Spyro Prime, World 1, Part 8

A Secretive Scioness

Spyro

My ear slit was up against the wood for a few minutes before I heard anything. It sounded like a conversation between two people, neither of which I knew. They didn't sound like dragons, though.

"What's Cancer say?" An inviting voice pierced the silence. Definitely a faerie. Maybe she was Mai'ko, but I wasn't sure.

"Cancer has received no word about any unusual happenings at the palace. Or at least that's what she said the last time she checked in, which was roughly a half-hour ago. Anything could have happened in the meantime . . ."The second voice was of a slightly harsher tone, and a lower pitch. I couldn't quite place the species as easily. Possibly dragon.

"I'm sure he couldn't be moving that fast . . .."

"You're always sure about everything — can't you just doubt once in a while?" The harsh one snapped back. "Hmm! Nice time for Blitz to report . . . you get that, Angel?"

"Every detail."

"I told the whole lot of you he wouldn't be stupid enough to travel alone!" A new voice knifed its way in. Dragonfly voice, dragonfly accent — what else could it be? "He's got two others with him. The first one's our personal loose thread, and the second appears to be — "

"Shut up, Blitz! We have the same memory as you do; you don't need to repeat everything!" Angel chastised Blitz. "We're being watched — the less told to the ears, the better."

They know I'm listening? I thought to myself as I nudged up closer. A moment later, I realized they said they were being 'watched', and that I wasn't watching much of anything. It was the same moment that I realized I'd just nudged myself onto a splinter. I whimpered.

"What was that?!" the still unnamed one jumped.

"I believe we have a second set of senses in on our little soliloquy . . . can you teleport your flute here? We could use it to cover up the noise . . .."

"That's not a bad idea at all, assuming I can leave you two alone." there was a few minutes of silence, followed by a spell-casting sound. Another pause, and I soon heard music. I moved away from the door by now to pick the splinter out, but still heard the new music. I sat there for a few moments until the melody sunk in, and then I was on my feet and running.

"Hey! Stop!" Shadow looked over at me. "What's with you?"

"Something about Cancer and Angel and Blitz . . . oh, what the hell am I trying to say names for? It's Lofty Castle!"

"Lofty what?"

"Lofty Castle! You wouldn't understand . . ." I tired to catch my breath before continuing. "Lofty Castle is one of the most stunningly exotic places in the dragon worlds, with the most serene music . . . the same music coming from the temple door!"

"So?"

"So . . . don't you think that it's a little odd that the exact same piece of music is in this world?" I grabbed his staff, tripping him up. 

Shadow nodded, falling backwards onto his tail. "That is weird."

"It's a sign. Someone on the other side of that door obviously knows about the dragon worlds, and I don't think I want to meet them." I groaned holding my head. "Great. Now the rest of their conversation makes sense."

"What?"

"I think we're being followed . . . I'll explain on the way to the next area." I was about to jump into the 'Golden Rock' portal when Shadow stopped me.

He dragged me by my tail to the dojo, and picked out a few loose pieces of fabric. "Idiot. That's the Emperor's Palace you were about to jump into!"

"Is it dangerous?"

"No, but it's damn stupid to go in there naked." He helped me stand up and had me put on a yellow skirt with red trim, as well as a matching collar that covered my shoulders. "There. Now we won't get jumped by the guards right away."

"What do you mean, 'right away'? And what's the big deal about clothes?"

"Different reasons. Reena has a coat because she carries around a lot of stuff and she doesn't have an inventory like the two of us do. I wear thus uniform because the training code requires it— faeries use the same code, and they always wear clothes because it's the only way they can keep their eyes off each other. Most dragons don't wear anything — no need. That's why my parents didn't have anything on."

"So why do I all of a sudden have to wear clothes?"

"The emperor's very protective of his daughter — I figure if you're at least wearing temple colors, the guards will consider you harmless." Shadow yanked on my handcuffs. "Plus, you still have these. A city dweller might not notice them, but a guard will immediately. The collar gives you a place to hide your hands."

I nodded. "Can we go now?"

"Sure . . . and tell me what you were going to say about us being followed . . ."

"Great. So now you're paranoid that this is all a massive setup."

"It comes with the territory! And I'm serious... the music, Blitz, the whole thing with the scrolls... why wouldn't it be a setup?" I argued with him as we walked into the emperor's garden, past two massive jade statue heads with eyes edged in gold. 

