Residual Darkness

by Riverstyxx

Even in times of peace, darkness still resides. An ancient tribe has returned for revenge on the cheetahs of Avalar, and Warfang is in their way. But, far from saving the world, Spyro may be forced to face his most dangerous enemy yet: himself.

21. Chapter 21

A/N: And I'm back! So, like I said last chapter, Spyro and co. aren't in this one. But I hope you enjoy it anyway... This would have been up earlier, but I lost my soul to a certain manga/anime called One Piece and I haven't gotten it back yet... Curse my friend for getting me addicted to it. I know, let's play 'spot the classic Spyro reference'! Go nuts.

21.

Orpheus sat on the cold floor, his back resting against the smooth wall as he fiddled mournfully with the dagger that usually sat at his hip, hidden within the folds of his rust-coloured tunic. Around him, most of the other panthers were mingling about outside the massive doors to the stateroom, watched by the glaring gemstone eyes of the carved dragonhead. Behind those closed doors, Orpheus knew that Skelos and the other two assassins—Silt and Agra—were speaking with the Dreadwing king at this very moment.

The young panther glared at the sharp silver of his dagger, a very bitter feeling settled inside his chest. He knew he was young and inexperienced, and didn't have the wisdom of the other assassins, but that didn't stop him from feeling bitterly indignant. He was an Elite Guard too, regardless of his age and the short amount of time he'd spent as one. It seemed hardly fair that he should be forced to sit out here like a common warrior while the other assassins stayed by Master Skelos' side.

Sighing through his nose, Orpheus leant forward to dig the tip of his dagger absent-mindedly into the cold, stone floor. It was smooth and slippery, and his blade left no mark upon its unmarred, dark surface. Scowling, the young panther rested his chin in his hand, propping his elbow up on his knee. Irritated, olive green eyes roved uninterestedly through the dark hall.

The other panthers paid him no heed. Perhaps they thought, as an Elite Guard, he was too intimidating. Or perhaps they thought he was too conceited to mingle with the likes of the common warrior. That seemed more likely, Orpheus thought bitterly. A creeping sadness pricked at his gut, and he shifted uncomfortably.

'This sucks…' his inner voice muttered as he glared at the ground, 'Skelos doesn't need me, these guys don't even look at me… What good is there in being an Elite Guard if no one even pays you any attention? I might as well be invisible.'

With a soft groan that nobody else heard, Orpheus pushed himself to his feet and slipped his dagger back in its sheath. A few panthers glanced at him indifferently, but looked away again before he could meet their eyes. Leaving his sword-staff propped up against the wall, Orpheus began to pace.

His absent-minded steps took him down the length of the hall, which he noticed was lined down the centre with the same red carpet that had been in the stateroom. It was old and tattered, but at least not as cold as the bare stone floor. Violet light seeped in through the arched, stained-glass windows. Glumly, Orpheus strode over to one.

There was little he could see through the thick purple glass, just light and shadow, and the occasional flash of what must have been lightning. Resting his arms on the windowsill, he instead inspected the glass itself. Veins of different shades of purple crept through the glass, creating odd, incidental patterns that his eyes followed lazily. The patterns, he realised after a moment, were reminiscent of dragon scales. Instantly his thoughts turned to the purple dragon.

Where was he now, Orpheus wondered? Had he stayed in Warfang after the battle? Or had he continued his interrupted quest and, if so, had he already reached the legendary dragon they called the Chronicler? What if he had already done so, and was now back in Warfang helping prepare defences or even counterattacks against their enemies?

'Enemies…' Orpheus thought with a sigh, 'Us…'

A distant rumble of thunder reached his ears and he looked up in time to see a drop of rain trail down the glass on the other side of the window. The young panther watched its progress mournfully, his eyes clouded with dismal thought.

It was strange how things ultimately played out, he thought. All they had wanted was to return to Avalar, and yet somehow they had made themselves enemies of the dragons. How had that happened? The dragons had nothing to do with Avalar. Warfang should have been the least of their worries.

'We could have been in Avalar by now,' Orpheus mused, 'but the cheetahs would not accept us. At least, that was what Skulk and Skelos always told us.'

A deep scowl creased his forehead, 'They sure wouldn't accept us now, after we tried to kill their chief…set fire to their huts…'

Orpheus's shoulders drooped. Why hadn't they just tried to negotiate with the cheetahs in the first place? All of this could have been avoided. Couldn't it? But then he scowled again, a memory surfacing in the back of his mind.

'To protect the honour of our ancestors…'

Yes, that's what the twins had said. To protect honour… Years ago, the panthers had lost the battle for Avalar. It would be an insult to the memories of all those who had fought in that battle to simply surrender to the cheetahs. It was their duty to succeed where their ancestors had failed, to take Avalar for their own. It could have all been so simple…

So why had the dragons gotten involved?

Rain was streaming down the window now, under the sad, thoughtful watch of Orpheus. Nothing seemed simple anymore. He had spent his whole life in the badlands, where life had been so uncomplicated – it was all just a matter of living day by day and making the best of what the land could offer them. They had been untouched by the war, hidden from Malefor's cruel eye amongst a land that was both barren and unwelcoming. But they had thrived in the harsh peace that the Badlands had offered them.

They had grown by incredible amounts, become smarter, tougher, and sturdier. Living outside the boundaries of war had allowed them to do so, to grow and evolve beyond what their ancestors had once been. But the Badlands was all they knew, the simplicities of a life away from other sentient species all they had ever known. Despite all the growth their tribe had done, there had been something they had missed.

But the cheetahs, who had lived and fought in an age of war, had grown in different ways. Their numbers had suffered greatly, but they had become hardened by war, reliable and resourceful in a land where danger was everywhere. And, unlike the panthers, they had learned to work together with another species for the greater good of their kind.

And that, Orpheus was sure, was why things were so complicated now – and why the dragons had become involved in a battle that was not meant to be theirs. This world was not the same as the one their ancestors had lived in. It had been warped and changed by war, a war that had completely bypassed those living peacefully in the Badlands. And it was something that the panthers just simply could not understand.

Maybe, Orpheus thought, even though they had suffered in the war, the cheetahs had evolved in even greater ways than their panther counterparts. Their tribe was small and weak, true, but what they lacked in strength and numbers they made up for with something far more valuable. An alliance and friendship with the most revered and powerful beings in the world.

'Maybe we're the ones who have fallen behind, after all…'

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Orpheus stepped away from the window and plodded back towards the stateroom. He was ignored by the other panthers as he slipped past them towards the door. For a moment he considered opening it just a crack and taking a peek, but decided against it. He wasn't sure if he had enough courage to spy on Skelos and the Dreadwings, anyway.

But suddenly, to his great surprise and excitement, the door creaked open. Agra stepped out, Silt close behind him, and motioned for silence. Orpheus shut his mouth before the rush of questions could escape and nodded quickly. As Agra and Silt moved aside, he caught a glimpse of the stateroom through the crack in the doors. He could see Skelos, standing with his back to the doors, apparently still speaking with the Dreadwing.

"…one more thing," Orpheus heard his leader say, "What I said earlier…about that dragon…"

"Yes," came the malevolent reply of the king, setting Orpheus's teeth on edge, "I believe he may be quite useful…"

A deep, cruel chuckle filled the room and Orpheus knew it was coming from the Dreadwing. He barely suppressed a shudder at the sound that so reminded him of dripping acid.

"Thank you for your generosity, King Orroch," Skelos murmured respectfully. Orpheus caught a glimpse of the panther leader turning towards the door and quickly sidestepped out of the way. He didn't want Skelos to know that he'd been listening.

"Don't disappoint me, Skelos," Orroch's cruel voice replied, cutting through the silence so strongly that all the panthers heard it, "Though, if you do, I do not have much to lose."

Skelos slipped through the doors and they creaked shut behind him, but not before another Dreadwing followed him out. Orpheus thought he recognised this Dreadwing's blue-grey coat and pale grey wings.

"Good news, my brothers," Skelos said with a grim smile, "We've made an alliance with Orroch and his Dreadwings. He's agreed to lend us as many of his soldiers as we desire."

"In return for what?" Orpheus asked before he could stop himself. He shut his mouth quickly when Skelos turned his eyes on him.

"For a share of the spoils of war, of course," Skelos said with a grin, eyes glinting, "I hear he's got his eye on Warfang."

Orpheus gulped and said nothing more. But his eyes shifted nervously to the thin, crafty face of the Dreadwing that stood beside his leader.

"This is Drehgarr," Skelos told them all, gesturing to the winged beast, "He was one of those who…greeted us upon our arrival. He's here to take us to where the rest of his Dreadwing comrades are roosting, and to relay the king's message to them. If all goes as planned, we'll be back in the Badlands by tonight."

There was much muttering amongst the panthers, but none of the assassins joined in. It had taken them a full three days to reach Concurrent Skies from the Badlands, and the notion of returning by nightfall seemed ridiculous. But they trusted their leader, and there were no arguments other than a few sceptical mutters.

When the murmurs had died down, Drehgarr opened his mouth and uttered a few words in his own language, which to the panthers was nothing more than odd clicking sounds. Skelos bowed graciously to the Dreadwing, extending one hand down the corridor.

"Lead the way."

With a satisfied purr-like sound deep in his throat, Drehgarr did so.

Mari woke shortly after dawn, feeling uncomfortably hot under the blanket she had wrapped herself in for the night. Pushing it away groggily, she lay sprawled across her bed of cushions and let her eyes rove lazily around the room. It took a moment before she remembered she was in Warfang, and not in her ramshackle hut back at the cheetah village. It was another moment later before she remembered that she also had a roommate.

The pantheress sat by the far wall, her knees drawn to her chest and her gaze directed somewhere out the small, arched window beside the door to the balcony. There was a blanket pooled around her feet, and cushions left untouched beside her. She was still wearing her sandy-coloured tunic, unlike Mari who had taken hers off to sleep.

"Have you been up all night?" the cheetah asked concernedly, pushing herself upright and wrapping her blanket around her chest like a crude, strapless dress. Terra flinched and glanced at her, as though surprised she was awake so early, but she looked away again without replying. Mari plodded over to her.

"Are you ok?" she asked gently, kneeling down beside the panther, holding her blanket up with one hand.

