Alone With Cynder

Pain burned through Spyro as he flew and intensified when he flapped his wings. Trying not to show this to Cynder he smiled but started to slow down so as to lessen the pain. Cynder noticed this and slowed down so she was flying next to the purple dragon.

"What's up" she asked her emerald eyes sparkling.

"Nothing," replied Spyro "I'm just thinking"

Cynder chuckled lightly "About what "

"Well are we alive or dead? Where are we? What happened? Is everyone OK? Is Malefor gone for good? Where is the Destroyer? Is the world back together properly?"

"Wow that is a lot of questions," acknowledged Cynder "That I don't know the answer to,"

They flew in silence for about an hour just thinking about whatever was on their minds. Spyro's body continued to protest against every movement and he wished he could land but the ground below just didn't feel safe. Cynder broke the silence.

"I wish Sparx was here."

Spyro almost fell out of the sky with shock.

"But… But you two are always annoying each other,"

Letting his guard down Spyro winced as a sharp pain slashed across his body. What disconcerted him was that no injuries were visible so the damage was probably internal

"Spyro what's wrong," asked Cynder worry etched over her features.

"Let's just say I didn't escape defeating Malefor and putting the world back together unscathed,"

"Well that proves one thing," smiled Cynder "We're alive."

Cynder growled in pain and clutched her side.

"I didn't get out unscathed either. Want to land."

They landed in a cave behind a waterfall and got soaked trying to get in the entrance. Spyro collapsed onto the ground gratefully, completely knackered. He waited for a minute before standing up again. Cynder had found some dry twigs and piled them together at the cave mouth but far enough away so the water didn't splash the fire. Spyro breathed a thin stream of fire onto the bundle and was surprised at how difficult it was. Soon a steady fire warmed and lit the cold dark cave. It was already very dark outside.

"I've never flown so far in my life," sighed Cynder "Even when I was evil."

She lay down on the floor and folded her delicate pink wings

" Me neither," breathed Spyro "I've not been flying as long as you though because I didn't know I could fly until Ignitus taught me about being a dragon."

Spyro was close to tears and his body started to shake with grief he coughed to try and stop crying however all that came out of that was a burst of flame that nearly roasted Cynder's side. She yelped in surprise but remained silent. Spyro lay down next to Cynder who comforted him. She hugged him with her wing and put her black paw over Spyro's purple one.

"Cynder what did you say just before I put the world back together?" Asked Spyro quietly "I thought you said something but I couldn't hear because of the noise."

Cynder took a moment to recall what she had actually said. Placing her mouth against Spyro's ear she whispered "I love you"

Spyro put his head against Cynder's chest and cried until he had no tears left. Cynder didn't mind even if her scales were getting wet because she had liked Ignitus too. After a few minutes Spyro moved his head away from Cynder and shook it a few times to dry it. Cynder got even wetter. A fresh wave of pain slid through Spyro's small body so he moved his paw from under Cynder's and placed it against his side. Cynder was worried that a lot of their injuries were probably internal and any bruising that might show a bone was broken or something similar were hidden due to their scales.. There was another reason they weren't visible but she didn't want to mention it, couldn't mention it. She voiced her concern to Spyro who raised his head from his paws and yawned.

"Well we can check ourselves over in the morning"

Cynder stretched her thin tired black form before succumbing to the soft fingers of sleep. The last thing she heard was Spyro crying softly. She whispered one word that hung on the wind "Ignitus." Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Spyro woke when a ray of sunlight shone in his face; he stirred and groaned before struggling wearily to his feet. Cynder was already up. Spyro nodded at her then limped over into a patch of light. He yawned once before chuckling.

"I could sleep for another fortnight,"

Cynder laughed at that and she was also glad Spyro was a bit happier than he had been last night

"Spyro I had a thought," stated Cynder "It'll be easier if we check each other over."

Spyro cocked his head "You check me first so I know what I'm looking for."

