Alright everyone, now we arrive at the chapter in which some human magic is taught, and a comedy of errors ensues. Plus, I've given some thought to the timeline and decided to make a timeline of the 'Plague War'.
1156 (early Spring): The Dragon Council puts the plan to subjugate the human race into action.
1156 (late Spring): Several small settlements send word of a strange illness afflicting several hunters and woodsmen. Merkan city reports similar illness among the quarrymen and miners.
1156 (summer): With three cities quarrantined and several small villages abandoned, the gates of Aurora are closed to all travelers. Clerics in Aurora, Grandis Fortunae, and magi on Blue Waters, begin doing research on the plague dead. SSS+ ranked Archsage Gartome oversees the research.
1156 (winter): Knowledge comes to light that dragons are responsible for the plague, outraging the human governments. The dragon Necoa, creator of the plague, leads an assault against Grandis Fortunae. The Fog Barrier is erected to protect the island cities. Grandis Fortunae falls after a lengthy battle.
1157 (spring): Sarvax, seeking glory, leads an attack on human/wolf settlement of Snowbreak Village. Sarvax killed in attack, humans suffer horrific casualties before wolves rally to force dragons out of territory. Humans leave village to spare wolves another attack. Are attacked and wiped out in poison dragon territory.
1157 (summer): Archsage Gartome falls ill with plague. Wife gives birth to child, also falls ill in weakened state. One month later, city of Merkan razed by earth dragons. Slayers in Aurora dispatched to hunt down the dragons responsible. Three report back victorious, others never heard from again.
1157 (autumn): On a gamble, Archsage Gartome climbs Forge Mountain to meet with Melquiar. Melquiar tells Gartome of what has transpired and offers Gartome a chance. Allow the Forge dragons to turn his son into a vessel for their collective magic and send him away to another dimension to safety, in exchange for being cured of the plague. Gartome, seeing it as a chance to save his son, who is already showing the first signs of the plague, agrees.
1157 (winter): Gartome's infant son is turned into a vessel for Forge Magic and sent though a portal to a farm outside of what will become Glasgow, Scotland. Gartome and wife are cured of plague and sent back to Aurora. Eve, eldest daughter of Melquiar, is sealed into a Book containing Forge Dragon techniques and secrets as well as the spellbook of Archmage Gartome. Remaining Forge dragons shatter their eggs, and hurl themselves and their children from the mountain to deny Malefor (and the believed corrupt council) access to their abilities.
1158 (spring): The Plague War begins in earnest as the dragons split their forces between combating Malefor and wiping out the humans. Human forces suffer horrific casualties and are pushed back to capital Aurora. Sea dragons venturing through the fog barrier locate the human island of Griffon's Peak and conjure massive storms to assault the city with unknown degrees of success or failure. Dragons are returning when attacked by unknown entity. Three survivors. Scouting into Fog Barrier ceases.
1158 (summer): Aurora is besieged by dragons. Malefor attempts to activate the Destroyer. Gartome announces his plan to face Malefor is it ends hostilites. He is betrayed by his apprentice and reinfected with the Plague which has been altered to kill quicker. Gartome dies three days later and is buried in Aurora. The next day, the dragons invade the city. Gartome's tomb is robbed by unknown thief and his memoirs are spirited away by mages hastily casting a teleportation spell. Aurora is conquered, then razed. No humans survive. The Plague War ends.
1158 (winter): Surviving council members vote to strike events leading up to the Plague War from record. Sarvax's plans for the apes, wolves, cheetah's, atlawa, and other races also erased. As a result, the blame for the Plague War falls on the believed extinct humans.
1160 (spring): Malefor is defeated and sealed away inside the Well of Souls.
1164: Sea dragons led by a survivor of the raid on Griffon's Peak encounter a mysterious moving island at the edge of the Fog Barrier. Encounter is reported but no action is taken. Island is gone by the next patrol.
1165: Human lands and island territories are officially removed from all non military maps and are labelled as the Forbidden Lands. The looted, abandoned cities begin their slow decay into ruin.
