Hope you enjoy the longest chapter so far as much as i did writing it :) R&R and let me know what you think.
"How is he doing?"
"Will he be alright?"
"I'm sorry, we cannot say for sure at this time. He has suffered major trauma and I would be befuddled and astounded if he were to ever recover from this. It is all up to his will at this time."
"And what of his eye?"
"That is another thing. From what we can assume, it was caused by something very dark. We have used one of the healing crystals on him but it had no effect. I do believe that when he wakes, if he ever does, he will never see out of it again."
"Hey he's moving! Is he waking up?"
"I'm afraid not. He has been mumbling something for a while now but it is still inaudible. Spyro, Cynder, please let him rest, he will need it."
Gabriel shot upright and gasped for air. He coughed hard and panted heavily. Sweat poured from his face and body. His arms were killing him, his tail was on fire, and his eye... his eye! The pain in his arms and tail went away after a few seconds, but his eye continued to burned just as his chest had. He placed his paw over it and felt a soft cloth and bandages around it.
He sighed with relief and cut away the bandages. Once they were removed he was shocked at what he saw. Nothing. He felt around his eye again to make sure he had removed all of the bandages and started to hyperventilate when nothing else was there.
"Malefor." He growled. He clenched his teeth together so tight that he started to bleed.
"Gabriel!" Cynder shouted from the doorway. She ran to the side of his bed, Spyro followed just behind her.
He ignored her and turned his head away. "Hey Spyro." He said.
"Hey." Spyro mumbled. He kept a distance from the dragon in case he was to try anything again.
"And what about me?" Cynder huffed.
Gabriel sighed. "Hey Cynder." He said none to pleasantly.
"What happened to you?" Spyro asked. He wanted to skip the not so pleasant, pleasantries.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Gabriel said and sighed.
Cynder bit her tongue so as not to say anything. She knew why he was upset and thought it was best to keep it from Spyro for the moment.
"Well anyways, you have been out cold for a few days now." Spyro said.
"What?" Gabriel shouted and jumped off his bed. When he landed his front legs gave way and he fell face first to the floor.
Spyro stifled a laugh and cleared his throat. "I wouldn't move around to much if I were you, we have a long way ahead of us and we will need our rest, especially you." He said.
Gabriel growled and lifted himself off of the floor. His legs were wobbly but otherwise fine. "What happened to Flame?"
"We don't know." Spyro said and shrugged his shoulders. "He woke up yesterday but he is suffering from memory loss."
"So he doesn't remember anything of what happened?" Gabriel asked.
Spyro shook his head. "Nope. The only thing he said he remembered was that he and Ember were attacked on their way back from a village somewhere in the east at night."
Gabriel sighed again. "My brother no doubt."
Spyro nodded. "Yes, he said he recalled a hooded figure just before he was attacked but that's about it."
"The guardians have sent hawks to the villages that they visited telling the dragons that were in hiding not to return to Warfang until this ordeal has been resolved." Cynder stated.
"There are others?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes apparently so." Spyro said and nodded his head. Both Spyro and Cynder were shocked to hear that there were more dragons other than them, but were happy none the less.
Gabriel sighed and rubbed his eye. He kept it closed so the burning would be more tolerable, which it was, but not by much.
"I wouldn't suppose you have a shower or bath I could use do you?" Gabriel asked. He hoped that he could wash away the aches and pains in his body, and most importantly get a look at his eye.
Spyro chuckled and clenched his nose. "Ancestors know you need one," He said.
Gabriel rolled his good eye and walked past him.
"Down the hall and to the left." He said.
"Thanks." Gabriel said and left the room.
Spyro and Cynder remained in the infirmary. It was quiet since the chief of staff was killed and the nurses were removed from the room. There were a few moles and cheetahs laying on the beds asleep. Unlike Gabriel, they had minor injuries, such as sprained ankles from patrolling for to long, headaches, small fevers, and other miscellaneous problems but nothing to serious.
"Hey Cynder," Spyro said, breaking the silence. "Why was he ignoring you when you walked in?"
Cynder had hoped she could avoid that question for a while, but knew it would be brought up eventually. However she too was not ready to talk about it. "Another time." She said and walked past the purple dragon.
Spyro, however, was not about to let this slide. "Hold on," He said and stepped in front of the dragoness. "He has a right to be cryptic and mysterious but you don't. I know you Cynder, what happened?"
Cynder cursed to herself. She knew that Spyro wouldn't let this go even if she asked him to. She sighed and took in a short breath. "Well this isn't going to be easy." She thought to herself.
"When you both left he came back into my room. He told me he knew I wasn't acting like myself and refused to let it go. So I told him about the dream I had." She said.
Spyro blushed. Once he was finally able to speak to her again, she apologized to him first thing and explained why she had attacked him.
Cynder ignored the burning in her cheeks and continued to explain. "He said he would give me some space but I told him to stay with me. He slept on the floor and I joined him. He was crying whenever he fell asleep and I can't imagine why he wouldn't. Somehow when I fell asleep, I entered in his dream, and he was... Killing these... creatures. Over and over, he would kill them and revive them until I finally stopped him. It was terrible seeing him like that, he showed no signs of mercy as he slaughtered them. " Cynder shook off a cold chill that ran down her spine as she remembered what she saw. "When he was finally calmed down, he showed me this place he called an orphanage, he told me he ran away from there with his brother when he was young. And then he told me that he..." Cynder closed her mouth quickly and wished she had stopped. She wanted to drop the subject, but Spyro was not about to let that happen.
"He told you that he what?" Spyro asked. He was very intrigued by the story, more so now that Cynder was trying to keep something secret.
Cynder sighed and cursed to herself. "That he had... feelings for me." She said.
"He what!" Spyro shouted. His muscles tensed up and his talons scratched the stone floor. He had spent a large portion of his life with Cynder and only recently revealed his feelings for her. And now a new dragon comes along, one who had never even met them until that very week, and he claimed that he loved her? It infuriated him.
"Spyro," Cynder said calmly. "He is upset with me because I rejected him. I told him that I loved you, and only you."
