The Legend of Spyro: Tales of the Zodiacs
Chapter 2: It's Destiny
"Y-You're your alive!?" The red-orange dragon said as he stood up on his hind legs. "But how, I saw your egg! It was cracked open!" The dragon shouted as he marched closer to Aaron, who immediately started backing up but into a corner.
"S-Stay back," Aaron said nervously. "I'm serious, I'll blast you." Aaron said with a growl that didn't really sound that threatening but had somehow stopped the large dragon.
The dragon looked shocked with what Aaron had said as though he couldn't believe it. The dragon stepped back and clapped his hands together and closed his eyes as if he were praying. When he opened his eyes again they seemed surprised to still see Aaron there, but soon the large dragon rushed forward at him.
Aaron gave a surprised yelp as the larger dragon held him still. He raised his hand and studied Aaron's features his horns, his wings, and finally his tail. When the dragon was done he seemed to sigh in relief and finally let go of Aaron.
"Thank the ancestors, you really are here." The red dragon said as he fell on his knees.
"Uh, I'm sorry but who are you, and what are you talking about?" Aaron asked.
Again the red dragon had a look of shock on his face. "You don't know?" The red dragon asked as he stood back up. "I am Ignitus, Level 5 warrior and… leader of the Dragon Heart Clan."
"The Dragon Heart Clan, so this is the temple!?" Aaron said quickly.
"Yes, but why were you seeking to come here?" Ignitus asked.
Aaron began telling Ignitus his story. Of how he was really a human who had stumbled into Azeroth on accident and was seeking to return home and change back to normal.
"I must admit…Aaron that is a shocking story." Ignitus said as he took a moment to absorb all that Aaron had told him. "So you say that the purple dragon's spirit just flew into you?"
"Y-Yeah, I just touched the egg and the next thing I knew I had scales and everything."
"Not to mention a mouth full bad dragon breath." Sparx grinned.
Aaron gave Sparx a growl before he turned back to Ignitus. "So, Ignitus do you think you can help me turn back to normal and find a way home?"
"I can take you back home Aaron," Ignitus began. "But I can't change you back to normal, at least not by myself. But until I can you are in grave danger."
"Danger? From what?" Aaron asked.
"The Dark armies have been searching twelve years for the purple dragon and now that you have his powers, they will stop at nothing to kill you."
"Wait, what's so important about the purple dragon?" Sparx asked.
"Because, the purple dragon is the chosen one." Ignitus said as he pulled out a scroll that had been under his robe and laid it out before Sparx and Aaron. "In the zodiac society each of the zodiacs has a chosen one that is destined to bring peace to the world and protect it from evil. For the dragons, our chosen one is the purple dragon."
"Wait zodiac society, so there are other temples like this?" Aaron asked.
"Other clans," Ignitus said. "We are a race of powerful beings and our duty is to protect."
"So, you're like superheroes."
"Super…heroes?" Ignitus repeated.
"Never mind, but I'd like to hear more about this zodiac stuff." Aaron said.
"Maybe later then, but for now let's find a way to return you to your normal form." Ignitus said as he, Aaron, and Sparx headed inside the temple.
They approached a big wooden door, with two dragon head statues at the side of it. Ignitus approached the door and put his claw on it.
"This is not good." Ignitus said.
"What's not good?" Aaron asked.
"The door is locked, which means that someone has entered the temple."
"So, how do we get it open?" Aaron asked looking up at the red dragon.
Ignitus looked down at the young dragon and spoke. "Aaron, maybe we should turn back."
"What? Why?" Aaron asked.
"Aaron, the enemies' scouts have entered the temple. It's better if we leave now, for your sake..."
"Ignitus, please!" Aaron shouted. "This is my last chance to go home." Ignitus sighed in defeat as seeing that he could not convince the young dragon.
"Very well, follow me." Ignitus said as he walked towards one of the pillars. "Up there is a small passageway that are scouts used to get around. All you have to do is head to the other side and realign the dragon head statues." Ignitus then picked Aaron up and placed him near the small red door with a golden symbol. Aaron opened the door and entered followed by Sparx.
Five minutes into the shaft, Sparx was flying around searching for the statues when something caught his eye. It was a crystal statue of a dragon. "Hey, Aaron, is this the statue we're supposed to be looking for?"
Aaron walked over to the crystal statue and observed it. The statues that they saw in front of the door were bronze and only showed a head, this one looked like an entire body, it was made out of crystal, with other shards of crystals surrounding it, and it had a spear in its chest.
