Chapter 1

My name is Oryps. I am, without a doubt, the strongest dragon there is. In terms of physical strength, I'm more powerful than all of the guardians combined. More powerful than the purple dragon, Spyro. Who happens to be a good friend of mine. Speaking of Spyro...
"Hey there, Spyro!" I called as I walked outside to check my mail. Spyro and Cynder lived in a house across the street from ours. Ever since Malefor was defeated, dragons have been moving into Warfang, rebuilding what was lost and damaged, and starting bright new lives.
For Spyro and Cynder, that meant having a dragonet. That's right. It's been seven years since they defeated Malefor and Cynder admitted her love toward Spyro. It's like something out of a romance novel, isn't it?
Now they're about twenty-two. And they have an egg. A large purple egg. I think it's going to be a male. And of course, it's probably going to have eight elements. With parents like Spyro and Cynder, eight elements are a total possibility.
As for me, you ask? I'm twenty years old. Adult sized, terrifically large. But I still act like a teenager half the time. Who can blame me? It's fun. I still fight people for fun. I still can't get my stupid electricity element to work right. I can redirect it if someone shoots it at me, but can't create my own. Eh, I don't really care. Not with all my other abilities.
"Hi Oryps!" Spyro called back, waving. He was sitting outside on the front porch, the egg protectively held in his front legs. Cynder was sitting next to him, occasionally nudging the egg gently and smiling.
"When's it going to hatch?" I asked, walking over. A small shriek behind me made me run back. My daughter Voltis was only about a day old and trying to follow me. "Jacob! Kid got out!"
"I'm coming!" Jacob trotted out of the house and picked up Voltis. "Dear, you have to stay with me. Mommy will be right back."
Voltis wasn't having that. She squealed again, her paws reaching for me. She had little black claws, just like mine. They were very sharp at her young age, and I had to keep them rounded off and blunt so she wouldn't hurt anything larger than the family cat, Gem.
"Meow," Gem mewed plaintively, hopping up onto my back. She had three thin cuts across her face.
I turned to Voltis. "Voltis, I told you not to swipe at the cat."
Voltis lowered her head, nodding briefly. I held out my front legs. "Want to come over to Spyro's house?"
Voltis nodded eagerly and squirmed away from Jacob. Then she jumped toward me. I caught her easily and held her close against my chest.
"Hssss!" Gem spat, the hair along her back rising up.
"Down girl!" I replied, shrugging my shoulder. She jumped down with a last hiss. "We have got to get that cat more used to dragonets. Because when Spyro and Cynder's kid comes along, we'll have more play dates than you can count."
I walked across the street again, skillfully moving on only two legs. It's a technique I've had perfected for years. Ever since I was young I could walk like that. It's better for fighting paw-to-paw.
Voltis just couldn't stop laughing. I had to grin too. I had to look funny. I stepped up onto the porch without missing a step, and put Voltis down. She scampered over to Cynder, tripping about every inch of the way. I remained upright, the better to look down at everyone. I could see exactly what was happening over the entire porch.
Voltis was so tiny when I viewed her from up here. I sank back down onto four legs. Most dragons would feel a slight spine pop from doing that. However, I've messed my spine up enough. It's used to it.
"So, will it hatch today?" I asked with interest. The egg was trembling. Cynder picked up Voltis before replying.
"I'm sure it will. It's been making sounds all week."
"If it's a boy, we'll name it Syne," Spyro said.
"We've been thinking up names all week," Cynder explained. "We finally determined that Syne would be a good name for a boy dragon."
"And if it's female, Cyndra," Spyro went on.
I smiled. "I like the name Cyndra. But that is a female name. We'll just have to wait and see."
"I don't think they'll be waiting for long," Jacob called, having walked up while I wasn't paying attention. "It's cracking."
Spyro put the egg down on his lap, then picked it up again and held it out to Cynder. "You take it!"
"Oh, for crying out loud, Spyro." Cynder took it from him quickly and put it down in her own lap. "Voltis, you have to move." Voltis backed away, clinging to Cynder's knee with all four paws.
"What Spyro?" I teased. "You don't want the dragonet to think you're its mommy?"
"I think Cynder would know what to do in this situation," Spyro said. "She's the one with the motherly instincts, after all!"
"I know that feeling. Voltis, you're going to fall!" I lunged forward and caught Voltis before she fell about three feet from Cynder's knee. Adult dragons are very large, after all. An adult is about five times taller than a teenager is. And twenty times larger than a newly hatched dragon.
So yeah. It'd be a pretty painful fall.
I lay down and put my paw firmly over the silver lightning bolt at the end of Voltis's tail. She tried to pull away but couldn't. Not even another adult could pull away if I put my paw over their tail. That's how strong I am.
A small purple foot managed to kick out of the egg. It pulled back in and the tip of a purple snout stuck out, breathing in deeply. The first breath of air must be an amazing feeling.
"Male or female?" Spyro asked as the snout withdrew and started hammering at the inside of the egg.
"I couldn't tell," Cynder replied. "Male?" There was a particularly large knock inside the egg, and more cracks ran down the outside. There was a pause, then the dragonet headbutted the egg. Cynder kept her hold, now trying to look in through the air hole. "It has green eyes, like me. A little bit of a darker shade, but still green."
