"Your training will begin now, my apprentice. Before we can begin actually improving your power, we need to find the elements you control. If my theory is correct, you already control Time and Convexity, which we will work on in separate pairs. The remaining four elements will only come under certain conditions." Malefor announced to Ezio. The two had taken a boat for about fifteen minutes to a deserted island in the middle of the sea just off of Malefor's throne room. The Island looked to be artificial, as it had no trees, just sand. It was still early in the morning, as they had begun early this time, so Malefor could show Ezio where the island was. It was warm, and quiet as the waves lapped softly against the beach. Ezio realized that the island was about the size of a football field.
"OK so how'r we going to find out what elements I control?" Ezio asked.
"Your elements will be most apparent under the most extreme circumstances. Therefore, the best way is combat. Don't expect me to go easy, young one." Malefor said, crouching. Ezio had just enough time to register what Malefor was doing before the massive dragon leapt towards him with incredible speed. Ezio side stepped, and then pushed to his right, sending the dark master into a spiral. Malefor's tail however caught Ezio upside the head, and knocked the smaller dragon off his feet. Ezio had just gotten up when Malefor slammed into him, and brought his claw up to end his life. Ezio felt a great surge of strength, and felt something boil in his throat before erupting from his mouth. The beam of light struck Malefor clean in the jaw, going straight past the dragons convexity shield. Malefor promptly jumped off.
"That was FAST! Cynder didn't discover any of her powers for a couple of days. Right, element one was evidently light. I should have figured on that one, considering your closeness to that runt of a dragoness." Ezio snarled at his words, but Malefor wasn't paying attention, "That makes things easy, I know control of light. Right, see if you can replicate that Ezio. Light is a tricky element, as it has no physical feel. Therefore, in an elemental state, it flows from you, like water from a spout."
They continued working on through the morning, all the way up to noon, at which point the two took the same boat back to the mainland, where Ezio was dining with the shadow dragons, and Malefor had his private meal in his throne room. This was the part of the day Ezio had really been dreading. When he got to the dining pavilion, he found a quiet secluded spot in the corner, heaving a large plate of fresh lamb strips with him, as well as a bowl of fruit. The food here he had found was always delicious, and he could eat as much as he wanted without worrying about looking greedy. After a while of munching quietly and thinking of new ways to use his light element, he was aware of someone standing over him. He looked up to find the darkest dragon he had ever seen, whom was somewhat small, surrounded by four males, all of whom towered over him, approaching Malefor's height.
"Well boys, look whom we have here. The bastard dragon from beyond the portal." The dragon said smiling. Ezio eyed all five of them, weighing his odds of victory already. In a very quiet voice, so only the leader and his cronies could hear, he addressed the leader.
"Piss off."
There was a subtle hiss from the body guards.
"Manners, newb. Tell me how life is when you're spoiled, I want to know." The dragon said smiling.
"Manners? I don't even know who you are. So you and the rest of your friends should go and play with your dicks like good bastards, why don't you?" Ezio said softly, rolling his shoulders.
"Hmmm, your right. Ezio, my name is Blake, and I am the strongest shadow dragon here, next to Smaug and the Dark Lord. You would be wise to watch your step." Blake gestured to the other four, "And these are Ciar, Colby, Lonan, and Smith. However, I think that if you were taught some manners, we could have a very powerful friendship. What say you?"
"Do your mom a favor and go drown yourself." Ezio said returning to his food. The next thing that happened was so fast, that Ezio found himself on the floor, panting, with Blake right next to him doing the same, next instant, Blake had leapt to his feet and shot a cloud of shadow at Ezio. The purple dragon had no choice, he countered with his new-found element, and the two collided in midair. Ezio found himself growing weaker and weaker as the opponents pressed each other, trying to force each other to back down. Blake saw Ezio was losing power, and with one massive push, dissipated Ezio's beam of light. Ezio dived to the side, getting burnt quite a bit as Blake's shadow fire scraped his back. Blake hadn't been joking, he was good. By now all the dragons in the arena were watching the fight, cat-calling to Ezio, and cheering Blake on. Finally, Ezio had had enough.
