The Lehend of Spyro: Evolutions of a New Age
The Imortal Dragon Of Shadow
AUTHORS NOTE: Here's chapter four. For those who acually suggested a fast-paced fight song, I've decied that'll be next chapter. For now, I'm going with an emotional filled chapter. That might change by the end, though. And another OC!
DISCLAMER: I do not ownany TloS characters or locations. they belong to their respective owners. I do however own any OC's that may appear.
Chapter Four
A loud splash caused Spyro to wake the next morning. Acting on instinct, he lunged from the bed and unsheathed the daggar from his belt. Holding the daggar in his right hand, blade down, he then entered a defensive pose and scanned the apartment for enemies.
"Good morning, Spy."
When his gaze fell on Cynder, Spyros mouth dropped. She was sitting in the tub, now half-filled with steaming water, slowly rubbing a soapy cloth over her scales. When she moved the cloth from her chest to her shoulders, she released a slight moan as the heat relaxed her muscles. This display of utter seductiveness caused Spyro to drop the daggar. When she heard it clang gainst the floor and saw the animalistic look on his face, Cynder decided to tease him a little.
She reached over the side of the tub and grasped a ceramic dish. She then moved to the center, and dipped it beneath the surface of the water. Now filled, she lifted the dish above her head and she leaned back, closing her eyes. After the water cascaded over her body, washing away most of the lather, she lightly shook her head, causing drops to splash all around her. She then opened her eyes and looked at spyro with the same lustfull expression she had in the cave.
To his great dissapointment, just as he was about to jump into the tub with her, a knock came from the door. Cynder lowered herself into the water until only her head was visible. Realising their moment would have to wait, Spyro glared at the door as if whoever was on the other side could see him.
"Who is it?" Cynder yelled.
There was a slight pause before they answered, "Cynder? What are you doing in Spyros room?"
Spyro immediately recognised the voice and stepped to the door, all previous annoyance gone. When he opened it, a golden cheetah wearing leather armour and a red cloak, stood on the other side, a look of awe on his face. Hunter looked up at the dragon, expecting him to be shorter, but, to his amazement, he barely reached Spyros chest.
Not realising the look in the cheetahs eyes, Spyro reached down and embraced Hunter, much like Volteer had done on the previous day. Both laughed at the reunion until Hunter felt several vertebret in his back pop. Spyro released him, and gestured for him to enter.
"Umm, Spyro." Cynder said with an annoyed look on her face.
"Right! Sorry!" he said as he gently stopped the cheetah from passing the door. "Cynder's a little...indecent at the moment, Hunter. Can I help you with something?"
Hunter raised one of his eyebrows and flashed an accusing smile. "I was hoping you'd join Prowlus, Meadow, and me for breakfast in the mess hall. A kind of 'welcome back', from the three of us."
"Of course! Do you mind if we meet you there in, let's say, a half-hour? It'll give us a little time to get ready."
"I don't see why not." With that said, huter made a slight bow and left down the hall.
Spyro shut the door and turned to Cynder. She had a confused look on her face and asked, "Spyro, unless the layout of this temple and the swamp temple are different, it should only take, like, five minutes to get there."
"I know." He stated deviously as he joined her in the tub.
"Hunter, I thought you said they'd be here a quarter-hour ago." Stated a rather annoyed Meadow. The yellow cheetah was draging one of his claws in a circle on the tables surface.
"That's when they said they'd be here. I wonder what could be keeping them."
"Whatever it is," a grim looking Prowlus said, "if they know whats good for 'em, they'd hurry the hell up. I'm hungry!"
Just then, the doors to the mess hall swung open, and a panting, purple dragon walked in. He scanned the near-empty room until he spotted Hunter and Meadow waving him over. When he approached, Meadow stood and offered a hand for Spyro to shake, but he swatted it aside and embraced him just as he had Hunter. When he releaced the cheetah, Prowlus stood and glared at Spyro with an emotionless expression. Spyro returned the stare.
Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw a broad grin spread across both their faces. Prowlus raised his right arm, bending it and clenching his fist, until it was level with his chest. Spyro mimicked the motion, and they then pressed their arms against the others. The greeting of allied soldiers, brothers at arms, and friends.
