He had done it. He had restored the world as it was before, in one peace, and on top of that, the war was finally over.
Spyro was lying on the ground with his eyes closed, feeling more peaceful than he thought he ever had.
A content sigh sounded next to the purple dragon, and he opened his eyes to see Cynder lying right next to him, needless to say, she too was happy to finally get a break from the fighting.
The purple dragon smiled at her, feeling happy, successful and lucky to still be alive and well, with his companion. He was very drained from the final fight with Malefor. But it didn't seem to weight on him, only happy thoughts and feelings flowing through him. Still, some greens gems would be very welcome, as he had used up easily most of his elemental magic on the fight against Malefor, and pulling the world back together – even if he had no idea how he had done it.
Just then, he remembered something, 'I love you' – those words rang in his head. The words repeated themselves, multiple times before he could place them at the right place and time. It had been Cynder who said it, only moments ago, when he had been pulling the planet back together. Spyro had not expected to hear that from her, but he was more than glad that he did. He draped a wing over her back and she smiled to him.
Spyro wanted to tell her about all the feelings he had developed during their adventures, how he had never felt so close to anyone. He loved her, and wanted to bring up the subject and pull her closer. Only, his mind was failing to form any way of telling her. He was just about to open his mouth to ask, if Cynder had really asked what he thought she had, but she beat him to it.
"Spyro.. Did you.. Did you hear what I said earlier..?" Cynder asked with red cheeks, looking unsure and embarrassed.
The purple dragon opened and closed his mouth a few times before he found his voice at all.
"Y-yes, I did" he stuttered. His throat felt a little tight as he tried to continue, the black dragoness's anxious glance not at all helping him. "I..I f-feel the same for y-you, I l-love you too." He finished awkwardly, while trying calm his furiously beating heart.
Cynder's eyes flashed with tears of joy. She rushed in for a hug with a bounce, nearly knocking Spyro on his back. She wrapped her forepaws around his neck and Spyro returned the gesture after he had recovered from the sudden, unexpected act. He wrapped his wings around her back pressing her firmly against his chest.
They both pulled back enough to look at each other from eye to eye. While holding that loving glance, Cynder slowly moved her muzzle closer to Spyro's for a kiss. Spyro stiffened when their lips met, but soon relaxed to the soothing emotion. He savored the moment, blocking out everything in the world except her. How long they stayed like that, he had no idea. Slowly they pulled their muzzles apart, smiling still a little awkwardly to each other.
"Nice to know you want to stay with me, even without the chain" Spyro said with an amused smirk.
Cynder smacked him gently with the flat of her tail blade. "You purple lump, of course I want to." She replied, giggling. They still remained locked together in a warm, tight hug.
They stayed like that for a long time, even if neither of them could actually tell how fast the time was passing. They cherished the loving moment, rubbing cheeks against each others. For that moment they felt they had everything they could ever want. Slowly Cynder released him from her hold.
She looked around her and continued, "Uhm, how exactly do we get out of here?"
Spyro hadn't come to think of it. They were still in the large cavern with the crystal where Malefor had been sealed. The rocky walls were sealed shut everywhere, leaving no way out of there.
Then an idea sprung to his mind. He began to walk around the cavern, using his earth element he tried to feel out any sort of opening or a thin wall of rock they could get through. His paws glowed green as he examined the cave, he was low on elemental magic, but a simple task like that wouldn't drain him much. He thought he felt something and looked up to see a patch on the rocky wall that had cracks on it.
Cynder followed his purple companion's gaze to the wall and nodded when he turned his head to her and jerked towards the possible opening.
Spyro took flight and gathered enough of his remaining strength to form an earth missile. He shot it to the wall, it left a small hole where they could see through. There was definitely a tunnel in there. He was preparing another earth missile when Cynder suddenly grabbed him and pulled him to shadows with her. They got through the hole without trouble, but Spyro looked more or less dizzy.