Time to see if I can fly.
Ezio jumped up, vaulting way over Blake's head, and spreading his wings. He felt the membranes fill with air, and flapped hard. The resulting friction drove him upwards several yards, and Ezio smiled as the wind whipped through his hair. He pushed his wings down and back, and felt his navel jerk backwards as he accelerated. He didn't know how, but instinct told him his current speed and altitude, as well as his direction. He rocketed past one hundred, then two hundred, never breaking a sweat. Performing a barrel roll, Ezio screamed his delight. On Nova's back, flying had been a terror, but this he could endure. Forget endure, he could love this. He wondered why humans didn't simply sprout wings and fly everywhere. He pulled a sharp tight immelman and saw Blake rushing his way.
"Alright prick; let's see what you can do." The two rushed at each other, and Ezio pushed himself to the limit, being rewarded with a large bang that took his breath away. And then he got inspiration from one of Nova's tricks. Holding his element in, he rushed at Blake at supersonic velocities, and just as the two reached each other, Ezio used his element to push himself into superluminous territory. He grabbed Blake as he passed. Blake went to grab him too, but missed, because of the sudden change in Ezio's velocity. Ezio broke the light barrier, and then used his element to stop abruptly, sending Blake out of his grip, and soaring way into the sky. He turned back towards the ground, and saw several awestruck faces looking up at him as he blocked out the sun.
"Does anyone else want to jump me while I'm eating? Or can I live in peace now?" Ezio heard several dragons cheering, and turned back around to find a black streak hurtling back towards the ground, straight at him. Ezio went to roll out of the way, but found that the mass changed direction just as fast as he did. Suddenly, a second black mass shot up from below. The two dragons reformed, and one of the shadow dragons grabbed the other by the back, and used it's inertia to hurtle Blake back around, sending him wheeling wildly up into the sky. When he recovered, Blake stared angrily down at the dragon.
"Kali! You bitch! Get out of my way!" Blake shouted.
"Enough! Blake, do you want me to report you to Malefor? Because I will you know!" Ezio could tell by the voice that it was a female.
"You dare speak his name!" Blake shouted.
"I dare, because unlike you, I am not afraid of him! Week minded fool!" Kali added to the end, "Now get back to your meal, and so help me if I find you attacking anyone else without cause, I will put you down myself, consequences be damned!"
Blake looked as if he were going to attack her, but when he saw the charged light beam Ezio had been preparing, he thought better of it. Instead, he turned back towards the ground and landed among his cronies. Smaug, whom had been watching off to the side, slinked away, probably to tell Malefor what had just happened. Kali followed Ezio back to the ground, whom landed at his table, only to find all his food gone.
"Why does my life have to be so horrible?" Ezio asked himself quietly.
"Are you alright? He looked like he got you pretty good." Kali said, approaching him and stroking his burnt back. Ezio snarled at her.
"I don't need your help!" Ezio nearly shouted. Several dragons turned eyes to him but he ignored them. Kali gasped under his gaze, and Ezio even saw a bit of fear in her eyes before he realized what he was doing. He backed down suddenly, his expression going soft, "I'm sorry. I guess that having been transformed by dark magic and being held against my will in the enemy's camp will turn you into a monster after a while."
"Come on, you can share my food." Kali said, gesturing with her head. The two walked out of the pavilion, and about a minute later, came to stop in a small copse of trees with an incredible view of the sea.
"Wow!" Ezio said, his mouth hanging open slightly.
"Like it? I found it my second week after coming here." Kali said, lying down to a large plate of food. Ezio sat down across from her, and they began to chew quietly.
"Wait, you mean that you weren't born here?" Ezio asked.
"Nope, I'm a native of the new planet earth. For about two hundred years now, I've been serving Malefor and the dark forces. If anyone knows what you're going through, I do. It's one thing to be a purple dragon in the shadow forces though. It's another thing entirely to be a shadow dragon. Before now I was an air dragon, and a thumping good one too, if I say so myself. I was a freelancer, working for the three dragon cities." Kali said, picking up a large leg of pork, and chowing down with reckless abandon. She ate as though she were ravenous.
