The Legend of Wither: The Rise of Nobody

by The Wandering King

Twenty years have passed since the fall of the Dark Master, Malefor. Now it's time for a new generation to take up the teachings the elders have to offer, but when the son of Spyro and Cynder turns out different than expected, a new discovery is made.

14. Chapter 13-Reinforcements

Chapter 13- Reinforcements

"Renna—I can't—breathe." Wither gave a cough and began to wheeze for air. Once she finally let him go everyone rushed him and crowded around him. His friends kept asking if he was okay despite him repeated assurances. Next came the elders who only added to the commotion, making Wither feel like he was being crushed by people. After just a few seconds, his parents made their way through the mass to get to their son. Everyone else parted so that they could evaluate Wither's wellbeing for themselves.

"Let the poor boy go, Renna," said Cynder. "Or do you want to be the death of him?" His parents grabbed ahold of him and pawed at his scales as if they had to touch him to make sure he was really alive, after prying Renna off of him that is.

Spyro got in Wither's face and said, "Don't ever do that again! We almost lost you there."

Wither was still in shock from what had happened. Nothing anyone was saying was registering at all. Even a bright glare conjured up by Renna in an attempt to bring him back to reality failed. He just stood in place, unfazed by anything going on around him. "What's wrong Wither?" By now, everyone noticed that something was amiss and grew quiet.

Spyro and Cynder looked at him and inspected him for injuries to make sure he hadn't gone into shock. After finding nothing, Cynder asked him, "Are you all right?"

His eyes were out of focus like he was looking at something far off in the distance. His mother stared into them with worry in her face. "He's totally unresponsive," said Cynder as she sat back in thought.

"He spoke just a moment ago," said Renna. Then Wither squinted and raised a paw up as though to shield his face.

"Gah! Renna! What the heck?"

Everyone stared at him in confusion. "That is the biggest delayed reaction I have ever seen in my life," said Psy trying to poke fun at Wither.

Wither seemed to shake violently and then said, "Yes, I think we should."

"What?" This question came from everyone except Spyro.

The Purple Dragon's mouth dropped open a bit as he stared at his son with suspicion. "I was just about to say we should go see Yarrow." Spyro leaned toward his son to test him.

"Yes," said Wither for no apparent reason.

"Can you hear me?" asked Spyro.

"Two. Why? I'm fine."

"How many claws am I holding up?" Spyro brought out the two claws he had already been holding up behind his back.

"What?" asked Wither with a frustrated tone, looking at his mother now.

"Wither?" asked Cynder with worry evident in her voice.

Just then, Wither shivered again and looked around. "Why are you all acting so weird?" His friends, elders, and parents were all staring at him with a mixture of confusion, wonder, and amazement. When no one answered, he raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth a bit, turning his head to look at his parents with one exasperated, questioning eye.

Now Spyro asked again, "Can you hear me?"

"How many times do you plan on asking me that?" asked Wither with mounting frustration.

"Something strange is happening to you, Wither," said Cynder.

"What do you mean?" Wither shivered again. "Once again, I agree with you. Maybe he won't be so weird like all of you. Huh? You've already asked me that several times. Two. Yes! I can hear you! Will you stop asking me that already? What is this, Déjà Vu? You already said that, too. What's wrong with me?" He shivered again and said, "What? Aren't you going to answer me? Am I going crazy or what? I'm not crippled. I can walk."

After everyone watched this frightening one sided replay of their previous conversation, Spyro leaned toward Cynder and said, "I think we should carry him to Yarrow's. He doesn't appear to be in any condition to walk."

Wither began to struggle and complain. "Hey! What are you doing? Let me go!"

Spyro wrapped his arms around Wither's midsection and flew up into the air with him. "I'll take him to Yarrow's. Meet me there." Then he took off, carrying the seemingly broken Wither with him.

XXX

Inside Wither's mind, he was confused beyond words. Everyone was trying to have the same conversation with him twice. It had already happened a few times. Something was wrong. Ever since time had stopped during the fight, he felt like everyone was off, like the world hadn't been put back together right. While his father was carrying him to Yarrow's house, he watched below him as he made the journey. Parts of it were skipped and other parts played out twice. He closed his eyes, scared of what was happening. "Hey! If you're listening, everything is broken! Fix it!" The voice from earlier didn't respond. Whoever it was, they weren't with him anymore.

XXX

By the time everyone got to Yarrow's garden, Wither was looking around with wide, crazy eyes. He wondered if he was doomed to forever live in a broken world. Everyone rushed into the dome, taking him with them. When they were before Yarrow again, everyone began to talk.

Back on the constant timeline, Spyro was explaining Wither's bizarre condition to Yarrow, asking for some sort of diagnosis and perhaps a possible cure. Yarrow looked at Wither and said, "Get used to everyone asking you this. Can you hear me?" Wither said nothing. Instead, he stared back and forth between Spyro and Yarrow. After a bit of this Yarrow said, "He appears to be listening to our previous conversation. So you said the order was future, present, past, and back again?"

"Yes. That appears to be the pattern," said a flustered Cynder.

"Then next is future."

Everyone watched while Wither looked down at the floor and back up again, probably listening to what was happening to him. Then he shivered and said, "Yes."