When their arms dropped, Prowlus bluntly stated, "You're late."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Spyro then claimed one of the seats. A mole wearing a white, cheffs hat approached them and took their orders.
"I'll have the rabbit stew, a loaf of honey bread, and a glass of erbal tea." Meadow ordered. Everyone else nodded and ordered the same. When the mole left, Meadow turned to Spyro and asked, "So where's Cynder? Hunter said he invited the both of you."
"She's back in our room, sleeping."
"Weren't you both already awake before I got there?" Hunter asked.
"Yes." was all he said.
Hunter and Meadow seemed confused, but Prowlus laughed and playfully shoved Spyro on the shoulder. However, after he did this, Prowlus then slapped his forhead and stated, "I owe the two of you twenty sivler peices."
Their eyebrows shot up as what Prowlus said cleared all confusion. Meadow crossed his arms and nodded his head. "Welcome to the club, brother!"
"Ha, thanks!" The mole then brought their orders and passed it around the table. "And I'll get you for making bets about me and Cynder." He threatened as he ripped off a piece of bread and soaked up some broth with it before placing it in his mouth. "Wow! This is good!"
"Yes it is." Hunter said before eating a spoon full. "And you should be mad at Prowlus, not Meadow and I."
"That's right, he is the one who bet that you two wouldn't get together." Meadow said through a full mouth.
"Hey, hey, hey! I was just goin' on what I saw while they were chained up back in the village."
"Thanks for that, by the way." Spyro said, lowering his bowl after gulping down a third of its contents.
"You're welcome." Evryone at the table burst out laughing.
And so they carried on, talking like a group of childhood friends that had grown up, for annother hour and a half. Spyro was telling of the many times he had saved Sparx from frogweeds back in the swamp, when he felt a sudden slap to the back of the head. It didn't hurt, but the surprise of the blow still made him jump.
"Spy, why didn't you wake me?"
"Well, you looked so calm and satisfied, Cyn, I couldn't bring myself to disturb you."
The three cheetahs snorted as they attempted to keep from laughing. Cynder noticed this and her face contorted in rage. Tightly grabbing one of his horns, she hauled him away from the table and toward the door. This brought on a great wave of laughter from the others. Prowlus, finding himself being clever, began slowly waving a fist back and forth in the air and making sounds similar to a cracking whip.
Spyro found himself laughing as well, enraging cynder even more. Once outside the door, she shoved him into the wall and pressed her hand against his chest, pinning him.
"I can't beleave you told them! What, were the others talking about past sexual conquests and you just had to jump in?"
"No." The toothy grin he wore never dropped. "Prowlus figured us out by something I said. When they asked, I didn't deny it. Did you want me to lie about us, Cyn?"
She snorted at the sarcastic question. When she bgan to calm down, she started to rub his chest rather than push against it. "Of course not. But I don't want you to brag about us, either."
"What? I can't show a little pride about in finding such a beautiful dragoness?"
She snorted again, playfully, and blushed at his comment. "Maybe a little."
"Alright!" He slung his arm across her shoulders and led her back into the hall. "Lets get you some breakfast. You gotta' try the rabbit stew!"
When they re-entered the hall, They could hear Meadow curse loudly, and saw Hunter and Prowlus press their arms together. When they sat down, Cynder eyed them suspiciously, but Spyro merely shook his head from side-to-side.
After Cynder finished eating, the five then traveled to the meeting hall, hoping to find the guardians. Cyril and Talon were arguing about the nobility in their lineages, and Volteer was conversing with several moles about possible improvements to the wall defences. Terradore was the only one absent.
When they entered, Volteer sent the moles to their respective work areas before greeting them. "Good morning, everyone!"
"Morning, guardian Volteer." Hunter, Meadow, and prowlus said in unison as they bowed to the electric dragon.
"You three, I have told you that such actions are not needed, required, or neccessarry. Besides, I am no longer a guardian."
"What?" Hunter exclaimed.
"They made me a temporary, High Guardian." Spyro answered.
When looks of confusion was all he recieved, he told them of the events that occured the day before. This time, however, he included the little fact about Terradore.
