Chapter 4:
**
Titan stared down at the purple drowning pool before him. Or rather, it used to be purple. In only a day, it shifted into a green color. He narrowed his eyes at this. Even though it was a small change, he was still bothered by it. He didn't like change that much. He liked things to remain the same. The other Peace Keeper dragons were similar minded, though some more extreme than others.
He knelt down for a closer look. He had been informed by Gunnar that, with Cosmos's help, the source of the foreign magic came from this spot. It was hidden underneath the drowning pool. He wasn't sure how it got there, or how it could still be doing these changes while underneath. But Cosmos did make mention that it was a good thing it was only underneath the pools. If it were on the surface, it would do something more.
This didn't satisfy Titan. He wanted the magic to be destroyed. The only way to do that was to reach into the pool and pull it out. Doing so would be suicide, however, and he recognized this all too well. Some of his comrades had been damaged from these wretched pools that liter the Dragon Kingdom. Before, the pools weren't too much of a problem and could be avoided. But now their current threat couldn't be abolished like it should because of the pools.
He began to wonder if the other dragons had found out the location of the foreign magic. He also wondered if they happened to be located in the drowning pools. If they were, then who, or whatever, planted this magic was a brilliant strategist and knew about the dragons' weakness against the waters of this world.
Titan looked over towards Magnus. He was sitting on the ground nearby, inspecting his arm. He had been foolish enough to stick his head into the water in an attempt to pull out the source of the magic. His arm was singed almost immediately. He pulled his arm out in time. Much of his skin was burned. He was now tending to his injuries. But despite the pain, he never cried out. Like most Peace Keepers, they believed crying out when damaged was a sign of weakness.
Waiting until Magnus was finished wrapping up bandages around his injured arm, Titan walked over. Magnus was his second-in-command, so perhaps he would have a suggestion on what to do. At the moment, Titan himself was out of ideas. “Any recommendations? Other than putting your hand into the poisonous water?” He chuckled lightly.
Magnus didn't appreciate the joke. “Very funny. And to answer your question, no.” He looked over at the now green pools. “We might need to create some kind of tool to reach down and pull it out. Or hire a Magic Crafter to create a spell to make us invincible...”
Titan's eyes widened at that. “But such a spell is forbidden. Especially after what happened during the...”
“Yes, I remember what happened then. The battle against the skybeaks. The skybeaks managed to get the spell themselves and they almost destroyed our home.” Magnus said, nodding his head. “But there are no skybeaks around now. We annihilated them.”
“Only after finding a way to negate the invincibility spell.” Titan shook his head. He wasn't sure how Magnus could be so foolish. They didn't know what was behind this strange magic. What if they got a hold of the spell too, just like the skybeaks?”
Magnus seemed to sense his concerns. “We could upgrade the spell, so that it only works on dragons.”
That's when Titan started to think the impossible, something that none of the dragons in the Dragon Kingdom would even think of. “What if a dragon is behind this?”
There was an awkward silence between the two. It wasn't normal for a Peace Keeper dragon to think like this, let alone Titan. Even they would admit they were often too one-sided about many of their beliefs. And one of their beliefs was that dragons could never do any evil, because they were creatures of purity. For Titan to even think that a dragon could be behind any of this, it was unthinkable.
The closest to evil any of the dragons ever got was the snottiness of the Dream Weaver dragons. They were an aloof bunch, caring little about what others thought of them. However, they were capable of doing good and have cured many dragons of nightmares, even those outside their realm. And none of them have ever been very hostile against other dragons, and would rather spout a few harsh words than get physical.
“Titan...I can't believe you'd say such a thing.” Magnus said. “Especially after so many years of peace and prosperity... It has been thousands of years since the last time any dragon species waged war against another.”
“Yes I know. Forget what I said.” Titan said, rubbing his head. “Just a rambling of a dragon getting up there in age. That's all.” Deciding to change the subject, he said, “Have you heard any word from Nestor yet? Did the Artisans find the odd magic in their realm yet?”
Magnus shook his head. “No. Sorry. I haven't heard a word from him since the last meeting. Though..I did get a message from one other Artisan..Tomas I believe his name was, Spyro's older breather. He says that Delbin wants another meeting.”
Titan raised an eyebrow. “Delbin? But he's second-in-command. What of Nestor?”
