Is it time for battle yet...maybe
Thank you to Robert M., MCZ, HolyCross9, Dragon-uprising, and guests for your reviews. Keep 'em coming.
Chapter 12 – Ultimatum
The weight of the world, which has resided on Spyro's shoulders for the past week, now rises as fast as the sun over Warfang Gardens. His mother, whom had practically avoided him like 'the plague' this last week, now stands beside her boy with a massive blue wing draped around him.
Only anger would she show the purple dragon who protected Cynder, the one that killed her beloved, but today it was different. She was accepting, forgiving, loving...mothering.
She gave her blessing he says to himself, still dumbfounded by what has changed his mother's attitude so abruptly. That is until the sounds of joy and laughter come up from the garden below.
Mother and child both stare down from the balcony at the black dragoness, whom now rolls around in a patch of soft green grass with several young dragonflies. She continues laughing and playing with these familiar insects, whose job it is to tend the family gardens while their mother and father work in the Market Square.
Cynder's playfulness and joy is clearly heard two stories up and across the street, as Spyro's other siblings keep the Shadow dragoness laughing with their continued hi-jinx.
"Your... ah... brothers..." Skylar pauses, makes an odd expression still unsure how to address her son's other family, but then continues on with her thought. "...are showing you the reason I changed my mind."
Spyro smiles wide, as this is the side of Cynder he knows and loves. The dark dragon, who is finally getting a chance to show off her brightness, enjoying a childhood she never got in the baron Burned Lands. He is about to say why he has taken so much abuse to defend her, when his mother actually says it herself.
"She was the real victim of the Dark Master's war."
The purple dragon says nothing in return, simply taking his mother's arm in an embrace, holding it tightly like a child being lead through a crowd of strangers. For the first time in his life, he feels absolutely safe and secure, held firmly within the grasp of his mother.
Sure Nina supported and care and comforted her adopted child, but this actual feeling of security, smothered inside his mother's grasp, is something the purple dragon has longed for his entire life. In fact, the only other time he felt this comforted was when Ignitus held him, and only when he was much younger.
They both sit quietly, content within the company of one another, enjoying the playful actions of three small dragonflies and one very happy, vanilla-scented, black dragoness.
"I'm sorry Mom..." Spyro suddenly remarks, squeezing her arm tighter as a single thought now crosses his mind. "...I just wish I could have done things a little differently."
"What are you talking about?" she replies, opening her wing to expose her son, then turning Spyro around to look him eye to eye.
"I should have known I was not a normal dragonfly..." he says, lowering his head down with depression, however, Mom is quick with her paw to hold it up. "...just maybe I could have stopped Cynder before..."
Several tears fall from Spyro's face and Skylar smothers him into her chest.
"No baby, you are who you are because of the time you spent with your family." she replies, looking down at Cynder and seeing her son in that position, living a childhood that he never would have had had she rescued him from the rookery.
Skylar gently pulls Spyro's head from her chest, making sure she makes eye contact with her son.
"They made you the hero you are today..." she says, then kisses her son upon the nose and shows him a very wide smile. "...all I did was give you life."
Spyro smirks, however, he is unable to get a single word out before Mom makes her real point, and this time without the humor or the sarcasm.
"You would not have made a difference if you were there, baby." Skylar remarks, now knowing her son's history as much as everyone on Avalar, and the time he spent learning how to do what he can from the great Chronicler. Mother strengthens her grasp upon her child's shoulder, making sure he understands.
"You would have died to defend your father that night and the world would have been lost."
Spyro does not dispute her, knowing he would have fought anything that attacked his family, and laid down his life to protect them. It is what brought out the fire inside of the large purple dragonfly for the first time, when Sparx was imprisoned by several unknown creatures.
"Mom?" his voice is suddenly unsure and immediately Skylar picks up on her son's timidness, especially as he asks his next question. "Can I ask you something that might be hard for you to talk about?"
Skylar, already knowing what he wants seeing, the uneasy look in his eyes, just nods her head up and down.
Spyro pauses again, looks down and takes a deep breath, then returns his purple eyes to the one that bore him.
"What was my father like?"
Skylar's grasp upon her son tightens, making Spyro believe he should have left this subject alone for a little while longer.
It is a reaction she could not stop, as her emotions of having to explain him begin to take their effects again. She has already had the burden of describing to one of her children who their father was. It pains the single mother that her youngest, and now her oldest, never met the dragon that made her feel complete.
