Chapter 34: Forgotten Family
As Silver walked back to his house he wondered what the heck Rift has done while he's been gone. The thought of what could happen made him reach the house faster.
He didn't even bother knocking on the front door. Silver barged right in and went straight upstairs to find Rift closing his laptop.
Silver: What did you do?
Rift: Only what we agreed upon.
Silver looked a bit relaxed but still worried.
Silver: Let me see.
Rift opened the laptop and opened up chapter 34.
Rift: As you do that I'm gonna to do the disclaimers. Silver doesn't own any Spyro characters or storyline, only his OCs and story. I am owned by a hooman, Rifty Agon, and if you don't like the story, eat a snickers. You aren't yourself when you're hungry.
Two Day After Vision, Silvus' POV:
The flight across the ocean was nice and easy with my new found endurance, though they still burned quite a bit. I can't say the same with the flight to Schatten City. It's been two days already and I still haven't arrived. From what little things I've heard, the city resides in the Shadow Forest, a land with trees so tall and thick that it blocks out the sunlight fully.
Half way through the second day, said forest came into view on the horizon. I decided to take a quick rest. I was flying over a small dry grass plains for the time being and I landed in a small patch of dirt. Swiftly, I took out a frouta to munch on, with the help of the light fruit I knew I'd be able to make it to the forest by sundown.
Hopefully in time.
Once I finished eating my meal, I took off flying straight away. I was halfway across the plains when I noticed something to my left. Hovering in one place, I turned to get a better look. I saw a large dark mass headed out of the forest, heading directly west, straight for the ocean. I could only assume it was the attackers of Schatten City, searching the trees more, hoping to spot some escapees. Mainly Kafto.
I really hope he's okay. Whoever that dragon was who attacked him, they will pay dearly!
Revenge was something I couldn't think about for the moment. Right now, I need to focus one getting to the Shadow Forest and finding the city. The direct location was something that Gabriel never taught me, he only showed me land, not cities or villages just yet. I'd have to wait a year or two for that.
As the sun began to set and the stars began to come out, the forest grew ever so closer. I decided to rest right outside the darkened place. I wanted to know when the sun would rise and I'd have a full day to search the forest for Kafto. He could be anywhere inside, whether it be in the city, or just around.
Sleep wasn't something to look forward to at the moment. When I slept last night, I had a nightmare or a vision of the dragon that attacked the city. Though it felt like eternity, it lasted only a few hours. Hours to endure to watch my friend get attacked ruthlessly. But I had no other choice but to try and sleep. Either another nightmare will plague my dreams and leave me with no rest, or I might get some actual rest.
Next Morning, Silvus' POV:
Thankfully, the Ancestors were merciful and left me with some rest. Clouds covered the sun and the area was fogged up. I looked to the direction of the forest and saw that the same problem was occurring there as well. I groaned in frustration. It'll be harder to search the forest.
Might as well get started.
I entered the forest with caution, not knowing whether some sort of creature would attack me upon entering. But nothing like that happened, so forward I continued.
The forest was very humid and sweat could be seen on my scales, the air around me warm and uncomfortable. Thankfully, Gabriel taught me how to cool my body down. The warm area now didn't affect me one bit.
That would definitely be useful for when I'm ever in a desert.
Already, I spent more than half the day wandering through this huge forest and so far, I had no luck finding Schatten City or Kafto. Every once in awhile, I would have a run in with a deer or another creature. Correction, everywhere I stepped seemed to be a new creature. So many things lived in this huge, mysterious forest, so secluded from the outside world.
Maybe that's why the fear, poison, and shadow dragons live out here...
If I wasn't in a desperate situation, I would have taken my time exploring this place. So many areas to check out. At one point, I ran into a river and thought I heard a waterfall nearby as well. I took a quick stop at the river to take a small drink of water to quench my dying thirst.
Something I started to notice as I went farther and farther into the Shadow Forest was an increase in apes. First, it started off with only one or two in a dark area, but then it began to increase into dozen ape patrols.
Maybe I'm getting closer to the city?
I would have to be patient to find out if my theory was true. I didn't want to get into a battle with any of them, that would just slow me down. Kafto is hurt and I need to get to him as fast as possible.