Yarrow leaned forward and asked, "Can you hear me now?"

"Oh, I see."

"You seem to be in a state of time flux, going from the past, to the future, to the present, and then back again, going through a loop."

Halfway through this explanation, Wither asked, "How do we fix it?" Yarrow kept saying everything even though Wither eliminated the need to by responding to everything before it was said. Yarrow figured it would eliminate any paradoxes like Wither responding to something that was never said. When he finished his explanation, Wither said, "Okay, will do."

Then Yarrow said, "You're in the future right now, so your next session should be in the present. To avoid confusion, let's only speak while you're in the present."

"Wither said, "Yes," and shivered.

"Can you hear me?" asked Yarrow.

"You just asked me that," replied Wither in confusion.

"No, I didn't. You heard me ask you in the future before I actually asked you."

"That's confusing."

"Yes, it is. Now be quiet for a moment while I use this opportunity to lay down conversational rules. You will hear all of this again in the past. There's no need to respond to it. Ignore every replay of conversations. Also, when you're in the future, you'll hear me ask 'can you hear me?' twice. The first time will be in the future, the second time in the present. This should clear up most conversational confusion. Understood?"

Wither nodded that he understood. After a few seconds, he shivered again. He looked at Yarrow and almost said 'yes,' but remembered the rules and just stood in place, waiting for the next session. After a few moments, he shivered again. Spyro looked a little closer when he did so and saw that he was actually moving at phenomenal speed in place to catch up on the past few minutes in a second. Wither sat and waited. After another minute of waiting, Wither looked up to Yarrow and said, "Yes." As expected, he shivered.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"All right. Do you know how this happened to you?"

Wither quickly explained the strange events that took place in the city. He told Yarrow how he had almost died, how time had stopped, and he described how an old woman spoke to him, but did not reveal herself. He spoke just fast enough to get it all out before he shivered again. Everyone pondered over this information carefully while Wither relived the last few minutes of his life. When he shivered again Yarrow said, "Just be quiet while you're stuck in the future or it's too confusing. What you just told us is worth a considerable amount of investigation, but first, we need to fix you. From what I've heard, it sounds like you've been touched by a time dragon's power, a rare gift indeed, but sometimes, if it's done incorrectly, this can happen. It's a rare condition called ripple shock. You are sheathed in a residual time field, which is in a state of flux, causing you to shift in and out of different time frames."

Wither shivered again and asked, "How do we fix it?"

At this, Yarrow looked a bit worried. "Time dragons are rare. There have only been two dragons that have ever had time as their specific element. The first was named Celest. She was born over ten thousand years ago during the time of the first dragons. She gave birth to the second and only other time dragon, Eon, who long ago claimed that he wished to travel to the beginning of time. He never returned."

After this, Wither shivered again. Everyone waited while Wither went through his cycle back to the present. When he returned, Yarrow continued. "After the disappearance of her son, Celest wrapped herself in a unique time field that kept her in the present, but profoundly slowed down her aging process. After a couple millennia, her husband, Willow, the first life dragon, died of old age. Left with nothing, she flew away and left the world far behind. No one ever heard from her again. It was assumed that she died, but from what you're telling me, she saved you and is still alive somewhere, perhaps living in solitude.

"The legends tell of when Eon was still learning how to use his power. Every now and then, he made mistakes that his mother had to fix. He would move time the wrong way and cause it to ripple. Ripple shock was the result of such mistakes."

Wither shivered again, taking all the information in a second time. When he cycled back to the present, he asked, "What does this have to do with a cure?"

"I'm getting to that. After a time, Eon became almost as skilled as his mother and was able to fix ripple shock when it occurred, but he disappeared many millennia ago. The only other dragon ever recorded being able to fix ripple shock was Celest. We know she's alive, but we don't know where she is."

"We don't have the time to go find some dragon no one has seen in eight thousand years," said Cynder. She turned to Spyro in earnest. "You're the Purple Dragon. You've told me you were able to tap into your time controlling powers before. Can't you fix him?"

Spyro shook his head, "I'm sorry. I barely dipped into the power of time, and that was so long ago. I haven't tried it much since. I'm not capable of curing this ripple shock." Spyro turned to Yarrow and asked, "Does it eventually wear off on its own?"

"No. I'm afraid that the time field sustains its own energy. Time energy is different than most. It is constant."

Wither shivered again, but spoke anyway. "But wait, it is energy, right? Why didn't you say so before?" Wither began to concentrate on the field around him, trying to drain off the energy. After a few moments, he sighed. "It didn't work. Why can't I drain away the energy?"

After he shivered again Yarrow said, "I told you time energy is different from most others. Time flows all around us. It's everywhere, making its possibilities and abundance limitless, much like your nothing is because the Void is everywhere and nowhere."

After waiting a few moments to make sure Yarrow was done, Wither said, "Right. The Void is the answer then. All things are meaningless there. It doesn't exist and therefore nothing can exist within it. Even time must fall away within the Void. I'll be right back."

"Wait!" shouted Yarrow. "You need to wait until your mind is in the present. There could be a slight chance that if you did it now, you'd come back stuck in the future."

