"You couldn't just leave me alone, could you?" Nova said as Ezio padded up beside her.
"Not unless you want to be alone." Ezio replied, standing behind her. In front of Nova, waves pounded across the beach and spray hit Ezio's face, even from where he was standing. About twenty yards behind him stood the forest, Tall and peaceful in the night air. The moon showed bright on the surface of the earth, casting Nova in a ghostly hue, and making the sand seem absolutely white. It occurred to Ezio that he had no idea what the time was. He smiled at the absurdity of the thought.
"I do, Ezio." Nova said quietly.
"OK, but Nova, know one thing: I'm always here for you. As a friend. And if you ever need a shoulder, mine is open for you to use." Ezio said, turning back and beginning his trek back to the cave. He hadn't walked more than ten feet before Nova called to him.
"Ezio! Wait! Don't leave. I don't want to be alone." Ezio walked up beside her, and leaned against her fore arm, letting his heals dig into the sand.
Before Ezio knew what happened, Nova had turned and had her head over his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably, yet silently into his back, making his shirt go soggy very quickly.
"Nova, what - ?"
"I-I've been alone for so long. N-N-No friends or family. N-No home. Thank you so much for being here. Y-You couldn't possibly understand what it m-means to me." Nova whispered between sobs. Ezio's shirt was really starting to get weighed down with salty tears.
"Hang on a second Nova." Ezio stepped out from under her and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, ripping it over his head, and throwing it aside. Nova went a bit wide eyed, but Ezio just hugged her again, and she began to cry with renewed vigor, tears now rolling down Ezio's back and into the sand.
"I don't want to be alone anymore Ezio. I don't think I could stand another second of it." She said into the back of his head. Ezio found himself crying too. Having a friend with sorrow had always been tough for him, but he didn't expect it to hurt this much.
After a while, Nova's crying eased. Ezio held her by both shoulders, looking up into her face.
"Nova, I'm always here for you, no matter what. If I had to crawl to the ends of the earth to help you I would. If I had to suffer ten thousand lashes by a whip, I would, just for you. If I had to kill my own father for you, I would do it!" Nova chuckled at that, "Just know that I'll always be there for you, no matter what you need, ok?"
Nova nodded, and they walked back up the beach together, towards the settlement, Ezio's hand on her shoulder.
The next day, or later that morning, which ever it was, Ezio was awakened by Nova nudging him in the bowl.
"Get up, sleepy head, were going to go and see Ignitus now! Come on, get a shirt on, grab some lunch!"
Ezio rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked up at her. She was smiling again, so she must have been feeling much better.
"What time is it?"
"About noon."
"WHAT?" Ezio whipped around to see the giant illuminated numbers on the wall from the projection time clock. It read 7:23 am. Nova began laughing like no tomorrow.
"Hahahaha! You fell for it! Sucker!" Ezio threw his pillow at her and jumped out of the bowl as Nova caught it and hurled it back at him. Ezio dodged, and laughing, left it where it was and grabbed a clean shirt from the table, throwing it over his head. He grabbed a fresh apple out of the bowl on the kitchen table before walking outside with his hand on Nova's shoulder again. He enjoyed feeling her warm skin beneath his hands. The rest of the squadron was waiting for them. Frost gave him his usual look of disdain, but Spyro smiled at him warmly, seeing his hand on Nova's shoulder.
"Come, we have much to talk about. Now are you sure you're ready?" Decibel was with them again, and he looked back at Eclipse with worry, because of her still bandaged wing. Eclipse just nodded at him.
"I'll be fine, Decibel." She said in her velvety voice. Thunder nudged her slightly to the side and gave her his normal look, but she just bounced her hips off his stomach, stopping the electrical guardian in his tracks. He almost looked thunderstruck, and Ezio smiled at the Irony of the phrase, but Thunder quickly recovered and hurried to catch up.
As they entered the massive tent Ignitus called home, the former fire guardian set down a scroll he was reading. His pail grey skin shown like diamonds with the light coming from outside, and his lantern that hung around his neck rattled slightly, almost seemingly of its own accord. Jeeves was there too, which surprised Ezio.
