Crash and Spyro, A Friendship Across Lifetimes

Chapter 2: Dragons and their Pride

SPYRO is a young, purple dragon. Does this color mean something? He had a sneaking suspicion, yet asking the Elders or at the minimum being able to talk to them in the first place was not easy. The oligarchy that is the Council of Elders is a wise, yet secretive group who did not hold any obligations to inform the rest of the Dragon Realms about the contents of their congregations. Elder Dragons from five of the six islands gathered in the Artisans Realm, Spyro's home, once every four months and whatever decrees were made by the council slowly made its way to everyone else. Dragon society was a class system, solely based on age. The children, whom Spyro unfortunately was, spent most of their time under the mentorship of adult Dragons learning the ways of flight, magic, masonry, combat, or of their race's great heritage. Dragons are a proud and ancient race. For centuries they had lived in and prospered at all corners of the world. This was no longer the case, and although it was important to know all about the history of the Dragons, their defeat and eventual banishment to these islands was hardly the talk of discussion.

Spyro recently started to receive special treatment during his lessons, and whatever nonsense or interesting spells and abilities his mentors taught him, he absorbed and perfected fairly easily. This rubbed one of friends off the wrong way, and it didn't help that Spyro was a cocky show off. He was the first of his class to breath fire, his horns were growing in the fastest, and he was already flying, though not for any extended period of time. Spyro grew board of his rudimentary training and wished to explore more of the Dragon Realms. Of course everyone including his friends told him he was still too young. Flame, in particular, was starting to get on Spyro's nerves. "Yeah," Flame retorted while he and Spyro were walking back to Artisans, "this coming from the Dragon that has a portable night light." Flame was referring to Sparx, who currently was hovering over Spyro's right shoulder. Sparx is a dragonfly which has been following Spyro for as long as he could remember. It was because of this that they were inseparable friends. Sparx couldn't (to Spyro's best knowledge) talk, but he sure could listen. Why he illuminated golden yellow was beyond Spyro, and like why his purple skin mattered, no answers were coming from his Elders or teachers. The amount to which they withheld information was infuriating. If he was supposed to be some sort prophesied hero or something, then they should let Spyro into "the know". Now Spyro's grand importance was only a hypothesis in his mind, but the evidence was starting to mount that he was right.

"Hey Flame," Spyro finally responded, "shut your mouth and don't talk about Sparx."

"Fair enough" he replied. "But I can at least talk about you and your grand ambitions to travel the lands and be the hero that the Dragon Realms needs. Maybe you will single handedly march your way to the Forgotten Realms, defeat all those who oppose you, and reclaim the lands for Dragons, your lavender-ness."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Most Generic Name in all of Artisans. Why don't you stop talking before I melt your mouth shut, since you couldn't do it yourself even if you tried." Banter between Flame and Spyro was common, but the degree to which Flame was irritating Spyro today was almost to its boiling point. This jab was to remind Flame that he could not yet breathe fire, but Spyro's insult only spurred him to continue talking, which was almost all that Spyro could take.

"Flame, enough!" Ember yelled, interrupting Flame's next rant. "You're just jealous of Spyro instead of being proud of him." It was obvious to Spyro and Flame that Ember had a crush on Spyro. Adult Dragon's formed life long bonds with one another, and kept their partner for life. Every four years, they would consummate their love by reproducing during the quadrennial fertility festival in the spring. However, parent Dragons never actually raised their children. Instead, all the females laid their eggs in the same location, all the eggs would hatch around the same time, and the children were raised by the community. Spyro and his friends were born around nine years ago. No Dragon ever knew who their parents were; instead, their devotion was to the betterment of the community. It was unheard of for a Dragon like Ember to attach herself to Spyro at such a young age, and her constant flirting was sort of annoying, considering that Spyro just wasn't mutually interested.

"Oh, I'm supposed to be proud of an arrogant prick that rubs his accomplishments in his friend's faces and has the audacity to claim his 'grand significance' to the Dragon Realms, when he is only nine years old and doesn't know what the hell he is talking about!" Spyro had only mentioned his theories about the Elder's concentration on him to his closest friends, but this news must have only damaged Flame's ego, which was fine with Spyro.