"I'm sure you've heard how many shadow force lieutenants I've killed." Ezio said.
"Oh yeah. Better believe that. The camp is abuzz with news about you. What's your tally?" Ezio didn't like him being measured upon how good he was in combat.
"I've killed at least ten." Ezio said, "Probably more."
"So you're damn good at combat then. I know some of the dragons you killed. You killed some of my friends even." Kali said, glancing at him from behind an apple.
"I apolo –"
"Don't. Many people blame you for the things you did, but I don't, and you'll find many of the actual shadow forces don't either. You were doing the exact same thing we were doing, protecting your own hide. Kind of as if it's difficult to say I killed many of your friends. I was the one whom struck the ending blow on that audio dragon." Kali said. Ezio's eyes grew wide.
"You were the one whom killed Decibel!" Ezio nearly shouted. He had underestimated this dragoness.
"Yeah, but don't expect me to apologize about it, cause I won't, and neither should you. You realize that at some point, you're going to be going into battle with us, and you'll most likely kill many of your friends." Kali said.
"I should hope not." Ezio replied quietly.
"You don't really have a choice. When does Malefor want you back for training?" Kali said.
"In about thirty minutes, why?" Kali smiled.
"How would you like to see the rest of the camp? Despite the fact that it's swarming with 'Enemies' you'll probably want to know the layout, and there are some things in here that you'll probably want to get your hands on, like a suit of armor." Kali said.
"Now?" Ezio asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Na, not now, tonight, after your training." Kali replied, waving her paw aside.
Ezio thought about it for a second, but the advantage of knowing the enemy camp from the inside out was way too much of a temptation, he quickly agreed.
"Come on, Ezio, keep up with me!" Malefor shouted back over his shoulder. Ezio couldn't understand how Malefor weaved so easily through the rocks in their path. Malefor was teaching him flight training now, which he said he would go over every afternoon, and then after dinner, he would begin hand to hand training.
"I'm right behind you! Speed up, or I'll smack into your ass!" Despite himself being trained by his biggest foe, Ezio could say he was having fun. When Nova had said that a cluster of rocks like this could be a playground for an ace, she hadn't been kidding. G forces inertia and momentum tried to drag him every which way, but Ezio countered with them, and it seemed all the forces worked in unison, sending shivers of pleasure through his body.
"All right, you know the route! Go through it as fast as you can, and don't stop. We'll time you every time!" Ezio went through several times, and each time, he kept beating his old record, slowly gaining confidence and speed in the water canyon.
That evening, Kali and Ezio ate dinner together again, this time each with their own plates. Ezio found that the spot Kali had found had an epic view of the sunset every night. After dinner, Ezio went back to the Island to train in hand to hand with Malefor, whom Ezio could tell was holding back. Ezio quickly found that instead of having a single weapon to fight with, Ezio's entire body could be used as a weapon. His fists hardened with scales could punch through concrete, and his tail and spade was a weapon of mass destruction. His wings, which had been honed to a fine edge served as excellent dual blades. Ezio caught on quickly, and found that so long as he kept thinking ahead, his body would always find ways of being of use to him, so that he was always set up for another attack.
Finally, the first day ended, at ten o clock. Malefor didn't call for a boat; he seemed to already know that Ezio could fly. Malefor was somewhat quiet on the way back.
"So, Ezio, what do you think?" He finally said as the mainland grew into view. Ezio didn't have to ask what he meant.
"You haven't earned my trust, and you never will, but it is much different than what I originally thought." Ezio said, referring to the enemy camp.
"What were you expecting?" Malefor asked.
"Something along Cynder's old place." Ezio replied, thinking back to Cynder's fortress.
"Why depress your troops? Besides, Europa is a much better location strategically. Unless they knew the exact position of the moon and the base, they could never reach here. And they don't even know where here is, do they?" Malefor asked. Ezio was able to remain silent though, the magic didn't work on him. It was dark when they landed, but the camp was louder than ever. Ezio headed towards the barracks, where he was to meet Kali. She was waiting for him.
"About time! How was training?" Kali asked, smiling.