As I hid from another ape patrol, I checked my bag. Out of paranoia, I needed to make sure that the spirit gems were still there. I let out a sigh of relief, but that was a mistake. The apes walking past my hiding place stopped in their tracks. I held my breath. I could see their feet. The bush didn't allow me any more visibility. My only hope was that it was too dark for them to see. Right as the ape in front of my bush was beginning to crouch down, another ape interrupted him.
"Why are' we stoppin'?" He asked in his broken speech.
"I thougt I herd' somethin." The ape responded, then another voice commented, this one actually sounding intelligent.
"There are many creatures in this forest. Don't bother scout."
"Yes sir." He said and began to walk away.
I waited till they were gone before I let out another sigh of relief. I didn't move yet for fear that one ape was lagging behind the group. I waited another five minutes before I left my bush and began walking towards the direction the apes came from.
A few more ape patrols later, the scenery increased drastically. I came across a large...thing? The place was a wreak, destruction as far as the eye could see. The walls that once surrounded the great city were completely in ruin and many of the buildings had been coated in green sizzling stuff. From what I could tell, it was poison. At that point, I realized I found it.
Schatten City... or what's left of it.
When arriving to the city, I noticed that it was night and the twin moons were above me. The moons, as usual, were always far apart from each other. The red being bigger then the green.
Using the fact that it was night gave me the advantage for cover. Though I felt slightly tired, frouta solved that problem quickly. Then, I started my search for any survivors of the attack. Specifically, for one fire dragon.
I walked through ruined streets and passed up many dragon bodies. Everytime I passed one, I gave a moment of respect towards them However, everytime I passed an ape body, I just glared at it and continued on. I did run into a lot of ape patrols, each time there being a ruined building I could hide in for the moment, avoiding every ape patrol successfully. But, I couldn't say the same for my search.
The city was huge, but definitely not as big as Warfang though. That didn't make it any less difficult to find someone in this place. Eventually, I had to rest for a bit, but I needed a good hiding place to do so.
Right around midnight, I ended up by what was left of the Temple of Schatten. The place was a huge pile of black brick. With the help of the Celestial Moon's light, I could see a small opening, large enough to fit at least someone doubled my size. The perfect place to hide, considering the ground underneath it was also black, making it hard to see.
Making sure that no apes were around, I quickly and as quietly as I could, ran towards the opening and dove through it. The place was dark, no surprise there, but that didn't stop me from going in farther. Good thing I did too, because I found exactly what I was looking for a room illuminated by a loud green light.
Standing in front of me was none-other than Trak.
I forgot he went with Kafto.
Laying behind him was Kafto, a very wounded Kafto. From where I stood, he seemed to be laying on his side with several black wounds across his side. Instead of spewing the normal red blood, he was bleeding a black smoke like substance.
The green light allowed me to see how pale Kafto and Trak were. Trak was injured, but he wasn't in bad a shape as Kafto was. He had a couple cuts, but they weren't bleeding, or spewing darkness.
Eventually the silence was broken by Trak saying in a low voice. "Silvus? What are you doing here?" Instead of answering I pushed past him and went over to Kafto. I was about to touch him, but Trak stopped me. "Don't! It'll only make it worse!" He whispered.
"But we have to help him! Why is he bleeding black?" I said frantically. I was scared for my friend's life. I couldn't lose someone close, not again.
"Shadow poisoning." Trak said.
"Who did this?" I demanded. Trak just shook his head.
"Revenge won't help Kafto right now!" He said, I sighed and sat on my hunches, staring at the limp body of Kafto. I could see and hear his breathing, but that didn't calm me. "But what will help him is spirit gems." My eyes widened.
How could I forget about the spirit gems already! Why am I so stupid!
Instantly I threw open my satchel and brought out my stash of spirit gems. I immediately handed them over to Trak. He smashed them and they went flowed into Kafto. They didn't have any visible effect to his body other then he wasn't very pale anymore. Trak took a slight step back.
"That should stabilize him enough to move him." He said with a sigh.
"Move him?" I said. "Move him where?" I asked as Trak began to crouch down next Kafto.
"The closest village." He said. "Now help me get him on my back."
