The room stared at Hunter in wide-eyed shock.
"Thirty minutes!" Cyril exclaimed nervously, turning to his earth comrade. "How are we supposed to assemble our entire army in less than an hour!"
Volteer nodded. "I cannot agree more," Volteer said. "This is insanity, foolish, absurd. Gathering an army of this magnitude would take well over two hours!"
Terrador narrowed his eyes on his electric comrade. "Then we better start now. Volteer I want you to go with Cyril and gather as many guards you can muster in twenty-five minutes," he ordered. "After you hit that mark get them into a guarding position and wait until they arrive."
Both guardians saluted with a wing before standing up and walking out the room silently.
The earth guardian then turned to Flame and Ember. "I want you two to get all the civilians to the underground shelter, after doing so report back to me."
The two younger dragons saluted before following the other two guardians out of the room.
The earth dragon turned to the last remaining creatures in the room. "For the rest of you, I want to gear up and wait until they arrive."
Flare saw everyone else nod before getting to their feet and walking out of the room. The red dragon followed silently, well that really spoiled my morning, he thought as they rounded the corner out of the building. Does Hunter really have to keep it that simple? Just saying we're going to get attacked in thirty minutes is not gonna help my mood.
"HEY FLARE!" Cynder screamed, making the red dragon jump.
Flare shot a glare at Cynder. "What!" he shouted.
The red dragon saw that the comment made Cynder smirk. "Well it's just that you were not really replying after I called your name the first two times," she replied, her smirk spreading by the second.
Flare shot Cynder another glare this time more irritated. "Fine, what do you want?" he asked quietly.
"Actually it's two things, first is that is that thing you talked about a few weeks ago," she replied suddenly getting nervous.
Flare tilted his head in confusion. "What thing?" he asked generally confused.
What made Flare even more confused was when the black dragoness signaled for him to come closer. The red dragon followed obediently.
"You know…me and Spyro?" she whispered, before taking a quick glance at the purple dragon in front of her.
The question surprised Flare. "Cynder you can't be serious? We're about to get into a war in less than thirty minutes and all you can think about is the love between you two?" he asked back quietly, knowing fully well that if he raised his voice Cynder was going to do something really painful to him.
When the black dragoness stared at him with begging eyes, Flare knew he would give in soon. "Ok, ok, what do you want to ask about that?" he asked.
"About what?" Spyro suddenly asked, making the two dragons jump.
"Uh…nothing important," Flare stammered quickly.
Spyro looked at both dragons suspiciously before turning around. "Ok, just return home and gear up after you two finish your conversation."
"Can do Spyro!" he hollered after his purple brother, before suddenly feeling pressure at the back of the head, making him stumble forward a few steps. The red dragon whipped around to see Cynder the one that whacked him.
"What was that for?" he growled defensively.
Cynder narrowed her eyes on the red dragon. "The thing you just said," she stated angrily.
Flare tilted his head, again in confusion. "Can do Spyro?"
Cynder glared daggers at Flare. "No the thing before that."
Flare tapped his chin in thought. "Uh, nothing important?" he guessed.
Cynder nodded angrily. "You just called my friendship with Spyro not important," she hissed.
"Your right, I guess I did," he replied innocently, looking down at his claws in shame. "Sorry for that Cynder it kinda just flew out of my mouth before I could process what I was going to say. I didn't mean it."
Cynder's expression suddenly softened as she used the flat side of her tail blade to lift the red dragon's muzzle to look her in the eye. "It's alright, just next time think before you say something, alright?"
Flare nodded slowly, before the black dragoness withdrew her tail. "Good, now we can talk about that other subject," she stated looking into Flare's fiery eyes.
Flare stared back silently; he still felt the shame of what he just said. "So what part of that subject do you want to talk about?" he asked turning away in shame.
"Well we could start with what Spyro would think if we had our first kiss before the war?" she whispered quietly.
Flare stammered a bit. "YOU TWO HAVE NEVER-!" the red dragon literally shouted but covered his mouth with a paw before he could finish the sentence and looked around quickly to realize civilians were staring at them. Man, good thing I never said "kissed", he thought bitterly before turning back to Cynder to see her face boiling with anger and embarrassment.
Flare took his paw away when the civilians went back to their normal work. "Sorry," he whispered to the black dragoness.
"You know what I don't need this! I'll just ask Cavice," she stated angrily before marching away.
"Wait Cynder!" Flare hollered and ran after the black dragoness.
Cynder whipped around and glared at the red dragon. "What?" she asked anger still thick in her voice.
