between the final set of trees, she emerged back onto the road, carefully stepping over the charred corpse of one of the Atlawas. Raising a single paw, the dragoness clicked her talons together, instantly commanding the attention of the dozen or so dragons scattered around the convoy. Immediately, an ice dragon appeared at her side, bowing low before the dragoness. "Disciple Sidelis, everything worked out exactly as you planned."

Sidelis nodded curtly, taking in the carnage of the caravan. By the time that they had realized the incoming dragons weren't friendly, it had been too late. The ice dragon, taking her silence as a signal to continue, resumed with the report. "There were a total of six dragons, including the one you lured away. The eight Atlawas they had with them were barely any competition, and we suffered only minor injuries. I had to send Brent back to camp, but aside from that..." The ice dragon trailed off, his attention now focused on the corpses next to the second wagon. Namely, two of the smaller corpses next to the wagon.

Noticing the silence, Sidelis turned, appraising her second in command with a studious gaze. "Is something the matter, Harmon? You seem to be preoccupied."

Harmon jumped, vigorously shaking his head. "No! It's nothing Disciple Sidelis, it's just..." The ice dragon fidgeted under the dragoness' unwavering stare. "There were kids here. No too much older than hatchlings. We all followed your orders of course, but still, I mean," Harmon risked eye contact with his superior one last time. "They're just kids, you know?"

The silence was palpable as Sidelis continued to stare down Harmon, the other raiders all watching the interaction with baited breath. Just when Harmon was beginning to consider running, the silence was broken by a clear, mirthful laugh. Sidelis shook her head, still laughing. Presently, the rest of the raiders joined in, each of them forcing a laugh out as well. Or maybe a few found the twisted scenario to be genuinely funny, you could never be quite sure. "Did everyone else hear that?" Sidelis asked, still grinning ear to ear. "Harmon feels that we should have spared the children!"

Harmon gave a nervous little laugh of his own as Sidelis paced back and forth among the other raiders, drawing out new peels of merriment. Turning back to Harmon, Sidelis gave a confident smirk, slowly walking toward the ice dragon, swaying her hips to and fro as she approached. "Perhaps our dear Harmon has also forgotten the types of things I was capable of as a child, wouldn't the rest of you agree?"

The laughter dropped in volume as the other raiders nodded vigorously in agreement, even as an expression of horror dawned on Harmon's face. "N-No! Disciple Sidelis, I meant no disrespect! I meant-"

Sidelis' grin vanished replaced instead by a ferocious snarl. The dragoness lunged forward, pinning the slightly larger ice dragon to the side of the second wagon in one fell swoop. Harmon swallowed, keenly aware of the set of talons that Sidelis had pressed against the bottom of his chin. The laughter of the other raiders had cut out entirely, the other dragons closing in to form a grim semicircle around the pair of dragons. Speaking barely louder than a whisper Sidelis addressed the assembled dragons. "Or perhaps he has also forgotten that it was two small children that brought low one of the greatest warlords this world has ever seen."

Harmon gasped as the tip of one of Sidelis' claws pierced through one of the scales on his chin, letting a small trickle of blood slowly course down his neck. Twisting her head back to face him, Sidelis stared unflinchingly into Harmon's terrified eyes. "And while I am grateful to both of them for sparing this world from utter destruction, I by no means underestimate them due to their being 'Just Children'."

"But these weren't the Purple Dragon or the Terror of the Skies." Sidelis' head whipped around, focusing on the electric dragoness that dared to speak up. The dragoness in question clamped a paw over her mouth and tried to back out of the circle, only to be held in place by the neighbors on either side of her.

