Chapter Ten: Mutual Relations
"Ember, where are you?" Cynder yelled as she burst through the Dragon Study from the balcony with Spyro in her arms. The purple dragon lay unconscious as he bled slowly on the mounds of pillows and cushions among the decorative couch.
"Spyro, I'll get the medical supplies, hold on!" Ember said as she set Spyro and Cynder's egg down on the pillow mounds on the floor and rummaged through a cabinet of supplies next to Cyril's desk. Spyro's heart began to beat slower as Cynder kept a pillow pressed on the open wound.
"He's losing too much blood here, any day now Ember!" Cynder said as she looked at the egg, keeping her hope strong as Ember looked through the cabinet with great haste.
"Hold on, I almost… found the kit!" Ember yelled as she ran back to Cynder with a solid white box made of glass as she quickly handed Cynder glass bottles of disinfectant, styptic, a suture kit, and roll after roll of bandages.
"Alright, hand me the disinfectant," Cynder ordered as she poured the clear liquid over Spyro's open wound, cleaning any bacteria near the wound away as she motioned to Ember again. "Now give me the styptic." Cynder then gently rubbed the gooey substance around the wound which would aid the wound to close appropriately.
"Here's the suture kit…" Ember said, handing Cynder the needle and thread as the black dragoness began to sew the wound closed. After stitching the wound close, Cynder applied a thin layer of styptic over the stitched area for maximum effect on healing the wound swiftly as she breathed and sighed in relief.
"Ok… that should hold… bandages please." Cynder said as Ember handed Cynder a roll of cloth bandages, watching the black dragoness sweat in worry as she finished bandaging the wound completely. "You should go down and let everyone know Spyro has returned and needs to rest… I'm going to bandage the small wounds." Cynder's words sounded frail and soft as Ember nodded with grief as she left the Dragon Study. Cynder finished in mere minute as she seemed exhausted.
The purple dragon began to regain some consciousness as Spyro's eyes struggled to open as he sputtered, "C-cynder… w-w-where am I?" Cynder wrapped her arms around her husband's neck as she shook in worriedness.
"Safe for now my love… you must sleep." Cynder said as she kept her head next to Spyro's as she tried to comfort herself with Spyro's company.
"Spyro has returned," Ember said to Hunter, Prowlus, and Flame who were talking in the main hall of the Dragon Temple. "He mustn't be disturbed though, he has suffered severe wounds from Draikor and he must rest."
"It is good to hear he is in one piece, what of the egg, is it in good hands?" Prowlus asked as Ember nodded her head.
"Cynder delivered the egg perfectly, I'm just glad she came through ok, some don't make it through labor," Ember said as Flame nodded his head in understanding, followed by Hunter and Prowlus. "Hunter, I must ask you, what type if bracelet is that you're wearing?"
"We just got through a conversation about it," Hunter explained as he looked along the black, spider-like bracelet. "You see that vase among that table near the church door?" Hunter aimed the bracelet towards the glass vase and fired a black vine which wrapped around the vase within seconds among impact.
"That's incredible," Ember said as she touched the strong, elastic vine. "It reminds me of a spider's web."
"That it does," Hunter said as he allowed the vine to evaporate on command. "We need to find out more about the Fallen if possible; I bet Cyril has some books about their heritage or their way of life or what they worshipped or anything at all relating to them."
"Give Spyro some time to rest and then we can search Cyril's records and books." Ember said as she looked back among the staircase again.
"Given the facts, it seems the race of the Fallen had a strong affliction with spiders," Flame said as he began to put the pieces of facts together. "Look at it this way, they are swift on their feet, dangerous in numbers, tend to hide before striking, and this bracelet Hunter has proven no different. Plus, they probably thrive in tunnels or move underground on an educated guess. The bracelet does confuse me however; none of the soldiers have anything like it… maybe someone with a more dominating rank than the other warriors."