"I don't think so Sparx, this crystal looks…" Aaron focused more on the crystal. For some reason the crystal was so shiny. Aaron slowly backed away from the crystal statue and then charged at it!
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Sparx said as he dodged the small shards of crystals. Aaron didn't answer he only stepped back and began another charge. As he tackled the crystal again more chunks fell from it. A bright gleam shined in Aaron's eyes as he began his final assault.
The crystal shards busted into a thousand pieces and then they started to glow. The crystals flew into Aaron and he absorbed them into his body.
"What was that?" Sparx asked eyeing Aaron.
"I don't know, but I liked it," Aaron said as he stood up, on his hind legs. As Aaron continued forward Sparx flew up beside him.
"Hey, Aaron, what's wrong with you?" Sparx asked.
"What do you mean?" Aaron asked.
"Look at you! You're standing on two legs."
"I am?" Aaron looked down at his feet and noticed that he was standing on both his hind legs. "Whoa, I'm walking! I didn't even notice." Aaron stretched his legs and jumped up and down to make sure his legs were working properly. "Okay let's go!"
Sparx reluctantly followed Aaron down the rest of the passageway. The two saw a light up ahead and went to investigate it. Aaron leaned his head out of the shaft and spotted the two dragonhead statures next to two giant mushrooms.
"Hey, Sparx, I found them!" Aaron said as he jumped to a nearby ledge and next to one of the statues. He then pushed the statue near the door then he did the same with the other one and waited.
"How come it's not opening?" Aaron said.
"Maybe you should try pushing it on the panels." Sparx said as he pointed to the two circles in the ground with strange writing on them. Aaron pushed one of the statues into it and the statue immediately lit up.
"Alright, now let's get to the other one." Aaron said but as he turned to the other statue he saw that the mushrooms were moving.
The mushrooms stood up and slowly crawled towards Aaron and Sparx.
"What are those things?" Aaron said.
"They're bulb spiders!" Sparx yelled as the spider like creatures lunged at them.
Aaron jumped out and blasted fire at the spider, but it had jumped out of the way and swiped at him. The purple dragon was knocked away into a corner where the two bulb spiders proceeded to pounce on him.
"Aaron!" Sparx yelled as he watched the bulb spiders attack Aaron.
To Sparx's relief Aaron unleashed a blast of fire that sent both of the spiders back in a crumbled piece of ash.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sparx asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Aaron responded. "Now let's hurry up and put those statues back where they belong." Aaron pushed the other dragon head statue on the panel and the doors suddenly opened revealing Ignitus on the other side.
"I heard the sounds of fighting, are you alright?" The red dragon asked.
"Just a little bug problem, that's all." Aaron said as he smiled with pride turning to the two bulb spiders which were now ash.
"Little bugs my tail section!" Sparx said.
Aaron rolled his eyes as the three of them made their way deeper into the temple. When Aaron saw the next set of doors that would take them to the center of the temple, the young purple dragon rushed to the doors with an eager look on his face, but before he could reach the doors a bright green pulse of lightning shot from the wall and hit the purple dragon!
Ignitus' eyes widened as he saw Aaron lying on his side as green electricity crackled around his body.
"Well, well, Ignitus. Looks like we finally found you."
Ignitus turned around to see a large ape wielding a staff with a green jewel in it. To his side were a bunch of smaller apes that seemed very proud of their sneak attack.
"Rogues!" Ignitus spat. "You have no business here, leave now or you will face the consequences." Ignitus said as his eyes began to glow red.
"Ah, save us the crap lizard!" The ape said. "We know you're still weak from your fight with Cynder. And yeah, we're rogue zodiacs. We may not have any of the elemental powers, but this dragonsbane is more than enough to take you down."
Ignitus said nothing as he slowly went over to Aaron and picked him up. The young dragon looked up at him with tired eyes and could barely even speak. Ignitus set Aaron down next to a flat sided rock and took off his red cape and placed it over Aaron. When Aaron looked up at him he saw that Ignitus had been wearing some red leather armor and had a sharp looking sword at his hip, but he didn't touch it.
"Sparx," Ignitus said in a low but commanding voice. "I suggest that you hide under the cape with Aaron."
"Uh, s-sure." Sparx said as he flew over to Aaron. As soon as he was behind him, Ignitus moved his right foot behind him and raised his left hand pointing at the apes.
The large ape laughed as the red dragon took on his fighting stance. "You're going to make a find pair of boots Ignitus the ape said as he pointed the staff at Ignitus.
