The milky speckles twirled and danced along the sky in various patterns, tugging at the corners of the bright moons, as another planet came into alignment with the two behind it, already aligned from nights before. The time was nigh...
Chilly wind; stars burned with the brilliant sapphire pallor of electric light. Carnage ensued, trees writhing and flailing, groans of pain carried away by the wind. It screamed like a banshee, uprooting weeds and shrubs in a fit of ever-consuming rage. Livid black clouds reared up like a cobra readying itself for attack. They spat lightning mercilessly onto the pitiful scene below, which cut through the sky not unlike burning venom.
As the dreaded vessel of the damned, forged from chaos, droned along the eerie waves, it's black sails known by all. It's sinister planks, it's dark sails, all pointed to one thing. Salazar.
Nihilius came to a halt, as the stormy seas bashed against the underside of the ship, although even the waves were to stilled with shock over it's menacing attire to confront the warship. Salazar stood at the helm of the ship, gazing below at the wide open sea, as if expecting something. As the Spaniard embraced the coming lightning that consumed the sky, his new captain came to his side.
"Grand admiral?" asked Abril, concerned by his long absence from the deck.
"What is it lieutenant...my apologies, I meant capitan Abril" he turned.
"Captain? I thought that was a post reserved for our treacherous old friend, the one who made off with the Fury" recalled the new captain of the Nihilius.
"Indeed, he will be missed" said Salazar. "But his uses have expired. Granted, he knows as well as I do that the time of the Eternal Night is approaching- the planets and moons are beginning to align".
"Ohh, we expecting a show?" asked the eccentric Count. Moneybone, who saw it in his best interest to remain with his fellow dead...for the time being. "Or is you know who, expecting to show. I can't rhyme show with show can I?"
"If by that you are referring to Nitrix Slazar then no, not yet" said Salazar. "Only once the Moons align will his power be unleashed, Exedra's attack has left him mortally wounded and unable to continue his plans".
"And what is his plans?" asked Moneybone.
Salazar grunted and stared of into the sea again.
"You don't know do you?" realised Abril. "I mean, no mean for disrespect sir".
"This is the location known as World's End, once the planets align this gateway will open and then Slazar will have access to a gateway" he explained.
"But what is in this World's End?" asked Abril.
"Gold!?" hoped Moneybone.
"That I don't know, but what I do know is Slazar will kill his old enemy, Malefor, first before using the Destroyer to destroy Earth himself".
"Er, so why did we release that beast?"
"I assumed with Cynder under our control, Slazar would bend to my will, but apparently not. No matter, once we open World's End we will use it's secrets to control Nitrix and force him to not only kill Malefor but every dragon that dares breath".
"So we are to remain here until that night?" asked Abril, not certain this plan is a good one. "What if the Dark Lord suspects something".
Salazar snickered. "He has his eyes focused on one dragon only- Spyro. So let him, let him mingle with his enemy, but in the mean time, I fear Eon may still be alive and as I said he is the only one aside Spyro who can kill Slazar. So you two are to find and destroy him".
The northern lights shimmered like never before. The lights blazed in the silent sky. Moving in great swaying bands of colour, they would resembled the swirl of a nascent rose that had begun to open. Sometimes it was a great river, and sometimes it was great lines descending to earth.
Alec Marcus gazed through his telescope at the brilliant starry night, observing the planetary alignments, and then writing down more notes on his pad.
"It's not possible" he muttered.
"Professor?" called a voice. The Director and Lord James entered.
"More than 10 volcanoes worldwide are erupting" explained James. "And each day another planet comes into alignment with each other, no doubt a coincidence".
"Tectonic activity is responsible, these moons aligning may simply be a solar or lunar eclipse occurring" dismissed Marcus, not one for believing in superstition.
"Oh and it appears as though we can add shooting stars to our list" the Director pointed out the window where, in the midst of the night sky, an object was hurling ferociously towards the Earth, crashing with a huge explosion.
"We should go investigate, hopefully it will shed some light on the situation!" urged Marcus, secretly hoping this object is dragon.
Spyro walked into the centre of the temple, glaring at the huge stone statue of a scary looking dragon.
"Ah there you are, young dragon" greeted Ignitus, appearing from behind the statue.
"Ignitus it's good to see you again!" cheered Spyro, having not seen his mentor for a while. He wanted to stay close to Ignitus, as he was the fatherly figure towards him.
"I know I cannot replace your father, but I will try my best to be a decent substitute" grieved Ignitus, guessing his thoughts. "I see you have found your father's statue."
"He looks so evil" glared Spyro.
