i finally got round to finishing this chap... i think that holidays would give u more time but it all disapears so fast... anyways, hope you enjoy this chap.
With his pistol back in his holster Jade carefully picked up the dragon, it was beginning to wake and struggled in his grip, but not enough for Jade to drop him. The dragoness was waiting impatiently for Jade to catch up to her. She bit down on her lips to suppress the pain of her broken wing, her tears mixing with the sweat on her face.
When Jade finally caught up to her she stole a glance at the dragon, his was face coated with a thin layer of dirt stuck to his face by his blood. His expression twisted with pain, and although she couldn't see the gashes on him, she could she the blood soaking Jade. She didn't feel sick though, in fact she didn't feel anything.
Jade noticed the tears amongst her sweaty face immediately. He sighed deeply as he passed the thought of her tears out of his mind. 'If she doesn't want to let me know, that's her choice...' Jade felt the dragon twitch its wings, which where draped down his back, but he didn't notice the dragon's talons tighten on his jacket.
Jade motioned for the dragoness to go down through the hole, she grunted slightly as she started making her way along the rough rock hole. The light on the other side wasn't really bright but compared to the light they were in it was near blinding.
So after trudging through the two metre or so thick hole they appeared on the far side of the wall. The dragoness walked out first and was immediately confronted by the three guardians posed defensively around the mouth of the tunnel. She froze upon seeing them, Jade's eyes however didn't adjust to the light quick enough so when he came out he tripped on the dragonesses tail and fell face first onto the ground. He took most of the fall for the dragon on his back though, cracking a few of his own ribs in the process.
Jade rolled his head to the side to face the dragoness. She was looking between him and guardians, trying to decide who was scary. Jade was tempted to glare at her but couldn't bring himself to.
There was a long moment in which no-one moved, no-one spoke and no-one breathed. They could all see the blood on two dragons, and the dragonesses limp wing.
The yellow guardian was the first to move, he was above Jade in just a barely a second. He gently bit down on the dragon's neck and lifted it off of Jade. The blue dragon appeared above the dragoness and repeated the process. The two dragons were carried to Meadow and the healers as dragons eagerly watched to see if they survived. Jade never got a chance to see the dragons get that far, his view was blocked by the green guardian as it towered above him. Jade sensed that he was in for some kind of lecture so he picked himself up and faced the green dragon. It's green eyes looked over his blood soaked clothes, his blood nose and his bleeding arm.
They both stood in silence for what felt like an eternity. Jade's breathing was slightly hoarse due to his broken ribs but he still managed to stand up straight. The dragon seemed come to a conclusion and gestured for Jade to follow. Jade got so far as taking two steps before his world he collapsed back to the ground. The dragon spun around expecting a fight. Jade could feel himself slipping away, he knew what came next. Darkness.
Jade came too almost as soon as he had blacked out. Only, now he wasn't in the tunnel, he was in a clearing, trees lined the edges and an ancient temple sat in the farthest corner. As his eyes cracked opened his hand instinctively reached for his pistol. As soon as he felt the empty holster all the noises of the forest suddenly became clearer. The rustle of the leaves, the groaning of the trees and the scuttling of small creatures in the under growth, all became as loud as his heart beating inside his head. He didn't move for nearly five full minutes before slowly rising to his feet.
Standing, Jade could feel the chilling breeze that wafted through the forest. But more importantly, he could see the ruins of what might have once been a grand temple resting on the opposite side of the clearing. The crumbling sandstone couldn't have looked more out of place in the lush forest.
Jade stood and admired the temple for a moment, "Where the hell am I now?" He asked the air. After a moment of silence a voice replied, "Deep inside the western forest little one." Jade jumped so much ended up tripping over himself in his fright, landing heavily on his back, but facing the source of the voice.
A pale blue dragon wearing a gold pack filled with ancient scrolls stood proudly above Jade, a huge glowing blue gem hung across it's neck on a gold chain. It towered three and a bit metres above Jade and its wings were torn on their edges. Its eyes seemed to shine understanding and caring as they stared into Jade's mind.