Before he could Ignitus' eyes slit and in an instant the staff had exploded in the middle in a small explosion. Ignitus moved forward taking down two of the apes with a mighty punch and a third from behind with a kick. When the apes lunged at him he whipped his tail around and sent them all flying in different directions.
He then raised his hand an unleashed a huge fireball at the largest ape, but the ape quickly raised his shield. The shield melted after the fireball hit it and the ape abandoned it. The ape took out a sword and swung it towards Ignitus' neck. But it snapped on impact. Ignitus then unleashed a breath of fire at the ape, causing him to jump back as he held his burned face in pain.
Finally Ignitus clasped his hands together, slowly red lines appeared all over his body. The room started getting hot as his clothes caught on fire. In an instant fire erupted from the dragon's body spreading in all directions and incinerating anything it touched, all except for Aaron and Sparx who were being protected by the red cape which seemed to be shielding against the fire somehow.
When it was over Ignitus fell to his knee, he looked around to observe the power he had unleashed. Aaron and Sparx were fine, but the apes had all been turned to ash.
"Hey, you okay big guy?" Sparx asked as he flew over to Ignitus.
"Yes, I'm fine," Ignitus said as he rose up. "I just used up more energy then I really should have." Ignitus said as he went over to Aaron. Luckily the boy had passed out, Ignitus didn't want him to see death, and so many young zodiacs had seen enough of that.
"Come, we must heal him." Ignitus said as he carried the young dragon into another room.
When Aaron finally awoke he was in a small room, actually the room was larger than his new room back on Earth. He could probably bring all of his stuff in and still have room for two more beds.
"Are you alright, Aaron?" Aaron turned towards the voice and saw Ignitus on the other side of the room.
"Uh, yeah, Ignitus I'm alright." Aaron said as he sat up. He noticed that he was on a bed, a dusty old looking bed, but it was still comfortable. "What happened?"
"Those rogues hit you with dragonsbane." Ignitus growled.
"Dragonsbane, what's that?" Aaron asked.
"It's a dragons one weakness, it was used many times against us during the war, how they find the stones, I may never know."
"So, it's like kryptonite for dragons." Aaron said.
"Kryptonite…?" Ignitus repeated.
"Never mind," Aaron said as he got up from the bed. As his foot touched the ground he noticed a small red crystal next to it. "Hey, what's with these crystals, I've seen them before?"
"Those are spirit crystals. They contain the strength and wisdoms of zodiacs that have… passed on." Ignitus said in a low voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Aaron said. "Where do they come from?"
"They come from zodiacs, when we die are bodies turn to spirit crystals."
"W-What!?" Aaron shouted.
"Don't worry; we are perfectly okay with it. In a way it keeps us closer to those who we've lost."
"N-no, I mean, I… smashed one, in the shaft, but just the crystals around it not the body." Aaron said as he lowered his head.
"Well that's normal." Ignitus said. Aaron shot his head up in shock and confusion. He expected the red dragon to be angry, not just say 'it's normal'. "For some reason, the crystals have a strange affect on young zodiacs, which makes them smash the crystals. Usually we break the crystals around the body for the spirit gems, but it's not a very big deal."
"But why do you need the spirit crystals?" Aaron asked.
"Because the crystals are also used to heal, it's what I used to heal you."
"Oh, T-thank you, Ignitus." Before Ignitus could say anything Sparx came flying into the room.
"Hey, Aaron, you got to check out this place!" Sparx said as he flew back out of the room.
As the two dragons followed Sparx down the hall, Aaron couldn't help but notice the destruction done to the temple. Weapons lay in the hands of crystals, scorch marks were on the walls.
As they passed another set of large stone doors they entered a room filled with dust. As Aaron looked around he saw dozens of different colored eggs on the ground, cracked.
"What happened here?" Aaron asked.
"The day the dark army attacked, we were first." Ignitus began. "They came to destroy the purple dragon egg, to prevent the chosen one from being born. They had dragonsbane with them, they used it to kill the guards and then they smashed the eggs."
Aaron watched in silence as the big red dragon turned to another door that opened automatically for him. Following him they passed a giant statue of a dragon. While staring at it Aaron could have sworn it smiled at him, as he quickened his pace to catch up with Ignitus.
As they both exited the room they came to clearing. Aaron's eyes widened as he took in the sight. Aaron could see the entire swamp and beyond, and the sun setting on the horizon seemed to have cast a spell upon the young dragon.
"Wow, it's amazing." Aaron said.
"You can say that again." Sparx said as he flew up next to Aaron.
"Yes, it is. But soon it will all be gone." Ignitus said as he turned to leave.
