Disclaimer: This story is an Alternate Universe/Timeline tribute to the Legend of Spyro frachise. I do not own any characters or places that belong to said franchise. Any original characters and locations are mine.

Author's Notes: Only a couple more chapters of introductory material, then we get to the meat of the story. Hopefully. Thanks for all the readers out there.

Chapter 3 - Destiny Knocks

The white dragon skidded to a stop, panting heavily as he tried to get his breath back. He glanced about, forcing himself to take long, deep breaths, before looking around. Certain that he had lost those pursuing him, he settled and concentrated, reaching for his element. It was like collecting water using a bucket that had a hole in the side, but he eventually got enough of it to enhance his senses.

His element was strange, for one thing he lacked the breath weapon many others took for granted, and all he knew about it was that it let him sense living beings around him when he concentrated. There were… four, no five large life sources, likely the guards that had been chasing him, slowly spreading out as they tried to find him and his companion, but slowly moving back toward the town. It took another moment of focusing, having to try harder, and he could feel pain starting to form behind his eyes before he finally noticed the smaller life source that was not some sort of animal. It was moving toward where they had been going before they had noticed the guards following them.

The pale dragon shook off the extra senses, and had to wait for the usual exhaustion to pass before he took off after his friend and oath-sister at a tired jog. Once he had recovered a bit though, he was able to move faster, and got to the clearing near Blind's lair. A quick glance failed to reveal the lithe form of his oath-sister, and the dragon grinned. A few minutes later, a thin dragoness paused at the edge of the clearing. Her blue eyes scanned the clearing, not seeing the crouching dragon in a bush not far from her.

He lunged with a shouted greeting. "Sanyla!"

His oath-sister whirled toward him and blurred, before vanishing from in front of him before he had made it halfway through his lunge. He was then tackled out of the air as Sanyla hit him from the side, pinning him under her, eyes wide in fury as she quietly hissed at him. "Vidalus. You ancestors-be-damned moron. Give me a…never mind, a pervert like you would enjoy being punished. Where is the pack?"

Vidalus was busy trying to get his breath back, the yellow dragoness had caught him right behind the ribs, but he managed to point to the bush with his wing. She cuffed him again for good measure, before strolling to the bush. The white pushed himself back to his paws when she stalked back out of the bushes with the pack in her jaws. She glared at him again, and then smashed the pack against his face plate. "Blind. Go. Now."

He started to reply, a wide grin on his muzzle, only to get cuffed again, even harder. "Don't screw around, you waste of scales. What if the guards hear you?"

The white picked himself off the ground, grumbling, "Then stop hitting me."

He dashed into the hidden cave before she could reply, likely by hitting him again. She was so much fun to wind up; at least while he could still outrun her. Looking around the cave and locating the half-hidden tunnel, he gave a sigh. It was as muddy as he feared after the rains, but it was the only way in that he knew of.

Several minutes later, he emerged from the cave with Blind right behind him, one of Blind's wingtips on his mud covered flank. "He found me. And boy is he hungry. I'm surprised you didn't hear his stomach out here. You did leave him some food, right?"

Vidalus decided he was done teasing Sanyla, as her eyes were getting far more narrow than was likely to be good for his health. Instead he dug out a bag of the dried rations that Uncle sold at the store. He and Sanyla worked and lived with Uncle, and Blind traded hides and the rare crystals and gems he found for the few supplies he needed from town. Vidalus suspected that everyone in the area knew Uncle, and that the old sand dragon didn't have a name. Or had forgotten it long ago.

He softened the meat with a bit of water from the nearby stream, and then placed it on Blind's small muzzle. "Gonna get cleaned up, then we can talk."

Vidalus headed back to the stream, and dove in without pause. A few minutes of splashing in the cold water got the worst of the grime and mud off, and then a good strong shake to dry off.. He then slowly stalked back to the group, a prank in mind. Just when he was about to try and tackle Blind, who seemed oblivious as the he gorged on the dried rations, the black dragon suddenly jerked his head up and to one side. Even though his eyes were closed against the light, he seemed to be staring at something intently. "Followed?"

Blind didn't talk much, living alone for his entire life, so Vidalus thought it was amazing he was as sane as he was. But having lived alone meant he tended to skip the boring parts of conversations. Both Sanyla and he were used to it, and could follow him in a conversation, using the term loosely, though he was much better than she was at it. Though there were times, like now, when it took a minute for them to understand. Sanyla beat Vidalus to what Blind was asking. "Yes, five of the guards when we almost blundered into them. But since doofus over there never tried to hide, I thought we had lost them."

