Dang, 20 chapters! Never thought the story would get this long!
This one was actually very touching.
Indeed, it wasn't what I expected it to be like
Good to know I can keep the two of you entertained. Either way, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Spyro or any of the copyrighted things I use. I do however own this story and my OCs.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Chapter 20: Past and Present
Cain was stunned into silence as he stared at the picture of the dark green dragon with crimson-red markings standing over his murdered family, his claws stained with blood. A sadistic grin on the dragon's face as it looked down at the dragons he killed. Cain slowly turned from the book as he refrained from destroying the book completely.
"No," Cain said, shaking his head, "I refuse to believe it was him, no matter what you show me."
"I'm afraid that these books do not lie, Cain," Ignitus said forlornly, "it was-"
"No!" Cain shouted, cutting him off and turning his anger on him, "My brother would never do something like that! He was kind, he always was! It was him who comforted me when I found them both dead!"
"But it was also him who told you that it was your son who killed them both because a group of nomads convinced him to, was it not?" Ignitus questioned, his voice calm.
Cain was silent as memories of his past began to surface.
-Flashback-
"You can do it, love," Cain comforted a young red dragoness with a pale blue underbelly, Traeia, as she went through the agonizing pain of labor. Cain, who looked a bit younger and his body void of any markings, lay down next to the dragoness with his paw in hers in the middle of a forest while a human knelt at her rear, trying to help move the egg along.
"It hurts!" she screamed, gripping his paw tightly as she pushed out the red and grey egg that would hatch into their son.
"Just hang on a bit longer Traeia," he told her, ignoring the pain as she crushed his paw, "you're almost there."
"Aaaaah!" she shrieked as she pushed the egg the rest of the way out and into the young human with pale brown hair, light blue eyes, and white skin's hands. The human handed the egg to Cain after he'd cleaned it off with a towel.
"Thank you for your help Deryx," Cain thanked the young human after handing the egg to Traeia.
"Don't mention it," the young human said with a smile just as the image blurred.
Five years later…
"He's grown very well, brother," A green dragon said to Cain as the two of them watched Cain's son, Athkore, play with some of the other young dragons. Athkor was a bit larger than others his age, but the other dragons paid it no mind and they all played as though they hadn't a care in the world. He was a pale red with a grey underbelly, his eyes the same red as Cain's. He had two pale grey horns and grey wing fingers, while his wing membranes were the same pale red as his scales.
"He has," Cain agreed, "it's a shame that Deryx had to go on that journey, he was a great conversationalist."
"Indeed," Cain's brother said, "where is Traeia?"
"She is out in the market with some of her friends," Cain said with a chuckle, "knowing my mate she'll probably spend every gem and coin I gave her."
"That is the sacrifice for a dragoness such as her," Cain's brother said, "You should count yourself lucky to have such a beautiful family."
"Certainly, but why do you refuse to start a family of your own, Gabriel?" Cain said, turning to look at his brother, "I know of many dragonesses that would do anything to have you as their mate."
"I enjoy my life as a bachelor, Cain," Gabriel said, still watching the young dragons scuffle in front of them, "I will settle down and have a family when I have decided that I no longer enjoy my life as one."
"Hopefully that will be soon brother," Cain said with a small laugh as he too turned his attention to the young dragons, "you are only in your prime for so long."
The two of them both laughed before the vision blurred.
2 years later…
"No," Cain said, grief and pain hitting him as hard as a brick as he looked at his dead mate and son lying next to one another. Traeia's neck was sliced open and there were several gashes covering her body while Athkor's throat was sliced, his tail blade covered in blood.
"NO!" Cain roared to the sky as a huge burst of flame erupted from his maw, erupting far above the treetops of the forest where he'd found the bodies of his family. Gabriel, hearing the roar as well as seeing the flames and knowing exactly what it meant, ran to where he knew Cain would be. When he found Cain sobbing over his family's bodies, he put a look of grief on his face and went over to Cain, wrapping a wing around him.
"Why would my son do this?" Cain cried, his tears running down his face.
"Cain," Gabriel said, acting hesitant, "I saw him talking to some of those nomadic dragons earlier. When I went over to get him away from them I heard them telling him about some ritual. I think they might have told him about the Vredranx Ritual*."
Cain felt his sadness become overwhelmed by anger and stood up. His eyes no longer held the compassion and kindness they usually did, instead all that were there were deep pools of fury and malice.
"I'll kill them," he said quietly, "I'll kill them all, and I won't let anyone stand in my way."
"Are you sure about this Cain?" Gabriel asked his brother, "You know what would happen if you fail."
"I don't care," Cain said, "Until I have my revenge on those nomadic bastards, I won't rest. Even if I have to destroy the Elder Council to do it, I won't let anyone stand in my way."
Gabriel was silent for a moment before he said, "Then I will help you brother. After all, brothers stick together, right?"
A Year Later…
"Graaah!" Cain roared as he and one of the dragons that decided to rebel against him duked it out. The dragon he fought was slightly smaller than him and covered in midnight-blue scales and wing membranes with a pale green underbelly, wing fingers, and two curved horns on his head. Cain breathed a torrent of flames at the dragon, his attack power increased by his performance of the Vredranx Ritual and the dark symbols on his body glowing darkly.
