The Realms of Desolation
Rating: PG...for now.
Author's Notes: Well, I'm back for another installment. Last I left off, TRoC became the longest, most reviewed, and most worshipped Spyro the Dragon fanfic on the face of the Web. Can TRoD top it? Probably not, but I worked hard on this first chapter anyways.
This story takes place twenty years after TRoC, eighteen years after A Hero's Tail, and so on and so forth.
Oh, and if you haven't read The Realms of Chaos, which is also written by me, and you're reading this, 50 of the things going on will not make sense to you. At all.
READ THE REALMS OF CHAOS BEFORE READING THIS OR YOU WILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON HERE! (Note: Reading Shelter from the Rain is not required.)
That is all.
Twenty years have passed since the War of the Gigas.
Neither Avalar nor the Dragon Realms had ever seen a time of peace that followed. After the elements of their worlds became balanced, thanks to the return of the six Gigas Crystals to their rightful home in Diamond Palace, the land of Avalar became happier. Monster populations dwindled to the point where the use of Spirit Portals became a thing of the past. Species like the Landblubbers and the Breezebuilders, for the first time in many long years of fighting, found time to bury the hatchet and become allies. Even the landscape itself seemed to bloom underneath the peace, as once completely barren lands like Scorch received springs full of flowers.
Everyone involved in the War would never forget the lives of loved ones lost, the harsh truths of life learned, and the strength received from battles won. Most of the slaves that were liberated from Castle Changeling, although they were allowed to return back home and regain their social status, could never forget all the cruelties that they had received from the now-vanquished Changeling. Some of them, especially the ones that had been imprisoned for the entire duration of Changeling's reign, had to visit shrinks in order to banish all their fears of their mistress ever returning, and a small number of the slaves died of their injuries gained over the years even after being freed.
But no lives changed greater than the lives of the four heroes that had changed the fate of an entire realm. Everyone involved in the War of the Gigas remembered the names of four brave heroes who sacrificed everything they owned in order to vanquish the evil soul of the Silver Gigas Crystal Holder: Spyro the Dragon, Ripto the Riptoc, Snowflake Laterose, and Airazor Volgeri.
Spyro, the Artisan hero of the Dragon Realms, remembered his encounter with the savage army of Changeling and used it to his advantage. The dragon conditioned his body and built up his confidence and wit so that he would never fall for an ambush like the one Changeling set up in the Mystic Mountains. He made sure that no one seeking for world domination would succeed ever again. That's why Red the Fallen Dragon Elder, even though he had the power of the Dark Gems and had Gnasty Gnorc as an ally, lost to Spyro.
Throughout the years, Spyro grew into a well-renowned warrior of all the dragon realms. The young dragon's body grew with his age, as it wasn't long before the teenaged dragon became a tall and proud adult that was able to walk proudly on his hind legs. He would still fight in courageous battles against foes like Ripto and Red, but for the most part, his life settled when he married the woman of his dreams.
Ripto, the reptilian sorcerer known for his repeated attempts of world domination, kept his word. As soon as the Gigas Crystals were put behind him and he was relatively free from their bound, Ripto tried several times to conquer the dragon realms as if the month spent with Spyro as a companion was nothing more than a nightmare his mind came up with. No one neither noticed nor cared that Ripto never targeted Avalar anymore. Instead, the little dictator continued on his persistent plans of world domination throughout the years.
That is, until Avalar made him his dictator. Ripto, in his prime and with a loving wife, eagerly accepted the position of Ruler of Avalar and promised never to plan anymore attacks on the dragon realms. Course, he was never told that his position had no real rank to it. Ripto and Snowflake became the figureheads of Avalar's government, while Spyro and his wife Elora ran the government. In a way, it made everyone happy. Ripto was happy because he believed that he owned a world all to himself, and everyone else was happy because Ripto decided not to try to take over worlds by force anymore.
This especially made the new head of Avalar's Scientific Facilities happy. The former lackey of Changeling known as Airazor Volgeri found exactly what to do with the ruins of his former mistress' castle near the Mystic Mountains. Using the money he had acquired from a reluctant benefactor, he turned the castle ruins into a science facility used to study the uses of magic and technology. Within three years of intense care to architecture, Volgeri Applied Science Laboratory opened to the public. He even made care to put a bronze statue of Benjamin K. Mole in the front of the facility, in honor of The Professor, who had passed away peacefully from old age.
All in all, there were no signs that the happiness that arrived in their lives was ever going to change. The only villains that entered their lives happened to be raising pestering little children, and soon, the life of a hero became all but forgotten to them.
Which is why no one could predict the arrival of a threat that would threaten to tear the fabric of the very universe apart.
Diamond Palace, the final resting place of both the Gigas Crystals and Changeling the sorceress, had also changed over the course of time.
Over the course of the years, Diamond Palace had changed from a holy resting-place to a tourist attraction. Once the location of the sacred building became widely known throughout Avalar, tourists began to visit. It wasn't long before businesses set up establishments around the Palace, selling overpriced trinkets about the War of the Gigas and setting up tour guides around the deserted architecture. In the once-peaceful courtyard, a carnival had taken root there. Games of chance, food courts, and merry-go-rounds sat on top of ancient tile, looking very out of place. Despite the fact that Elora and Spyro were very insulted by this lack of respect for ancient history, the commercialization of Diamond Palace wasn't illegal. Instead, they had to watch as the final resting place of the Gigas Crystals fell into the dark clutches of tourism with absolutely no power to stop them.
