Act 1, Chapter 5

It was the middle of the day in the city of Warfang. Cyrus had finished his Magical tutoring and his Physical Combat training for the day, and was planning on going to the Warfang Library. But first, he needed to find Tina so that the two could go together.

As the young Black dragon walked through the many halls of the Warfang temple towards Tina's room, he couldn't help but marvel at how empty it was. Well, it wasn't completely empty: Many adult dragons were wandering the hallways. No, what made it feel empty was the almost complete lack of young dragons.

Ever since Bergan abducted the dragon children of Warfang, the Temple lost one of it's primary reasons to exist: To be a place of learning. The old classrooms sat unused, and the dragons who served as teachers had to move on to other occupations. It was depressing. It made actually made Cyrus thankful that he still had his private tutors, and he hated school.

After traveling through several almost barren hallways, Cyrus finally came to the hallway that Tina's room was located by. To his luck, he spotted the dark yellow dragoness walking out of her door. But then, he saw something that made him gasp in alarm.

"Oh no…" He muttered with dread.

Tina was followed by Elza's three hatchlings: Argent, Christopher and Melanie. And they spotted him walking down the hallway towards them.

"CYYY!" They all shouted with glee. Immediately, the trio charged forwards towards him. Cyrus held a foreleg out in front of him to form a wall between him and them.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" He exclaimed. "Stay back!"

But they didn't listen. The three hatchlings pounced onto Cyrus all at once, knocking the Black dragon to the floor.

It had been about five months since the trio hatched. The two boys were dark green Wind dragons, while Melanie was a dark grey Flora dragoness. They were all teeny little hatchlings, with short chubby limbs. The three hatchlings were also VERY hyper for their age.

Argent, the biggest of the bunch, had red eyes and three red horn stubs, the latter of which were pointed backwards . He also had a silver underbelly, and a long Blue mane, the front of which fell over his left eye. Christopher, the middle-sized hatchling, had green eyes and two silver horn stubs. The hatchling also had a yellow underbelly, and a short Bronze mane. Melanie had, the smallest of them all, had green eyes and two red horns. She also had a silver underbelly and a wild bronze mane.

Tina walked up to the four dragons, smiling. Argent was numbing on the Cyrus's tail, Melanie had grabbed hold of Cyrus's horns, and Christopher, was climbing allover the Black dragon's torso, wrestling with him. Tina struggled not to burst into laughter.

"Alright, you little brats!" Cyrus yelled. "Get off!"

"Play with us, Cy!" Christopher exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're so much fun!" Argent added.

"No." He said sternly. "I don't have time for this."

"Pleeeease?" Melanie asked, trying to sound a sweet as possible.

"I said no." He said with chagrin. "Now get off!"

"But we wanna play!" Christopher protested. Cyrus groaned, and looked up at Tina.

"A little help here?" He asked. The dark yellow dragon chuckled.

"Sure." She answered. The dark yellow dragoness reached down and pulled Christopher off of Cyrus with a forepaw.

"Alright, you three." Tina scolded. "That's enough playing with Cy for now."

"Awwww." Melanie and Christopher said in unison.

"Why?" Melanie asked sadly. Cyrus reached up and lifted the dark grey hatchling off of his head and neck.

"Because I don't have time to play."

"Why?" Melanie asked again as Cyrus sat her on the ground.

"Because I have work to do."

"Why?" Cyrus was starting to bet annoyed.

"Because it's important."

"Why?"

"Because it'll help save the city."

"Why?"

"Because shut up!" He exclaimed, frightening Melanie.

Tina smacked Cyrus across the back of his head.

"OW!" He shouted, rubbing his head.

"Don't yell at them." Tina scolded, pointing a talon at the Black dragon. "They're only babies."

Cyrus rubbed his head, grumbling, while Christopher and Melanie laughed. Meanwhile, Tina grabbed hold of Argent and lifted him off of the Black dragon's tail.

"Hey!" Argent yelled, wriggling his tiny limbs in protest. "No fair!"

Tina placed Argent next to his siblings. "It's time to take you back to see you Mom now."

"Okay." The three hatchlings said in unison.

"Can Cy come with us?" Argent asked. The Black dragon rolled his eyes.

"Well, I need Tina with me when I go to the Library, so…" He sighed. "Alright, I'll go with you kids."

