The beautiful thing of being young was that you didn't had to worry about things. Even if there was a big problem right in front of you, hovering about your head like a dark cloud breaking in the purity of the blue sky, you would be able to see past it.
It would undoubtedly disappear from sight, blown away by the winds of purity and innocence, leaving behind the untainted sky and the warm of the sun beating down.
That was the vantage of being a kid. Nothing could worry you at all.
That was true to most of the kids, including the young dragons.
The ones who were just said that they were the future Guardians, the ones responsible for, one day, saving the world and protecting everyone from the danger that was the dark shadow of Soul and Malice, were now running in the backyard, playing around with other dragons as they all were forgetting about the events that happened earlier.
Well, not all of them.
Spyro and Ignitus were playing tag, with Lumino following them from close, as he too was getting in the spirit and liking to play like that. On the other side, Cynder was looking in the field as she watched the others playing, as if she was deep in thought. While this, her sisters were in the yard too, minding their own affairs. Whirl was sitting into a corner, right by Terrador's side, both of them were eating calmly as they were close to each other. Terrador was reading a book as Whirl sat right by his side. Who looked at her could swear that she had a slightly blush in her face.
Depth was in another corner, playing around with Voolter. The young yellow dragon shared her sense of adventure and her passion for playing. The two dragons had indeed a lot in common. Actually, by the giggling that they were having and the way they both were talking to each other, many people could think a lot of things about it. Most would come to the conclusion that they were both planning a new prank. And they were, indeed.
Cyril was on his usual spot, eating alone as he stood into the elevated rock, looking down at who passed, almost as if he was a prince sitting on his throne. Sure, this kind of behavior was expected from an ice dragon. After all, they were known for being the most prideful of all the dragon kinds, and they were very proud of their "royal" ancestry, as they always said it, and Cyril was absolutely no exception. He always behaved as if he was the more important hatchling from the temple, and he seemed to be completely sure that he was should be threated as so by the others, and he didn't liked people defying him and threating him as if he was a "simple commoner" as he said it. This, of course, granted most of the other hatchlings to avoid him.
Lumino was running with Spyro and Ignitus, as both were running from him. He looked over at Cyril, standing in his corner, over that rock, and he mentioned it to his brothers.
"He seems to be sad there, all alone." The white dragon said to his friends, and Spyro looked over, and he said, "Nah, he likes being alone. I bet he is happy that he don't have to be near the 'lesser dragons'." Spyro cringed his face as he repeated the words that the ice dragon himself had used more than once to refere to the rest of the young ones in the temple.
"But he seems so lonely. I mean, even the other ice dragons avoid him."
It was true. Usually, at that age, the younger ice dragons were more open to get along with dragons of other kinds, and even other creatures. Cyril strangely had settled a strong and prideful personality, that was somewhat too prideful even by the standards of the adult dragons. Though he acted as noble as they did, refusing to even be near other dragons that were to ice ones unless it was necessary made it seem as if the young dragon still lived in the ancient times, when they avoided to make relations with other kinds of dragons.
As a result, the other ice dragons of the temple considered it slightly strange that this dragon acted so arrogant like that, and as a result, they avoided him, along with their friends of other colors and elements. Cyril seemed not to mind, as if he decided that these dragons were not worth his attention.
"Bah, just forget him." Said Ignitus. "If he wants to be sitting in there all alone all day than let him be! Not like he would prevent us from having fun!" And with that, he and Spyro resumed running, and Lumino cast one last glance at Cyril, who was still sitting in there, before he also walked away, with Spyro and Ignitus.
In another part of the yard, Whirl was sitting right by Terrador's side, as the green dragon was reading a book, one that he had caught in the library in the way to there. Whirl was able to get a few glances of the book as she sat by his side, and she saw that it was something about ancient legends.
She dared to cast a few glances at it while Terrador was focused into the reading, but each time that the green dragon stopped reading to do something else, like take a bite into his snack, or breathe deeply and look at the sky, Whirl would immediately retreat and look at her own claws as she blushed heavily and prayed that the green dragon would not notice her spying on him.
After a while, Whirl finally managed to do something that she had been wanting since she came by his side.
"So... Humm... Terrador?" She asked, and the green dragon looked at her.
"Hmm?"
She prayed to the heavens that she wasn't blushing too hard, and she asked. "So... hmm... This book you are reading... what it is about?"
