Corruption and Redemption

Malevolent. Oppressive. Vicious. Ruthless. Evil. None of those descriptions would be what anyone thought of first when they were to talk about a Skylander. But every last one of them and more fit me at one time. Why am I a Skylander then, you ask? I am a Skylander because Eon saw something in me, because Spyro believed in me. Because they understand what I went through and how when those words described me it wasn't me that wore them as a badge of honor. It was the shadow that had swallowed me, the creature I had been molded into but once the chains were broken and I was set free I couldn't uphold that image any further. I didn't have the stomach for it. I didn't have the heart for it. I felt shame, fear and deep sorrow. I had done horrible things and had believed in them when I did them. But once the veil was lifted from my eyes I saw what I had done as it was in truth. Vile. Horrible. Terrible. Wrong.

I…I hurt so many. Ended too many lives without a second thought. All in the name of my master, the Dark Master and self-proclaimed Dragon King of the Underworld. I didn't understand what I was doing. I was drunk with power, intoxicated by the high. Malefor's reach was wide even though at the time of my corruption and reign of terror he was trapped in a place between worlds.

You did know that Spyro and I aren't Skylandians by birth, right? We came from elsewhere. A world that didn't know of Portal Masters, the Arkeyan Empire or mabu, molekin or any other peoples that populate Skylands. We had our own troubles and hardships. Although at the time I was the source of those troubles and hardships. Let me start from the beginning.

While the legend of the purple dragons (like Spyro) is far reaching (I will explain how later) our world remained fairly self-contained. I come from the Dragon Realms; the world was ruled by the dominant species: dragons. It was like any other world being that there were both good and bad dragons. So don't get the idea that it was all fire and brimstone because I described myself as an antagonist.

Purple dragons are rare and unlike every other dragon they hold power over all of the elements. Malefor was the one that came before Spyro. Malefor decided the world should bow to him and serve his whim instead of the other way around. Long story short the purple dragons are stewards of sorts and supposed to shape the world. Of course the shaping was supposed to be beneficial for all but Malefor was selfish and vindictive. He tried to destroy our world in his youth and was exiled to a place called Convexity. He was… everywhere and nowhere at once. His influence was strongest in the Underworld, a place that reaches across space and time. Each world doesn't have its own Underworld; they're entirely the same one. Information can travel between the worlds through the Underworld in that way. So the legend of the purple dragons made it to other worlds as a result of the undead spreading it.

What does that have to do with me? Well it was the reason I was corrupted and how I became aligned with the undead element. Malefor's power could be "gifted" in a way to anyone he chose to wield it. It always went to the malevolent souls that sought power and would seek out any means to acquire it. Of course Malefor used everyone he ever granted power to. Myself included. One of his trusted minions turned me then was forced to more or less bow to me once the change had happened. Gaul was his name, he didn't see it as bowing to me but I knew it for what it was. My goal was to set Malefor free from his prison so he could complete his destiny. Gaul just happened to impress upon the Dark Master his competence and was swept up into it and reveled in the power that came with the title.

I didn't know it at the time that Malefor was using me. I also didn't know that should he have succeeded and rebuilt the world how he wished that he would have set out to destroy others and similarly rebuild them. All I knew was I was powerful; the people feared me and my master who was so good to me needed to be freed from the injustice he suffered. I was so matured and grown up but utterly ignorant and oblivious to the working of the world.

I was just a hatchling when the corruption took hold and transformed me into the terrible adult tyrant I am known best as. I was "gifted" with knowledge but I lacked experience and understanding. I don't want to go into details on just what I did; you can ask anyone and they'll gladly tell you. Rather I want to take a different approach and speak of all the things I didn't have.

Laughter was an unknown to me. I mean the sound of joy, not the foreboding rolling boom of a threat that delights the one making it. I didn't know how to smile. I didn't know how to be a hatchling, a child. I didn't know how to play or make friends or even be social. I knew how to get what I wanted and to make others obey or die. I knew nothing about being subtle or compassionate. I knew darkness, not light. But being born into darkness and knowing it does not automatically make one evil. It was the only way I knew to survive. To me it wasn't wrong; it was how I kept myself alive.

So when Spyro threatened my way of life of course I lashed out. All I knew was he meant to harm me and my master who, in my eyes, had suffered enough and didn't deserve the wrath of some brat that was too young to even know him first hand. I am the same age as Spyro but before I was saved I never saw myself like him. He was small, fragile and weak. I was large, strong and powerful. He was a child. I was an adult. But he defeated me and chased away all the darkness that had filled my heart and clouded my vision.

It left me confused. No one trusted me; they didn't see me as different. I was small and weak suddenly but they still looked at me like I was a poisonous viper. Spyro believed in me and wouldn't let me leave when I tried. I found myself back in the hands of Gaul and didn't have the will to fight. Well, not to win at least. But I wasn't ready to go back into the darkness. Spyro arrived and we ended Gaul's reign only to find ourselves trapped in crystal for a period of years. When we finally emerged Malefor was free and had nearly accomplished his task.

Spyro kept me by his side (loosely speaking, we had no choice) and together we defeated Malefor and set into effect the healing of our world. But we didn't stay; we set out to see what else there was. Magic has a way of connecting worlds once it has been fully realized so space can become a short jump rather than what Earth science calls billions of miles and years to travel. So we found Skylands in our travels. I don't know how long we were in flight but we never seemed to tire. I think it was the "highway" we traveled. It sustained us and moved us; all we had to do was take the right exit.

Was Skylands the right exit? I think so. Even though my past has managed to follow me here it is a new beginning for me. Malefor's influence had also touched Skylands. When I met Hex we clicked instantly for obvious reasons. She's one of the few Skylanders that accepted me without question and allows me to show just how weak I am when I get into those moods where I cry for hours after the nightmares of what I did catch up to me.

Yes, you heard me. I cry. Like a little baby, like some weak-willed frilly little girl. I did terrible things that I never wanted to do and it haunts me. I still hear the screams; I smell the fear and see the agony on the faces of the people I hurt or worse. I've always seen these things; when I was corrupted they made me flutter so with excitement. Now it sickens me and makes me hate myself. I can see why others don't trust me. I can't blame them, I was awful. But I want them to forgive me. I need to feel like I am a new person. I need to know that the past is behind me and that I can change the way others look at me.

I suffered the same fate as the rest of the Skylanders and was sent to Earth until my Portal Master found me and sent me back. I feel worldly now since I have seen so much. I feel it has helped me cope with my past and allowed me to evolve past that Cynder the Servant and into Cynder the Protector. But my past won't let me be. There is always someone to remind me of it, always someone to hold it against me and let it color their opinion of me.

I just want to be normal. I just want to feel like I fit in and belong. I am slowly learning to laugh. I have learned to smile. I have learned to see the humor in situations. I know compassion now and have felt fulfillment from my tasks as a Skylander. I'm one of the good guys now, no matter what my past may be. This is me now. I am Cynder, dark dragon no more. I protect the Core of Light. I look after the people of Skylands and fight those that would take away their freedom. I am proud now and considerate.

I am a Skylander.