2. The Search Begins
Spyro was eager to explore Warfang, even more so with Cynder at his side. Their first visit to the mighty dragon city had been brief and filled with fighting, when Malefor's forces had almost forced their way past the almost impregnable walls. It was here he and Cynder had fought the golem and finally destroyed it. If they had had the chance Spyro would have liked to explore the city back then, even if it had been partially destroyed by the war.
"Where do you think Sparx has gone?" Spyro asked Cynder, noticing the absence of his glowing friend.
"I'm not sure," she looked around, as though expecting to see the dragonfly appear suddenly. "I haven't seen him this morning. He was gone when I came to check on you. I'm sure he can look after himself."
Spyro gave a lopsided grin, "I suppose you're right, as long as he doesn't cause too much trouble."
Cynder laughed in reply, agreeing that the yellow dragonfly seemed to attract much more trouble than was necessary. She watched Spyro as he looked around the city, his violet eyes taking in every small detail in interest. But Cynder had eyes only for him, totally ignoring their surroundings as she watched his purple form.
Her eyes grazed over his well-built body, his shining, purple scales and the rippling muscles beneath. His horns and underbelly glimmered as though they were made of gold, reflecting the sunlight and giving his whole body a heroic shine. Watching Spyro, Cynder thought back to the time they had defeated Malefor, remembering his face when he had turned and told her that he knew what he had to do.
'I love you.'
Cynder felt her cheeks burn and turned her face into the cool wind as her words came back to her. She had whispered them so softly to him, the crumbling world as loud as an earthquake around them, that she was unsure if he had heard her. But she had meant those words with all her heart. Inspecting his face shyly, Cynder couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same way. Surely he would have said something if he had heard her whisper, wouldn't he?
Spyro turned to face her quite suddenly and she jerked in shock, the blood rushing to her face as she realised she had been caught staring. But Spyro didn't seem to notice a thing, his smile as wide as ever.
"Come on!" he urged eagerly, "I'd like to see the gardens, wouldn't you? We'd better hurry before the bell chimes."
Cynder got over her shock slowly, hoping her blush wouldn't show against her dark scales and dearly glad that Spyro couldn't read minds. She nodded shyly and his grinned widened.
"Race you, Cynder!" he called, leaping away from her without warning.
"Hey!" she yelled after him, watching him gallop across the cobblestones, "you cheater! Wait for me!"
Spyro reached the gardens first, thanks to his head start, but Cynder wasn't far behind. With one huge leap she closed the gap between them and barrelled into the purple dragon, sending the both of them tumbling over onto the grass. They landed in a heap of wings and scales, laughing and breathing heavily until Spyro realised his position. In the tumble he had somehow managed to land on top of Cynder and his chest was now pressed against hers, effectively pinning her to the ground.
The blood rushed to his cheeks as she gazed up at him, and he thought his heart might have skipped a few beats. He got off her quickly, burning with embarrassment and allowing her to get to her feet. They laughed nervously, turning bashful eyes away from each other. Cynder's heart was beating so erratically she was sure it was going to burst out of her chest. Spyro finally broke the uncomfortable silence.
"B-beautiful isn't it?" he stammered, gesturing to the gardens laid out before them.
"What?" Cynder yelped, still shaken from the semi-intimate moment, until she realised Spyro was talking about the gardens and nodded quickly.
The cobblestone streets had given way to a very large circular expansion of grass towards the centre of the city. Dotted here and there around the grass were flowering bushes and small trees, but the largest garden of all was the one in the centre. Surrounded by delicate yellow-flowered bushes, a wispy tree extended its branches to the sky. Dotted along the branches were hundreds of small white flowers, as delicate as snowflakes. It seemed to glow in the light, as though the flowers were alive, like little white fairies. Cynder gazed at the beautiful sight with awe, completely entranced by the tree.
Spyro looked from her to the tree and slowly walked towards it. Cynder watched him in surprise as he rose onto his hind legs and gently plucked one of the flowers from the branches. He held it delicately with the stem between his teeth as he stepped back towards Cynder. She remained stock still as he moved closer to her and thought her heart might stop when his muzzle brushed against her cheek. He gently placed the flower between two of her horns on the left side of her face and stepped away.
"It suits you," he murmured, trying not to blush as he observed how the delicate, white flower clashed magnificently with her shining, black scales.
Cynder managed a smile, her heart pounding and her cheeks burning. He was very close, his nose almost touching hers, a strangely tender expression on his face. Cynder leant closer, bumping his snout gently as she let her eyes droop shut.