"Woah...That's some serious news there, Spyro." Meadow said while rubbing his shoulder.
"Yup. New evil, family drama, ancient spirits bound to daggars." Spyro chuckled when a thought crossed his mind. "If somebody ever wrote it all down, it would make one hell of a tale."
"I can't get passed the fact that it's only been a year." Hunter said with a sigh. "Will there be a true time of peace in my lifetime? I'm only twenty-four, and already I've seen nearly a decade of war."
"I can relate. As chief of our vilage, I'm supossed to avoid war for our people, but it seems no one is safe this time." As he said this, he rubbed the back of his head in frustration.
"What are we gonna' do, High Guardian Spyro?"
"First off, if you start using formalities like that around me, I'll shave all your fur off." All three cheetahs laughed nervously. "And second, we prepare. Prowlus, did all the cheetahs move to Warfang?"
"Excluding the hermit, yes. All twenty-five hundred cheetahs from Avalar valey, Eighteen hundred of which are warriors, now reside within Warfangs walls."
"Good! Starting tomorrow, I want you three and Talon to begin a training regiment for the cheetahs. Spread the word that our time of peace is near an end, and that there is little time to prepare for the next war. Volteer!"
"Yessir?" Spyro felt awkward when one of his teachers reffered to him as 'sir'.
"You're in charge of preparing the moles and atlawa. Train any in the city, and send word to Boyzibit and Tall Plains. We'll need more soldiers and weapons. Cyril, with you being the most diplomatic of us, I want you to handle all peace negotiations with the apes and remnants of the dark army."
"The remnants shall be difficult, but the apes have already sent messages anouncing an emesarry from Dante's Freezer. It seems after Malefore fell, they regained their bodies and claimed the frozen fortress as thier base again. If you wish, I could arrange a meeting when he arrives."
"Who is this emesarry?" Spyro asked out of surprise.
"His name is Prince Malek. He is thier current commander, and, from what I can gather, surprisingly civil."
"Prince?" Cynder questioned. A nervous look crossed her face as she asked, "Does that mean-"
"-that he is Gauls son? Yes it does, Cynder." Spyro lowered his head at the memory of the ape. Cyril noticed this and asked, "What is wrong, young dragon?"
Spyro took a deep breath before, for the first time, telling them of how he defeated the ape king. "On the Night of Eternal Darkness, Gaul and I fought a brutal battle. Sometime during the fight, the floor of the room we were in collapsed. Gaul recovered quickly, but I landed in the Well of Souls. When I flew out, I...wasn't myself. The darkness had corrupted me." Everyone in the room but Talon and Cynder gasped when they heard this. "Our fight continued, but I had more power than I ever felt. Gaul was inevitably injured, and tried to flee, but...I just kept attacking. I uleashed a convexity fury that turned him to stone and shattered him. I killed him in cold blood." Spyro voice cracked slightly and he turned to leave, saying from over his shoulder, "Set up the meeting. Malek and I must speak when he gets here."
As he walked out the door, Cynder made to follow, but Prowlus placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "I know what he's going though, Cynder. Only he can make it through his memories."
Cynder closed her eyes and nodded once. She loved him more than anything, but she knew when he needed space.
"Let's do what he asked of us." Evryone nodded and left to perform their assigned tasks.
Spyro wandered through the halls of the temple, unable to forget the horrified look that had been on Gauls face, for more than an hour. He passed many creatures, but ignored them when they offered their greetings. As he was nearing the end of one hallway, a door suddeny swung open and smacked him in the face. He fell on his rump, clutching his face. After a moment, Spyro pulled his hand away to find a bloody smear on his palm.
A startled squeek caused Spyro to look back up. A snow-white dragoness with a light blue underbelly and wing membranes and black horns shaped like Cynders, walked from around the door and sat on her knees by Spyro. She wore an orange scarf around her neck that perfectly matched her eyes. Spyro guessed that she was arund the same age as him
She turned her head from side-to-side, as if looking for something. Finding nothing, she grabbed the end of her scarf and began wiping the blood from his nose. Her cheeks then turned a bright shade of pink at the contact. She nervously stepped away and moved to leave, but Spyro stopped her.
