Merry Christmas Eve everybody! As an early Christmas present for you, here's another chapter to enjoy. It's another shorter one, but maybe this is one of those 'good things come in small packages' situations. I hope so...
Anyway, hope you like it. Enjoy.
Chapter 19:
In the late hours of the morning, the main dining hall within Warfang was packed to capacity with creatures eager to enjoy a warm morning meal. There were moles of course, as well as a few cheetahs about, but most surprising was the sheer number of dragons within the large chamber. They were everywhere, of all kinds, turning the dining hall into a bright mix of reds, blues, greens, yellows, and even the grey of a few wind dragons. This was the first time since the beginning of the war that so many dragons had been seen in one place.
As Cynder sat down at a vacant table near the back corner of the hall and deposited her tray of roasted deer meat on the table, she looked around at the gathered dragons and felt a large smile spread across her muzzle, a feeling of pure happiness growing within her. To see so many dragons, all safe and together within the great city of Warfang even after the damage that she and Malefor had done brought an indescribable sense of relief and joy with it, and now she felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted from her. Their kind would carry on, and for just a moment she felt that she could put the continued threat of the grublins out of her mind and just enjoy the moment.
Just then, as she began picking at her breakfast, she became aware of the sound of a figure approaching behind her. Even despite the sense of peace and happiness that filled her that morning, old instincts couldn't be ignored, and as the figure continued to draw closer she could feel her body going rigid, the muscles along her tail tensing in preparation to plunge her glinting, lethal blade into any potential assailant. When she turned her head to glance back over her shoulder, however, she straightened in surprise.
"Well, this is a surprise," the large earth dragon that had approached her said as he drew to a halt just a few feet away from the smaller black dragoness. He stood out quite a bit from the rest of the dragons in the hall because of the armour he was wearing, which was made all the more distinctive because of the fact that it was made of extremely hardened wood. "How are you today, Cynder?"
"Good, thank you," Cynder replied with a smile. "And what brings you here, Raulk?"
"Nothing really," the guard replied. "I had a few minutes to spare before I need to begin heading toward the city's training grounds for my entrance evaluations for the Warfang City Guard, so I thought it was a good time to grab a quick meal to keep my strength up. I hear Mason's tests are rather gruelling."
"The Warfang Guard?" Cynder said in surprise. "Why are you going through evaluations for our Guard? I thought you were already captain of the northern city's Guard."
"I was," Raulk replied evenly. "However, shortly after we arrived here in Warfang, the elders relieved me of my post for insubordination and discharged me from the Guard. Immediately afterward, I sought out Mason when I learned he was captain of the Guard here in Warfang and requested a position here."
"You were discharged?" Cynder asked with a tone of disbelief. All at once her feelings were tinged with remorse, and she said, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Raulk chuckled, to Cynder's mild surprise. "I'm not. As I already told you, I have no regrets for what I did that day."
"But if you join the Guard here, doesn't that mean that you won't be able to go back to your home in the north?"
"Warfang was my home before the war," Raulk told her. "I look forward to the chance to serve in its defence. Don't you worry about me, Cynder. If I pass the evaluations today and get into Warfang's Guard, then I'll be happy with the way things have turned out."
Cynder gave a smile at the corner of her mouth, relieved. "Well, then I guess I should wish you good luck."
"Thank you," Raulk replied, inclining his head gratefully. "Now, I suppose I should get going, or I'll miss my chance for a meal. It was nice seeing you again."
"You too."
The bulky earth dragon inclined his head again before turning about and moving off down the aisle once again. However, almost immediately after he turned he staggered slightly as he barely avoided running into another dragon that had been walking up behind him.
"Oh, sorry," he apologized quickly, squeezing over to the side of the alley to make room for a deep red fire dragon about halfway between his size and Cynder's to pass.
"It's fine," the fire dragon replied. Then, once he had pushed past the other dragon, he turned his attention toward Cynder and smiled. "Hey Cynder."
"Hey Sirius," Cynder replied brightly.
"Mind if we join you?" Sirius asked, motioning toward the table with the forepaw with which he was currently holding a platter of deer meat and fruits. At the same time Faren appeared by his side, carrying a similar tray in her jaws.
