The days passed like sand blowing in the air, seamlessly and quickly. I merely blinked and they were gone. The journey was peaceful; we didn't see a single wretched ape one time and nothing else attacked us. Nobody talked, so I was left to my own thoughts and ponderings.

On our third day of travelling, Warfang was in sight, or so the others said. I was glad that we were almost there; Rukas often became tired, so much of the journey was spent on foot. My feet ached terribly, but even when I felt as if I could not take another step after hours of arduous walking, I didn't complain. It was important that we got as far away as possible as quickly as possible; we could not rest except at night.

And night had fallen, bringing with it the cricket-songs that I so loved to listen to. Night was my favourite time of day. Sometimes, I could feel the earth pulsating beneath me, as if my echolocation stretched across the whole world and everything was coming back to me at once. Of course, that wasn't really true, but just the illusion left me in awe.

But tonight the echoes were short of will and did no such thing. The roaring fire that all of us were scattered around made enough noise to keep me in constant sight of those around me. Rukas was huddled into me, as if he were cold, though my face was burning in the heat of the flames.

"Why did the apes attack us?" Rukas murmured.

"I don't know why they targeted us," I replied under my breath. Furrowing my brow, I turned to the Guardians. "You all knew this was going to happen. Why didn't we leave earlier?"

Shifting as if uneasy, Ignitus replied, "The other Guardians and I were heading for Warfang when we found Rukas. We were too far from Warfang and had to return to the Temple. He was in no condition to travel."

Rukas turned his gaze to the ground and held it there. Just the memory seemed to leave him distraught. But what did Ignitus mean by "he was in no condition to travel"? Was he injured? What had happened to him?

"And after we found you," Ignitus said, "we had to wait even longer to leave."

Sighing, I turned away. The answer was true and it should have been satisfying, but it was not. I turned my head towards the horizon, where the city might have been.

Maybe things will be better there, I thought as I rested my head on my paws and prepared to sleep.

I knew that it wouldn't be.

I woke up in the middle of the night for an unknown reason. Raising my head, I listened, but even the crickets were silent. The fire had died down, too. Rukas, his breathing even, was sleeping near me; I could feel his warm breath on my arm.

I turned my head to the sky. Was it a starry night? I tried to remember the sight of the mysterious lights, but to my dismay, I was afforded nothing but the same terrible darkness that consumed me already. I wasn't sure how I knew it, but the stars had once been a source of comfort when I had nothing to seek solace in. They were cold to me now. There was nothing left to comfort me.

What a lie that is. I turned to Rukas, who still slept soundly. Was it only then that I realized he meant the world to me? No, I had known it before, but a part of me was afraid to think it; I was frightened to become to attached to something. But Rukas was already a part of me. That's how much I loved the quiet, young dragon.

I reached out a hesitant wing and placed it over Rukas. He was cold. And he would probably never know, but even such a simple gesture of affection as that was something I felt I had never done before, and it filled me with a warmth I never thought I could feel again.

I'd always have Rukas. That was enough for me.

~~...~~

The shadow of the great wall cooled me off as I waited for the shouting moles to open the gate before us. It was an unusually warm summer day, so this respite from the sun's heat was nice, but I couldn't wait to get into the city. Finally, the gates began to open. Sunlight poured through it and we, the Guardians, Rukas, and I, stepped forward.

The stone road was hot and almost burned my paws, but I hardly felt it, so in awe was I. I couldn't even see Warfang and I could tell it was a truly glorious place. The excitement that had been singing quietly only a moment before suddenly burst up and exploded into a golden song that rang louder than thunder in my head.

I don't believe I had been near that many people in my life. Echoes were coming back to me constantly, all from the thousands of footsteps and voices and people around me. I was almost overwhelmed by the dizzying clarity of my sight; it was like real sight that was black with grey outlines. Sure, there was no colour, but I could see the people moving and breathing around me.

I didn't have to worry about the details anyway; Rukas acted as my eyes and put his sight into words so I could see it just as he did. He explained the buildings around us first.

Many of them had domes on the top of them, but were otherwise square, though curved, tower-like structures were dotted here and there. The buildings were mostly made of yellow and grey stone, he said, with occasional splashes of blue. Intricate carvings in the stone were common, and so was the occasional statue. And there were curves and dips and platforms everywhere—but that I could tell, as we often walked up and down slopes, climbed stairs, and in general were rarely on flat ground.

Rukas didn't really describe the people around as, as there were just too many. He did describe the creature that was leading us, though. Rukas said the small creature that walked on two legs was called a mole. I figured out from listening to the mole and the Guardians' conversation as best as I could over the clamor that he was called Mason. Mason was leading us to where we would stay, a place that sort of resembled the old Temple.

I felt a little sadness at remembering that I would probably never see the Temple again. But the overwhelming exhilaration of being in the Great City of Warfang quickly blotted out the sorrow. I had never been to such a magnificent place as this and there was no reason to mope.

When I felt grass under my paws and we began to ascend a steep hill, Rukas, possibly still in awe of his surroundings, fell silent. Now that the loud city districts were behind us, my vision had dimmed as well, so I wasn't sure of the details of the building that lay at the top of the slope.

I stopped listening to the mole once we entered the building. So this is where we're going to stay, I thought. If I had spoken the words, I might have breathed them in wonder.

Though this "Temple" was in actuality very small compared to the old one (as Rukas said when he remembered for a moment that he was explaining the appearance to me), the inside was made in the Warfang style that made it seem huge on the inside. The entrance was a little cramped, but it opened up into a main room, like the old pool room (except much bigger). Stairs on both sides of the room led to unknown places, and a large double-door led to another outside entrance. So when you looked at it closely, it really wasn't like the Temple at all, but I still liked it.

