alright, after this don't expect chapter 21 for a little while. chapters 21 through 24 are going to be introducing new characters and i'm currently sketching them out.
as soon as i finish the first two characters i'll start writing chapter 21.
four of the five new characters are human. the fifth i'm sure you already know, seen as i mentioned this dragon several times already and he played an important role in the Spyro game trilogy this book takes place after.
Chapter 20: first an anomaly, then a letter, then a new threat, and then Will gets a teacher.
Location: Riftside. Asgard dimension.
January 6th, 7:30 AM.
Character: Natalie.
When Natalie woke up, all she could see was Cynder's blood-red wing in front of her.
She sat up, yawning, and looked at what she could see of a window past Cynder's wing. Bright sunlight was shining through.
At first Natalie thought that the sun had come out again, but she blinked and the sunlight disappeared.
Natalie shook her head. I'm probably not fully awake yet. She thought. Darn, I wish I could see the sun again!
Cynder shifted behind Natalie and raised her wing as she stretched her limbs. "Good morning, Natalie." She said, yawning.
"Good morning." Natalie said, trying to sound cheerful when really she was getting more and more depressed by the day.
This whole 'surviving–the–zombie–apocalypse–while–trying–to–catch–a–warlord' thing was starting to wear Natalie down a lot. Ron called it 'battle fatigue'. He said it was common with soldiers.
Well, I'm not a soldier. Natalie thought as she got up.
Cynder got up, her emerald eyes looking around the room, and said, "Didn't Light know you were even in the warehouse? Never mind in the same room as me."
"No. He would get so mad he'll lose control of his Pyrokinesis if he ever found out I was even in the warehouse, never mind in this specific room." Natalie said.
Cynder leered at her tauntingly. "Well, it's not a good thing. Light doesn't necessarily trust me, remember?"
"Yeah, but Light wouldn't care where I was as long as it wasn't in the hospital or the library or the church."
Cynder laughed a little. "Well, aren't you –what the HELL?!" the 'what the hell' was because a black spark of some kind flashed between her and Natalie.
Natalie stared at the space in the air through which the black spark flew. "What on earth was that?" she asked.
Cynder shook her head. "I was about to ask you. I've never seen this sort of thing in my life."
"And how long of you been alive?" Natalie asked.
Cynder looked at her. "Well, to put it in a simple way," she started. "I'm about 17 human years old."
"What about in dragon years?" Natalie asked.
"Look, do we really need to talk about my age?" Cynder asked as another spark flew. "I'm more concerned about these sparks."
Natalie stared at another spark, and focused. The spark stopped in midair, giving Natalie and Cynder a chance to see it.
It looked like a glowing sphere, and it was black as night.
The amount of energy it took to keep that spark in place was enormous. Natalie had to let it fly.
After three more sparks flew, they stopped.
Natalie took a deep breath after a few minutes. "I wonder why these sparks were flying…" she said to herself.
Cynder shook her head. "Well, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing." She said.
Natalie sighed. "Well, it isn't all that scary." She said. "I've seen really crazy things since this whole apocalypse started."
Cynder scoffed. "I doubt you've seen true fear, no offense." She said.
Natalie looked at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Cynder sighed. "Malefor used fear a lot." She said. "The war I was in was a bit more terrifying than this apocalypse, though it did not have nearly as much blood and gore."
Natalie folded her arms. "Are you just saying that to make me think things can get much worse?"
"Well, yes and no." Cynder replied.
"Okay, how bad can things get?"
Cynder looked at her. "Remember what I said about the elements I can use?" she said.
"Wind, Poison, Shadow, and Fear. And that last one you regret learning." Natalie said. "Why?"
Cynder sighed. "Fear lives up to its name." She said. "A fear spell not only damages if the user wants it to, it also instills the worst fear in the unlucky soul that's targeted by the spell. A cold, harsh fear that can drive you mad. It makes you hallucinate, makes you see terrifying images, which multiplies the fear already in you."
Natalie was shocked. "Why did you learn that?" she said.