"Not at all."
The two fire dragons quickly moved toward the table, Sirius hopping along on three legs while Faren advanced more easily on all fours. Shortly afterward they had found places side by side on the opposite side of the table from Cynder and had set their trays down.
"Hi Cynder," Faren said once her mouth was clear.
"Hello Faren," the black dragoness replied with a smile. "How are you this morning?"
"Good," Faren replied, giving a small smile in return, which in turn caused Cynder's expression to brighten even more.
Over the past couple of days since everyone had returned to Warfang, Cynder had noticed that Faren seemed to be acting just slightly less reserved around her and their companions. She suspected that the boost in confidence was as a result of the success she'd had in battle against the grublins in the eastern city. Whatever the reason, it warmed Cynder's heart to see the red dragoness beginning to open up more with others. What was more, most of the time it was with her of all dragons!
"Father was just telling me that my training with the guardians should start this afternoon," Faren continued.
"Really?" Cynder said, looking up from her meal. "Are you excited?"
Faren nodded after a brief hesitation. "Nervous, but yeah, I am excited."
"I really think you're going to enjoy it," Sirius said to his sister. "They're all really good teachers. You're really going to learn a lot from them."
Faren made no reply. She only offered another small smile to the older fire dragon before she set to work delicately picking at the meal before her. For the next several minutes the three dragons ate and exchanged light conversation, focussing mainly on current life within the city now that everyone was back together again. Then they heard a familiar voice call out.
"There you all are!" the voice exclaimed, and Cynder turned toward the source and smiled broadly when she saw Spyro approaching from behind her. He promptly lowered himself into a seated position on the cushion by Cynder's side, and as soon as she was seated she shifted closer to him, earning a brief grin from him out of the corner of his mouth. "I was looking all over for you guys."
"It sure can be hard to find someone in this city, can't it?" Sirius chuckled. "Especially now that there are so many more dragons around."
"It's great, isn't it?" Cynder asked Spyro joyfully.
"Overwhelming, I'd say," the purple dragon replied with a sharp laugh. "You all forget, this is my first time ever seeing so many dragons at once. I think I'm a bit in shock still."
Cynder snorted with laughter and shoved him playfully with her shoulder, a teasing grin on her face. It was then that she noticed that he didn't have a tray with him, though, and her expression turned to one of slight confusion. Spyro noticed quickly.
"I already ate," he explained. "I was up early this morning."
"You've been getting up really early ever since you got back," Cynder commented. "Seems a little unusual for you, doesn't it?"
Spyro merely shrugged and turned his gaze away, looking out over the hall at the gathered dragon diners with a look of deep thought in his eyes. Cynder was taken slightly by surprise by this rapid dismissal of her question, and she shot a confused glance toward the two fire dragons. Sirius didn't offer much of a reaction, while Faren gave a puzzled shrug.
"Actually, Spyro, I'm glad that you showed up," Sirius said a moment later, regaining the purple dragon's attention. "Have the guardians spoken to you yet today?"
"Should they have?"
Once again, Cynder was mildly puzzled by Spyro's response. Though she didn't think much of it, over the past couple of days she had noticed that the purple dragon had seemed just a bit brusquer with his words and attitude than usual. She wondered if something was bothering him that he wasn't letting on to, but if there was she wasn't sure how to go about asking him.
Maybe he just needs a bit more time to unwind from his trip to the mountain village, she thought.
"I'll take that as a no," Sirius said with a shrug. "Well, they would like you and Cynder to come to the arena with Faren and I this afternoon."
"The arena?" Cynder replied, surprised. "What are we doing there?"
"This isn't some kind of training, is it?" Spyro asked in a grumbling tone.
Sirius nodded, and Spyro gave a quiet groan.
"Nothing too serious yet," the fire dragon told them. "But after the attacks that took place on the two larger dragon settlements, the guardians think that we should all be at top readiness to face any dangers."
Spyro sighed again, and Cynder shot him another puzzled look. She had never seen him react to a request from the guardians like this before.
"Is there some reason you don't want to train?" she asked.
Spyro waved a paw dismissively. "No, it's fine I guess. So when do we need to be there?"
