A tail of woe

Once Spyro had landed, the large red dragon noticed, for the first time, that Spyro was a purple dragon. Instantly, his eyes widened, and he embraced him. "Oh! Thank goodness you're alive!" Spyro was very uncomfortable with the situation, seeing as that he didn't know who this red dragon was. He pulled himself away and from the stranger and asked, "Do I know you?" Hearing this question, the red dragon realized he must have made Spyro feel very uncomfortable, and he straightened up. "You may not know who I am, but I know who you are." Spyro and Sparx looked at each other, confused. "When you were just an egg, it was my job to protect you. It was my job… to protect all of you…" the large dragon closed his eyes, lost in thought.

"There are others?"

"Others? There were." The red dragon was pulled back into real time. "There were four of us. Guardians, that is… and we had one job: Ensure that all the eggs were hatched. It was the year of the dragon, after all, and our very survival depended on those eggs… but the temple, and the grotto, are now gone… overrun by…" Spyro cut the dragon off. "Temple? You mean the one up there?" Spyro gestured to the building he and Sparx were originally going to go to, and the red dragon looked up at it. "Yes… yes that's the temple."

"Oh good! Cause me and Sparx were gonna go there anyway, so you can help us!" The red dragon shook his head. "No, no… who knows what forces occupy the temple now. What state it's in. You don't understand. After they came for you…"

"They? Who's they? And why did they come for me? I wasn't even born yet!"

"Because the prophecies spoke of a purple dragon, born only once every ten generations. You." "Wait…" Sparx interjected. "Does that mean him?" Sparx looked at Spyro. "Wait, this guy? Spyro's some special once in a purple thing?" Spyro whacked Sparx with his wing, and he smacked into a tree a foot or two away. "Shut up." Spyro said this with somewhat of a giggle. "Spyro is it?" The red dragon attracted their attention again. "Well, Spyro, I assure you that I'm telling you the truth. The dark armies attacked the grotto. Intent on destroying the eggs and killing the rest of us. They nearly succeeded… and then they lay siege to the other islands. We were at war!"

"For many years, we fought all over the islands. Brutal clashes with the armies of the dark master, who was intent on preventing the prophecies from coming true. The other three guardians and I, led our small, but valiant forces, into battle after battle against our ruthless, mercenary foe. Then, when we were beginning to turn the tide… Cynder, came." "Cynder?" Spyro was intrigued. "Yes, Cynder. Cynder was… is… a monstrous, horrific, ferocious, black dragon that fills the skies with terror. The terror of the skies."

"Uh yeah… you had me at ferocious." Sparx said this with a sigh. "Wait…" Spyro suddenly remembered something. "Not to long ago, I ran into some apes, and they said something about someone named Cynder." "Yes, she still searches for me… and years ago I watched as Cynder plucked the members of our army from the fields of battle, like so many ripe grapes from a vine. Without them, our cause is lost. Only I, Ignitus, managed to escape. Not that it matters. Cynder now rules all… and I sit here wondering, what might have been. What else I could have done."

"Oh goody! Sounds like fun!" Spyro's sarcasm flared up again. "Hey! Spyro, I think you should be a little more sensitive, O.K.? This guy's obviously gone through some stuff." "Sorry… but… why have you given up exactly? I just find out that I'm this special dragon, and you tell me all is lost? That I have no home or family left? I'm only twelve! This shouldn't be happening to me! I wanted to see what was out there, and that's just what I'm gonna do!"

"Hold up, savior boy, weren't you listening to this guy?" Sparx seemed worried. "He's talking about flying dragons, and war, and horrible… this is bad stuff, alright? I don't know if we're hearing the same thing…" "yes Spyro." Ignitus interjected. "It's not as simple as that. It's true, the prophecies spoke of a purple dragon destined to put his stamp upon this age, but the prophecies didn't foretell the devastation that surrounds us now." "I don't care!" Spyro seemed pumped now. "I'm not just gonna sit back and do nothing. Besides! Now that I'm here, there's no way Cynder could win this war! I'm too awesome!" "You're actually going along with this lunatic?" Sparx seemed annoyed, but Ignitus interjected before he could say anything else. "Very well then. We'll go. You deserve to see your beginning, before it all ends."

