FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Mortal Warrior

"Alright kids, don't go too far from the coast! I'll be right here watching you!"

"Yes, mom!"

The twins ran towards the sea, playfully splashing water to each other while Avila watched. Though she felt tired after overseeing her counterpart's egg hatching (which, unlike her case, had a 50-50 chance of forming a dragon instead of a blast of residue magic), she was relieved watching her twins happy, especially Vysrenis, who seemed to always be brooding. Avila always assumed that he was in his puberty state so as to not worry herself, since every time she worried about him, he wasn't with her, as if he didn't want others to worry about him.

Yet again, she was still worried with her Dark Sentinel friends. Unlike Dragon Realm, the Dark Realm had no steady portal, with only Sannourah the only dragon with a capability to produce inter-dimensional portal. While many years had passed since the last time she met her friends, they would just need at least some months or weeks passed before returning. Dragon Realm had its own timeline changed, making it the same time and speed with her native realm, all because of the portal the mole Professor made, who had died many years ago.

Her inner thinking was interrupted when Seraphor came to her, somehow making a smile and said, "Hey, how's the kids?"

"They're having fun," said Avila while trying to conceal her concerns. "But, aren't you supposed to be with Spyro and Flame?"

"They're facing the Guardians, and I don't really have a business with them so I come back to you." He then sat beside her. "So, what's troubling you?"

Avila made a nervous laugh. "Is it really that apparent?"

"Well, I can see your expressions. Just kidding. The dark aura around you stirred a lot, so I thought you felt sick or what."

The death dragon went silent for a moment before saying, "I miss the Sentinel."

"C'mon. It's only 5 years, right? That little demon said about taking a rest for a while."

The little demon Seraphor meant was Sannourah, yet her thoughts quickly turn to him. He was worried about his well-being. Despite of being hundreds years of age, he never aged after the accident and had practically became an immortal. Yet, this made him uneasy. A 300-years old mind and mentality in a small young body wouldn't be a good thing if he had a desire to mate.

Her little thinking was interrupted by a dragon, who ran towards them with increasing anxiety. Something was happening back at the Main Continent. Seraphor had sensed that something was wrong.

The blue dragon stopped in front of them, exhausted from possible non-stop flying. Avila could see that he was an Order dragon, from the tail ornament he had.

"What's wrong, young one? You look tired."

"I-I'm an urgent messenger coming from Qeveriyt to find any former Order members we could find. It's leader Riant's order," replied the dragon while collapsing on the sand. His actions had started to give attention to the other beach patrons.

Seraphor then asked, "Is this something the matter?"

"Yes...it's elder Yort, honored silver dragon. He's dead."

The news struck both of them like lightning. At first, Seraphor thought the dragon finally succumbed to his heart problem, until the messenger said, "He was found killed near his cave in Qeveriyt."

"What?! Who can possibly kill him?! He's a great earth dragon! There's no way..."

"He bled to death by a mortal wound from something like a spear," said the messenger. "The leader said that you know something about it."

"Sera, that's..."

"Only one dragon can modify an element into something like that," said Seraphor making a growl. "But...he's supposed to be dead 150 years ago! He said it himself. He's the last of his kind!"

"We should be going to where he is now."

Seraphor, in his deep rage, started his signature lightning step and wanted to run as fast as he could, but then, something happened to him.

When the lightning around his legs had started forming, Seraphor felt a great pain from his whole body. He became stiff, and he roared in sudden pain, before collapsing to the sand. It was as if he had the same bone fracture again many years ago, yet this time, it felt like muscle strain.

"What the heck is going on, Sera?!" exclaimed Avila when Seraphor fell.

"I don't know!" He made a roar again. "It's painful, it's like my whole body got crammed up after a rigorous exercise. Young one, don't mind me, just get some rest. Avila, can you take me to the Guardians?"

Avila made a nod, then moved towards Seraphor. She then said, "Take good care of my hatchlings. They look just like us. I'll be back shortly."

Avila concentrated on where she wanted to go, which was the Guardian's temple. As he remembered the place and the surroundings, the air, and the atmosphere, she held her breath and the darkness in her stir, and with a blink, she was inside the Guardian's main chamber, with Spyro and Ignitus in front of them. They would be oblivious of the silent approach if not for Seraphor's painful roar, which caught their attention.

"Avila, what's going on with Sera?!" exclaimed Spyro while running towards his counterpart. "By the dragon Gods, he can't breathe!" Avila was surprised, and when she turned to him, the silver red was choking, grasping for air. Something was clearly wrong with him, and this caused Avila to become panicked. Ignitus called Terrador to him and he examined him, then turned his body and without warning, smacked his chest hard enough for Seraphor to breathe again.

"What happened? Did he choke?"

"No," said Terrador. "Something's wrong with his lungs. Seraphor, if you can talk, what do you feel?"

"I...I feel like...drowning. There's something blocking my air inside. Is it my lungs?"

When Terrador nodded, Seraphor said, "Just what is going on? It happened when I just wanted to run."