"Just after midday," Sirius replied.
"Great," Spyro grunted, and with that he rose to his feet and made to depart.
"You're leaving already?" Cynder asked, surprised.
"Yeah. If we're going to be stuck in that arena for the afternoon getting worked over by the guardians, I want to get some air while I can."
"I'll come with you," Cynder said immediately, beginning to rise as well, but to her surprise he stopped her with a raised paw.
"No, that's fine," he told her. "Finish your meal. I'll meet up with you later."
"Oh," Cynder said, somewhat uncertainly, sitting back down again. "Alright. Where?"
He didn't answer, apparently not hearing her as he walked off between the lines of tables in the hall, and for a long moment Cynder just looked after him in the direction he had left with a strange, confused feeling running through her.
"That was a little strange," Sirius commented at length.
"Yeah," Cynder agreed slowly without shifting her gaze. "I wonder why he's acting like this?"
Several seconds passed in silence, no one having an answer, until Faren spoke up hesitantly.
"Stress?" she offered.
"Maybe," Sirius nodded. "Maybe he's worried about the grublin attacks. After all, you did get hurt in one of them, Cynder. Maybe he's worried about it happening again, and it's troubling him."
"But I told him that was nothing," Cynder protested immediately, finally turning to look back at the other two dragons. "Why would he worry about that if I said I was fine?"
"You say you're fine, but the fact is that you got hurt while he wasn't there to protect you. That can't be easy for him."
Cynder snorted loudly, chuckling for a brief moment.
"I don't need protection," she said with a grim smirk. "He knows that."
"Maybe so, but he still cares deeply for you."
This caused Cynder to pause thoughtfully for a moment, and subconsciously her forepaw moved to her right shoulder. She looked down at it. It was no longer bandaged since the wound had sealed over by that point, leaving only a thin, greyish scar across it that narrowly missed the lighter markings in her scales. Deep in thought, she slowly traced a talon along the thin line.
"Maybe you're right," she conceded at last, looking back up. "I guess if the roles were reversed, I would feel the same. Still, it seems strange that he would react like this."
"Maybe you should find him and ask him about it."
"I think I will," Cynder nodded. "If something is bothering him, maybe I can help him."
Sirius nodded in agreement before the three dragons returned to their meals. Once they had all finished, Cynder left to search for Spyro while Sirius headed for the temple. Faren, to Cynder's mild surprise, decided to accompany the black dragoness on her search, and for the next couple of hours to two of them wandered the streets together or searched the skies, wondering where Spyro might have gone. They tried all the places where Spyro had been most often during his time in Warfang, but to Cynder's confusion he wasn't at any of them. Eventually they were forced to abandon their search when it drew near to the time that the guardians wanted them to report to the arena, and with a resigned sigh Cynder turned for the large structure and quickly flew over to it. A couple of minutes later she and Faren had reached the inner arena floor, where they found the guardians and Sirius waiting for them already, as well as—to Cynder's surprise—Spyro.
"There you are!" Cynder exclaimed when she saw the purple dragon. "We were looking all over for you! I thought we were going to meet up."
"Oh, yeah," he said carelessly. "Sorry, I got held up."
Cynder exchanged a glance with Faren, but she decided that, just for now, she would let his rather flimsy excuse pass without further prodding, since there were more important matters at hand. Still, there would be words about it later, she promised herself. At that moment, though, she decided to focus on why the guardians had called them to the arena, and she turned her attention to the larger dragons.
"So what was it you wanted us here for?" she asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Terrador replied. "Well, as you are aware, with the recent attacks against two of the dragons' cities, we are concerned about the possibility of more attacks to come, and it is our opinion that you should all be ready for the possibility of another battle."
"So it is more training," Spyro grunted.
"Indeed," Terrador nodded. "Even in times of peace, young dragon, training is an integral part of the life of any warrior. In times of danger, such as now, it only grows in importance."
Spyro grunted again, turning his gaze down toward the ground at his feet where he was tapping a talon impatiently.
"So what kind of training are we doing?" Cynder asked quickly.