"Hey..." Rukas said, curiously walking over to the left staircase. Lowering his voice and turning to me, he said, "Let's go upstairs, Tempo."

I glanced at the Guardians, but they didn't seem to notice and probably wouldn't care, so I followed Rukas up the tall staircase until we reached the second floor.

I tsked. We were in a hallway with doors on either side of it; though I couldn't see it, I felt the sun beating through a window at the far end.

Rukas did a quick search over the area. When he returned, he said, "Nothing up here. These are probably our rooms. Come on, I saw a door down there; maybe it goes outside."

I followed Rukas back downstairs and out the aforementioned door, past the Guardians who still were talking to the mole. I didn't catch what they were saying, as I was paying attention to Rukas.

"Wow, it's beautiful out here," Rukas said as he walked forward, brittle grass crunching under his paws.

I walked up beside him, wishing I could see too. "What does it look like?"

Rukas cleared his throat. "It's still fall... You know that, right?"

"Yes, you told me a few weeks ago," I said, though in truth I didn't really think about it.

Nodding, Rukas, continued. "We're in a sort of garden. There's a tree out here, but there are only a few yellow leaves clinging to the branches, and most of the flowers have wilted. This whole place is just a cliff overlooking the rest of Warfang, but the wall is higher than us. You can still see the people down in the districts nearest to us walking around. And the sky's really blue today, with only a few wisps of clouds. It's a nice day... the nicest I've ever seen, maybe."

I hungrily absorbed this information and managed to get a good picture in my mind. The colours were the same dull reds and greens as they always were, only heightened a little by recollecting the colours in my recent memories, but it was better than nothing.

I wanted so much to see the world again, to have that beautiful gift of sight in which I could look on the world's mysteries, but that time was past. I reached up a paw to my face and delicately touched the strip of cloth. I would never see again.

"You know, you remind me of my sister," Rukas murmured in a voice far away.

"What do you mean?" I asked, lowering my paw before he could notice.

"She was a lot like you... Older than me, and kind of quiet. She was really protective, too, sometimes so much that it got annoying. She loved me a lot... but she's gone now." He returned from wherever his mind had been wandering, and stated this in a plain and matter-of-fact tone.

Opening my mouth, I intended to ask what had happened to her, but I quickly thought better than that before the words escaped. Instead, I nearly whispered, "That's strange. Sometimes, I think of you as a brother..."

I was afraid of what he would think, afraid he wouldn't like it, but Rukas seemed surprised. "Really?" he asked, turning to me.

"Yeah, Rukas. You're like family to me." Relieved, I smiled.

Rukas looked at the ground. "Do you remember your family?"

"Not really," I said. Though I tried to force a memory, I could not, so I finally said what I had been thinking for a while. "I don't have one anymore."

"Me either," Rukas said quietly. There was a long silence. "I guess that kind of makes us a family... right?" He walked over to me, and, sitting down, leaned his head below my shoulder.

"Right," I said after a moment of silent surprise. His gesture had taken me off-guard; I was so unused to contact with others. But I smiled at him, and I'm sure if I could have seen him, he would have been smiling back.

~~...~~

"It's time to discuss your powers." Ignitus' voice was impassive, almost sounding as if we were having a normal conversation.

"There's nothing to discuss," I hissed. I didn't even want to think of it again, what it must have done to Rukas to see that...

"It's important that we know exactly what you did."

Rukas, uncomfortable, edged closer to me. I glanced at him, but sighing, I knew I had to relent. "Fine. I already told you what my element is; time. The Chronicler said I'm one of the only ones who have control over it, and right now I'm not able to use my powers that often. But at the moment, I can speed up time on one object, like I did to the ape, and slow it it down but not stop or reverse it. The Chronicler mentioned something about speeding up the world or slowing it down without slowing myself down, but I can't do that right now."

The Guardians nodded and exchanged glances, but I could tell they believed me—after all, there was no other explanation for what happened to the ape.

"Did the Chronicler say anything else?" Ignitus asked.

"He just told me about my element," I replied.

"Did he mention a dragon named Spyro?"

"No. Why does that name sound so familiar? I've never heard it, or at least I don't remember hearing it..." I turned to Rukas, but he didn't speak or move, only stood motionless like a statue.

"Spyro is a purple dragon. He, along with a dragonfly named Sparx and a dragoness called Cynder, went missing over a year ago." That was all Cyril said.

I shook my head. The names, save for Spyro, were unknown to me. "That doesn't ring a bell. I don't remember him, but I just feel like I've heard the name somewhere..." Sighing, I sat down. "I wish my memory would come back."

Rukas, his voice small, spoke up. "What if you don't want it to?"
"The memories are bad, but anything's better than this..."

"Your memories are returning?" Ignitus asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered.

"You should tell them. It's better than just keeping it inside." Rukas spoke up again, but he still sounded timid.

So, after a pause of consideration, I did. I told them about the two memories; the dragon who I presumed to be my mother and the shattering window and the ape who had carved the hourglass into my arm—though I left out the last part of that memory.

"That's it," I said when I was finished. I was only met with silence, though, as if everybody was thinking. I waited for a moment, wishing for an explanation or something, but it never came. So, sighing, I said, "I'm... going to go to sleep now."

I backed away, but nobody stopped me, so I turned and headed up the stairs and into my room. It had been a long day. I needed to sleep.