Terrador didn't took his eyes off the book, and he remained silent for a few moments, and Whril thought that maybe he hadn't heard her. She was about to ask again, when the green dragon finally talked.
"It is a book about the elemental lore of the dragons." He said in a monotone voice as he kept reading, too focused in it. "I was seeing if I could find anything about... what the Overlords told us." He was still trying to be subtle, not wanting anyone around that wasn't the eight young dragons to hear what he was saying, for the Overlords told them to keep quiet about it.
Whirl nodded as she looked at him, and Terrador continued. "The problem is that this thing has a lot of pages, and the knowledge is very sparse. And it doesn't help that these old books don't have index page." He sounded as if he was really annoyed by that, and he really seemed as if he wanted that thing would be easier for him.
Whirl could only nod at it, as Terrador looked at the book, seeming to be very slightly angry. She looked back, as the young earth dragon turned the pages, quickly searching in the pages for any clue about it. Whirl sighed, as she said. "So, any luck?"
What a stupid question! Was what Whirl was thinking to herself. However, Terrador simply sighed, and he said, "Only some pieces of information and some notes in the bottom of the page. Also some mentions, but nothing specific." He said, as he looked at the page, seeming a little grumpy. "A index would be really very useful."
Whirl nodded as she stood in there, sitting by Terrador's side, and eating calmly her food, which was some fish. Terrador seemed really focused into that book, and so, he failed to notice Whirl casting glances at him, and the blush that she had in her face each time that she looked at him.
The time passed, and Cyril was still standing in the same place that he had always been during time in which they had nothing to do. He looked over to see the other dragons all around. Terrador and Whirl were still in their same spot, looking at that book and talking over about something that Cyril honestly didn't cared about.
While this, the three brothers were still with that silly games of tag, running around and laughing like fools. Of course, it wasn't to be expected for them to act with a little more class. After all, they were only what they were. Cyril snorted at them, and he looked over to Cynder, who was still in the same spot, eating something that Cyril could not identify form that distance.
Of all the other dragons, that one had the behavior that was more close to the one of the ice dragons. Even thought she was a dragoness of shadow, it was good to see someone that behaved with class, and who preferred not to fool around like some other dragons. Maybe, if she was an ice dragoness, she and Cyril could even become friends. At least if she had a little more class.
Of all of them, Cynder was the one that Cyril had the lass qualms about working side by side with. All the others were somewhat irresposible or less dignified. Cyril still had problem to believe that they could be the guardians, of so many dragons around. Cyril was not surprised that someone like him, with noble ancestry, would be important, but these ones? They were all childish and all of them behaved just like commoners. If they were not childish and irresponsible than they were violent, or were too focused into books, or were simply cowards.
The worse of all, however, was the fact that none of them seemed to respect Cyril's noble ancestrally, as well as the whole talk about being a Guardian. They seemed to take it as if it was some kind of game, and none of them was behaving accordingly as it was to expect of someone so important and who was blessed with such and important title. Specially Ignitus and Spyro.
Cyril always had some qualms with the fire dragon, who disrespected him so openly and in front of other people. He acted as if he could put himself in the same level as Cyril. And also, there was his purple brother. Cyril didn't even knew what to think about him. He didn't remembered ever in his life seeing a dragon of that color before. Sure, ice dragons usually had some purple markings in them, but always they were only some markings, and always in cooler tones of purple. Never before Cyril had seem a dragon that was entirely purple, and also, with a warmer tone like that. Maybe he was some kind of mutation? Who knows? Or maybe an hybrid...
Well, the point was that the dragon barely even had an element. At least, that was what Cyril had heard from everyone around. No one had ever seen the purple dragon using any kind of element, and neither had them saw him around any of their element classes. How could he even be an elemental Guardian?
The bigger problem, however, was that the purple dragon was as stubborn, violent and daring as his brother. That if he was not even more stubborn. He seemed to think that he could challenge anyone for any reason, and he had these particular meetings with the Overlords, and he refused to talk with anyone about what it was about. It seemed that not even Ignitus knew what it was all about. This only showed that, besides it all, the purple dragon was also arrogant, thinking that he was better than the others, even if he seemed to have no true element or talent to himself. This somehow made him one of the worse of the ones who Cyril was forced to deal with.
And to think that Cyril was going to be forced to work with them...