Terra stared at her knees, her arms still wrapped tightly around her legs, and murmured quietly, "I couldn't sleep."

Mari sat down heavily beside her, shuffling around until she was comfortable. "Why not?"

A sigh escape the panther's lips, "I just…couldn't stop thinking. About the dragons, the cheetahs…my tribe. It doesn't matter."

She shook her head and looked pointedly away, at the pale blue sky outside the window. Mari watched her for a moment, almost sadly, her tail swishing backwards and forwards uncertainly. Then, pursing her lips in a determined sort of way, she slipped her free arm through Terra's, surprising the pantheress.

"We'll go out today," she said matter-of-factly, eyes twinkling, "Explore the city, meet the dragons and the moles. Hunter can come if he wants but, you know, we can pretend he's not there. It'll be fun."

Terra eyed her uncertainly, still hugging her knees protectively, "Are you sure? I…I won't get in your way?"

Mari rolled her eyes, "As if. Who else am I gonna explore this place with? The guys? Come on, just this once. And we can show everyone just how nice you are."

The pantheress smiled hesitantly, "Alright…if you really want to."

"'Course I do," Mari tugged at Terra's arm and stood up, "Now, c'mon. Let's go wake up the guys. Once I get dressed, I mean."

Her blush shone through her pale fur as she scampered across the room to retrieve her tunic from where she had left it hanging on the bookshelf. Once she had wriggled into the pale blue material and fastened her white belt around her middle, she turned back to Terra, smoothing down the messy fur on her head with a paw. Terra couldn't help but smile.

"Someone's got bed-fur," she teased lightly, pulling herself to her feet with one paw on the windowsill. Mari blushed sheepishly.

"Shush!" she whispered, hastily flattening her pale yellow fur, and then added in a rueful murmur, "This happens every morning. I usually have to put up with Cougar's wisecracks about it, too."

The cheetah grimaced, and Terra considered her curiously. It took her a moment to work up the courage to ask the next question on her mind, but she did so hesitantly. "Um…if I may ask…what sort of relationship do you have with him?"

"Cougar?" Mari giggled, "He's my cousin. But I grew up with him, really, so he's more like an older brother. Though, sometimes he acts like he's younger than I am."

"Oh," Terra was glad her dark fur hid her embarrassed blush. She knew she should have suspected from the way the two cousins argued, and was mildly surprised that she hadn't. Mari, however, didn't seem to mind at all.

"Come on!" she said brightly, already halfway to the door, "What are we waiting for? If I know those guys, Hunter was up hours ago and Cougar's still snoring his lazy head off. Let's go jump on him."

It turned out that Mari did indeed know the two males well. They found Hunter pacing outside in the hallway when they left the room, and Terra knew that it was his suspicions of her that had prompted him to do so. But he greeted them politely nonetheless, though Terra guessed he had been up since well before dawn. Maybe it was the tired look in his eyes that told her, the same look the pantheress knew she was currently sporting.

"Is Cougar up?" Mari asked up as they walked together towards the room beside hers.

Hunter shook his head, "He won't rise until the sun is halfway in the sky."

"Not unless someone makes him get up," the female cheetah grinned and scampered through the door.

Terra lingered outside nervously, shuffling her paws nervously and well aware that Hunter wasn't willing to leave her alone for even the smallest amount of time. Though she made a point of not looking at him, she could feel his eyes lingering on her. Anxious under his scrutinising gaze, she absently flattened out the creases in her tunic with a paw.

"Did you sleep well?" the question cut through the thick silence so unexpectedly that Terra jumped, her eyes flying up to meet aqua-green. Hunter didn't see fit to repeat the question, and the pantheress had the feeling he was only trying to be polite to ease the tension. She quickly stammered an answer.

"N-not really… I had a lot on my mind."

"I'm not surprised," the cheetah grunted, folding his arms and leaning against the wall, "You've had an eventful few days. Not to mention that you're deep in unfamiliar territory, amongst creatures your tribe considers to be enemies. If I had been in your place, I would not have slept at all."

Terra found those words to be hardly comforting, and she rubbed her arms awkwardly, wondering how to respond. She was saved from having to do so, however, when there came a commotion from inside the room and Mari poked her head out of the door.

"He's awake!" she said brightly, and Terra thought she heard an aggravated, half-asleep voice mutter "bloody hell…" somewhere behind the cheetah. The pantheress stifled a smile behind her paw.

"I think that's a new record," Hunter smirked, and Terra realised with a jolt that this was the first time she had seen him smile. He looked so much more approachable when he was smiling, somehow so disarming, and she found herself feeling suddenly at ease. While she pondered this, Mari stepped aside to allow a still half-asleep Cougar to appear in the doorway.

"What's the rush?" he grumbled, rubbing his face with a paw and causing the fur on the top of his head to stick up. Mari grinned and reached up to tussle it.

"We're going to explore the city," she told him as he slapped her paw away.

"Who said I was coming?" Cougar growled, pushing her lightly, "Go do what you want, I'm going back to sleep."

He made to turn away, but Hunter called him back sharply. Groaning, the stocky feline waved a nonchalant paw at the cheetah captain.

"You can deal with it, Hunter," he yawned, "It's too early for me. Not like it's too much for you to handle or anything, cap'n."

Ignoring the mocking tone with which he'd spoken the title, Hunter replied grimly, "If I asked you to accompany me, you realise it would be an order. I outrank you, Cougar."

"Obviously," Cougar muttered, "captain is the only rank. Other than chief, of course. Let me have a lie in, just this once?"

"'Just this once' is going to turn into 'every morning we're still here', isn't it?" Hunter sighed, but relented, "Very well, since you're so insistent. You're right of course, it's nothing I can't handle."

Terra knew full well that they were talking about her. It made her feel decidedly uncomfortable, like they were speaking as though she was nothing more than an inanimate object, or something not intelligent enough to understand them.

"Cocky bastard," Cougar grumbled, though there was a teasing note to his voice as he shut the door in their faces. Hunter turned away, shaking his head.

"Perhaps not a new record," he said with a rueful smile, "At least he's reliable when things are urgent."

"But when they're not, he's just lazy," Mari quipped, impatiently linking her arm through Terra's, "Let's go, come on!"

"Why the sudden urgency, it's barely past dawn!" Hunter laughed, "I doubt the dragons are even up yet."

Terra had to agree with him there as Mari pulled her impatiently down the hallway. But she'd hardly opened her mouth to say so, when the cheetah uttered a cheerful retort.

"Then at least we'll be first in line for breakfast!"

Hunter sighed and trailed after her. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

Early morning also found two wind dragons sitting awake inside their room in the infirmary. Zephira sat very still as a mole circled around her, inspecting every scale with a scrutinising eye. He prodded at every scar on her body, stretched out her mangled wing to inspect the tattered membrane, and even put his ear against her chest to listen to her heartbeat. Myst sat beside her impassively, unable to see but aware of what was going on.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, the mole stepped back and removed his glasses from where they had sat on the bridge of his nose. Zephira waited expectantly for him to speak.

"Well, it would appear that you have both made a…ahem," the mole coughed and fiddled with his glasses, "…satisfactory recovery."

Zephira noticed he didn't say 'full recovery'. But that was no wonder, she thought, glancing sadly from her mangled wing to Myst's sightless eyes. Still, she couldn't suppress a tremor of excitement at the realisation she could finally leave the infirmary. The white-washed walls and depressingly plain rooms had been starting to bother her.

"However…" the mole continued hesitantly, and the wind dragoness felt her hopes drop a peg, "I am aware that both of you have been previously living alone?"

"That's…that's right," Zephira murmured, feeling as though a spike of ice had just been driven straight through her heart. She hadn't been living alone at all, but she knew that when she at last returned to her room she would find it empty. Ciro wouldn't be there, waiting for her, like he always had. But she didn't have the strength to say this to the mole.

The mole sighed, "I am sorry to say this but, judging by your conditions, I should think it unwise to allow the two of you to return to living on your own without a caretaker. Myst especially will need someone to care for her as she can no longer see."

Zephira's head shot up, "I can do that! I've been caring for her while we've been here!"

A hopeful looked bloomed on Myst's face, "Oh, oh please. I would like to stay with Zephira."

The mole rubbed the lenses of his spectacles uncertainly, "I'm sorry, girls, but Zephira is much too young to be burdened with the duty of caretaker, especially when she herself suffers from a…disability."

"Myst isn't a burden!" the wind dragoness argued hotly, "She's my friend!"

"Yes, yes, of course," the mole said quickly, looking embarrassed, "But we can not expect two disabled young dragonesses to live and survive on their own. Until someone is willing to take you in, you may have to stay here indefinitely…"

Zephira scowled at the use of the word 'disabled', flexing her mangled wing irritably. This hardly seemed fair. Just because she couldn't fly didn't mean she couldn't take care of herself. And just because she was young didn't mean she couldn't take care of Myst, too! But it didn't seem like this mole was about to agree with her.

Drawing herself up, Zephira announced in a clear, determined voice, "I want to see the guardians."

Myst's head swung towards her, surprise crossing her scarred face, and the mole's eyes bugged in alarm.

"Y-You do?" he stammered, almost dropping his spectacles in surprise.

"Yes," Zephira's eyes were steely, and her voice left no question of her determination, "I do."

"N-now?'

"Now."

The mole gaped for a moment, mouthing wordlessly as though trying to find words that had long escaped him. After a moment he seemed to compose himself, and calmly placed his spectacles back on the bridge of his furry nose.

"Very well," he said importantly, "Follow me."

Myst jumped up when she sensed Zephira standing up beside her, and pressed herself against the older dragoness's side. She felt Zephira's good wing drape itself over her back, and raised her head towards where she estimated Zephira's face would be.

"Why do you want to see the guardians?" she asked curiously as the older dragoness led her out the door and into the infirmary corridor.

"Don't worry, Myst," Zephira insisted, walking briskly after the mole, "I'll get us out of this depressing infirmary, no matter what anyone else says. I'm sure the guardians will see sense."

"Oh…" Myst sighed against her shoulder, "I hope they don't separate us."

"Me too, Myst. In fact, I'll make sure they don't."

It was a long walk to the guardian's quarters from the infirmary, but the mole moved quickly and the dragonesses had to trot to keep up with him. He would stop and wait for them at every corner, then hurry on again on his short, furry legs. Luckily it was still early, so the streets were empty of most other dragons and moles. Soon enough, their destination came into view.

