Copyright: I do not own Spyro or anything Spyro related. It is all owned by Sierra Entertainment and Activision. I do own my original characters in the story.
Three months later…
"We've been looking for months now." Gen said, following Rai through the air. "All we've done is fly around, and wait for you to finish your stupid meditating."
"I've told you this once before. If you have a problem with the way that I do things then just leave." Rai responded.
"I would but since you're determined on becoming the ruler of this world. It would be better for me to follow you then to go against you." He responded.
"It seems that this group has yet to find unity." A voice said, flying up towards them.
"Slifer," Rai said.
"It's been such a long time since we last met." He responded.
"I have plenty of things to ask you. First of all where have you been?"
"That does not concern you." Slifer said, refusing to answer Rai's question.
"Alright, then how about telling me why you bear the same style of tattoo as the ones who refer to themselves as Demi-Gods?"
"Since you met them there is no longer any reason for me to hide anything from you. I used to be part of their group." He responded.
"So then care to tell us some information about them?" Rai asked, growing interested in where the conversation was going.
"I only have a small amount of information. The one thing I must strongly suggest is that you do not pick a fight with them. If you and your current group decide to challenge them you will be obliterated. I only taught you how to defend yourself against Judges, and even Judges would be a task at your current strength. The other thing that I do know about them is that they are few in members. There are currently only four Demi-Gods, but the idea is to eventually have a total of eight members."
"Why eight members?" Ares asked.
"One for each element I suppose. Now if you are interested in still becoming the ruler of this world then I suggest you participate in an upcoming event."
"What kind of event?" Rai asked.
"A tournament that will take place in Warfang it begins today. That is why I decided to show myself to you so that I could inform you of it. All the major dragon cities will be taking part in it. The strongest dragons of your generation will fight to determine the strongest dragon of the current generation. If you wish to demonstrate to them who will be the one they will all be bowing down too soon enough then take part in it. I suggest that the rest of you also take part in it as well. I have also heard rumors of Ignitus explaining how destiny works. He should have plenty of things to reveal that you don't know yet about how the world around you works." Slifer said.
"The most appealing thing is the information that Ignitus will be revealing. He might have information about the Demi-Gods that not even you know." Rai said, contemplating on whether he should go or not. "As much as I hate Warfang, I guess that the five of us will take part in the tournament." Rai said, turning around to his teammates.
"Sure I'm in; showing up those dragons is something that I would gladly do." Gen responded.
"I'll also fight in it since I have nothing better to do." Ares responded.
"Might as well." Glacia said.
"I'll also go just make sure that you don't lose sight of what is important." Sypher said, addressing Rai.
"Don't worry I won't." Rai responded.
"One last thing," Slifer said, grabbing their attention again. "This might be the last time that we meet. It is time that we part ways. The four of you must now do things on your own without my guidance."
"Alright then thanks for everything you have taught us." Rai said, flying off in the direction of Warfang with his group.
"Don't worry Rai; I'll be seeing you again. We will both be part of the same group." Slifer said, flying off in the opposite direction.
During the three months Spyro had been training in order to get his mind off of Cynder and Seth. He had been training with Flame the whole time, helping the dragon get stronger for the upcoming tournament. The two dragons were currently resting from their daily regime. Blaze and Blair approached the two resting dragons.
"Listen up you two the Guardians are calling for us. Today is the day that the tournament is set to begin." Blair said, grabbing the dragons' attention.
"Hey guys," Spyro said, walking up to them.
"What happened to you, Blaze?" Flame asked, upon seeing that Blaze's four paws were lighter in color.
"That's what he gets for pushing his body so hard." Blair replied.
"I asked Ignitus to give me a book about the fire element. While I was trying out a new technique that I created from reading that book, I received these." He said, showing them his paws. "They're burn marks that not even Ember can heal. She told me that even though they are burn marks that at the same time they are not. She said that I must have received them as sign that my technique had been completed."
"Well let's get going." Spyro said, following Blaze and Blair back to the Guardians' room. The four dragons entered the room, and saw that Seth, Cynder, and Ember were already there. The four guardians plus Ignitus were also there.
"Now that everyone is here we can begin." Terrador said.