"Sounds very plausible Flame," Hunter said as he looked towards the orange dragon. "Why would it not be with the rightful owner?"
"I wouldn't have a clue to begin with Hunter," Prowlus said as he looked towards Ember. "Will Spyro make it through his injuries ok?"
'He should be fine… he lost a lot of blood however," Ember said as she shook her head. "All we can do is to hope that his stitches won't rip open and he doesn't bleed through the bandages."
"Flame, you and I should go and check on the city," Prowlus said as he turned towards the main entrance. "We'll scratch something off of Spyro's list of things to do when he recovers."
"I'm going to walk among the ramparts to see if I can see any of the Fallen yet." Hunter said as he turned towards the main entrance as well.
"The purple dragon escaped my lord," an elite soldier said as he apologized to Draikor. "Forgive me for my failure; Mole-Yair has already been disposed of due to his part in aiding Spyro's escape, Cynder was the one who made off with Spyro."
"He's in Warfang no doubt, along with any remains of his life," Draikor said as he looked towards the elite guard. "Where is your tribe leader, Arachnus?"
"He should be arriving soon though he is very upset; a Cheetah warrior has been seen with his weapon," the elite guard said as he looked towards the main entrance. "The Arachnid Brace has been stolen."
"Your leader will acquire what he wishes for sooner or later," All I care about right now is tearing through Warfang, along with any inhabitants inside followed by taking over the world. Ripto, come to me at once!" A tall, dark figure entered from the room to the right of Draikor as he stood before the great dark dragon with a hateful facial expression upon his face.
"I'm not your slave dragon," Ripto said as he clinched his scepter to Draikor's presence. "I won't forget what you did to me, my family, and my people… remember my words to you Draikor, I will get my revenge on you." Draikor then sat up from his throne chair with a smirk among his face and stood directly in front of the Riptoc ruler.
"Now listen here you deformed Dinosauric insect," Draikor said as he grabbed the horned ruler by the throat. "You brought the death of your own Riptoc people by yourself, I warned you to surrender this fortress to me and my forces and what did you do? You ignored my rant and I killed of everybody you ruled and loved; now I'm the only one who can bring them back!" Ripto began to grasp for air as he dropped his scepter.
"Just… remember… our… deal." Ripto sputtered as Draikor finally released him, allowing him to fall and gasp for air as the Riptoc ruler reached for his scepter.
"Once this is all over, your forces are mine to control along with all of your resources, a small but reliable offer… you aren't as stupid as you look." Draikor said as he returned to his throne chair.
"Your demands are noble dragon," a scratchy voice said as a muscular, pestilent looking Fallen entered the throne room from the entrance. "But your ethics are weak and shaky."
"Arachnus," Draikor said as he personally stood from his throne chair to great the Fallen leader. "My ethics are not of your concern; your concern however is to retrieving what belongs to you."
'When the survival of my kind is at stake, it is my every concern Draikor," Arachnus stated as his black and charcoal colored armor shone dull and withered much like his body. "And besides, the Arachnid Brace is well on the way of returning to me." The Fallen leader took pride in his words as he stood tall with his sword to his side.
"Ah, the bracelet with the power to produce a web-like protrusion, my council of possessed Guardian dragons were just discussing the topic to me not to long ago," Draikor said as he sat back down in his throne chair. "Why do you not worry though my friend?"
"The bracelet binds to it's host once the fangs sink into the user's arteries," Arachnus said as he smiled horrifically. "If the proper user it identified with arachnid blood, the bracelet proved of no harm. My informants have told me of a Cheetah warrior who has the brace in their possession if I'm correct."
Draikor looked confused as he said, "Yes, what concern is this to you though?"
"If the incorrect user is identified, the fangs slowly emit deadly venom of high potency directly into the victim's bloodstream," Arachnus said with a wicked smile while throwing his cloak out of the way in front of him to his back. "The Cheetah warrior doesn't long to live I'm afraid."