"You are completely correct of course." Sidelis stated matter-a-factly, her ill humor evaporating in a matter of seconds. Releasing Harmon, who desperately gasped for air and checked his wound, the fire dragoness slowly stalked over to the still forms of the two twin earth dragons. Gracefully bending down, she rolled one of the twins over, so that the dragon's vacant eyes stared up into the cloudless blue sky. With one paw, Sidelis gave a gentle caress of the face, as if she was trying to calm the frozen expression of horror on the child's face. "These are hardly what I would call warriors, and they most certainly had a long, long life ahead of them. To be sure, children having to pay for their parent's sins is the worst tragedies out there, but one that is painfully necessary." With the same paw, Sidelis closed the dragon's eyes, making it look almost for a minute as if he was merely sleeping. With the utmost care, Sidelis laid the dragon back down next to his brother, taking extra care to disturb either.

"But make no mistake." Sidelis snapped, her foul demeanor resurfacing with a touch of venom. "They may be just children, but these children just watched you murder their parents in cold blood. They will remember this day for the rest of their lives, and they will never stop trying to hunt you down. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes Disciple Sidelis." The raiders all droned in unison, many of them also bowing their heads toward the dragoness that, for nearly all of them, was their junior by several decades.

Sidelis nodded, pleased that her message had the intended effect on her followers. "Very well. I have new orders for everyone. Harmon?"

"Yes, Disciple Sidelis?" The ice dragon asked, snapping a quick salute from his position behind the dragoness. There was still a waver in his voice, but he had managed to recover most of his composure. He lived to serve, after all.

With a sudden roar of fury, Sidelis whipped around, claws slashed out toward the ice dragon. With a cry of agony, Harmon stumbled back, clutching a paw to his right cheek, where three razor thin cuts were beginning to drip blood. Ignoring the other dragon's cries of pain, Sidelis towered over the cowering Harmon. "Return to camp and retrieve the others. We're moving out." Still gripping his injured face, Harmon gave a meek nod of acknowledgment.

"Nix," Sidelis continued, whirling about to point at another fire dragon with the same ferocity. "Gather and burn the bodies. I want nothing left but ashes." Nix bowed out of the circle, before busily setting about doing his assigned task. "As for the rest of you, I want these wagons searched, and a detailed list of everything that they were carrying. Now move it!"

With a murmuring of "Yes, Disciple Sidelis." the dragons dispersed. Dragging himself to his feet, Harmon shot one last terrified glance at Sidelis before launching off into the sky. Content that all her raiders were going to stay hard at work for the time being, Sidelis prepared to take off as well, as the blood would be a lot harder to wash off if it fully dried. But even as she spread her bright orange wings wide, something caught her eye.

Folding her wings, Sidelis strode over to the driver's bench of the second wagon, where a lonely piece of paper resolutely clung to the wooden slats. Snatching the piece of paper up, Sidelis slowly opened it and gazed upon what was written there. It was a map, a very crudely drawn map, but it was legible none the less. Most major landmarks were present, locations such as Munitions Forge or the nearby Tall Plains. As a matter a fact, there seemed to be a route that was highlighted on the map, leading from the Tall Plains to a landmark near the center of the map. Sidelis traced the route with a single bloody claw, leaving a thin line of red in her wake until she stopped at the caravan's intended destination. It was a city, with a few squat and badly drawn buildings, towered over by a temple with numerous towers and spires. Next to the city, there were three words that had been rapidly scribbled on the map.

"Warfang: Dragon Temple."

A/N: Well, I'm back. It's been a few months, and I almost forgot how much fun it was to write. As some of you might surmise from me posting this, I am not continuing Eclipse. Too many things that needed fixing, and not nearly enough motivation to see it through to the end. So in the end, I decided to go with what I was already successful with in the past.

Yes, this is the sequel to Resurgence, my first, 200k+ Spyro fanfic. So to any new readers, I would highly recommend reading that first. Trust me, my writing improves as the chapters go on. To all of you that are coming back ready for a sequel, don't worry, they'll be some familiar faces next chapter. And I'm going to tentatively adhere to a two week update schedule for the duration of the summer, but there's not guarantees past August. And as always, reviews are always welcome, but not required.

B1ackbird