Chapter 11
All Alone
They arrived back in Avalar and told the story to Bianca and Jill, who were both impressed and proud. Then everyone went to bed, except Spyro.
Spyro flew to the nearby lake. He wanted to get a drink of water, find a fish, and reflect on his life. And so he did. The fish was large and he cooked it well. It tasted even better than it looked like it would.
Spyro had then started reflecting on his life. He realized how lonely he was. Hunter had Bianca as a lover, while Sparx had recently mated with quite a few female dragonflies. Being the sidekick of a local hero can get you far apparently. But that's not what Spyro wanted. He wanted to be like Hunter. He wanted one mate and he wanted to have a child.
Unfortunately for him, he could never return to the Dragon Realms. And as far as he knew, there were no other places that have dragons. He was all alone.
He thought about Ember. He always used to think that someday they would get married. But that would never happen. He would no longer be able to look her in the eyes.
He also started thinking about what could have been. 'King Spyro!' he thought to himself. He thought it had a nice ring to it. But that was also dead. Uncle Shenron was King now.
He was always confused about Shenron. As a child, he remembers his mom and dad arguing about his loyalty. Spyro knew that there must be something he didn't know about Shenron, because Shenron was always nice to him. But Spyro wasn't worried about Shenron. He thought that with his intelligence and wisdom, he would be a better King anyway.
And of course, his parents. Shendu had always been so kind to Spyro. He cared more about him than anyone else. He was always looking out for him, always training him, and always helping him. He missed him so much. And Sapphire, she always treated Spyro like a true Prince, she always let him do whatever he wanted to, she was the kindest dragon a guy could know. He missed her as well, and he wished he knew how she was. The death of a lover and a runaway son must be hard on her.
Spyro had decided to walk back to his house. He chose that from now on, every night before he goes home, he would visit that lake. He flew up in his cave-like home, and went to bed.
Meanwhile, in the Dragon Realms, King Shenron was awaiting Panthera's report. The Dragon Realms had become dark, dry, and scarce. The green grass had become an ugly brownish color and the sky was grey. There was no sheep hopping around, the Realms were starving. The Riptocs spent most of their time fighting for food, teaming up on and defeating dragons, and destroying monuments. The dragons stayed in their homes all day and came out to search for food when the Riptocs were asleep.
Shenron stood on his ledge, the very ledge where Spyro was born and where Shenron declared himself King. He was eating a lamb. The Riptocs were anxiously waiting for their turn. Shenron's way was that he would eat first, then the Riptocs/Dragons would share (which really meant the Riptocs would get more), then the other creatures.
Demon, Lurk, and Savage walked up to Shenron. Savage was laughing as usual, and Demon said, "King Shenron, Panthera is on his way to talk with you."
"Very well then, anything else?" asked Shenron.
Lurk stepped up, "I think that the Queen and that pink dragon need to talk to you!"
"DO NOT CALL HER THE QUEEN!!!" yelled another female dragon who flew down and landed next to Shenron. This female dragon was a very dark grey. She was the same size as Sapphire, and her eyes were yellow. She looked like she was a little bit younger than Shenron. She seemed as evil and cruel as Shenron. "I am the Queen you fools!" yelled the dragon.
"Oh right! My bad!!! I'm sorry Queen Kirai!" pleaded Lurk.
Kirai picked up Lurk, "Apology accepted!" she said as she threw him off the ledge.
"And how is that egg coming along, dear?" asked Shenron.
"The Elders say it will hatch in a few more weeks," said Kirai.
"You two had another kid?" asked Demon.
"This one is adopted," said Kirai.
"Why would you two adopt? You have two children already!" said Lurk who climbed his way back up.
"I require a worthy heir to take my place. You see, when Spyro, Shendu, and I were in our eggs, we could already breathe fire! That is a sign of great power! It means that your fire power will become incredibly powerful and take on the color of either red or blue! Neither of my children had that!" said Shenron.
"What about this other egg?" asked Demon.
