AN; Hello to all of you who have followed this story, and to anyone who may be reading this for the first time welcome! Sorry for the long delay on this chapter. I have been very unmotivated the past few months. But a writing course I am taking is improving my writing and seeing that has me motivated once again. I have half of the next chapter written and I am still feeing motivated, so it shouldn't take to long for it to come out. Without further ado here is the next chapter.

Elemental Legacies: Invincible

Chapter 2: Earth

"And now, my friends, a dragon's toast! Here's to life's little blessings: war, plagues, and all forms of evil. Their presence keeps us alert- and their absence keeps us grateful." -T.A. Barron

Atrotus collapsed with a massive groan. Even after a month, his father's training drove him to his very limits. His daily training mainly consisted of running an obstacle course where his father manipulated the obstacles with his Earth powers, sometimes followed by strength and combat training.

The obstacle course always left him with a few bruises. Terron manipulated the course with his power to make it much more of a challenge. In one section pillars of stone would be lifted and pushed back into the earth. Trying to predict which one would rise and fall was nearly impossible, leading to him getting hit many times as he rushed through that portion of the course. A steep climbing slope was next. Sense he was forbidden from using his wings in the course, it was a real challenge to climb the steep slope. It was made even harder due to Terron shifting the surface of the wall. The other section of the course would change from day to day. The last regular obstacle was made up of a series of walls. Depending on how high Terron lifted them they were either meant to be jumped over like a hurdle or slid under. When lifted up to about twice Atrotus' height they were solid stone, but when lifted higher they had a narrow rectangular opening at the base. The challenge came with the fact that the walls were lifted from the ground with only about a half second for him to respond. Sometimes there were other obstacles. Today there had been statues of apes that, under Terron's power, would swing blunted, hollow weapons at him. He needed to keep them from hitting him by either identifying a weak point where he could break the statue or by disarming the statue by shattering the weapon before it could hit him.

Atrotus groaned once again and asked a question that had been on his mind for a long time, "Dad, how does all this help me develop and awaken my Element?"

Terron looked at him for a moment before gesturing for him to follow. Atrotus groaned and grudgingly got up following Terron to the far corner of the room. When they arrived Terron picked up a stone statue of an ape they used for training and abruptly tossed it to Atrotus saying, "Catch."

Atrotus responded quickly and jumped up catching it in his paws and giving a few gentle flaps of his wings to soften his landing. Stetting the statue down, he looked to Terron with frustration in his eyes, but he paused when he saw Terron smiling. "A month ago you wouldn't have reacted in time to catch that, let alone be able to carry a statue nearly your size."

Atrotus paused for a moment in thought, had he really grown that much in a month? A smile grew on his face as he realized the truth of his father's words. But a look of confusion came and he once again asked, "But how does that help me with my element?"

Terron, still smiling said, "You aren't going to get distracted, now are you? Very good, always keep focused. Now, Earth is more of a physical element than any of the others. Strength of body will greatly help your strength with the earth as well. The obstacle course helps with reaction time and will eventually cause you to respond instinctively with your element. Either by destroying one of the obstacles in your path or feeling that the earth is shifting before your eyes can see it shifting."

Atrotus looked up in mild confusion before asking, "My body's strength effects how strong my element will be? How does that work?"

Terron quickly replied, "It's not easy to explain, but I'll try my best. Dragons using other elements use most of their strength to make there element appear and keep it controlled. The Earth element however doesn't need to be created in most situations and doesn't need to be controlled. Unlike fire or electricity especially, we don't need to focus it for it to have a strong effect. If a fire dragon doesn't control his element his fire will disperse over a wider area and have much less of an effect. Without controlling his element an Electricity dragon's power will just fly right into the ground instead of hitting a target. You don't need to keep control of a rock you throw, or the pure energy of the earth. If you control it, it will be more accurate but it will not go off course or cause any less damage when it hits. The best scholars of ages past have theorized that most of the energy we use when controlling our element is used to either draw more energy from the earth or allow us to "grip" the earth and amplify our strength to move it." Terron looked at Atrotus and gave a massive sigh as he saw the confused look on his face, "I've lost you haven't I?"

Atrotus gave a sheepish smile and said, "Not completely. But are you saying that our element lets us move the earth with our mind using our muscles strength?"