She licked his cheek and he sighed. "I love you too." He said and licked her cheek as well.
Cynder sighed. "That's not the bad part though." She said.
"Why is that?" Spyro asked and cocked his head.
"When I told him I didn't share the same feelings, his world was crushed. Everything started to fall apart around him and that's when I woke up."
"And when you woke up, whatever happened to him, happened?"
Cynder nodded. "Hunter was watching over him and when we couldn't wake him up we, went to get you and the guardians."
Spyro looked at the dragoness before him. He was glad that she rejected him, but at the same time, he felt sorry for him. For an odd reason, he believed that Gabriel really did like her, maybe he even loved her, and that he was really hurt when she told him how she really felt. But something about Gabriel made his scales itch. He felt as if Gabriel wasn't being completely honest with them about something, and whatever that something may be he was doing a very good job about keeping it a secret.
"Hey guys." A familiar voice was heard from the doorway. Sparx flew into the room and looked at the serious faced dragons. "Oh is this a bad time?"
Spyro shook his head. "Hey Sparx, where have you been?" He asked his brother.
"I went to visit the folks back in the swamp for the last few days. What's been goin' on around here?" Sparx asked.
Cynder and Spyro looked at each other. They rolled their eyes together. "Too much." they said.
It was different walking with only one eye. Gabriel would occasionally stumble on a stone that was slightly raised on his right side. After stubbing his paw for the third time he decided to test his wings. Volteer had neglected to teach him how to fly and focused on his powers alone. He flapped his wings slowly but it was only enough to get a small updraft beneath him. the slight draft lifted him a few inches from the ground but he crumpled to the floor. He tried again, but the results were the same.
He growled when he fell to the floor after his wings gave way for the third time. "Need to practice a little." He mumbled to himself.
He turned left down the hallway Spyro had told him to and was amazed at what he saw. Marble statue's of dragons, moles, cheetahs, wolfs, and many other creatures surrounded a gigantic dip in the ground. Towels were hung on racks next to the pool sized tub, along with soap and a few rags for cleaning. Two secondary, smaller tubs, that were most likely built for younger dragons at the time, were at the far corners of the much larger bath. A small fountain in the middle of the tub activated as if on queue to his presence, spraying water up into the air which caused a rainbow effect all around the room. Once the water filled the gigantic tub he took a moment to dip his paw into the water to test the temperature. Steam rose from the water but it felt soothing to the touch.
He didn't waste any time. He took a step back then dashed forwards and jumped into the pool-like tub. He sighed with relief as the water worked like magic to rejuvenate his sore muscles and joints. He surfaced and breathed in deeply. His sinuses were cleared and the burning in his eye subsided as the rest of his body was taken over in a blissful state of relaxation and comfort by the warm water. He turned on his back and allowed his body to stay afloat on the surface of the water. He used his wings to propel himself around the surface as he examined the statues that towered over his head.
Dragons of all kinds, signified by small engraved words on the base of the statues were all around him. The common ice, earth, lightning, and fire dragons were at all four corners of the bath, whereas the less common poison, fear, wind, and darkness dragons were on each of the sides. A glass window with the design of a purple dragon allowed light to shine through to the bath.
Gabriel sighed comfortably. He closed his eye and was just about to fall asleep when he remembered. "Every time you close your eyes, I will be there..." Malefor's voice rang through his mind.
He squinted through his good eye and sighed. He made another lap around the bath and settled on a step near the edge. He rested his head so he would peer just above the water. Bubbles popped as he sighed through his nose.
"Well this is gonna' suck." He thought to himself. He lifted his head from the water and opened his right eye. The steam made it sting and water so he had to close it again. Once the pain left him he tried to open it again.
He would have gasped if he wasn't already used to the abnormal. He had no iris or pupil. His eye was pure red and glowed slightly like his chest. The color reminded him of Malefor's; cold, lifeless, and evil. The cut from his brow to his upper cheek had closed and now formed another scar. It was more of a strain to keep it open so he relaxed his muscles and it closed automatically.
"Not even a week here and I've already been blinded." He grumbled. "What was it that he whispered to me... Nerve something..." He asked himself. He sighed when he couldn't remember. "Probably wasn't important." He thought.
He refused to close his other eye but he let his muscles relax in the warm water.
"Canon ball!" Sparx shouted.
Gabriel looked up and saw Spyro and Cynder jumping into the water. It caught him by surprise and he choked on the water that splashed in his face.
"Don't mind if we join you do you?" Spyro asked.
Gabriel shrugged his wings and placed his head back on the tip of the surface.
Sparx flew over to the smaller pool and relaxed on the surface. "I'm gonna' take a nap. You kids play nice now." He joked.
Cynder emerged on the surface behind Spyro and put a talon to her lips to silence Gabriel.
Despite how he was feeling towards her at the time he couldn't help but smile.
"What are you smiling at?" Spyro asked when he noticed the sly look on his face.
"Gotchya!" Cynder exclaimed and pounced on the purple dragon.
She giggled as he struggled to get her off of him. "C'mon Spyro, I thought you were tougher than this." She teased.
Spyro gave a sly grin and shifted his eyes signaling for Gabriel to get out.
Gabriel chuckled when he exited the pool and sat by the edge.
Spyro took a deep breath in and dunked his head under the water. Cynder yelped as the water started to freeze around her.
"S-s-s-Spyro!" She cried and jumped off of him.
Spyro and Gabriel laughed as she shivered from the cold.
"Th-th-Thats n-not f-f-funny!" She yelled.
"C'mon Cynder I thought you were tougher than that." Spyro teased her now.
Cynder stuck her tongue out at the purple dragon and he rolled his eyes. "Alright here." He said. He blew a hot flame into the water and heated it back up again.
Cynder dove back into the hot water and Gabriel resumed his position at the baths end.
Cynder peered at Spyro who was chuckling at his little prank. "Think it's funny do you?" Cynder asked.
Spyro stopped laughing immediately.
"That's what I thought." She said and drifted over to the edge of the bath. She kept a respectable distance between herself and the gold dragon next to her.