"No no, I'm not here too - ." He stopped at the sight of Ezio. Ignitus looked between him and the butler, and then gave a sigh.
"Jeeves, now would probably be a good time. They at least deserve to know. Especially Jacob."
"Please, Ignitus, call me Ez – "
"Jacob, I prefer to call people by their rightful names, which is why I never refer to Malefor as the Dark Master. His rightful name is Malefor. That is what society has known him by for countless generations, and I will not refer to some self-appointed title, nor will I use names made up for screen time."
Ezio shut his mouth, but Jeeves protested violently.
"Ignitus, how could I possibly tell them? I don't even know where to begin!"
"Start with the war." Ignitus suggested. Spyro spoke up, curious.
"Jeeves, tell us what?"
Jeeves sighed, "Spyro, my name isn't Jeeves. That is my alias. My real name is Sprite. Fifty thousand years ago, during the second war, I was kidnapped by Malefor's Shadow Forces. I was brought directly to him. At that time, I was not the human you see now, but a black dragon, gifted in the use of the shadow element."
Spyro began realizing what was going on, as did several members of Alpha squadron, including Frost and Quake. Cynder was beyond herself.
"A Shadow Force lieutenant! Spyro, orders?" Cynder said, stepping backwards and taking a wider stance.
Spyro tensed a bit, but didn't move, and at that moment, Ezio felt an extreme pain under the hand that was on Nova's shoulder, as her element ripped from her body. Blaze and Nova sprang in front of Jeeves protecting him, while Frost and Cynder spread their wings. Eclipse turned tail and ran, grabbing the two guards and hurrying back inside, the two golden dragons crouching low, should any violence erupt. Quake seemed confused at Blaze taking the opposite side, and Thunder just seemed stunned. Decibel put an end to it all. His roar nearly shattered Ezio's eardrums as the shockwave flew throughout the tent. Outside, several of the settlements inhabitants stopped to listen afraid the sound might be a signal of an impending attack, while in the distance a large flock of birds took flight at the noise.
"Enough! No one in this room is an enemy!" Ignitus ordered, giving Spyro a stern look. Spyro stood still, like a statue, but didn't release his tension. He jerked his head and motioned for the exposed shadow dragon to continue. Jeeves looked like his mouth wouldn't work, so Ezio poked him in the ribs.
"Um, yes, your right, I was in the Shadow force for many years. It wasn't my fault though, I was ordered to do his bidding. Of course I didn't want to, but I had no choice. It's like someone was holding a blade to my throat and threatening me constantly. If I didn't know what to do, the spell would always force me to take the most violent path: kill everything. After the war, after planet destruction, Malefor protected us and himself against the forces of nature for five years. During that period, his hold on us was weakened, but the power he gave us remained. I was able to escape, one of the few. For a while, I just wondered aimlessly through the wilderness, living however I could, and hiding from Malefor's rampant forces. Then came apocalypse number two. A chunk of the second moon came crashing down to the planet. Somehow, humans had gotten on there, we don't know how, but they did. And at the point humans set foot on the planet, I became one of them. Malefor's power transformed me, of this I have no doubt. I don't even know the specifics of my transformation, but I have lived among humans ever since. I think that was Malefor's original plan, for us to blend in with the dominant species, and walk among them without the humans going berserk with fear. Spyro, I'm not your enemy. If anything, I'm your ally. Four hundred years ago, I discovered many humans that were former shadow force lieutenants. We all retain our powers, but our body simply changes. At the point I discovered the lieutenant, I drove a blade through his throat, and ended his life, and since then I have hunted Malefor's agents of destruction and destroyed them, one by one. My newest target, for fifty years now, has been – "
"Smaug!" Ezio exclaimed, "He was one of them, wasn't he? He's the only one that makes sense!"
Jeeves nodded.
"Holy crap, I was in the presence of a supernatural being. And I had no idea! He could easily have found out about Alpha Squadron! How could he not have known?" Ezio said. "Course, come to think of it, he really would have paid for that secret of mine. Guess now I know to kill him if I ever see him again." Jeeves cut off his next sentence.
"In my time, I was Malefor's commander of the Shadow Forces in the field. Now that duty has fallen to Smaug. He supplies the shadow forces by running the largest drug cartel on the planet, and quite possibly, the one that is known the least." Jeeves finished.
