As I mentioned before, these next chapters will focus on gathering the remaining artifacts, similar to the Jak 3 game, but in a different setting. I should inform you that my life has become much more busy than before and my family and I are going through some hard times, but we will persevere. I intend to finish this story as I mentioned, so stay vigilant, the next best parts are yet to come, to my faithful readers, here is the next chapter.
Ch20: Gathering the Artifacts Part 1
With their objectives clear, the group comprised of heroes, guardians, pupils, and sidekicks split up. Spyro, Sparx, Volteer and their group stayed behind to resume guarding the portal temple. All the while Jak hitched a ride with Terrador as he and Cyril led him and Daxter to the other ruin they had discovered on the isle accompanied by their group of acolytes. From the sky, they were akin to notice that the isle was actually the same size if not bigger then the wasteland isle they had come from. They had witnessed scenes from a bird's eye view before, the most recent being on top of a monk glider in the wasteland. But this was the first time the Elorin inhabitants had experienced the thrill of flight from the back of a dragon. It was truly surreal, Jak had wondered from time to time what it would be like to ride on Spyro or Cynder if they were fully grown, now he had realized it on Terrador's back. He was rather enjoying the thrill of flight, although Daxter of course, not being a fan of heights was clinging to his shoulder guard with his eyes closed. The acolytes and Cyril flew on either side of the earth guardian in a V-formation, Cyril and Pulster to the left, and Jace and Vacu to the right. Although noticing Jak's grin, Jace decided to ask the outlander something.
"Enjoying yourself visitor?" he asked with a smirk.
Jak turned toward the ice acolyte and said, "yeah, I am."
Terrador laughed, "Good to hear, dragons don't often give rides to grounded species upon our backs unless in dire emergency. Though given your particular circumstances, you deserve this rare treat."
"I'm honored sir," said Jak, "though believe it or not, my people aren't as grounded as you might think."
"Really?" asked Cyril curiously, "and how do you manage to fly without wings?"
"We have our own modes of transportation, like ships, carriers and of course zoomers." His explanation baffled the dragons, yet intrigued them at the same time.
"Spyro told us your planet was akin to inventing these particular machines, though from his explanation they sounded quite barbaric, as they were mainly built for the use of war." said Cyril
"There is an unfortunate hint of truth in that statement," said Jak. "But there have been other uses for it, such as allowing others a chance to travel and explore far off places, as well as my personal favorite, racing for spectator entertainment."
"Really?" said Cyril, "that sounds as alien as it actually is."
"You don't have any sports activities here?" he asked the dragon guardian.
"We haven't had the pleasure of such events for a long time actually, with our world still recovering from the Great war and all," the ice guardian answered.
"Oh yeah, Spyro and Cynder told me the whole story, for what it's worth to you, I'm so sorry for what you've gone through," said Jak.
"Your condolences are accepted young warrior," said Terrador.
"Quite so! We were all relieved when Spyro and Cynder dealt with that villainous traitor, and is now suffering in eternal penance," stated Cyril.
"What?" asked Daxter baffled by his words.
"Master Cyril says we are all glad the dragon traitor Malefor is eternally imprisoned," explained Jace.
"Oh," Daxter clearly needed to expand his vocabulary.
"Read a book Dax," Jak told his friend before speaking again, "for what it's worth, the people of my planet can also relate to that, we have criminals who have betrayed our world as well."
All the dragons looked at him shocked, his world didn't sound so alien anymore. Jace was the first to ask, "Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately yes, in fact, one of them is currently alive and wreaking havoc against my friends back in Haven City," growled Jak remembering Errol.
"Sorry to hear that," said Terrador, "though the ones who never seem to rest until they succeed in their plans are hardest to best, they eventually fail like the rest, so just remain persistent."
"I second that!" replied Jace.
"Thanks," said Jak.
"There!" cried Cyril, "We have arrived!" They all turned their gaze toward the ground again, and saw what appeared to be a large litter of trees covering several miles in diameter. They appeared to envelop everything around them, so Jak was having a hard time discerning what he was looking at. Although he did notice that a large rock with a point appeared to be protruding out of them at a near 45 degree angle, other then that nothing else was visible. Terrador started descending down toward the ground, yet a few miles away from the position of the rock, so clearly they knew something was there regardless if nothing that looked like a temple was visible. Cyril and the acolytes followed behind him, and they eventually reached the top of the treeline. Terrador swept into a break in the trees where he eventually set down onto the ground. A wooded path lay in front of them, though it wasn't clear where it led to.
