Chapter Four: Attack of the Revolutioners

The quartet left for the palace, aware of their surroundings - too well. It was evening, as the dragons had discovered. It had taken them well into the day passing through the passage, and even longer to be done in the recovered but well damaged temple.
"How was that temple even standing?" Asked Cynder, "Shouldn't it have been the first thing to be obliterated - it was the closest to the mountain!"
Mei agreed. Both females and Sparx were looking at Spyro, expectantly. Sparx was the first to feel awkward, and decided to break the ice.
"Spyro's a dragon. Dragons are odd. And Magic. Anythings possible. Even..." Sparx said, raising his arms in a creepy, ghostlike way and producing his own sound effects to strengthen the effect of his words, "TIME POWAH!"
Cynder rolled her eyes, and Mei smirked, trying to hold her laughter. Spyro ignored his annoying, yet ever so slightly funny adoptive brother to focus on the plan ahead.
"Mei, you are to find out any information possible inside the palace - the guards know that the Guardians sent you, you'll have no difficulties apart from proving your identity. Sparx, you go with her, they know you travel with me, she'll have less trouble that way - and you can transport information between us without being spotted." Spyro said, "Cynder and I are going to keep tabs on the revolutioners. We are going to protect the palace and temple."
"Why would I need information?" Asked Mei, "Surely the monarchy will know only as much as the Guardians."
"They have called for an army. If we know when the army will be here and where they are now, we can drive the revolution towards that direction. They're after us, it would be the perfect distraction."
"Ah," Mei muttered, seeing the genius of the plan, "Anything else?"
"A map of the city. We don't know the place well, we can only guess where we're going, and the only way we know where the revolutioners are is by the crowd of dragons."
Mei nodded, before completing her part of the plan, "Once I've found all that information, I'll send Sparx to you and help the palace guards defend the monarchy." She'd realised once the revolution was on its way towards the palace, there was no way she could join Spyro and Cynder.
The dragons and dragonfly went their separate ways, Mei and Sparx headed down the side streets; guessing their way towards the palace, while Spyro and Cynder headed towards the crowds and noise, using only their ears and sense of smell to help them.

Mei stood in front of the palace. It was much bigger up close than it looked. It was coated in white coloured marble, with gold highlights and a gold roof. The pillars were cut to curve in a flattering way, as part of the charm of the palace. The huge palace doors were made out of silver, with gold also outlining it. The guards outside it were disciplined well. She could see their battle scars and how quietly strong and sturdy they were. She approached one of them, careful not to seem threatening in any way.
"Hello, I am Mei. I am a companion of the great purple dragon, Spyro, and I have been sent by the Guardians. The guard looked at her carefully, before looking at the yellow dragonfly next to her. He thought for a moment, before nodding. He led her to the door, which seemed to open on demand. She entered the palace, and walked into the throne room. There were two thrones, and three chaise longue-type seats in front, two blue ones, and a red one in the middle. Mei guessed these were coloured for the different gendered children: one princess, and two princes.
A tall, fancy figure strode into the room. She had a tastefully decorated crown over her bent down horns: It had three large diamonds on the front, and an assortment of different gems including sapphires, rubies and emeralds decorating the rest. It was all laid out to be symmetrical, as the rest of the palace was.
She turned to Mei, and smiled. She turned to face her, and sat down, beckoning Mei over to her. Mei obliged, and neared this majestic queen.
"You must be the legendary purple dragons new... accomplice. You are here to gather intellect about the Union, aren't you?" Asked the regal dragoness, her posh accent shining through. Mei felt small and unimportant. The dragons around her were so much more confident and arrogant than her. The queen smiled politely at her, waiting for her answer.
"Yes. Spyro specifically requested some informaton about how far the army are, and which direction their coming from. That and... are there any positions of power in the Union?" The queen took the questions in, considering her answer.
"Our army is thirty miles away, they could be an hour or two. They are hailing from North-north-east."
Mei looked up at Sparx, who gave her a scowl.
"Really? In this weather, at this time of day, with them outside?" He said, "Oh of course I'll obey a complete strangers commands." His comment was thick with sarcasm, and Mei know it. She flicked the annoying pest, before turning back to the queen, "What about the third question?"
"Positions of power... well, there are a trio of adolescents who are the power of the lot. They are the most powerful the Union will permit." She said, before looking the other way, a frown appearing on her face. She looked sad for a second, but turned back, "Feel free to stay here while the Union rampage; I understand the two legendary dragons of the last era are fighting, and we only obligate trained warriors to fight against them. Many citizens that have remained loyal have been evacuated to smaller cities and villages."
"No. I will fight. Spyro and Cynder have allowed me to travel with them. They are two of the most powerful dragons we have and I will not disappoint them. I shall fight to push the Unions lines back, while Sparx transfers the information."