"Wait here, please," the mole said importantly when they came to a stop in front of the tall wooden door. Turning around, he raised a small paw and knocked sharply on the wood.

A moment passed in which nothing happened and the door stayed decidedly closed. Glancing back at the two dragonesses, the mole hesitantly raised a paw to knock again. But then came the sound of heavy footsteps behind the door, and it creaked open in front of them. A large, orange head poked out.

"Er, good morning, Master Thasos," the mole said nervously, wringing his tiny hands. The Fire Guardian seemed surprised to see a mole standing at the foot of his door so early in the morning.

"Good morning," he said politely nonetheless, "What can I do for you?"

For a moment it seemed like the mole had forgotten what he was going to say. Then he cleared his throat and gestured towards the wind dragonesses behind him.

"These two dragons wish an audience with the guardians, sir."

Thasos's warm, brown eyes shifted to the dragons, and he instantly recognised the delicate wind dragoness. A smile creased his surprised face.

"Zephira," he greeted, "What brings you here so early?"

She smiled apologetically, "Sorry for the suddenness, Master Thasos, but we needed to speak with the guardians about something."

"We?" Thasos blinked, bemused, until his eyes picked out the smaller white dragoness huddled against Zephira's side. "Oh! You have a friend. Oh, well, do come in. It isn't polite to leave one's guests standing outside…"

The guardian stepped aside, allowing the mole and the dragonesses to step into the room, closing the door softly behind them. He turned around to find Zephira looking at him expectantly, and the mole fiddling with his spectacles anxiously. Thasos smiled welcomingly.

"Make yourselves at home," he told them, "I will fetch the other guardians. I won't be too long."

Zephira sat down in the middle of the embroidered carpet to wait, curling her tail around Myst's protectively. The mole seemed stressed, shifting from paw to paw nervously, his spectacles threatening to slip off the end of his nose. Her jaw set, Zephira spent the next few minutes rehearsing in her head what she was going to say to the guardians. It was nerve-wracking for a shy dragoness such as herself, but she was determined.

'Just think…' she told herself firmly, 'what would Ciro do in this situation?'

She could see his jaunty, winning smile in her mind's eye, a twinkle in his eyes as his silver tongue quickly won over the guardians. A sad smile touched her snout and she stared at her paws, eyes half-lidded. His laugh echoed in her head, a memory of happier days.

'I have to be brave for Myst. Brave like Ciro.'

"I am surprised to see you here so early, Zephira," said a deep voice, and the wind dragoness jumped in surprise, her head shooting up. Terrador smiled down at her, and she wondered how he had approached so quietly. Behind him, Volteer and Cyril were following Thasos down the stairs towards them.

"Volteer, open the door," Cyril sniffed frostily, "It's far too stuffy in here."

"Were there not guests present, I would not hesitate to affront your pretentiousness and demand that you complete such menial tasks with your own two paws, Cyril," the electricity guardian grumbled, but lumbered over to open the door anyway.

"What can we do for you?" the earth guardian asked, a curious rumble in his voice. Zephira glanced sideways at Myst and saw that her sightless eyes were pointed squarely at Terrador's chest, listening intently to his every word.

"We—" Zephira started to say, but before she could get another word in the mole interrupted her.

"Forgive us for the intrusion, good guardians," the furry creature said importantly, pushing his spectacles back before they could slip off, "But it would appear that we have a bit of a dilemma. As you can see, these two young dragons have recovered sufficiently that we should be pleased to dismiss them from the infirmary. However, their injuries have left them both with permanent disabilities that pose a hindrance to their, er, wellbeing should they be allowed to continue living alone as they have in the past."

"Slow down," Terrador said calmly, and the stammering mole broke off looking flustered, "Allow the young dragonesses to speak for themselves."

Zephira snatched that chance before it could slip away, the words tumbling from her lips all too quickly, "He thinks that we won't be able to look after ourselves because I can't fly and Myst can't see, but I don't believe that! I have always looked after myself, and I've been looking after Myst for days! Please, master Terrador, we don't want to have to stay in the infirmary just because he thinks we can't take care of ourselves!"

"I am a professional healer!" the mole stammered indignantly, "It is not just my opinion—although that should be enough—but the professional opinion of all the infirmary staff that two handicapped young dragons should not be expected to live without a caretaker!"

"I don't need a caretaker!" Zephira argued angrily, "I can take care of myself! I don't need to fly to be able to do that!"

"That's enough," Terrador interrupted before the mole could make a retort, "You have both made your point. Now allow us to offer our opinions. Cyril?"

Zephira held her breath, feeling Myst trembling beside her.

"I see no reason why young Zephira should not be able to return to her personal quarters and continue living as she had before the…unfortunate events that left her flightless," Cyril spoke swiftly and formally, as he always did.

"Yes, yes, for once I must be of the same opinion as Cyril," Volteer added quickly, "The absence of Zephira's ability to fly should not hinder her life in any other way, and as such I perceive no necessity for a caretaker of any kind."

"I will agree with my fellow guardians," Thasos said with a dip of his head, "However…"

The fire guardian looked pointedly at Terrador, as though he knew they were thinking the same thoughts. The great, green dragon nodded slowly, and Zephira waited tensely for the verdict.

"While you may not require a caretaker, Zephira," Terrador said slowly and as gently as he could, "I am afraid the same cannot be said for your friend. For a blind dragon, especially one as young as her, life without a caretaker is simply impossible. She will need someone to care for her, to be her eyes, to do things for her that she can no longer do."

"I can do that!" Zephira insisted desperately, hugging Myst to her side with her good wing.

But the earth guardian shook his head, "I am sorry, Zephira, but it is irresponsible to saddle a dragoness as young as yourself with the responsibilities of caring for a youngling, especially one that requires so much attention. Until we can find a carer willing to take her in, I am afraid young Myst will have to remain in the infirmary. If you wish to stay with her, I understand."

"But…but…" Zephira gaped wordlessly, horrified. She had been sure the guardians would help; sure that they would see things her way. But she knew that, when a guardian had spoken, there was no changing his verdict. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, but she held them back firmly, ignoring the lump in her throat.

"Th-that's not fair," she stammered, voice shaking, "Why can't I take Myst? I'm responsible, I can care for her! And I'm not going to leave her, either! I want to stay with her! I don't want someone else to be her carer! I want to be it!"

"Zephira…" the little, blind dragoness stammered, awe crossing her scarred face. Zephira sniffed loudly as a sob threatened to break from her lips.

"It's not fair! J-just because we can't do things that other dragons can… It doesn't mean we can't take care of ourselves!" A tear escaped from her eye, trickling a swift path down her pale cheeks, and was quickly followed by another, and another. Zephira drew in a shaky breath, determined to hold back the sobs.

"C…Ciro would have argued for me!" she cried, her voice breaking, "H-he would have stood up for me! B-but he's not here anymore, so I have to do it myself! A-and I won't let you separate me and Myst! I won't!"

The guardians seemed at an utter loss to what to do with a sobbing, angry dragoness. Her violet eyes were tear-filled, but shining with a determined fire that blazed through the sheen of sadness. Thasos attempted anxiously to soothe her, despite the furious look on her face and the tears that streaked her cheeks.

"Please, Zephira, you must understand that we only have your best interests at heart," the fire guardian insisted, "If you want so much to stay with Myst, we will not hold you back. However, until we can find someone who will take the both of you in, I'm afraid the infirmary will have to be—"

"I can take them."

Everyone in the room jumped, Thasos broke off, and they all stared sharply at the doorway, which was currently filled by a tall, navy blue dragoness. Selador looked around the room, taking in everything from the nervous mole by the fireplace, to Zephira's tear-streaked face and the shaking Myst huddled under her wing.

"Well, well, it looks like you have been busy this morning," the earth dragoness smiled with a twinkle in her yellow-green eyes, "I just came by to ask if you wanted to join me for breakfast. What's all the fuss for?"

"Never mind that," Thasos stammered, staring at her incredulously, "Did…did I hear you correctly before? You will take the young ones?"

Selador looked bemused, as though she hadn't expected his incredulity, "Of course. I'd be honoured to have them. My quarters are more than large enough for the four of us."

"Four?" Cyril echoed curiously, raising a frosty brow. Selador's smile just widened and she stepped aside. A small, black and white cannonball shot out from behind the navy dragoness and stopped just short of cannoning into Zephira and Myst.

"Myst! Zeph!" the cannonball cried, bouncing on the pads of his paws. It took a moment for Zephira's eyes to focus on his ever-moving form.

"Domino!" Myst gasped, recognising his voice instantly. A wide grin spread across the black and white dragon's face.

"I promised Roku I'd take his younger brother in until he returned from his trip," Selador said fondly, watching the bouncing, excitable dragon, "I think he'd be happy to have Zephira and Myst join us. He hasn't stopped talking about the two of them since yesterday, after all."

"You don't say," Thasos said bemusedly, and then smiled warmly, "Well, I think this works out nicely, don't you, Terrador?"

"Yes," the earth guardian agreed solemnly, a faint smile cracking his formerly stoic mask, "We could not ask for anything better than for those two young dragonesses to be around friends after all they have been through."

Zephira was busy wiping her face with a paw, embarrassed by the tears that had been streaming down her cheeks, "Y-you mean, Myst and I can stay together? And we don't have to stay in the infirmary?"

"Goodness, of course you don't!" Selador laughed lightly, and knelt down beside the young wind dragoness, raising her head with the barb of her wing. Zephira's teary eyes blinked back at her, full of both embarrassment and hope. "I'd never leave two lovely dragonesses to suffer in that dreary place for so long. My home will be your home, for as long as you need me. Both of you. And Domino, too, of course."

She winked at the bouncing black and white dragon, who giggled excitedly. Zephira sniffed and blinked away the last of her tears, a smile breaking through. She glanced down at Myst, still pressed warmly against her side.

"Did you hear that, Myst? We've got a home!"

The little white dragoness smiled softly, "A home…"

Her sightless eyes turned towards Selador, or at least where she estimated the navy dragoness to be.

"Thank you," she whispered, the gratitude in her soft voice unmistakable, "Thank you so much. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to stay with Zephira."

