Chapter 03: Jericho
October 25, 11:13 AM
The next morning was bright, and only a few clouds stirred above the city as the sun gave its rays to the citizens below. Hunter had left earlier that morning, and had left a note for Spyro and Flame who had woken up after his departure. Hunter was off to join the rest of his Order, while Spyro and Flame were left to their own devices back here. Back here, in the city with Sentinels…
Hunter's hideout was in the Flooded City, near one of the lower ports. It was just a small shack, one of many that had been built in the almost shanty town.
Looking out, Spyro could see the port they were in, it being tucked away near one of the taller islands that rose from the waters of the Flooded City. The area here didn't look like it ever had bordered the water, but because of whatever happened to this city the area now sat right up at the water line. This particular area had sank just enough to where it was maybe a foot above sea level, making it ideal for merchants to construct a port. All along the waterline different creatures walked, going from busy marketplaces to their small wooden fishing boats that rested against the makeshift docks. Birds flew overhead as the sounds of busy shoppers filled Spyro's ears. Walking through the crowds, Spyro could see the various merchants set up here. They weren't unlike the ones they had passed through yesterday, only these specialized in fish and food that they had received from the fishers. Occasionally, there would be items scavenged from sunken areas farther out into the sea that merchants and fishers had brought back. Several unique items sat in the shelves, obviously from lands far away. Traders here often traded with cities or groups far away, from places Spyro couldn't even pronounce or think of. What could lie out there, beyond the waters?
Looking at the water, Spyro could see the boats as they sailed through the port. They had to take care to avoid the buildings that rested within the water and even poked out. Some areas of the city had sank even deeper than this one, remaining submerged below the water. It was easy to smash your boat against one of the buildings, and put an end to anybody thinking of going into dangerous areas. Most of the boats here were made of wood, and all varied in designs. Spyro could tell which boats came from abroad since he had never seen their designs before. Every now and again Spyro would see a Forger vessel sailing on the waters. They weren't uncommon around here, and only the luckiest- or richest- would use them. They were indeed rare finds, since the material they were made out of was almost impossible to replicate since nobody even knew what material it was. If one of the boats sprung a leak, it was a great tragedy since it was hard to fix them.
"Hey Spyro, look." Flame said, interrupting Spyro's thoughts. Spyro turned, looking at what his friend was pointing at. Black clouds sat in the horizon, slowly approaching the city. It was a storm…
Sparx gave a frown and sank a bit in disappointment at the sight. Sparx hated the rain since the water would weigh down his wings, making it impossible for him to fly. Spyro smiled at Sparx before turning to Flame.
"We better find a place to wait it out, looks kind of bad. It'll be a while before we can get back to the Inner City and drop off our stuff." Spyro said.
"Yeah… I just don't feel so safe with those Sentinels walking around."
"Don't worry… we'll lose them in the Surface City. I don't think they have enough Sentinels to cover every inch of this city."
"They found us that first time."
"Well we just have to hide better…"
Flame shook his head, obviously still worried about the Sentinels. Spyro could understand his worry. Why were they even pursuing Spyro? Why were they looking for humans either, weren't they all dead? None of this made any sense.
"Come on, this way." Spyro said, turning to one of the streets. They had to get back into the Surface City, which meant going up to ground level. A section of the Flooded City was slanted, like a hill. It connected the Surface and this area of the Flooded City since this area was at a much lower elevation. The ground was uneven here, and some of the buildings were hazardous to be in since it was all unstable. Signs were erected warning youngsters or other curious folks to avoid these buildings since they could give at any time, or collapse if disturbed. Spyro wondered why people even resided in these areas since the collapsed ground meant the entire area was unstable and could give at a moment's notice. It hadn't happened- yet. However, it didn't mean that it wasn't possible.
The way back up only took a few minutes, and they didn't see many people on the way up. This was an empty area, because of the unstable structures. They were ripe for scavenging because of this, and every now and again Spyro would see a few bi-pedals going through buildings or tossing crates of scavenged goods to the street for transportation later. Spyro was honestly surprised there was much left in these buildings to scavenge after all this time. Then again, there was a lot of city to cover.
Clouds began to darken the sky, blacking out the sun that had up until now been shining down onto the trio as they moved through the broken Surface City. They had finally reached the end of the slated section and were once again on solid ground.
"Hey look over there, let's wait it out in there." Spyro pointed at a building just down the road. Those metal chassis were all around this particular building, all backed up on the street. Moss and grass grew from the broken concrete, moving up to ensnare the metal from the Forger's vehicles and trap them forever against the street. Spyro had seen an old book somewhere once calling these things "cars". He thought the word "chassis" sounded cooler, but that was just him.
"Come on, before you get all soaked." Flame said, walking passed the cars and going towards the building. Spyro followed closely, moving towards the stairs that lead to the building's entrance. Above there was a decayed sign that was barely readable, Spyro only able to make out "Library" in the sign. A library huh? These were rare in the city, and Spyro had only seen one, and it was much smaller than this, and in much worse condition. This one was still in one piece. Well, the left wall was damaged and a tree was trying to grow in the debris over there… but it was still standing, that was all that mattered.
They reached the top of the stairs, walking towards the main entrance. Spyro stopped, looking around. There were decaying posters and small fences that looked like they had once formed a barrier around the entrance. Empty crates and boxes were scattered all around, though these were different. They were made of cloth instead of the usual cardboard, wood or even metal.
Suitcases, was that the right word? Spyro had heard of them, and quite a few were at his home in the inner city. Why were they here? The posters on the walls were barely legible anymore, having long decayed sitting on the surface of this wall.
Flame slowly pushed on the door to the library, entering just as rain started to sprinkle onto the street outside. Sparx buzzed in quickly, wanting to be as far away from the rain as possible. Spyro smirked at this, following Flame through the open doors.
