A/N: In this story, the term 'Dragon Realms' refer to the land mass where TLOS takes place. Not the universe. Also about my height revision; completely forget about the sizes of all of the character in the whole series. This is an AU so I can do what I want. I will stick to the cannon, but heights will be changed, to make things slightly more realistic.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or any character from the cannon Spyro franchise, I do, however, own my OCs.

Chapter Five: The Capture

Syra curled herself into a tight ball and let out a slight whimper. The camp fire that Connor had started had died by now. She wasn't really cold; she was just trying to play the part of the defenseless, pathetic, little hatchling. She was succeeding, too. Connor hadn't even begun to question her past. After his beating, no, slaughter of the apes that were pursuing Syra was over, Connor told her he was taking her to the dragon temple that was supposedly a few days journey on foot from the tavern. That was two days ago.

Syra's face twisted in discontentment for a split second, feeling guilty for tricking the kind, old wolf. She didn't really expect him to swear to protect her. Her plan was to rile up the bar goers into bugging the apes and allowing her to escape. But no, now she was heading to the Temple instead of making her way to Warfang, which was her original plan. Syra heard Connor stir, and a few seconds later something heavy and warm was draped across her. She opened her eyes and saw Connor walking away, but he wasn't wearing the coat he was always wearing. Twisting her head, she saw that he had draped it over her like a blanket. She let a soft groan.

"Why is this thing so heavy?" Syra asked. Connor's ears pricked up at the sound of the hatchling's voice.

"It is leather from the leor torsca, a large and viscous animal that lives in my homeland. The leather is as strong as steel, and slightly less heavy. It works well for armor, and keeps us wolves warm. But those things are hard as stone to kill. And tradition dictates we kill them with tooth and claw." Connor answered. His grey-streaked face smiled slightly as he sat down by his weapon covered harness on the wet ground. "There is no greater thrill or honor than being on your first hunt, assisting in felling those mighty beasts." Syra had picked up her head and stared Connor as he reminisced. She thought it was a good time to get to know her traveling companion a bit more.

"Why did you save me?" She asked. Connor only looked into her purple eyes and said "You remind me of my daughter." Connor's smile disappeared and he said "Go to bed pup, the time for talk has past." He turned over and closed his eyes, so to go to sleep. Syra was now curious about Connor's past. He mentioned very little of it, in fact this was the most she ever heard him talk about his home and life before he came to the Dragon Realms. Most of the time he was closed lipped. But then again, she didn't speak much either, just leaning against his side and letting out a whimper every now and then. She really hated deceiving Connor for two reasons: she didn't like tricking such a kind soul, and, more importantly, she hated acting so pathetic. Oh well, she thought it could be worse. I mean, we could be ambushed by apes this very moment.

There was a slight rustle in a bush a few feet away. Without any warning, Connor grabbed his crossbow, aimed at the bush, and fired a bolt. Syra jumped at the unexpected noise, and her eyes widened when the dead body of an ape fell out of the bushes.

"These mallacht things are annoying." Connor said as he stepped to the dead body and pulled the bolt out of the dead ape. He grabbed to lever on the side of the crossbow and pulled it back the catch of crossbow. This pulled the string back and enabled for quicker reloads. "Why are they hunting you?" He asked as he reloaded his crossbow.

"I don't know." Syra answered, her face being hidden from the sight of the dead ape by being buried in Connor's coat. That of course was another lie. She knew exactly why she specifically was being hunted. But she still misdirected Connor. "There is supposed to be some kind of war against the dragons and the apes. I was trying to get to Warfang, where I would be safe."

"The so called 'Guardians' at that dragon temple we heard of can help you." Connor stated. "They might even take us to Warfang."

"Us?" Syra questioned, raising her head to look at the old wolf. "You think that I am just going to swear to protect you, and then leave you in someone else's care?" Connor questioned. "No, that won't be happening." He answered for her.

"But you have a daughter; shouldn't you be with her?" Syra asked, in hopes of both discouraging him from following her and learning more about the wolf's past.

