Skylanders Academy: New Horizon
by andresponceb2002
Chapter 10) Solitude
Sprocket was looking at the monitor on the Portal Gates. Since the last time she had sent the Skylanders on a mission using the Relay Badges, she had installed a couple of upgrades on the devices. Firstly she had installed a function to track the heartbeat of the person wearing the badge. This would help her see how that person was doing in the field. Six heartbeat signals were displayed on the monitor, with the name of each corresponding Skylander beneath them.
The second upgrade, was a tracking feature. Displayed on the monitor on the Portal Gates, was a digital map of the Skylands. On this map, were six little blue dots, one for each of the Relay Badges on each of the Skylanders wearing them.
"Alright guys." Sprocket began. "What's going on?" She asked as she saw a sudden spike in the Skylanders heartbeats.
The heartbeats on all the Skylanders, which were previously rather even and calm, were now shooting up and down like crazy. Sprocket concluded that they must be fighting against someone.
Moment after moment passed, Sprocket saw helplessly as the skylanders seemed to be having a hard time. She could only decypher so much from mere heartbeats. "I should have installed a camera." Sprocket beat herself down. "I would have been easy too!"
Then, a loud beeping started to sound from the monitor. A large red "Warning" sign flashed across the screen as sparks and smoke started to shoot out of the monitor.
"Oh, no." Sprocket said as she realised what was going on. "No, no, no! I told them not to do that!" Sprocket yelled desperately.
Then, with a loud bang and a burst of smoke, the monitor exploded as a beam of light erupted from the Portal Gate platform, making Sprocket stumble back and trip, landing on her rear.
Sprockett then looked over to the platform where the light had erupted from, the Portal Gates. Slumped on the metallic platform, was a violet figure laying still. Sprocket recognised the fallen figure as Cynder, and tried to call her name. As she got closer to Cynder, she noticed that the Relay Badge on her chest was in one piece, but the rim of the badge was not glowing the bright blue it was supposed to. She also noticed there was a strange wooden hand, connected to thick red string, that was grasping her friend's tail tightly.
"Cynder? Are what happened!?" She asked eagerly, standing up and tumbling toward her friend before kicking the wooden appendage off her friend's tail.
Cynder then began to stir slowly, lifting her head and taking a look around. "Wh… Where am I?" She asked slowly in a drowsy voice.
"You're in the Academy." Sprocket answered, placing her hand on Cynder's shoulder, looking at her fiend with concern. "What happened? Where is everyone else?"
Cynder's eyes then went round, as if she suddenly remembered something. "There not here!?" She asked suddenly, turning her head wildly, as if to look for her fiends. "Oh, no…" She began in a weak voice, suddenly slumping her shoulders as he expression darkened.
"You guys must have triggered more than three badges at once." Sprocket explained, looking down at the floor. "The signal that would have gotten you all back must have gotten saturated. You were lucky to actually have come back here, there was no knowing where you could have ended up."
Sprocket then looked up at Cynder. The dragoness looked like she was holding back tears, she looked away, to the horizon, as if she was looking for her friends. "It was Omen…" She started, her voice brittle. "He overwhelmed us. He attacked Eruptor and Pop Fizz. He caught me." She said, curling up her tail closer to her. "And Spyro… he got caught by Cyrus. We all had to- We all had to leave." She said, lowering her head slowly and letting her wings droop to her sides.
Sprocket looked at Cynder, trying to figure out some way to help. "Come on Sprocket, think!" She thought harshly, bumping her head, looking for ideas. After closing her eyes, furrowing her brow and really focusing, she came up with something.
"I think I can find them." She stated, making Cynder lift her head slightly. "If I can fix the monitor-" She pointed at the ruined, still smoking interface on the side of the Portal Gates. "I should be able to use this new feature on the Relay Badges to track down the rest of the gang!"
"Really!?" Cynde exclaimed, her voice heightened by her previous concern.
"It'll take time." Sprocket said. "But I can get it done." She said, standing up and turning to face the ruined monitor. "The fix is in!"
Stealth Elf couldn't see a thing. She then felt as a burning pain, shot up her left foot. She groaned and involuntarily flung her eyes open, revealing her surroundings. Stealth Elf was laying down against dark, cold soil which was pressing against her left cheek.
She then tried do get up, and shook her head. After getting a grip on what was going on, she planned her head around to see where she was. Noticing the thick orange and purple foliage and the strangely colored sky above her, she deduced she was in the Falling Forest, not a particularly good place to be.
"The guys." A voice in the back of her head reminded her, making her gasp and suddenly try to get on her feet in order to look for her friends.
Suddenly, Stealth Elf felt as another burst of burning pain erupted form her left foot, making her grunt in pain and trip down to the ground, landing on her chest. Stealth Elf then tried to turn over and have a look at what the matter was. She sat down and looked at her left foot. She tried to get a feel of it through her brown leather footwear, but as she applied pressure to see what was going on, another burst of pain erupted, more intense than the last, which made her give out a sudden hiss of pain and let go of her foot quickly.
"This is bad." Stealth Elf told herself, as she looked around, looking for her friends. "I wonder how everyone else is doing?"
"I hope there better off than us." A familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind Stealth Elf, making her turn around rapidly to see who had spoken.
"Jet-Vac!" Stealth Elf exclaimed as she looked at her feathered friend. "Where is everyone?"
"I have Eruptor and Pop Fizz knocked out behind me." Jet-Vac began. "But I have no idea where the rest of our companions are." He stated in a down tone.
Stealth Elf remembered what Sprocket had said about how the Relay Badges could malfunction if too many of them were triggered too quickly. Remembering how heated things had gotten during their last encounter with the world's most dangerous trash man, she figured that could have been a reasonable explanation.
"What are you doing down there anyway?" Jet-Vac asked, apparently noticing how Stealth Elf was laying down in the dirt.
"I think I kicked Omen, a little too hard, a little too much." She said, absentmindedly trying to rub her hurting foot, but wincing and retracting her hand quickly when yet another dose of pain erupted from her contact.
"I see." Jet-Vac said simply. "Well, we need to get moving, preferably back to the Academy." He stated as he approached Stealth Elf and extended his arm for her to take. "By the looks of our badges-" He said, pointing at his, which made Stealth Elf react and look at hers to notice both items were lacking the blue glow around their edge, signaling what Stealth Elf assumed was some sort of malfunction. "We can't take the easy way back to the Academy." Jet-Vac continued. "We also don't know where our friends are, and if anyone does I would bet that'd be Sprocket."
Stealth Elf looked at Jet-Vac's arm. She was starting to get a little worried about what this situation was turning into, but she swallowed that concern and composed herself befoere taking her friend's hand. "Alright then, let's get going."
Spyro opened his eyes suddenly. Before he could understand where he was, Spyro was on his feet and breathing hard, extending his wings and getting into combat pose while panning his head all around him trying to see where he was.
Spyro then began to relax slowly, breathing more evenly. He started to get a hand on his surroundings. Spyro was in a large, stone room. It was lit by strange smooth, glowing rocks in the ceiling, which showered the square room in a dim white light. The walls were made of dusty grey brick and there were pillars sticking out of the walls that held the place together. The room also had a wide stairway across from where Spyro was standing.
"How did I get here?" Spyro wandered out loud, not thinking of a clear answer. "Must have been Sprocket's badges." He concluded. At that, he looked down at the badge on his chest. He noticed it looked fine, except for the fact the little rim wasn't glowing blue. Spyro guessed it must have been a side effect of the badges malfunctioning.
Spyro then turned around, he saw what he guessed would have been the entrance to this place. There were massive grey stone gates covered in elegant patterns, depicting what looked like dragons of some kind. The gates were caved in by huge boulders, preventing Spyro from leaving.
"Of course. No way this would have been easy." Spyro said sarcastically.
Afterwards, Spyro turned around and headed to the stairway, not seeing anyway of progressing. As he got closer to the stairway, he noticed it led down a long flight of stairs which opened to what seemed like another room.
"Alright, let's get going I guess." Spyro told himself as he moved to take the first step down.
However, just as Spyro was about to touch the first step, he felt as something heavy and powerful tackled him from behind, knocking him off his balance and sending him sprawling down the stairs. Through his tough scales, Spyro felt as the cold, stone corners on the steps crashed against his body as he fell and fell, making him dizzy to top the whole experience.
