Aether Rising
TLoS fanfic. Enjoy.
I watched them from the shadows, the two saviors of our world. Spyro and Cynder, the Prophesied One and the Queen of Darkness... And, in a way, my parents. I shuddered as the memory tried to overwhelm me again, the memory of my creation. The memory of how Malefor, barely a week after he'd returned, found Spyro and Cynder and used some of their power to turn me from an orphaned, terrified hatchling into the black-and-purple warrior I am now. I didn't have to see my reflection to know that I resembled the both of them - my body as lithe and strong as Spyro's, my wings and tail bladed silver like Cynder's, my body covered with scales of the deepest black and my eyes and belly a vibrant amethystine violet.
My wing membrane was the same violet color as my eyes, but they were different from any other dragons' wings. Instead of the membrane terminating before the shoulder joint, it connected all the way down my flank the base of my tail, making my shadow and silhouette equal parts unique and terrifying. And yet, for all the power I possessed, for all the strength I had... I couldn't face them.
I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if I revealed myself to them. I had the abilities of both, but the strength of neither. It's why Malefor abandoned me soon after my rebirth. If they attacked, I likely wouldn't survive. I sighed, the emotional storm inside me settling to deep, soul-crushing sorrow, and slipped back into the caverns that led to the old Temple. I knew there had been darkness here, the signs were everywhere, but it didn't bother me. I slipped through a crack in the wall and into a small chamber I'd made comfortable, curling up in my nest and drifting off to a fitful sleep.
It was several hours later when I jerked myself violently awake from a disturbing dream, growling in irritation when I realized there was nothing wrong. "I hate doing that."
I stretched and walked out of my den, then went outside to find... I wasn't sure. Everything had changed a great deal, the forest had grown seemingly overnight, and it was dark out, not brightening with the morning sun. I was about to ask myself what was going on when I heard two voices coming; voices that, though strengthened with age, were instantly recognized. I darted back to the cavern I used to get to my home, and watched as a much older Spyro and Cynder came near. "Spyro, why are we here?"
Her voice was weary and slightly irritated, while his was bright and full of excitement. "This is where Hunter brought us out of those ruins, remember? It's for old time's sake, Cynder. Humor me."
Cynder sighed in resignation, "Okay Spyro. Lead on."
He smiled and led her into the cavern that led down to the main part of the ruins, and I followed as quietly as I could. As fate would have it though, a loose stone soon exposed my existence to them. Cynder turned around quickly, shooting a blast of dark fire in my direction. "Show yourself!"
I stepped out of the shadows and heard both of them gasp. It was Spyro who spoke first, seeming to get over his surprise more quickly. "Who are you?"
"...It's complicated. Follow me; I'll take you somewhere more comfortable to talk." They nodded and I led them down a side tunnel, coming out near where I'd made my home.
"This place used to be some sort of lounge, I think. It's still pretty comfortable, but I haven't used it much."
They nodded and settled opposite me, then stared expectantly. "Won't let it go, will you? Fine. I don't have a name, least not one I can remember. I was an orphaned hatchling when Malefor got hold of me and turned me into this." I gestured to myself to clarify.
Cynder seemed less than believing when she spoke to me. "Malefor? What did he want with you?"
"He found you two less than a week after he returned, then used some of your power to make me what I am now. I have the combined powers of both of you, but the strength of neither. Still, I get by well enough."
Cynder spoke, voicing a valid and expected question. "How did he take our power? He shouldn't have been able to do that without having influenced us."
"Not to be overly blunt, but I doubt anyone doesn't know how he influenced you, Cynder. In Spyro's case, it was when he fell into the Well of Souls. The darkness that overwhelmed him was Malefor's influence, and an early stage of his plan for me."
Spyro nodded, seeming to take the information well. Cynder, on the other hand, looked slightly annoyed. "I'm well aware of what he did to me, whelp. I don't need you to remind me of it."
Before she could go any further, Spyro asked me something I'd wanted to avoid. "You're awfully young. Did Malefor do something to stop you from aging?"
"Not that I know of. All I know is that I laid down to sleep one morning, I come out at night to avoid being seen, and when I came out that night the forest had grown considerably. That's when you two showed up and found me."
"Hmm..." Spyro seemed deep in thought while Cynder shook her head. "Spyro, you're not giving him any consideration are you?"
"It may not have been him, Cynder." Then he turned to me. "I might have an idea of what happened to you, but to do that I need to see if Aether's had any recent influence on you. May I?"
I nodded, and Spyro's eyes began to glow a faint purple as he looked at me. A few seconds later, the glow faded and he nodded. "Aether. Somehow, it acted on its own to bring you here. Why, though?"
"I don't know. All I do know is that I'm going to be staying down here for a while." The instant I finished speaking a small horde of grublins busted through the floor. "Or not."
I sprang at them, Spyro and Cynder joining me but also voicing concern as we ripped through them with ease. "What are grublins doing here? There shouldn't be any left!"
"Don't know, just shred 'em!" I spun around an Orc's attack and summoned a spike of rock to kill it, blasting it to dark smoke before shattering the spike and shredding a crowd of grublins with rock shards. More grublins and orcs were coming up and forcing us back, so I summoned several arcs of stone spikes between us and our enemies and, with Spyro and Cynder, beat a hasty retreat.
Once we were outside in the forest, Spyro turned to me. "I thought you said you weren't as strong as us."
"What I lack in strength I make up for in creativity. I can improvise with the elements better than anyone, even Malefor. Now come on, we need to keep moving or they'll catch up to us."
They nodded and we left quickly. Somehow I kept up with them, but it was a struggle. When Cynder looked back she slowed, prompting Spyro to do the same so I could keep up more easily. Unfortunately, that let the orcs catch up to us and surround us.
"We're trapped." Simple and obvious, thank you Cynder. "We're not beaten yet."
I tapped into my darker powers, poison, fear and shadow the ones I had most need of, and allowed them to run violently through me. Shadows were drawn to me, forming into new limbs, larger, more powerful than my own. As the shadows covered me the poison filled them and fear spread from them, and soon I was a towering colossus that easily swept through the Orcs. I looked back at Spyro and Cynder and spoke one word in a voice deep as a moonless night. "Come."
We ran until we reached a clearing and took flight from there, turning to Warfang. We had to warn them, but I feared we may already have been too late.