6- Scorching Ignition (Finale)
#6 of The Legend of Rift: Scorching Ignition
A few more days had passed and the two had seen the last couple of Guardians. Tozzon the Guardian of Nature, he unfortunately didn't grant Rift his support, and Orio the Guardian of Time. Though difficult to reach, he was willing to give the Guardian candidate his blessing.
"So, now that that's done, what now?" The curious Rift asked his cousin.
Silvus led the orange drake through the mountain temple, traveling upward to the peak. "It depends. Some Guardians might want to see how you would do in a sparring match. Though you have their support, there are still a few more challenges you must overcome to become a full fledged Guardian."
Nodding, the orange dragon took a deep breath, figuring that it wasn't going to be so easy. "I don't suppose they want me to take down three birds in two seconds."
Silvus chuckled. "I don't know what they're going to do. They could have you fight Spyro, but that would just be wrong and probably a humbling moment for you."
Rift nodded. "I imagine that would be the same if they had me fight you. I can feel your power emanating."
"Perhaps." The silver drake said, reaching the top of the stairs, they entered a circular room, four hallways spanned out in four directions. "And that's not my power you're feeling." He said glancing upward.
Tilting his head, the young drake looked curiously at his cousin. "Not your power?"
Without answering, Silvus aimed quickly at all four hallways, shooting silver oval-like blasts down each of them. Instead of striking nothing to form portals, it struck something at the end of each hallway. The objects now had a silver glow to them, and with a sudden rumble, the roof of the circular room began to open.
Silver light emanated from the hole in the roof, taking on a solid but almost transparent form of a spiral staircase.
Silvus stepped onto the silver staircase without hesitation, his paw miraculously not going through it. Rift followed, carefully placing one paw on the first step, testing his weight he went the rest of the way up once he was comfortable.
"For wanting to be normal when you were little, I do have to say I think you embraced silver a bit too much." Rift chuckled. "You could probably melt gold with all the silver and sun glare."
"There are more impressive things than my silver, for instance." Silvus reached the top of the staircase with Rift in tow. He gestured toward the peak of the mountain, the very tippy top not too far away from where they stood. Surrounding the tip were sixteen great orbs of many colors, most of them pulsed with energy and power, while others remained solid and the same. The sun shone, causing the area to sparkle and shine with it's bright white color. "I give you the peak of Shimmering Shores, also called Ancestor's Rise."
The orange drake couldn't help but feel relaxed. "What is with us dragons and mountains? They just feel right." He shook himself and looked at the lights. "Guardians?"
Silvus nodded. "Take note at the ones that aren't shining brightly."
Rift looked at them closely. "Are these the ones that said no?"
The silver drake shook his head. "The ones that aren't shining like the others, that signifies that there isn't a Guardian currently of that element." Silvus pointed a claw at the orange orb. "That's the orb of fire, and it's not shining."
The fire drake walked to the fire orb and became still. The ball had his full attention, his eyes reflected the orange sphere.
While Rift stared into the orb, Silvus approached the peak, then with a single flap of his wings he reached the top and stood with all four paws gripping it to hang on. The silver drake spread his wings and closed his eyes. All the orbs that were shining brightly alined into an incomplete ring around him.
After a few moments, he opened his eyes again and the orbs resumed floating around the peak. Silvus hopped off the rock and landed next to his cousin.
Unaware of what was happening, Rift still stared into the orb. He felt a calming warmth and smiled slightly.
"Rift." Silvus said suddenly.
The orange drake's head snapped to attention.
"Most of the Guardians will be here in a few days." He said, then added. "They have selected an opponent for a sparring match."
The young dragon nodded. "I'll give my all."
"So will I." Silvus replied.
Drakes and dragonesses were gathering in the large circular training room of the fire chamber. All who watched were Guardians and Messengers, however, not all of them were present for the occasion . Two dragons stood at each end, facing each other down.
I wonder how bad he's gonna flog me. Rift pondered to himself. True, they were evenly matched during their last battle, one the orange dragon back then wanted to end with a fatality, but that had been many years ago. Both had become much stronger, and his cousin seemed overpowered by even Guardian standards, while he had a chest wound that further put the odds against him.
He sighed and looked down at said wound. Bandages covered it, but still it leaked blood, as it had since he first received it. He would have to be mindful of it, limiting his offensive attacks.