"That he was, overcome by the Dark Master's evil until he became his apprentice" sighed the fire dragon. "But he paid the price, as the Master abandoned him for Cynder; Gaul drowned Exedra believing him to be dead."
"But Sala...I mean he found his way to the Dead" Spyro dared not mention Salazar's name.
"Precisely, my greatest mistake, I will try not to do it again, but promise me Spyro you will not succumb to evil like your father and the Dark Master did".
"I promise" vowed Spyro.
"Good. Ah Cynder! I haven't seen you in a while, everything ok?" Ignitus noticed Cynder entering.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Ignitus" she lied. "Spyro can I talk to you about something...in private?"
"Yeah sure" Spyro went towards her.
Suddenly, agony flowed through the purple dragon as he collapsed to the floor groaning and screaming.
"Spyro!" cried Cynder.
"Spyro...Spyro what is happening!?" yelled Ignitus, running towards him.
However, a powerful, purple lightning bolt coming from the purple dragon shocked him and hurled him back with such force that a loud shake followed. His eyes turned dark, as his body followed suit.
"Spyro, what's gotten into you!?" panicked Cynder, leaning closer to help him.
But Dark Spyro wouldn't have it. Hurling his claw forward, he scratched Cynder right across her left eye, allowing the blood to drip onto his paws. Purple mist and lightning surrounded the young dragon, as it was clear that the Spyro they knew was not home.
The other guardians rushed in to Ignitus' assist.
"Spyro, calm down" urged Cyril.
"When you read him a night time story, did you tell him to become Darth Vader or something?" Terrador snarled at Volteer.
"Darth who?" he returned.
"Never mind it- I was referencing!" growled the earth dragon. He ran towards Dark Spyro, but the dark being shot more lightning at him.
In Spyro's head, the poor, helpless dragon could see nothing but the body of a dark being surrounding him. It's eyes were bright purple, it's attire spelled evil but Spyro was in too much pain to care.
"Do my bidding!" thundered the entity. "Kill Ignitus!"
It was clear now. The voice, the eyes, it was the one Salazar summoned, the one who his father died trying to kill.
"No...y-y-your dead!" yelled Spyro, collapsing from the pain yet again.
"Foolish child!" thundered Nitrix, exerting his control over him.
"Spyro may hear you but he cannot answer!" roared Dark Spyro. "As he is enduring his own torment!"
"Nitrix Slazar" gasped Terrador.
Igntius and the other three Guardians took certain positions around the room, each aiming at him, leaving Cynder confused. It was as if they had been training for this like they were ninja's or something.
"Release him at once!" ordered Ignitus.
"You cannot defeat me, follower of Eon, I have conquered this body and by my will alone, all upon your Realm will fall into chaos!" he refused. "I am the master of my fate, not Malefor. I am the master of darkness, not Malefor!"
All four dragons unleashed their elemental powers onto Dark Spyro, as Cynder covered her eyes.
Soon, Spyro was laying in the centre of the room, with his eyes closed, back to his purple self. Cynder rushed towards him, as did Sparx, who had just entered.
"Spyro wake up!" cried the dragonfly.
Spyro's weary eyes opened, but his body was shaking, and his voice was voice was full of fear.
"H-h-he was i-i-inside my h-h-head" he stammered.
"There, there, Spyro, it's all over know, we've expelled him" cooed Ignitus.
"Cynder I'm so sorry" he noticed her bleeding wound.
"It's ok Spyro, it wasn't your fault" she told him, her blood still dripping on the floor.
"Take them both to the Barracks and watch over them, attend to Cynder's wound" ordered Ignitus.
As they all left, Ignitus stared out the balcony at the sky, noticing the pinkish planet moving into position.
"It was as you said Master Eon" gasped Ignitus, his voice mirroring Spyro's fearful tone. "Nitrix Slazar is the coming darkness you warned about. Stay strong Spyro".
A blueish moon aligned with the pinkish planet, adjacent to the other moons and planets that had already done so, as the Eternal Night drew near.
Stay Strong yourself, Ignitus, for if you do not guide Spyro along the right path, he will surrender to the Coming Darkness. Salazar's forces have found World's End, now only Spyro can stop him for the safety of all dragonkind. However he will need help, in the form of a pirate.
-The Chronicler.
A little side-note: Some parts of this story is influenced by the Transformers Prime episode "One Shall Fall", I felt it's dark tone matched the one I was trying to create in this conclusion the the Salazar duology. It's amazing how shows/movies/games are able to influence stories. I would definitely recommend watching that episode, it's really epic, it feels like the Legend Of Spyro, it even has the main villain coming out from a Volcano.