100! It's past 100! My story has 100 reviews!
*runs around cheering ecstatically*
It is impossible to describe how absolutely shocked and thrilled I am. To get this kind of response on my first ever posted story, as a completely unknown newcomer to this site, is just amazing and beyond my wildest expectations, and I thank you all IMMENSELY for this. I cannot begin to express my gratitude. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; you are all AWESOME!
Anyway, this last week has been a crazy one with school, but I still found time to make another big ol' chapter for you all, so here you go. I hope that you enjoy it!
Thank you! (x1000)
Chapter 28:
Within the dark confines of her room, Cynder lay motionlessly atop her bed of cushions staring listlessly out at nothing in particular. Just as it had been on the morning that Spyro had found her after Sirius's and Faren's arrival in the city, not a single lantern within the room was lit and the cover was drawn over her balcony, plunging the room into heavy darkness.
It seemed ironic, she thought. Ever since being released from the Dark Master's power, she had striven to throw off the influence that darkness had had on her life, and yet when she found herself troubled it was in shadow and darkness that she was usually able to find the most peace.
There was no peace for her that morning, however. As she lay without moving and without making a single sound, her thoughts were focussed unwaveringly on Spyro. She was still filled with dull, cold feelings of shame and remorse whenever she thought of him, but ever since the evening before when he had broken down from his pain, those feelings had become even more overshadowed by her worry for him. Seeing him like that had been the most difficult thing she had ever had to bear, and it had left her terrified that he would never be able to overcome his grief.
Ancestors, why him? she thought sadly. Why did he have to be the one to suffer through this?
No matter how much she wondered or pleaded, no answer came.
She was suddenly jolted from her troubled thoughts when a soft knock rung out inside her sealed room, and Cynder started slightly before whipping her gaze around toward the thick wooden door. Only a short moment later, a muffled, tentative voice pierced through the wood and into the room.
"Cynder? Are you in there?"
Cynder immediately recognized the voice as Faren's, and confused as to what the red dragoness wanted she rose slowly to her feet and padded soundlessly over to the doorway. When she pulled the door open Faren jumped slightly as though she hadn't actually been expecting Cynder to answer.
"What is it?" Cynder asked, gazing at her friend with quizzical eyes.
"The guardians have asked to see all of us," Faren replied, motioning with her head in the direction of the temple. "Most of the others are there already. We should hurry."
Cynder was caught by surprise by the news of this summons, and she blinked a couple of times dazedly before she said, "Do you know what it is they want?"
Faren shrugged and shook her head apologetically. "No. They just asked me to come get you. They said that they needed you there."
This again caused Cynder to pause.
Need me? she thought, puzzled. Why doesn't that sound good?
Eventually she realized that she wasn't going to get any answers just standing there, so she shook her head sharply to clear it and turned to face Faren again.
"Alright, let's go," she said.
Faren nodded her head quickly before turning to her left and starting off toward the stairs. Cynder followed right behind her, and within minutes the pair had descended to the ground level of the residence building and were making their way at a hurried pace toward the temple grounds. As they walked, Cynder gazed sidelong at the slightly smaller dragoness beside her, and a question formed in her mind.
"So, how are you doing?" she asked.
Faren whipped her head around to look at Cynder in surprise, not having been expecting such a question, especially give the situation Cynder was in where it seemed reasonable that she would be worrying about her own problems, not others.
"Fine," she replied at length, but a moment later she gave a small sigh. "I guess. A little shaken."
"I heard you saw some pretty intense fighting."
Faren nodded grimly. "I...I never thought I would be caught in a battle like that before. I didn't really think about it then; I was too busy fighting but..." she trailed off, shuddering quickly along the length of her body. "When I think about it now, it was terrible..."
Cynder sighed and gave a tense nod. "Yes, it is."
"How do you deal with it?" Faren asked suddenly, looking back up at the black dragoness.
Cynder held her gaze for a moment before her eyes drifted distantly away, and she gave another long, heavy sigh.
"I guess I've just gotten accustomed to it," she relented at last. "After all the things I've seen, all the battles I've fought in...I just feel dulled to it." Her expression hardened, and a pang of shame coursed through her. "It's something I'm really not proud of. I almost think I would feel better if I was more affected by it. What does that make me if I'm not truly bothered by seeing so much death anymore?"
Faren faltered slightly and turned a nervous look toward her companion, a hint of wariness in her body language as though Cynder's words had frightened her.
"It doesn't make you a bad dragon," she said finally in a small, uncertain voice.
Cynder grunted and looked doubtfully at the other dragoness, but after a moment her expression softened resignedly.
"Thanks."
Faren gave a small, hesitant smile and nodded her head. Then she turned her gaze forward once again, for the two of them were almost at the steps of the temple. Shortly afterwards they were striding down the building's main hallway and turning through the entrance into the assembly hall. However, as they neared the doorway Cynder frowned when she heard the sounds of a heated conversation within the large chamber.