After a moment of silence the dragon spoke again, "Hello Jade, my name is the Chronicler." Jade simply blinked stupidly in response. Expecting some sort of reply, the Chronicler waited, after another moment of silence he continued with a slight chuckle in its voice. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to bite."
"Ok... Chronicler..." Jade froze before he asked about the dragon's name, instead he asked, "Would you happen to be able to explain what happened to me?"
"Ah, now that is an excellent question, but it must wait for another time."
Jade narrowed his eyes before getting back onto his feet, he was about to speak but the Chronicler interrupted him. "Now as for your training..."
"Wait, what training?"
"Why yes, how else to you think you can learn to master your ability?"
"What ability?"
The Chronicler smiled slightly at Jade before continuing, "You little one, control the element ice, a powerful element but not unfortunately in my field of expertise. Cyril will have to teach you, but I shall teach you another, equally important part of your ability." As the Chronicler paused for the briefest of moments, Jade interrupted, "What ability?!"
"Well, the power of shape shifting of course."
Jade was left speechless by his words. Even though knew the words couldn't be true, there was part of his mind that believed what he was saying. The Chronicler saw his disbelief and even saw the flecks of doubt that lingered in his eyes. As he looked into Jade's eyes he realised that he would need some convincing of his ability. Slowly he raised his paw up to Jade's chest, placing the tip of his talon onto Jade's chest. For a long moment nothing happened, and Jade started to wonder what exactly was supposed to happen. The next thing he knew, pain was tearing through his body and he was collapsing onto the ground, unable to control his own body.
Jade's skin felt line it was been burned off, his bones felt like they were been stretched and distorted, and his insides felt like were been scrambled. The Chronicler took a step backward as Jade's skin rapidly sprouted pale blue scales, his jacket suddenly burst as a pair of midnight blue wing erupted from his back. A long tail with a dark blue blade on it tip was soon to follow and his pants were torn to shreds by his growing legs. Dark blue, plate like scales slowly emerged on his chest and belly, contrasting vividly against his pale blue hide. A short snout slowly formed from his mouth and two dark blue horns burst from the back of his skull, all the while his neck continued to stretch out, small spines sprouting down his back. He was just over two and half metres long and would be a meter and a half tall. This all took just less then a few seconds, but he continued to wither and twist in pain for another minute as his insides settled.
As the pain slowly start to subside, Jade tried to rise onto his feet. He barely took on half his weight before he collapsed back onto the pile of rags that were once his clothes. His heavy breathing creating a frost on the grass by his face, The Chronicler noted this as a good sign of his health and let out the breath he had been holding. After a moment of listening to Jade's heavy breathing The Chronicler spoke. "I should have mentioned it might be extremely painful..."
Jade managed to cough a slight laugh, but words were still beyond him, although there were a few he would have loved to say right about now...
After nearly a full minute Jade tried to stand again, this time he was more successful, staying on his four legs for a moment before his hind legs gave out and he fell into a sitting position. He craned his neck around and he looked at his new form. His wings immediately caught his attention and he slowly stretched them out to their full length. The next thing that caught his eye was his tail as it flicked from side to side.
For a moment Jade stared at his tail, trying to get control over it. He quickly he gave up and left it to continue to flick by itself, having already had his attention drawn to his long talons. All the while a single thought was going through his mind; 'If I can't breath some kind of fire then this dream will just suck.'. He continued to look at his new form for half a minute before the Chronicler disturbed him. "Jade, I don't want to... interrupt you, but our time is running short and you had best learn to control your new body."
"By control do you mean... flying?"
"One thing at a time, and walking comes first."
Jade was slightly annoyed at the Chronicler. So he again tried to stand, managing to keep his balance on all fours he took a hesitant step forward. The Chronicler tried to hide his surprise but failed, Jade smiled broadly as he took another few steps, wobbling slightly but staying upright. The Chronicler couldn't help but admire his determination, but he quickly pushed it away.