"Can you grow some plants at my garden? Just the seeds."

The silver red thought that Terrador was just trying to make him return to normal by doing a small elemental exercise, and tried to concentrate to find some seeds there. He did find the seeds, but when he tried to flow his earth element to it, a bad headache struck him and he lost consciousness. Not only that, when the group turned their heads to the garden, they weren't greeted by green plants. Instead, there was a giant carnivorous plant made from the plants Terrador was growing, and it was wild, requiring both Ignitus and Spyro to burn it.

Hiding his sadness of losing his plants, Terrador turned to Seraphor and became worried. As strong as Seraphor was, he wouldn't make something that dangerous. Then, something struck his mind, and to justify the theory, Terrador asked Seraphor to use his flame breath, despite of Avila's objection. Seraphor did that, too, and it had a surprising result.

As he used his breath, Seraphor felt burning on his lungs, and before he knew it, the fire that he tried to produce suddenly burst out from his mouth like an explosion, which had a terrible effect on Seraphor. Not only did it pushed him down to earth, some of the fire stayed in Seraphor's mouth. While it was supposed to be normal, Seraphor writhed in pain and spit the fire out, which melted the floor, something even Ignitus' fire couldn't do. Just then, Terrador made a sigh and sat beside him, and said, "Seraphor, your power is killing you."

This caused them to become surprised. "What?!" Spyro said. Avila that tried to comfort the barely conscious Seraphor also said, "You mean, his powers is becoming out of control?"

"Seraphor's physiology is different with Spyro's," said Terrador. "Due to this difference, they both handled magic differently. Spyro may be able to control his abilities, if he isn't in a state of rage, but in Seraphor's case, his hybrid abilities are destroying him slowly as year goes by."

"He never said he had a problem before. Why now?"

"I am not sure about this, but Seraphor frequently used a very high-skilled elemental magic, right?"

"He is," said Ignitus. "For a dragon, absorbing and using the power of the sun is spectacular."

"While converting loose electron into dynamic electricity is far science fiction than it is applicable," said Spyro.

"Just is the same with forcing the molecular disintegration of earthly elements. I don't know about his ice abilities, but from what I can see it, the use of those abilities strains him and somehow evolved his abilities into a true hybrid."

"Hybrid?"

"He performed it just now. I know he's trying to grow the plants with a controlled state, but instead, he mutated the plants into a giant 'Little shop of Horrors'-kind of creature. The same as the fire. It could melt the floor because it's not fire anymore. It's magma."

"Impossible! There's no way a dragon can survive becoming a different element dragon!" exclaimed Ignitus.

"I know that. Those elemental mutations are eating his body, and straining them. He's supposed to be invulnerable to fire, but magma is far stronger than fire. His muscles couldn't hold the strain of sudden impulse of lightning. I can't explain the earth and ice, but right now, do not let him use any of his elements. If he uses it, even once, there's no telling when the wild energy in him will kill him. Until we can find the cause, Avila, he cannot be out of this temple."

At this point, Seraphor succumbed to the nasty migraine and lost consciousness, leaving the rest of his friends to contemplate on Seraphor's survival, in particular Avila, knowing that he was the father of their twin. It would be disastrous for both dragons' mentality, especially Rhaynis, when they lost their father in such a young age.

"Sera...has helped us many times, both in our own realm and this realm," said Avila. "I won't let him die, for the best of our children, and for those who admired him as a hero."

"Yet, even if he knows he's sick, he's as stubborn as hell if something happened to him," said Spyro. "He can be a little bit reckless, but most of the time, it doesn't hurt him...except that bone problem. Anyways, I know he's in a hurry if he starts to use his electric step, so tell me what's going on, Avila."

"We've just received news that Yort was killed near his lair in Qeveriyt. Apparently, the way he died was the same way Raithorakh was killed 150 years ago, so I know who the dragon that killed him. Yet...we killed him. I saw his head rolling near where Ray was killed."

"Yes, and his death is one of the reasons that we're aware of the existence of a parallel universe and our first acquaintance with Seraphor," said Ignitus. "I like to reminisce on the day he came, but...I never thought it had a tragic story behind it."

"I was also thrown to another dimension and that's where I meet Cynder. If not for that event to happen, we wouldn't met, and somehow his ghost is trying to exact revenge."

"It's a real shame that such a wise dragon would die that way. He's a good friend, and I want to know exactly why good dragons must die first," said Terrador. "I'm coming with you."

"Then I'll go too."

"No, Spyro," said Avila. "Sera needs you more that I am. I know he loves me, but he's your other self; your parallel. You two can relate better, just like me and Cynder. Another reason is that if I try to teleport more than a dragon, it will severely affect the distance covered."

Terrador talked to Ignitus and Spyro for a while before walking towards the death dragon. Avila promptly touched Terrador with one of her tails, and in an instant, she disappeared, leaving a puff of dark cloud that quickly receded into one point on the air. Both of their attention then diverted to Seraphor. Despite of his state of predicament, the silver red was somehow trying to survive. His breath rate was faster and he occasionally made twitchy movements, but other than that, he was fine, except for the fever.