Inside, the library was dimly lit, only lit from the light coming in from outside. Large bookshelves filled the main room of the library, which formed a giant square with a second floor and balcony towards the back. Stacks of old books lay nearby on the floor, next to empty shelves. The books looked as if they were picked through and were being organized. Next to books lay more of those suitcases from outside, including other things like clothes and other personal items that were being neatly stored in boxes. To their left, there was an old table set up with decaying papers on it, and something red that was smeared on the surface. Whatever it was, it had long dried up and was starting to chip away with age. More items were scattered on the floor, near more empty shelves. This had been lived in at one point.
"I thought I heard something! You there! Stop where you are!"
Spyro looked up, seeing a large bi-pedal mole peek its head over a stack of books.
"Who, us? Did we do something wrong?" Spyro asked, pressing his paw against his chest.
"No, no, no, don't tell me you dirty scavengers found your way into our library. You can't have any of these books! I don't care what you're selling these are priceless!" The mole leapt over, picking up the nearest book to Flame, who sat back, shocked at the Mole's actions.
"Woah! We're not here to take your books, we swear! We're just here riding out that rain." Spyro said, trying to explain himself.
"Then what's with your little satchel there?" The Mole said, pointing to the pack hanging from Spyro's side. Spyro turned, looking at it before looking back at the Mole.
"Well… we uh…"
"I knew it, bunch of scavengers." The Mole said, climbing back onto his pile of books.
"Hold on, we don't want your books." Flame said, shaking his head.
"What kind of books are they?" Spyro asked, leaning down to inspect a few that were nearby.
"They're the lost knowledge of the Forgers, that's what." The Mole said, leaping down and walking over to the messy stack, picking up a few and organizing them.
"I've only seen a few places with this many books… surprised they're all still here." Spyro commented as he walked forward, inspecting the large room more.
"They're still here because scavengers overlooked places like these for the flooded city. Many of the old books are still here, and thankfully some are still in good condition." The Mole picked up a book and opened it slowly before inspecting the pages. The pages were yellow with some wear around the edges. The elements had not been kind to these books, but from what Spyro could see, the books were still very much readable.
"We're in the process of cataloguing these books and transcribing them to save the knowledge the Forgers left for us. It would be a great waste to let all this knowledge fade away…" The Mole walked over with the book, setting it down on a nearby table. Sparx flew near it, looking at the book's worn cover before flying away, moving all around the vast room.
"What do all these books have in them?" Flame asked, curious himself after looking at one of the books that was on the floor.
"What do you think? They're books." The Mole said, walking over and swiping the book away from Flame as he got closer. Flame just rolled his eyes. The Mole gave a low sight.
"They're not that different from books written today. There's different stories that are told, as instructional books and historical books. They could help us find out what happened to the Forgers, and where they went." He said, elaborating more with a bit of an annoyed voice at first, while transitioning to something more tame by the end of it.
"That's easy, they destroyed themselves in a war." Flame said with a smirk.
"If you believe everything you're told… I say there's still much left to find out about them."
"I heard that some Sentinels are looking for Forgers. Is it true that they're really gone?" Spyro asked, curious on that subject now.
"Well, nobody can be sure you know. They say they're gone, but I hear all sorts of stories coming from up north near the forbidden areas."
"Forbidden areas?" Spyro asked, tilting his head.
"Really, you haven't heard of the forbidden areas?" The mole asked, looking bewildered.
"Um… well… we really haven't seen much outside this city." Flame explained, pressing his talons together innocently. The mole gave a low scoff at that.
"Really, kids today."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Flame asked, a little annoyed.
"The forbidden zones are areas to the north, where nobody's settled yet. They call 'em forbidden because there's all sorts of superstition about what lies in those regions, and why nobody's ever settled there. I think it's just more Sentinel propaganda. I do think something's out there, but nobody's got the guts to go there."
"You think Forgers are there?"
"I doubt it. Nobody knows where they've gone. However, if Sentinels are looking for Forgers, that ought to tell you something. Sentinels have usually kept themselves to the far west to their cities but they've been poking around these past few years. Who knows what that insidious Dark Master is up to now."
"What do you know about the Dark Master?"
"Just that he rules from his perch out to the far west. They say he's itching to rule these lands and has the manpower to do so. If he does, why doesn't he just invade? I think he's bluffing about how tough he is. I think people give him far too much credit for what he's done." The Mole crossed his arm, as if annoyed by the subject.
"Well least that means him and his Sentinels will stay out west…" Flame said, rubbing his arm.
"We can hope. He gets bolder each season. This region is far too unorganized to fight him if he does decide to come knocking."
As the Mole spoke, Spyro had opened one of the books on the floor, using his talon to carefully turn the worn pages. It was a novel, a contemporary novel about life during the time of the Forgers. Spyro was intrigued, reading further. The main character seemed to have so many problems from his job, but did what he could to provide for his family. He was going to travel to this place called… New York City? He had just received a mysterious… phone call from an uncle he had thought was long dead. He was going to travel to New York City, and was going to fly there the next morning.
Phone call, what was that? Spyro had heard of one before… could you really talk to someone so far away with one of those? Also, he talked about flying there in one day… Could the Forgers really fly? Wait, that craft him and Flame found in the warehouses the other day, was that what they used to fly? Did the Forger use that to fly to New York? Man, what a time it must've been to live in…
"Hey, hey! I said don't touch!" The mole said, running over and swiping the book away that Spyro had been reading. Spyro grunted, stepping back.
"Hey cool, look at this Spyro!" Flame said, walking over to a nearby wall. Spyro set the book down, walking over. There, on the wall there was a large map, depicting a large landmass highlighted in light green. Very faintly, Spyro could make out the words "United States" on the top of the map. There were all sorts of markings on the maps, probably from the Moles themselves. There was a mark near the southeast part of the map, probably where they were as it had a large X on it. The western-most areas were marked off with purple, the words "Dark Master" written on top. The purple region stretched all the way across near the center of the map. All along the eastern coast there were more marks, smaller than their X. Were they other cities? There sure were a lot of them, they dotted the entire eastern region. There, to the northeast Spyro could see a large area marked off in red, marked "forbidden zone". There was another to the far, far south as well.