"Warn me the next time you do that!" He exclaimed, shaking his head. Not feeling too amused by getting pulled into darkness all of a sudden.
But clearly his black scaled companion didn't take him seriously and only laughed at his expression. "Naaww, where's the fun in that?"
Spyro tried to glare, but he couldn't hold a grudge against Cynder's twinkling emerald eyes. "Well, we probably should get going. We have no way of knowing how far it is back to the surface."
She only nodded in reply and they started their trip away from the world's core. Occasionally they had to rely on Cynder's shadow element to get through some parts of the narrow caves, while Spyro tried to navigate the fastest way away from the seemingly endless tunnels.
"Hey Spyro"
"Yeah?"
"Don't you think it's a little weird that there are tunnels this deep below the surface?"
Spyro frowned. That was quite a good question, why would there be tunnels wide enough for a dragon to walk near the world's core?
"Maybe the moles have dug the tunnels to inspect the volcano from here?" Spyro offered.
"Maybe" Cynder muttered, not quite convinced.
Somehow she didn't think that was the case. Why would the moles go through all the trouble to dig this wide tunnels just to inspect a volcano?
She pushed the thought away, focusing on getting back to the surface. It wasn't fun by any means, wandering in tunnels without any source of light, even if she didn't have a problem with the absence of light, she was a shadow dragoness after all.
Somewhere ahead a glint of light could be seen, sticking out quite well in a dark tunnel. But that was no sunlight, it was deep purple. The two young dragons exchanged a puzzled look and strode towards it.
As they got closer to the source of light, the tunnel expanded a lot, much to their delight. As they rounded a corner, both dragons gasped at the sight.
There, inside a big deep purple crystal, was a dragon who couldn't be older than Spyro and Cynder. It was a male shadow dragon. He had four ivory horns crowning his head, his body was completely black, save for the red crests and markings on his wings. He wore thick, golden bracelets around his limbs and tail.
It was a good while before either of the young dragons could figure out what to say.
"Who in the world is he, and how did he end up here?" Spyro questioned.
"Or how long has he been there?" Cynder continued.
They both fell into their thoughts, new questions entering their minds concerning the unknown dragon inside the crystal. Who could have put him there in the first place? After all, it didn't seem likely he would have sealed himself inside there, underground, where he would likely never be found. Spyro found himself thinking whether dragons beside purple ones, could even create that kind of crystals.
Eventually, Cynder voiced one of her questions. "You think we should try to break the crystal?" She asked with an uncertain voice with a frown stretched on her face.
"I guess. " Spyro grunted "I don't think it would be right to just leave him there.."
The black scaled dragoness only nodded slowly. She raised a paw to the surface of the big gem. It felt cool and smooth, not unlike spirit gems. But when she tried to break it, she found herself unable to shatter it. She tried to hit it harder, only to hurt her paw.
"Ow, this thing is hard as a rock" She said, grimacing at her hurt paw.
Spyro raised an eyebrow, touching the crystal himself. As he laid his paw on it, a purple wave of light swept through it. Spyro started, and pulled his paw back. Both young dragons exchanged a weirded out glance, not having expected the crystal to react to touch in such a way.
Cynder beckoned him to continue, doing whatever he had done and after a little pause, Spyro raised his paw back on the gem. Again it started to flicker with purple light, growing more intense by the second, but this time Spyro didn't pull his paw back. Soon the whole crystal shone bright and both dragons had to shield their eyes with their wings. Then with a crack, it shattered and the light died away, only leaving the unknown shadow dragon on the ground.
"How did you do that? I couldn't even scratch that crystal." Cynder asked, looking questioningly at Spyro.
"I..I don't know.. I didn't do anything, really. It just.. started to react like that when I touched it." He said uncertainly. The black dragoness grunted thoughtfully as a response.
They both turned their gazes to the unknown dragon, still lying on the ground, not showing any signs of life. Anxiously, Spyro approached him and nudged him with a paw. Still nothing, the purple dragon lowered his paw to the dragon's neck, trying to feel his pulse.
