Chapter Text
“Why do we have to bring Cynder to see the guardians?” Forzen asked Muras as they waited outside the front door of the barracks. “I don’t even want to go see the guardians. All I’ve gotten since we waltzed into Warfang are concerned and cautious faces, and people steer away from me. The guardians are probably going to be the same. Or they’ll be angry like Cynder, and one Cynder is already enough.”
Muras turned to Forzen with a sigh. “The guardians won’t be like her, I can promise you that much,” he replied. “They may be cautious at first, like everyone else in Warfang, but I’m sure they’ll get used to you. Surely they’ll realise you’re not a bad person or working for Spyro.”
“But what if they don’t? What if everybody else in Warfang doesn’t? If I’m to stay with you or whatever, I’ll probably end up living here,” Forzen murmured. “I don’t want people to be straying away from me, discriminating me, or even attacking me because I’m of Spyro’s blood. Even if I don’t work for Spyro I will be judged simply because I’m his son, and because I’m purple.”
“Forzen, it’s not because you’re purple,” Muras started.
“It is; Cynder said it herself! If she’s scared of me because I’m purple, what will everyone else think? I know purple dragons haven’t had the best reputation recently, so me being purple will definitely be a big part! Speaking of which, you don’t seem to get treated so negatively or with so much caution. What’s so different about you that makes everyone like you?”
By the looks of it, Muras didn’t know what to say, as he hesitated, his eyes going distant. Forzen felt loneliness well up inside him. Did people really like Muras immediately and undoubtedly, no matter what? Even if he was the same colour as Spyro, the dragon terrorising the world? Even if he was the same colour as Malefor ? That didn’t seem fair.
Jaarsol had told him the stories of Malefor, so he knew Spyro wasn’t a single event of a corrupt, evil purple dragon. He knew that both Malefor and Spyro happening so close together put a huge target on any purple dragon.
Forzen knew Muras couldn’t be Malefor, judging from the stories of Malefor that Jaarsol had told him. Muras was so kind and caring, unlike Spyro’s predecessor. Could Muras be a… a good purple dragon? Was there such a thing? Forzen knew he was a good purple dragon, but hardly anyone would think that or even see to reason. Then again, Spyro was a good purple dragon too, before he turned and became the monster he was now. Jaarsol said that even Malefor was a good purple dragon before he went evil.
Would Muras become corrupt like Malefor and Spyro? Would Forzen?
The young purple dragon’s mind was swirling with questions, but Forzen refused to ask them, for fear that speaking the questions aloud might make them true. He was worried that putting voice behind the questions might turn Muras even in the future, or even himself. His questions were better off kept deep in his mind, unanswered. They were better off not even being thought about.
Forzen swallowed nervously, before Muras began to talk. “I… I was also discriminated against at first. It’s not just you struggling with it,” he said sadly. “I went through all of this too.”
“How long did it take for everyone here to accept you?” Forzen asked.
“I don’t know fully. Maybe… somewhere between one and three years?”
“One to three years?!” Forzen cried, feeling a wave of helplessness crush him. “What chance do I have then?! You’re not even related to Malefor or Spyro; you don’t have all that extra weight on your head!”
Forzen noticed Muras flinch slightly at the last sentence, but he didn’t have time to process it before the door in front of them opened suddenly as Cynder made herself known, interrupting their conversation. She glared at Forzen, making him cower and turn away, stepping back to hide behind Muras. Cynder rolled her eyes, before turning to Muras. “What do you want?” Cynder scowled at him.
“I… Look, I figured we should probably take Forzen to see the guardians before we throw him into training and mentorship,” Muras explained, causing Cynder to raise a brow. “I think it would help the guardians, and Warfang as well, in having some extra information regarding Forzen, to help him settle in a bit more, and to help prove Forzen’s innocence in the matter of if he’s working for Spyro or not. He’s bound to get targeted without that.”
“And why do I need to go along with you?”
“Well, I figured since you’re his… you know what, forget I said that,” Muras stammered, briefly noticing Cynder’s gaze heat up with anger as she realised where he was going. “Either way, I still think it would be a good idea for you to come along. You could help aid in battle training perhaps, since you’re the army general here.”