"As you know the tournament is supposed to start today. The dragons from the other cities will arrive shortly. I called the seven of you here to tell you that I want you to treat these dragons with the outmost respect. I would like you to be gracious host to our visitors. Most of the dragons that will be participating in the tournament will be living in the temple for the duration of the tournament. You will be living with these dragons for several days. The reason as to why I am being so stern with the seven of you is because all of you are skilled fighters. You are the only dragons in Warfang who have taken an interest in mastering your elements. That is why I expect you to be on your best behavior." Ignitus said.
"We will," Spyro said, speaking on behalf of the group.
"Alright then follow me to the entrance of the city." Ignitus said, leading the dragons.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the city the elder dragons stepped towards the side of the entrance, while the young dragons flew up towards the rooftops of the nearby buildings. Spyro and the others positioned themselves on the rooftops so that they could examine the new dragons. The moles began opening the large gate for the visitors. The young dragons watched as new dragons entered the city. From what they could tell the first groups of dragons to enter the city were dragons from the Fire City. Spyro saw that Magmus was within the group of dragons. The dragons were led by Cyril towards the center of the city. The next groups were those that came from the Ice City. They were followed by the Electric and Wind City dragons. The earth dragon group was the last to enter. Spyro noticed that Greg and Brox were within the group. All of the groups went towards the center of Warfang.
"Let's go," Spyro said, leading his friends towards the center of the city.
Upon arriving the young dragons saw that the Guardians and Ignitus were standing on a stage with five other elder dragons. Spyro guessed that those dragons were the leaders of their cities.
"All of you have been invited here to participate in The Draconic Tournament. I know that most of you are here to prove yourselves, but I highly encourage all of you to converse with each other. After all the whole point of setting up this tournament was so that our cities could create stronger ties with each other." Ignitus said, looking out at the audience. "Now I believe introductions are in order. I am The Chronicler Ignitus. I am Warfang's leader, and the dragons to my right are the Guardians. The dragons to my left are the leaders of the major dragon cities."
The dragon city leaders were around the same size as the Guardians. Age wise it was obvious that the dragons were past their prime, but they were also not as old as the Guardians. Spyro stared at the dragon next to Ignitus. The elder dragon referred to him as Niran, he was the newly appointed Fire City Leader. The dragon had bright red and orange scales. He had two horns that came out of his head to the side. His tail had three spikes that curved upwards. The dragon next to him was one that Spyro was already familiar with. It was the Earth City Leader Terran.
The dragoness next to him was named Gwen; she was the leader of the Ice City. She had light blue scales, and a horn tipped tail. The dragoness had several horns sticking out of her head that curved back down her neck. Next to her was the leader of the Electricity City, Glaw. The dragon had dark yellow scales, and a bright blue underbelly. The dragon had two horns that curved towards the back of his head. Erion was the dragon next to him. He was the leader of the Wind City. The dragon had bright green and blue scales. He had two horns that curved outward. The tip of his tail had a sharp tip to it. The dragon had several large scars around his chest. Out of all the leaders he was the closest to the Guardians's age.
"Now that introductions are over I will explain what will happen in the next couple of days. Later today all of you are encouraged to meet up in Warfang's Dragon Temple. There all of you can get to know each other better. We will also be serving dinner during that time. The dragon temple is also the place where most of you will live while the tournament is going on. On the next day the preliminary rounds of the tournament will take place. On the day after that all of you will get to rest. A pattern will commence were on one day you will fight while on the other you will rest. Now for the rest of the day you are free to explore the city." Ignitus said, ending his speech.
He and the rest of the older dragons flew away from the center of the city, leaving the younger dragons alone. Spyro watched as some of the dragons wondered off to explore the city, while others stayed. He noticed that most of the dragons were staying with the dragons that they knew. Out of the corner of his left eye he saw Greg, Brox, and to his surprise Alyssa. The purple dragon thought that she would have stayed back in the Earth City, especially since her father was so protective of her.
"Hey guys," Spyro said, greeting them. "Are all three of you going to participate in the tournament?"
"Yea, it should be fun." Greg responded.
