A/N Long time no see! I know I know, it's been months and I'm pretty sure most if not all of you thought this was dead, but don't worry! I've just had the worst case of writers block and school work to ever hit mankind. Now with a computer class focusing on completing work on your own time, I can work on this story more often when I have the time! Now without further ado, the next chapter in Rise of Hope!
Spyro woke in a frenzy, lashing out at the dark horror visible only to his fearful and frenzied mind. His claws struck out at the air around him as he attempted to strike at his invisible attacker before bouncing painfully off of the many stones littering the area. He felt the pain lance through his paw, jolting his mind away from his nightmarish figure and forcing Spyro back to reality. He remained still for a moment, his ragged breath reverberating through the empty room as he attempted to gather the few nerves that remained after his chaotic episode. Shaking slightly as the dream defiantly persisted to linger on the edges of his mind, he turned towards the door leading into the battered temple before finally noticing Sparx was nowhere to be found.
"Sparx," called Spyro, "Where are you?" Hearing no reply Spyro slowly walked towards the door, trying not to wince as his injured paw cried out in protest with every other step. Walking through the threshold led him into a large ornamental hallway with decorations scattered among the debris gathered since its collapse. The sight filled Spyro with a mixture of wonder and sadness as his mind roamed with him; old piles of rubble and debris suddenly receding upwards into the ceiling to take their place once more as his mind fixated on the image of the hall when it was at the peak of its glory. He slowly maneuvered his way to a large door standing at the end of the hall, the golden linings and wooden craftsmanship long since faded into nearly unrecognizable swirls and figures containing none of the beauty it once held.
Forcing open the rusted door, his jaw dropped as he entered expansive room. The room's walls were deceptively simple but Spyro could see various burns and claw marks adorned the walls, showing the room to have housed multiple battles. In the center of the room stood a statue of an imposing dragon in a glorious moment of triumph. The statue contained a sort of regality to it, but the statue couldn't hide the way the golden eyes seem to contain nothing but contempt for whoever it laid eyes on. Shifting his eyes away from its gaze, he focused on the doors lining the circular walls of the room. Glancing at the stone statue one last time, he hesitated for a moment before turning right and heading for the first door on the right side of the statue. Pushing against the door, Spyro found the door only opened partially before catching against some of the rubble spread across the hallway. Curious to what lay beyond the door, he attempted to squeeze through the narrow opening. After several attempts, he found he had no chance of entering the room for now. Sighing, he turned away and continued along the wall until he reached the next door. Approaching the door, he noticed very little of the door remained on the hinges with the rest scattered along the floor and further inside. Approaching the threshold, he noticed a strange scent coming from further within the darkened hallway. Curious, Spyro cautiously traveled further into the darkness. As he traveled further down the hall, he could feel his sense of trepidation growing before he reached a ragged curtain with an egg and an unrecognizable group of symbols underneath signifying the rooms purpose. He hesitated for a moment, feeling a large uneasiness weigh down on him as he stared at the flimsy barrier. Pushing aside the curtain, he took his first steps into the dim room and was immediately met with a sickening crack. The sound caused Spyro to look downwards at the source and he found himself looking at the remains of some sort of shell. He stared at the pieces for a moment longer before turning back to the curtain. He gripped what remained of it with his mouth and gingerly pulled it aside to allow more light into the room.
With the curtain out of the way, Spyro saw that the room was filled with multiple pedestals as high as he was littering most of the room in various states of destruction. Eggshells littered the ground, with many showing signs of being stomped or smashed. At the far end of the room, an ornate pedestal lay bare underneath a ravaged flag hanging from the ceiling. Stepping lightly around the shells and debris, Spyro cautiously traveled towards the empty pedestal. As he came near, his eyes focused on the flag situated behind the pedestal. The flag hung to the ceiling by a thread with most of the flag unrecognizable through various claw marks and rips throughout the fabric. Even with the rips and tears that rendered the flag a shell of its former self, a single picture remained recognizable. A picture of a purple egg was the centerpiece of the flag, the only portion still partially recognizable amidst all the damage to it. Spyro stood there, transfixed on the image, as he felt as he felt a sense of familiarity to the image. Being intently focused on the flag, he didn't notice a small form hovering next to his ear. He couldn't help jumping slightly when he suddenly heard the voice speak, "So Spyro, what are you staring at?"
"Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed, " Where did you go? You weren't with me when I woke up earlier."
"I went with our golly red giant to check out the temple and make sure he got all those idiotic apes. You finally got the guy to stop moping around and do something instead of letting us do all the work." Sparx explained, " Come on, big guy is waiting for ya." Nodding, Spyro followed Sparx back out the room. Once they exited the hallway, Spyro followed Sparx to the right until they reached a large opening that lead towards a large balcony. Ignitus stood at the end of the balcony, surveying the landscape before him. As Spyro approached he noticed his eyes were distant and unfocused, seemingly lost in thought as he looked over the land. Noticing Spyro, he continued to watch over the land as he spoke.
"Spyro, this was our home," he began "before Cynder attacked and brought the lands under her rule and destroyed everything once held dear to us." He paused for a moment as the memories overwhelmed him before continuing, "This can be our home once more with your help."
"My help?" Spyro questioned, "I know I'm supposed to be the dragon of prophecy and everything but I'm not prepared and compared to your fighting skills earlier, I'm the least qualified for this job."
"As much as I hate to admit Spyro," Ignitus confessed, "my time for heroics is long long gone and now it's left to you to complete this task. I will train you to the best of my abilities before you set out on your quest." Spyro nodded, still unsure if he could accomplish this gargantuan task set before him.
"Now follow me Spyro, and we can begin training immediately."
A/N Working on this felt refreshing, especially after being out of the loop for so long! Feels like filler here, but don't worry! I'm making sure everything in this story has some significance to the later plot! Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review! On a side note, I need a beta reader to help with corrections and giving some insight. Message me if you're interested! Until next time on the next chapter of Rise of Hope!