Rebuilding the World

"Cynder?" I heard my love call. "Nmm." I answered, sore from all of the flying. "Time to get up." I felt a dull ache coming from my wings as I got up. Two years had passed since our return. I had flown all yesterday with Spyro, checking for other dragons. We were in Avalar where we made camp the day before. I walked out of the hut the cheetahs had built for us and into the clearing where their camp was. Spyro was waiting for me. I smelled the meat before I got to it. It was deer, slow roasted over the fire. He greeted me with a smile but nothing more, for we didn't want to reveal to anyone our love yet. Only Hunter, Sparx, and Ignitus knew of our great affection for each other. I sat beside him and waited for Hunter to return from another hut. Sparx wasn't with us today, claiming to needing to go home to his parents.

"Good morning, Cynder." he greeted in his smooth voice. "Good morning." Hunter looked towards Meadow and said, "My friend has something that will help to ease your pain." I flicked my eyes to Spyro and walked over there. "Wonderful to see you, Cynder." Meadow was mixing a poultice together that smelled of lilies. I replied, "Good to be seen." He chuckled and went to working on spreading the poultice onto my wings. It was a beautiful orange-red color. "Ahhhhh," I murmured, the soreness leaving my body. When he was done he whispered, "Please, do not keep Hunter away from here too long."

"Why?"

"He doesn't want me to say."

"You can trust me,"

"He has his eye on a female in the village."

I smiled and nodded, knowing what it felt like to be away from the one you love. "We won't keep him too long." I walked back, ate my fill of deer and readied for our journey back to Warfang. "Spyro, I want to go see the Hermit." He looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Why?" I shrugged, unable to explain the feelings that were driving me to the old cheetah. He hook his head and took off towards the Hermit's Valley.

We reached the valley in a few minutes, knowing what was coming. I looked to the old cheetah's hut where he sat there, blowing on a flute. "Ah, Cynder, you have returned." I nodded as he smiled at me. "You two saved the world. That was quite a feat for someone your age." He nodded at me, knowing what I wanted to hear. "Apparently I was wrong about you. You indeed are redeemed and will never seek the dark again." I nodded and replied, "Thank you."

Again, I flew to Dante's Freezer. "Cynder, we need to go to Warfang before we go on another search mission!" I knew he was right and turned towards Warfang; Lighthorn was still under construction. I let him catch up, wanting to arrive together. I wondered how the tree would change in the next week, since we planned to reveal our love at the masquerade ball tomorrow. The tree was in Spyro's room. It had all of his parents, Shuriken and Raelin, and grandparents, Gorathon, Neath, Venus, and Junin. It went back a few more generations. It was magic and if he and I became mates, it would show my family tree. All of his family died in the war, defending the other cities and havens. The ball was being planned by Hera. She wanted to have it for fun and planned to make a move on Nova. Centinel wanted to be with Terra so we all got something out of it.

All of the best craftsmen in Warfang were receiving a lot of business. I went to a mole who owned the store that was destroyed by the Golem. I figured that he needed help with finances and recommended him to Hera. I bought a set of midnight blue armor with a silver star on the forehead. Spyro had nicknamed me his "North Star" because he said that it had aided him and Sparx on many missions. He claimed that it guided him and helped him find his way. "You are my North Star because you saved me. And guided me home, to where I belong."

There were also silver stars that formed some of the major constellations engraved in into the night sky. I loved the set and planned to keep it forever.

We flew to Warfang, taking our sweet time to observe the land we fly over. Since his return, Spyro had changed. He became a little larger and much more skilled in the elements. I even got to teach him the Dark Elements which Ignitus claimed he should learn. His voice had deepened and sounded stronger. Spyro also grew more muscles….if that were possible. He wasn't bulky like Quake but perfectly balanced.