Wither sighed halfway through the explanation and waited for his next shiver. When it passed, he stood and said, "Hope this works. Be back in a minute."

The Void snatched him up and blew the world and everything in it away. All laws of reality fell away and became meaningless. Wither felt a wonderful feeling of something covering him being lifted away and dragged into the endless abyss. He sighed in relief and returned to the dome with all his friends and elders. They stared at him expectantly and he flashed them a smile. "Tada! No more ripple shock. Funny how my element negates all others one way or another."

"We're glad to have you back to normal," said Yarrow, smiling at his relieved parents. Now there's the matter of this 'son of N-Vor' business."

Wither looked up at Yarrow with curiosity and said, "Yeah, what did that mean? Do you know, Yarrow?"

"I do. Are you not familiar with the dragon gods?"

"I know of them, but I don't know about them."

"It doesn't matter. Our lessons concerning the origin of all things were meant for later in the year anyway. Do you at least know their names?"

"Sorry, no."

"For thousands of years, our kind has maintained the belief that there are four dragon gods responsible for the creation of all the dragons and pretty much everything else in the world. K-Stl, the youngest of the gods, is the God of Justice. She is in charge of giving everyone their dues and is responsible for the creation of the first fire, ice, lightning, and earth dragons. L-Kin is the God of Courage. He teaches us to be brave in the face of danger and to be strong so that we may fight for what is right. The first shadow, poison, wind, and fear dragons were born by his word. J-Zrd is the God of Temperance. He brought balance and order to the world and stands for moderation and self-control. His own life force went into the creation of the first light, life, time, and purple dragons. The last and oldest of the dragon gods is N-Vor, the God of Prudence. N-Vor teaches practicality and priority. Without his influence, everything would be thrown into a state of utter chaos. However, no one can recount anything from ancient dragon lore relating to what kind of dragons N-Vor gave birth to. It was always assumed by our theologians that N-Vor acted as an overseer above his siblings and never actually created any kind of dragon, but what Celest said refutes this quite strongly.

"According to our oldest legends, she was not born by a mother and father like the rest of us. She was crafted by the loving paws of J-Zrd. She has all the memories of the time of creation and should know better than anyone, the truth of our origins. Everyone seems to have forgotten some crucial details concerning the time of creation over the years, and only she can remember everything. Wither, I think it's safe to say that just as your father is a son of J-Zrd and you mother is a daughter of L-Kin, you are a son of N-Vor."

"But what does that mean?"

"I can't say. Although, I imagine that you shall someday find out. It is your destiny, your legacy. All deserve the right to know their origins. The gods, should they exist beyond our beliefs and lore, will not deny you this. Now we need to get on with our second order of business. Arragor almost killed you with Obsidius' help. How did this happen?"

Wither thought back to the attack. He remembered Arragor closing in and the feeling of Obsidius' strange power filling him up, preventing him from using his nothing. He described this to Yarrow in depth, and when he was finished, Yarrow nodded. "It seems we've discovered another one of your weaknesses. Most dragons require the magic power that slowly regenerates from within us. It comes from our sparks and allows us to use our elements. Green crystals are natural concentrations of this energy and allow us to regenerate immediately. Without this energy there is nothing to fuel our power. However, you are not like most dragons. Remember that contact with the green crystals weakened you. While most dragons find an infusion of power invigorating, you find it inhibiting. Your element specifically requires zero power, as your element is the absence of energy. It appears that forcefully giving you massive doses of energy that would super charge a normal dragon actually negates your unique abilities."

"Right. I couldn't drain the energy away fast enough to bring myself down to nothing so I could shift. But Yarrow, the energy felt different. It was like it was coming from somewhere else."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, but it definitely wasn't the power of the green crystals."

"Hmm, the power must be connected to that black crystal armor somehow. In the past, Malefor's crystals took power away and your crystal still does, but now his only give power. Have you figured out a way to draw energy from the Void yet?"

Wither shook his head in frustration. "There is no energy in the Void. That's how it works. You can't get something from nothing. The only things the Void is filled with are things that never were and things you can't get back."

Yarrow twitched at this comment and seemed to think for a moment before moving on. "It seems the prophecy is growing. Now it appears that you are destined to track down one of the greatest dragons ever born, Celest the Everlasting. But until then, we need to prepare for what's ahead. It is obvious now that Arragor plans on tracking down his friends and recruiting them for the Dark Master's evil plans. He's already captured Obsidius and now Xath. Spire, who did Arragor consider his friends?"

Spire shuffled a bit, looking uncomfortable. "He didn't have many. It was always just him, Obsidius, Xath, and Zar."

Yarrow waited for more names. When none were given, he blinked and said, "Very well. As of now, we maintain that the training of these young ones is our first priority, and the preparations for war are priority two. Now we have a new priority. I want all of the elder dragons in Warfang to protect Zar at all times with the exception of myself, Spyro, Cynder, and Valorie until she is fully mended."

Everyone looked down at the sleeping dragoness. She was glowing softly with Yarrow's power in the damaged areas. Her head and wings were already fixed, but her legs were still in bad shape, and her tail was bent at an odd angle. Yarrow looked up from his charge and continued. "We have three of those monstrosities to worry about now. If we're not careful, there will soon be four. We must begin patrolling Zar's house immediately. The threat is mounting. If you see those three young ones again, kill them on sight."