Aaron and Sparx jerked their heads towards Ignitus and ran in front of him.
"What do you mean it will all be gone?" Sparx said.
"The Dark Master has won, there's no hope for us anymore."
"Well, what about me? I have the purple dragon's powers." Aaron said.
Ignitus looked shocked for a minute but quickly shook it off. "You were not born a zodiac; you have no training and no knowledge of how your powers work."
"W-Well teach me," Aaron shouted. "Show me how to use these powers."
"No! This doesn't concern you. This isn't your world and it's not your fight."
"Well I don't care, if I have powers that can help than I'll fight."
Ignitus let out a roar that caused Aaron to flinch and Sparx to hide in the pocket of his torn pants.
"If you fight then you will see blood and death! Are you ready for that? Are you ready to lay your life on the line!?" Ignitus said as his eyes glowed red.
Aaron was hesitant at first but he mustered all the courage he could and stared Ignitus down. "Yes, I don't care if you teach me or not. I'm going to help anyone I can!"
At that moment a circle formed underneath Aaron. Another circle had formed right outside of the first one and in between them. Small symbols appeared none that Aaron really recognized.
Suddenly Aaron started glowing in a bright light, he roared as he was lifted off the ground by power coming from his own body. When the light faded he dropped roughly back to the ground.
"W-What was that?" Aaron said as he rose back to his feet. As he stood back up he felt something around his neck. He found a brown rope holding a golden star shaped pendent. "What's this thing?"
"It's… your badge." Ignitus said.
"His badge, what does that mean?" Sparx asked.
"When one proves himself as a true zodiac the spirits unlock parts of his soul. The most common is the zodiac badge, a representation of your soul and powers."
"So, my soul plus my powers equals a golden star?" Aaron said as he examined his badge.
"Aaron," Ignitus said. "Do you really want to stop the Dark Master?"
"Yes," Aaron said.
"Well then, I guess I'll have to train you." Ignitus said with a smile.
After that Ignitus took him into another room with a strange symbol on the ground. Ignitus told Aaron to put what was left of his clothes on the ground. Aaron reluctantly did as he was told and hid outside of the room until Ignitus was done. When Ignitus was done all of Aaron's clothes had been repaired, saying that he had used alchemy.
Next they tried to figure out how to return Aaron back to normal. Ignitus said that Aaron was only half-dragon so all he would have to do is will it and he should return to human form. After some effort Aaron had returned back to normal.
"Okay, tomorrow you will meet me back here and we will begin your training Spyro." Ignitus said.
"Spyro?" Aaron repeated.
"Um… yes." Ignitus began. "I don't think it will be a good idea for the enemy to know that you are human, or that you are from Earth. So, when you are in dragon form you shall be known as, Spyro the dragon."
"Spyro the dragon?" Aaron said trying out the name. "Yeah, I could get used to that. Cool! I have a secret identity."
"Yes, and do not tell anyone about the magical world. Now it's time for you to return home." Ignitus said.
"Right, how exactly do I get home?"
"All zodiac badges have the ability to teleport between worlds, normally you need to have special permission from the council to do this, but since you are a special case it won't matter. All you have to do is hold it up and think of the place you want to go."
Aaron held up his badge and pictured his new home back on Earth. His badge flashed for a quick second and in an instant it started spinning. As it did a rush of wind and bright lights had circled around him.
"Hold on," Sparx shouted. "I'm coming too; I still want to try out more Earth food!" The next second they were both gone.
When the light faded Aaron realized that he was in his backyard. "Wow, magic rules!" Aaron said, as he looked around and noticed that the sun was still up. "Wait wasn't the sun going down when we left Azeroth?"
"My mother says that Azeroth is five hours ahead of Earth time." Sparx said.
"Aaron!" Aaron quickly turned around to see his little 4 year old little brother. "Where you go? Mama been looking for you." The little boy said as he ran back in the house.
"Who was that?" Sparx asked.
"That was just Edward, my little brother. Which reminds me; if he or my little sister Maya sees you they'll tear you apart." Aaron said as he grabbed the sprite and stuffed him in his pocket.
"How long do I have to stay in here?" Sparx asked peeking out his head enough so he could see.
"At least until I get to my room." Aaron said but as he opened the door he realized that he wouldn't be getting to his room anytime soon.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AARON!"
Aaron stared in complete shocked as he saw his entire family or most that could make it in the kitchen. He also noticed some kids that he didn't recognize but he would learn who they were soon enough. So in the entire day Aaron found his sprite, became a dragon, and discovered the existence of magic, all he could think of was.
"Best Birthday ever."