Terron frowned slightly before giving a small nod, "Not exactly, but that is about as close as I think we will be able to get. But that's enough deep thought for today. Let's leave it at that for today. I'm going to go hunting, you be good while I'm gone." With that Terron turned and exited the cavern. The sound of the stone blocking the entrance to the caves moving could be heard opening and closing could be heard as Atrotus pondered what he had learned.

Two years passed. Atrotus continued his training each and every day and continued to grow stronger and faster. But his powers still remained dormant. After the days training session Atrotus walked over to Terron and sat beside him. Terron saw a look of deep thought and remained quiet as Atrotus gathered his thoughts. Finally Atrotus asked, "Is it normal that my element hasn't awakened yet?"

Terron's face darkened and he gave a small sigh before responding, "No it isn't, normally it only takes three or four months after training begins for a dragon's element to be awakened."

Terron paused and gave Atrotus a reassuring smile, "But don't worry, it's not very common but sometimes it takes longer for a dragon's element to appear."

Atrotus paused for a moment before asking, "Is it possible that I actually don't have an element? Or that it will never awaken?"

Terron looked down on him and gave a sad smile, "No, you do have an element. Though there are dragons that are born without an element, their scales lack the color that those with an element do. They are often referred to as greys. And though your chest may be grey you certainly possess an element, the green almost guarantees you are an earth dragon."

Atrotus thought for a moment and the asked, "What do you mean almost guarantees?"

Terron gave a full laugh startling Atrotus before responding, "Sorry I was just remembering an old friend. It is very rare but sometimes a dragon's scales will suggest one element but they will possess a different one. They are often referred to as trickster dragons. The name comes from the fact that their scales trick others into thinking that they are a different element and also of the fact that many trickster dragons use it to play jokes on others. The old friend I was remembering was a stereotypical trickster dragon. His scales were green and brown suggesting to others that he was an earth dragon, but in reality he was a fire dragon. He also loved playing jokes on others. He always carried around a few hot peppers in his bags to pull a joke on anyone who asked about the war. He would say that it was going well, especially since he had discovered a plant that would let him breathe fire. Most would be skeptical so he would pull out one of his peppers, eat it and proceed to let lose a blast of fire. He would then convince them to try it themselves. Now trust me when I say his peppers are hot, he got me with this trick when we first met. Whoever he gave the pepper to would quickly try to breathe fire before running off to the nearest source of liquid they could to try to quench the heat, with him laughing his head off the entire time. When they came back he would apologize, explain that he was a trickster dragon, and ask if there was anyone they wanted him to pull the trick on. Either they would show him someone they wanted to see tricked or they would chase him out of town. He once told me that those two events happened just as often. For every person that wanted him to pull the trick again there was another that would chase him out of town." Terron stopped and looked down at Atrotus, "Sorry for getting off topic there."

Atrotus laughed and quickly responded, "No problem dad, it was a fun story." But his face grew grim once again and he asked, "But you never answered, is it possible that my element will never awaken?"

Atrotus let out a large sigh, "Good focus Atrotus. Sometimes I wish that I didn't teach you that though. Very well, it is extremely rare but occasionally a dragon will never truly awakens their element. When this happens the dragon may occasionally use their element. But it is only at random times and they can never control it. If a dragon hasn't awakened their element by the end of their third growth cycle they will never gain control of it."

A look of fear came into Atrotus' eyes. "I finished my second cycle a while ago. My third cycle could start any time. Is there anything more I can do to encourage my element to awaken?"

Terron looked down at Atrotus, "There might be. But if you want to try it you need to listen to me, it is dangerous. Are you still willing to try?"

Atrotus looked up at him ready to say yes. But he saw a strange look in his father's eyes. It looked as if he was at war with himself. Was it worth the risk if it had his father so worried? He thought for a minute before giving a determined nod. Terron got up and gestured for Atrotus to follow him. After a short walk through the tunnels of their home they came to a dead end. Atrotus looked up, but before he could say anything Terron lifted his front paw and brought it down. The wall in front of them followed the movement of Terron's paw and slid into the floor.