"Yay!" The hatchlings cheered. They grabbed Cyrus's forelegs and hugged him extremely, making the Black dragon groan.

"Thank you, Cy!" The hatchlings exclaimed.

"..You're welcome.." He said with chagrin. Tina giggled.

"If you three don't let Cy go," She said to them, "we'll never be able to go see your Mom." Immediately, the three hatchlings let go of Cyrus.

The Black dragon turned around and faced the same direction as Tina.

"Let's get going already." He said, walking forwards. Tina and the three hatchlings followed close behind.

Ever since the Argent, Christopher and Melanie hatched, it became apparent that Elza wouldn't be able to work as a Deep Shadow and pay attention to her children at the same time. So, Tina offered to baby-sit the three hatchlings whenever Elza couldn't be around to watch them herself. The Deep Shadow accepted this offer, and none of the other adults protested.

As Cyrus and Tina walked off to find Elza, the three hatchlings crowded around the Black dragon, trying to keep up with him as he walked ahead. They often tripped over themselves in their haste. Sometimes, one of the hatchlings would crawl underneath him and walk near his chest. Tina thought it was cute, but it irritated Cyrus.

After Melanie crawled underneath Cyrus, the Black dragon immediately shoved her away.

"Stop that!" He yelled. The dark grey dragoness only giggled.

"What is with you kids?" He asked.

"They like you, Cyrus." Tina replied, chuckling.

"You're the coolest, Cy!" Argent declared. The other two hatchlings agreed by cheering, making the Black dragon groan. He turned to whisper to Tina.

"Did I ever tell you how glad I am that we decided not to do it until we're older?" The dark yellow frowned at Cyrus.

"Uh, no, why?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Because otherwise, we'd have to deal with more of-" The Black dragon was cut off when all three of the hatchlings tried to climb underneath him at once, causing him to lose balance. He toppled over with a yelp and hit the floor hard.

"..This." He groaned. Tina and the three hatchlings laughed.

"You're funny, Cy!" Christopher said.

Tina reached down and helped Cyrus get back onto his feet.

"They're just being kids, Cyrus." She said, chuckling

"Yeah, whatever." He grumbled.

If anything good happened six months ago, it was the fact that Cyrus and Tina were finally dating. After a long time of hiding his feelings out of shyness, Cyrus had finally won Tina's affections. It was Ironic that Bergan, the man who was causing so many problems, had ended up giving the young Black dragon the chance to express his true feelings to Tina. Sure, Cyrus was Bergan's pawn at the time, and he had nearly seriously injured the Dark Yellow dragoness, but they were finally past that.

After a short while of walking, the five dragons finally came to the Main chamber of the Temple. When they walked in, they saw Urobos, Spyro, Wraith and Elza standing around the Green Pool. They were finishing up a conversation.

"…And remember to look into the matter when you're on assignment next." Urobos said to the Green dragoness.

"Yes, your highness." Elza responded.

At this moment, Argent, Christopher and Melanie ran up to their mother.

"Hi, Momma!" Argent yelled.

Elza turned to look at her children as they started hugging her limbs. She smiled.

"Hello, my lovelies." She said. The green dragoness glanced at Tina. "They weren't too much trouble, were they?"

"Nope." the dark yellow dragoness responded.

"That's good to hear." Elza turned back around to face Urobos. "I'll be taking my leave of duty for the rest of the afternoon, your highness."

The Black dragon nodded.

"Have yourself a good day, Elza." He said.

The Deep Shadow bowed to the king, and then turned to leave, her three hatchlings following close behind.

Once she was gone, Urobos sighed.

"It's good to see that she's finally recovered from the loss of Albanion." Spyro said. "I was beginning to fear that she may attempt to end her life."

"Nah, that's not what she'd do." Wraith responded. "She wouldn't abandon her kids like that."

"Yeah." Cyrus added. "She loves them too much to do that."

"Even so," Urobos said, "She still misses Albanion, and Elenar and Bane as well.. You can see it in her eyes: the loss of all three of her friends is tearing her apart on the inside."

For a short while, no one said a word. But then, Tina broke the silence.

"Hey, Cyrus and I are headed for the Warfang Library." She said.

"What business do you have there?" Urobos asked.