I had also changed. My tail lengthened as did my horns. I became larger too, but stayed sleek and slim. My voice became more like it was when I was under Malefore's rule. I knew that I would soon be maturing to the full extent…an adult. By now I am sixteen. When Spyro and I fought Malefore, we were fourteen. Man, had we changed since our first meeting! The single males from the Shadow Faction became interested in me. Some were giving me these looks that I didn't appreciate at all; either Spyro, Hera, or Krystal were with me at all times.

Spyro decided that we should talk to Hera about the ball and picked up the pace, angling closer to Warfang. I sped up a little; he did too. And it was on. I used my Wind to slow him down and speed me up, but I forgot that he could use it too. So I set to flapping my wings harder. I angled my head lower and tail straight out along with pulling my limbs closer in. As Warfang came closer, Spyro took the lead. It was going to be close…a tie! I laughed as the city's Wall Watch waved and cheered for us. Ahh, the perks of being famous. I noticed a few apes intermixed with the moles today. I suddenly felt a sense of happiness; the apes weren't against them anymore and I was to thank for it. I felt an arrow whiz past my head and looked below to see Hunter along the wall. I was surprised that he managed to keep up with us and gave him a smile. He was pointing to the east where a few dragons began to take off. Among them was Spangler, who had a crush on Spyro, and another, older Shadow male, who I presumed liked me. I showed Spyro this and sped up, using my Wind to aid us. I also blew a cross breeze to slow them down as an add-in. We neared the small building that was off-limits to civilians because it was ours. I had my own level and Spyro had his. Sparx had his own, too along with a few extra floors for any guests.

We slowed up a little as we neared the Temple and burst in the room. We had been gone a little over half a year on our victory tour. There still was a lot to do, but everyone needs a break every now and then. Hera was hugging me before I knew what was happening. "I missed you sooooo much!" I mustered out, "Can't…BREATHE!" She let me go. "Sorry, but I missed you." She circles me. "You've changed so much!" I smiled and looked her over. She had also changed. Her pink became much more vivid and the orange had a golden glow. In short, Hera was beautiful. Spyro bumped fists with Centinel and proceeded to say hi to the others.

After catching up with everyone and talking to Hera about the ball, we flew to our building and went to unpacking our saddle bags. My armor was put in the chest and I moved to cleaning up for the ball. Sparx arrived and began to help me get ready. I slipped on the armor and went to polishing my scales. When I was done, I looked in the mirror. The armor fit me very well and showed all that was praiseworthy of my figure. I knew Spyro was going to recognize me by my eyes so I had bought some eye dye on our travels. I asked Sparx to put it in. The dye would change my eyes to a deep silver and was to last seven days. It slightly burned but did as it was guaranteed to do. I looked at my reflection.

The armor's silver starry engravings laced around my eyes and shoulders and stood out from the midnight blue base color. Not one of my ebony scales were showing and the silver made my new eyes pop. My thinness was emphasized as was my curves and horns. All six of them were uncovered and shining. Sparx gave me a wolf whistle and proceeded to help Spyro, vowing to not say anything to help him find me. I flew out of the building, careful to keep away from any windows. I flew to Hera's, where all of the girls decided to meet since it was closest the main courtyard. Even the adults decided to participate in the ball. I decided to stay with those my age since I didn't want any old, perverted windbags flirting with me. Hera was wearing a white set and kept her eyes a constant shade of green which meant anxiety. I would be anxious too if I didn't know if Spyro loved me. The conversations were about little things and didn't really mean much, until Spangler arrived in her gleaming purple armor.

Why, oh why, does it have to be Spyro? Why not Blitz or anyone else? I know she likes him as does every other dragon in the city. She spotted me and launched into a conversation about how she loved the city. And the inhabitants. "I think we are lucky to have Spyro." I gritted my teeth. Oh, well. She'll get her wake up call tonight. I know that there will probably be tears but she deserves every one. All that flirting when she fit it in was annoying, but payback was coming.