"That's the spirit! Now let's go!" Spyro was smiling now. "Am I the only one sane here?" Sparx asked, frustratedly. "He's telling us, we're doomed, alright? That's when I go, ah, maybe we should go back to the forest, with the flowers and the fun stuff." Ignoring Sparx, Spyro asked Ignitus, as he walked beside him, "what exactly did these, 'prophecies' say? You know… for, curiosity's sake." Ignitus looked down at the purple dragon as he walked forward. "The prophecies said, exactly, 'a purple dragon shall be born in the year of the dragon, and their optimism and confidence, shall lead them on a path to righteousness.'" "The confidence part sure does sound like Spyro." Sparx was apparently listening to. "Yes, I can already see that, but let's see if his optimism will stand the test of time."

Meanwhile, in a dark, desolate place, where hope goes to die, an ape was reporting to his master in the throne room of a giant castle crafted from black marble, with walls of weathered steel. Outside, thunder reigned down with a vengeance, and short of the passing flashes of lightning through vacant windows, the candlelit halls offered little respite from the darkness. "Your majesty, I come with important news." The ape spoke aloud. "Well, go on then." Came a voice from the darkness. The figure spoke in a hushed tone, that sounded both soothing and menacing, at the same time. She never sounded angry, even when livid, she maintained her cool tone. "A patrol of mine found a small dragon near the old temple. I believe the guardian, Ignitus, may have saved some of the eggs, and has been training the hatchlings for the past twelve years." The figure on the throne paused for a moment before speaking. "Did you capture it?"

"No, your majesty."

"Do you know where he is hiding them?"

"No, your majesty."

"Did you at least kill it?"

"No… Your majesty"

The figure showed no sign of distress, anger, or annoyance. She sat there, in silent contemplation for a moment. Then, she asked, "what color was this dragon?"

"Purple, your majesty."

"You do realize the prophecies foretold of a purple dragon, born twelve years ago, who would become our greatest enemy?" The ape pandered the figure's question for a moment. "Yes… now that you mention it, I do recall something like that."

"And why didn't you do absolutely everything in you power to kill, and or, capture it?"

"I had simply forgotten. It was twelve years ago, after all…"

"So you forgot, huh? Well I guess that makes everything better now, doesn't it?"

"I can assure you, I will not let something like this happen again."

"You're right…" the figure rose off of her gem studded black and white marble throne, swiftly moved across the checker patterned tile floor, and came to a halt behind the ape. She moved quickly and quietly, like a shadow among the darkness. The figure pulled the end of her tail, which bore a viciously sharp curved blade of steel, in front of the apes throat and whispered, "You won't let this happen again… because you won't be able to." She quickly slit the apes throat, and it choked on its own blood for a few seconds before falling to the ground beneath the figure. The figure didn't move a muscle, as the ape thrashed around on the ground, dieing slowly and painfully, clasping its throat with its hands.

Once the ape had stopped moving, the figure turned around to face the now petrified apes that had been lingering in the room the entire time. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go on. Leave… and tell the rest of the commanders that if they are to come across a purple dragon, that they are to kill, and or, capture it." The apes nodded, afraid for their lives, and they quickly exited the room.

Anyway… back to Spyro. He, Sparx, and Ignitus had reached the temple and were greeted by a large circular entrance door, with three white circular stones surrounding it. Ignitus came up to the door, and breathed some fire into the stones, and they glowed red, then the door opened. "Neat!" Spyro looked at the stones with a smile. "Yes, these doors can only be opened with fire, ice, earth, and or, electricity." Ignitus told the small dragon. "What?" Spyro was confused. "Oh, right! You don't know yet." Ignitus began walking into the temple, and Spyro and Sparx, followed as he explained further.