Notes were scribbled to the right-hand side, talking about different trade routes and factions that were apparently not marked on the map. Man, how much more was off the map? Spyro had seen this particular map before but didn't know how to read it, or where they were on it. Spyro had seen maps of the entire world, but they were all so faded Spyro couldn't make heads or tails of them. Plus all the books talking about them were long rotten.
"I hope you haven't touched those maps. Some of those are rare finds." The Mole said, walking over.
"Relax, we're just looking." Flame said with a low chuckle. The Mole shot him a look before looking at the map itself.
"What is all this?" Spyro asked, curious now.
"If you must know, this main one is our map of the world as it exists now, more or less. Can see the areas there, the forbidden zones." The Mole said, tapping at the main map softly.
"This where we are?" Flame asked, placing his talon on the X.
"Sure is, we're tucked away from the world here. Though that purple area's grown a lot in these past years. The Dark Master's making a push for the east coast. We won't be safe long here." The Mole crossed his arms. Spyro looked at the map again, his eyes moving to the forbidden zone in the northeast. It looked as if a lot of older cities were in that area… Boston… Philadelphia… New York… Hey, New York! Is that where that city was from the book? Right inside the forbidden zone… Now Spyro was more curious about that city. It looked like the biggest dot on the map, besides the other dot with the star, labeled Washington D.C. That one, however was outside the forbidden zone. The farthest settlement north looked like a city outside of Washington, in Baltimore. It was sitting right along the edge to the forbidden zone. There was a purple X on that city though… why was that one marked purple?
Near this map there were more maps, similar to the big one on the wall but smaller, and some with different notations. There was one map Spyro saw that had several areas with black lines through them, with arrows pointing in every direction. What a confusing map! Looking at it closer, Spyro saw that the arrows were originating from several points, but all coming towards the blacked out areas. They were labeled "safety zones." Safety zones? Safety from what?
"This a map wall or something?" Flame asked, not noticing the other maps as well.
"Sure is, we've made a collection of them, and placed them here. Any map we find we place on there, for a record."
"What's wrong with that map, can hardly read it." Flame said, pointing at the one Spyro was looking over.
"It was one of the maps we found here. Not sure exactly what it is, since it doesn't match any types of maps. We think it was made near the time of the war, and was fairly recent. That insignia on the bottom there, it's the symbol of the old world military that used to be here."
Spyro looked closer at the map, and at the symbol. The symbol was faded, but he could see a circular symbol with a feral eagle in it, along with a few other things he could barely make out. At the base it read "US Army." Guess that's what the military was called back then- for the humans anyway.
"Hey Spyro look, the rain's dying down." Flame said as he walked to the window. Sure enough, the rain had begun to slowly soften, the clouds still churning above. It would be some time before they could be sure the storm had passed. Even so, Spyro could feel the cool mist filter in from the outside through the windows. It felt nice against his scales, so refreshing.
"I would watch myself if I were you. If Sentinels are really in the city searching for something they'll stop at nothing to get it. They show no mercy."
"Yeah… we've seen…" Spyro said, turning slightly to face the Mole before looking out the window again.
They sure didn't show any mercy, that was for sure.
/Transitioning…/
[Done]
"Come on, this way!" Flame said, trotting along the shattered road. They had left the library some time ago, arriving back in the inner city just as the last batch of clouds had left the sky. The sun had lowered itself in the sky, ushering in the afternoon. A few more clouds were gathering but it looked like their chances of getting rained out had drastically lessened. They were almost back to their hideout, and finally able to safely drop off their newly acquired gems.
"Good my feet are killing me…" Spyro said with a chuckle while Flame gave a short laugh while happily trotting along. Sparx buzzed happily nearby, happy that his wings were dry while everything around them had been soaked in the rain.
"Flame, what's up?" Spyro asked, seeing his red friend halted up ahead. Flame lowered his stature, as if entering a stealth mode. Had he seen something?
"Hold up…" Flame said, raising his paw up. Sparx gave a frown, pressing himself low as Spyro crouched down himself, walking towards Flame slowly. Spyro reached the edge of the raised concrete that they rested on, slowly peeping his head over to take a look.
They were just along the edge to their courtyard, taking cover just at the street's edge. Inside they could see a few figures lumbering around. They all wore the unmistakable black armor of the Dark Master's Sentinels.
"What the hell… these guys are everywhere!" Flame said under his breath.
"Wait, wait, who's that they got there…?" Spyro asked as he leaned forward to get a better look.
There, in the middle of the Sentinels there were a few dragons, about their age. They were some of the orphans… Spyro could see pools of blood under some of them, and they weren't moving either.
One of them was moving… squirming by the looks of it.
"Where is he?! We know he hides here!" Spyro could hear the Sentinel shout. His voice echoed off the cracked walls, as well as the whimpers the youngling only managed to respond back.
"Useless!" The Sentinel shouted before placing his weapon against the dragon's chest. Spyro quickly ducked behind the rock, covering his eyes as he heard a CRACK resound through the area.
"Oh shit... shit!" Flame said while ducking himself.
"Damn it… they killed them… they killed them all…" Spyro said, clenching his eyes.
"No… no no… I only saw a few… I think… I think the others got away." Flame said, slowly lifting his head again. Spyro slowly opened his eyes, doing the same. Flame was right. There were only a few bodies there… but… they were dead. Those Sentinels had killed them. Those monsters had killed them.
"Spread out! I want him found." The Sentinel yelled.
"Flame, come on we've got to go." Spyro said, yanking on his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah- yeah I'm coming." Flame said before stumbling off of the rock. They had to get out of there- and fast. Those Sentinels were still after them, but why? What the hell did Spyro do to these guys other than selling that damn gun? Did they think Spyro knew where the Forger was? Spyro didn't have a damn clue where he was!
They ran down the street, almost falling over broken rock as they tried to evade the Sentinels, turning as many corners and going through as many crowds of people as they could find. Everyone they passed looked concerned, all looking in the direction of where they were running. They all had heard the shots, and they all knew the Sentinels were over there. Many looked that way, waiting to see if the Sentinels came there next. Nobody wanted to be within their path, and Spyro and Flame desperately tried to ensure they stayed as far away as possible.
