darkSpyro

Ettondar and Pandryla were flying above the Nursadith Mountains, into the region of Accra. They were heading towards Dakar; Pandryla's home now inhabited by humans. They flew over Mt. Karthon then headed south past Assemnia Forest and the caves of Paliothon towards Dakar. Pandryla looked over at the caves and said, “Ettondar, you see that cave over there?” He nodded, “Yes I see it, what about it?” Pandryla continued, “That cave is where I hatched and where I chose Neurion as my partner.” Ettondar nodded a second time and asked, “So how long have you known King Neurion?” Pandryla thought to herself a moment before responding, “I met Neurion on the decade of my birth. He was a young angel at the time, barely a teen when he came to me...” Ettondar interrupted, “Did you say angel?” Pandryla shook her head yes and said, “Yes I did say angel. Did you not know that my master; your king is an angel?” Ettondar shook his head, “I always noticed that King Neurion had angelic qualities, but I have never seen his wings, he does have wings right?” Pandryla chuckled to herself and answered, “Yes, Neurion does have wings, but unlike me and all other winged creatures, his wings are retractable.” Ettondar looked at Pandryla with a puzzled look on his face and asked, “Why is it that only Neurion can retract his wings?” Pandryla answered, “The reason he can do this is because of his parents and us dragons.” Ettondar paused for a moment and then asked, “What do you mean Pandryla, what do his parents and your species have to do with the ability of Neurion' wings being retractable?” Pandryla slowed her acceleration and said, “Neurion was the result of two very different species. His mom was a succubus, while his dad, my father was a fusion of a dragon and a human...” She was interrupted by Ettondar who asked, “Wait Neurion' father is your father is your father also?” Pandryla nodded and Ettondar then said, “Then if your father and Neurion' dad is the same being, this means that...” “Yes, it means that Neurion is my brother.” Pandryla finished. Ettondar sat stunned for a moment and then asked, “How is this possible?” Pandryla glanced at him and said, “Ask my father.” Ettondar look back at Pandryla and then asked, “What do you mean?” Pandryla answered, “Ettondar, what I am about to tell you cannot be repeated to Neurion.” He nodded and said, “My lips are sealed, I will not tell anyone about this.” Pandryla continued, “It all started before I hatched. It started with a curse. My father impregnated the daughter of a wizard and became cursed. He ended up marrying the woman and the child became a dragon, me. He soon grew tired of my mother and killed her. He became overcome by guilt and fled to the land of Taleigtham, where he met a succubus and fathered Neurion. At the time he did not know what he had done. You see Ettondar, when a cursed being has an affair with a demon the child will be born an angel. It was there in Taleigtham that he heard a prophecy. He was told “When the forces of good and evil are combined, the end result will be a child of the divine. He will grow up to be strong and will kill the one who impregnated his mother.” Upon hearing this, my father sent Neurion away to the Caves of Paliothon. I was a young dragon at the time and did not know that Neurion was the child of my father. He lurks in the shadows gathering strength to face his son, my brother, your king. We taught him how to read, write, fly and hunt, but now the time has come for Neurion to slay his father.” Ettondar was stunned. It took him a minute to recover and he asked, “I have one question, who is your father?” Pandryla stopped flying and hovered, “Our father is the merciless monster who caused all of this suffering in Sarainthia; our father is Hordika.” Ettondar blinked very slowly. Pandryla accelerated once again and Ettondar could see Dakar in the distance. They flew lower and Pandryla prepared to land. The villagers crowded in the middle of the city. The children looked up at Pandryla and pointed as if they had never seen a dragon before. Pandryla let out another roar and descended out of the sky. The villagers scattered instantly in fear of being squashed. Pandryla landed with a thunderous crash, a cloud of dust shot up and surrounded Ettondar and Pandryla. The children approached Pandryla with caution, careful not to stray too close to her. Pandryla glanced down at them, flapped her wings to rid the dust and folded them. The children walked up closer to Pandryla and looked up at her in awe. They were the size of pebbles compared to her. They swarmed around Pandryla, each of them trying to lay a hand on the beast. Pandryla looked into the crowd and saw an older boy, one in his teen years. He appeared to be fascinated by Pandryla’s appearance. He walked up to her tail and touched it; she tightened her muscles instantly. He grabbed her tail and she swung her head around immediately. She glared at him for several moments; he did not realize that Pandryla was angry nor did he know that she was looking at him. He smiled as he held her tail above his head and showed his accomplishment to the others. There was no response from the others, just stone cold expressions with one hand clapped over their mouth. The man looked confused at his comrades and he asked, “What is wrong?” One of the young villagers pointed to Pandryla and did