Forzen tried to make himself look small. How many plans did Muras have for him? He was terrified; he didn’t want to open up or say anything. He’d wanted somewhere safe to stay, and had considered Warfang multiple times before deciding against it. However he never wanted this out of Warfang.
The purple dragon also knew that the battle training Muras was suggesting was only to help him defend himself, but when he saw the look on Cynder’s face after he mentioned it, he knew she thought otherwise. She clearly had other plans.
All Forzen wanted to do was curl up in a ball and fade from existence. He didn’t want to speak to the guardians. He didn’t even really want to speak to Muras that much either; he seemed pretty nosy and almost too kind, if that was even possible. Forzen didn’t want to even think about uttering one letter to Cynder. And despite all this, it sounded like Muras wanted Forzen to talk about his miserable life and spill it all out to the guardians on a silver platter. There was no way he was going to do that.
That was his personal life, and he would talk about it when he wanted to. He was not going to be forced to do so. Hell, doing so at this current time, with the events of the past few days so fresh… talking about it would just make him cry. There was no way he was going to do that.
Ever since a young age, Spyro told him that he was not allowed to cry. Male dragons don’t cry. Only wimps or girls did that. He needed to be strong and tough. He would never show anyone else his emotions; he knew they would just take advantage of him in his weakness. He was not allowed to show emotion, and most certainly not him , a powerful purple dragon.
He thought back to when he was eight, when Spyro tested him on keeping his emotions in check, forcing him to stay strong and not to cry. Spyro had had him beaten by his peers. He’d had him scared and threatened by the dark dragons. He even put him in a fear coma. The fear coma was the worst part, due to…
No. I won’t think about that. Never again.
His attention was thrown back into the real world as Cynder slapped him in the side of the head, hard. “Are you paying attention, whelp? We’re going,” Cynder scolded, before whirling around and storming off towards the Warfang Temple.
“Cynder, don’t be so scornful! He’s just a child!” Muras exclaimed as Forzen rubbed his jaw.
“He’s twelve. He can deal with it,” Cynder grumbled.
“What the hell, Cynder?!”
“Spyro and I dealt with much worse when we were twelve. You should know that.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to treat him like crap.”
Cynder didn’t respond. Muras looked down sadly at Forzen, and he rolled his eyes. “I’m fine; I don’t need your empathy, or your pity,” Forzen murmured, before trudging miserably after Cynder.
He could practically feel Muras’ heartbroken gaze on him, before he heard footsteps behind him as Muras started to follow them.
Forzen sighed inwardly, trying hard not to cry from the weight of Muras’ gaze. He didn’t need empathy. He didn’t want it. No one had given it to him except for Jaarsol. Empathy towards him was reserved for Jaarsol only. She at least took care of him well. She taught him well. She was kind but not too kind, and was always there for him. To be fair, it was her job, but he knew that she was genuine about it.
The weight of wary, angry looks towards Forzen made his heart race as he followed Cynder and Muras. He couldn’t keep his gaze on them, seeing the entire population of Warfang staring at him in his peripheral vision. His gaze lowered to his paws as if they were the most important thing in the world, only occasionally looking up at Cynder to ensure he was still going the right way.
He wanted nothing more than to run and leave, but he knew it would cause more drama, and he’d already had enough of that, and he knew there was more to come. He didn’t want extra on top of that. He also didn’t want to cause problems in Warfang, particularly if he was going to be staying here.
Plus, he knew that the moment he would run off, Muras would immediately be out to find him. The older purple dragon was… obsessed with him, it seemed like. Muras had called him his ‘purpose’. What was so important about him to make Muras want to care for him so much, and to claim that he was his ‘purpose’? Why would anyone want to mentor him? He was the son of a monster. He didn’t deserve anyone’s care or love.
It wasn’t long before they finally reached the Warfang Temple. A large, burly ice dragon was standing in the foyer,talking to a middle-aged orange cheetah, who wore several battle scars along his face and arms. Both of them paused mid-conversation as Cynder, Forzen and Muras entered the Warfang Temple.
