OFF: Took a while but finally, the next chapter of Prophecy is completed! Hopefully, the chapter shouldn't disappoint.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Ideal
The true hero is the one chosen by Will. To the one who has Will, the path of Fate will open.
"I still cannot believe Spyro survived such injuries. I saw many dragons die from much less!"
"That is indeed a fact. No normal dragon could survive this. Only the Dragon of Prophecy could survive such damage."
"This is not important. The Prophecy is clear. The name of the Dragon of Prophecy is Astrial, not Spyro! We must keep in mind the possibility that he might be A purple dragon, not THE purple dragon."
"Non-sense! The Prophecy has been wrong many times before!"
"It was only our interpretation of vague parts that were wrong. This is not a vague part. "The Dragon of Prophecy is Astrial". Now, try to tell me that this part is vague."
"Who's to say that it isn't Spyro's name?... or rather, what it would have been? Last I know, he was named by the dragonflies who found him. If he had been born among us, he would have had the name Astrial for all we know!"
"Maybe... but Spyro not being the Dragon of Prophecy might explain the inconsistencies regarding his origins. After all, the Dragon of Prophecy was meant to be born and raised among ancient dragons who would train him in the ancient ways, not dragonflies!"
"And what have we done ever since we found him, if not train him in the ancient ways? He is also still a hatchling, so it counts as "raising" him, too. I would like to add that we are no longer exactly in our primes either... although that last point, I like less."
"Anyway. It doesn't truly matter. The Prophecy spoke of a fake who would eventually rise to counter the Dragon of Prophecy. It was always believed that this "Anti-Dragon of Prophecy" was Cynder... but..."
"And what do you think you are implying? That Spyro is a servant of the Dark Master? Please!"
"No... but if he truly is the Dragon of Prophecy... then maybe there is a much greater foe than even Cynder was awaiting him... an usurper."
"I cannot believe this. I cannot believe that we are all arguing like this. The Sign of Ruin is destroyed, the Dark Master's master plan foiled... and yet, we argue and worry as if we were still going to be wiped out."
"... and it might as well happen! True, the Sign of Ruin was his mightiest weapon, the one spoken of in the Prophecy that could have doomed us all... but we are only but a handful of survivors! If the Dark Master launch a full-scale assault, we will stand not the shadow of a chance!"
The first feeling that came to Spyro was pain. Major amounts of pain in most of his body. His side ached, his wing ached, his head did too, every single part of his body ached in every single way that could be imagined.
Then, almost immediately after, a realization came to him.
He was alive. He had survived.
Somehow, despite all the injuries and the fall, he was still alive.
If he had been able to, he would have jumped up and down in happiness and relief. He's alive! He got through it!
...but then, another realization came to him.
The Guardians were arguing about something and it was both causing him a headache, due to how loud they yelled, and it was confusing him. Astrial? Usurper? Anti-what? What is that all about?
The purple dragon slowly rolled back on his feet and then, turned to face the four elder dragons, still arguing loudly. Near them, a small black dragon hatchling frowned, shaking her head while Sparx flew above, arms crossed, wondering who was truly the mature ones considering.
...and while the Guardians were busy arguing, both Cynder and Sparx noticed that Spyro had finally come back to his senses.
"HEY! THE MAUVE ONE'S AWAKE!" yelled Sparx at the top of his lungs.
Then, there was complete silence.
The purple dragon looked around at the same time as the black one and the dragonfly did. That... was not the kind of welcome Spyro had expected.
"Come on! Shouldn't you be congratulating him for breaking the Sign of Whatever? I mean... he nearly bought it for that, ya know! Doesn't he, and myself, deserve at least a thank you?"
Although Spyro was tempted to shut Sparx up, he didn't do so for, well, he sure had a point. He just woke up after a near-death experience, returning from the Sign of Ruin after successfully destroying it... and all the Guardians do is stare at him like that? Shouldn't they be grateful or something? What's going on here? Is it related to the argument from before?
"Spyro..." Finally, the red dragon elder, Ignitus, decided himself and stepped forward. "I fear that we may not congratulate you yet... for there is an important matter which must be taken care of beforehand..."
Sparx slapped his forehead, seemingly annoyed, before flying back to Spyro's side. The dragon looked to his brother, noticing his deep frown, and suspected he had a reason to do so. Although he had a bad feeling, he turned back to the Guardian, listening carefully...
"Spyro... you must head to the Pure Mountain to the east."
"Pure Mountain? What's that?" spontaneously asked Spyro when he noticed that Ignitus did not go into a long explanation about what that particular area was as he usually did when he was about to send him to far-off places.
...and although he was accustomed to the weird, amused and sometimes annoyed looks the Guardians gave him when he usually asked questions, he was surprised when he saw all of them except for Ignitus openly glaring at him, as if he had asked a very stupid question.
"Do you remember, Spyro, when I told you about the end of the war? When everything seemed lost and that Cynder's forces wiped our forces out..." At the mention of this, the black dragoness looked down. The purple dragon turned to face her, frowning a bit from it all... but when he saw the look that the Guardians gave him, he straightened himself and focused on the explanation anew.
