Shadow's Origins Chapter 18

Chapter 18: A new start

"Is this really the end?" I questioned watching it,

"We're too late!" Ronco shouted as he peered over my shoulder "stay close to me" he commanded as I nodded and got as close to him as I could closing my eyes tight. The end was here, we failed. 

I felt his energy, his aura around us protecting us, it comforted me and I blacked out for a moment. I felt the grass beneath me as I came to, it was rough and familiar. I opened my eyes to the dead forest that was the Ancient Grove, I felt nostalgic about the place. The memories, this was the start of my life. I saw him stumble and fall 

"Ronco! Ronco are you okay?!" I called looking at him tired and weak, it's to be expected after all he's just been through. 

"Nothing a tough guy like me can't handle..." he replied recalling what I said a while ago after my fight. I wanted to laugh but I was too concerned about him to muster a giggle, I stopped him getting up 

"Tough? Your just reckless!" I barked rolling my eyes "you need a moment to rest." 

"I don't see you in a great condition either, we need to get you to some crystals" he argued, he was right, I was weak and in no condition to go anywhere. I laid next to him, resting my head on him 

"Just rest for a little bit..." I sighed and rested my eyes, I was exhausted and I didn't feel like arguing. 

"Alright..." he scoffed and we laid napping for a bit. 

I was curious why we weren't dead yet, as soon as we had recovered a little strength we began stumbling through the creaking, groaning forest. 

"I wonder what happened?" I puzzled 

"What do you mean?" He asked 

"Well we saw the destroyer enter the volcano, shouldn't that have split the world apart?" I pondered just in that moment I saw a fiery edge, the two edges met and in a flash of purple they joined together. "Was that your doing?" I looked up at Ronco still comprehending what my eyes had witnessed. 

"No, I have no idea what that was. Maybe Spyro and Cynder defeated him." He stared at the ground thinking 

"If I'd have just been stronger you could have joined them." I sighed, I knew he wanted to face him

"I already tried to fight him, and that ended poorly." He shook his head "he was going to have Shayla kill you... I... I couldn't let that happen." He growled, it made me smile on the inside. He didn't leave me, he was trying to protect me. 

"Come on, lets go get healed up" I pushed and I remembered my surroundings and found the gem patch I'd used many times as a small dragon on my own. 

I laid down with him close, it felt good to take some weight off my foot, I rested my head on him and fell to sleep with ease knowing he was there. When I woke up my body felt like new, this was the first proper rest I'd had since I arrived at Warfang and aided them in their struggle against Malefor. Was he really gone though?

It was good to be back in the Ancient Grove, I remembered my crash landing here and how stubborn I was about leaving. Thinking about it, it's not an ideal place to stay, not now the threat is over. I'm free. I watched the sky and my eyes lit up, I could do what I wanted, go where I wanted, without fear of hurting anyone. I thought about where I'd go now, what place is there I can call home? But then I realised it didn't matter where I went, so long as Ronco was with me, anywhere is home with him. 

It was strange how it happened really, from some stranger who wanted to help a no body. To someone I couldn't imagine my life without. 

"Where should we go now?" He asked as we both looked on not knowing what destiny had in store for us now. 

"It doesn't matter" I replied and he looked at me confused "we're free now and we have each other, that's all that matters" I continued and we snuggled close keeping cosy under the starlit sky. 

We set off at first light, it took a long time to find our bearings, the world was still rebuilding itself so navigating became difficult. We landed and took shelter every night and we occasionally came across the odd minion left behind where ever we did. We explored more cities and gave help to those who needed it, everyday was another foe and another town. Then it all just stopped for days nothing really happened, nothing to fight, the inhabitants had spent time to rebuild their homes to their full glory. Days soon became weeks, life seemed perfect everything was calming down and we settled on the outskirts of Avalar. Prowless was much more accepting of dragons after the Great War,  we lived in peace and we'd even occasionally help them with supplies to stay in his good favour. We thought we were safe, we thought we were finally free, we were wrong. 

TO BE CONTINUED...