"I've always loved green eyes," Jacob commented. When I swung my tail at him, he quickly corrected his mistake. "But gold eyes are a lot better."
Satisfied, I kept my grip on my daughter's tail and looked carefully at the surface of the egg. It was very cracked and the dragonet should be getting out by now. And sure enough...
Wham!
The tail shot through. It was tipped with a shiny silver blade like Cynder's. A line of soggy yellow fur was visible along the spine of the tail. That side of the egg cracked, and the dragon tumbled out. It spread its yellow and red-violet wings to dry and blinked up at Cynder.
"It's a male," Cynder said. She smiled. "Syne, then. His name will be Syne."
The dragonet was purple, with just the faintest black tone to him. His eyes were green, like Cynder had said. He had a long line of yellow fur that ran down from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. When it dried, it would be spiky. He had the same set of white horns that Cynder has. Right now they were little stubs. But they would grow out nicely. His chest plates were shaped like Cynder's and the same color. His wings were yellow at the arms, red-violet at the skins. Where the fingers came together rose a silver blade like Cynder's.
All in all, he was a handsome little dragonet. I wouldn't be surprised if girls started hanging around him at school and giggling when he walked down the hall.
"He's pretty good-looking," I said as Cynder started grooming the dragonet with her tongue, licking the egg membranes off of him. "A real chick magnet."
"He gets it from me," Spyro boasted.
"You wish," Cynder replied, now cleaning Syne's wings.
"So you're saying you're a chick magnet?" I asked her, one eye ridge raised.
Jacob burst out laughing. "That was brilliant!" I raised my paw and he slapped it.
Cynder looked up at me and grinned. "Yep, I am."
That just made all of us crack up. We were all just about ready to fall down and roll around laughing.
Disturbed by all the noise, Voltis whined loudly, but it was a more demanding sound, rather than just a pitiful complaint. Syne also made a small whine similar to Voltis's, though less demanding.
Voltis vaulted up into Cynder's lap to stare at Syne. Unnerved, Syne raised a shaky paw and shoved Voltis. She braced her claws against Cynder's thigh and didn't even move an inch.
I grinned. "Well, she's definitely strong. She's going to grow up to be as powerful as I am."
"Don't boast," Jacob laughed. He motioned at Voltis. "Come on, now. Let's go home. Mommy can watch you while I go to work. Speaking of which, Spyro, I suggest you go too. I know you probably want to do some bonding, but you also have to bring in enough money to provide for your wife and son."
Jacob was a teacher and Spyro was a construction worker. You know, builds houses and stuff. He's pretty good at it.
Voltis scurried over to me and I picked her up. Jacob smiled, kissed me briefly on the cheek, and jumped off the porch, beating his wings and shooting off toward the school.
Spyro hugged Cynder. "Jacob's right. I need to provide for the family. I'll try to get off early." He patted his son on the head before taking off, heading in the other direction. Toward the house he was helping to repair. Apparently the young dragon who lived there with his parents had discovered that his element was earth.
Holding Voltis, I made my way down the porch steps. "See you later, Cynder. Bye Syne!"
Cynder waved goodbye and then went back to grooming her son. Smiling, I went back over to my house to get Voltis something to eat. Dragonets had to eat often. They were always hungry. Plus it helped them grow.
As I was walking up the steps, a yellow dragonfly intercepted me. "Oryps, did Spyro and Cynder's egg hatch yet?"
"Yep. You just missed it," I replied. Sparx hasn't been around much lately. I often wondered where he was.
"Seriously?" Sparx demanded.
"Seriously," I replied. "Well, get on over there. I'm sure the dragonet would like to see his Uncle Sparx."
"Oh, I'm going over there. See ya!" He flew across the street. "Hi Cynder!"
Chuckling to myself, I opened the door and went inside. I put Voltis down and walked over to the perch standing next to an open window. A magnificent white hawk stood on it, her gold eyes watching everything that was going on outside.
I wrote two quick notes, one to Embara and Cyra, and the other to my sister Ruby. Embara was currently the fire guardian. With a father like Ignitus, who would deny her that responsibility? Cyra lives there and trains to become the ice guardian after Cyril. She's better than him already, but still has to wait.
Ruby lives a few blocks away, but I was too lazy to fly there right now. I just wanted to send the hawk. It's a lot quicker.
The notes were about Voltis and Syne's hatching, along with some quick descriptions of them and rough sketches of them.
"Okay, this note goes to the Dragon Temple," I said clearly, giving the hawk the note addressed to Embara and Cyra. The hawk, Snowy, took it in her beak. I held out the other note. "And this one goes to my sister Ruby. Okay?"
Snowy took the other note in her talons, holding it firmly but carefully. I reached to undo the strap that kept her from flying out the window when I didn't want her to. "I gotta make sure you know. Which note goes to Ruby?" Snowy shook the note she was holding in her talons. "And which goes to the temple?" She waved her head and the paper waved back and forth. "Very good. Now go, and be quick." I undid the strap and she took off, her beautiful white wings moving with powerful strokes.
I walked back over to Voltis, who had found a candle and was chewing on it. I took it away from her and she just grinned at me. That grin reminded me of myself. She's definitely going to grow up to be just like her mother.