AN: Alright the final chapter! Thanks to everyone for reading this, and make sure to review please!
Chapter Seven: The End
Spyro was running as fast as he could. His heart was beating so fast he thought it would leap out of his chest, his mind was a swirl of thoughts, all vying for attention.
"Where is he?"
"Is he okay?"
"I should have listened to him."
"Why didn't I listen?"
"I have to find him!"
"What if he's…no he isn't I must find him!"
He turned around the corner and ran down the alleyway. He was getting close, he knew it. He saw a flash of orange scales. It was him! It was Blaze! Spyro felt his heart fill with relief, he'd found him. He approached the end of the alleyway and stopped. He bent down and picked up his son. He hugged him and told him everything would be okay.
"It's all right, Blaze. Everything's gonna be okay." Something wasn't right. His son wasn't hugging him back, he didn't even say anything, he wasn't even crying. His body was so…cold.
"No." Spyro said. He looked at his son. His eyes were closed and he wasn't breathing. Spyro desperately searched for a pulse. Nothing.
"No. No." He said desperately. He began trying to revive him. Nothing.
"No!" Spyro buried his face in his hands and wept,
"Please Blaze! You can't die, you have to live you're so young! You can't leave me all alone, please! Live!" Spyro yelled the last word at the top of his lungs. He quietly sat down. He picked up his son again and began to carry him. He walked into the night. Alone…
Spyro woke up with a start, his arms covered with sweat. He sobbed as he remembered his nightmare. He breathed deeply, trying to rid himself of the haunting images. He tried thinking of other things, but every time the face of his son would pierce his thoughts. His dead son.
He still had the nightmares. They weren't as frequent as before, but they still persisted, haunting him, torturing him, taunting him, destroying him. He cupped his face into his hands and began to sob. His old and broken body heaved with his cries. He truly was alone now. His adopted parents were dead, his friends were dead…his family was dead. Everything he had ever cared about had been torn from his life, one by one. It had started with Cynder and ended with Blaze, his son.
He still vividly remembered the events of that night. He remembered coming home from work, to see that his fifteen year old son was not at home. He remembered searching frantically. He remembered finding the note in his room, left behind by his murderer.
I have him.
-?
He remembered searching the entire city for his son, he remembered the alley where he had found him. He remembered finding him dead. He remembered carrying him alone. He had taken him to a hospital. They said the cause of death was asphyxiation, he'd been murdered. He remembered the police trying to find the murderer, the man who had done this to his son. None of it mattered to Spyro though, his son was dead, and nothing could change that. Nothing.
Spyro looked at his alarm clock. It was ten-thirty. Two hours before he was supposed to see his doctor. His spinal doctor. Spyro painfully sat up and grabbed his cane. He slowly walked down the stairs into the kitchen, his joints moving slowly and painfully. He groaned as he sat down. He gazed at the tablecloth, thinking.
He remembered when he had been young, and full of youth. He remembered falling in love with Cynder, his true love. He picked up her picture. Her portrait smiled up at him, framed in silver. He smiled, he remembered the day she had gotten this picture taken. Spyro had framed it for her and had given it to her for Christmas, along with the silver locket. She of course had loved both of the presents. He remembered her amazing smile, her angelic beauty. She was a natural at being a mother, so gentle and patient. She loved do anything with her family. She had helped him and Blaze go through so much. All of this before she…
Spyro stopped himself. He shook his head and sat up. He made himself breakfast and ate it slowly. He took his medication and read the newspaper. After an hour he got up and went in his car and drove off to his doctor's office.
Spyro stepped into the hospital. He breathed in the familiar smell of it. He had worked here for so long. He had retired twenty three years ago at the age of sixty five. It seemed like only yesterday. He walked down the hall and greeted the receptionist. She looked up from her papers and smiled.
"Doctor Spyro! How nice to see you."
"You don't need to call me 'Doctor' any more Jane. I retired many years ago." Spyro replied. The receptionist smiled and said,
"I guess I'm still used to calling you that, you were my boss for at least ten years."
"Well, I'm just a patient now. I'm guessing you know why I'm here?"
"Yes, an appointment with Doctor Rose, right?" Spyro nodded. Jane looked at her papers and said, "Well you're just in time, go on, oh and don't worry about payment, Rose said she'd cover the cost." Spyro thanked Jane and began walking towards his doctor's office.
