Spyro the Dragon: XIII Scars

By ValkierieDjermegandre

Disclaimer: We've been here before. I don't own Spyro or any related characters that may appear in this story. I own Spyro's god form, his powers, and any original characters including, but not limited to, XIII. Anything that doesn't belong to me may belong to Vivendi Universal or some other generic game producer or mythology. I think that's it for now.

Plot: Pieces of one are never forgotten. A soundless dragon torn asunder, his fragments in sacred armor, with a body of a castle; discarding his face as he is bound between dimensions. The dragon god of creation will confront this being...falling deep within his thirteen scars...

Notes: Sequel! After seeing how many readers enjoyed my Shadows of the Past story, I began thinking about this sequel and here it is. I'll try my best to make this story as good as its predecesor. I'll be taking any character requests for this story, as long as they're reasonable. If you want your favorite Spyro character or original character to fight alongside (or against) the white dragon god himself, send me a personal message (PM) or a review, containing the details of the character and the position you'd like he/she to be in. Now that we're clear on that...it's time to raise the curtain!

Scar III: The Beast that Time Forgot

Author's Note: Here comes the first outside reference. I'll be surprised if anyone recognizes where I drew this one from.

It was a tight situation...well, actually that word wouldn't suffice. Spyro was in a very tight corner; the four mysterious beings known as the A.X.I.S. Organization were all up against the dragon god. They weren't after him as far as Spyro knew; they were after XIII. That fact alone would suggest that Spyro could just let them take XIII...but such a savage thought would never cross the dragon god's mind; XIII was a dragon, just like so many of his friends, even if the beast is covered in armor and has an evil disposition. As Spyro tried to convey his situation and come up with a solution, Rhatara stepped forward and bared his staff.

"So, what will you do dragon god of creation? Will you step aside and save your own life...or will you stand in the way and defend a beast who hates your kind?" Rhatara said.

"Well...while it would seem reasonable to save my own life versus saving the life of someone who could just kill me..." Spyro began. After he spoke, the white dragon cancelled his Spirit Merge and swung Adamatinacor, pushing back the A.X.I.S. Organization with a divine aura. "I wouldn't ever turn my back on another dragon who is being hounded by the likes of you!"

"...heh...you poor, arrogant fool..."

"Arrogant? Right, like I'm arrogant compared to you!"

Spyro jumped back and hacked at the giant lock on XIII's ring; it immediately cracked and disappeared into the black ring, the chains holding XIII's head, arms, legs, and torso going slack. The armored, greater dragon looked at his free hands and began to radiate with dark energy. Rhatara immediately recognized the reaction XIII was having and quickly blasted the armored beast with a strong thunder spell. XIII roared in pain and crashed to the ground, his body crackling with negative energy. Rhatara didn't waste anytime before charging at Spyro.

The dragon god deflected Rhatara's strike with his own weapon, but couldn't avoid a direct blast of energy in his back from one of the other A.X.I.S. Spyro twisted his body and jumped out of the circle to avoid being attacked by all of them.

"All right...I've had enough! Sacred Heart!!" Spyro said.

On that note, a large holy aura erupted from Spyro's body and he began to rise into the air. He gripped his sword and pointed it toward the ground, which caused a ray to carve out a heart-shaped crest in the ground. Spyro than flew down to the center of the heart and stomped his feet on it; the action caused six rays of light to burst out of the heart and make their way toward the A.X.I.S. The rays of light shredded Spyro's opponents and while they were distracted by that, the white dragon charged up holy energy in his mouth and released a strong breath attack. The concentrated holy energy struck the A.X.I.S without delay...but, they didn't seem flustered. Their bodies were smoking with holy energy; Rhatara just smirked before raising his staff and chanting an incantation.

"Now, only death awaits you...Crimson Inferno!!" Rhatara said.

The A.X.I.S leader began to levitate into the air and raised his staff; a large concentration of fire energy soon followed and collected at the head of the staff. A crimson red shadow of a dragon escaped Rhatara and threw the energy at Spyro as if it was a breath attack. The dragon god gripped Adamatinacor and deftly swung at the hostile energy...Rhatara's attack was winning. Spyro pushed with all of his strength against the Crimson Inferno, but he still couldn't challenge Rhatara's force. Why couldn't a god challenge the energy of a mortal? As Spyro began to get pushed back and even more tired, the armored dragon, XIII, began to stir. He looked at Spyro's despiration and was taken aback; a god was protecting him. Why would Spyro protect him...if he was so hostile against him?