The ice dragon’s expression was unreadable, which scared Forzen. The cheetah’s features twisted into a savage scowl. “Are you kidding me?!” he growled. “Another purple dragon?! Isn’t two enough?!”
“Derilan, he’s safe,” Cynder reassured the cheetah, now identified as Derilan. “If he does make a move, I can pretty easily restrain him. I’m sure you wouldn’t have too hard of a time too; he really only comes up to your shoulder.”
“I doubt I could do anything; you know how powerful purple dragons are,” Derilan scowled. “Spyro had the power to destroy Malefor at the age of fifteen! Who knows what power this one holds?! Who knows what he plans to do against us?!”
“He’s not like his father, trust me,” Muras said, before his eyes went wide as he realised what he had just said.
“LEARN TO HOLD YOUR TONGUE, WORM!” Cynder barked.
“This is Spyro’s son?!” the ice dragon roared, causing Forzen to immediately shrink into himself. “Why haven’t you killed the whelp?! He could be a weapon, a trap, made to look innocent just to lure us in, to lull us into a false sense of security just so he can turn on us and exterminate Warfang!”
“I wanted to be rid of him, Frélix! Muras wouldn’t let me!” Cynder scowled, glaring daggers at Muras, before turning back to the large ice dragon that she had called Frélix. “And now he wants to talk to you guys about letting him mentor the purple lizard!”
“Mentor him? Absolutely not!” Frélix snapped.
“I want to talk to all of you, Frélix; not just one of you,” Muras protested firmly.
“They’ll all agree with me. This dragon is a threat to us, if he truly is the son of Spyro. Not to mention, he’s the son of Cynder as well.”
Forzen was half expecting Cynder to snap back and correct Frélix at how she had disowned him, but she didn’t. “You make a good point there; he could have inherited one of my elements, which would be extremely dangerous,” she said. “He already wields wind; what if he ends up with something like fear or poison?”
“That’s exactly why he should be killed!” Derilan shouted. “Right here, right now!”
With a roar, the furious orange cheetah lunged at Forzen, pulling a long sword out of a scabbard that was hanging around his waist, pointing the sharp blade at him. Forzen let out a fearful scream, attempting to run backwards, but instead tripped over his own paws, sending him sprawling to the ground with a thud.
Before the purple dragon knew it, Derilan was suddenly on top of him, raising the sword over his head, ready to strike. Forzen kicked out, trying to throw Derilan off him. The cheetah wobbled, missing his mark as he swung, sending the sword slicing across Forzen’s left shoulder. Forzen howled in pain, feeling blood spill from the wound.
“STOP IT!” Muras screamed, but Cynder held him back forcefully.
Derilan raised the sword again, and Forzen could tell it was aimed at his heart. He let out a fearful scream, before a heavy clubbed tail slammed into Derilan, sending him flying off Forzen and sliding across the floor.
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!” a deep, gravelly voice thundered.
Forzen fearfully looked up, noticing a massive earth dragon standing over him. He was slightly less muscular than Frélix, but still had a large amount of bulk to him. Forzen cowered in fear, drawing his wings over the top of himself and curling up into the smallest ball he could.
Derilan’s enraged voice filled the room, causing Forzen to tense up even more. “Why’d you stop me? I could have killed him!”
“I will not approve of any killing in this Temple!” the earth dragon rumbled.
“But he’s a purple dragon!”
“I am not colour blind, furbrain! I can see that!”
“He’s Spyro’s son!”
The earth dragon hesitated at that. Forzen peeked through his wings to study the earth dragon. He let out a squeak as he saw piercing emerald eyes staring down at him. He closed his wings even tighter over his face. It was uncomfortable curling himself up as tight as he was, but for now, it was keeping him safe.
Forzen didn’t know what was going through the earth dragon’s mind, but he didn’t like the look on the earth dragon’s face, even if he only saw it briefly. Silently, he began to pray to the ancestors, just like Jaarsol had taught him in secret, that everything would be okay and that he would make it out alive.
Frélix’s voice cut through the silence. “Torialis, don’t let the fact that he’s of Cynder’s bloodline confuse you. He’s also of Spyro’s bloodline, and was raised with him at Dark Peak! Who knows what he’s been taught or exposed to? It could all be part of Spyro’s grand plan, having us take him in. We must dispose of this purple whelp.”