Cynder looked at her. "I was on Malefor's side at one point, remember? Back then, I wasn't all that different from him. If you met me in those days, I probably would have considered you prey. In those days, hatred burned through me, ran through my veins. Sometimes I thought I was dying from the inside from the hatred." She sighed. "Spyro set me free from Malefor's influence, though. He changed me. When he first set me free, I was a bit withdrawn and silent. He taught me feelings like love and sadness, feelings I was oblivious too while I was Malefor's pawn. Spyro changed me from an evil person that hated every living thing, to a good person that would give her life to protect her world and everyone she holds dear to her."
Natalie bit her lip. "Well, I'm glad he did." She said. "If he's that good a person, I can see why you fell for him."
Cynder smiled. "Thanks for the help you gave me, Natalie." She said.
"No problem." Natalie said. "But…" she sighed. "Remember when you asked me about what Light saw in you?"
"Yes. Why?" Cynder said.
Natalie tugged at her sleeve with her other hand. "Well, he's a psychic, and…"
"And?" Cynder said. "Is something wrong, Natalie?"
Natalie took a deep breath. "Light would've trusted you completely Cynder." She said. "That is, if he didn't sense some kind of darkness in your soul."
Cynder sighed. "I knew all along that he could sense the darkness inside me." She said. "I've been in control of it since Spyro set me free, but not a day goes by that I don't feel it clawing at my mind, trying to get me to do it's bidding."
"Cynder, Light doesn't just sense the darkness in your soul; he can sense the blood that stains it. He knows you took thousands of lives, he just doesn't know if it's innocent or soldiers blood."
Cynder sighed again. "It's both." She said. "The innocent was while I was on Malefor's side. The soldiers was while I was fighting Malefor."
Natalie nodded thoughtfully, then the two-way radio strapped into her belt crackled and Light's voice came over. "Natalie, where are you?" he said,
Natalie undid the strap on the radio and said, "I'm coming, Light. Just hang on one minute." She looked at Cynder. "Does Shadow element spells allow you to turn someone invisible temporarily?"
Cynder's scales suddenly turned blacker than any black Natalie had seen and Cynder blew a warm, black haze over Natalie.
"Cynder! What the-"
"It's alright, Natalie. It won't hurt you a bit." Cynder's voice said, though Natalie couldn't see her.
When the haze cleared, Natalie was looking at Cynder, and her scales were starting to the normal metallic black Natalie was used to.
"Why the heck did you do that?" Natalie asked.
Cynder nodded in the direction of a broken mirror on the wall.
Natalie looked – and couldn't see herself. She picked up a folded-up sheet of paper on the floor and looked at the mirror again. All the mirror show was a piece of paper free-floating in the air.
"Wow. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought that I was looking at a ghost in the mirror." Natalie said. "How long is this going to last?"
"Five minutes, give or take." Cynder said.
"Do your scales always turn that black when you use Shadow magic?" Natalie asked.
Cynder nodded. "It happens every time." She said. "You don't have to be alarmed."
"Okay, well next time, can you just say 'yes' instead of casting a spell? You freaked me out so bad I almost drove you through the wall."
"I promise not to do that again." Cynder said. She nodded toward the doorway. "Go on. Light isn't going to wait much longer."
Natalie nodded, unable to figure out if Cynder could still see her, and left the room, dropping the paper while she was at it.
Character: Cynder.
Cynder sighed as she heard Natalie's footsteps echo down the hallway.
Maybe I shouldn't have told Natalie that much about my past. She thought. And to make things worse, every bit of it's true. I was a truly evil person before Spyro set me on the right track, before he opened my eyes to my true destiny.
Cynder sighed, looking out the window. She'll forever be grateful to Spyro for setting her free.
She picked up the paper Natalie was holding, and was about to burn it when she noticed a rune in the back of it.
She recognized the rune instantly. It was a spell rune, one that was used to amplify wind element power. And this particular rune was depleted.
Cynder knew at once who it was from.
She unfolded the paper carefully, trying not to even scratch it, and read the words claw-written on it:
"Cynder, my love.
I'm glad to know you're okay. I know that you're not able to send me back a letter, since you have to be in a location I was in, so don't worry about it.
This Light human… you were right when you said he was going to find that box. He added his own letter to it. Me and Flame aren't all that happy with what he wrote, but looking at what Malefor did to his home and his race I don't blame him. You were also right when you said that he might be able to sense what little darkness is still inside you. He had written in his letter that he could sense your soul. He described it as 'stained with the blood of thousands, blacker than night'.