The rest of Spyro's friends, including Magmus came up to him. Upon arriving Spyro introduced the three Earth City citizens to Magmus. The dragon group then walked around the city for a bit. The dragons enjoyed themselves, walking around the city with their friends. It had been a long time since they could relax, and just enjoy their time with each other. The dragons noticed that it was getting late. They decided to head back towards the temple for dinner, and the get together that they were supposed to have with the other dragons. As they entered the temple's grounds, Spyro saw a group of dragons that he was very familiar with walking towards its entrance. Spyro stopped bringing the others to a halt as well. The five dragons at the entrance also stopped.
"I was hoping to avoid confrontation with you, but I guess it couldn't be helped." The grey dragon said, turning around to face Spyro. The other four dragons also turned around to face Spyro's group.
"This is the last place that I would have expected to see you." Spyro said, smiling at Rai.
"Oh, do believe that I still hate this place, but I made an exception just this once."
"So I guess that you're participating in the tournament as well." he responded.
"Not just him, but all of us." Gen replied.
"I remember you guys." Seth said, stepping forward. "We met you guys when we were gathering information on Malefor. Three of you said that you intended to kill Cynder. Then that light blue dragon came and saved you from my attack. He might have beaten me back then, but since then I've grown stronger."
"Calm down Seth." Spyro said, placing his wing in front of the dragon. "I know that you've regained your old powers, but these guys are still out of your league."
Dragons had started circling around the two groups, after hearing the commotion coming from Seth. Spyro wanted to avoid drawing attention, but it appeared as if everyone was interested in their little argument.
"Let's go," Rai said, preparing to head in towards the temple.
"You seem to be the leader." Seth called out, getting Rai's attention.
"So what if they wanted to kill her, what does she mean to you." He said, answering back calmly.
"She's my girlfriend, and it is my duty to protect her from scumbags like the five of you." He responded.
"But I thought that…" Rai paused, taking a moment to look towards Spyro. The dragon had his head down, and was shaking his head. "I see well that is a shame."
"What's a shame is that you turned your back on the very dragons that opened their arms to you." Blaze yelled out.
Rai ignored Blaze, and instead continued to antagonize Seth. "If that is how you truly feel then I suggest you do what Spyro suggested. Calm down and stop this, because you are starting a battle that you cannot finish."
"Who is this guy, Spyro? And why does he seem to know you?" Seth whispered towards the purple dragon.
"He's my older twin brother," he replied. "He used to be in our group, but then he left."
"Wait, so this is the Rai that I've heard so much about? So you're the one that abandoned your comrades. I believe that it is a very cowardly act to leave because you couldn't face your problems." Seth said.
"I left because I didn't belong with them. It was the best choice that I had ever made. I didn't need them, and now every time that I see their damn faces I get the urge to kill all of them." He said, smiling at the wind dragon.
Rai's last words had pushed the dragon over the edge. Seth pushed Spyro's wing away, and zoomed towards the grey dragon. He left a gust of wind in his trail. In an instant the wind dragon swung his fist at Rai. The other dragons could barely keep up with Seth's movements it all happened so fluidly. Once their eyes had adjusted they saw that Rai's head was turned, and Seth's fist was a few inches to the side of Rai's cheek.
"I missed," Seth said surprised that he had been bested.
"You're just too slow." Rai said, turning his head back towards Seth. "And if not for the fact that we would have gotten thrown out, you would be dead right now."
It was at that point that Seth felt claws along his throat. He saw that they belonged to the light blue dragon next to Rai. He knew that it was the same dragon that had taken him out in their last confrontation.
"Rushing in without thinking will usher in sure death. If you let your emotions get the better of you, and fight with pure rage nothing but death will come from it." Sypher said, taking his claws away from Seth's neck. "The last thing you want to do is let your opponent manipulate your emotions during a battle. At the same time abandoning them completely is not the answer, because our emotions fuel us. They remind us that there is a reason to fight. Whether we fight to achieve a dream, or to defend something we hold dear."
"I look forward to seeing what you can do in the tournament, Seth." Rai said, turning around. "The same applies to you, Spyro." He said, walking into the temple with his group.
"That dragon is still as weak as ever." Gen said.
"You do not know what you speak of, Gen." Sypher said, looking back at Seth. "He was holding back."
"I would say that he is about your level now, Gen." Rai added, leading the dragons towards the dining area of the temple. "Do not underestimate that dragon. If one of us goes up against him, during the tournament he will prove to be quite challenging to defeat."