Gong.
The two dragons jerked in surprise as the deep knell of a bell resounded throughout the gardens.
Gong.
There it was again, sending tremors through the ground and reverberating in their sensitive ears. Spyro blushed and turned away from Cynder, the intimate moment ungraciously broken by the tolling bell that called them towards the courtyard. Cynder turned away from him too, hoping he couldn't see her blush, and wishing the bell had held off for at least another minute longer.
Gong.
At the sound of the third knell Spyro turned in the direction of the courtyard, somewhat reluctantly.
"Come on," he called to Cynder, "we should get going. Terrador wouldn't want us to be late."
"R-right," Cynder stammered in reply.
She quickly fell into step beside Spyro, ensuring, however, that there was a considerable gap between them. Far too embarrassed by what had almost transpired between them, Cynder dared not get too close to him, nor even look at him. But if she had been brave enough to spare him a look, she would have noticed the frequent glances he kept sending her way. However, the bashful expression on his face went unnoticed by the black dragoness.
The courtyard was near the centre of the city, a large paved ground surrounded by small trees that grew from miniature gardens set into the cobblestone walkway. The far side of the courtyard was occupied by a stage, a rectangular area carved from stone that was elevated almost half a full-grown dragon's height off the ground. The guardians were already there, accompanied, surprisingly, by the glowing Sparx. Hunter stood at the head of a large group of cheetahs, alongside the stocky form of Chief Prowlus.
As Spyro and Cynder entered the courtyard, they were quickly called onto the stage as the rest of the dragon population approached.
Spyro clambered up the shallow steps onto the stage, Cynder in tow, and took his place beside Terrador. The earth guardian gave him an approving nod, leaning down to whisper in his ear.
"Good to see you arrived on time, young warrior. I had almost expected you to neglect your duties out of need for a respite. Your punctuality is impressive. When I was your age I shirked my duties quite often. That is the way with young dragons."
Terrador straightened up and said no more, leaving Spyro slightly confused. He glanced at Cynder, but she merely shrugged her shoulders and quickly averted her eyes. Sighing, Spyro turned to face the crowd that had gathered in the courtyard. No sooner had he raised his eyes, however, was his vision obscured by something shining and yellow.
"Spyro, buddy, where have you been all morning?" Sparx berated him, leaning on the purple dragon's muzzle. "I've been looking all over for you! Old green stuff here told me to stop 'flitting around' and that you'd be here at midday. So, what's the news? What're we doing here, huh?"
He gestured lazily at the gathered crowd, but Spyro only snorted in answer, causing Sparx to fly off his muzzle. Spyro gazed up at the dragonfly, finally able to see him now that he wasn't so close.
"You'll find out in a minute, Sparx. Just be patient and listen."
Sparx folded his arms in reply, a pout forming on his lips. Spyro was about to tell him to stop pouting, when Terrador's booming voice cut the air.
"Dragons and moles of Warfang, Cheetahs of Avalar," he called, instilling instant silence on the chattering crowd, "we have called you here today to address a predicament our city and world is facing. Take a look around you, and tell me, how many dragons can you see?"
Heads turned as dragons turned their eyes upon each other, and cheetahs gazed at the surrounding reptilian beasts. There were far too few, perhaps fifty at the most. All eyes turned once again to Terrador, who didn't wait for an answer to his question.
"There are too few of us, my comrades! Our race is in danger, and only we can salvage what is left of our species!"
He paused, letting the effect of his words sink in to the surrounding crowd. Dragons had turned to mutter to one another, their faces registering what could only be shock.
"Do not despair, however! Not all hope is lost! The world is a large place, full of many holes to hide in. Somewhere, beyond the boundaries of our city, dragons must still exist, in hiding! I propose…" he paused for another moment, his emerald eyes almost glowing, "that we find them!"
The mutterings started up again, whispered words hanging in the air, indecipherable to the dragons standing on the stage. The noise made Spyro agitated and he swished his tail irately, waiting for them to stop. But he didn't have to wait. Terrador spoke again, cutting the mutterings off almost instantly.
"Do you not agree, comrades?"
Silence fell. It was Chief Prowlus who spoke first, his arms folded against his chest.
"That is all well and good, dragon, but how do you propose we find them? I'm not having my troops wander the world in a fruitless effort to scrounge up more dragons!"
Spyro scowled. It seemed Prowlus's attitude hadn't changed at all. Terrador turned his eyes on the cheetah chief.