Flare skidded to halt a few metres in front of the black dragoness. "Please don't ask Cavice, he is really horrible with this kind of thing, please can I just answer this?" he asked sorrowfully.
The red dragon instantly saw Cynder turned more soft, but the hatred, anger face came back a split second latter. The black dragoness glared at the younger dragon. That was when Flare realized that he only had one more chance to not stuff this up.
Flare immediately stood as tall as he could to make himself look an inch taller and to give himself some confidence. "Look Cynder I don't think I know Spyro as much as you but from what I've collected about him is that his reaction would be happy," he stated. "I think he would be confused at first but happier after that," he concluded before puffing out his chest to make it seem that he was confident on the decision, when he actually doubted himself a lot. Most of the decision mostly came from the answer when Flare asked Spyro the question a few weeks ago.
All Cynder did was look at the smaller red dragon silently for a few seconds. Flare guessed that she was deciding if she should trust him. Finally the black dragoness turned around and began to walk back to their home.
"You better be right," she mumbled before picking her pace up and leaving Flare alone in front of the temple.
Flare just stared at Cynder in disbelieve as she grew smaller in the distance. Did she just trust me? He wondered in his head, turning away. Even after all of those mistakes I made? He turned back to Cynder to realize that she was a black spec in the distance. That's when it finally hit him, she trusts me! The red dragon began to jump happily in the air like a little kid, attracting a lot of attention from citizens around, but he didn't care! He had just given good-ish advice to someone that trusts him.
That was when the next thing hit him. What if I gave her the wrong advice! The red dragon started to panic. No, it has to be right, Spyro said so himself. Didn't he? Oh man you don't even know that, the red dragon turned back to the direction where Cynder left. Please be right, he hoped before taking flight back to his home.
*.*.*
Cynder was quietly making her way through to Spyro's room, she was currently up to the second-last corridor until Spyro's room came into view and the black dragoness was panicking.
What if Flare is wrong? What if I'm rushing this too fast? She wondered, panicking even further.
"I think he would be confused at first but happier after that," the red dragon's words rung in her mind, slightly calming her. There was one thing for sure, Flare definitely looked confident about the decision. But Cynder couldn't put her talon on if it was fake-confidence or real confidence, if it was fake and the whole kiss with Spyro didn't go well, then the black dragoness would swear that Flare would be ripped to pieces by none other than herself.
The black dragoness came to a sudden halt and turned her head slightly to the door next to her.
Master Spyro's room
Cynder gulped nervously as she gathered her thoughts about what she was going to say. "Ok here it goes," she mumbled nervously before knocking on the door with her tail blade three times.
"Come in," Spyro said from the inside.
Cynder nervously gulped again before opening the door and finding Spyro in front of a mirror with a full set of armor on.
"Oh hi Cynder," the purple dragon greeted a warm smile spread across his muzzle.
"Hi Spyro," she replied, nervously looking around the room and suddenly remembered the time a week ago where she told Spyro to wake up for the celebration for Flame becoming a guardian.
The purple dragon seemed to notice the nervousness in the black dragoness' voice. "Something wrong?" he asked, slight concern in his voice.
"No, no everything's fine," she replied cheerfully. Except that I can't seem to be able to tell you that I love you, she cursed in her mind.
Spyro smiled again in reply. "Well that's great, hey mind strapping on my gauntlets for me?" he asked with an innocent look in his eyes.
"Oh yeah, sure," Cynder walked over to the purple dragon and picked up a gauntlet before gently wrapping it around his left fore-leg and buckled it.
"Too loose," Spyro stated, quickly turning to the black dragoness bellow him. "Don't be afraid to tighten it, I think I can handle it."
"Ok," the black dragoness took out the buckle and raised it to the next tightness. But in her mind she was thinking something totally different. "Uh hey Spyro?"
"Yeah?" he replied casually,
Cynder began to get nervous again, as she buckled the gauntlet. "You know at the-"
"Cynder it's still too loose," Spyro interrupted before realizing he did so. "Oh sorry, you were saying?"
Cynder sighed as she undid the buckle again and moved it up to the next tightness. "Never mind," she stated, calming herself down.
The black dragoness knew that Spyro was giving her a questionable look even though she was concentrating directly at the gauntlet.
"Tight enough?" she asked after she finished buckling it up.
Spyro nodded silently in return.
Cynder sighed again before picking up the next gauntlet. "Now for this one," she turned around to see on Spyro's right paw the same gauntlet that Flare and Cavice gave them.