Immediately, I moved over to Kafto and began pushing his heavy body onto Trak. One thing that I noticed was that his armor was gone. Even Trak was missing most of his armor, minus his greaves and helmet. Taking one look over to where Kafto's body was, I saw his helmet just laying there. I decided to grab it and put it in my satchel and put it back on.
"And where would that be?" I asked as Trak began to move towards the dark entrance. The green light suddenly went out to his response.
"Dragon's Claw."
Getting out of the city was certainly harder than getting in, especially when there are three of us, and one is severally injured. Though we did get lucky and weren't spotted by any ape patrols. There were several occasions where we almost did get caught, each time because Kafto nearly fell off of Trak.
Speaking of Kafto, he had yet to wake. He needs to soon so I can feed him to strengthen him enough to last the trip to Dragon's Claw. From what Trak said, the village is directly southeast from Schatten City. Directly flying there would take about a day. Walking with added weight would make that a week or more.
We don't have a week. We need to think of something.
But eventually, we did make it out of the city unharmed... mostly. We stopped a bit to get a bit of rest, but we had to make a move soon. The sun was close to rising and we would be fully exposed.
"Trak?" I began. As he lay there for the moment, he looked up at the sound of my voice. "Will he make it?" I asked my voice cracking a bit.
He didn't answer me right away which worried me greatly. "I have a plan." He said not answering my question. "Get Kafto in a good position on my back." I walked over to him, moving Kafto around, settling him so that he rested comfortably.
How could a dying dragon rest comfortably.
"What are you going to do?" I asked as Trak stood up as straight as he could. Then, he began to glow green. I took a step back, just to be safe. The dirt underneath him split open and several vines bursted through. They wrapped around him, securing Kafto to his back. Then, the vines still connecting to the ground snapped and everything went back to normal.
Dragon powers never ceased to amaze me.
"Make sure he's secure." He said in a calm voice.
How can anyone be calm at a time like this!
I checked to make sure that the bonds holding Kafto to Trak's back were nice and tight. I gave it a little tug to double check they did not break. These are no normal vines.
"Secure." I said, giving my one word answer. "Now what?" I asked, taking a step back.
As the light of the sun began to breath through the clearing where the city once stood, I could see the determined look across Trak's face. He began to spread his wings like he was about to take off.
"We're going to fly there." He said with confidence.
The flight lasted a day like Trak predicted. We had hardly any troubles at all. The only thing that happened was when we took off, we were spotted by a couple apes. They couldn't do a thing as we flew away, for they had no dreadwings with them.
But either way, we made it. We actually made it to Dragon's Claw without any troubles. The sun was going down ending another day of sore wings, even Trak looked winded. A little bit of frouta solved that, but now to find help.
The village in front of us was a relative size, though it didn't matter how big it was. We just need to find help as fast as possible, any of the houses would hopefully do. We eventually settled on the closest house to us. Actually, it seemed quite large, enough to fit a small group of full sized dragons. I ran to the door and began knocking on it.
It cracked open and at first, I couldn't see anyone. Some noises below me caught my attention, turning my head down. A hatchling, no more than 5, was tilting his head at all kinds of angles in curiosity.
It was quite a strange dragon. Orange scales, silver underbelly, and deep blue eyes, his horns had barely developed. They were silver like his underbelly and were poking slightly out of his head. Something about him reminded me of something and I don't know what.
It's like an obvious beacon, how didn't I see the hatchling immediately?
The hatchling ran inside before a much larger adult dragon came out. His deep red scales scales and yellow underbelly coated his broad build. I'd say he was a bit shorter than Ignitus, but much stronger. He had an aura of authority around him that made me respect this unknown dragon immediately, but I can't judge someone that I haven't even met yet.
"State your name and bus-" He spoke deep, voice trailing as he noticed Trak and the injured Kafto. "Inside quickly, I'll send for our healer."
Without hesitation, inside the house, Trak behind me. Moving quickly, I looked for a place to put Kafto. The door lead through a hallway then led directly into a cooking room and to my right was a living room.
Perfect!
I guided Trak into that room and began to cut the bonds holding Kafto in place. My small yet sharp claws did the trick, though they weren't fully grown.
Once I finished with the vines, we got Kafto off Trak's back and placed him on the table in the middle of the room. Both Trak and I sat down in exhaustion, the frouta wearing off finally. We didn't stay like that for long. We jumped right back up when the adult dragon appeared in the doorway.