"Why...why are you protecting me?" XIII said. Spyro didn't shift his gaze.

"W-would you r-rather me let you get...killed?! I'd never do that! You're a dragon too; it doesn't matter what you look like or what kind of power you have! You still have a dragon's rights!" Spyro replied. XIII's eyes widened in amazement...but he was also recalling something...

"You have the power of the zodiac! You have the 'Dragon Rite,' Lucavi!"

"Dragon...Rite...?"

XIII's body disappeared and the armor pieces fell to the ground. A large concentration of energy niether dark or light arose from the armor and crashed against Rhatara's Crimson Inferno. The latter's energy dissipated and he was slightly surprised, but before he could say anything, a large zodiac circle appeared near XIII's armor and the whole area began to quake. Spyro directed his attention toward the armor; streams of energy began to race around the armor pieces and began to form into a body. When the body was completely formed, it looked like XIII's body, except it was somewhat smaller; similar to Spyrol's body in that he was easily taller than an adult dragon, but he was somewhat bigger than Spyrol was. XIII faced the A.X.I.S and Rhatara was definetely not amused.

"You little Lucavi bastard!" Rhatara shot. "Fenrex!"

"Got it!" Fenrex said. He transformed into his wolf form and shot a beam of energy from his paw at XIII; the dragon took the blow in the helmet portion of his armor and the sections that somewhat covered his eyes were blown off.

XIII didn't say a word. Instead, an unnatural amount of ether began to burst forth from his body and fissures began to rip through the ground along with XIII's eyes beginning to glow. He spread his arms apart with his hands directed toward the ground; he then shoved his hands forward and a rush of crystals raced toward the A.X.I.S. The crystals were the same ones that were coming out of XIII's back. Spyro was confused and impressed at the same time; what exactly was this dragon? The A.X.I.S Organization dodged the assault of crystals and when they landed, Rhatara had a look on his face.

"...pull out, A.X.I.S Organization..." Rhatara reluctantly said.

"What?! B-but, Lord Rhatara...!" Fenrex started.

"No questions asked! Pull out, A.X.I.S Organization!" The A.X.I.S vanished in a grand white flash and Spyro was left with XIII. The latter's eyes stopped glowing and he just stood looking at the plains of frozen time. Spyro walked up to the dragon and stood beside him; looking up at the armored wyrm's now violet eyes.

"XIII, I-" Spyro started.

"Don't call me that..." the armored dragon interrupted. His voice was much lighter than it was before, except it was devoid of emotion. He didn't even turn around to face the god. "My name is Scion...the beast that time forgot..."

"Scion? Than why did Rhatara call you...'Lucavi', was it?"

"That's what I am...a cursed beast...called a Lucavi because of my connection to the zodiac..."

"The zodiac...what do you mean by that?"

"...don't worry about it."

After that comment, Scion began to walk off away from the forest...his chains still dragging behind him. Spyro had no choice but to follow the armored beast; he was the only means of Spyro returning home. The dragon god picked up his sword and began to follow Scion...the beast that time forgot...

Though there were two dragons, Spyro actually felt like he was alone. Scion barely said a word and when he did, it was more than likely that he would only say one or two. It was a silent trip even after they got through the forest and entered a waterfall valley. The area was still spectacular despite the fact that time was stopped; the water didn't flow and there seemed to be fairies stuck in suspended animation as they flew. As the two dragons went farther, magic incantations began to float through the air, past the two dragons. Spyro put his hand out to touch one of them, but it glided through his hand and off through the clouds. The dragon god gained a certain pleasant feeling from the area; it seemed as though time could not stop the sense of beauty. Spyro stopped and looked as Scion stopped at the top of a hill; it was overlooking a grand valley and another ruined castle rested in the center of the valley, surrounded by flame-spewing fissures and pits of dark energy. Spyro couldn't help but feel saddened by the destruction and the frozen flame was actually quite eerie.

"What is that place?" Spyro asked. Scion wrenched his claws around the tree he was leaning on; the bark crunched in his fist.

"I used to live there..." Scion growled. Spyro's eyes widened in alarm.

"You used to live...there? What happened?"

"I was the son of two very rich and powerful dragons. They ruled this land with an iron fist...well, claw. My life seemed to be perfect; the whole family was rich, so I could have as many toys as I wanted, I had many friends who liked me for me and not my money, and my parents loved me. I was almost never alone...and then..."