He felt particularly uncomfortable about the prospect of working together with Voolter and Depth. The motor mouth and the childish known-it-all. They were maybe the most immature of them and the worse of them. At this moment, he looked around, and he didn't saw both dragons. Normally, this would grant him to be satisfied that they were not around to ruin the day and make things harder for him. However, he could not shake away a bad feeling that something terrible was going to happen very soon. For he had seen the two of them together a while ago, whispering to each toher and snickering, and he had already seen it before. All the times that he had seen them together like that, it meant that they were both plotting something, and the results could be...
Cyril shuttered again, as he looked around, trying to pin-point where these two could have went. It almost felt like he was going to try to find the two to prevent them from starting the armagedon. Cyril knew that they were only his age and that they were not so dangerous, still, each time the two sticked together like they did, the result could be catastrophic.
As Cyril was looking around, trying to find the two young dragons, Ignitus, Lumino and Spyro were still playing tag, and now it was with Iggy.
"I'm gonna get you!" The red dragon cried out as he ran after his two siblings, who both laughed as they ran, and Spyro cried out. "Just try!"
They all laughed and ran as they were enjoying themselves. Without worrying about the problems or about what the future held in store for them. They were only laughing as they ran. They were just playing around. They were just being kids.
They didn't needed to spent every second of their time worrying about what was in store for them. They just needed to live their lives and enjoy it as much as they could. The world was their playground, and they intended to play in it as much as possible, at least until it came the time that they were really supposed to get worried. Until them, it was all games, and play, and fun and laughs. After all, that was the good of being kids. You don't have to worry about grown up things. At least, not just yet.
The young dragons were too distracted running around, and Spyro was able to sneak away as Ignitus now ran after Lumino, who laughed as he cried, running away. Spyro looked at his two brothers, and he walked. He was not paying attention where he was going, otherwise, he would not have kissed a rock.
"Ouch!" Spyro said as he bumped nose-first into a rock, and fell back, landing on his butt. He rubbed his nose as it was slightly pained, but he was able to look up and see the rock he had bumped into.
Not being one who cried for anything, Spyro quickly got up, letting his wild imagination roam free as he looked at the rock, as if it was fierce enemy that just attacked him, and he stood in it into a fighting pose saying. "Terrible villain! You have chosen the wrong one to hurt the nose!" He said, full of energy. "Now you will feel the wrath of Spyro! One of the eight Guardians! Be ready to-OUCH!"
Spyro was cut out and cried in pain again as something hit the top of his head. The purple dragon, surprised by this sudden hit, looked to all the sides, in search for who did it to him, but he saw no one. That was when he heard a voice. "You need to keep it down."
It was a girl's voice, and it was very familiar. It had came from up, so Spyro looked up, at the sky, but saw no one above him.
"Down here." Said the voice, and Spyro lowered his vision, but not very much, until he caught sight of who was it.
Cynder was sitting in the rock that Spyro had just bumped his nose into. She had been sitting over it until Spyro came, and the purple dragon hadn't even noticed her presence. She looked at him, and he looked back.
"It was you who hit me?" Spyro said, rubbing his head, and she said, "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you are talking way too much." Cynder said, as she looked at him with reprobation. Spyro looked back at her, and he said, "Hey, I don't talk nearly as much as Voolter. Besides, this is no way of threating a fellow Guardi-Ouch!" Spyro stopped again as she had hit him in the head again with the blunt part of her tail, only hard enough to make him stop talking.
"Why are you hitting me!?" Spyro asked her, rubbing his head, and Cynder said, "You need to keep it down."
She hoped off the rock and landed in front of Spyro, coming very close to him and now whispering. "Do you remember what the Overlords told us?" Spyro looked at her, and he blinked, as she continued, "They told us that no one can known about we being the Guardians." She said it with urgency, what was very much the way an adult would talk. "And what do you do? You go around saying it loud to anyone who can hear!"
"I was not-" Spyro tried to say, but Cynder cut him out. "We have to keep quiet about it! We have all agreed it in the meeting chamber! No one must know about us and about we being the future Guardians!" She was whispering, but by the way she was talking, Spyro thought he would most likely feel the same way if she was actually yelling at him in the face.
"This means that we don't mention it where anyone can hear, what include here in the playground! We only talk of it when we are among ourselves or with the Overlords! No one else can known about it!"