"Who the hell do you know here that you could've made mad?"

"Other than you back at the library? Plenty. I told Reena about these egg thieves I ran into a couple of times, and she says they're from around here. I could've easily made them mad."

Shadow sighed. "Even if it is a trap, we have no choice but to walk right into it."

"WHAT?!"

"It's all tied to the temple, idiot! The scrolls are needed to get the door open and get us what we've been after for the last hour or so. The trap will be sprung whenever we do that. We've got no choice but to open the door and just . . . be careful." Shadow jumped over a few pathway stones. I didn't, and consequently tripped on the edge of one stone, diving into the bushes.

That had been enough to keep me from being seen — within five seconds, a trail of sparks flew through the air, shifted up, and carried away a shocked Shadow. I looked, and saw a battalion of about five large male faeries carting him away, their skirts flapping behind them almost as fast as their wings. Apparently, they hadn't seen me.

I followed underneath the cover of the bushes until I saw the faeries drop Shadow near this odd metal pipe structure, and then use two sets of handcuffs to chain his hands and feet to the piping, leaving him stuck there in a rather uncomfortable pose. I winced for a moment, and then crawled over so I was now hidden in the bush closest to his head.

"You okay, Shadow?"

"Get me out of here, idiot; the guards are definitely jumpier today than they should be. The faerie with the feather in his hair has the keys. If you could get—"

He shut up as soon as he saw a small female faerie land on his chest, before shifting up and becoming a large female faerie. A large, female, bald faerie. No eyebrows, barely any eyelashes. A sash over her leotard seemed to denote a higher rank of some sort than the males I saw earlier, but I couldn't place it right. Guard captain, perhaps? "Now I've got you, you son of a bitch!"

"Candace, what's gotten into you? You know I'm no threat!"

"I'm sorry; you must be talking about someone who actually cares. Too bad." She waved her wand about a little carelessly, letting the end of it spark and sting Shadow across the chest. "You came here without permission. I'll have to tell your father about this . . .. "

Shadow whimpered again, while I took the opportunity to get away and keep exploring the area. I stood up as soon as I was sure that I was out of sight, and walked right into the line of sight of a male guard with short, blonde hair. Not the one I wanted to see, but he seemed fairly new to the job, since he looked younger than the others.

"Oh — you're a Draconian temple commissary. The scioness said she was expecting someone from there today — I'll let her know you're on your way."

"The sc- . . . oh, sure! Thank you!" I quickly replied to the faerie before continuing to walk down the path. This was great — Shadow was right about the clothes giving me access to the place. I could look for those keys and that scroll without ever worrying about getting caught by those pesky guards. I silently walked into a walled off section of garden, with no fountains but a few fish ponds.

A young dragon, about my age, sat on the rocks at the center of the three ponds, painting away blissfully with her inks and brush. I saw a few glints of gold underneath her hair, but shrugged it off and walked over to her. "Scioness?"

"Spyro?" She turned around, putting her painting on the ground. The gold I saw earlier was actually a mask covering about half of her face, with appropriate eye and horn holes . I didn't comment on it — though I'd never seen anything like it before, it wasn't enough to bother me. "No . . . you're not him. Not unless he dropped school six months ago and turned into a monk."

"Trust me, he did not turn into a monk. His mouth's a little foul for that rank." I grinned.

"I see you've met him already." She grinned and held her hand out. "Djari. 7th daughter of Emperor Nestor, title of 'Scioness'."

"Spyro. Only son (as far as I know) of Sadiki. No title." I gave her my hand on instinct, without remembering that the other hand had to go with it — as well as the handcuffs. She stared at the chains for a moment. "Someone's idea of a practical joke. Just ignore it, please."

"If you say so . . .." She shook my hand gingerly, somewhat set off by my handcuffs. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes. I need the scroll held in this area — the temple door is stuck shut, and we need all of the scrolls in order to open it."

"I'm not sure . . .." She stepped back. "Why should I give it to you?"

"The others are counting on me. See, we've already picked up four of the scrolls — I don't have them, but Shadow does. Maybe if I get him, you'll listen and —"

"Djari!" One of the faerie guards spoke up; one with long, black hair, with a pale father hanging off of it. I could see the keys hanging from a belt he was wearing. "Get away from him!"

"Getting!" Djari quickly dove into one of the ponds, and I ducked to avoid being shot. It just barely missed me, but having a genius idea at the moment, I stayed down. Djari held her breath, watching me closely, while the guard came and checked me for weaponry.