“Just telling you what I heard.” Magnus said. “The meeting will be tomorrow morning. I have no idea what it is about, but I am convinced it has to do with the magic.”
Titan nodded his head. That's what he was thinking as well. He didn't respond, and instead looked away. He looked at the drowning pools. Despite how dangerous the magic might be, he kind of hoped that the magic in the Artisans' world would be outside of the drowning pools so it could be examined and taken care of more efficiently.
He tilted his head upwards and looked at the green sky overhead. It was getting darker, telling him night time was coming. He stretched out his wings and yawned. He would need to get a good night's sleep. The meeting tomorrow will probably be intense, depending on what the Artisans have discovered. He jumped off the ground and took to the air.
He landed on top of one of the ridges that surrounded the main realm. He laid down on his belly and stared out at the land below him. Everything looked so peaceful now, especially since the gnorcs were long defeated. But he couldn't help but feel uneasiness now. He couldn't stand not knowing who the enemy was. He couldn't stand not knowing just how far the magic would go.
But that was thinking for tomorrow. Right now, he had to get some rest. He imagined the other Peace Keeper dragons, besides Magnus, had already gone to sleep minutes ago. He curled up and tucked his tail next to his head. He closed his eyes. As he started to go to sleep, thoughts began to run through his mind. The thing he was wondering the most was where things would go from here.
He knew only time would tell.
**
The following day, Titan was making his way towards Gnasty's old world for the meeting. This time around, he was going it alone. Delbin had made a strange request that only the leaders speak. He did not give a reason as to why he was the one speaking at first, but he eventually came out and said Nestor wasn't feeling good and he was taking his place. Titan rolled his eyes at the thought. Artisan dragons were more susceptible to illnesses than other dragons, apparently.
He looked down below and he spotted the tiny island. He flapped his wings hard a few times, then did a nose dive downwards. The island seemed to be ground out of the ground like an eager plant. He stopped when he was a few feet from crashing, and slowly landed. He walked across the island and looked around, trying to see where the others were. But something felt wrong.
Titan realized he was the only dragon there. He was perplexed by this, scratching his head. He was certain this was where the meeting was to be. He looked around, making sure he really was alone. He looked up towards the skies, looking for any signs of life. But he couldn't see any. He really was alone. He sat on the ground and tried to think of an explanation.
Perhaps he had gotten the time wrong. Maybe Delbin wanted the meeting to be later. No, that couldn't be it. Delbin did say that today was the day for certain. And he did say around noon, which it was now. The sun glowed straight up above him. And this was the right place. Delbin never mentioned any other location other than this. He scratched his head again. He couldn't make sense of this no matter how hard he thought about it.
Then he spotted something high above him. He stood up and put his paw over his eyes. There was someone flying down towards him. Titan wondered if it was going to be Delbin coming to apologize to him for the delay. But instead the individual happened to be a long smaller. It was Spyro, followed by Sparx, The two of them landed in front of him and stared up at him. Titan noticed Sparx was an unhealthy green, but he decided not to say anything.
“I guess you didn't get the word.” Spyro said, smirking slightly. “He wants the meeting in the Artisan homeworld.”
“So the meeting place changed? Hmm...I never got any word.” Titan said, tilting his head slightly.
Spyro shrugged. “Doesn't surprise me. The others were confused about it as well. You're the only one left missing from the meeting, so let's go.”
Titan nodded his head and took the skies. He followed close behind Spyro. He was going to say anything, but he felt something a little strange from Spyro. His aura, it felt weird. Maybe Spyro was just a little grumpy or tired. Yeah that had to be it. The little guy may have had to fly around finding the other dragon leaders and must be exhausted by now.
One thing he didn't understand was why Spyro didn't feed Sparx while they were down there. Sparx's green was making him feel worried. If the dragonfly died, the little purple dragon would be very vulnerable to harm. It didn't matter for someone as big as him, but Spyro was still a young dragon, lacking the physical power he and the other adult dragons had.
Oh what was he so worried about? This was Spyro he was talking about, the young dragon that took on Gnasty Gnorc and won. He was more than capable of taking care of himself. Besides, since Gnasty Gnorc was defeated, peace had been restored to the lands. There was hardly anything to worry about.
Well except maybe for the mysterious greening of the water and skies...