"No one would ever dream of trying to separate you two," Selador assured her, and then turned her sharp yellow-green eyes on the mole, "Would they?"

"N-No, ma'am!" the mole stammered, and added quickly, "I, er, have some things to attend to, good guardians. Thank you for your time! Good day!"

Then he hurried out at the door as fast as his little legs would carry him. Thasos chuckled, and Selador gave a grin more reminiscent of a feisty young dragoness than her usual collected self. Zephira found herself smiling back, that look on Selador's face reminding her fondly of Saffron, wherever she was.

"Such a moving, heart-warming, touching solution to a rather complicated situation, eh Terrador?" Volteer chuckled, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Well, I think we've had enough drama for the morning," Selador announced brightly, "Back to what I originally came here for… What say you to joining me for breakfast? Of course, you young ones are welcome to join us, too."

Zephira's eyes shone like the sun itself, "We'd love to."

The Great Hall was, to put it mildly, huge. Mari estimated her whole village could fit inside, and then some, and Terra quietly agreed with her. But Hunter, who had seen it many times before, hardly seemed impressed by its colossal size. There weren't many dragons in the hall, only a few early morning risers, and somehow the emptiness made it seem all the more massive.

"Who builds stuff this big?" Mari marvelled as they entered the hall and found a seat at the end of one of the long tables that spanned the entire length of the hall.

"The moles," Hunter said bluntly, and Terra noticed he deliberately refrained from sitting down until she had done so. And she was sure he wasn't just being polite.

"They built this whole city years ago," he explained, sitting down on a cushion with his legs crossed, "Long before the Dark Master himself was even hatched. They say it was in honour of their friendship with the dragons. Dragons were very revered back in those days before Malefor."

"What about after Malefor?" Terra asked quietly, and Hunter looked sharply at her.

The pantheress knew very little about dragons, only what gossip had been passed around the panther tribe. She had heard of the Dark Master and of Cynder, but of the dragon species itself she knew very little. What were they really like, she wondered? Were they cunning and crafty like her own species, or honourable and just? And how had they reacted when one of their own turned against them?

"We can only assume that the dragons lost much respect after the rise of the Dark Master," Hunter said grimly, folding his paws on the table in front of him, "They did in the cheetah tribe, and it took many hundreds of years for our relations with them to improve. I believe Spyro can be thanked for much of that. Thanks to him, much of the dragon race, and the purple dragon, were redeemed in the eyes of my tribe. After Malefor, any purple dragon was considered to be a threat, until Spyro changed that view."

"This…Spyro," Terra hesitated, "He is…the young purple dragon?"

"Yes," Hunter said slowly, scrutinising her, "Tell me, how much does your tribe know of him?"

"I-I don't know exactly," the pantheress stammered, looking uncomfortable, "Our tribe is a big one, and the masters don't share all of their knowledge – except with their Elite Guard. But the discovery of the young purple dragon was so unexpected that it spread through the entire village, like gossip usually does. We were never told his name though, but it is popular belief that the masters want to get rid of him as soon as possible, in case he turns out to be too much of a threat. I think they're afraid he'll turn out like the Dark Master…"

She trailed off upon seeing the dark look in Hunter's eyes and chewed her lip nervously.

"Spyro is their target?" he growled after a moment, tapping his unsheathed claws on the tabletop. Terra wilted under his gaze.

"W-well, it's only speculation!" she stammered quickly, "But I…I did hear the masters talking personally…they said they needed to do something about him. But I'm afraid I don't know what. I don't think they even know if he's in the city or not."

Hunter sighed heavily, "I do not know myself, though I expected he would be. We should inform the guardians of this. They will want to know if Spyro is in any danger. Besides that, what is this Elite Guard you mentioned?"

Terra relaxed; that was an easy question. "A group of six, well-trained panthers who are loyal only to the twin leaders of our tribe. Informally, they are known as the assassins. The masters trust them more than any others, and they are usually trusted with the most dangerous or difficult tasks. They're pretty closed off…no one really tries to get close to an Elite Guard. I never knew any of them personally."

"I see…"

"Can we, you know, talk about something less gloomy?" Mari cut in uncomfortably.

Hunter gave her a stern look, "It is important that we learn as much as we can about the panthers if we are to face them in battle."

"But can't you talk about it some other time?" the female cheetah grumped, folding her arms with a scowl, "At least not over breakfast."

"Fine," Hunter sighed, rubbing his temples as though to relieve himself of a headache, "We'll save it for later. But later this afternoon, I want to hear everything you know about your tribe, Terra. Understand?"

The pantheress nodded mutely. Breakfast was a quiet affair after that. They ordered from the moles and sat watching as the Great Hall slowly filled with dragons, some more awake than others. The young ones especially seemed half-asleep in their breakfast, no doubt lamenting another school day listening to Cyril prattle on about the finer points of dragon history. Soon the hall was filled with chatter that bounced between tables like balls being tossed to and fro.

"Do you think the whole population of Warfang is here?" Mari wondered in amazement as she observed the sea of glistening, multi-coloured scales.

A good-natured laugh caught her attention and she turned to the dragon sitting a little way down the table beside her. He had brilliant yellow scales, like chips of topaz, and wings so violently blue they looked almost charged with electricity.

"This place might be big, but I doubt even it could fit all the dragons of Warfang," said the yellow dragon with a friendly grin. Mari assumed he was in his prime, as he seemed full grown but not nearly as old as the guardians. "Breakfast is pretty staggered out, not everyone comes at the same time, and some dragons don't even eat meals here. A lot of them eat at home instead, but I like the company. The name's Naxos, by the way, I don't think we've met."

"Mari," the cheetah said brightly, holding out her hand to shake Naxos's paw—which was twice as big.

"A pleasure," Naxos said, winking a brilliant blue eye, "We don't see many cheetahs around these parts. I take it you're from Avalar?"

Mari nodded eagerly, "Yeah. Oh, and this is Terra…"

She gestured to the pantheress sitting on the other side of her and Naxos did a double-take, the look in his eyes changing from carefree to cold, hard steel in an instant. Terra winced when she met his gaze, but barely a second later the cold hardness in his eyes disappeared to be replaced with innocent curiosity. Mari blinked, wondering if she had imagined it.

"So, you're the panther that the whole city has been talking about!" the yellow dragon exclaimed without a hint of hostility, "Never thought I'd see you here! Thought you'd be holed up in one of the rooms with guards at your door, or something."

"Naxos!" a green dragoness scolded from the other side of the table.

"What?" the yellow dragon asked carelessly, glancing over at the dragoness, "I'm just sayin'. What, did you expect a panther to be freely walkin' around here after what happened not so long ago? Dragons died in that battle!"

"She might be a panther but that's no way to talk to her!" the green dragoness argued hotly, eyes flashing, "How do you even know she played a part in that battle?"

"I'm sorry," Terra said quietly, and Naxos's head snapped towards her again.

"You're…what?" The yellow dragon blinked bemusedly.

"I'm sorry for what my tribe has done," Terra mumbled, not meeting his eyes, "Nothing justifies the attack they led on your city, and nothing ever will. I am so sorry for the lives that were lost in that battle…and I'm sorry for the battles that have yet to come. I am not proud of the things my clan has done and will do, and that is why I am here. I-I am sorry…so, so sorry for the pain we have caused you…all of you."

For a moment Naxos looked lost for words, and just a little ashamed. His wings drooped ever so slightly and he shifted awkwardly in his seat, passing a guilty glance with the green dragoness across the table.

"H-Hey, it's ok," he stammered awkwardly after a moment, looking conflicted, "I'm not…I wasn't blaming you. I guess you can't help what the rest of your tribe wants to do…"

Naxos trailed off lamely, and looked pleadingly to the green dragoness for help. She rolled her eyes and leant across the table towards Terra. The pantheress looked up to meet her eyes, which were kinder and softer than Naxos's had been.

"What my idiot friend is trying to say is that no one can blame you for what the panthers have done," she said gently, "Be ashamed of them if you must, but don't be ashamed of yourself. If you're here to help us fight back against your own tribe, that makes you a very strong panther. There will be those of us who are suspicious of you, but that's to be expected. Just keep doing what you know is right, and I'm sure everyone will come around eventually. I'm Chios, by the way."

"Thank you, Chios," Terra smiled weakly, "Your words mean a lot to me. I promise I will do all I can to help."

"Wonder where Delos got to," Naxos grunted absently, gazing around the hall, "I'd like to see his reaction to a panther in the city."

Chios rolled her eyes, "Maybe it'd be best if he didn't see her. How long will you be staying in Warfang?"

Terra opened her mouth to reply, but Hunter beat her to it.

"Until her allegiance to us can be proven," he said abruptly, standing up, "And that could be many weeks. If you'll excuse us, we have places to be."

"Hunter!" Naxos exclaimed in surprised, and then looked sheepish, "I, uh, didn't see you there."

The cheetah just nodded stoically and beckoned for Mari and Terra to stand up. They did so a little reluctantly, and bid farewell to the two dragons.

"It was nice to meet you," Terra sighed, a little dejectedly, wishing Hunter hadn't decided to rush them out of the hall so quickly. She would have liked to spend a little more time with the first two dragons she'd had a chance to speak with—other than the guardians themselves, of course. Not to mention that Chios didn't seem to be suspicious of her at all.

"Guess we'll see you around," the green dragoness smiled, waving as the felines trailed after Hunter.

"What's the rush?" Mari complained as Hunter led them out the doors of the Great Hall and into the street.

"Didn't you notice?" the golden-furred cheetah growled, glancing back at the doors, "We were starting to attract far too much attention. Not all dragons will be as readily accepting of Terra as those two. It would be best if we retained a low profile for much of our stay here."

Mari huffed and folded her arms, "Fine. But you don't have to be so stiff about it. What's your problem?"

"Mari…" Hunter turned to her, exasperated, stopping them for an instant in the middle of the street. Terra hung back uncertainly, but the female cheetah glared daggers at him.

"Look," Hunter sighed after a moment, breaking the brief stare-off with Mari, "It's my duty to ensure that the both of you are safe. Many dragons are going to be suspicious of Terra, and it isn't wise to give them a chance to confront her. I'm just doing my job."

"But you're acting like Terra's a prisoner or something!" Mari argued, "Why are you being so uptight around her?"

