Council of the Elements: Ch 10

Truth or act? The war begins.


Meltor was flying low over a river in a small canyon near the Valley of Avalar. He was searching, searching for the Observer and he knew that his greatest chances would be too search somewhere near the Purple Dragon.

Not that he had had much luck so far. He had been out searching any chance he got ever since the war declaration and but the war was drawing ever closer and he still had not found him.

His reason for this search was the old saying "Information is power." Knowing your own plans is good and they also knew much of the movements in Warfang, but they knew next to nothing about the movement of the Purple dragon as it was hard to spy on someone who did not expect any other dragons than his friends and family.

They did not even know why he had been in Warfang during the war declaration and that in itself was reason to worry. But all those things the Observer could answer and continue to answer, if just he could find him.

He turned a bent in canyon and up ahead he saw a small open area, where he landed to rest for a moment. He lay down on the grass and looked a bit around. He noticed a small cave up on a small outcrop in the corner of the area, but did not pay it much attention as it was too small for him to enter.

"Where could he be?!" said Meltor out loud and snorted in irritation.

"Where is who?" asked a voice above him, followed by a cackle.

Meltor got up fast and spun towards the voice, teeth glistening. He saw a cheetah leaning on a staff with a blue gem on the top looking down upon him. The cheetah was wearing a heavy cloak which covered its eyes and had strange smile on his face.

"I was just speaking out loud, it was nothing" said Meltor and relaxed.

"Really, I would like to know more about this Observer you are searching for" said the Cheetah.

"You would not know…" started Meltor, but then realized something. "How do you know about the Observer?!" yelled Meltor at the cheetah.

The Cheetah smiled and with incredible agility jumped over Meltor and landed on the other side of him. "How do you think I know of him?" laughed the Cheetah and turned around, his hood having been thrown off by the jump. Meltor´s face turned white as he starred into the cheetah's eyes, because it felt like he being drawn into the blackness that was the cheetahs pupils.

Quickly he averted his eyes and the cheetah cackled at the sight.

"You are the Observer, are you not?" asked Meltor.

"Yes I am, Meltor, but call me Hermit, not Observer" said the Hermit. "I know why you have come and the answer is no, I will not help you."

"Why not?!" exclaimed Meltor. "You are our creation, you belong to…"

The Hermits staff flashed and his voice deepened as he said "I am no one's anymore! No one´s but my self's! I got my own goals and you cannot help me reach those!"

Meltor stepped backwards feeling a slight shiver of fear run along his spine, but he quickly composed himself. "Who can help you full fill those goals? I can help you find them in exchange for your help" said Meltor persuading.

"I already know who can help me and it is Spyro. I have offered him my help and if he accepts he will have to help me" said the Hermit and cackled.

"He will never get a chance to get your help!" roared Meltor and fire lashed out from his mouth engulfing the area where the Hermit stood in a tornado of flames.

As the flames subsided nothing but burned grass remained at the place where the Hermit had stood.

"Meltor, that was foolish" said the Hermit, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere around Meltor. "You cannot kill me Meltor, but let me tell you about an observation I have made. One of your reasons for revenge is a lie, you are not alone, but you will find that out soon enough" said the Hermit and cackled, his voice getting weaker as he moved away, leaving behind a confused Meltor.

Meanwhile in the Valley of Avalar everyone was working hard, but discreetly at making the valley ready for coming war.

Even Sceranu had been put to work and he had been delighted when they had released his chains so he could move and see the sun again.

He was however under constant watch by Spyro, Cynder or Vynin so he had no chance of escaping and every evening he was put back in his chains. However just being out and moving was fine enough. He had been spending a lot of time watching Cynder to try to figure out if she really had moved to the valley to get away from the dragons who reminded her of her past and so far he had seen nothing to prove her story wrong.

Spyro was tougher to figure out however as he seemed much colder towards Sceranu than Cynder or Vynin, but Sceranu really had no reason to blame him for that, after all he had tried to kill Spyro´s daughter.

It was like this that he was currently carrying stones away from a tunnel which Spyro was making using his earth powers. Sceranu had created a slide of ice which he placed the stones he picked up on and they would glide to the other end of the room where a large pile of stones were gathering. This slide had eased his work considerably, though it had taken some time to explain his idea to Spyro and even when it was explained Spyro had insisted on making it himself, not trusting Sceranu.

They increased the length of the slide as the tunnel was created allowing Sceranu to keep up the effectiveness.

"Why did you decide to move here instead of staying in Warfang?" asked Sceranu while he worked.

"Why do you ask?" asked Spyro not even looking at Sceranu.

"Well there are many ideas as to why you did it among the members of the Council, but no one knows for sure and I thought I would like the entire story" said Sceranu.

