Elemental Legacies: Invincible
Chapter 1: Finest Years/ Gifts
"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten."
-Rudyard Kipling
A tension filled the skies. It grew and grew until finally the tension was released in the form of a bolt of lightning. But it never reached the ground. A crystal absorbed the blast and fed the energy back into the clouds forever maintaining the storm. The storm's strong winds and constant bursts of lightning made flying through it deadly to all who couldn't read and control the storm. The dark skies told of what it was like here. Hope was something that did not exist here. Indeed, it was the place where hope goes to die. Within the center of the place, Concurrent Skies, stood the crystal Concurrent Palace, and in its inner depths, dark plans were being made.
Gaul, the ape king, stood before his commanders and spoke, "Long we have waited, long we have suffered, but finally we have a chance to strike back at the dragons! Our master has finally found and given us the location of the swamp temple. We can finally strike out at the Guardians and the future of the dragon race. If this mission succeeds there won't be a next generation for the dragon race. Our master has given us three objectives. First, we have to retrieve one egg, apparently our master needs a dragon to free himself from his prison. Second, we are to smash as many eggs as we can, all if possible, our master has heard rumors of a purple egg and has promised to reward anyone who can bring back proof that this egg existed and was destroyed. Third, we are to leave the Guardians alive." At this the room burst into chaos with cries of, "No, if we kill them the war is as good as ours!" They have personally killed hundreds of my troops!" And "Kill, Kill, Kill!"
"Silence!" Gaul turned to look at each of his commanders, "I don't like this either, but we can't oppose our master. We do not yet have the power to oppose him. He will give us more power and we will continue to grow stronger. One day we will rule over all, even the Dark Master will bow before us. But until that time we must obey. Now, I suggest we send 3 wings of dreadwings to place our troops on the walls before they know we are attacking. That way we can keep them from flying away with any eggs. Then have the dreadwings drop our normal forces here, here, here and here…"
But all was not dark that night, for on the other side of the Dragonspine Mountains a new life was coming into the world.
A sharp cry echoed through a tunnel, "It's Time!"
As the echoes of the shout faded a green dragon rounded a corner of the tunnel. The dragons scales along his head, back and legs were a deep shade of green and the scales along his chest were as grey as the stones of the tunnel around him. His eyes were the same green as his scales. His four horns were the same grey as his chest scales. Two of his horns emerged from the top of his head, but the other pair were unusual. They emerged from just under his upper horns and ran vertically down his head turning and running parallel to his jaw ending a few inches beyond his jaw. His tail ended in a thick war hammer.
He sprinted down the tunnels and turned into a cavern. A fire blazed in the corner of the cavern filling it with a flickering light and warmth. At the other side of the cavern a dragoness sat. She was a light green, like new pine needles, with brown chest scales. Three horns emerged from her head in a gentle curve. Her tail ended in a simple but elegant double edged blade. Her eyes were a clear bright blue. She turned when she heard the dragon's claws against the stone floor and gave him a small nod before turning back around.
The dragon returned the nod and walked up beside the dragoness. Looking down on a nest of hay and grass with a deep green egg gently rocking in the center. The dragon turned and gently nuzzled his mate as he looked down on their egg as it rocked in the nest. The eggs shaking paused for a moment before it suddenly jerked to the side and a small piece broke of the side of the egg. A flash of green and an excited chirp came from within the egg as it paused for a few moments before resuming its shaking. The eggs motion slowed as an angry squawk came from within. Suddenly the hatchling within threw itself at the hole in the side of the egg, shattering the weakened shell and sending the hatchling into an uncontrolled tumble across the soft nest.
The dragoness looked up at her mate and motioned with her head for him to go over to the hatchling and said, "Go on, Terron." Terron nodded and carefully got up and walked over to the hatchling. The hatchling froze and turned to look at him as he approached. Terron stopped a few feet from the hatchling and sat down. The hatchling watched warily for a moment before taking a few careful tentative steps towards him, when the dragon did nothing the hatchling continued and laid down between his father's paws.
Terron stared down at the hatchling for a few moments with eyes filled with joy before speaking, "I humbly ask the ancestors to give this new life a gift. By the earth beneath my paws and all the elements of this world I ask that the ancestors give this new life with the gift of a name and a destiny." As he finished speaking he closed his eyes.
The hatchling looked up at him and gave an inquisitive chirp. After a few moments the dragon opened his eyes and looked down at the hatchling, "Welcome into this world, Atrotus, my son."