Doctor Rose was a kind woman. She was also a magnificent spinal surgeon, almost as good as Spyro had been when he was her age. Rose had been a patient of Spyro's thirty years ago. She was only five then. She had been in a terrible automobile accident, in which she had broken her back. She had been in very critical condition. Spyro and the other surgeons never thought they'd be able to save her, let alone be able to help her walk again. The surgery had been a great success, and Rose wasn't paralyzed. It had been a close call, her spinal cord had been severely damaged by her fractured vertebrae, but Spyro had been able to repair the damage without her being paralyzed.
Spyro came to the door, it read:
Doctor Rose's office
Spyro knocked on the door and stepped into the room.
Spyro stepped out of the room. He slowly hobbled out of the hospital and into his car. He drove slowly to his home, thinking the entire way. Doctor Rose had said that his back was in severe need of surgery. Spyro of course knew this, however he had refused to accept the surgery. He only had a few years left, maybe only a month, or even a day for that matter. He was a dead man walking, and didn't see the need in trying to make himself comfortable for the rest of his pitiful life.
His thoughts turned to a phone call he'd gotten earlier that morning. It had been the police commissioner. He had been the same police captain in charge fifty years ago, he was seventy now and still working. He'd told Spyro that he had urgent news.
"We've got him Spyro."
"What do you mean?"
"We've caught him Spyro, the man who killed your son."
The commissioner told Spyro that the man would stand trial next week, and that he should be there. Spyro had mixed feelings about whether to go or not. On one hand he should go to prosecute the killer. And on the other hand he saw no point in going, the experience would only remind him of his son's death. He had thought about it for awhile before he finally made up his mind to go.
Spyro pulled up in his driveway. He grabbed his cane out of the back seat, and began making his way into his house.
Spyro leaned forward in his seat. His seatbelt rubbed against his shoulder as he strained to see the courthouse. The commissioner turned to him and said,
"Don't worry Spyro, we're finally gonna give that man the justice he deserves." Spyro nodded and continued to stare at the courthouse.
"Don't worry Spyro, there's no possible way he'll be found innocent. We have all the evidence we need to lock him up for life, hopefully even give him the death penalty." The commissioner smiled, thinking that this information would cheer Spyro up.
Spyro of course didn't care what the killer got, he didn't even care what the verdict was. Spyro thought about the reason he had come. He wanted to confront this man. He wanted to tell him something, and Spyro would make sure that he heard it.
Spyro shifted in his chair. The killer sat about twenty feet away from him. It had been an hour since the end of the trial, and the jury was about declare their verdict. The killer was named Jeremy Duntham. He had dark, navy blue scales and yellow eyes. He was tall and had a muscular build, he was at least seventy, yet his body showed little, if any signs, of aging. He sat fidgeting in his seat. He looked down, he didn't have the courage to look Spyro in the eye. He had averted his gaze from Spyro throughout the entire trial, even when Spyro had stood up to tell what had happened the night he found his son killed.
The leader of the jury stood up and said,
"We the jury have deliberated and have come to our conclusion." He paused and then continued, "We the jury have found Mr. Duntham guilty of all charges." He sat down. A few minutes passed as the judge spoke with the jury. Once the verdict was confirmed true, the judge struck his gavel and said,
"Guilty of all charges."
The killer bowed his head and never said a word. He didn't struggle as the officers began to lead him away. Before they exited the room, Spyro stopped them.
"May I speak to him for a moment?" the officers nodded. They turned Jeremy around so that Spyro could speak to him face to face. The killer stared at the floor not looking Spyro in the eyes. Spyro cleared his throat, his heart pounded. He spoke,
"You've put me through quite a bit Mr. Bentham." He paused and then he spoke again, his voice choked with tears,
"You killed my son, Blaze. He was only fifteen. I don't know why you did it, but that doesn't matter. I don't care what sentence you get, for I know that you'll get what you deserve after this life."
"You've taken everything away from me. My son was a kind and loving child, I have no idea why you would kill him. I loved him and did my best to be his father. I tried so hard to be the father my wife would want me to be to him. I promised her I would take care of him. And I failed." He sobbed for a moment, before continuing.