"Well, actually, we'll be splitting you up today," Cyril replied, catching Cynder slightly by surprise. "Cynder, you will be training with Faren today under Volteer and I."
"Me, train with Cynder?" Faren squeaked nervously, glancing up toward the black dragoness by her side.
Cynder offered her a quick reassuring smile, but she had to admit that she hadn't been expecting this pairing either. She looked over toward the guardians again.
"How come?"
"We thought it might be beneficial for young Faren to have someone of your experience to offer support," Cyril replied. "So long as that's alright with you, of course."
Cynder nodded immediately, shooting another smile in the red dragoness's direction. "I'd be happy to help."
"Very good," Cyril said happily. "We'll use the training room in the temple for our lesson so that Spyro, Sirius and Terrador can use the arena."
"And what exactly is it I'll be doing here?" Spyro interrupted, glancing between the earth guardian and the future fire guardian.
"Well, you have already demonstrated a mastery of the common uses of all four base elements," Terrador declared proudly. "However, each of these elements has almost countless uses, and a dragon often spends a lifetime learning more and more powerful, advanced ways to manipulate their birth element and make it do their bidding. Today, we will begin teaching you some of these more advanced techniques."
"Starting with earth, I take it," Spyro said, fixing his gaze on Terrador, and Cynder thought she detected an almost bored tone in his voice.
"Actually, you will be beginning with fire toady."
Spyro appeared caught off guard by this response, and Cynder had to admit that she was as well. However, she was even more surprised by what came next.
"You will be learning a few key advanced techniques that many, if not all fire users are eventually made to master, and Sirius will be your instructor."
"Sirius?" Spyro repeated in shock, turning an incredulous look toward the fire breather. "Teach me?"
"Indeed," Terrador nodded. "Not only because he is a very skilled wielder of the fire element, but it will serve as part of his training as well. Part of his role as a guardian, after all, will entail passing on his knowledge to newer generations, and teaching is also an excellent way to develop one's patience, communication and ability to adapt to challenging situations." He then chuckled. "And what better challenge than trying to teach something new to the legendary purple dragon?"
"No kidding," Spyro snorted. "What has he got to teach me? He's isn't all that much older than I am. He's not even a guardian yet!"
Cynder gasped, and all around her the other dragons in the arena had gone dead silent from shock. Never had Cynder heard Spyro talk to anyone else in such a rude, arrogant way, and clearly none of the guardians ever had either. Sirius especially looked surprised and a little hurt by the purple dragon's biting words. Then Terrador's expression deepened into a scowl, and he turned a stern glare toward the much younger dragon.
"That may be," he rumbled, "but his skill with fire is most uncommon, especially for a dragon his age. Do not let the fact that he is also still a student fool you; there is much that you can learn from him, and I expect you to show him the same respect as a teacher as you would any of the rest of us."
Spyro's only response was a derisive snort, but he made no further protest. Instead he turned toward Sirius, and for a moment he just sat there with a slight frown on his features before he gestured with an open paw toward the arena floor.
"Let's see what you've got, then."
Sirius hesitated for a second, still working over his surprise from Spyro's unexpected slight, but at length he collected himself and moved out toward the centre of the arena, Spyro following at a lazy pace behind him. Terrador moved off to the side of the ring while Cyril and Volteer began guiding Faren and Cynder toward the nearest exit.
"We'll leave you three to it, then," the ice guardian declared, but then he paused when he noticed the way that both of the dragonesses were watching their male companions with looks of deep interest. "Unless the two of you would like to stay back for a moment to see how the start of this lesson goes."
"Could we?" Faren said in her usual quiet tone.
"Why that sounds like a tremendous, marvellous, stupendous suggestion," Volteer chattered excitedly. I'm sure it will be most fascinating and engaging to observe."
"Alright then," Cyril nodded. "Up into the stands with us, then. Come along, let's not dally needlessly."
Cynder nodded in agreement and leapt up into the air. With only two beats of her wings she was up over the first few rows of seating in the stands and she quickly touched down and found a place amongst the low, wide stone benches. Faren quickly sat down beside her, while Cyril and Volteer found places a little farther over to Cynder's right. Once they were settled they all turned their attention to the centre of the arena, where Spyro and Sirius were now facing each other. Spyro's back was to them, so Cynder couldn't see his face, but by his posture she thought that he looked almost bored, and she frowned and exchanged another puzzled glance with Faren.