I hope that clarified some things for you guys and now, onto the story.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE SPYRO UNIVERSE. ONLY MY OCS.
Chapter 54: What Makes A Mage
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(at the Warfang Academy)
"You warned me we might have an audience, Neal, but I was quite unaware of what you meant." Balthisere stated as he gazed at the some one-hundred plus dragons: students, instructors, civilians, guards, commoners, nobles, even the Guardians (in particular Volteer) and the King and Queen were there in the outdoor arena. Neal gave a small shrug and Danny a wry smile as Balthisere and two other magi, who introduced themselves as Colsio and Hyrcos stood before them.
"Now then, the quickest way to gauge how much mana the two of you have, you will remove anything that is bolstering your mana and rely simply on your own internal reserves. I hope you both got a good amount of sleep last night." Danny chuckled and glanced towards Darte who was beaming at him. Neal noticed this and look to his brother.
"Busy night?" Danny chuckled.
"Like you wouldn't believe. Venomia woke up last night and, upon hearing why Ash looked like hell warmed over, proceeded to all but jerk a knot in his tail. Then she cooled off and relaxed and she, Darte and I talked until she was too tired and went back to sleep. Then it was mine and Darte's turns." Neal grimaced.
"I'm happy that Venomia is awake but TMI Danny." Danny looked to his brother.
"Get your mind out of the gutter will ya? It's not like we did anything, just talked."
"Uh huh, sure you did." Danny was about to reply when the both of them were suddenly doused with ice-cold water. Neal turned to see a smug looking Balthisere with a glowing bracer.
"Now then, if you are done chatting, let's have you try a basic spell. Channeling the essence of fire or wind, proceed to dry your clothes. Or if you're feeling creative, channel water essence to pull the water out of your clothes." Neal focused on his staff and cast a small warming spell using the fire element. As his clothes dried, he suddenly felt a gust of wind whip around the arena and looked over to see Danny, ring glowing, channeling wind.
However, the aforementioned gust of wind suddenly spiked in power and Neal was forced to look away until there was the sound of fabric ripping and, out of instinct, Neal reached out into the wind to grab something made of cloth as it flew by him. Opening his eyes, he saw he had caught a shirt.
Pausing for a moment with the shirt in hand, he looked to Danny who was now standing, in the middle of the arena, dry but half naked. The wind had blown his shirt off. Sheepishly, Danny walked over to Neal and took the shirt as a 'wolf whistle' came from the crowd, most likely Darte, causing Neal to smile.
"I think you have an admirer." Danny gave him a flat look and a 'hmph' then, putting his shirt back on went back to where he was standing previously. They were then aware there was laughter in the arena. Balthisere was fighting back a smile (and losing) but finally cleared his throat and regained his composure.
"Quite. Now then, for the next part, since Danny has all but suffused the air with mana from the four winds, let us try some wind magic. The best way to show this, please both of you Forge an instrument that uses wind." Danny nodded then smirked at Neal.
"Brother, you even so much as think about creating a set of bagpipes, I'll run them down your throat." Neal shrugged.
"I was thinking of something a little bit... um... 'brassier'." There was the characteristic flash of light and before Neal there was a trombone, a tuba, a flute, a trio of french horn, a baritone, and a cornet. Danny did an eyeroll and chuckled as he created a series of trumpets.
"Ever the overachiever. That's not just brassy that's brazen." Hyrcos came up beside Balthisere.
"Even though you both used more magic and created various instruments when we only asked for one, I'll let it slide. Now, while not technically considered full blown magic but rather a parlor trick, this spell nonetheless teaches you control. Now then, since Neal has given us a selection, each of you choose one instrument and then, using wind magic, proceed to play it. As long as you know the music, your magic will atune itself to it." Neal selected the trumpet while Danny picked out the trombone and then looked to his brother.
"Neal? Any ideas?" Neal nodded and then started by feeling the wind currents and pushing them through the trumpet.
