Call of the Ancestors

Chapter 18: Revisiting the Past

The three dragons walked along the long snake-like waters which was making its way across the swamps underbrush, the giant fungi native to the area towering above them with their caps obscuring the slowly darkening sky. "So, how long was it since you last were out here?" Sethelis asked the Purple Hero, who chuckled lightly.

"Far too long." Spyro mused, stepping over some roots and accidentally scaring a critter which bolted across their path.

"But in years? Just about 14 or somesuch. Give or take a couple of months, since I wasn't exactly celebrating The Ageshift by freezing myself, Sparx and Cynder into a Crystal for our young teenage years. I haven't had much of a reason to come back here, until now that is." The purple one continued as he lead the two captains onward. "Trust me, whilst it is handy for surviving having a entire evil lair coming down to crush you and your friends, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else for at least five reasons."

"And these five are?" Miarko's voice chimed in, as it seemed the Captains were just asking questions to pass time. "Because if it isn't a good thing, doing it to any Anointed members could come in handy." He jokingly added as Spyro prepared to explain, looking over his purple shoulder and past his orange-reddish wings at his two followers:

"Well, firstly: It may give you the best nap you have ever had, but it doesn't stop your aging as permanently as you may think. I'd say I was barely out of the youngling stage when we froze, and there I was 3 years later, adolescent and confused. Just walking was a issue at first, getting used to my new body. And let's not mention the fact that me and Cynder had to perform gladiatorial combat for the third time in our lives to entertain some villains." He started, rolling his eyes as the three ventured along the deep-running Silver River. "And trust me, the fighting is the easy part." The legendary hero admitted, waiting a little as to let his two companions catch up.

"If you put yourself in stasis… Let's just say that things around you can change drastically. Me and Cynder were still unconscious after our release, and sometime after we were "thawed" out some minions of Malefor had put a enchanted necklace on us, trapping us together…" Spyro went through a few more parts of their tale, of how they had to manage the deadly catacombs, as he lead the two others towards what would eventually reveal itself to them…

Where the ancient Dragon Temple had once stood there was now a mighty lake. Ancient pieces of the foundation of the tall stone structure which had probably fallen loose when Malefor had used his magic to raise the entire building off of the ground was just breaking the water surface. "And here we are. The Silver Lake." He sighed, his purple eyes falling upon the still waters where his first draconic home used to be. The two captains noticed how Spyro quite clearly seemed to need some… Time to himself, so to speak. So they began to set up camp.

Tirelessly Miarko and Sethelis worked to ensure they'd be protected against nature for a day or two, and yet Spyro did not move an inch, despite the fact that he normally was quite a helpful dragon. Once the sun was setting, the lake reflected a golden sheen over its surroundings and the camp was well up and ready the two Captains joined their leader. They both sat down on either side of Spyro's sides, just at the very shores of the waters.

"What's wrong, Spyro?" Miarko asked, to which Spyro replied uncharacteristically curtly: "It just… It makes me think of him. What he did just to ensure that Cynder and I could even get to the Dark Master in the end. The closest thing to a real father I've ever had besides my foster parents." Spyro explained, his voice trailing off.

The three sat quietly for a long time. The sounds of the forest eventually broke their silence as crickets began chirping, and the sounds of unfamiliar wildlife echoed around. It was indeed very very late; the two moons was hung high in the sky and were accompanied by a blanket of stars, Even the now familiar constellation of a mighty dragon spreading its wings up above the northern horizon shone brightly on this evening.

"Come on, boys. We will need our rest if we're to start things in a timely manner tomorrow." Sethelis' voice broke the silence.

At first Miarko was the only one to heed her words, getting up and starting to remove his armor, putting the pieces in his pack as to be able to sleep more comfortably. They all had separate tents, especially since both Miarko and Sethelis very well knew what'd happen if Spyro were to get any kind of hints, because despite his overall optimistic attitude and tendency to go easy on minor discrepancies Spyro rarely went against Cynder's wishes. Very rarely.

Only after the two Captains had called it a night and put out the lanterns inside their tents, a audible snore soon erupting from Miarko's resting place. And with that, Spyro moved. The purple hero slowly moved from his spot by the lake, smiling to himself.

"It will be good to see you again." He said to himself, feeling certain that somehow his old protector must've heard him.

An early sunrise and awakening to the sound of a campfire.