It was midnight at the once sacred palace of the Gigas Crystals. The day was fairly normal; just a ho-hum weekday with the usual motley bunch of tourists, visitors, and families visiting Diamond Palace and buying useless junk. At this time of night, the grounds were occupied by a score of rhynocian guards, but none of them were actually doing their job. Most of them were either asleep or slacking off. Conversations of paychecks, girlfriends, and better jobs floated in the desert air. After all, everyone seemed pretty confident that no one would be able to remove the jewels from the pedestals.
The guards were so caught up in their work, or lack thereof, that they didn't notice a reptilian figure slither up the walls of Diamond Palace. Their loud conversations blocked out the unmistakable sound of claws running against stone. Before long, a cloaked figure was looking down on the twenty rhynocs guarding the Gigas Crystals from a skylight. The creature grinned and ran a claw lovingly down a weapon that was sheathed near its chest.
"Vile, worthless bags of flesh. Is this how the defeaters of Changeling guard the magic of Avalar?" The cloaked creature rasped to no one in particular. Even so, a voice appeared from above his head and answered.
"It is indeed, King of Desolation. Those crystals below are in fact the Gigas Crystals. And behind them happens to be Changeling herself incased in a-"
"I think that if I came all the way to steal them, I would know where they were being kept, Muugara. Get your carcass down here now!" The figure harshly whispered, barely struggling to keep his voice down. A shadow detached itself from the ceiling and flapped down on leathery wings. The moonlight revealed a biped dragon as tall as the cloaked figure. Everything, from the two claws on each hand and the toeless feet to the green and brown markings on his body and the blue dewy eyes that glimmered with false innocence, gave the dragon the image that some god placed him together with leftovers. Muugara tapped the red horn on his nose, signaling that he had heard.
"How many guards are in there?" The shadowed creature hissed. He looked through the diamond pane of the skylight, and added, "and it would be nice to know what weapons they were carrying."
"Exactly twenty. Most of them are armed with swords. Rather puny swords that could cut through rotten vegetables, let alone flesh." Muugara described rather plainly. Looking through the skylight and down upon his victims, he continued.
"A few of them are sleeping, so it'd be best to kill them first." At these words, the mottled dragon slipped a glove on his right hand. It was a rather simple glove in terms of looks, but when Muugara flexed his fingers, metallic claws unsheathed at the fingertips. He grinned as he examined the much more dangerous claws than the ones he was born with. Such was the rewards of a bounty hunter that could invent his own weapons. He turned to his partner, his green and brown face turned into a sneer.
"Should I help you? I haven't tested this baby out on real flesh yet. Ahhh...To feel these beautiful claws cut through the necks of-"
His boss cut off his cruel little fantasies immediately. "No. I want to savor the moment. You wait here and make sure that the Crystal of Changeling is undisturbed during the struggle." This time, it was the cloaked creature's turn to grin. "After all, I don't want to break the one thing I came to steal."
With a simple wave of his yellow-scaled hand, the intruder signaled Muugara to open the skylight. The dragon obeyed by digging the glove's claws into the cracks of the skylight and prying the crystal pane out. After a few minutes of tedious scraping against stone, Muugara removed the pane and tossed it into the courtyard. The resulting crash of ancient glasswork jolted some of the rhynocs out of their slumber, but for the most part, it was widely unnoticed.
"Perfect."
The intruder jumped through the open hole and landed gracefully right in the middle of twenty rhynoc guards. Conversation had somewhat faded when the workers had heard the crystal shatter, but for the most part, they were only aware of the intruder's presence when he was standing right in front of them. All talking ceased, but only a few of them were actually aware of any danger. Most of the rhynocs just stared at the reptile cloaked in a midnight cloak dumbly as if the figure was nothing more than a figment of their imagination.
"Hmph. I thought that I would get more of a challenge than this. All I see is twenty useless slugs fat on their own idiocy that aren't even guarding the namesake of the Avalarian Realms like they're supposed to." The creature replied casually. At this comment, one of the more foolhardy of the workers pointed a finger at the reptilian intruder and barked a comeback.
"Hey! Who do you think you are, jumping into Diamond Palace and slinging insults like that?You have no right to do that!" The rhynoc shouted. His comrades murmured in agreement. And since the intruder was outnumbered, none of the guards were really threatened by this sudden change of events in their otherwise boring evening.
A chuckle rose from the creature's lips. He reached for the hood of his cloak.
"I think I know who I am."The shadowed figure removed his hood, revealing a beaked serpent's head. Brown eyes narrowed beneath brown ridges that resembled eyebrows and a brown ridge of bone rose over the creature's head like a Mohawk.
"And I have every right to do what I am about to do." The serpent finished as he tossed his cloak to the side. His body was bright yellow but striped brown like a tiger. Thick cream-colored scales coated the serpent's belly. The only article of clothing the intruder wore was a pair of brown shorts that went to his knees. Even though the body was enmencated like it was suffering from starvation, it radiated with an aura that made the guards back away in horror. In the middle of the serpent's stomach was a scar that would never heal; a sword wound made twenty years ago on the day of Changeling's downfall.
Several of the rhynocs choked at the sight. Finally, one of the rhynocs, a former horde member of Changeling's army, found will to speak.