Then, Spyro felt himself hit, chest-first, a flat cold surface. As he began to recover slowly from what he felt was a conclusion he began to stand up slowly, pain riddling his body as his eyes tried to focus form his diminishing dizziness.
After recuperating enough of his senses, Spyro lifted his head, looking for what had sent him on such a pleasant ride. As he did, Spyro almost instinctively tensed up and got into battle pose. Standing up slowly in front of him, his indigo scales and red mark covered in bruises from apparently falling down the stairs as well, Cyrus was looking at Spyro, venomous green eyes unblinking and fixated on the Skylander.
"Cyrus." Spyro began, slowly loosening up. "We don't need t-"
Before Spyro could finish his sentence, he saw as Cyrus charged at him suddenly with explosive speed. Before Spyro could react, he felt himself be outmuscled and knocked on his back. Spyro opened his eyes and saw Cyrus looming over him, his eyes were still not blinking, a deranged look in their expression.
"You…" Cyrus hissed. "Why do you have to make this so complicated!?" He demanded, shouting the last word in an pained and angry voice.
Afterwards, Spyro felt like two ice-cold paws surrounded his neck and squeezed, stopping air from reaching Spyro's lungs. But then, it got worse. When Spyro looked to his neck, he noticed as a bloody red glow started to emanate from Cyrus paws and then, he felt the pain. He felt like he was drowning, not choking. He was suddenly overwhelmed with that feeling you get when you're on your last few breaths before you black out when you're underwater. But Spyro didn't black out, he remained awake, still feeling the hideous pain as Cyrus drained the life out of him.
Desperately, Spyro used every fiber in his body to move. He tried to roll his body to his side and use his hind legs to kick Cyrus off him somehow. Thankfully he managed it, his sudden gut kick knocked Cyrus off Spyro's chest and made the indigo dragon stumble to his side. As Cyrus crashed on the stone floor beside Spyro, he hear a loud clicking sound, like a piece of a puzzle being slid into place. But Spyro was too busy gasping for breath more desperately than he had ever done in his life to mind the sound. Spyro had remembered feeling awful after Cyrus had used his freaky magic on him, but nothing like this.
Spyro then looked to his side to see Cyrus back on his feet, but standing still and looking tense, staring down at the floor. The indigo dragon was standing over what Spyro guessed had made the previous clicking sound sound. A pressure plate.
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound came from behind Spyro. He turned around to see the entrance to the room he and Cyrus were in, was now blocked by a featureless wall of grey stone, encasing Spyro and Cyrus inside the room.
"Nice going…" Cyrus spat behind Spyro.
"This is my fault!?" Spyro asked outraged, turning around suddenly and glaring at Cyrus.
But before the dragons could continue arguing, a strange sound filled the room. Spyro turned to where the sound seemed to originate from and found himself staring at the walls of the room. From the grey rock that made the walls, perfectly circular holes were starting to appear on the walls. There were four holes on each wall beside the one the entrance was originally on. The holes looked a couple of meters wide and were too dark for Spyro to see the inside of.
Then, after a few seconds of delay, torrents of foaming white liquid shot out each of the holes, quickly starting to flood the chamber the two purple dragons were in.
"Oh, nice going!" Cyrus shouted as he took flight, trying to avoid the quickly spreading fluid.
"Again, how is this my fault!?" Spyro shouted back, taking flight behind Cyrus and rising as far up as he could.
Both dragons were now flying near the ceiling of the gray chamber. However, the white, foamy fluid beneath them was rising at an alarming rate. After only a couple dosen seconds, Spyro felt his hind legs get covered in the stuff and as he flapped his wings, he felt them crash against the surface of the liquid as well. It felt like water, but certainly didn't look like it. Spyro looked over to Cyrus. The indigo dragon was in a similar position as his own. After a few seconds, both dragons were neck deep in the white liquid. So, Spyro tried to keep himself afloat in the little space left not covered in liquid. As he was about to be covered in the white fluid, Spyro tilted his head and pressed his face against the ceiling and took a deep breath before getting completely submerged.
As Spyro opened his eyes under the white fluid, he noticed he could see quite clearly, for the liquid didn't sting his eyes. So, Spyro looked to where he had last seen Cyrus. The indigo dragon was also submerged and he looked like he was looking for a way out of the room, moving his head desperately all around. Thinking through, Spyro felt like he should have been doing the same thing. However, no matter where he looked, Spyro could not find any sort of exit and it was getting a little hard to breath.
But then, Spyro felt like he was suddenly being pulled down by a great force. He looked down to see that a massive hole, much larger than the ones on the walls, had suddenly opened on the floor of the room, and was now sucking Spyro and Cyrus down toward it. Spyro attempted frantically to swim upwards, away from the massive drain. But it was no use, after a few seconds, Spyro felt himself be swallowed by the drain, and as he felt himself spin and turn in sharp turns and drops all while being unable to breath, Spyro closed his eyes and felt himself fade into darkness.
"Spyro…" A voice called him through the darkness, Spyro couldn't really hear it very well.
"Spyro…" The voice called again, clearer this time, and a little louder. This time, Spyro noticed there were actually two voices speaking.
"Spyro!" The voices suddenly shouted, perfectly solid and separate.
With that, Spyro's eyes flung open as the purple dragon gasped for breath. He then bent over and coughed harshly, spitting out a small amount of the weird liquid he was drowning in a few moments ago. It was rather tasteless, like water.
As Spyro started to compose himself and get on his feet, he noticed he was completely soaked in the foamy liquid from earlier. He shook wildly to get as much of it off as he could. Then Spyro looked around to see where he was. He noticed he was in a circular chamber made of a smooth, grayish rock. It was several meters wide. A wooden door stood in front of him, leading outside he guessed.
Then, Spyro heard a slow groan come from behind him. He turned around and instinctively tensed up. He saw as Cyrus was standing up slowly, soaked just like Spyro had been.
"Cyrus!" Spyro called, making the other dragon react and turn his head toward Spyro. "Can we take a moment please?"
But it was no use. Cyrus was already charging at Spyro, claws at his sides, ready to swipe at him. As Spyro tried to back up to avoid the attack, he tripped on the wet floor, falling on his rear as Cyrus tackled him, knocking him to the ground fully. Then Spyro felt as Cyrus' paws clasped around his neck again and started to squeeze. He started to panic from the thought of feeling the way he had felt when Cyrus had done this earlier. His heart began to race and he started kicking and squirming desperately. But a few moments passed and not only did Spyro not feel the horrible sensation from before, but he felt Cyrus loosen his grip.
"What is this?" Cyrus asked in a confused tone as he, to Spyro's surprise removed his paws off his neck and looked at them like there was something wrong with them.
Spyro saw this and took his chance. He kicked Cyrus off him using his hind legs once again. As Cyrus fell to the ground Spyro readied his flames and aimed at Cyrus. But when Spyro tried to release his attack, when he opened his mouth, nothing came out, not even a wisp of flames. Instead Spyro coughed roughly and was left confused.
"It was a potion." Spyro heard Cyrus say. "That foamy white stuff, it must have been some sort of potion, that took away our magic." He explained.
"What makes you think that?" Spyro asked confused.
"The fact we can't use our magic?" Cyrus answered in an obvious tone, which made Spyro growl in frustration.
"Well, from what I can tell." Spyro began, making Cyrus give him a suspicious look. "Neither of us wants the other dead, and thanks to that fancy potion, we couldn't kill each other if we wanted to."
"So?" Cyrus asked, looking at Spyro with narrow eyes.
"I propose a truce." Spyro stated simply. "I think neither of us knows what this place even is. So, until we manage we leave, I suggest postponing the roughhousing. Sound good?"
Spyro didn't take his eyes off Cyrus for a second. He remained tensed up as he waited for Cyrus' answer. The indigo dragon simply stayed still, looking at Spyro with an unflinching expresion. A moment passed, and another, neither dragon moving an inch. Then, Spyro saw as Cyrus moved suddenly making Spyro asume battle stance by reflex. However, Cyrus had simply walked to where the door leading out of the room was. As Cyrus opened the wooden door, crossed through and slammed it shut with his tail, Spyro let out a relieved sigh.