"...what I had not said was that we, the Guardians, were not the sole survivors. During the war, our main headquarters was the original Dragon Temple located on the Pure Mountain, our most holy sanctuary located in the depths of the dragons' holy lands, the Sacred Cliffs of Dragon Dive. However, when we began to lose, we, the Guardians, brought most of the eggs with us to the hidden Dragon Temple, in this swamp. A group of dragons remained at the old Dragon Temple, intend on fighting Cynder to the end. We always assumed that they had perished, overrun by the enemy considering the impossibly overwhelming odds that they had to face..."
The explanation finished, Spyro figured out what Ignitus wanted him to do...
"So... you think that maybe, there's a slight chance that some dragons might have survived and you want me to go there to look."
Ignitus nodded, a slight smile coming to his aged face.
However, Sparx was not convinced. "Wait just a minute here. Why now?"
Everyone turned to face the dragonfly. What kind of question was that? The insect carried on...
"I mean, why now, after Cynder has been beaten and the Sign of Ruin, scrapped? I mean... couldn't we have used the help before? Why look for survivors NOW, of all times?"
...and well, that was a very good question actually. The purple dragon turned back to the Guardians. "Yeah. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
The Guardians looked at each others, seemingly conflicted once again... and finally, after whispering to each others, Ignitus spoke up in their names.
"Because we were convinced that it was totally impossible any of them could have survived until we discovered a... troubling... fact. I fear that I cannot explain what that fact is, however. So... I will ask you to go there and search the original Dragon Temple."
Both the dragon hatchling and his friend looked at the Guardians carefully, pondering whenever they should insist or not and well, after seeing their glares not weakening even a little bit, both of them figured out that they would find out later after all.
Sighing, the purple dragon decided himself, accepting to go despite being annoyed and confused as to why they were obviously hiding information from him.
"Alright. I'll do it..."
"Excellent," said Ignitus. "Now, I'll tell you where it is..." And with that said, he proceeded to explain, as usual, where it is located...
"I can't believe you sent him off!" yelled Cynder, visibly upset. "I mean... look at him! There's a gaping hole in his left wing and he's still weak from his battle within the Sign of Ruin!"
"Listen, Cynder. We must find out whenever Spyro is truly the Dragon of Prophecy or not. There is no other way... and the sooner we find out, the better," tried to explain the elderly red dragon but he felt that it was a losing battle.
"Why does it matter? He... he saved you, all of you, and me too. Isn't that enough? I don't care if he's the Dragon of Prophecy or not. Why does it matter anyway?"
The Guardian pondered about this. He had pondered long about this, actually. Truly, did it matter? The will of the Ancestors is that only the Dragon of Prophecy might fulfill the path planned by fate... but was the Prophecy truly absolute? In fact, was the Ancestors' will truly absolute? He had paid dearly for his lack of faith and his questions many times.
...he also knew that it was why Cyril and Terrador, the Guardians of Ice and Earth, did not hold him in high regard. They had never quite accepted how he had been a coward, running away and escaping the grasp of Cynder when all was lost rather than standing his ground and fighting. He... had ran away, leaving the others and the eggs to their fate.
Volteer was the only one that had not taken personal offense from this. But then, Volteer had always been a long-time friend. Ever since they were hatchlings, way, way before being chosen as Guardians, the two always were friends. He, like him, was also a "common" dragon...
Blood... not all dragons have "pure blood" as many of them so proudly claimed. Although the dragons were all one specie, countless races existed... and those with "pure blood" were always blessed with purer, greater powers... but as time went and as a rift appeared between those with pure blood and those who were born of mixed unions, arrogance rose.
He still remembered it... how long it took for Cyril and Terrrador, two pure-blooded dragons raised specifically to be Guardians, to accept that two worthless commoners, himself and Volteer, could have the potential to be Guardians. In a way, Cyril never truly accepted it, even today, centuries later...
...why was this old brain going around recollecting all of this all of a sudden?
The young Cynder awaits an answer...
"Cynder... you must have heard us. The Prophecy speaks of an usurper, a dragon whose color will be the same as the Dragon of Prophecy but who will bring doom rather than salvation. This dragon... might live at the Pure Mountain."
The answer did not please the hatchling at all. She showed her teeth, almost growling.
"What? You are saying that you sent Spyro to face off against what might be his nastiest foe yet... and while he's in this state? He doesn't stand a chance like this! I must help him!"
The female dragon spun around quickly and begun to walk away. The older dragon stepped forward.
"Stop right there! Where do you think you are going?"
"I'm going to help Spyro!" she replied.
"Helping Spyro? What do you think you are doing, dragoness? You are but a hatchling. You cannot help him. Leave things in his hands. Believe in him..."
This reply, far from calming Cynder down, only made her narrow her eyes.
"I'm sick of just "believing in him". I won't sit idle while he risks his life for all of us one more second. I'm going and you won't stop me."
"Cynder!" he called... but the black dragon ignored him. All he could do was sit there and sigh loudly as she left.
"Three... two... one..." counted Sparx.
BAM!
"OUCH!"
Sparx smirked as Spyro proceeded to yell a bunch of childish, incoherent stuff, the closest to expletives that the purple dragon knew.
"Aaaaand that is why the Dragon of Prophecy sticks to the ground!" announced Sparx triumphantly.
Spyro was not quite skilled at flying and it was very rare for him to be able to take off and land without crashing. In fact, it was a source of despair and annoyance for almost everyone but Sparx, who greatly enjoyed the dragon's flight handicap, taking the opportunity to make jabs at his performance every single time and well, although the dragon could usually stomach Sparx's comments easily, he took jabs at his flight abilities personally every time.