Spyro floated next to her and she leaned on his side. Gabriel tried to avoid eye contact with her and Spyro did the same.
"Hey, you never told me why you don't eat meat." Cynder said. The silence was getting awkward, well, more awkward than it already was.
"Lets just say that those kids you saw in front of the building thought it would be funny to drop a mouse inside my dinner."
"That doesn't sound so bad." Spyro said.
"Well I'm not really used to eating live rodents for dinner in our already disgusting dinner."
Cynder giggled. "Is that all?" She asked. "Surely you can eat other meat, it was just one time after all."
"I don't know." Gabriel said. "I haven't eaten meat in almost five years."
"No wonder you're so small." She teased.
"Yeah whatever." He said and rolled his eye. The water rippled as his stomach growled loudly.
"Well now is a perfect opportunity for you to get over your fear." Spyro said. Cynder nodded in agreement.
He put a paw on his stomach and waved with the other one nonchalantly. "I'm not hungry." He lied. Right after he said that his stomach growled even louder.
His face burned with embarrassment as the other two laughed. "Come on." They said in unison. They got out of the water and went behind him. They both grabbed one of his arms and dragged him out.
"Fine, fine, I'll go, geez." He said. He shook himself dry and used one of the towels to dry his face. "Wait, what about Sparx?" He asked and turned to the dragonfly.
"What about Sparx?" Cynder joked.
"Good point." Gabriel said with a grin.
The trio walked down the halls and many of the on duty moles were giving Gabriel weird looks.
"What's up with everybody?" He asked as they made another turn down the many hallways.
"Everyone has heard of what you did to Flame and that, whatever happened to you happened." Spyro whispered as they passed another mole.
"Oh." He said.
"Speaking of which, do you remember what happened after I..." Cynder stopped herself and blushed.
Gabriel ignored what she said. "I was in another memory, and that's when Malefor attacked me." Gabriel said.
"He what?" Both Cynder and Spyro stopped in their tracks.
"I'd rather not talk about it right now." He said and flashed them his blood colored eye.
He brushed past them and continued to walk down the hallway. "Hey I kinda' need to follow you two, I still don't know where anything is." He said and waved a wing for them to continue walking.
"I should have stayed with him." Cynder whispered quietly to Spyro. "This is all my fault."
"Don't say that." Spyro retorted. "If you stayed, who knows what could have happened to you?"
"I don't know, but I don't think its fair that he has to suffer this much." She said and hung her head.
Spyro covered Cynder with his wing and brought her close. "I know, but we can't change that right now, we need to focus on what's ahead, and if what Ignitus showed us will come true, we will need to take care of ourselves." Spyro said.
"Yeah, I guess so." Cynder said. She nuzzled Spyro's cheek and they broke away as they passed Gabriel.
The three walked together until they finally reached the mess hall about ten minutes later. "This place is to big." Spyro and Gabriel mumbled to themselves. Cynder however was enjoying the temple. The moles and cheetahs were respecting her for what she has done for them. She was happy here.
Four rows of about ten tables filled the room. Four banners, each with the four common elements, fire, earth, ice, and lightning, were at the end of each table. Four colored mats were at the end of each individual row for the guardians to sit and eat.
Volteer sat alone at his designated spot in the far left corner eating a small lamb. Spyro and Cynder tried to shy away from the fast talking guardian but Gabriel didn't mind him.
Volteer saw the three dragons and waved a wing at them. Gabriel did the same and started to walk over. Spyro and Cynder grumbled as they skulked over with him. Spyro spat a small flame onto Gabriel's rear and Cynder cooled it off with a slap from a gust of wind she created by flapping her wing.
He shot them irritated looks. They however looked away and whistled quietly. He rolled his eye and jumped up to the table next to the electric guardian.
"Why hello there, Gabriel, Spyro, Cynder." He said cheerfully. "It is such a pleasant, magnificent, and extraordinary day today is it not?" He said.
Gabriel nodded and smiled. Spyro and Cynder however rolled their eyes to each other.
"I see that you have recovered in a remarkable time Gabriel, how are you feeling today?" Volteer asked.
Gabriel opened his eye to show the electric guardian. "Aside from this, I feel fine." He said and let his eye close again.
"Ah yes, I assume that you cannot see out of it correct?"
Gabriel nodded. "I'm getting used to it." He said and sighed.
"Spyro, Cynder, how are you two today?" The guardian asked suddenly. Gabriel was glad he changed the subject.
"Fine Volteer." They both said in unison.
"Excellent," Volteer said with a smile, unaware of the attitude they had said it in. "Has Terrador briefed you of your mission yet?" He asked.
"No he hasn't." Spyro said.
"Very well then, if you wouldn't mind going to the pool of visions, he should be waiting for you there." Volteer said.
Cynder and Spyro nodded quickly and left without a second glance. "Thank ancestors." They thought.
"So if I might ask, how did you come about that scar on your eye?" Volteer asked. "I do not recall or remember such an intriguing mark before."
"I'll just say Malefor did this to me." He said and sighed again. "Just before he whispered..." Gabriel rubbed his head and tried to remember. "Nerv... Niv..." Then it struck him. "Oh I remember now, he something about a Nivara."
Volteer had just taken a drink of water then sprayed it across the table, soaking a few moles. "W-What did you say?" He exclaimed. The moles grumbled to themselves, picked up their food, and moved to another table.
"I said Nivara, why?" Gabriel asked.
"What else did he say?" Volteer asked and raised his voice. "What did he say?"
"I don't know, something about my father but that's about it." Gabriel said and backed away from the guardian.
Volteer was almost speechless. "How did he, how did you..." Volteer's eyes widened. "Oh no." He too backed away from the gold dragon.
"What's the matter? What's a 'Nivara'?" Gabriel asked confused.
"Why did I not see it before?" Volteer mumbled to himself. "I'm so stupid, so ignorant and confused!" He looked as if he had seen a ghost. "The egg was gold the other was black."
"Volteer are you alright?" Gabriel asked.
It took a moment but Volteer collected his bearings. "Malefor asked you about your father, yes?" Volteer asked finally.