When Cynder reached the entrance to the hall, she was surprised to find several people within it already, and not just dragons. The three guardians and Sirius were there, of course, but Cynder could also see Mason, Hunter, Prowlus, Raulk, Tythos, the Captain of the Eastern Guard Pyruth, as well as several other guard dragons and moles. Off to one side of the room she could see Sparx and his parents huddled together, watching the commotion in the centre of the room anxiously. To Cynder's surprise, she also saw the strange white dragon, Flash, who was sitting not too far away from the dragonflies and looked likewise uneasy about whatever discussion was occurring at the time.
Cynder shot Faren a questioning glance out of the corner of her eye, but the red dragoness offered little in the way of response, the only expression readable on her face being the look of slight anxiety that was practically standard for her. After a moment Cynder then returned her attention to the room itself and began slowly advancing into it. It was only then that she realized the source of the heated voices was a discussion Terrador and the other guardians were having with another elder dragon that had previously been out of sight behind the earth guardian's bulk, but now that Cynder could see who it was her expression immediately twisted into a distasteful scowl.
"Have the lot of you all lost your minds?" the aged wind dragon and chief elder of the northern city exclaimed, fuming. "What could have possibly possessed you all to see fit to save the dragon that nearly wiped us all out barely two nights ago? If you had any sense at all, you would have left him to die out in the mud! It's no worse than he deserves after all the deaths he caused."
"For the last time, Spyro is not the one guilty for those deaths!" Terrador practically roared, which shocked Cynder immensely. "He has been framed for all the crimes he is accused of, and if you would only swallow your pride for one second and listen to reason you would see that!"
The wind dragon elder snorted derisively. "Oh, please. I understand that you all care for the boy, but concocting such ridiculous claims to defend him even after what he's done to your city? It goes beyond insanity! There are hundreds of witnesses that saw him attacking the city. Just ask the captain over there!"
He gestured with a wing toward Pyruth, who Cynder finally noticed was clutching at his temple with a paw as if suffering from a terrible pain in his head. She wondered if perhaps he had hit it against something during the fighting, and as such it seemed to be causing him a great deal of discomfort. His expression was pinched as he lowered his paw and looked up at the elder dragons.
"Yes, I saw him," the fire dragon replied in a gruff voice. "I have no doubt about it; he's the one I fought in that square."
"The dragon you saw was an imposter," Terrador growled firmly, turning his harsh glare on the dragon captain, "another purple dragon that fooled us into believing he was Spyro."
"Another purple dragon!" the wind elder exclaimed incredulously. "This just gets more and more outlandish by the minute! Do you actually think that we're going to believe that sort of—"
"By my Ancestors, would you shut that obnoxiously oversized trap of yours, you self-righteous, airheaded windbag!" Cyril snapped disdainfully, looking as if he had long since surpassed the limit of his patience.
"How dare you?" the wind dragon cried, outraged. "Why, you—"
"Enough!" Terrador snarled, and Cynder could have sworn she felt the stone floor rumble in response to his anger as he focussed his glare on the wind dragon. "I for one have reached the limit of what I can take of this pointless bickering! If you refuse to listen to facts and would rather condemn an innocent dragon who has already suffered far more than any dragon his age ever should, then you are no longer welcome in this assembly! You know where the door is, I presume?"
The elder held Terrador's glare for a long moment with one of his own that contained just as much disdain and anger as the earth guardian's. Then, with a loud huff that caused the air within the chamber to swirl about, the elder dragon rose to his feet and spun about in a single flowing motion. Then, with his head held high in the air, he stormed toward the entrance through which Cynder and Faren had just entered. When he passed Cynder by on his way out, however, he paused and glanced down in her direction.
"You again," he growled, his lip curling into a sneer. "The fact that you're still here just proves my point that these 'guardians' are out of their minds. At least you did something right in almost ridding us of that purple menace. It's a shame you didn't finish the job, though."
White-hot rage flooded through Cynder's veins, and without even thinking she let loose a furious shriek and lunged for the elder dragon, only to find herself stopped abruptly when Faren grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back. Cynder struggled, pushing with her hind legs with all her might and lashing at the wind dragon with her talons, snarling in fury. Somehow Faren was able to hold her back though, and finally Cynder stopped trying to lunge forward and settled onto the ground on all fours, her body trembling as she glared murderously up at the larger dragon.
"Despicable," he muttered derisively with a shake of his head, and with that he passed through the doorway of the chamber and was gone.
"So if this 'Spyro' is innocent, explain what I saw," Pyruth said challengingly to Terrador after a long, tense silence had reigned in the hall.
"Stand down, captain," Tythos cut in quickly in a measured tone. "I can't claim to say that I understand what the guardians are saying really happened, and Ancestors know that a claim of a second purple dragon is quite a difficult thing to swallow, but if the guardians, and my son, and my daughter all say that they saw the same thing, then I believe them."
Cynder felt herself relaxing just a touch when she heard the elder fire dragon giving his support to Spyro, and she glanced quickly between Sirius and Faren to see that both fire dragons looked grateful for their father's support as well.
"Yes sir," Pyruth grunted after another, shorter tense silence, and his posture also relaxed slightly, though his expression was still hard.
