Chapter 5
"Speech"
"Native Dragon Tongue"
Though to the dragons' dismay, time was not on their side as the sun slipped beneath the horizon and stars began to fill the skies, signaling the start of night. With a huff, the pink dragon in-front of Spyro, Cynder, and Ravenwing turned back to said trio and gestured to the sky. "I don't know about you whelps, but I'd rather find a place to rest." The pink dragon stated earning a slight growl from Ravenwing who in-turn relayed the message, minus the insult, to Spyro and Cynder. The purple and black dragon nodded a bit which caused the pink dragon to turn back in-front of itself and shake it's head as it lead the trio behind it to a clearing near a stream of water. The water glistened in the moonlight of a clear sky, only disturbed by the muzzle of 4 dragons bending down to drink. The disturbance caused a small wave to ripple to the other side of the stream, crashing into the opposite bank with a simple splash. Spyro and Cynder drank their fill first before moving off to rest under a tree next to each other. As for Ravenwing, his eyes were fixed onto the pink dragon who in turn was looking at the water as it finished drinking.
Turning back to Spyro and Cynder, the pink dragon shook it's head a bit and snorted. "Hard to believe at times they are the reason dragons like us are so scarce." It said as it turned back to Ravenwing who had a cocked brow.
"What do you mean by that pinky?" Ravenwing asked as he turned to look at the sleeping duo. The pink dragon growled a small bit at the nick name and turned back to Ravenwing.
"I have a name you know whelp!" It replied with a growl, to which Ravenwing growled back and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah whatever don't get your panties in a twist pinky." He replied back with a distasteful tone of voice to the pink dragon, earning another growl. "I mean I have a name too but since you never asked I don't see a reason of asking for yours since you don't seem to care about me or my acquaintances over there." He continued, gesturing to the resting form of Spyro and Cynder. The pink dragon huffed a bit.
"Fine, My name is Chyvo. They called me the tender because I used to tend the wounds of those injured." The now named Chyvo replied. Ravenwing snorted as he let the name form in his mouth a few times before nodding. "As for your question Sky-Screecher, I'm surprised you don't know, after all your kind faced the heaviest toll? Did your sire and dam wish to spare you of the atrocities?" Ravenwing raised a brow again and padded over back to the clearing, with Chyvo walking beside him.
"Sire? Dam? What do you mean?" Ravenwing asked as he lied down between the smaller dragons and Chyvo. Chyvo laying infront of him and sighed. She put a paw up to her head and mumbled something before looking at Ravenwing.
"You really don't know anything. For if you truly knew, then you'd feel the same about all elementals." Chyvo told Ravenwing with a small surprised expression and then continued on. "What did your sire and dam teach you? I need to know so I can explain this as easily as possible." Chyvo asked to which Ravenwing groaned some.
"I don't even know what a sire and dam are. Is it like a school teacher or something?" Ravenwing asked to which Chyvo looked at him with an even more surprised expression, a small twinge of guilt and pain tugging at her chest to which she ignored. Sighing a bit Chyvo shook her head.
"No. Sire and dam are the ones who hatch you, raise you, and nurture you until you're of age to leave the nest to take to the skies on your own." Chyvo said to which Ravenwing seemed to nod in understanding.
"So like a mother and father. I get it, but as for this whole...gloom and doom hatred for elemental dragons. Sorry lady but I got nothin'." Ravenwing replied with a shrug and turned to Spyro and Cynder. "Plus they said they've never seen any dragon like me or you before. So why should we judge them based on actions that happened...however many years ago?" Ravenwing stated. To this Chyvo seemed to chuckle to herself a small bit.