Spyro had gone pale, "Malefor, he still lives?"
Ignitus sighed, "I'm afraid so Spyro. Malefor indeed still lives, but he has receded for now. We do not know where he went underground, and we have searched for him diligently, but even if we did find him, that's as far as we would get. Even with every dragon on the planet, we could not possibly destroy Malefor. So we have also gone underground, to protect our numbers. We know Malefor is watching us, and waiting for your return Spyro. Right now, it is not a question of 'if' he will strike, but 'when'."
"Shit!" Ezio swore, "How the hell are we supposed to fight him, then? He's already survived every last thing we could throw at him! The most we might have done is blinded him! And that's in doubt! What the hell are we supposed to do?"
"There was a legend that once foretold of the most powerful being destroying Malefor in open combat, or at least having the power to do so. I happen to think this being is Spyro, no doubt in my mind. The prophecy just has yet to come true."
"So what is our current plan then?" Cynder asked. Sitting down next to Spyro.
"We wait for him to strike first, but not unwisely so. I have plans to build increased fortifications around the settlement, so that when the shadow forces attack, we have a better way to defend ourselves." Ignitus said, pulling out a scroll and laying it down on the floor to study it. The blueprints were huge, dissecting the small city into sections, and fortifying each one with stone walls. Built on the defenses as well were massive cannons, made specifically for long rangebombardment. The whole thing was quite impressive, even if it was primitive.
"Ignitus, I doubt this will stop Malefor. It would barely slow him down." Spyro said, looking over the plans.
"I do not plan on it doing so. In fact, I do not even see him leaving the safety of his lair unless he felt secure. However, it has been fifty thousand years sense we last saw him. I doubt he is the same dragon I used to know." Ignitus said, looking at Spyro, and then peering out the tent entrance. Outside, the sun bore down hard on the landscape of southern France. Today was supposed to be a real scorcher, with temperatures reaching over one hundred.
"However, if he does appear, we will be counting on you and Cynder to hold him off long enough for us to evacuate. Hopefully he will only be hell bent on destroying you two."
"Ignitus, you fill me with real confidence, did I ever tell you that?" Blaze said, and the old fire breather laughed. Spyro spoke up again.
"Ignitus, if I could, I would like to send out the word that we are looking for members for Alpha Squadron. Tell them that if they think themselves powerful and worthy enough, to come to our dwelling an hour before sundown, and we will test them." Ignitus nodded.
"You certainly could use the additional strength in your force, Spyro. Do you have any questions?" Ignitus asked, looking at the different dragons. When none answered, he continued.
"You will be preparing for the coming onslaught in different ways, all helping throughout the village. Don't worry about staying busy; we have more than enough work for you." Ignitus said smiling. He sent Spyro and Cynder off to the west, to help the earth dragons build a new main gate. Cynder was going to act as lookout, and send any information she had to Decibel in Ignitus's tent. Thunder and Eclipse went off towards the east to help electrify an early warning perimeter to tell the settlement of any forces coming by land or sea. Eclipse was going to act in Cynders stead as the early warning lookout. Quake and blaze were sent to the barracks to help organize supplies and see what kind of equipment was needed. Frost and Nova were going to run combat air patrols after Frost checked out the medical station in New Warfang, to see if everything was up to par, and Nova was heading up with Blaze and Quake, to check on the communications network, which worked by a series of lights and mirrors.
Nova looked kind of crest fallen because she had to leave Ezio, but Ezio took her head in both his hand and touched his forehead to hers.
"Come on Nova, I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here."
"You promised, don't forget that." She replied, smiling.
"You'd never let me anyways. I'll see you tonight girl."
Nova took off then, following Blaze and Quake. Ezio turned around and faced Ignitus. What of me and Jeeves?
"My name isn't Jeeves, damnit."
"I've known you as Jeeves for fifteen years. I'm not going to stop calling you that any time soon. And Ignitus, calling someone by a nickname is done by damn near everyone, so you might as well call me Ezio. It's more personal that way anyways." Ezio said.