Okay, so maybe he should have slowed down or something or whatever but he had truly no way of having much control considering that gaping hole in his left wing. Actually, it's a miracle he made it there considering his injury. Yeah, he kind of slid over the ground upon landing and smashed into a nearby rock... but that's no reason to laugh!
"Yeah right! I would have liked to see you try to fly and land safely with a HOLE in your left wing!" he almost yelled, his words coming out not as coherent as intended due to a loud growl that came out of his throat at the same time.
"Pfft! Excuses excuses! Come on! Let's go!" And there he goes. Before he could say anything else, the insect had already zoomed off. He didn't go too far but he obviously was implying "indirectly" that he wished for the purple reptile to move.
Rolling his eyes as he sighed loudly, Spyro shook off the last of the dizziness and begun to move forward.
As the dragon moved on, he took the time to look around... and well, the sight was quite... disturbing to say the least. Sparx had slowed down by now and soon enough, the dragonfly returned by Spyro's side.
Pure Mountain was a perplexing sight. For a location supposed to be the dragons' holiest of all holy sites, it really didn't look like it. It was located far, far atop a serie of extremely thin mountains, like spikes, that reached out to the sky and entertwined together, forming a serie of unstable platforms. The pure white rock was untouched by life, not even a single plant anywhere. The whole place seemed so surreal. A serie of natural paths made of white rock above an endless abyss, the whole thing high above the clouds, where the wind barely reached. Peaceful silence and lonely emptiness way beyond what the eye can see...
"It's quiet... too quiet," said the dragon as he looked around.
"Please don't, Spyro! Every time you said that, we were ambushed!" replied the dragonfly, every bit as creeped out as the dragon.
And for the first time, nothing happened despite Spyro saying the cursed words.
...well, actually, nope. In the distance, the two finally saw their destination. The shape of a temple could be seen in the distance, at the end of the path.
"Well, that's easy so far," commented the dragonfly, half-relieved that nothing attacked, half-disappointed because that his feeling of dread was slowly giving away to boredom.
"Let's hope it stays that way," replied the dragon as he continued his march forward.
"Wow. Just... wow. I'm speechless," said Sparx, eyes widened.
Both the dragon and dragonfly stood there, eyes widened before the sight. The true Dragon Temple was barely anything like the one they were used to. First of all, it was HUMONGOUS and even then, the word wasn't really fitting. The structure was so gigantic that it was probably even bigger than Cynder's castle had been... and well, her castle wasn't anything to sneeze at, either! Also, while Cynder's castle was quite plain all things considering, the real Dragon Temple was covered with statues, strange paintings, weird carvings, and all other things. Even the door was so imposing and covered with symbols that the two young beings couldn't even begin to imagine what it was beyond said door. Even if there were no survivors, the trip was worth it just for the sight alone.
...and well, the chances of survivors was pretty slim. While most of Pure Mountain had been pretty empty, the surroundings of the temple were littered with countless skeletons of Dark Ones and dragons alike. There had been some brutal battles here and considering how ruined the temple is, it's obvious that the foes who attacked were prepared. Which side won was impossible to guess from the battlefield alone. The temple was ruined and many dragon skeletons were around, true... but the abnormally high number of dead Dark Ones also shown that if they did overrun the place, it was at an incredibly high cost.
As the feeling of awe from seeing the temple from this close faded, the dread of being surrounded by so many dead beings returned, instilling the two with a feeling of urgency and motivating the both of them to get the task done with as soon as possible.
Without saying a word, the purple dragon approached the massive door that led inside and pushed on it with his right claw.
Despite the door's size, Spyro effortlessly pushed it wide open, much to the two's surprise. The two then slowly proceeded inside, not knowing what awaited them...
The two did not notice the door slowly closing itself behind them as they proceeded within the ruined temple's halls.
After a surprisingly short time, the two arrived in a room that was almost identical to the training room from the Dragon Temple they knew. The place was identical to the one they knew except that the floor was entirely made of pure white stone like the walls rather than having dirt covering the floor. There were no plants anywhere either and the familiar ethereal feeling was replaced by a strange new one. The magic that pulsated within this temple was a lot stronger and ancient... but also very cold and unfeeling. The feeling was almost alien to the two.
Then, they saw them.
Three gigantic dragons lying down on their side near the walls.
Spyro approached the closest one and was about to speak when he noticed the rather gaping hole in its side that he had not seen earlier. That dragon was obviously dead.
Sparx, him, had flew to meet the other two dragons but saw them with similar lethal injuries.
The dragonfly flew back to Spyro, shaking his head. The purple dragon felt a shiver go through his spine. Those dragons... they had not turned to skeletons like the others which meant that they had been killed a lot more recently... which means that until recently, there were survivors. Who could have killed those dragons? Considering their size and their looks, they were ancient, even more than the Guardians. Were they strong or weakened by age? That, they will probably never know now...
"Hey! Spyro!"
The purple dragon turned to see the dragonfly, now looking intently at the strange statue in the middle of the room. The purple dragon slowly approached and then, rose an eyebrow, expecting an explanation.
"Don't you find it weird that it's the sole thing that isn't damaged in this whole place?" asked Sparx, pointing at the statue.