"You see, dragons don't just breath fire. There are also ice dragons, earth dragons, and electric dragons. There are technically more than that, but these are the elements you can master, being a purple dragon and all." "So…" Spyro was trying to make sense of things. "Because I'm a purple dragon, I can breath fire, ice, earth, and, electricity!?" "Yes, that is correct." "That's awesome!" Ignitus gave a smirk. "Now now, that may sound cool, but it's actually a big responsibility." "Pfft! Who cares? This just proves that I'm even cooler now than I was before!"

"Oh great! An ego boost." Sparx smiled as he said this, and so did Ignitus, but Ignitus also chuckled. They came up to another door, and Ignitus, once more, torched the stones around the door, and it slid open. They walked in, and once more, there were no threats to be seen. Spyro looked around in confusion. "Could you remind me why you were so terrified of coming back here? There's no one here." Ignitus looked down at Spyro. "You trust your eyes too much, young dragon. Listen." Spyro started paying more attention to the sounds drifting through the air, and heard some activity in a nearby room. "I'll handle it!" Spyro began strutting forward, but he was stopped mid strut, when Ignitus said, "No, Spyro. Let me show you what a dragon, trained in the ancient ways can do." Spyro sat down, and watched Ignitus with a curious expression.

Just then, Spyro heard something that caught his attention. "Hey, I think I heard something… it came from in there!" The apes had figured out they were in the temple, then, they opened a door to Spyro's left, somehow , and were met with Ignitus, standing tall and proud. "Well well well! It's been a while hasn't it… Ignitus." The large ape in the middle of the group was smiling as it said this, but it just looked disturbing. "There's no escaping this time!" "I wouldn't count on it." The apes smile widened at ignitus's threat of a challenge. "Attack!" The smaller apes surrounding the larger ape, leaped forward. Ignitus put his wings together, and when the apes got close enough, he separated them, knocking all of the apes to his left, and right. Then, Ignitus turned to his left, and grabbed one of the apes in his mouth, and tossed it into the larger ape still standing in the doorway.

"Whoa! The big guys got some moves!" Sparx seemed really impressed, and so did Spyro. Ignitus returned his attention to the apes at his right that had gotten back up. He struck them with his right paw, then quickly switched to his left. Then, he spun around in a 360, and knocked them all back with his tail. Noticing the apes now behind him, Ignitus did a backflip and landed behind them. Catching the apes off guard, Ignitus did another spin move, but this time, a ring of fire was created around him, and the apes were both knocked back, and scorched. Ignitus was then hit in the side of the head with a large club, however Ignitus was quick to recover.

He performed another spin move, however, even though he successfully knocked his opponent away, he tripped over his own feet, and landed on his side. Thankfully, Ignitus was able to get back up, before any of the enemies were able to take advantage of this brief moment of vulnerability. Once Ignitus had gotten back up, the large ape that had hit him with the club, charged forward. Ignitus launched his head forward, and knocked his enemy into the air with his horns, then, Ignitus jumped up, and spun another 360, using his tail to pitch the ape through the air like a baseball. Ignitus landed back on his feet, and shot a fireball at the remaining group of apes. Once they had all collected themselves, they ran away, out the front door.

"This isn't the end, Ignitus! We'll be back!" "I highly doubt that." After saying this, Ignitus breathed a torrent of fire, encouraging them to leave faster. "That was AWESOME! Can you teach me how to do that!?" Spyro ran up to Ignitus as he said this, but he skidded to a halt, when he saw that Ignitus looked exhausted. "Hey… you O.K.?" "Yes… yes, I'm fine, thank you. As I get older, it takes longer to recover." Ignitus stood up again and started walking towards the door opposite the front door. He opened the door with his fire, and a circular room was revealed. The walls of the room had four symbols on them. Presumably, these were the symbols for all four of the elements. In the center of the room, there was a small, circular green pool. Spyro stopped to look at it, but, seeing Ignitus pass it by, Spyro quickly moved on. Ignitus reached the other side of the room, and opened, yet another door. Another circular room was revealed, but it was much bigger. Too bad there was a giant dragon statue taking up most of that space in the middle.