Pump…Pump… It was a little faint, and slow but it was there.
"He's alive." Spyro stated, turning to face Cynder. "His pulse is slow, but he's definitely still alive."
She sighed in relief. Whoever he was, he was one of the very few dragons their age she had seen. The more dragons alive, the better, she thought and moved to check on the unconscious dragon as well.
"It's like he's still in a deep sleep." Cynder told Spyro, listening to the slow, but peaceful breaths the black dragon was taking.
"I guess I will have to carry him. Help me lift him to my back."
Cynder nodded and moved her forepaws beneath the black dragon and started positioning him on Spyro's back. Certain that the dragon wouldn't fall, they continued their journey.
They must have continued for an hour or so and whereas the dragon wasn't actually heavy, the extra weight on his back was starting to take a toll on the purple dragon. When had he actually had a proper rest last time? He tried to push those thoughts away, pushing forwards a touch faster.
Luckily, the tunnel was fairly wide at that point and Spyro was sure they were getting close to the surface. And he was right, they were no longer going upwards at all, they were walking on an ever widening tunnel now. He realized that someone must have been there, even if long ago. The tunnel had extended to a small cave system. A few rooms were formed, as if made that way by using the earth element. Some books, and old looking papers could be seen on a table in one of the rooms.
"We are close now," Spyro stated.
"Mhm," Cynder grunted, concentrating, she could feel the slightest wind coming through somewhere. "Over there. I can feel the wind coming from there." She pointed a talon on a corner of an empty large room's ceiling.
It had definitely been an exit before, only now it was sealed tightly by lots of loose rocks.
Spyro looked at the sight with a distasteful expression. "I don't think I can manage enough of energy to get us through that without resting. And that's too thick to get through with your shadow element.." Spyro said feeling a little annoyed. They were so close to fresh air, and they couldn't reach it yet.
"Maybe, but there's another way of getting through." Cynder winked at him. "Leave it to me."
Spyro wasn't sure of what she was planning and decided just to wait and see. She took a few steps back from the sealed opening and took a deep breath. Purple energy began to form in her mouth, glowing brightly and growing stronger. Only once she was sure she had gathered enough of energy she unleashed her convexity blast.
Spyro shielded himself with his wings, expecting to be hit by dozens of rocks in a moment. To his surprise, none came and he looked to see that the beam went clean through, disintegrating all of the rocks in its path. Cynder had already jumped through the opening and was grinning triumphantly at him from the outside.
"You coming or not?" She joked at him.
Spyro shook his head in amusement. Cynder always seemed to have solutions to most problems, even if they were a bit radical – convexity was a very powerful element after all.
Spyro jumped lightly and flapped his straining wings. The shadow dragon on his back sure did feels like a lot of extra weight when they were off the ground. He landed with an audible thud and nearly stumbled and lost his balance. Cynder snorted a laughter but tried to balance him out with a wing anyway.
Spyro took a deep refreshing breath as his nostrils were filled with cool fresh air, which was a very welcome change after wandering in the tunnels for who knows how long.
The exit of the tunnel brought them out to the open air from the base of a massive volcano. They were surrounded by luscious green bushes and trees. He frowned, how were the trees, bushes and everything so alive and well? The very same volcano had been leaking lava all over the lands around it, not to mention the ocean of grublins that come straight from where they were now. Maybe that whatever power he had used to restore the world as it was, had also erased the damage that had been done to it. It did seem unlikely, but then again, pulling the world back together peace by peace wasn't actually normal either.
Cynder's voice jolted him away from his thoughts. "It's getting dark soon." She said, looking at the horizon to see the light slowly fading. "I will go and catch us something to eat. Think you can manage a fire for us?"
"Yeah, sure. You're sure you don't want me to come along?"