Spyro followed Cynder's eyes to notice the same thing. "Oh that reminds me lets go check on my brothers, let's see what their armor is like," he stated excitedly before turning around and running for the door.
"Wait Spyro!" Cynder hollered after Spyro before the purple dragon drew to a halt. "What about the second gauntlet?"
"Just drop it there and I'd pack it away after all of this," he stated, before running off to his Flare's room.
"Have it your way," the black dragoness stated dropping the gauntlet roughly on the soft carpet in Spyro's room, before running after him.
Wuss, she screamed in her mind. Why couldn't you just tell him how you felt about him then and there? The black dragoness skidded to a halt when he saw Spyro enter Flare's room and entered after the purple dragon.
Inside the room was Flare looking at a mirror in his room with a full set of golden armor on him. The red tinted light that came through the stained glass window in the younger dragon's room reflected off the polished armor and spread the light all around the room. Cynder had to admit that it was a beautiful sight and one she would probably never see again.
The red dragon suddenly turned to the two dragons that entered the room. "Oh hi guys, like my armor?" he asked quite casually, switching his view from Spyro to Cynder. "Uh Cynder where is your armor?"
The black dragoness suddenly realized it as well as she looked herself over. "Well I guess I should put it on," Cynder stated staring at Flare before walking out of the room, the red dragon seemed to take the hint.
"I'll go help you put it on," he said running after the black dragoness.
"Wait, wait, wait what about me?" Spyro asked Cynder after getting into the small corridor.
"Um, uh…" Cynder stammered trying to think of something.
Flare rolled his eyes. "Just see if Cavice is alright getting his armor on and meet us at the ramparts," he suggested before giving Cynder a slight shove to move forward.
"Ok see you two there," Spyro stated before running down to his next brother's room.
Cynder glared at Flare slightly for the shove, but began to run to her room. It took a few minutes but they made it to the black dragoness' room and quick scrambled inside before shutting the door.
Flare was the first to speak. "Ok what happened!" he asked.
Cynder replied with a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked generally confused. How does he know?
Flare rolled his eyes again. "Oh come on, what do you take me as? A fool?" the red asked seriously.
That's about right, the black dragoness thought bitterly.
"Why haven't both of you kissed yet, it's just so hard to believe. You two have been mates for almost a year, right?"
Cynder nodded, before suddenly feeling defensive. "Wait, how do you know we haven't kissed yet?" the black dragoness asked before narrowing her eyes onto the red dragon. "Were you spying on us?"
Flare looked like he had been stabbed in the heart…rapidly. "What, why would you think that!"
Cynder only kept her glare onto the younger dragon.
"Fine I'd tell you, firstly it was a guess when you two weren't exchanging loving glances at each other and there was no love in the air, but then you literally told me just now when you asked the question, good enough answer for you?" the last question was more of a tease then a question.
"Fine that's good enough," Cynder stated looking at the ground sadly. "The answer is that I couldn't really tell him, I was going to, until.." the black dragoness trailed off and hung her head in shame. An awkward silence lasted for a few seconds before the black dragoness then felt a paw on her shoulder.
"Come on, let's get you suited up for the battle, just remember do it before the war actually starts," Flare stated with a warm smile.
Cynder smiled back. "Thanks Flare," she stated before hugging the smaller red dragon.
*.*.*
"Phew, looks like you're ready," Spyro stated, looking over Cavice. The blue dragon had an almost alike set of armor as his younger brother.
"Thanks Spyro," the blue dragon thanked with a smile.
Spyro smiled back before thrusting his head in the direction of the ramparts. "We better get to the ramparts now and meet up with Terrador and the others," he suggested calmly and walked out the room before motioning for Cavice to follow.
The blue dragon hesitated for a second before running out the room after his elder brother.
Spyro smiled slightly as the two siblings began to their short journey to the ramparts. I few minutes later the purple dragon glanced around at the all too familiar tan-colored wall as it came into view. As the two dragons approached they soon caught sight of a large earth dragon and two majorly smaller dragons talking to each other.
Spyro's eyes lit up when he recognized the dragons. "Cynder!" he shouted as he drew closer to the black dragoness who was now in full armor. Cynder quickly turned to the direction of the voice, quickly realizing that it was Spyro with widened eyes before turning to the smaller red dragon beside her, which Spyro recognized as Flare and said something before turning back to the purple dragon and Cavice as they landed a few metres away from them.
"Hi Spyro," the black dragoness greeted, a wide smile spread across her muzzle as she and Flare ran up to the two dragons.
Spyro narrowed his eyes slightly as they approached. "What were you two talking about?" the purple dragon asked, one thing he knew was that he was being left out of something and he didn't like it.