"Ah. There's that Sky-Screecher compassion your kind is known for. If I didn't know first hand how devastating your kind is when on the attack, I would call you an idiot for even saying such a sentence." Chyvo replied with a small genuine smile, seeming to reminisce on the past. Sighing she continued. "It seems I have to explain from the beginning then. Many many sun cycles ago there were two dragon types that ruled the skies of the world we live in. There were us natural dragons, decedents of the moon and the stars above, and elemental dragons, children of the earth and it's magma. We coexisted, we built a mighty civilization that was above all others, matched by no others. Then one solar rotation things began to change. Elemental dragons have, for a few cycles before that point began to see themselves above us due to their mastery of the earth and dared oppose us in the skies on a few occasions. smugness turned to entitlement, and entitlement turned into rivalry. Elementals began to treat us like dirt, as if we were a stain upon the world. Our place upon the council was lost and we were cast out of the borders, left to fend for ourselves in trying times." She paused letting Ravenwing process the information.
"Were you there or something?" He asked causing Chyvo to laugh a bit.
"Oh moonlight no. I'm not that ancient youngling." She replied with a chuckle as she paused. "My sire and damn though...told me the story first hand as former councilors." She stated earning a small nod from Ravenwing before being gestured to continue. "As I was saying, a few cycles passed where us and the elementals would squabble over small land disputes. They refused to learn out language and even refused to teach their fledglings our tongue. Only you Sky-Screechers could communicate with the elementals and as such one was required for every hunting party and envoy we sent." Sighing a bit Chyvo turned to Ravenwing who was looking at her surprised a small bit.
"I mean, did relations ever improve?" Ravenwing asked to which Chyvo shook her head in dismay. A small pained expression crossed the pink dragoness as she continued.
"Sadly the fates had other wishes." She answered. "Eventually we began to be seen as a nuisance, primal beasts with no thoughts or free will. The elementals had turned the entire world against us during this time and soon after. A purple dragon made a proposal to the elemental council. Our spies that we had at the time reported that he proposed the complete annihilation of us in an effort to 'purify the world of our filth.' The council went to recess and soon return with an overwhelming 8-1 vote that they should proceed." Chyvo paused again, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth.
"I can assume the rest." Ravenwing replied. "They attacked and we lost..." He stated earning a nod from Chyvo.
"That's the basics of it. I was hatched in the final cycles of the conflict. The white-wings, our heavy attackers, were gone, the dark-wings were scattered to the winds and slowly being hunted down. The only cohesive forces were my kind, the hidden-wings, and your kind Sky-Screecher." Chyvo explained while looking at the sky and imagining the battles around her. "Your kind claimed to find a way to escape the conflict and lead us and the surviving dark-wings to an ancient portal of some sort. While escaping however, the elementals made a final push, surrounding us and blowing the portal to smithereens. Enraged by such an act, I witnessed the true ferocity of a dragon's fire. All of the Sky-Screechers engaged the elementals head on, filling the skies with howls of your captivating dives and the screams of your victims. What remained of us escaped as a result, but never again were the skies filled with the screams of your kind. Just like the white-wings, your kind was wiped out that night. The war was over...we had lost. The remaining dark-wings and hidden-wings went into hiding. We lost touch with each other, flights were restricted to no more to 2 dragons per region. Eventually these measures took a toll on our fleeting numbers. The dark-wings vanished into the wind as they did in the night, and us hidden-wings are so few in numbers I could count on my paw how many I have met in recent cycles." Chyvo replied with a solemn tone. Ravenwing's ears dropped a bit when Chyvo finished her tale and sighed.
"At least I got one part of my lie correct..." Ravenwing said looking back to Spyro and Cynder. "I am the only one of my kind left alive." Turning his head back to Chyvo, Ravenwing sighed a bit.
"Do now you understand why I harbor my hate young Sky-Screecher?" She asked Ravenwing. The grey dragon nodded a small bit, his crimson eyes landing on Chyvo.
"I understand why, but these two had no part in that conflict. Why blame them for such atrocities?" He asked in a calm and slightly downcast tone of voice. Chyvo shook her head again.