The large dragon looked to the hatchling. "Rift, I need you to go get Kara. Tell her mother it's an emergency." The orange dragon nodded and flew out immediately.
He looked at Kafto. "It's been a while... What vile beast has done this to you?" He turned to me, waiting for an explanation.
I couldn't get any words out. My mouth kept opening and closing, nothing. Thankfully, Trak saved me from having to answer.
"Schatten City was attacked." He began. "Kafto was unfortunately targeted by their leader." Stopping to take a quick glance at me. "I didn't see who it was. It was too dark, but whoever they were, they're powerful enough to take down four Guardians and inflict this much damage upon my…friend." His voice cracked just a bit after that, surprising me.
The adult sighed, turning around to what looked like a small Pool of Visions.. "Then it's true… we are headed to a war unlike anyone has ever seen." He looked at Kafto. "I am Void, the Guardian of Dragon's Claw, and former contender for Fire Guardian."
"I've heard of you." Trak began. "Ignitus told me stories." He sighed and looked at Kafto. "He told all of us stories." I could only assume he meant the messengers.
Void nodded. "Is he still saying that I died and my last wish was for him to take the position?"
Why would Ignitus lie? He isn't like that. Why I am even thinking about that at a time like this!
I couldn't believe that they were making small talk in a situation like this, and when is that healer getting here!
"This is no time to make small talk!" I shouted before Trak could say another word. My yell got the attention of both dragons. "And when is that healer getting here! Kafto is getting worse!" I was right, the cuts along his body were as black as ever, nothing was coming out though. No black blood or anything. They also seemed to be spreading. Faint lines of black seemed to be spreading out from the wound on the inside of his body.
The orange hatchling, Rift, ran in. His paw unfortunately connected with a step and began tumbling into the wall. He groaned before jumping up. "I got her!" I would have laughed a little if not for the situation.
A pure white hatchling, looking even younger than Rift, jumped on the table. Her voice was soft and squeaky, but there was an air about her that put me at ease, which was something that rarely happens.
"I need gems right now or we'll lose him!" She shouted. "His bloodstream is poisoned." Though young she may be, she sure does act way above her age.
Maybe she went through things worse then me?
"Where are some gems!" I asked Void. I wished I would've picked some up on the way here, but I saw none. Instead, I just flew as fast as I could trying to keep up with a fast flying Trak.
Void pulled a large bag full of them from under the table and began crushing them, the energy going to Kafto. "Perks of being the Guardian. Anything else Kara?"
Kara looked at me and Trak. "I can't do this with you two here. I need you to go."
I was about to totally lose it and scream at her, no I'm not leaving him! But Trak beat me to it.
"No." He said calmly. "I'm staying for this part."
What part?
Kara sighed and pointed at me. "The moment HE starts to freak out, take him away. I only have one chance to save him and one wrong move could kill him."
What?
She began waving her paws around Kafto's body, the wounds beginning to swell. She turned to Rift. "Tail." The orange dragon complied and gave her use of his tail, the silver tail spade looking razor sharp. Kara closed her eyes. "Mr. Green, you need to look away." Both her and that orange dragon seem to work well together.
At this point, I knew what was about to happen and moved to stop her. Instead, Trak grabbed me by the tail and pulled me over to him. Then he unexpectedly wrapped his arms around me and whispered to me. "Don't." I stopped struggling and began to watch as Kara moved Rift's tail closer to Kafto's wounds.
Kara forced back her urge to vomit as she sliced open the wound on Kafto's back. With the skill impossible for any dragons her age, she waved her paws around again. Dark liquid poured out of Kafto in disturbing quantities. Minutes passed before the liquid became red. She repeated the process with the rest of his blackened wounds, which were many.
Rift seemed to know what was next and superheated his tail. He looked at Trak. "Cover his ears." Trak did so, against my wishes, though it probably was for the best.
The white hatchling braced herself. "This will wake him up, and he will hurt, but I need to seal the wound." I felt Trak nod his head to whatever the white dragoness said.
Kara pushed the flat end of Rift's tail spade against the wound, the cut getting sealed shut with melted skin.