Gabriel looked to the floor. "Yeah, but I don't have a dad or a mom." He said bitterly. He looked back up at the guardian quickly. "How did he know?" He asked himself.
"I don't think that's true," Volteer objected. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Nivara was a dragoness, she was your mother, and I... you... you are my son."
Spyro and Cynder sat patiently by the pool of visions for Terrador to return. He had left momentarily so it was just the two of them and Cyril. He was in a corner reading one of his many books on ice dragon heritage.
Spyro and Cynder were deep in a quiet conversation of how stuck up and proud Cyril was about his ancestry. They would occasionally giggle to themselves and Cyril would peer over his book and give a smile, unaware of their conversation. "To be young again." He said to himself and returned to his book.
"Master Cyril," A mole had just entered the room and saluted the ice guardian. Under his arm he held a very large book. "Here is the book you requested." He said and placed the book next to the one he was reading.
"Thank you." He said. "If you don't mind would you take this one back to the archives for me?" He asked and handed the mole the other book before the mole could even answer.
"Yes sir." The mole said and saluted the guardian once more. He exited the room and was mumbling something about a 'lazy, good for nothing, stuck up...' Spyro and Cynder laughed quietly.
"Spyro, Cynder, do you know anything about wolves?" Cyril asked suddenly. He closed the book and rubbed his eyes.
"Only that they aren't to fond of us dragons, why?" Spyro said.
"I have sent a request to a good friend of mine that you would be arriving in his village in a few days." Cyril said.
"And he is a wolf?" Cynder asked.
"Yes, he is the leader of his pack and should be of some help to you when you arrive." Cyril said.
"So why did you ask if we knew anything about wolves?" Cynder asked.
"I merely wanted to know if you were alright with staying with them is all." Cyril explained.
"Well as long as they don't try anything funny I think we should be fine." Spyro said and puffed out his chest.
Cynder giggled. "C'mon tough guy, we all know your a wimp." Cynder said and punched Spyro in the arm playfully.
"Ow what was that for?" Spyro asked and rubbed his arm.
"My point exactly." Cynder said and laughed.
"You can't be serious, I lived on earth all my life." Gabriel said. They had taken their conversation to somewhere more private.
"You never had any friends or fit in anywhere in your old world did you?" Volteer asked. "Every day was a living hell for you and you always questioned why you were there to begin with correct?"
Gabriel didn't give an answer, he just listened intently to the electric dragon.
"That's because you weren't meant to be there. Your mother laid your eggs here in this world, along with your brother. We had thought that you would be safe but that was until the night of the raid."
The temple shook as hundreds of dragons battled outside. "The dark army is coming, you must take the purple egg and go Ignitus!" Volteer shouted.
Ignitus grabbed the egg and fled from the battle as the other dragons were forced to defend his escape.
"Nivara!" Volteer shouted.
"Volteer I'm here!" The black dragoness shouted back.
Volteer was carrying two eggs, one gold, one black. "I want you to take them and go!" Volteer said. "Guard them with your life."
"But what about you?" Nivara asked. "Don't leave me Volteer please!"
"I am sorry my dear, I love you so much." Volteer said and nuzzled his mate. "Now go, I will be fine."
Volteer ran off to intercept a group of charging apes leaving the dragoness with her eggs.
"I love you." She cried and flew off.
"And that was the last time I saw her." Volteer said sadly. "I have no doubt in my mind that you and your brother are my sons but how you came to be in your world I do not know. Forgive me for not being there when you needed me." Volteer said and lowered his head.
Gabriel was speechless. He backed away from the electric guardian slowly and ran out the door. Volteer didn't try to stop him. A single tear fell from his eye. "Nivara." He said to himself. "What happened..."
His head spun as all the information he just received fried his brain. "I am a dragon?" He asked himself. "How? That can't be possible... can it?"
An idea struck his mind. "Ignitus!" He ran out onto one of the balconies and jumped.
He let his wings stretch out and catch him as he glided over the trees that surrounded the temple. His mind was to mixed up in thoughts that he didn't even realize he was flying. He flapped his wings subconsciously several times to keep his altitude as he thought. "Ignitus is the chronicler and every dragon has a book, so if I am a dragon, I will have one too!" He shouted into the air.
He raced through the air for several miles until he came across a flat grassy land. It was only when he was descending to land when he realized that he had actually flown. He began to panick, he didn't know how to land. He braced himself as he came in fast to the ground and did several rolls. His mouth was full of dirt and he groaned as he brushed himself off.
"Note to self: Walk, don't fly." He thought to himself.
He walked into the middle of of the field and sat down. He tried to focus his mind on Ignitus and where he was at but after several minutes, nothing had happened.
Gabriel growled as he tried again to focus on Ignitus so he could visit him, but it didn't work.
"C'mon you stupid powers, work damn it!" He shouted. When yelling failed to work he fell to the dirt floor and sighed.
"I need to relax." He thought to himself. He closed his eye and allowed his muscles to relax. He felt the tickle of the grass on his scales, the slight breeze in the air cooled off the almost evening heat. A butterfly landed on his snout. When he got a good look at it, he realized it was the same one as before.
"You must like me to come all this way little guy." Gabriel whispered so as not to make him fly off.
"I wouldn't say that I like you, but I like to be around you." The butterfly answered back.
Gabriel yelled when he heard the butterfly talk and jumped backwards. "You can talk?" He exclaimed.
"Well of course I can, some people just don't listen." The butterfly said back.
"What do you mean don't listen?" Gabriel asked the butterfly.
The butterfly didn't give an answer. It just floated above the spot silently. It dove down quickly and flew back up. It did this a few more times and Gabriel understood what it wanted. He took his position on the ground once again and allowed his mind to become calm once again.
"See, you can hear me now that you have unclogged your mind and will listen to the things around you." The butterfly said. "What others can't hear you can hear, what others can't see you can see, it is all a matter of observing the world around you and calming your mind." The butterfly said.
"For a butterfly, your pretty wise." Gabriel said.
"Thank you for your words but I believe you are here on other matters than to listen to me preach to you." The butterfly said and began to fly off.