Flare waved a dismissive paw. "Same thing as last time."
Spyro raised a brow. "The one that wasn't important?"
Flare hesitated for a second. "Uh…yeah," the red dragon quickly looked at Cynder with what seemed like sorry eyes, instantly making Spyro more interested.
Before the purple dragon could question his youngest dragon further Terrador walked up to the tiny group.
"I'm sorry to be interrupting anything but right now we would like to be discussing the positions all of you would be in for the war," the earth guardian announced switching his view from one young dragon to another before stopping at Spyro and Cynder. "Firstly I'd announce that both Spyro and Cynder would be in the front line and would be the first to defend. Flare and Cavice would be in the back-line defending the underground shelter."
Spyro saw Flare's mouth open in surprise. "What!" he muttered in shock. "Excuse me Master Terrador but can I be on the front line with Spyro and Cynder. I really want to take out as many grublins as possible."
The earth dragon shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry young dragon but if we do that, then the whole army might get confused about their positions and therefore it would end badly."
Flare sighed loudly before turning to the ground. "Well I better get going to my position, see you guys at the end," the red dragon put on a fake smile before turning around and walking slowly to the underground shelter, tail dragging across the ground in disappointment.
Seeing his brother so sad didn't make Spyro feel well but he also knew that they had to follow orders.
"I better go with him then," Cavice stated quickly before running after his younger brother, leaving the earth guardian and the two younger dragons in an awkward but peaceful silence.
The silence lasted a few seconds before Terrador quietly turned to the two dragons next to him. "I want you two to now get up on top of the ramparts and wait until the attack, The Dark Master is bound to soon attack and I want you two to do your best to defend the city again."
Both younger dragons nodded before the larger earth guardian walked off silently. Another silence was passed between the two dragons.
Spyro knew that this was new for Cynder, he's only known when his mate is extremely annoyed by something that she acts like this, but the purple dragon couldn't figure out what was bothering the black dragoness.
"Hey Spyro," Cynder called from beside him, instantly bringing the purple dragon back to reality and turning to the black dragoness. "Shouldn't we follow what Terrador said and get up to the ramparts?"
"Uh yeah," Spyro replied dumbly before turning to the steps. The purple dragon made frequent glances at the black dragoness behind him as they ascended the steps to the ramparts while she continued to look at the ground as if she was humiliated.
"Hey Cynder, you alright," he asked as they got to the top of the steps.
The black dragoness gave a slight nod. "Yeah completely fine," she said not looking up to the purple dragon's eyes.
Spyro gave a slight nod before looking in front of him, instantly realizing that the sun was setting. "Wow look Cynder a sunset!" the purple dragon cried cheerfully as he pointed at it with a wing.
Cynder instantly raised her head to look, soon her mouth hung open in amazement before suddenly turning to the purple dragon next to her. "Hey Spyro, remember that time a year ago when you saved the whole world from falling apart?" the black dragoness suddenly asked, finally turning to him.
Spyro was surprised by the suddenness of the question but nodded nonetheless.
The purple dragon could see a smile appear on the black dragoness' muzzle. "Do you remember what I said as you released your power and saved the world?" she asked.
Spyro tapped his chin in deep thought. "Actually I remember you saying something, but I was concentrating too hard on pulling the world back together, that I only made out one word. I was meaning to ask you the rest but I kept forgetting to ask."
Cynder tilted her head. "What word did you make out?"
Spyro tapped his chin again. "I think it was 'love', what were the rest of the words?"
Cynder began to smile again. "There were three words, you got the middle one. The first word was 'I' and the last word was 'you'. Put them together and that makes…"
Spyro's eyes widened in sudden realization. "I love you," the purple dragon quickly felt his cheeks burn with heat and looked away. "Wow, Cynder you really mean that?"
The black dragoness turned away, blushing as well. "Yeah, do you feel the same way?" she asked nervously.
Spyro nodded without hesitation. "Yes!" he literally shouted.
Cynder faced the purple dragon again. "So do you want to…?" she trailed off.
"You first," Spyro stated with a smile, before both dragon's leant in for an affectionate kiss.
Wow I got this up way faster then I thought I would! Well anyway this is one of my longest chapters and also sadly the second-last chapter of the story. Don't forget to review and another little, heads-up the next and last chapter could take awhile to write because of two reasons. 1. I'm going to make it a grand finalie and work over it for what could be many days and 2. Prepare it to be long, very long. Other then that there would be a lot more action, so until next time!