"Wait. Don't worry, it's just a nose-bleed. I've had worse." When she nodded, he continued. "I'm Spyro. What's your name."
She looked at him nervously before replying, "N-Nitra...my name's N-Nitra." She had a raspy voice, like someone with a cold. "I'm Sorry!" She lept up and bolted down the hall.
"Wait!" He shouted, but she kept running. When she dissapeared around a corner, Spyro thought to himself, 'I hope I didn't scare her. She seemed awefully nervous about something.'
With a shrug, he continued wandering as he had, with thoughts of Gaul filling his mind. As Spyro entered the atrium where the guardians quarters were, he began to hear somebody playing a guitar. He neared an open door, and, with utter surprise, noticed Terradores name and title on a plaque on the wall to the left.
As Spyro opened the door furhter, he spotted his father sitting on his bed with his eyes closed and his back against the headboard, holding a black guitar. Spyro also noticed several empty bottles, gashes in the sofas apholstery, and the table had been flipped over. Terradore stopped playing the guitar as he fiddled with a clear crystal on its arm.
As Terradore began to play again and sing, never opening his eyes, Spyro was surprised that his pitch wasn't as barratone as it was when he spoke. It was an amazing singing voice for a male.
(song: By The Way - Theory Of A Deadman)
A note by the door,
Simply explains,
it's all that remains.
It's no wonder why I have not slept in days.
The dust on the floor,
Piled up form the years,
All those scars and souvenirs.
Now that you're gone,
It's so easy to see,
But so hard to believe.
By the way,
You left without saying goodbye to me.
Now that you're gone away,
All I can think about is you and me,
You and me.
It's not like before,
You've left nothing here,
It's all disappeared.
It hurts me to see that we've been a lie.
Woud it have hurt you to try?
By the way,
You left without saying goodbye to me.
Now that you're gone away,
All I can think about is you and me,
You and me.
It's sad to say that this pain is killing me inside.
But it's sad to say that this pain is keeping me alive.
Twisting and turning it rips through my heart.
It's been tearing me apart.
By the way,
You left without saying goodbye to me.
Now that you're gone away,
All I can think about is you and me,
You and me.
All think about now is you and me,
You and me.
All I think about now is you and me,
You and me.
By the way, By the way, By the way.
Spyro had been slowly sneaking into the room, drawn to Terradores song. As he neared the earth dragon, Terradore suddenly lept from his bed and raised the guitar up in the air, intent on smashing it against a wall. When he opened his eyes and saw Spyro, he instead held the possition.
Spyro noticed how blood-shot his eyes were as they stared at each other. Terradore calmed down and lowered the guitar. Spyro saw letters painted on the back, but didn't get a good enough look to read them.
With an exhausted sigh, Terradore sat at one end of his tattered sofa. Spyro sat at the other. Fliping it over, Terradore reveald what was painted on the back of the guitar.
T&G
FOREVER
He grinned lightly before closing his eyes and setting it in between them. "She gave me this guitar on my sixteenth birthday. Before I bagan my training to be a guardian, music was a bit of an obsession in my life." He laughed as a thought passed his mind. "Ignitus and I were even in a band."
"Really? A serious dragon like Ignitus and a hardass like you actually played in a band together?"
"Yeah. We weren't always like that, though. We were troublesome, rambunctious, even mischevous. We even used to have this stupid prank war. Usually, it ended with one or both of us being carried to the healers." His smile faded, thoughts of his friends passing filling his mind. barely above a whisper, he muttered, "I miss him so much."
"Me too." He wiped some tears from his eyes before tuning and saying, "Terradore, about us..."
"I'm so sorry, Spyro." Tears began to form in his eyes as well. "You understand that if I had known, I...I wound've done differently, right?"
"I do, Terradore." He leaned forward and buriede his face in his hands. "I'm just confused."
"Yeah, me too." He reached over and placed a hand on Spyros shoulder. "But I promise that we'll figure this out...together." Sppyro returned the gesture and nodded.
"Together." He said with a huge grin.