When he thought about it... yeah. It was the statue of a dragon about his size right in the middle of the room. Considering that everything else had been smashed into pieces, it was surprising to see such a finely crafted white stone statue being totally intact in the middle of this room. It was also very suspicious.
The dragon slowly closed in and then, tentatively, poked it with one of his claws.
Then, the statue shook slightly.
Spyro jumped backward, startled, just as Sparx flew backward, both of them putting some distance between themselves and the statue as it begun to shake more and more.
The dragon gritted his teeth as he assumed his battle stance. If this thing was alive and that it had killed the three dragons, it would most probably be something quite powerful... and well, he hadn't recovered from the battle at the Sign of Ruin if that hole in his wing was any indication. Still, if he had to fight, he would. He just hoped that he wasn't pushing his luck too far this time...
Then, after shaking a bit more, the statue finally stopped and begun to crumble down revealing that it had been hiding something underneath.
...and at this moment, both Spyro's and Sparx's eyes widened.
After shaking off the last of the stone that had covered it, a dragon that seemed to be Spyro's age walked off the pedestal.
The fact that a dragon had just broke out of a statue was shocking enough. The fact that it was a hatchling was even more shocking. But then, maybe the Guardians didn't have time to bring all of the eggs with them so it could be passed off as mildly logical at best.
However, what shocked the two the most was the fact that it was a purple dragon like Spyro.
This purple dragon was very different from Spyro. For starters, it had large, well-developed, healthy wings. Its eyes were the same size and its entire body had perfect proportions and curves, giving it a graceful shape. Its limbs were just the right size and were quite strong. It was also significantly larger than Spyro. Not a whole lot but still, he was quite bigger to say the least. In fact, it was basically like Spyro except better in every single point and larger.
"Okay? I'm weirded out now. Isn't it supposed to be only one purple dragon or something per ten generations?" asked Sparx.
"Thought so too..." said Spyro, not sure what to think of this.
The dragon approached Spyro and slowly looked at him. As the weird purple one observed Spyro, he couldn't help but feel creeped out. Same for Sparx. In fact, for some reason, they were getting a baaaad feeling from this...
Then, after a while, the new purple dragon seemed to grow confused and begun to shake his head, as if in denial.
"Hmmm... is there a problem?" asked the dragonfly, wondering why the new dragon had such a weird expression. Yeah, Spyro was small and maybe not exactly thin but was he so shocking? No one had seemed so shocked about Spyro before...
"How? Why?" muttered the purple dragon under his breath, seemingly horrified by Spyro for some ill reason.
He stood there, just shaking his head... and then, turned to face Spyro and stared into his eyes. The way he glared... if looks could kill, this particular look the new one was giving to Spyro would probably be at least close to lethal.
"There can be only one dragon blessed with the gift of the Ancestors! This can only mean that you are a fiend sent by the Dark Master!" he said with a lot of intensity, enough to startle Spyro and Sparx and make them back away slowly without even noticing it.
"Wow! Calm down, purple guy! We're not agents of the Dark Master or anything," said quickly the dragonfly.
"Yeah. We are not minions of the Dark Master. In fact, Ignitus sent us. Here. My name's Spyro. Glad to meet you," added Spyro, hoping to calm the other purple dragon.
The reptile kept glaring suspiciously at Spyro... and then, after a while, noticing that neither had attempted to attack, the dragon finally calmed down and sat down.
"Fine. I will trust you. Besides, you are too sane and calm to be Dark Master minions. Glad to meet you, Spyro."
He then made some sort of weird reverence which caused Sparx to smile, suppressing a laugh. A glare from Spyro convinced him not to say anything.
"I am the dragon who was blessed by the Ancestors through the will of fate. The purple color of my scales reflect my status for I am the Dragon of Prophecy. You may call me by the name of Astrial."
Spyro and Sparx turned to each others, raising an eyebrow, both growing suspicious of the new purple dragon. A strange purple dragon encased in a statue surrounded by dead adult dragons and who claims to be the Dragon of Prophecy. Sounds quite fishy! In fact, Sparx had a baaaad feeling about this. The Guardians had spoken of an usurper who would be Spyro's greatest enemy and well, this Astrial sure seemed to fit the bill!
"Is something troubling you?" asked Astrial, noticing the expressions of the two.
Sparx crossed his arms and then, hovered a bit closer. "Yeah. I mean, we're just wonderin' how it's possible for you to be the Dragon of Prophecy when Spyro happens to be just that. Not that we don't mind the reinforcements, the Ancestors or whatever knows how much we could use some help considering the mauve one's current state but still... I hope you understand why we're scratching our heads."
Sparx tended to be wrong when it came to his premonitions and well, he hoped that he would be wrong as usual. If that guy was anything like Spyro, he would probably walk all over his friend considering that he barely got out of the Sign of Ruin in one piece and still is not in too good a shape.
And well, although Spyro did not know about the whole usurper case since he was still knocked out when it was brought up, he still had a bad feeling about this. He knew that he wouldn't be able to win if he was to get into a serious fight right now.
"I see..." said Astrial, slowly backing away. "So, an usurper has risen. Only one of us can be the Dragon of Prophecy. We will have to endure a trial to figure out who of us is the real Dragon of Prophecy."
"A trial?" said Spyro, wondering what the other one was talking about.