He felt around my collar. "No weapons that I can see-EE!" I tripped him up, and snatched away his belt as well. With that, I decided I'd better try and get Shadow free so he could straighten out this mess. So I ran.

Not a good idea in hindsight.

"Get that ruffian!" Djari jumped out of the water, pointing a finger at me. The faerie quickly took to the air and started chasing after me. I jumped over a few hedges, trying to keep my wings pursed tight and all fours on the ground. I could stay ahead of him if I charged.

After jumping through a hole in a particularly brambly bush, I came around back to the area where Shadow was being held — and caught of glimpse of Candace flying off for a moment. I was sure the faerie had lost track of me, so I quickly went about undoing his cuffs.

"Nice job! How'd you find the keys so quickly?" Shadow asked, as she looked at my scratches that Sparx was now tending to. "Oh. Let me guess: We need to start running soon."

I blinked. "No. We're about five seconds late to do that." I winced — the faerie hadn't lost track of us at all. In fact, there was a good-sized platoon of faeries surrounding us, including the two I saw up close and Candace, while Djari was in the distance coming this way.

I sat there, one hand holding the keys and the other holding Shadow's locked foot cuffs, until Djari walked over to us. The faeries set to short work of the scenario — my cuffed hands were now behind my back again (after painfully yanking my legs and tail about), my feet were also cuffed, but with a longer chain, and Shadow was chained up the same as I was. Sparx wasn't dealt with at all. I looked mournfully at Djari, who watched the entire scene with a look of distaste.

"If only I had seen this sooner . . .." She glared at us, eyeing me carefully. "I've had enough with both of you. Dungeon, three spaces apart, interrogation. NOW!"

ShadowSpyro

A whimper escaped me as I was carried inside the palace and down the stairs. Djari looked emotionless, but I knew that she wasn't. If anything, she had to be reeling.

"Djari, let me explain —"

"Quiet, cousin." She hissed at me. "You don't know how hard this is for me to see you in partnership with some . . .  thief . . .."

"He's not a thief, and neither am I! Candace and the others were way too jumpy, that's all!"

"HMPH!" she snorted.

I frowned. By now, the faeries had Prime's feet locked up into a metal box. They were preparing mine. I didn't have much time left. "Listen here, Acid Face, neither one of us has any intentions of—"

"ACID FACE?!" That did it. The faeries quickly dropped me before Djari pounced, her hands fumbling around my neck and her feet hard against my gut. I squirmed some, watching as the guards stayed a good distance away, except for the five that were getting ready to throw Prime, box and all, in our general direction.

"Put me down! I don't want to get involved in that!" I heard him scream to the guards as they had a few practice swings. I smirked — Prime was smarter than I gave him credit for.

"What are you grinning like that for?!" She slapped me, raising the beginnings of a large welt. "Stop it!"

"Djari . . . please, stop that. you're digging the scroll in."

She stopped, confused. "Huh? But I thought he said you didn't have the Golden Rock scroll yet."

"No no . . . the one from Fire Village. I was only here for a few seconds before Candace's main squad caught me . . . I'm surprised that Prime reached you."

She stood up, and stepped off of me. "So he was telling the truth the whole time." She looked at Prime, and then at me again. "Unlock them. My utmost apologies to the both of you; I guess I jumped to conclusions too easily."

"Uh, Scioness?" One of the guards grabbed Prime's handcuffs. "These aren't ours. We can't unlock them."

"Well, they're just prank cuffs . . . shouldn't be that difficult." She walked over to him, and looked at the handcuffs. "Wait. These are Reena's. I recognize the keyhole." She looked at me. "Care to explain?"

"I'd rather not. She slapped those on Prime, and then split up from us. Once we find her . . . those cuffs WILL be going off."

"Okay." She grinned at me. "I was thinking maybe she had mixed the two of you up and —"

"Don't say it!" I hissed, as I stood up with out any chains.

"Ooo . . . I hit a nerve that time!" She grinned, walking over to me. She started to whisper in my ear slit, just low enough that none of the others could hear, "No point in pretending it doesn't exist, though. Reena's told me about a few of the 'games' you two played with those handcuffs..."

"Don't say it!" I hissed. It was a hard secret to hide about how often Reena actually used those handcuffs... I had to stop thinking about it, though. I was NOT about to look the slightest bit aroused in front of my own cousin — who was a scioness to boot, dammit.