"If I had a family, I wouldn't be in your mallacht land." Connor said through bared teeth. "Go to sleep, pup." Connor said firmly, fastening his crossbow to his harness and laying down.

"But-"

"Sleep, pup, sleep." Connor said, stuffing his muzzle into the crook of his arm. Syra sighed, her curiosity far from sated. She pulled Connor's coat over her head and closed her eyes. She soon entered into the world of dreams, but unfortunately for her, they were memories, not dreams. She couldn't see anything; only hear the voices of her lifelong tormentors.

"Fight back! Don't just lay there!" Yelled a voice that seemed to be filled with malice.

"Don't fight them head on! Use your elements!" Another, more sophisticated voice came. "Ugh, call off the apes; she is too beaten to fight. Hunter, take her to the infirmary." The first voice spoke.

"Terra, tend to her wounds." The sophisticated voice said.

"Mistress," a new voice came, this one soft and quiet. "She has been through so much, please; just let her rest for the rest of the week." This new voice seemed to plead.

"It is not up to me." The sophisticated voice said. "She is in his care this month; I have no say in her training regime." There was the sound of paws stepping, walking across stone. The soft voice spoke again.

"Hunter, please try to convince him to let her have the week to rest." The soft voice pleads again. "Don't worry," A fourth voice spoke, this one deep and kind. "I already convinced him."

"Really!? Thank you so much Hunter!"

"Believe it or not, but he suggested her time off. As spiteful as he is, he seems to have some emotion besides hate in his putrid heart. He suggested that she have the week off, something about 'not being able to fight in a state like this.'"

The happiness seemed evident in the soft voice. "See, I told there is good in their hearts." The deep voice only grunted before saying: "I wish you were right, Terra, oh how I wish you were right."

"Pup, get up." A harsh whisper came, rousing her from her sleep. She whimpered and begged quietly "I thought I had the week off, Master. Please, give me a second to get up, and then I will be ready to train."

"What the ifreann are you talking about? Apes are—"

There was a dull thump. Connor never finished his sentence. Here was a loud screech and Syra felt herself being picked up by the scruff. She woke up instantly, reacting on a lifetime of training. Opening her eyes, she saw two ape soldiers crowded around her. An ape leader stood by Connor, his foot on the wolf's chest as Connor struggled to shift the large ape's foot off of his chest.

Syra twisted her body right, spinning out of the ape's grasp and slashing his throat out with her tail blade. She opened her mouth and let out a shrill scream with visible, red sound waves. Her tail flicked around behind her, sending tongues of flame at the ape steeping on Connor. The ape stumbled off of Connor. The wolf leapt up, easily getting behind the leader. Connor wrapped his arm around the ape's throat, getting the ape in a perfect sleeper hold.

Connor kicked the back of the ape's legs out from underneath him. Connor took several steps back; the ape's legs splayed out underneath him as he was hung in Connor's sleeper hold. In several seconds, the ape stopped thrashing and slipped into unconsciousness. Connor dropped the body and looked at Syra, who was finishing off the ape that she had stunned with fear.

"You killed them." Connor said, shock radiating through his voice. "Well, yeah, what did you expect? They were attacking me." Syra said, not caring at all as she walked to the unconscious ape leader. She never got the chance to kill that leader. All she heard was a dull thump. Before she could question the sound, everything went black.

A/N: Well, this chapter came up early. Also came with a peek into Syra's past. And no, your eyes didn't decieve you. That was Terra the panther, from Riverstyx's 'Residual Darkness' in this story. If you are reading this, Riverstyx, thank you once again for allowing me to use her. To those of you who care, Connor is speaks Irish. Mallacht means 'cursed' in Irish; ifreann means 'hell'. Also, I forgot to mention that in my story, Dragonic is the basic trade language, which means most people know it. To those who forgot, Connor's coat has a hood. Last thing to say, Thank you .Chaos97 for Beta reading. You really took a load off of my mind. Thank you so much.