Meeting Again

Here's chapter 2, finally…. This took far longer than I'd have hoped, but I think it ended up coming out well. This chapter begins in the past timeline.

Currently, my next planned chapter is for C & E LSoP but, I also will be reworking TLoS: Rising and TLoS: Risen as I go along.

Please leave a review if possible.

[][][]

Flying was a slow process, or so it seemed every time Spyro flew for an extended period of time. It was far faster than going on foot, and took nowhere near as much energy if you understood how to use the winds and the up- and down-drafts, but one thing about it made it slow. The fact that you could see your destination long before you reach it, and then you still had to get there.

Beside him, Cynder pulled in her wings, cutting through the air and leveling out with him before extending them again. She was a more skillful flyer than he, but oddly had held back this trip. All the way to Warfang she had stayed a short distance behind him, and this was the first time on their way to the temple that she caught up to him.

"It, uh, was nice of the moles to put us up for the night in Warfang, huh Spyro?" Cynder said. Her eyes idly scanned the ground as she flew, but turned toward Spyro once she had spoken.

"Yeah, but it will be nice to sleep in ours beds at the temple. It's been three years, but it only feels like months," Spyro replied.

"Right," she mumbled. She hovered around next to him briefly, before once again falling back.

'That can't be all she had to say,' Spyro thought, 'but I won't push her.'

They had been left a message from Cyril, directing them back to the temple where they would meet up, but once they arrived, they began to question its validity.

Spyro meandered down the main hall of the temple. He was looking into every doorway, pushing each closed door ajar to look within, and all were leading to nothing. There were no fresh marks upon the walls or doors, and he was unsure whether the footprints upon the floor were from today or three years ago.

He reached the end of the hall and sighed. Once again there were no signs of life anywhere. But then, he looked to the door marking the end of the hall. A green moss-like plant had grown around the edges of the doorway during the temple's vacancy and had begun to creep down into the crack that separated the two doors. However, now the moss between the doors, and above their separating point, was broken. The door had been used.

He crept up to the door and positioned his head to hear. Outside, he could hear muffled voices, but none were recognizable. Then the sound of footfalls, approaching the door, reached him. Before he could react, the door was flung open and he was sent sliding down the hallway, in the doorway stood Ignitus.

"Ignitus, you're alive!" Spyro scrambled over to Ignitus and embraced him, but then detached, unsure whether it was proper.

"Yes, young dragon I am. Or perhaps, I should call you son," Ignitus said.

From behind him, Cyril said, "Ignitus, what-"

"Cyril! Please, talk to me later."

"S-son, I'm…your son? Why didn't you tell me before?" Spyro's eyes began slowly leak tears.

"I'm sorry, Spyro. It was a time of crisis, and I knew the world would be upon your shoulders. To have you err on my account would be a tragedy."

"I'm just glad to see you alive! Cynder and I thought…" Spyro's head snapped upright. "where is Cynder? She was-"

"I'm right here!" Cynder yelled as she turned the corner into the main hall. She bounded up the hall but stopped abruptly once she reached them "Oh, I didn't think you'd be here Ignitus…that's great."

"Cynder, he's my father!"

"Spyro," Ignitus said, "there will be time for speaking soon. Let us go to the pool of visions and talk. Go on, young ones. We will be along shortly."

Waving Spyro and Cynder on, Ignitus turned back to the other guardians. Cyril's glaring did nothing to faze him as he closed the door to the temple and turned to them.

"Ignitus, you have no right to lie to Spyro," Cyril admonished, "We have no idea whether he who fathered his egg is still alive."

"This is why I am going to take that position. It's for Spyro's sake. He needs a father in his life and who better than I? Who else can teach him about the things he must learn? Are any of you able? No, you do not have the emotional ties to Spyro that I do."

"And what are you to do if he finds out, or his family does come back?"

"Well Cyril, we will deal with that when and if it occurs."

[}[]{]

Spyro was confused. The calm, divining entity he once knew had yelled at him. It wasn't yelling in anger…but more so a distressed, pent-up frustration. It wasn't this, however, that confused him. It was what had been said. He opened his own mouth to speak, but was cut off by the Chronicler's words, and several books dropping down ahead of him.

"I know you'd like to speak, Spyro, but we don't have time for that now! Then again, time is exactly the problem." The Chronicler heaved a deep sigh."In my position, I can see everything. From the moment I took over chronicling the events that occur in this world, up to the time when I will no longer do so. My time had ended long ago…until the one who was to take my place was granted an eternal physical life."

"Who…what are you talking about?" Spyro asked, "All I did was-" The Chronicler's head fell toward the floor; his eyes closed. One of the books in front of Spyro lifted from the ground and drifted toward him. Upon its cover was simply, 'Ignitus.'

"When you kept Ignitus from the threshold of death, and gave him the energy to survive…your actions were more far-reaching than you intended." The book slowly opened, large, black text lit up upon the pages. "He knew that Malefor was no more, he knew you and Cynder would be revered for ages, and he knew your vulnerabilities. At that time, he alone could delve into the depths of your mind. Only he had your complete trust. For you, his word was law."

"But I had reason to trust him! He had never done anything wrong and I know that-"

"You, Spyro, know nothing! If you did, you would have never considered changing the past. Please allow me to speak. I will take your input, but it must be in turn." He paused, waiting for Spyro to nod his response. "I cannot keep this contact with you forever, so I must impart what I called you here for. The adverse effects of your actions must be changed. The simplest solution would be for Ignitus to die, not in this time, but in that which has passed. Is that an option, Spyro?"

"No, Chronicler…I do not think I could ever kill Ignitus. What other choices are there?"

"Spyro, this is the solution. All others would take more time and energy than it is worth."

"I don't care!" Spyro roared, "I could never kill him…I've already killed everyone I care about once."

"I know little about you, Spyro. You are not from this timeline and so I know nothing of your experiences in what was your past. However, I know that, as you have not been blinded by Ignitus' false words, that you will be able to see the evil he and you have caused," the Chronicler attested, "If you cannot go through with my solution, you must find your own."

"If I find any problems with what has happened, I will take care of it."

"Let me warn you of this, do not leave this time. When you do, the actions you have done will change. The Spyro I watched for thirty-five years disappeared the moment you entered this time, as it is yours. But should you leave, I fear he will return." The Chronicler's form flashed and began to fade. "I have no time left Spyro. Even though this is a different world, those who were trustworthy in your own time will still be so, work through those you trust!"

Suddenly, Spyro was upon his side, lying in the grass. He pushed up to his feet and shook off. Turning toward the city, he reared back and took to the air. Flying was something Spyro had always loved doing, but hated when there was a destination. It seemed to take far too long to get there.