"Well, the two of us have been thinking." Cyrus began. "We know that each of the Victiumirti, besides Bergan, I guess, was an ancient dragon who committed horrible acts of villainy, both before and after Malefor's reign. Right?"

"Probably." Wraith answered.

"Well," Tina said, "We figured that, there must be ancient tomes somewhere that describe each of these dragons' lifetimes, and how they were eventually defeated."

"I suppose that's possible." Spyro replied. "Do you mean to search the library to see if you'll find anything that could prove useful to us in our fight against Bergan and the other Victiumirti?"

"That's the plan." Tina answered.

"Hmmm, I always thought Rune was the history buff." Urobos replied. "This is odd behavior coming from you, Cyrus."

"Well, it's for a good cause." The young Black dragon responded.

"Even so," Spyro said, "The search might take days, if not weeks. There are tens of thousands of Books and Tomes in the Warfang libraries."

"It won't take as much time if they have a little help." Wraith replied.

"You would help them?" Spyro asked.

"Why not? If there's one thing Ancient evil dragons all have in common, is that they all use powerful and ancient Magic. And I'm a renowned expert when it comes to Magic."

"That's an excellent point," Urobos responded, "but I'm afraid that I need you to maintain your duties as leader of the Deep Shadows."

"Well, I can help them when I'm off duty, or when there isn't much that I need to do." The Aged Black dragon thought for a minute, and then nodded.

"Very well." He replied. "You might as well start now."

"Alrighty!" Wraith exclaimed. He turned and walked towards the exit, glancing at Cyrus and Tina. "Shall we go?" The two younger dragons nodded in agreement.

As Wraith, Cyrus and Tina left the room, Urobos sighed.

"They're not going to find anything on Runileon." He said. "His death was too recent to be recorded, and even then, most Light dragons refuse to acknowledge his existence nowadays."

"Indeed…" the Purple dragon replied. "Say, you were the one who defeated Runileon the first time, correct?"

"Technically, yes..," Urobos answered, "But I didn't do it alone. I was aided by my allies, Alexander and Catherine of Clan Aries, as well as Valchen and Umbra, my two younger brothers. They lost their lives to save me from death."

Spyro sighed.

"I'm sure they were honored as the heroes they were." He said.

"They were." Urobos replied.

And so, Urobos remembered the day of his brothers' funeral…

...

It was several days after the fall of Runileon.

When the Great White Monster died, his corruption of the dragons of Clan Aries died with him. They immediately stopped fighting the other Dark dragon clans and started destroying the many legions of Crepsculi that Runileon had created.

When Urobos, Catherine and Alexander arrived at The Crux with the bodies of Valchen and Umbra, they explained what had happened. King Hyperion had mixed feelings.

On the one hand, he was enraged at Urobos for disobeying his orders and going after Runileon when Hyperion told him and his brothers to take Alexander and Catherine and flee. Furthermore, this foollish action led to the premature deaths of his brothers.

On the other hand, Urobos, Alexander and Catherine had managed to bring about the death of one of the greatest threats to the world since Amouris the Temptress. And Hyperion couldn't help but admire how his son justified his actions:

Urobos said that it was his duty as the heir of Clan Capricorn, and a descendent of The Great Shadow, to protect his and all the other Dark dragon clans. He and his two brothers knew that they had to do whatever it took to save the dark dragons from harm, even if it meant going against their father. Urobos was greatly saddened by the loss of his brothers, but he had been able to save the Dark dragon race, so he was content.

The young Black dragon admitted that defying his father's orders was treasonous, and, since he was now considered an adult, his defiance was punishable by exile. Urobos turned to leave, ready to leave his home behind, but was stopped by Hyperion. The King then said that he had already lost two sons: He didn't wish to lose all three. So, instead of being branded a traitor, Urobos was heralded as a hero, alongside Alexander and Catherine.

After this, Hyperion contacted Runileon's wife, Queen Masocia, and told her that her Husband was slain. She quickly assumed command of Clan Aries's forces and had them set to work restoring the damage that Runileon had dealt to the world. The White Monster's body was sliced open, his organs removed and burned, and the carcass left to rot away at the top of Mount Erebus. This was a custom afforded to only the most infamous members of Clan Aries: It was meant to force Runileon's spirit to make the longest and most frustrating trip to the Underworld as possible.