Hera yelled out, "Time to go!" I braced myself, wondering if Spyro will know it's me. I spread my wings which were also covered in the black and silver armor. Wrapped around my red membrane was a thin piece of black chain mail. I took off, anxious and ready for the ball. I wondered how we were going to do it. Would we exclaim it? Give a ballad of our love? A testimony? A song? I hope not because, believe it or not, I have bad stage fright if I'm going to perform. I can sing just fine, but not in front of others. Hera nudged me and smiles, pointing a wing at the courtyard that the ball was being held. I saw a dragon with purple eyes and white armor on. And a black star on the forehead. I knew that it was Spyro and I angled to the other side of the courtyard. Hera let out a laugh and her eyes changed color. Uh, oh. I had the bottle of dye with me and asked Hera if she wanted some, and she nodded fast. I dropped some in and it went to work, swirling around her irises. In a second, the potion had done its work. I went back to spotting Spyro. He was there beside Spangler who was greeting him. I smiled and flew down to where Centinel was.

I landed quietly and tapped on his shoulder with my tail. He looked at me and smiled. "Cynder?" I nodded taking in my brother's scent. In a way, he was my brother; we were both in the Shadow Faction and all in the Shadows are siblings. "Do you mind getting rid of Spangler for me?" He glanced over to where she was and turned back to me, smiling like a opossum. "Will do, sister dear." He began to walk over to the pink she-devil. Centinel began talking to her and she suddenly ran in the direction of Krystal, eyes a-flame. I gave my brother a grateful smile and made my way to Spyro. "Hello," I murmured, voice soft and smooth. He looked at me, smiling and replied, "Eyes a different color. Ha, never seen that before. I doesn't fool me, Cynder. I know who I love." My heart felt like a soaring eagle, joyfully proclaiming to the world that it was happy. The orchestra struck up a tune. Spyro and I had been studying the art of dance for over a year in our travels.

We begun by bowing to each other, heads and wings dipping low, and then circling each other, wing blades touching. The overture was finished and then it really began. I jumped over him and he over me in a circular motion, tail blades locked together. We continued our leaps until the second chord was hit. Then we stood up on our hind legs, our front claws locked together. We danced as the cheetahs did, in a waltz. After the second verse, we began the aerial part. I leaped up and beat my wings to keep aloft. Spyro followed and we began the next part. I grabbed his tail and he grabbed mine. We beat our wings in synch to the music. I noticed all of the others looking on in awe at our performance. I looked at the elders who were staring at us in a mixture of happy and disapproving faces. I could see why since this is the "Circle of the Test of Time" and a black and purple were playing the part when mates usually did this. Sure, it was untraditional and probably a little unheard of. Okay, fine, it was never heard of in the whole history of the race of dragons. But really, I know that we will make it together. As we begun our decent, Spyro gave me a little signal that meant that we were going to announce our relationship.

We landed on the stage as the song ended. He cleared his throat and all eyes turned to us. "Good evening. First off, I would like to thank Hera for putting together this grand ball in such a short notice," Everyone hit their tails on the ground, a sort of applause for dragons. "Second, I have an announcement." I held my breath as he turned to me. "Cynder, ever since we met, I knew that there was something different about you. After we escaped from the crystal, I began to realize something. Every battle, every breath, the feeling I had had since we escaped grew stronger. You were and are the only person that I would want to be magically chained to." A few laughs echoed across the courtyard, lessening the strain on my nerves. "As I put the world back together, you said something to me. And now I return the favor. Cynder, I love you." I smiled. "And I, Spyro, I love you," I replied. Sparx, Hera, and many others broke into applause. Soon the cheetahs and moles followed. And the whole city was shook to its core with the applause and cheering for us. I was surprised when I saw Spangler kiss Burst. Centinel gave me a wink. How I love my brother. As the orchestra began another song, I felt the presence of Slytha, Persephoney, Faila, and Willa come over me. I nudged Spyro towards the garden and less populated part of the courtyard. We walked towards the fountain and roses. I let Slytha come into existence first. Her silvery color was glowing as she took physical form. Spyro had already met my mother when learning Shadow. "Congratulations!" After a few more remarks and three other spirits, we returned to the courtyard as the dragons began to break into groups, heading to various pubs and restaurants. Spyro and I joined Hera and Nova who were standing with Krystal, Terra, Centinel, and Kual.