not speak. He cringed and slowly looked towards Pandryla who met his glance. She glared into his eyes; they looked like a raging inferno. He could feel the hatred that he had cast upon himself and quickly released his grip. He patted her tail, smiled and then walked back into the crowd. It was very quiet for several moments. Pandryla scanned the crowd for another moment. An adult then asked Ettondar, “What has brought you to our city?” Ettondar leapt down off of Pandryla, cleared his throat and said, “My fellow Sarainthians, darkness has gripped our lands and threatened our homes, our families and our freedom which has forced us to turn on one another…” One of the villagers then said, “Yeah, we know about the war, and we don’t care either; it is not our problem.” Pandryla let out a roar that the others thought could have been heard back at the palace. They covered their ears and when she stopped someone asked, “What do you want?” Ettondar unrolled the scroll and began, “Dear citizens of Sarainthia, by decree of King Neurion, General Aigilchir was ordered to arrange an army of great numbers. The war is upon us Sarainthia and the king would appreciate it if all villages and cities drafted their best soldiers to help repel this threat that is at our doorstep. Each soldier who enlists will receive a weekly pay of one hundred liogs and will be forever remembered in our great leader’s heart” When he finished he rolled the scroll back up and waited. It started off as a giggle from one of the people then escalated to an outburst of laughter. “Who in their right mind would follow that coward? He hasn’t done anything good, so why should I risk my life to fight for this man?” asked a villager. Pandryla let out another ground shattering roar and yelled, “No one calls my master a coward. He is one of the greatest kings Sarainthia has ever had. If anyone has the guts to call him a coward again then go ahead but remember though, you will answer to me if you do.”

The villagers spoke no more; Pandryla’s eyes pierced the crowd. Everyone was scared to look up at the dragon in fear of being eaten. Ettondar folded his arms across his chest and asked, “So, is anyone interested in signing up, if so then write your first name, where you are from and how long you will fight on this piece of parchment.” No one responded; the crowd was silent for several moments. Then a villager stepped forward and said, “I will enlist for the protection of my life, my family, and my home.” He walked over to the blank parchment where he wrote his name, Dakar and Five Years. When he finished he placed the quill down and walked back into the crowd. A short time passed before more villagers began to step forward. After five minutes over one hundred names were on the list. Ettondar looked out over the crowd and said, “Thank you my fellow Sarainthians, King Neurion greatly appreciates your support.” One of the villagers responded, “It is our pleasure knowing that we played a part in repelling the threat.” Ettondar climbed up on Pandryla and looked down again and thanked them. The villagers responded, “Do not worry, we will spread the word.” Ettondar nodded and nudged Pandryla with his heel. She leapt off the ground and accelerated into the sunset.Neurion walked down the corridor and stopped at the doors of the great hall. Two guards bowed to him and opened the door. He walked in and over to his daughter. She was sitting in a chair reading a book. She noticed a shadow cast over her and looked up, it was her father. She looked at him and then asked, “Yes father?” He responded, “Aidela have you seen your sister?” She put the book down and asked, “Which sister?” Neurion responded, “Your oldest sister, Dianala.” Aidela shook her head, “No I have not seen her, why?” Neurion paused for a moment before answering, “I have not seen her all day she was supposed to help me with Pandryla’s bath.” Aidela’s look became more concerned, she paused to think and then asked, “Did you check in the study or the throne room?” Neurion nodded, “Yes I did, but she is not there.” Aidela’s expression turned into one of worry. Nithpantiel then walked into the room, saw Neurion and Aidela and said, “Oh there you two are.” Aidela looked at her mother with the same expression she had when talking to her father. Nithpantiel looked at her daughter and then over to her husband and asked, “What is wrong?” Aidela immediately answered, “Dianala is missing!” Nithpantiel shook her head, “No she is not; I just saw her outside by the lake.” Neurion and Aidela looked at each other and then ran past Nithpantiel, knocking her down. She looked back and yelled, “What was that for?!”
Neurion and Aidela ran down the dirt path and came to a stop at the edge of the lake. An arrow was wedged into the ground with a note tied to the fletching. Neurion grabbed the note, unrolled it and read it aloud, “If you ever want to see your precious Dianala again, bring 10,000 liogs to Antalir.” Aidela gasped and said, “It’s a ransom note.” Nithpantiel walked up behind them and asked, “Why did you knock me down?” Neurion did not answer her; he just looked at her with a grim face. Nithpantiel’s expression turned to worry too. “Where is Dianala?” she asked. Neurion did not say anything, he just handed her the note and waited. She read it to herself and when she finished, began to cry, “Dianala!” she yelled.