"Well old chap, I believe I should take point now," said Cyril, who had just walked up from behind Terrador. The acolytes had also settled onto the ground as well. Terrador nodded to his friend and stepped aside. Cyril was the one who knew this area best, so it was clear to let him lead on. The ice dragon walked down the path followed by Terrador still carrying Jak and Daxter on his back, along with Jace, Vacu, and Pulster in tow. Jak and his furry friend took in their surroundings, the foliage of this isle reminded them much of forests on their own planet, except these were much denser, and more lively despite no sightings of 'unintelligent' animals. Jak figured the lack of civilization and technological advancement could have been factors, not even Haven forest was as dense as this place. This was the first time both of them had set foot on an alien world, and even though the dragons had opened up to them kindly, he couldn't shake off his sense of feeling out of place. He wondered if this is how Spyro and Cynder felt when they had first landed in Haven along with Sparx. Before he could think to himself any further, he noticed Cyril had stopped in front of them.
"Here we are," he said, looking toward a small moss covered cliff, with what appeared to be large stone doors embedded into it. Jak also noticed the rock formation he had noticed from the sky was really the peak of the stone monolith he was looking at in front of him. The only thing was, there didn't seem to be any handles, any big enough for a full grown dragon to grasp that is. What gave away that it was a door was the fact there was a very thin crack between the doors, so thin not even a mouse could squeeze through. Everyone pulled up alongside Cyril to gaze at the wall momentarily.
'Hmph, from staring at one wall to another,' thought Vacu.
"Good to see it's still undisturbed from a few days ago," said Jace out loud. "I just hope we won't be walking around in circles again trying to figure out how to get in."
"Just because a first try fails doesn't mean there isn't a solution," said Pulster, "one often loses sight of certain details on the first attempt, which is why we are here to double check, and more if necessary."
"I never said I was giving up," Jace argued back, "far from it, especially given what we know is at stake now. Now I'll search every inch of this rock five times over if that's what it takes to get in."
"Your persistence is always admirable Jace," Cyril told his pupil who returned the comment with a grin. Jak slid off Terrador's back and onto the ground, causing everyone to look at him.
"You haven't noticed anything that looks like some sort of key or locking mechanism have you?" Jak turned to ask Cyril.
"None," commented the ice guardian, "Spyro told us how these Precursor structures were always marked by a common symbol, which we know your people call the Seal of Mar. Though we know what the symbol looks like up close now, I do not recall seeing anything of the sort from before."
Jak turned back toward the door, and pondered what he had heard. He did not doubt the dragons ability to investigate ruins, but he figured his years of experience with exploring Precursor temples gave him an advantage they didn't. Figuring that, he decided to offer his own assistance as they had theirs. He began walking up toward the wall to examine it himself. The dragons followed behind slowly, allowing the human the space he might need to focus. Upon approaching the wall he looked at it up and down, even peeked into the crack in the door, but couldn't see anything. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, rock formations aside, it appeared to be just another stone wall. Jak was wondering if this really was a Precursor temple, or just some other old ruin on this world unrelated to their objective. Unlike all the other Precursor structures and temples he had come across, nothing symbolic was standing out to even consider that this may have been one of their works. Rather than be pessimistic about that, he decided it was better to investigate as was previously mentioned.
"All of us together can help speed up this search, I'll check this whole wall here, you guys spread out over this rock to areas I can't reach for anything else, we'll regroup later."
"Very well," said Cyril before turning to the acolytes, "young ones follow me." He took flight again, heading up toward the top of the rock, and the acolytes followed in tow. Jak watched them ascend for a moment before turning toward the door's left side. Terrador moved toward the right end to work their way toward the center. Daxter stood perched and silent out of boredom as the two investigators dusted and scraped across the wall for the next few minutes. Soon, they met in the middle, both with apprehensive sighs.
"Any luck?" Jak asked the guardian.
"Afraid not," Terrador told him, "though in my experience, luck has always been nothing more than a mere illusion."
"Not for me!" yelped Daxter, much to their displeasure, "trust me, I've dodged my way out of too many close calls and death traps to ever say luck is an illusion!...No offense to your apparent great wisdom oh great green dragon."