"Laigon?"
That single word spelled out his doom. What was once Laigon snarled like an animal and tossed the weapon that was sheathed in a belt that ran across his chest. The other guards saw only a flash of steel and then they were greeted with the view of that unfortunate rhynoc pinned to the wall, the sinister blade piercing his heart.
"Don't you ever call me Laigon again." The sinister monster roared at the rhynoc corpse. The blade that was embedded in the rhynoc's chest was a weapon that consisted of two scimitars joined together at the top of the hilts, creating a double-bladed weapon that had to be held from the middle. The reptile yanked the blade out of the body unceremoniously and let the guard fall to the floor with a thud. When he noticed that all the guards were staring at his unique blade, he waved it in the air smugly.
"Like my weapon? It has twice the killing power that Laigon's blades had. While Laigon's scimitars were nothing more than Lion Serpent blades coated with poison, I've made them better. Holding two weapons in both hands was inefficient. No wonder Laigon died at the hands of a traitor."
"But...you're Laigon." The guard that had shouted at him earlier managed to choke out. Another flash of silver shimmered in the air for a split second, and the rhynoc fell to the floor without a head.
"I'm afraid you're all mistaken. I'm not Laigon. Laigon is dead. Only Mortigon remains." The Lion Serpent hissed. Stepping over the headless body of the rhynoc guard, Mortigon twirled his blade in the air and continued on his talk as if nothing happened. "As I was saying, my blade can be held with one hand and kill a great many number of people with the ease of a swan gliding through the water of a lake. And since I learned from Laigon's mistakes, the blade is also able to cast magic. Strength lies in both the physical and magical planes. Laigon failed to see that before his death in the desert."
More than one of the rhynocs reached tentatively for the walkie-talkie or the weapons hanging on their belts, trying desperately not to attract the attention of the crazed serpent in front of them. The walkie-talkie, along with the short sword hanging on their belts, was a mandatory piece of their uniform, but only now were they going to use it for something other than prank calls. Mortigon saw this as a good excuse to attack. With a glint shining in his brown eyes, he shouted almost inhumanely,
"Allow me to demonstrate!"
Several things happened at that moment of time. As Mortigon leapt into the air, several of the braver rhynocian guards charged at him with their swords outstretched. With the grace of a dancer, Mortigon swiped with his blade while in midair and five rhynocs were beheaded at his feet. A guard tried to hit him from behind, but Mortigon was faster. With a back flip, Mortigon slammed his weapon into the guard's stomach. There wasn't even enough time for the guard to cry out in pain as his entrails rolled out onto the Palace floor.
"Run! This guy's crazy!" A janitor shouted, and several of the remaining guards followed his advice. They all raced for the exit, but they fell short. Muugara cackled in glee as they all ran headfirst into a force field he had set up around the area. As the bewildered rhynocs clawed at the invisible barrier, Mortigon finished them off with a single stroke of his lethal blade.
"Such weaklings. You don't deserve to soil the floor of Diamond Palace with your useless carcasses!" Mortigon yelled. The crazed serpent was very descript about slaying his foes, as soon, every last worker in Diamond Palace was killed. As soon as the last body hit the floor, Muugara glided out of the skylight and landed on the ground. With a swift kick, the dragon flipped a corpse over and examined the wounds created by Mortigon. An awed whistle blew from his lips.
"Wow, your scimitar sure knows how to cut through the flesh of the weak, King of Desolation!" Muugara exclaimed. With several skips and hops over the widening pools of blood on the floor, the dragon went where Mortigon happened to be standing; in front of the eight Gigas Crystals. When Muugara caught a good glance at the beautifully cut gems in front of him, his wide blue eyes dilated in excitement.
"Shall I commence with the extractions, my liege?" Muugara asked Mortigon, bowing hastily as he did so. For a while, Mortigon said nothing. Instead, he stared at the circle of the six elemental Gigas Crystals and the two more powerful gems contained within the circle. With a smile, he remembered how the elements could be used in so many ways. Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Silver, and Purple; each of the Gigas Crystals had their own element of Avalar in command, and each did so in ways that couldn't even be imagined. Trees being moved in the Rainforests of Mist, a small Riptoc changed into a hulking monster with claws and fangs, and the ability to read minds were just some of the powers that the Gigas Crystals could grant to anyone lucky enough to be their Holders.
But still, their power was meaningless in comparison to the White and Black Gigas Crystals that sat on their pedestals in the middle of the circle. Complete opposites to each other in terms of magic, the Black Gigas Crystal could kill as many people as the commander wanted, and the White Gigas Crystal could bring as many people as the commander wanted back to life. The War of the Gigas ended in that very fashion, in which two large armies fell to the power of the Black Gigas and then were brought back from the dead with the White Gigas.
But, while their power seemed tempting to Mortigon, the Black and White Gigas Crystals weren't the objects that he seeked. Death by the Gigas Crystals seemed all too simple, and even so, the black gem and the white gem in front of him weren't actually solid to the touch. Otpir and Passiflora, the ever-persistent Guardians of the White and Black Gigas, made sure that no one could waltz right into Diamond Palace, kill all the guards, and then cause global extinction with the Gigas Crystals. Instead, they made holograms of the two most powerful of the Gigas Crystals in the middle of the Palace for display reasons only and guarded the real gems in another plane of existence.