Everyone in the room grew grim at the idea. As one of the oldest and wisest dragons alive, all of Yarrow's decisions were held in the highest regard. Since he was also known for his kind and gentle nature, the severity of the situation became profoundly obvious once everyone heard Yarrow give his sentence. Spire adopted a vacant expression much like the one Wither wore in battle. It was clear that his son's death sentence had killed a part of him deep down inside. Now he appeared empty and broken, but he, too, wordlessly nodded along with the elders to show his agreement.

Up on top of his altar, Yarrow breathed a heavy sigh and continued. "The fact that there are two such beings enhanced with Malefor's dark magic is quite troubling. We haven't faced an army yet and already we have suffered the temporary loss of an elder. Imagine what three will be like. We cannot allow a fourth to be born. From this day forth, we must use the ancient armor crafted for dragon kind long ago. Its powers will enhance our abilities so that we may defeat these rebellious youngsters with their minimal training and control, hiding in their crystal armor. I hereby give my permission for the armory to be opened. Let our enemies feel our might."

The vines behind the group parted, signaling that the meeting was over. The elders took to the skies. Their first stop was the armory. Once they suited up, they planned to assume their posts to defend the next likely target to be turned against them. Spyro and Cynder led their students back to the arena and ran them ragged. By the end of the day, they were all sore from the rigorous exercises they had been put through. When Psy said something about not being able to feel his feet, Cynder said, "No pain, no gain. Walk it off and be a man."

They were almost too weary to walk home and became envious like never before when Wither said, "Ah man, I'm so tired. You guys destroyed us today. Oh well, at least I don't have to walk home. Good luck everybody else." He shifted, leaving his friends in a slightly foul mood. For once, even Elleca was reduced to a slow limp home, followed by Roxy who was almost crawling behind her. As a strong earth dragon, he wasn't as affected by the physical strain as everyone else, but he was still tired and had to half shout for Elleca to wait up for him.

The next day, Wither awoke to the sound of tiny buzzing wings flitting around the room. When he opened his eyes, he saw his Uncle Sparx hovering an inch from his face. Caught by surprise, he jumped back and shouted, "Gah! What are you doing here?"

His uncle scowled at him and said, "Oh, nice to see you too, my little nephew. How am I doing? Good, thanks for asking. Haven't seen you in a few months, thought I'd stop in and say hello."

"Well, it's really random to have you show up now and in the morning. Were you watching me sleep or what? That's pretty creepy, and you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here? And don't say, 'I thought I'd stop in and say hello.'"

By now, their conversation had woken up his parents, and they just laid there for a moment, observing the exchange. After a bit, Spyro turned to Cynder and said, "I think they fight worse than you two."

"He definitely gets it honest," replied the perturbed dragonfly as he turned his attention to the couple still lying in their bed.

Cynder lowered her head to gaze directly at little intruder. "And what, might I ask, is the reason for entering our bedchamber, unannounced?"

The glowing bug backed up a bit and held out his hands in exasperation. "What? You told me to tell you when they arrived."

"When who arrived?" said Wither as he stifled a yawn.

"The cheetahs, duh. You know. The furry guys with the clothes, and the weapons, and the opposable thumbs that you so sadly lack," said Sparx while waving his thumbs in the air. "It was my job to go tell them that the world's getting ready to rumble again and that they could get front row seats to the show here if they acted fast and got in line. So they high-tailed it out of their village, and now they're knocking on the city's front door, wanting in."

At this, Spyro and Cynder got up and started toward the stairs. Spyro asked, "Is Hunter among them?"

"Yeah, and so is his kid. That boy is a wild thing, let me tell you. Oh man, Hunter taught him some seriously mad skills. I saw him sparring when I got to their village. He was taking on the rest of the kids in the whole valley and he dominated all of 'em! Hoo wee, I'd hate to have to fight that kid."

"Hmm, perhaps the cheetahs can join us in the arena to train with us," said Cynder.

"I'll let 'em know you offered and tell them you're coming to open the gates," said Sparx before zooming away and out of sight."

Spyro turned to see his son following them down the stairs. "Go to the arena, Wither. Tell your friends what's going on, and wait for us there. We shouldn't be too long."

Wither was a bit reluctant due to his curiosity, but obeyed the request and followed the steps back up the roof. Spyro thawed some meat for Wither, and together, his parents took to the skies. Once he was finished with his meal, he made his way to the arena.

XXX

Spyro and Cynder opened the gates, letting in their longtime allies. Many of the cheetahs looked around in awe as it was their first time seeing the famous dragon city. Others had a haggard look about them as they trudged through the gates, carrying many of their belongings and guiding their forlorn children through the threshold. As they entered the city many gasped and held their heads. "Do not fear, that was simply the city connecting to you," said Spyro. "Everyone in Warfang is mentally woven together with magic." The cheetahs nodded and whispered to each other in amazement at the dragons' powers.

Through the crowd stepped their old friend, Hunter. He had a young cheetah following behind him. "Greetings!" he shouted to them. "The last time I saw you two, you were the ones looking up at me. My, how you've grown. This is my son, Wy Lee."