"Not bad. Got the hang of flying finally." Ezio said. Kali arched an eyebrow.
"Already?" She asked skeptically.
"Yeah, why?" Ezio asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Ezio, it took me three years to learn how to fly. And I was dragon born." Kali said.
"I – Wait, what?"
"Flying is natural for a dragon, yes, but because they do it so much. We still have to learn how to fly, and very few people can just jump off the ground and start flying, and even less can fly and fight as you did yesterday. I don't know how your doing it, but it seems like this stuff is coming naturally to you." Kali smiled then, "You haven't done this before, have you?"
"Hehe, nope, it's just it comes to me I guess." Kali shrugged, and walked on, Ezio trailing behind her. The first place she took him was the armory. Whatever Ezio had been expecting, it hadn't been this. Instead of hundreds of thousands of guns, it was all research. The thing Ezio was most interested in was the laser systems they were developing. It was handheld, about the size of a rifle. However, when the thing was shot, it produced a beam so hot it cut through solid steel. Ezio would shudder to think what would happen if those were fielded against his friends.
"How many troops are in the shadow forces overall?" Ezio asked curiously, as they left the armory.
"You don't want to know the answer to that, Ezio." Kali replied quietly. Ezio very much did, but he could tell that just by the size of the camp that there were far more than the allied forces. Ezio could only hope that he could find a way to escape and tell them. Kali almost seemed to know what he was thinking.
"Come on, I got something to show you." She grabbed him round the neck with her tail and ran up a trail, towards the top of the mountain in the background. Finally, both of them winded reaching the top, Ezio got a good look of where she was leading him.
"Why not just fly?" Ezio asked, drawing abreast of the dragoness.
"What? And miss all the scenery?" Kali said smiling at him. She approached the peak of the mountain, but before she reached it she made a sharp one eighty, and came to a stop in a little alcove in the shadow of the mountain. There were several orcs there.
"Do you mind?" The Orcs looked like they did mind, but they saw Ezio, and thought better of it. The rushed up towards the top of the mountain to keep an eye out still. Kali sat down, pulled on something concealed in the bushes, and out came a giant lens, which covered the entire opening between the trees that looked out across the camp.
"What in the world?" Ezio began, but Kali cut him off.
"There's only one thing that keeps me from going insane, and that's this. I come up here every night to stargaze. But there's only one thing worth seeing." She turned the glass slightly, and Earth appeared. A sudden longing for home swept over him.
"How long am I going to be here?" Ezio moaned to himself.
"It's tough, but bearable, trust me. Now I have something else to show you." She turned just as several creatures walked into the clearing. Two small Grublins, one flying and the other land based. An Orc as well as an Elite, and finally, a massive Ogre nudged his head into the clearing.
"Ezio, say hello to the members of the resistance." Kali said. She indicated everybody around her, "These people were once members of the allied forces over fifty thousand years ago. The Ogre behind you was actually the last Earth Guardian."
"Terrador?" Ezio said in almost an awed voice. He had heard much about the previous guardians and their accomplishments.
"The very same." Terrador said. His deep rich baritone rumbled deep inside Ezio's chest when he spoke.
"The others are Kane, of the Atlawas, Hunter, of the cheetah tribes… " She motioned to the Orc and Elite.
"Hunter? I fought with your sword while I was under the allied forces banner!" Ezio said, realization dawning on him.
"I hope my blade served you well?" Hunter asked. His voice was low and smooth, and seemed to send liquid copper into Ezio's ears.
"Very well, indeed." Ezio said, not believing his insane luck.
"The two Grublins are Mason, of the moles, and Mole Yare, of the Manweresmalls." Kali said, "And the wasp hovering next to your ear – "
Ezio finally noticed what was making his head buzz, he glanced over, and saw a very large wasp with a roguish smile on his face hovering next to where his ear would have been.
" – is none other than Sparx, Spyro's foster brother."
"Wait, what?" Ezio said, turning his head sharply.
"Oye! Watch it purple butt! You nearly clipped me!" Ezio was confused now.
"What would Malefor possibly want with a pipsqueak like you?" Ezio had said the wrong thing, Sparx zipped up, and began punching him into the side of the face, and despite his extremely small size, he did pack quite a punch.
