Spyro (classic version)

Chapter One: The Raid

In the far away reaches of this infinite universe lies the vast and mysterious world of Eclasia. Once, Eclasia was a peaceful place, filled with magic and wonder. The people of the great world lived together, content with their lives, and happy for each other. This world was also home to the race of dragons, the same reptilian, winged beasts from stories on our world, born with immense power and wisdom. The dragons kept a watchful eye on their world, protecting it from harm.

But now, all of that had changed. The world lay in ruins and turmoil, and the dragons waged war on the worst threat their world had ever met.

He called himself the Dark Master. He, and his army of blood thirsty apes, attempted to invade every civilisation on Eclasia, not caring how many lives they had to end to achieve this goal. The apes were locked in combat with the dragons, led by the mighty elemental guardians, who prolonged the apes' vision of rule. After a year of fighting, the guardian of fire, Ignitus, duelled the Dark Master himself, and in the end, Ignitus imprisoned him the dark dimension he himself had created. Leaderless, the apes continued to fight, but without order or strategy, the scales tipped in favour of the dragons.

But soon, unknown to the guardians, or anyone, the Dark Master managed to establish a connection with the world, through which he could communicate with his forces.

One cloudless, clear night, the Dark Master had summoned Gaul, king of the apes, to speak with him, and that is where the story begins.

Gaul keeled before a vast purple beacon of energy, firing into the black sky above, and spoke.

"You summoned me, my lord?"

"Yes" replied a deep, echoing voice from the depths of the beacon, "I have a task for you. You know the oddity of the current year?"

"The year of the dragon?" replied Gaul.

"Yes. This is the year when the most powerful dragons are born, which in itself is a drawback for us, but there is something about this year in particular that must be seen to"

"Anything, my lord" said Gaul.

"One dragon will be born that will have power beyond any we've seen so far, and according to the ancient prophecies, he alone shall have the power to bring about our downfall." explained the Dark Master. Gaul remained silent, knowing there was more, and he was not disappointed.

"This lone dragon must not survive. You are to raid the temple tonight, and destroy the eggs. Every last one."

"Certainly, my lord" said Gaul, bowing. He got up to leave, when he was called back.

"One more thing" growled the voice. Gaul paused and turned.

***

A few hours later, many miles away in the dragon temple, Ignitus wandered through the grotto of dragon eggs. He was, for a dragon, handsome faced and powerfully built. His scales were a deep shade of scarlet while his wings were light-orange in colour. He was pacing back and forth, muttering and looking anxious.

"I've made a mistake..." he mumbled to himself "I thought we were ready..."

After a minute or so, another  dragon, bright yellow with blue wings, half sprinted into the grotto, panting with fear.

"They've come!" he shouted "Hide the egg, we'll hold them off!"

Ignitus, his eyes wide in shock, ran to the edge of the grotto, where a solitary, purple egg sat on a cushion. Ignitus seized the egg and ran for the door. Once outside, he took flight at top speed, and flew over the mass of trees and came to rest at the bank of a winding river. On the bank was a makeshift raft he had constructed a few days previously, as a precaution. Carefully, he placed the egg into the nest-like raft. Then, he took a piece of parchment near to where it was hidden, and blew a small burst of flames. Runes appeared there. Ignitus placed the note under the egg, and put the raft into the water, and watched it drift slowly along the current. With hope, it would be picked up by someone along the way, or hatch on it's own and make it's own way. Ignitus watched it for a second, and called out to it "May the ancestors look after you!". He looked away and added in an undertone "May they look after us all..."

After a moment, Ignitus leaped into the air again and pelted back towards the temple. When he opened the door, a horrific sight greeted his eyes.

***

The egg floated gently down the river for hours, and it was morning by the time it came to rest on another bank. With a small bump, the raft came to a stop in a small fishing spot. It sat there for a while, not able to move further down the river, nor back the way it came.

"I'll be back soon, okay! I have to check the nets!" called a voice from inside the trees. Soon thereafter, a small buzzing insect flew from the undergrowth. It was a dragonfly, not with six legs, but with two humanoid arms instead. It came to the bank, and jumped at the sight of the large egg floating there.

"Nina!" he called. Soon, another fly buzzed to his side, this one female.

"What's happened? Are you..." she too stopped at the bank, staring at the egg.

"What is it, Flash?" asked Nina.

"I...I don't know..." replied Flash. But they didn't have to wonder for long. After a minute, the egg wobbled and cracked. Soon, it burst open, and in it's place sat a tiny, big eyed, chirping purple dragon. It looked curiously up at the dragonflies, who stared back, lost for words. The little dragon wobbled it's way over on it's weak legs, and flopped in the grass before them. Nina let out a squeal and dropped down to hug it.

"Nina..." said Flash, but she said "He's not dangerous, he's only just hatched! And look at him, he's so cute! Should we keep him? It looks like he was alone..."

"I don't know..." said Flash uncertainly. Then he spotted the note in the raft. He picked it up and read. Nina looked over his shoulder.

"Well" said Nina, having finished reading "That's settled then! He stays"

Nina and Flash buzzed back up to their home, guiding the little lost dragon behind them.