"But that still leaves a pressing question," Tythos said, turning to gaze back at the guardians. "What do we do now? If Spyro is indeed innocent, how are we going to convince our citizens of that? Many of them lost loved ones during that battle, and they're going to want someone to be held accountable for those losses. This city isn't going to be a safe place for the young dragon for quite some time, I imagine."
"Which is why we would greatly appreciate your help," Terrador replied with a sigh. "If you could get your Guard to relay an announcement to your citizens, saying that Spyro is innocent of all charges and is under the full protection of the guardians and the city of Warfang, and that any aggressive actions taken against him will be dealt with decisively to the full extent of our laws, then it would be tremendously appreciated."
"Of course," Tythos answered immediately, glancing toward Pyruth who merely gave a sharp nod of his head.
"Mason," Terrador continued, "I want you to instruct our Guard to do the same with our citizens. Also, make certain the guards understand the message for themselves as well. It wouldn't do to have a guard of Warfang taking it upon themselves to exact retribution on an innocent dragon."
"I'll see to it immediately, Master Terrador," the squat, furry captain said with a sharp nod of his head.
"Will that be enough though?" Tythos asked once the mole had finished speaking. "The citizens will still want answers. I know that I myself would like a more complete explanation of what has really occurred as well. There will be unrest until they get the information they need."
"We'll see to that," Terrador assured him. "We'll make an announcement at the first opportunity to explain everything that we know, although unfortunately that isn't much."
Tythos seemed slightly reassured, but Cynder on the other hand felt anxiety knotting in her stomach at the earth guardian's words.
Does 'everything' include telling everyone that this dragon claims to be Spyro's brother? she wondered nervously. Because that probably won't help Spyro much...
She glanced toward the purple dragon's dragonfly parents, who had looks of terrible worry and fear etched across their faces—and she couldn't blame them, after having to witness the argument between Terrador and the wind dragon elder—and she felt a sickening feeling of dread swell up within her. They had witnessed the struggle outside the walls, but they hadn't been close enough to overhear most of it, which meant that they still didn't know what this dragon, Nexus, had said to Spyro.
How would they take it when they did find out?
Do they even need to know? she thought, almost hoping that it wouldn't end up being necessary to tell them.
"I've already spread similar orders amongst our warriors," Prowlus said to the guardians. "And after the young dragon helped save our village from destruction a number of months ago, they were ready enough to accept the news that he wasn't guilty. Still, I must say I still have my doubts, considering..."
Cynder felt her body go rigid with apprehension, expecting that she knew what the cheetah chief was about to say, but to her relief he trailed off when Hunter made a discrete but insistent motion with a paw beside him and didn't complete the sentence. Still, Tythos and the guards in the chamber all turned inquisitive looks in the cheetah's direction. Afterward, many of them shifted their questioning gazes to the guardians, who also had tension clear in their postures, but they said nothing more on the matter.
"Master Terrador, if I may?" Raulk said suddenly, stepping forward after a brief silence.
Terrador inclined his head in a grant of permission to speak, but by his expression it looked as though the earth guardian was mildly puzzled by the guard's sudden request.
"Sir, what of the citizens of the northern city?"
"What of them?" Cyril said inquiringly, a note of distaste entering his tone as he thought about the wind elder that had only recently departed.
"Don't you think we should take some kind of measures to ensure that they don't attempt anything...rash?" the large earth dragon asked.
"Do you have reason for concern, Raulk?" Terrador inquired.
"To be honest, Master Terrador, I'm not certain, and that's part of what makes me uneasy. It's clear enough that the dragons from that city, and the chief elder primarily among them, bear a great deal of animosity toward Spyro at this time. And while I doubt that he would try to harm a dragon who has been declared to be under the protection of the guardians, at the same time I wouldn't put it past him to order that he be dealt with if he perceives him to be too great of a threat."
"You mean an assassination?" Tythos said, surprise heavy in his tone and expression.
"Oh, dear," Volteer stammered. "Why, that is indeed an exceedingly unsettling, unnerving, unpleasant, uncomforting—"
"It is a rather distasteful thought," Cyril cut in with a grim nod before Volteer could continue on any longer.
"It certainly is," Terrador sighed heavily before turning his gaze back toward Raulk. "You bring up a good point. Very well. If you think you're up to the task, I would like you to assemble a protection detail to keep an eye on Spyro and watch out for any signs that he might be under threat. They don't need to follow him around all the time—Ancestors know he doesn't need to be troubled with that when he has so much else to deal with at the moment—but they should remain in the vicinity and be alert for any signs of danger."
"I'll see to it right away," the earth dragon guard said with a bow of his head.
"Very good. Now, is there anything else of pressing importance that anyone can think of?"
Terrador glanced around the chamber at each of the other elder dragons and guards in turn, and all of them shook their heads.
"Very well then. Thank you all for coming here on such short notice. And I apologize that things didn't go quite as...smoothly as we would have hoped."
The only reply Terrador got there was a number of tense grunts of agreement from many of the other dragons in the room, as well as a few slow nods.