"Hey wait, I didn't get your name." Gabriel called out to the butterfly.
"We butterfly's do not have names, but you can call me Dust if you wish. It was the name given to me by a fellow listener such as yourself."
"What was his name?"
"Nivara, I believe." Dust said and flew off.
"My mother?" Gabriel asked himself.
Volteer had joined the others for their briefing but was being unusually quiet.
"What say you Volteer?" Terrador asked for the third time. "Should they progress through Dante's Freezer, or should they wait with Fang until they can get an escort?"
Volteer mumbled something under his breath. His mind was too focused on what he had discussed with Gabriel.
"Say again Volteer, that chatterbox mouth of yours finally give out?" Cyril asked.
Spyro and Cynder giggled and Cyril smirked at them.
Volteer just picked himself up from his spot and exited the room. His tail zapped the stone around him as he walked out and he slammed the door behind him.
"Cyril!" Terrador yelled.
"What?" Cyril asked.
Terrador sighed and rubbed his head. "It does not matter. Spyro, Cynder, you will leave tomorrow morning at dawn with Gabriel and start your search at Dante's Freezer."
Both Spyro and Cynder nodded. "Where is he anyways?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah shouldn't he be here with us?" Cynder added.
"I asked Volteer if he had seen him when I called him in here, but all he did was mumble something I couldn't understand so I just dropped it." Terrador said.
"That doesn't sound like him, normally he wont shut up and now he's not talking?" Cyril asked.
"Cyril that's enough." Terrador said. He shot an irritated look at the ice guardian and the room became dead silent.
"So what do we have for supplies?" Spyro asked, breaking the tense moment.
"We have packs for each of you that will supply at least a weeks worth of food so hunting wont be necessary for the time being." Terrador said. "Fang will resupply you when you reach his village and he and his men will escort you through Dante's Freezer."
"Well that's no good." Sparx said. He had been listening to their conversation for a while and remaining silent behind them. "If you supply Spyro with all the food and don't give him the time to get it himself, he'll be fatter than he already is."
Spyro rolled his eyes. "Cynder, do you mind?" He asked.
"Gladly." She said and smacked Sparx with a gust of wind. The gust knocked Sparx to the wall and he fell to the floor.
"Just a joke, geez." Sparx he huffed and flew out of the room.
Once he was gone, Terrador continued their discussion. "Spyro would you mind looking for Gabriel now and inform him now?"
Spyro nodded and left the room a moment later. "Good lad," Terrador said with a smile. "Cynder, you may do whatever you wish now."
"Can I get that in writing please?" Cynder joked.
Terrador chuckled. "You can do whatever you please that is within reason."
"Darn." Cynder said and laughed. She walked out of the room and walked aimlessly down the corridor.
"Ignitus you here?" Gabriel shouted. His voice echoed endlessly into the darkness of the gigantic archives. He sat in the blue light waiting for the chronicler.
"Ah yes, one moment please." Ignitus' voice echoed back.
He appeared a moment later carrying several books on his back. He tripped on a stone that was slightly higher than the others and the books he carried fell.
Gabriel raised a paw and the books froze in mid air. He waved it over into the light next to a pedestal and they organized neatly on top of one another.
"Thank you." Ignitus said.
"You should be more careful, you don't want to hurt yourself do you?" Gabriel teased.
Ignitus chuckled. "Indeed I do not." Ignitus said. "Now, what is it that you are here for young dragon?" He asked.
"I need to know something." Gabriel said.
"And what might that be?"
"Who was my mother and father?"
Ignitus sighed. "That is what I thought you would ask. Here take a look." Ignitus waved his paw just like Gabriel and one of the books he had dropped unstacked itself from the others and flew next to them. It was a gold book. The title read: Aravin. "You are a dragon." Ignitus said and opened the book for him.
Each chapter of the book was depicted by how old he was. For fifteen years the pages remained blank, until the day he entered into their world... his world. He looked at the beginning of the book and two names were written next to one another. His mother: Nivara. His father: Volteer. He could not believe it. He was a dragon! The news that he was really a dragon made him happy, happier than he had ever been in his life. But at the same time it made him angry, hateful, and most of all sad. What happened to his mother, how did he end up on Earth with his brother?
Ignitus waved his paw again and another two books from the stack flew over to them. These two books were black and their titles were: Vexire, and Nivara. "Your mother named you after her, and your brother after one of her most powerful attacks: Convexity fire. When your mother escaped from the temple she sought out the previous chronicler for help. She had been hunted down by Cynder until she finally reached him. She asked him to send her eggs away so they would be safe until the war was over. He agreed and told her of the Arc. He said that it would send you and your brother to another world far away where you would be safe until you were ready to return, but at a price. Once the Arc was opened anything could pass through, and that included Malefor. So the only way to close it was to give a live sacrifice to keep you two safe and to close it before anything else could pass through. When she did the Arc broke into three pieces and scattered across the world so nobody would use it again."
This was too much to take in at once. Gabriel rested his burning head on his paws. His mother sacrificed herself so that he and his brother could live.
Ignitus sighed heavily. "You are in for a rough journey my young friend. Wherever you see hatred in the world you will be close to achieving your goal. Scorn and hate follows the Arc in its wake. You must not allow Malefor to obtain the pieces or we will all perish. Goodbye Aravin, I will speak with you again soon."
Ignitus became blurry and the archives around him melted away and shaped back to the grassy land where he was before. "Vex, my brother," He thought. "Nivara, my mother, Volteer my father, and me... Aravin." All the information flooded through his mind.
His whole life was a lie, the world he lived in was real, the sadness that he suffered there was real, and all because of his mother's sacrifice for him to live. He could not blame her, she wanted him to be safe, but at the cost of his happiness. It was a mix of feelings, hate and love. He loved her because she sacrificed her life for him, but hated her for sending him to a world in which he didn't belong. Why was his life such a wreck?
"Nivara... mom..." He whispered to himself. He looked to the sky. It was already nighttime and the stars danced elegantly in the distance. A constellation of stars formed a dragon and in seeing it, his mind was calmed. He needed to go back to the temple, he needed to speak with his father. He unfurled his wings and took off into the night.
