Chapter 28: Revelations

Cynder was in a foul mood. The search parties hadn't reported any sign of the Fire Guardian anywhere, Gaul was being a pain in the tail and now the prisoner had woken up and actually had the audacity to question her.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Terrador bellowed from the corner where he lay securely chained. Cynder sighed. She hadn't wanted to bother herself further with the captured Guardians but Malefor had insisted. And so she had brought her captive to the pinnacle of one of the towers of her palace.

She gazed out at the dark skies all around. She quite liked to think of this place-her home-as a dark mirror of the Sky Kingdom-her own personal realm that served as a mockery to what her mother had built. In a way, she saw the allure of rulership. But now she had more important matters to attend to as Terrador's baritone growls reminded her.

Terrador and the other three Guardians had been somehow involved in Malefor's imprisonment in Convexity-the alternate dimension that lay between the world and the Dark Realms. How these dragons-who had been fooled and defeated so easily-could've possibly managed to defeat her master escaped her.

But now he required her to drain their powers that he might break free from the prison they had created for him. And that's exactly what she was going to do.

"Answer me, damn you!" Terrador growled, straining and thrashing against the chains in vain. "Why betray your own kind?"

Something in Cynder snapped. She wheeled around to face him and snarled, "Well perhaps it's because my kind betrayed me first!"

He has no way to know what I'm talking about, she thought. I'm not even from this land. But it sure feels good to have someone to shout at. Really therapeutic. I can see why Gaul does it all the time.

And so it was rather surprising when Terrador apologized to her. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Cynder demanded. What was he playing at...

"I'm sorry for failing to protect your egg on the night of the raid, for letting the Dark Master's servants make off with yours. I have no idea what it must've been been for you-being raised by someone like Malefor," he said, sounding like he really meant it. A dark grimace had fallen across his features.

Raid? What was this dragon rambling about? She decided to play along-find out a much as she could from him. "Yes, the raid," she said, a mocking edge to her voice. "Tell me, what happened? How did you, the leaders of all dragonkind, allow such a thing to happen?"

"We were careless. We didn't realise Malefor still had so many of his followers left, the extents he was willing to go to prevent the prophecy from coming true."

"Prophecy?" Cynder asked. This was news for her. "What prophecy?"

"The legends foretold of the coming of a Purple Dragon, a rare and powerful dragon only born once every ten generations," Terrador told her. His eyes seemed even more downcast than before-if that was even possible. "They said that this Purple Dragon would be the one to stop Malefor-put an end to his reign of terror. But the Dark Master knew of the prophecy too. And so in secret, he mustered his legions."

"We doubled the guard around all the major hatcheries while transferring the Purple Dragon's egg to one of the more obscure grottoes in the wilderness. We tried to mislead him. We thought he would believe that we were keeping the Purple Dragon there, that we would never dare to let it leave the larger, more-defended hatcheries. Our mistake; trying to deceive the Prince of Deceit."

"Malefor predicted our move and committed his legions to a massive attack all across the continent-aimed at every small hatchery they could find. My comrades, the other Guardians, were overwhelmed. When we recovered, we faced a waking nightmare."

"Malefor hadn't stopped with destroying the Purple Dragon's egg, his soldiers had destroyed every egg they found. An entire generation of dragons had been decimated and the prophesied savior of the realms had been lost. And you..."

Cynder had been listening closely. Here was a dragon with no knowledge of her origins telling her exactly what Queen Scarlet had told her-that Malefor had been responsible for the genocide of an entire generation of unborn dragons! This couldn't have been a coincidence! Something was very wrong. "You're lying!" she snapped. "Malefor saved me! He could never have done such a thing." But her heart didn't believe a word she had just said.

Terrador shook his head. "I assure you I speak the truth. Do not think Malefor spared your egg out of mercy-his black heart cannot even comprehend the meaning of the word," Terrador continued bleakly.

"Only a dragon born in the same year as the purple dragon can open the portal to Convexity and release the Dark Master. You are only a pawn in his dark plans. And when he's done with you, he'll betray you too."

Seeing the look of doubt on her face, he added, "Malefor is evil incarnate. It is his nature."

Cynder believed him. To her shock, she actually found that she believed him. Everything was beginning to add up now. Malefor had deceived her. She had been living a lie her whole life!

She went over to Terrador's chains. "Hold still," she said. "I'm going to cut you loose. Then we'll go free the other Guardians."

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, claw still raised to cut Terrador's bindings. The. She keeled over, as if struck, writhing in agony. And then she fell still and darkness engulfed her vision.