"Yes. You claim that you know Ignitus. So, we must see him. He is a Guardian, an elder who uphold the ancient ways of the dragons. He will be able to determine who is the real one."
Sparx opened his mouth to say something but before he could say anything, Astrial had kicked into the ground and flew out of the room with such speed that it seemed as if a hurricane had passed through, the wind almost knocking Spyro off his feet and sending Sparx into the wall.
"WHOA! Talking about someone who should slow down a bit!" commented Sparx, Spyro nodding after recovering his balance.
Then, another surprise.
"SPYRO!" yelled Cynder as she barged into the room from another exit. The dragoness panted as she stood there and then, after noticing Spyro, ran up to him. "Thank goodness, you're alright!"
"Cynder?!? What are you doing here?... and what happened?" asked the male dragon, having absolutely no idea what she was doing there.
The female dragon stood there, catching her breath while Spyro stood there, looking at her worried. Sparx placed his hands behind his back and begun to whistle a romantic tune "innocently", watching the two. The dragonfly quickly stopped after receiving angry looks from both the purple and black dragons.
Then, once she finally managed to catch her breath, Cynder explained herself. "Spyro. The Guardians... they discovered that the Prophecy speaks of an imposter who will be the greatest foe you will ever face."
She shook her head, anger slowly rising. "I still can't believe they sent you in this state! I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried for a moment..."
So, it explains everything. Astrial... he must have been that so-called imposter. Well, that explains a lot of stuff, actually. The dragon nodded slowly, not sure what to say...
Then, Cynder took out something. She had brought him strange glowing red gems. Red spirit gems...
"I know that it won't be as if you had waited for your body to recover naturally but..." Spyro smiled as he brought one of his fingers forward, making a gesture indicating politely that he wanted her to stop talking.
"Thank you Cynder. I really appreciate it," he said softly, his smile widening a bit.
The female smiled back and for a moment, they both stood there, just looking into each others' eyes...
More whistling from Sparx.
"Oh cut it out!" both of the dragons called angrily, angry glares being shot at Sparx who snickered a bit before stopping.
The black dragoness handed the red gems to Spyro before moving back a bit. Spyro looked down at the gems and then, slowly, closed his eyes.
Concentrating on the gems, the power slowly begun to flow through him and in an instant, his various injuries began to close until they were all gone, causing him to feel a whole lot better.
With his body regenerated, he dropped the now empty and colorless gems.
"Thanks, Cynder. I really needed that." He then turned to Sparx. "Well... I guess we'll be going back now."
Sparx smirked as if going to make another annoying remark but thankfully, remained silent. He just nodded a bit and then, pointed to the exit. The purple dragon then begun to move toward said exit but then stopped as he noticed he was hearing only the sounds of his own steps and Sparx's buzzing. He turned to see Cynder remaining still, looking down, as if worried.
"Something bothers you?" he asked.
"They didn't tell you..." she said, frowning.
"Tell me what?" continued Spyro, wondering what was the end of that last sentence.
"Tell you that the real Dragon of Prophecy is..." But then, she stopped, gazing at him for a moment. Then, her expression turned to that of amusement as she shook her head at her own stupid worry before running up to Spyro's side. "Forget it. Let's go, shall we?"
"Yeah," and with that said, Spyro begun to walk toward the exit anew, followed by Cynder.
"Hey. I wanted to know the end of that sentence!" said high and loud Sparx, upset that Cynder had interrupted what she was saying... although the way the two dragons hang together will still give him many more justifications to mock them and thus, made him forget about the sentence. Whistling in their backs was like, so funny! Hehehehe!
That last reply did amuse the purple dragon a little bit but it also worried him. What Cynder said... what did she meant? Did she somehow imply that?... no, it couldn't be. He had achieved so much and everyone depended on him. If he wasn't truly the Dragon of Prophecy then... well, he didn't know. Yeah, it was only a few months but so much had happened and he had grown to accept the fate and responsibilities of the Dragon of Prophecy. After all, it gave him an explanation why he had all those powers and how he, a simple hatchling, had been able to overcome such overwhelming odds...
There is no use in worrying. The Guardians wait for his safe return.
The trip back went perfectly well thanks to Spyro's regenerated wings. True, his skills at flight remained subpar but at least, all of it went well until...
BAM!
"OW!"
"SPYRO! LOOK OUT FOR THE--"
BAM!
"OW!"
"Spyro! Are you okay?"
As usual, Spyro failed his landing and crashed into the floor before sliding on his belly all the way to the pillar and smashing himself into it. As usual, Cynder ran up to him to make sure he was okay. And just as usual, Sparx took the opportunity to make a joke about it.
"Spyro and the pillar by the Dragon Temple's entrance... a touching love story! See as Spyro throws himself at the pillar again and again and again and again and again..."
Spyro growled under his breath, hoping that this stupid insect would become mute and thus, be unable to nail him with jokes for once. Yeah, he loved his adoptive brother and all... but couldn't he just, you know, shut the freak up for just five minutes?
Anyway, once the world stopped spinning wildly around him, he managed to get back. Once he was back on his feet, he shook himself a bit, and then turned to Cynder.
"Yeah, just a bit dizzy. Nothing too serious," he replied, giving her the usual reply.
Sparx flew to the purple dragon's side and placed himself in-between the purple and black dragons, crossing his arms.
