The Summoning

Act 1: Descension

Chapter 3: New Identities

Cynder awoke with a start, nearly throwing the pillows and blankets from her bed. She panted heavily as her eyes adjusted to the dark room. It had no windows to let in any natural light, so she fumbled around until she felt the lamp on the nightstand beside her bed. She tapped it with her claw to turn it on, and it illuminated the room with a soft white light. She examined the room carefully, not noticing anything strange or out of place. It didn't differ much from high-end guest rooms that existed during her time, apart from sharing the same sleek and modernistic style as the rest of Gaius's hideout.

She sat up straight and shook off the remaining sheets that covered her scales, taking a few more deep breaths to calm herself. She had just awoken from a dream, or rather a nightmare based on her startled reaction. But for the life of her, she could not remember a single detail. She tried her best to recall anything about it, but she came up empty pawed. All that remained of it was an overwhelming sense of dread at something unknown to her. She gave up after a few minutes, deciding not to dwell on it for too long.

She crawled out of bed and stretched, and then made her way over to the bathroom that Algernon had shown her last night. She pushed the partially ajar door open with her head and stepped inside, the lights turning on automatically upon her entrance. Like the rest of her quarters, the bathroom was spotless and looked as though it had never been used. She went about her usual morning routine to freshen up and prepare for the day. She had a little trouble finding some of the toiletries and struggled to operate the modern shower, but she managed to adapt rather quickly.

The thing that stood out to her the most was not the overly complex shower or the odd designs of the toiletries, but rather her own appearance. It hit her while she was cleaning her fangs in front of the bathroom's large mirror. She had been an elderly dragoness at the time of her passing, but the dragon staring back at her was not so. She was in her prime once more. Her slender face beamed with youth while her jade eyes exuded wisdom. It was like looking at a portrait of a memory long past. It nearly brought tears to her eyes as a wave of memories flooded her mind. She quickly suppressed her fluctuating emotions and steeled her mind, focusing on the present. She had noticed this drastic change in her physical form soon after she had awoken in the forest, her body being much more limber and energized than it had been at the end of her life. She hadn't been able to dwell on it at the time, but she supposed this was an intended part of the ritual. After all, she wouldn't be able to do quite as much damage as an elderly dragoness.

After she finished in the bathroom, she exited her quarters and made her way back to the living area they had been in last night. The first thing she noticed was the savory smell of cooked meat and the sound of a sizzling skillet. She also heard someone talking, but she didn't recognize their voice. She hesitated for a brief moment before cautiously poking her head around the corner. She relaxed slightly when she saw only Gaius and Fulmena seated at the table in the dining area. Algernon was in the kitchen area on the same side of the room, standing over a large modernistic stove and cooking what looked to be a variety of meats and vegetables. She almost let out a humorous snort at the fact that he had to stand on a stool to reach the stovetop.

But her attention was quickly drawn to the object that sat between the two dragons at the table. It was a flat crystalline rectangle that was emitting light and sound. She quickly put two and two together and realized that this was where the unfamiliar voice had been coming from. It projected a semi-transparent moving image of what she recognized as the Newborn Temple in the swamp. A masculine voice spoke as the image played, and Gaius was watching it intently while sipping on a steaming beverage. Fulmena noticed her before the earth drake did, and her eyes widened at the sight of the black dragoness. She was also drinking a hot beverage, and she let out a muffled choking sound before lurching forward and blowing out droplets of brown spittle onto the table. Gaius gave the electricity dragoness a startled look until she pointed at Cynder with her wing. He quickly turned his attention to the black dragoness and smiled warmly when his eyes met hers.

"Ah, good morning, Cynder!" He greeted as he reached forward and tapped the crystalline object a few times, causing the volume of the voice to lower. "I'm glad to see that you're awake. Did you sleep well last night?"

"Morning," she replied in a hoarse voice, stepping fully into view. "Yes, I did."

That wasn't a complete lie. She had slept well despite having been awakened by an unknowable nightmare. She did not think it necessary to mention her dream given the fact that she couldn't even recall a single detail about it. She walked over and sat down beside Fulmena, who was diligently wiping her spittle off the table with a napkin. A moment later, Algernon hurried over with a plate of meats and vegetables and a cup of what appeared to be the same steaming liquid that the other two dragons were drinking. He did not join them at the table. Instead, he turned about quickly and headed back to the kitchen area to begin cleaning up.