However, as his mother's heart begins to sing about the love still felt within, the purple dragon realizes he has asked the right question.
"He was a lot like you Spyro," She starts, hugging her oldest son with the strength she would use on her husband. He in turn embraces his mother with a more tender touch. ", solid as a rock from nose to tail and yet soft and gentle when he held you."
Skylar backs away, leaving her oldest boy standing before her as she continues comparing her love to the purple dragon that reminds her more of him everyday.
"He was as humble as they come and generous to a fault..." The smitten dragoness continues, looking up to the sky for inspiration, then giving a very pronounced wink. "...but you better not cross him, or he would make you pay."
The blue dragon raises a paw to Spyro's jaw, lifting it ever so slightly.
"You both have this big round beautiful nose with rock strong chins..." Skylar suddenly brushes a talon across a certain spot on Spyro's neck, making him flinch very heavily. "...yet are vulnerable to the right touch."
"Hey!" he chuckles while pulling away, rubbing the spot under his jaw that Cynder also likes to poke. "Don't do that! That really tickles."
Mom smiles again, seeing the one she misses so much in the purple dragon before her. Skylar then looks down at the black dragoness as she chases three of Spyro's tiny insect brother into a grove of trees.
"But mostly... He knew how to defend the ones he loved..." She says, then suddenly starts crying, feeling the loss of the one who took her heart even more. "...because it was all he cared about, Spyro."
The purple dragon takes his mother in a very tight embrace.
"I'm sorry Mom. I didn't mean to upset you." he says, truly angry for bringing the subject up, but Skylar is quick to stop him from beating himself up.
"NO..." she says with a firm tone. "...I need to speak of him from time to time, Spyro, if only to remind myself."
However, it is this exact moment that Skylar's other reminders are heard yelling from high in the sky over the center of town. Both mother and brother look up at the pair of blue dragons whom seem to be fighting in mid-air.
"What the heck is he doing?" Spyro remarks, getting ready to leap from the balcony, as his sharp eyes focus on Cyrus, whom continues prying his brother's paws from his body.
However, Skylar holds her oldest son put, seeing a familiar scene that played out nine years earlier. She smiles, hearing Spyro's nervousness, recalling exactly how she felt the day Blake Sr. dropped Cyrus from the sky.
"Looks like he's teaching his little brother how to fly..." She returns, grasping Spyro's shoulder tighter as Cyrus releases Blake. "...the hard way!"
"That's crazy, Mom! He's gonna hurt him" the purple dragon remarks, however, from the balcony next door comes an answer he was never expecting.
"That's how my father taught me, Spyro!"
Both Skylar and her oldest are stunned to see the large red and orange fire dragon that resides to the immediate left of the purple dragon's new home, his eyes also focused up on the pair that now fall from the air quickly.
"Are you serious, Oswald?" Spyro replies, his eyes locked upon the free-falling blue drakes as they increase speed towards the ground. However, as Cyrus opens his wings, then levels off with his back to the ground, Spyro becomes dumbfounded.
"Holy mackerel! He's flying upside-down!" the purple dragon remarks with astonishment, looking back at his mother in complete shock, as he is unable to perform this action. The purple dragon easily removes himself from her hold, allowing him to fly up over the rooftop and follow the flight of his brothers as they disappeared from view.
"That's remarkable!"
"Not really..." Oswald's deep voice replies, as he joins Spyro up on the roof of his home, watching the same lesson taught him by his father.
"...though his technique is flawed..." he continues, as Cyrus releases Blake, then circles around to his side. "...and hurried!"
Both dragons cringe as Blake suddenly turns into his brother, sending the pair towards the rooftops of the adjacent section of the city. Like the roller coaster the two brother are riding, Spyro's and Oswald's nerves fall and rise with the pair, however, from behind, only joy and pride is heard.
"That is exactly what Cyrus did to his father..." Skylar remarks with a nostalgic tone, landing on the facade of her new home beside the two drakes, watching her children work together better than most. Mom's pride is expressed in the next second, as she witnesses her one time oldest son take control of the situation and improve on the results that happened when he was taught by his father.
"...except Senior crashed into a tree."
They watch as Cyrus banks a hard turn with his brother in tow, lowering down into the center of the city before returning to their respective balconies.