"Calm down." Spyro said, quite scared by the display o angr that she was showing, which was almost as much as Overlord Void did. Why are black dragons so scary? Was the thought that Spyro had in his mind as he looked at her. "Why are you so nervous about this?"
"Because we are supposed to be nervous!" Cynder whispered, seemingly getting more angered because Spyro was still not taking it seriously, and he was pratically cryign out at her as he talked it.
"This is not a game! We have a serious responsibility and a duty with the world!" She loooked at Spyro dead in the eye, and Spyro could not avoid feel a gret feeling of fear as he looked at them, as a shiver ran down his spine. It was a common thing for black dragons to be so scary? The black dragon, whoever, continued. "If the Overlords told us to keep quiet about it, then we must keep quiet over it. We can't go around saying to the heavens that we are the Guardians." She looked over her shoulders as she spoke it, as if she was expecting someone to be very close to them, hearing all their conversation.
"We can't go around bragging about it as if we were the big ones around. We can't put ourselves into the open like that!" She said it with growing urgency. "At least, not until we are ready!"
"I don't understand what the problem is." Spyro said, not caring keeping his voice beneath a whisper, as Cynder was doing. He really seemed not to understand the whole reason behind all the secrecy. "What if people find out we are... them?" He asked, correcting himself in the last moment, not liking the expression of the look that Cynder gave him, and not willing to have her hit him with her tail once again. "Why would that be bad? I mean, is it for them not to get too happy to be with us?"
Cynder looked at him for a few moments, and she said. "You really don't have a clue, do you?" The way she was asking was if Spyro was oblivious to something really obvious, and she just didn't believed that. However, it seemed to be confirmed by the confused look that Spyro gave her, indicating that the purple dragon was, indeed, hopelessly lost.
Cynder sighed heavily as she shook her head. Spyro looked at her as if she was reprobbing him, because it was exactly what seemed to be happening at the said moment. "What is it?" Spyro asking, now getting really tired of she acting as if she knew a thing that everyone else knew, except for the dragon who she was talking about.
"What is it?" Spyro demanded to know, and Cynder looked at him dead in the eye, with a seriousness that Spyro had only seem before in the eyes of the Overlords, and surely never at the eyes of someone her age.
"Other people knowing about us is a big deal. Because then we would be exposed." She said, and Spyro looked at her confused, and so, she continued to explain.
"Do you remember then saying that Soul and Malice." Cynder said, shivering slightly as she spoke these names. They were the kinds of names that no one should want to speak aloud, unless there was a very good reason to. "They are planning this for a long time. And they had ways to get what they wanted. So, if they have been planning this for so long and so hard, then they would not get anything get in their want, ain't I right?"
Indeed, the black dragoness had a point. Spyro knew very well that no one liked to have their plans frustrated by someone else, specially if the person have worked so hard for these plans. Still, Spyro was failing to see where it said that everyone knowing that they were the Guardians was a bad thing.
Cynder soon was continuing, and she said. "These two will not allow anything to stand in their way, and this include anyone who could possible blown up their plans. I'm talking about us!" She finished, wanting to make it sure that she was being as clear as possible with the purple dragon.
Spyro flinched at the tone she said it, however, she was truly making her point in there, and it was indeed a very good one. Spyro was starting to share her worries, as he said, "But, we are the... them..." Spyro corrected himself under the glare that Cynder gave him. "We should be very strong, right? And we can't be threatened, right?"
"We are still kids!" Cynder said, looking at him. "We don't control the msot of our abilities yet! We are still small, weak and vulnerable against them and anything that they might want to thrown on us!"
"But, they are hiding, right?" Spyro asked, and he looked at her. "I mean, they would not simply come here and break in the place just to put their claws on us."
"They have people under their control!" Cynder said, looking at the purple dragon, as if she was trying to hammer some sense into his head that was har brick wall. "They can influence people and put them under their power! What means that they could very well stay hidden while they get us! All they need to do is sent someone over to have us and to bring us to them into silver plates!" She seemed really angered that the purple dragon seemingly had failed to notice something of so much vital importance, and that she seemed to have been the only one that considered all these terrible possibilites and that really worried about it. Maybe it came from being a darkness dragon, and being in tune with the negative forces, for they were forced to face all the negative possibilities and think about the worse of them.
