Chapter 2

Weeks passed in a blur of excitement. Little Voltis was breathing tiny sparks of electricity and growing at a fast pace. She had to be half a foot tall by now! And she moved with quick, jerking motions that Jacob had trouble tracking. I didn't, but then again, I have excellent reflexes.
At the same time, Syne wasn't quite breathing any elements, but he sure was trying. Occasionally smoke would come out of his mouth, marking that his first element would probably be fire.
Syne was growing slower than Voltis, but he was well built for such a young dragon. You could see his little baby muscles rippling as he wrestled with Spyro's paw or Cynder's tail blade.
We went to the temple often, letting the two dragonets chase each other around the training room and wrestle playfully, while Jacob, Spyro, Cynder, Cyra, Embara, the other guardians, and I watched with amusement. Occasionally we would take this time to gossip and pick up on any news we might have missed.
While Voltis took a liking to Volteer and often wanted to climb up his front leg and scratch at his shoulder, Syne liked Embara the most. He would paw at her tail as she flicked it back and forth, laughing all the while.
Once Syne grabbed it and sank his teeth into it, refusing to let go. Of course it didn't hurt the fire guardian, who only laughed in her usual sarcastic manner and gently swung her tail around. When Syne didn't let go, she swung her tail with more force. That didn't work.
Cyra grabbed Syne and pulled him away. He didn't want to let go, but did anyway with a sigh. Then he twisted around and nipped Cyra's leg. She ignored the bite and put him back down on the ground.
Spyro looked at him sternly, causing him to sheepishly hunch his shoulders and look at Voltis. She was in the middle of her usual pastime of scratching up Volteer's leg. He had grown used to it and was now just watching her, his usual grin on his face.
"She shows a rather large amount of enthusiasm, wouldn't you say?" Volteer asked, looking around at us all when Voltis tackled his paw and started clawing at it. Her claws had become long for her size, and although I wasn't clipping them anymore I still kept them blunt. The scratches would barely hurt, if they even did at all.
"She has my blood in her," I said. "Of course she's going to act like that. She'll probably be a great fighter."
"Definitely," Cyra agreed. "She's fast and strong, not to mention pretty. She's exactly like you."
"Well, I hope some part of my personality develops in her," Jacob commented. "I don't think I want her to act crazed like that for the rest of her life. Men don't like a violent girl."
I thumped his shoulder hard. "Is that true?"
"But there are exceptions," he added, rubbing his shoulder. "Ow, that hurt."
"Get over it, tough guy," I said, looking back at my daughter. She was now lying on the floor, fast asleep. "How the heck did that happen?"
"Volteer was telling her about carbon something or others," Embara said, rolling her eyes.
"Carbon monoxide!" Volteer said, exasperated. "You cannot tell me that you do not comprehend what it is!"
"Sorry, I know what it is but I'm totally uninterested," Embara said.
"In my opinion, nobody is interested in it other than him," Cyril commented, hiding a smile. Volteer still shot him a hurt look. "Come on, old bean. You know I'm just fooling with you."
Luckily, in the past few years Cyril has become a little more bearable. He hasn't been quite as arrogant. Possibly because I taught him a lesson about that a few years ago, but that's beside the point. Indeed, the scar on his thigh where I had slashed him with my wing spike was still visible. I had been thirteen at the time. If I hit him now with that spike, the damage would be so much worse.
"Voltis, sweetie, are you awake?" I called softly. Voltis didn't answer. "Wake up, dang it! Syne, wake her up."
Syne slowly crept up to Voltis. Then he leapt toward her. In a flash, her eyes were open and she had dodged him. Then she pinned him to the ground and held him there, her eyes blazing triumphantly.
"Oh yeah! That's my girl!" I shouted, running over to her. I scooped her up. "You are mommy's little girl, yes you are." I nuzzled her, then looked at everyone else. They were all looking at me in surprise.
"Wow, that was unexpected," Cyra said. "That almost made you seem, you know, dragon."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked with a dangerous tone seeping into my voice.
"Well, you're not normally very affectionate," Embara explained.
"Not affectionate?" I demanded. "Not affectionate? Jacob, take Voltis." I handed Voltis to Jacob and advanced on Embara and Cyra. They warily stood their ground, watching me carefully. "I will have you know that I am very caring, and I love my husband and daughter!"
"Whoa, calm down, man," Cyra said quickly.
"Oryps, you are being irrational," Volteer said in his most calming voice. "I am sure they were just joking with you."
If he had been anyone else, I probably would have rounded on him too. But I didn't, and instead muttered, "Fine, whatever." Cyra and Embara relaxed, looking relieved. I stormed over to them and they quickly got alarmed again. "But like I said, I am a very caring person. Just so you know."
"Okay, okay, we know," Cyra said, holding up her paws in an attempt to appease me. Embara made a similar gesture.
"Everyone!" a familiar voice called from the balcony.