"So, Spyro, Ms. Skylar... What has you up so early on this glorious morning?" The large red fire breather remarks, scorching a special stone on his balcony to heat it, then laying upon the rock to remain warm. He looks down at the patch of grass that Cynder has just returned to, now chasing half-a-dozen dragonflies from the forest.
All three watch as the black dragoness disappears into a mist of Shadows, reappearing before the small party of rushing insects.
"BOO!" She shouts, making all six dragonflies squeal in shock. They quickly turn around, giggling with excitement as they fly away in all directions. Cynder also squeals with joy, giving chase to the leader of the group and the one that started an impromptu game of chase.
"I'M GONNA GET YOU, DIAMOND!" she declares, following a white dragonfly back into the garden.
"IN YOUR DREAMS, SLOWPOKE!"
Spyro looks over at Oswald, showing a very genuine grin to the large fire breather.
"And miss all this excitement!" he replies, as he has enjoyed two different shows already. "If I knew all this happens before the sun rises, I would actually wake up early every morning."
Oswald lowers a single brow, showing the purple dragon a very sarcastic look.
"Seriously Spyro!?" he retorts, knowing exactly when the purple dragon has stumbled out on to the terrace of his home for the last week. "I've yet to see you up before the sun reaches mid sky."
Spyro simply smiles then looks down as Cynder reemerges from the forest with Diamond in her right paw.
"Well I have plans today, Oswald..." he replies, holding his mother's paw as his nerves suddenly overwhelm him. He turns his head toward the flower pot that holds a valuable secret, one that the fire dragon has seen himself. "...that is if I can find the strength to ask her."
"My goodness Spyro, are you gonna finally make it official!" A female voice remarks from behind Oswald, and quickly a very lovely looking pink and red dragon emerges from the dwelling next door.
"I mean, seriously, it's about time you tied the knot with Cynder."
"By the ancestors, Sharon...we've only been together for like three months if you think about it." Spyro replies, rolling his eyes at the same topic she brings up every time they see each other. He looks down again, making sure Cynder didn't hear his loud mouthed neighbor, then gestures his paw in anger "And she don't know yet, so if you don't mind, could you not shout it from the rooftop."
Sharon grasps her husband's arm, then reaches up to kiss him on the cheek.
"Ozzy offered his paw after only a week..." She says and quickly a smart aleck remark is fired back from inside Spyro's home
"Cause he was going to war the next day, Sharon!" Sparx shouts upon exiting the home he frequents as much as his own, joining a conversation he has had no part of, and quickly taking it over.
"And now he's trying to figure a way to get that paw back from you."
Both Spyro and Skylar chuckle from the loud mouthed dragonfly's exclamation, as does Oswald, who knows Sparx is joking with his wife of fifteen years.
Sharon, on the other hand, scowls at Sparx, whom zips over to the group with a grand smile on his little face. However, as he approaches, she returns his cheeky grin, as he is one of her best friends in the whole world, and knows he is only being funny. But truly, it is cause she can see her retort now staring back at her
"When are you getting that mono brow trimmed, Sparx?" She quips, making the small dragonfly pause to feel his forehead. Again the other three chuckle, as Sparx's feelings are shot back with rage, especially after having his looks made fun of.
"That's not cool, Sharon...You know how fast these things grow in on a dragonfly!" he retorts, painfully plucking several large black hairs from the bridge of his nose. However, he stops after the third hair, staring at his friend and neighbor.
"Could be worse though." he says with a grin again, and Sharon quickly finishes his thought.
"Yeah...you could have you father's monobrow."
Everyone laughs, knowing how bushy the single gray eyebrow is on the patriarch of Spyro's other family, yet no one could expect the next line, which comes from the purple dragon himself.
"Or Mom's!"
Everyone pauses, stunned stupid by Spyro's harsh joke about his mother's eyebrows. That is until everyone notices how hard they are trying to keep their laughter inside. The balcony shakes with the thunderous joy of such a terrible joke, knowing how inappropriately true it is.
Sparx looks over at his brother, barely able to keep his eyes open from laughing so hard.
"Mom's gonna kill you when she hears what you said." he remarks, and Spyro plucks his brother out of the sky.
"Then she better not hear it!"
Sparx, whom continues laughing, assures his brother with a simple nod. This in turn gets a reaction from Skylar, who swats her son across the backside with her tail.