That was why Cynder was so tuned with all the possible things that could happen in this scenario, and why she was so much acting the way she was. She was wondering all the worse things that could happen now, if they were caught, if they were discovered, if Malice and Soul, the evil dragons, would decide to get rid of them before they would become threats to them.
Even if they were the future Guardians, they were just kids now. Not to mention that Malice and Soul were gods, and it was something that they could not fight on their own! At least, not until they would become all that they were prophesized to be. Until there, they were vulnerable to anything that could be done against them. Cynder wondered that the only reason they were alive would be that Soul and Malice could not know that they were at the temple and had been around born, or even that they existed at all, and also, because of the Overlords, who kept watch over them and protect them all the time. Otherwise, they would most likely already became targets to the two evil gods, and they could maybe no longer be alive.
That was keeping themselves in secret was so important, and the Overlords knew it. They needed to stay low and out of sight until they were ready for the final fight, otherwise, the two fallen gods would come for them, and destroy them before they could make the prophecy come true.
Cynder shuddered at the thought of what the two evil dragons could possibly do to them if they get their claws into them while they were still young and vulnerable. She was used to think the negative of things, being a shadow dragoness, but she sometimes felt scared with how pessimist she could be herself, and how bad were the things she could think about, even being so young.
And that was she was more worried than any other of the young dragons after receiving the notice, for she immediately went to all the worst-case scenarios, and she had spent all the time since they left that room thinking about it. That was why she was so nervous about all of that.
Spyro, however, the others had little to no worries about all of that, and Spyro seemed to be one of these, as he said, "Well, yeah, I guess you are right. But I think that we should not worry so much. I mean, we are good now, right?"
Somehow, Cynder envied him, and the other kinds of dragons, in general. They didn't tuned with the negative side of everything, and so, they seemed to be always happy with everything. Cynder wished that she was so easy to get happy, as well as others, but it seemed that it was the price for being a dragon that was so in tune with the darkness, and with everything negative that it encompassed.
Cynder could only groan at his silliness out of frustration. She sighed heavily, and she looked at him, making a desperate attempt to hammer some sense in his head. "I mean that we cannot go around giving anyone obvious clues that we are the prophesized ones!" She said in a whisper at him, as she seemed to be the only one who was truly worried at making this conversation as subtle as possible.
"This means we have to stay on our own space and keep it low, and not call attention to ourselves in any way!" She looked straight at him as she said ti, and after a few moments, Spyro finally spoke.
"You mean, act like we always did?"
Cynder sighed, as it seemed that Spyro was finally getting it. "Yes, we have to stay the same way we always did, to avoid anyone from finding out and to prevent us from becoming sitting ducks."
"Huh? They will turn us into ducks?" Spyro asked, still being the silly young dragon that most of them usually were at this age. Dragons of darkness like Cynder, however, were more mature, for they always thought things that were more for adults, and they seemed to be more in tune with the cold and cruel reality of the world, and so, Cynder was maybe the more mature out of all of them.
Cynder groaned again, seeing that this dragon was still being naive and maybe even stupid, as he failed to get the grip about just how serious the situation truly was. "I'm saying that if we stand out in the crowd we might put targets around our necks!" Cynder said to him in a very urgent whisper.
"We must stay low and subtle to avoid having people coming after us under orders of these two! Were you even paying attention!?" She spoke that in a way that made Spyro feel like a very naughty hatchling being scolded by his mother. That dragoness sure had a powerful presence, and that was for sure.
"They are evil! More than anyone and anything in the world." She said to him, making him look in her eyes as she spoke that. "Do you think they would be nice to us only because we are kids? No, they won't! They will do all they can to get rid of us, so we will never get in their way. And if we can't be there to stop them, then they will do horrible things to the world! That is why we must stay low now!"
"This is not only about us, but about everyone else! About the whole world! About our future!" She spoke to him, hoping that this was going to get the idea on his thick skull at once and finally make him act more accordingly to the seriousness of the situation. "We must be there to protect everyone, because this don't mean only losing a game or failing at do a thing and then fixing it later! If we fail at this, there will be no turning back! It will be the end... for all of us."
Spyro looked at her in silence for a few moments, surprised by just how darkly that dragoness sounded as she spoke that. Though he didn't understood completely the "end" prospect, he knew that it was bad, only by the way she was talking it. She looked at him in the eyes again and she said.
