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Chapter 4 -- History 101.5 (Solar's Recount)

A bright flash and the shaking air from an explosion woke Solar from his sleep. He jumped up, hitting his head on the low ceiling of the crudely-erected emergency shelter. Cursing, he staggered outside and heard his friends yell as a hailstorm of shells flew through the air. Solar opened his mouth and blasted a few, causing them to explode before they hit their targets. A miniature troll rushed him and after a vicious fight in the snow he hurled the thing over the edge of the cliff. He looked up and saw his captain flying overhead, surveying the battle. A mortar flew at the airborne dragon and Solar desperately launched a breath attack at the missile. The explosion knocked the captain out of the air, and Solar caught him, using a bank of snow to slide on. His back hurt but he pushed the pain aside. The captain got up slowly, his hind legs hurting badly.

"Solar, I must thank you, but your assistance is need up there." He pointed and Solar looked up at the peak of the mountain at the lighthouse. The tall tower was being assaulted and the guards viciously barraged.

"Aye, sir," Solar replied, taking off and shooting through the air. Blasts of light flew at him but he rolled between them, quickly retaliating with ice. A shadowy dragon-clone dove at him, knocking him out of the air. He fought it off as he fell, finally using the long scale on his head to sever the thing's neck. It shrieked and exploded in a cloud of black vapor. Solar landed hard on a sheet of ice, which cracked under the impact and plunged him into a deep snowbank. He shook it off and jumped into the air, his wing hurting with each beat.

Up at the doorway to the lighthouse, the heavy blast door was malfunctioning, stuck halfway in on its track. The guards were fighting savagely to protect not only themselves but the lighthouse--if the enemy got in and shattered the light crystal, their last source of power would be gone. Solar flew in like a streak of vengeful light, taking out an entire row of enemies as the blades on his wings sheared through them in his barrel-roll. A long line of black vaporous explosions followed him. Now surrounded, the shadow mini-trolls fled, but Solar quickly dispatched them with help from the guards. They were beaten up and a few were bleeding, but there were amazingly no casualties.

"Solar!" one of them gasped, falling to the ground in exhaustion. "Get in there and guard it against the raid! Get the blast doors engaged before they have a chance to destroy the network!"

Solar gave the military head-motion salute and ducked through the doorway, wrenching the emergency doors shut behind himself. They could only be closed from the inside. As he ran to the elevator shaft he heard a loud explosion, and held back tears...he knew the guards were no longer there, nor would ever be again. With a determined yell he raced to the elevator and turned it on. The lights flared up but an emergency light flicked on and off. Solar swore loudly.

"Stupid technology...always malfunctions..." With an almighty yell and burst of strength he threw open the closed shaft doorway and crawled up inside. The guards were right in sending him in--they were full-grown dragons and would never have fit inside the emergency service shaft he was now in (and neither could half his foes). He quickly scaled the ladder and arrived at the topmost floor, panting. There it was...the light crystal, and nearby, the main doorway was wide open. He struggled and pulled himself out of the service shaft and ran over to the control station. The weapon systems had all been depleted and the shield had died off overnight. He found the controls for the blast doors and engaged them. He sighed with relief as they slowly closed, their locking mechanisms echoing throughout the tower. Now that his job had been done, Solar looked out the window over the battle scene. The enemy was pulling back; they knew the tower was barred from them, and they didn't have the munitions to blast it. Solar cheered to himself and fell to the floor, exhausted.

* * * *

Two weeks later, Solar sat atop a mountain cliff, staring out into space, streams of dried tears running down from his eyes. In his paw he held two things: the medallion-necklace he'd been awarded for his efforts, and his friend's gold chain she'd worn around her neck after he'd given it to her for her birthday. Both he and his friend had been cast out of the small steel city they lived in, under charges of attempted treachery against Paralos. No one knew really who brought up the charges, but Solar had been unfairly found guilty of plotting to overthrow the militia in that battle. He thought back to the governor's reproachful face when he formally dismissed Solar and his friend from the city...with a loud roar he flung the medallion as far as he could from the mountain cliff. He punched the snow several times over, yelling and cursing loudly. A loud rumble caught his attention, and he rolled off the cliff as an avalanche flowed down at him. He swooped and spread his wings, hovering and watching the white mass fall from the mountainside. Angrily he shot off to the mountain peak, within eyesight of the lighthouse. He opened his claw and looked at the gold chain...

"Flare, where are you?" he cried out, holding it close to his chest, trying not to cry again. His anger fired up again as he remembered what had happened...

* * * *

Five nights ago he and Flare had been hiding in an underground cave, one of few towards the mountains. He looked at her sleeping form...he smiled as his eyes ran over her beautiful light-yellow scales and orange wing-skin. He lightly ran his paw over her and she moaned and sat up, yawning.

"Time we got going, Flare," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She grinned and nuzzled sleepily against his face.

"Oh Solar...I wish you hadn't taken the blame..."

"I had no choice," he said gloomily, standing up. "It was either I admit it and get thrown out and set free, or deny it and be locked away in those horrible laser jails until I confessed."