Sparx buzzed by them, a worried look on his face as he zipped between people, trying to keep up with the escaping dragons as they got farther and farther from the site. They finally rounded a corner, finding themselves back in one of the many markets of the inner city. Flame panted, almost collapsing onto the ground as he rested against a rock. Spyro found himself drawing heavy breaths, his head drooping low as his energy had left him all of a sudden. Sparx buzzed around their heads, making Spyro look up. He coughed a bit, trying to find words, but none came.
"You… you think they might have followed us?" Flame asked, looking towards his purple friend.
"I… I really hope not…" Spyro said, shaking his head. After their run in the previous day, Spyro hoped he never crossed paths with another Sentinel.
"What the hell are we going to do? We've got Sentinels combing the area looking for us!" Flame panted, looking desperately at Spyro for answers. Spyro didn't answer, instead just looking blankly at the ground in front of him, trying to find an answer to give back to Flame. They couldn't go back there, not with all the Sentinels. They were likely combing all their other hideouts if the others told them anything. Where the hell could they go?
"Spyro! Spyro!" Flame said, trying to snap him out of it. Spyro finally recoiled a bit, shaking his head slightly.
"I…. I don't know! We just need to disappear!" Spyro said, moving towards a random direction. Flame took in a heavy breath, trying to find the energy to follow his lead.
To be frankly honest, Spyro had no idea in the world where he was heading. They trotted down the streets, heading in any direction they could find. Hunter was right, they did need to lay low. They should have listened, and maybe they should have just stayed in the shack back there in the flooded city. No way they could make that walk again.
"Spyro, Spyro wait!" Flame said, pressing a paw on his friend's shoulder.
"What? What is it?"
"We could find an abandoned place in the surface city, we might be able to hide out there until they at least clear out of our home back there." Flame suggested. He was right, they could hide out somewhere in the surface city. So much was vacant, they might just be able to vanish into the empty buildings there.
"Right, let's go." Spyro said, nodding. The two dragons and lone dragonfly took off, dashing down the street and out of the inner city.
After a few minutes of running they slowed down to just a slow trot. The afternoon sun had set upon them and thankfully, they hadn't seen a single Sentinel the whole time. Spyro hoped they were too busy searching their home back there to come over here looking for them. Spyro desperately hoped that was the case.
The people in the streets thinned as they got deeper into the surface city. They were now reduced to small congregations of people, or groups moving between the different city sections. They were back at the old freeway that ran through the surface city, where several roads all ran alongside each other. This was the same path they had walked only days earlier on their way into the warehouses. Spyro had almost forgotten why they had even went that way in the first place, it seemed so distant since their run ins with the Sentinels.
As they walked further down the road, they heard sounds, growing louder and more frequent.
"What the hell's that?" Flame asked, tilting his head up.
There was a constant and repeating clacking noise that was echoing through the city's decrypt buildings. Spyro had heard a few of those earlier, but it had picked up now, and was getting much louder. It sounded fairly close as well.
"It sounds like gunfire."
"There a battle going on inside the city?" Flame asked, now recognizing the sound as well. Gun battles weren't that uncommon in the surface city, but this one sounded pretty intense. Multiple weapons seemed to be going off, and it only kept growing by the moment. It was coming from further down the road, near the collapsed freeway Spyro had first spotted the Sentinels at only days earlier. They trotted in that direction, drawn closer by the now constant barrage of gunfire.
They arrived at the collapsed overpass, looking beyond. They were at the warehouses again, well, another section of warehouses since they were completely separate from the ones they had made the discovery at the other day. They could see several figures lining the entrance to these warehouses, all perched along the fence and roadway that ran alongside the fencing. Different creatures ranging from different bi-pedal species to Sentinels themselves were firing onto the warehouses, riddling it with gunfire. Wait, Sentinels fighting alongside city residents? What in the hell was going on?
"Spyro, hey Spyro what're you doing?!" Flame said, now in a whisper as they were near Sentinels again. Spyro didn't answer, walking closer in a low crouch. He took cover behind a barrier, taking a closer peek at the gun battle just down the road. He could see they were deffinately firing at something in the parking lot in front of the warehouse, something taking cover behind the various ancient car chassis and overturned rubble.
Something… or someone…
"Spyro!" Flame said, running over to him as he tried to shake his friend.
"Flame… Flame look… look over there…" Spyro said, trying to see just what they were shooting at.
"I don't care what's going on, those are Sentinels! We need to leave!" He said, trying to break Spyro's gaze. Spyro focused hard, squinting as he drew in closer. He could see… several figures behind the cars in the lot, all returning fire at the various citizens and Sentinels. He could see their forms popping in and out of cover, and he could faintly hear their voices over the shouts and screams of the bi-pedals and Sentinels.
One of the cheetah bi-pedals firing at the group took a hit, a bullet passing straight through his chest and back, blowing a clear hole in him. The simple jacket the cheetah wore offered no protection as he fell off the piece of debris he had been using as cover. A nearby Sentinel kicked his body away as he stood upon the rubble, firing his rifle in the air to get the attention of onlookers.
"Anyone who helps us slay the Forgers gets to keep their weapons as trophies!" The Sentinel proclaimed, firing his weapon in the air. More bi-pedals ran over, all loaded out and ready for combat as they joined the fight, firing at the creatures.
Wait, wait, Forgers?! Spyro dashed over the cover, running over towards the wreckage of a car, desperate for a closer look.
"Spyro, what the hell happened to running?! Why are you going closer?!" Flame asked, going over to him.
"Flame look! Those are Forgers!" Spyro said, pointing at the creatures being attacked.
"Wait, what?!" Flame looked, wanting a closer look himself.
Spyro could see them now, behind the cars. Humans, Forgers, were there firing against the onslaught of creatures. A dragon flew in low, breathing a jet of flame at them, the humans returning the attack with a barrage of gunfire, blowing holes right through the dragon's lightly armored chest, sending him crashing to the ground in front of them. The humans were all using Forger weapons, their sleek black design reflecting in the sunlight in comparison to the dull looks of the weapons being sported by the other combatants.