“He inherited one of Cynder’s elements!” Derilan added. “If he inherits any more, he’ll kill us all, especially if it’s poison!”
“Okay, everyone shut up,” the earth dragon, Torialis snapped. “Frélix, you let this attack happen?”
“Of course I did; the kid’s dangerous,” Frélix retorted.
“We’re not killing anyone until we have all the information, especially a child! It goes against every moral in my heart, and I’m surprised it doesn’t do the same with you as well Frélix, given what happened to your brother.”
“Don’t… talk about him.”
“Well then, stop trying to kill this kid. We can do so if he proves himself to be a threat, but right now, I see none of that from this ball of fear.”
“It’s just a tactic to get us into a false sense of security.”
“Can it, Frélix. I want to talk to the kid with all four of us and then we can decide what we want to do, okay?” Torialis demanded, before turning to Cynder. “And Cynder, let Muras go.”
Cynder let out a low, guttural growl, before there was the thud of a body on the ground, followed by sharp, hoarse breaths. He sounded like he was fighting for breath. Did Cynder… choke Muras?
Torialis’ voice rumbled once more, “So why’s he here? I assumed you two brought him here.”
“Muras forced me to, but yes. Yes, we brought him here,” Cynder replied.
“Why do you have to keep saying that?” Muras croaked.
“Because I want nothing to do with the kid!”
Must everyone call me ‘kid’? I have a name, Forzen thought, but refused to speak his thoughts out loud.
“Okay, so why did you bring him here then?” Torialis questioned Muras.
“I… Can I talk with the other guardians? It’s a big story and I don’t want to go through it twice,” Muras asked. “It’d be better to have everyone here I think.”
These are the guardians? Forzen thought. One of them wanted to kill me at first sight! I don’t know if I want to meet the others!
“Very well. Frélix, go fetch Ash and Lagenon for me,” Torialis ordered.
Frélix muttered with acknowledgement, before the clacking of claws on the marble floors began and faded as Frélix moved down the hall. Forzen suddenly jumped as he felt a large claw tapping his back, surprisingly gentle. “Come on, little one. Open up. I won’t hurt you until I know more, I promise,” Torialis said.
“How could you even say th…?!” Derilan shouted, but he was cut off by something, probably a cold stare by Torialis or something.
Reluctantly, the twelve-year-old purple dragon slowly opened his wings and worked himself into a sitting position, before looking up at the large earth dragon towering over him. Torialis stared down at him with an unreadable expression, bright emerald eyes staring into his vibrant purple ones. Torialis cocked his head to the side slightly as he studied the purple dragon, and Forzen didn’t know whether it would be better to curl into a ball again or not.
His size intimidated Forzen as well; Torialis was very big, towering over him even more than Muras did. It seemed that Torialis wasn’t as big as Cynder however, to which Forzen didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
It didn’t take long for Frélix to return with two other dragons, a fire and electric one. Torialis stepped back to stand next to them, and Forzen noticed that Torialis was only just taller than the two new dragons, and slightly shorter than Frélix. Forzen turned to Cynder and studied her size, coming to the conclusion that Cynder was even taller than Frélix, making her the largest dragon in the room.
Cynder was suddenly starting to become even scarier than before.
“So what’s all this about? Frélix has been mentioning a new purple dr—” the fire dragon said as he walked into the room, before pausing as his eyes came across Forzen lying on the ground. The purple dragon watched the fire guardian’s neck bob as he gulped, and Forzen could sense the nervousness in him.
“Well, Muras,” Torialis said, turning around to face the larger purple dragon. “What’s the deal here? Who is this young purple dragon and why is he here?”
“Well… Cynder took me out to the forest to go hunting together, to help take my mind off… well… everything that’s been going on. But just after we caught out breakfast, we heard Forzen, getting attacked by a fearbringer and a shadowclaw,” Muras explained. “It seemed as if he… he didn’t want to fight them. He let out an electric pulse though, and they both fled, which was strange because it was quite weak, mainly because it was the first time he’d ever used electricity. Cynder and I made ourselves known to him after the two dark dragons left, and we talked, and decided to bring him here.”