Terrador eyed the ottsel exhaustively, while Jak just rolled his eyes. Clearly bringing Daxter on a venture to an alien world to establish good relations wasn't the best idea. Fortunately the earth guardian had dealt with enough annoying banter from Volteer and even Sparx to stay resilient. He merely huffed, and backed away from the wall while still facing it. He then sat down, and folded his wings behind his head, much to the outlanders confusion.
"Uh Terrador," Jak began, "what are you doing?"
"Focusing young one," answered Terrador, "if we can't see anything with our own eyes, let us see if our surroundings can open them." He closed his eyes and began meditating, invoking the power of his element to guide his vision. Having grown up around Samos and his usual routines, Jak immediately knew what the dragon was doing, and immediately silenced himself, unfortunately…
"Well what do you know," Daxter whispered, "he's just a dragon version of old greenie himself, heh, boy is he gonna be thrilled to have someone other than me to bother when…" his mouth was clamped shut by Jak's hand, who then gave him a shushing gesture to shut up, followed by a stern glare which the ottsel returned.
Terrador didn't hear a word and continued meditating, and after a minute, his body began to emit a faint green glow. Soon, he felt himself actually leave his body, and became in sync with the nature around him. He could see the pulsing auras of life surrounding his physical form, many of which he was familiar with from his old training and years of experience. What he was looking for though, was something that he was not familiar with standing out among the rest. He moved his earth vision all around the door starting right and moving to the left, suddenly he halted! At the lower base of the left side of the wall where the door ended, a small circular section of rock covered in moss was surrounded by what appeared to be an ethereal orange glow. The alien feel of this aura was enough for Terrador, and immediately brought his essence back into his body. He opened his eyes again to see the human and his chatty ottsel friend.
"There is something on the lower left side, there" he said pointing his head over to the moss covered end of the wall. Jak removed his hand from Daxter's mouth and went over where he had gestured. He started scraping the moss off the rock with his hands, it was messy but pretty easy to remove. He cleared away a section the size of his hand, and what he saw made him immediately drop the chunk in his hand to the ground. For the second time on this planet, he was looking at the Seal of Mar, this one the size of his palm, uncovered from the moss.
"Mar, why am I not surprised?" said Jak grinning.
"Jackpot!" chorted Daxter. The earth guardian walked over to see the seal himself, and couldn't resist letting out a chuckle.
"Hehe, no wonder your people hold these beings in such high regard," said Terrador, "they are nothing short of clever."
Jak nodded before saying, "better call everyone else back."
"Allow me," Terrador started walking back a few steps again, before letting out a sounding, yet muffled roar to the sky. His signal was sent, though it wasn't his strongest, he knew it would be enough to get the attention of Cyril's party and bring them back. As he looked back down toward Jak and Daxter again, they had their eyes wide open.
"Awesome!" stated Jak, "so that's what a full grown dragon sounds like."
"Oh believe me young one, we can roar much louder than that, but only when needed," replied Terrador grinning.
"Good, because I think I lost hearing in my right ear," said Daxter, scratching it with his paw. Jak and Terrador gave him no response, and in a few short seconds, they heard a rustling from above. Cyril and the acolytes descended from the sky and set down next to the ground trio.
"I take it you've found something?" asked the ice guardian.
"We found another Seal of Mar, pretty much the standard lock for precursor doors these days," said Jak.
"So we found the lock, what about a key?" asked Vacu.
"Right here," answered Jak, pulling out his seal from his pocket, allowing the dragons a quick glance of it. He walked back up to the seal embedded in the rock and brought up his own in its proximity. Both gave an ethereal orange glow as they reacted toward each other. Suddenly, a large CLUNK was heard, catching everyone's attention. A pulsating rumble followed the noise, and everyone turned to see the stone doors actually sinking into the ground. It took about a minute for them to fully collapse into the earth beneath them, and revealed an opening in the cliff large enough for even a dragon to fit through.
"So that's how these ruins open up," said Jace with astonishment.
"More or less," replied Jak, pocketing his seal again.
"Now," interrupted Daxter once again, "before we go through the doors there are a few things you all need to know. One, if you feel something is out to get you, it is. Two, don't touch anything even if it blocks our path, because it's very likely it's also out to get you. Last but not least…if any of you guys breathe fire at anything, make sure I'm out of the way please."
"Are you done?" Jak asked rhetorically, which Daxter nodded to. The ottsel's monologue wasn't very well received from the dragons either as they were grumbling.