The fire breather considered him till Ezio shifted his feet under the ancient dragons stair, and then he spoke, "I think you will help the dragons in various ways, Ezio. Your first assignment will be to accompany Nova on her combat air patrols. Get the sniper rifle that you brought, and use it as your eyes. I will have something different for you each day, so don't expect this tomorrow."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. What of Jeeves?"
"My name isn - !"
"Shut up."
"Unfortunately, I cannot trust Jeeves just yet. He is neither ally nor enemy. If this were fifty thousand years ago, then I would have said different, because Cynder was under the same circumstances. However, we have to be much more cautious today, because a spy could be anywhere. Jeeves, we will not imprison you, but we will keep you from helping us in any way, as well as leaving the settlement. If you prove yourself worthy, then in time, we will let you in on bigger things." Ignitus said.
"I completely understand. I think I will visit the library then. There are many things there I want to look through." Jeeves said, sweeping the entrance flap aside. Ezio followed him, but as soon as they were outside, Jeeves pulled him aside.
"Ezio, I trust you with my life, and even though I've lied to you for fifteen years, I hope you can find it to forgive me."
"Of course Jeeves I – "
"My name isn't – OH never mind. Jeeves it is."
"I don't think you're dangerous, as you could have done something to us at any given point in time. I trust you with my life old friend."
With that Jeeves smiled, patted him on the back and continued, "These people are good people. But I have a bad feeling about them. Do the wrong thing, and someone might end up slitting your throat in your sleep. We even have enemies within Alpha Squadron! We need to tread lightly here. This is more politics than anything, create the wrong friends or enemies and it could be deadly."
Ezio tried to read further into his doomsday speech, but instead of that, he decided to see what had led him to the conclusion, "What do you think of Ignitus?"
Ezio stopped and looked up at the sky, "Ignitus is a good old dragon, who has a whole heart. He would never kill someone unless they had first killed, or if it were Malefor himself. But he's not the one to worry about. Not everyone here likes us, and I'm willing to bet that someone here would willingly wield the blade that takes our life. Do not wake up with a piece of steel lodged in your throat, Ezio. I would hate to see that happen to my best friend!"
"OK Jeeves, I'll watch my back. You be careful too, ok?"
"I have already taken precautions, and so have you in a way. It's not a bad deal sleeping in a dragons bed, but be careful that you don't get to close, else it might be the one to kill you."
"Nova would never do that!" Ezio said firmly, "I know that for sure."
Jeeves stared at him for a bit then sighed, "Your right. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I think we first have to prove ourselves great allies before we can rest in peace. I wouldn't hold my breath, even then."
"OK, I'll watch my back at all times. You be careful to eh?"
Jeeves smiled, "I will do my best."
Jeeves walked off then, in the direction of the cave, while Ezio ascended the complex, marveling at the different building designs. Many different types of children ran about, squealing with delight as they played a game, nocking a ball about with a stick they had found and smoothed out. He marveled at the fact that some were dragons, while others where humans and still others were felines, and he even saw a couple of the faun like creatures in there, though they seemed young.
Ezio spied Nova across the canyon. She was arguing heatedly to one of the faun like creatures. As he drew closer, he heard the subject of their cacophony.
"I'm telling you, it's not aligned right! Just test it out for yourself! I don't care how curved the lense is, light travels in a straight line! Course unless I'm wielding it." Nova argued to the creature. It was shorter than Ezio, about five feet in height.
"Oh, so you're going to tell me that my master craftsman made a mistake?" Answered the creature in a gruff voice, chewing on a piece of grass as it spoke.
"No, only that you made a mistake putting it in place." Nova rebuttled. She was starting to get kinda angry.
"I'd listen to her dude. She's not the one to hold back when she gets angry." Ezio said off to the side. Nova's head whipped around, and she pounced on Ezio, glee shining on her face. Ezio completely collapsed beneath her weight.
"I would have said glomp, but there wasn't enough time" She said, while hugging him.
"Um, Nova?"
"When you two are quite done." The faun said, tapping his hoof impatiently.
"Of course, Ezio, this is meadow, leader of his tribe, who call themselves the Atlawa. Unfortunately, they also run the coms network." Nova said, pushing a small clear dish up a couple notches, "There, meadow, I swear if you move it again, I will kill you myself."