The newly revealed a chamber was one Atrotus had never seen before. Within it were 5 crystal clusters glowing gently in the center of the cavern, two of them red and three of them green. Terron walked over to one of the green crystals and broke off two pieces. He brought them over to Atrotus and gently placed on in front of him. "These crystals are usually used to restore elemental energy to a dragon. But they can restore physical energy as well, place you paw on it and try to draw its energy into yourself."

Atrotus gave a nod and placed his paw on the gem and closed his eyes. He waited for a few moments but nothing happened. He paused in thought for a few moments before closing his eyes and turning them inward, he felt the light ache in his legs and the slight slump of his tail and wings from the hard work of training. He pictured a golden light traveling from his paw into his legs, wings and tail. He felt the energy within the crystal flowing through him and for a few moments he felt as if he could fight his father and win. The moment passed and he opened his eyes feeling refresh and ready to try whatever came next.

Terron gave a small nod, "Very good, it takes a lot more effort and concentration to restore physical energy than elemental energy." He passed Atrotus the second shard of crystal, "Now this is the dangerous part, you are going to overcharge your body."

Atrotus looked up in shock, thinking back to the legend of their ancestor. "Didn't that nearly kill our ancestor?"

Terron gave a grim nod, "It did, but he absorbed as much as he could. The idea here is to go just beyond you bodies normal limit. If you only absorb a little bit of energy the worst side effect you could experience is a headache. If we do this right your instincts will do whatever they can to normalize your energy, in this case they should force you to use your element. Remember what you did to earlier and force energy into yourself. But remember, just a little bit. That is very important. Only take in a little bit of energy. I will be waiting just outside. If this works I don't want to be right next to you. I have a feeling your element will be very strong." With that he gave him and encouraging smile and stepped out of the cavern and around the corner.

Atrotus looked down on the crystal before him and took a few deep calming breaths before placing his paw on the crystal. He closed his eyes and imagined the energy contained within the crystal flowing from it into his paw and into his core. But nothing happened. In his mind he saw energy from the crystal gathering under his paw and swirling around it in the crystal, but not traveling into his body. He pressed down on the crystal with more force and imagined a hole being punctured in the crystal and the energy flowing into him. Suddenly the energy burst into him. Energy began to rapidly flow into him and he couldn't control it. His mind panicked, "No! Stop!".

The energy continued to flow into him. He quickly pulled his paw off the gem to stop the flow of energy. As he lifted his paw the gem gave a bright flash and burst into pieces. Atrotus stood still for a moment feeling his heart beat rapidly from panic. After a few moments nothing happened and his heart began to slow down. After a few moments he started to call out, "Dad I don't thi…" But his call was cut off as he felt a massive surge of energy burst through him. It felt as if a thousand suns had come into existence inside him. He shouted out in pain. It wouldn't stop. It felt as if he was being torn apart from the inside.

He smashed his paw against the ground as he had seen his father do to manipulate the earth. But nothing happened. He let out another shout of pain and fell to the ground. He took a deep breath and exhaled as hard as he could, hoping to release an earth missile or energy shockwave. But once again nothing happened. He rolled around on the floor, flailing in agony. He felt the energy in each and every one of his muscles, causing burning pain and uncontrollable thrashing. It felt as if he was being hit by a bolt after bolt of lightning. He kept screaming in pain as the energy continued to burn each and every one of his muscles. He wanted it to end, he just wanted it to end. He didn't care if he died he just wanted it to end.

After what felt like an eternity he finally felt something. He felt something in the ground pulling at the energy within him. Without a though he mentally pushed all the energy within himself into the ground. At last it worked and the energy left him. He lay on the ground panting for a few moments before whimpering out, "Dad, please help." Terron charged into the room as Atrotus' eyes closed and he began to fade into unconsciousness. The last thing he heard was he fathers voice as he picked him up and carried him out of the cavern, "Atrotus hold on, please Atrotus just hold on!"

As Terron carried Atrotus out of the room he paused for a split second to scan the room with his powers. But nothing was out of place. As he carried Atrotus away his mind was filled with worry for him. But for just a moment he thought, "Where did all that energy go? Energy needs to be used for something. All that energy couldn't have just disappeared into thin air."

On the Island of Munitions forge a giant stone bell had just been rung and had fallen on top of certain purple dragon.