Muugara had started to reach for one of the Gigas Crystals, but Mortigon smacked the dragon sharply with the blunt side of his weapon.
"No, you fool. Only one such as me can touch these powerful gems." Mortigon pointed at the large crystal suspended over the pit of Avalar's untamed magic. Muugara looked at the very large crystal, noticed the trapped figure of Changeling Swiftclaw inside, and then understood. He was to steal the gem created from the body of the forsaken tyrant.
One by one, Mortigon removed the Gigas Crystals from their resting places. They were hard to remove from their resting places, and each time he managed to pull a Gigas Crystal out from its pedestal, a loud crackle of magic filled the air. Before long, Mortigon had both of his arms full of six colorful jewels of Avalar's elemental magic. A sinister grin on his face, the serpent walked towards the entrance, casually walking over the dead guards as he did so. A grunt of pain rose from behind Mortigon, making his head turn. He saw Muugara struggling to hold a crystal twice as big as him in midair.
"Man, this thing is heavy. Do we have to steal Changeling too, King of Desolation?" Muugara asked as he fluttered towards Mortigon with the crystal in tow. More than once, the dragon would dip to the ground and have the crystal scrape against the blood-stained floor, annoying Mortigon greatly.
"Of course we have to steal Changeling as well, you weak excuse for a dragon. Without her, the plan falls straight to the floor. If the weight of one little gem bothers you so much, I can order one of the horde members to take it off your hands, Weakling. We need to leave by tonight with all the gems in tow!" Mortigon barked at Muugara. His head turned to look at the desert outside, where monsters loyal to Mortigon waited for their master just a few yards away.
"After all, we have a party to go to."
And with those words, the two intruders left the tourist trap known as Diamond Palace and headed towards their next destination.
It was morning in the Rainforests of Mist. Much like Diamond Palace, the rainforests had changed over the years. However, unlike the commercialization of the Gigas Crystals' resting place, the Rainforests of Mist stayed rather intact save for a giant palace that rose out from the treetops near the Mist Ruins. After Ripto had achieved the status he always desired, he moved his Chateau from the Riptocian homelands to a tropical paradise in which few people frequented. His wife Snowflake, despite being a creature that enjoyed cold more than hot weather, agreed with the choice of location for their home. Being in the rainforest in which she discovered that she was a Gigas Crystal Holder added a level of nostalgia for the dragon, and it also made Grunge, a serpentine monster made of leaves that was also the Green Gigas Guardian, happy to finally have some neighbors.
Ripto's son looked at the horizon in boredom, barely noticing any of the parrots or birds of paradise that crossed his line of sight. The sixteen-year-old Riptoc drummed his claws against the marble railing that surrounded the ornate balcony that happened to be on the third floor of Chateau Ripto. The teenager stifled a yawn as he waited for his dad to teach him his daily lesson of magic.
"Dad better get here soon. He always yells at me when I'm late for lessons, and yet he's twenty minutes late. If I hear 'Torin, you're slacking off' one more time, I'll..." Torin cut off his complaint before anyone overheard. He respected his father in front of him, but if any of the servants were to hear him speak an ill word towards Ripto, he would never hear the end of it.
The young Riptoc was an interesting looking character indeed. Torin was often said to resemble a younger version of his father by some of the servants in Chateau Ripto, but he knew that was a blatant lie. Sure, he inherited most of his dad's looks and often wore the same clothes as him, but Ripto wasn't half-dragon. His dad forced him to wear clothes that resembled his wizard ensemble during their magic lessons, but the two wings with blue webbing made wearing the purple cloak cumbersome and irritating. And the wing-like ears and dragon tail that he inherited from his mom made him look almost silly in the wizard's clothing, especially when his sister Glacier was around to comment.
"Torin!" At the sound of his name, the Riptgon jumped. He knew that voice anywhere, and from the tone of his voice, he didn't sound happy. When Torin turned his head to look at the person shouting at him from the balcony, sure enough, his father Ripto was standing there. And he didn't look happy at all.
"Hello, Father. Has it been a pleasant morning for you?" Torin replied courteously. Ripto's children were expected to answer him in the most polite way possible; it's been Ripto's way of raising them ever since birth. Ripto rolled his eyes at his son's reply.
"No, it hasn't been a pleasant morning for me, young man!" Ripto yelled. The red power crystal on his scepter started to glow, and Torin hoped that his father was keeping his temper intact. The last time they got into a fight, both of them had to be sent into the hospital wing to be treated for second degree burns, where they got lectured by Snowflake for about two hours about proper magic safety.
Ripto seemed to recall this, as he took a few seconds to calm his temper down. Twenty years ago, he would've kept on ranting. "Torin, what is this?" The father Riptoc asked calmly. At the word "this", Ripto held out a daisy pinched between his thumb and index finger. Torin eyed both his father and the flower and replied in the most sincere way possible.
"...A flower?"
"Yes, I know it's a flower, but why was it growing in your room?" Ripto demanded. Torin said nothing, but inwardly he flinched at his father's tone of voice. When he adopted that tone, it was his way of saying 'I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed in you'.
"I was practicing my magic. Just like you told me to do, Father. I made some plants grow, I repaired some cracks in the wall, and I even healed the broken foot of our chef! You know how much he was suffering, and now he's all better!" Torin answered. He was proud of his efforts; mending the bones of someone in pain was a big accomplishment for someone of his level of training.