"For the record chatterbox," said Vacu, "none of us 'can' breathe fire, were not fire dragons. We are two earth dragons, two ice dragons, and one electric, so no fire from any of us."
"That's enough Vacu, you've made yourself clear enough," ordered Terrador.
"Of course sir, just stating the facts," answered Vacu.
"None the less, we will proceed with caution," continued the guardian. "Ruins always have hidden dangers, no matter what planet. Vacu, stay out here and guard the entrance."
"But I," stammered Vacu, until a stern glare from his mentor quickly made him withdrawal, "of course master."
"Let's move single file everyone," he said turning toward the rest of his party. They all complied and walked toward Jak who was standing in front of the door. Terrador turned toward his pupil one last time before following, "Vacu, were counting on you."
The acolyte nodded in understanding, as his mentor followed the party inside. The group of four dragons and two outlanders found themselves in near pitch black settings within a rock cavern. Jak led the group over 30 feet inside the cave, before he stopped to see in front of him a steep incline into the earth, and it was wide enough for the dragons to walk down. Clearly whoever or whatever built this temple definitely had the accommodations of dragons in mind. Unfortunately lights were not included, because no one could see anything down below.
"How are we going to get down there if we can't even see our hands in front of our faces?" asked Daxter.
"I wish I remembered a flashlight or something," added Jak.
"Flashlight?" asked Terrador.
"Yeah, this little gizmo that shines light wherever you point it, comes in handy," explained Jak.
"Ah, like a lantern," said Cyril.
"Exactly, except it runs on electricity," said Jak.
"Does it?" replied Pulster, "well I may not be familiar with how your technology works, but I know electricity, and one thing most tend to forget, electricity gives off its own light." The electric dragon closed his eyes, with a pulse of electrical aura ionized the air around him, creating a large dome of light surrounding them that seemed to sparkle.
"Wow" exclaimed Jak. Even Daxter was wide eyed.
"Well done young dragon! Lead the way," complimented Cyril, 'He may just succeed Volteer yet.'
The electric acolyte nodded, and the party started down the incline with Pulster lighting the way in the lead. The cave truly was deep, as they descended for what seemed like half a mile. After that half mile, the ground leveled off, and Pulster found himself staring at another set of doors, except these were made of wood, and actually had handles. As convenient as this looked, this looked way too easy to the electric acolyte considering where they were, and the rest of his party agreed.
"Don't suppose we can just knock?" asked Jace.
"Sure, if you wanna die an early death!" yelped Daxter, causing him to earn a dirty look from the ice acolyte.
"Due to the fact that the 1st door was opened by means not native to our world, it would stand to reason that this one should be opened similarly. What do you think Jak?" asked Pulster. He stepped up to take a closer look at the door before turning toward him.
"You might be right, all this may have been laid out for someone like me to come someday, though given the size of the door and its handles, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to budge it via my own strength. So I believe it might also have had you guys in mind."
"Yeah, plus there's no seal this time, so what are we gonna do?" asked Daxter.
"Spring the trap," said Pulster, shocking everyone slightly.
"Excuse me?" chortled Daxter.
"The only way to find out how this works is to manually open the door and let whatever comes reveal itself so we can defend against it. I know it sounds rash, but right now it's the only logical choice under these extremes," said Pulster.
"It is a risk," said Jak, "but I live for risk, plus I'm no stranger to moving past traps so let's do it."
"If you wish to try this, I will assist, and everyone be ready," said Terrador as he walked up to the door on the other side of Jak. Pulster gripped the handle on the left door and Terrador on the right, while Jak remained vigil along with Cyril and Jace behind him. They both pulled, opening their own sides of the door, and through the crack came a near blinding orange shine. The shine enveloped them as the door was fully opened, causing everyone to shield their eyes with their hands or wings.
So it has begun again
An ethereal voice quickly caught their attention, causing them all to nearly go wide eyed behind their shields. To the dragons it was unlike anything they had ever heard, but to Jak and Daxter it was actually quite familiar. It sounded just like the precursors they had always spoken too, only there seemed to be a different tone in this voice. Apparently a herald had also been placed here for someone to find one day.
Enter now to forge ahead
Hearing the words of the precursor, Jak brought down his hands and squinted as he walked toward the light. He paused though to turn around and saw that the dragons had not complied. He spoke to them with assurance.
"Come on everyone, it's best to follow its instructions, we will make it all the way through if we do."