That was admittedly something Miarko hadn't done ever since he had received the promotion to Captain, but here he was. The red dragon woke up from his curled up state, stretching a bit, hoping to not have his joints complain from all the sudden movement when he stepped out to face the new day. The red Captain exited the tent, expecting to see Sethelis sitting at the campfire like the early bird she usually was, but to his surprise it was the back of Spyro he found instead. He glanced over to the treetops, and the sun had barely even risen, mist laid low across the ground and the air was still cool from the night.

The purple hero had reignited the seemingly dead campfire with his breath, and was preparing some form of meats.

"Why cook, Spyro? It is not like we are short of rations." Miarko asked, breaking the silence that had laid itself over the area.

A reply came to the Fire Captain in the form of a chuckle. Spyro spoke up, not looking away from the slowly roasting meat, "Since we are in an area full of animals I see no reason for us to use any of the food we stashed for the journey, why not take what nature offers and save supplies for later?"

Miarko nodded. Spyro's words made sense, so he joined him next to the fire. "Director, what will be our next stop after we head out?" He questioned further, to which Spyro nodded and seemed to think for a few moments.

The land's geography had been greatly altered after he had repaired it in the aftermath of The Destroyer succeeding in tearing it asunder, so Miarko did not find Spyro's pause odd, despite the fact that it lasted for several minutes.

Spyro even required to consulted a map which he fished out of his pack. "Let us see, then. If I am not wrong…" He started, placing the parchment onto the ground, placing a few rocks to keep in in place. Miarko watched as Spyro tracked their steps so far with a golden claw. "... If we are at the Temple now…" Spyro murmured, tapping the area noted on the map as Silver Lake. "... Then that must mean that we would have to fly in this direction, more to the east. Towards the uncharted Ancient Groves."

Spyro was right, despite it having been 13 years since Malefor's defeat, maps were still far from complete, as some lands had grown wilder and more dangerous during the time the world healed. The Ancient Groves were such a place, Miarko remembering all too well from his previous journeys there.

The waters of the place were poisoned. The flora and fauna of the region had naturally adapted to living in the area and had survived untouched by civilization for millennia, but this could not be said for Dragon Kind. The flora were deadly and dangerous, making passing through a death sentence for unwary travellers. Some Flora had adapted defenses to ward off possible predators as well: poisonous gasses, razor sharp leaves and other horrors that could spell one's end if they weren't careful. Despite the danger, however, the area was renowned for its beauty and serene appearance. The fauna boasted unique dark purple hues that were not found naturally anywhere else in the Realms. Aware travellers knew to stay away, but some curious types would journey there to see the sights for themselves, but would usually meet their end in horrible ways.

What had caused the poisoning of the region was unknown, but what Miarko knew was that the area needed to be avoided. Remnants of the Dark Master's army had retreated to the area and had dared the Warfangian military to come in after them. And they did. Eventually, all of the remaining Apes, Undead, Wyverns and other creatures that had remained loyal to the cause were rooted out and put to the sword, but at the cost of more men and resources than Miarko had ever wanted to commit.

He shook his head, looking back up at Spyro, "I've...had the displeasure of rooting through the area. It's rather a place I'd avoid, if possible," the Captain explained. To which Spyro gave a empty smile.

"Then I am sorry to tell you this, Miarko, but we're going to have to go to the very heart of that cursed place." Spyro explained. "Trust me when I say that I like the sound of that about as much as anyone else here, but we're going to have to. As long as we make sure not to get poisoned we should be fine, though." There was just a slight hint of doubt behind that "should", and they both knew it. This journey just got a whole lot more dangerous.

And that was when they both reacted to the scent of burnt meat.

"We're off to a great start, aren't we?" Sethelis commented to her two companions, "One day out and we nearly set fire to a tent. And you are both capable Fire users as far as I know." she repeated as the three were flying far over the lands below, headed East. Both of the males were admittedly quite ashamed by that mishap.

"We all make mistakes at times, now stop treating us like hatchlings." Spyro cut her short, taking the lead once again, flapping his wings to attain more speed.

They had lots of ground to cover and he seemingly wasn't going to let one of his subordinates rant him down like this, judging by his irritated tone and disgruntled look.