The young cheetah stepped forward and gave a bow. "My father has told me much about dragons, especially you two. It's an honor to meet such masters in the art of mortal combat."

"I've taught my son everything I know about fighting. In just a short amount of time, he surpassed even my skill. He has unbelievable instincts in battle and has the best mind in our whole village. The boy's extremely acrobatic, athletic, and intelligent. A natural born leader, this one. He should make an excellent addition to the army you're forming here at Warfang. Now where is the arena Sparx told us about? Our people would like to begin training right away."

"Your people don't mess around when it comes to martial arts, do you?" asked Cynder, clearly pleased with their enthusiasm. "Perhaps some of your children can even spar with ours. Come, the arena is this way."

XXX

Wither shifted to the arena where his friends sat, waiting for class to begin. "Hey, there he is. Where are your parents?" asked Roxy.

"The cheetahs have come to Warfang. My mom and dad are letting them in. They said they might join us in the arena today."

His friends thought about it and decided that it would be an interesting experience. "I think it's a great idea," said Renna with excitement. "I've only seen a few cheetahs in my life. They don't come to Warfang often."

"I wonder what their fighting styles are like?" wondered Elleca.

"They're not magical like we are," said Vera.

"They're probably not that dangerous," added Tera.

"I wouldn't underestimate the abilities of non-magical beings," replied Sora. Just because they can't do some of the things we can, doesn't mean they can't put up a fight. We dragons have magical properties and tend to rely on them. While our physical capabilities may be good, I hear the cheetahs' are superb."

"Yeah, just like the fact that the moles built us this huge city," said Psy. "They're small and weak physically and don't have any magic, but they're super smart and capable of building amazing defense mechanisms."

"Exactly," said Sora, nodding at Psy.

"I wonder if we'll meet the famous cheetah, Hunter, who helped your parents in the last war," wondered Renna.

"Probably," said Wither. "I heard that he has a son too and that he's some kind of fighting prodigy. He might join us here in the arena every now and then, now that he's here."

"That's a neat idea," said Elleca, whipping her tail in excitement. "I would love to spar with a cheetah. I hope they come here to train with us often."

Wither looked up at the sky. It was a bright and sunny day. There weren't too many clouds, but enough to mercifully drift in front of the sun for a moment of shade. Today would be a good day to spar with the new arrivals, should they decide to come. The children began to stretch themselves out to prepare for the new day's exertions.

XXX

Along the way to the arena, Spyro and Cynder caught Hunter and the rest of the cheetahs up on what was happening. They started with their son's dreams, and by the time they had finished explaining that Malefor was back and using a strange new power to create several generals for the coming war, Hunter was looking a bit grim around the mouth.

"If all of this is true then we must be prepared. I can still remember all that the Dark Master is capable of. Now you say he has new found strength and is sharing it with others. This is terrible news indeed. I thought our worries with the Dark Master were over when you defeated him those twenty years ago."

"Well, for whatever reason, it seems providence has given him yet another chance in this world," said Spyro.

"You know what they say", said Cynder. "The third time's a charm."

"And do we have some wonderful new students to join the fray," said Spyro with hope and excitement in his eyes. The whole group entered the arena and greeted the children inside. The cheetahs spread out and began to stretch with the partners they planned on sparring with. Spyro and Cynder took Hunter and his son to the children watching the procession of newcomers in awe. Spyro began to introduce the students, pointing to each one in kind. "This is Roxy, Tera, Vera, Sora, Psy, Elleca, Renna, and our son, Wither."

Hunter gave a small bow and said, "Hello everyone. My name is Hunter." He then turned to Wither and said, "I helped your mother and father put Malefor away the last time he escaped. They're amazing warlords of the highest caliber, your father being the legendary Purple Dragon and your mother, the fabled Black Dragon. It is an honor to meet the offspring of two such dragons. I assume you have inherited their majesty? I do not recognize your scale color. What is your element?"

Cynder answered for him. "Indeed, Wither is at the top of the class, and you wouldn't recognize his coloring because he is wielder of a whole new element that has just been discovered. He is the first of his kind, a true prodigy on the battlefield. The unique nature of his element puts him above even most of our elders, which you know are the strongest of the dragons in Warfang."

Hunter's eyes widened to show that he was clearly impressed. "You sound a lot like my son. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Hunter turned to let his son step forward. He had orange fur with the usual black markings that cheetahs had, but there was an odd mark on his forehead. It looked like an uppercase Y printed in red. He was dressed in the strange garments the cheetahs called clothes. A dust colored cloak hung from his shoulders with a shirt clearly designed to blend in with green surroundings hiding underneath. The shirt was tucked into a belt with several pouches, which kept dirt brown pants up around his waist. He wore fingerless, leathery gloves with metal studs at the knuckles and had a long, metal staff strapped to his back.

The staff was a wonder in itself. There were black lines painted down the length of the staff that stretched from one end to the other. They turned at ninety degree angles at different intervals along the staff to run around it and would then continue down the shaft. Some of the lines took their turns and then stopped a quarter of the way down the staff, ending in small circles the size of pebbles. One end of the staff came to a sharp, narrow point. The other end had a large sphere with needle like spikes protruding from it at nearly every angle. The heavy looking end that resembled a flail or club of some sort rested above his left shoulder, and the end with the blade hovered above the ground to his right.