"But you didn't do anything," she replied, following him out into the open world. The clouds above were dark, blocking out the sun and giving them a slight advantage of losing whatever had been trailing them.

"I know that, and you know that, but since no one else does, that makes both of us look suspicious." He sighed and looked sadly at her. "You know you didn't have to risk everything you had for me..."

"What better way to show love?" she asked, stepping closer. He let her kiss him. She looked into his bright blue eyes and he gazed back into her deep blue ones. "I would have followed you anyway eventually..."

He smiled, and she sat up and hugged him close. He wrapped his arms around her, but soon pushed her gently away.

"Sorry, but we really need to get moving," he said, and she nodded and followed him as he stayed low to the ground. Using his military training he kept an eye on the land around himself. Flare trusted him with her life--she had some combat skills, but so far had only been a hinderance in the few fights they'd encountered. She'd gotten into the habit of flying up high and waiting until Solar dispatched the enemy, staying out of his way until the area was secured again. Keeping low, they advanced towards the mountains--Solar was heading for his parents' old house, where a few of his friends and their relatives now stayed.

"Solar...are your friends and their families...y'know...nice?" He stopped on her intonation of 'nice', and she walked up next to him.

"Flare, they may be my friends, but if they so much as lay a lustful claw-tip on you, I will have their hides and horns for breakfast."

She giggled and rubbed up against him. "Oh Solar...you're so over-protective...but I understand why." They stayed there as Solar felt the air around them for disturbances. "Solar...know what I just realized?"

"Hmmm?"

"You know how your parents expected you to be a fire dragon and named you Solar ahead of time?"

He laughed and nodded.

"And how you once told me we were always meant to be together?"

He nodded, cocking his head at her curiously.

"Solar...Flare...I think our child should be named Aurora...if we ever have one, that is..."

Solar's eyes widened at her realization. "I never looked at it that way...wow, who'd've known our names would fit like that?" He looked back at her and she had her eyes and head downcast. He gently put his paw under her chin and lifted her head up so he could see her eyes. "I would love to have a child with you, Flare...but you know as well as I do that we can't do that safely until we settle down somewhere where we won't be assaulted."

She sighed disappointedly and nodded, running her paw over the gold chain around her neck. He took her paw and squeezed it gently, and she nuzzled his face and kissed him.

"I'm so happy to be your mate, Solar," she said, "even if we were on the run and didn't have a formal union."

"I don't think your parents would have allowed a formal occasion," Solar replied with a half-smile, and she snorted.

"You're right...they don't know love anyway...always sapping off each other, using each other like toys in the political game..."

"But we know love," he said with a caring smile, and she smiled back and leaned against him, closing her eyes happily. After a while he sighed. "Well, we'd better keep going..." Flare sighed, nodding, and she followed him as they continued.

* * * *

As he sat there atop the mountain, Solar remembered those last words to her...everything after that was a haze of anger and confusion of being hotly pursued, but he remembered two days later, Flare was carried off by a huge shadow-troll that had a portal-creator strapped to its belt. Solar had lunged to grab her from its clutches, his paws catching her necklace and tearing it off her neck as he fell to the ground. His eyes seemed to replay the memory on their own...He had hunted the wretched creature without rest, but by the time he found it, Flare had been roughly cast by some magical means into the parallel dragon realm. The troll laughed at Solar as the ice dragon burst into the room to see Flare's helpless, frightened face disappear into the rift.

"You too late, whitey," the troll said, pointing its club at Solar. Everything went dark after that...and yet somehow it had only been last night that she'd been taken from him.

Solar made up his mind. He'd find that troll and make it pay dearly. In his rage he bolted off the mountain and quickly scanned the surrounding area as he flew, finally locating the hideous thing seeking him out to destroy him. A vicious battle ensued, but the troll hightailed it out of there, Solar hot on his tail with a burning vengeance. For two and a half days they met and fought as Solar hunted him ruthlessly. The troll finally activated the portal device. Solar knew that if the troll got away he could never again pursue it or hope to find Flare, and in desperation he lunged forward and grabbed hold of the device, not releasing his steel grip even as the troll beat him. The device blasted them through the realm-barrier and into Spyro's world.

_______________________________________

Well, there it is, Solar's immediate history before the tumultous battle in Chapter 3. Funny thing is (I kid you not with this), I was wracking my mind for a name for Solar's mate, and didn't realize it worked out so well until that line where she realizes it...just kinda went "Wow, I didn't think of that!" when I saw their names together in the text. Kinda odd, but it worked out really well...and it fits in with later on in the story (much later on at this rate, but hey, who doesn't like a good long series?)

Italization would really help with emphasis in this chapter but I still can't figure out how to do it...then again I could've waited until people read Chapter 3 and possibly given me the answer...oh well.

Comments, suggestions, complaints? Keeps, throws, dos/donts? Chapter 5 and others will most likely not come out as swiftly as these, since I'm feeling like crap and there's a big idea conflict between chapters that I need to smooth out. Also, writer's block sucks...and the only sledgehammer that works for me right now is time.