Meanwhile, Valchen and Umbra were scheduled to be given a proper funeral.

And it was being held today, in the center of The Crux.

It was Noon.

A whole number of Dark dragons were lined up the streets to witness the event. Near the pathway that led to The Crux's Palace, two black coffins were prepared, both of them opened. The outer walls of the coffins were incribed in silver Runes in ancient draconian, which repeated the same phrase over and over on all sides:

Though this hollow shell shall soon be gone, the dragon it housed will forever linger on.

Inside the coffins were the bodies of the two slain Princes: Valchen in the one on the left, and Umbra in the other one. Through the use of magic, the two princes' bodies were cleaned of their bloodstains, healed of their wounds, and were laid down on their bellies. They looked more like they were locked in peaceful slumber than dead.

As the crowd paid their respects to the fallen princes, King Hyperion stood in-between the Coffins, giving a speech to the Crowd.

"My friends and people, we are gathered here on this day to speak of the loss of my two sons, Prince Valchen and Prince Umbra, as they have recently been taken from this world before their time. As their bodies lay here before us, we should not mourn their deaths, but remember the great dedd they did for the world when they were alive. Were it not for their actions, the Great White Monster, Runileon the Wicked, has finally been slain. And in the time that came before that, they have done their best to serve us of Clan Capricorn, as well as dragons of every other clan as well..."

As Hyperion continued his speech, many dragons shed tears for their fallen Princes. Urobos, Alexander and Catherine stood at the front of the crowd, saddened by the loss of their brothers and friends, respectively. A Space dragoness, roughly Urobos's age, stood by his side, holding the saddened Prince by the paw to console him. This was Anna, Urobos's best friend and future mate.

Anna the daughter of two of King Hyperion's personal guard: The Deep Shadows. She had a Dark Red hide and a black underbelly. She had beautiful Silver eyes and a poison green mane, which was worn in braids. She had four bronze horns, all of which curled backwards and downwards at the back of her head. She wore a black cape over her wings: It was the custom garment for the grim occasion. She also wore various pieces of jewelry around her neck and on her paws. Most of them were gifts from the Prince.

Anna started whispering to Urobos.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"I'm content." He responded, looking away.

"You don't look content, Urobos."

"There's no need to worry about me, Anna." Anna glanced into the Black dragon's eyes.

"You don't need to pretend to be indifferent, Urobos. If you need a shoulder to cry on, you may have mine."

Urobos looked into Anna's eyes, and then bent his head down, letting his tears flow from his shut eyes.

"They're dead because of me." He said miserably. "If only I didn't make that mistake trying to strike Runileon from behind, then Valchen wouldn't have jumped in the way of the White Monster's attack to save. And then, Umbra wouldn't have flew at Runileon in a rage, and he'd still be alive as well. I should be the one lying there, not them."

Anna pulled Urobos closer to her, and wrapped her tail around him.

"It's not your fault, Urobos." She said soothingly. "Runileon was the one responsible. If he hadn't gone on his mad campaign, you would have never needed to go after him in the first place."

Alexander and Catherine were listening in on what Anna was saying, and wanted to join in to cheer up their Black-hided friend.

"She's right, Urobos." Catherine said.

"Yeah." Alexander added. "Don't blame yourelf for what our father did. We certainly don't, and your father has forgiven you as well." Urobos calmed down, and looked between his friends, smiling slightly.

"Thank you, my friends.." He said.

Around this point, Hyperion reached the end of his speech.

"...And so, the time has finally come bid our final farewell to Valchen and Umbra. May we all remember them for the great heroes they were, and still are."

And with that, the coffins were closed. Hyperion signaled for two dragons holding torches to approach the coffins. The black coffins were set on fire, and as they burned, a group of musicians played depressing music. All of the dragons, as well as Hyperion himself, shed tears of great despair. None of them would ever forget either one of these two great Heroes.

As Urobos watched his brothers cremate before his eyes, he shed the last of his tears and gripped Anna's paw tightly.

"Farewell, my brothers." He said with Melancholy. "I await the day that I meet you again in the Underworld."

Little did he know, that when that day came, he would be returning to the Living world shortly afterwards, through the aid of two Legendary Dragons.