"You'll have to forgive me if this meal isn't quite up to your standards, Lady Cynder," the mole said apologetically as he began to run water in the sink. "Cooking is not one of my strong suits. Somehow, over the course of these events, I have been demoted to kitchen duty."

He said that last part pointedly, making Gaius chuckle. "Consider it a promotion, my furry friend. Greater responsibility equals greater pay."

Algernon sighed in response. In the meantime, Cynder had been sniffing at her food and drink cautiously. Her meal didn't seem to be poisoned. Even if it had been, it wouldn't have affected her much anyway. Her mastery of the poison element ensured that she was immune to virtually any toxin. Evidently, the earth drake had noticed her examining her food with suspicion, for he let out an exasperated huff.

"Truly, Cynder? Do you think so little of me?" Gaius asked, shaking his head. "What sense would it make for me to poison you after going through all of this trouble to raise you from the dead?"

She simply shrugged and began eating, not even bothering to look up from her meal as she replied to him. "I still don't trust you."

He made a sound of disapproval but didn't press it further. While she was eating, she glanced up from her breakfast to examine the crystalline object on the table.

"What is this thing?" She asked after swallowing a bite of food.

"It's a holovision," the earth drake answered, perking up suddenly and looking eager to explain its functions. "It's a magical device crafted from gems. It displays images and sounds from magical broadcast signals. These signals offer a variety of programs, such as news, entertainment, and even educational material. Its utilities extend beyond this, but most people use them for that particular purpose. In my case, I am using it to watch a news report covering my latest escapade. As you can see, I've caused quite a ruckus."

The holovision was now showing an aerial view of the Newborn Temple. It looked just as regal and immaculate as it had been during her time. The Newborn Temple was built to be a replica of the old dragon temple in the swamp. It had been primarily dedicated to Spyro, with the swamp being his hatching place and all. It was also where she and Spyro had arranged to be laid to rest. There had actually been quite a dispute over where they were to be buried after their passing. She, Spyro, and their family thought it would be most appropriate for the purple dragon to be given a burial close to his childhood home. The officials of New Warfang had different ideas, however. They wanted them to be buried at the Dawn Temple in the city; the place where she and Spyro had spent most of their lives after Malefor's defeat. Although the city's officials tried their best to conceal their motivations, it had been obvious that they were jockeying for petty political prestige. The entire situation had greatly pissed her off to say the least, and Cynder had more than a few choice words for the council. In the end, she and Spyro had succeeded in defending their right to be buried where they pleased, but she wouldn't have put it past New Warfang's officials to have had their bodies exhumed and transported back to the city.

Surprisingly, that didn't seem to be the case. While the Newborn Temple itself was easily recognizable, the area around it was not. It sat amongst a number of other buildings, many of which were tall, rectangular, and layered with sleek glass. No longer was it surrounded by the towering mushroom caps of the swamp, but rather a sprawling city that made it look like a relic ripped straight out of the past and placed in the middle of an unfamiliar future. There looked to be quite a scene going on at the temple. There appeared to be a large guard presence, evidenced by the number of armored dragons rushing about the grounds and courtyard. She didn't see any students, masters, or temple staff milling about as they had often done during her many visits to the holy site. The voice that spoke over the moving image reported some type of desecration of a sacred site and the resulting theft of temple property. Oddly enough, they never quite specified exactly what had been stolen from temple.

Cynder assumed this was the work of Gaius.

"Did you expect anything less after stealing temple property?" Cynder scoffed, rolling her eyes as she took a drink from the hot beverage, which turned out to be some type of strange tea. "That was a capital crime in my day. What exactly did you steal anyway?"

The earth drake nearly choked on his own drink like Fulmena had earlier, but it appeared to be due to amusement rather than surprise. He set his cup down with a strangled laugh and quickly wiped off his muzzle with a napkin before answering her.

"Oh, you're going to love this," he stated as placed his forepaws on the table and leaned in towards her. "I stole your body."

It was Cynder's turn to nearly spew out a mouthful of hot tea. She caught herself mid sip and forced herself to swallow the hot beverage with a hard gulp. With her mouth still burning, she looked up at Gaius with an incredulous expression.