"Ow! OW! Dude, enough, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Sparx! Control yourself, fight it!" Kali shouted at the tiny wasp. Sparx stopped immediately, and zoomed up to hover next to Kali's head.
"Sorry, but u know, fifty thousand years under an insane madman's control kind of changes you. Not even you know what that's like Kali, only the few of us who're left! Pipsqueak indeed." Sparx ranted on and on.
"Sorry Sparx, I don't mean to insult, it kinda came out. Remember, you might have been here for fifty thousand years, but I have to deal with the bastard directly." Ezio said, rubbing the side of his head.
"Yeah, sorry about my reaction to, I'm kinda pissed that I'm forced to spy on my own brother." Sparx said grumpily.
"Ezio, we are here for support, but despite how much we want to, we cannot disobey Malefor directly, but there are alternatives to fighting. These next few months are also likely to be very difficult for everyone, especially you."
"Why's that?" Ezio asked, looking around.
"We have a plan to escape Malefor's grasp and return to the allied forces, but until now, we have had no way of putting that plan into action." Hunter said quietly.
"Why?"
"Ezio, because of you. We need a purple dragon to complete the plan." Kali said.
"Wait, why?" Ezio asked, now completely confused.
"Ezio, how did Jeeves escape Malefor's control?" Terrador asked from behind him.
"He went through a time of great strife, when the world was destroyed. Eventually, he found the strength to break Malefor's hold." Ezio said, "Why do you bring this up?"
"Because now we finally have the power to destroy this planet." Terrador replied simply.
"By Thunder!" Thunder said, "Concurrent Skies!"
"What now?" Blaze asked, staring at awe at the floating Islands sprawled before them.
"Blaze, Concurrent Skies was Nova's home before the planet was destroyed." Spyro said quietly, "I'm glad she finally showed some emotion. I don't think she was expecting that. I certainly wasn't."
"Why here though? It seems so exposed above the clouds." Eclipse said at Thunders side.
"It seems like it, but no dragon could fly up this high, were at about fifteen thousand feet, that's about three miles. The air isn't thick enough up here to support us, we would stall." Spyro explained.
"Unless you have a durable aircraft with a lot of power behind it, and short landing capabilities then you won't be able to land here." Spyro commented, looking around, "Come on, we need to greet Goliath, New Ascari's leader."
The group retreated to the flight deck, which was no deserted, since none of the dragons could fly.
"Who is it then that Nova, Beam, and Photon could fly?" Quake asked.
"They probably used their powers to keep them aloft. A slight nudge with their light in an upwards direction would mean they could fly." Cynder explained. The craft was slowing down and descending towards the area. Quite suddenly, the air thickened and grew much warmer, and Spyro looked around, smiling.
"Wind generators? Genius. It means they can fly throughout he settlement without worry." As they breached the perimeter, many dragonish creatures flew out to meet them, taking up escort positions on the crafts flank. Spyro saw, as they grew closer that the dragons had no front legs, but rather had wings with appendages attached to the fore arms for flight. Spyro also saw that they were all very large, even the females were twice his size. One particularly savage looking female, whom was quite small for her breed glided closer to the landing ramp, and alighted gently on the cold steel. She looked them all over, her eyes lingering for a fraction of a second on Blaze's huge bulk, and then addressed them all.
"Hail alpha squadron! My name is Kura, I am a Templar guard of New Ascari, I guard our establishment's fine borders. Welcome to our domain. Our leader, Goliath will be here shortly to greet you." No sooner had she finished speaking than a shadow detached itself from the largest island cluster and flew out to meet them. Spyro could tell this dragon was huge.
Goliath only flew out in front of the massive airship, and beckoned with his wing for them to follow him. Kura led the flight off the ramp, the rest of Alpha squadron following. She led them straight to a large cleared out courtyard that was easily large enough to hold the airships. A large electrical dragon approached them as they landed.
"Kura! I am to relieve your guard for the time being! What was your sector?" The dragon shouted above the roar of the approaching airships.