Meanwhile on the other side of the ring, Silvus began assessing his cousin like any other experienced Messenger would do. Yes, the silver dragon had many past adventures that honed his skills, but he did not know what new talents his orange friend had picked up; so he stood, giving Rift a friendly smile and a nod.
"Guardians and Messengers!" The booming voice of Terrador bounced off the walls, though he lowered his voice once he had the attention of those around him. "Today we've come to witness a battle between relatives to determine whether Guardian Candidate Rift-" He said gesturing at the orange drake. "-is worthy of our title. He will be facing off against Silvus, Messenger for Light." He gestured toward the silver dragon.
"Rules, don't kill, mangle, stab, or completely obliterate your opponent into nothingness!" The speedy tongue of Volteer spoke. "Stay within the ring, win by either putting your opponent into a position to be killed, but not killing them obviously, or yield or surrendering to your opponent will cause them to take victory of the match!"
"Ready!" Both dragons took a stance, Silvus a defensive position and Rift in a position to attack, while keeping his wound angled away. "Begin!"
Rift restrained himself from immediately lunging for the silver drake, choosing instead to slowly make his way closer. The fire drake felt a satisfying burn in his throat and slowly released it, a large fireball stopping just shy of Silvus, before splitting into multiple fireballs. They circled the silver drake before all closed in on him.
The silver drake stood there calmly, then rolled to the right, dodging half of the fireballs, then he threw up his left wing blocking the rest. The force of the fire pushed him back a few feet and the impact sounded off as a loud metal clang. Silvus brought his wing down, with a quick side glance he saw that it lost it's painted on silver scaled color, now it was clearly shown that he had a silver metal wing with a green pattern to match his underbelly.
He faced his cousin, and released a large ball of ice that split off into smaller ones, all charging toward the orange drake. Silvus charged behind them, channeling his elemental power into his tail blade.
Rift smirked at this tactic, quickly making the ice balls into slush. He waited for Silvus to get in range before catching the Messenger's tail with his own, quickly flinging away the older drake. "It's been a few years, but let's skip the toying."
Silvus smirked at his comment, before raising his tail and slamming it on the ground, lines of ice curled around the ice drake on the ground, shining a bright blue. He felt at the back of his throat a cold only matched by the bilzards of Dante's Freezer, and he released it at the same time he sent forth the ice particles around him, all heading right for the fire dragon.
Heating himself up, Rift took the attack full on. His hotter temperature keeping him from freezing, while his wings kept the flurry out of his face. Even with his heat advantage, he could not deny the cold was chilling him. He began charging toward the silver drake, charging up his own blizzard of an inferno.
Quickly channeling his element into his paws, he charged toward his cousin to meet him head on, however right before they collided, Silvus opened a portal in front of himself, and jumped through it. For a few moments no one knew where he went, so Rift skidded to a stop, instinct telling him to look up. He saw his cousin diving toward him from the ceiling of the training room.
The orange drake dodge out of the way of the silver dragon's outstretched paws. Rift quickly moved back, angling his horns to bash against the side of his cousin's head. He couldn't help but feel a tad guilty, using his shining horns when his cousin had lost his own many years ago.
Silvus expected some sort of counter attack, and moved to dodge, however his cousin was fast and he got hit with both shiny horns. Slightly dazed, the silver dragon jumped back away from his cousin using his wings and slammed his paws to the ground, freezing the entire floor then quickly sending several blunt icicles toward Rift, buying himself time to recover.
Rift dodged the icicles with ease, but could not avoid the frozen floor, making him slip and fall over. He flailed a moment, limbs spread wide apart in an effort to keep standing. He tried to spread his wings, but realized that it would result in losing his balance. It was a fairly simple attack, but one that completely threw off his advantage.
Silvus shook his head, getting rid of the haze in his vision. He saw his cousin's momentary struggle, however he recovered as he did. The silver dragon suddenly took flight and channeled once again all his elemental energy into his forepaws, he raised them up, manipulating the ice on the floor. He threw it up and used it to contain Rift in a large ball of ice.
Knowing his ball of ice wouldn't last long he dove towards it as ice exploded in flames, Rift jumped out of it towards Silvus, who then tilted upward then outstretched his paws to grab his cousin's horns. Barely getting a hold on them, he used both their momentum to do a flip, letting him go, Rift was sent into the ground.
Rift groaned and slowly pushed himself up. Sometimes he swore that his horns were a target. He shook himself and charged, waiting until he was close, and performing a Comet Dash into the side of his cousin.