"I found it in a deserted valley. I was going to leave it there, but then I noticed that it could already breathe fire! So I decided it was worthy enough to adopt and raise as my own!" said Shenron.
Savage started laughing again. Shenron pushed him off the ledge. Panthera jumped back up with Savage in one arm, "I believe you dropped this, my liege."
"Good to see that you're back, Panthera. Demon, Lurk, and Savage! Leave us now," said Shenron. The three Riptocs left. "So, was the mission a success? Are the Forgotten Realms destroyed?"
"No sir, Golem was defeated by…" Panthera pulled out a guidebook, "Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the Penguin, Bentley the Yeti, and Agent 9 the Monkey. All seemed to have been former allies of Spyro… who I, uh, killed a long time ago!" said Panthera.
"Yes and good job on killing that squirt!" said Kirai.
"I gave that Rhynoc power beyond his dreams and he was defeated by four weaklings?!" shouted Shenron.
"Apparently so," replied Panthera.
"Very well, if they defeated that buffoon, then maybe they are a threat. Barely one… but still," said Shenron.
"Shenron! Leave them to me!" yelled Kirai.
"No, I have a better idea! If the Forgotten Realms seems to value their heroes and heroine so much, why don't we take hostage of them! Yes, and if they want them back they will give us the gems, and food!" yelled Shenron.
"Brilliant idea, my King," said Panthera.
"You are a genius, Shenron!" yelled Kirai who then rubbed up against Shenron.
Shenron saw Sapphire and Ember getting close. "Panthera, you have to go now. Kirai, keep quiet and don't speak of our operation!" yelled Shenron. Panthera disappeared.
Sapphire and Ember had walked up. "Beautiful day, isn't it ladies?" asked Shenron.
"Don't make me laugh!" said Ember. Ember had become a nearly full-grown Dragoness. She was slightly smaller than Sapphire, but more attractive.
"Oh Ember, why so mad today?" asked Shenron.
"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because we're starving!" yelled Ember.
"Don't you yell at the King, you little brat!" yelled Kirai.
"Ladies, calm down," said Shenron. "You're starving, are you?"
"Yes, Shenron, we all are! Get these Riptocs out of these lands," pleaded Sapphire.
"I'm afraid I can't do that! They raised me as a child and I am forever in their debt. And when a war begins, we will dominate!" yelled a very proud Shenron.
"You're putting these beasts in front of your own people?" asked Sapphire.
"Oh yes, these Riptocs were better to me than any of you have ever been!" yelled Shenron.
"Hey, Shenron! Get these Riptocs out of here before I kick your ass!" yelled Ember. Shenron and Kirai began laughing.
"Ember… don't. You wouldn't stand a chance," said Sapphire. Ember knew Sapphire was right. But ever since Spyro had died, she tried to be more like him. She wanted to be tough!
"Whatever, Spyro would have been a much better King, anyway!" yelled Ember. Sapphire smiled, but when she saw how angry Shenron looked, she became sad once again.
"Spyro is dead, and so will you if you don't shut the hell up!" yelled Shenron.
"I would much rather choose death than serve under your pathetic leadership!" yelled Ember.
"Then leave, I know you'll come crawling back!" smirked Shenron.
"Fine, come on Sapphire, let's leave!" said Ember.
"No," said Sapphire.
"What, why not?" asked Ember.
"That would be going against the Pride of the Dragons. We can't leave our own, unless we are told or forced to… it's Draco's law," said Sapphire.
"Then goodbye, Sapphire," said Ember. They hugged, and Ember took flight.
"You know she won't last out there on her own!" said Sapphire.
"Ah well, when did one Dragon make a difference?" smirked Shenron.
"When you became King!" snapped Sapphire. Shenron became angry, as did Kirai. "If only Shendu wasn't so kind to you…" Shenron was going to attack her, but other Dragons had been watching and he didn't want to make a scene.
Ember was out of sight now.
Disclaimer- I do not own Spyro, Sparx, Hunter, Bianca, or Ember. But I do own Shenron, Sapphire, Kirai, Panthera, Demon, Lurk, and Savage.