After her goodbyes with the queen, Mei and Sparx went their separate ways. Mei stood outside of the giant doors, seeing the battle not too far off now. The revolutioners had certainly managed to push their way through. Mei flashed a shy smile, before running forward. At the end of the steps leading down from the palace, she leapt and spread her wings. She flew to the front lines of the Union, and began to take on some of the enemy. One dragon leapt up, nearly catching her. She flew away, shakily. She was off guard, looking around to see more of her opponents. As she looked forward, a flash of something passed her by, and a dragon smashed into her. The dragon was a bright yellow, with electric blue eyes, and a grey underbelly. Her wing membranes were light yellow, and her tail was in the shape of a mace. Before Mei could react, a spark shot out of the dragons mouth, instantly hitting Mei. She felt a burn down her back, but ignored it as best she could. She sent forward a gust of wind, knocking the dragon back a little ways, and rushed in to take victory. As she neared the dragoness, it shut its eyes in pain. When it opened them, they were bright yellow like the rest of its body. From it's eyes shot a spark of light, blinding Mei for a few seconds, enough for the dragoness to send forward another load of sparks. Mei felt a sharp and painful sensation in her stomach, and lost control of her wings. She flailed through the air, getting closer to the cold, hard ground every second. She managed to swerve upwards just before hitting ground, to meet the other dragon in the air once more. This time, she was more careful about choosing her strategy.
"You're one of the trio, aren't you?" Mei asked, readying the hurricane-force winds she was storing inside of her.
"Yes, I am. Well played, yes. Well played." The other dragon said. Mei looked back at her electric blue eyes, and saw a flash of anger and insanity in them. Without thinking, she released the winds, sending the dragoness back, nearly hitting a wall. Mei rushed forward to end the fight, and felt static in the air. She moved quickly out of the way, to see a lightning bolt hit the exact spot she had just been in. The dragoness laughed, as Mei turned to face her. She was beginning to feel the pain inflicted upon her by this insane dragon. Mei shot forward without thinking, her head dropping into a charge position, exposing the undefended dragoness to her horns. Before the dragon could move out of the way, Mei had punctured her chest. The blood poured from her chest. The light left the dragoness's eyes, her expression freezing. Her wings gave way, and a heavy heave came from inside her. She coughed something up, her last breath wasted. Her wings gave way and she landed with a thud on the floor. When Mei looked at the something the dragoness had coughed up, she saw something no dragon should see. A dead heart. It ripped itself open, revealing a dark item inside. Mei landed, and picked the item up. The darkness seemed to seep away instantly. She looked around her, wondering how many dragons saw how savagely she'd murdered one of the trio. The revolutioners around her stared, fear obvious in their eyes. Most cowered away as she looked at them. She looked towards the palace, feeling eyes on her back. Even her allies, the warriors and guards, looked at her in shock.