Cynder laughed before beginning to scan him for injuries muttering as she went. Spyro stayed completely still while she checked him, beforehand he had told her where he was tickly so Cynder was very careful at they parts on his body. She patted his body and made a mental note of where he winced then she asked him to move about and tell her if it hurt. Next she felt his bones to see if any were broken. Cynder stopped and told Spyro where she was tickly. As Spyro was inexperienced whereas Cynder had checked Gaul over many a time, Cynder ended up in fits of giggles. The inspection had taken Cynder twenty minutes but Spyro took two hours and Cynder was clutching her chest and struggling to breathe. It took ten minutes before she was able too speak coherently.

"Now what should we do Spyro."

Spyro didn't answer and turned to the mouth of the cave. Cynder repeated her question but Spyro still didn't answer he just kept staring out into the horizon. He uttered one word that chilled Cynder to her bone.

"Ignitus"

He growled deep in his chest and opened his mouth. The ground trembled as a huge purple blast of raw energy erupted from Spyro's open mouth. A shockwave blasted Cynder off her feet. Slowly Spyro closed his mouth and the energy beam dissipated. Power seemed to crackle around Spyro and purple sparks danced around his scales "Spyro can you help me up," Cynder asked quietly.

Heaving her upright was strangely easy for Spyro however that didn't bother Spyro. Cynder shook some dust off her scales then described Spyro's injuries to him.

"You're lucky you're not dead Spyro…"

"How so," asked Spyro nervously

"Well seven of you're ribs are broken, you're front left foot paw is broken, there's a huge gash on you're side and your right hip has been punctured all the way through the bone.

"How did I not see those when we were flying," asked Spyro confused.

"Because," whispered Cynder darkly "Malefor didn't want us to."

Still confused Spyro asked her to explain what she meant. Cynder obliged

"The Dark Master perfected a spell that stopped wounds inflicted by him from being seen for a while. They hurt and everything else but the injuries couldn't be seen."

"But why do that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" snapped Cynder "If the dragon wounded didn't notice they were wounded by the time the spell wore off the damage would be beyond repair."

"That is sick" growled a very disgusted Spyro

"Yeah and I haven't finished with just how wounded you are."

She continued describing his injuries for another ten minutes and that was just his major injuries. Spyro just looked at his friend and wondered how any dragon could survive let alone move around and function. Then he looked at himself. The injuries were now visible whereas Spyro's purple hue was barely visible.

"Yikes."

His entire body was bruised, burned, cut and broken. A chunk of his side was taken off when he had been hit by the Dark Master's Dragon Darkness flame (The purple fire Malefor uses) and his chest had been mangled by a Darkness meteor (the very annoying purple homing bombs Malefor uses). After he had stared in disbelief at himself he described Cynder's injuries to her even though she could see the damage done to her.

"I didn't find any outward injuries because of the spell but six of your ribs are broken and…"he went on for around ten minutes "Hey how did you find outward injuries."

"Hmm… Well I suppose I can tell you; it was hard enough to break my oath to tell you about the spell. I know a spell that unmasks some of the injuries. It's not very good but…"

She groaned and clutched her stomach.

"I wonder how we managed to fly here," she chuckled.

Spyro shrugged before turning to look at the scenery again. A few minutes elapsed before he spoke again.

"Why did you say that you wished Sparx was here? You're always down each others throats."

Cynder laughed softly

"I don't know. He's not that bad now that he isn't annoying me about my past. He is pretty amusing. And I don't want to have to look after you for him. "

Spyro laughed his head off even though his body ached. When he had finished and calmed down Spyro closed his eyes "Well at least it'll be quieter without you two arguing."

He looked at Cynder who looked back puzzled by his expression.

"What," she asked with a confused tone and expression

Spyro blinked once "Nothing come on we'd better go."

"Where," asked Cynder.

"I don't know… Hey Cynder do you want to meet my parents."

"OK sure, they're dragonflies right."

"Yeah how do you know that?"

Cynder just winked at her friend, concealing one of her emerald eyes for a moment