Spyro could count about four of them all in total, all in a circle surrounding a doorway. Gunfire blasted away at the area around them, the humans only able to respond to the massive onslaught by popping in and out of cover, firing in short bursts or only one or two shots at a time. Many bi-pedals tried to rush them, but were cut down as a human would see this, and pop out of cover to fire into their unarmored chests. One Sentinel attempted to rush as well, but his armor was blasted off immediately, revealing his chest. The Sentinel stood no chance and was dropped like all the others as the humans worked as a coordinated team. Spyro watched as they popped out in twos, firing short bursts into targets in a selective manner, dropping them one by one. The attackers on the other hand fired in long, inaccurate bursts, sending rounds all over the place. That was also if they had an automatic weapon, which many of them did not. The Sentinels were lighting up the humans the most, their large weapons sending hundreds of rounds downrange in little time at all. They were like meat grinders, and would undoubtedly do the very same thing to flesh if their rounds made contact.
One bi-pedal ran up, holding a large tubed weapon. He chuckled as he raised it, pointing it right at the humans. One of them spotted this, firing several rounds right into the slim bear bi-pedal. The bear let out a sickening grunt as several rounds burst through his chest and back, causing him to topple over, but not before firing his weapon. A rocket came forth from the tube, streaking across the area until it impacted a nearby building, blowing out its second floor and sending a plume of smoke into the sky.
"This fight is getting out of hand! Spyro we need to move before we're caught in the crossfire!" Flame said to his purple friend who did not yield from his own position.
"This might be our only chance to meet a Forger!" Spyro said.
"Spyro! They're all about to get KILLED! Do you hear me? Killed!" He yelled.
Spyro did not listen, instead poking his head out for another view as more and more of the anthro creatures were dropping left and right as they were taken down. The Sentinels kept their distance, especially after one of their brethren was cut down trying to approach. One of them, a larger dragon growled in annoyance as his armor deflected rounds from the humans. He lifted his arm, ordering the anthros to rush them. The bi-pedals looked at him in confusion before the dragon roared, unleashing a wave of fire that consumed the nearest fighter there. The unfortunate wolf bi-pedal screamed in pure pain as fire engulfed him, his flailing body falling to the ground. The others yelled in panic, leaping over the fencing surrounding the lot and rushing the human's position.
There were yells, screams and curses as the humans saw their charge. The lot wasn't that large, and it would be seconds before they were consumed by the rush. Two of them made for a doorway, firing their weapons the whole time, nailing several anthros as they attempted to charge them head on, blood splattering the concrete where they once stood.
Rounds broke concrete and bounced every which way as the two humans neared the door, one moving to open it. The large dragon Sentinel let out a roar, flapping his massive wings before sailing into the air and firing a sphere of fire at the door. The human saw this, reaching for his weapon but was too late. The human was consumed, yelling in agony as he was burned alive in the fire, his body falling to the ground below.
Spyro could hear a yell of anguish as the other humans realized this, firing their weapons at the dragon Sentinel. Plates cracked and shattered from his armor, he flapping his wings to ascend and go over the building, avoiding their gunfire. The other humans moved towards the door, the fire having damaged it. One kicked in the door, but was nailed in the back by a precision shot. A hole was blasted in his back, sending a cloud of blood into the air before the human collapsed onto the ground. The others fired in retaliation, nailing the sniper.
The other two Sentinels rushed in now, blowing passed the cars and crates within the lot. The two humans remaining saw this, and opened fire. Bullets bounced from the armor as the Sentinel connected with one of the humans, knocking him into a wall. The human let out a scream as his body impacted, he falling onto the ground. The Sentinel picked up his foot, bringing it down right where Spyro could make out the human's head. He clenched his eyes, looking away for a second as the other human yelled, firing his weapon at almost point blank range into the Sentinel. The weapon was different from the others, firing a spray of pellets that blasted the chest plate right off from the Sentinel, even piercing through his chest. The Sentinel gasped for air as the impact had obviously pierced his lung, sending the Sentinel collapsing to the ground. The second Sentinel came in now, an anthro gargoyle. The gargoyle let out a roar as he grabbed the human, disarming him of his weapon. The gargoyle stood almost twice as tall as the forger, the human reaching for a side arm and firing it right into the Sentinel's face. The bullets pinged off his helmet but one contacted with the side of his neck, causing him to drop the human. He rolled on the ground before quickly getting up and running into the now open door, disappearing into the blackness.
The gargoyle panted, clenching his neck while barking orders to the remaining bi-pedals who were already busy scouring the bodies of the other humans. They didn't listen, instead grabbing the forger weapons and running off. Angered, the gargoyle grabbed his weapon, spraying it into the nearest group of anthros. The bullets shredded them, shredded them all. The others ran in fear, ducking and running for cover as the injured Sentinel lumbered into the black doorway.
"Holy shit… holy shit!" Flame said, having watched the entire altercation. Spyro only watched in amazement, having watched the only creatures he had ever wanted to meet die in front of him. One had gotten away though… one… and only one.
Spyro immediately leapt over the barrier, going straight for the warehouse.
"Spyro! Spyro where're going?! Spyro!" Flame yelled, watching his friend dart for the warehouse. Flame let out a panicked yelp before following him, Sparx doing the same with a look of dread on his face.
Spyro raced forward, leaping over the fence, broken concrete and fallen creatures who littered the lot. He ran passed the humans, seeing their dead bodies, seeing them up close for the first time. Their bodies were mangled and ravaged, their forms not even worthy of the designation "forger" anymore. It was a sad sight to behold…
Nevertheless he charged on, going passed the doorway and into the dark hallway beyond.
Inside he saw little, only a few beams of light coming from the cracked ceiling. He heard footsteps beyond, in the darkness. He ran towards them, seeing blood covering the floor and a doorway just beyond. He slowly approached the doorway, hearing sounds behind it. A lout BANG resonated through the warehouse, making Spyro rush to the door, opening it.