"I'll take that as a yes." Spyro stated as he walked over to the door and swung it open, trying to catch up to Cyrus.
As Spyro exited the circular chamber he was in and tried to search his surroundings for Cyrus, he was faced with a jaw-dropping sight. Spyro tilted his head up and wowed at what he was seeing. The purple dragon was standing on a small stone ledge that had a rather wide bridge, connecting to another ledge over a huge chasm. Spyro, stood beneath a massive starlight sky. Or at least, it was beautiful enough to look like one. On the ceiling of the gargantuan cavern he was in, was a shower of glowing lights, blue, white and yellow, all of different sizes and spread across the whole ceiling, creating the illusion of a beautiful night sky.
Spyro felt like he wanted to just stretched out his wings and fly. Fly under this beautiful scene, forgetting everything else. Fly free, like the old days. But as he tilted his head down, he saw Cyrus, back turned against him and looking up as well. As Spyro layed eyes on him, he noticed something unusual about his old enemy. Cyrus' usually poisoned eyes, that were regularly filled with misery and hate, were lit up with something Spyro could have swore he'd never though he would see in those eyes. Wonder. The same wonder Spyro had felt just a few seconds ago as he too gazed into the beautiful lights.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Spyro asked, trying to sound as non threatening as he could.
But after hearing Spyro speak, Cyrus tensed up, the light in his eyes was suddenly snuffed out, cruelly and without a warning. Afterwards Cyrus began to walk away, toward the bridge and way from Spyro.
"Wait!" Spyro exclaimed suddenly, taking a step forward. However Cyrus didn't stop moving, he was almost halfway through the bridge already. "Cyrus, stop! We need to talk!"
"Talk about what!?" Cyrus turned around suddenly, actually scaring Spyro. "What could you possibly have to say to me!?"
Spyro was suddenly taken back. He opened his mouth, attempted to say something, but no sound came out. He just looked at Cyrus, who started at him with a strange look. His green eyes looked angry, but eager as well, as if expecting Spyro to say something.
"You really have nothing to say?" Cyrus asked derisively. "You were are always one for quick retorts I'm told. What happened, buddy!?" Afterwards, Cyrus turned around and started walking away again.
Spyro looked down at his paws and furrowed his brow as he closed his eyes and thought of something to say. "Do you remember what you told me." Spyro began, making Cyrus stop abruptly. "The day we first met?"
"I said a lot of things that day." Cyrus answered, still looking forward and away from Spyro. "You'll have to be more specific."
"I remember every word you told me that day." Spyro started, looking at the ground. "Because, that was the day I met another purple dragon." Spyro continued, sadness making his voice lower. "I remember feeling so happy when I first saw you, man."
"You… were happy to see me?" Cyrus asked slowly, still not facing Spyro.
"I had been looking for my ancestors, for anything regarding my dragon kind, for such a long time." Spyro picked up, giving out a sad chuckle. "I couldn't help but be happy when I saw an actual purple dragon in front of me."
Then, Spyro lifted his head, and looked at Cyrus. "You told me: We are all puppets here friend." Spyro stated, making Cyrus flinch. "My stage is just a little bigger." Spyro repeated what Cyrus had sasd that day, word for word. Spyro then ran what those words in his mind, comparing them against all the other things Spyro had noticed since he had met Cyrus. How Omen hurt him, how little the strange villian though of Cyrus. He only came up with one answer. "You're not some villian. Its Omen who made you do all this."
"So what if he did?" Cyrus asked, finally turning around. "What would that even mean?" He demanded, looking at Spyro in the eyes.
"It means…" Spyro paused, thinking through what he was about to say. "It means, you aren't a bad person, are you? You just don't want that monster to hurt you."
Spyro noticed Cyrus's paw and left eye twitch, almost like ha was about to scratch the red mark over his eye as he usually did. "We could help you." Spyro offered, taking a step toward Cyrus. "You don't have to hurt anyone anymore, and he won't be able to hurt yo-"
"Shut up." Cyrus hissed and suddenly, his green eyes, were lit up with their familiar toxic fervor, making Spyro flinch and willingly take a step back. "You don't get it, do you?" Cyrus asked in a cutting voice. "This-" Cyrus pointed at the red "A" Over his left eye. "Is a torture brand. Omen can trigger it anytime, anywhere to hurt me, it's not something you could protect me from." He spat the word "protect" like it was some sort of joke.
"Then we could remove it!" Spyro insisted, not able to take a step forward under those green eyes. "Cyrus we can hel-"
"Shut up!" Cyrus bellowed. "Stop doing that! Stop acting like you care about me!"
Spyro was taken back. He had no idea of what to do. He looked at Cyrus, opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Just, leave me alone." Cyrus said, turning around again and walking down the stone bridge, leaving Spyro behind him.
Spyro felt awful. He felt like he had failed at something important. Spyro had no idea what position Cyrus was in. However, Spyro wasn't about to give up on the indigo dragon. Something was pushing for him to try his hardest not to leave Cyrus in the darkness he was in. So, after a long breath, Spyro began to run after Cyrus, determined to help in any way he could.
Cyrus' ears were ringing. He was having an outright painful time focusing. "Who does he think he is?" Cyrus asked himself. He could barely believe that idiot of a purple dragon had even suggested "helping" him.
Cyrus was walking through a long, gray passageway. Lifted by tall black marble pedestals, were rows of statues of dragons on both sides of the hallway. They seemed to be carved out of what looked like giant gemstones and they were all looking down on Cyrus. The expressions carved on their faces were soft, kind, but unwavering with drive and power.
"They're purple dragons." Cyrus heard a painfully familiar voice. "This must be some sort of tomb or something." Spyro said in a wondered voice as his steps started sounding closer and closer to Cyrus until they sounded like that were right behind him.
"I told you to leave me alone." Cyrus stated plainly, forging ahead and not looking back at the Skylander behind him.
"I am leaving you alone." Spyro stated in an annoyingly merry voice as he kept following Cyrus through the hallway. "We both just happen to be going to the same place."
Cyrus was hardly in the mood for this. Why Spyro was suddenly acting all buddy-buddy was beyond him. But he was right about what he had said before. Drained of his magic and his flames, he was hardly in any shape to fight, but he sure wasn't planning on making friends.
"What do you think this place is?" Spyro asked out loud, almost as if he thought Cyrus would answer. "Do you think it's one of those creepy tombs like in the movies?" Spyro insisted, making Cyrus give out a low growl. "With the big rolling stone ball and everything?" Spyro kept going.
"I don't care." Cyrus hissed, surprised by how deep under his skin Spyro was getting.
"Why?" Spyro asked suddenly. Now that was a strange question. Cyrus suddenly stopped walking and listened to what Spyro continued to say. "Why doesn't this matter to you? These are my-" Spyro cut himself off, as if he was reconsidering his words. "These are our ancestors, our families… doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Cyrus ran what Spyro had just said through his mind. He then looked back through his memories. A small chuckle escaped his throat. "Families…" He said slowly. "I remember you being really jumpy when you first met me. What was that about?"
Spyro took a little bit to answer, but eventually spoke in a quiet voice. "You- You were the first purple dragon I had ever met. I thought… I thought you could help me find my family."
"Find his family?" Cyrus though to himself. "Is this guy blind? Stupid? Both?" The indigo dragon couldn't believe that he could see something so clearly while Spyro was blind to it, despite it being so close to the Skylander.
"Would you like to know something?" Cyrus offered, making Spyro listen in eagerly. "Omen told me about how the purple dragons were all turned into monsters and died gruesome deaths in the Great War a long time ago." Cyrus stated and taking Spyro's silence as a cue, he kept talking. "I never got to care about my ancestry because I was shown what had become of it." Cyrus then scoffed, as a very particular memory flashed into his mind. "Omen actually showed me something rather interesting. When I was, I believe six years old, I asked him about if there were any other dragons like me for the first time. As an answer, he just opened a portal to somewhere and dropped a purple dragon skull in front of me. Dust, spiderwebs and rotting leftover flesh and all. He then just said: There used to be."
