It had been so long since Ezio had seen the stars this clearly. In fact, the last he could remember when he had seen this many was when he was three. His family had gone o a camping trip to uper new york, and there was some sort of natural phenominon making the sky unusually bright and clear.
His mother had still been alive back then...
He had things he would have asked her. Like how he should lead the people whom looked up to him now, as a purple dragon. Like Blaze, whom despite the fact he was pissed at Ezio, still held the former human in high regard. Or how to handle the people whom despised him cause of the actions he had very little choice in. Like Frost, whom hated Ezio in every aspect of the word. Or how to handle Frost's daughter, Kali, whom was now in a detention cell, trying to break free from Malefor's curse and her cell at the same time. Ezio hadn't realized just how powerful her curse was till he found out the relation between Frost and Kali. It was very complicated...
"You got a lot of explaining to do Frost." Ezio said quietly to the Ice dragoness.
"Kinda like you..."
"I've already done my share. Go on Frost..."
It seemed tough to her, but what really shocked Ezio was the fear he saw flicker in the dragoness's eyes, "During the second war, many many people died or were captured in the first assault. I was targeted simply because of whom my mate was, and my relation to the Ice Guardian, Cyril."
"Malefor had the impression I knew of the Guardians secrets and tactics. What he wanted was a secret way into Warfang, to capture it from the inside. I had no idea where it was. Yes I knew such a path existed, but it was a closely guarded secret."
Ezio wait ed fr a bit, then prompted for her to continue, "And your mate?"
"His name was Dante. Yes THE Dante, the one whom Dante's Freezer was named after. A warlord when I first met him, he fell madly in love with my body and cunning with my element. I was young then, naive and inexperienced. I saw his lust for me as love, he was good at disguising it. Cyril warned me when I first told him Dante had asked me to become his life-mate. I never listened, and thus accepted."
"At first, it was absolute bliss, nothing like I had ever felt in my entire life. Then Malefor visited Dante's Freezer, claiming it as his own. Dante was power hungry, hence his love of me as a guardians daughter, not his love for me as a dragoness. Thus, when Malefor told Dante he must leeve, Dante tried to persuade Malefor to take me and leave his nation alone for good. Malefor then accepted, threw me in prison and burned the place to the ground. Dante died in the fighting."
"It was enough to be thrown in prison because of the actions and betrayal of the one I loved. But it was another thing when Malefor found out my heritage. The torture was light at first, and I resisted, but it eventually got worse and worse. I have never known pain like that since, it was exquisitely fine tuned, enough to push me to the brink of death each day. I faded in and out of consciousness constantly. At some point I was moved from Dante's freezer to Cynder's old lair. I never knew when I was moved."
"After every days torture was complete, I was of little value to Malefor. My body was nothing to him. However, it seemed Smaug found it quite appealing. I um, I lost my virginity after my move to Cynder's lair. I laid many eggs, very few of which were fertile. Kali's must have been the only one of the fertile ones that survived."
It was suddenly quite clear to Ezio exactly why Frost was so cold. He had a hard time continuing, "I'm sorry, but it still doesn't explain how your both the same age."
"A perversion of Malefor's. Being my daughter, Kali could have gained my trust much easier than you could have. I think you were just the bait Ezio, I don't think Malefor expected us all to survive. Or for you to become so powerful. I think you were supposed to kill me, and then she would finish the rest off by providing intel to the Dark Master. She doesn't like it, but she didn't have much of a choice."
"I know of the spell he used, putting her egg into stasis. He waited for almost fifty thousand years, he knew when and where we'd come out of that portal. He knew we would have to befriend humans if we were to survive. He had everything he needed to know. So he waited. And waited. And finally, he let Kali go, then as soon as she was hatched, started to hone her for war."
And even without the Soap opera like life Ezio led, he had one last, one very big question...
What would he do with this spectacular dragoness that lay with her back to him on the flight deck, only a foot away. Nova had been distant with him ever since things had calmed down. The dragoness was different than when he had first met her. Ezio had gotten the full story from Spyro, whom besides Cynder, was he only one whom would talk to him like a normal person would.
Ezio could understand why she was grieving right now. Out of them all, she was the only one to have experienced a normal life and family. To have a place to call home and to experience true love. From what Ezio could tell of Nova's previous mate, Apollo, spyro had told him. The male came off different to Ezio. He seemed like he had loved Nova for the surprises she threw at him, like he never truly understood her.
Ezio felt like he understood Nova too some degree. And she had attracted him while he was a human. But what bothered him is how much of what HAD attracted him had died since then. It had only been about three months since that time, but even still, the dragoness seemed distant, alien and strange.