But I don't give a damn what he thinks. I don't care what Malefor had you do. You're still my little Cyn, and I'll always love you. I worried about you every day until I found your letter.
You don't have to be sorry for anything, Cyn. Especially that promise. You were scared, and I understand that. And you don't have to worry about me; I'll be fine.
Although, I am worried about you. You're traveling with a human that isn't afraid to kill you, and a little girl with abilities I'm still trying to grasp the full extent of.
You have to remember, you're not alone with the darkness inside you. I'm trying to deal with the darkness Malefor infected me with, as well.
Cyn, I'll find you. I can follow you, both with the spell I used to send this letter and with the scent you left behind. I'm not going to leave it to chance; I will find you, my love. I know why you said you were going to leave it to chance, so I'm not angry with you.
And about Light, he's more compassionate than you think. If you ask him about a girl named Clara Doyle, you'll see what I mean.
I'm so happy to know you're safe, Cyn. Please, don't do anything that might put your life in danger.
And try to forget your past. You're no longer the dragon that brought about the worst kind of terror at Malefor's will.
You're the kindest person I know now, and you'll do anything to protect your friends and family. And you see people for what they really are, and you try to help anyone that needs it. That's one of the reasons I fell in love with you, Cyn.
I'll try to find you as fast as you can. I promise you.
Please, stay safe and well.
I love you."
Spyro had written his name on the lower-left corner of the page, like Cynder did with her letter.
Cynder traced the ornate writing of Spyro's name with her claw, a tear in her eye. Who knew three little words can mean so much? She thought.
She heard someone walking down the hallway and quickly put the letter in her bag.
"Hey, dragon. Are you awake yet?" Ron said as he walked around the corner.
Cynder leered. "Yes, now why are you here?" she said.
Ron looked around. "I see you've cleaned up." He said, almost to himself. "Well, Light hates to admit it, but we need your help with something."
"What is it?" Cynder asked.
"Well, that's the problem. Something's headed toward this safe area and we have no clue in hell what it is." Ron said.
Cynder's immediate thought was Spyro. "Is it flying?" she asked worriedly.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "No, it's on ground. And why do you sound worried?"
"I'm in no condition for aerial combat right now." Cynder said. "I would've been unable to help if it was flying."
"Okay, well we don't know what it is, all we know is that it's something I've never seen before." Ron said. "And it looks hostile."
Location: Barricade in Riftside.
Character: Light.
Light looked at the vehicle that was coming toward Riftside. He was thankful for the tall building right by the barricade; otherwise Dante would've never seen this thing. And Will would've needed a damn fire truck ladder to see over the barricade.
Speaking of Will… "Dante, where the hell's Will?" Light asked.
Dante shrugged. "I have no idea in hell." He said. "I've yet to see him today."
"If he's sleeping, I'm going to electrify the air around him so he can take a step without getting shocked with static electricity!" Light yelled.
Natalie looked at the vehicle. "Well, I've never seen this thing before. Dante?"
"Not a clue." Dante said.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Light looked toward the ramp that wound around the building. The black dragon was walking towards them.
"Well, look who had enough of a heart to answer someone in need of help for once." Light said.
The dragon growled. "Drop it, Light." It said. "I can easily just take you out right now, if I want."
Light was about to shoot a warning shot over the dragon's shoulder when Dante said, "look, can we just stop arguing and focus on figuring out what the hell that thing is and why it's here?"
Light sighed and looked back at the vehicle. It looked like a war tank, except it had four legs and looked somewhat like a dragon, minus the wings and neck and tail. It had a lot of weapons on it, that's something which Light took notice of.
Well, if this thing turns out to be hostile, I can just beat it down and we have a little extra firepower. Light thought.
"Hey, Dragon, do you know what the hell that thing is?" Light asked.
"Stop calling me 'Dragon'." It growled. "I have a name, you know. And no, I've never seen anything like that what-ever-it-is."
"Okay, well right now, I'm more worried about that thing than you're name, so deal with been called 'Dragon'." Light said.