The high pitched peal resounded through the arena and Neal, using his magic, keyed the trumpet to playing the first few notes of a familiar piece of music anyone who watched westerns would know by heart. Danny smirked and did the same with the trombone and created a set percussion drums as well.
"The Lone Ranger, eh? Nice choice brother." Hyrcos smiled.
"There is a tale of a mage who studied wind magic and was famous for making a 'wind orchestra'. It comes as no surprise that he was a close follower of Llikoto. Now then, add more instruments to the mix. This is also to test how long you can keep a spell going when using multiple outlets."
No sooner had he said that then the other instruments were brough to life by Neal and Danny. The sound of music echoed throughout the arena and several noble dragon in attendance were captivated by the music and actually started humming along. There was another dragon nearby who actually had produced parchment and quill and started to scribble down what Neal assumed was the notes the instruments were playing. Danny saw this and shrugged to Neal.
"Guess dragons have their musicians as well?" Neal nodded.
"Dragons are not just divided up by their elements. Those who take an interest in the arts are called 'Artisans'. Those who focus on spellcraft and magic are Magic Crafters. Also, other than the Guard are dragons known as 'Peace Keepers'." Danny sighed and shook his head.
"I'll probably never understand everything about dragons." Neal chuckled.
"You might want to learn as much as you can, after all, you're all but mated to one." Danny nodded and returned his focus to the magic they were working with. After the piece was finished, there was applause from the arena. Neal looked to Danny and smiled.
"Well, what next?" Hyrcos approached them.
"Now we see how long you can hold onto the wind magic. Don't worry about exhausting your mana as today we're only getting a feel of your capabilities. Since you have provided a plethora of instruments, why not bring some music from your world to this one. I hardly think that Artisan is the only one interested in music from your world." Neal nodded but then froze as he thought of something.
"Any requests?" Danny shrugged and then looked to their audience. Then, as if on que, Frost, Domino and Rivet stood and shouted to them.
"""Semper Paratus!"""
Danny and Neal looked to one another and nodded. With some slight alteration to the wind magic, and with Neal's knowledge, the instruments came to life with the opening bars of the the Coast Guard Anthem.
From in front of the three siblings, Eve materialized (much to the shock of Frost), summoned her Book and waved it in front of them. On the blank pages, the words began to form as Eve worked her magic. Frost and several other dragons craned their heads over to see the words come into being.
"I'd heard the words when Neal healed me but I had no idea they were put to music..." A dull tapping sound was heard and Frost looked to see his sister tapping a claw along with the beat.
"Or that the music the words went with was like this."
As the music wound down, Neal handed the 'control drum' over to Danny and smiled.
"My kids wanted to hear my service's anthem, now why not let everyone hear yours?" Danny nodded and, sticks in hand, belted out an opening cadence, and then as the horns rose, the first notes of the Marine Corps Hymn resounded throughout the arena. However, unbeknownst to Danny, Neal had channeled a bit more mana into his Forging and managed to create an instrument that was rather distinctive to Eve's eye as a drawing appeared in her Book. Volteer, who was watching both the impromptu concert as well as Neal's Forging, saw the drawing in the Book and 'hmmm'ed to himself thoughtfully.
"I believe the wolves have a similar instrument but it is, from my understanding, difficult to play and next to impossible to master." Danny who had heard Volteer speak, slowly turned to look at Neal who by now had infused his instrument.
"Neal, I swear by all that's holy if you so much as play one note-"
The bagpipes Neal created came alive with it's unique starting drone and then, Neal gave his brother a grin started moving the wind currents through the instrument. The wolves in attendance all rose to their feet in shock as the first line of 'Scotland the Brave' filled the arena. Lyca absolutely beamed at Neal who, despite making the feat of magic look easy was starting to sweat a little. Hyrcos saw this and nodded.
"I think that's enough with the magic for the moment. You're starting to show fatigue and we shouldn't push you any farther. Now that we have the gist of your endurance, now we need some time with Danny to see his power. We saw Neal's upper limit when he faced down those two fire dragons yesterday." Hyrcos produced a spellbook and handed it to Danny.