Three years passed within the caves of Atrotus's home. In that time the war grew worse. The Guardians were all captured or missing leaving the armies opposing the Dark Master's forces without guidance. Each day the Dark Master's forces gained more ground, and they had a new terrible guidance. The Guardians that were captured were all defeated by that one being, one dragon. The Dark Master had a dragon serving as his general and this dragon, with nearly no aid from her forces, would attack and capture each Guardian. Only one Guardian had evaded capture, Ignitus, the Guardian of Fire. With the dark armies getting closer every day, Terron decided the tunnels were no longer safe as they were and used his power to shift a massive stone in front of the tunnels entrance. Terron only left the cave when they ran out of food. Atrotus and his mother Gaia left the cave only sparingly, never more than once a month. Over those three years Atrotus finished his first growth cycle and for the most part he looked like a miniature version of his father. His scales were the same deep green and his chest scales were the same gray. Like his father he had a pair of tusk like horns and a pair emerging from the top of his head. Unlike his father he had an additional pair of horns curving around the back of his head before ending alongside his "tusks". However, he had inherited his clear blue eyes from his mother.
Terron called Atrotus over, "Atrotus, it is time for me to tell you an important story. Are you ready to listen?" Atrotus nodded and laid down next to Terron.
"Listen and believe. This is a story passed down from generation to generation and today it is passed down to you. Generations ago one of our ancestors fought in a great battle. Our ancestor and the army he fought in were outnumbered and upon seeing the difference in numbers their hearts were filled with fear, but they still fought. As the battle progressed, the army our ancestor fought in was losing and a group of soldiers gave into their fear and fled, leaving the army in even greater peril. But through strength, courage, and intelligence our ancestor's army won and the enemy was broken and scattered.
When the dead and wounded were tended to our ancestor set off to return home to his family. But as he traveled down the road, he heard a commotion ahead. He decided to be cautious and took to the skies so that he could flee if there was danger. From the skies, he saw the dragons that had fled the battle in fear engaged with a group of the enemy's army. Our ancestor was very tempted to leave them to fight as they did to their comrades in arms. But even though they had abandoned him he decided that he would stand by his comrades. After a quick prayer to the ancestors he dove into the fight. He and the deserters fought hard but were defeated and captured. Then the enemy brought them to their main encampment and put them on chains in a tent. Our ancestor immediately began plotting how to escape. Three days later he came up with a plan and asked the deserters to aid him. But their hearts were filled with fear and they refused to help him in fear that the enemy would kill them if they tried to escape. He pleaded with them throughout the day but when night came and it was time to put his plan into motion none were willing to aid him. The chains that bound him and the deserters severely limited his power but over the days of his imprisonment he formed a key from the stones in the ground. He used the key when he heard the guards outside snoring. But as he passed the camps outer guards his thoughts turned once again to the deserters still trapped within the camp. He turned around and snuck back into the enemy's camp. He snuck into the center of the enemy's camp and found a group of crystals growing. He smashed one of the energy crystals and absorbed the shards until he was filled with energy. He then attempted on of the most dangerous things a dragon can attempt, he forced his body to continue absorbing energy from the crystal. He absorbed so much energy that his body began to glow with a green light. He then released the energy as a fury, decimating the enemy camp. But he controlled the fury destroying the deserter's chains and leaving them unharmed. He then collapsed unconscious. The enemy survivors of his fury quickly ran over to his body and attacked him. His act of bravery and loyalty replaced the fear in the hearts of the deserters with courage and they ran to defend him from the enemy. They drove the enemy away from him and forced them to retreat. When they returned to our ancestor to tend his wounds they discovered that the enemy had done a great deal of damage and they feared that he would die. But from the woods surrounding the camp came a silver dragon, glowing with a green light. As they stood stunned, the dragon walked over to our ancestor and laid a paw on him. In mere moments our ancestors wounds healed and his eyes opened. The silver dragon laid a paw and him and told him to stay still for a few moments. After a few minutes the dragon spoke to our ancestor. He said that his actions were in perfect harmony with the element of earth and that he would be rewarded. He gave our ancestor three gifts, the first was a silver helmet with the symbol of earth and three deep green gems emplaced on the surface. The silver dragon told him that he had given him and his descendants the power to command the earth and that a gem in the helmet would turn black each time he used the power. The second gift was a deep green crystal, the dragon told our ancestor that when the crystal was placed it the earth it would grow. The last gift was a book that detailed how to make another helmet from the crystal for his descendants. With that the dragon gave a quick bow and returned into the forest. Our ancestor soon stood and thanked the deserters for helping him and told them that they should all make their way home. The deserters told him that they would escort him home as a way of saying thanks for all he had done.