"SPYRO! Can you hear me?! Are you okay, buddy?! Hey, listen, forget about those cracks about your fatness and your... being purple and stupid and fat, all right? Just get outta there! Please, Spyro, don't be dead."

The fallen bell shook as a surge of new energy filled Spyro. It shook again, and once more before finally shattering under the force of a green shockwave.

Spyro turned to Sparx, "Did you say something?"

Sparx flew up to him and said, "Oh, me? No, no. I was... talking out loud... thinking of my day... I gotta do-."

With that Sparx started flying away from Spyro Spyro looked at Sparx skeptically, "Oh, just though I heard something before I blasted my way out."

Sparx continued to fly away as he replied, "Oh, that's funny. Yeah, no. Must be hearing things."

Atrotus' eyes slowly opened as consciousness returned to him. The first thing that came to his waking mind was that he wasn't alone. He turned and saw that Terron and Gaia were lying beside him and that he was in their room instead of his own. For a few moments he wondered just what he was doing in his parent's room. Then the memories of his attempt to awaken his element rushed into his mind. He quickly pushed the thoughts out of his mind. He didn't want to remember the pain he felt that night. He looked at his parents once again. Both of them were still sleeping. He started to slowly get up not wanting to wake them, but the moment he did his body began sending him the signals that had been ignored while he was sleeping. He let out a surprised shout of pain. All of the muscles felt like he had overused them, they were aching and sent burst of pain through him whenever he tried to move. Gaia and Terron's eyes shot open immediately to Atrotus' shout. Terron quickly stood up and gently placed a paw on Atrotus, "Just stay still."

Gaia got up and sat beside him and gave out a large relieved sigh, "I'm glad you finally woke up. You had me and Terron very worried."

Atrotus gave a small smile to show he heard them but did nothing else fearing that any other motion would result in more pain.

Terron removed his paw and said, "You couldn't control the energy, could you Atrotus? You don't need to answer. I pushed you too far and too fast. I apologize, and I hope you can forgive me."

Terron lowered his head as a single tear fell from his eyes. After a moment he felt a paw placed on his own. Despite the pain the motion caused him Atrotus had placed his paw on Terron's paw. Terron smiled and gave a small nod as he said, "I understand, thank you Atrotus."

Gaia looked on the two with a small smile. They truly loved and understood one another. But she still needed to do her job as his mother. She stood and turned to Atrotus and Terron with mother's glare, "What you two did was reckless and dangerous! Atrotus, I know that you are worried that you element hasn't awakened yet, but what you did was far too dangerous. You will find your power someday soon. You just need to be patient."

She turned to Terron as her glare intensified, "And you! How could you even consider telling Atrotus something so dangerous, let alone help him try such a thing! I can understand how it may have seemed like a good idea to an adolescent. But you should have known better. Our son's life matters much more than him awakening his element."

She closed her eyes and took a breath to calm herself before looking at them each in turn with sadness in her eyes, "I want you both to promise me that you will never try this again. Please, swear to me that you won't try this again."

Terron gave a small nod and said, "I swear I will never give Atrotus a crystal in an attempt to awaken his element."

Atrotus looked up at Gaia and simply said, "I swear."

Gaia looked at him with a smile before turning to Terron, "I know it is dangerous, but I am going outside. I'm going to see if I can find some herbs to ease the Atrotus' pain."

After Terron heard the stone door shift open and close again he gave a relieved sigh and turned to Atrotus and said, "I think we got off easy this time."

Atrotus gave a small smile and a grunt of affirmation.

It took a week for Atrotus to be able to walk and a month before he was free of discomfort. Another month passed and still his element remained dormant. In that time news came of a new purple dragon that had freed the guardians and defeated Cynder. The apes advance halted as they retreated and regrouped from the damage that the purple dragon had done. Terron had scouted for miles around their home to confirm the news that the apes had left the area before declaring that they could all go outside. They all enjoyed being able to leave the cave and see the sun.

For Atrotus it was the first time he had seen the sun and sky for more than a few minutes. The first day he was out side he merely sat on a ledge over the entrance to their cave, watching the sun and clouds take their long trek over the sky. For a month they enjoyed being in the sun whenever they wanted.

Terron and Atrotus were chasing each other around the forest, laughing and enjoying the fresh air and sun. Atrotus jumped over a wall of earth his father had caused to erupt in front of him. Atrotus turned and scolded his father, "Hey that's cheating! You said you wouldn't use your element."