Kafto's eyes shot open as he began screaming at the top of his lungs in agony. Tears flowed freely out of his eyes. His thrashing caught Kara by surprise. "I need him restrained!"
I felt Trak tense up as I saw Kafto wake up. Void moved over to him from somewhere behind me and held him down. Whatever parts of Trak I saw began to glow green and I saw vines peeking through cracks on the floor and slithering up to Kafto. They tied him against the table restraining him.
Even though Trak had my ears covered, some of Kafto's screams still were heard, though muffled. Tears began to obscure my vision and I wiped them away with my free paw.
I can't handle another loss.
Kara finished sealing the wound as Kafto fell unconscious. The hatchling panted, shaking from exhaustion. "It's done. He will never be as well as he used to be, but he's alive. I'm sorry I couldn't do more." She collapsed, drawing a yelp from Rift as he caught her and licked her cheek.
Trak let go of me as soon as she stopped talking. Whatever she said, he didn't want me to hear. "He'll be okay, he'll live." Trak whispered in my ear. I sighed in relief and looked over at the white dragoness responsible for saving him.
I took out a frouta from my bag and made my way over to her. "Thank you." I said with a shaky voice. "Take this, it'll give you strength." But she refused, struggling to stay conscious from the amount of energy she used up. Which was probably not much, considering she was a hatchling.
Void shook his head. "Take her home. She needs rest." Rift complied, stopping as I tapped on his shoulder. I gave a sigh and a small hug to him for his help.
"I am in your debt." I said. "If you ever need something, I'll do it, that goes for all of you." I looked at Void as well, but I don't know if Kara heard me.
Maybe Rift will tell her..
Rift gave a knowing nod before walking out, Kara on his back.
Void looked at me. "Put that fruit back in your pouch. It is way more sparse in quantity than Gabriel may have told you." It took me a moment to realize what he said.
"How do you know Gabriel?" I asked, putting the frouta back in my satchel.
Void sighed and sat on his hunches. "He was the reason Ignitus became Fire Guardian instead of me. I wanted to be the Guardian all my life. But, I had a bit of a quick temper. That killed my chances. We got into a heated debate over depending upon frouta, or dragon fruit as most call it. I snapped and released a fury. At that point, Gabriel decided that I was unfit to be Guardian, and gave Ignitus the title. Ignitus, my old friend never looked at me the same. He tells everyone that I died because he was ashamed of what I did, and has completely cut me out of his life."
While Void talked about this, I moved to sit by Kafto. His breathing was steady now, but the wounds across his body would become scars, I could already tell. I began to cut the restraints so that we could move him.
The adult dragon carefully picked up Kafto and carried him to a bedroom, gently placing him down on the covers. Void turned around and looked at Trak and I. "Come with me, I was cooking up some fresh venison when you showed up."
As we moved towards the cooking room, I gave one last look at Kafto just to be sure. Then, I followed behind Trak and Void. Trak and I sat down at the small table in the room, the adrenaline wearing off now that the situation was over. I rested my head on the table. It was tempting to sleep, but Void interrupted that.
"You never mentioned your names." Void said as we settled into the room and he went back to cooking. "What are they?" He asked.
"I am Trak the Messenger for the Guardian of Earth." He answered.
"I'm Silvus, Messenger in training." I said in a tired voice.
Void stopped what he was doing for some reason. He then looked at me with slight familiarity. "Silvus, what is your mother's name?"
The question shook me, I didn't want to think about her for the moment, or any moment. Memories of the horrible day would come back. I decided just to say her name and nothing more, I couldn't just stay silent.
What are the odds that he did know her.
"Susan."
Void looked at me closely. My actions told him about her wellbeing. He tensed, the floor beginning to smoke. He clenched his teeth and looked to the floor.
I didn't understand why the topic of my mother gave this reaction to him. Though I was curious, I still didn't want to ask. For my sanity and, for some reason, Void's. But I did it anyways, I needed to know.
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
Void stared at the ground. "Before your father and mother got together, my sister was the Water Guardian…"
My jaw dropped in shock. My mom was...the Water Guardian. To top it off Void is my mom's sister? I couldn't get any words out. Only small gasps and sputters came from my maw. That means I'm related to him, and Rift!
"I thought dragoness couldn't be Guardians." Trak said.