Presently, the dragoness rolled over, and in doing so lay her pw right on top of his. Ezio froze and even held his breath. After a while, she murmured something along the lines of "Mercie". It had a slightly french accent.
"No, she's not strange." Ezio murmured to himself, "Well, she is strange, and distant, but not alien. She's just covered up that former self with her burdens. That part of her I love is still in there, it's just repressed, forgotten for the moment."
Nova hummed in contentment before drifting further into sleep...
WHUMP
"I'm telling you, it won't hold forever. She's gonna break through at some point."
WHUMP
"Cut it out, you'll hurt yourself!"
WHUMP
"You think I – owch – have a choice, MOM?"
WHUMP
"Why can't you just accept that fact, Kali?"
WHUMP
"Cause I expected my mom to be as old as Smaug!"
WHUMP
"Hehe, welcome to Malefor's world, Kali dear. Next stop, insanity."
WHUMP
"I think I've already reach insanity! I think my next stop is hell!"
"Isn't it always?"
In all honesty, Frost had disliked the situation just as much as Kali had. She was put in a cell which had been padded with ld matresses, a kinda phsyc ward. Kali wasn't mentally crazy, and she was aware the curse was making her do this, try to break through the door. Well, try to break through when the others were outside, and Kali knew it. Frost knew from the camera installed inside the room that when no one was outside her door, Kali turned against herself, the curse pushing her to hurt anything within reach. Being the medic Frost had to treat her self inflicted wounds daily. That was one thing Frost hated to do.
"Ready guys?" Frost said to Beam and Photon, whom had been able to find them incredibly quickly. They were now on round the clock guard duty on Kali's prison cell.
"Aye. Ready to go down the rabbit hole Alice?"
"Beam, I was born down the hole. On my mark!" Frost got a runi9ng star, and lowered her shoulder ten feet from the door, just before yelling, "NOW!"
With inhuman speed, Photon threw the door open. Kali tried to jump out, but Frost, already moving, slammed into her gut, and pinned her against the wall with a foreleg. Frost heard the door slam closed behind her. Kali kicked her in the gut, but Frost held, injecting a paralyzing serum into Kali's bloodstream.
She was just about to start on Kali's self inflicted injuries when she heard a stomping of feet on the floor outside. Blaze suddenly burst through the doors, sending Beam and Photon flying inside, since they had tried to bar his way.
"Frost! Egg, now!" Blaze wheezed, keeling over with exhaustion. He must have dashed the entire three miles to the America from the medical frigate that held the egg.
"Oh, come on!" Frost said, dashing past. Blaze groaned, picked himself up and followed quickly.
"It's been happening for five minutes now, loud squeaks and large cracks have been forming."
"Quickly, Blaze."
It was a tense five minutes as they rushed to the back of the fleet, which now consisted of nothing but warships and support craft. It's numbers grew by the hundreds every day as the humans amassed their forces for the planned assault.
"Almost... there..." Frost wheezed after another five minutes of running. Finally, she burst through the double doors to the infirmary, running straight to the back past all the injured or sick. At the very back was the egg Eclipse had laid, it's spiderweb cracks now marking the shell. The yellow markings were slightly glowing with magic.
"Status?" She asked one of the medical staff off to the side.
"Stable, but it's early according to you."
"Yeah, by about nine months. The egg was conceived while she was tired and injured, thats probably why." There was a rushed padding of feet, and Frost turned to find Ezio, Spyro and Cynder running down the ward.
"Oh, come on, this isn't a bloody convention! Back, all of you, give me some space it's hot enough as it is already!" She pushed backwards on Spyro and Ezio as they came to a halt in front fo her.
"How much longer?"
"Give it ten minutes it'll be out then."
It took nearly five hours for Frost to emerge from a back room, carrying a bundle of blankets. They were unmoving. Frost motioned for them to be quiet as she approached. Ezio at the head of the pack of adults, looked down to find the smallest dragon he had ever seen. The head was unusually large for the body, the legs short and pudgy, and the wings, while large for the creatures size, were very thin, and almost completely translucent. The tiny babe was completely yellow except for a random smattering of black speckles, which reminded Ezio a lot of freckles. The hatchling could have fit easily in the palm of his hand.
"Guys, say hello to little Thundra."
"Eclipse and Thunders girl." Cynder said quietly, "Born an orphan."
"Man, we need a normal life. Frost, what are we gonna do with her? She needs someone to watch her and feed her." Spyro said quietly.