Hearing his reason, the dragons lowered their wings and squinted. They then began following Jak as he entered the door. Soon they all entered, and the light enveloped them all and the doors shut themselves behind them.
Everyone soon found themselves in a tunnel, the light had seemed to become more focused and directed toward the end. They all walked until they had reached its mouth, and then, they saw a sight that made them all jaw drop, especially the dragons. The true wonder of the temple shone all around them in what appeared to be a main chamber, with the signature orange glow emitting from the monoliths that seemed to stick out from the chamber walls, and at the back, a large precursor statue, similar to the ones from the monk temple was embedded in the far wall.
"Guess this is the right place after all," said Daxter to Jak.
"By the ancestors," said Cyril astonished.
"Wow," added Jace feeling the same.
"Master Volteer would love this place," finished Pulster.
"Yeah, even I'm still getting used to it, and I've been exploring these places for years," Jak said in response to their exclamations. His focus was then directed back toward the statue at the far wall, its eyes were glowing, which was all Jak needed to see to decide their next action. He gestured to the dragons to follow him as he walked toward the statue, and they complied. At the foot of the statue, he could only gaze up at it, waiting for it to speak again, but the silence continued, forcing Daxter to open his mouth again, "uhhh..."
Greetings to you all The voice startled all of them, and silenced Daxter.
For centuries I have been the herald here, waiting and watching for the time when unification would be needed again, and your standing in my presence has determined that time has finally come.
Terrador was the first to find his voice as he spoke, "Ancient one, I am Terrador, dragon guardian of Earth, and speaking on behalf of my people, I wish to ask some questions, would you oblige us to answer them?"
That depends on what they are, but yes guardian, I can provide you with the majority of your answers.
"Very well, have you truly been here on our planet all this time? Why did you ever not make yourself known to our people? Or any other races that live here?"
Wise questions winged one, even though the alliance with your ancestors was mutual for all, the Precursors have a code to never become directly involved with the development of an indigenous species. It was the final agreement between our people and your ancient leader that this temple be placed here on this isle, until the day came when the alliance would need to be rekindled.
"That ancient leader was the Dragon Father?"
Yes
"So our kind was never originally from this planet at all?"
Indeed, according to the history passed down to me. The precursors revelations had ultimately confirmed what they had been told before, and Jak turned to see the reactions on the dragons faces. They all seemed quite apprehensive, as well as shocked, including the acolytes who seemed to be breathing heavily. The precursor seemed to acknowledge their discomfort.
You need not feel distressed winged ones, though your ancestors origins are not here, you are all a part of this world as any of the other sentient beings inhabiting it. To say that one world belongs to any single race alone is vain and unbecoming, as was the words spoken by your Dragon Father so long ago.
Everyone was shocked all the more hearing that, a quote from the prime ancestor of the dragon race? Spoken by an alien whom they never had any knowledge of until now?
"Then you must know more about our lost history then any one of us living here has ever known!" exclaimed Jace. "What else can you tell? What other stories…"
"Jace!" Cyril exclaimed shaking his head toward his pupil to say that now was not the time for that. Seeing his masters gesture, he silenced himself and said out loud, "uh sorry."
No need for apology young one, it is enriching to know that across the generations the avid curiosity for knowledge has not wavered. But now is not the time for such indulgences, you are here for the means to activate the portal to finalize the rekindling of the alliance.
"Indeed we are, how is it you know so much before we fully explained? Ancient experience I suppose?" asked Cyril.
In a sense yes, but the fact that I felt the presence of the Chosen One along with all of you when the first door was opened also gave it away.
The dragons went wide-eyed, and immediately turned toward Jak, Terrador being the one to question "Chosen one?"
"Uh yeah," he said, feeling a bit uncomfortable "Spyro never told you guys that?"
"He said he gave the whole story when he finished the tale to us," said Cyril, before eying the two outlanders curiously, "but it appears there were some things he left out."
"Eh, it happens all the time," chortled Daxter.
Jak decided to explain to avoid confusion, "Well long story short, I'm actually Mar's heir." The dragons looked at him with shocked expressions, they had only heard that name from how Spyro described what the Seal of Mar was supposed to represent.
"Mar?" asked Jace, "as in the Seal of Mar Mar?!"