The other dragon jumped out of the way of Cain's attack and launched one of his own; a blast of ice interlaced with poison. Cain melted the ice with another blast of fire that hit the other dragon hard and knocked him into the wall behind him before charging at the dragon. As he was about to make contact with the dragon, an arrow came flying and hit his side and knocked him off-course and into a wall. Recovering quickly, he grabbed the arrow with his maw and yanked it out before he stood back up and looked at the foe who'd loosed the arrow and was surprised at who he saw. The foe was human and had his bow drawn and was nocking another arrow. He had long, messy pale brown hair and white skin. He had light-blue eyes and a look of sorrow and regret on his face.
"Deryx!" Cain called, "Don't ally yourself with these weaklings! Join me and rule!"
"What happened to you, Cain?" Deryx asked quietly, looking at the dragon he'd once known as a friend with a look of regret, "You used to be kind, caring, compassionate; now you're ruthless and blood-thirsty. Traeia would be ashamed."
"Don't you dare speak her name, traitor!" Cain shouted, charging at the young human. He never made contact as Deryx loosed an arrow with a strange rune engraved on it. It struck Cain in his shoulder, knocking him off-balance and causing him to slide across the floor of the mock-temple Cain had built after killing all the Elders, stopping a few inches away from Deryx. When he tried to move, Cain found his body refused to respond and he roared in frustration.
Deryx walked over to Cain and knelt down next to his head, laying his bow on the ground next to him. He pulled out a small leather book and flipped through it until he found what he was looking for. Pulling out his hunting knife, he placed the blade in his hand and sliced small, long cut on his palm. He dabbed his hand in the blood and wrote a new symbol on the side of Cain's face in the symbol of a crescent with a dot on the inside.
"What are you doing?" Cain demanded as Deryx tore off a piece of his tunic and wrapped his cut palm with it to prevent any more blood from seeping out.
"We were ordered to kill you," Deryx said, "but I know that the good Cain is still in there somewhere and I refuse to kill him. So I'm sending you to another realm, where you might be able to find yourself again."
"You're a fool," Cain said, "I'll find a way back and next time I'll kill you.
"At least I'd die with a clear conscience," Deryx said softly before he murmured a few incomprehensible words and the bloody mark on the side of Cain's face began to darken. As it did, Cain's body began to fade, but before he faded completely he saw Gabriel looking from around a corner, smirking.
End Flashback
Cain felt all the sadness and grief he'd felt when he'd found his family dead return tenfold, knowing that it wasn't his son that killed them, but his brother. The crescent mark on his face began to lighten a bit as he let out his pain and sorrow. He fell to the floor and sobbed harder than he had even then, and Ignitus summoned another book, this one red with a grey sigil on it and flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for.
"Cain," Ignitus said gently, "your family isn't dead."
"I know," Cain said bitterly, "my brother still lives."
"He does," Ignitus said, "but that isn't the family I was talking about."
"What?" Cain asked, turning to look at Ignitus in confusion. Ignitus turned the book so Cain could see it and Cain looked at the page in shock. It was an image of his son, except he was much older, with a light-green dragoness with the two of them looking down at two young dragonets. One of the dragonets was pale red with a dark green underbelly and blue eyes like the dragoness, but the other was pale green with a grey underbelly and red eyes like himself and Athkor.
"Your son managed to survive after your brother attempted to kill them," Ignitus explained, "He was found by the green dragoness' family and they raised him like he was their own. Eventually the two of them fell for one another and they started a family."
"My son is alive…" Cain said in disbelief, but he had smile of joy on his face.
"Yes," Ignitus said with a kind smile, "he knows of what you did, however he does not blame you. He believes you dead and every day he puts an offering at the grave he put behind their house in your memory."
Cain was silent for a while before he looked away from the picture in the book and to Ignitus, saying, "Thank you Ignitus, for showing me this."
"You needed to know that you will not go unforgotten, in this realm or your own," Ignitus said kindly, "but know this, though your blood family is in another realm, you have another one here with Blane, Talea, Spyro, Cynder, Nguyen, and everyone you've met in this realm, including myself."
Cain smiled and nodded before he said, "I think I might actually sleep for a while."
"May your dreams be pleasant, Cain," Ignitus said.
"I think they might actually be for once," Cain said, laying down and closing his eyes. He fell into a peaceful slumber not long after. The dark sigils on his body faded a bit, but were not completely gone.
"They are merely marks of binding now," Ignitus said knowingly to himself, allowing the book to float down in front of Cain still open, "all the darkness that once lurked in his heart is no more. And soon the marks that bind him to Blane will be gone as well."
He made his way to one of the doors leading away from his study, this one leading to his room. He slipped inside and shut the door behind him before he lay down on his bed, falling into the world of sleep as well.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Vredranx Ritual: A dark ritual that requires the caster to perform a sacrifice and then offer up their own life to gain unimaginable power. If the ritual is performed correctly, dark runic symbols will appear on the caster's body, however if it is performed incorrectly the caster will die. When the caster becomes mournful of what they did, or a great sense of sorrow, regret, and sadness, the runes will fade along with the power. ~ Warning! Not an actual ritual, do NOT attempt! ~
Well, at least Cain got some closure.
I'm still confused though. How did Athkor survive having his throat sliced?
Yeah, as far as I know that's impossible.
Simple, it wasn't deep enough to kill him, but he still looked like it because of the blood covering the wound made it hard to see exactly how deep it was.
I guess that makes sense.
Sort of.
Well, that's the chapter! R&R, I still want some input from my readers about how I could get better or if I'm a hopeless case!
Sorry for the long update everyone, life has been throwing me curveballs and I haven't been able to keep up with all of them. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed chapter 20, R&R please!