As he stepped forward, a clinking sound was heard underfoot. The young dragons looked down to see that he was wearing metal shoes with cleats for traction, which was odd because normally cheetahs hated covering their feet and preferred to go barefoot.

Aside from all these odd adornments, he was also well built. The clothes hung loosely around his lean yet muscular form, hiding his perfectly toned body and giving him a deceivingly meager look. He looked into Wither's dull, grey eyes with his piercing, blue ones and said, "Hello, my name is Wy Lee. My friends shortened it to one name to make things easy. You can call me Wylee."

"A pleasure to meet you," said Wither.

"Likewise. I have a feeling we'll be great friends."

"That's an interesting staff. Where'd you get it?" asked Renna, half stepping around him to get a better look at it.

"I made it."

"You made it?" asked Psy, unusually surprised.

Hunter placed a paw on his son's shoulder, pride apparent on his face. "Wylee is not only the most skilled fighter in our tribe, he's the most intelligent. He has made devices to aid him in almost any task. In my opinion this staff is his crowning creation. I have seen its wonders and the way he handles it. It's truly a sight to behold. I won't spoil the surprise for you. Why don't we have our children spar? It would be a good way to show everyone what the other is capable of, and it would be a change of pace for both of them to fight someone from another race."

Wither looked at Wylee and shook his head. Spyro grimaced and said, "No disrespect to you or your son, Hunter, but Wither is not a fair match for him. A more suitable partner would be Elleca. I think such a pairing would be an interesting bout to observe."

Hunter and Wylee both eyed Wither nervously. Hunter slowly said, "No disrespect to you or your son either, but I have to wonder how he could best my son."

"Trust me, it would be no contest," said Spyro.

Wylee turned his attention to Wither again and inspected him much more closely than he had at first. After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I give up. You appear small in stature even for a dragon your age. Your wings don't appear strong enough to pick you up yet. Your scales don't show the color of any of the dragon elements known among my people. You don't appear to have anything going for you to be quite honest. Your looks must be very deceiving."

Wither allowed a small smile to work its way across his face and said, "I have a feeling you use that same quality to your advantage as well."

"I do. Are you sure you could beat me so easily?"

"Just fight Elleca. You'll have the opportunity to see my skills in battle soon enough."

"Quite right," said Spyro, standing up straight. "After the battle between Wylee and Elleca, you and I will have at it."

Everyone perked up at these words. "Really?" asked Wither in surprise.

"What kind of power must he wield that would make you believe that's a fair match?" asked Hunter.

Spyro grinned at his old friend and said, "It's really not a fair match." Hunter seemed to understand that Spyro was saying it would only be for practice for his son until the Purple Dragon continued to say, "I probably won't be able to take him down on my own. He's proven strong enough to defeat Cynder on his own already. No matter how strong just about any single opponent is he seems most capable of dealing with them. It is only once presented with multiple foes that he begins to lose focus and fail in his magical workings."

Hunter and Wylee turned ever so slowly until they were staring at Spyro with unbelieving eyes. They both knew all the legends pertaining to the Purple Dragon and didn't understand how something could surpass such power. They narrowed their gazes and everyone turned again to look at Wither. He shuffled around a bit before shouting, "What?"

Everyone looked away uncomfortably after realizing that they had been staring. Then Wylee clapped his paws together and changed the subject. "Okay, so how about that match? I've always wanted to spar with a dragon."

Elleca turned to face Wylee and gave him a quick look up and down. "So you think you're good enough to face me?"

Wylee gave a small chuckle and said, "A lightning dragon? Perfect." He reached over his shoulder and pulled his staff out of its holster. The spear end swung in an arc over his head and came to rest in the air between them, pointed at Elleca. The cheetahs in the arena started shouting that Wylee was going to fight a dragon, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and run to the stands to watch the fight play out. After the rest of the dragons and Hunter took their seats, Spyro told them they could begin.

As usual, Elleca started off by charging her foe at full speed. What she hadn't counted on was Wylee's naturally exceptional speed as a cheetah. He dashed to the side and clubbed her in the back with the heavy looking end of his staff. She staggered to prevent herself from falling and turned to look at Wylee. He was crouched slightly and twirling his staff around his body. The two began to circle each other at a slow pace. Knowing that her quick thinking was being put to the test now that she was faced with an enemy equally fast or possibly even faster than her, Elleca took great care in planning her next move. While she was thinking of a way to get a hit on Wylee, he lunged at her just as fast as she had before. She dodged out of his way like he had done to her, but she couldn't escape his staff's reach fast enough and received a small gash in her side from the spear end.

