Chapter VIII: Changes, Part Two

Zarss sat at his desk, scowling at Cyril, who was attempting to rush through important facts about Dragon History, pieces of information that would usually be explain and elaborated on for over three months. It was all simple stuff too: a whitewashing of Dragon and Mole history, a quick overview of the arrival of the Apes, and the first war between the two races. That when Zarss started to pay attention instead of listening to the thoughts of his 'peers'.

"The Draco-Anthro War is the earliest event whose records still survive to this day. The war started a little over 4000 years ago, long before the city of Warfang was even a thought. Back then, Dragons were mainly solitary or in small groups. The largest concentration of Dragons was at Kirith Kargorro, and that was only about three hundred of us, while the best calculations of our numbers back then is that there was closer to 5000 Dragons alive at the time," Cyril stopped his lecture after he noticed a paw in the air, letting the boy ask his question.

"What were the casualties of the war? And why is that the earliest recorded event in Dragon History?"

"Well, the answer to your first question is simple. There was only one casualty on our side, and the idea of calling him a real Dragon at the time is absurd. The second question has a much longer answer. You see, near the end of the war, the Apes were getting desperate. Their villages were under constant harassment; their once feared armies were in shambles. The Ape king at the time, who wasn't even an Ape, then ordered a daring move. He ordered his armies to converge on Kirith Kargorro. He knew that the population was going to be extremely vulnerable. He had calculated the coming of the Year of the Dragon, and this move made the city much harder to defend. The decision was made by the Grand High Elder at the time to evacuate the city, as he stayed behind and fought them off. He died in the Second Sacking of Kirith Kargorro. They ransacked the city, destroyed countless artifacts, and almost all of recorded Dragon History. The Dragons after this were united, and crushed the army of the Apes and banished their king to the-"

"Who was their king at the time? You said he wasn't an Ape, and didn't elaborate. Also, you said that we couldn't call our casualty a Dragon, and said that our casualty was the Grand High Elder. Care to explain?" Cyril looked at Flame, who had just interrupted him. Deciding that it was a good enough question to forgive him for the intrusion, he answered it.

"The being was one of the Ayaneair, or High Spirits. They are ancient beings, pre-dating even the Manweersmalls. They live deep in the forests of the Northeast, past Malefor's Mountain. Strong in magic, it was originally believe that the being, Zea'Tuluk, manipulated them with his prowess over magic, but after the Ancients fought him and realized just how weak he was, they banished him instead of executing him, and decided that the Apes were following him voluntarily. Since then, the Ayaneair have been very accommodating with the Dragon kingdoms here in the west. They live forever, without the fear of death, so to most of them, four thousand years seems like a day. But the final battle of the war actually happened a little after it was considered over. The Battle over Mjölnir ended the Ape's lineage of Kings, as the true heir to the throne lead and was killed in that battle. It is because we defended them in that battle that the Moles became our eternal allies, helping us build Warfang right over their city." Cyril stopped, hoping to be able to move on without answering Flame's last question, but the students had gotten too interested to let it go, so he started the story that was the answer.