"That is why it is so important to remain in secret until the right time, so we can be safe of them for now, until we can fend for ourselves. That is why we can't call attention, and that is why no one can know that we are... them. Do you get it?"
Before Spyro could answer, there was some short of commotion in the other side of the yard, and the eyes of the young dragons turned to the place it was happening, and as they did, they saw a lot of dragonlings running, as if they were trying to run away from something that was big and it looked to be shining.
"What is that?" Asked Spyro, and Cynder didn't knew how to answer.
"Spyro!" Lumino said, walking closer to the purple dragon. "It seems like there is something in there!" He seemed scared as he said that, as all the young dragons were running from there and they all seemed to be near at the point of panic.
"Lets go check!" Spyro said, his natural boldness taking control of him as he ran forward, and Ignitus, as being a fire dragon, soon was after him. "Lead the way, bro!"
"Hey! Wait!" Cynder sadi, but they had already went, and Lumino looked at Cynder, and soon, he too was after his brothers, as if to avoid them from getting into trouble.
Of course, this was what it took to the other dragons, out of curiosity, started to run right behind them. Even Cyril, who was in is spot, wanted to see what it was about. As he saw the other dragons in there run after that event, he took a single moment to notice a very important detail: Voolter and Depth were nowhere to be seen.
Cyril groaned to himself, and soon, he already knew what was the matter about, simply shook his head and rolled his eyes as he went back to eating. He didn't had time nor humor to muse himself in what these two could crack in together.
As soon as the young dragons arrived in there, they saw the reason for that.
There was a big mass of water that was in dry land and now that was moving, forming a big bloob that had tendrils of water coming out of it. It seemed to be trying to lash at the nearby young dragons. Actually, it was only trying to lash at one, and it was young Voolter, who was dodging every strike and he was shooting electricity at the creature, and it seemed to work, for every time it was hit, the creature cried out and it trembled, almost as if it was getting hurt from it.
"What is that!?" Asked Whirl, searching for haven behind Terrador, as she was scared of the big thing. The other dragons looked at it, and Cynder was the one who noticed something weird about it.
"Wait." She said, and the other dragons looked at her, and she looked around, and she spotted what she suspected that she would. "There!" She pointed out, and all the other dragons looked at what she was pointing, and they saw exactly what she saw.
Depth.
She was hiding behind a toy, and she was moving her paw in the direction of the creature. In her face there was an expression that told that she was deeply concentrated, almost as if she was making effort.
It took only a few moments to all of them to realize what was happening. It was Depth who was doing it. Water Dragons could not only create water, but they also could, through deep concentration, control masses of water, making them move, gather together, take shapes, and sometimes, they even made it seem as if the water itself was alive, controlling it as if it was a puppet. A big, watery, fluid puppet. The "creature" was actually a big mass of water that was under the control of the young dragoness, and she was clearly taking some effort into keeping it all together and moving.
She was doing a very good job by the way, as she was making a very efficient job at making it move and attack as if it was alive, controlling the tendrils and the mass of water, and making ti tremble each time that Voolter hit it with his electricity, almost as if the thing was actually alive and feeling pain as it was hit by the electricity. She only showed that she was really skilled, even if it was by doing something that would be considered a misuse of her powers.
"What is she doing?" Asked Ignitus, looking at her, and Terrador said, "What are they doing?"
The earth dragon had already realized, as well as the other dragons would follow suit, that the two dragons were together at this. It seemed like it was some kind of new plan that they had come up with together. Yeah, they had already put a few of them up, like flooding the bathrooms and making electrified, floating balls of water hoover over all of the north hallway.
This, however, seemed to be new, and it was actually a bit bigger than many other things that the two young dragons had ever dared to do together.
By looking at it, it was like they were making it seem like Voolter was some kind of hero, fighting a dangerous monster all on his own, thought not many of the other young dragons around seemed to be able to focus on the yellow dragon fighting the "monster" for they all seemed to be more worried into running away to some place where they would be safe and away from that dangerous thing.
"You will see, oh, horrid beast!" Called Volteer, in an overly-dramatic way, as he dodged one "attack" of the "creature's" tendrils, shooting more electricity at it, and Depth made it tremble just in the right time and in the right way. "You saw perish by the claws and breath of Volteer, the Guardian!"
Cynder's eyes widened as soon as she heard these words, and her heart sank so much that she thought for a moment that it had went several feet under the ground.