"Yeah, though I never knew about it until a year ago," replied Jak. The two guardians were surprised by the outlanders yet again upon hearing Jak's explanation. This young man raised as an impromptu orphan by his mentor was actually the descendant of a highly renowned figure from his own world, without him knowing it most of his life? Throwing in the fact that he's saved his world from monsters threatening to destroy it, it was now clear to them how much Jak's own story mirrored Spyro's. Two heroes, both born destined for greatness, from two different planets, yet with similar stories now working together to thwart off another dangerous threat? They wondered if Ignitus was currently recording this, for this whole ordeal was turning into an incredible historical adventure for the ages!
Mar was a great ally to the precursors during our times of trial, a sharp cunning warrior, and a true leader and legend to his people. Now it seems history is destined to repeat, for you as his heir has now reignited the alliance with the dragons your ancestor help begin long ago.
"It's definitely been an incredible experience," said Jak nodding to the dragons in respect, which they returned. "But as much as we would like to dive further into history we can't right now, my world is in danger once again, this time by twisted versions of your people, whom I never knew existed until now."
The Dark Makers...Yes...they are our greatest mistake, one that has cost us and so many others dearly.
"If you don't mind me asking, what does Jak mean they are your twisted versions? Where do these Dark Makers come from?" Jace asked trying to be respectful. In response to his question, an orb similar to the one Jak saw in the Monk Temple arose from behind the statue, and caught their attention. New images were forming in it as the precursor spoke.
Millenia ago, when eco was first formed, there was Light and there was Dark. We were there to witness its formation from the True One, and we were tasked with the responsibility of wielding it and using it to shape the universe into the image that was bestowed upon us. Unfortunately, some of us were not as wise as others, and directly exposed themselves to the dark eco and were seduced by its unrelenting consumption. The originals that were exposed turned against us and captured even more of their former brethren to bring into their new collective. Realizing their bodies and minds had been twisted beyond reasoning, the Precursors banded together and banished the dark ones to a far end of the universe, believing they would consume each other in their growing hunger. Unfortunately, with their hunger also came cunning and vengeance, forging new abominable versions of our own machines and swarming as much of the universe they could with them, starting a war that has been stretching out longer then even ours with the metalheads.
Jak, Daxter, and the dragons listened to every word of the story, and were feeling shocked to their very core. They knew the universe was a big place with many mysteries and stories, though it seemed a little smaller since Spyro's last adventure. But hearing this ancient tragic story made the whole situation even bigger then they had thought, all of them truly had their work cut out for them.
"Well," began Cyril, "That's quite a story, albeit a tragic one."
"Cyril," Terrador reprimanded, "We mean to say, we feel your pain, there are those of our race that have fallen to the darkness as well, and even threatened to consume our whole planet in it."
I know winged one, though I may be forbidden from interacting with your planet, my ethereal vision allows me to at least keep watch of this world's events over the years. I have seen the birth of your world's first native purple dragon, the one you know as Malefor, the Dark Master, and the unfortunate fate he set for himself.
'Amazing' Terrador thought, the Precursors truly were incredible beings to be able to watch anywhere on the planet from wherever they were. In addition being able to be unnoticed by even the Chronicler, who according to legend and even fact was able to see every event that happened on this world during their lifetime. They only found this temple because of some old journal entries Ignitus had discovered in his archives about historical explorers searching uncharted territories.
"Yeesh," retorted Daxter, "these Dark Makers and this Malefor sound like they could be two peas in a pod...on our world that means..."
"We know what it means!" Jace yelled silencing the chattering ottsel. He would have gone further, but he preferred not to dig himself into a hole dealing with this animal like Vacu had. He merely snorted and recomposed himself. Jak just shook his head at Daxter again before turning around to face the Precursor.
There is more, the Dark Makers are currently not only invading your world chosen one, but they have made themselves present on this one as well.
"They have?!" Jace asked shocked, with Pulster and the guardians sharing in it, but not voicing it. Jak and Daxter were wide eyed upon hearing the news as well.
Unfortunately yes, the purple dragon is the first one to have encountered them.
Jak then remembered something his purple friend told him back on his world, "Spyro said he ran into some dark purple aliens before falling through the portal, those must have been them!"
Terrador nodded in agreement, and remembered something as well, "We did find some odd footprints in the temple chamber after he vanished, and we made molds of them before cleaning them up. But why would they come to this planet?"
To fulfill a dark request, one that puts both your worlds and possibly more in jeopardy.
"What do you mean?" asked Terrador confused.