"Over 10,000 years ago the Dragons came to Avalar. It is unknown from where or why, but they came and settled here. Originally there was 13, one for each of the elements recognized as innate to our race. Fire, Ice, Earth, Electricity, Sound, Poison, Wind, Shadow, Light, Space, Time, Life, and Mind. They were called the First of the Greats, and their leader was the black dragon Onyx, wielder of Mind and Shadow. He was considered the most powerful, and as more dragons joined them, he was appointed as the King of the Dragon Kingdoms, but he was proud and vain. For almost 2200 he wove his corruption into the world, fighting for absolute dominion over all who he could find. The other twelve however, recognized this, and split the Kingdoms in a civil war, hoping to consolidate his power. Those loyal to him made the Northern Kingdom of Vearini'Nom'Roe, while the Southern Kingdom fell into the hands of the Noble Twelve, and whose name was lost to time. This lasted for another 800 years, with him still holding hegemony over the South. But, his strength was not to last. His youngest son, Eleazar, fell in love with the youngest daughter of the First Light Dragoness, Foirtheria. Her youngest daughter, Valentyne, was also a Light Dragon, and reciprocated his feelings. He turned on his father, and convinced his two older brothers to do the same. A single battle was fought on the slopes of the Fortress of Aso'Cel'Tulo. Onyx was killed, and his oppression faded from the Earth and the Sky. Eleazar and Valentyne became the reuniting couple, and brought the Dragon Kingdoms back together again. His brothers fought each other and supposedly died over what remained of their father's power, and that ended the Reign of the first Dark Lord. In 500 years, Valentyne would die soon after the birth of their first daughter and second child. Not long after her death, Eleazar would organize the first High Council to of Dragons and he came to sit on the throne of Grand High Elder for not just the 1000 or so years of the first Council, but the thousand years of the second, right up to his death at the Sacking of Kirith Kargorro. There were some changes though. In the beginning of his second administration, there was an assassination attempt on his life. The wounds were fatal, but he was strong in his element, that of his father, Dragon Mind. He planted his mind into his necklace; a small, green crystal, that he called Furor Viridi. While this made him no longer a dragon, the Necklace became his mind's anchor to this world, much like his body had been in his true life. When he defended Kirith Kargorro, he destroyed his own mind, making the crystal an immense source of power. Before his spirit left into the afterlife, though, he took command of that power and used it to destroy the army that besieged his city. After that, it was retrieved by his son, Dalothene. It has passed down Eleazar's line, always in the paws of a Shadow-Mind Dragon, even to this day."

At this statement, everyone looked at Zarss and the necklace that hung on his shoulders. The deep emerald green gem shined brightly, and Zarss was beaming at the looks on their faces. At this point, an Earth dragon name Yoav turned to Cyril and asked, "What more can you tell us about Mind Dragons?"

"Well, first off, when a Mind Dragon uses their main Element, Dragon Mind, he uses no energy or Magic to influence the other person. This opens up a lot more abilities for them. For a regular dragon, the more complex the manipulation of their element the more Magic it takes them to do the trick. A technique five times removed from the basic ability is going to use five times the magic. Well, if the base amount of magic is 0, then the amount of magic used in any technique is also 0, because 0 times anything is 0. This makes them powerful even when powerless, and gives them an edge over other Duals, who must partition Magic for each of their own elements. In the end, this is a very deadly combination, and most Mind Dragons end up learning how to bend and emit their Magic as a pure form, a sphere of pure energy. Their diverse amount of powers and abilities make them very malleable under pressure, and their large Magic reservoirs give them incredible endurance. Not only that, they are considered seers for two reasons that make them important in other way. As you know, every one hundred years, with few exceptions, there occurs the Year of the Dragon. Almost every dragon is conceived of in that year, generally in late winter and their egg is laid in early summer. Mind dragons are different. If the coming generation of Dragons is destined to bring a great dragon: Light, Space, Time, or Life, than the descendant of the last Mind Dragon will have a Mind Dragon two years before. This was the telling clue to Spyro's birth, and to Malefor's and the last Light Dragoness, Belidora. This also makes Zarss older than you. The second reason is that all of the Mind Dragons after Eleazar were plagued with a curse. Maledictio Praevisione, the Curse of Foresight. Every Mind Dragon at least once in their life time, generally at infancy, will have a vision of a change in their life, something that will cause them great sadness and sorrow, something that was caused by another without planning. Until their death or the birth of the next Mind Dragon, they will experience these visions at random times."

"Wait, if our War with the Apes destroyed all of the recorded history up to that point, then how do you know all of this?" One of the recent addition asked. The dragoness had a bright blue and yellow color scheme to her scales, making Cyril guessed she was an Ice-Lightning combo.

"Most of it is believed because of oral traditions, passed down through the generations. Some of it is known because of eyewitness testimony. In the years after the war, Dragon Historians searched far and wide for Zea'Tuluk, as he was one of the few that had been in the history of the Dragons since the dawn of the First Age." Just then he noticed the time. 4:15. The lesson had taken up almost all of their time, and now he had to use the rest of it for announcements

"Tomorrow, there won't be any classes. It is the beginning of the Summer Solstice, and as tradition would have it, a time of celebration. The festivities will last for several days, after which, there will be a change in the furthering of your education. Instead of each Elder teaching a subject, they will teach those with the same elements. One of the Elders of the Dual Tribe has graciously offered to fill in for Guardian Ignitus until a permanent successor can take his place." A moment of silence took place after this, in reverence to the fallen guardian. Instead of going on with other almost meaningless things, Cyril released the class, as almost dormant emotions began to rush over him.

