It has been 6 generations since Cynder and Spyro have saved the world from Malefor. In that time, while minor conflicts have broken out between the Dragons and Grublins, peace has reigned. The Dragons alive today do not know true conflict. Some would argue that this is a bad thing, but most would disagree. Very few are trained to fight, now. An age limit has also been set so that no one too young or old has to serve in the guard. For most, life is good, but every society has it's flaws. As of late, there has been a movement in Warfang.
A lot of the population has negative feelings towards shadow dragons. This is due to the intimidating, almost evil looking powers. This has taken hold so strongly, that the city has almost completely stopped regarding Cynder as one of the saviors of this world. Luckily, they have not gone as far as discrimination, but there is a clear feeling of hostility in the air.
To one shadow dragoness in particular, life was especially hard. Lilith's parents had died of sickness when she was very young. Now, she is eighteen years old. Having grown up in this society with no parents, it is needles to say she has become quite strong.
On this day, however, someone was following her. She had caught on to the fact a few moments ago. She knew there were more than one, but she couldn't know the exact number for sure. Probably around three or so.
As if on que, when she turned the corner, there were three, very angry-looking dragons. All of which were of the fire element. While most dragons in Warfang took to simply ignoring Lilith and others like her, a portion of the fire dragons took to taking physical action. All three of the dragons standing before her were red and orange in their color scheme, and were well built.
Lilith, on the other hand, wasn't exactly the physically strongest dragoness around. While she was headstrong and well trained in the use of her element, it would not take much to overpower her up close. Her scales are mainly shiny black, with her underbelly and wing membranes being bright pink. Her horns were fairly small as well, but she had an extra pair behind the first set, giving her four grey horns.
Without a single word being said between the dragoness and the group, they gave chase. Lilith quickly jumped into the air and began pumping her wings as hard as she could. In the air, she had a better chance of getting away. She concentrated on taking sharp turns and performing complicated maneuvers to try and lose her pursuers, but it didn't seem to be working. No matter what she did, they stayed right behind her.
Thinking quickly, she flew straight for the nearest building, but instead of going for the door or a window, she flew into the side of the building. But, just as she was about to hit the wall, she disappeared into the shadows that the building created, leaving behind small wisps of shadow energy where she just was.
Her pursuers stopped just short of the shadow cast by the building. They starred at the shadows with an expression that could only be described as hate. Lilith simply hid there in the shadows, waiting for them to leave. But they didn't leave. Instead, the lead dragon began gathering fire in the back of his throat. Confused as to what he could be doing, Lilith stayed there, thinking she was safe.
She was proved wrong, however, when he released the fire. As the flames came flying out of his mouth, they cast light over the area. Then it hit her. The shadows that she was using as her hiding place were receding as the light from the fire hit them. Thinking fast, she burst from her shadows, again flying as fast as she could to get away. Slightly caught off guard, the trio hesitated for a moment before giving chase again. No longer thinking clearly from the exertion, Lilith started to fly toward the city walls. The fire dragons again hesitated, knowing well what could be outside those protective walls. Deciding that it wasn't worth it, they broke off the chase.
Unfortunately, this went unnoticed by Lilith, who was concentrating on flying as fast as possible. As her wings began to tire, she looked back, and to her relief didn't see any if her pursuers. More important, however, was what she didn't see. Warfang.
' Did I really fly that far?' she thought to herself. She was tempted to start flying back, but she knew that her wings wouldn't carry her much father. The black dragoness then started decending. Once she landed, her wings immediately drooped to the ground, exhausted from the strain. As she took in her surroundings, the dragoness slowly realized where she was.
"The forest..." she whispered to herself.
Many dragons today feared this place. It is where the last of the enemies to the dragon species are believed to be hiding. Frantically looking around, she began to panic. Was she going to die in this forest?
Deciding that staying here probably wasn't the best idea, she began searching for a better place to stay, since the sun was beginning to set.
After walking around for what already felt like an hour, she was starting to become more and more nervous. Just then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A few large rocks were protruding from the ground, leaving one side open with some room inside.
"A cave!" she said excitedly.
Trotting over to it as fast as her tired legs would carry her, she stopped just before the entrance. For a moment, she stood there, staring into the cave. She then placed one paw into the shadowed interior of the cave. Using her powers, she felt the shadows, sensing if anything was in there. At first, there wasn't anything, but as she felt out the back of the cave, there was something there. What it was, she couldn't tell yet. She wouldn't be able to until she saw it with her own eyes.
"Well, here goes nothing..." Lilith said quietly. While she would prefer to have been in the shadows, her tired body didn't have enough energy left to do so. She made a note to find green crystals later... If she survived this.
"No! Stop thinking like that!" she said to herself, shaking her head.
Practically forcing herself to move, she slowly advanced into the cave. Because of her scan of the cave, she knew exactly where the being was. The dragoness also knew that it was about the same size as her.