Cheers erupted from the cheetahs in the stands, but the dragons only observed in silence. Elleca turned to face Wylee again. She eyed his staff and figured that if she was going to defeat him, she would have to make him part with it somehow. She dashed at him again and turned and rolled when she got close. He saw her coming and tried to slash her again, but as she rolled under the swinging staff, she wrapped her tail around the instrument and tugged on it with all her might as she righted herself. However, Wylee refused to let his weapon be taken from him and used his surprisingly superior strength to tug it back. Elleca expected this and had already let go with her tail and grabbed it with a paw. Wylee's exertion on the staff pulled her toward him. She slashed at him with her free paw, but was cast aside as he jolted the staff to a vertical position. She landed on her front paws and did a cartwheel, wrapping her tail around the staff again. This time, her momentum was enough to knock Wylee off balance as he maintained his grip on the weapon.

As she pulled him to the side, she rocked back midway through her cartwheel and placed a well-aimed rear paw on the staff, pulling it and Wylee to the ground. On her way back up to a standing position, she head butted him with enough force to make him loosen his grip on his prized weapon. She kicked backward as hard as she could and pulled the staff out of one of his hands. She allowed herself a grin, thinking she finally had the upper hand, but as Wylee pulled himself back from the head butt, he pulled a little ball out of one of the pouches around his waist. He tossed it into Elleca's face, and it exploded in a cloud of smoke.

The attack caught her by surprise and caused her to run away, coughing in the sooty air. Wylee grabbed his staff and pointed the spear end at Elleca. Before she could recover from the smoke, he placed a finger on one of the circles that decorated the staff. The tip shot out of the staff like a giant bullet, still connected to the staff by a thin, metal coil. He pushed another circle on the instrument and the tip opened up in midflight. Three separate sections opened up from the middle seconds before impact, and once it struck her in the neck, he released the second control, and the arms closed around her, revealing previously hidden hinges that flexed the arms so that they could grab her. He pushed the first circle again and the tip pulled her in toward him. Just before the tip fully retracted, he released her and brought the club end down on her head.

At first, it looked like the fight was over, but Elleca surprised everyone by dashing backward, away from Wylee. Her chest and head were both bleeding from her wounds, but she looked more angry than hurt. She took a deep breath inward, preparing to give Wylee enough juice to paralyze him for hours. He pointed the spear at her and whispered, "Do it."

She obliged. A massive jolt of electricity surged toward Wylee faster than the eye could see, but it didn't reach its mark. Elleca's stream struck the tip of the staff and coursed through the shaft. "Come on, all of it," urged Wylee.

Elleca realized that her attack was having no effect on him and stopped before she used up all her magic. Her jaw dropped when Wylee pressed another circle and the tip sparked with electricity. "What the—?"

Wylee silenced her by striking the ground with the tip of the staff. A crackling noise filled the air, and a bright flash blinded those staring directly at it for a moment. When the audience looked again, there was a black, burnt streak on the ground at Wylee's feet. "Your element has no effect on me so long as I have my staff."

Elleca took a step back. Her foe was just as fast as her, his fighting skills outmatched her own, he had to be even smarter than her, and know she knew he could negate her elemental attacks. That left her with only one option. "Come on, Elleca! You can do it!"

She felt her spirits rise at the sound of Roxy's cheers. After a moment of mental preparation, she began to twitch and jerk in place. Wylee wondered briefly if he had hurt her too much with the blow to her head, but then he saw the charge building up as electricity arced off of her body. He aimed his staff at her again, not knowing what she was doing. Hunter leaned over the railing and shouted, "That won't work, Wylee! It's a fury attack!"

Wylee looked at Elleca again and saw that she was pulsing with more and more energy every second, more energy than his staff could absorb. Making a quick decision, he tapped the heel of his left shoe against his other foot. The cleats retracted into it, making the bottom smooth and sleek. He launched the tip of the spear at the wall behind Elleca and stuck it in deep before lifting his right foot and pushing the button to retract the tip. Instead of bracing himself to pull out the spear, he slid toward Elleca at top speed. He kicked her in the face with his cleated shoe and slid past her.

Unfortunately for Wylee, he was a little too late. Elleca had already built up a charge strong enough to unleash a fury attack. When he kicked her in the face, she was knocked unconscious and lost control of the energy. It was released in a wave that spread outward in all directions. Wylee escaped most of it, but was caught up in the edge of it. It threw him through the air and dashed him against the wall at breakneck speed, knocking him unconscious as well.

In just a moment, all was quiet. Neither contender moved, which was the signal for Spyro to get up and grab one of the red crystals off to the side. At first, he tended to the wound on her head. Once that was healed, he got to work on the cuts on her chest and side. Hunter left the stands to check on his son, though there was nothing he could do to wake him immediately like Spyro did Elleca. Luckily, seeing as Wylee was a strong, young cheetah, he woke up on his own not too long after Elleca. Hunter helped him to his feet and watched as Wylee stumbled over to Elleca, still holding his head. He almost fell, but Spyro let him lean on his leg for support. "You'll make an amazing warrior, Elleca. It was an honor to spar with you. You're the first one who has ever matched me in battle." He leaned forward to awkwardly shake her paw.

"You're not so bad yourself. I've never met someone who could move or think as quickly as me in battle. You move like the wind and act swiftly and efficiently. You take every development in the fight in stride, and you never miss a beat. I don't know what I'm more impressed of, you or your staff. It has so many functions that make you an even more effective warrior. The way you use it in battle is so elegant, it's almost as if it's an extension of your body. You had me at every turn, every step of the way. It's not often I have to resort to my fury."

