Chapter Four: Pulse

The sun beat down on everyone in the amphitheater as they all waited in anticipation for the Guardians. Cynder, Malefore, Stealth Elf, and Jet-Vac were all sitting in the specially reserved seats at the front of the amphitheater's many rows. They were waiting for the main reason for the festival's existence… the Guardians themselves.

The event would be a showcase of each Guardians' mastery of their element. Which would be followed by a memorial to the Guardians. The Guardians that had served during the time of Spyro and were renowned, not only for their control of their elements but for their efforts in helping to build Skylands up to what it is today.

This year, however, was special. Early in the year the Guardians announced that they would be starting a process of selecting a new Fire Guardian, the first one since Ignitus, and would be announcing them at the festival. Cynder thought that was good and all but…. She didn't particularly like the Ice Guardian, Icicle.

Who just happened to be the Guardian with the most pride. So, they were constantly at odds, making just dealing with the Guardians as a whole painful. However, she wasn't here for them. She was here for Flame.

And for Flame alone.

They started the event with the banging of a gong and Cynder turned her attention from her thoughts to the stage. From behind the red curtain the three current Guardians walked out onto the stage. After waiting for the applause from the crowd to stop their applause, the Earth Guardian Terra began to speak.

"It is with a great honor that I, and the rest of my fellow Guardians, are able to have our festival here at Skylander Academy!" The dragoness began, she seemed to be scanning the crowd for something… or someone. Her eyes locked on to Cynder as she said the next words, "And before we start. I just wanted to thank Cynder and the rest of the Skylanders for hosting us!" Cheers erupted from the crowd at the end of the announcement, "Now let the celebration BEGIN!" Fire shot up from behind the Guardians and Cynder was pretty sure there was a smug look on the Earth Guardian as the fire erupted around her.

"I really wish Flame wasn't the new Guardian." Cynder growled.

"What? Why?" Elf said as the other two shot pointed looks.

"Because if he wasn't I wouldn't have to be here and deal with Icicle." She ground out, sensing her frustration everyone looked away as quickly as possible. They all knew that is was a bad idea to interrogate her when she was in a mood like this.

The Guardians all did their displays, Cynder rolled her eyes at all of them except for Terra's; her's was mildly interesting. Finally, after what seemed like hours of Icicle showing off, it was time for the new Fire Guardian.

The theatre became so silent that you could hear a pin drop on the other side. The anticipation grew as the gong rang three times. One for each current Guardian. Then it bag for a fourth time and on the fourth bang a torrent of fire erupted from the center of the stage. It whirled around like a tornado; sending embers everywhere.

The fire-nado dissipated leaving a cocky looking Flame standing where it once stood-whirled? He flashed the audience a cocky grin before turning to Terra. Terra had a look made of stern iron on as she approached the young dragon. The energy of the whole theatre seem to drain as she started to speak.

"Do you, Flame the Fire Dragon, accept the position of Fire Guardian?"

"Yes."

"Do you, Flame, promise to protect those who cannot protect themselves?"

"Yes."

"Do you, Flame, promise to be the Fire of light and hope wherever and whenever darkness comes?"

"Yes."

"Do you, Flame, promise to be fair and just no matter who or what is placed in front of you?"

"Yes."

"Do you, Flame, promise to protect Skylands until you breathe your last breath, until you burn your last fire, until your final embers of hope and life burn out?"

"Yes."

"Do you, Flame accept the role of Fire Guardian and the responsibilities that come with it?"

"Yes."

Now she turned to the other Guardians.

"Do we, the Guardians approve of this dragon becoming the next Guardian of Fire?"

"Yes." The other Guardians all said in perfect unison.

She then turned back to Flame.

"Rise, Flame Guardian of Fire."

The crowd roared with approval and the three Skylanders next to Cynder followed suit. And Cynder? She leaned back against the wall of the amphitheater and smiled.

She had never been prouder.

The door, much to Durin's surprise, was made of iron. Not steel. Not wood.

But iron.