He sighed. You know, if it wasn't for the fact that I can sense the amount of blood that stains this dragon's soul, I might trust it. He thought. I can tell it has a somewhat-good heart, though there's something evil in this dragon's soul, but the amount of blood means this dragon has killed thousands, if not tens of thousands. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be so worried about Natalie's friendship with it.
I'm still worried about the fact that it IS a dragon, and one of it's own kind destroyed my world, so even if it has a good heart I might not trust it.
Light looked at Ron. "Ron, where the hell is Will?" he asked.
Ron shook his head.
The dragon, however, decided not to keep its jaws shut. "I saw him running toward the armory." It said, looking toward the gun-and-ammunition shop next to the library.
Light had wondered why the builders had put the gun shop right next to a library when he first found it. It was a bit ironic that a place selling weapons of war was built right next to a place that supported peace and knowledge.
Dante groaned. "Well, at least he knows we're in a bit of a mess." He said.
"Yeah, I knew at once something was really wrong when you sent Ron to fetch her." Will said, walking past the dragon carrying a crate full of ammo.
"'Her'?" Light asked.
Will looked at the dragon.
Light shook his head. "Damn, what the hell do I care?! Will, what the hell is that thing?!"
Will put the crate on the ground, loaded his Magnum Pistol, and looked at what Light was talking about.
Will's jaw dropped as he dropped the Magnum at the same moment. "Damn, damn, damn, DAMN!" he yelled.
"I'll take that as a sign to file this under the heading of 'not good at all'." Natalie said sarcastically. "Will, what the heck is that?"
Will took a deep breath. "That's a T.G.A.V." He said.
"A what?" the dragon asked.
"Tactical Ground Assault Vehicle." Will said. "It was under development by the military. As the name suggests, it's a ground vehicle that is loaded with all kinds of weapons. Its main purpose is to engage in combat with other ground vehicles and eliminate them, but the military soon found that it could carry anti-aircraft weapons as well."
Ron looked at the dragon. "Well, I think a flying dragon might count as aircraft, so attacking from the air isn't an option."
The dragon leered at him, growling. "I'm going to take that bit about flying dragons as aircraft as a compliment." It said.
Light groaned. "Will, I'm interested in what kind of threat we're dealing with." He said.
"That's the problem; the military shut down the T.G.A.V. development due to a discovery that it could take on five war tanks without taking damage. It was deemed too dangerous and it was shut down before any attempts made by terrorists to reverse-engineer it."
Light thought his jaw dislocated, it dropped so far. "FIVE war tanks?!" he yelled. "William! Dante, Ron, and me COMBINED have trouble with just ONE war tank! This thing is capable of taking down FIVE?!"
"Yes." Will said. "And my guess is that Cauldur found the designs and built them." His eyes widened. "And it looks like he attacks satellite weapon lasers to this one."
"Okay, enough with the sci-fi stuff." Natalie said, groaning. "Why do you say that?"
"BECAUSE THAT THING IS FIRING IT NOW!!!" Will yelled.
Light ducked just in time for a bright beam of red light to fire over his head, just barely missing him, and destroy a section of the wall of the staircase room on the roof of the building.
"HOLY CRAP!" Ron yelled as he ducked. Everyone ducked as a barrage of red beams of light began to pummel the barricade. It wasn't all that damaging to the barricade, but it was starting to weaken considerably.
After a few minutes Will yelled over the firing, "This guy's mad! He's going to run out of ammo in no time, at this rate!"
"I'm a bit more worried about us right now!" Dante yelled. "And this guy might be after the barricade, if this guy is with Cauldur!"
"Somebody return fire!" Ron yelled.
Light got up for a long enough amount of time to throw several fireballs at the T.G.A.V. then ducked again.
"Will, can you try to blind that thing?!" he yelled.
Will got up and threw a ball of concentrated Haze energy before ducking again.
He must've hit his mark, because now the shots were at random. Some were going straight up into the air.
It didn't have a lasting effect, though. Soon the lasers were back on target.
The dragon suddenly raised its head, opened its jaws wide, and blew a jet of mist toward the T.G.A.V.
Light would've laughed if some of that mist didn't hit the water coming out of a broken water pipe next to him. And the water froze solid instantly, along with anything else the mist touched.