"Chief Prowlus, I can understand your hesitance. However, the race of dragons may be on the brink of extinction, and we need all the help we can get to save our species. I will not force you to assist. All I can do is ask."
A silence fell between the cheetah and the guardian, until Prowlus averted his eyes with a bad-tempered huff.
"I will not lead my troops on this search," he growled. "Unless there is someone else willing to lead my tribe…"
"I will."
Every head turned to the golden-furred cheetah who had spoken. Hunter looked back without hesitation, gripping his bow, and repeated himself.
"I will. I will lead a force to seek out any dragons that remain in hiding."
Prowlus only glared at him as the majority of his cheetahs nodded in agreement with Hunter's choice. Terrador smiled gratefully.
"Thank you, Hunter."
"Now," Terrador turned his eyes on the dragons once more, "have you come to a decision? Will you assist in finding our hidden comrades?"
The decision was unanimous. Every dragon yelled out in agreement, enough to raise a roof if there had been one. Spyro's shoulders relaxed in relief, and he cracked a smile. The guardians nodded approvingly.
"Spyro."
The purple dragon looked up at the sound of his name to see that Terrador was looking at him.
"Do you accept leadership of a search party?"
He nodded swiftly, "I do, Terrador."
The earth guardian nodded, "Good. Cynder…"
"I want to go with him," she said swiftly, blushing when she realised how quickly she'd spoken. "Uh…if that's…okay."
"Of course," his green eyes smiled at her and she felt she might collapse with relief. There was no way she was letting Spyro out of her sight, not after all they'd been through together.
"I will need volunteers for two search parties!" Terrador roared to the crowd. "One shall be under the command of Spyro and Cynder! I will need someone to volunteer to command the second search party."
The guardians, along with Spyro, Cynder and Sparx, waited tensely as the dragons talked amongst themselves. Eventually, after much muttering, twenty dragons stepped forwards from the throng. Terrador looked them over approvingly, before asking his next question.
"Which of you will lead the second search party?"
The dragon that stepped forward was older than Spyro and Cynder, well into his adulthood. There were little to no younger dragons in the city, and certainly none as young as Spyro and Cynder.
"I volunteer," the dragon said, his purple eyes serious. "My name is Feldun. It is an honour to assist my species."
Spyro considered the dragon with mild interest. His scales were of a dusky blue, darker than the much lighter blue of his underbelly and wing membrane. He was well built, but slender, and Spyro could tell just from his colouring that he was an ice dragon. Terrador didn't object. Instead he gazed down at the remaining nineteen dragons.
"Ten of you," he paused, pointing with a claw at half of the dragons, "will assist Feldun. The other nine of you are to be under the command of the purple dragon, and Cynder. They may be young, but I assure you they are not inexperienced. Heed their orders."
He waited until the dragons had split themselves up to stand behind their respective leaders. At a nod from Terrador, Cynder and Spyro moved down from the stage to stand with their assigned group. They gazed expectantly at the guardians.
"You have an hour to prepare yourselves. Meet me back here when the bell tolls once, and you will begin your journey."
When the search parties did return to the courtyard an hour later, Terrador was the only one waiting for them. There were three groups: a troop of cheetahs under the command of Hunter, and the two groups of dragons led by Spyro, Cynder and Feldun. Terrador looked them over, noticing that some of the dragons had donned armour and were looking as serious as if they were heading out to war.
"Hunter," Terrador addressed him first, "take your troops and scout the valley of Avalar, the forest beyond and up near the catacombs. You may be lucky to find dragons there."
He turned to Feldun, "Feldun, take your group and head out past the ruins of the old dragon city. Search the plateaus and forests beyond the dam."
Lastly he addressed Spyro, "Spyro, Cynder, I want you to head back to the dragon temple and along the Silver River. It's a long flight over the sea, but I'm sure you'll manage. Search everywhere you can for signs of dragon life."
Spyro nodded without a word and Terrador stepped back to gaze upon the assembled search parties. Every eye stared back at him, filled with determination. The old warrior nodded sharply, just once, and every dragon spread his wings.
"Good luck, comrades. Bring us back new hope for our species," he tossed his head, eyes shining, and Spyro was reminded suddenly of Ignitus. "Now, go! Fly, dragons! Good luck!"
Amidst a great flapping of wings, the two groups of dragons sprang into the sky and left only dust in their wake. Hunter saluted Terrador sharply before gesturing to his troops and hurrying off to the gate in the southern wall that would lead to the Forbidden Passage back to the valley of Avalar.