"That concludes our business here, then," the earth guardian said, motioning with a wing toward the door to indicate that the guards and Tythos were dismissed. Cynder thought that the motion looked more like a request than a courtesy, however, but if any of the other dragons noticed this they didn't show it. Soon enough they had all departed, leaving the guardians alone in the hall with Cynder, Faren, Sirius, Flash, the two cheetahs, and Spyro's family.
"Now then," he sighed once he was sure they were alone. He looked up toward the doorway. "Cynder, I'm glad you could join us. Faren, thank you. Why don't you both come in a little farther? Everyone. We have some important matters to discuss."
Cynder could easily hear the tension in the large dragon's voice, and this made her all but certain of what the topic of this 'discussion' was going to be. Regardless of this, though, she slowly advanced farther into the room with Faren at her side before she found a spot to sit slightly away from the door. The others all gathered closer as well, Sparx and his family edging over closer to Cynder. Flash, meanwhile, remained sitting farther off on his own, as though he wasn't comfortable sitting in proximity to anyone else in the room. Cynder shot him a curious look, which he barely met before turning his eyes back toward the guardians.
"Down to business then, I suppose," Terrador grunted once everyone had settled.
"So, what were you wanting to talk to us all about?" Sparx's father asked, glancing around at the gathering in the large chamber and looking somewhat uneasy.
Terrador sighed, a pinched look coming over his features as his gaze dropped to the ground for a moment. Cynder thought that this was already a bad sign as to how this conversation was going to go.
"Well, with what's happened recently with your son," Terrador began carefully, "it seems as though we're left with some matters of great seriousness that we need to have cleared up, the first of which is what we're going to do about this second purple dragon."
"What about him?" Sparx asked nervously.
"Obviously we need to figure out what to do if he shows himself again, but for the moment what we need to try and figure out is what his objectives are, because if we don't even know that then we will have a much harder time standing against him."
"And I don't think any of us are very eager to go through the chaos we had to deal with when Malefor caught us by surprise," Cyril added in an ominous tone.
"Indeed not," Terrador nodded. "I think we can safely assume that his goals have something to do with Spyro at least, but we need more than that. Does anyone have any ideas? Did you notice anything while he was living in the city posing as Spyro?"
"You mean, other than him acting like Spyro had gone all evil Dark Master on us?" Sparx commented unhelpfully.
"Sparx..." Nina muttered reproachfully.
"It doesn't make sense, though," Faren spoke up in an uncertain voice. "Why would he make so much of an effort to turn us all against Spyro? Why not just take him on himself?"
"Perhaps it was a ploy to gain a greater advantage," Cyril suggested. "To weaken Spyro so that he would be easier to overpower in a confrontation, possibly?"
"Or to keep us from trying to help him," Cynder said grimly.
"Yes, that too," Terrador rumbled thoughtfully. Then he looked up. "What thoughts do you have, Flash?"
The blue dragonfly jerked up slightly in surprise, glancing around in confusion. "What's that?"
Terrador faltered, a look of confusion flitting across his face.
"Oh, sorry," he said quickly before lifting a paw and pointing at the young white dragon who was sitting alone. "I meant that Flash."
"Me?" the white dragon said, looking up with a startled expression.
"Oh, I can just tell that this is going to get confusing," Sparx groaned, raising a hand to his brow.
"No kidding," his father added with a nod.
"You'll just have to get used to it," Nina told them with a small sigh.
"Indeed," Terrador rumbled in agreement before turning his gaze once more toward the white dragon. "Well then, Flash? Did the events at your home village provide you with any clues as to what this purple dragon is trying to accomplish?"
Flash paused thoughtfully for a long moment, his gaze falling downward to the floor as he sorted through his memories of the events at his home. At length, though, he looked up, his eyes apologetic.
"I don't know," he said. "The attack came out of nowhere. I didn't really notice any point to it."
"It did provide him with opportunity," Hunter pointed out suddenly. "Spyro's imprisonment that resulted from that attack gave this dragon a chance to take his place for a short time."
At the mention of Spyro's imprisonment in the village Cynder cringed forcefully, images of the scars on his body flaring intensely in her memory and causing her to wince. A feeling of cold dread and sadness filled her, but just then she was startled when she realized that the others in the room had noticed her reaction.
"Cynder?" Terrador said slowly, a mildly suspicious look veiled behind the concern in his eyes. "Is there something else that we don't know yet?"
Cynder hesitated, glancing around anxiously at the gathered dragons, dragonflies and cheetahs that were all gazing back at her inquisitively. At length, though, she shook her head.
"Later," she said in a low tone, speaking mostly to Terrador specifically.
Terrador seemed slightly surprised by this answer, as did everyone else in the room, and for a brief moment an atmosphere of unease pervaded in the chamber as everyone wondered what it could be that she wasn't telling them. In the end, though, Cynder was saved from having to explain—and as unlikely as it would seem, her rescuer was Prowlus.
"I myself am more concerned with what this other dragon said outside the wall," the cheetah interjected in his usual gruff tone. "I'm certain that I'm not the only one who heard him mention a 'master', and I want to know what kind of a threat they pose, whoever it is."