Light momentarily blinded young Spyro as he entered the room. When the light faded, he could see the large room, only illuminated by the light coming from several windows lining the upper parts of the walls. Birds were flying away from the loud bang Spyro had heard only moments before, their flapping wings resonating through the large room as they flew away. Water dripped from a hole in the roof, dripping down in a slow steady stream from the earlier rain storm. Walking forward more, Spyro could see two figures lying on the floor near the center of the room, almost where the light from the hole in the ceiling met the floor.
One of the figures was the gargoyle from before, sprawled out in a puddle of its own blood. Just beyond the gargoyle lay the human from before as well, he laying on his back as blood oozed from a hole in the creature's chest.
Walking towards it, Spyro could finally get a better look at these creatures.
The human had covered himself in usual attire, a simple shirt, pants but with a vest with pouches strapped onto his upper half. He wore a cap and sunglasses obscuring his eyes. Blood oozed from his mouth, and the fact that his chest wasn't rising and falling from breath only indicated one fact to young Spyro. This human was dead, just like all the rest.
In his hands, Spyro could see the handgun from earlier, the human's finger still on the trigger. Undoubtedly he and the Sentinel engaged in one last fight to the death, with no winners. Spyro walked closer to the creature, looking at his pale pink, hairless skin. It was so odd, seeing it up close like this. He had seen… pictures before but nothing like this. How many of them were there…? Was it just this little group? Were these… the last of the forgers? Spyro felt a deep pang of sorrow as he stood over the perished human, having so many questions he had wanted to ask the creature.
Now, he could only look at its corpse in wonder. Damn these Sentinels…
A soft click resonated through the room, catching Spyro's attention.
Spyro lifted his head, looking upwards to a pile of rubble that lay before him. There, stood atop the pile of rubble stood a human looking down at him. Spyro could see he was wearing an attire not unlike the one from his fallen friend. He wore cargo pants along with a jacket with a hood. A combat vest of some kind covered his chest, going over the jacket as it looked like forger designed armor. He could see gear covering the vest, ranging from pouches to a canteen and even a small metallic brick with speakers, almost like a "radio" Spyro had seen before. In the human's hand he carried a sidearm, much like the one the human below him was holding, only this one was pointed squarely at Spyro, the barrel of the weapon gleaming in the sunlight.
Spyro stood there, looking up at the human with a look of astonishment, with a bit of nervous and fear mixed in as he stared at the barrel of the weapon, the human not changing stance as he stared down Spyro as well.
None of them moved, both locked forever in this moment. More birds flew away outside, their wings flapping as they flew by the windows. Their bodies cast shadows that went into the room, gliding over Spyro's smooth scales as he drew in sharp breaths, still staring at that handgun.
The human didn't move, his breath also high as he stared at the dragon.
What… should he do? Spyro didn't know if he should move, speak or just continue to stare. The human had him dead to rights, his hand gun pointed right at his face. One wrong move, and Spyro would be dead. He wanted to say something, say that he didn't do any of this. He wanted to badly to say something… yet his mouth didn't move an inch.
The sound of the door flinging open behind Spyro caught his attention, forcing him to turn his head immediately.
Flame raced in, grunting as he skidded to a stop right beside Spyro.
"Spyro! There you are! I was looking for… oh…" Suddenly Flame spotted the human Spyro had been looking at this whole time, the human having not moved an inch during the whole ordeal.
"What… now?" Flame asked silently.
"Shut up… just shut up…" Spyro whispered. The human looked at both of them, eyeing them up and down as he still had his weapon trained onto Spyro.
This was followed by another period of silence, the human shifting slightly, as if to start moving backwards as Spyro could hear a gulp from Flame.
Sparx buzzed by Spyro's head suddenly, flying through a hole in one of the windows. Spyro grunted, watching Sparx but not wanting to take his eyes off of the human.
"What… what is it Sparx? Sparx?" Spyro asked, not moving his head but making his eyes trade between his dragonfly companion and the human before him.
Without warning, a loud crashing sound resonated through the room as one of the glass windows burst inward towards them. A large figure poured through the hole, the dragon Sentinel from before. It roared out as it landed nearby, flexing his powerful muscles to intimidate the group. Flame let out a yell as Spyro leapt back a few feet, readying himself.
To his side, Spyro heard the human's weapon go off immediately, he having spun himself around to engage the dragon. The small handgun did little against the Sentinel's armor, the bullets pinging off and punching up bits of concrete everywhere. The dragon roared and charged the human. He leaped up over the rubble, threatening to overtake the human who dove to the side, skidding down the rubble and towards a door in the corner of the room.
The dragon ignored Spyro and Flame, instead going straight for the human as he retreated down the hall. The dragon burst into the doorway, blowing the door off its hinges as he was too large to enter.
"Come on!" Spyro yelled, giving chase.
"What?! Again?! He pulled a gun on you Spyro!" Flame yelled as he was once again forced to chase his friend.
Spyro raced right behind the large anthro dragon as he blasted through yet another doorway at the end of the hall. They were in another warehouse, with more crates and machinery accompanying it. The human had moved behind a large container, firing his rifle at the dragon who charged him. The rifle's rounds pierced the dragon's armor, forcing him to leap to cover. The dragon moved around a crate, slowly stalking the human who moved into the open, keeping his rifle aimed at the crate the dragon was hiding behind. The dragon sneered before pushing hard on the crate, shoving it so it would collide with the human. The human saw this, leaping to the side to avoid the large crate. The dragon took this chance, leaping onto it and leaping forward again towards the human. The human rolled to a stop, pulling his rifle and firing it from his prone position. The weapon gave out a loud TAT, TAT, TAT, as it fired off several rounds in succession. Bullets shattered the Sentinel's chest armor, sending plates of metal and crystal flying across the floor, a few piercing through the dragon's chest. However, this Sentinel was not yielded by this, he instead swiping at the human. The human's weapon ran out of ammo, he rolling to avoid the impact.
The human came out of the roll, quickly reaching for his pistol which he fired again at the dragon. The dragon ignored it, running forward and striking the human with a hard swipe, sending him several feet to the ground, skidding. His weapon flew from his hand, skidding on the floor nearby.