"You know... Spyro has been crashing into that pillar ever since we moved into the Dragon Temple and to this day, he has been okay every single time. No need for you to repeat your lines every time too, ya know! It's mighty predictable, after all!... although I'll admit you never fail to crack me up! Hehehehe!" Although the comment was true, it still didn't fail to annoy the both of them and both dragons muttered a faint "Sparx..." to voice out their annoyance. The dragonfly barely paid attention to it and simply changed his position, now hovering to the side of Spyro's head as he usually did.
With that said, the three moved on and entered the Dragon Temple. Inside the ancient halls, everything was silent as usual. It was the same place that the three had come to call their home for the last few months. It was definitely a change from the swamp, for the purple and yellow ones, and a change from the tower, for Cynder. All of them definitely liked the place... although at times, they also longed for their homes, Cynder a bit less than the others for an obvious reason. Still, despite it all, it was a nice place, most definitely.
They passed by the dragon statue as usual in the center of the next room, paying it little attention, and finally reached the place of interest: the vision room which doubled as a meeting room. The four Guardians almost always remained in that room, spending their days trying to decipher visions, talking about the future, or sometimes acting like ordinary souls and chatting of stuff not related to the Prophecy and how to deal with the Dark Master... although the later was something the young ones seldom saw them doing. Oh well...
The three casually entered the room and as expected, saw the four elderly dragons waiting for them. What they did not expect was to see that other purple dragon standing by Ignitus's side.
"Welcome back, young dragons." For some reason, Ignitus's tone was a bit colder than usual. In fact, maybe it was Spyro's imagination but he thought that the red dragon sounded worried.
"Hi Ignitus. I've returned from the other Dragon Temple and well, I guess you already met Astrial, then," simply said Spyro.
The Guardian of fire slowly nodded as an answer before turning to the other purple dragon who was waiting patiently at his side.
"Now, as everyone knows, the Prophecy foretold of the coming of a purple dragon who would be the Dragon of Prophecy but only one may be the true Dragon of Prophecy. The Prophecy also foretold of an imposter who would bear the same color as the Dragon of Prophecy but be nothing more, in truth, than a mockery of it," explained the red dragon. Cynder and Sparx already knew that but Spyro, him, was surprised.
So, the Prophecy spoke of another purple dragon who would be an usurper? Well, that explains a lot of things! No wonder everyone was so nervous and asked him to go there! They were suspecting foul play from an imposter! But still... why now? What made them suspect the imposter was there? Most of all... if Astrial is the imposter, will he be able to defeat him? Most probably, the usurper must be a very powerful dragon if he's important enough to be mentionned by the Prophecy...
"Although Spyro has proven his valor many times in the past, the imposter is a being most foul, says the Prophecy. The only way to determine for sure who is the true Dragon of Prophecy is a sacred Trial that will put the two's powers and abilities to the test. The Dragon of Prophecy will succeed where the imposter will fail," continued Terrador.
"Now, follow me young dragons," said the green dragon as he opened the door to the statue room, followed by Ignitus and Astrial.
Spyro stood there for a moment before noticing that everyone was looking at him...
"Do not worry young dragon! The Trial is one hundred percents reliable! The chances of you being confirmed the Dragon of Prophecy are of five thousands against one, at least! My faith is in you!" That was Volteer. Always speaking in such a weird way and so much, it was amusing in a way... and well, it was nice to see that he had the yellow dragon's support.
"I believe in you, Spyro." That was from Cynder, he smiled as she nodded at him.
He then turned to Sparx, who hovered there, arms crossed. "Bah. Just routine work. I mean, it's obvious who's the Dragon of Prophecy here. I mean, who has actually ran around doing all the work? That's you. What did this Astrial dude do? Hide in a statue. Wow, big deal. You'll cream that clown at this so-called "Trial" whatever it might be, no problem! Just make sure to give us a good show, okay?"
The purple dragon smiled, glad to see that he had everyone's support... well, almost everyone's. Cyril was glaring at him in a way that he didn't like. It did creep him but well... can't please everyone. Guess that Cyril must have liked that Astrial's way of speaking or something. After all, Cyril had always been quite the boastful dragon and well, he never could get along with him quite as well as with the others.
Well... time to go.
He walked through the door and into the statue room...
The statue was already hidden under the floor, the training room's mechanisms activated by the time the tree entered the room. Ignitus and Terrador stood at the opposite end of the room while Astrial defiantly stood in the middle, standing in a proud position, an arrogant smirk on his face.
Seeing this expression filled Spyro with disgust. Yeah, it was a bit soon to judge Astrial but well, that smirk was really just unnerving. It reminded him of Cyril except in worse, much worse if that was possible. It was just the kind of expression that he thought would only appear on a monster's face.
"The Trial shall soon begin. The two must face it on their own. It will be an endurance test during which both of you will have to fulfill the condition given. The Trial continues until one can no longer accomplish the objective given. At such moment, this dragon will be confirmed to be, once and for all, the imposter whom the Prophecy told us to beware from," explained the earth Guardian.
Strange, usually it's Ignitus that does the explaining. After all, he usually took the initiatives unless it was something specific to another Guardian. So, why was Terrador doing all the explaining right now? Oh well...
He and Sparx moved on forward...
thud!
"OUCH! What was that?!?"
Spyro turned around to see that Sparx had smacked into an invisible force field of sorts.