"It's not often I have to resort to using my smoke bombs. You were pretty aggressive there. I admire your passion and focus."

"You both did wonderfully," said Spyro. "And now that you're both feeling better, you can take a seat in the stands, and rest while you watch the fight between Wither and me."

"Now that's something I think we would all like to see," said Hunter in anticipation. The other cheetahs continued to watch from the stands. They too awaited the battle between the Purple Dragon of legend and his mysterious son rumored to wield even greater power.

"Good luck," wished Cynder as everyone headed for the stands.

"Thanks mom."

Cynder said over her shoulder, "I was talking to your father."

As they took their seats, Wither took a deep breath and let it out nice and slow like he always did to prepare for an important battle. The crowd grew silent and everyone leaned forward eagerly. Hunter and Wylee were especially keen on watching what would promise to be a fight of epic proportions. When Cynder gave them the word to begin, they wasted no time.

A bolt of lightning struck the air where Wither had been a split second before. All the cheetahs around the arena gasped. Spyro covered himself in a layer of rock armor and turned in place, looking all around. Wither appeared in midair, lunging at Spyro from behind. He was aimed at Spyro's head, but couldn't claw his way through the armor. Spyro shook him off, but he shifted again, still trying to break the rock off his father's head. Wylee grabbed the railing in the front row, his mouth and eyes wide open. "How is that even possible?"

"Marvelous, isn't it?" asked Cynder as she watched beside him.

"I knew dragons were magical, but this?" Hunter joined in.

They watched in amazement as Wither attacked Spyro's head a third time. This time, he pulled away a small portion of rock, revealing a hole between his father's horns. It was no bigger than a claw, but this didn't matter. Wither reached up high as if to slam a paw down on Spyro's head, but instead, he pulled his black crystal out of a tiny cloud that appeared above him and shoved it into the hole, lodging it in the armor.

Spyro tried to swipe at him, but missed. After a few swings, he began to stagger. Pieces of the armor began to fall off his body, unable to hold on without the magical force keeping them in place. By the time he realized what Wither had done, half the armor had crumbled on the ground. He blew the rest of the pieces off in an earthy explosion. The crystal was blown away by the explosion, but not destroyed. It landed in Hunter's lap, making him jump. When he saw it, he recognized it instantly. He held it up and asked, "Is this Wither's element?"

Wylee looked at the crystal and said, "That looks like the black gems from father's stories of the last war in Avalar. That's dark magic, isn't it?"

"First off, throw it back," said Cynder, backing up. "It drains us of our magic." Hunter apologized and tossed it into the arena. Once it was gone, Cynder continued, "Secondly, yes. That does help explain Wither's power. We'll tell you more after the fight."

They turned in time to see Spyro let loose with a huge blast of fire. Wither countered with a rush of nothing that consumed the blazing inferno. The fire's energy filled the nothing at the same rate as the nothing ate away at the magically created fire in midair, and both dragons were left with an empty space between them. When fire didn't work, Spyro tried freezing his son in place with a gale of arctic wind. The ice breath passed through Wither as he turned transparent. When his father stopped to catch his breath, he countered with another wave of rushing black clouds, which covered Spyro, consuming his energy. He vaulted out of the cloud with a single beat of his powerful wings, and shot another bolt of electricity at Wither. To defend himself, he threw his head back with a mighty roar and spread his wings. The dark clouds of nothing coursed out of his very body and spread outward in a swirling half sphere. The lightning passed through the clouds, but of course never reached its intended target.

After a few seconds, a draconic figure emerged from the protective bubble of nothing. It was cloaked in the dark clouds from head to tail and floated in midair, facing Spyro. "By the gods above," said Hunter.

"That's a new one," said Cynder, eyeing her son with an impressed nod of her head.

Wither spread his cloudy wings and flew through his father, leaving a disintegrating trail of darkness behind him. At first, he started off slow, but then began passing through Spyro over and over again. Every time he passed through, he would shift so as to go in for another pass through his father. After only a few seconds, he was shifting and passing through Spyro at just about every angle in midair with incredible speed. He was certainly going faster than Elleca or any cheetah ever had. After about ten seconds and what seemed like a hundred passes, Spyro fell to the ground, unable to keep himself in the air any longer. Wither shifted to the crystal on the ground with his back to his dad. He picked up the crystal and put it away before turning to Spyro. He lifted his head up and tried to stand, but just ended up collapsing in a heap, too tired to move.

The cheetahs all around were too shocked by the display of Wither's raw power to do anything at first, but after several seconds of silence, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Even his friends and his mom joined in. He padded over to his dad and asked if he was okay. At first, he was afraid when he saw tears in his father's eyes, but then Spyro lifted an exhausted paw and placed it on Wither's. "I'm so proud of you son. You've defeated one of the purple dragons in one on one combat. That makes you the single most powerful dragon in the world."

Wither smiled at his dad's praise as the nothingness around his body evaporated and he promptly fell over unconscious from the sheer exhaustion his attack had caused him. Spyro chuckled and said to himself, "Well, you're getting there, my son. You're getting there." Then he laid his head down and enjoyed a nice nap while Cynder made to go revive him with crystals.