At the end of the day, I laid down in my bed, breathlessly sighed and went to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They are beautiful," Spyro smiled at our two eggs sitting on the white pillow in our room. One was a glimmering flame colored egg. The color ranged from a red-pink like mine to a gold like Spyro's. Its glimmering surface gave the illusion that it was on fire. The other was blue and silver. I laid them exactly two months after the ball. "If the flame one is a girl, I want to name her Ardea after Ignitus's sister." He smiled. "And if it's a male?" I thought for a moment and then said, "Shuriken, for my father." He glanced to the red and purple one. "I want this one to be called Cadell. And if it's a female, Kallan." I nod, falling in love with him all over again.

Not much had changed in out looks, both of us becoming more like our ancestors. Krystal always said that I looked just like Slytha and Spyro looked like his father. I looked exactly like I did when I was under Malefore's control, but Spyro made sure no one mentioned that. We began to become the more mature in our mentalities and our age. Now around 26 seasons, our lives and those around us began to settle down. Sparx had found a girlfriend who was actually decent. She was a beautiful green-blue dragonfly named Season. The two hit it off and now occupied a room in the tower we lived in.

We had lived long and wonderful teen-age years in the city of Warfang and Lighthorn. The new guardians had children with their mates; we now have many eggs and soon to have many mouths to feed. The pub owners had stocked and restocked their inventory, preparing for the hatchlings. Lighthorn's construction was finished and we stayed there many times a month. Along with the Chronicler's blessing, the whole city celebrated our union and our children.

Lately, we had more and more spare time. Most of the known dragon colonies had moved to either Lighthorn or Warfang; some of the dragons prefer rural living in small villages instead of big cities. No enemies remained. All that was left in our life was family.

We were looking at the moon one night when I heard a sharp crack from our room. I looked over at Spyro and we took off, wondering what the noise was. I skidded to a stop when we reached our destination. Inside the room we shared was a ring of fire. It laced around the room in arches of red and orange. It flickered and flitted but it all started from a crack in the shell of the flame egg. Around the egg was white and blue flames. I walked to the pillow, not fearing the heat. The fires parted as I walked, now lacing around me and Spyro also. It was a spectacle of awe that I wish I could've beheld forever. Sadly, as soon as I neared the egg, the flames stopped and something else poured out. A rolling mass of Shadow poured around us. It never touched us but intertwined around our bodies.

I touched the egg and it shattered, the pieces spilling everywhere and Shadow stopping. My eyes caught a flicker of flame. My vision settled on the tiny hatchling before me. Spyro was at my side in an instant. We looked over our child. She was beautiful. Her underbelly and wing membranes were flames. The colors that danced upon the scales ranged from the golden hue of sunlight to a deep red and purple. The tints flickered and flitted across her body. Her chest was also this flame color with a inset, jewel-like teardrop crystal. It was the same color as Spyro's scales. The color changed to a red with each heartbeat. While her secondary color was flame-like, the other one was ebony. It looked like mine, deep and dark, showing no blush. Her body was like mine in a way, sleek, long. But it was also like Spyro's. She wouldn't be easily knocked down but could also evade anyone. Her wing and tail blades were red but like Spyro's. Her head was more like mine but her muzzle was like her father's. She had tiny horns that were purely awe-striking. The color of platinum, they were long like mine. She had four arranged like mine. "Ardea," Spyro breathed. She looked at us with inquisitive eyes. Her eyes were striking, the irises a sunset orange with gold interlaced within. My daughter, Ardea, was amazing and unique, like us. As I beheld her, the same markings I had appeared on her. They glowed with an orange light. She smiled and looked at the other egg. On cue, a ray of silver light poured out. Along with it came a blue wave of Ice. It didn't effect us in any way.