“You mean you decided to bring him here,” Cynder scowled.
“Shush, Cynder. Let Muras speak,” Torialis mumbled, and Cynder just rolled her eyes. “Why did you decide to bring Forzen here?”
“Every purple dragon has the previous purple dragon mentor them; it’s just tradition. It’s prophecy almost. Every purple dragon has a longer lifespan so they can make it to the tenth generation when the next one is born, so they can mentor them, teach them healthy lifestyle choices and how to use their elements safely. Although… things have happened differently due to… recent events.
“I also feel like… like he’s my purpose. He’s the reason the ancestors sent me back. I’m meant to mentor him, I can feel it. I believe I’m the one who’s meant to teach him good ways to live and how to protect himself. I don’t want him fighting in the war if he doesn’t want to; making a weapon out of him like the previous guardians turned Spyro into a weapon is not where I want to go with him. However, I think he could really help us if he wanted to.”
“Okay, so you want to mentor him,” Frélix murmured. “Sounds good, but how do we know if we can trust him? He’s Spyro’s son, remember?”
This caused the fire and electric guardians to gasp in shock, eyes flicking between Forzen and Cynder. Cynder bared her teeth with a snarl as they made the silent connection of who the mother was.
Frélix continued speaking, “He was raised in Dark Peak amongst Spyro, Drachen, the Dark Assassin Corps, and plenty of other evil creatures that could have influenced him.”
Spyro kept me away from the Dark Assasin Corps after what happened with D’varin when I was a few months old, Forzen thought, but didn’t speak his thoughts out loud.
“I don’t sense anything harmful inside him, Master Frélix,” Muras replied. “Please, trust me. Help me with him. Maybe we could… I don’t know, send him to school as well? He’s gonna need people his own age around him. And, I can’t teach him everything.”
Torialis turned to look towards the other guardians, which after a few moments, nodded subtly. Frélix very much hesitated, being the last one to agree. With the way his face contorted, it definitely looked like he was wrestling with the decision. The electric guardian didn’t seem so pleased either. The fire guardian was hesitant, but seemed optimistic.
“Alright. We’ll let you take him in as your mentee, and he can go to school,” Torialis said. “But, I do want caution to be advised. If too many issues arise, whether it’s his fault or not, we’ll have to take him out of school, and eventually, take him away from you and out of Warfang.”
“If you take him out of Warfang, I’m going too. I’m his mentor, and I will stay with him,” Muras said firmly.
“Okay, fine. At least that means we get rid of both purple dragons in Warfang,” Frélix said with a shrug.
“What is with the damn stereotyping?!” Muras exclaimed. “Not all purple dragons are bad, I swear!”
“Seems a bit hard to believe right about now, doesn’t it?” the electric dragon asked, raising his eyebrow.
“I know, Master Lagenon, but… Oh fine, have it your way! But you better not be teaching the kids at school this stereotyping when Forzen starts going to classes. The last thing he needs is to get bullied and pushed out, especially if you guys end up starting it. He’s a good kid, I can feel it.”
“I’ll be fine,” Forzen said, even though he knew it was a lie. He knew he wasn’t going to be fine, but he didn’t want anyone worrying about him. Plus, he’d been alone all his life; Jaarsol was the only one there for him. Feeling alone at school wouldn’t be too different.
“Are you sure?” Muras questioned.
“Yes.”
There was an awkward silence, and Forzen hated it.
He hated what came next even more.
“Okay, Forzen. Tell us about yourself,” Torialis said.
He shrank in on himself, suddenly wanting to sink into the floor. They were asking him to open up, talk about himself, his life. He didn’t even want to talk to the guardians, and the last thing he wanted to talk about was his lonely, miserable, torturous life. Forzen squeezed his eyes shut at the word, forcing the memories away as they threatened to return to his mind. After a few deep breaths, he was able to suppress the memories once more.
Forzen frowned when he opened his eyes and looked back up at his audience. Frélix appeared to be getting quite impatient, and Derilan, who was leaning against a stone pillar, twirled a small dagger between the claws on his left paw. There was the sound of tapping claws on marble and Forzen turned towards the sound, watching Cynder tap the ground with her long claws, a fierce glare painted on her face.