"Ancestors," she rasped, followed by a cough to clear her throat. "I don't even want to know how you managed to pull that off. You failed to mention that little detail last night."

"As I said, I didn't want to bore you with all the details," he replied with a grin. "When it comes to summoning a being that previously had a mortal form, it's necessary to have at least some of their organic matter in your possession. I wasn't willing to take any chances with your summoning, so I made sure gather up what remained of your corpse. I will say that the ancient thanatologists did an excellent job in ensuring that your body remained well-preserved."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, and he weathered her sharp gaze surprisingly well with that prideful smirk on his face. She eventually just shook her head and went back to eating her breakfast.

"Let me guess, you've got Spyro's body lying around here somewhere?" Cynder asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Gaius let out a hearty laugh at that. "No, no. Stealing the bodies of two ancient heroes would be a bit excessive for my purposes. And besides, not even a magical master such as myself would have the power to summon Spyro. In fact, I'd estimate that the only being with enough magical potency to pull it off successfully would be another purple dragon! But alas, the Ancestors did not bless me with purple scales."

Cynder snorted at that but chose not to respond. No one said anything for a few moments until the earth drake broke the silence.

"Needless to say, I am likely the most wanted dragon in the world at the moment," he said with a grimace. "We must travel discretely to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. The Realm, Sea, and Sky Guard have all been mobilized to search for me and my conspirators."

"Wonderful," Cynder said with an exasperated sigh. "Where will we be traveling to?"

"Our ultimate destination is White Door's commune in the Crystalline Fields," Gaius answered while giving her a knowing look. "Though we will need to make a couple of important stops on our way there."

She immediately stiffened at the mention of the Crystalline Fields. It was the area that was formerly known as the Concurrent Skies. After Spyro had restored the world, the large floating landmass had fallen into the ocean and remained there ever since. Most of the small continent remained above the waves and came to be renamed the Crystalline Fields to distance it from the fearsome reputation it had garnered during the Second Dark War. Cynder had travelled to and from many places after the world's restoration, but the Crystalline Fields were one place she preferred to stay away from. Sure, it was beautiful and all, but it brought up too many negative memories of her past. Thankfully, her lair had been destroyed during the world's destruction, so it no longer stood as a testament to the atrocities she had committed.

"Let me guess: they've attempted to rebuild my old fortress," Cynder sighed. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like his response.

The earth drake took another sip of his tea and shrugged his shoulders. "Not exactly. Their compound is built upon the ground where it's believed your fortress once stood, but it is not an attempt at an exact reconstruction. The location was chosen deliberately, of course. Some of its architecture is inspired by historical records that detail the design of your lair."

A spark of anger flared in Cynder's gut at that. This wasn't the first time she had heard of people who attempted to romanticize her past as Malefor's servant. She considered their fascination with that subject to be offensive and disturbing. She was starting to build more ire towards this cult and its leaders. Or was it just Gaius's anger bleeding into her own mind?

To be honest, she didn't want to know.

There wasn't any significant conversation from that point forward. When they were done eating, Fulmena got up to help Algernon clean the kitchen. Gaius also got up and beckoned Cynder over to the living area they were in last night. They sat in silence for several minutes while the mole and electricity dragoness finished cleaning up the dishes. After they were done, Fulmena came over to join them, while Algernon hurried off and disappeared down the hallway.

Gaius cleared his throat and began speaking. "Before we depart this morning, we will need to assume disguises. Fulmena and I would likely be recognized fairly quickly, and the thought of parading Cynder around in public is laughable at best. Algernon can manage without a disguise; he is not officially affiliated with me in any traceable capacity."

"And how exactly are we going to disguise ourselves?" Cynder asked with a raised eye ridge. "I'm not exactly the easiest dragon to hide."

She sat up on her cushion as tall as she could. In addition to her striking black scales and exotic markings, she was also incredibly long and tall for a dragoness. Even while sitting down, she was still at least a head and a half taller than Gaius, and he was taller than the average drake. He looked up at her and chuckled.

"I've accounted for that," he said confidently. "You'll see as soon as Algernon returns."

A few moments later, the mole returned with a sleek black box in his hands. He sat it down on the table in the center of the room and opened it. Inside, there were what appeared to be a trio of thin transparent tubes. Their inner mechanisms looked to be rather complex, and each one had a small diamond-shaped gem at its end. Algernon grabbed one and stepped over to Gaius, who lowered himself to the floor as much as he could.