Hunter uttered a sigh that was more of a growl and turned away, "Let's not linger here any longer."

But Mari stayed put even as the cheetah captain started to walk away. Her eyes flashed angrily and she yelled after him, ignoring the curious dragons and moles that stopped to stare as they passed them in the street.

"It's because you still don't trust her, isn't it?"

Hunter glanced back sharply at her, a guarded look crossing his face, "We are not having this discussion now. Come."

"Hunter!"

But he merely looked away and began to walk down the street. Growling in frustration, Mari grabbed Terra's hand and started to march after him. But the panther hung back, staring at something. Sensing Terra's resistance, Mari stopped and glanced back at her quizzically.

"What is it?"

Terra was staring at something across the street, her shoulders rigid, and Mari couldn't help but follow her gaze. To her surprise, she saw the guardians strolling towards the Main Hall, accompanied by a tall, elegant navy dragoness, and three much younger dragons. The guardians and their guests didn't seem to notice the two felines, until one of the younger ones happened to glance their way.

Her pale, violet eyes fell on Terra and she stopped in her tracks, limbs rigid. The guardians and the other three dragons continued on their way, oblivious that one of their number had fallen behind. Mari and Terra both stared at the young dragoness, who stared back with an odd look on her face.

Terra's keen eyes couldn't miss the numerous scars that criss-crossed across this dragoness's snowy white scales, or the deformed, tattered wing she kept folded tightly against her side. But what she noticed most was the expression in the dragoness's eyes. Whether it was fear or anger, she couldn't tell, but somehow she had a feeling it was a bit of both.

For an instant that seemed to last an eternity, panther and dragon stared at each other from across the street, never breaking their gaze. Then the navy dragoness seemed to notice that one of her charges had stopped, and turned back to call her.

"Zephira!"

The white dragoness winced at the sound of her name, cast Terra a last fleeting glance, and then hurried after the guardians. The navy dragoness welcomed her with a protective wing, and the group continued on their way without another look back. Terra stared after them, dazed, until she felt Mari tugging on her paw.

"Come on," the cheetah murmured, "Hunter's waiting."

The pantheress stumbled dazedly after her, still looking after the white dragoness. Her heart was thundering violently in her chest, and suddenly she felt both ashamed and filthy, like a beast that should never have existed. Could she have imagined the utter revulsion in that dragoness's eyes?

"Did…did you see the way she looked at me?" Terra whispered.

Mari's paw tightened around her own, but she didn't say a word.

The night after Spyro left was a sleepless one for Sparx. He flew in absent-minded circles around the dragonfly village, listening to the sound of the rest of the dragonflies settling down for the night within their tiny nests. His parents tried to convince him to sleep in his old nest, but the yellow dragonfly had waved them off, telling them he didn't need much sleep and that's he'd settle down when he wanted to and not a moment sooner.

But it was nearing midnight now, and Sparx hadn't even tried to sleep. He hovered at the outskirts of the village, staring up at the twin moons as their pale light crept through the dense foliage that covered the swamp, and wondered where Spyro was now. If he'd reached the Chronicler… if he was in trouble… if he was staring at those same moons at this very instant and thinking about his dragonfly brother.

Scowling, Sparx shook those thoughts from his head. But he knew that sleep was a lost cause for the moment, and left the dragonfly village in search of something to take his mind off his worries. Minutes later, he found himself in the clearing where he and Spyro had spent many a day playing tag or hide-and-seek amongst the mushrooms. Now the clearing was empty, no purple dragon to be seen.

Shoulders drooping, Sparx hovered over to the stunted tree in the centre of the clearing where he had, many times before, hidden from Spyro's seeking eyes. Reaching out a tiny, glowing hand, Sparx laid it against the soft, damp bark of the tree. It was strikingly familiar to his sense of touch.

'I see you, my little glowing friend.'

A fond smile tweaked his lips, and he muttered quietly, "When was the last time we played like that, huh Spyro?"

A twig cracked behind him and a voice rang out suddenly through the silence, "Oh…you're still awake."

"Whoa!" Sparx yelled, and flung himself back against the tree in alarm. But then his frightened eyes saw though the gloom and he realised it was just Nadi, the wind dragon they'd met the previous day. His pale bronze scales shimmered with an almost silver sheen in the moonlight. "Oh…it's just you. Don't scare me like that, man!"

"Sorry," Nadi said sheepishly, stepping further into the clearing, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Sparx eyed him suspiciously, peeling himself off the damp bark of the tree, "Yeah, well, what are you doing up anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep," the wind dragon shook his head and sat down heavily beside the tree, wings drooping. The dragonflies had offered him a small bower in which to sleep, where Spyro himself had once spent his nights. It was a little small for a teenage dragon, but Nadi hadn't complained. Sparx glanced sideways at the bronze dragon, still irritated at being snuck up on.

"Guess that makes two of us," he muttered after a moment, resting a hand on the tree trunk again. Nadi looked up at the dragonfly, Sparx's yellow glow playing across his face and lighting up his deep red eyes.

"Are you worried about the purple dragon?"

"Spyro is my brother," Sparx replied a little touchily, "and if it hadn't been for me, he would have lasted nearly as long! Man…"

A heavy sigh left the dragonfly's lips and his shoulders dropped dejectedly, "I kinda wish I hadn't stayed behind. He needs me, man! What was I thinking? Now he's probably in that creepy place with all the spooky moon stuff and the riddles of doom and…I'm not there with him."

Sparx groaned and held a hand to his forehead, "Why am I telling you this?"

"Maybe because you need someone to tell it to," Nadi suggested with a shrug, cocking his head.

"Yeah, whatever."

The wind dragon scuffed the ground with a paw thoughtfully, "You know, you really shouldn't worry. I mean, he's the purple dragon, right? He should be able to take care of himself."

"What makes you think you know anything about him?" Sparx exclaimed, suddenly defensive as he flew closer to Nadi's face, "I was there the whole time, you know! I was there when Cynder tried to kill him, I was there when those freaky bat…things attacked the temple, I was there when that ugly ape dude tried to kill us, heck I was stuck for three years inside a crystal with him! And don't get me started on what happened after that!"

He jabbed Nadi sharply in the nose, "Spyro wouldn't have lasted a second without me!"

"Then why didn't you go with him?"

Sparx faltered, mouth hanging open, and gaped wordlessly for several moments. Nadi eyed him expectantly. Eventually, scowling, the dragonfly turned away and folded his arms, deliberately not meeting the wind dragon's gaze.

"I don't…" he hesitated, as though fighting with something inside him, "I don't know, ok? I don't know. I guess I was just…worried about mum and dad."

Sighing, he rubbed his face with a hand, mumbling dejectedly, "I should be with him."

An awkward silence fell after that, as the mismatched pair sat side-by-side in the shadow of the stunted tree. Moonlight was their only company, but for the barely audible croaking of Frogweed hidden somewhere in the underbrush. It was a mournful sound, but rhythmic and soothing in a way.

After a time, Nadi yawned and stood up, shaking his stiff limbs. Sparx glanced sideways at him, but the bronze dragon didn't seem to notice. Silently, he padded his way to the edge of the clearing, in the opposite direction to the dragonfly village.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Sparx yelled after him, and the bronze dragon stopped to look back.

"Exploring," he said shortly, and then added, "I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight, so I figured a look around wouldn't hurt."

"Watch out for the bulb spiders," Sparx smirked, but Nadi didn't seem at all deterred.

"You coming?" he called to the dragonfly, but Sparx waved a hand dismissively in his direction.

"Nah, I got better things to do."

Shrugging, the wind dragon left the dragonfly to his own devices and slipped into the thick undergrowth of the swamp. He'd only taken a few steps through the muddy slush beneath his paws when a small voice yelled out to him.

"Oi! Wait up!"

Glancing back, he saw Sparx flying towards him and smirked when the dragonfly stopped to hover beside him.

"Guess that means you don't have better things to do."

"Ah, shuddup," Sparx grumbled, flitting ahead, "Besides, you wouldn't last a second out there without me."

"I'll take your word for it."

Unspeaking, the two of them wriggled through dense undergrowth until they found a well-worn path that looked as though it was frequented by swamp creatures of a sort. They trailed along it, stepping in pools of moonlight and listening to the night sounds that filled the swamp around them. Eventually, unable to stand the silence, Sparx spoke up.

"So, uh, where are we going?" he asked, a hint of annoyance creeping through.

"Dunno," Nadi replied, stopping to glance down a much more overgrown path that branched off to the left, "You know this place better than I do."

"Right," Sparx grumbled, "What do you want me to do? Give you a grand tour? Not like there's anything to see!"

"Look, I'm just trying to find a way to pass the time. You can either be helpful, or…you can't. Your choice."

"You know, you're starting to remind me of Spyro. And not in a good way."

"Well, what did you and he do when you used to live here?"

Sparx shrugged, "Mucked around, explored…broke dad's rules. C'mon, we were kids, what would you expect?"

Nadi sighed and shook his head, "Never mind, let's just go."

"Go where?" Sparx yelled, flitting after him as he ran ahead.

"I don't know; we'll improvise!"

"Oi… Why don't I like the sound of that?"

That question left unanswered, the dragon and dragonfly spent the next half hour perusing the swamp for anything remotely interesting. But other than a few Frogweed that thought Sparx looked like a tasty snack until Nadi sent them packing, the pair ran into no trouble at all. Nadi was starting to think that he wouldn't mind a bit of trouble to relieve him of his sleepless boredom, when Sparx halted him suddenly.

"Hang on…I know this place," he said suspiciously, as if he thought his memory was playing tricks on him. But then his eyes picked out the white-washed bones that littered the ground ahead of them, shining hauntingly in the moonlight.

"Wh-whoa!" Nadi stammered when he saw what Sparx had seen, "What the heck, it's huge! What the heck is that thing! Or…uh, was."

It looked to the bronze dragon like the bones of a giant snake, as long and wide as a river, its massive body curling and twisting out of sight. The skin of the megalith was still mostly in tact, to his awe and disgust, but in places the white bone of its long ribcage poked through. Its massive, flesh-less head lay heavy upon the earth, at least thrice as tall as the wind dragon, hollow eye sockets staring into oblivion. He couldn't help but notice that the gaping, open mouth was void of fangs, though the stumps where they had once been were still there.

