Hello everyone! It's me, Donny!

Welcome to Darkness Rising: Lies and Corruption! Due to my failure to keep up to date, I have decided to re-write this specific story. There are going to be a lot of changes to fix some of the plot that was too convoluted to keep up with. That being said, I do want to apologize for my absence and I promise you that I will become better.

And so it begins...

Prologue

Warm candlelight shone from the desk. A mist of dread and melancholy spread throughout the room. A blanket of darkness covered the window as a familiar dragoness sat in her chair. The chair looked sturdy, supporting her with ease. At least, that is how it appeared to most. Like the dragoness sitting upon it, it was rickety and shaky, wobbling with the slightest movement. It appeared strong but was too good at hiding its weakness.

The dragoness pulled open a drawer and pulled out a notebook. It had a brown leather cover with thick papyrus attached to the spine. Flipping the notebook open and dipping her pen in a small ink bottle, the dragoness traced out her words:

Day 97

Patient: Dawn

Today was just a normal day. Like the previous, the patient remained in bed for most of the time I was with him. When walking with him to the canteen, his back legs showed much improvement. He has regained most of the feeling in his lower body. Though, it's been this way for a couple of weeks. My patient is one of the guardian candidates and his hope is that he will make a full recovery. I've heard from him that the other candidates have started an intense training regiment and will be crowned the new guardians once the training is over.

The dragoness dipped the pen in the bottle of ink and started again.

His mental state appears to be stable, from what I have seen. But, his spirit isn't what it used to be. Every day that passes, his eyes lose their glimmer and his shoulders droop a little lower. Because his condition will hamper his fighting capabilities, he refuses anything less than a FULL recovery. His pride and his perseverance are admirable, but spirit alone will not heal an injury such as this.

As time goes on, even I am starting to lose hope. I thought I could heal him back to the way he used to be. But, I have failed my duty. If only she had taken me instead. If only...she...

The young dragoness noticed that some of the ink was blotting. Then she realized why; tears were rolling her cheeks and falling from her eyes. Before staining the book any further, she wrote her final words.

I hope he can forgive me.

Written by: Amethyst

She closed the book and tucked it back into the drawer. Pushing it closed, she laid her head down against her desk. She was no longer holding her tears back as she choked back a sob. About three months had passed, but almost nothing had changed with how she felt. Guilty riddled her heart like a vine, choking the life out of her. She could barely stand herself, let alone Dawn. Being around him made the vines grow ever tighter. And thanks to her ability to sense emotions, she only felt his sadness as it echoed through his soul.

As she stood up, she heard a gentle knock on her door. She pushed her chair out of the way and quietly walked towards the door. She grabbed and twisted the doorknob, allowing the door to creak open. She wasn't expecting anyone at this hour, so she needed to be a bit cautious. When she peeked through the crack, her eyes met a cloaked figure. It was impossible to see their face under their dark brown cloak.

"Hello, Amethyst."

Just within those two words, Amethyst recognized his voice. "Hi, Spyro. Is there something you need from me?"

His cloak flapped as a breeze flew by, "No, I just want to talk with you about-" Before he could finish, the door shut. It caught him a bit off guard. He knocked again but was greeted with the metallic sounds of Amethyst locking the door.

He sighed, "Amethyst, you've been like this for the past couple of weeks. Why won't you let me in? Do you still not trust me?" He leaned against the door, awaiting a response. All he received, however, was the silent treatment.

Spyro let out a heavy sigh and began to walk away. Obviously, now was not the time to talk with her. But because of her behavior as of late, there was almost never a good time to talk with her, especially with what happened with Cynder.

He had woken up the day after sleeping with Cynder for the first time in 13 years. But she was gone, and so was Sparx. He was so happy to see her again but it looked like it was just a dream. Despite that, he decided to tell Amethyst about it. She was quite furious with him, after all, Cynder was the reason Dawn could barely walk.

The plush snow crunched under his paws as he strolled down the white street. The house and cabins' lights had already been snuffed out and the night was all one could see. It was the only time of day that it was safe to leave the temple without fearing for his identity. Nobody but Amethyst and Cynder knew that he was alive. He wasn't sure about Sparx, though.

He stopped when he heard something strange. It was the crunching of snow, but it was almost a continuous sound, indicating a large group walking through the snow. Spyro could also guess that they were smaller than him by how loud the crunching was. The purple dragon glanced behind him.

There were about five cloaked individuals, ranging in size. All had yellow eyes that glowed from underneath their cloak hoods. One stepped forward, "Well, well, well. Looks like we caught ourselves a purple dragon."