"No!" Spyro yelled, leaping forward now. He opened his muzzle, unleashing a wave of fire onto the Sentinel. The Sentinel growled, stopping as he felt the flames but they did nothing to the dragon. He turned, facing Spyro.
"You little pe-" The dragon stopped mid-sentence as he saw Spyro, seeing his scales for the first time.
"Well, well… if it isn't the purple dragon I've heard about… Well, it must be my lucky day! I'll bag BOTH prizes for our master… he will be so pleased…" The dragon sneered wide, flexing his claws. Spyro breathed in deep, grunting at his aggressor with a determined look.
He answered the dragon's intimidating stance with a switch of tactics. He opened his muzzle, instead using his new earth breath against his opponent, sending shockwaves of energy that slammed hard into the Sentinel. His eyes went wide as he flew back, the force shattering what chest armor he had remaining.
Flame growled, leaping forward too as he sent several fireballs at the dragon. The balls impacted, scorching his scales but doing little as the Sentinel growled, getting up.
"I only need the purple one… I can kill you…" He growled, leaping forward to Flame. Flame leaped to the side, rolling as the dragon skidded to a stop, spinning around to meet them. Spyro had flown up to the dragon by now and brought his claws down, scratching his face.
The Sentinel growled before swiping at Spyro, hitting him in the head and knocking him down. He moved to attack Spyro while he was on the ground but was knocked onto his stomach by Flame who slammed into his back with his horns. Spyro took this chance, leaping up and coming down hard on the Sentinel's head while he was down. The Sentinel roared before standing up quickly, punching Spyro in the gut while he hovered in front of him. Spyro let out a grunt, flying back a foot before firing a burst of earth energy at the Sentinel. The energy knocked the Sentinel back a few feet before he roared in pain from Flame's fire attack. He reached behind him, grabbing Flame and throwing him at Spyro. The two dragons hit hard, both slamming into the floor.
"You little bastards are proving to be more trouble than your worth!" The dragon yelled, flexing his claws. He walked towards the two dragons slowly, the light reflecting from his talons.
He never made it more than a few feet as the human had gotten up by now and had collided hard with the Sentinel, sending him crashing to the floor. The Sentinel roared out, looking up as the human stood on top of him, his rifle pointed right at his face. The dragon growled, about to move but the human acted first, his rifle sounding off as he put several rounds into the dragon's face. The dragon's body gave a few spasms as the bullets hit before going limp.
Blood oozed from the dragon's body, his hands going limp, the sounds of the spent rifle casings hitting the floor echoing through the room.
The Sentinel was dead.
"Holy crap… that was… pretty intense…" Flame said, getting up slowly, Spyro doing the same. The human had gotten off the Sentinel by now, but was still pointing his weapon at the pair as he panted hard, blood covering parts of his body.
"Hey… we just helped you kick that guy's ass! Could you… stop pointing that thing at us?!" Flame asked, being blunt as Spyro just looked at him. The human didn't respond, instead just looking at them, as he breathed hard.
"Well?" Flame asked again.
"You've got a lot of nerve, asking me to lower my weapon against two dragons." The human said, finally speaking to them. Flame just let out a grunt, shaking his head. Spyro said nothing, just looking at him.
"Look! We're not loved by those guys either, we're hated! They hate us, they hate you… you see the connection?"
The human didn't say anything.
"Look, we're not all like these guys. We're running from them too, so if you could just lower that thing we could-"
The sounds of footsteps in the adjacent warehouse demanded their attention, shouts and yells accompanying them as it sounded like more Sentinels were coming. Sparx buzzed back into the room, shaking his head at the sounds with a worried look. He only confirmed their suspicions.
"There're more coming, we have to move." Spyro said, now speaking to the human.
"Fine, this way." He said before lowering his rifle, going to retrieve his side arm which was a few feet away. He dashed towards a panel in the floor, grabbing it and pulling it aside. He leapt down into a hole underneath, Spyro, Flame and Sparx going down into the hole. The human waited for them to enter before reaching up, grabbing the panel and setting it back in place. The tunnel went black save for Sparx until the human produced a light of his own. He ran down the hallway just as the Sentinels arrived in the room above them to investigate.
Spryo, Flame and Sparx all followed, the sounds of the Sentinels fading away as they marched behind the lone forger.
They arrived in at the end of the tunnel, which lead into a small concrete room. The room looked to be underground, and had several tunnels dug out going in different directions. There were beds in the room, along with several appliances and different boxes of supplies. When the group entered, the human closed the door behind them, the large makeshift iron door clicking shut.
Flame breathed in deep, feeling safer already as he relaxed himself. Spyro did the same, but kept his guard up while looking around the room. Sparx was long gone, already buzzing around the different items in the room. The human walked towards a door on the other end, slowly opening it.
"You can leave that way. It should take you to the other side. We never met." The human said lowly, offering his hand towards the door.
"Wait, I don't want to leave. I have so many questions to ask you." Spyro said, walking towards the human. He lifted his hand, stopping Spyro in his tracks.
"Look, no offense but I'm not in any mood to talk to a dragon. Now if you don't mind I just saw all my friends die in front of me to your buddies. Could you leave now?"
Spyro sat down in front of the human, looking at him.
"I'm not leaving until I ask my questions." Spyro said. Flame shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Oh for God's sake… Look, I don't care what questions you have I'm not answering any of them for a dragon- end of story now scram!" He said, rubbing his forehead in frustration.
"We're not like them, you know." Spyro said softly.
"Ok, so you're not like the Sentinels. We also had every other damned creature in this city out to get us. Why in the hell should I give you ten seconds of my time?" The human grunted in annoyance, walking over towards one of the cots, setting his backpack down.
"Because we can help you."
"Oh that's rich. A dragon, willing to help a human." The human sat down on the cot, taking off his vest and jacket setting it on his cot. Spyro watched him take off his combat armor, and it suddenly donned on Spyro. None of the other humans he had seen that day- including the ones outside the warehouse- had been wearing armor. Why was that? Why was he the only one to be wearing armor of any kind?
"We helped you kill that Sentinel, isn't that a start?" Flame asked, shaking his head.