"Sector eighteen Static! Better haul ass, I had to leave it unguarded." She shouted back, and the electrical dragon dived off the side. Spyro noticed flight came naturally to these dragons that lived so high up. He reckoned they could even rival Nova in flight.
"Ah, Goliath! This is the guardians!" Spyro was suddenly cast into shadow, and turned to look up into an absolutely massive dragon. Spyro took an instinctive step back.
"Son of a bitch!" He heard Blaze swear under his breath.
"Hehe, no need to be alarmed young ones, I mean you no harm." The mighty dragon rumbled. Spyro registered the fact that the dragon had a deep green armor that was so dark it almost went black. The dragons eyes were however a pure startling emerald. The dragon sat back, and the sun lit up his hide so much that Spyro also registered the fact of the hundreds of scars that mark his hide, as well as the translucent stomach, that showed a beating heart, and breathing lungs through an opaque window. Spyro looked around and found that every dragon had one of these windows.
"Mighty Goliath. It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you. I am sure you have heard of our recent adventures?" Spyro addressed the massive dragon.
"I have, and I am sorry for your loss, Spyro. Ignitus was a good friend of mine, and it pains me to see him go. I can only wonder now though who will take his place as chronicler."
"I can only hope that we can find a replacement soon. Unfortunately, my people are hungry, and tired of traveling, as well as heavily battle scarred, if we could be so bold as to ask if – "
"Say no more, young one. Mi case es su casa, my home is your home. Welcome to New Ascari." He said, smiling down at them.
"You mean Concurrent Skies!" They all turned to find Nova standing there, with Beam and Photon flanking her, "That's what this place was, correct?"
"Indeed, young one. Welcome home, Nova." Goliath said his smile widening.
"I can't believe it. It's exactly as I remember it! The roman architecture and the golden plating! The huge oak trees and the massive academy and library, it's all here! And it's all right where I remember it! How could you possibly know?" She said, her mouth hanging open.
"Because we have a friend of yours here." Goliath said turning, and beckoning again with his wing.
"Who?" Nova said her mouth still agape. She followed Goliath over to a shadowy corner, Spyro following the two, while the rest of the squadron helped land and unload the airships. A light dragon with a dark golden pelt stepped forward from the shadows, and Nova stopped, and stepped backwards slightly.
"No." She whispered to herself.
"Hello, Nova." The dragon said with a small quiet smile.
"You're dead! I'm not seeing this, you're dead!" Nova said, backing up even more.
"Nova, believe me, I thought I was dead too. But I got lucky." The dragon said.
"HOW THOUGH!" Nova suddenly burst out, and the dragon winced, "AND WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME!"
The entire courtyard was watching now. The dragon paled before Nova's power as her element started to leak out of her, in her fury.
"DAMN YOU APOLLO! WHY DIDN'T YOU LET ME KNOW YOU WERE ALIVE?"
"I tried! I really did, Nova!" The dragon shouted, but breathing deeply, Nova turned on him and sat down, looking away.
"Well this explains a lot!" Nova said over her shoulder.
"Nova what is it? What's going on? Who is he?" Blaze had come up, and so had Frost, whos eyes had grown wide.
"HOLY SHIT!" She said, also stepping back, "I didn't expect that one to work. Thought you were dead. I declared you dead."
"The cryosleep you put me in was more than effective. You said they didn't have the technology to revive me when you left. You were right, but they waited until I did. I was found in the wreckage of concurrent skies, over twenty thousand years ago. The Ice casing you put me in protected me from planets destruction. About Ten years ago, they finally found something to revive me, and it worked. The residents of New Ascari where able to patch my spine back together, and then revive me." Te dragon said this all very fast, so to get it out.
"Then when you found out we were on the planet, we finally appeared, why didn't you tell me you were alive? Do you have any idea of the pain I went through, thinking my entire world was dead? And Frost, why didn't you tell me what you did?" Nova turned on the Ice dragoness.
"How should I have known he was important to you? I found one of them still alive with their spine broken, and I put him into cryosleep!" She said, backing down, "I didn't even think he would make it!"
"Nova, who is he?" Blaze asked, curiously.
"He is Apollo, my life mate."