Cyrus then turned around to look at Spyro. The look on his face was pathetic. He had his mouth slightly open, his scales had turned slightly pale and had his pupils dilated, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I can't mourn what I've never known." Cyrus began. "And you-" He pointed at Spyro with his paw. "Can't look for what you already have."
Spyro looked like he was taken back by what Cyrus had just said. He didn't seem to understand Cyrus words, which made Cyrus feel like smirking for some reason. Spyro's ignorance was rather amusing.
"Now." Cyrus picked up, turning around again. "Shut up, chit chat is over." At that, Cyrus kept walking through the long hallway.
The statues of purple dragons, carved out of precious stones kept staring down on Cyrus as he passed them by. He noticed there were small bronze plates on the black pedestals beneath the statues, but they were covered in dust and worn by time, making them ilegible. After awhile, Cyrus finally got near to the end of the hallway, where a large pair of metal gates blocked the entry to the next room.
Cyrus was about to open the gates, standing on his hind legs and pressing his paws against them when he heard something from behind him.
"Cyrus." Spyro called, looking at the indigo dragon's back. He was about to open the gates to the next room, but had stopped when Spyro called. Spyro then gave a deep breath and spoke, puffing out his chest. "I'll help you. I don't care how hard it is, I'll find a way to help you." He stated, not stuttering once, meaning each word completely.
Cyrus had not turned around to look at Spyro after he spoke, in fact, he hadn't moved at all or said a single word for a long couple of seconds. Then, Cyrus gave a long sigh, before pushing the metallic gates open and walking through, leaving Spyro behind.
"Man, he's got one cold shoulder." Spyro joked mirthlessly to himself as he trotted after Cyrus, a little eager to see what was in the next room.
When Spyro crossed into the next chamber he saw Cyrus standing still in front of him as a large, circular room opened up before them. The walls were very different to the ones in the previous room. They were made of rough, greenish rock and were not decorated at all. The floor of the room was made of iron bars, as if it were the ceiling of a giant cage. Beneath the bars was too dark for Spyro to see clearly. Then, Spyro looked ahead and saw the exit to the next room. A couple of smooth metal gates, very much like the ones behind Spyro stood across the room.
"Well, I guess we forge ahead?" Spyro suggested as he took a couple of steps forward.
Suddenly however, Spyro heard a loud crashing sound come from behind him and almost jumped out of his scales. Spyro then turned around quickly to look at the metal gates behind him. To the Skylander's dread, they were shut close, but what made Spyro really worry was the strange glowing insignia that stood across the thin line that divided both gates. It depicted two shot swords crossed over a grey knight's shield, the whole thing glowing a ghostly blue.
"It's a Battle Gate." Spyro heard Cyrus say. "It won't let us leave until we beat something in this room."
"Beat what?" Spyro asked as he turned around and looked ahead. He saw Cyrus staring at the far gates on the other side of the room, which were also blocked with the strange insignia.
Then, as if to answer Spyro's question, a strange light began to flicker and glow in the middle of the room, growing larger and more intense, eventually making Spyro need to cover his eyes with his wing.
After the light suddenly diminished. Spyro put his wing behind his back and looked at where the light had been coming from.
On the middle of the room, now stood a huge mass of smooth, black metallic parts. Then, a roaring flame pillar erupted from the strange metallic mess, staining a couple of meters tall. At that, the smooth pieces began swirling and floating in the air, slowly assembling into a massive humanoid shape. The shape was stubby in it's build. The smooth dark metal smoldered around the females it encased. The metallic shape also had a head. It was rather round and had two beady circles that simulated eyes and a set of bars beneath them. The arrangement of the orifices and the flames behind them, made them all look like a face.
"That's a Gear Golem." Cyrus stated, taking a step back from the metallic creature. "I still can't use my magic or my flames. I doubt we can beat this thing as we are."
Spyro understood this was a serious situation, but something Cyrus had said made him react. "Who's we?" Spyro asked jokingly as he raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" Cyrus looked at Spyro with an annoyed glare.
Suddenly, the Gear Golem gave out a loud metallic roar before putting both of its thick and stubbly metal arms in front of it. From the Gear Golem's fingertips, a huge stream of fire erupted, aimed at Spyro and Cyrus.
Cyrus dodged out of the way, but Spyro just put his wings in front of him and braced for impact. The fire from the Gear Golem felt intense as it crashed against the membranes of Spyro's wings, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
As Spyro lowed his wings to see in front of him, he saw the Gear Golem stomping slowly toward him, creating loud bangs with each step. The metallic creature must be very heavy. Then Spyro saw as the creature placed it's arms in front of it again, and yet another stream of fire erupted from it's finger tips.
This time Spyro flew out of the way, rising off the ground over the enemy's flames. As Spyro soared above the Gear Golem, he instinctively tried to breath a fireball at it's shiny head. But as he opened his mouth to attack, nothing came out. Apparently the potion was still in effect.
"There must be some way of beating this thing without our powers." Spyro heard Cyrus say suddenly.
Spyro looked to his right and saw Cyrus flying above the Gear Golem as well, a little far away from Spyro himself.
"Any ideas?" Spyro asked. "Because I've got nothing."
Then Spyro looked down at the Gear Golem. He saw as the metallic creature stood in place and raised its arms over its head and made fists with its hands. Afterwards A volley of fireballs fired out of the Gear Golem's fists raining across the whole room. Some projectile were getting a little close for Spyro's comfort. He wasn't worried about the projectiles hitting him, they just bounced off his scales as he placed his wings in front of him. He was worried about Cyrus. He didn't know if Cyrus' scales were impenetrable like his, so, out of concern Spyro looked over to Cyrus.
The indigo dragon was flying through the air, turning and diving like an acrobat, a perfectly calm expression on his face as the flaming projectiles crossed inches away from his body. Apparently, Spyro worried over nothing, so, giving a short sigh, he focused on the Gear Golem once again. Spyro noticed that it was lowering its arms and was holding still. Spyro watched as the creature remained still for a moment, then another. He also noticed something strange about the Golem's flames. They looked much less intense than before.
"Did it run out of battery or something?" Spyro wondered.
Then, the Gear Golem took a step forward, stomping loudly, and then took another creating a similar sound. Spyro noticed something about the flames beneath the Gear Golem's metal shell. As the metallic creature took a step forward, the dwindling flames roared with new strength. As the Gear Golem stomped closer to Spyro, the flames rekindled to their previous intensity, noticing all this, an idea clicked into place in Spyro's mind.
"Cyrus!" Spyro called the indigo dragon. "I think I know how to beat this thing!"
"You do?" Cyrus asked, an unnecessarily evident edge of disbelief in his voice.
"We have to make it attack us!" Spyro stated. "I think if we make it attack us enough times without it moving, it'll run out of power!" He explained as he looked down at the Gear Golem, who was now raising its arms again, ready to fire its volley of flames once more.
Cyrus had remained silent beside Spyro, but after a while he spoke. "I don't really see any other way. Fine, we'll do your plan. I hope you know what you're doing."
Spyro gave a wide cocky smile. "Always!" He said before diving down at the Gear Golem, followed by Cyrus.
As the Gear Golem began releasing its shower of flaming projectiles on the two purple dragons, they soared across the room, turning and rolling out of the way of the falling fireballs. Spyro was a little less graceful and got scraped by several fireballs, but his scaled kept him from being hurt. Cyrus on the other hand flew fluidly through the falling projectiles, swaying his wings, tail and body, shifting his weight around and avoiding all the incoming attacks, narrowly but gracefully.
Spyro remembered Cyrus being a good flyer from that time he was chasing him to the island where they had first fought, but he had kind of forgotten about it and was admittedly surprised by the display.
After a while, the firebolts stopped raining down and the purple dragons were able to touch down on the floor and catch a breath as the Gear Golem stayed stationary.
"We'll have to get close." Spyro said as he was getting ready.
"How close?" Cyrus asked, keeping his eyes in the Gear Golem.
"Uncomfortably close." Spyro stated. "Are you ready?" He asked Cyrus with a grin.
Cyrus didn't answer, rather giving Spyro a small scoff. Spyro grinned a little wider. "Alright then, let's go!" He said before charging at the Gear Golem, followed by Cyrus.