Nova then turned and fused the joints in place with her element, using a high intensity laser to wield the metal. She turned to Ezio when she was finished.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything – "
"Obviously."
" – But what are you doing here Ezio?"
"Ignitus told me to accompany you on your combat air patrol today. He said I could use the experience of fighting from dragonback, as I'm likely to do so when Malefor attacks. He still wants to get me into a human fighting division, but for now, I'm still working with Alpha squadron."
Nova smiled at these words, then let off several bright flashes, both long and short. Ezio knew it was Morse code, but he had no idea what it said.
"It was just a test phrase."
Several seconds later, a series of flashes erupted from the dish, and continued on down the line. The other posts responded as well, all the way into the distance. Nova nodded her head in satisfaction.
"That should do it. Meadow, I want you to fix all the ones that can be stationary, and make them so, I don't care how much you like having choices. They need to work when we need them. Four more posts also need to be developed, somewhere in the trees far off in each cardinal direction. Use short range closed circuit cameras for their viewing, so that if we are attacked, we will know it. This is your most important task." Nova said, crouching low, so Ezio could climb on. Despite her weight, she was very large, especially when her wings stretched outwards. Her wingspan reached almost fifteen feet when relaxed, so when Ezio saw her wings go to twenty feet, then twenty five feet wide, his eyes went about as wide as her wings.
Ezio wasn't prepared for the initial launch, so when the ground suddenly disappeared, and he was slammed backwards, he nearly fell off. However, to prevent such things happening, he had wedged his feet under Nova's forelegs, which she did not use while in flight. Nova soared low over the landscape, and reached the armory in a matter of seconds. There Blaze and Quake were overlooking some of the tiniest sentient creatures Ezio had ever seen. He remembered Needlefoot mentioning them once, being called the Manweresmalls. It was a mouthful, and a ridiculous name, but it fit well. Needlefoot was among them as well, examining a large sword that he had been brought.
"Oit is an oincient devoice, made by a master smith. Where did you get this?"
One of the manweresmalls answered, "It was given to us by a feline tribe. They said it belonged to one of their greatest warriors ever, who went by the name of Hunter." The tiny creature squeaked. When Nova landed, Ezio walked over to the giant hedgehog, and held out his hand.
"If I may. My dad did help on one thing. He taught me everything I know about how to fight and use weapons. One of them was classic swordplay." Needlefoot handed him the sword. It was magnificent if simple. The blade started small, but grew outwards as it went higher, ending in a sharp point as the spine of the sword jutted forward to meet the blade. There was no cross guard, and the blade and spine met seamlessly.
"Even so, Hunter preferred to use the bow, but he was just as skilled with the blade. The tribe asked us to keep it in return for some previsions, and it has been nothing more than a revered weapon ever since." Ezio swung it around a couple times, thrusting and parrying as if he were fighting an actual enemy. Nova smiled at him, and swung her tail blade. Ezio parried, and swung back, missing her chest by a hairsbreadth as the blade whistled through the air. She brought her wing forward, and even though it was mainly used for flying, Ezio saw that it was honed to a razor edge. He thrust forward, and caught the wing on his sword, thrusting back. Instead of attacking again, Nova spun to the side, and Ezio thrust forward, catching a tiny bit of her blade that extended on her shoulder. The pain did not affect her. Instead, she swung her blade at his head, and suddenly, Ezio got an idea. He waited until her tail was almost to him, when he thrust the sword forward and sidestepped. The blade caught and lodged in the hole in the Center of Nova's spade, and surprised at what had happened, she didn't react to it fast enough. Ezio wrenched the blade downward with all his might, twisting the tail, and subsequently Nova, into a spin, landing the dragoness on her side. Fast as he could, he twitched the blade up to her chin, breathing hard, as was Nova. He smiled, and Nova smiled back.
"You know, I was holding back, right?" Nova said.
"Yeah, so was I." Ezio smiled, and Nova rolled her eyes. Blaze came bouncing up, and nearly stopped at the scene before him, then burst out laughing.
"And I thought Frost and Quake made a good pair!" He laughed, and Ezio blushed.
"How much do you want for the blade, sir?" The manweresmalls smiled.
