Crash and Spyro, A Friendship Across Lifetimes

Chapter 4: Purple and Black

THE Council of Elder's meeting was to happen today. Spyro and Cynder had planned four months ago to sneak into and spy on this meeting. Ember insisted that they stop with this ridiculous idea, and Flame wanted to accompany Spyro and Cynder in their espionage, but Spyro and Cynder told them both to get lost. If none of the adult Dragons were going to tell them what was going on, they were going to find out for themselves. Spyro had learned a great deal about the Gnorks during his conversation with Cynder regarding what the Elders spoke about in their last meeting. Apparently, the Gnorks felt like secondary citizens of the Dragon Realms, since they had less land, less resources for their society, and no representation in inter-island politics. And despite Spyro's opinion of the Gnorks, he kind of felt like they were right. He had mentioned this sentiment to Cynder, and she agreed with him. However, if the Gnorks do perform any form of military action against the Dragons, Cynder felt it should result in a militant response from Dragons, which is most likely why Elders are preparing for war in the first place.

"But Cynder, do you really think the Gnork's have the numbers or the means necessary to successfully wage war? I mean they only reside on one island and would need to use the portals between Realms in order to travel. Gnasty must be in over his head."

"I wouldn't underestimate Gnasty. The Elders did mention something about the Gnork's strategy to invade neighboring islands may be plausible because of Gnasty's discovery of magic."

"Wait, Gnasty knows magic! How is that possible? The spells of the Dragon Realms are well... secret."

"The Elders have a suspicion that Gnasty has a benefactor from the Forgotten Realms aiding him in his goals of conquest."

"I still don't completely understand Gnasty's motivation to wage war. If he is receiving help from somebody in the Forgotten Realms, that that has to mean that the Gnorks are planning on invading the Dragon Realms because of or for the unknown supporter from the Forgotten Realms. However this contradicts with the Elders saying Gnasty is solely demanding more respect."

"Your right, you see, there is a divide within the Council of Elders about what Gnasty's true intentions are and if he really is receiving aid from the Forgotten Realms. This is speculation, and if it is true, that ensures a worst case scenario, since the current ruler of the Forgotten Realms exiled the Dragons from there in the first place."

"Current ruler? Dragons exile from the Forgotten Realms happened over a thousand years ago!"

"This is also speculation, but the Elder's think that the ruler doesn't age or can prevent the aging process via magic."

Okay, this was bad. He didn't know why, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the worst case scenario was indeed the actual scenario.

The meeting of the Elders was to occur at midday; during that time, both Spyro and Cynder were to be in class along with Flame and Ember. Since Spyro was under heavy attention for reasons still unknown, it would be very difficult to come up with an alibi as to why he didn't show up today. But Cynder figured out a good excuse. "If you say you were searching for a missing Dragon from the newest class of Dragons, you should be fine."

"And if I'm question further?" Spyro asked.

"Use your brain." Cynder replied sardonically.

Flame was instructed to inform Mrs. Shoutfire, their instructor for the day, of Spyro's alibi while he and Cynder snooped on the Elders. When Flame asked what he should say about Cynder, she said she didn't care. Flame was still angry that he wasn't included in the operation, but Cynder was quick to remind him of the difficulty of hiding three Dragons within a confined room, and the increased suspicion of multiple Dragons missing from class. When Flame questioned her as to why she's allowing Spyro to tag along but not him, she simply replied saying, "because he is purple." Spyro thought that his personality was rubbing off on Cynder. Now that Spyro mentioned it, they had been together more often ever since Cynder disclosed that she spied on the Elder Dragons. It wasn't anything like how Ember "socialized" with Spyro, but Cynder and Spyro had never had a reason to be with each other besides the fact that they were in the same birth class. But Cynder did hang out with Flame, Ember, and Spyro beforehand as well, although Spyro couldn't figure out why. Maybe she didn't really want to be a loner like she projected.

"Spyro," Cynder said, "I think you should tell Sparx not to follow us into the building. His glowing aura will definitely give away our hiding position." The Elders from the other five Realms plus the Dragons from Artisans Realm were to meet at the Senate Building shortly.

"Yeah, you're right." But once the request fully processed in Spyro's mind, he became a little nervous. Sparx had always been within arm's reach of Spyro, and although it seemed childish, the prospect of not having him around kind of scared him. "Hey Sparx," Spyro told his companion, "can you wait near the exit until the meeting is over?" Sparx made a very faint buzzing noise before landing on Spyro's head for a second, and then flew off towards the rear of the Senate Building. Spyro smiled for a brief second, and then came back to reality. Spyro noticed that Cynder was staring at him and was grinning. "What are you grinning about?" Spyro said embarrassedly.

"Oh nothing, just watching a young Dragon let go of his favorite doll." Her joke made Spyro feel even more embarrassed. "Oh don't be so embarrassed. As a matter of fact, I think I'm a little... jealous of you." Cynder admitting any feeling to him was defiantly not normal of her. Instead of asking for a reason, Spyro concluded she was talking about Sparx and made the connection to how lonely she might be in her life, intentionally or not.