I hate to be the bearer of awful news after just meeting you winged ones, but unfortunately they have succeeded in releasing the greatest danger your planet has ever spawned.
The dragons all gasped, the precursors statement described only being to them, and they all blurted out, "MALEFOR IS FREE?!"
"We are so screwed," grumbled Daxter. Jak went more wide eyed than ever, the grim situation became darker than ever. First it was the palace being destroyed, then the invasion of metalheads and KG, followed by the warning of the upcoming Dark Maker threat, and continued by Errol's surprise return from apparent death. Now the greatest threat in this planet's history, as described by Spyro, had been released and apparently joined forces with these Dark Makers. The dragons looked like they were about to fall into a state of panic until…
Be calm winged ones, though it is true two great evils from our pasts have now joined forces, that does not make them invincible. This alliance was made not only to thwart the Horaquon and their leader, but any other dangers that would surface in the future. Life has always been a constant struggle between good and evil. It is a cycle that cannot be broken, when good triumphs peace reigns, when evil does, tyranny rules. Though as it has been stated before, alliances are the only way to true peace, darkness can never be extinguished, but it can be controlled for the right reasons. Dark by nature does not always mean evil, for corruption brought about the downfall of the Dark Makers as well as Malefor, and balancing it with the warmth of light is now the sole reason our race even exists. Now, the alliance that will be remade today will be greater than before to combat the growing threat and banish it where it belongs.
Jak, Daxter and the dragons listened in silence, taking in the precursor's words. After a few minutes, they wholeheartedly accepted them. They were all still feeling the shock from the bad news, but they all were taking cleansing breaths to calm down. Panicking would only make the situation worse, and they all non-verbally came to the same realization: both of these threats had been beaten before, and they would do it again.
"Well now that we are more familiar with the situation, we need to get back to why we are here, the artifacts known as the Beta-Sphere and the Omniprism," said Jak getting back on topic.
Yes, both artifacts you have questioned are here, but in order to properly leave here with them, you must prove your worth once again warrior. The tests that await you are ones designed by Precursors and meant for both dragons and humans. Only by completing them together will you prove that this alliance will stand, not just to face the upcoming threats, but as a testament to this ancestral union.
The dragons and Jak were completely bewildered by what they had heard, not only did Jak have to take these tests, but the dragons had to as well? This was quite unexpected, but it did make sense seeing how this temple appeared to be made concerning the size of full grown dragons.
"You mean one of us must take this test alongside Jak?" Pulster asked.
Indeed, the choice of whom will represent you is yours, guardian or acolyte.
"I'll do it," said Terrador, looking toward Jak, "It would be an honor." Jak nodded in agreement, since he got here Terrador was probably the one dragon he had the highest respect for, since he reminded him so much of Samos, and even Damas. Once they did activate the portal, he would remind himself to introduce the dragon to the two of them when he could.
Very well, both of you step forward. Enter once the door is opened and the tests shall begin.
They both complied, and as they approached the statue, another rumble sounded through the room. Off to the right side of the statue, they could see another opening collapsing into the earth just as the outside door did before. Once it was fully collapsed, Jak, Daxter, and Terrador eyed it first with skepticism, then determination and walked over to enter as the others watched from behind feeling somewhat concerned with what would happen. Once the trio entered the door and disappeared down its tunnel, it seemed to seal off with an ethereal orange wall, startling the remaining three.
"What just happened?" asked Jace.
The challenges have begun now, as such there can be no interference from the outside.
"So we are just supposed to wait now?" asked Pulster.
"It appears so young dragon, it's up to them now," finished Cyril.
I can offer you to watch as well as wait winged ones.
The Precursor's offer caught their attention, and with quick nods they all agreed as Cyril said, "By all means ancient one."
The statue's eyes shown brighter than before, and out of them shot a ray of light striking the ground, and it seemed to eventually rise up, to show some sort of mystical yet transparent blue window. It was as tall as any of them, though it immediately reminded Cyril of something, 'fascinating, it appears Ignitus is not the only one able to project images.' Remembering how his old friend could now project himself through the use of mystic gems as the Chronicler. The two acolytes gathered around him, and they watched the window as a picture started to become clear.
Besides Spyro, I always saw Jak and Terrador getting along real well, for as I've seen and written the Earth guardian reminds him so much of the men he has looked up to in his life. I split the gathering into two parts due to the length of the material, but it will conclude next chapter, see you then!