"You mean I killed that Sentinel. You two just got in the way."
"Dude we totally saved your ass! Admit it!" Flame yelled at him. The human just scowled at him.
"I want to help you. I really do." Spyro said again, walking closer to him.
"Why? Why do you want to help me? What do you want, why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because, ever since I was young I read about you, we've lived in your people's ruins, I've always wanted to meet one of you and now you're here. I have so much to ask you…"
"Then ask someone else. Let them tell you our story."
"I want to help you, help you get out of here."
"I'm not stupid, what do you want in return? Your kind doesn't just give out help."
"I just want to help the only human I've ever met…"
"Well you can start, by leaving. Leave me be, your kind has done enough damage to me and my cause already."
"Cause, what're you doing?"
There was a banging sound behind them, the human turning to see Sparx nibbling on something inside a crate against the wall.
"Hey get out of there! Don't touch that!" The human said, turning towards the dragonfly. Sparx shot up, giving an innocent look before buzzing towards another box to inspect it.
"Tell your dragonfly buddy there to keep his… self away from my stuff." The human said, turning back towards Spyro. Spyro just shook his head.
"You mentioned a cause, what is it you're trying to do?" He asked instead.
"You know what, no, I'm not having this conversation with dragons." He stood up, shaking his head while walking towards a nearby box, looking through it. Spyro caught a glimpse of something hanging from his neck, an amulet of some kind. He had his pack in hand, rummaging through it before cursing, looking up at the ceiling.
"What is it?" Spyro asked, trying to see what he was angry about now. The human turned, looking at him before tossing his pack on the floor, a bent metal part skidding out.
"Thanks to you and your friends, that got damaged in the fighting. It's the only thing that made us go to that damned warehouse on the other side of town. It's the only damn thing that got them all killed by those Sentinels. Now, I can't even use it."
Spyro looked at the metal object. It was a part, to something obviously. It was a piece of machinery that Spyro didn't recognize, but it was bent and twisted in a shape that looked completely unusable.
"We could… help you find a new one." Spyro said, walking towards it more.
"Yeah I bet you could." The human said sarcastically.
"We're scavengers you know, we hunt junk like this all the time." Flame said, looking at it.
"You know, it's fine I'll get it myself. You two can just leave the way you came."
"You're all by yourself now in a city with Sentinels. If we work together, we could find this part for you. What is it you need it for?" Spyro asked. The human didn't respond, instead going to sit on his cot and look at the other empty cots that sat before him. He ran a hand through his hair before sighing sadly, turning to them.
"Why are you trying to help me?"
"I told you already, you're the first human I've ever met. I just want to help you, help you in whatever it is you're trying to do." Spyro replied, smiling softly. The human looked at him for a second before standing up, shaking his head.
"Fine, follow me." He said softly, walking towards one of the tunnels. Spyro and Flame both followed, Sparx still busy looking all over the room to care where they went.
They walked down the tunnel before reaching its end, a ladder sitting before them. The human climbed up, pushing aside a panel much like in the warehouse they had left earlier. They found themselves in another warehouse, yet this one seeming familiar to them. In the middle of the room they saw why this warehouse was so familiar. There, in the middle of the warehouse was the vehicle from before, sitting in front of them. They found it on the same day they ran in with those Sentinels, and when this whole mess started.
It looked more finished from before, with panels being attached where there had been none the first time they had found it.
"This is a V-22 Osprey. We had been repairing it so we could leave this place. That part was the last thing we needed to fix it. Without that part, I can't get this to fly."
"Hey I know this thing! It's where we found that box, right Spyro?" Flame commented, turning to his friend. Spyro nodded, looking at the aircraft.
"Yeah it is. That was a really lucky find…" Spyro commented back before silencing himself, looking towards the human who had turned to them.
"Wait, so it was you who took one of our stash boxes! You also took Sam's lucky pistol!"
"Uh… we uh…" The two dragons just looked around nervously, Flame even rubbing the back of his neck.
"So uh… this thing can fly?" Spyro asked, trying so quickly to change the subject.
"Yes, it can fly. Without that part though, it's staying here in this hanger." The human said, walking into the bay of the aircraft while shaking his head, looking annoyed.
"Why you trying to leave the city?" Flame asked, tilting his head.
"Easy, this place sucks. Also I'm going somewhere and I need this aircraft to take me there."
"Going where?" Spyro asked.
"Now that, is a closely guarded secret." The human said with a sort of smile, grabbing a toolbox from the front of the aircraft, bringing it towards the back." Spyro and Flame just looked at each other.
"You know where we could find that part?" Spyro asked, looking at the human.
"We only knew of two places, at the other warehouses and we heard of someone selling it in the city center. We thought it'd be easier to retrieve the other one."
"Good call… you probably wouldn't last in the city center." Flame said, shaking his head.
"We could... try to hunt down that one. We'd blend in better there." Spyro said.
"Be my guest, I'm not going near there for a while. Not without backup." The human said, shaking his head.
"So… we all going there?" Flame asked.
"No, I'll go. Go to our hideout and retrieve our other gear. We could use the extra stuff." Spyro said.
"You sure you want to go alone?" Flame asked.
"I'm positive. If we both move we can get it done faster, plus it'll make us harder to track by those damned Sentinels." Spyro said, Flame nodding in response.
"It's settled, we'll go in the morning." Flame said with a smile.
"So… you uh… you got a name?" Spyro asked, turning to the human.
"You first." He said, moving another box inside the aircraft.
"Alright, I'm Spyro, nice to meet you!"
"I'm Flame."
The human looked at them both for a bit before shaking his head.
"The name's Jericho."
End of Chapter 03
A/N: Hey guys, NewLegend1 here. Sorry for no update in a while, been on a bit of a low period for creative energy (I blame vidja games) Finally just gave himself a good kick over the passed few days to actually type this thing out and I got about 80% of it written in like 2 good sit downs XD This was a longer chapter, but I felt it all fell in just right. I am hooooooooooooping chapter 4 does NOT take this long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, and I welcome all of your reviews, I read and take them all very seriously ^w^ Until next time guys.