Terrador turned to watch the retreating forms of the dragons, his eyes following the purple dragon and the black dragoness who flew at his side. It was all he could do to wish them luck.
The world was indeed a large place. Spyro vaguely remembered the first time he had learnt to fly, when he had flown the distance across the ocean to Dante's Freezer. But even that paled in comparison to the lengthy flight that now faced them. He hadn't realized the ocean between the Mainland and the Dragon Temple could be so vast. Even after flying for hours, no land came into sight.
"Hey, Spyro."
The purple dragon ignored the tiny voice beside his ear, his head full of old memories in the Dragon Temple.
"Spyro."
Ignitus had trained him there, taught him how to fight and to use the fire breath that he had discovered on his own. That place had been like a home to him. It was hard to believe he hadn't been back there for over three years.
"Spyro!"
What would it be like now, after three years of desertion? Maybe it would be overrun again with strange beasts, like it had been all those years ago. Maybe Ignitus would be there, waiting for them, to greet them with a smile and ask where they had been for so long. He had to be there, surely. The temple would be so empty without him.
"SPYRO!"
The force of the yell made Spyro's ears ring and he finally turned to look at whatever it was that had been calling his name. Sparx glowered at him, folding his tiny arms.
"I thought you'd gone deaf."
"What is it you want, Sparx?" Spyro asked ignoring the dragonfly's comment.
"Do you think we'll get to go to the swamp? You know…to see mum and dad?"
Spyro looked at Sparx in surprise. Never had he heard the dragonfly speak so seriously, with such longing in his voice. It was true, neither of them had returned to see the dragonflies who had raised them since they had first left the swamp all those years ago.
"Maybe," Spyro murmured, "I'm not sure. We've got a job to do, after all. But maybe…maybe we can stop by to see them."
Sparx nodded slowly, his brow furrowed in thought, "Do you think they'll be happy to see us?"
Spyro's head shot up in shock, "Of course they will! They're your parents Sparx, and…mine too, I guess. Of course they'll be happy."
"Yeah," Sparx grinned sheepishly, "don't know why I asked that."
Spyro smiled softly, gazing out over the waters. He turned around to see the nine other dragons, as well as Cynder, following close behind.
"Come on," he prompted, "we should be there soon."
No sooner had he spoken than Sparx gave a triumphant cry beside him, "Look, land!"
A chorus of gasps came from the dragons and Spyro breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, on the horizon, land was coming into view. Cynder strained her wings and moved up to Spyro's side, gazing thankfully at the green splodge of land on the horizon. Spyro turned his head slightly, to look at her from the corner of his eye. The sunlight glaring off her scales almost made her glow and he realised with a slight shock that the flower he'd given her was still pinned between two of her smaller horns.
His cheeks flushing, Spyro firmly set his eyes on the horizon and attempted to stop thinking about the black dragoness beside him. But she invaded his every thought and he found himself unable to think about anything else. Her gem-like black scales, her gleaming red chest, her vibrant emerald eyes, everything about her was enticing and beautiful. But what Spyro liked most was that it felt completely natural to have her by his side.
"Where should we land?" the sound of her voice jolted him from his stupor and he shook his thoughts from his head.
"Um…" he paused, considering her question for a moment. "The Dragon Temple is a good place to start. Although, it's been three years, I don't know what it's going to be like now."
Cynder noticed the nervous edge in his voice and smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure it will be fine, Spyro. Everything will be just like it used to be."
But Spyro knew that wasn't true.
'Not everything,' he thought sadly, 'nothing will be the same without Ignitus there.'
They landed an hour later, as Spyro had suggested, on the balcony of the Dragon Temple. Most of the dragons who had accompanied Spyro and Cynder had never been to the temple before and were gazing around them, awed. Spyro gazed out over the balcony, at the forest beyond, split in two by the shimmering worm that was the Silver River. He had done this many times before, but it felt strange to be seeing this sight after such a long time away. And even more to know that Ignitus was not there beside him. His heart felt heavy.
"You okay?" he felt something warm brush up against his side and realised Cynder had come to stand beside him.
She was looking at him with concern in her emerald eyes, perhaps realising how it must feel for the purple dragon to finally returned here to this place he once called home.
"Y-Yeah…"he stuttered, "I'm fine."
He turned back to the other dragons, who were still inspecting the temple from the outside. Sparx hovered over to him.