"Who's that?" Ignitus looked up at the statue for a moment before answering Spyro's question. "Not sure…" Ignitus turned to the left and began moving around the statute. Ignitus seemed disinterested with the statue, so Spyro just moved on. They reached another door, and Spyro said, "how many doors are there?" Without answering, Ignitus opened the door to reveal, a balcony at the end of an arcing pathway. They all walked down to the balcony, and Spyro saw, for the first time, the rest of the swamp. For the first time in Spyro's life, he felt what true sorrow is like, as he gazed across the fields of burnt, charred land, that served as battlegrounds for so many years. Everywhere you looked, there were large black steel factories that were emitting a large amount of grey smoke which collected into the sky, making it impossible to see the sun.

"What happened here?" "This is what Cynder has done. Put all the other islands under her iron rule." "I wanted to see where I came from,… but I didn't know it was going to be like this!" "Yeah, no offense, but this place is a bit of a dump." Sparx interjected. Ignitus looked down at Spyro. "This was once our home, Spyro… and now… it is gone. Stolen from us by the most evil entity imaginable." Spyro's expression suddenly became serious. "Well then, let's take it back!"

"What?"

"You heard me! We're gonna reclaim, what's rightfully ours!" Ignitus paused for a moment. "You know what? You're right!" Ignitus looked down at Spyro again with a smile. "You've given me hope again. Now it's time to give hope to all of them."

"Yeah! Now we're talkin!"

"Wait, what!?" Sparx seemed frightened. "You're willing to dive headfirst into a war!?" Spyro smiled. "Come on. I thought by now you would have expected something like this from me." "Good point…" "Spyro!" Ignitus grabbed their attention again. "Come with me… I have something for you that just might help you get started."

Going back to Cynder real quick, another ape had appeared before her. "Your majesty, I have great news! We've found where that blasted fire guardian, Ignitus, has been hiding. He foolishly returned to the temple, so we should send an armada right away!" Cynder remained still on her throne for a moment as she pandered. "So you didn't capture him?" "Uh… no… your majesty, but…" Cynder cut him off. "Do you really think, that the guardian of fire, who has eluded us for twelve years, would be dumb enough to stay in the temple after he was caught by a couple of apes, that are only useful as messengers, it seems?" The ape paused for a moment, not noticing that Cynder had just insulted him. "But your majesty!" "But nothing." Despite not even coming close to yelling, her voice still cut through the air with a coldness which could only be matched by the arctic.

It was quiet for a moment, as Cynder thought of something. "Was Ignitus alone?" The ape thought for a moment. "No, he was accompanied by a small dragon. Probably only twelve years old, not much of a threat…" Cynder cut him off before he could finish his thought. "What color was this, twelve year old?" The ape looked confused. "Um… purple… I think… why is that…" Cynder cut him off again. "So you're telling me, that the guardian of fire, and the purple dragon, of whom the prophecies foretold to be our greatest enemy, have found each other, and are staying in the dragon temple?" The ape realized his mistake to late. "Not only that, but you think the purple dragon is no threat, simply because he is young?" "I… I didn't mean…" the ape stopped mid sentence, as Cynder slithered her way towards him. She moved quickly a quietly, like always, and she stood straight up looking down upon the ape, making him feel small and insignificant. Cynder spoke even quieter than before. Almost a whisper. "How old do you think I am?"

Cynder wasn't as old as she looked. Many years ago, as a hatchling, she had been cursed by Gaul the ape king. The dark masters most trusted minion… until Cynder came along. When she hatched, the dark master had Gaul put a curse upon her that made her body age up, and her mind was corrupted. Her whole life, she has been a killing machine, used to help further the war. All she knows, is terror, and murder. She knows no other way.

"Well? I'm waiting."

"Y-you're only t-twelve."

"That's right… and I'm not threatening to you?"

"N-no! Y-you t-t-terrifying!"

"Good… you should be scared." Suddenly Cynder's tail blade struck through the apes back, and she pulled it back out, letting the ape fall to her paws. Cynder turned around and swiftly moved back to her throne. There were a few more apes in the room who had witnessed the murder, but Cynder didn't care. "I will put together a search party, but I doubt they'll still be there." The apes nodded and left the room.