How odd and yet in only solidified his belief; this was Vampris's home. He stopped running just as he almost collided with the door. He lifted his hand up to knock on the door.

How would she react to him?

Would she hate him?

Would she yell at him?

Would she accept him?

He shook his head, desperately trying to clear his head of those thoughts. Of course she would; it was Vampris. Accepting people was the only non-fighting thing she really… well, did.

He knocked on the door three times, waited, and then knocked twice. There was no answer as the rain continued to pour, he hadn't even realised when it had really started to pick up but now that he had, he wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of it and inside some place warm.

His heart ached for his comfy chair and warm dwelling in (what was now) the floating Valley of Saf. Or better yet, he thought to himself, Erebor…. Actually, now that I think about Warfang was a lot more cozy. Warm? No. Cozy? Yep.

"Too bad it's just long forgotten ruins," He sighed, his mind wandering to the state of the city-actually, it wasn't in ruins-It was just abandoned and had slowly been following apart since then.

Yeah, He cringed, that made it sound a lot worse than it actually was.

Just then thee door creaked open and a small yellow head poked out. "Who are you?" The hatchling asked with narrow eyes.

Wait.

...

Hatchling?

He realised he was staring and smile as he lowered his head down to her eye level. "My name's Durin. Wha-" He was cut by the dragon.

"Holy Spyros!" He hid his flinch pretty well, if he does say so himself. "You're the Durin? The author of the Erebor series? I am a huge fan-oh ancestors, you get that a lot don't you?" The little dragon was certainly… energetic. Yes, that was a kind word for it.

Despite how often this happened, he chuckled at her enthusiasm. There was something...there was just something about it that made it feel deserved. She acted like she was talking to celebrity but at the same time like that celebrity was still a normal dragon.

Energetic wasn't the right word - refreshing was.

"Yes, it is I, the mighty Durin!" He said with a mighty voice, rearing his head up and holding one hand out, now it was her turn to laugh. He chuckled along too - it was pretty silly. As the laughter died off he turned to a more serious matter. "May I come in? I'm here to see your mother." His heart started to berate him once he saw the dragonet's posture slump and a tear fall down her cheek.

He gently rose his paw up to her cheek and nimbly wiped the tear away. Her eyes raised back up to his. "What's your name?'

"N-Nova."

"What a beautiful name. Did you know your mother wanted that name?" The dragonet's eyes widen. "Yes, she did. But you listen to me now, she'll be fine. She's a very tough dragon."

"Tougher than Spyro?" she whimpered.

"Of course she is. Why wouldn't she be?"

"Be-because she's not a purple dragon."

"Listen to me. Being a Purple dragon doesn't mean you tougher than everyone else. Do you know of the Chronicler?" He was trying comfort her to the best of his very rusty ability.

"Mommy says he's a meddling old dragon who's lazier than anyone else." She whimpered.

He chuckled at that. "Yes, he is definitely meddling but I wouldn't say lazy. The thing is I met him and he showed me a way to talk to Spyro. You want to know what I learned?"

Nova gasped and nodded her head. "I learned that day that being a Purple Dragon (and I quote) 'It's a whole lot responsibility with basically no reward." He also said that the only thing that made him stand out was his scales and his elements. Anyone could have done what he did; he just did it first." This time he made a show about making sure nobody was listening before leaning in and whispering, "He absolutely loves chocolate. I gave him a piece and he was so happy with me he actually gave me a full and detailed account of his story."

"So is that way your story seems more real than the church's. Because it's real?"

"Yep. Now, let's go see your mother and maybe I'll try and sneak you chocolate and into my next story." Her eyes lit up when he mentioned chocolate and practically glowed at the latter.

He inwardly cheered. No daughter of Vampris would ever say no to, or go without, chocolate. Not on his watch and certainly not on her's.

His semi-jolly mood was completely ruined when he laid eyes upon Vampris.

She was bigger than he remembered and a hell of a lot more sick looking too. Her vibrant yellow was replaced by a sickly, faded yellow. He was too busy staring that he didn't hear Nova mutter 'I'll leave you two alone," before she walked out of the room.