"Sorry Spyro but Sparx must stay behind. You must face the Trial alone, I fear," said Ignitus, seeing the two's confusion as to what had happened.
So, when they had said he would face it alone, they were truly serious. In a way, it worried him a bit but then, there was no reason to truly be worried. Sparx and Cynder are just there, watching. Everything will be alright. Besides, not like he is dependant upon the dragonfly!
Huh? What?
"What's so funny?" asked Spyro, not like the way Astrial was laughing at all.
The other purple dragon stopped and then, still smirking, replied. "Oh, I just find it funny that a dragon would be dependant upon a small insect. You must truly lack bravery, that's for sure."
The insult stung, a lot but he still managed to keep himself calm as a clever reply came up. Astrial was just trying to psyche him out.
"Really? Well at least, I don't lack honor to the point of resorting to psyching my opponent out before the test begins." The reply made its effect as the other dragon's smirk disappeared instantly.
"Hmph! Speak as you will! Before long, we shall see who is the imposter and who has the favors of the Ancestors!"
A smile came to Spyro as he sat down and waited for the Guardians to give them the signal. It was then however that he noticed that well, things had went very weird. Ignitus, Terrador, Cynder, Sparx... they were nowhere to be seen. In fact, heavy fog formed a dome at the edges of the training circle and for some reason, he felt wind brushing against his scales as if he was no longer inside of the temple. What had happened? Was he still inside of the temple? How unsettling...
Then, he saw them, strange sphere of energy that hovered just out of reach, in the middle of the circle.
And then, a silent command. He must destroy the white spheres, Astrial, him, must destroy the black ones... and all of this "before the sun settles". The sun settles? This seems like a fairly huge time limit... or maybe not. He saw a faint yellow circle beyond the fog that was quickly falling.
Both himself and Astrial dashed toward the spheres and jumped to meet them. With claws, fangs, and tail swipes, the spheres were torn apart and reduced to tiny bits. Spyro moved more slowly but his attacks were faster although lacking in style, as usual. Astrial, on another hand, was the opposite. He moved as quickly as a blur but his attacks were slow, methodical, stylish... maybe too much. They seemed overblown.
The two finished about at the same time, Astrial slightly after him, the circle still surprisingly high after both were done.
Then, the circle was shot back high up and a new command came.
Fire breath on the moving targets. "Link" the targets together and form an inferno.
In a way, he had dreaded that the Trial would have involved elemental breaths but on another hand, it couldn't be helped. After all, it was what defined a dragon in a way, its breath attacks and how said dragon used them.
A real torrent of flames was spurted out of Astrial's mouth. Really, he had not imagined that such a dragon could breathe such an overwhelming stream of flames. It was as if a gigantic tornado of fire had errupted from Astrial's mouth, setting all of the targets on his side on fire. Then, he somehow managed to "tilt" the stream and forced all the targets together, uniting the flames into one gigantic inferno. His task was done and pretty much effortlessly at that.
Spyro gulped. It wouldn't be so easy for him... but well, failing is not an option.
He inhaled deeply and then breathed fire. As expected, what came out was not impressive by any means but was more than satisfying considering he's a hatchling that lost his powers, began to regain them recently, and then went through the Sign of Ruin. Still, it would not do for although he did set a single target on fire, he needed to light them all up, somehow unite the fire into an inferno, and to top it off, the yellow circle is falling fast.
Spyro figured out that maybe he wasn't too strong actually... but there was a reason why he had survived so far. Because his powers, although not the mightiest, were more than enough and he had the creativity needed to put them to good use. Well, actually, Sparx helped a lot in this case but well, he can do it very well on his own.
Seeing the targets run around, he thought about it quickly. How to light them up? They're forming a weird geometrical shape or whatever and they run around, still keeping the formation...
...got it! That's surprisingly simple, considering! If only he can do it in time and correctly...
Running quickly, he circled the targets while breathing as much fire as he could, concentrating on the outer targets. Much to his satisfaction, the targets were indeed set on fire. And now for the finishing touch...
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
A good headbutt on each of the targets he set on fire and there you go, they're sent flying, causing the targets to slip and fall on top of each others and within a moment, the fire spreaded among the targets and caused them all to flare up like one big pile of dry wood.
Spyro stopped and turned to see the yellow circle rising back up. As Astrial stood there, eyes widened as if seriously weirded out, Spyro took the opportunity to smirk at him in defiance. Astrial's powers might be vast but he sure doesn't need any of them to do just as well!
...well, he hoped. He sure wished one of the commands will not be "defeat your opponent" for if that huge stream of fire is any indication of Astrial's power... then he's most probably almost as powerful as Cynder was which is, quite frankly, bad news.
Then, a new test came. This time, it involved electricity. Again, Astrial used an overwhelming breath attack to accomplish the objective. Again, Spyro used his creativity to accomplish it just as well despite his own limited powers, using the electricity breath's lasso-like properties to slam the targets against each others and shock all of them at once.
For each test completed, a new one was thrown at them immediately and with each new one, a more complicated objective. Soon, the objectives begun to require the use of multiple breaths and the time limit became more and more tight. Some of them even began to involve complex physical actions.