"OWW!" Spyro yelps, looking back at his mother while rubbing the pain from his hind quarters.
"What was that for, Mom...I saw you laughing too!"
"Ummm..." she pauses, looking at everyone in turn for assistance in defending herself, however, Skylar knows she laughed, and for good reason. Nina's eyebrows are thin and very feminine, but still seem to connect after a day or two, no matter what she does.
"That was for your mother, who can't be here to defend herself."
Sparx laughs in his big brother's face, then looks over at Skylar and shows her a very genuine grin.
"Thanks Mom! He deserved that for making fun of Mom."
Skylar's eyes open wide, staring at the tiny dragonfly for a moment. She is about to ask why he called her Mom, but before she can open her mouth, a panicked voice shouts from down in the grassy area below.
"Let go of my brother, Cynder!" a tiny little blue dragonfly yells, getting directly in the face of the black dragoness ten thousand times her size.
Cynder shows and angry scowl to the tiny dragonfly, which scares her back a few feet. The dark dragoness then draws a circle with her talon and gently places Diamond in the center.
"He's mine..." she says with a very evil sounding tone, scaring the little girl further away. It also startles Skylar, wondering why the dark dragoness is suddenly acting like this. Cynder lowers down to pounce, making the young insect back away further, and putting Skylar on edge.
"...and now I'm gonna get you!"
"RUN SAPPHIRE!" her brother barks, hoping his youngest sister will understand her first game of tag, and run. However, overwhelmed by the moment, the tiny blue dragonfly starts crying.
Cynder quickly stops the evil act, switching back to the dragoness Spyro fell in love with. She swoops Sapphire into her paws, hugging the little dragonfly gently to he nose. Her green eyes softening to speak to the young girl.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie..." she says, and quickly the young dragonfly stops her balling, staring at the giant eyes that begin glistening with tears. "...I didn't mean to scare you... I just wanted you to run away so I could chase you."
The young girl's blue eyes suddenly change emotions again, showing embarrassment and not fear.
"Oh!" she says, then looks down at her big brother, whom shows his disappointment. "I'm sorry!"
Sapphire then takes off like a shot into the forest, immediately turning after reaching the first tree, then zig-zagging around like her brother taught her.
"She'll get it some day, Cynder." Diamond remarks, and the black dragon walks back over to him instead of giving chase.
"She's got it already, Diamond..." Cynder replies, losing sight of the little insect after only a few seconds. "...I don't see her anymore, and she is much faster than you."
"MOM! DAD!"
Both groups are startled by the panicked voice from down the street, especially the mother and father of this young pink and red dragoness, whom is now follow by a mob of others.
"SHANNON!" Cries a concerned mother, whom quickly notices her youngest daughter is absent from the advancing party. Sharon and Oswald are quickly off the balcony to be with their daughter, however, noticing Cynder on the grassy area outside her home, Shannon turns towards her.
The young dragoness slams into Cynder, driving her to the ground, just missing Diamond in the process. Her paw quickly striking the muzzle of a startled Shadow dragon, as her voice fills the area with her rage.
"THEY TOOK HER CAUSE OF YOU!"
"SHANNON!?" Oswald barks, stopping his daughter's paw before striking again. "What is going on!?"
Only able to cry, the red and pink chest dragoness simply hands the note she received to her father.
The large Fire dragon becomes enraged upon gazing at the note, getting angrier with every word he reads. He then turns to the purple dragon, whom has now placed himself between Cynder and a growing crowd of angry Avalarians, all armed and ready to fight.
"This note is not for me, Spyro..." he says, handing the small note to the purple dragons, showing him a look he has never seen from this stoic dragon. "...but now...it appears I must get involved."
Spyro looks down at the note, reading only the first sentence before becoming nauseous.
I have your little brother, and if you wish to see him again...alive, then bring Cynder's head to the Well of Souls.
Spyro looks up at Oswald, whom begins consoling his family, especially since he read the whole note.
"They took my daughter, Spyro..." he says, his voice broken from the thought of not being able to hold her. "...and I can't let that happen."
The purple hero looks back down to read the remaining part, written in a different hand.
And if you want to see the little girl as well...you will deliver her before morning.
Oh no, all that fun comes to crashing halt.
What will happen? Will Oswald attack Spyro? Will the entire group from the town square?
Stay tuned.