"If only it could be forgiven so easily. If I were in your position I might feel the same way." Chyvo said as she continued. "Your sire and dam must've been trying to shield you from the past, that or your mind must've put it behind you and buried it. But you mentioned a lie earlier. What did you lie about?" Chyvo asked with a raised brow and looking directly at Ravenwing who shrugged some.
"I told them I was from far up north basically." Ravenwing replied to which Chyvo snorted and Ravenwing grumbled. "Hey, you try coming up with a backstory when you have none." He said with a snap in his tone, causing Chyvo to raise a brow.
"Surely the truth of the matter would not suffice? What happened to you to make you some up with such a ridiculous story young Sky-Screecher." She asked causing Ravenwing to pause and look away.
"I'd rather not discuss it. You wouldn't believe me anyways." Ravenwing answered with a chuckle to himself, yawning slightly. Chyvo looked at Ravenwing curiously before she looked up and noticed it was soon to be midnight.
"You should rest. We can continue this tomorrow, though I fully expect an explanation on the matter soon." She stated with a stern expression like a mother chastising a child. Ravenwing chuckled again and waved his tail dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah what ever you say, dam." He replied sarcastically. Chyvo looked at him annoyed and laid down to rest, soon leaving Ravenwing as the only one awake. 'I wonder if there is anything left of this civilization she mentioned.' Ravenwing thought to himself. 'Would be cool to go spelunking just for the heck of it.' He reasoned before shifting slightly to Spyro and Cynder and curled up to sleep. Letting the darkness take him, Ravenwing soon fell into slumber, though his senses were still on high alert as if he was awake.
The light of dawn came quick for the sleeping group of dragons, the light cresting over the horizon causing Spyro and Cynder to wake up first. The pair of younger dragons stretched out and worked off the tiredness in their joints before turning their attention to the sleeping forms of Ravenwing and Chyvo. The grey and pink dragons were sleeping opposite of each other, but what made the pair smirk was how Ravenwing was sleeping in a defensive position around both of them. With a whisper Cynder turned to Spyro. "Let's go hunt for a few, I bet whenever they wake up they will be hungry and maybe the pink one won't want to attack us as much." She offered to Spyro who nodded in reply. As silently as possible, the pair took off into the air and dove down into the low ground. The air resistance and wind across their faces fully woke up the pair to where they could rely on their senses enough to grab a morning meal. Deciding to rely on teamwork this time, the two swooped over a close by ridge line where some goats were ranging, unaware of the fate about to befall them. With a swift and silent motion, Cynder struck first, grappling onto the 4 legged animal with ease and yanking it into the air. The goat make a noise befit of terror for a second before the black dragon clamped her teeth into the goat's neck to silence it, covering her teeth in a gooey layer of fresh blood. Spyro was not to far behind with his own goat, slightly bigger than Cynder's which earned an eye roll from the black dragoness. "Show off." She stated with a small grin as Spyro flashed her a small teasing glare.
"Just because I saw it before you doesn't mean I'm a show off." He replied with a smile a bit, sighing a bit in bliss. "But you want to say it...then I bet I can get more back to camp before you can." He challenged the dragoness who smirked a bit and giggled.
"You do realize I'm faster right?" She said with a grin.
"The winner is who's pile they eat from." Spyro replied with his own grin, praising himself internally at the new rule he thought of.
"Oh you're so on." Cynder replied with an equal grin and quickly the two set off as quickly and silently as possible. The two dragons split up a bit and turned to new spots to hunt in, each returning back to camp with another 2 big goats in their claws as Chyvo awoke. The pink dragoness looked at the elemental dragons with a confused glance as they separated the fresh kill they returned with into two piles with the black one guarding one and purple one guarding the other one. Snorting a bit, she rose to her haunches, she was about to take to the skies for her own meal but was stopped by Spyro and Cynder calling to her.
"Hey wait, we have food right here if you want." Spyro called out causing the pink dragon to turn back to the pair and raise a brow in confusion.