"Inform all other guards to be on the lookout for Gabriel," Terrador ordered. It has been hours and nobody has hide nor tail of him. "When you find him, please inform me."
The group of moles nodded and scurried off, each going in different directions.
"Where is Volteer?" Terrador asked Spyro.
"I don't know," Spyro said. "I think he's been cooped up in his quarters since the meeting earlier."
"Please get him," Terrador said. "I need to speak with him immediately."
Spyro bit his tongue. He knew it was best to keep his question to himself for the time being. He and Cynder left the room and hurried off to Volteer's room.
"Nivara..." Volteer sighed for the thousandth time. It had been so long since he had seen her, so long that his memory of her was blurry. Her ruby eyes. They were so warm, so tender, so inviting, so happy. Every day her eyes would be full of life, so much so that it would affect those around her, lifting their spirits. Her sleek body. Her black scales shone in the light and as she moved, the light would reflect off of them as if they were dancing. Her maroon wings would be wrapped around any creature that needed warmth and love. She was so kind to everyone.
Volteer sighed again. He missed her so much. Where had she gone to?
"Hey Volteer, you in there?" Spyro asked as he knocked on the door.
"Y-yes." Volteer said. He cleared his throat and rubbed the tears out of his eyes. "Come in if you wish." He said.
"I just came by to tell you that Terrador wants to see you." Spyro said.
"Oh, alright then, I will be there momentarily." Volteer said.
Spyro and Cynder looked at each other. Volteer sounded depressed, his normal chatty and high strung attitude was dulled and sad. Instead of pressuring the guardian they decided to go and aid the guards in their search for the the gold dragon.
The night air felt good. Again he was subconsciously flying. When the temple came into view his mind returned to him. He did not panic this time about landing. He dove in like a rocket through the temple and let his wings go limp. He did several rolls and stopped when he hit a wall. He ignored the pain and dashed through the halls looking for his father.
"Volteer, what is troubling you?" Terrador asked. He knew it was about Nivara, but did not know of his son.
Volteer remained silent. He looked to the floor and was mumbling to himself quietly.
"Volteer." Terrador said again, this time louder so he would get his attention.
Volteer looked up at Terrador for a moment then looked back down to the ground.
Terrador sighed in frustration. He was getting nowhere, and fast.
"Nivara is dead Volteer, let it go." Terrador said. He had to be direct, even if it hurt Volteer.
Volteer picked up his head and stared into Terrador's eyes. After a long tense moment he finally spoke. "It's not that." He said quietly.
"Then what is bothering you so much?" Terrador asked.
"Gabriel!" Spyro and Cynder shouted. They had finally caught up to the gold dragon and blocked his path.
"Out of my way." Gabriel said and moved past them.
Spyro jumped in front of him again. "We've been looking for you for hours, where have you been?" He said.
Gabriel waved a paw and the faint glow of golden energy covered Spyro's body and he flew to the side. Spyro hit a pillar and coughed as the wind was knocked out of him.
It was Cynder's turn to jump in front of him in an attempt to block his path. "What's your problem?" She asked. "Why did you do that?"
Gabriel just shook his head and walked around the dragoness. She tried to get in front of him again but he opened his blind eye and she froze in place.
"I need to speak with Volteer." He said and continued walking.
When he walked around the corner to another hallway Cynder was free to move again and Spyro picked himself off the floor.
"What the hell is his problem?" Spyro asked.
"I think we should we follow him?" Cynder asked.
"And get thrown into another pillar? No thanks." Spyro said.
Cynder rolled her eyes. She wrapped her tail around his neck and pulled him with her as she walked. "Come on."
"Fine I'll go." Spyro said and pulled away from her tail's grip.
Cynder giggled and swayed her hips proudly. Spyro rolled his eyes and walked to her side.
"He's what?" Terrador and Cyril exclaimed. Volteer had just told them of what he learned.
Volteer lowered his head. "He is my son, Aravin." He said.
"How is that possible?" Cyril asked. He could almost laugh at the absurdity of his statement. "How can he be your son? He said he was from another world and he's lived there all his life!"
"I don't know how much of that I can believe, but what I do know is he is my son." Volteer said.
"He's telling the truth."
All heads turned to see the gold dragon standing in the doorway. They were all relieved to see that he was fine, but some questions needed to be asked.
"You believe him as well?" Cyril asked.
"I do not believe him, I know for a fact." He said. "Each dragon has a book, and Ignitus showed me mine. I could not believe it but It's true. My name is Aravin, my father is Volteer, and my mother is Nivara."
"How can that be possible?" Terrador asked. "All other eggs were destroyed in the raid, how did you survive, and how is it that you were in the other world you claim to be from?"
Aravin held his tongue. Volteer did not know that his mate had died as a sacrifice to save their eggs and telling him would only cause more pain. "I... I..." He tried to think of a way to drop the subject. He turned his head away from them to avoid their gaze. When he could not think of any other way to avoid the question he opened his blind eye and froze the guardians in place. He walked out of the room and the door shut behind him.
"Gabriel." Spyro and Cynder were outside the door waiting for him. They did not hear the conversation so they were still ignorant of what was going on.
He shook his head slowly. "I need to be alone for a little bit." He said. He tried to focus his powers and disappear but it was just as Malefor said, they don't work at night. He sighed and just walked away.
Both Spyro and Cynder followed behind him. "What's the matter?" Cynder asked.
"Please just leave me alone," He said. "I don't want to hurt you two."
Cynder backed away but Spyro stepped forward. "Is that a threat?" He asked. His teeth were bared and a low growl resonated in his throat.
Aravin shook his head again. "It won't be if you just back off." He said and continued walking.
Spyro took another step forward but Aravin whipped around quickly and opened his bad eye again. Spyro felt an extreme pressure press down on him and he fell face first to the floor.
Tears were swelling up in his eyes. "Please go." He asked and turned away again. He walked to a balcony and jumped.
Spyro growled angrily. "I'm gonna' kill him."
Cynder rolled her eyes. "Come on Spyro leave him alone and let's go get some rest, we'll all need it." She coaxed and helped the purple dragon off the floor.