Cynder snarled as she faced Malefor in what must've been her mind. He was standing just a few feet from her, in a flesh and blood form rather than his usual shadow body. His jagged scales were a dark, tarnished purple and his serrated claws, wings, horns and tailblade were a burnished gold. His eyes were a jaundiced yellow with pupils like a reptile's: full of cunning and malice.

"You lied to me," she growled through clenched teeth.

"And you were foolish enough to believe every word I spoke," Malefor replied calmly, not even bothering to deny her accusations. "Oh they tried so hard to convince you of the truth but you could never bring yourself to believe them."

Cynder struck at Malefor with a claw. But his own claws shot up to defend himself with surprising speed. He threw her off, laughing a mirthless, rasping laugh. "Tell me Cynder, was it the pain? The fear that your mother really hated you and wanted you dead? Was that why you chose to believe me?"

Cynder made a feint with her claws, only to lash out with her tailblade like a scorpion, stabbing at Malefor's throat with it. He caught the scythe-like tailblade between the spines on his wings and fluidly turned it aside so it clattered harmlessly off his scales.

"You are the epitome of naive, Cynder. You have eyes but you are blind. You have ears but you are deaf. You have the form of a fully-grown SkyWing but are still nothing more than a pathetic child," Malefor taunted her.

She lunged at him, biting and clawing and calling upon all her previous experience to aid her. Malefor simply ducked and wove around her blows, mocking her all the while. "Poor Cynder, born into a world full of liars and deceivers. Who can she trust? Who won't betray her?"

With a howl of anger and hatred, she blasted a torrent of fire at Malefor. The Dark Master met it with a blast of shadow fire from his own jaws, black like the void of space. It engulfed Cynder's flames and constricted, suffocating and extinguishing the fire.

"Tell me what's the use of fire if it can't even get enough air to burn?" Malefor asked mockingly. "But I grow tired of this little duel. Cease your aggression."

Cynder wasn't going to listen just because Malefor asked nicely. She tried to lunge at him again but her body refused to heed the instructions her brain was sending it.

"How does it feel, Cynder?" Malefor asked, feigning concern. "How does it feel to be helpless? Trapped inside your own head?"

"You might be wondering what's going on," Malefor continued, a looming shadow growing behind him. "You may be wondering why I didn't bother to deny all that I've done. What you need to understand is that all of us have a dark side. It's the part of us that grows with us subconsciously, with every evil deed we enact, it becomes stronger."

Cynder struggled for control and all the while Malefor kept talking. "All that I've made you do, every battle you fought for me, every life you took in my name, all of it nurtured the evil within you. And now I no longer require your cooperation, the other you will serve me so much better."

The shadow that had been gathering behind Malefor finally coalesced into a recognizable shape. Cynder found herself staring into a dark mirror of herself. All her fear, all her hate and all her spite rolled into the being standing before her.

The being regarded her impassively, not saying a word, the void-like depths of its eyes staring into her's, boring into her soul. It cocked its head to one side, as if curious about the dragon it beheld-it's exact opposite in every way.

"I should thank you, Cynder," Malefor stated. "You played your part perfectly. Now you have my permission to rest. Permanently."

As if on cue, her shadowy doppelgänger dissipated, engulfing her in a cloud of darkness. The shadows pressed in on her, suffocating her, permeating every fibre of her being. Her vision went black and then Cynder knew no more.

Author's Note:

And that's Malefor's gloating session over and done with. Don't tell him I said this but he's really obnoxious at times... (*outraged roar in the background*) Never mind, he heard. Anyway, in case any of you were worried, this isn't the end of Cynder. But it marks the opening of a darker chapter in Cynder's life. Cynder will be heading to Pyrrhia soon-whether she encounters the dragonets remains to be seen. (*another enraged roar*) Oh dear, Scarlet must be angry with Malefor again. I've gotta go break up the fight. Thanks for reading and please leave reviews! (*reaches for body armour and a very big gun*) Alright, here I go…

Amanda-Hey, it's fine:D

Autumn-Well, she's taller than other SkyWings her age-slenderer too. I don't think she quite enjoys being a killer though as you've probably already seen here:)

glorybringer-Are you sure you don't have a NightWing ancestor or something? Cause you read my mind about that. Cynder will develop something of that sort in future. As for her return to Pyrrhia, sorry to keep you and other readers waiting so long! It's coming sooner than you might think;)

Guest of August 18th-Really? Wow, I had no idea. I'll definitely see what I can find with regards to that… The fact this could've actually happened in canon XD