"I'll do it." Frost piped up instantly, "I was the first one she saw. I'll raise her."
"Why would you though? Frost, no offence, but your not the most loving type." Blaze said. He was expecting a slap over the head, but was surprised when she smiled.
"I can be compassionate when I want to. It's just you and your smart alack mouth that gets you into trouble." Frost teased back, "The only issue is raising her in the middle of a war. For the first eighteen months she'll need someone constantly with her, because she'll need feeding every two hours. Some of the staff will have to do it."
"Trusting a dragons life to a human?" Nova said quietly.
"It's one of the better ways to improve relations. Alright Frost, can you set it up?" Spyro asked. Frost nodded quickly. Spyro and Cynder left then, being called away by the captain announcing a group of ships arriving. Blaze moved up next to Frost, looking down at the child.
"Awe, lookit her, she's so tiny." He said, sticking his claw in and letting the hatchling wrap it's tiny fingers around it, "How heavy?"
"Five pounds, she must have broken a record. That's got to be the smallest dragon baby ever born to survive." Frost said quietly.
"What, five pounds? A human baby is normally what, eight pounds?" Ezio said, still watching the tiny dragon snooze on.
"A normal dragon baby weighs twenty-five pounds or up Ez. She's tiny by dragon standards. I hope there's no defects, she was born so early." Frost said, walking now towards a small cardboard box lined with pillows and blankets. The box was easily huge for the baby, but Ezio knew it would grow explosively.
Ezi's headset radio crackled to life. All the dragons were wearing them now non-stop, in case something happened, so they could co-ordinate a response quickly.
"He Ez, it's Cynder. Spyro wants you in the air now, it would seem this new fleet is Russian, but thats not what concerns him. They have dragons with them as well." Her voice was somewhat anxious, "One more thing. There's a purple one among them."
Ezio stopped cold, "What?"
"I said, COME ON!"
"On my way lieutenant."
It didn't take long. A quick run through the ship, and about two minutes later he burst onto the now darkened deck, waves pounding against the frigate and the spray of the sea hitting his face. He lept into the air, and looked wildly around trying to find the new group. It didn't take long to spot the iridescent hide of the dragon Cynder was talking about.
"Brilliant. Honestly, how many purple dragons are there?"
One shot with his light element, and he was at Spyro's side instantly, hovering in place.
"We don't know their powers, so stay close, and neutral." Spyro said quietly back to him. The dragon motioned down to the lead ship below them, an aircraft carrier with a sloping launch deck. The dragon landed so close, he almost blinded Ezio with his hide. But it wasn't the "purple" dragon that held his attention, but his wingman, whos eyes were very familiar.
"Hehehe, be in your bonnet, Ezio? And where be ye fine female friend Nova? She hasn't left us now, has she? Powers the likes of which I've never seen come from her."
"Bane?" Ezio said, realization dawning on him. He let escape a pent up breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"The very same! I forgot how nice being a dragon was. Anywho, let me introduce the keeper of the modern lands, the convexity dragon Zeus!" And now Ezio knew whom he was talking too. This dragon was more of an enforcer, himself being the strongest dragon of the current age. His body was smooth, devoid of any spines or even a tail spade, the only thing being two very straight horns protruding from his head. His hide changed color ever so slightly. His wings where odd in that they were entirely membrane, there being only a single rod of cartilage crossing through the center, which connected to the shoulder.
"I heard about this last stand against Malefor." He said in an empirical voice, projecting the sound out above the pounding of the waves, "Thank-you for getting the forces ready for me Spyro. You there, female, ensign, what are the status of the cities' forces?"
Cynder nearly pounced on him, but Ezio was able to stand on her tail without him seeing. Spyro spoke from the front, cautiously choosing his words.
"Excuse me if I'm mistaken, Zeus, but this undertaking was my plan, not yours, so it'll be me whom leads the attack. I wouldn't trust my forces in anyone else's claws anyways." Spyro said slowly, his brow furrowed. Zeus frowned at him.
"You are mistaken, young Spyro. It is I who is the more powerful dragon here, not you."
"YOUNG!"
"Hush, Cynder. Zeus, I do not think that age ior power nesecarrily gives a right to lead, but experience. If you know exacly what your doing, then I'll follow your orders, but I will not let my friends be commanded by someone they've ever met."
"I have experience - "
"Whats the layout of the base? What are Malefor's powers? How many units does he have?"
Zeus just stood there like an idiot with his mouth open.
"Thought so." Spyro said quietly, then he turned to the mass of dragons, all of whom were now standing on the deck of the cruiser standing quietly, "All of you will report to the America for sorting and assignments!"