As both dragons got close to the Gear Golem, they split up and started to run circles around the metallic creature. The Gear Golem then lifted its arms and tried to follow the speeding dragons by spinning its torso as it stayed stationary. Then, from its fingertips, the stream of flames erupted and as the Gear Golem spun, it chased Spyro and Cyrus. The two dragons kept running at top speed around the Gear Golem as its flaming attack followed close behind them. They kept running and the Golem kept spinning. After what felt like minutes ot the now panting dragon, Spyro could notice that the flames beneath the Gear Golem's stubby black plating were almost completely exhausted.
"We're almost there!" Spyro shouted. "It's almost done!"
"I can see that!" Cyrus shouted as he ran beside Spyro, also visibly tiring out.
Then, with a sound like an engine giving out, the heat of the flames behind Spyro went out. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the Gear Golem. The metallic creature was no longer firing it's blazing attack at Spyro or Cyrus and it looked like a strong wind could knock it's hollow looking frame away. Smoke emerged from the joints and holes in the metal pieces that made up its shape and the flames that once roared bright within it seemed to have gone out.
"Would you like to do the honors?" Spyro asked Cyrus between exhausted breaths.
"I mean…" Cyrus began before exhaling harshly and picking up again. "I would like to, but…" He paused again. "It was your idea, you should do it."
Spyro gave him a strange look. "You're too tired to do it are you?"
"What? Nooo." Cyrus said in an evidently sarcastic voice. "I want you to do it, you deserve it." He said before exhaling harshly once again.
Spyro looked away from Cyrus. "Still the sarcastic jerk I know and love aren't cha?" he thought to himself before looking at the Gear Golem. Tensing up and lowering his head, Spyro got ready to ram the metallic husk and get this whole thing over with.
Spyro then charged at the Gear Golem's frame and jumped, dipping his head and aiming for the creature's chest. But then, Spyro felt a large hand suddenly grab his neck, constructing him in an iron grip.
"Why... does everyone... want to... choke me!?" Spyro demanded as he looked at the Gear Golem's hand surrounding his neck and the creature's arm hold him in mid air.
Spyro then felt as the Gear Golem's hand slowly started closing around his neck. Breathing was getting harder and harder and he was definitely feeling the crushing sensation of the Golem's hand, even through his scales.
But then, Spyro saw something that really took his breath away. He saw as Cyrus, the sarcastic, apathetic jerk he had practically hated since he had met him, jump through the air and headbutt the Gear Golem's round head right off the creature's body with a loud bang and a small shockwave. After that, the creature's head bounced across the room a couple of times and after a few seconds, the rest of the Gear Golem's body fell apart to the ground, releasing Spyro form his choke hold.
As Spyro fell to the floor unable to stand up and gasping to catch his breath, he looked over to Cyrus. The indigo dragon was looking away from Spyro but after a few seconds, he stretched his paw to Spyro.
"Get up." Cyrus commanded, still looking away. "We need to leave."
Spyro could feel himself smile. He didn't really know why but as he took Cyrus paw and got on his feet he felt like he was with someone he could trust. "Thanks, man." He said honestly.
"Don't get any ideas." Cyrus answered quickly, taking a step away from Spyro. "I still need you alive."
"Yeah, of course." Spyro said in an unconvincing voice."So, you good?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Cyrus actually answered, surprising Spyro.
"Awww, he's warming up to me." Spyro said to himself as he noticed that this was the first time Cyrus had given him an non-sarcastic, non-edgy answer to a question. He showed this by smiling goofily.
"Stop smiling like that." Cyrus said, despite still not facing at Spyro.
"How do you know I'm smiling?" Spyro asked with a sing song voice.
"I can feel your smile's stupid aura in the air." Cyrus spat.
"Anyway." Spyro picked up. "Looks like we can leave now." He said, looking at how the glowing insignias had dispersed from the metal gates that led to the next room.
"Then let's get moving." Cyrus said simply as he began to walk with irregular speed at the gates.
"You know only future friends fight through cool tombs together right?" Spyro shouted at Cyrus due to the growing distance between the two of them.
Spyro heard Cyrus give out a low annoyed growl as he walked away. Spyro then trotted after him hurriedly, not wanting to be left behind by Cyrus, however, despite Cyrus' angry order, Spyro hadn't been able to stop smiling.
Cyrus opened the metallic gates that led to the next room. He was faced with what seemed to be some sort of library, with massive white marble bookcases, filled with old dusty scrolls stretched into the room's tall ceiling. Wooden staircases stretched along with them, allowing anyone to reach even the very top scrolls.
"Is there no end to this place?" Cyrus asked himself as he gave out a long exasperated sigh.
"Woah! That's a lot of scrolls!" Spyro's voice came suddenly from behind Cyrus, making his give out another longer sigh and lower his head.
"Do you ever shut up?" Cyrus asked in an annoyed voice, glancing to his side as he watched Spyro walk and look around the room, his eyes wide with wonder.
"Only when I'm bored." Spyro stated as his eyes darted across several different scrolls. "And no, that doesn't happen very often and it's not about to happen now." He added quickly as his eyes suddenly focused on a particular scroll.
Spyro then walked over to one of the massive book cases on Cyrus's left. As Spyro climbed the wooden staircase resting on the massive marble construct he stretched his paw to pull his target scroll out.
The dusty, old thing looked like it was a light breeze from being blown into dust. The papyrus was white and covered in cobwebs. Why Spyro picked that one out of all the thousand others was beyond Cyrus' mind to care enough to try to understand.
"Don't waste time." Cyrus said as he resumed crossing through the colossal bookcases. "We have to get out of here and the quicker the better."
"Hey, dude?" Spyro called suddenly. "I think you'll want to see this one."
Cyrus frowned at the Skylander's instance to socialize with him. "Why would I ever-
"It has stuff about your flames." Spyro cut him off.
Cyrus stopped walking, in fact, he stopped breathing for a second. "What was that?" He asked out loud.
"Come look." Spyro insisted.
Cyrus couldn't help himself, he started to turn around and walk over to where Spyro now was, on the floor beside the bookcase holding the scroll open for Cyrus to peek his head and read.
Cyrus had always been in pain, ever since he could remember. It was either from Omen torturing him or form his own stupid flames killing him from the inside. Omen sometimes told Cyrus those flames were a useful tool that no one else had at their disposition, if only he'd get the backbone to use them right. Cyrus sure didn't think so, after all, it's hard to see something as useful if it burns the inside of your throat and lungs every time you use it.
"What does it say?" Cyrus asked eagerly, not being able to read the runes upside down.
"It says you're something called an Infernus." Spyro stated, looking down at the scroll. "Actually, it also says I'm something called an…" Spyro leaned into the scroll and squinted his eyes. "Actually, can you read that? I'm not sure its a real word." He said, handing the scroll to Cyrus so he could read it himself.
Cyrus looked at the runes on the scroll. He could understand most of them, but there were a few that were blurred away by time.
"It's this one." Spyro poked the word he wanted to understand on the papyrus as he walked over to Cyrus' side.
As Cyrus focused on that word, he raised an eyebrow. He had never heard that word before. "It says… Adiaperst?" He said the word awkwardly.
"What do you think that means?" Spyro asked curiously, leaning into the scroll and making it difficult for Cyrus to read.
"It means-" Cyrus said, nudging Spyro out of the way. "That you are an Adiaperst." He stated. Afterwards, Cyrus began to read the rest of the scroll out loud.
"The purple dragons are among the most powerful breeds of dragons in the Skylands." Cyrus began. "They all hold many great powers and abilities that made them extremely proficient protectors of the peace. However, there were also some very special and rare traits even among these heroes." Cyrus paused. "Among a very select few purple dragons, an exceptionally rare pair of gifts could blossom. These gifts were legendary among the purple dragons and the carriers of such gifts usually ascended into legend."
"Whoa…" Spyro began. "Does that mea-"
"Shhh!" Cyrus shushed Spyro loudly, making him give him an offended look before shutting up.
At that, Cyrus resumed reading. "The carriers of these gifts were called: Adiapersts, those whom no evil could harm."
"That me." Spyro whispered excitedly.
"The second." Cyrus resumed. "Were the Inferni, those whom no evil could stand against."