Cynder smiled at his helpfulness. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides you need to keep an eye on him, in case he happens to wake up." She said glancing at the still asleep shadow dragon.
Spyro nodded in understanding, and watched as her black scales disappeared to the forest. He started ripping twigs off from the bushes, they were small and would burn out faster than bigger branches, but they would do for now.
After a while of working he had gotten a pile of small twigs and a few rocks that he used to surround the fire. It was something Ignitus had taught him, when they were still staying at the Dragon Temple. He had instructed to always keep the fire contained, otherwise he might burn down the entire forest.
He paused with his work, sadness grasping his mind. Ignitus.. Spyro hadn't come to think of it, he was gone, really gone. His mentor who had taught him so much wouldn't be waiting him at Warfang. Unshed tears stung his eyes and he wiped them with a paw. At least he had accomplished his last wish. He had gotten them through Belt of Fire, and it was thanks to that they had gotten so far. A sad smile crept to his lips and he sniffed. Gazing to the last rays of sunlight, he thought to himself 'Thank you Ignitus, thank you for everything.'
To get his mind to something else he placed the twigs in middle of the stone circle and started to breath fire to it. His fire came out as a pitiful stream, but it got the job done. The dry wood started to burn better than he expected, which was great, he didn't think he could manage to breath any more of fire for now. Satisfied, he lied down on to his stomach looking as the fire flickered in the gentle wind.
Silent pawsteps could soon be heard and Spyro turned to see Cynder walking closer to the fire with 3 rabbits on hanging from her mouth. She placed them in front of him and beckoned him to start warming them up.
"Thought I'd catch one for him as well, if he would happen wake up." Cynder said.
"I wonder how long he will be like that. I have no idea how long we were unconscious after grublins broke that crystal we were in." Spyro wondered.
"I doubt for very long, those creatures kind of made sure of that." Cynder quipped.
Spyro chuckled lightly. "Feels good doesn't it? For the first time since I left from home, I can actually relax, not having to think how to make it through the day." He said, a contented smile stretched on his face.
"It does, some holidays are welcome after everything we've been through."
They ate their rabbits, but one was left extra, and they decided to share it on the morning if their companion didn't wake up.
Cynder snuggled next to her purple dragon, her head resting on his shoulder. Spyro stretched his wing over her back and it wasn't long before they fell asleep - a very much deserved sleep for the two dragons who had just saved the world.
Spyro could feel the sun rays basically poking his eyelids, but he refused to open them yet. He wanted to sleep just a little bit longer. But no matter how hard he tried, the light wasn't giving him a chance of prolonged sleep.
Yawning, he opened his eyes. Cynder's head was still resting on his shoulder, she appeared to still be asleep. Apparently the shadow dragon who was on the other side of the fire was too, which was hardly a surprise though.
Slowly moving to the side, Spyro got up, while trying to not wake Cynder. Apparently he didn't have success though, her eyelids flickered and she drew in a long breath and started to stretch her legs.
"Morning" She mumbled to Spyro, still a little sleepy.
"I tried not to wake you, guess I had no luck." He replied with a smile.
"It's okay, we are leaving soon anyways, right?"
"I thought I'd look for some green gems before we leave. I could use extra energy if I'm going to be carrying him all the way to Warfang."
Cynder nodded and watched Spyro walk off in search of gems. She let her mind wander as she waited for him to come back, all kinds of thoughts crossing her mind. Would she be accepted in Warfang? Or would she still be seen as a threat, an enemy by majority of the dragon population?
She felt her spirits drop at those thoughts. Surely she had been fighting Malefor along with Spyro, but she had still taken lives of so many, and injured countless of innocent dragons. Cynder could only hope she was wrong and that her life wouldn't be the same as it was for a while back in the Dragon Temple. She had felt so out of place, so guilty and lonely. Even then though, Spyro had tried to stop her from leaving, yes, he was always there for her. Gradually she let her thoughts go into a more positive direction. Maybe she would be given a second chance, if everyone saw how much Spyro stood up for her. The bushes rustled and Spyro's voice reached her.
