Author's Note: Well, after long discussions and thoughts, I've decided to not continue this story into a trilogy. But, this expected 50,000 word story will now become a 150,000 word story, with a potential sequel after it!
Special thanks to my beta-reader Centrifugal Convexity for improving my writing, and to all of my reviewers for helping me make this story top my traffic charts! Please take the time to review me!
The Inner Flame
Chapter 10: Darkness Runneth Over
Spyro waited outside, as he realized something was wrong. The gray clouds of the already bleak night worked against him, dampening his evening with sharp, clear drops of rain.
Cynder's Point of View
Cynder, having slammed into the guest cabin, was burning with a combination of rage, stupidity, anguish, and depression. She plopped down onto the small nest and curled up, the familiar sight of tears rolling from her eyes. Flame dared to approach her.
"C-Cynder?" Flame stuttered, wondering what he could do to stop the tormenting.
She looked up, with eyes whose tears have dried away over the intense, bulging anger that was slowly overcoming her.
"You! You ruined everything. Every bit of my love life, and everything I had always dreamt of! You crushed it with your hammer of this sad abomination you call love!" said Cynder, tension rising.
Flame began to get a heated look in his eyes as Cynder approached him, nearly to the point of harassing him with words.
"I can't believe you're saying that! This isn't the Cynder I know! The Cynder I know would accept the love, no matter who it is with," said Flame, stumbling over his words, as he was struck with small bits of fear. Cynder was a dragoness not to be messed with. Darkness could enrage her at any time.
Cynder laughed, somewhat of a dark, enticing nature.
"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into! Both of you are disobeying everything Ignitus taught you two. You are dragons. You are meant to fall in love with dragonesses. It's pretty hard to believe that any of the things you are feeling towards Spyro are true. They cannot be!" shouted Cynder valiantly.
Flame twisted and turned, fidgeting under the intense pressure that Cynder's incredulous gaze brought.
"Regardless of what you believe, Spyro is my love, not yours! I believe a dragon should have every right to love and be with anyone whom he wishes! Whether you believe it or not, Cynder, it's happening," said Flame, calming dwn. Flame was not trying to antagonize the black dragoness. He wanted to avoid a fight at all costs.
Cynder's Point of View
Cynder was beginning to hear voices in her head. At first, she thought they were simply her ideas, pouring into her mind. She then realized a significant voice that was part of her past.
"Cynder, you can finish this fool! End his misery, and that of the purple one, too!" shouted the voice.
After hearing the voice speak of the "purple one," she was finally able to put a face to the voice.
It could be no one other than Malefor, the Dark Master, trying to control and manipulate her once more.
Cynder disregarded the voices for some time before jumping back into the heated discussion with Flame.
"Flame?" she asked.
Flame nodded, urging her forward.
"Okay then, look right at me…" said Cynder. Flame was wondering what she was doing, but only stood there. Out of nowhere, Cynder threw a paw out at his face, knocking him to the ground. Cynder rose into the air, her black scales becoming even darker, as the bright green eyes he had come to know turned completely white.
He lay there aimlessly, looking up at the now Dark Cynder.
"If I can't have Spyro, nobody can!" shouted a distorted Cynder's voice, as Flame began ducking and covering.
Cynder followed Flame, zapping fire missiles throughout the cabin at him. She missed all of them, and only had one hit left, as the fire missiles exploded on the floors of the cabin without making a sound.
Flame was sitting in the center of the cabin, nothing to do but put his hands over his head, and hope that the darkness would falter.
Cynder looked at him deeply in this state. Suddenly, the dark voice he has been hearing for the past few minutes began to soften up and fight, becoming hoarse. Flame stopped covering his head as he watched what was going on. Cynder was fighting the darkness that Malefor had bound her to.
After a while, Dark Cynder let out a loud moan, followed by a short cry as her scales became less dark, and her pale white eyes became a pool of green once again.
She lay in a pile on the floor. Flame walked up to her cautiously, wondering if Cynder would still attack him or not.
Flame was two feet from her body when she lifted her head and opened her eyes, which were green once again.
She woke with a daze, wondering what had happened.
"Flame?" she asked hoarsely.
Flame didn't respond, but she continued anyways.
"I have seen a light of truth. You love Spyro very much. Go to him, and love him, and don't let him go," said Cynder.
Flame was as confused as could be, so she questioned Cynder.
"But you just attacked me over him! You want him!"
"You just started this whole bizarre thing over me and Spyro! Why would-"
Flame was cut off as Cynder put a claw to his lips.
Out of Cynder's mouth came… nothing. She curled up onto the nearest nest.
Flame was about to open the cabin door to go see his newly found lover, when Cynder opened her mouth and spoke.
"Flame, let's not tell Spyro any of what just happened, okay?" said Cynder, with a hopeful look on her face.
Despite the thought pestering Flame's mind that she may do this again, he nodded, and spurted out of the room, closing the door behind him with his orange tail tip.
Cynder looked completely calm at that moment, and lay on her back, in deep thought of what to do next. She truly, genuinely loved Spyro, but she had some feelings for Flame, also.
"Oh, when will this misery end? I love two dragons, and they might turn out to love each other. How coincidental that this would happen to me. I guess I deserve it because of my past. I deserve every lick of it…" said Cynder as she buried her face in a pillow and drifted off to sleep.
She could not sleep well, as the voices protruded back into her dreams.
Flame's Point of View
Flame trotted outside the guest cabin to the center of the Cheetah Village to meet his one true love. The moon was full, and the night was foggy. He trotted up to the flagpole to meet Spyro again.
As he approached Spyro, he hugged him from behind.
"Hey, Spyro," said Flame happily.
Spyro turned around, hugging Flame back as the couple sat next to each other, simply watching the night sky. Flame's feelings have never been greater for Spyro than they were now.
Flame snuggled closer to Spyro as the two lay on their backs, still looking up at the night star. They were both looking at the same pair of stars.
"That's us, Spyro. Together forever, as it is written in the stars," said Flame deeply.
"Yes it is, Flame. It sure is," said Spyro.
After some time of star-gazing, they started examining the full moon deeply.
"Flame?" asked Spyro.
"Yes?"
"I love you," said Spyro, as the two got closer together again, and continued watching the murky depths of the universe together.
A/N: Hasn't my writing improved? Even if I remotely touch you, or you hate it so much it makes you want to throw up, please leave a review behind! Next chapter should be up tomorrow or Thursday.