Spyro had never met these strangers before, but something seemed familiar about them. Then, one of them laughed. The laugh had pure evil and a revolting tone written all over it. It was annoyingly familiar.

Then Spyro remembered where he had heard it. "I haven't heard a laugh like since my younger days. So, the apes have a new master? Or did your kind finally grow the balls to face the dragons without Malefor by their side?" He turned to face the disgusting creatures, "Either way, you're not supposed to be here. So I suggest you leave while your legs are still intact." The apes always left a sour taste in his mouth. They were the scum of the land and spineless cowards.

The biggest one laughed, "It looks like you still have some of that fire in you. I expected you to be washed up, but I'm glad you're not." His group of flunkies pulled out rugged blades and clubs, "That just means that this will be a lot more fun! Get em' boys!"

He let out a battle cry as the two smallest apes charged at him. Spyro wasted no effort and swung his tail at the assailants. He felt it impact them both as they were knocked unconscious immediately. The other two, average-sized apes started swinging their clubs at him. Because the weapons were so blunt, however, his wings blocked them easily. But the apes' persistence was not to be trifled with. Spyro knew this and was prepared for it.

The purple dragon felt his wings begin to tire out. He sharply raised his head, pushing the two apes back with his horns. They skidded back before charging back into the fray. With the time he created, Spyro took in a deep breath. Gathering up energy in his throat, he let loose a torrent of flame. It was large enough to engulf the two apes in flames but small enough to prevent damage to the buildings around him. The two apes screamed in agony as their fur began to crisp.

But the battle wasn't over. The biggest ape threw his cloak to the wind and pulled out a pair of crude dual shortswords. He sprinted towards Spyro; he grabbed his engulfed teammate and chucked him at Spyro. The purple dragon shot a small fireball at the corpse, blowing it into pieces. But as he did that, the ape pushed up and leaped in the air. He brought his blades above his head and swung as he landed. Spyro dodged to the right; the blade cut through his cloak. Though he remained unscathed, the ape was determined to change that.

As the ape landed, he lifted up his swords and started swinging at Spyro. Spyro was dodging each strike, but only barely. Despite what he said before, Spyro could tell that the ape had some skill in combat.

The ape threw swing after swing. He was relentless, "You said that we needed to grow some balls! You're one to talk! You abandoned your kind; and yet you still have the audacity to call us cowards?" His attacks were starting to become more aggressive. The blades started slicing faster and with more force. Spyro felt one of the blades scrap a scale off. If Spyro didn't end this fight right now, he would be skewered.

Then, he saw his opportunity. The ape pulled his swords back and swung both at his right side. Seeing his chance for victory, Spyro opened his mouth and caught both blades with his teeth. The ape felt his predicament and tried to pull his blades away, but Spyro had an iron grip on them. The purple dragon pulled on the blades and lifted them above his head. The ape yelled out as he was also thrown over Spyro's head with his swords. With much force, Spyro slammed him into the concrete, leaving a visible crack.

Spyro was almost out of energy, but he still had enough to finish the fight. The dual swords soon melted in the clasp of his jaw. He spat when he tasted the hot metal in his mouth. It didn't sting as much as it just left a sour taste in his mouth. The ape glared at his now melted swords in despair. He tried to stand to make a run for it, but an ice spike skewered his left foot. He cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground.

Spyro closed on his target and pointed his tail at him, "Now that we've finally calmed down a bit, I think I've changed my mind. Before I let you leave, I want to know everything about the new scheme your king must be planning."

The injured ape coughed up some blood. He was in no condition to fight back, "I-I'll never tell you...anything about...our new...friend!"

"Friend? So you do have a new master." The revelation was intriguing to Spyro. Who could the apes' new "friend" possibly be?

The ape laughed, "Master? No, he's just an ally. Unlike Malefor, he's given us free will and is willing to provide us with materials and equipment. Soon, the apes will be a force to be reckoned with and the dragons will be thrown to the slaughter. Just you wait!" Suddenly the ape reached out for the ice spike Spyro formed from earlier. He grabbed it and broke it off from the ground. Without hesitation and remorse, the ape stabbed himself in the center of his chest. It pushed it in deep till he felt it pierce his heart. the wound began to gush blood.

He laughed, "iocuir wux persvek uoinota, wer darastrix di legend." His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his life finally came to an end. Spyro was shocked by the suicidal dedication that the ape had. It was almost admirable. But, nonetheless, he still tried to run away.