"He does raise an excellent point," Volteer said quickly, turning to face Terrador. "And this young dragon's use of the possessive 'our' when addressing Spyro is certainly concerning and unsettling as well."
Terrador's expression clouded, and his gaze drifted off in thought. "Indeed..."
"Hold on," Flash—the dragonfly Flash—cut in suddenly, catching the guardians' attention. "What are you talking about? What 'master', and what does it have to do with our son?"
Terrador gave a heavy sigh, looking reluctant.
"We're referring to something that this other purple dragon, Nexus, said to Spyro after he revealed his deception. He said, 'our master will be furious,' presumably in reference to his failure to complete his ruse to turn us against our young friend."
"What does that mean, 'our master'?" Nina asked, worry thick in her voice.
"Are you saying you think Spyro is somehow associated with this other dragon?" Flash asked insistently.
Terrador and the other guardians all hesitated, and Cynder cringed again, though this time she didn't think anyone noticed it except for Faren beside her. She didn't truly care if they did notice or not, though. Her mind was focussed solely on one almost desperate thought in her mind.
Don't tell them!
To her relief, they didn't get the chance to reveal the relation that Spyro had to Nexus, for Nina cut in before they could.
"That can't be possible, though!" she protested. "We were there the entire time he was growing up. If someone was calling themselves his 'master' we would have known about it, but there wasn't! He never saw anyone from outside the swamp until the day he found out what he really was!"
"This has to be some kind of mistake," Flash added in a firm voice.
"Yeah, I kept a closer watch on my bro than even Mom and Dad did, and there was no 'master' anywhere," Sparx agreed.
"And I don't doubt you all," Terrador said, raising a paw in an attempt to calm the dragonflies before they became too agitated. "I agree, it seems very unlikely that Spyro could have become subject to any 'master' without anybody ever knowing about it, but it's also undoubtedly true that this entire situation is more complicated than any of us realize."
"So what can we do?" Sirius asked.
"I suppose that being on our guard is all that we can do at this point. It seems that we have no way of knowing what it is he wants, other than it has something to do with Spyro, and if he can make more portals like that one he used to escape then it's impossible to know where he is now."
"A very unsettling thought," Cyril muttered darkly.
"Agreed," Terrador said grimly. "At any rate, all we can do is be ready. And I suggest that we all try to keep as close to Spyro as possible for the time being. Whatever Spyro's part is in this 'Nexus's' plans, we don't want him to succeed in getting to him."
"He's not going to like having us crowding him," Cynder cautioned.
"I know," Terrador sighed. "And in other circumstances, I would have agreed that the best thing for him would be to have as much space and time as he needs, possibly even leave the city for a time if that is what he wanted so that he could sort out his thoughts and feelings, but as it is now that's not possible. He's going to have to accept it until this threat has passed."
Cynder let out a sad sigh and allowed her head to droop slightly, feeling that it wasn't fair for Spyro to have to endure so much, especially after everything he had already been through, but she agreed that there was no helping it.
"So, is that everything you wanted to speak to us about?" she asked at length.
Terrador shook his head, and Cynder felt her heart sink when she saw the grim, serious look in his eyes as he gazed straight at her. She feared that she knew what he was going to say next, but she hoped desperately that she was wrong.
She wasn't.
"No," the guardian said finally in a tense voice. "I think that all of us here would like to know what it is we saw out there that night. And you seem to be the only one who can give us an answer in that regard."
Cynder was silent for a long moment, tension evident in her body as she stared grimly at the floor in front of her, trying not to remember the fear she had felt when she had seen Spyro succumb to the darkness inside him for what was the third time now. It was something she had tried to avoid thinking about ever since she had first seen it in him, for it terrified her to think about what he was capable of when he was in that form.
She hadn't seen what Spyro had done to Gaul when they had fought in the Well of Souls, but she had been able to hear the battle and knew that it had been intense. And though she hadn't witnessed it herself, after hearing the unmistakeable crash and roar of a horrifyingly strong convexity attack and seeing Spyro fly back up through the hole in the floor in the middle of that beam of energy without Gaul following him, she could imagine what had really happened.
What she imagined wasn't pretty.
Letting out a long, slow breath, she looked up to see that everyone else in the room was still gazing intently at her, and she knew that she didn't have a choice but to tell them what she knew. She turned her head and fixed her gaze on Sparx, who was hovering anxiously just to the side of his parents.
"So I take it you haven't told them anything."
Sparx gave a nervous chuckle and reached up to rub the back of his head.
"Yeah, well, you know," he muttered. "Trying to think about it as little as possible."
"Wait a minute," Nina cut in suddenly, rounding on Sparx. "You knew about this before? You're saying this isn't the first time that Spyro became...that?"
Sparx winced and brought a hand across his face. "Yeah, it might have happened once before..."
"Twice," Cynder corrected.
"What?" Flash the dragonfly exclaimed as he and Nina spun around the face Cynder.
"What do you mean, twice?" Sparx asked, also sounding alarmed. "I thought it was only the one time that he was fighting the big creepy ape guy."