"I read that the Adiapersts had really tough scales." Spyro stated. "And that the Inferni had really powerful flames." Spyro said as he loomed over the scroll. "The scroll said they always had a little trouble controlling them without help. Actually, down here-" Spyro pointed to the lower paragraphs of the scroll and Cyrus' eyes followed. "There's a section that says: Remarkable Inferni , and there's this dude, called…" Spyro paused and squinted his eyes. "Razren? That's a weird name. Anyway, the rest of the scroll is difficult to read, but it said something about him… leaving. I can't read where or why, but… it sounds like he was a really sad dude. I think he hurt a lot of people by accident since he couldn't control his flames at all."
Cyrus was a little uneasy about reading any more. He supposed he found comfort in knowing he wasn't the only one who suffered like he did, but knowing now that there were people like him, who's lives had been ruined by their so-called "gift", wasn't a really positive message.
"But, there's this other dragon." Spyro started up. "It's a dragoness actually, she was called Silver, and she was also an Inferni. But, she was a hero… she was like, a very big deal actually. It says she defeated-" Spyro paused and looked deeper into the scroll. "I can't read that, but, look man!" Spyro exclaimed suddenly. "Even though she had the same flames as you, she pulled through! She became a hero! Even among purple dragons!"
Cyrus looked at the scroll with an surprised look. He never though his cursed fire could be used for good. Omen had always told him that his flames were a curse, something he should be ashamed of, but now, looking at the scroll, hearing about someone who was so great, who was, like him, it made him feel a little warm inside.
"Wow, I didn't know you had teeth." Spyro said with a mischievous grin.
Cyrus had unknowingly started smiling and Spyro had seen the whole thing. So, Cyrus hurriedly forced himself to stop and rolled up the scroll before putting it back on the bookcase.
"We should get going." Cyrus stated as he began to walk away.
"Aww come on, man!" Spyro complained. "Just one more scroll?" He said in a whiny voice.
"Which scroll?" Cyrus growled. He didn't want to admit it, but was in fact, a little interested in reading more.
"How about…" Cyrus heard as Spyro flapped his wings to reach a certain scroll somewhere on the taller parts of the bookcases. "Eternal Memories? That sounds interesting."
"Eternal what?" Cyrus asked as he turned around to look at where Spyro was. The purple dragon was quickly descending from the taller reaches of a bookcase to Cyrus' right. Spyro had another scroll in his paws and as he landed in front of Cyrus he opened it up. Before reading out loud.
"Dragons, of all kinds." Spyro began. "Are renowned for having exceptional memories." Spyro gave the scroll a confused look. "Well that's odd." Spyro stated as he looked at Cyrus. "I never really thought of my memory as anything exceptional."
"Just keep reading." Cyrus insisted.
"Alright, alright." Spyro said as he looked down at the scroll once again. "It is said, that with deep meditation, a dragon can recall very deeply hidden memories. According to some legends, purple dragons in particular, have the ability to recall memories from even their past lives."
"Well, that sounds quite unrealistic." Cyrus interjected.
"Yeah, I mean it did say it was according to legends, so." Spyro shrugged before reading once again. "However, there is also a different type of memory that a dragon can recall, albeit, through very specific means." Spyro stated, making Cyrus' interest rise steadily. "These memories are from a time, when a dragon was inside of their egg's shell. There called Ovarian memories."
"What are they?" Cyrus asked eagerly.
"Ovarian memories are." Spyro started up. "Memories a dragon can only access after experiencing a moment of great emotional significance." Spyro paused a few seconds at that sentence, but kept going. "After this experience, when a dragon sleeps, a lucid dream will come to them, in which, they will experience some of their very earliest memories, memories of a time when they were curled up inside of their egg, being... cared for by their parents."
Something in the back of Cyrus's mind rang, forcing him to recall some very specific things and react. "I think I had one of those." Cyrus stated while he looked at the scroll with wide eyes.
"Yeah, I think I had one too." Spyro stated also looking at the scroll, a if trying to decipher more. "I had one the day, you and I-"
"Met." Cyrus finished the sentence. "Yeah, I had one that day too."
"What was yours like?" Spyro asked intrusively.
"I'm not answering that." Cyrus stated flatly.
"Why not?" Spyro interrogated. "Would you tell me if I told you what mine was like?"
"No." Cyrus said with a very stern tone.
"Can you at least tell me if you've had any other memories like it?" Spyro asked, rolling up the scroll and putting it on the bookcase beside him.
Cyrus gave Spyro an irritated glare, but the purple dragon's curiosity was not diminished. So, with a short sigh, Cyrus gave in. "One other."
"When did you get it?" Spyro asked eagerly.
"Oh no." Cyrus interjected. "If I'm gonna tell you, you have to tell me if you've had any more and why you got it."
Spyro's eyes suddenly lit up. Then, he suddenly looked to away from Cyrus. As he remained silent for a few seconds, Cyrus could notice there was a small, embarrassed blush on Spyro's cheeks.
"Oh, this will be good." Cyrus thought to himself as a miniscule grin appeared on his face.
Then, Spyro spoke. "I… I have one more." He admitted, the blush on his face growing steadily. "I got it after I… after I…"
"Yeeeees?" Cyrus pushed, the grin on his face growing alongside Spyro's blush.
"After I shared a bed with Cynder!" Spyro shouted suddenly before covering his face with his paws.
Cyrus was taken back by that sudden exclamation. Mustering all of his willpower, Cyrus stopped himself from laughing out loud, but instead snicker and chuckle trough his teeth. "I had no idea you were a ladies man." Cyrus said, holding back tears of laughter.
"Har, har har." Spyro spat, the blush on his face effervescent and humiliating. "Now it's your turn, funny man."
Cyrus collected himself. It took awhile to make his snickering stop, but he managed. "I also only have one more." Cyrus stated. "I got it when I was eight years old, a long while before I met you. It got it after the first time I felt like I was going to die." Cyrus said, his face darkening. "That day, I thought to myself, this is it, I'm going to die today. I suppose that counted as a moment of great emotional significance."
Cyrus noticed that Spyro was looking at him, a sad look on his face. "You were going to die… when you were a kid?" He spoke softly, in warm voice.
"A Fire Viper." Cyrus explained. "I was wandering around an isle and it came after me. One of my wings was broken at the time, so… I put two and two together." Cyrus told his little tale, leaving out a couple of details about what happened to the Fire Viper. He didn't think they were important to the conversation.
"That's enough now." Cyrus started, turning around and walking toward the metalic doors at the end of the room. "We need to leave."
"Cyrus." Spyro called from behind Cyrus, making him stop.
Cyrus waited, but no words came afterward, so, he walked over to the metal doors and pressed his paws against them, opening the way to the next room.
Spyro watched as Cyrus opened the gates to the next room. He had stayed in his place since. "Why didn't you say anything?" Spyro beat himself down. He guessed he just didn't know what to say, he had no idea Cyrus had had it so rough. Spyro then hurried over the Cyrus, who he could see standing across the opened gates on the next room.
As Spyro caught up with Cyrus, he entered a large room.
It was really spacious and was round in shape. The walls were made of a familiar smooth, grey stone. It was decorated with two huge golden statues that depicted purple dragons. The two statues were facing Spyro and had their wings stretched out and their heads were facing down looking down at a strange, yet elegant-looking cabinet, made of dark carved wood and was decorated with golden ornaments.
Spyro then slowly walked over to the cabinet, alost by instinct, almost as if it was calling to him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Cyrus asked from behind Spyro.
"I… I feel like there's something important in that cabinet." Spyro explained, walking even closer to the wooden furniture. "Something I need to see."
"Do you even know what that is?" Cyrus asked in an exasperated voice. "It could be a trap! You know, like in those tombs you were talk about."
But Spyro didn't stop. He was already standing right in front of the cabinet, stretching his paw to open it's large drawer, pulling it open by tugging at the large golden handle. Inside of the drawer, stood a single scroll, held up by a small wooden stand. Unlike the ones in the previous room, this scroll looked like it was in mint condition, it's papyrus was clear and not worn at all. A purple ribbon was neatly tied around the scroll, and a small note clinged to it.
Spyro moved to grab the scroll, stretching his paw out. He held the little note the ribbon. It was folded neatly, so Spyro had to open it with his thumb. As he read the words on the paper, his eyes went round and his heart stopped for a second.
