Forgetting Who You Are
Chapter 10
As Spyro set down just outside the tavern, he saw Cynder and Ciezan through a window, seated at a table, laughing and drinking merrily. He walked throught the open door and made his way to their table.
The tavern was rather nice. Stone walls and solid wood furniture with cushions. Various hunting trophies clung to the walls. From stags, to mighty fish, the collection was no small feat. The tavern itself was sectioned into two main ares, one was a dinning hall, and connected to it was a lounge area, filled with cushions and various dragons.
His attention was pulled by a black arm waving back and forth. Cynder was ushering him toward her. "I thought you were going to bed? What happened"?
"Couldn't sleep is all. So I decided I'd see if that drink offer was still open".
Ciezan raised his tankard and slid down the bench. He patted the open seat beside him. "Of course! Sit down. Grab a drink".
The purple dragon slid next to the gryphon, who put an arm around him. "Isn't thish grape? Tree friends out for drinksh"? He and Cynder shared a drunken laugh.
"How much have you two had to drink"?
"Not enough my friend. Not enough". He finished his drink and waved down a blue dragoness. "Can I get another"?
She nodded. "Of course". Looking between Spyro and Cynder, "Would either of you like something"?
Cynder raised her mug and nodded. Spyro smiled. "I don't really know what I'd like".
Ciezan laughed, cutting in. "Give him a High Striker! He's no push over"!
"Very good. I'll be right back with your drinks".
Spyro looked to Ciezan, "What's in a High Striker"?
Cynder laughed, finishing her drink. "It's whiskey and honey. It's pretty tough".
"That sounds... nice". Spyro looked to their tankards. "So what are you drinking"?
The gryphon tilted his empty tank over the table. A look of disappointment washed over his face when he saw nothing come out. "Nothing right now. I should order another"!
"You already did feather head"! Laughed Cynder. "He's drinking mead. I am too, but mine's maple mead. Sho it's better".
The blue dragoness came by, and handed new tankards to everyone. She took the empties and walked away. Spyro took a sip of his drink, and felt a burning trace it's way to his stomach. He coughed and gagged.
His friends laughed as he hacked. "That's terrible"! He coughed again. "Who would drink this? It's actually painful"! Looking to his friends and seeing their expressions, he couldn't help but join in with them.
They spent an hour drinking and laughing. Spyro had just finished his first drink in that time. At some point Ciezan had passed out, head on the table, snoring softly. The purple dragon looked to Cynder, who sat across from him with milky eyes, and warm cheeks.
"Cynder"? She looked to him, smiling. "I was wondering. About the party tomorrow".
"What ish Shpyro? She asked, leaning in attentively.
Spyro took a deep breathe, "Would you like to go together? Like a... date"?
Cynder blushed through her already reddened cheeks. She smiled and laid a claw on his. "I'd luf to".
A wave of happiness came over the purple dragon as he heard those words. "R-really? Awesome"!
"But", Spyro's anxiety grew, scared of her next words. "Ciezan already aksed me. I'm sorry".
His world shattered. And he felt his nightmares might become a reality. So he jumped from his seat. "I'm sorry. I should go".
Looking down, Cynder saw the mass amounts of tankards they had emptied. "Yeah. Thash a god idea. I'll take Ciezan home".
As she said those words, Spyro stopped dead in his tracks. Thinking back to his dream, Spyro was fast to turn tail and run back to the table. "Why don't I do that"?! She gave him a confused look. "You aren't in the most sober state of mind, right? And we have a busy day tomorrow! So why don't you go get rested, and I'll take him home". The purple dragon smiled nervously.
She shrugged. "If you want, go ahead. You know where hish room is, righ"?
He nodded. "Crap. Of course. I've been there before".
"Okay. Have fun". She stumbled off the bench and out of the tavern.
Spyro sighed as he looked over his new job. "I hate him so much right now". The purple dragon woke the gryphon, helped him from the bench, and kept him from falling on his face as they made their way to bed.
But not before having to pay for what they drank. He tried to wake up Ciezan, but he only woke up long enough to try and get another drink. The purple dragon mumbled hateful words about the gryphon as he payed with what gold had been given to him by the guardians. "I was gonna buy Cynder something nice with this too".
After a few wrong turns, and much drunk babbling, Spyro managed to find the gryphons room. He pushed the door open, and inside lay three beds, two of which occupied. He did not dare turn on the light, and instead let the moon mark his path.
He did manage to lay the large bird in bed. But as he pulled the covers over Ciezan's body, the gryphon pulled Spyro onto the bed.
Spyro yelped silently as the gryphon embraced him. He began to whisper. "Ciezan. Ciezan let me go! I need to get back to my room".
The gryphon restrained him further. "But mine is sho cold. I need shomeone to help me keep it warm". Thankfully, the slurred speech was quiet.
As Spyro struggled to get free, he felt the gryphons hot, alcohol laced breath as he whispered. "I love you". It was accompanied by the slick, wet touch of the gryphons tongue against Spyro's cheek. The feeling of which made the purple dragon shutter. Mere moments after however, Ciezan's head fell to the bed and his body went limp.
