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Chapter 5
Standing in front of Spyro and Leon was a giant red elderly dragon, whom had been laying down on the cave floor was now looking down at them after standing up on his legs. The two young dragons were speechless, Spyro more greatly as he never imagined to see a creature just like them to be that big!
"You're...you're alive?" Ignitus softly asked as he himself couldn't believe his own two eyes: as the purple dragon, whose egg he managed to save on the night of the raid had hatched was now standing before him, along with another surviving young dragon, whom he didn't recognize.
"But it's too late...Too late..." The Fire Guardian muttered sadly with the tone of his voice showing nothing but defeat and great sadness.
"T-Too late for what?" Spyro asked while looking greatly confused by what he was seeing right before him and not understanding what the giant red dragon was talking about.
"Who are you? Do you know me? Where do I come from? What are you? What are we? What am I?!" The young dragon had asked while looking like he was about to have either a heart or anxiety attack!
"You mean...you don't know?" Ignitus asked as both he and Leon were greatly surprised that Spyro had no idea what the three of them were.
"Apparently, he doesn't." Leon replied as he was shocked himself that Spyro had no idea what he was.
"Your a dragon. When you were just an egg, it was my job to protect you..." Ignitus answered as he slowly explained to Spyro what he was, but then closed his eyes, as he thought back to the night of his greatest failure.
"...It was my job to protect all of you." The elderly guardian muttered sadly, as the memory of what he saw after he returned to the Temple haunted him greatly.
"There are others?" Spyro asked softly, as he was slowly digesting what he learning, one piece at a time so he could understand better.
"Others?" Ignitus asked as he heard the young dragon's question.
"There were. There were four us, Guardians that is and we had one job: ensure that all the dragon eggs under our protection were hatched. It was the Year of the Dragon, after all and our very survival and future depended on those eggs..." Ignitus answered, as he explained what his role, along with his fellow Guardian's was before the attack on the Temple.
"...But the Temple and Grotto are now gone...Over run by..." The Fire Guardian continued, somberly while shaking his head sadly.
"Temple? What Temple?" Spyro asked after hearing the red dragon mention a temple several times and it piqued both his and Leon's curiosity.
"Could we see it? Where we come from, we mean?" Leon asked as he was just as curious as his friend.
"No...no...Who knows what forces occupy the Temple now. What states it's in." Ignitus had shook his head, showing that he refused to take the two young dragons anywhere near the Temple.
"You don't understand...when they came for you..." Ignitus said as he looked directly at Spyro.
"They? Whose is 'they' and why did 'they' come for me?" The young purple dragon asked confused as he instantly knew that the elderly Fire Guardian was referring to him.
"Because the prophecies spoke of a Purple Dragon, a dragon born once only every ten generations...you." Ignitus explained and this revelation surprised Spyro greatly, as he was left speechless after learning he was actually a rare special dragon.
"So...So you mean...Spyro is a legendary purple dragon?" Leon asked as he was too surprised from he just learned about his new friend!
"Your name is Spyro is it?" Ignitus asked after learning the young purple dragon's name.
"Well Spyro, I assure you that I'm telling you the truth." Ignitus continued gently, reassuring the young dragon that he his words were true.
"The Dark Armies launched a full-scale assault on the Temple, intent on destroying the unhatched dragon egg and killing the rest of us...and they nearly succeeded." Ignitus revealed as Spyro and Leon's pupils shrunk in terror, after hearing that these mysterious 'Dark Armies' had attacked their home and attempted to kill them when they were still unhatched eggs.
"Then they laid siege on the other islands...We were at war..." Ignitus continued as he remembered every battle he and his fellow Guardians waged in.
Flashback...
"For many years, we fought valiantly against the vile and cruel armies of the Dark Master, whose intent to prevent the birth of the purple dragon the prophecies foretold." Ignitus was covered in ancient armor, while leading an army of heavily armored dragons. The Fire Guardian had stood bravely on one side of a soon to be battlefield, staring down a huge heavily armored Ape wielding a sledgehammer, leading an army of medium and small sized Ape soldiers.