Oh no... no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! These two idiots!
"Hah! Try as you might, monster, you shall not take this Guardian down!" Volteer said as he danced around the "creature", in what seemed to be a overly dramatic battle interpretation, or what he could make out as one. Volteer shot another electricity, and the creature not only trembled but also gurgled, as the water began to bubble, either if it was because of the electricity or Depth's doing for some kind of "great finale" was really very hard to tell.
"Yes, this is the power of a Guardian!" Volteer cried out in pride, "This is the power of the ones who will save the world from-" However, whatever Volteer was going to say, was cut out when Cynder screamed on top of her lungs.
"SHUT UP!"
Everyone around stopped and some even jumped in place at the power behind this scream, and all the eyes turned to her, az everybody stopped what they were doing to look at the source of that scream. Volteer stopped dancing, and all the dragons around stopped running and they seemed to have forgotten about the "monster" that was attacking. By the way, the monster completely decomposed into water in the ground, as even Depth, who was hidden, lost her focus as she now was looking at Cynder, who was huffing as she looked at Volteer.
Cynder walked quickly to him, and placed a paw in his horn, wrapping her claws firmly around it and tugging it hard.
"OUCH!" Volteer cried out as his horn was pulled painfully, and Cynder whispered angrily at him "You idiot!" She started pulling him away, and she said, "Okay, everyone, the show is over! Go back to your lives! Depth!" She screamed the last part, making the water dragoness jump and yelp as she was called by Cynder in that tone. "Come here, we have to talk!"
It were very few times that Depth had saw Cynder talk to someone in that tone, and even less that she used that tone with her. Now, it was one of the rare occasions that Depth, being so close and so friends with Cynder as she was, felt genuinely scared of the black dragoness. Yet, not wanting to anger Cynder more, Depth simply nodded meekly as she walked out form her hiding spot, revealing to the other dragons that she was in there, but she barely gave attention to them, as she quickly walked near to Cynder, and started following her as she literally dragged Volteer by the horn.
"Ouch! Ouch! Stop it! I can walk on my own! Ouch!" Volteer said as his horns were pulled by the angry dragoness, who looked around as she said, "What are you looking at! It is over now!" And she continued to pull Volteer, who whined and cried out in pain, and soon Depth walked near, looking scared.
The other young dragons stood in place as Cynder passed by them, pulling Volteer and being followed by Depth, and they all backed away, wanting to be out of her way by the look that there was on her eyes. They followed her with their own eyes as she dragged poor Volteer away, and as she was going, she called for them. "You too, come!"
They all flinched, and soon, Whirl, who was hiding behind Terrador since Cynder's outbursts, soon said, "I-I'm c-c-comin C-Cynder!" And she was soon following, and the rest of the dragons shared a look, and after a while, Terrador started to walk silently after them, and the three brothers were left behind, as they shared a look.
"Had you ever seen Cynder like that?" Asked Lumino, looking at his brothers.
"She is scarier than usual." Said Ignitus as he looked as they went, and Spyro said, "Se remembers Master Void when he is really pissed off."
"Are all black dragons so scary?" Spyro added as he looked at Cynder who was still pulling Volteer by the horns, and the yellow dragon was crying out and asking her to let him go, but she seemed not to want it, for she was pulling him away, to somewhere unknown.
"Where is she taking him?" Asked Ignitus, and Spyro offered "Maybe to some place where no one will hear him screaming..."
"I just hope she doesn't hurt him." Lumino said, and soon, even the young dragons, though they were not very sure why, were following, just like Cynder had told them too.
Lumino, sure, was going there to be sure that no grave harm was going to befall over Volteer, once he saw that Cynder did looked really angry as she passed by him, and he wanted to be near there to break any fight in case things got ugly. Ignitus and Spyro were probably for close reasons, as they both also were slightly scared of the black dragoness by the way that she was looking when she left, with that angry glare and that "I'm gonna rip your wing" expression in her face. Maybe they knew that Lumino was going to try calming her down and they wanted to be near in order to protect their brother if he became her next target.
They actually didn't doubted it very much. She was very likely to do it, if they were to take the expression she had like she was ready to rip out someone's head and eat it as the expression of her current feelings, it was never a trouble to stay near in order to shield your brother with your body. I mean, if you are bigger and physically stronger than him...