The silver drake let out a grunt as he fell to the ground, he twisted his body to land on his paw only to barely succeed. Looking up at his cousin who was flapping his wings above him, flames still licking his orange scales.
"Alright cuz, enough fooling around." He said, his body began glowing light blue with a mix of silver.
Silvus began to charge towards his cousin, however not making an effort to jump into the air, instead he opened a portal and dove into it. As he exited the portal he opened directly behind his cousin he became surrounded in a blizzard and silver energy. To those watching he looked like a blue and silver comet, and slammed into his cousin's back.
The silver drake slowly flapped his wings, landing on the ground in front of his cousin, who had icicles forming on his back. "Do you yield?" Silvus asked.
Rift shook his head, quickly tripping his cousin with his tail, biting onto the metal wing, and slamming him to the ground. He released it before pinning it under his paw. "Do you?"
"I do not." Silvus disconnected the metal wing from his body, rolling away from his cousin.
He then channeled his silver energy into his head, and slammed right into his cousin's side, sending him flying back a few feet. Silvus picked up his metal wing and reattached it to the nub where his original wing used to be.
As Rift began to get up again, Silvus opened a portal next to the orange drake and hopped through it, this time pinning him down. The silver drake brought his tailblade up, to his cousin's throat.
Rift growled to himself at his defeat, feeling like he had more to give. He had to follow the rules though and swallowed his pride. "I yield..."
Silvus immediately took his tailblade away and got off his cousin, offering a paw to help him up.
Rift reluctantly accepted it, feeling as though he let everyone down. He had much more fight left. But he knew he had no choice. "Not how I thought it would go down..."
The silver dragon led his cousin to sit in front of the Guardians, and nodded towards them. Terrador, Mavros and Rose stepped forward.
"Riften Myclonis." Terrador began. "Not every fight is meant to be fought, our duty as Guardians is to stop the fight, to guard others against evil."
"We had Silvus fight against you, we knew you were going to lose. Our goal was to see if you would swallow your pride, and step down." Mavros stated.
"Humility is something every Guardian needs to learn." Rose began. "It was something I needed to learn, and I'm stilling working towards it, but it seems as though you're further along than I."
"One thing to keep in mind, never give up the fight against evil, but the fight each other is one that needs to end." Terrador finished.
"What they're trying to say is that you're a Guardian now Rift." Silvus said suddenly.
Rift stared at his cousin, before turning back to the other Guardians. He sighed and looked at the floor. "No."
Everyone in the room was taken aback, nobody expected that.
"No?" Terrador questioned with a raised brow.
"No." Rift stated flatly. He looked around at everyone. "Yes, humility is important, but we are entrusted with guarding the safety of others. That means in a real battle, you aren't just going to yield and hope the enemy spares you and meanders away. No, we give our all to the very end. I did not give my all in that battle. I refuse."
The orange drake looked at his cousin. "When I was a hatchling, you brought your dying friend over asking for help. Do you remember what you said afterwards?"
Silvus thinks back to that day so many years ago. "I owe you one. What does that have to do with this?"
Rift smiled slightly. "If I'm to lose, I want to lose knowing I gave my all. I want a rematch."
The silver dragon gave a surprised look at his cousin. All the Guardians and Messengers exchanged glances and confused looks.
Rose was the first to answer. "Sure, why not? If I go down fighting, I would go down giving my all."
Terrador and Mavros nodded in agreement, then the rest of the Guardians and Messengers did.
The fire drake looked at Silvus. "Our parents went down fighting to the end. Wouldn't want to disappoint them."
Silvus nodded and walked towards the other end of the ring.
Rift followed close by. "No yielding, we battle until one of us can no longer go on. No holding back either."
The silver drake sighed and nodded. "Just remember you asked for this Rift. And you better accept the position after this."
The two stood facing each other toward the center of the ring. Both returned to their battle stances, waiting as Rose released a flash of light, telling them to begin.
Both roared and stood on their hind legs, forepaws locking into a power struggle. Silvus while older and larger, was not quite as experienced in close quarters combat, and was quickly being overpowered by the stockier orange drake.
Silvus quickly wrapped his tail around one of Rift's hind legs, pulling it and pushing the Fire drake to the ground. Rift snarled at the landing and used his other hind leg to push Silvus over, quickly rolling onto the silver drake and headbutting him.
Silvus groaned and wrapped his tail around Rift's neck, forcing his cousin off as he backed off. The fire drake jumped to his paws and launched a fireball. Silvus at the last second formed portals to redirect the blast at Rift's gut. He groaned in pain but once more got up.