"Keep it human. We have no need of it. All it has been doing is sitting in a dusty corner, doing nothing but reminding us of that tragic loss. With any luck, some good will come of it." The creature left, and returned with the swords sheath, which Ezio promptly strapped to a belt loop on his pants. The weapon was so light that it didn't weigh down his pants at all.
"Blaze, if you could shut your screaming howler, I would like to get my gun from the armory as well." Blaze shut his mouth, chuckled a few times, and then jerked his head. He led them inside where set on rows upon dusty rows of shelves that were stacked with all manner of weaponry, including many guns, including M4 assault rifles, grenade launchers, M80 rapid fire machine guns, pistols of every size and shape, several giant mini guns, and even, Ezio spied out in the corner, a giant hand held weapon which he could only assume was a laser. Towards the back, there was larger weaponry, including 155 mm howitzers, the big guns of the armory. Those giant lead hurlers would be used in event of invasion or siege, as they could rain molten death from on high with a single volley. On a rack was Ezio's sniper rifle, along with hundreds of other smaller weapons with it, all of them used for extreme range. Blaze motioned, and Ezio silently took the Barrett off the rack, holding it in his hands. It seemed lighter than he remembered.
"We took the liberty of modifying it, reducing the weight and increasing the range, power, rate of fire, accuracy, and clip size. The gun itself has been magically enhanced, as a thank you gift from Ignitus. If you trust it, it will be very difficult to miss your target, even at the edge of your range." Ezio solemnly ran a hand down the massive barrel. He felt like a changed man, as if this gun marked a turning point in his life. The leather sling for it had been doubled up, to provide extra strength should the gun ever require it. He took a test look through the sight, adjusting the system. He noticed that even though the dusty stone room was damp and dark, he could see clear as day, and realized that night vision had been added.
The manweresmalls spoke up again, "We are also working to restore the aircraft that you came here in, even though it will take some time. The aircraft was much damaged when you crashed it in the ocean about fifty miles south of here. The parts should finish arriving at the end of this week. It will take the larger part of a year to finish piecing it back together and getting it fighting worthy. We also have some specialty parts to add to it, to make it much more resilient, and therefore give it a chance against modern fighter craft."
Ezio picked up his gun and opened the bolt. The action slid back smoothly, like it had been freshly oiled and precision bored. A bullet was already in the chamber, ready to be fired if he should need it. He checked to make sure the safety was on. The gun felt about forty pounds lighter than it had been, so he tapped the side of the chamber, and realized that it was made out of carbon fiber now, instead of steel. It was a machine of death, and it felt like it was part of him now.
"This is my gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine. With it, I shall rain the black figure of death down upon my enemies, and strike fear into their hearts, so that at the end of the day, when the killing is done, me and my friends can sleep soundly, and without fear of the black figure." Ezio said quietly to himself. Nova smiled at him, as if she knew what was going through his head, "Tell Ignitus that I am deeply thankful for his contribution, and that I shall treasure it like no other gift before."
"I will do so, sir."
Ezio turned to Needlefoot, "What is your job in New Warfang now Needlefoot?" Ezio began to walk back towards the entrance, slinging the rifle over his shoulders as he went.
"Ignoitus has suggested that oi help in the research and development here in the city. We will be the ones to develop new insightful ways of protecting and defending our grand settlement, and if we should invent any, um, new toys, you and alpha sqoidron will be the foist to know." The hedgehog said, splitting off from them, and heading towards the elevator, "A good doi to you, sir."
Blaze looked at Nova, "We don't know how much ammunition we have, but if Malefor were to attack, our best bet would be to funnel them into a bottleneck, and take them out at our leisure. If you're attacked on your CAP, then make sure this is the first place you return to. We have a nerve center that could begin the evacuation of the entire settlement in an instant, and alert Ignitus as well."
"Got it, ready Ezio?"
"Born ready." Ezio said, jumping onto Nova's back. This time he was ready for the sudden rush. Nova ran at the cliff edge, away from the settlement. She dove over, bugling as she went, and twisted in the air, freefalling for a moment, then snapping her wings open and jerking them up wards, straight back into the sky. Blaze watched them go from his view point on the wall.
"Not a bad pair at all."