"What is it?" Cyrus asked, getting closer to Spyro.
"It's a family tree." Spyro whispered. "It's all I've ever looked for. Itcan tell me who my parents are, Cyrus." He said in an astonished voice, still not really believing what he was looking at.
For the longest time Spyro had looked for his true family. He had waited so long, searched so hard, that now that he had the answer neatly rolled up in front of him, he wasn't sure of what to do.
"Well…" Cyrus began. "You've waited so long. Go on then."
After a little nod and swallowing hard, Spyro reached forward and grasped the scroll in his paw. He pulled it out of the cabinet and untied the purple ribbon around it. It slid off easily and Spyro let it drop to the ground. Spyro then took a deep breath before opening the scroll.
Spyro noticed that Cyrus was peeking his head over Spyro's shoulder, as if he too wanted to see the scroll. "Maybe he also wants to see his family." Spyro guessed in silence.
Without further delay, Spyro turned his eyes and focused on the scroll in his paws. Painted on the parchment, was a large tree, it's branches spreading widely away from the dark brown tree trunk and decorated with purple leaves. Spyro then noticed the many faces of the purple dragons on the tree. There were quite a few faces drawn on the scroll, with their names written down in golden letters beneath them. Spyro noticed that when two dragons got married or had children, a thin orange string connected them, and they were in turn, connected to their children by a thin green string.
Spyro swept his eyes through the many faces on the tree. He kept scrolling through, watching as more and more dragons got tangled in thin colorful stings. A while passed and Spyro was almost at the end of the parchment and still hadn't found any names he'd recognise, much less his own. He was starting to loose his spirits. But then, Spyro noticed something, or more accurately, someone whose name made him react.
"Silver." Spyro said the name out loud as he focused on the picture of the dragoness painted above her name.
"Who?" Cyrus asked confused.
"That dragoness we read about in the old library." Spyro answered recalling her as a Remarkable Infernus.
As Spyro focused on her picture, Spyro noticed that she looked rather pretty. Her scales were a bright purple, a little brighter than his own shade. She had rather small horns compared to the rest of the dragons. Her face was slim and she was depicted with a warm smile that made Spyro unable to hold himself back from smiling back, even if she was a painting. However, what really caught Spyro's attention, were her eyes. One of them was a bright cherry red and the other was a clear emerald green. She was heterochromic.
Spyro then noticed that a thin orange string connected her to another dragon. Silver's partner, was apparently named Darlan. He was a really rugged looking dragon, he had chiseled chin and golden eyes. His scales were a couple of shades darker shade of purple than Spyro's, but his horns were actually rather similar to his own. He also had a thick scar running through the left of his mouth, crossing both his lips. For a second, Spyro was a little intimidated by him. However, Spyro then noticed that he too, was depicted smiling, a toothy, actually kind of goofy smile, almost like one someone would do for a funny yearbook picture.
"Well, I guess, you're not here." Cyrus said in down tone. "Neither of us is." He added, a slightly disappointed look on his face as he began to walk away.
Spyro then felt as disappointment clawed at his soul. Had history really not taken the time to write him down in this stupid scroll? Spyro was about to put the scroll back in the drawer and accept his defeat, when, he noticed something on the last inches of the scroll he hadn't looked at.
Spyro noticed that Silver and Darlan had each a thin green string leading down to the last inches of the parchment. So, using one last push of hope, Spyro followed the strings through the parchment to where they joined.
Then, Spyro's heart stopped. His hands went limp and he dropped the scroll, making it land on the ground before him. "That's… not possible." Spyro whispered. He could hear his blood roar in his ears and feel as his heartbeat got faster and faster.
"What's wrong?" Cyrus asked from behind Spyro as he walked over to him once again. "Why did you drop the scroll?" He asked, picking it up himself before taking a look himself. "Did you find your fam-"
Cyrus looked at the scroll with a shocked expresion, holding it tightly in his paws. "Is this some sort of joke?" He asked in a shaky voice. Spyro noticed Cyrus' breathing was getting labored and his left eye started twitching. "Is this supposed to be funny?"
"Cyrus." Spyro called. "That scroll isn't some prank store prop." Spyro said, his heart growing heavy with the realisation of what he had seen painted on that scroll meant.
"No." Cyrus said flatly, letting the scroll feebly slide off his paws. "No, no, no." Cyrus began to mumble, as he took his paw to the red mark over his left eye and started scratching.
"Cyrus." Spyro called once again, his voice heavy as he spoke slowly. "You are… my-"
"No!" Cyrus howled, covering his face with his free paw. "Shut up!"
"You are my brother…" Spyro said in a weak voice, almost a whisper. As the words came out, Spyro felt like time stopped.
Spyro's eyes then dropped to the scroll on the ground. On the very bottom of the scroll, near the base of the depicted tree, was the image of two little dragon eggs in a small nest. They were both a clear purple hue and had several orange spots on them. One was a little darker and a little larger than the other. Beneath the image, written in golden text, were the words that had just turned Spyro's world upside down. "Spyro and Cyrus."
Spyro lifted his head and looked over to indigo dragon was shaking and mumbling things Spyro couldn't understand. He still had his face covered in his paws, and was hanging his head low.
"Cyrus." Spyro called, speaking in a soft voice. "I… I don't know what to say."
"You… and I." Cyrus began, slowly stopping his shaking. "Are brothers. You and I… shared a home… shared a family." He stated, his voice growing stadier. "And yet. I'm the only one who was denied a normal life."
"Cyrus." Spyro called, a lump forming in his throat.
"You got friends." Cyrus hissed. "Got a brand new family." Cyrus continued. "A second chance."
The lump on Spyro's throat was growing, something was stinging at his eyes"Cyrus, I'm-"
"And me?" Cyrus cut Spyro off. "Always alone…" Cyrus said as he tightened the grip on his face. "Always in pain!" He roared, finally lifting his head, and looking at Spyro right in the eyes.
Tears of anger were slowly streaming down Cyrus' green eyes. The vertical slits on his eyes were thin lines, seeping an inhuman rage, throwing daggers at Spyro. Spyro then felt the same pain, the same agonized hatred he remembered from the first time he had looked at those eyes.
"I sorry, Cyrus!" Spyro cried, unable to hold back the tears anymore. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He pleaded, his lower lip trembling.
Cyrus had suddenly stayed still, the hideous glare in his eyes unflinching and fixated on Spyro. "Sorry…" Cyrus hissed. "Doesn't. Cut it."
"Cyrus please… don't do this." He begged. "I don't want to hurt you anymore." He said, backing away from the indigo dragon. "I don't want to hurt my family!"
But it was no use. Cyrus used his wings to boost himself as he lunged at Spyro. The indigo dragon tackled the Skylander. Spyro dodged to his side, narrowly avoiding Cyrus' attack. However, as Cyrus landed beside Spyro, he spun quickly and used his tail to whip Spyro across his face, disorienting him. As Spyro tried to back away, Cyrus dipped his head and headbutted Spyro in the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs as he crashed back-first to the floor.
Spyro then felt as Cyrus crawled on top of him, pinning him to the ground. The next thing Spyro felt was a fist hammering against his face. His scales were barely cushioning Cyrus' brutal beating. With a quick motion of his own paw, Spyro tried to catch Cyrus fist midway down. It took all his strength, but in his paw, he held Cyrus' incoming blow. However, Spyro noticed that Cyrus moved to hit him with his free paw, so Spyro raised his free paw and once again, managed to catch the blow midway down.
Spyro now had both of Cyrus paws held in place. After a brief struggle, Spyro kicked Cyrus in the gut with his hind legs. However, Spyro didn't let go this time. He used the momentum of his kick to knock Cyrus to his side rather than off his body. So, as quickly as he could, Spyro rolled and pinned Cyrus to the ground, still holding his paws in place, preventing Cyrus from attacking him. As Cyrus squirmed frantically to get loose, struggling and grunting desperately, Spyro used every bit of strength in him to keep him down.