Aravin flew to the roof of the temple. He walked over to the edge and slumped down. He placed his head on his crossed paws and sighed. Not a cloud was in the sky, so he was able to see the stars do their nighttime dance.
"It's nice out tonight huh?" A shadowy voice asked.
Aravin ignored his brother, he didn't care if he attacked him, it would be more of a relief if he were to die.
"Don't be like that," Vex said. He walked over to his brother and sat down beside him. He nudged his brother's shoulder with one of his claws. "What's the deal, cat got your tongue?" He asked.
"What do you want?" Aravin asked.
"I just wanted to spend some quality time with my brother before I have to kill you is all." Vex said plainly.
"And what makes you think you could kill me?" Aravin asked. He raised himself up and sat on his haunches.
"Oh come on, we both know I was tougher back in the other world." Vex said with a laugh.
Aravin rolled his eye. "Yeah, in the 'other world,'" He said and nudged his brother with a wing. "Here is different."
Vex laughed heartily. "You always knew how to make me laugh."
Aravin chuckled. Though his brother was now an enemy, he couldn't help but be happy that he was there with him. He looked at his brother and noticed a bulge in the back of his cloak. "I see you have your wings now." He said.
Vex looked at his back. "Oh these things, yeah, I got em' while you were out cold." He uncovered the back of his cloak to reveal two, pitch black wings.
"Speaking of when I was out cold, I still owe you for biting off my tail." Aravin said.
Vex covered his wings again and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that," He said. "Just so you know, that hurt me a whole lot more than it hurt you."
"Yeah, I doubt that." Aravin said and rolled his eye again. They both looked at each other and laughed loudly. For such an odd moment, the two brothers were happy.
After they stopped laughing they looked to the night sky together. "So who's our dad?" Vex asked. "Malefor knows but won't tell me."
Aravin was caught off guard by the question. He didn't think his brother cared. He gave a short laugh and rubbed his lightning shaped horns.
"What's so funny?" Vex asked.
"You're not gonna' believe this," Aravin said as he finished laughing. "But our dad is Volteer."
Vex looked at his brother and smiled. "No kidding, Volteer huh?" He asked. "Well that would explain the horns." He said and poked his brothers head. "And I'm guessing that you inherited the ability to not know when to keep your mouth shut huh?"
Aravin chuckled. "Yeah right," He said and shoved his brother's shoulder. "Though there is one thing I don't get."
"And what might that be?" Vex asked.
"Is who you got your smart ass attitude from." He said slyly.
Both of the brothers laughed together. It was only until Spyro ascended to the roof when Vex stood up. "Well, gotta' run." He said. "See you around?"
"I've heard how fast you are, so I don't think so." Aravin joked.
This got another laugh from his brother. "It's been fun, tell dad I said hi." He gave a two finger salute and a black shadow started to cover his body.
"See ya' later Vex." Aravin said and saluted his brother off as he disappeared in the smoke.
"Hey Gabriel," Spyro said and walked up behind the gold dragon. "Who was it that you were talking to?" He asked.
Aravin didn't pay attention to him. He forgot that his old name was Gabriel.
"Hey Gabriel," Spyro said again but louder than before. "Earth to Gabriel, who were you talking to?" He asked and waved a paw in his face.
"Oh sorry," Aravin apologized. "I was just thinking aloud." He lied.
Spyro didn't believe him but chose not to call him out. His jaw had just started to feel good again and he wanted to keep it that way.
"Well anyways," He said. "We have a room for you to sleep in tonight. We are leaving at dawn tomorrow so you should get some rest."
He thought for a moment. If Malefor is going to attack him when he sleeps, he will need help.
"If you don't mind, would it be alright if I sleep with you two tonight?" Aravin asked.
Spyro was thrown off by the question. "Sleep in our room? Why?" He asked.
He couldn't think of a good excuse so he wouldn't worry them to much. He decided to tell him the truth. "Whenever I got this," He said and pointed to his eye. "It was because Malefor entered my dream and attacked me. If you hadn't shocked me like you did and got Malefor off me, I don't think I would be alive right now." He said.
"Malefor was in your dream?" Spyro asked in disbelief.
Aravin nodded. "And he said he would return every night until I submitted to him."
"So Cynder entered your dream when she was in contact with you while you both slept right?"
Aravin nodded again. "Yeah, when she left I was attacked. I don't want to risk you two getting hurt like I did, but I just want you to help me wake up if it happens again."
Spyro smiled. "You don't have to worry." Spyro said confidently. "We'll make sure your safe."
Aravin smiled weakly. Spyro didn't care about the odds or the danger of being around him and it embarrassed him to see Spyro be so tough when he was just being a coward. "Thanks." He said and walked with Spyro over to the edge above their room. "Oh and Spyro."
Spyro turned to face the gold dragon. "Yeah?"
He had never said this to anyone, he had never thought about saying this to anyone. "Sorry about I did earlier, I'm glad to have you as a friend." He said and jumped down to Cynder's window.
Spyro chuckled. He had never thought about it until then. Though they had a rough start, they were friends. "No problem, friend."
Aravin landed in the window and jumped down so Spyro could land behind him.
Cynder was surprised to see both of them return. "Oh hey Gabriel, what are you doing here?"
"He's going to sleep here tonight." Spyro answered for him. Aravin walked over to the corner of the room and curled up.
"Why?" She asked. "I thought we had a room available for him."
Spyro shook his head and mouthed 'Malefor.'
Cynder nodded in understanding. She looked back at the gold dragon, he was already fast asleep. She smiled and grabbed the sheet off of her bed and threw it over the sleeping dragon.
"Well we have a long three months ahead of us." Spyro said.
Cynder nodded. "And what would we do if there wasn't something trying to get us killed?" She asked. "Our lives would be boring."
Spyro chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know, I think you would keep me entertained for a while." He said and flicked her snout with his tail.
She growled and tackled him onto the bed. They made sure they were quiet so they wouldn't wake their guest.
They rolled on the bed until Cynder finally pinned Spyro's arms down and got close to his face. "I win." She whispered.