"We had waged battle after battle against these unrelenting foes, with the hope of driving and freeing the islands the Dark Armies had captured and used as footholds." Ignitus had single-handedly battled a group of Apes in a volcanic area while releasing a stream of fire. Volteer had battled a battalion of Apes in a dark area surrounded by crystals, electrocuting the feet of the Apes that foolishly charged in towards him. Cyril had froze a small group of Apes with a gust of sheer freezing ice in a frozen and barren land and Terrador had swung his sturdy mace club at the tip of his tail, crushing the skulls of a small army of Apes in an Aztec like area.
End of flashback...
"And just as we were to turn the tide of the war to our favor...Cynder came." Ignitus continued, as his brows glared as he said the name of the beast who slaughtered his fellow dragons.
"Cynder?" Spyro asked as he remembered hearing the Apes, who attacked him and Leon mention that name twice.
Flashback...
"Yes, Cynder. Cynder was...is monstrous, horrific, ferocious... a black dragon that fills the skies with terror. An unstoppable force of nature." Ignitus explained as he remembered the first time he ever laid eyes of the beast he spoke of.
"Then that roar Spyro and I heard before we entered this cave just now...That must've been Cynder!" Leon realized as he and Spyro turned to face each, as they now knew what it was they heard and frightened them.
"Yes, and she still searches for me..." Ignitus revealed, after nodding his head that it was Cynder the two young dragon's heard flying in the sky above.
Flashback...
"I had watched helplessly as she plucked the other Guardians from the field of battle..." Ignitus had witnessed in horror as the Dark Armies had overpowered Terrador and tied him down, but not before gasping in fear after seeing Cynder himself for the first time.
"...Like so many ripe grapes from the vine..." Cynder had released a strong jet of flames down upon the rest of Terrador's army, while flying in the sky with the captured Earth Guardian firmed in her rear left paw.
End of flashback...
"Without the other Guardians...our cause is lost. Only I, Ignitus, had managed to escape. Not that it matters...Cynder now rules all...and I sit here in hiding, wondering what might been. What else I could've done." Ignitus ended his story, closing his eyes as he had accepted defeat.
"Spyro...maybe we should turn back." Leon said breaking the silence, as he and the purple dragon had remained silent as they listened to Ignitus telling his story.
"Ignitus...why would you give up?" Spyro asked, even though he listened carefully to Ignitus's tale. Deep down, Spyro wanted to turn back, like Leon suggested, but his heart just couldn't allow it. Both Leon and Ignitus looked at Spyro, both intrigued by his choice of words.
"You tell me that I'm this supposedly special dragon and that all hope is lost? That I have no home or family left?" The young dragon asked, as he refused to turn back.
"I've come this far just to turn back now." Spyro claimed, showing he wasn't willing to just give up his quest.
"Spyro, think about what you're saying." Leon said, showing he wasn't sure heading towards the Temple was a smart idea.
"I want to see our home, just as badly as you do. But didn't you hear what Ignitus just said? The Temple might already be controlled by Cynder's Ape soldiers!" Leon explained, showing he wanted to see their home, just like Spyro but wasn't sure that ignoring Ignitus's warning was a smart move.
"Yes Spyro, you must listen to your friend. The prophecies did speak of a purple dragon destined to put his stamp on this age, but the prophecies did not foretell the devastation and destruction that surrounds us now." Ignitus explained, while he acknowledged Spyro's courage and curiosity.
"Maybe you and Ignitus are right Leon. Maybe I'm not ready." Spyro stated as he knew that Leon's and Ignitus's words of warning were true, as he had no idea what state the Temple, his supposedly original home was in and was now under the control of Cynder's Ape forces.
"But I'm willing to try and to take the first step." Spyro added, as he still needed answers to fully understand his origins.
"Then, I'm with you Spyro. If you're willing to try, so am I." Leon stated, while smiling and admiring his friend's courage for wanting to continued forward.
"Thanks Leon." Spyro stated, smiling back as he appreciated the lime green dragon backing his decision up.
"Alright Spyro. I will show you and your friend, Leon. Both you young dragon's deserve to see both your beginnings, before they end." Ignitus stated, as he felt seeing the Temple was the least he could do, while he too admired the young purple dragon's courage and determination.
Ignitus had led Spyro and Leon to a tunnel at the end of the cave and the two young dragon's followed right behind the elderly Fire Guardian. The only thing that Spyro would soon learn the hard way would be...that he would not like what he would find or see after reaching the Temple.