"Alright," Sirius declared loudly, his voice sounding out strongly in the expansive interior of the arena. "After hearing from the guardians what training you've already undergone for the use of the fire element, I've come to the conclusion that you are already quite proficient in the major breath attacks, as well as some of the more advanced secondary moves such as the Comet Dash. However, the potential for wielding the fire element goes far beyond simply breathing it. Today, we're going to be focussing on how to manipulate fire that exists already in your environment."
Cynder straightened up slightly with surprise, and she glanced toward Faren beside her, studying the red dragoness's reaction to her brother's words.
I didn't even know that was possible, she thought.
"As you know," Sirius continued, "it is very common for earth dragons to manipulate the earth around them, shaping the ground to their desire in attacks suck as slabs of stone or earth spikes. Fire dragons can do the same with fire that burns around them, though because there is no physical connection it is more difficult. To start with, I want you to try and open your mind to an existing flame and sense its presence."
The fire dragon turned his gaze to the right, and his expression hardened into one of concentration. An instant later a moderately-sized stone pedestal materialized much like training dummies normally do, the top forming into a large bowl-shaped torch. Sirius easily spat out a couple of sparks and ignited the torch, creating a bright, healthy blaze about three feet high. Then he turned an expectant look toward Spyro.
"Close your eyes, and try to use the additional sense your elemental powers give you to feel the fire. Open yourself to it. To control outside flames, you first have to be able to find them and latch on to them with your power. Let me know when you think you feel it."
With a sigh, Spyro did as he was told and closed his eyes, allowing his head to drop slightly toward the ground as he concentrated. Barely a second later, the flames above the torch flickered for a moment before quieting again.
"Got it," Spyro grunted in a bored tone.
Sirius blinked a couple of times in surprise, and he exchanged a quick glance with Terrador before saying, "Already?"
Spyro opened his eyes and fixed the fire dragon with a look that bordered on impatient. "Yeah."
"Well...Good job," Sirius said uncertainly. "I'm surprised; it usually takes a fair bit of time before a dragon can sense flames with any kind of reliability."
"Yeah, well, I sense it. So what do you want me to do next?"
"Okay, well, once a dragon knows how to feel the flames around them, the next step is to try and bend them to your will. This, however, is easier said than done. Fire is like a free spirit, going where it will and searching for any fuel it can find to grow stronger. But, if you provide that fuel with your own strength, you can make it do anything you want."
To illustrate his point, Sirius breathed out a small jet of flames. The instant it was past his jaws, however, a look of deep concentration came over his features. Cynder gasped in surprise and awe when, instead of dissipating, the flames just hung in the air for a moment before moving seemingly of their own accord. Under Sirius's guidance, they swirled into a ball before thinning out into a long, thin streamer that snaked gracefully through the air almost like a living thing. Sirius guided this fire streamer to form a ring around himself, which he then held there for a few seconds, his gaze locked with Spyro's. Then, at length, he allowed the fire to disperse and straightened, looking completely relaxed as if what he had just done was the easiest thing in the world.
Cynder was in awe at what she had just seen; never in her life had she seen a fire dragon do what Sirius just had. Glancing around, she saw that the three guardians were all looking upon the younger fire dragon with pleased expressions on their faces. Then she looked to Faren and saw her gazing at her brother with a small smile.
"That's really impressive," Cynder said to her.
Faren nodded, glancing at Cynder briefly before turning her attention back to her brother. "Yeah, it is. Father was so proud when Sirius learned to do that."
"How long did it take him?"
Faren gave a soft chuckle, and replied simply, "Years."
Just then Cynder noticed that Sirius was speaking again, and she quickly turned her attention back to the arena.