Spyro, Spyrooo

Spyro opened his eyes, the voice awakening him from his slumber. He remembered leaving Cyril's class, walking and talking with Cynder, talking with Zarss about the lesson, and then going to his room and falling asleep in his mound of cushions he called a bed.

Spyrooooo

"Who's there? Show yourself!" He called out into the darkness he now found himself.

Ash nagez tual borral tekez!

Ash nagez gorrel tilgor.

Ash nagez boran'zel,

Asha nagez telmorra tikel!

The voice went from being but a whisper to a roaring thunder, the words seemingly burning him. The sounds of them brought pain to his ears, and dashed his hopes of thinking straight. When the voice stopped speaking, Spyro opened his eyes again, having shut them due to the pain.

I… am Onyx. Lord of the Ancient Dragons, and friend of the Zea'Nom'Roe.

You, my little, purple friend, have brought yourself to my attention.

You, and your mate, Cynder, have been on my sights for a very long time.

"That isn't possible. The black dragon Onyx was killed almost 7000 years ago. How can you be him?"

I understand your confusion.

Let me make this easier for you.

Just as he said that, a green circle appeared in front of Spyro; in its center was a black equilateral triangle. The triangle began to spin quickly, and from its corners came three black crescent shapes, attached end to end, with what looked like a spike shape still attaching them to the corner of the triangle that they came from. When the whole thing stopped spinning, the darkness was sucked into the triangle. Behind the darkness laid a desert and a midnight sky, however alien to him. The large circle vanished when a breeze came by, behind it laid a large black throne, sun-bleached and decaying. On the throne lay a black Dragon, its scaled reflective and sharp looking. He sat on the throne, his eyes being the same shapes and color of the…

"Wait, that's the Aneirigan!" Spyro jumped back. It wasn't the same as the one that was shown to him and Cynder the day after the event with Zarss, but he recognized it nonetheless.

"So, you aren't totally ignorant of all important things. Yes, I, like most of my descendants, wield the power of the Asoveairin, or the Aneirigan as you called it. This form is more evolved than the form you know of." Onyx stood up, and began to move towards Spyro. He was a large dragon, more long than tall though. He, like Zarss, had crystalline formations on his shoulders, but his were red. Down his back, he had these small tooth-like spines, not connected by any membrane like most dragons. His tail spike was the crystal in the shape of a leaf. When he got closer, Spyro noticed truly how large he was, mainly because of how large his wings were.

"Why have you brought me here?" Spyro stood, his ground, scowling at the Ancient.

"Hmm, impatient, or is that just hate? I've 'brought' you here to personally give you my thanks." Onyx began to explain once he saw the look of confusion on Spyro's face.

"Before I died, I was smarter than my colleagues; I created an anchor for my spirit. The world. I seeped my power and my soul into the world, and from that sprung my immortality. For as long as my anchor is still here, my soul can never be destroyed. The problem was that as long as I had an anchor, I couldn't have a body. So when my son, Eleazar, betrayed me, I made them kill my body, as to become immortal. Topaz knew that I was still alive, for he was the most powerful Life Dragon there ever was. Unfortunately for him, I was still potent even without a truly physical form, and I killed him before he could figure out how I managed to survive. When Malefor decided to have the Destroyer destroy the world, I came to believe that it was the end. But you, Spyro, prevailed, and managed to put the world back together before I was sent into oblivion. That is why I thank you."

"But that not why you brought me here." His eyes back to a cold conviction.

"You are correct. I've come here to attempt to repay my debt. Tomorrow is the beginning of the Festivals of the Summer Solstice. At exactly 10:23, the Zea'Nom'Roe will return. Just one will be a friend, the others a danger. Those past their time will see their end, and those who were captured by the Dark Master will see their release. Ancestry unfold, and new knowledge to come to the ones that stay in the dark."

"A little cryptic, don't you think? Can't you be a little bit more open? Or is everything riddles now?"

"Too late, my time has run out. We will meet again, before long. Ebrethrem deux totum, mi friendil…"

So, yeah. All work and no play. Sorry for the long upload time again. I'll be uploading something new to Fictionpress and translations to the language I'm using soon. Hopefully I'll have uploaded another couple of chapter by this Summer. Please R&R, and have a good day. Ebrethrem deux totum...