"Jeez, never thought I'd come back here again," Sparx muttered, hovering hesitantly closer to the giant skeleton's head, "You know, Spyro and I used to play around here all the time. Dad told us we weren't allowed to go in there, though."

He pointed into the gaping mouth of the skull, where its ribcage, now devoid of internal organs, created a long, damp tunnel into darkness. Nadi edged closer, peering into the gloom with both interest and revulsion.

"Did you?" he asked the dragonfly curiously.

"Are you kidding? 'Course we did! As if I ever listened to what dad told us."

"What happened?"

Sparx shrugged, "A bunch of stuff. Apes, fire… You know, if we'd have never gone in there, Spyro would never have…"

He trailed off uncomfortably and Nadi glanced curiously at him. But Sparx didn't continue his thought, and the bronze dragon had a strange feeling that perhaps he didn't want to. There was a wistful, almost regretful look in the dragonfly's eyes that looked oddly out of place.

"Come on," Nadi said suddenly, jumping up onto the skull's lower jaw and creeping towards the tunnel of its ribcage.

"What, you wanna go in?" Sparx asked incredulously, staying where he was.

"Why not?" the wind dragon called back, "You've done it before. You're not scared are you?"

"Scared? Me?" Sparx scoffed, "Not on your life!"

And, so saying, against his better judgement, the dragonfly flew after him. They stepped into the gloom without a glance back and set off down the damp tunnel, side by side. Nadi grimaced as he found himself dragging his paws through a thin layer of murky liquid that covered the floor of the tunnel. In the dim light that resonated from Sparx, he could make out fungi that had grown in the dark dampness.

"Might want to watch out for Frogweed," he mused to Sparx quietly, "This seems like the sort of place they'd like."

"Please, I can handle a few measly Frog—agh!" the dragonfly squealed with fright as a Frogweed popped out of the ground in front of him, spraying mud and filthy water everywhere. Trembling, Sparx hid behind one of Nadi's horns to avoid the fungus' snatching tongue. "Kill it!"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, the wind dragon charged forward and rammed the Frogweed in the gut, knocking it back several metres. With a groan, the fungus sank back into the mud from whence it had come. Nadi continued out his way as Sparx flew ahead again, the dragonfly pretending that nothing had happened.

The rest of the trip through the tunnel was mostly uneventful, as most Frogweed didn't seem to want to try their luck with a dragon just for a snack of dragonfly. But by the time the end of the tunnel was in sight, Nadi was thoroughly sick of walking through liquid slush.

"Remind me to never do that again," he grimaced, stepping out of the tunnel and shaking sludge off his bronze-scaled paws.

"Whose idea was it, smartass?"

Ignoring him, Nadi took that moment to observe their surroundings. They were in a clearing of sorts, walled on all sides by low cliffs upon which stilted trees grew. He noticed the dark entrance to a cave on the left cliff face, near to the far side of the clearing. Otherwise, the clearing was utterly empty.

"Told you there was nothing to see," Sparx pointed out. Nadi sighed.

"Let's go see where that cave leads," he suggested, walking across the muddy earth towards it.

"Why can't you ever be satisfied?" Sparx groaned, but followed anyway.

The cave, as it turned out, curved in a short bend before opening out onto the swamp again. Nadi stopped outside the mouth of the cavern to looked around, and Sparx hovered impatiently by his head.

"What are we doing here, anyway?" the dragonfly grumbled, "It's just swamp, swamp and more swamp. Let's just go back."

"Wait," Nadi said suddenly and froze. Moments later he added, "Did you hear that?"

Sparx, who hadn't heard a thing, just scowled, "No, and I don't think I want to, either."

The wind dragon didn't seem to notice, musing quietly to himself, "It doesn't sound too friendly. Come on, let's check it out."

"Oh what, so when it doesn't sound friendly we have to check it out? How did I get stuck with you?"

Either Nadi didn't hear or he chose not to respond, and Sparx had no choice but to hover anxiously after him. They hadn't gone far before the dragonfly realised he was in unfamiliar territory, and that didn't sit well with him. He'd never gone this far into the swamp before. And definitely not without Spyro.

"Look, ah, maybe we should go back?" he suggested nervously, jerking a thumb back the way they'd come.

"Soon," Nadi murmured, still listening carefully for the sound he had heard earlier. But the swamp was eerily silent.

"How about now?"

But the wind dragon ignored him and trotted ahead, much to Sparx's chagrin. The dragonfly followed nevertheless, wringing his hands nervously. He found Nadi standing at the edge of a small, swampy lake, more like a large puddle among the trees. Wiry swamp plants of some sort grew at the edge of the murky water, perfectly still without a breeze to disturb them.

"Never been here before…" Sparx mumbled, frowning. Nadi just grunted in reply, staring into the murky waters of the lake.

"Dragon in our swamp?
This is very strange indeed.
What purpose has he?"

"Uh…did you say something?" Sparx muttered, wondering if he had imagined the voice he thought he'd just heard.

"What?" Nadi cocked an eyebrow, "I didn't say anything."

"Well someone said something." The dragonfly scowled and glanced around at the dark swamp, but nothing caught his eye. "Do you get the feeling we're being watched?"

Nadi backed away from the lake slowly, glancing slyly side to side, "I know what you mean. Shh!"

Sparx shut his mouth quickly and, in the silence that followed, a faint voice reached their ears.

"A dragonfly too,
What a strange duo they make.
Should we speak with them?"

"Yeah, I definitely heard it that time," Sparx mumbled.

"Who's there?" Nadi yelled into the dark trees, "Show yourselves!"

Then, to his great surprise, two spots of golden-orange light drifted up from the bulrushes, shining hauntingly through the gloom of night. At first they looked to the bronze dragon like nothing more than formless globs of illumination, and he stared dumbfounded as they drifted closer. Despite their apparent harmlessness, Sparx seemed to think otherwise and shot behind Nadi's head with an alarmed shout.

"Argh, it's the lost eyes of the dreaded swamp bogie! Don't let them near me, they wanna take my soul!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" a bemused Nadi shot back, "They're just little globes of fire or something…"

Indeed, that was exactly what they looked like to the confused dragon, and he had no evidence of them being otherwise. That is, until they spoke.

"We are not of flames
Though we may appear to be
Fireflies, we are."

"Oh crap," Sparx whispered from behind Nadi, sounding mortified, "I can hear them speaking to me! I'm doomed!"

"Shut up for a sec," Nadi muttered, peering closely at the glowing balls of light as they—with a hesitant sort of air—drifted closer. Moments later he was able to see what he could not before.

They were not formless balls of light at all, but rather insects that reminded him vaguely of the dragonflies. Their bodies were much shorter and fatter than that of the dragonflies, and their wings were far less tapered. Unlike dragonflies, they were not brightly coloured, instead appearing a dull shade of brown. But what Nadi found most amazing was their fat, glowing tails that exuded an almost fiery light.

"They're bugs," the dragon exclaimed in surprise, "Kind of like dragonflies, Sparx."

The yellow dragonfly chanced a peek around Nadi's horns and replied in an almost indignant tone, "Are you kidding? They look nothing like dragonflies!"

"Well they sure don't look like the 'lost eyes of the swamp bogie'," Nadi shot back with a grin.

"Shut up."

"What did you call yourselves again?" the wind dragon asked the glowing bugs curiously, while Sparx nervously flew out from behind him. He expected a simple, one-word answer. That wasn't the case.

"The swamp is called home
To flies that are of fire
Glowing in the night."

"What?" Nadi said blankly, looking from one glowing insect to the next bemusedly. They hovered before him, staring with beetle-black eyes as though expecting an answer. Beside him, Sparx groaned.

"Aw great," he grumbled, "Fireflies. Dad told me about these guys years ago. Never try to get a straight answer out of one of them. They only speak in riddles!"

"Fireflies?" Nadi echoed, them grinned, "You don't say."

"Speak not in riddles
Unless to confuse those who
You are speaking to," said one of the fireflies, sounding disapproving.

"We speak in true words
With the rhythm of the swamp
To guide what we say," added the second, only achieving in confusing both dragon and dragonfly.

"Aha, sure, well why don't we let you two get on with your 'rhythm' while we go back to our own swamp," Sparx jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, "Over that way. Wouldn't want to, uh…intrude."

Nadi couldn't miss the sarcasm in the dragonfly's voice and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Still, they had been out in the dark night of the untamed swamp long enough, and he was about to agree with Sparx when a strange, haunting noise filled the air. A long, low howl, almost hauntingly mournful. Sparx went rigid and Nadi felt the scales on the back of his neck prickle.

"The heck was that?" the dragonfly hissed in a loud whisper, not daring to look over his shoulder to where the noise had come from.

"I think I have a fair idea…" Nadi whispered back, at almost the exact time one of the fireflies spoke.

"The howling lost hound,
His mournful cry in the night
Slicing through silence."

The firefly sounded almost miserable with those words, and Nadi shot it a quick, unseen look of curiosity. But whatever the firefly was thinking at that moment, its words had just confirmed the wind dragon's suspicions.

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Sparx asked nervously, wringing his hands. Nadi scowled darkly as another howl ripped through the silence.

"Death Hounds," he growled, "Looks like you were right…they are still hanging around."

Another howl reached their ears, sounding alarmingly close. Sparx's eyes were almost popping with fear.

"H-hey, maybe we should get out of here?" he suggested frantically, "Before they kill us!"

"And lead them back to the dragonfly village?" Nadi asked grimly, "Come on, Sparx, wasn't the reason you stayed behind so you could protect your family?"

"Well yeah, but I didn't think we'd have to fight them! Alone!" the dragonfly was really panicking now, and he looked torn between staying with Nadi or making a run for it. It seemed the former won, as fear had mostly paralysed him to the spot now.

"Swifter than lightning,
They appear from the shadows
Seeking helpless prey."

No sooner had those words been spoken, a loud thundering of paws and the splintering of wood announced the arrival of the Death Hounds. The tree that one of them had collided with in its haste came crashing down with much creaking of wood and cracking of branches as it hit the swampy earth. The hound shook its head dazedly, staggering from the collision.

"Hear that, Sparx?" Nadi muttered, "We'll be the helpless prey soon if we don't do something."