Blind turned his head to Sanyla, and shook his head, before standing and dropping into a wide and low fighting stance. "Followed."

The other two dragons were on their feet immediately, as the five guards from earlier slipped out of the forest. Sanyla shifted closer to Blind, who didn't move. Vidalus, however, groaned as he dropped into his combat stance, low, narrow, and ready to pounce or roll away. "Great, it's the freaking goon squad."

Vidalus managed to not hiss back as the only shadow dragon in town hissed with delight at the name. Twenty guards to protect the town, and today they had gotten all five of the utterly rotten ones. Not that any of them were really good and upstanding examples of the guard, they were assigned to Long Pass, after all. It was a dead end post for the screw ups, the misfits, and the troublemakers that got caught, and no one who found themselves assigned to Long Pass transferred out, only discharged.

It was the dark-scaled Blind the five were focusing on, and his head slowly turned back and forth. "How. Many?"

Sanyla answered from behind him. "All five of the ones from before. Probably heard doofus over there when he was screwing around."

Vidalus opened his mouth to retort, but Blind shook his head, very slightly, his voice barely audible even to the two beside him, interrupting the white. "Two. Behind."

They had been talking quietly, slowly backing away from the guards, but Blind's announcement made them freeze. "Where?"

Blind flicked his tail slightly, and both of his acquaintances swore under their breath as they realized they were surrounded. The two hidden presences were behind them and off to either side, though one was further off than the other. . They could try running, but with Blind being nearly blind during the day, it would be a very chancy run. Just when he was about to ask the feral what he wanted to try, Blind abruptly sat down, and yawned before addressing the guards. "Caught. Usual. Beat. Release?"

Both Sanyla and Vidalus stared at him like he had suddenly declared that he was a child-murdering psychopath. The leader of the guard squad simply chuckled wickedly, and swaggered forward as he shook his head. "I know that I told you the last time I caught you in town…"

The massive red dragon abruptly back-pawed Blind, knocking him off his paws and away from the other two young dragons, clear across the clearing. "That if you spoke to me in that disgusting pidgin-speech of yours again, I would beat you senseless. Of course, that was in town, and we are nowhere near it. Which kinda puts me in a bit of a bind."

Blind slowly shook his head to clear it, two bleeding gashes on his face from the gauntlet the red had on. The four guards in the open made themselves comfortable as the 'casually' surrounded Vidalus and Sanyla, watching their leader as they sat or reclined. The shadow dragon watched the pair of youths intently, focused upon them as though he were hunting and they were the of them moved, knowing they would only make the bad situation worse if they did.

Vidalus didn't listen to the ranting of the red, currently blaming Blind for everything that had gone wrong within or around the town for the last twenty years. Including the Convexity cults that had nearly taken control of the town at the height of the Cult Rebellions. He was too busy trying to figure out where the two others Blind had sensed were lurking. As he concentrated, he was suddenly grabbed and then slammed muzzle first into the ground.

The sound of Vidalus getting his head slammed into the ground got both Blind and the red's attention, the latter of which turned to the noise. Blind didn't move, bleeding from several gashes from the gauntlet, as the red stared at the shadow dragon practically lying on top of the white. "What are you doing?"

The shadow dragon shrugged, keeping one paw on Vidalus' head, while watching Sanyla. "Little shit was channeling something."

The red gave Vidalus a flat stare, before shaking his head. "Well, avoid hurting him too much. After all, the demon here doesn't have claws our size, and since we arrived too late to save these two from their misguided mercy mission, they shouldn't have wounds from us on them."

All three young dragons had been not moving much before, but that declaration made them freeze. Sanyla found her voice first. "I am sorry, but what did you just say? I thought you said Blind here had murdered us."

The red smashed his paw into Blind's side, and simply smirked at the young female. "Well, he was SUPPOSED to try resisting us when we arrived. And we all worked so hard to get our stories to match up on the way over here, too. Though that was before we wound up running into these two, so we DID try driving them back to town. Seems they were just too determined to see you, though. So, here we are, haven't even started the execution, sorry fight, yet, and already we're going to have modify our stories. And two witnesses to the contrary, no matter how unlikeable the 'victim' happens to be, just seems makes dragons doubt their upstanding and honorable guards."