"I still think it was a bad idea." Said Blazer, as he was in one of the Chambers with the other Overlords, and all of them had their eyes on him as he spoke. "We should have waited until they had turned sixteen, just like the original plan."
"The original plan had to be changed, and you know very well the reason." Said Aquarus, as he stepped forward to look in the eyes of Blazer. "The situation has changed, and we had to do something. That is why we told them, and that is why they will start their training in the next days."
"The training is way to hard!" Said Blazer, "Not to mention the tests! It is most likely that they end up killing them than proving them ready!"
"That is why we need to start their training as soon as possible." Said Aquarus, using the pure logic to discuss with Blazer. The Fire Overlord, however, didn't seemed to like the way that Aquarus developed his logic.
He turned to Luminous, and he said, "Don't tell me that you agree with it!"
The Light Overlord looked at him, and after a few moments, turned his gaze to the floor, as if he was ashamed of looking Blazer in the eyes. He was against it, anyone could notice, however, he had nothing to say about it. Blazer looked around, and some of the Overlords did the same as Luminous, while others seemed to simply look at him as if it was the only logic solution.
Blazer snarled at it. "They are too young."
"They are the prophesized ones." Said Iceberg, the Ice Overlord stepping forward as he looked at the fire dragon, forming small paths of ice under his paws as he stepped into the stone floor. "They were destined to it the moment they have left the egg."
"They are just kids!"
"Not anymore!" Iceberg said, his tone carrying as much meaning as the words he had just spoke, as he looked deeply and hard at Blazer's eyes, a look that would be able to freeze even the soul of many other dragons, but it seemed to have no effect in Blazer, as he looked at him with a strong and fiery ferocity. "Now that they know their position as the Guardians, they are no longer just kinds! They are much more now! In the next days, as they start their training, they will leave what is left of their childhood behind!"
"And that was exactly why I didn't wanted any of this!" Called out Blazer in anger. "They deserved to have a good childhood, without having to worry about these horrible things, about the idea of having to face The Forsaken ones! They deserved to live and to play and to enjoy their innocence! They deserved to be happy!"
"They were!" Iceberg said, as his cold gaze seemed to clash with Blazer's fiery one. "But now, their happiness is the least thing that matters in this moment!"
Blazer wanted to breathe a huge fireball at Iceberg, enough to completely obliterate him, for daring to say something like that. However, he knew that there were going to be a lot problems, so, he only limited himself to look at him with the most blazing hate, as the Ice Overlord continued.
"We are talking about the future of the very world! About the salvation of all the beings in this world from a dark fate and about the ultimate doom! It is their destiny and their duty as the Guardians to prevent it from happening! It was written and it is how it shall be! The loss of their innocence at so young age is a hard thing, yes! But it is needed, and it is a sacrifice that they must do in order to save this world!"
He sighed deeply as he spoke, and he looked at Blaze in the eyes, part of the intensity had left it, but the coldness was still in there, watching him deeply as if to calculate his next actions. "It is hard, but it must be done. For the good of everyone, and for the future of this world. Because otherwise, there is going to be no future."
Blazer could not discuss with this. He knew it was wrong, he knew that it was unfair to do such a thing with innocent children and that no amount of logic or speech was ever going to make it seem to be the right thing. Still, he knew that what Iceberg and Aquarus both said was true, and he hated to admit it, but they were right. It was not only about them, or about the Overlords themselves. It was about the world.
Looking around himself, Blazer could see all the other Overlords seemed to agree with it. Some were simply resigned, other seemed to admit it with guilty and shame, but they all seemed to agree that it was the only way, and that it was needed, even if it was wrong to do so with children.
Defeated, Blazer could do nothing more than lower his head in silence, in a sign of resignation. He was accepting it and it was how it was going to be. But he was definitely not going to approve or be happy with it, even in the slightest.
Iceberg nodded, and he walked back, and as soon as he was in the back of the room, it was Aquarus turn to talk again. Soon, the Overlords were deciding about the training of the Future Guardians, discussing the details that they were all going to put in their trainings to get them ready for what would come. About the preparation, about the train for the fight and for abilities, about the training about the elements, which was essential to their future titles, and most of all, they all discussed about the tests that they were going to face, sooner or later, in their road to become the Guardians.
That and much more was discussed, as they stayed in that chamber for the rest of the day...