"She was an exception…" Void replied. "The only water dragon at the time that was worthy of the Guardian position. Gabriel let it slip, just that once."
"B-but…" Was the only thing I could get out.
All this time and I never knew…
Instead of trying to get anymore words out, I did the only thing I could think of. I walked up to Void and hugged his leg and let tears fall. "I-I thought everything from m-my mother was gone." I stuttered.
Void sighed. "After the incident with Gabriel, she kind of disowned me. She was very by the books back then…"
I still clung to his leg. "You're still apart of the family, a part of my family I didn't know I had."
The old dragon smiled as Rift returned. "I think he's gonna be pretty dependant on you. You're his only family besides me. His mother died laying his egg."
I finally let go of his leg once I heard footsteps behind me. Turning toward Rift I walked up to him, causing him to stop in the doorway. "We're cousins!" I said excitingly.
Rift tilted his head. "What's a cousin?"
I opened my mouth and closed it, my mind drawing a blank. I could not remember what a cousin was…...oh wait! "Your father is my mother's brother which makes him my uncle! You are his son which makes us cousin's, which means we are related!" I said hoping that made sense to the little hatchling.
Rift seemed to get the idea and pounced me, assaulting my face with licks. It was like I flipped a switch, he was wiggling like crazy.
I was laughing. Even in the current situation that was seemingly resolved, all my worries were forgotten in the moment. Even Trak gave an amused laugh as Rift licked my face, causing it to be soaked.
Void served us all cooked venison before holding up a frouta. "This here fruit can heal quite serious injuries, but it is not without a fault." He looked at me. "Each frouta, or dragonfruit takes one to two thousand years to grow."
When Rift stopped licking me and let me off the ground I had my short response. "I'll be sure to use it only when needed." Trak looked like a giddy child.
Maybe this is new information for him. Gabriel is only supposed to be known among the Guardians.
The older dragon smiled. "Good boy. Now, let us eat, and then I'll show you your rooms." Both Trak and I nodded, eating before following him down the hall of the house.
Rift seemed really fascinated with me. Every time I stopped, he would pounce on my tail and nibble on it. To be honest, he reminds me of myself a bit…
On Trak's request, Void led us to the same room that Kafto resides. He was still asleep. That's probably a good thing. He needs his rest after what he just endured….and what he is going to endure.
Void left us for a moment only to come back a short time later with extra cushions for Trak and I to sleep on. Both of us moved them on either side of Kafto's bed.
I guess we both want to watch over him.
"Thank you Void for your help and hospitality." Trak said as he took his greaves off and helmet before he got settled into his cushions.
Void nodded. "You're family, though we would have helped either way. I just ask you to pass a message to Gabriel for me." I knew he would be referring to me. Trak, I'm pretty sure, doesn't even know where Shimmering Shores is.
"Of course." I said. "What's the message?"
Void swallowed his pride back. "Tell him that I'm sorry that I failed him. I'm sorry I went off on him, and I'm sorry I didn't meet his expectations. I'm not asking for forgiveness, but I hope that when Rift is of age, that he be taken under consideration for Fire Guardian. He came out the way I should have…"
I took a mental note of all that my uncle said. "I'll get your message to him." Then, I looked over at Rift who was watching with eyes the size of moons. "I'm sure he'll make a great Fire Guardian."
Void smiled. "As long as we don't make a big scene, Dragon's Claw will be safe. For now, it's time for you to rest."
"Thanks Uncle Void." I said.
"Much appreciated Void." Trak added while resting his head on his paws.
The older dragon waved before closing the door, calling it a night himself. I gave a sigh before I rested my head in between my paws, my tail moving around unconsciously while deep in thought.
Family I never knew about, or maybe I did but just forgot. I am thankful I met them. They saved Kafto's life.
With these thought in mind, my weariness of the night finally got the best of me. I got in a comfortable position for my sore wings and closed my eyes with one final look at the resting drake. Sleep attempted to overtake me, and I gladly allowed it.
Silver closes the laptop with a sigh.
Silver: Well that was better than expected.
Rift: That's good now isn't it.
Silver glares at Rift.
Rift: Still angry about the mustache?
Silver: A little bit.
Rift: In that case, see everyone next week!
Silver: Bye everyone.
Silver walks out of room to get a snickers.