"Yeah you don't have to go, we got some right here." Cynder said then she gestured to her pile of food with a smirk directed at Spyro. "Though personally I would choose this pile, Spyro's pile might have fleas." She said in a teasing tone. Before Chyvo could react Spyro glared at Cynder and grunted.
"It does not. I bet it's yours." He replied back to her, causing Cynder to snort a bit in amusement.
"Oh yeah? If my pile does have fleas why don't you come take a look yourself." She replied with a grin spreading on her face. Spyro smirked in reply and shook his head.
"Oh no you don't Cynder. I know your games. Sparx used to do this to me all the time." Spyro retorted, turning his head up triumphantly. Cynder grumbled a small bit.
"Why you little-" She began before a quick exclamation sounder from next to her.
"Oh shit free food!" Ravenwing said as he quickly pulled the biggest goat from both piles and began to eat the one he grabbed from Spyro's pile first. Said purple dragon smirked in victory as Cynder rolled her eyes with a huff.
"See Cynder he knows I'm the better hunter." Spyro said, earning a tail smack from Ravenwing on the blunt end of his tail blades. Spyro pouted a bit as both darker colored dragons chuckled at Spyro's displeasure. A small smile couldn't help but emerge from Chyvo's stiff position as she watched the exchange. 'I see what you mean now sire and dam about how the world used to be before the war.' She thought to herself. Ravenwing turned to Chyvo and gestured the pink dragon over.
"You can have some, I guess they got this for everyone." Ravenwing said in-between bites. Chyvo blinked a bit in surprise as she looked to the two piles, well now the two unclaimed goats in the clearing since Spyro and Cynder each took one from each other's pile and began to eat next to Ravenwing.
"I see..." She replied to Ravenwing and she hesitantly took a goat from the pile, sniffing it for any poisons of ailments before taking a bite. The blood and flesh tearing with ease from the corpse as she chewed. A soft purr escaped the pink dragon's lips as she chewed. "I guess tell them that they have my thanks for the meal." She said slowly, to which Ravenwing relayed the message causing Spyro and Cynder to nod with smiles as blood from their meals dripped freely from their maws. Ravenwing snorted at the act and shook his head which caused both elemental dragons to look at him.
"If you two were in a horror flick, I bet the audience would actually be scared." He said in a dismissive tone. Spyro and Cynder raised a brow in confusion but shook it off as 'northern dragon talk'.
"So where are you from?" Spyro asked Chyvo, causing Ravenwing to act as translator between the conversation.
"I...well I was hatched in a land know as Latchboia Enclave. My sire and dam raised me there for a few years before...conflict forced us away." Chyvo responded, not willing to go into detail about the war for a second time in the span of 12 hours. Spyro raised a brow while Cynder nodded a small bit seeming to know the location before looking down a small bit.
"That's what 'he' called the foundation of Concurrent Skies." She whispered to herself sadly. Ravenwing was the only one to hear it but decided to not press the matter for Cynder's sake. The black dragoness shook here head some and looked to Chyvo as if ready to ask another question. "So where were you during the war?" She asked to which Chyvo raised a brow.
"You elementals had another war? Was that why the world almost broke apart 2 weeks ago?" She asked with a surprised look on her face, snorting again. Cynder blinked a bit from the semi-insult that was the way Chyvo said the word elemental, but nodded a bit as to the reasoning of the world's current state. Chyvo rubbed her head a small bit and sighed. "I swear if it's not subjugation you want it's destruction." Ravenwing growled a small bit as Cynder looked down even more when the message was relayed.
"They weren't a part of that and you know it." Ravenwing said to Chyvo which caused the pink dragon to sigh.