"Alright then. I think I've waisted enough of today." Terradore stood and stumbled over to the tub. He turned one of the handles, and the tub slowly filled up. "Here's something you didn't learn from me. If you're ever hung-over, the fastest cure is dunking your head in-" He splashed his face into the water. After a moment, he jumped back shaking and stuttering, "C-C-COLD W-W-WATER!"
Spyro burst out laughing and collapsed on the sofa. Terradore grabbed a green towel and wiped any remaining water from his face. When he saw that Spyro was still laughing, he grinned deviously and twisted the towel around in his hands. Sneaking over to the end of the sofa, he quikly snapped one end of the towel against Spyros knee. He yelped and fell onto the floor.
Terradore now began to laugh, and had to brace himself against the arm of the sofa to keep from colapsing. Spyro raised himself up, rubbing his leg, and glared at Terradore. He saw this and bolted out the door, Spyro close behind.
Spyro chased the earth dragon accross the temple until they reached the door to the meeting hall. As Terradore opened the door, he was tackled and pinned to the floor. Spyro grabbed his left arm and twisted it until it was behind the earth dragons back.
"Say it! Come on, Terradore, say it!"
He grunted as he tried to break the hold, but Spyro twisted Terradores wrist and pressed his knee into his fathers scaley back. "Alright! Alright, Spyro! Uncle!" He said with a laugh.
Spyro released his grip and helped his father stand up. They were both laughing and shoving each other when they heard some one release an irritated caugh to catch their attention. They turned to see Cynder, Volteer, Cyril, Chakra, Talon, Hunter, Prowlus, and Meadow staring at them curiously.
"Having a little bonding time, you two?" Cynder asked with a raised eyeridge. They simply shrugged, and she shook her head before before hugging Spyro. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. I am thanks to Terradore."
"Good. We've figured some things out while you were gone." She led them to the head table where several maps, charts, and weapon designs were spread out.
"Like what?" Terradore asked
"We've gathered an estimated number of possible troops." Cyril stated. "With training, there is a possibility that we shall have four thousand dragons, two thousand cheetahs, six thousand atlawa, and eight thousand moles. If the apes and remnants join us, our numbers will reach nearly fifty thousand."
"And our cheif engineer, Mason, has been developing, producing, and formulating designs for a hand-held cannon." Volteer passed a design sheet to Spyro. "He refers to his creation as a wrought-iron-dragon. Granted it shant be as powerful as the cannons along the city walls, it shall posess enough firepower to defeat a single enemy with one destructive blow.
Spyro released a low whistle as he looked over the design. The front of the wrought-iron-dragon was a barrel that resambled a roaring dragon, like the cannons on the wall, but came to a straight handle at the back that reminded Spyro of a crossbow. "How does that make our odds look, Chakra?"
"I am unable to say for certain, but a force of that size wealding weapons as such will be formitable, regardless of the enemy."
"Good. Now there are only Three things I'll require while training the candidates." He held up a finger as he listed each item. "I'll need three days to prepare some equipment, decent funding, and a medical team."
"Done." Terradore stated. "We'll inform them that we shall no longer be their teachers, and that their training will resume in three days."
"Thank you. You sould give them fair warning as well, Terradore."
The green dragons eyes widened at the suggestion. "F-for what?"
Spyro looked toward Chakra, and they both flashed a demented smile. "The only reason I was able to learn what I did in one night is because Chakra trained me while my mind was in dreamscape. Without that little advantage, the candidates are in for a rough couple of months." As spyro stroked his chin horn, his eyes suddenly flashed open. "And also, I'll need their armour measurments."
Volteer, unsurprisingly, was the one to let his curiosity get the best of him. "What on earth for, Spyro? They already posess fine suites of armour that I helped design, personally."
"These measurments won't be used for battle armour." He replied in a matter-of-fact kind of voice.
"Then what do you plan on making, young dragon?" Cyril asked as his curiosity pulled at his mind.
Spyro never lifted his gaze from the charts before him. In a stale voice, he replied, "You'll see in three days."
AUTHORS NOTE: Alright! A little slow, but that's what fillers are meant for. Besides, I think Terradore and Spyro made some incredible progress. And who's Nitra, the nervous ice dragoness? Come back and find out! Please review!
In Eternity,
TIDOS