"Cyrus please." Spyro begged, looking down at Cyrus. "We don't have to hurt each other, just let me help you!" Spyro tried his best to sound comforting, but the lump on his throat hadn't dissolved yet, making speaking steadily difficult. "I know, you've been hurt, I underst-"
"No!" Cyrus suddenly howled, a blood curdling scream, that made Spyro's scales crawl. "You don't understand! How could you understand what it's like to be in pain every day, to have to go to sleep out of fatigue after three days of nightmares!?" He shouted, his eyes burning holes through Spyro. "To live, knowing you ruined the lives of six dragons you didn't even know…" He added, his look saddening slightly. "How could you possibly, Understand!?"
Then, Spyro noticed as the six gashes on Cyrus' chest began to glow, mirroring the enraged glow in the dragon's eyes. Afterwards, Cyrus took a deep breath and Spyro realised with horror what he was about to do. So, as quickly as he could, Spyro let go off Cyrus and backed up, just in time to avoid the stream of green and black flames that erupted from his mouth.
Cyrus breathed the green flames upward, roaring in rage and agony as they crashed on the ceiling, burning a hole through it, allowing daylight to seep into the chamber the two dragons were fighting inside of.
Spyro concluded that the potion taking away their powers had finally worn off at the worst possible time. Spyro looked as Cyrus got up slowly from the ground, breathing heavily. The same hateful, deranged look glowed in his eyes. Spyro noticed, with chills going down his spine, that Cyrus had not blinked once since they started fighting. He also noticed that wisps of dark smoke came out of the black insides of his gaping mouth.
Spyro then remembered what he had learned in the library in the previous room, about Cyrus' flames. "Cyrus, you're hurting yourself." Spyro warned, lifting his wings and getting ready to react. "You can't use your flames to much without healing, so don't." Spyro pleaded.
"I told you…" Cyrus began, still unblinking. "To stop acting… like you care about me!" He roared in rage, before standing on his hind legs and taking in a deep breath.
Spyro knew, with a heavy heart what he had to do. So, closing his eyes, he too stood on his hind legs and inhaled. He could feel the warmth of his flames return, like a storm brewing in his lungs. He held the flames in and waited for Cyrus to attack.
After a few seconds, Spyro saw as Cyrus swayed forth and released a massive stream of green and black flames, aimed at Spyro. So, reacting just in time, Spyro released his own flames. They burst out of his mouth like a burning river, glowing redder and more intense than usual as they crashed against Cyrus' attack. It took all Spyro had in him to keep Cyrus' attack at bay, but even when he was giving it his all, Spyro could feel as his flames were being pushed back.
But then, with a blood curdling howl, Cyrus seemed to put even more power behind his attack, pushing Spyro's flames back and causing a violent explosion of green and orange, black and red. Spyro felt as Cyrus' cold, cruel flames grazed his scales. The pain was just as bad as he remembered. He felt the hideous cold spread over his scales, eating them away slowly, almost as if the fire itself knew where to burn to hurt Spyro the most. He felt the flames reach the left side of his chest, his left wing and his left cheek. All three spots burned with what felt like horrible frostbite as Spyro fell to the ground, landing on his side.
The pain was too horrible, too exact. Spyro couldn't move, he couldn't even lift his head off the ground. He was so overwhelmed he was starting to see black spots through his eyes. However, Spyro managed to look over to where Cyrus was standing. The indigo dragon didn't look much better than him, if anything, he looked a little worse.
Cyrus was laying on the ground, limp and with his mouth open, facing Spyro. There were still wisps of smoke coming out of his mouth, but they were thicker, more condensed and they were accompanied by what seemed to be green flaming sparks. Cyrus' eyes looked glassy and unfocused, like he too, was about to black out.
"Why?" Cyrus whispered, rasping heavily, in such a weak voice Spyro could barely hear. "Why… was I… never given a chance…" He paused, closing his eyes slowly. "To be happy?" He got out in a whisper, finishing with a weak exhale.
Spyro could only watch as Cyrus, his own brother, was swallowed by a pained sleep, the same sleep that was now overtaking him. With his last bits of conscious strength, Spyro turned his head up, to see the light coming through the hole Cyrus had blasted through the ceiling.
Then, Spyro could feel as the darkness called him, through the wall of sleep. Spyro could only shed a single tear, before he was too weak not to answer.
"Boss, I'm sure this isn't so bad." Enumat said in a mellow voice as he looked at his new boss floating through the large circular room they were in. It was made of black stonework, very fancy, like the armchair Enumat was sitting on, which was one of a few in the room.
Enumat noticed Omen was missing one of his hands, something Enumat felt like he should ask about, but held himself back.
"But it is so bad!" Omen responded suddenly, making Enumat shrink. "You don't understand. That boy is more dangerous than you realize." He warned.
"Ohh come on." Enumat began, trying to cheer his new boss up. "You're like, the most powerful dude I've ever met! He's just some sleepy runt! How much harm could he do?"
"As much as I appreciate your praise." Omen said, turning his back to Enumat. "That sleepy runt, represents a huge problem if he gets caught by the Skylanders." He said, making Enumat listen in, eager to see what made Cyrus so special. "Cyrus, as I'm sure you've seen, has rather peculiar flames. That green and black fire is called Hellblaze, and the fact he has the control he does over them, makes him one of the most dangerous creatures in the Skylands"
"Really?" Enumat asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice. The large cyclop remembered Cyrus blowing a hole into Avril's ice wall, but that wasn't sooo impressive. "I mean, those flames are cool and all, but, a top dog in the Skylands? Him? That sounds a little bit far fetched."
"I saw him-" Omen began, still looking away from Enumat. "Incinerate a Fire Viper's head-" He paused. "When he was eight years old." Omen said, not stuttering once. "He fell into a coma for like a week afterwards, but still."
Enumat opened his mouth, leaving his jaw hanging beneath his eyeball. No sound came out, he was too busy processing what he had just heard. Enumat had fought Fire Vipers before. With help from his boys and with a great deal of effort, he managed to escape with his life.
"You're pulling my leg, right?" Enumat asked, forcing himself to speak. "There's no way anyone can kill a Fire Viper by themselves, especially that easily, right?"
"I was shocked too." Omen stated simply. "If I hadn't seen him do it, I probably wouldn't have believed it." He admitted. "When I saw that, I thought two things." Omen began. "The first was: Holy ravioli, pepperoni, macaroni! Those are some powerful flames!" Omen exclaimed in a shrill voice as he gestured exaggeratedly with his little sting arms. "The second thing was:" Omen suddenly composed himself before speaking slowly. "This kid… is more powerful than me."
Enumat's jaw fell limp under his jaw once again. The burly cyclop's brain was having a hard time keeping up with what he was hearing.
"Do you know why I'm so harsh on Cyrus, why I treat him the way I do?" Omen asked out loud. "Because-" He answered before Enumat could try. "A dragon's powers are directly linked to their emotions. If they feel really happy or really angry… they can become a little hard to manage. So, by keeping Cyrus afraid, by keeping him miserable, I have the ability to keep him in his place." He said.
"So what?" Enumat asked, trying to get a grip on the what he was being told. "What does this mean?"
"Cyrus, is dangerous enough, when his emotional spectrum is flatlining." Omen said, emphasizing the last word. "However, whenever he is around that other lizard, Spyro." Omen explained, hissing the Sklander's name. "He gets a little... emotional. As you understand, I can't have that."
Enumat had heard enough. He didn't like Cyrus to begin with so the idea of him getting any sort of power boost was not really appealing to him. "Well, then you've got no choice! If he's gonna be this much trouble, you should-" Enumat drew his finger across his neck and made weird creaking sound. "Because I really don't like the idea of having to fight a punk who managed to solo a Fire Viper."
"But I don't want to kill him!" Omen said in a whiny voice as he slumped into one of the unoccupied armchairs in the room. "He's such a good henchman!" He continued, almost like a puting child.
"Oh, well…" Omen began, slowly composing himself but looking a little down. Then, he began to raise his remaining hand above his hand. He continued, starting to slowly make a fist with his remaining hand, which began to glow a faint, bloody red. "C'est la vie."
Author's notes
Suprise! Early chapter and plot twist chapter! Longest one yet too. Already at the two-digit numbers people, only tree more chapters left. Keep your eyes out for them!
- I still don't own Skylanders Academy
- I wonder what's gonna happen between Spyro and Cyrus next?