"I know you have no idea what it is like to lose a child, Mr. Bentham. I know you've never lost a child or a wife. And I know that you've never felt the love of a child. Perhaps if you had you wouldn't have done this to my boy."
"For fifty years I wondered who you were. I wondered why you did this. And now here you are, right before my eyes. I've hated you for so long, and I have every right to hate you. Mr. Bentham, I hope as you await your fate that think of what you have done. I hope you think about my son, and how you murdered him in cold blood." Spyro paused again and struggled saying the next words,
"I can see now that in order for me to truly have peace there is something I must tell you. For everything you've done to me, for killing my son, for destroying my happiness, and making me go through so much sorrow. I…forgive you."
The killer looked up at him his eyes wide with shock. His mouth was open as he struggled to find something to say. The whole room was silent. Spyro turned around and walked out of the courthouse.
Spyro lied in his bed, wide awake. His mind was clear and full of peace. He was no longer consumed by his anger and grief. It was strange, all of his life he had wondered what he would do once he met his son's killer. He hadn't planned on forgiving him. Even as he was speaking to the man he didn't realize what he had to do until he was almost done talking to him. He had surprised himself just as much as he had surprised everyone else.
He was confused by how much peace he felt now. For fifty years he had been drowning in sorrow and rage. For so long he had wished he was dead. He had attempted suicide three times. Each time he thought about Cynder. He thought about how she had tried to kill herself. He thought about how she had told him he saved her. And every time he would hear Cynder's voice,
"Not yet my darling." Spyro fought back tears as he remembered what he had thought the first time he heard that. "Why?" he remembered wanting to be with her and Blaze. He remembered thinking that he no longer had any purpose to fulfill in his life. But now he could see that he was wrong, he had saved lives. He had helped people get their lives back. He had helped people that thought they couldn't be helped. He had mended their broken hearts.
Spyro felt his thoughts begin to slow. It was getting harder to breathe. His muscles wouldn't move. His vision was failing. He knew what was happening. He was dying, he probably only had a few minutes left. Spyro didn't struggle against it. He felt his spirit leave his body. He felt the pain disappear. He blacked out.
Spyro woke up. All around him was nothing but darkness. He stood up and looked down. The ground beneath him felt solid, but he couldn't see what he was standing on, just an endless pit. Suddenly he saw flames begin to rise out of the pit. He watched in horror as a figure began to rise out of the pit.
Its body was covered in scales the color of blood. Its eyes gleamed scarlet with malicious hate. It stood up to its full height. It had to be at least a hundred feet tall. Its entire body was covered in a fiery inferno. Spyro could see a chain around its neck, the chain led down into the pit as far as Spyro could see. The figure spoke, its voice dark and dripping with hate,
"Spyro." It hissed. It began reaching for him, its claws outstretched. Spyro trembled, his legs wouldn't move, he was paralyzed by unearthly fear. The thing's had was only inches away from Spyro before it stopped, the chain was holding it back. It roared at Spyro, shaking the ground around him. The sound was unlike anything Spyro had ever heard, full of rage, hate, and pain.
It began slowly sinking into the pit. It screeched and struggled against its descent, but the chain held strong and dragged it back into the fiery pit. Spyro struggled for breath, his heart was beating rapidly. He sat for a few minutes wondering what was going on. He sat alone in the darkness.
After an hour Spyro heard a noise. He sensed something approaching. He opened his eyes. He saw a light. It was the brightest thing he had ever seen, even brighter than the sun. He saw a figure in the light. He squinted as tried to see who it was. Suddenly his heart leaped as he recognized who it was. Cynder. She was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. Her body was surrounded by the light. She smiled at Spyro and said,
"I've been waiting for you my love." Her voice was as soft as silk. Spyro gazed at her in disbelief. Then he got to his feet. He ran to her, he ran faster than he had ever ran before. He reached her and pulled her into an embrace. His heart was filled with the most joy he had ever felt.
He was with her.
AN: all right everyone that's the end! I really enjoyed writing this story. I'm grateful to everyone who read this, and I hope you enjoyed it. I am sincerely glad to have finished this story, I really think that did my best with it.
Well, I'll be writing more stories in the future so look out for them, and make sure to review!