Inside was another unique dragon. As the egg cracked, I smiled, knowing that my mother was watching. The dragon inside was silver. Unlike his sister, he was asleep. The primary silvery color was like moonlight. The other blue was like the night sky. His scales reflected the light and made it even purer. His wing and tail blades were like mine but blue. His wings were large like his sister's. Their colors were like exact opposites of each other. "Kadell," I smiled. His eyes opened with the sound of his name. They were my green. His pupils were black like Ardea's scales.

I loved them both at first sight. Spyro vision lingered on Kadell. "Hello, my son." The newest editions of the world smiled at us. I watched them as Kadell wrapped his wings around his sister and they slept. Ardea's flame and ebony scales faded to an ashen color. She became that grey color that almost scared me half to death. I thought she was ill or something. Spyro chuckled and laid down beside me as he whispered, "It's fine. She is a fire dragon so in tune to her element, that she is like a fire her self." I nodded, now comprehending what he was talking about. The only one like her was my father, Shuriken, who's scales could burst into flame when emotions ran high. I smile and looked at my Spyro. I saw something flit across his eyes. Was it disappointment? Hurt? Possibly anger? In a second it was gone, and pride shown through. My eyes looked over to the glowing family tree. Soon, two names appeared on the wall. Cadell and Ardea. I was so happy, knowing that this was our future.

Fast forward a few years, to about the time that our children are three seasons. Both could now talk, and breath short bouts of their elements. Not much had changed. They had filled out a little but nothing more. Ardea had a soft yet commanding voice and Kadell had a strong and smooth one. Ardea was bullied though. The other hatchlings across the city taunted her for being the product of a demon and an unclean father. I had decided to do something about it, but I didn't know what. It took me another month before I decided what to do. Hera told me that she would help me in any way possible. And I knew just how she could do it. I would fake my own death. I know it sounds crazy but I can understand why. But don't worry, Spyro will get a letter the next day, stating where I would be and why. From there, Ardea and I would leave to the Coven Peninsula where a few rural dragon communities lied. There, we would stay until she was a master in Shadow and Fire. Then, we would return and tell what happened. By then, the rest of the hatchlings will have either outgrown the taunting or be too scared of my daughter to mess with her.

The next day, everything was planned. Spyro would get the letter saying what happened an hour after we left. So, Hera and I were walking to the market with Ardea in tow when out of nowhere, a sinkhole opens up. It goes into the catacombs, down to where no dragon could survive. Ardea and I fell in, spinning out of control with no hope of righting ourselves before the shadows swallowed us up. Although really I just made us disappear using

my Cloak of Shadows.

"What's going on, Mother?" Ardea asked when we emerged into the sunlight. We took a cave that opened up around a mile from Warfang. I sighed and then replied, "We are going to live away from Warfang for a while." She looked back, orange eyes glistening as I picked her up and we flew away from her home. "Why? Where is Father? Is Kadell coming?" I choked up and shook my head. She continued to look back.

It broke my heart to leave Spyro and my son, but I had to do what was best for Ardea. Soon, we reached the Peninsula and landed. I pulled out a bottle of dye. This wasn't for my eyes. It was for my scales. You didn't really think that I could waltz in and no one recognize me, did you? It was supposed to last for a year. I only needed thirteen doses. Yes, we would stay thirteen years.

I explained to Ardea why I had to change my black and red scales to red and silver. She understood and claimed that she loved me anyway. I smiled and we walked to the nearest village. Here, we would live the next years of our lives.

I knew that this was the best choice though, I would miss Spyro and he would miss me. I knew that it would all work out in the end because he had received the letter.