His thoughts were broken back to reality when he saw they had arrived at their destination. Flying to the different homeworlds was easy as they weren't that far apart, well at least when flight was considered. He flew towards the ground. Spyro landed on the ground first, and then made room for Titan to land behind him. Titan wiped himself off and looked around.
Sure enough, the other dragon leaders were here. They were all standing near the waterfall. In front of the speedway portal was Delbin, who looked like he was giving some kind of speech now. He had paused and looked over at Titan, gesturing for him to join them. Titan made his way over and stood next to Cosmos. It was a little hard to see Delbin as he was in the back grow, but he could hear him just fine.
“As you may all be aware, a strange magic is transforming the coloration of the sky and drowning pools to green. You may believe this is a terrible thing, but I can assure you it is not. This magic isn't our enemy.”
Titan looked around the Artisans homeworld. Something about it felt different. It didn't take him long to realize it. They were beginning to remodel it. The land still looked generally like what it used to, but now it looked like they were trying to incorporate things from other worlds. His eyes widened when he recognized a patch of land that looked eerily like something he'd find from his own homeworld.
But why would the Artisans do this? He knew they were artistic and all, and he could see them remodeling the place, but why would they try to copy certain features of other homeworlds? What could be the purpose of that? He narrowed his eyes as he looked around. Then he turned his gaze back towards where Delbin was speaking.
“This magic is only trying to bring order to our world. For so long, we have lived apart, as different tribes of sorts. We may be equals, but we live too differently from each other.”
Titan's eyes widened slightly at this. What was Delbin talking about?
“I for one like the way we live.” Lateef said, folding his arms against his chest. “It has worked for a long time. There's no need for us to change.”
“Yeah.” Bruno said. “Why are you so worried about us being different from each other? What's wrong with some variance and culture and lifestyle? We treat each other just fine, and share our resources. Isn't that enough?”
“No.” Delbin said, a broad smile on his face. “We have to do more. If we remain like this, well who is going to stop one dragon race from raging war on another? What's going to stop intolerance from spreading? How will we defend our homelands from other creatures, if we live apart?”
“Delbin is right.” Spyro said, causing the shocked dragons to look at him. “As I explored each land when fighting Gnasty Gnorc, I was wondering why we all lived separately. Each world has its own unique culture, and could easily be meshed together as one.” He paced back and forth in front of Delbin, his eyes leveling with the dragon leaders'. “Why live as many when we can live as one?”
Something was very wrong here. Titan couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Artisan dragons had never talked this way before. He took a step backwards as Delbin continued to speak, ranting on how they need to live together as a single people for true harmony. He looked up towards the skies, noting the green shade. His stomach tied in a knot when he realized what this meant.
He moved backwards slowly, taking care that Delbin didn't notice him. Titan managed to move away far enough to in the small valley with the dragon mouth. He peered over to make sure no one saw him leave. Delbin was too busy going on about what he was talking about, occasionally raising his arms for dramatic effect, to really notice him. He turned around and let out a soft sigh. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a bad feeling about it either way.
He walked over towards the dragon mouth, noting it too had undergone some change. It was no longer menacing like before, and instead had a more welcoming look. The portal itself also seemed to have changed. There were no words floating magically in front to tell him what it was, but the imagery had changed to shades of green. The dragon head was almost beckoning him to enter.
That was when Titan noticed there was a small cave structure off to the side. Curious, he entered it. He recognized Spyro and Delbin's scent. They were definitely here recently. He walked in as far as he could go and reached a dead end. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Disappointed, he turned to exit, but then stopped.
A new, familiar scent filled his nostrils, similar to the one the magic gave off in his own world. He turned around and walked back towards the dead head. He lowered his head towards the ground, sniffing a few times. His eyes widened at the realization. This was where the foreign magic was in this world. But if this was the spot then...where was the magic?
He didn't have time to think when there was, suddenly, a bright flash of light back where the other dragon leaders were. He looked over, but was quickly met with a loud explosion. He was flung back against the wall. He fell onto the ground, his body covered in partial burns and dirt.
“What...” He said in a coarse voice. “..happened?”
“I'll tell you what happened.” Spyro said, appearing in the small space.
Coughing, Titan struggled to get up onto his feet. “Spyro...?”
Spyro grinned. “It's the beginning of a new era...” With that, his eyes glowed green and a large green fireball blasted from his mouth.