But the dragonfly appeared to have been struck dumb with horror at the sight of the hounds. There were three of them, sniffing around the edge of the clearing and apparently confused by the sound of the tree that had just fallen. Nadi was sure that was the only reason they hadn't attacked yet. But it was only a matter of time before they did, and the wind dragon wasn't confident he could take them all on himself.

"Come on, Sparx," he hissed frantically, "where's all that bravado from earlier today?"

The dragonfly didn't answer, but the fireflies exchanged nervous glances and one of them spoke up again.

"Fireflies do not fight,
We are but fragile insects,
Gone to seek shelter."

Then, like arrows from a bow, they shot upwards into the shadows of a nearby tree and were gone from sight. Nadi grunted, but he hadn't expected anything otherwise. His red-eyed gaze was fixed firmly on the hounds, which appeared to have picked up their scent and were now stalking nearer, their lips curling into feral snarls. The wind dragon took a step back.

"I can't do this alone," he hissed to Spark in an almost begging tone.

"What do you expect me to do?" the dragonfly shot back, finally breaking out of his horrified trance, "They'll eat me!"

"Distract them!" Nadi yelled suddenly, shooting forwards without warning, sending clumps of mud flying in every direction. He charged straight into the nearest hound, knocking it back almost a full metre and linking his claws into its thick, putrid hair. It uttered a sharp whimper of shock and writhed under the wind dragon, its scaly tail scoring a glancing blow to the side of his head. But he didn't loosen his grip, sinking his claws in further to draw blood from its tough skin. A growl to his side told him that the other hounds were preparing to charge.

"Sparx!" he yelled desperately, his grip loosening for a brief second—but that was all the hound needed to throw him off. Nadi landed awkwardly on all fours, and didn't get a chanced to regain his balance before something collided with him from the side. His ribs almost buckled under the force of the blow, and he cried out in pain as he was thrown to the earth, mud splashing over his bronze scales. The hound that had struck him skidded to a halt not far from his prone form.

Suddenly a reckless, drawn out yell cut through the silence and Nadi raised his head in time to see a yellow blur rush past him. It circled around the Death Hound nearest to him, then shot off towards the next, screaming all the way. The confused hounds turned to follow him, flattening their ears away from the irritating noise. Nadi couldn't resist a grin as he pushed himself up again.

"Nice one," the wind dragon smirked to himself, turning to the third Death Hound and pawing the earth challengingly. It growled and charged with all the speed of a bolt of lightning, but it never reached the dragon. Bracing himself, Nadi opened his jaws and expelled a concentrated burst of air so strong that it not only tore up the ground in its path, but sent the hound flying into a tree trunk on the other side of the clearing.

The canine whimpered and slid limply to the ground, struggling vainly to get up. Nadi never gave it that chance. Digging his front claws into the earth, he swung his hindquarters in an arc, slashing his lethal tailblade through the air as he did so. The air concentrated around his tail and broke away as deadly, crescent blades. The hound never got the chance to utter a final cry before it was dispatched by the blades of wind.

Nadi allowed himself a smile in victory, but it wasn't over yet. Turning around, he saw the still-screaming Sparx being chased in erratic zigzags all over the clearing by the two remaining hounds. The wind dragon scowled darkly.

"Keep it up!" he yelled to the dragonfly, looking around frantically for something that would help. His eyes fell on a large mushroom tree near the edge of the clearing, its trunk as thick as the burly bodies of the hounds, if not thicker. An idea wormed itself into his brain.

While Sparx led the hounds on a merry dance around the clearing, Nadi hurried over to inspect the thick, white trunk of the tree. It was softer than the trunk of a regular tree, but not by much. Growling to himself, the wind dragon got to work, cutting through the sinewy material with his lethally sharp tailblade. When he was about halfway through it, he whipped his head around and yelled to Sparx.

"Over here!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaarrgh!" Sparx replied, dodging the snapping teeth of the hound and shooting towards the wind dragon. The instant he passed in front of the mushroom tree, Nadi severed the rest of the trunk with another blade of concentrated wind.

The tree creaked and teetered for a moment on the brink, then fell almost in slow motion, its huge mushroom head dragging it down faster than the wind dragon had expected. Sparx just barely cleared the trunk before it crushed him, but the hounds weren't so lucky. The one that was furthest behind skidded to a halt with a howl, and tried to turn away, but its tail and one of its hind legs were caught under the trunk as it slammed violently into the earth. The other wasn't quick enough, and had no chance to dodge before it disappeared completely under the falling tree with a horrible crunching sound.

Nadi covered his face with a wing as mud sprayed up from the earth, and pieces of the mushroom's head went flying in every direction. The ground shook under his paws when the trunk collided with the earth. When everything had settled, the wind dragon uncovered his face to find that his plan had mostly worked. The last hound was lying half-trapped under the trunk, howling and whimpering with the pain of what was no doubt a broken or crushed leg.

The bronze dragon took pity on the creature, and ended its life with a swift stab to the heart. He was wiping the blood off his tailblade when Sparx flew up beside him, panting heavily.

"Don't…don't ever…ask me to do that again."

Nadi grinned, "Hopefully I won't have to. But at least they won't bother us anymore."

Sparx grimaced, "Great. Now let's go back before anything else tries to kill us."

The wind dragon nodded and turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks when two balls of fiery light filled his vision. He blinked and backed up quickly, until realising it was just the fireflies again. They were staring at him with both admiration and gratitude, which confused him until they started to speak.

"We are free again
From the terrors of the hounds
Who defiled our pond."

"We need fear no more;
Many thanks must be given,
Great dragon of wind."

"It…it was nothing," Nadi stammered, "I guess those hounds must have fled here after we chased them from the dragonfly village… So it was kind of our fault in the first place."

"Hey, hey, don't deny them the chance to praise us!" Sparx interrupted, and then turned to the fireflies with a flourishing bow, "You're welcome! The great Sparx, god of Tall Plains, saviour of dragons and…fireflies, prevails against all! You have been blessed by his—I mean my—generosity!"

"God?" Nadi muttered under his breath, but he went unheard over the words of the fireflies.

"Our thanks are to you,
Mighty god of dragonflies,
Who helped us in need."

One of the fireflies turned then, and shot back into the bulrushes from where they had first appeared. It reappeared moments later, something bright and shiny held in its tiny hands. Sparx stared with awe as the firefly insistently pressed the thing into his hands.

"Please take this crystal,
May it bring you happiness
Like it did for us."

"Crystal?" Nadi echoed, staring at the gem now held in Sparx's hands. But the fireflies just waved and floated away, back into the bulrushes from whence they had come.

"Weird," Sparx said, holding the chunk of crystal at arm's length. It was almost as big as he was, and vaguely diamond-shaped with both ends tapering to blunt points. It reminded Nadi of spirit gems, but it was completely clear, except for an odd, white, mist-like substance that swirled in its very centre. He'd never seen any gem like it.

"Well, whatever it is, you might as well keep it," the wind dragon suggested with a shrug, "Might be useful some time."

"Sure, sure, now how about we get back to the village? Man, mum and dad are gonna freak when they hear about this…!"

It was nearing midday by the time Selador bid the guardians farewell and left the main hall with her three charges. The navy dragoness led them through the winding streets at a leisurely pace, listening to Domino as he kept up a constant string of fast-paced conversation. Myst stuck close to him, using him as her guideline through the crowds, but Zephira lagged behind. This did not escape Selador's notice.

"Is everything alright, Zephira?" the navy dragoness asked gently, dropping back to walk beside the white dragoness, "You were awfully quiet at breakfast. Is there something bothering you?"

Zephira looked up, her eyes misted over with thought, and met Selador's concerned gaze. Blinking the fog from her eyes, the wind dragoness shook her head slowly.

"No, I'm fine," she said shortly.

Selador frowned, unconvinced, "If you're sure…"

The young dragoness offered her elder a smile, "I'm fine, Miss Selador, really. Just thinking."

Selador couldn't help but notice how half-hearted that smile was, but she let it drop with a sigh. Striding ahead to catch up to the two younger dragons, she extended a wing around Zephira's shoulders to coax her along.

"Just Selador will be fine," she said to the young dragoness, "You make me feel old. Now let's catch up to those two before Domino gets them lost. We'll be there soon."

Zephira nodded wordlessly and trotted along at her side, her eyes ahead but her thoughts elsewhere. She couldn't shake that image of the panther from her mind, no matter how she tried. It had been so unexpected, to see the black feline just standing there across the street, as though she was just another of Warfang's many citizens. What had she been doing out in the streets, anyway? Shouldn't she have been locked up somewhere, away from the citizens, and guarded by the cheetahs who had brought her?

But, no, she had just been standing there, no one with her but a frail-looking female cheetah that Zephira had never seen before. Where were the guards to keep her in check and make sure she didn't do anything to harm the citizens? Why was a panther being allowed to wander the streets unchecked when their clan had so recently staged an attack on the city? It didn't make any sense.

Zephira couldn't suppress a shudder when she recalled the moment her eyes had met those of the pantheress. Those deep, ocean blue eyes, so horribly familiar. Was it mere coincidence? They had held nothing of the merciless coldness of the panther that had slaughtered her brother, but all the same there had been something eerily similar about her face. It terrified her—no, it disgusted her. How dare such a creature walk freely within her city?

"Here we are, now—Domino, come back here!" Selador's voice unknowingly jerked Zephira from her unpleasant thoughts, and the wind dragon looked up sharply. In the time she had been absorbed in thinking, they had made their way into the winding backstreets of the city, where the crowds were much thinner and many houses were situated.

Domino turned sharply and hurried back to Selador, grinning sheepishly, Myst still sticking to his side like a grove mite. Not that he minded. But in his eagerness to speak with the little blind dragoness, he had almost sauntered off down a different side street without realising.

"Sorry! I wasn't watching!" he apologised with a grin and Selador looked sternly at him.

"And this is why you get lost far too often," she chided, before smiling fondly, "Now, let's get these two lovely dragonesses acquainted with their new home."

For the first time, Zephira realised they were standing in front of a large, mostly round building off the edge of the street. A small, cobblestone path led to the tall, polished wooden door, upon which a circular, bronze knocker had been nailed. The building itself was crafted from golden, sandstone blocks, like much of the rest of the city. Craning her head upwards, she saw the roof was domed, much like that of the Atrium but not nearly as impressive.