But Ripto wasn't proud at all. "Torin, when I told you to practice your magic, I meant for you to practice the magic that I practice! Growing flowers and healing the sick is your mother's job, because she happens to be-"
"The Green Gigas Crystal Holder." Torin finished his father's sentence for him. He heard this conversation many times before. The young Riptoc hybrid then adopted a whiny tone to his voice in an attempt to explain his reasons. "But I don't want to burn anybody to a crisp! I want to help people, like Mother does!"
Ripto sighed and started rubbing his forehead with his right hand. This certainly wasn't starting out as the best of days. "That's your sister's job. Every male in my family was an evil, malicious overlord that commanded black magic. Otpir ruled over Avalar in that fashion, and now I do. How do you think the populace will react when they see the new ruler make daisies sprout out of the ground and make boo-boos go away?"
"Glacier can be the evil ruler! She likes to light things on fire!" Torin replied in a voice that was close to shouting, bringing up his younger sibling Glacier. Glacier mostly resembled her mom, but her wings were barely strong enough to glide, she had a single horn growing out of her head, and she had orange webbing instead of blue. The dragon with cream colored scales had adopted a love for the power of fire early on. In fact, one of her favorite activities was setting Crush's club on fire so that the blue Riptoc smashed everything within a few yards to bits while trying to put the flames out.
A ghost of a smile lingered on Ripto's lips, as he was very proud for having at least one of his kids like him, for about a few seconds before he replied to Torin. "But she's a girl, and she resembles a dragon more than you. The dragons help, the Riptocs kill. It's all in the unspoken rule of nature. We can't fight the unspoken rule of nature, so we go along with them. "
"Yes, and it's also the unspoken rule of nature for Rhynocs to be cruel and mindless killers that obey the rules of any potential evil ruler. I'm sure Airazor and his family can go into great detail about how much they follow the unspoken rule of nature. Since, you know, all that helping people and studying benign magic is all just a cover up..." Torin snidely commented.
"Yes, I'm sure Wart can go on for hours about how he isn't like the other rhynocs." Ripto said. Despite the fact that his years of being a Lab Pet for Changeling were behind him, Ripto still used Airazor's old nickname instead of his real name. He called it a force of habit; everyone else just called it rude.
"Just like I'm not like the other males in this family! When are you going to understand that I DON'T want to hurt anybody with my magic?" Torin shouted. He didn't mean to, but the teenaged Riptgon set off his father's infamous temper.
"Oh, I think I understand. I understand clearly." Ripto hissed. He jabbed his finger into Torin's chest. "You're a snively little bleeding heart who can't even bother to make his old man proud!"
Torin slapped his father's hand away. His hands clenched into fists, ready to strike. "If making people whimper at my heels will make you proud of what I am, I don't think I belong in this family!"
"If you weren't my son, so help me, I'd push you off this balcony!"
"I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR SON!"
"THAT'S IT, I'M-"
"ENOUGH!"
The two of them both froze in mid-sentence when they heard another voice pierce the air. Torin was about ready to punch his dad right in the stomach, and Ripto's scepter was glowing a very dangerous shade of red. Snowflake Laterose stepped out onto the balcony with Glacier gaily skipping at her heels, and she didn't seem all that happy about the scene in front of her. Her brow wrinkled in distaste.
"Can't you two get through a single magic lesson without trying to blow each other to kingdom come?" The dragon said in exasperation. Time had been very kind to her, as with the exception of the finer jewelry wrapped around her wrists and neck and the elaborate silken blue dress that covered her entire figure save for her back to allow movement of her giant wings, she looked the same as she did when she defeated Changeling with the White Gigas Crystal. She placed her hands on her hips.
"Do you want me to start teaching Torin how to use magic, honey? I'm sure it'll spare both of you the heart attacks." Snowflake replied with a roll of her eyes.
"That's the last thing we need. The very reason I'm about ready to strangle the boy is because he's learning your magic instead of mine." Ripto retorted. As he said those words, Glacier scampered over to where her brother was sitting and started to tease him.
"Oooooh...Daddy wanted to strangle you, Torin!" Glacier snickered. Her brother said nothing, but he kept flexing his hands as if resisting the urge to strangle his draconic sister himself.
"It shouldn't matter whether or not Torin wants to learn magic pertaining to healing or nature. I don't even bat an eyelash when I see Glacier create fire with a flick of her wrist. I'm still proud with her even though she knows magic that I don't practice, and you should be proud of Torin for wanting to do something different with his life than what you did." Snowflake explained, her expression softening.
"I know, I know. And yet, it just doesn't seem right to have my son be the healer and my daughter to be the one casting fires and leading armies to war. You understand me when I'm saying this, right?" Ripto said with a sigh. He looked at his son Torin, who looked like the entire world was ready to collapse on his shoulders. "Am I being a bad father?"
"I understand you, and no, you're not being a bad father. Sometimes things don't happen the way you planned them to be, and sometimes, we have to learn to accept them. 'When the bridge in front of you collapses, you have to build another way', as my mother used to quote to me." Snowflake comforted Ripto softly. As the two adults walked back into the giant mansion, the white dragon reminded her husband of what lay ahead of them in the near future with just one sentence.
"Besides, those decorations aren't going to hang themselves!"