After just over two hours Jade was clumsily flying behind the Chronicler, just barely keeping up. But the Chronicler seemed to think it was enough and he gracefully landed. Jade however, tripped on his landing and fell face first into the ground adding to the collection of bruises and cuts he had earned in the past few hours. The Chronicler couldn't help but laugh as Jade coughed out the tuffs of grass and dirt. "You will need to practise your landing, but other then that you should be fine."
"Thanks for the advice, got any more?" Jade muttered sarcastically.
"None that relates to you flying abilities but there is something else..." he voice trailed off and immediately perked up Jade's curiosity.
Before he could ask the Chronicler continued. "You can change back and forth between your dragon form, and your human form." This caught Jade off guard, and fixed the thought that this was a dream into his mind. 'Well, what shape shifter can't shift back?'
In truth he hadn't thought about been human again, but at the thought of it he suddenly longed to be back in the body he knew. "Ok then... how do I, change?"
"Well now that you have changed once it is fairly simple, you just need to concentrate on been human again."
"Is that all?"
The Chronicler paused to think for a moment before answering simply, "Yes."
"Will it be as painful as before?" the suspicion was clear in Jade's voice and the Chronicler gave a guilty look. "I don't believe so." Jade thought about his words for a moment before thinking about his human form. Almost instantly his body changed back. There was no extreme pain, only a weird tingling sensation throughout his body which lasted only a few seconds. 'Well that wasn't too bad...' It was then that a cold breeze blew across his naked body.
The Chronicler diverted his gaze and Jade tried to cover himself up as best he could. Before he could say anything the Chronicler spoke. "Well our time together has come to an end. But before you go I'm going to need you to tell Cyril that Spyro and Cynder are in Warfang and are in need of help."
Jade cocked his head to the side as he thought, but again, before he could speak the Chronicler continued. "Oh, before you do anything rash, this is not a dream." Jade barely heard the words as he fell to the ground and disappeared with a dull flash. The Chronicler paused for a moment before looking up at the two moons in the sky. 'I certainly hope the ancestors are right about this...'
Terrador heard the dull thump behind him and immediately spun around expecting an attack. He noticed Jade slumped on the ground, unconscious or dead he wasn't sure. For a long moment he listened to the earth, and apart from the shuffling of the dragons behind him it was silent. He lowered his guard slightly but still waited a few moments before moving towards Jade.
He slowly reached down and bit down on the back of Jade's jacket. The blood soaked jacket left a bitter taste in his mouth but held down the disgust and forced himself to lift Jade off the rocky ground and back to the others. He muttered a few curses through his clenched teeth and hoped that no-one saw him carrying Jade this way.
Meadow was kneeling beside the smaller of the two dragons, he had been given her to heal by himself. Mainly because he wasn't as skilled in healing then the other healers and although her injuries were severe, her companion's were far worse. Meadow sighed deeply as he looked back down at the dragoness. She couldn't have been more the seven years old but her body was already covered in scars. The gash on her chest would soon add that collection but it would be far from the largest.
She seemed to notice his gaze and rolled her head to face him. Meadow instantly saw the tears she was holding in her eyes. He opened his mouth to ask how she was, but thought better of it and instead asked her, her name. She paused a moment as if she had forgotten it before answering simply, "Amina."
"Amina?" Meadow repeated, "That's a beautiful name."
Amina would have blushed but her body lacked the strength, she did however manage to muster a slight smile. Meadow gently placed his paws on her muzzle and set her head back on the ground.
"Amina, I'm going to heal your wounds now, but you need to stay still. Can you do that?"
She replied by nodding her head slightly. Meadow paused a moment before moving his paws down to the open wound on her chest. She winced at the contact but held her tongue. A moment later and a warm tingling sensation ran through her body. Amina couldn't feel her wounds closing but she knew that they were. Meadow could feel the rapid drop in his energy as he healed her, he knew his limits well and this was border lining them. After just half a minute Meadow finished, his paws still had traces of Amina's blood but the wound itself had healed over, leaving a barely noticeable scar. He slowly moved his paws up to her broken wing, as gently as he could Meadow popped the bone back into place. Amina tensed from the pain but it was quickly washed away as the bone melded back together. After another minute, Meadow finished healing her.