"What does it look like?" Myst asked eagerly, and Zephira listened half-heartedly as Selador explained it to the blind dragoness.

"Come on, come on!" Domino crowed impatiently, grinning widely and bouncing towards the door, "I'll show you inside! It's huge!"

"To a small dragon, I suppose," Selador muttered under her breath, leading Myst up the pathway to the door. Zephira followed behind, gazing solemnly at her paws.

Domino needed all of his weight to open the door, rising up on his hind legs and pushing against it with all his strength. The door creaked open, and the little dragon lost his balance, falling flat on his stomach in the doorway. Giggling, he jumped back up again and skipped inside, looking behind to make sure the dragonesses were following. Selador's head almost brushed the top of the doorway as she stepped through.

The room they stepped into was a modest entrance hall, with a thin cream carpet resting upon a smooth, stone floor. A window on the left wall was the only decoration, before the short hall opened out into a much larger room. This room, Zephira noticed, was more lavishly decorated. A circular cream carpet, much like the red one in the guardians' quarters, covered much of the centre of the room. Around it were placed several large cushions, all a pale gold colour that matched the embroidered patterns on the carpet.

At the back of the room, three doorways were curtained off, and Zephira assumed they led to bedrooms. Two wide, arched windows let light in from either side of the room, and there was a fireplace on the right wall, between the window and the closest, curtained doorway. Selador beckoned them all into the room.

"It isn't much," she said, "but it's home. You and Myst will need to share a room, Zephira. I hope that isn't a problem."

The white dragoness shook her head, "Not at all. We don't mind, do we, Myst?"

Myst shook her head by way of answer and let the navy dragoness guide her across the room. Selador brushed one of the heavy, gold curtains out of the way and beckoned to Zephira. The wind dragoness peered curiously into the room beyond the curtain.

It was a bedroom, as she had expected, similar to the one she had previously shared with Ciro, only round instead of square. Light from the window at the back of the room bled across the bed of cream cushions in the centre of the room, and the gold blankets folded neatly beside it. An almost empty bookshelf stood to the side, beside a mirror—a polished sheet of metal—hung upon the wall.

Zephira sighed and stepped into the room, stepping around the bed of cushions to look out the window. She had a view of the narrow backstreets, and a small garden just below the window. Although she said nothing, Selador seemed to pick up on her vibes. Quietly, the navy dragoness bent done to whisper in Myst's ear.

"I think Zephira would like to be left alone for a little while."

Straightening up, Selador addressed the white dragoness gently, "I'll have the moles bring any of your old possessions here from your old room. If you need anything, just ask."

"Thank you, Selador," Zephira murmured without turning around, and didn't move again until she heard the heavy curtain swing shut with a rustle of material. Softly, she padded over to the cushions and lay down, letting her deformed wing stretch out across them. For a moment she just stared at her paws, her eyes following the lines of scars that crept across her scales.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there. In could have been hours, or only minutes, but time didn't seem important in that instant. Though she stared at her paws, they were not what Zephira saw—instead she saw a face, swimming before her mind's eye; a face covered with black fur. She couldn't tell anymore whether it was the face of the pantheress she had seen in the city, or the face of the monster that had killed her brother. They were all the same.

'All the same…'

Anger and bitterness festered inside her heart, a horrible sensation she wasn't used to at all. She couldn't shift the thoughts from her head. They were all the same; monsters, murderers. They had killed her brother, wrenched him from her paws before she had a chance to drag him back. What right did they have to take away his life? What gave them the right to control life and death? What right did she have to walk freely in this city? A panther was a panther. They were all the same.

'It's their fault. It's their fault Ciro is gone. They're all the same. It's their fault I'm alone. So why? Why isn't she being punished? Why is she here?'

Zephira didn't realise she was crying until she felt something wet upon her cheeks and reached up a paw to wipe it away. She stared at the tears that clung to her scales, before angrily flinging them from her paw as though they were an insult to the memory of her brother. Frustrated, she lurched to her feet and padded over to the mirror on the wall. Her own reflection, distorted slightly by the polished metal, glared back at her, tears still clinging to her cheeks, violet eyes blazing. She rubbed furiously at her eyes until the tears were gone, and stalked out of the room.

Selador, Domino and Myst were sitting on the cushions around the carpet in the main room when Zephira brushed the curtain aside and stepped out. The navy dragoness raised her head to call the wind dragoness over, but Zephira spoke before she had a chance to.

"I'm going for a walk," she said shortly, hoping they wouldn't notice the lingering tearstains upon her cheeks. Without waiting for an answer, she walked quickly into the entrance hall and pulled the door open. Selador stared after her.

"Zephira…?" Myst murmured, confused, but the older wind dragoness didn't hear her.

"Leave her be," Selador sighed, draping a wing over the young, scarred dragoness, "I think she has a lot on her mind."

Zephira strode through the streets as though on a mission, though in truth she had no idea where she was going. It was only when she was several streets away from Selador's house that she realised she was walking blind, and slowed down. Taking a deep breath, the white dragoness looked around the streets. Dragons strode by here and there, in pairs or groups, talking cheerfully as old friends do. No one seemed to even notice her presence.

Wings drooping, Zephira continued on her way, walking slowly this time, eyes clouded with thought. By the time she stopped again, she realised she was at the edge of the main gardens. Swaying on her feet thoughtfully, the white dragoness was about to step onto the pebbled path that would take her to the centre of the gardens, when a gruff voice hailed her.

"Hey."

Startled, Zephira spun around to face the owner of the voice. He was not a welcome sight. An earth dragon stood before her, a fair head taller than her but still far from his prime. Ropey scars criss-crossed his deep green scales and he held one leg awkwardly, as though it had once been injured beyond repair.

"What do you want, Chasm?" the wind dragoness sighed, not meeting his scowling, hazel eyes.

"You're friends with that Spyro kid, right?" the earth dragon grunted, limping closer. Zephira scowled in response.

"Why?" she asked, almost challengingly, and was surprised at herself. A few weeks ago, she would never have dared to speak to Chasm in that way. In a way, in made her feel strangely emboldened.

Chasm shrugged, a lop-sided gesture due to his scarred leg, "Nuthin'. Just wanted to know where he was, is all."

"Well he's not here," Zephira sniffed, raising her head and meeting his eyes, "So you're wasting your time."

She turned to leave, but was jerked backward when Chasm trapped her tailblade under his paw. Annoyed, she turned around and yanked her tail from his grip, meeting his challenging eyes. A brief stare-off ensued, until Chasm straightened up and attempted to look nonchalant.

"Well, maybe you can tell me where he is," he said, an edge to his voice that Zephira didn't miss. Her glare narrowed.

"I told you, you're wasting your time. I don't know where he is. In fact, as far as I'm aware, he's not even in the city anymore."

Chasm's eyes widened ever so slightly, "What? So…he's gone? But where'd he go?"

For a split second Zephira hesitated, then spat out, "I don't know."

The earth dragon scowled, "Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me?"

"Why does it matter?" the wind dragoness snapped, "He's not here and I don't know when he'll be back. What do you want him for anyway?"

Chasm hesitated and a guarded expression masked his face. Zephira thought she could see his paws tensing, claws curling into the cobblestones, suggesting barely concealed anger. Her jaw tightened as she eyed him suspiciously.

"Just something I got to say to him," the earth dragon grunted at length, and Zephira had a feeling he was skirting around the question. He shook his head, claws relaxing slightly. "What about Cynder, she around?"

"Haven't you given her enough trouble?" Zephira scowled, tail flicking irritably.

Chasm didn't look pleased, "I'm not asking for your opinion, I'm asking if she's around!"

"Well, she's not," the wind dragoness sniffed dismissively, "She's gone with Spyro. You won't find her here. Now, if you don't mind…"

She turned pointedly towards the gardens, glancing back challengingly as though to dare him to try to hold her back again. But he did nothing of the sort.

"Fine," he grunted bitterly, and turned to stalk away. But he stopped after he'd taken a few steps, and called over his shoulder to the white dragoness. "When they do come back, I'll find them myself."

Zephira watched him as he walked away, brushing roughly past a green dragoness in the street, until he disappeared around the corner. A sigh escaped her lips and she turned her gaze towards the sky, into which her friends had disappeared not so long ago.

"You'd do best to avoid that one, Spyro," she murmured quietly to no one. Moments later, another voice called out to her, this one much less unwelcome.

"Zephira!" Nalu called as she hurried to catch up to the wind dragoness. She stopped beside her, panting from her short run across the street.

"Hello, Nalu," Zephira said politely, not entirely unpleased to see her, but longing for a taste of peace and quiet to mull over her own thoughts.

"I've been…looking all over for you," the green dragoness panted, "I went to the infirmary, but the moles said you'd left this morning. Where's Myst?"

"With Selador," Zephira said shortly, "We're staying with her. The moles and the guardians decided we weren't capable of living on our own."

Nalu didn't miss the trace of bitterness in her voice, but chose to ignore it, "Selador? That dragoness that's usually with the guardians?"

"Yes. She's nice enough."

A brief silence fell, and Nalu awkwardly shuffled her paws on the cobblestones as she tried to think of something to say. Zephira didn't look at her, and the green dragoness had a feeling she was somewhat unwelcome here.

"Would you like to be left alone?" she asked gently after a moment, wings drooping slightly. The wind dragoness glanced apologetically at her.

"I'm sorry, Nalu," she admitted, lavender eyes sad, "I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment. I'll talk to you later, I promise."

Zephira began to walk away, but Nalu called her back, stopping her in her tracks.

"You're not thinking about that panther, are you? The one in the city?"

The white dragoness didn't respond, but her tense shoulders said it all. Nalu hesitated, swaying anxiously.

"Zephira…" she murmured at length, "Please don't do anything rash."

But Zephira just walked away without a word or a glance back, disappearing down the winding path into the gardens. Nalu stared sadly after her, apricot eyes full of worry and sadness.

"I've already lost Ciro," she murmured into the silence, unheard, "I don't want to see the same thing happen to you."

A/N: Too much Haiku. Also, why was this chapter so long? I don't even know. Blah. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks again to my awesome reviewers of awesomeness who are very awesome. All of my love. Until next tiiiime!