Later that night, all of Chateau Ripto was engulfed in a giant party. Families from all over the realms came to celebrate the day that Changeling was defeated and the Gigas Crystals were returned to their rightful spots in Diamond Palace. Inside a one-story ballroom separate from the rest of the mansion, partygoers were entertained with music, dancing, food, and various other entertainments. Everyone invited to the party was happy, what with the arrangements Ripto's family made in order to celebrate this joyous occasion.
Everyone, that is, except for Airazor. The Rhygon normally was the happiest one during this holiday, but today, he was fidgety and almost threatened by some unseen force. The scientist started to pace in front of the snack bar, his lab coat falling casually to each step. His show of behavior began to trouble his wife, as she soon laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Honestly, dear. You're working yourself too hard over this. I don't think Ripto wants to see you zonked out before any of the real partying begins!" Eledor cooed as she handed Airazor a cup of fruit punch. The female Rhynoc would be normally dressed in the clothes suited for the priestesses of Aurora, but for this occasion, she was wearing a rather fetching black satin gown. She watched as her Rhygon husband downed the glass down without even tasting a single drop.
"I know, I know." He answered as he crushed the plastic cup in his hands. "But it just bugs me. All the other days, that work force hasn't received anything bigger than a cockroach during their shift. And then suddenly, last night, something breaks into Diamond Palace, kills every last one of them, and then makes off with the Gigas Crystals. Some of the custodians fainted when they stepped into the building and saw the mess. And the night before the anniversary. It's uncanny." Airazor replied, almost whimpered, to his wife. He was braver than he was when he worked with Changeling, but the thought of someone going into Diamond Palace and then wiping everyone out was too scary to picture.
"Dear, do you remember a few years ago when some crazed psycho entered Diamond Palace, shot all the guards with a handgun, and then stole two of the Gigas Crystals with a magic-absorbing glove? Two days later, Spyro finds the kid paralyzed by the radiation of the Gigas Crystals and then returns the stolen gems back. You're acting as if this hasn't happened before. Those rhynoc guards shouldn't have died, but the incident is far from uncanny." Eledor comforted. As she said those words, she felt a hand tap her shoulder. When she turned, she saw her daughter standing behind her.
"Would Nazza and Mell notice if I were to turn Calub into a pigeon, mum?" Karydor asked innocently enough. She resembled a miniature version of her mother, except she was dressed in a casual pink outfit designed to fit around her small draconic wings she inherited from her father. An orange satchel hung at her side. The young rhynoc was holding a silver wand with a crescent moon shape at the end of it in her right hand, and she looked very eager to use it.
Airazor glanced at her and pretended to be very shocked at her notion. "Turn dear little Calub into a pigeon? Why on Avalar would you want to do that?" He grinned, looked over at the Riptoc/wolf hybrid Karydor was talking about, and then added. "I think a toad would be more suitable for him, wouldn't it?"
Karydor let her eyesight fall on the person she was talking about and, like her father, grinned. Calub was the son of Nazza, the blue wolf that had helped three heroes enter the Mist Ruins, and Mell, a brown Riptoc female who once worked for Ripto's army. His bloodline showed in his appearance, as from the waist up he was just a normal ten-year-old brown Riptoc with yellow hair and from the waist down he had furry wolf features like paws and a fluffy tail. He was wearing torn clothes even at the party, as he thought that wearing clean clothes would ruin his devilish good looks. Calub was twirling his slingshot in his right hand smugly, reveling in the complaints from the guests who found the stink bomb he launched in the strawberry Jell-O.
"On second thought, being a toad would be too good for Calub." Airazor replied jokingly. He and Karydor both watched as Calub's older sister Harmony, a sixteen-year-old blue Riptoc/Wolf hybrid who was wolf from the waist up and riptoc from the waist down, chased her bother with a stink bomb stuck in her hair. The two Rhygons nearly collapsed into a fit of giggles when Calub ran through the crowd with Harmony at his heels, shouting insults like "OTTER!" and "SKUNK!" at his sister as he did so.
"Heh, those two can't go anywhere without causing a scene. I'm sure glad Pyran isn't like that." Airazor turned his head and immediately said a word of greeting to Spyro the Dragon. The dragon certainly looked heroic, from his glimmering purple scales that were like polished armor to the six horns that now grew from his head. The dragon took a cup full of punch and watched as Mell and Nazza sternly chastised their children.
"But then again, if Pyran had a bigger sister, all of Avalar would be set aflame." Spyro added. He wrapped an arm around his wife Elora's waist as he then replied with a grin, "It's a good thing me and Elora didn't decide to have another one like him; Pyran's a handful as it is."
Airazor let his eyes travel to where Pyran, Spyro and Elora's son, was occupying. By now, Karydor had scampered from her father and mother and was busy talking to the fourteen-year-old dragon/faun hybrid about how she was almost ready to turn Calub into a toad. Pyran resembled both his mother and his father, since he stood on two legs that were covered in purple faun's fur, but was covered in purple scales from the waist up just like his father. He had a set of straight green horns growing from his skull, but unlike Spyro, he also had a pair of furry faun's horns and a brown ridge made out of fur going down his back.
"He's a nice enough boy," Spyro replied with sigh. He noticed Torin walk by him and Pyran immediately shouted something that couldn't be heard, but from the look on Torin's face when he heard it, it wasn't a compliment at all.