Spyro picked one of his blades, "Since you know the language of the dragons, I'll leave my own message." Using the sword as a kind of quill, Spyro traced his message into the ground. "wer ergriff xiekiv wux geou qe ocuirir persvek uoinota ui dout z'ar 'partner'." Spyro threw the melted blade to the ground and started to walk away. But he noticed that some of the lights in the houses were coming back on. So he started to flap his wings and took off into the night sky.

...

It didn't take long for Spyro to arrive back at the temple. There was a small balcony on the right side of the temple, where Spyro's room was. He slowed his descent and landed with a muffled thud. His room was dimly lit with some candles and the closest thing he had to furniture was a small mat on the wooden floor. He shuffled his way to his mat, placing his ruined cloak on a hanger that was mounted on the wall.

As he sat down, a pain stung throughout his side. He hadn't checked for injuries, but there was a shallow cut wound around his midsection. It was also bleeding slightly. seeing that he couldn't just leave it, Spyro grabbed a metallic bar and a thick leather handle that was set off to the side. He held up the iron bar and used his remaining energy to form a small, blow-torch-like flame. He held the bar in flame, heating it into an orange-yellow color. Once he felt it was sufficiently heated, he cut the heat and bit down on the thick leather handle. Then he took the heated iron bar and carefully applied it against his wound. A sizzling sound filled the room as he sealed the wound. It was excruciatingly painful.

Once it was sealed, he threw bar away and spat out the leather handle. He collapsed and grunted in pain, "By the ancestors, that hurt like hell!" he looked at his now-closed wound; it was still steaming. he sighed, "I wish I had some red gems to heal with instead, but the only way I could get some is to but it from the merchants. I'll have to find other methods to heal my own injuries."

A knock came from the door to his quarters. Spyro glanced at the door as it started to creak open. He panicked, fearing his cover could be blown. Now was the worst time to barge in. He looked around the room to try and hide. He attempted to get up and leave through the balcony. However, a wave of pain rushed through his side.

Someone peeked their head in, "Master Kyron is everything alright? I thought I..." They froze, "Wait, you're not Kyron! Who are you?"

This was the worst-case scenario. The last thing Spyro needed was his identity reaching the public. He couldn't believe that he let himself be that careless.

Spyro sighed, "Luna, you always choose the worst time to barge in." He recognized the intruder. Her name was Luna and she was a student under his tutelage. She was one of his best students and had been under his wing for months.

She came in and closed the door, "Hold on, your scales are purple, but you definitely resemble Kyron. I don't know who you are, but how do you know my name?"

The purple dragons stood up, "Well, the answer to your question is actually quite simple. I know your name because we have interacted many times before. In fact, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, considering," Spyro turned to face her, "I am your teacher."

"My teacher...? Wait, K-Kyron is that actually you?!"

He smiled, "Yes, though that is not my actual name. I used to be known as Spyro about thirteen years ago, but I have changed with the times."

She nearly fainted from the shock, "Wait, you're THE Spyro? If that's true, then how long have you been hiding as Kyron?" Spyro rubbed his chin. It was hard to remember exactly when he arrived at the temple.

"Well, if I had to say, I've been here for about five years already." He was going to ask her another question. She yawned, showing all her white teeth. Spyro noticed, "I would tell you more about my journey to get here, but it appears that it's a bit late. Let's both get a good night's sleep, then we can talk about this in the morning."

Luna was about to leave when she saw Spyro's cloak. She noticed that it was ripped in half. Without saying a word, she started towards the cloak. She reached out and grasped the cloak with one of her paws. She closed her eyes and focused her mind on the fabric. She could feel the essence of what used to be a part of the cloak lingering to it. She focused her elemental energy into that very essence and it began to take form. Once she felt the essence dissipate, she opened her eyes.

The cloak was no longer damaged and looked brand new. She turned towards Spyro, "Sorry, your cloak was ruined and I couldn't help myself."

He chuckled, "It's fine. I honestly forgot that you have the ability to fix any inanimate objects that you touch. Anyways, please go to bed, young one. Training starts early for you.'

"W-Wait! Training?! Why am I the only one?!"

He smiled, "The guardians are expecting you at your best. If you don't train, then your chances of becoming a part of the elite guard will go up in smoke!"

She groaned, "Ugh, fine! I'm going to bed now! Good night Kyro- Oh! I mean Spyro!" She started toward the door. But she quickly ran over and hugged Spyro before leaving the room. He was smiling right up till she closed the door and all went silent. He laid down with a somber look on his face. It was cold, too cold. It had been a long time since he had attempted to lay down and rest. Meditation had been his go-to during his years at the temple.

But, he wanted to try it. One. More. Time.