As time passed and the tests became more difficult, Astrial seemed to tire. Although his powers were obviously superior, he was using a lot of power, unleashing overblown attacks every time and no dragon had an unlimited amount of magical energy to spend on breath attacks. Spyro as well, was tiring himself... but his confidence and motivation grew with each victory. Each test completed brought him closer to Astrial's imposter status being confirmed as the other, arrogant-looking purple dragon was tiring more and more while he was doing the same.
Still, there was no time to lose concentration and focus for the tests required more and more improvisation. Although Astrial had to spend lots of energy, time was not an issue for him since his breath attacks were so great. Spyro, he, had to run, jump, bash, and throw the targets, spheres, and himself about like crazy to do it all on time. Many times, the yellow circle was almost gone when he was done.
Overall, the whole Trial seemed to come to a stalemate, no one really winning nor losing.
Then, after a while, the tests stopped coming.
Panting, the two dragons stood there, looking at each others... and Spyro slowly shook his head. All of this... and still no winner. Maybe... that there truly are two Dragons of Prophecy, after all? Both of them had made it this far and there were no signs of a winner yet...
"Astrial... I... I think that maybe we should stop here. I know that you said that there can be only one of us but well... maybe the Prophecy is wrong. Why don't we work together rather than keeping this up?" he asked when he managed to get a grip of his burning lungs.
The other, larger purple dragon breathed hard and then, managed to catch his breath as well. Then, the look he gave Spyro almost made him yelp in surprise and fear. The glare Astrial gave him... it was one of pure, total, feral rage.
"You... you DARE to imply that the Prophecy might be wrong? You dare to question the Ancestors?!? Blasphemy!"
Then, finally, one last command came to them. In silence, it was announced as a tie-breaker.
The two had to prove that they were the true Dragon of Prophecy by proving that they had followed the ancient ways and were in-tune with the Ancestors. Through listening to the Ancestors, they would infuse them with the divine knowledge of the breath attack they would have to use.
Well, sounds easy. After all, in times of crisis, strange memories and instincts always came to him, telling him of what to do. All he had to do is open his heart and allow the Ancestors to tell him what to do as usual.
Thus, Spyro closed his eyes and cleared his mind...
Relaxing, he closed his mind to his own instincts, allowing his memories to flee his mind and forgetting everything for a moment, opening his soul to his fate. All that he had to do was to act once he would remember what his ancient, sacred blood already knows...
FWOOOOOOSH!
Spyro heard a strange sound. He didn't pay it any attention. He was in a kind of trance, waiting.
...and after a moment, a realization came to him.
There was silence.
No words, no memories, no thoughts, no instincts came to him, only silence. He opened his eyes to see Astrial, floating in mid-air, surrounding by swirling beams of pure light, his mouth wide open as he breathed a gigantic funnel of white holy winds toward the sky. To the sides, the yellow circle was almost gone.
...and then, a cold, horrific feeling crept up Spyro's spine and he realized one thing.
The knowledge did not come and time's almost up.
The temptation to panic became strong, extremely strong. His nerves threatened to give away, his limbs shaking out of control. If he didn't manage to unleash this kind of breath attack in the next seconds then he... he...
NO!
This will not happen! This is impossible! He... he did not do all of this only for... for...
He chased all thoughts away and sent his body upward, now standing on only his hindlegs as he dived back into his trance.
He had let it all get to him. He is the Dragon of Prophecy, all he have to do is have faith. He will open his mouth and he will unleash the kind of breath attack he is expected to unleash without fail.
He inhaled deeply... and then, breathed with all of his strength.
...and nothing came out.
The fog disappeared at this moment and Spyro, losing his balance, tripped and fell on his side.
Everything seemed so... unreal... so... ridiculous. A nightmare, definitely. His entire body was hurting and aching from the effort and he felt so... tired. He was not sure the fog had disappeared entirely actually. In fact, had it even been real to begin with?
He saw two faces from up close, both pairs of eyes filled with worries. A black dragon's and a dragonfly's. Both of them were speaking to him...
"You're okay buddy? Spyro? Are you okay?" he barely heard the dragonfly. His words made so little sense if at all...
...and then, there was the other three...
The smaller one looked at him with such disgust... it was crazy. There was nothing but disgust in its eyes...
Disappointment was in the red figure's eyes while the green one seemed... well, he couldn't even think of a word to describe such an expression. It was so... strange.
Some sounds... and then, words. He thought he recognized the voice, he was not sure. He looked up and then, he saw him... Ignitus, looking down at him.
"Ignitus... I... I think I had a nightmare. I'm the purple dragon, isn't it? I'm... I'm the Dragon of Prophecy, am I not?"
He remained silent... so deathly silent.
"Spyro... I will ask you to leave." The reply came too late to his liking. He didn't like that long pause Ignitus had. He disliked deeply that sad tone, that disappointment.
Yet, that sentence woke up hope within him... for maybe he would send him somewhere, anywhere, to discover what went wrong or something?
"Sending him off to find out why the Trial went wrong, heh?" That was Sparx, speaking his thoughts aloud.
"No. He's not setting out to find out why the Trial went wrong. The Trial went out... perfectly." Huh? What? Perfectly? What is he talking about?
"So... why are you sending him out then, old guy?"
"I'm not sending him out. Spyro, from this moment on, is banished forever."
At this moment, Spyro wished for only one thing.
For the Ancestors to grant his prayers and either to awaken him from his nightmare right here and now or to take mercy upon him and kill him on the spot.
TO BE CONTINUED