"These are a selection of spells ranging from F to C rank which is where I would, practically, place your abilities and mana. Study them, practice them, and look for any and all opportunities to put them to use. The same goes for you Neal. There are many magi who came with the soldiers and, possibly, still more on the way to help bolster our numbers. Until the two of you firmly assert yourselves as ranked Magi, the human mages will respect you as Forgers but will not defer to you in matters arcane." Balthisere nodded in agreement.
"As the old adage goes: 'A Master does not ask his Apprentice for advice.' Once you prove your ranks, then other mages will defer to you and maybe even look to you for instruction." Danny took the spellbook and, looking through it, nodded at the spells inside.
"These seem mostly like utilitarian spells." Balthisere nodded.
"That's because they are. Utility spells that serve a purpose, as a rule, use less mana than, say, offensive or defensive spells. Defensive spells require a sustained flow of mana while offensive spells require a large burst of mana. Creating a light source, for example, requires about one-thirtieth of the mana needed to launch a fireball or erect a shield." Danny nodded appreciatively and then started off towards Darte while Neal walked towards a still stunned Lyca while reviewing his spells. As soon as he reached her, Lyca embraced Neal and leaned close to him.
"Now that I know what you can do with wind magic, you best be prepared for an encore performance. If there's one thing we wolves love, it's a musician who knows how to play the pipes." Neal smiled at her and then shot a glance over at his brother who was staring daggers at him.
"Just make sure that whenever you decide to play them, that I'm as far away as humanly possible!" Neal grinned and couldn't resist ribbing his brother.
"And you're supposed to be of Scottish ancestry!" Danny huffed.
"That doesn't mean I have ears of tin and enjoy hearing bagpipes playing every hour of every day!" This time Lyca huffed and crossed her arms as she looked to Danny.
"Word of advice then Danny, best avoid wolf settlements during the full, blue, blood, and new moons. We tend to celebrate from sun-down to sun-up and the majority of wolf music uses the pipes!" Danny grimaced at this and nodded.
"Thanks for the advice..."
Neal smiled at this exchange and thought back to when he and his brother had often bantered back and forth like this when they had been back on Earth. He began to remember just how much he'd missed that.
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(Warfang Hospital)
...
On the way back to the hospital Danny had experimented with various small things using magic that didn't put too much of a drain on him. Mundane things from moving water from a fountain into a bucket for a kindly mole watering the flowers to common things like assisting the lamplighters light their torches as they prepared to close out the day. Then, feeling a little childish, he sent a small electrical jolt to Darte's tailblade making her yelp and, while he feigned ignorance, she returned to favor by swatting him with her tail while humming a nondescript tune.
Of course both of them smiled at each other and then started laughing about it.
By the time they entered Venomia's room, they were in high spirits. Venomia was, apparently, in a light doze, her breathing much improved which made Danny wonder in astonishment at the speed of dragon medicine/magic. Across from her was Ash who was still sullen about the altercation with Infernon but at the same time was relieved that it had been ended before anything he would have regretted happened. He gave a smile to his daughter and Danny before turning his head out the window and watched the last rays of the sun go down.
After a while he took a breath and looked to Danny and sighed.
"I've been thinking about what happened. Turns out, we're not so different, you and I." Danny nodded.
"Let me guess, you're wondering what you could have done differently in the past that may have prevented this. Well, in the words of my Granddad: The past is the trail you took to get where you are now. If you'd taken a different trail, you might have been better off, or you could have been even worse than you are now. Remember the good times, learn from the mistakes, and keep going forward." Ash nodded.
"It seems to be universal, the elderly often give the best advice when you seek it. There very well might have been a path where I could have been a Father to Flame, but at the same time I wouldn't have met Venomia or been Darte's Father. Just the same I could have been killed in the war like so many others, or I could have actually acted on that foolish grudge and done irreversable harm to my brother. You and your brother seem to always be the best of friends. It couldn't have always been like that." Danny laughed for a moment but then noticed Venomia stir and quieted it down a bit and nodded.
