Chapter 24: Hidden Truths
#24 of The Spyro Chronicles SE
Chapter 24: Hidden Truths Dragon Realms, Uncharted System March 11, 2204 1107 Hours Sinkhole beneath the Dragon City of Gale
The drop ship hit the ground with a thump as it skid across a concrete base and came to a halt as the emergency engines ignited to slow the craft's decent.
Spyro flew down, holding a Marine as best he could and flew to where the air craft had hit the ground. The sink hole went on for a while, easily going to a mile. At its base there was a large lake, water flowing from cracks in the sink hole walls that possibly were from the planet crack and ran all the way to the ocean. In the middle of the lake sat a large island, with what looked like ruins sitting atop it. In fact the drop ship had hit the ground into what looked like a street.
Spyro touched down and sat the soldier against a rock nearby as he walked over to the smoking drop ship, a soldier lying slumped on the street, dead. Another sat inside the troop bay, blood dripping from his mouth and his helmet missing.
Spyro walked over and felt his chest and ensured he was breathing. He set the soldier next to the other one and walked inside the cockpit to find both pilots dead. Full of grief, he walked out of the drop ship and sat on the 'street'.
He had been too late.
He had let them die.
With a sigh he was about to take off to alert the others to survivors down here when he noticed his surroundings around him. The area around him did indeed look like a ruins. The buildings here though weren't of any origins he was familiar with... instead they bared markings and designs he had never seen before.
The entire 'city' had been torn apart... not by time... but by a catastrophe... Rubble lied in the streets as something had happened what looked like eons ago. What it was, he couldn't say. Walking down the street he noted what looked like buildings and business centers, what would have been shops or other buildings of the sort.
After walking through a few more broken stones and other structures he noticed the silver metal he had been accustomed to from the temples they had found scattered across the lands. The metal structures were almost identical in architecture.
As he looked around, he heard the distant chirps of birds as they flew overhead and gave a nice soundtrack to the already surreal scene.
Suddenly, a new sound was heard. It sounded like... giggling? Spyro was sure of it! He heard giggling in the ruins!
"Did you hear that...?" Spyro asked as he walked near the now awake Marine rubbing his forehead.
"I didn't hear nothing... you're hearing things..." He said as he continued to lie against the broken rock. Confused, Spyro walked back to the streets and looked around, once again hearing giggling. He looked around, still trying to figure out just where that laughing was coming from. It was beginning to creep him out, his inability to find it was starting to rack his nerves.
Frustrated, he started through the ruins, still keeping within eyesight of the crash as he walked through the 'streets'. As he walked, he caught a glimpse of a small blue dragoness. As he looked at her fully, she giggled and retreated into the ruins.
"Wait, who are you? What is this place?!" Spyro called out as he made a dash after her.
As he went after her, he noticed more debris and destruction and that the place did resemble a city of some sorts. He followed her through broken buildings and leaping to the top floor and running onto the street once more to find the dragoness on the far side, sitting at the corner of the street and giggling.
Spyro gasped for his breath for a few more times before chasing again, the dragoness disappearing behind the corner and Spyro rounded it and halted in his tracks.
The dragoness was gone, instead a skeleton of a young dragon sitting in front of a pile of rubble from a collapsed building. The rib cage of the dragon had been shattered, other bones lying around and broken buildings as well.
He stared at the dragon's remains for a bit before coming to a chilling conclusion. He nearby threw up in his mouth as he did so and walked over to check the horn patterns, verifying his initial thoughts. It was the girl from earlier. He was going crazy.
Once more he heard the giggling, with renewed vigor this time and he looked up and around once more to see the dragoness sitting in a vacant room to his far left. It was a large, empty and spacious room; its only occupant would be broken rocks and the lone dragoness.
"Who are you?!" Spyro asked once more but she merely giggled and smiled as she turned to run once more. With exhaustion, he gave chase once more. During his chase, he saw her go through a hole in the floor and he leapt in after her, the passage being dark and her blue silhouette being his only light.
He groaned before continuing, his mind trying to figure out still what was going on around here but failing to do so. As he saw more light coming from the opposite end the dragoness seemed to all but vanish, leaving him with his own thoughts as he reached the end, finding himself at the edge of a building and overlooking a large silver metal structure protruding from the lake beneath. He was at the edge of the island.
Looking down he wondered why she lead him here when the rock beneath him shattered and he went tumbling into the waters beneath. Coughing and spurting, he surfaced and regained himself, looking up at the island and the silver structure he was approaching via the water current. Not having much anywhere else to go, he paddled over to the metal tower and found a vent to enter. He walked through the silver vent until reaching a large room, a platform in the center.
As he set foot on the platform it turned a vibrant purple and began to lower, sinking far into the depths of the tower. It finally came to a halt and Spyro looked on to see an underwater passage leading back to the island. The walls were made of a see through material so he could see the waters and the blue hue of the water carried over to the hallways and gave the area a feeling of majesty. In awe, he began to walk down the path, looking at the fish and plants as he passed them by.
He reached the island again but it was blocked by a large golden door. He touched the door and it glowed purple before sliding open and revealing another tunnel leading towards a large chamber far ahead of him.
