TLoS: Darkness Falls Prologue
Das prologue, my amigos!
The Legend of Spyro (and Company) Darkness Falls
Prologue: Crash Course
Drake grimaced from his perch on the dusty sandstone cliff overlooking the dunes and valleys of the desert below him. He sighed. 'This job better be over soon,' he thought irritably. The sun was setting, casting an astonishing orange-and-gold glow over the whole scene. The scorching-hot stone under his paws was cooling down gradually. 'Where, where, ....there?' he thought, eying the dunes, searching for the village he'd been scrounging for in the desert for nearly a week. "There," he growled, smiling. He hopped off the cliff and took flight, his not-yet fully grown wings allowing him only a few solid flaps before he was forced to simply glide toward the village on the horizon. He landed roughly on the downward slope of a dune and rolled the rest of the way down. He scrambled up the next dune and slunk low, careful not to make any sudden movement. He smiled as his head crested the dune, allowing him a clear view of the unguarded village. 'Not a very popular place,' he thought, noting the totally dead atmosphere. 'All the better. I can get in and out unseen.' He slid down the dune on his belly and sneaked behind a small hut. The huts in the village were all mostly identical: squat, square mud-brick abodes, baked dry long ago in the searing desert sun. Drake wasn't too worried about being sighted. His amber scales blended in well with the golden-orange light cast by the sunset. He slunk around the hut and looked around the village from the shadow cast by the hut. The embers of the village's huge communal fire smoldered in the center of town. 'Good, they've all set in early,' he thought grimly, knowing there would be no opposition. He set about his task.
"How is this a good vacation spot, exactly?" Cynder asked sleepily. Spyro chuckled. "It isn't. It's just really, really out of the way." Cynder smiled at it. "Oh, you're so romantic, aren't you?" "I do my best," Spyro smiled back at her. "No Guardians...No training. No secrets. Nothing. Just you and me." "Has Ignitus told you anything yet? What all this training is for?" Cynder asked. Spyro looked off into the dying flames. "No. No, he hasn't. He just...showed up at Sparx's family's house two years ago, and...Well..." Cynder giggled. "Told you that you're a dragon," she teased. Spyro blushed, "Well...Sorry! I didn't know any better." "Oh, no, the fact that your brother fit in your paw and you could breathe fire must have been so confusing," she jabbed. "I've known you ten minutes and you're already making fun of me," Spyro grumbled, pretending to be hurt by her remarks. "And I've known you ten minutes and you've already told me you're some kind of 'chosen one' hero who thought he was a dragonfly for years!" Cynder countered, laughing. Spyro sighed and rolled over in the warm sand so he was on his back. "So you live here?" he asked, watching as the stars began to twinkle to life. "Not exactly. I move around a lot. I've been here for a long time, because it's...Well..Like you said. It's out of the way. No one asks questions in a village like this," Cynder said distantly. Spyro glanced at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" Cynder shifted uneasily. "I don't like questions." She got up and walked off into the darkening shadows cast by the soft glow of the fire. Spyro sighed. "Screwed that up pretty well," he murmured, then breathed a light stream of fire to stoke the coals before him. Sparx buzzed to life from a few feet away. As he drew closer, he cast a soft golden glow about the quickly-growing shadows. "Good going, genius," Sparx buzzed giddily. "Shut up," Spyro growled, a smile breaking his face. Sparx laughed, his normal buzz growing to the ferocity of a swarm of bees. "You like her a lot," Sparx prodded. "Well....yeah," Spyro admitted. "Don't be so shy about it," Sparx said. "Anybody can tell. You went off and told her everything." Spyro reflected on the past hour. He had come to this remote desert village upon Ignitus's request. "Get a break," Ignitus had said. "Go somewhere far away. There's a village far to the north, Spyro. In the desert. Go there. Relax for a few days. There is an Elder in the town who will give you something--you must remember it. But...for now, you have to relax. There's a storm brewing, Spyro. Purple dragon or not, Prophecy or not, you must find time for yourself. We can't have you over stressed." "I had to tell someone," Spyro said. "I'm not good enough?" Sparx asked sarcastically. "You're too good," Spyro said, chuckling. "You told her about the Prophecy." "Everyone knows about the Prophecy," Spyro defended himself. "You told her about your rigorous Elemental training with the Guardians," Sparx said accusingly. "I..." "You told her about the darkness coming," Sparx cut in. Spyro sat in silence, watching the stars. "Yeah, I did. Is that so bad? She's a drifter, Sparx, anybody she tells isn't going to believe her. She's not a threat. Did you see her?" Spyro said. "She's beautiful," Sparx accused. Spyro blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."
Drake slunk around, away from the fire. He'd been hiding in the constantly-shifting shadows near a hut, eavesdropping. "So this is the chosen one? The great purple dragon? He's smaller than I am!" Drake breathed, smiling. "Some Prophecy this is." "Hey," Cynder said, her voice slicing the night. "He's nice. And he's plenty capable. He's mastered all four Elements already." Drake shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. I can see he's mastered your heart, too." Cynder shied away from her old friend and whimpered. "He's..." "Dreamy," Drake mocked, laughing. Cynder shook her head. "Can we just...finish up? What are we even here to get?" "This," Drake said, dangling a golden necklace from his paw. "How--?" Cynder started. "While you were off on your date, I sneaked in and took it. The Elder was asleep. Easiest job so far. Now let's get out of here before Spyro realizes what he's missing," Drake urged. "No, wait...What if...What if that's important?" Cynder started. Drake sighed. "You heard what Gaul said! Have that back before midnight or he'll kill us!" "Gaul's not here, is he?" Cynder hissed. "We're not doing this here!" Drake snapped. "Put the necklace back," Cynder commanded. "What?!" Drake growled. "Put the necklace back. We'll tell Gaul we failed. That Spyro found us. Spyro needs this, Drake. Whatever it is," Cynder said. "So?" Drake asked. "So he's the one in the Prophecy! He's going to stop whatever it is Gaul's part of!" Cynder pleaded. "Do I have to remind you what Gaul did to me last time we screwed up? I can't take the fall for you again!" Drake raged, the scars on his back seeming to burn. Cynder fell silent. "I'll take it this time," she said. "No!" Drake growled. "No way. Never." "You did last time. And I was the one who screwed up, not you," Cynder said quietly. Drake sighed. "Put it back...No. No. Give it to Spyro. Don't tell him anything. Wait till he's asleep by the fire and lay it on him. Then we have to go. Gaul has probably already sent someone to make sure we don't mess this one up," he said. "Oh, Drake," Cynder stifled a sob and kissed Drake on the cheek. He took an involuntary step back. "Go. Now. Hurry." She stepped toward the light of the fire, then stopped. "No. We're going with him," Cynder said adamantly. "Are you suicidal?" Drake stabbed. "This is our only chance. Gaul will kill us eventually. Do you really want to go back and face another torture session?" Cynder asked. Drake's anger boiled over. "How can you even say that? You don't know what he did to me!" Cynder nuzzled up against Drake's neck. "I know. I know. I saw the scars when they were fresh, Drake. I know," she soothed. She kissed him on the cheek again. Drake sighed. "There's no winning with you, is there?" "No," Cynder laughed. Drake shook his head. "This is going to get us killed. Or worse. All because you decide to fall in love with some golden boy." "You're the golden boy," Cynder said, tapping her claws on Drake's amber scales. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Let's just go wake up Lover Boy and get the hell out of here." Cynder rushed over to the fire. "What a bloody mess this is gonna be," Drake muttered. "Bloody brilliant mess. We're never going to make it out of this..."