"Hey, what should we do? Terrador never said where to search once we got here…"
"I want to search the temple," Spyro murmured back, "just to see if anything has changed since we last came here. We'll figure out what to do afterwards. Besides, it's almost nightfall. We should rest here."
Cynder and Sparx didn't argue and the purple dragon stepped forwards to address the nine other dragons that made up the rest of the search party. They all turned to him with expectant eyes.
"We will search the temple for now," Spyro began. "It is unlikely there will be any inhabitants, but I want to make sure. We will spend the night here and search the forests tomorrow. If anyone has any disagreements, speak them now."
It felt odd to be speaking with such command to dragons that were at least twice his age, but not one of them questioned Spyro's suggestion. It was a unanimous decision that they should spend the night in the Dragon Temple, one that none objected to. Without another word, Spyro led them towards the doors of the temple and entered its walls for the first time in over three years.
The inside was just as he remembered it. The great dragon statue dominated the room, reaching almost to the roof. Whenever the room was in use the statue would sink into the floor. Spyro vaguely remembered training here many years ago with the four guardians he had come to know so well. It seemed oddly different without the crude straw dummies littering the ground, objects he had once practised on.
Murmurs of admiration and awe came from his group as they gazed at the statue, but Spyro had seen it many times before and moved on with barely a glance at it. Cynder hurried at his heels, Sparx hovering behind her. The next room contained a flat green pool, with water as smooth and still as glass. This was the Pool of Visions, where certain dragons could see visions within its waters. Ignitus had been such a dragon, and Spyro too seemed to have picked up some of that talent.
But at that moment the purple dragon had no urge to consult the visions of the pool. He moved on, walking through every room in the temple and gazing into every nook and cranny until he was satisfied that nothing had changed at all. Nothing, that is, except for the absence of his mentor the fire guardian. Eventually he returned to the room where he had once slept, just off from the room containing the Pool of Visions. Cynder and the rest of the dragons followed him there.
"The temple is deserted," Spyro murmured, "as I expected. We will rest here for the night, and search the forests tomorrow."
The other dragons nodded without question and settled themselves on the floor, but Spyro didn't join them. He gazed blankly into the distance for a brief moment before turning and walking away. Cynder and Sparx exchanged anxious glances before they too hurried after the purple dragon.
They found him outside, sitting on the balcony and gazing out into the distance as the very last of the sun's rays disappeared from the sky. Only the moonlight lit up his violet scales and reflected from his eyes. Cynder couldn't help but notice how sad those eyes were. She approached and sat by his side, not saying a word. Sparx hovered down to rest on her head and for once she didn't complain. Silence passed between them for only minutes, and yet to Cynder they seemed like hours.
"Spyro?" she asked softly, finally.
"Hmm?"
"You're not alone, you know. I'm with you. So…so you don't have to be so sad. I prefer it when you smile."
Spyro stared at her, surprised at the sudden words, and suddenly realising just how he was acting. Coming here had brought up so many old memories, good and bad, and yet it seemed to have dashed the last bit of hope from his heart. Somehow he'd still insisted to himself that Ignitus was still alive. He had to be alive, somehow, somewhere. And subconsciously, without realising it, Spyro had convinced himself that the fire guardian would be waiting here at the Dragon Temple for him to return. But that had been a foolish thought, and it had only served to worsen his sadness when he finally realised that Ignitus wasn't there.
"I…" he stumbled over his words for a moment, unsure if he could speak them to her, unsure if she would understand, "I was so sure. I was so sure that he would be here. But…he's not. He's gone. He's really gone."
Spyro didn't have to say Ignitus's name for Cynder to know whom he was talking about. She just nodded in silent understand and hesitantly extended a wing across his back. Bowing his head, Spyro leant his shoulder against hers and found comfort within her embrace.
"It's okay to be sad," she whispered, barely aware now of Sparx who had fallen asleep on her head, "It's okay to feel like you're alone. But I will stay beside you no matter what. You will never be alone. Ignitus is with you too, within your heart. It's ok to feel sad, but you're not alone."
Spyro let his head lean against her chest and listened quietly to her beating heart. She stiffened in shock at this movement but let herself relax and enjoy the feeling of his body beside hers. It seemed in that instant that nothing in the world could possible spoil this moment.
"Cynder," he murmured, raising his head again to look her in the eyes, "thank you. For you, if nothing else, I will smile."
Nothing more was said between the two dragons on that night as they sat together, content beside one another, and gazed upon the moons.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I really do appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^.^