"Playing the part of the diplomat suits you to well Sky-Screecher." Chyvo replied with a pained look, causing Ravenwing to look somewhat apologetically at Chyvo before taking another bite of his food. After that the four dragons ate in silence, non daring to speak about recent or ancient history until they were filled and the blood was washed from their scales. Ravenwing was the first to take to the air, followed closely by Spyro and Cynder and Chyvo being the last to take off. the trio of younger dragons waited Chyvo to get in-front of them and began to lead them onwards, closer to the edge of her territory. "We should reach the border by tomorrow at sun-high." She replied, earning a nod from the trio of dragons behind her. "So Sky-Screecher, what possessed you to make up such a ridiculous story to tell to the elementals." Chyvo asked, causing Ravenwing to look away some.
"Well I...my sire and dam..." He said fumbling over his words before sighing a bit. "They were killed when I became 16 sun-cycles old, and as a result people blamed me for it which caused me to run away. Didn't have to much to take with me and they left behind nothing so I was on my own." He replied, telling a half-truth and adapting it for the lingo he learned by being around Chyvo, Spyro, and Cynder. 'Hope she doesn't press to much on it.' Ravenwing thought with a sigh. Thankfully Chyvo didn't respond, and instead seemed to nod a small bit in understanding.
"I see," Was all the pink dragoness said in reply as they flew. Passing past various barren valleys and small rivers, Spyro and Cynder took note how some sections of the land looked like it was haphazardly thrown together, like two biomes glued together to make a cohesive landscape.
"Is this place always supposed to be like this?" Ravenwing asked gesturing where a piece of a desert biome like area was wedged between two mountains creating a random patch of sand on the ground between the greenery and dull grey rock formations that were the norm. Both elemental dragons shook their heads as Spyro sighed some.
"I hope no one got hurt back home." Spyro thought out loud.
"I'm sure they're fine Spyro, they all got to the underground city like we asked them too." Cynder replied in a reassuring tone.
"Still, what about the outlying territories? And the cities and people we didn't know about?" He said again as they passed over where a canyon was suddenly cut off by a lake edge. Cynder sighed a small bit.
"C'mon Spyro, I'm sure they're fine. Let's just focus on getting back we can go from there alright?" Cynder said trying to improve Spyro's mood, to which the purple dragon nodded a bit, smiling a small bit.
"Thanks Cynder." Spyro said.
"Anytime." Cynder replied with a smile causing Ravenwing to look back with a smirk.
"And you two say you aren't mates." He replied, causing the two dragons to pout at him annoyed and blush a bit, looking away from each other. Ravenwing chuckled a small bit and looked forward to see a confused glare from Chyvo. Ravenwing shrugged a small bit, seeming to brush the pink dragon's glare off as his crimson eyes locked onto the land ahead where the mountain range ended and turned into a large foggy area of floating platforms and islands. Blinking some in surprise, Ravenwing, Spyro, and Cynder looked at the area in a small bit of wonder as the land in front of them seemed to hover in the white cloudy void. The three opened their mouths some in a gape at beauty of the scene which Chyvo smirked a small bit.
"Ah yes, that was my reaction to the floating isles as well. The end of the first wave of mist marks the end of my territory." She said as the flight of four reached the edge of the fog. "I suggest you follow close behind me, while I may not be able to fly like I used too, I know the way through here the best." She said matter-of-factly to which Ravenwing nodded then translated to Spyro and Cynder. Soon all four dragons were lined up in a row and following Chyvo as closely as possible as they entered the white mist of the fog. As they entered the clouds, each dragon felt a dampness enter the air from the condensation still happening within the clouds. Snorting a bit Ravenwing comented, "Who needs baths when you have this?" He said in a joking manner, earning a light chuckle from Spyro and Cynder. Chyvo however was pay attention to in-front of herself and quickly turned to avoid a floating block of land. Following with ease the other dragons behind her kept the pace as the weaved between the islands of land that ranged in size between the length of Spyro or Cynder to the size of an average hill by comparison. 'Jesus, I guess they weren't kidding when they said the world almost broke apart.' Ravenwing thought to himself as they dived through a section of land that had a wide cave system completely through the section underground.