"Sparx is pretty cool, He may not talk much, but having him around just makes me feel, safe." At this point, they noticed that the portal leading to the other Realms was activating and several Elder Dragons were emerging from the gate. "Oh crap, we're running out of time to sneak in unnoticed" Spyro noticed. Spyro and Cynder bolted towards a side of the Senate building, and flew up to the top window. The glass pane was movable, and with a gentle and patient enough pull, Cynder could unsettle it from its frame and sneak in from there. Fortunately, no Dragon was inside the hall yet, as they were outside greeting the other Dragons from the other Realms. Spyro took the glass pane from Cynder while they were still in midair, and carefully put the window pane back into position. They wouldn't have to exit the building from that window, though they would have to wait a good amount of time after the meeting had adjourned to exit unnoticed. There were some rafters on the ceiling that were thick enough that Spyro and Cynder could remain on them unnoticed, thanks to the natural light only being provided from a small windows on the west side of the building. The Elder Dragons began to enter the room and choose seats around a grand central table. This was to be the most formal of events in Dragon society, but even from way up near the ceiling, Spyro could tell that these Dragons were nervous. Thomas, the Eldest Dragons of Artisans Realm, initiated the meeting by suggesting they get straight to business.

"We have a series problem" Thomas said. "If our inside source from the Gnorks is to be believed, the Sorceress meet with Gnasty a couple of days ago."

"But how is that possible?" Titan, the Elder from the Peacekeepers Realm, asked. "It shouldn't be possible for the Sorceress to enter any of the Dragon Realms because of the barrier sealing the Realms from the rest of the world. And Gnasty doesn't know how to circumvent the barrier to allow the Sources entry to his Realm, either."

"We shouldn't assume the Sorceress was able to bypass the barrier" Red, and Elder Dragon from Beast Makers Realms, interjected. "We can't be absolutely certain that Thomas's inside source is reliable."

"Sure," Astor butted in, "but this council should be very concerned if the Sorcerous was able to enter the Dragon Realms. And the question as to how she did needs to be answered and the problem rectified immediately!" Astor was an Elder Dragon from the Realm of the Dream Weavers.

"We can only speculate on how the Sorceress was able to breach the barrier into the Realms, Astor. And we don't even know for sure if she has done so" Red replied.

"But Red," Astor asked, "if the Sorceress did make it to Gnasty's island, what's stopping her from using the intra-portals to invade the other Five Realms?"

"I don't think this council should be focusing on hypotheses. Instead, let's discuss facts and proceed to take a course of action."

"Very well Red," Thomas said, "however, if the Sorceress of the Forgotten Realms has intentions to invade and attack the Dragon race again, it could mean a war for the survival of our species. Our ancestors fell at the hands of the Sources millennia ago, and now that same war could happen in our new home world. Her possible presence in the Gnork's Realm is not to be overlooked."

"But again," Titan asked, "How could she get passed the barrier to the Dragon Realms? That barrier was forged by our ancestors using their very life essences combined with the most formidable forms of magic to create an impenetrable wall. Only a Dragon who knows of the entry spell can temporarily unlock the barrier."

"Well, what are you suggesting, Titan?" Red asked brusquely.

"What I'm saying..." Titan said and then paused in the middle of his sentence. "Is that a Dragon must have allowed the Sorceress entry to the Dragon Realms if she truly made it to the Gnork's Realm."

"That's preposterous!" Red exclaimed. "Only us, the Eldest Dragons, know of the entry spell. Are you suggesting Titan that one of us allowed the Sorcerous entry to Gnork's Realm?"

"It's the only explanation as to how the Sorceress could have spoken with Gnasty" Titan responded.

"But we aren't even sure that she was in the Gnork's Realm."

"Then how else are the Gnork's using magic with such similar manna to the Sorceress'?"

"Yes," Magnus interjected, "I can conclude that the magic being used by the Gnork's is based on the magic of the Sorceress." Magnus was an Elder Dragon from the Magic Crafter's Realm. He defiantly knew what he was talking about when it came to magic.

"Both of you are senile!" Red yelled.

"Red, there is no need for insults." Titan said calmly.

"Well excuse me if I don't take an accusation from one of my fellow Elders that there is a traitor amongst us lightly!" Red replied back furiously.

"No one is being called a traitor, Red, now sit back down." Thomas said to Red.

"I am telling all of you that the barrier our ancestor's made is impenetrable, and therefore the Sorceress cannot be aiding Gnasty in his plans for conquest! Now I make a motion to this board to move forward with a preemptive strike against Gnasty's forces before they are ready to attack." Red yelled flamboyantly to the council.

Just then, a huge, spherical orb with irradiating electric bolts emanating from the surface appeared in the center of the conference table. An orange creature was flung out and violently landed on the central table. The portal that creature emerged from collapsed on itself and disappeared, leaving the orange thing to stand up and look confusedly around before being struck with fear as he noticed his surroundings. Spyro and Cynder, still spying on the ceiling, along with the Elder Dragons seated around the creature, were flabbergasted.