Time to Leave

It took roughly an hour for Cynder and Slasher to be ready to leave. Gaul helped the two dragons ready themselves. He gave Cynder a set of dragon armour that he had made himself. She immediatly put it on so they would not have to carry it. Gaul apologised to Slasher for only having made one set and that there was no time to make another. Slasher smiled and said the armour would only slow him anyway. Gaul looked at the night sky and said

"You should leave now. Do you have everything you need?"

Cynder nodded then ran over and hugged Gaul tightly. The two stayed like that until Slasher hissed urgently

"Hurry up, please. I don't like this one bit."

Cynder felt something being pressed into one of her talons as she and Gaul parted. Cynder sniffed as she walked away from Gaul, tears that she was determined not to shed clung to her eyelashes (I don't know if dragon's have any but there you go.) Gaul whispered huskily

"You two had better go."

Slasher nodded and with a blow from his tail shattered the large window. The glass fell to the floor with a loud tinkiling noise and everyone was fervently glad that the room was soundproofed. Unfurling his massive wings Slasher flew out of the window. He hovered to wait on Cynder who looked at Gaul one last time before launching herself out of the window. Gaul strode over to the shattered window and watched the two dragons fly off into the distance. When the darkness had swallowed their black forms Gaul repaired the window with a spell then walked out of the room. Just as he was about to closethe door behind him he looked around the room with a tear in his eye.

Cynder felt her wings shaking with grief so badly it took all her strength just to remain airborne. The night was clear and still, the two moons watched them as they left the mountain behind. The black armour Gaul had given Cynder was weighing down her body but even a ten tonne weight could not compete with the feeling that was weighing down on her heart.

Would she ever see Gaul again and what would happen now?

Cynder and Slasher flew for the rest of the night and through the next day. Finally Cynder's wings burned as if hot knives were being plunged into them. Speaking for the first time since they had set out she said

"Slasher I have to stop."

He nodded and shortened his wingspan, spiralling towards the ground. Cynder angled herself toward the ground. The two dragons landed at the same time. Cynder collapsed on the ground her body trembling with both exhaustion and sadness. Tears streamed from her eyes and ran like diamond rivers down her cheeks and onto the ground. Slasher put his wing on her shoulder but doubted she felt it, absorbed in grief as she was. After five minutes Cynder stood up and looked around. They had landed in a small forest clearing that was cluttered with wild flowers that gave off a sweet scent neither of the dragons had smelled before. Cynder had landed on a patch of grass and moss.

"Now what do we have to do?" she whispered shakily.

Slasher stood up also. He looked at Cynder, his normally hard silver eyes were soft and kind.

"Wait here and rest. You might want to take that armour off too."

She nodded and began to take her armour off. When she was finished she carefully laid the armour in a pile next to her and laid down. It was a lot more comfortable without the armour she had to admit to herself. Slasher came back with the bloody carcass of a deer in his mouth. He laid it next to Cynder and walked away fto the edge of the clearing they had landed in where he curled up under a boulder

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked

"Yeah but I'll wait for you to finish."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scorned and patted the ground next to her with her tail blade.

Slasher padded soundlessly on the soft grass and laid down next to her. Cynder smiled at him before starting to eat the deer. Hesitantly Slasher joined in. When both had eaten all they could, Cynder ate a lot more than Slasher, Slasher blew the remains of the deer into the forest with a gust of wind that he shot from his mouth. Cynder looked at him

"What was our mother like?" she asked quietly

Slasher thought for a moment before answering. When he did his voice was so light and soft Cynder had to strain to hear him, even ethough she was right next to him.

"She looked like you, but older, with dark blue instead of pink. She was blind but still managed and was so reassuring she made me feel safe at once."

"I wish I could have met her?"

"I only met her once and for a brief while. She said that one day both of us would meet her. "

Slasher paused then drew a deep breath and asked "What was Gaul like."

"He was so amazing I can't describe him in words. He was a bit, standoffish at first, probably because of his dislike for dragons. He was the dad I never had. Will we ever be able to go back there?" she asked, her voice trembled again

"I hope so... Yes we will, and I don't care if I have to kill Malefor for that to happen." he said "But for now... Gaul wouldn't want you to fall to pieces OK?"

She nodded and smiled again. "Thank you Slasher."

The Dragon of Darkness looked at his sister with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. Cynder asked

"Slasher, will you spar with me. It's something I usually do with... Gaul every night."

He nodded "If you wish"

Cynder moved into the ready stance Gaul had taught her. Slasher was ten paces away from her with his wings raised and his tail curled around himself. Cynder lashed her tail out with lightning speed but was dismayed when Slasher's wing stopped it in it's tracks. Quickly, she charged at Slasher who was struck by the attck and sent flying backwards. He righted himself and his claws screeched across the ground as he made an effort to stop himself going backwards. His body burned where she had struck him. With a giant leap he burst forwards and retaliated with a kick from his back paw. Cynder yelped in pain as the attack hit it's mark and she was thrown off blance. For a wierd moment she struggled to regain her balance. Flapping her wings wildly she steadied herself and swung ong of jer wings at Slasher. The pink wing was parried by the larger silver one, the two wing blades collided in a metallic clang that rang in the dragons ears. Slasher suddenly whipped his tail into Cynder's side and knocked her over.

WOAH! He's strong

A second tail attck followed an instant later

And fast! she thought as she dodged the attck. Cynder punched him in the chest and scrambled to her feet. The two dragons looked at each other and grinned. They charged each other and met in a flurry of flashing wings tails and talons. They constantly attacked each other with their wings tails and paws, being careful to keep the blades and talons turned away. The match became an incomprehensible jumble of action and reaction. Sweat poured from the two dragons which made the strikes begin to slide off. Cynder was about to strike Slasher with a paw when he yelled breathlessly

"Enough!"

Cynder stopped mid strike and let her arm fall limply to the ground. The two siblings smiled at each other

"That was fun," acknowledged Cynder, still panting

"Aye it was. You're really good," said Slasher

"As are you. That was the fiercest foight I've been in. Shall we do it every night?"

"Yeah, now that we're away from the Mountain of Malefor," he spat the last word. "We don't have to go all day and night."

"Let's get some sleep now," yawned Cynder "I'm exhausted,"

Slasher smiled weakly, he was too. The two dragons curled against each other, Slasher draped one of his moonlight coloured wings over Cynder. She placed one of her pink wings over Slasher and the two dragons pomptly fell asleep under the stars that watched over them.

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things will begin to get more exciting from now on and a few truths will be unveiled

Cynder- "Don't give away the whole story"

I won't. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. This story will be rather long and I hope it's not to slow for you all

Slasher