"Now, I want you to try," Sirius told Spyro. "Keep in mind, this technique is one that only the most powerful fire dragons can regularly master. It will likely take you a while to become proficient at it, but as my father told me, the best way to learn to do something is to just go for it. Now, just focus your energy, and vis—"
As he had been speaking, Spyro's gaze had slowly drifted over to the fire in the torch with a rather disinterested air about his posture. Cynder couldn't see his face, but she imagined the look on it must be the same even if she never expected him to act in such a way during a lesson. Just at that moment, though, Sirius suddenly cut himself short as he was giving his instructions because right then Spyro raised a forepaw toward the torch, and suddenly the flame that was burning there shot through the air toward him, gathering into a flickering ball of flames just above the pad of his outstretched paw.
"So, sorta like this then," he grunted, flourishing the paw lightly and causing the small fireball to twirl in the air. "You know, you made it sound like you were teaching me something hard."
"How..." Sirius said with a slight stammer. "How did you do that so fast?"
Spyro glanced down at the ball of fire suspended in the air above his paw before looking back up at the fire dragon.
"Maybe it's not as tough as you make it out to be," he replied. He looked down again at the fireball before clenching his paw around it, extinguishing the flame. "Is this the best you've got? Really? Because if I'm supposed to be impressed, I gotta tell you, it's not working."
Sirius looked like he had just been slapped across the face, and Cynder noticed that the guardians were practically gaping at the young purple dragon. She herself was stunned; she had never heard Spyro talk down to someone like that before, and she had never suspected that he was even capable of saying something hurtful to someone else.
"What's next?" Spyro continued. "Magically creating fire out of nowhere?" He lifted a paw and held it pad up, and an instant later the air above it flickered before another ball of flames materialized and began burning brightly. "Oh, look, got that too."
"Incredible," Cynder heard Volteer mutter.
"That shouldn't be possible," Sirius protested. "Those techniques take years to learn! Have you been taught this before?"
Spyro shook his head. "First time."
Sirius was speechless, and he looked to Terrador as if for help, but the earth dragon looked just as confused as he was.
"Are you sure you're up to teaching me?" Spyro said sceptically.
"Yes," Sirius said immediately, with a surprising amount of strength in his voice given the uncertainty that he'd displayed mere seconds before. "I don't know how you accomplished what you just did, but there are plenty more uses of fire that you have yet to learn. It may take some time, but I will find something new to show you."
"Huh," Spyro said doubtfully. "See, I'm not convinced. If this exercise was what you call 'hard', what makes you think I'll have trouble with anything else you can throw at me? I just don't see this whole setup of you trying to teach me working out."
"You think you're better than me?" Sirius said challengingly.
"Well, I didn't really want to say anything to a future guardian, but yeah."
"Spyro!" Cynder burst out before she could stop herself, appalled by his words.
"Mind yourself, young dragon!" Terrador snapped from the sidelines. "Is this what you call respect? I expected far better out of you, Spyro!"
"It's alright, Master Terrador," Sirius cut in suddenly, surprising the other dragons in the arena. Then he returned his attention to Spyro and met the younger dragon's challenging stare with a calm, confident one of his own. "Well, how about we put your theory to the test?"
Spyro straightened slightly in surprise, narrowing his eyes sceptically at the larger dragon.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"A challenge," Sirius replied evenly. "A duel. If you think you're a better fire breather than I am, then prove it."
"You want me to fight you?" Spyro said dubiously. "Are you serious?"
Sirius nodded his head firmly. "Serious as my name. So what do you say?"
Spyro hesitated, glancing around at the gathered dragons that were watching him attentively for his response. However, the pause lasted only a couple of seconds before he shrugged.
"Hey, if you want to go for it then that's fine by me."
"Excellent," Sirius said with a small smile.
He glanced toward the torch that he had summoned and frowned for a moment in concentration. The torch rapidly receded into the floor, dematerializing as if it had never been solid at all. Then, with the arena floor clear, he turned around and walked a few paces farther into the ring before turning back to face his opponent. Spyro moved a few steps out into the ring as well, taking up a position opposite the fire dragon.
"Sirius, are you sure this is a good idea?" Terrador asked him. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted you to teach Spyro."
"It's fine, Terrador," Sirius replied calmly. "It's just a little test. Isn't that right, Spyro?"
"Whatever you say," the purple dragon replied.
Terrador hesitated for a moment longer before heaving a resigned sigh.