"But I wish he would get his head out of the clouds and realize that being the son of a great hero doesn't mean that he can treat everyone else like dirt. Especially Torin and Glacier. Dragon Elders above, those two probably get about five hours of badmouthing from my son every week just because they're the offspring of one of my past enemies." Spyro said sadly, hanging his head in shame. Airazor, being an old friend, patted Spyro on the back.
"Hey, don't feel bad, Spyro!" The dragon/rhynoc hybrid replied jokingly. As a harmful joke, he then made humor out of the situation.
"The day Pyran starts behaving like someone his age is the day that the roof crashes over our heads!"
It did. As soon as Airazor said those words, there was a great explosion from over their heads. All the partygoers immediately stopped what they were doing as pieces of roof fell to the ground. Some of the invitees, like Pyran and Karydor, ducked underneath the tables and shielded their eyes from the shower of wood and plaster. Eledor held out her wand and spoke a spell, summoning Air Magic to her command. There was a flash of blue lingered in the air for a split second, and all the dust cleared harmlessly away, permitting eyesight.
"Well, well, well. It looks like someone forgot to invite me to the party." A sinister voice replied from the giant hole in the roof.
"Laigon?" The word came from many mouths, but Airazor's was the loudest. Sure enough, the maddened yellow and brown sea serpent once known as Laigon was perched on one of the rafters, staring down at the partiers below. The moon above hauntingly illuminated him, making him seem like a nightmare that had risen from the depths of Hell.
"No, not Laigon. I'm afraid that Laigon is dead. Only Mortigon remains." The serpent replied again, as casually as he did when he slaughtered the rhynocs in Diamond Palace. Mortigon drew his weapon and revealed his double-bladed scimitar in the silver light of the moon. A collective gasp rose in the air.
Embedded in the blades was the six Gigas Crystals. On one side of the two-bladed scimitar, the Green and Red Gigas Crystals were embedded. The other side contained the rest. The resulting weapon was one that was at the peak of both physical and mental power.
"Like my battle trophy? All I had to do is kill a few rhynocs and they were mine. It's funny how weakly guarded Avalar's treasures happen to be. It's as if you wanted me to steal them." Mortigon hissed.
"The dead rhynocs from the Diamond Palace. I knew I recognized their mode of death. They were impaled and beheaded by scimitar blades!" Airazor recalled. Raw fury ran through the scientist's veins as he glared up at Mortigon. "Twenty years and you've haven't changed a bit!"
"Correction, Wart. I have changed." Mortigon said, using Airazor's old nickname to add insult to injury. Just as he said those words, a rock hit the woodworking near his feet. The sea serpent looked down at the Riptocian hybrid Calub, who was trying futilely to aim another rock at Mortigon's head. This action seemed to amuse the twisted sea serpent, as he aimed his double-bladed scimitar at Calub and sent a fireball flying in his direction. Mortigon chuckled when he saw Nazza's son dive out of the way.
"Unlike the rest of you and your miserable little hybrid children, I've grown smarter, braver, and stronger over the years. Even the mighty Spyro the dragon can't stop me now."
"Wanna bet, Laigon?" Spyro snarled. Ignoring Elora's shouts to keep away from him, Spyro launched himself into the air and headed straight for Mortigon with his horns outstretched. The yellow sea serpent didn't even move to use his weapon on Spyro. Instead, he snapped his fingers and Spyro was knocked out of the sky by a swift kick from Muugara, who had descended from his perch on the roof. Spyro fell to the floor with a thud, but luckily, the dragon was only shaken by the sudden attack. He rose to attack once more, but immediately hit a force field surrounding both the yellow serpent and the strange new dragon.
"I like you to meet Muugara, my subordinate and second-in-commander." Mortigon hissed. He signaled with his hand, and Muugara landed to the carpeted floor to show off his prowess over Spyro. "Unlike Wart, Muugara respects the person he works for, he's strong in every aspect of battle, and can fly a lot better than the average dragon."
Spyro rose to make a remark, but Airazor butted in. "Ah, so I see that you need to adopt a lackey as insane and as bloodthirsty as you are in order to feel more special. Well, if you're so sure that Muugara is better than me, why do you prove it instead of kicking poor Spyro down?"
"This is the little wimp that bested you in battle, King of Desolation?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I was the wimp that bested him in battle." Airazor shouted. With an almost savage grin, he added. "I drove a sword through his stomach and dug his grave for him."
"As you can see Wart, I learn from the mistakes made from the past. Where Changeling and Laigon have failed in the past, I triumph. While you were busy fooling around with your science and with those weak little maggots you call friends, I was able to acquire a kingdom to call my own. Muugara is an improvement on everything you were in Changeling's army."
Mortigon flashed Airazor a set of teeth that was stained with dried blood. "In fact, it would be nice to see him beat you within one inch of death." He added, and Muugara took it as an invitation. With a bow, the dragon replied in the most sincere voice,
"As you wish, King of Desolation."
Muugara immediately sprang into action. His leathery wings propelled him straight at Airazor. The two collided, claws and limbs locked. Eledor and Karydor both cried out for their hero as the sinister lackey knocked Airazor to the ground with a swift movement of his tail. Despite it being a very powerful blow, Airazor was up and on his feet within a few seconds.
"Only a cheat attacks a man when he is unprepared!" Airazor shouted. Muugara was about to kick his face, but the Rhygon reacted. A wordless yell tearing from his mouth, the scientist let his instincts control him. Muugara gave a yelp as he was yanked from the air and onto the red carpet. The two dragons wrestled amid a crowd of bewildered partygoers.