"You gave me quite a shock in there, Spyro. I'm simply returning the favor." She smirked. "Walk with me, boys — the scroll's upstairs. I can get you a quick way home easily."

"If I could walk, I would." Prime answered. Djari and I looked back to see that the faeries hadn't unlocked a single chain on him — the handcuffs were self-explanatory, but the box...

"Didn't I say to unlock BOTH of them?" She glared at Candace.

"Yes." Candace responded. "I reversed it— My original orders to capture this dragon are higher."

"WHAT?!?" All three of us dragons in the room (and that ever-so-inconspicuous Sparx of his) shouted in unison.

"Mm-hmm. So, I'm afraid the two of you will have to go on without him-ERK!" Candace started choking when Djari got a hold of her.

Djari stared Candace down, digging her claws in. "You will release Spyro into my custody on MY ORDERS or else I choke the life out of you. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

Candace was silent for a few moments, kicking about and trying to break the hold. Finally, she gave in, nodding ever so slightly. "Releath him... ergh..."

A few clicks of the metal later (as well as a few minutes of painfully getting Prime's hands out in front again), and we were heading up the stairs for the exit. Djari was trying her best to apologize, but I think she overdid it. "I can't believe Candace would act like that . . . Although it makes me all the more suspicious about you." She turned to face Prime. "I'm keeping my eyes on you. Either you're more dangerous than I've ever experienced, or the person that wants your blood is."

I butted into the conversation. "My guess is it's both."

"How would you know?" Prime jerked up. "Besides, I distinctly heard the names Blitz, Angel, and Cancer. Unless those names ring a bell to her or you, we have no idea what we're up against."

"Fair enough." Djari nodded, and picked up a scroll to open the whirlwind. "Now, I suggest that the both of you explain this whole mess out to me so far— If I'm going to be of any use here, I may as well get a good understanding of it all."

"You sure about that?" Prime looked over at her, tucking his cuffed hands underneath the collar. "Okay. Dad tried to set up a portal to I-don't-know-where..."

Cairo
(via Cancer)

I stood there in the dungeon for a few minutes after they left. As soon as I was sure they wouldn't hear us, the remainder of the guards heard QUITE a few screams.

"TAHLA DAMN IT!" I pounded away at the metal box that once held my quarry tight. WHY didn't I just recall myself when Djari was trying to kill me? Oh, yes . . . because then I would have to reveal who I really was. Then not only would a crucial secret be revealed, but I'd also end up dead. Being hard to kill is one thing; being impossible to kill is another. 

"Candace?" My lieutenant spoke up, fingering the braid his feather hung from. "Do you have any orders for this situation?"

"None." I cast a spell to change my wardrobe from the standard guard uniform to my normal outfit. "Cairo and the others will not be glad to hear this turn of events. I am leaving to meet with her; you are all on patrol orders until I return. Do not kill, maim, or torture any creature unless orders to do so come from the royalty. Candace out."

I recalled myself, went briefly through that darkness in Cairo's mind where the unused shadows resided, and reformed inside the temple sanctuary, where Cairo herself waited alone. She said nothing for a few moments, but her eyes told everything.

"You LET HIM GO?!" She lept at me. 

"Easy now, Cairo . . . we've dealt with each other long enough to iron out the wrinkles between us... at least now we know of their progress." I explained. "Coupled with the current information Blitz just discovered over in Rose Garden . . ."

"Five scrolls of six. That dragon moves quickly; I'll say that." She tsked, walking over and around the statue of the cantoral faerie. "Blitz is probably making preparations as we speak. Would you care to assist her over there?"

"Not me. Even without my guard outfit on, the scioness will recognize me." 

"It was just a suggestion. Besides, Blitz is surrounded by dragonfly allies. She won't need any additional help— too much may keep our prey from getting all six scrolls, and then where would we be?"

"With a caught dragon?" I supplied.

I caught a cruel glimmer in her eyes. "Yes, but that's not all we want. Life is a game; it's how you play it..."

"If I Worked for Insomniac...", "Spyro Prime", "Dragon's Jubilee" and all other related works are ™ Rachel 'Jekkal' Keslensky, 2000. "Spyro the Dragon", "Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage", and "Spyro: Year of the Dragon" are © Vivendi-Universal, Inc. This site is affiliated with Insomniac Games, Inc.