Cynder shook her head with a heavy sigh. "No, it happened again when...when Ignitus died."
"So..." Nina said in a tight, hesitant voice. "So you're saying that this has happened three times now?"
"What did happen to him?" Flash asked worriedly.
When she saw the look of untold worry and even fear in the faces of the dragonflies, Cynder felt a terrible swell of reluctance rise up within her. How could she do this? How could she tell them that inside their son, a monster was caged? But then she realized with a pang of regret that it was already too late to protect them; they had seen it for themselves. Everyone in the room had.
When she looked up and around at the gathered dragons, cheetahs and dragonflies, it was with a look of great seriousness in her eyes.
"All of you need to promise not to repeat this to anyone," she told them.
She was met by several looks of surprise, especially from the guardians.
"Cynder, if this...other side of Spyro is something that's dangerous, we can't keep it a secret," Terrador told her severely.
"And I for one am not going to endanger any more of my warriors if it turns out that this dragon is a threat to be around," Prowlus growled.
"We have a responsibility to alert the Guard of what to look out for, at the very least," Terrador continued.
"You have a responsibility to Spyro too!" Cynder said defiantly. "If he doesn't want people to know about this part of him, then we should all respect that and keep it to ourselves! How much do you think it would hurt him if word of this got out? His reputation is damaged enough as it is right now without adding this to it."
This caused the guardians to hesitate, and only a few seconds later Terrador released a defeated sigh.
"You certainly have a point there," he conceded.
"It may not go over well," Cyril agreed. "After all, the purple dragon before him, and now this new one, seem to have a consistent inclination toward destruction between them. If the citizens learned now that Spyro also has a darker side to him as well..."
"Oh, it would be a calamity," Volteer cut in, sounding alarmed. "A disaster. Pandemonium. A—"
"Volteer," Terrador said sharply, acutely aware of the dismayed expressions that were growing on the faces of Spyro's dragonfly parents. "That will do, thank you."
The electricity dragon immediately bowed his head, looking abashed. "Of course, my apologies..."
Cynder heard a low growl of displeasure come from the direction of the two cheetahs, and she looked to see Prowlus standing with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
"I've always hated cover-ups," he scowled. "And I certainly never thought I would be caught up in one."
"It's for the best," Hunter said to him.
Prowlus gave a gruff snort, clearly no happy about the way things were proceeding, but not making any further protest either.
"So, Cynder?" Terrador said, turning to face the black dragoness again. "You have our word. Nothing of what you tell us will leave this chamber. Now, please, what did we see out there?"
Cynder gave a long sigh before reluctantly beginning to divulge what she knew of Spyro's darker side—which, in actuality, wasn't much. She told them about the first time it had manifested in the Well of Souls, and the theory that she had come to about how it had formed; she figured that when Spyro was inside that beam of energy, it had consumed him with darkness, for even from just looking at it she had been able to practically feel the vile energy radiating out from it. Then she told them about how it had nearly led to both of their deaths after Ignitus's sacrifice. When she was finished she felt deflated, as well as ashamed for revealing so much about a part of Spyro that should have always remained unknown.
"So...this darkness is always inside him?" Faren asked in a quiet voice after a long, heavy silence had reigned in the chamber while everyone processed what they had heard.
Cynder gave a stiff nod. "From what I understand of it, yes."
"And you're saying that it can break out at any time?" Terrador asked warily.
"No, no, it's not like that," Cynder said hurriedly, shaking her head. "It looks like it only happens in extreme circumstances, when his emotions go out of control."
"It looks like it does," Terrador repeated sceptically. "But you don't know for sure."
Cynder sighed but shook her head again. "No. It's only happened a couple of times, so I don't think anyone really knows the way it works. Not even Spyro."
"I don't understand this," Nina said weakly. "How could something like this happen to our Spyro? He's always been such a good dragon! But this...It isn't right."
"Indeed not," Cyril said grimly. Then he turned his head toward the earth guardian. "Do you think we need to put in place some kind of measure to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't slip into this dark form again?"
"What?" Cynder blurted. "You mean, like guard him? That will only make things worse! Putting more pressure on him will only agitate him more. He isn't dangerous, and he's no worse a dragon because of this than he was before it. We just need to be aware of it in difficult times in case he starts to slip. That doesn't mean you should treat him any different!"
"You're right, of course," Terrador said quickly with a nod. "It would be wrong to let this news of his...unfortunate condition skew our perceptions of him. Still, I worry about what could happen if he does lose himself to this darkness again. Do you know what he would be capable of?"
"I...I don't know," Cynder said with a sad sigh. "He's not himself when he's like that. He might do anything."
Terrador gave a tense grunt under his breath before exchanging glances with his guardian associates. Then, after a short pause, he took a deep breath to collect himself and straightened up slightly into a more professional posture.
"At any rate, I'm glad you told us all about this, Cynder. Hopefully now that we have a better idea of what Spyro has to struggle with, we can provide better support for him in this difficult time." He then looked around at the entire gathering. "Now, I think that we can call this discussion to a close, unless anyone else has anything that they feel needs to be addressed."