It was still relatively early, just past midday when the trio saw how the fauna beneath them was slowly changing. Adapting a darker and darker hue, grow sickly. The trees grew closer to one another, forming a roof blocking out the sun, betraying that the very few sources of light down there was the still sickly glowing pinkish-purple pools of toxic waters.

As they soared through the sky the silence of sweeping winds was interrupted by a loud shriek. And suddenly something larger than all three dragons combined bursts out of the leaves beneath them,uprooting trees beneath itself in the eager rush to block the three dragons' path forwards with it's massive wingspan. The beast was larger than anything the two Captains had ever seen, talons like swords and a beak looking like it'd be able to crack a dragon's skull with less effort than it'd take to crack a walnut.

And whatever it was, it was darting towards them at speeds only surpassable by a Electricity dragon.

"Down!" Spyro called, folding his wings flat to his body, dropping straight out of the sky and dashing straight down, the two Captains would have been quick to follow, if this strange mutated bird-like creature hadn't blocked their path. Sethelis knew that they'd come face-to-face with the hostile beings in the area, but this? This is not what she expected. The beast flew towards them at it's breakneck speed, forcing the two to split. As they did, Sethelis saw a brief flash of flames and a shriek of pain coming from this… Thing. She noted how Miarko had burnt the bird's left side, singed feathers dropping loose from the beast and the scent of burnt flesh filled the air.
The two captains kept to either side of the monstrous animal, dividing it's attention by brief strikes with their claws and breaths. Choking black gass and swift gouts of fire followed by dodging kept them out of reach from this much larger foe. Whilst this feathery ugly monster was a hulking beast and could seemingly take far more punishment, it's feathers were getting burnt to the point where flying was seemingly getting difficult. Sethelis noted how it's previously steady flight had been turned into a strange mid-air hobble. The Shadow captain had made a rookie error, though: She had gotten too far into her own analytic thoughts, and did not see how suddenly a big wing came towards her, swatting the deep blue dragoness out of the sky, as she was sent plummeting towards the ground. "Seth!" She heard Miarko call out from somewhere above her. And suddenly pain.

Sethelis closed her eye as she smashed through branches and vines, leaves and strange flowers causing a bioluminescent pollen to rain down with her. The dragoness' face stung, having broken the "surface" of the treetop before her body did. Tumbling, pain and a sudden stop. Not at the ground, though.

"One of the flaws of not wearing a helmet…" She thought to herself as she opened her eye again. The Shadow dragon could not see either of her two allies, but one thing she did see was the fact that the sky and the ground had swapped places, and she did not need to look down, or up in this case, to see that her wings was uncomfortably tied to her body and her legs tangled up in the strangely strong vines hanging from the wooden branches far above. Her tail flopped down in front of her face, obscuring her view, the dragoness sighed in a irritated manner.

Miarko did eventually join her as he dove down from above, but made sure to quickly halt his momentum, and barely avoided flying into the same fate as Sethelis.

Spyro however… Was nowhere to be found. He had taken the dive just before the two Captains had their fight with the creature, and now he was missing? Sethelis was trying to figure this mess out, hearing the beats of the mighty wings far up in the air above them slowly leaving. The danger was gone for now.

Now she had to face the more pressing problem, and that was blood rushing into her skull."Mind cutting me down?" She said, attempting to crane her neck so that she could look at the red Captain, only entangling herself more. "Or are you just going to stand there and look at the pretty flowers?" She continued, struggling, her motions causing the vines to slowly starting to spin so that he disappeared out of her view again.

Miarko stifled a laugh, walking over to her as he took out a claw and slashed quickly across one of the vines several times. The vines proceeded to quickly lose their grip, and Seth, with a surprised gasp, fell… Onto Miarko's back.

A slight oof was issued by the Fire Captain as he fell to the ground, unable to stand on his paws with the quickly dropped weight. He looked up at her after a few moments, dust rising off the ground around them. He coughed twice as his eyes met her sole one.

The Captain grinned lightly and spoke, "Well, hello there. I knew we're saving the world from a angry god and all, but I didn't think I'd be saving a angry dragoness in distress." He joked.

Sethelis on the other hand only looked slightly amused compared to her partner. Her one now slightly bloodshot eye went from his gaze and up towards the roof of leaves, then back down at the Fire dragon.

"I know you'd want me to thank you for saving me, but let's… Not… Do that here. Or when the one dragon who can take our hides safely through this hellscape isn't mysteriously missing." She said, slowly getting herself back up onto her paws. She felt the blood returning to her tail, and, finally, removing the pressure which was nearly bursting her skull a minute ago. She waited for a few moments before moving on, starting to walk.