"Sparx!" Spyro shouted happily, running toward the small yellow glow coming toward us. "I haven't seen you in weeks!"
"That's because I have something very important I want to tell you," Sparx said, a big grin on his face. "Lily, come in here! Don't be shy!"
A light purple glow came toward us. It disappeared, revealing a dragonfly. Her skin was pure white, like untouched snow. Her delicate wings were light purple, a lilac shade. Her cheeks had a faint pink blush to them, and her eyes were brilliant blue. Her antennae were long and swept back, as if she had been flying in a high wind. But something told me they were always like that. And she had long, shiny blue hair.
I didn't know much about the dragonfly standards of beauty, but something told me that she would be considered very attractive. What was she doing around an average Joe like Sparx?
"Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Lily," Sparx said, putting his arm around Lily's waist. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Sparx, don't you think she's a little too good for you?" Spyro asked. "Look at her! She's perfect!"
"I know, right? But I'll have you know she doesn't care what I look like," Sparx replied. "She cares about the fact that I listen to her and talk to her about normal stuff, instead of going on about how pretty she is and reciting lame love poems. Like all the other guys."
"Well, in that case, nice to meet you," I said, holding out one claw. Lily grasped it and shook it with a surprising amount of strength. I smiled. "Well, well. Not just a little frail insect, are you?"
She didn't even take offense. "And look at you," she replied. "You're a pretty big dragon, but in my opinion you're probably more talk than action. You couldn't even hurt an insect. Beautiful dragonesses are hardly ever aggressive."
"Oh, you wanna bet?" I demanded, spreading my wings and pawing at the ground. Sparx got between us, spreading him arms.
"People, calm it down. This is not acceptable behavior," he said. "Lily, please, don't taunt Oryps. She will hit you, whether you're a dragonfly or not. She's never held back from hitting me either. Just try not to get her angry with you. After all, she took down Cyril when she was thirteen."
"Really?" Lily asked. She looked at Cyril incredulously.
"Please, I don't need reminding of that," Cyril said, hunching his shoulders and looking away.
"I really did a number on him," I explained. "Two bites, numerous clawing, and of course, I slashed my wing spike into his thigh. That was purely accidental, of course. Usually I only use it to pull off a coup de grate."
"And what would that be?" Lily asked in confusion.
"A mercy killing," Volteer answered for me. "She's a ruthless fighter, but once the battle is over, she is quite gentle and even caring toward the victim. She has never once killed another dragon, although she has come close numerous times in competitions."
"That's right," I said proudly. "But in the case of the apes, Dreadwings, grublins, and other assorted creatures, I just kill them off painlessly."
"I guess you are more violent than could be expected from looking at you," Lily said.
"Never judge a book by its cover," I said. "There's more to me than what meets the eye. Looks can be deceiving. Need I go on?"
"That's not necessary."
"So how'd you meet Sparx?" Spyro asked. "You look way too good to even hang around someone like him, let alone be considered his girlfriend."
"Sparx is really nice," Lily replied. "And he's very funny. Did he tell you all the story about when Spyro..." Sparx quickly interrupted her.
"Uh, yes, they've heard it. They think it's funny too," he said, glancing at Spyro.
"Wait, when Spyro what?" Spyro demanded.
"It's nothing of any importance," Sparx said hurriedly. "Just about that time in first grade. With the girl's bathroom and the bet..."
"Oh, Sparx, you didn't tell her about that, did you?" Spyro asked in horror.
"Boom, baby! I remember the screaming as if it had happened yesterday! Oh, Mom was so mad when she found out!" Sparx and Lily started laughing hysterically together.
"Spyro, you entered the girl's room?" Cynder said, turning to Spyro.
"He was going to pay me if I went in there," Spyro said sheepishly. "I just had to."
"Don't worry Cynder, I'm sure he was just curious," I said, keeping my face perfectly blank. "Well Spyro, at least now you know about the inner workings of..."
"Don't even go there, Oryps!" Spyro warned, and everyone else started laughing like crazy. Including me.
Even Syne and Voltis were giggling, looking at us with large, bright eyes.
"Well, it's been nice chatting with you all," Sparx said at last, putting his arm around Lily's waist again. "But we have a lunch date and we're late."
As they were flying out the door, what he said finally clicked. "Sparx!" I yelled after him. "You're a poet and you don't know it! And you're a bad one at that!"
"I find that to be a compliment!" he called back before he was gone from view.
Grinning, I leaned down to pick up Voltis. "Well, I think we should all go home for lunch too."
With a soft, purring sound, Voltis rubbed my face and smiled. Right now, I was her one source of joy and love, other than Jacob. She looked up to me and loved me no matter what. It made me feel really good inside. I don't think anything would ever be able to break our special mother-daughter bond.
"Everyone, this isn't good," Spyro said. He had been idly looking at the vision pool and now was staring at it intently. "A black and red dragon just entered the volcano where Malefor is sealed. And he's obviously not planning anything good at all."