"Die traitor!" Muugara yelled. The mismatched dragon tore a chunk of the carpet and threw it into Airazor's right eye. The fuzz blinded the Rhygon temporarily and made him loosen his hold on his opponent. Muugara gave a squeal of laughter, landed on his back, and kicked Airazor's stomach with both his legs. Airazor was sent flying into the table behind him.
CRASH!
The wooden table broke underneath the sudden weight, and Airazor crumbled into a heap amid shattered china, bent silverware, and smashed desserts. A groan rose from the pieces of polished wood, but no Rhygon rose from the pile. Practically everyone held their breaths as they watched for signs of life. Mortigon smiled when his enemy didn't get up.
Muugara was the winner.
"AIRAZOR!" Eledor had to be held back by Snowflake and Mell, as any interference with the fight would probably cause even more destruction.
Without warning, Muugara jumped onto the stunned body of Airazor and picked him up with his gloved hand. He hovered to where the floor was lit by the moonlight coming from the hole in the roof, gave a nod to Mortigon, and then used the weapon he so dearly wanted to try on the deceased guards in Diamond Palace. Claws sprouted out of the metallic glove's fingers and electricity sparkled in the air. The Rhygon gave out an almost unreal scream of pain as Mortigon's lackey jabbed the glove's claws into Airazor's ribcage and shot several thousand volts of electricity into his body.
CRACKLE!
The sickingly sweet smell of burnt flesh hung in the air. Airazor collapsed forward in a senseless heap with blood leaking out of his third degree burn wound. Eledor tore herself from Snowflake and Mell's grips and ran to her husband. She wrapped her arms around him and glared up at Muugara, who seemed quite pleased with his accomplishments.
"You monster! What do you have to prove?"
"What does My Liege have to prove?" Muugara answered for his master. "Why, everything, of course. I've just proven myself better than one of the Holders of the Gigas Crystals. And if I can beat a Gigas Holder, then the King of Desolation can surely beat them all." Muugara declared as-a-matter-of-factly as he sheathed his claws back into his metallic glove and licked the blood off his fingers.
"He won't beat us!" Spyro shouted. The circle widened as the frightened audience backed away from Mortigon and let the heroes step into the ring. Smoke rose from Spyro's nostrils as he stepped forward, Elora following with a faun-style rapier in her hand. Nazza and Mell followed, both of them armed to the teeth with their weapons of choice. Soon, Snowflake and Ripto joined to fight against Mortigon. The heroes surrounded both Eledor and her fallen husband, and they looked ready to drag Mortigon down to the gates of Hell.
As the heroes stood before the monster, their children peeked over at them from the sidelines. Pyran, ever the adventure-seeker, had to be restrained by Harmony and Torin in order to keep him from joining his parents in the battle. Glacier and Calub both cheered words of encouragement to their parents while Karydor prayed to Aurora above for them to succeed.
"Excellent. So the heroes honestly believe that they can honor Wart's failure by defeating me." Mortigon hissed. He snapped his fingers again, and delighted in the shiver that ran through everyone's backs when they heard a wolf howl from the distance.
"I think you're mistaking me for Laigon again." Suddenly, a giant white wolf twice the height of Spyro the Dragon manifested in the ring standing just a few inches away from the rest of the heroes. The yellow eyes, yeti-like build, and ever-familiar howl could only mean one thing.
"Squall, finish these fools off." Mortigon commanded the Silver Gigas Guardian with a wave of his hand. The wolf, regarding Spyro and the rest with narrowed eyes, did a doggy-like bow to his new master.
"Yes, Silver Gigas Holder." The wolf answered in a voice that sounded like a growl. Immediately, the canine let another howl tear from his throat. Spyro, Ripto, and Nazza stepped forward to attack, but suddenly, the entire area around them was surrounded by a giant whirlwind. Before any of them had a chance to react, Mortigon jumped from his perch on the rafters, brought his double-bladed scimitar down, and embedded it into the floor.
FWOOSH!
A column of fire, much like the one that appeared in Winter Tundra one night twenty years ago, suddenly rose from the ground to the heavens and engulfed Mortigon, all the heroes that stood to face him, Squall, and Muugara.
Everyone in the audience screamed at the sight of the maelstrom, but no one was as loud as Harmony, Calub, Pyran, Torin, Glacier, and Karydor all shouting for their parents.
When the whirlwind of fire cleared, everyone that Squall had herded in the middle of the room had vanished. There was no sign of Mortigon, Muugara, or any of the people they happened to take captive of. Shocked conversation rose into the air, but it did nothing to cover up the unmistakable sound of six children crying.
Torin, Glacier, Harmony, Calub, Pyran, and Karydor all looked at the hole in the roof Mortigon created, tears staining all of their faces. As they did so, the full moon lit the spot on the floor in which all of them huddled next to each other for support. In that flicker of understanding, the six teenagers, all of them friends with one another in some shape or form, understood what needed to be done.
Mortigon had the crystals and their parents.
If he was going to be stopped, they were the ones to stop him.
End of Chapter 1
Spyro is walking on his hind legs because, at least as it was presented in all the Spyro games, the dragons learn to walk on their hind legs when they become of age.
I meant to leave some questions left unanswered in this chapter. Everything will get solved as the story rolls along. Yeah. I'm like that. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TTE!