"Get up, would you? We need to find where Spyro went. He cannot have ended up too far away." she called back to Miarko, looking over her shoulder at her fellow Captain.

Miarko remained planted on the ground and cocked his head to one side, leaning his head on one of his forepaws. He grinned and spoke, "I don't know. I'm pretty comfortable."

Sethelis audibly groaned in frustration, turning back around to face the dragon whom was still lying there. "This is a potential life-or-death situation, Miarko. And here you are. On the ground. Thinking with something that I know for sure has only one thing on it's mind, and it certainly isn't the mission!" She pointed out, the tip of her tail tapping some purple-esque grass on the ground next to her like one would tap their foot.

Miarko laughed lightly to himself as he finally picked himself back up off the ground, brushing some dust off his chest plates. He sighed finally and remained silent for a few moments, scanning his surroundings. The thick forest blanketed their vision in most directions, and the sky was a no-go with that kind of predator up there.

The two just stood there for another couple of minutes, one of them formulating some kind of plan on how to track down Spyro, and the other keeping an eye out for any form of hostiles. before the silence was broken by Miarko "... It was worth a shot, though. I figured since no one was around and you like to play it dangerous-"

"Would you just kindly shut up, Miarko?"

A thrumming headache filled Spyro's head. He blinked a couple of times. Whilst the legendary dragon loved flying above all else, there was one thing he still was kind of bad at, to Cynder's great amusement: The landing. Or, at least, nailing a good landing after a sudden drop from almost five stories up in the sky with no room to spread your wings. His nose stung of a foul scent he hadn't felt in a long time. Unwashed fur, iron, sweat and… Gunpowder?

His vision cleared.

That is when he saw the bars. Indeed, metal bars thicker than his hind legs were surrounding him in what essentially was a cage. "I hate deja vu's..." Spyro thought to himself as he looked out between the bars seeing a odd mix of creatures. Scavs, cheetah and even a few moles. All of them haphazardly armed and dressed. Clothing ranging from armor to simple fineries, probably stolen from some ill-fated traveler.

"Lookie here, boys! The lizard has decided to wake up!" A croaking voice called as a Scav walked over towards the cage. The pirates stopped whatever they were doing, ganging up around their leader and watched the purple hero on the other side of the bars. "The legendary Spyro, knocked out by a crash landing!" The canine barked out causing a ripple of laughter going through the crowd.

Spyro snarled in anger: "You will regret this!" He warned, attempting to summon his Earth magic, preparing to blast his way to freedom. But… Nothing? He felt a familiar feeling around his neck and upper torso.

"What the-... But how?" He asked as a familiar green crystalline snake appeared, a green bond of magic flickering and tethering him to the floor. He had no magic, and was once more bound.

The pirate captain on the other side cackled. "Hah! Of course we made sure to drain you of your magic. The ol' Dark Master's forces left some old crystals laying about…" And indeed, Spyro saw how the Scavenger bore a necklace made out of the obsidian-like whispering crystal. Even all these years later Malefor's evil was still plaguing the dragon realms, and Spyro in particular…

"You've got a pretty price on your ugly purple mug, and we're planning on collecting it and living like kings. We can't have you escape, can we? The Anointed Ones offers good coin for a dragon like you..." Spyro was honestly not surprised by this. They had operated through intermediaries before, and they probably knew by now that he wasn't in Warfang. This just brought more weight onto the results of this mission. The legendary hero hoped he could muster enough energies to get out of here, or that his Captains would reach him in time.

And meanwhile two young dragons were following a trail of a Hero who had been dragged across the ground. They were ever creeping closer...

A/N: We know, we know. We've taken our sweet time with this one! Mainly because of the holidays coming up, Mike being sick for a couple of weeks and Hawk finally getting his feathery ass into a university! Go me, I suppose! But talk about suspense, it seems like this forest which is avoided by everyone in general makes for a good villainous hub! Who'd have thought?!

… Probably a lot of you guys, now when I think about it. But no matter, let us hope that Sethelis and Miarko can reach Spyro in time, shall we? And as always, we appreciate any and all feedback! Reviews are always read and responded to when we can get to them.

See you next time!

-Mike & Hawk