"Oh yeah. There've been times when we were younger I wanted to strangle Neal so bad for something he'd done but yet never could bring myself to hurt him. I swear it is the very purpose of younger brothers to terrorize and/or tick off their elder siblings. Does that mean I never got revenge? Heck no, there were plenty of times I got him back. Next time you see him, ask him how his eighth grade 'prom' turned out. Or better yet ask him about his first 'car'." Ash smiled.
"We dragons are very fond of stories. I sense a good one there somewhere." Danny nodded.
"If someone wrote about the antics that Neal and I got up to or the pranks we pulled on each other, they'd have enough material to write a book as big as that hospital bed and twice as thick." Danny thought back to those days and smiled.
"It's a funny thing though. The day before I shipped out Neal got me so riled up I couldn't see straight. I couldn't get away from home fast enough. After about a week I was able to call him and told him I forgave him. Then came that day, close to the end of my tour that I was pulled into this world. The next thing I know, I'm several years older and a crazy ape shaman is trying to get me to 'release my powers'. It didn't really strike home for me how much I had missed my brother and how much he had missed me until we saw each other." Danny rubbed his jaw for a moment and gave a half smile.
"True he punched me but I was able to see his eyes and he was just barely holding back tears. In that instance, all past grudges, pranks, vendettas, all of it was just washed away. I'm sure you've got some memories of things Infernon did to you and you got him back for." Ash chuckled for a moment, looked thoughtful then snorted as he grinned the biggest grin Danny had ever seen him do.
"Once, when Infernon was nine, I used iron crawler silk I had scavenged to tie his wings together as he slept." Ash noted Danny's expression and clarified.
"Iron Crawlers are a type of spider, non venomous, but their webs are incredibly strong, like iron. Only a fire dragon of sufficient skill can harvest the silk without getting it stuck all over themselves. Once stuck, it needs to be heated with fire to remove it. When our Mother saw Infernon's expression and his wings stuck together heh, the lecture she gave me..." The fire dragon shook his head, remembering the event before gazing back at Danny.
"Still, seeing the look on his face though was worth it. As for why I did it? Infernon had a habit of sleepwalking when he was little. He'd walk down the hall of our home, come into my room, crawl into my bed beside me, fall asleep, and then proceed to beat his wings against my head for the rest of the night. It didn't help matters that he slept like a stone and every time I'd carry him back to his room, a few hours later I'd feel wingbeats against my skull." After a moment laughing, he stopped and looked right at Danny.
"Now then, tell me about what you did to Neal once. I think it was something about the eighth grade prom?" Danny chuckled.
"Yeah, I shaved his head the night before."
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(Shadra's Citidel)
...
Multiple emotions flooded through her. Anxiety for her egg. Anger at both her mate's refusal to come to her and his subsequent death. Fear at the thought that the same weapon used against Axian could be turned against her, leaving her child an orphan. Determination also wound its way though her mind as she contemplated alternatives that didn't involve sacrificing her child so that Malefor could once again rise.
She was loyal to Malefor, no mistake there, but why sacrifice her child, Axian's heir, when it was entirely possible to swipe an egg from one of the several hatcheries located on the mainland? True, she'd need an army. Check. She's need a general. Check. There was also a need to distract the forces from Warfang while her forces went to her intended target. She mentally checked that as her mind came up with a devious thought that, once Malefor heard it, his laughter rumbled in her head.
"Well done Shadra. This sort of thinking is certainly worthy of you. If your forces can do it, let it be done."
Wasting no more time, Shadra sought out her general, Gaul's second-born son, and gave him and his forces the order.
The targets for the distraction: a three-pronged assault on Galvanic Peak, hatchery of the Electric dragons, Volcanic Basin, hatchery of the Fire dragons, and Howling Grove, hatchery of the Fear dragons. Her true target however, was the isolated hatchery of the Shadow dragons.
Phantom's Ravine.