After a day of travel our ancestor reached his home and the deserters departed. He told his mate of all that had happened and showed her with the gifts. They were doubtful, but they placed the crystal in a patch of earth before heading off to bed. When they awoke in the morning the crystal had indeed grown. Upon seeing this they looked at the book the dragon had given him. It said that to get shards from the crystal that they should hit it as hard as they could. Our ancestor once again was doubtful but trusted what the book said and hit the crystal as hard as he could. Three shards broke from the crystal and using them and the books instructions they made a helmet and gave it to their son telling him the story and asking him to pass the story on. So it has been to this very day. Atrotus, will you pass on this story?"
Atrotus looked up at Terron and gave a reverent nod, "I will."
Terron looked down at him with a smile and said to him, "In that case, Gaia and I have a gift for you." Terron turned to the caverns entrance, "You can come in now Gaia."
Gaia stepped into the cavern with a silver amulet in her paws. Walking over to Atrotus she placed the chain around his neck as he looked down on the pendant in wonder. The symbol of the earth element was engraved onto the surface and within the symbol were three deep green shards of Crystal, around the edge of the medallion was the inscription "Ipsa velle montes movemur". Atrotus looked up at Terron with eyes filled with amazement and asked, "Is this…?"
Terron gave a small chuckle and responded, "Yes it is. It has become tradition to give this amulet after telling the story for the first time. Once you become of age or perform a worthy deed Gaia and I will take that amulet and use it to make a helmet for you."
Atrotus gave a large smile and said, "Thank you." He sat silent for a few moments before asking, "Dad, have you ever used the power?"
Terron paused before a moment before responding, "Yes, I believe I have. A few years ago while I was serving as a commander under Terrador, we were attempting to take over a fortress the apes had captured. The apes were well prepared and anyone who attempted to fly into the fortress was brought down by their archers and staff bearers. Any attempts to bring down the walls with the earth element were thwarted by the ape staff bearers. In the third day of the siege Terrador had had enough. He gathered the other commander and I and told us to bring our troops into the woods. He wanted the apes to think that we had given up and retreated. That night he planned to sneak into the fortress through an old tunnel that had caved in. Using his element he would clear the wreckage and sneak into the fortress to open the gate. He said that we were to charge when we saw an earth missile explode in the sky. We were doubtful, but we trusted him and his ability. We had our troops fall back to wait in the forest. When night fell Terrador snuck into the tunnels and proceeded into the city. But soon we heard the sounds of combat coming from the city. I and the other commanders snuck out to the forests edge to see if we could discern anything, we were hoping that a couple of the ape's tribes had started fighting each other. But we saw flashes of green energy and knew that Terrador must have been discovered and was fighting his way to the gate. My mind filled with panic, without thinking I stretched out my power and told the walls to fall so that I could go and help Terrador. I was shocked when the wall closest to me did just that. The entire wall fell to the ground and the gate and a few feet of stone remained standing. Just a couple seconds after the walls fell we heard what sounded like a massive gong ring as the gates were launched from the remaining section of wall. I saw Terrador and everyone viewing the wall freeze for a few moments in shock. Then the stones around the gate fell to the ground and Terrador broke everyone from their shock by launching an earth missile into the air and detonating it. I turned to my men in the forest and yelled for them to charge, the other commanders followed suit and we took the fortress without much difficulty. When the battle was over I removed my armor and noticed that one of the gems in my helmet had turned black. That was the first and only time I used our families power."
Atrotus looked up at Terron and eagerly asked, "Could you teach me how to use that power?"
Terron gave a small laugh before responding, "No, I can't, and even if I could you would need to unlock you element first. I can, however, give you some training to help you unlock your element and help it to be stronger when you do unlock it. How does that sound?"
Atrotus jumped up in excitement, "Can we start now?"
Terron gently bumped him with his head, "We can start after we eat. It's been a long day and I think we could both use some food."
A.N.
It has been way to long since I uploaded something on fanfiction. This is a companion sstory to The Legend of Spyro: The Shattered Dawn and can be read and understood perfectly without reading The Legend of Spyro: The Shattered Dawn. Once this story is done I will return to work on The Legend of Spyro: The Shattered Dawn. A big thanks to my beta reader Unit Omicron, without him it is doubtful this story would be published. When I am done with this story I will return to work on The Legend of Spyro: The Shattered Dawn, but if this story gets good feedback I will make a short(ish) story on the background of each major character introduced in The Legend of Spyro: The Shattered Dawn. This chapter was partially inspired by the song "Battle Cry" by Skillet.
Please leave a follow if you find this story interesting and a review if you want these faster. Seriously, reviews inspire me and thus help me write faster. May the storm guide you until we meet again. -Wings of the Storm