She looked down, realising the damage she'd done to her reputation, and to all the other civilians - members of the Union or not. A single tear left her eye, and landed on the dead body. She looked around, and pushed her way through the crowds of the Union, until she reached the palace. She turned around, and faced them.
"How dare you!? How dare you kill one of your own kind!" Shouted an angry dragon. Mei fully agreed. She was ashamed of her actions. She felt a dragon stand beside her, and looked. Her eyes widened, as she realised who it was.
"Leave this dragon alone! She killed in self defence. It is acceptable to defend yourself, and she would've been killed otherwise. You're all hypocrits!" Shouted the dragon, a threatening tone hidden behind his words.
All of the dragon in the area turned, the guards and warriors crouching in submission, as he continued, "I am further ashamed my own fathers troops have put this dragoness down."
The dragon led her into the palace, and into the throne room. This time, the rest of the family were there, apart from the king. The largest rumour ws that he was terminally ill and not to be seen by the public. The dragon walked up to one of the blue chaise longues, and sat, tail around his front, facing her.
"You have certainly proved your capability." Said the queen, nonchalantly, whilst fiddling with her claws, "But we did not want you to go as far as to kill. That display was... certainly savage."
"I was only defending myself. I would have died, otherwise." Mei muttered, offput by the queens non-caring tone.
"Mother, this dragoness isn't a savage. More over, she defeated one of the trio. Shouldn't we reward her?" The prince from earlier asked.
"Perhaps. She is not of utmost importance though, a few red gems will do."
The prince looked at his mother, and rolled his eyes, "Fine, mother, I'll be the one to reward her."
He beckoned her over to a door. Her paws padded heavily on the way over, her injuries still affecting her. Blood dripped across the floor as she walked over to the door. The prince opened it for her, a concerned look on his face.
She entered the room, and saw that it was a banquet hall.
"We were going to invite Spyro's crew anyway, to celebrate their return. But because of your difficulties and your loyalty towards your friends, I've decided to reward you. The guests rooms are in that section of the tower," He exclaimed, "You, Spyro and Cynder will stay in two of our best suites, gender separated. I suggest you go for a bath while we gather up Spyro and Cynder. You have fended off the Union for one more night by defeating one of the trio. The army shall be here soon, and you three can rest for the night."
Mei nodded, and headed off to the first two suites in sight. As she'd suspected, the two suites were the first rooms, and next to each-other. She entered hers, closing the door behind her. She ventured into the main room, where there were two beds. She turned to the second room - a bathroom. The basin was large and round. It seemed to already be filled with warm, silky water. She looked underneath, and her suspicions were correct. There was a small fire underneath the tub. She found some red gems on the side next to it, and let them heal her before she got into it, and submerged herself underwater for a few minutes. The water felt good on her skin. It was obvious they'd used some kind of concoction to smooth out the water and make it smell good. When she'd finished, she let the tub drain, before ringing the service bell. Cynder would want a wash when she'd finished fighting.
She used her wind power to dry herself off, and dryed off the floor - and anywhere else that had been soaked - before heading into the main room. The main source of light was a small chandelier, burning with eternal flames. Four intricately decorated necklaces were set beneath it, on a table surface. Along with it was a small note. Mei read it.
'I assume you've had your bath by the time you read this, so you'll be ready to go anywhere. Me and my siblings are in my room, we are preparing a we head out to the front lines to push back the Union. Because of your feats today, we have decided we shall have your word in this plan, to. Spyro and Cynder are not invited - they are strong enough to decide their plan. After discussing the plan, we shall head to the banquet room and eat. I have included the directions to my room over the page... - oh, and take one of the necklaces. Consider it a gift. You can keep it.'
Mei turned the note, to see the directions. She flipped back, reading the last passage, and smiling. She looked to the necklaces. One was silver, with a heart shaped sapphire contained within what looked like a cage that fit perfectly around it. The second was an amethyst in the shape of a tear drop, intricately cut to reflect the sincerity of the shape. The chain was gold. The third was on another silver chain, a topaz cut into the shape of a five-point star. Mei looked at all of them. Sapphire would blend into her too easy, even though she liked stars. Topaz would stick out like a sore thumb, it wouldn't fit her colour scheme. She looked back at the amethyst one, guessing it would be best. She slipped it on, and checked her appearance through some glass. Her hair was messy. She'd never cared about her appearance - but in the presence of the royal family, she knew she should look good. She sorted her hair out, and released it from her usual ponytail. It curled around her and fell to her legs. She checked it once more, not comfortable with the way it looked, but left anyway.

Authors note: Not much Spyro and Cynder here. Yeah, well, the scenes they partake in during this chapter are generally straight fight 'n kill, not much competition or excitement. They will probably feature more prominently after next chapter. Sparx probably won't - after all, he's not really much help x3

Oh - yes, just in case a few of you are wondering, Mei's personality is meant to be modest, kind and generous, and the killing was an accident on her part. Anyway, read & review, and tell me what I can do to make this chapter better. xD