Terron let out a hearty laugh and continued to chase him. "Fine, now let's…" Terron paused mid-sentence and came to a halt looking out into the forest. He shifted his paws into a position that he used when sensing the earth around him. He turned to Atrotus and spoke with fear in his voice, "Atrotus go back to your mother. Something large is coming."

Atrotus gave a small nod, understanding that now was no time for questions. He took off running to where Gaia was resting. Terron turned to look out into the forest and shouted, "Declare yourself and your intentions."

After a few moments he heard a response shouted back, "Is that any way to welcome a comrade Terron? It is I, Terrador. I have come to check up on you and ask a favor."

Terron gave a relieved sigh before calling back, "You are welcome here Terrador. Forgive me if I seemed uninviting, but the war is not over and I have a family to take care of."

Terrador emerged from the forest with a gentle smile. "I understand, Terron. It is that caution that has kept you safe all these years. From what you said I assume you have a child, or is it children?"

Terron nodded and responded, "Yes, we have a fine young son. If you have the time I also have a few questions concerning him. But for now, come I'll introduce you to him and Gaia. Perhaps I could offer you some food as well? I had a very successful hunt yesterday and we have more than enough to share."

Terrador smiled, "That would be wonderful friend. It was a long flight and it took me a while to find you. You chose a good location to take shelter."

They walked together to the hidden entrance to the cave. Terrador looked around for a moment before shifting his paws slightly. A small smile came to his face as he said, "Ah I see you have hidden the entrance. I assume it is your family is waiting just behind that rock for the all clear?"

Terron looked at Terrador with a smile, "That is correct. Your ability to sense others and the shape of the earth has always impressed me, Terrador. One day you may need to teach me that trick." Terron turned to the stone and shouted, "It is safe! We have a guest I want you both to meet!"

After a moment the stone shifted away from the caves entrance and Atrotus and Gaia cautiously exited the cave. Upon seeing Terrador, Gaia dropped he head in a bow and said, "It is an honor to see you again Guardian Terrador."

Upon seeing his mother's action, Atrotus bowed as well.

Terrador quickly said, "Please there is no need for formalities. It is good to see you again Gaia. How many years has it been?"

Gaia straightened up and grinned as she spoke, "Far too many Terrador. You are welcome to stay as long as you want, as long as you don't try to flirt with me again."

Terrador gave a groan and said, "You are never going to let that go are you." Turning to Atrotus he gave a warm smile and said, "I am Terrador, Guardian of Earth. What is your name, (Comma) young one?"

Atrotus looked up and spoke strongly, "My name is Atrotus, Master Guardian."

Terron looked up at Terron, "Atrotus, that's an unusual name. Old draconian I think. How did you come up with it?"

Terron replied, "It came to me during the ritual. Do you know what it means?"

Terrador thought for a moment before replying, "I believe it means invulnerable." He turned to Atrotus and continued, "Do you have any idea why the ancestors chose that name for you young one?"

Atrotus quickly shook his head, "No, Master Terrador. I have far too many bruises from training to be invulnerable."

Terrador and Terron both laughed deeply as Atrotus hung his head slightly in embarrassment.

Terrador then replied, "You may not be invulnerable, but you must have something very special in your future for the ancestors to give you such a name."

Terron then turned and asked, "Terrador, you said you came here to ask me something. What is it?"

Terrador's expression darkened slightly before he responded, "You look happy here friend. So I am sorry to ask this. But it needs to be done. I need you and your family at the Shattered Veil."

AN: In the next chapter I will answer one of the biggest questions I had from the game series. Just what is the Shattered Veil? I meant to get to that in this chapter but it got pushed back to the beginning of the next chapter. If you have any thoughts, suggestion, or noticed anything that could be improved please leave a review, I also enjoy hearing your thoughts on the ideas and content within the story. Even if you don't have anything in particular to say please leave a review! Hearing from my readers inspires me a great deal. (Follows and faves are greatly appreciated too!) In other news, another project I am currently working on is in a game creation engine. Using this I hope to sometime in the future post a trailer for The Legend of Spyro; The Shattered Dawn on YouTube. Until next time- Wings of the Storm.