"Will all three of you just shut up?" Cynder had finally decided to but in. "Your constant bickering is only proving that all three of you are immature and are not ready to be a part of the Dragon community." Of all three of Spyro's friends, she was the one he understood and knew about the least. She was so strong willed and independent, yet she hung out with him, Flame, and Ember. Cynder probably was the most ready to advance in the community, but the Elders were focusing on Spyro.

"Oh," Flame said sarcastically, "you certainly demonstrate your maturity by sulking and brooding all day."

"And what do you know about me Flame? Enlighten me!" Cinder snapped back.

"I know that you're pissed off all the time. I know that you hold yourself, like Spyro, above me and the rest of our birth class of Dragons, yet the Elders are supposedly focusing on Spyro and it must eat away at you like termites." Flame was in rare form today, Spyro thought. Cynder had never actually been confronted when she expressed her opinions to this group. It was something that she never had to deal with before and Flame's sudden attack must have hit a nerve, because she didn't immediately respond. "Hit a nerve, didn't I?" Flame continued. "What you and Spyro seem to forget is that dragon's don't hold themselves above each other, they dedicate themselves to the betterment of the community instead of boasting about how great and superior they are."

"If you really believe in endorsing that philosophy," Cynder finally replied, "then why does it also bother YOU so much that the Elders are focusing on Spyro? I'll tell you why, because that 'for the community' sentimentality is a bunch of bull. You cling to it since it was preached to you your entire life, yet our teachers and the Elders are focusing on Spyro and it vexes you to no end seeing all of your hard work to impress the Elders is meaningless. You all want to know a secret?" Cynder paused and looked at all of us directly in the eyes, with as serious of a demeanor as Spyro's ever seen. "Our community is on the brink of war. How do I know this, because I was at the last meeting of the Elders. I snuck into their meeting room and overhead their plan to deal with the incoming threat. Relations with the Gnorcs have broken down. Gnasty, their leader, has become increasingly militant in his demands to increase the territory and respect his country deserves. Apparently, this information is too sensitive for the community to hear, so the Elders have been keeping this information under wraps."

Flame was dumbstruck upon hearing the news, and Spyro was flooded with thoughts. How could the relation between the Dragons and the Gnorcs be deteriorating? Both the Dragons and the Gnorcs are refugees from the forgotten realms, and although Spyro's personal opinion about Gnorcs in general wasn't very positive, he never actually considered them as enemies. And what does it mean that the Gnorcs are demanding respect? It is true that their island's surface area isn't very large compared to the sizes of the other five islands of the Dragon Realms, nor does the island look appealing or contain as many resources as the other five islands. Spyro needed to know more about this. "Cynder," Spyro asked, "did the Elders elaborate on the specific reasons the Gnorcs are threatening war?"

"Spyro, Cynder!" Ember interrupted before Cynder could speak. "What is wrong with you two? You can't just sneak into a meeting of the Elders! And it isn't our business to second guess them!"

"I think our lives and our livelihoods being threatened by war is very much our business, Ember" Spyro responded. "This definitely explains the tension of some of the older dragons. And Cynder, I'm glad you snooped on the Elders, I don't think they should withhold pertinent information from the community, especially if it involves our safety or wellbeing. Cynder, we should sneak in together four months from now."

"You can't be serious!" Ember exclaimed.

"Oh I'm very serious. I think for once Cynder and I are on the same page, and I'd like to know more about what she heard from the Elders. What do you say, Cynder?"

"Sure, but I'd like to speak somewhere more private." Cynder replied.

"Wait," Flame finally said, "can I come with you?"

"Why don't you continue to practice fire breathing, and then Cynder and I will let you in on what we know once you've finished." Spyro rhetorically replied as Spyro and Cynder turned around and walked towards a more secluded location. Muffled profanities could be heard under Flame's breath. Spyro always enjoyed pushing his buttons, but now was the time for more serious matters.