Amina felt the tingling sensation leave and slowly rolled her head to look at Meadow. He was breathing heavily and his red fur was coated in sweat. She managed to find the energy to thank him politely. Meadow smiled softly before gently lifting her to her feet. She wobbled on her feet but quickly a customised to supporting herself.
"Come, lets go find your parents." Meadow said with a grin.
Amina couldn't stop the sorrow passing across her face but quickly buried it down inside her. Meadow didn't notice and he lead her to the crowd of dragons without another thought.
The other two healers desperately tried to heal the other dragon's wounds but it was a losing battle. They fought ten minutes before they lost the dragon. Terrador looked down sadly at the unmoving body of the dragon, its wounds had been healed over but it had lost too much blood to survive. He shook his head to clear his mind before turning back to the gate.
Terrador knew that it was nearly ten feet thick which was why he hadn't tried to knock it down in the first place. Instead he had gotten several of the younger dragons to see if they could fix the gate from the other side. He pounded the ground with his paw, 'What a stupid call that was! You should have felt the orcs on the other side and just broke through the gate!'
Volteer came up beside him and seeing the shame on his face, knew he what he was doing. "It is not you fault Terrador." Volteer scowled. Terrador looked up at his fellow guardian, he knew better then to try to argue with Volteer, but still he couldn't accept his words. After a moment Volteer repeated himself, his voice sterner this time. Terrador puffed out a cloud of dust and stomped to the gate. He didn't bother with the mechanism that opened it, having tried that so many times he had lost count.
Volteer shook his head sadly before turning back to the dead dragon. It would need to be carried back to Warfang and he wasn't looking forward to carrying it. He noticed Jade unconscious on the ground and stole a glance back at Terrador. He mind quickly thought up a hundred ways and reason Terrador would try to kill Jade. But he quickly pushed the thoughts away.
Terrador rose up onto his hind legs and slammed his paws into the gate. He sensed the strength of the rock, but quickly started looking for weak point in it. After just a moment he found one, he made a mental note of it and continued looking. When he had found another six he concentrated his energy. He felt his rage bubbling inside his heart and suddenly threw it into the gate. The weak points immediately joined together, cracking the rock between them into rumble. Terrador let his rage power him as he pushed all the boulders to the far side of the gate, revealing a huge hole about four meters high and seven meters across.
All of the dragons sat open mouthed at the display of strength, staring between the hole and Terrador himself. Even Volteer and Cyril were surprised by his display of power.
Terrador spun around and stomped back to the others. "Cyril you will carry," he paused a moment as he tried to remember the name, "Jade, to Warfang. Volteer, you will assist the dragons with moving the young." Both guardians nodded in agreement but Volteer seemed slightly puzzled. Terrador didn't notice it and pushed past them and addressed the collection of dragons behind them. "Attention! We are continuing on out way to Warfang, if you need assistance talk to my fellow guardians or myself. So let's get going!"
There were a few murmurs amongst the crowd but they all quickly prepared to go. Many of the younger dragons were carried by their parents, but most walked by themselves. Terrador slowly came over to the dead dragon. Noah... He had been the only orphan in the group, but he still had an amazing spirit. He let out an exasperated sigh before picking up the body in his jaws. Volteer noticed the sadness on his face from several meters away but couldn't comfort him now.
Cyril bit down on Jade's jacket and hefted him up. Meadow had volunteered to carry Jade's pack and rifle freeing Cyril from any un-necessary weight. Still Jade's weight was easily handled. He looked down the tunnel and could just make out the faintest speck of light in the distance. He sighed to himself before joining in the crowd of dragons as they slowly moved along. It was going to be a long few hours.
yes i finally named the dragoness! and i am still in the tunnel... -_-
i must get out of this damned tunnel soon or i'll go insane... (like im not already but still)