"Let's get him to your room, Spyro," said Ignitus with Spyro nodding.

Spyro's room was a big enough space that was supposed to be filled with bookcases, but since reaching adulthood, Spyro had never seen the room again. It had nothing inside except a big comfy bed that Spyro used to sleep on when he was far younger, and the sight itself made him relieved some of his best memories before meeting Cynder, which was the time when she was still his enemy, the day where he would collapse after a whole day training session with each of the Guardians.

Ignitus laid down Seraphor slowly while Spyro lighted the candles. Seeing his counterpart sleeping made him wondered if he slept the same way. The fire guardian also realized this and said, "You know, the way you sleep that time...it is a good sight that warms the night. When I saw you I wondered on how a small purple dragon, destined to be the savior of the world, can sleep peacefully like a young dragon should be. You were still very innocent and very young."

"The day you took me into the temple with Sparx is the day my destiny's changed," said Spyro. "But right now, it's time for us to save the true savior of both realms, after what he has done to me and everyone else on this island."

"Yeah..."

When they wanted to get out, Volteer suddenly appeared at the door, which startled Spyro. Ignitus, indifferent, proceed to say, "What is it, Volteer?"

"Nothing. I just want to get into Spyro's room, that's all."

"And what is the purpose of getting into an old room?"

"I happen to find some weird static disturbance that's jamming my equipment's signals. My sensors found the source to be in this room, where the electron stirred more than it should be. I thought it was nonsense, but I was curious on what could make such thing."

"You mean, there's a jammer inside my old room?"

"You can say it so, Spyro, but this one is not like a common jamming device. It just feels alive and..."

Volteer's explanation was interrupted when a static discharge hit him, sending him flying back. It also went to Spyro, but it just made him feel numb, like being slightly electrocuted. Volteer, however wasn't that fortunate.

"Oh, my fathers before me, who put a discharger inside your..."

Volteer was surprised by what he saw, just as Spyro and Ignitus when they turned around.

Seraphor became a conduit for a strong electricity surge that filled the room. The discharge was strong enough that it energized the air and started making jolts of electricity that jumped everywhere. It hit Spyro many times, and also Volteer, yet the problem was the silver red himself.

The discharge was only for a moment, but suddenly, Seraphor made a growl before there was silence, with no electric discharge around, absorbed by the wall or by the silver red's body. Ignitus went inside and saw the worst possible moment.

"Ancestors...he's not breathing!"

"What?!"

The flame guardian quickly put the side of his face to the smaller dragon's body, and made a surprised, if not horrified, face. Spyro realized what his face meant.

"He's gone into cardiac arrest! Volteer, can you restart his heart?!"

Volteer didn't waste any time to restart Seraphor's heart. He quickly gave a strong jolt of electricity that was strong enough to give residual discharge to the air, and strong enough to return Seraphor to life.

The silver red took in a big air as he became conscious. He touched his heart in reflex, realizing of his problems.

"Seraphor, are you alright?!"

"That discharge...it feels like when I reform my own wings. But I didn't do any of that, and why did my heart stop? This is wrong. I can't even understand what happened to me and I hurt both of you!"

"Relax, Seraphor, I'm just thrown by the electricity spark," said Volteer.

"Get out..."

"What?"

"All of you, get out!! Don't you see? I've become a danger to you guys, so stay away from me!"

"Sera, what do you...?"

"Get the fuck out!!"

Right at that time, Spyro saw what had become of his counterpart. When he shouted the words, the purple dragon saw his eyes. It momentarily became yellow, as if his Genocide mode was turned on. But other than that, though it was just a moment, he could see Seraphor's tears, right before he closed the door.

The guardians were also helpless with Seraphor's rage, and chose not to bother him. When Ignitus wanted to take Spyro, the purple dragon said, "He's crying."

"Is he? But why?"

"I can see it from his eyes. He knew that he had become a menace, and he wanted to be left alone, but he's...sad that...he becomes the thing he hates the most."

Ignitus couldn't reply. Spyro knew his counterpart the most as they both were the closest of being brothers. The fire guardian kept silent for a moment before saying, "So...what are we supposed to do?"

"We have no other choice," said Spyro. "He must be put away from anyone's harm, and to stop him from using any of his elements at any time."

"But...is it going to be alright? We're going to treat him like a criminal."

"He may be our friend, and he may be our savior, but until we can find what gives him the predicament he's in right now, he's something that we should worry about. Can you prepare 'it'?"

Spyro could see that Ignitus was reluctant, but nevertheless, he said, "I'll...tell the rest of the guardians about it."

As he left, Spyro was contacted by Shyplis, the other consciousness living inside him like a parasite, yet helping him in many situations, and had somehow became Spyro's advisor in life.

"Aren't you being too harsh here? You know that place is only reserved for any of us."

"I know. It's very ironic, but until he's well, he's going inside the Shadow dimension, no matter how heartless I am."