Rift smiled as an idea formed in his head. He watched as Silvus closed in before jumping, putting his paw on the top of his cousin's head, and slamming it to the ground. He opened his maw and fired lots of small fireballs at the silver drake's face, making sure to keep them at a level preventing harm.
Silvus flailed in pain in an attempt to break free. His cousin was smaller but the stocky frame made the orange dragon significantly heavier. He began throwing his forepaws at the dragon, trying to force him off.
A yell of pain followed by his head being released. Silvus jumped up and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. His paw was coated in blood, the same blood that was once again dripping from Rift's wound. He sighed, letting down his stance. "We should stop now cousin. That wound is venerable and you are no match for me now."
Rift's eyes were clenched and he fought through his body's desire to vomit. His breathing was shallow and his mind was begging him to curl up and give in. His heart on the other hand was stubborn. He wanted to continue on.
Silvus hung his head and walked over to his injured family. "You did good cuz, that last attack was awesome." He blinked as he watched the orange dragons' tail begin to twitch and heat up. It slowly lifted and Silvus backed away.
Rift panted as the spade began to glow. He growled softly before thrusting the blunt side onto his wound, roaring as it began to cauterize. It would only be temporary, as Spyro had originally created the wound with dark magic. He just hoped his quick fix would last him the rest of the battle. He removed his tail slowly and forced his eyes open, tears formed from the pain. "Hnn-Not ready yet..."
The silver drake rolled his eyes and readied himself once more. "Better make this quick then. I rather not have to wait for another candidate because you don't know when to stop." He launched at the drake, slamming his tail into Rift's side, making the fire drake cough up blood.
Rift retaliated with his own tail, grabbing a hold of Silvus' neck and pulling him forward, connecting a headbutt. He grunted and dropped down, flipping his cousin over and slamming his head into the silver drake's stomach. Silver yelped in pain before reversing the pin, doing the same to Rift.
The orange drake sneered and used his hind paws to push the ice drake away. He wheezed and slowly pulled himself up. He was caught off guard as Silvus covered a paw in ice and punched the side of Rift's muzzle. The orange dragon didn't get up and Silvus nodded to himself.
"This is over Rift. Don't get back up, please."
He whined outwardly as Rift slowly wobbled to his feet. The orange drake was trembling and struggling to keep standing. The drake was not done just yet.
With a loud roar, Rift began to glow, heat flowing around him. Fire built up in his chest. He was putting the rest of his energy in a final attack.
Silvus took notice and charged himself up, ice and cold contrasting his cousin. He just needed to burn out his cousin. Void and Kara would be proud, you stubborn dragon.
They released their breaths at the same time, becoming locked in a power struggle. Silvus saw Rift's beam slowly faltering and his own beam gaining ground. He put less effort in his own attack, expecting the struggle done.
A shift in Rift's beam color caught his attention, turning from orange to a bright blue. Silvus quickly had to use more power, the blue flames almost licking his scales. He went wide eyed as the fire beam crossed his comfort zone, forcing him to stop his beam and quickly jump out of the way. He watched the flames linger for a few moments before turning orange once again before fading away. He stared in awe at his cousin.
Rift trembled and wheezed, trying to process his attack. He he'd never used blue flames before. His surprise was cut short when a sharp pain hit his chest, the wound bleeding again. He looked over at Silvus before his limbs gave in, collapsing to the ground and falling unconscious.
"That's a wrap for now sis. You're getting there."
Orange eyebrows started to twitch as he began to hear noises. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at his surroundings. The room was comfortably warm. Deep reds decorated the walls and the bed he lay in. Gaining control of his body, he couldn't resist spreading out, cooing at the soft bed.
"One of these days, I'll beat you. But for now, we should check up on him."
A few moments passed before the door opened, revealing Rose and Silvus. They smiled as the orange dragon looked back at them. "You're finally up. How do you feel?" The messenger asked softly.
Rift slowly sat up and winced. He felt relieved at seeing his wound was no longer bleeding. "Like a million dark gems were shoved down my throat."
Silvus chuckled as he and Rose sat down. "I'm curious how you managed those blue flames. That is incredibly rare, even among Fire Guardians."
The fire drake shrugged. "I have no clue, but it really drained me. It felt like an unbearable heat that I just had to get out."