"These gems have been enchanted with the ability to alter a dragon's appearance," the earth drake explained as he shifted his right wing. "They can change scale, eye color, and even make minor adjustments to horn and spine shape. As far as outside observers are concerned, the user will appear as an entirely different individual. It's only illusory, of course. You needn't worry about permanent alterations to your appearance."

Algernon pulled a thin white cloth out of his vest pocket and rubbed it on a patch of scales a few inches below Gaius's wing. He then took one of the tube-like devices and pressed it against the scales he had just finished wiping. The mole used his small thumb to press a button on top of the device; there was a loud click and Gaius flinched and let out a pained grunt. Cynder raised her eye ridges at them as a small trickle of blood began to ooze from the earth drake's side. Algernon quickly set the device aside, allowing her to see that it no longer contained the translucent gem. He got to work on wiping the blood off Gaius's scales and placed a bandage over the nearly invisible wound. She heard the earth drake's joints creak softly as he pushed himself back up into a seating position. He flexed his right foreleg and wing carefully, craning his head to look back at the bandage.

Before her eyes, his scales began to shimmer and turn from bronze to a medium gray. His ivory underbelly and wing membranes became a brighter shade of white, and his eyes followed suit by turning sky blue. His curved horns quickly changed shape to curl upward at a sharp angle. By the time the magic was finished, he looked like a completely different dragon. To compliment his new appearance, he removed his rectangular spectacles and replaced them with a pair that were round and lined with thick black rims. He flashed Cynder a smile as Algernon grabbed one of the other tubes.

"Admittedly, it does sting a little, but I can assure you that it is perfectly safe," Gaius stated as the mole made his way over to Fulmena. "Algernon is quite skilled at using injectors."

The electricity dragoness shifted uncomfortably and lowered herself in the same manner as Gaius. The mole repeated the same process with her, though he injected the gem on her left side rather than her right. She yelped lightly after the loud click, but that was it. Her yellow scales also turned gray, but they were a darker shade than Gaius's. Her thunderbolt-shaped horns straightened and swept upward, and her black underbelly became white. Her eyes lightened to a brighter shade of blue, losing some of the electric intensity they had held before. Algernon finished patching her up before stepping over to grab the last injector.

"There's not a… less invasive way to go about this?" Cynder asked warily as the mole stepped up beside her.

The earth drake shook his head. "The purpose of injecting these gems into our bodies is to reduce the likelihood of them being damaged or lost. They could easily be incorporated into a piece of jewelry, but I fear that we may find ourselves in situations where the aforementioned scenarios are likely to occur. These types of disguises can also be conjured up with a spell. However, doing so would require the spell to be recast every time it expires. These gems do not have that issue; they draw upon latent magic in the environment to power their illusions, thus ensuring that the disguises do not fail at an inopportune moment."

She supposed that made sense, though she still didn't like the idea of having a foreign object planted in her body. She huffed and lowered herself as much as she could. She relaxed her muscles as Algernon pulled out another cloth.

"Which is your dominant side, Lady Cynder?" He asked hesitantly.

"My left," she answered simply. She assumed that's what he was referring to.

He nodded and walked around to her right side instead. He began wiping her scales with the cloth; it was cold, damp, and smelled strongly of pure alcohol. He then took the injector and placed it against her scales before clicking the button on its top. Gaius hadn't been lying when he said that it would sting; it smarted quite a bit more than an inoculation, but she didn't flinch or make a sound. The mole quickly patched her up while she looked at her foreleg to watch her scales change before her eyes.

They shifted from black to a light gray hue. Algernon pulled a small mirror out of his vest pocket and handed it to her so she could examine her new appearance. Her eyes went from their signature jade color to a shade of light green, and her six long horns were now curved downward. Her underbelly and wing membranes had turned from maroon to a pale blue. She was surprisingly satisfied with her new appearance.

"Not bad," she snorted as she handed the mirror back to Algernon. "I've always wondered how I'd look as a normal wind dragon."