The fire dragon inhaled and spoke, his voice much more gentle than Forzen expected, especially due to the general hostility everyone had been showing towards him. “Come on, Forzen. We just want to help you, and we can’t do that unless we know a little bit about you,” the red dragon said. “We won’t hurt you.”
“Are you sure?” Forzen murmured in a small voice.
“Yes, I’m sure. All we need for now is a little bit about you and some of the happenings at Dark Peak.”
Forzen opened his mouth, letting out a small croak as he tried to gather his words, before closing his mouth again. He stared at his paws as if they were the most captivating thing in the world. He started to play with his claws as he sat there trying to figure out what he should say.
Clearly he was taking too long, as Cynder’s impatience started to show itself. “Forzen, speak up or otherwise I’ll force the words out of you,” she snarled, a low growl rumbling in her throat.
“Cynder.” Torialis’ voice was calm, but stern at the same time, a strong sense of authority behind it.
Forzen looked up for a few moments to see Torialis shaking his head at Cynder, before the earth guardian’s gaze returned to Forzen. The purple dragon lowered his own gaze back to his paws.
Torialis spoke again, using a similar tone of voice he had with Cynder, except he was slightly more gentle, yet still stern and commanding. “Forzen, I understand if this is too soon for you. Living for twelve years at Dark Peak must’ve been… hard,” he said. “But, if we’re going to trust you and keep you inside Warfang, we need you to talk to us. We need you to prove to us that you’re as good as Muras says you are. I somewhat believe Muras, and by the looks of it, Ash does too, but I want to hear it from you.”
The purple youngling sighed and nodded, before pausing for a few seconds, thinking through his words. He was suddenly interrupted as Muras piped up. “He’s already told me a few things, Master Torialis. I could tell you if you wish,” the older purple dragon said.
“Did you not hear what I just said, Muras?” Torialis scolded. “I want to hear it from his mouth if we’re going to trust him. I want him to tell us. And not just for us, but for him as well. If Forzen can open himself up to us, maybe he might be able to start to trust us a little bit more as well. Because I’m getting the feeling that he doesn’t really trust any one in this room. Not even you.”
Muras’ face fell. Sure he was already well aware of this, as Forzen had already told him that, but it looked like it still struck a nerve in Muras that upset him.
“I just… I don’t know what to say to you apart from the obvious,” Forzen murmured. “Y’know, ‘Hi I’m Forzen, I’m a purple dragon and I was raised in Dark Peak and Spyro’s my father too’... like what else is there for me to say?”
“Is there anything important that’s happened at Dark Peak that you think we should know? Anything that’s happened to you that we need to know?” Lagenon suggested. “What are your usable elements? What happened in Dark Peak to and around you over the past twelve years that have led you up to this moment? Things like that.”
“Well uh… I guess I was raised with the uncorrupted candidates for the Dark Assassin Corps for the first three years of my life. Just a bunch of kids that were stolen, and still are getting stolen, although not as in mass numbers as ten to twelve years ago,” Forzen explained. “Being raised amongst them… I thought I would actually have friends, but I didn’t. I only had one friend; his name was Gur’ath. He was taken and corrupted about a year after Flaris, the first member of the Dark Assassin Corps, was corrupted.
“All the kids I was raised amongst hated me, especially this one kid named D’varin. He hated me the most. Even after he became a member of the Dark Assassin Corps, his hatred for me still continued, so he tracked down our cave and attacked me, which also ended up putting the other uncorrupted candidates in danger.
“So, Spyro separated me from them; he gave me a new room, and gave me a caretaker when I was three. Her name was Jaarsol, and she was the only dragon I could actually fully trust. Spyro gave her orders on what to teach me and how to look after me; she was also my teacher in a way. She ended up teaching me so many other things in secret, so many good things, as opposed to the evil Spyro wanted me to learn and believe.
