Disclaimer: Illuzo, Zirra, and Frillisean belongs to Seeraphine. I don't own anything Spyro related that can and will appear in this story.

Nightshade cautiously stepped into the underground ruins that used to be Malefor's training grounds. He frowned, this place had seen better days, it was practically falling apart, and yet Zirra lived here, ever tinkering with the infrastructure. Training, always training...

He wondered if she even thinks about anything else other then killing his father. He would soon get his answer.

It was then that he saw Zirra in the distance, working on the mechanism that creates a bridge. As he stepped closer, he noticed what appeared to be some kind of fork.

Zirra broke the silence between them, "How long have you been there?"

Nightshade blinked, "I just got here a few minutes ago. Just... What are you doing?"

Zirra sighs, "I'm putting in these tuning forks. If you put enough sound into them, they'll spin, thus extending the bridge."

Nightshade looked over her shoulder, "Why waste time with a bridge, can't you just fly?"

Zirra chuckled, "I could, but that would only make my training easy. Besides, you haven't seen how I exercise."

Nightshade rolled his eyes as she walked over to a few small stones with large handles, "I honestly don't see how a few small stones could possibl-"

He was cut off when Zirra tossed a stone at him, which Nightshade foolishly tried catching with his front claws. His hands were nearly crushed under the weight of the Adamantite orb.

He gasped as he tried pulling them out, "What the heck is this thing!?"

Zirra laughed as she hefted the stone off his claws with her mouth. She then placed the stone back in the pile, "Adamantite orb, they are really heavy. You can't fly when you carry them."

Nightshade gently blew on his claws, "Now I see why you have the bridge..."

Zirra sighed and sat down beside him, overlooking her hard work, "I have to be ready. Malefor could try anything, do anything."

Nightshade frowned, "Is he all you think about?"

Zirra snapped her jaws at him, "Of course not! I... I guess he is..."

Nightshade cringed, "Uh... Wanna talk about it?"

Zirra closed her eyes, "Will you leave me alone if I do?"

He nodded, as if she could see him. Zirra looked up at the ceiling, as if staring straight through it, gazing at the stars, "I guess it all started when He was laid. I knew some people were uneasy with having me near before, but it was then that everyone really showed me just how much of an outcast I was. Father wanted little to do with me, saying he finally had a child of his own."

Nightshade gulped, what had he done...

She continued, "At least Frilly was there. She was my only friend, but in the end, her mother took her away. I haven't heard from her since... Well, in person anyway. I did get a letter from her, but i'll explain that later. One day, I just snapped. It was after I took Malefor's egg to be examined by the Great Owl. When I didn't get the answers I was looking for, the egg fell into the waterfall that concealed his cave. I thought it was smashed for sure, but Father had caught it. Angry, was not nearly enough to describe how he felt. He nearly clawed my face off. I was so afraid, and then... Nothing, it was like a blurring dream. Next thing I know, father was dead. I killed him."

He frowned, "I see..."

Zirra frowned, "That's not the worst part, the Elders created a part to hunt me down. I was most likely going to be tried and executed, so I fled. Frillisean was kind enough to send me a farewell card. She wished me the best of luck, and hoped that I never get caught. Sure, she was petrified that I killed father, but she believed that I didn't have a choice, not this time..."

She then gave Nightshade a penetrating stare, "Mother took your father to the Guardians for protection. They raised him, trained him. They enjoyed their time with him. All the while, my anger grew. He seemed innocent enough while he was young, but he still was the one who ruined my life. Numerous times I contemplated ending things once and for all, but each time, I wondered what life could have been. I thought back to when I killed father, did I really want his blood on my claws? I couldn't do it... Little did I know the monster he would become."

Nightshade nodded, "I think I know what happened next. While you watched from afar, Malefor began to amaze the Guardians. As he mastered the elements, you wondered if you were strong enough to beat hi if it ever came down to it. Then the Guardians took him to the training grounds underneath Warfang. It was then that Malefor took a turn for the worst, he became a total jerk, a villain that was loathed by all. Eventually the Guardian's banished him, but Malefor was too strong to be taken out by force. Atrocus died in the scuffle. He sided with the Apes and the dragon's supply of Crystals has been dwindling ever since. Speaking of which, if it wasn't for Sanchez's out of the box medical ideas, a lot of dragons wouldn't be around right now."

Zirra nodded, "That's pretty much the gist of it. How'd you know so much about all this stuff anyway?"

Nightshade smiled, "Illuzo the storyteller. He wrote a book about the war, they even said he witnessed Malefor's banishment himself. Firsthand accounts are the best."

Zirra tilted her head, "What kind of stories does he tell?"

Nightshade chuckled, "Tales of Hope... I even learned a few things about Frillisean, for example: Early on in her career, when the Ghoul of the former Ape King, Gauls father, attempted to siege Sea fang to cut off trade routes, Commander Aren led the army to protect the city. Aren got struck by a stray cannonball and was put into a coma for a month. Frillisean rallied the defenses and challenged the Ghoul to open combat. She won in five minutes; When Malefor's army tried to destroy Warfang's dam, she led the defense in Aren's stead; Just before she joined the army, she defended one of the towns just outside Warfang's walls from a Tremor; She also once stumbled across one of the Ape king's tombs, she killed all of the ghouls found inside with what is said to be the strongest fire fury in history."

Zirra blinked in surprised, "Who would have thought that pink pipsqueak had it in her. While I've been obsessing over Malefor, she's been having the tie of her life. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever be free of Malefor's curse."

Nightshade hugged her with his wings, "Of course you will. You're the strongest dragoness I've ever seen. Malefor better be shaking in his scales when he see's you coming."

Zirra sighed, "Thanks. Do you mind leaving, i'm quite busy..."

Nightshade blinked and pulled away, "... O... K I just thought it'd be nice to say good bye. Me and Commander Aren are going to be leaving. We are going to free all those who are held captive at Krennick. What ever it is they are mining there, it's making us weaker. We have to stop them."

As he headed for the door, Zirra followed him, "Hey Nightshade... Do you really believe you can defeat Malefor?"

He looked down at the floor, "No..."

He then looked back at her with a smug grin on his face, "I'm not the one who will... It's going to be you. It's always been you. Have you ever thought what'd you do once you win?"

Zirra shook her head, "Not really..."

"Well... I'd like to see what you come up with."

What happened next, blew Zirra away, Nightshade kissed her. After a few moments, they broke apart, the silence between them rivaled that of a library. It was shattered by Nightshade's tender words, "We'll build it together... A brighter future... If you'd like."

Zirra slapped him, "Don't ever do that again..."

Nightshade adjusted his jaw and cradled his face, "Owww... What was that for?!"

Zirra chuckled and turned away, "For being so cheesy... If you survive, dinner's on you, got it?"

Nightshade nodded, chuckling as he made his way out. As Zirra turned to head back to her work, she noticed a bouquet of orange tulips laying up against the tuning fork. She sniffed the flowers and set the down by her makeshift bed before getting back to work.