He stood there as if frozen in time, "You know," Vampris said "It's rude to stare." A eyelid opened lazily before closing again. "Grey's a bad look on you."

"I-I-Who is she?" He decided.

"My daughter, who else?" Vampris grunted.

"I dunno. A cousin? a caretaker?" He said as he approached her.

She turned her head towards him and opened both eyes. "It seems our age is catching up to us." She lifted a wing up and he nimbly laid down under it.

"I'm only twenty. You are - what - A thousand?" He coughed as he rested his head on his paws.

"That's not what I meant. Besides, I look good for a thousand year old."

"And for a dying person I'm sure," She nodded to that, "What happened?"

"Cancer."

"Oh."

It was silent for awhile. "What was your favor you wanted?"

"When I die, they - the authorities - are going to put Nova in an orphanage."

"There has to be something you can do to prevent that!"

"There are multiple ways. I chose the one I think she will not enjoy the most but the best one for the both of you. I chose you." She was silent and so was he; she was silently bracing herself for his refusal and thinking of ways to convince while he was thinking about Nova and whether or not she would actually enjoy life with him.

"I'll do it." He said, suddenly breaking the silence.

"Great." She said, relieved she wouldn't have to fight him one last time. "I heard there were openings at Skylander Academy." He raised a brow, "For a teacher and a student. Of course Nova's too young but they need a teacher for cartography." She emphasized the last part and he growled at it.

"You said the world needed me. What did you mean?" He switched topics and asked the question that had been bugging him ever since he read the letter.

"Ah yes, was wondering when you were going to ask about that," In truth? She really wished he hadn't brought it up. "A lead on where the Arkeanstone lays was found." Spyro's eyes widened and he was about to say something, "It was found and now (after a ton of bribery, threates, and straight up flattery) it rests on the shelf behind me." He jumped up and scanned the shelf behind her.

She rolled her eyes at his over so predictable behavior, "It's on the far left." He nodded his thanks and grabbed the neatly wrapped stone before settling into a very comfortable position between her and her wing. He slowly unwrapped the cloth around the stone.

As the last flap of cloth was pulled away the bright, white light of the stone filled the room with its wonderful glory. "Funny," Vampris coughed, "Last time I saw it I was under your wing." she chuckled. He shook his head and stood up; giving her the middle talon as he peaked his head out into the hall.

"NOVA!" He cried, "GET IN HERE!"

Only a few moments later did the dragonet rush into the room, "Yes, mist-ooh, shiny." She said as she set her eyes on the crystal. "Waiiiit," she drawled, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yep." Vampis coughed, a few drops of blood accompanied it.

Both of the dragons looked at her in concern. She waved them off with a nod of her head. "Nova, you know that when I died they were going to take to an orphanage. Right?" Nova's mood disappeared as she nodded her head. "Well, I decided that Durin here is better suited for taking care of you than some uptight, xenophobic mole."

Both dragons stared at each other before point to themselves, "ME?!" They said in unison.

"But I can't-I mean-I just-" Durin stuttered, but he soon felt horrible when he heard Nova's reaction.

"BUt-but you said we'd be forever together!" Nova cried, tears flew from her eyes as she wrapped herself around her mother's neck. "I don't want t-to go-go a-away! I don't want you to die!"

Vampris made a notion with her eyes that Durin understood as Get over here now. She's your daughter too now. He sighed as he walked over and put a paw on her shoulder. "Nova…" Vampris croaked, "I don't care how cliche it is but- but I will always be with you. Even if you can't see me." She gently stroked her daughter's head, "When I join the ancestors I will follow you everywhere you go-watching over you. Don't you dare forget that my little Supernova…" She flashed both of them a smile, "I love you… both of you…" and she faded away.

Nova wailed a cry of true, pure anguish so raw that he actually flinched just from the emotion-never mind the volume. She wrapped herself tighter around her mother's neck as she sobbed up an ocean. Durin pulled her away from her mother and wrapped her in a hig of his own. "It's going to be okay, sweetie…" Oh, how he hated lying-no matter how good he was at it.