The dragon closed its mouth and ducked as a laser flew over its head.
Light took a quick look over the wall and found that the T.G.A.V. was surrounded with ice three feet thick.
It didn't matter though; the T.G.A.V. just walked over it.
Light raised his hand over the wall and fired several thunder shots toward the T.G.A.V.
The firing stopped.
Everyone got up to look at the T.G.A.V. (you know what, I need to figure out a shorter name for T.G.A.V.).
It was just standing there.
"Will, did I get it?" Light asked.
"No." Will answered. "It's probably out of ammo."
"William, I can count several Gatling-gun turrets on that thing." Ron said.
"Will, what are those things on its legs?" Dante asked.
Will took a pair of binoculars and looked through them. "I'll say that those things are for more maneuverability." He said.
"Meaning?" Natalie asked.
Suddenly the T.G.A.V. crouched down and jumped a hundred feet into the air and crashed down on the roof of the building they were on.
"JESUS CHRIST!" Light yelled, just barely managing to get out of the way. The thing was twice the size of a school bus.
The Gatling-guns started firing in four different directions. Light and Natalie managed to stop them from hitting anyone as Dante jumped fifty feet into the air and crashed down on the back of the T.G.A.V.
The machine went nuts at Dante tore a turret off of it. He was thrown off and landed on the ground.
Light ran up to it, jumped onto a joint in the left leg, jumped again and landed on the cockpit window.
He could see the man driving it. He was staring at Light, and then he pressed a button. Light was thrown off as the machine lurched to one side, but he managed to hit the machine with a fire ball.
The dragon pounced and smashed its fisted claw into the side of the cockpit. The machine lurched even further to one side and almost lost its balance. The dragon held a claw out and a ball of some kind of energy formed in front of it. It fired, and tore through the side of the T.G.A.V.
It stopped moving. Then the dragon smashed its claws against the cockpit, crushing it flat. Soon blood was pouring out of the remains of the cockpit.
Everyone got out from where they were hiding after a few minutes.
"Well, that was easier than it should have been." Will said. "Cauldur didn't do a very good job making this."
"I think it was a sacrifice he had to make for the satellite laser." Light said. He looked at the dragon. "Well, you're like us then, huh?"
"Not quite." The dragon said. "Most of you use psychic abilities. What I used was a form of magic from my world."
"Okay, first science fiction and now fantasy." Ron said. "Wait. MOST of us? I mean, I know you know that Dante's ability isn't a psychic ability, but the way you said that makes me think you don't mean just Dante."
The dragon looked at Will. "Where did you learn to use Shadow element?" it asked.
Will started. "Wait, you know what this is?" he said, holding up his hand and making a Haze sphere.
The dragon nodded. "I recognize that power anywhere." It said. "It's also a form of magic from where I come from."
Ron sighed. "Well, now we know what it is." He said. "I was thinking about what it could be since we found out it wasn't a psychic power, and Dante said it wasn't a genetic ability."
The dragon didn't take its eyes off Will. "Where did you learn to use Shadow?" it asked again.
Will shrugged. "Hell if I know." He said. "I know nothing of my past, remember? I woke up in the ruins of a city, and a couple days later I threw a ball of this stuff at a group of zombies and annihilated them." He let the sphere dissipate and looked at the dragon. "Can you use this?"
"I not only use it," it said. "I've mastered the Shadow element."
"Oh really?" Light said. The dragon looked at him, then its claws became covered with a black haze and the dragon slammed its paw into the ground.
Midnight-black spikes shot out of the ground and impaled the T.G.A.V.
The vehicle was completely destroyed as the spikes tore it to shreds.
Light took a wary step back. "Is that the full extend of the power Will can use?" he asked. well, thank god the weapons are still intact.
The dragon shook its head. "Not even close." It said.
Will stared at the remains of the vehicle. "Wow." He said. "Haze – excuse me- Shadow element can be even more devastating than that?"
The dragon nodded. "It has defensive capabilities as well." It said. It looked at Will. "I could teach you how to use the Shadow element, if you want."
"Sure, that'd be great!" Will said.
Light sighed. "Well, as long as it helps us defeat Cauldur, that's fine with me."