Vidalus, still pinned under the paw of the shadow dragon, sighed loudly. "Whelp, he is both serious and evil. He is monologuing, assuming victory, and posing. Pity he doesn't know how to..."

Vidalus had planned to go on, but got cuffed by the shadow dragon's free paw. The red turned toward the white dragon. "What are you babbling about?"

Blind didn't move from the spot where he had collapsed after being knocked across the clearing, so Vidalus kept talking. "Welllll, there are at least two others out here, and you idiots didn't bring anyone else. So who else would be out here, especially right after an ape raid?"

The shadow sneered down at him, ignoring the restless looks on the other three members of the goon squad. It was red who replied. "No one else would bother coming out here, even without the raid. This is the demon dragon's area, after all, and he only lived because we allowed it. Your lies are meaningless and empty. Now, be silent, and you will breathe a while longer."

"Actually, I believe he was referring to us."

Everyone in the clearing turned towards the red dragoness who had suddenly stepped into the clearing, her anger clearly visible as a heat mirage surrounded her like a shimmering cloak.. Her rage was clear on her muzzle as she stared at the goon squad with outrage and contempt. Her pristine fitted chainmail was even more magnificent now then when he had first seen her, and Vidalus was glad to see his personal role model and hero. "Creeps, ladies, and goons, may I present Lady Pyra, commander of the Dragon Temple guards, and overall commander of the guards? Who likely has heard everything and is going to take great pleasure in sundering your carcasses as a warning to the rest of the corrupt excuses for …"

Vidalus experienced the blow rather than actually felt it, hearing something in his crest crack, even as the darkness of unconsciousness swarmed upward, claiming him.


"Son of a spineless lizard, that HURT."

Vidalus rolled to his feet and carefully grabbed his head, careful to not disturb the leather full helm he wore; it might be the only thing holding his head together. Though after a moment he realized that his head felt fairly normal. He reluctantly removed his paws, expecting a sudden surge of pain, and looked around. His hero was nowhere to be seen, but neither was the goon squad, so she was probably dealing with them. That or chasing them, it was the same thing, really.

He gave himself a good shake, getting some dirt and grime off after collapsing on the slightly muddy ground near the stream bank, before looking around for Blind, Sanyla, and whoever had been with Lady Commander Pyra. Blind had said two, she had implied it. After a moment, he spotted Sanyla, her pale yellow scales and soft blue underbelly standing out against the nearby trees as she glared at him. And the dragon with a raised eye ridge just beyond her made his jaw drop, barely even hearing Sanyla. "Don't swear in front of the Guardian. Idiot."

Vidalus was too busy bowing to the Guardian to respond. His other hero was just as big and powerful as he had imagined, and even more so than he remembered from yesterday. Two large horns on either of his temples, with two smaller horns in front of each of those. Bright green scales, tan belly scales, slightly battered but still gleaming plate armor, and the thick club tail as big as his head. "Sir Terrador, it is an honor to meet you. I saw you yesterday at the village address, but wasn't able to be heard over the crowd. Is it true anyone can enter your trials for a chance to go to the Temple and train?"

The Earth Guardian looked down at the suddenly formal young white, a bemused but distant look in his eyes as if he was remembering something from a long time ago. "Yes, though an albino such as yourself will have a hard time passing the challenges. I can chose two, so there is still a space open. Possibly."

He glanced at a nearby shadow, where Blind was slowly eating the now water soaked rations from before. Sanyla joined the conversation. "Sadly, neither of us speak barbarian, so if you can get the story of last night from Blind that would speed this up considerably. And keep your comments to yourself, he has been speaking one word sentences, and refused a healing gem."

Vidalus had been choosing one from a half dozen smart assed responses, but the gleam in Sanyla's eye convinced him to hold his comment. Instead, he simply shrugged. "I am not an albino. Not sure what my element IS, since I lack a breath attack, but I can use magic. A bit. And while my scales are white or whitish, my eyes aren't red."

Terrador simply raised an eyebrow again. "Is that so? Then I apologize for calling you such. Now, can you please ask him about last night?

Commander Pyra and I arrived to a scene of disorder and panic, three young dragons missing after an ape raid far further south than any others we were aware of in years. And then those three dragons return, with a fourth that chose to flee rather than return to the hero's welcome they had earned. We followed the trail back to a scene of carnage, nearly one and a third dozen apes dead, several dismembered. And today, while tracking the trail of the dragon from last night, Commander Pyra and I observe several known problem-guardsmen harassing, beating, and outright threatening three dragons, none of which had done anything that we could determine would deserve such a response."