Once he felt his grip loosen, Spyro scrambled from the bed and bolted out the door to his own room.
As Spyro approached his door, he noticed that a light emanated from the other side. "I didn't turn the light on, right"? He pushed the door open, and saw Flame sitting at the desk, a quill going back and forth on a piece of paper. A look of disgust came over his face as he sniffed the air.
Flame turned his head to Spyro's direction. "What's that smell? Did you make out with a keg of alcohol"? He laid down the quill and covered his nose. "I think I'm inhaling more than the legal limit. How much did you drink"?
"It wasn't me". The purple dragon walked to a basin of water, and scrubbed himself down. "It was Ciezan".
Flame's eyes widened. "You made out with Ciezan"?
"NO"! He snapped. "I helped him into bed and he kind of.. tried to make out". He finished scrubbing his scales of the residual saliva. Not that it helped the smell much. "At least I think he was trying to. It was mostly him licking my face".
"Why would you help him into bed? It's not like he's your responsibility".
"It was either I help him, or Cynder does. And if he licked me, I don't want to know what he'd try with a drunk dragoness".
Flame raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care? What they do alone isn't your problem".
"I don't care. It's wrong". A hateful tone hung on his words.
"What do you mean"?
Spyro rolled his eyes and threw his arms upward.. "Them! He's a gryphon and she's a dragon! They shouldn't be together. It's wrong"!
Flame glared at him disapprovingly. "It isn't fair to say that they can't be together just because they aren't the same species. Everyone is entitled to love".
"How isn't it fair? I'm sure that if you asked others about this they'd say the same as me. I have never heard of an interspecies couple in my life. That show's that I'm obviously not alone in this".
The red drake sighed, went to his desk, and pulled out a book marked 'Third Era', and turned to a page that depicted a mighty yellow dragon with red underbelly. He handed the book to Spyro who looked it over intently. "This is the Fifth king of the Dragon Realms; Xan-Teehl-Oum. During his time as king, he was rather.. promiscuous. He single-handedly made all manner of relations outside of marriage acceptable. But was never sated by any number of dragons. So", Flame pulled another book from his desk, this one titled 'The Kings Mate', and turned to a page depicting a gryphoness wearing ornate jewelry, "he looked for more exotic options. You can guess he made a trip to the gryphon tribes". He turned the page to one depicting the king laying a gryphon while surrounded by onlookers. "He liked what he found. Obviously. So he took a gryphon for a mate". Flame turned to the next page, that had the king and a gryphon forehead to forehead, staring into eachother's eyes. "It's rumored that when his mate died, he took any number of new ones, both female and male. But we have no proof of that".
Spyro shook his head. "That was, how long ago? Obviously it didn't catch on".
Flame laughed. "Oh, it caught on". Once again he pulled out another book. This one titled 'The Hybrid King'. The cover depicted a gryphon dragon hybrid. It's head was that of a gryphon, and body was that of a yellow dragon with a red underbelly. Spyro stared at the creature in disbelief.
"Is that"? Flame nodded. "So dragons and gryphons can have children together"?
Flame turned to another page with a thrask leaning over the king and his mate. "Not on their own, no. At some point in history, the thrask could create life from the seeds that bring it forward. The magic of old is a scary thing". He flipped through the book until it fell upon a beautiful gold crown, set with gems of all colors. "Being the only heir to the throne, the hybrid bore the crown. But was hated and disgraced as a ruler. Just for being different". The final page showed the hybrid, hanging with their wings severed, surrounded by a crowd of cheering dragons. "And they were killed. Forgotten as the sixth king. Instead that title was given to Kahn-Ich-Baal. Who reinforced the idea that interspecies relations were a sin against the dragon Gods. And anyone found to be in current, or past relationships with any not a dragon, were maimed, crippled, or killed. Brutally might I add". He pulled out another book, 'The Great Hunt'. The cover depicted a gryphon being beaten brutally by various dragons.
Spyro closed the book before Flame had time to open it all the way. "I get it, Flame. Maybe it isn't wrong morally, but how I feel about it won't change because some king said it's okay. And right now I don't want any more history lessons. I also don't feel any better knowing that with a just a little help, they could end up having a child. So thank you, but I'm going to bed now".
He turned away from the red drake, who looked as though he had been told some bad new. "But I have a whole ten more eras to get through! What about the 700 year war? Or Rise of the Peace Keepers? And how could you not want to hear about the Desecration following the Crowning of the Elders in the Tenth era? This is our history"!
"Well I'm living in the present. And presently, I'm tired and maybe a bit drunker than I'd like. So can we please just go to bed"?
Flame opened his mouth, but refrained from saying anything else. His wings drooped and head fell low. "Okay". The red drake flicked off the light, and crawled into the bed next to Spyro. He did manage to perked up though. "But tomorrow I'm telling you all about the seventh era. It's really awesome"!
"Goodnight Flame". Spyro said, mildly irritated.
"Goodnight, Spyro".
They closed their eyes, drifting into the world of dreams. Ready to take on whatever comes with the next day.