“Her mate, Kyoren, was also a labour worker, and in the little time they were allowed to have together, he would tell her about things that were going on inside Dark Peak. Jaarsol relayed some of it to me; she believed it was good for me to know some of these things, especially since she truly believed that I was good. She told me about the weak points of each of the dark dragons. The gem in the shadowclaws’ chests, the gem in the venomfangs’ heads, and the gem inside the fearbringers’ skulls, which are also infused with Sound Gem energy, and—”
“Wait, what did you say?” Cynder interrupted. “Sound Gem energy?”
Forzen wilted under Cynder’s gaze, but swallowed his nervousness and tried to stay strong. “Yeah. It increases their sound range and allows them to hear things from far away. It also significantly strengthens their siren screams and other sound-related attacks,” Forzen explained. “He spent ages getting the biology and connections between the Sound Gem and the fearbringer’s body complete, essentially merging the Sound Gem with the life crystals that each of the dark dragons have, and turning it into part of a fearbringer’s biology. Why? What’s the sudden interest in that?”
“Back when the previous guardians died, Spyro attacked me and destroyed my choker. He wanted the Sound Gem and I apparently had it hidden inside my choker. I believed Malefor must have put it there, considering he gave me the choker,” Cynder replied.
“I think… you may be correct in that assumption,” Muras murmured.
Cynder turned to Muras and scoffed, realising that was basically confirmation from him.
“Anyway, please continue, Forzen,” Torialis prompted.
Forzen had to fight to keep his annoyed groan internal. He felt like he’d already done enough talking, but they wanted more? He knew he was going to have to go through the pain of talking about Kyoren’s death, and the fear of having Spyro chase after him. And given what he knew of the guardians throughout the last few minutes, he knew they would want more detail, a lot more than what he’d said to Muras.
He didn’t want to relive one of the worst moments of his life, but he knew he would have to.
However, that would be the only moment he would share with them. They didn’t have to know about the other horrible things that happened to him. No one needed to know. Not even Muras. He didn’t care if Muras was to be his mentor and someone relatively close to him.
Forzen took a deep breath and continued, “So, all this went on for nine years until a few weeks ago. I managed to sneak away, being much more independent and wanting to see the ‘outside world’, having been cooped up in pretty much one cave for all those nine years. However, as I explored, I quickly came across many horrors, including… including watching Spyro murder Kyoren. It was horrible, just out in the open where every other dragon—every other slave—could see. I saw Drachen and D’varin there too; D’varin looked like he wanted to be the one ripping up Kyoren.
“I remember… running back before I could get caught. I tried to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. I told Jaarsol, and she… she scared me. The way she mourned… the anguish, the horror, the rage… I’d never seen that before. It was the only time she had ever scared me. She was always so kind and gentle towards me, but at that moment, it looked like she wanted to hit something, to kill something. Knowing Spyro was my father, I thought that something was me.
“I hid from her for a week, before she approached me and apologised, before she finally asked me if I wanted to get out of Dark Peak. It was an extremely risky thing, but she was proposing an escape. I said yes, and we planned our way ot. About five days ago, we attempted it, and I finally got out of Dark Peak. I… I don’t think Jaarsol made it. I’ve spent these last five days on the run, hiding and resting as well, until today. Cynder and Muras found me, and now I’m here.”
Forzen studied the guardians, trying to figure out if they were going to ask for even more information from him. That was the last thing he wanted. Trying to make that clear, he nervously but firmly added, “I’m done now. That’s all I want to share.”
Frélix looked very unsatisfied with Forzen’s final sentence, and the young purple dragon was scared he was going to get another scolding, or even worse, more threats. But Ash, the fire guardian, was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “I don’t want to push him too much further; it seems like that’s all he’s willing to share, and I feel like with his rough life, I don’t feel right asking him to relive and recount too much more of it,” he said. “I… I think I trust him. I think he’s good; I don’t see any malice or trickery behind his eyes.”
“But he’s hiding stuff from us,” Frélix replied.
“Given what we know of his story, I don’t blame him,” the fire guardian retorted. “If I were to force you to open up about your trauma, I think you would be selective over the details on what you shared, or even straight up refuse to share anything at all. Have a bit of empathy. He’ll open up when he’s ready, but I think for now he’s shared enough, and I think I can trust him.”