"Alright," he grunted. "Just both of you be careful."
With that he spread his wings and leapt into the air with a couple of heavy flaps of his wings. He flew over to where his guardian comrades were sitting and found a place to sit by Cyril's right side, opposite from Cynder and Faren. With the arena floor now clear, everyone turned their attention to the two combatants.
"So what kind of rules are there for this battle?" Spyro asked.
"Just a few simple ones," Sirius replied. "First of all, the only element that you can use is fire. Second, there will be no physical combat; this will be a test of strength with fire only. Third, the battle is over when one of us or the other is overpowered and knocked to the ground. Understood?"
Spyro's reply was a simple nod of his head. Then he settled into a low battle stance, glaring out at his opponent.
"Then begin."
The word 'begin' was hardly past Sirius's jaws before Spyro shot his head forward and spat out a blazing ball of flames. The fireball rocketed through the air, so fast that it was barely more than a streak of light. It looked as though it was going to be a guaranteed hit, and beside her Cynder saw Faren tense with fear for her brother, but at the last moment Sirius easily dodged to the side and the fireball crashed into the stone arena floor, erupting in a billowing column of flame and smoke. When the smoke cleared, however, Sirius was standing calmly and unscathed.
"Good speed," he said with a nod. "Against anyone that couldn't have felt that coming, that surely would have been a devastating hit."
"That was nothing," Spyro said cockily. "Just the warm-up. Now, what have you got?"
Sirius flashed a confident grin before leaping up into the air almost faster than the eye could follow, and Cynder gasped as his entire body began glowing with bright orange light. Then he shot down toward the ground and slammed into the arena floor with such force that Cynder felt the bench beneath her shake. The second he hit the ground the glow around his body was channelled into the ground, and an instant later the floor beneath Spyro's feet erupted in a geyser of flames. The purple dragon, however, was somehow able to jump up and flip out of the way without suffering so much as a singed scale. After performing a full back flip in the air he landed easily on the ground a few feet back from where he had begun.
"Against anyone that couldn't have felt that coming, that might almost have worked," Spyro snickered.
"Then try this."
Cracking his jaws open wide, Sirius breathed out a blazingly bright jet of flames in an arc in front of him. Then, with a roar, he reared up and shoved his paws forward, pushing the wall of fire ahead at a breakneck pace. Cynder felt worry explode through her as the ultra-intense wall of flames sped toward Spyro, seemingly impenetrable, but then she gasped when he reared up and waved his forepaws sharply to the left, causing the fire to veer off course. Then, spinning around, he commanded the flames to form into a tight ball before he launched it back at Sirius. The ball expanded as it flew, and in less than a split second it had reached its target. Sirius, however, stood calmly as the attack raced toward him. Then, just before it hit, he waved a wing easily and caused the fire to split and pass him harmlessly on either side.
"Turning my own attack against me," he commented, impressed. "Good. Learning to control another dragon's fire is usually a very difficult thing to achieve."
"I see you're still underestimating me, then," Spyro replied evenly.
Sirius grunted with a mild frown before settling back into a battle stance. "Your move."
"If you insist," Spyro said with a grin tinged with dark eagerness.
This time, Spyro opened by performing what could almost be described as a miniature fire fury, surrounding himself in a wall of flames before causing it to shoot outwards. But, just as Spyro had done when Sirius had sent a wall of fire at him, Sirius seized control of the flames when they got too close to him. After drawing all the fire in toward himself, he focussed it into one broad beam that shot straight for the purple dragon, looking as if it were intense enough to melt through stone. To Cynder's mounting horror, Spyro wasn't doing anything to avoid it.
"Spyro, look out!" she exclaimed.
Just then, to the utter shock of all the observing dragons, Spyro charged toward the approaching beam of fiery energy. Then, just before he made contact, he enshrouded himself in his own fire in the most powerful Comet Dash Cynder had ever seen him perform. Using this technique, he pushed right through Sirius's fire beam in only a couple of seconds. Sirius forced more power into his attack, but Spyro couldn't be stopped. Then, just before Spyro ran headlong into the fire dragon, he leapt up high into the air, bursting out from the beam of fire and shooting over Sirius's head. Now behind his opponent, Spyro spun swiftly around and spat out a massive fire bomb that Sirius was barely able to avoid in time.