There was only silence in response, and Terrador gave a small nod before rising to his feet.
"Very well then."
With that he turned and began padding slowly toward one of the exits from the assembly hall, and all around everyone else was doing the same. Beside Cynder, Faren stood up and brushed the black dragoness's shoulder lightly with a folded wing before giving her a small, half-hearted smile of comfort. Then she moved over to join Sirius, and the two fire dragons departed the room.
Cynder didn't move to follow after them, instead watching as Sparx and his parents fluttered out of the room. She noticed that Sparx was trying to comfort his parents, who appeared greatly distraught from the hard news they had been given about their dragon son.
What a mess this all is, she thought mournfully, her head sagging toward the ground as she gave a long sigh. Poor Spyro. This is so unfair...
Over on the far side of the chamber, Terrador was just reaching the inner-most exit of the hall that would take him deeper into the temple, following after Cyril and Volteer who were discussing quietly amongst themselves, but at that moment he seemed to notice that Cynder hadn't moved since everyone in the room had been dismissed. He paused and looked curiously back at her.
"Cynder?" he said, jolting the black dragoness slightly. "Is there something more on your mind?"
Cynder held his gaze for a moment before allowing her eyes to drift off in thought, mulling over all that had been said in the assembly hall that morning and all that had plagued her mind the night before.
"I...I don't know," she grunted at length in a tired-sounding voice. "This just all feels so wrong."
"Hmm," Terrador rumbled with a nod. "I understand what you mean. These times are far too dark for what should have been a peace to follow the war."
"Yeah, but it's not that that's bothering me," Cynder said quickly with a shake of her head.
Terrador said nothing, instead just fixing her with a quizzical look. Cynder sighed.
"We let him do this," she said quietly, her gaze downcast. "We let him turn us all against Spyro. How could we do that? What if Spyro is right? Are we all secretly wary of him because of what his predecessor was?"
This time it was Terrador's turn to sigh, and his expression became pinched with tension.
"I think it would be pointless to deny that whenever someone bears tremendous power, there always exists a fear that they will use it for the wrong ends, no matter how much we may trust them."
"That's just the thing, though! Do we really trust him, when we let ourselves believe so quickly that he would really turn against us and the city? I mean, I was sure that I trusted him and believed in him, but then, when everything started to go wrong..." She trailed off, her gaze falling to the ground again, and a moment later she looked back up with almost pleading eyes. "How...how can I still claim to love him if I can allow myself to stop believing in him? I stopped trusting him, Terrador. I failed him."
A look of sympathy crossed the earth guardian's features, and he began softly padding closer to the black dragoness who was in such clear turmoil before him.
"We all failed him," he said gently. "But we shouldn't keep dwelling on that. Things could have turned out far worse than they did, but he's here now, and he's safe enough and recovering, and we can be here for him when he needs us now. The fact that we allowed ourselves to doubt him, and allowed him to remain imprisoned for so long may be a hard thing to forgive ourselves for, but it's over now."
But he faltered when Cynder cringed at the mention of the prison, and a worried look came into his eyes.
"Cynder, what is it?" he asked anxiously.
He seemed to grow even more uneasy when Cynder raised her head to meet his gaze and he saw the ache and sadness in her eyes.
"Terrador...they tortured him," she said in a voice so tight, it came out as little more than a whisper.
Terrador recoiled in shock, and for several moments he was too stunned to speak, but finally he managed to force out, "What? Are you certain? What makes you so sure?"
"Those scars," she muttered past a lump that was forming in her throat as shame and grief built up within her. "Didn't you notice something strange about them?"
"Well, now that you mention it..." Terrador rumbled thoughtfully. "They didn't seem like any marks I had seen made from restraints before. But what of it?"
"I know what made them," Cynder replied, unable to meet the larger dragon's gaze. "Those restraints...They were mine."
"Yours?"
Cynder nodded weakly. "Back when I was serving the Dark Master, I designed a type of restraints specifically for holding the dragons that I captured, since their elements meant that they could break out of normal restrains far too easily if given the chance. I spent years on them, infusing them with dark, ancient powers from gems and crystals that would react whenever an element was used on them. I designed them so that they would cause as much pain as possible..."
She trailed off as he shame grew too great for her to continue, and it took her several moments to collect herself enough to continue, but even then it was a tremendous struggle. In her mind she could imagine Spyro writhing as her restraints sent pulses of dark power through his body, like she had seen so many dragons do before, and those images were nearly enough to make her physically sick.
"That's what they used on Spyro," she told Terrador weakly. "I'm sure of it. Something I made was used to torture him, and to leave scars like that on him..."
Her voice caught again, and a violent tremor ran through her body. A second later, though, she jumped when she felt something brush against her flank, and she opened her eyes and looked up to see, to her surprise, that Terrador had moved over beside her and had rested a wing of comfort over her.
"It's not your fault," he told her firmly. "But I cannot deny that this news troubles me a great deal. This only makes it all the more surprising that Spyro is recovering the way he is, after suffering something so horrible."
Something about the way he said those words caused Cynder to pause, confused, and after reaching up with a paw to wipe at one of her moist eyes she looked quizzically up at him.