Spyro thought for a moment if this was a trick question to get some kind of important information out of him, but ultimately concluded it was a genuine question and answered. "My reason for moving here was partly because Cynder wanted to get away from the other dragons due to her past actions, but I also had my own reasons. Many expected me to be fire guardian and indeed I was exactly that for two years, but I could not keep that position. Too much reminded me of someone I had lost" told Spyro.

"But that was not the only reason for me to get away. I dislike power and I don't want influence on others life" continued Spyro.

"But as ruler of this valley you ha…" started Sceranu, but were cut off by a sneer from Spyro.

"I am not the ruler of this Valley! Only its protector and I never consider myself anything else" said Spyro firmly.

"But why do you fear power?" asked Sceranu. "You are the purple dragon; power runs in your blood."

"Yes and I cannot deny that, but it is a power I never asked for and that will cause more harm than good if I lose control of it or myself. If that happens I fear I might try to destroy the world like Malefor did" answered Spyro.

Sceranu was surprised by this. Spyro feared he might become the very threat he had destroyed, an unusual way of thinking and different from what most people in the Council thought, that is if it was true what Spyro told him.

"So you actually understand the Councils reasons for wanting to kill you?" asked Sceranu carefully.

"Yes I do and had circumstances been different, had I not had a family, I might even submit to their judgment to avoid this war" said Spyro. "But that is not how it is and I cannot lie down and die to prevent something that will probably never happen, while I got a much greater responsibility towards my wife and children." said Spyro.

Sceranu nodded, meeting the ones he had sworn to kill had put a whole new perspective on his side of the conflict and he had already concluded that the so called impure blood in Cynder, Vynin and Larshyr was nothing but the Councils fear of the unknown.

But Spyro agreeing that he might endanger the world had taken him by surprise and he wondered if other things beside Malefor had triggered this, because it seemed a little farfetched.

In a different part of the now extensive tunnel network Gairu, Tehanu and Cynder were also working hard on making the entire complex ready. Cynder was moving rocks like Sceranu had done, but she used her shadow powers to create hands to help her.

"What is your opinion on Sceranu, Gairu and Tehanu?" asked Cynder suddenly.

Tehanu and Gairu stopped working and turned around to face Cynder. "Why do you ask?" asked Tehanu.

"I should hate him for what he has done, but in the last couple of weeks he has shown genuine interest in the welfare of Vynin, Larshyr and Carx as well as seeming like he truly regrets what he did now. He seems interested in learning what me and Spyro went through to get here and I can't figure out if he is tricking us or truly is genuine in his interest" said Cynder.

"He has been asking a lot of questions lately, especially towards me and Tehanu´s opinion of you two" said Gairu.

"I for my part have been extremely careful about what I have said as he might be tricking us as you say Cynder, but his questions seems harmless most of the time."

"He spends a lot of time thinking and I have seen his face twitch more than once, almost like he is battling his own mind" said Tehanu. "I believe he might have tried to fool us at the start, but that he is becoming increasingly unsure of what to believe in."

"So what you are saying is he might be thinking about abandoning the Councils ways?" asked Cynder.

"Maybe, maybe and I don't think it is that extreme, his father is the high councilor after all so his loyalty must run pretty deep, but I think he might be questioning if the Council is doing the right thing" said Tehanu.

"If he truly is fighting with his beliefs, then he is a possible future ally, but if he is bluffing he is a very dangerous enemy" said Gairu. "I believe we should not take any chances of trust until we know where his loyalties lie."

"A strange thing for you to say" said Tehanu smiling. Gairu looked at Tehanu confused. "I can mention a certain damsel in distress you trusted without second thoughts" said Tehanu her smile border lining a grin.

Gairu understood what she meant and stammered "You were…a different case" and blushed as he stared into the ground in embarrassment.

Tehanu and Cynder laughed and went back to work. Soon Gairu joined the work again too and together they worked onwards on making the valley ready for the war. And indeed the war was close, only three weeks away.

The week before the cease fire expired they were joined by 200 cheetah archers, 150 moles and 50 dragons from Warfang, the reinforcements Tironar had promised.

And at last the faithful day arrived. Spyro, Cynder, Hunter, Gairu, Tehanu, Hunter were standing on a platform constructed to overlook the reinforced wall at the valleys south end.

Vynin despite being completely fresh had been left behind to watch over Sceranu and protect her two brothers. Jacira had been split between going to the field of battle and staying with her friend, but had ultimately decided to stay and help her friend if necessary.

100 cheetah and the 150 moles manned the wall along with 20 of the dragons. The rest of the troops were hidden in secret niches and behind paper thin stonewalls all around the mountains on both sides ready to jump the enemy army.

A few cheetahs had climbed to the top of the surrounding mountains to watch for enemy. Suddenly one of these cheetahs lit a fire and a column of smoke climbed into the sky. Soon more fires joined the first on the surrounding mountains. The message was clear, the enemy had been sighted.

"May the great tree grant us life´s  blessing today" said Hunter as the enemy army came into sight.