"I'm glad to hear that you're satisfied," Gaius said with a chuckle. "Now, if we receive any inquiries regarding our new identities, it is imperative that we have a cover story. We shall pose as a family of wind dragons who are traveling back to Astraeus. I will take on the name Augustus and play the role of the owner of a small, yet successful trading business. Cynder will be called Cyclona and act as my beautiful and much younger mate. Fulmena will go by the name Flurry and be our precious daughter. Does that make sense to everyone?"

Cynder narrowed her eyes at the earth drake and opened her mouth to hit him with a scathing remark, but Fulmena blurted out a response faster than she could.

"Flurry?!" The electricity dragoness cried incredulously. "You couldn't come up with a cooler sounding name than that? It sounds like the name of a pet snoat!"

"Come now, don't get your tail in a bunch," he admonished, though he said that with a cheeky smirk that Cynder so desperately wanted to smack off his muzzle. "It's only a temporary alias, and besides, it's not as if 'Fulmena' is a particularly cool name."

The electricity dragoness bristled and looked like she was about to fire back with a retort, but her eyes widened for a brief moment before she let out a very juvenile sounding groan and practically deflated in defeat.

"You're right," she mumbled as she buried her muzzle in her forepaws. "It sounds like an old lady's name."

Cynder still wanted to argue with Gaius about being made to play the role of a trophy mate, but most of her anger had eroded into indifference after witnessing the two dragons' childish exchange. She sat up on her cushion and looked at the earth drake intently.

"Alright, we have our new identities," she stated, drawing his attention back to her. "Now what?"

An excited grin grew on Gaius's muzzle. "Now, we begin our journey to the Crystalline Fields."

With their disguises now in place, they spent the next several minutes gathering up the last of their personal belongings. This left Cynder standing awkwardly in the living area, not having any belongings of her own. Gaius explained that most of the supplies had already been prepared, and anything additional they needed could be obtained in a town on a nearby island. When they were finished, the earth drake led them further down the spiral staircase to a lower level of the hideout. While they were walking down the marbled steps, he informed her that they would be traveling via ship until they reached the Crystalline Fields. He explained that such a distance would be too far for an older dragon such as himself to fly and that it would be too risky to use any type of flying machine in this area. He claimed that such an expensive piece of equipment would be more likely to draw the attention of the authorities, so that left sea travel as their only viable option.

At the bottom of the stairwell was another nondescript hallway, much like the one at the top of the hideout. They walked through an open door and into a space that was far larger than the floor above it. It was primarily illuminated by a few large lights along the ceiling, and it housed a number of strange machines that she didn't recognize. The one thing that did look somewhat familiar to her sat in a water filled canal that ran through the middle of the space. It was a sleek and futuristic looking boat. It was a medium sized vessel that was colored bright red with white and yellow accents. The words 'Red Lion' were printed on its side in what looked to be a form of common script. Cynder wasn't sure how this gaudy ship would help them travel discretely.

Gaius led them over to a ramp that allowed them to climb aboard the deck. Algernon quickly made his way to the helm while the dragons got themselves situated. A few moments later, the deck vibrated slightly and a soft humming noise filled the air. The ship began to slowly drift forward through the canal, which stretched into a long tunnel that ended with a wall. As they approached the end of the tunnel, Gaius raised a forepaw and a familiar rune appeared on the back of it. The same rune appeared on the wall in front of them, and much like the hidden entrance aboveground, the wall parted to either side and allowed a copious amount of bright sunlight to flood in. She was immediately hit with the smell of salty sea air and the sound of lapping waves. The vessel continued to move forward until it emerged from the tunnel and out into the ocean waters. The far side of the island rose behind them as a high rocky cliff face, and the enchanted door slid shut with a final rumble.

And with that, they finally set off.

A/N: I'm not quite sure how I feel about this chapter. I chose to split my original draft of Chapter 3 in half (the latter half is now the upcoming Chapter 4), and I hope this part of it is able to stand on its own. Once again, it doesn't really have any action, and a lot of it is just Gaius running his mouth, but I hope that you can get at least some enjoyment out of it. Still, I don't feel like this is a very satisfying chapter after a two month wait since the last upload.

But on the brighter side, I actually believe that I'll be able to get Chapter 4 out in a week from now! This chapter will have more interaction with the other non-Gaius characters, some new sights for Cynder to see, and a little bit of action! I hope you'll bear with me as I get this story off the ground. We're leaving the introductory section of the story with this chapter, so things should get a little more interesting from here on.

Until next time!