The Earth Guardian turned to Blind, expectantly, who continued to eat in his slow, patient manner, ignoring the other three. Vidalus sighed, before heading to his oath-brother, and began asking questions, working through Blind's typical one word responses using his familiarity with his friend's habits.

While the white dragon was interrogating the black dragon, the Earth Guardian turned to the young pale yellow dragoness beside him. "What do you know about those two?"

Sanyla didn't even glance over at the two males as Vidalus missed cuffing Blind and crashed to the ground. "Less about Blind, but Vidalus lives with me and Uncle at our shop and what I do know about the former I learned from the latter. He showed up early spring about… was it five or six and a half years ago? Five and a half, I had just celebrated my tenth hatch day. He was going from shop to shop around the town square, asking to work for room and a meal a day. Most of the shopkeepers laughed him out of the store, a dragon of barely ten years shouldn't be asking for that, and they thought it was a joke. Uncle saw his ribs and thinness, and knew the young white was completely serious.

He started doing odd jobs, but quickly became the runner for the shop, letting us deliver lists to the homes of our customers, making us much more popular in town. I watched the shop with Uncle, but Vidalus was too fond of running his mouth to do that."

Vidalus cut in. "All the better to pleasure you with, oath-sis."

The glare Sanyla leveled at him should have turned him to ash if the ancestors had any sense of justice, but he just grinned at her before turning back to Blind. She would kill him on the way back, but he didn't mind. Sanyla fumed, until Terrador coughed softly, drawing her attention back to him. "And that is what I know of him from around town, as he tends to come up with stories of his past depending on who he is talking to. Most often, he claims to have fled from an orphanage in Warfang, making his way here. Others include escaping an ape ambush, exiled prince, explorer from distant lands marooned, and raised by fairies, wolves, or fireflies, take your pick. I prefer the story 'escaped circus freak.'"

She paused, waiting for Vidalus to retort, but he ignored her, concentrating on figuring out Blind's story. She sighed, and continued. "I learned about Blind when I followed him after a couple months, having noticed that a couple times a week, after we closed he would sneak out with his meal. Despite the name and his eyes being closed, I know he isn't, so why he chose that name I have no idea."

She shivered as Blind turned his head to her, eyes still closed, and flashed his fangs at her in his version of a smile, before turning back to Vidalus. Terrador listened to the story and watched the exchange with barely a sound or movement, before he simply nodded. "So he is the Demon of Long Pass then…interesting."

Vidalus stood up before that thought could go any further. "Alright, got the story. Apparently, more than twenty apes interrupted his hunt, so he decided to kill them. Followed them until they split up, nine staying with the camp, and a dozen heading for the town. He dealt with the nine, one fleeing during the fighting, including the mage with them, oh, right, they had a mage at the camp setting up a circle thing. Seven of the dozen came back, and he killed four of them including the orc warrior, the other three running. He then brought the three dragons back home, and then went out to try and hunt some more before heading home hungry due to the rain. Questions?"

Sanyla glared at him, and he grinned as she spoke. "So you got all of that from him in about three minutes? How? The Guardian and I tried to get him to talk for nearly half an hour before we waited on you."

Vidalus grinned even wider. "I speak barbarian, you speak prude. The overlap is minimal."

Sanyla was on her feet faster than he expected, but before either could move, Terrador spoke. "So he took out ten apes, an ape mage, an orc warrior, and frightened four more off? And did the two of you help with that? I know trained warriors that would have been badly hurt trying that."

Vidalus glanced at Blind, before shaking his head. "He did that himself, sir. Alone."

Terrador actually jerked backwards, surprise on his muzzle. "Alone? That is quite hard to believe. Especially for one without formal training and so young. How? What is your element, or do you have a strong, innate magical talent?"

Blind simply shrugged, and shook his head. "Hunted."

Terrador's shocked and confused expression led Vidalus to explain. "He means he didn't fight them all at once sir. He let them split up and spread out, and hit them in groups of two or three. Usually from the side or behind, like a hunter stalking prey. Ambushing each small group makes that a much more believable story, yes? And he doesn't have or doesn't use his element. I have known him for six years now, and never seen a hint of magic or element from him."

Terrador's expression changed then, though to what Vidalus had no idea. So it was his and Sanyla's turn to be surprised when Terrador spoke again a moment later. "Would you like to recieve training at the Dragon Temple?"