"...and then, what?"

"One day, I came home from school and the castle was completely empty. There was blood everywhere and many weapons lied on the ground; I figured there was a fight and quickly went searching for my parents. I searched up and down the entire castle, but I didn't find them. They were just gone. Soon after, I went to your world...the Dragon Realms...and met Tomas. He told me...that my parents were murdered..."

"...murdered...?"

"I never found out who killed them...but, I remember that I cried for almost 24 hours after I found that out. Afterward, Tomas took care of me for a few months until I was feelng comfortable enough to return to the castle...I shouldn't have..."

"Why...? Did...something else happen?"

"I returned to the castle and everything was fine for a few months. The maids were taking good care of me and I was getting over my parents' deaths...until one day, it was all over. I looked out my window one morning and the clouds were swirling...'A storm,' I thought...but it was something more. I ran outside and, straight from the clouds, a lightening bolt crashed down and seared my castle. I was in complete shock...but, that didn't match what hit me when fireballs started raining down and setting the surrounding towns and fields ablaze..."

"..." Spyro was completely silent.

"I couldn't believe what I was experiencing and what I could call Armageddon didn't stop there. Soon after, ice crystals began to rise from the ground and destroy my castle's walls; powerful earthquakes seared the ground and the fissures began spewing hot flames and magma; meteors of poison energy crashed to the ground and killed anything the resulting ponds of energy touched...and after all that, the skies began to break and crack. It was hell and I was just stunned beyond words...and then they showed themselves..."

"The ones that..."

"The ones that ruined my life and sent me to eternal damnation. They were six, greater dragons calling themselves the messengers of the great god. They told me that I was a devil and that I had to be erased. Of course, I didn't know what the hell they were talking about...but, either way I was not happy with them. I was so enraged that I awakened it; the power of the Lucavi. I transformed into my greater dragon form...and ended up stopping all time in this dimension. That's when they threw those chains on me and served me a fate much worse than death...they bound me between dimensions...those six gods...damned me for life!!" Scion's voice took on a more demonic tone at that point.

"Scion..."

"I had everything I could have ever wanted! But they took all of it...all of it!! I had to make a pact with the god of death and destruction in order to escape that wretched prison...once I did, I swore that I would be the one to bring the great disaster...I would be the one to bring Ragnorok to those wretched deities, so that they would all...be...BANISHED!!"

"W-what?!"

Scion didn't respond. He just showed his savage anger by ripping the tree he was gripping out of the ground and burning with his flames. He then summed up all of the demonic energy in his body and slammed the ground with his fist; causing the cliffside just near his feet to crumble. Spyro just looked at the armored dragon in complete and utter shock. Now he knew...now he knew why Scion hated gods so much...his kind had ruined the black dragon's life. But what could Spyro do to make him feel better...and drop this twisted ambition? More importantly...were those six dragons the dragons that Spyro thought they were?

"Scion..."

"..."

"I know that I can't possibly make up for everything that happened to you...but, do you really need to destroy every god to supplement your rage?"

"...what do you know? You're a god, yourself..."

"...yeah, but I know what it feels like to be angry like this..."

"What does it matter now? No one cares about a dragon like me anymore...except for you, anyway."

"Well, that's someone, right?"

After that, Scion went quiet and sat down. Spyro just stood on the cliff and looked at the remains of the castle. After the armored dragon's tale, it became nothing but a depressing sight. Spyro looked at Scion and the black dragon looked back at him; his red eyes had tears in them. The white dragon god kneeled down and put his hand on Scion's shoulder reassuringly; the black dragon took the gesture and when he didn't react hostily, the silver armor that covered his body began to crack and then it all shattered, except for the towers on his arms and theighs and the armor on his long tail. The chains also remained attached and the magic glyphs and incantations on the armor transferred to his body. Spyro was surprised that it all just shattered in such a way...and then he directed his attention to Scion's back. There was a sword hilt sticking out of his back in the small space between the crystals; it had a red tie on its ring-like end.

"You...you shattered my armor..." Scion growled.

"You shouldn't hide your body like that...don't be ashamed of the marks and powers imbued into your scales..." Spyro said.

"I wasn't ashamed of anything..."

That being said, Scion raked his claws through the air and opened up another dimensional portal. He looked at Spyro and made a gesture for the white dragon to follow. The black dragon jumped through the dimensional tear and Spyro followed...wondering what other tragic secrets rested within Scion...the beast that time forgot...

Blood Drawn From Scar III