"Found more than enough of these, so I brought you some too." Spyro said, lowering the left over gems in front of Cynder.
She gratefully drained the energy from them, feeling renewed. "Thanks, Spyro."
They settled the comatose dragon on Spyro's back again and beat their wings to their destination, Warfang. They were making somewhat a slow progress, they had to take small breaks often to keep Spyro from tiring out completely. Also the distance between the volcano and the dragon city seemed a lot longer than they remembered. Slowly, but surely they made their way back to the dragon capital with a bit of complaining from Spyro.
"Come on Spyro, it's not far anymore! Just a little bit longer."
"Far or not, I don't think I can make it there without a long break.."
Cynder grunted disapprovingly, she didn't want to insist on him to keep pushing, but she really would have rather kept flying. Then an idea struck her, perhaps she could assist him with her wind ability. Slowing her pace she moved behind the purple dragon.
"Cynder, what are you.." He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was already rocketing forwards. "Wooohoooo!" He cried gleefully.
Continuing with her wind boosts they reached Warfang in no time at all. Soaring near the great walls of the city, they saw every mole, cheetah and dragon immediately turn their eyes to them. Most of them whistled and cheered at the sight of them, greeting their saviors.
Spyro felt a little embarrassed, not having expected such a commotion from their arrival. Still, he held his head high and flew closer to the main plaza.
Apparently the word of their arrival spread fast, they could see the Guardians, Hunter and even Prowlus already padding to the opening. Descending towards them, Spyro almost flipped over as Sparx flew to his face.
"Where have you been! I was beginning to get worried! Sparx exclaimed, hugging Spyro's snout.
"Sorry Sparx, we stopped for the night. But I'm here now." Spyro replied, happy with his reunion of his foster brother.
The dragon trio landed on the plaza, Spyro strained his muscles as the extra weight of the shadow dragon felt on his limbs and back. Sparx glanced over Spyro, and hovered near Cynder.
"You kept your promise! So I just wanted to.. uhm, you know." Sparx mumbled.
Cynder raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to what?" A mischievous smile rose to her lips.
Sparx scowled at her, for not letting the matter drop. "Thanks.. Thanks for keeping the promise." He muttered, awkwardly buzzing away.
Terrador was the first of the Guardians to speak. "It's good to see that you two have come home safe and sound, we were starting to worry."
"Sorry about that, Terrador. We had to walk our way all the from the world's core first, so we stopped to rest for the night. Also we found him –" Lowering the dragon to the ground. "Inside some strange crystal on our way." Spyro told the group.
The Guardians and cheetahs glanced curiously at the scarred shadow dragon. "
"That is an utmost peculiar, unusual, strange occurrence. We were only aware of two eggs having survived the terrible, appalling night of the raid. It is an intriguing mystery how he had ended up inside a such a crystal, what could quite possibly, likely be similar to the one you are familiar with." Volteer rambled .
"Yes, yes Volteer, we are all interested in the subject of this unknown dragon Spyro brought to us. But where might Ignitus be?" Cyril questioned.
Spyro let his head drop, turning his gaze to the ground. "He.. He didn't.." He tried to speak, but couldn't quite get the words out of his tight feeling throat.
"Ignitus sacrificed himself. He got us through the Belt of Fire with the price of his own life." Cynder stated, turning her head away, unable to keep the Guardian's gaze. Ignitus hadn't been nearly as close to her as he had been to Spyro, but she too was saddened by the fact he wasn't with them now.
Terrador took a deep breath and sighed. "I cannot deny I hadn't thought of the possibility. He didn't say anything, but his demeanor spoke his goodbye."
"It's all my fault.." Spyro muttered.
"Spyro, never blame yourself over someone else's choices. It was his decision, and he was willing to do it. He wouldn't want anyone blaming themselves over his sacrifice, Spyro." Hunter reassured.