He looked in awe as he reached the massive chamber, golden statues of dragons encircling the room and a small platform in the center holding a massive statue of a dragon that Spyro had never seen before. The statue was colored blue and white, varying with the scale patterns of the dragon. Its eyes were pure gold.
"Welcome young dragon... it is a great honor to meet a dragon such as yourself..." A voice said from nowhere yet everywhere.
"Huh, who said that? Ignitus? Chronicler?" Spyro asked as he heard it.
"No young dragon... I am not the usual dragons you have been talking to..."
"Then who are you?"
"A friend." He merely responded.
"What is this place...? The area above... what... what is it?" Spyro asked.
"What you saw is the ancient ruins of your ancestors... "
"My ancestors?"
"Yes... before the last firing there used to be many other races of dragons and Humans built these structures... and shaping your destiny..."
"Why my destiny? Why mine...?"
"Spyro it is simple... and yet not so simple..."
"Huh...?"
"You see Spyro... these creatures have set upon you the buildings blocks to your future... only because you made it so..."
"I don't understand..."
"Do you know why the weight of the world is on your shoulders?"
"Because I'm purple?"
"No... in fact being purple isn't what makes you special... being purple is a side effect of being special... and in fact anyone can be purple if they wanted..."
"Huh?"
"Spyro... your body... you're genetic structure... is no more different from that of a blue dragon... a red dragon... or a black dragon..."
Spyro sat confused at his statement.
"You are exactly like them..."
"Then how am I purple, how am I able to do things they can't?!" Spyro asked.
"Young dragon... you draw power from inside of yourself... there is a trait however that you carry... unlike everyone else... it is the key to your powers and your strength... it makes you who you are and gives you the power to defeat anything..."
"What is it?! I must know!"
"You should... you've used it before... when you first defeated Malefor it played a large part in doing that... and even in saving this world..."
"What is it?! Please tell me!"
"It is your heart."
"My what...?"
"You're heart. You're heart has such passion... such love... such drive... that has enabled you to abilities other dragons cannot wield. You're heart is what has given you your strength. You're ability to go on even when all the cards are down gives you your strength and empowers you..."
"Like I said... it is the key... and it is your destiny... I'm sure that by now, you've been told you have many different destinies you have to follow..." "Yes..."
"Would it make you confused it I said that the destiny of the purple dragon has always been subject to change? What if I told you your core destiny... your real future... and the future that every purple dragon has had..."
"What is it?"
"To lead. For better or for worse your species are born leaders. They either lead the people to ultimate victory over evil... or like what's been happening... subject to lead an army of evil to conquer and destroy... you are the rare break in the cycle... even when others have tried so hard you have come so far... a true testament to the ability of the purple dragon to lead..."
"To lead..." Spyro said softly.
"You are not in this battle alone young one... you have an army of those behind you, spurred on by your ability to forgive and your compassion... by your love and determination... you are their leader... use your heart to lead them... it is the key... it is your secret weapon..."
Spyro sat and looked at the statue once more.
"Listen to your heart... for it will never fail you..."
"But... I still have a question... how can I stop this... how can I finally stop this chain of disasters... I must know... I must!"
"Spyro... sometimes you cannot prevent an event... but you must instead let it happen... but sometimes... you can control just how it happens... and make the outcome better... listen to your heart and use it... it is the key..."
The voice faded.
Spyro sat in silence, looking around before pondering intensely on the statement the mystery figure had just told him. He got up and started walking down the halls, seeing engravings of battles being fought by both Humans, Dragons and other creatures, some resembling Lakadors.
As he went he made note of the architecture in these buildings different then some on the surface that he had come across. Why? Were they made by different species? Different races? At different times as well? He didn't know really. He sighed and looked more at the engravings, noticing one of a young purple dragon sitting in a confused stance, a large grey dragon behind him, in a comforting manner.
"Who's that...?" Spyro asked himself, remembering seeing a grey dragon JUST like that in his travels.
"You're wondering who that is, do you...?" The same voice from before answered.
"Yes... I've seen him before, who is he?"
"It's quite simple really... he's your protector, the individual sent here to ensure that you are fully capable of realizing your full potential."
"Then why have we not met face to face and why has he only just now come, along with the other species as well, like the Humans?"
"The Humans' arrival is not that of coincidence Spyro. They came here because something happened to do so. The same thing goes with you and this individual. He was sent here to aid you in this, the most troubling times. There is a crossroads forming Spyro, use the advise and information taught to you by all... and use it to the best of your abilities... whether through victory or failure your example will set the stage for all to follow and for all to triumph in the face of impossible odds... like you have before..."
The voice once again faded and left Spyro wandering in his thoughts and in front of this image. He walked through the large chambers once more, peering out of the windows to the submerged regions of the sinkhole outside and watching the fish swim. The whole underground installation was given a blue hue from all the water flowing outside, making the air have a feeling of awe, or majesty.
He continued to walk and look at more of the battle scenes depicted on the walls, being in awe at the history of the world he once thought to be so simple. As he walked on he saw a large diagram of a circular structure that had five key points embedded on it. A lot of runes were around it but no actual way of telling what it was. Without warning however, one of the small key points, the one on the far right, lit up and the entire area began to shake.
"What's going on?!" Spyro said.
"It has begun..."
End of Chapter 24