This time neither dragon paused for banter. Instead they leapt right into the fray, dodging around each other at a blinding pace and trading blasts of fire with such frequency, Cynder was wondering when they were able to pause to breathe. They were moving so fast she was almost getting dizzy just watching them. So far, they seemed like they were perfectly evenly matched, each of them apparently unable to land a hit on their opponent. No matter how quickly they moved and struck, the other combatant moved just as quickly.
After no less than ten minutes had passed locked in pitched combat, Sirius seemed to decide it was time to put their contest to an end. After dodging another fireball from Spyro, he planted himself firmly across from his opponent before unleashing a deafening roar. His body began to glow orange again, but this time it was so bright that Cynder nearly had to shield her eyes with a wing as she watched. As the glow intensified, more and more fire began swirling around his body until he had completely disappeared from view. Then, suddenly, the gathered flames leapt upward into the air, and Cynder gasped in shock as they quickly morphed into a fully-formed dragon. With another roar from Sirius, the fiery dragon-copy dove down toward Spyro as if to snatch him up in its flaming claws. In that moment, it seemed as though there was nowhere that Spyro could go to escape the lifelike creature of flames, and so he simply stood his ground as the fire came crashing down on him.
Cynder, Faren, and all the guardians gasped as Spyro disappeared inside the fiery explosion, vanishing from sight in an instant as the inferno blazed around him. There was no sign of him at all as raging flames covered the arena floor for several metres in all directions.
"Spyro!" Cynder called fearfully when he didn't emerge from the fire.
Utter silence hung heavily over the arena for several moments as the watching dragons waited anxiously for a sign that Spyro was alright. Sirius himself was standing a couple dozen metres away, a shocked and fearful expression on his face, and Cynder could hardly imagine the worry he must be feeling, wondering if he had injured, or worse killed, his student on the first lesson.
Just then, however, their fears were all proven to be for nothing when, suddenly, the fire converged on the point where Spyro had last been seen standing before exploding outward in a chain of blazing fireballs that, for some reason, reminded Cynder a great deal of one of the attacks Malefor had used when she and Spyro had faced him. The dozen fireballs arched through the air, fanning out before bearing down like a swarm on the still-stunned fire dragon. Sirius was unable to react before the fireballs connected, creating a series of violent explosions that momentarily obscured him from view. An instant later he reappeared, tumbling along the arena floor for several metres before coming to a halt in a heap on the ground, groaning weakly. Beside her, Cynder heard Faren gasp in fear.
Spyro emerged from the smoke that still hung in the air at that moment, looking completely unharmed by the flames that had surrounded his body mere moments before. With purposeful strides, he stalked up to the downed fire dragon and drew to a halt a few feet away, gazing down his snout at his fallen opponent who looked like he had suffered some minor but painful burns along a good part of the length of his body.
"Looks like I win," the purple dragon stated in a disinterested tone, as if he had been expecting to emerge on top all along. "So much for the great fire guardian."
Sirius stared up at him with a look of shock upon his face. In fact, all the dragons in the chamber were staring at Spyro in surprise and confusion, both because he had somehow bested the most powerful fire dragon any of them had seen since Ignitus without any training, but also because of the unusually cold demeanour about him now as he looked down on his opponent.
Without another word, Spyro turned about and marched off toward the exit of the arena, not so much as meeting the gazes of the other dragons in the chamber as he departed. A moment later he was gone, leaving the arena completely silent and still as everyone tried to make sense of what they had just seen.
"Most peculiar," Volteer muttered, finally breaking the oppressive silence.
"I've never seen anything like it," Terrador added quietly.
Cynder hardly heard them. She was staring at the doorway through which Spyro had just left, feeling unbelievably confused and conflicted. There was now not a single doubt in her mind that something wasn't right with him, but what could possibly be affecting him so much to cause him to behave in such an unusual manner?
Without any answers and with no clear way of finding any, Cynder was left to wonder and worry, fearing inside that, whatever this was, they hadn't seen the end of it yet.