“Honestly, so do I. I think trust concerning him will be a little shaky at first, and that’s to be expected, on both sides of the matter. But I believe him. From what I’ve heard, I think he’s good. And with his caretaker going out of her way to teach him so many things contradicting what Spyro wanted her to teach him in secret is a very good thing,” Torialis said, before turning to Forzen. “Do you know where she was from?”
“Here. She used to live in Warfang,” Forzen replied.
“Well, I can conclude that she very likely had very similar morals and beliefs to many of us in Warfang, and she’s likely passed much of that onto Forzen. I’d say he’s already pretty trustworthy.”
“As much as I hate to agree with you, considering this is the son of Spyro … I think I’m inclined to agree too… somewhat ,” Lagenon agreed. “I think the evidence proves itself enough. With a bit of extra aid, I think we can turn Forzen into a good kid.”
“I’m still… very sceptical about him,” Frélix muttered with a shrug. “But if you all trust him enough for him to stick around, I’ll just have to deal with it.”
“So he can stay?” Torialis asked.
The other three guardians nodded in unison, before Torialis stood and turned around. “Okay, young Forzen. We’ve come to a unanimous decision: you can stay. We’ll put you in living quarters with Muras, your new mentor. School begins in about a week’s time for all younglings your age, so we can get you started then. Until then, you can have some time to get to know Muras, your mentor, as well as the city, us guardians, Cynder, and anyone else you may wish to meet,” Torialis said. “We expect you to be on your best behaviour, because if we catch you doing anything suspicious, we might have reason to think you may be a spy for Spyro, as will the general public. Nothing against you, but with Spyro as he is, and you being his son, we can’t take out chances.”
“Yes, I understand, Master Torialis, sir,” Forzen muttered in acknowledgement.
The young purple dragon was about to stand, before Lagenon interrupted him. “Hang on, we’re not quite finished,” the electric guardian said. “You never told us your elements. That’s pretty important knowledge for us, especially if we’re going to be putting you in school.”
“Okay. Well, I only have three so far: wind, sound and electricity.”
“Hold on, did you say ‘sound’?”
“Yes? Why, what’s wrong with that?”
“Purple dragons can’t use sinister elements like sound unless they have heritage from a dragon with a sinister element,” Ash murmured.
Cynder groaned, raising a paw to her forehead. “Which is Spyro, of course it is,” she huffed.
“Wait, Spyro has sinister elements?” Torialis exclaimed. “Why did we not know about this?”
“Lava and plasma. He doesn’t use them often, but he did pull them out on the occasion throughout my many fights with him.”
“Wait… so that means he would’ve had to be related to a sinister element dragon.”
“Yup.”
“Look, I’m not even going to be upset that you haven’t told us considering how much we missed out on over the ten years we were in the White Isle for, but that brings up the extra concern that sinister dragons aren’t extinct like we thought for so many millenia.”
“Lucky, we haven’t run into them. I don’t plan to; Spyro’s enough of a problem as is,” Cynder replied. “It does mean, however, that Forzen’s elements will be very unpredictable. He’s got the regular pool of elements, but he also has the ability to inherit my dark elements, and now Spyro’s sinister elements; the latter of the options, we will not be able to teach him with the full knowledge that we have of the other subsets of elements.”
“That’ll be a problem we will tackle when we get to needing to coach him in his sound element, and whatever other sinister element he may inherit,” Lagenon murmured. “Muras, I trust you’ll be well equipped to do as much research as possible on said elements.”
“I can definitely do my best on that, Master Lagenon,” Muras said.
Forzen swallowed; he didn’t like how worried everyone was over the sound element. It was natural to him; it didn’t feel like there was anything wrong with the element. He remembered Jaarsol showing a bit of surprise when he first unlocked it, especially considering it wasn’t one of the elements she had taught him about, but he never picked up any fear or concern from her about it. Maybe she had just hidden it well.
He also had never heard of these ‘sinister elements’. Sound wasn’t that ‘sinister’ of an element, was it? He didn’t like the negative outlook on an element that seemed so normal to him.
“Alright, I want to have one quick look at Forzen’s powers, just to see where he sits in his skill level for each of them,” Torialis suggested. “Let’s head over to the training grounds and we can have a look there.”