Spyro grinned and licked her nose. She was stunned by his action and he took his opportunity to reverse the positions. "I win." He whispered back.
Cynder giggled and raised her head so she could kiss him. She wrapped her wings around him and brought him closer. Spyro rolled to her side, still connected by the kiss and wrapped his wings around the dragoness. Their tongues danced back and fourth, never deciding which mouth to stay in to for very long. When their passion died down and they broke away, Cynder nuzzled her mate affectionately. "I love you." She whispered.
"I love you too Cynder." Spyro whispered back. Cynder pulled him even closer to her so they could be as close as possible. Spyro rested his head on top of Cynder's and she cooed happily. After a few minutes, Spyro fell asleep.
She however, could not. She had wanted this moment to come all her life, but with the intrusion of the gold dragon it could not go any farther, no matter how much she wanted it to. She had lost her fear of mating, after her dream, she knew she had nothing to fear. Spyro would never do that to her, so why should she be afraid? She was ready, but was he?
Cynder dismissed the thought. She gave a small yawn as she delved deeper into the embrace of her lover and fell asleep.
Malefor swung his tail and struck Aravin in the head. Aravin flew through the air and smashed into a brick wall.
He raised his paw and several of the bricks hovered in the dust. Malefor walked forwards and right as he reached the veil of dust he was struck by several of the bricks. He recoiled backwards and fanned the dust away.
Aravin's blind eye was opened and several chunks of the destroyed wall surrounded him. He flicked his tail up and a piece of the wall was raised. It flew above his head and was sent crashing down to Malefor. Malefor jumped backwards and shot a ball of fire at the gold dragon. He used one of the chunks of debris to block the attack but when the dust cleared his feet were swept from under him by a black tail. His brother spun around and used his horns to bat him away. Aravin crashed to the dirt several feet away and coughed up some blood.
Malefor laughed evilly. "Good work." He said and progressed to the downed dragon.
Aravin growled. He had been fighting with Malefor for hours now and he couldn't hold out for very much longer. His hind leg had broken and it was almost impossible to get up. To make matters worse, his brother just joined in. He couldn't win against the two of them. He had to wake up, and this time he wasn't going to let them stop him.
He focused his mind hard to try and create something, anything to buy him some time. He ended up losing his concentration when Vex knocked him away again. Malefor intercepted him and shot a bolt of lightning in his back.
Aravin cried out in pain and shook on the floor as the currents of electricity flowed through his body. When he tried to move his tail to his throat, Malefor stepped on it and shook his head. "I don't think I'm done with you yet." He said with a grin. "This is way to much fun."
"Go to hell." Aravin said and spat at Malefor's feet.
"Been there and they didn't like me, so they sent me back." He said and laughed in his face.
"Just kill me already, this is getting boring." Aravin mocked.
Malefor wasn't one for games, or one to be messed with. "Boring huh?" He asked. "Well then let's see if I can make this a little more interesting."
He released the pressure from his tail and looked at his brother. Aravin's eyes widened. "No don't!" He yelled.
"Silence!" Malefor bellowed. He raised his paw and slammed down on both of his forearms and other hind leg. He brought his tail down and cut off the end of Aravin's tail blade. Aravin screamed in pain but his body was so pumped with adrenaline it refused to give in to unconsciousness.
"This is what you get when you try to make a fool of me." Malefor said and walked over to Vex.
"Move!" Aravin shouted to his brother.
Vex merely shook his head. "You should have listened." He said. "You should have given in to his orders.
Malefor clawed Vex in the face but his body refused to budge from It's position. His eye dangled by a thread from It's socket, his lower jar was broken and bleeding everywhere. Malefor continued to strike at Vex, but not once did he succumb to the pain. If he was knocked down, he would return to his position in front of his master, only to be knocked away once again.
Aravin could not keep it in. The sight of his brother mangled and beaten constantly made him sick to his stomach. He vomited a mix of blood and other fluids onto the ground in front of him. What he could not spit out he began to choke on. Slowly, after several more minutes of choking on his saliva and vomit he could no longer breath. Vex had his eye fixated on his suffocating brother. Malefor stopped striking Vex and allowed him to go walk over to his brother.
Vex slowly made his way to his brother's side. His eye had been cleaved out, his jaw had been broken to the point where he could no longer speak, his right arm was limp and dangled on a thread, he was a mess. He raised his blade to his brothers face and shook his head.
Aravin shot up and screamed. He coughed hard and gasped for air. He felt his limbs to make sure everything was still connected properly, much to his relief he was fine. His eye and chest scars burned with a red light and made the room give off an eerie blood colored glow.
Spyro and Cynder jumped from their bed and went to his side. Spyro and Cynder saw that he was okay and they both yawned loudly. "Whuz goin' on?" Spyro asked groggily.
Aravin did not answer. He closed his blind eye and walked to the door. The lock clicked from the other side and the door creaked open.
"Where are you going?" Spyro asked and yawned again.
"I need some fresh air." Aravin whispered. "Just go back to sleep."
Spyro looked back at Cynder. She returned to the bed and was mumbling grouchily. She covered her face with her wing to shield herself from the light and fell back asleep. Spyro shook his head and smiled as he followed the gold dragon out of the room.
"Hey are you alright?" Spyro asked.
It was no use lying. "It was Malefor again." He answered.
"Oh I see." Spyro said.
They walked in silence onto a balcony that faced to the east. The faint shimmer of light was seen over the horizon. It was time to go.
Aravin sighed. "Go and wake Cynder, I'll meet with you at the front gates in a little bit." He said.
"Where are you going?" Spyro asked.
"I need to talk with my father before we go." He answered. Morning had arrived and he didn't want to stay for Spyro's questions. He tapped into his powers and disappeared from sight.
Aravin -Nivara spelled backwards.-
Pronunciation. Ah-Rah-Vin/Ven
Vexire -Named after his mothers Convexity Fire.-
Shortened to Vex. You won't be seeing his full name as much as his shortened name. (I guess if you want pronunciation of Vexire it would be Vehx-Iire- I think that's how you would do it?)