"Try not to use it then if you can. Now, the Guardians have left and you've been out for a couple of days. Will you please for the Ancestors' sake, accept the position of Fire Guardian?" Silvus pleaded to him.
Rift thought for a moment, slowly nodding. "I'm content with my performance. I accept."
Rose cheered and wagged as Silvus grumbled and handed her a small gold coin. "We took bets on if you would. I'm happy to have lost it. Now, why don't you follow us. We have to make it official."
The siblings helped the fire drake up and escorted him out of the room. The journey was several minutes, working their way up the mountain until they reached their destination. The orbs at the mountain top pulsated, and Silvus motioned Rift to the fire orb.
Rift once again felt entranced by it, noticing the orb was brighter than last time. It produced a warmth that put his mind at ease. Silvus saw this and chuckled. "It's been waiting for you for years. Even before Ignitus parted from his guardianship, you were always meant to take his place. While your father was a great dragon, this is all you. Are you ready to begin?"
Rift couldn't say anything, nodding just slightly.
"Excellent!" Silvus grinned. "First, place your paw on the orb." He watched his cousin do so as he continued. "As a Guardian, you are to give your all to ensure the safety and well-being of not just the dragons, but anyone of innocence. Your place in the element of fire should invigorate those around you, giving them the fire to do their best. Do you accept?"
"I accept." Rift responded, watching the orb glow with an intensity beyond the others.
Silvus smiled and his voice rose. "As the Messenger of Light, I speak for the Guardians when I say that you have proven yourself. Riften Myclonis, son of Void and Ravine of Dragon's Claw, I hereby name you Guardian of Fire."
Rift gasped as the orb held him in place, tendrils of fire wrapping around his paws as fireballs formed the faces of dragons, former Fire Guardians. Rift focused in on the one he recognised as the first, watching it and the others giving him a smile. The drake nodded and relaxed. The figures began swirling around him, each one colliding with his scales and disappearing as the energy was absorbed into Rift's body. The first figure looked at Silvus, grinning. "This one will do messenger."
The figure finally turned back to Rift, charging at him and slamming into his face, evaporating into tiny flames, leaving only the orange drake. The orb's light dimmed, becoming equal to the others. The Fire Guardian had returned.
Silvus and Rose wagged, watching as a faint glow formed around their cousin. The drake opened his eyes, a vast knowledge of all his predecessors showing in the blue around his pupils. He smiled slightly. "I'll make you guys proud."
Rose shook her head. "You already have Rift. You gave your all in that fight. And I'm sure Silvus himself couldn't deny that."
Silvus rolled his eyes. "You know I had my mind made up long ago." He smiled at Rift. "I want you to come around more often. No more popping up when you're in danger."
Rift bowed. "I'll try, but no promises. I guess you want me to head back now?"
Silvus nodded sadly. "I want you to stay, but you're needed at Warfang. When you start dealing with Chief Prowlus, try not to kill him. The Cheetah will try your patience."
The fire drake gave Silvus and Rose big hugs, before reluctantly pulling away. Silvus created a portal to Warfang and bowed. "Warfang awaits, Master Rift."
Rift smiled and gave one last bow before walking through the portal. Once he was through, it disappeared. The orb he previously held now proudly joining the rest.
Silvus sighed slightly. "I'm not sure how to feel. On one hand, I'm proud of him. He's been through so much and finally got to the top, but I'm gonna miss him."
Rose smiled and pat her brother's back. "Cheer up Silvus. We'll see him again. Now, we need to do our daily checkup on our secret friend."
Silvus wiped away a tear and followed her, the two arriving at their own Pool of Visions. "To think this dragon is going to play a big part in Rift's life. Twenty gold says Rift tries to kill him day one."
"I'll take that bet." Rose grinned, the two giving each other a paw bump. "I'm guessing about a year for them to meet. What do you think?"
The silver dragon smiled he looked into the pool, seeing a black dragon placing some goggles over his head. "I'm with you on that. Doesn't mean you're allowed to claim him for yourself in that time."
Rose gave him a toothy grin. "Come on Silvus, he's cute. I promise to take good care of him. He would love all the gizmos and things here."
Silvus chuckled and formed a stick in his hand, gently smacking Rose in the head with it. "You cannot have him. You're going to live much longer than any other dragons, so no trying to find a mate yet. Besides, our cousin will meet with him in time."
He looked back to the pool, watching the drake step back and smile as his invention began glowing blue. Silvus chuckled. "I wish you future luck with my cousin, Sithris."