Continuing to use a small amount of her energy to see in the dark, she continued to get closer. The closer she got, the more details she could make out. The first thing she noticed was that it is another dragon. She could tell from the wings and tail. It also seemed to be a bit more muscular. This probably meant he was male.
But then there was the issue of what type of dragon he is. To tell that, she would need to get next to him so she can see his color.
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Lilith continued on. As she got closer, she realized his back was turned to her and he was lying down. She also found it hard to tell what his color was. His scales seemed to blend in with the darkness.
"A shadow dragon!" she exclaimed excitedly, but quickly checked the volume of her voice. Just because he is another shadow dragon doesn't guarantee that he will be friendly. But that didn't change the fact that she still needed help out here.
Hesitantly, she began to circle around him. As she did, she noticed that his wings and underbelly were toxic green. His horns here grey like hers, but they were longer and he only had two. And to confirm what she thought previously, he was about the same size as her, just a bit more muscular. His head was laid down on the floor, a blank expression on his face.
Lilith starred at him for a moment, trying to decide what she should do. Eventually, she decide to wake him. It would be better to find out if he is friendly or not sooner rather than later.
Slowly, she inched closer to him. Getting within a foot of the other dragon. Continuing her slow movements, she lightly nudged him with her paw. Nothing. She did it again, this time a little harder. Still nothing. Frowning a bit, she put her head up to his chest and listened. She heard the quiet thump of his heart beat. He was alive.
"Hey. Are you okay?" she asked in a normal tone of voice. And yet, there still wasn't even a twitch in response. Becoming slightly irritated at the lack of another awake shadow dragon, she decided more desperate measures were necessary. Gathering as much air into her lungs as she could, she let out the loudest roar she could muster. And finally, she got a response.
The black and green shadow dragon awoke with a start, jumping to his feet with a shocked look on his face. He frantically looked around until he located the source the sound that woke him up. Almost instantly, his expression changed from shocked to confused. This served to confuse Lilith as well. They continued to look at each other in awkward silence until the male decided to speak.
"Who are you?" he asked, the hesitation clear in his voice. At least he wasn't going to attack.
"Umm... My name is Lilith. You?"
Just as he was about to speak, he fell quiet. He had a thoughtful look on his face, as if trying to remember something. He stayed quiet like this for a few moments before suddenly speaking up.
"Dyo! My name is Dyo." As he said it, though, it sounded as if he were trying to convince himself more than anyone.
Lilith starred at Dyo for a moment, looking worried. Did he really haver that much trouble remembering his name? Did he even get it right?
"What else do you remember?" she asked, the worry obvious in her tone.
Dyo looked surprised at her question. Whether it was because he didn't have an answer, or he was insulted by the question, she didn't know.
A few seconds later, she got her answer.
"Nothing..." Dyo said quietly. "I don't remember anything." His expression changed yet again. Now he seemed scared.
Without another thought, Lilith walked over to him. When she got to his side, he was staring at the ground. She slowly began to put one of her wings over him. Dyo looked up at her suddenly, again surprised by her actions.
"Why do you care so much?" Dyo asked rather coldly.
Lilith felt hurt by this, but answered anyway. Us shadow dragons have to stick together, right?" she responded with a light smile on her muzzle.
This only confused Dyo even more, which confused Lilith in return. Then it hit her. "You have no idea what's going on out there, do you?"
At this, Dyo lowered his head, looking ashamed. He slowly shook his head.
Lilith sighed. "This is going to be a long night..."
"... And that's how I ended up here." Lilith finally finished after about two hours of talking. To her surprise, Dyo never interrupted her once. Not to ask a question, not even to get her to explain something. He simply sat there, listening intently to everything she knew leading up to this point. Now that she was finished, she waited to see what he would say.
"I'm sorry." Dyo said. Yet again, Lilith was surprised. She looked him right in the eye, and she could tell that he was being honest.
"Don't be sorry! None of this was your fault!" she quickly said, not wanting him to feel guilty for something that he had no control over.
"No," he responded, shaking his head, "I meant about your parents and the things you've had to go through. I'm sorry."
Lilith smiled slightly. "It's okay. That was a long time ago. I've gotten over it."
Returning her smile, Dyo looked outside the cave and noticed that it was already dark. "We should probably get some sleep." he said as he looked back to her.
"Yeah. I-" Lilith was suddenly stopped short of finishing her sentence by the the hypnotizing green eyes in front of her. How had she not noticed that before? Dyo's bright green eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark. She couldn't help but lose herself in his gaze.
"Are you okay? Dyo asked with a look of worry on his face, snapping Lilith out if her trance.
Umm, yeah. I'm alright." she said quickly, turning her gaze away in embarassment. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice what actually happened.
Dyo eyed her suspiciously, but didn't push the subject. "Okay. Goodnight." He the laid down on the grassy floor of the cave.
"Goodnight, Dyo." she responded while laying down, but