The four dragons flew for hours, only stopping for the occasional water break to refill their energy. To Spyro and Cynder's dismay though they had yet to find any red or green gems in order for them to draw power from and thus had to recover the hard and tedious way. The two younger dragon's felt that couldn't keep similar stamina levels and Ravenwing and Chyvo, but never voiced their concerns and instead just pushed themselves even farther than they would normally go. Soon enough however, day became afternoon, and afternoon became dusk. "We will find a place to land, we are closer to my borders than predicted." Chyvo said earning a sigh of relief from Spyro and Cynder in the back of the line as their wing ached and muscles were sore from all the flying. "Tomorrow at dawn we will take flight and our paths will part. Do not return, I will not be as hospitable like I am right now." She added in a warning tone which caused Spyro and Cynder to shudder.
"Oh you know you love us, pinky." Ravenwing teased earning a growl from Chyvo. Chyvo guided the three dragons behind her to an island big enough to house all four of them, taking a spot next to the edge and curled up to rest. Spyro and Cynder nearly fell out of the sky upon the landing, panting as their energy was spent while Ravenwing landed next to them and began to clean himself off of any debris that may have latched onto his scales while they flew. 'What I wouldn't give for a bathtub and hot water about now.' He thought to himself as he lied down next to Spyro and Cynder who were panting on the ground. "Sheesh you guys look beat." He commented.
"What I wouldn't give for a pool of grean gems right now." Spyro said between pants. "How-how can you have so much energy..?" Ravenwing shrugged a bit.
"Don't really know, just bor-...hatched like that I guess." Ravenwing replied with a shrug. "Though I have to ask. What would you do with some green shiny rocks?" He asked with a cocked brow.
"It's power left behind by the ancients, when we break them, they give us strength and stamina as well as fuel our elemental breath attacks." Cynder explained to which Ravenwing rolled his eyes.
"Well I guess if an entire planet can be blow apart by a single dragon and put back together again. That shouldn't really surprise me." Ravenwing commented which caused Cynder and Spyro to chuckle a bit.
"Wait till you see the dragon city. It's got all sorts of stuff there you might not get." Spyro teased to which Ravenwing rolled his eyes.
"I'd like you to spend a day in the north then. I insist." Ravenwing replied with an equally teasing tone before he sighed a bit.
"So Ravenwing," Cynder began. "Why does she hate us so much?" Ravenwing sighed and turned to the sleeping pink dragoness not to far away from them. Cynder was about to ask another question when Ravenwing cut in.
"It's a very complicated story. I doubt I could really explain it without sounding biased." Ravenwing replied with a shake of his head. "Maybe your 'dragon city' will have a better explanation." He suggested, trying not to dwell on what Chyvo explained to him the night prior. A nod came from Cynder in reply as they turned to the sleeping form of the dragon near by. "You two get some sleep, I'll keep watch." Ravenwing said. The two were about to argue as for the reason of such a suggestion but the serious glare Ravenwing offered as a reply quickly silenced the two younger dragons. Nodding quickly, both Spyro and Cynder went to the other side of the floating island and lied down to rest. Sighing a bit, Ravenwing stood back up and walked to the middle edge of the island between the two different groups of dragons. He stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down to the air bellow them and smirking some. 'Heh, no chosen one bullshit huh?' Ravenwing thought to himself as he looked to Chyvo. Shaking his head and sitting down on his haunches, Ravenwing looked out into the distance, squinting his eyelids a bit to get a clearer view, and saw another island close by. At first he thought nothing of it, but a stone pillar sticking out the bottom of the land above with some form of carving stuck out to him. A quick glance back showed his firends and Chyvo sleeping peacefully in the night, thankfully not snoring like a hurricane. 'Maybe a quick look around wont hurt right?' He mused his his mind as he opened his wings and took off into the air, his curiosity getting the better of his sound judgement. 'Might be something worth value later.'
Chapter End