"Hunter here is right, young Spyro. We are all sorry to learn these news, but Ignitus's sacrifice wasn't in vain. He died a hero's death, and by doing that you two managed to defeat Malefor." Cyril continued.
Spyro only nodded mutely, not trusting his voice to speak. He could feel tears forming in his eyes. Cynder noticed this and walked up to Spyro, holding her paw on his. He smiled, grateful for her support. They didn't see the weird look Sparx gave them.
"Well, I'm sure you two would like to rest now. We have gotten the two rooms readied for you in the Temple." Terrador spoke. "What should we do with the dragon you brought along?" He questioned, watching everyone present for ideas.
"Perhaps the infirmary would be the best. Perhaps the moles can determine when he will wake up." Cyril offered.
"Yes, that is likely for the best. Now, come along Spyro and Cynder, I shall show the way to your rooms." Terrador said, beckoning them to follow.
Before they got going, Prowlus took a step closer to the purple dragon, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I was wrong about you, young one. I didn't quite believe Hunter, when he told us that you were our last hope. Yet you brought Meadow back to us and fought for our village, even after I had chained you two to the pole. For that, I apologize. And now you have brought down that damned beast, Malefor. I owe you a thank you."
Spyro was a dumbfounded for a while. His eyes flashing a glint of disbelief, Cynder sharing his expression. Never had they expected to hear that from the proud Chief.
"It's okay, you were only trying to protect your village from outside threats. We forgive you for that."
Prowlus nodded stiffly, and walked away. A grin tugged to the purple dragon's lips, grateful for those words. Hunter returned his smile, also amused. Spyro gestured Cynder to follow, and they followed Terrador to the Temple.
They got rooms next to each other, on the highest floor. They were awed, not only was there a good view over the city, but the size of their rooms was amazing. They were both similar, both had a small lobby which was a bit higher than the main part of the room. Neatly crafted and polished small, but wide stairs took them down to the main room, which was divided into different sections by curtains hanging on the ceiling. The rooms had a small library on one section, a big pile of cushions on another – a comfortable looking bedroom. There was a sort of guest room as well, it was smaller but still comfy looking. A medium sized door was opened to the balcony. The door only had wooden edges and it was mainly made of glass. Spyro made a mental note to try not to walk face first into that.
At that moment, both young dragons sat in the middle of Spyro's room, still amazed by the sheer luxury of their rooms.
"About time we get treaded like this!" Sparx exclaimed cheerily.
"This is.. a little too much, don't you think?" Spyro thought.
"Nonsense, this is the least they could do for us!"
Cynder snorted and rolled her eyes. "You know for a little guy, you sure do need a big room to fit your ego in."
"Well, y' know this is nothing yet. We were treaded as gods among the Llama people!"
The black dragoness eyed Spyro. "They did that?"
"Yeah," Spyro chuckled drowsily, before yawning.
"Guess even heroes need sleep, by the looks of you, more than most too." Cynder smirked.
The purple dragon smiled at her, jerking his head towards the pile of cushions, beckoning her to follow. Sparx looked more or less disgusted as they settled down, Spyro's wing draping over Cynder's back.
"She has her own room, so why is she sleeping in ours?" Sparx muttered.
His foster brother smiled at him sheepishly. "We uhm.. will be sharing a room, at least for some time. Besides, there is plenty of room for all of us." Spyro answered, feeling his cheeks warm up.
Sparx looked at them, bemused. "Wait, you two aren't..?"
The young dragons glanced at each other, content smiles reaching their lips. Cynder settled closer to her companion, laying her head on his shoulder.
The dragonfly threw his hands in the air. "Oh, come on. Her? Really now bro.."
Cynder poked her tongue out at Sparx, and he glared back. He sighed, and hovered away to find his own sleeping place.
Closing their eyes, the young saviors let the sleep claim them, drifting to the realm of dreams.