"And you, you will stay out of my way. If you prove yourself on the battlefield, then you will have earned my respect, but not my trust. And never assume this is about power, because it's not. If it were, then we'd all be dead, because Malefor is ten times more skilled at his elements than I am, and a thousand times more than you are." Spyro said, turning to Zeus.
"How could you possibly know? We've never met, and you've never seen me fight." Zeus said, nearly laughing. He thought he had Spyro cornered with that one.
"Because of the shield you threw up to protect yourself. Come on guys."
"Oye! Don't you turn your back on me!"
"Just did."
Ezio heard it and whipped around at the same time the attack hit, but Spyro was way ahead of Zeus. The shield was up before Ezio even had time to think, and it was so strong, Ezio could feel the heat emanating form it as it absorbed Zeus's pitiful beam of convexity.
"I'd normally have you thrown in the brig for that one, but I'm better off not worrying about you. Get out of here Zeus, and thank you for bringing the support." Spyro said, his back still turned to the dragon.
"You can't - "
"Just did."
Yeah, Ezio had known that guy was trouble the moment he had opened his fat mouth, and addressed Cynder as Ensign, or even worse, female. It lmost seemed as if he was not only prejudiced against dragons of lesser age, but even of the female gender. Ezio also got the feeling that he was jealous against Spyro, since Spyro had suddenly appeared with little fanfare, and had taken the role of most powerful dragon alive.
And Ezio didn't care what Spyro said, whether Spyro was being modest or truthful. Spyro used his powers for nothing but justice, and that him made a dragon infinitely more powerful than Malefor.
Besides, there were some things Malefor would never understand.
Ezio looked up at the stars again, wondering whether his mother where watching him now, wondering if she would have approved of the path his odd and incredibly strange life had taken. He wondered if she was watching him now.
A soft glow of light caught his attention, and looking out towards the east, Ezio could see the sun rising. Turning too the dragoness lying beside him, he nuzzled her snout gently. She cooed softly, and opened her eyes slowly.
"Hmm? What, Ez?"
"It's time."
"Awe, such a good dream too." Nova said, sitting up and yawning loudly, a soft roar escaping, "You were in it."
Ezio's ears perked up, "Really? And what role did I play?"
"You played your own role. As I remember, it had no definition, just that it was important. More of a mix of all roles. The enemy, the ally, the lover, the betrayer, the killer. But most importantly, you played as the friend." Nova said, looking out towards the east as well, and watching the sun rise. She closed her eyes, soaking in the rays, and letting it charge her power, sighed contentedly as the day began. Today was the day the invasion began. Today was the day they finally took the fight to the enemy.
Ezio's nerves were on edge, he was watching Nova out of the corner of his eye.
"Nova?"
"Hmm? Oh, cut it out Ez, your making me nervous!"
"Sorry."
"What did you want?"
"Your remember that night on the beach in Warfang?"
"Vividly." It was true, and even though she'd rather die than admit it, not a day went by since then when she didn't think about it.
"I still am, and forever will be your friend. Trust me Nova, I'll always be there for you." Ezio said, turning and smiling to her. She leaned forwards and touched her forehead to his, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, savoring nothing but his company and the comfort in the fact that she would never be alone.
"Cynder, stay with me. We started this together, and now were gonna end it together." Spyro said quietly, as the portal in front of the America shimmered. It was absolutely massive, big enough for the ships to send the landing force out in front, ready for the Normandy style invasion.
"It won't be world war II all over again Spyro, we have technology and power on our side this time."
"Even still. We fight together..."
"And we die together..."
Spyro looked at her, tears beginning to form. Cynder leaned against him, and the two looked forwards, standing on the very front of the deck to the America, the forward most two creatures in the force. Above them, jets flew in formation and holding paterns, awaiting the time in which they could fly in and deliver their load, and below them, Spyro knew there was a veritable army of subs, most of them soviet, ready with huge warheads made for inland attacking. There were almost ten thousand ships arrayed behind them. Ezio himself had confided in Spyro, declaring he had never even heard of the worlds fleets forming in such large numbers.
"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we begin a new era. Even if we do not succeed, others will follow our example, and they will make sure that tyranny and oppression are squashed for all eternity, and that freedom shall last forevermore. Ladies and Gentlemen of the United Planet Earth, move out." Spyro said over is coms unit, which was linked to the fleet-wide system. Quickly switching it back to his friends and the captains of each country, he sighed heavily.
"Well guys, here goes nothing."
"Ta hell with that! Here goes EVERYTHING!"