"What do you mean, recovering the way he is?"
Terrador's expression seemed to brighten just a touch, and he said, "I was contacted by the healer overseeing his treatment earlier this morning. Though she can't fully explain it, the gem treatments that they gave him overnight seemed to have a greater effect than the ones they had tried to administer earlier in the day. She said it was as though something in him finally changed so that he was at least slightly more willing to be healed."
Cynder faltered, and her gaze drifted off distantly as she suddenly thought back to the previous evening, when Spyro had broken down and finally allowed himself to just release the pain that he'd been holding inside of him. She wasn't naive enough to think that the event meant that he had overcome his grief, or that he had even begun to forgive her, but maybe it had been a start.
"At any rate, she's informed me that Spyro should be well enough to be released from the infirmary this afternoon, if his recovery continues at this rate."
"This afternoon?" Cynder repeated in surprise.
Terrador nodded, a small smile of what could possibly be relief tugging at the corner of his muzzle. "So long as his condition is monitored closely. In that respect, I had wanted to ask you if you thought you would be able to meet him at the infirmary when it came time for him to be released."
"Me?"
Again the earth dragon nodded. "I understand if you aren't comfortable with it, given the tensions between you two, but I felt that it would be in his best interest if someone that cared a great deal for him was there to support him as he continues his recovery, and I could think of no one better for that task than you. So, will you do it?"
"Yes," Cynder replied without a second's hesitation. "If you think it will help him, then of course I'll do it."
Terrador smiled at the sudden note of eagerness in her voice, and he inclined his head gratefully.
"Good. It's a condition of his release anyway that someone be with him at all times just in case there are any complications in his condition, but I'm sure it will be for his benefit if it's someone that cares for him as much as you do. I'll make sure that you are informed when his release will be."
Cynder nodded her head in thanks. Satisfied, Terrador removed his wing and stood, padding off once again toward the exit where he had been heading before. Cynder watched him leaving for a moment, feeling slightly stunned, before she turned around and exited the chamber as well, departing the temple and taking to the sky, flying in the direction of her room.
Once she had approached the building, she alit on her small balcony and padded into the room without pause, dragging one of her cushions over closer to the balcony archway and lying down on top of it, staring out over the city. Once settled, she lay without moving as she watched the general bustle in the city, where moles and dragons were working to repair the damage that had been left in the wake of the grublins' attack.
The hours passed at an agonizingly slow pace, but Cynder could bring herself to do nothing more than lie there in her room, her mind consumed by thoughts of all that had occurred in only the past couple of days. It seemed unfathomable that so much damage could have been done so rapidly, and yet the evidence was out in the city for all to see, as well as in the hearts of everyone affected. And, though she hated to say it, she had a feeling that the worse wasn't over yet.
Finally, just as she was beginning to think that her anxious anticipation would be the death of her, a knock sounded at her door. The sound had hardly even ceased echoing softly within the chamber before Cynder had bolted over and yanked the door open. On the other side of the threshold a mole attendant started slightly in surprise at the black dragoness's rapid appearance.
"Master Terrador wished for you to be informed that young Master Spyro is due to be released from the infirmary shortly," the mole told her after he had regained his composure. "He—"
But whatever the mole said next, Cynder didn't wait to hear it. A surge of mixed excitement and apprehension exploded through her, and before the mole even knew what was happening she had slammed the door shut once again and sprinted for her balcony, taking to the air only seconds later. From there, it was only a couple of minutes before she was gliding down toward the street in front of the infirmary's main entrance, and she landed quickly in the centre of the open space before moving back and finding a seat where she was out of the way. Then she waited.
She wasn't alone, she noticed. Two dragon guards were stationed on either side of the infirmary's door, keeping watch on the passing citizens with ever-suspicious gazes, searching for any sign that anyone was planning anything to do with the purple dragon inside. When Cynder landed they glanced toward her for only a moment before inclining their heads in recognition of her arrival and turning their attention back to the crowds.
Aside from the guards, Sirius and Faren also arrived a couple of minutes later and, when they saw Cynder, moved over to sit with her. Sirius said that he only had time to exchange a quick greeting with Spyro before he had to return to the temple, but he had still felt it was only right that he be there when the purple dragon was released. Faren also was only planning on saying a quick hello before being off on her way, deciding that it might be best if Spyro wasn't crowded and that Cynder be the one to accompany him out from the infirmary. Cynder was grateful for the red dragoness's consideration, and she had no doubt that, were he in a better frame of mind, Spyro would be as well.
Finally, Cynder caught sight of motion within the infirmary's doorway, and a moment later the pale yellow healer dragoness appeared just within the shaded threshold of the entranceway, turning to the side and looking back at someone still out of sight within the darker interior of the building. Then Cynder saw a flash of purple scales, and shortly afterward Spyro appeared on the top step.
At the sight of him, Cynder felt a strange mixture of relief but also nervousness. She was extremely happy to see him up on his feet again after she had come so close to losing him, but at the same time she felt afraid. What if nothing had changed from the previous day? What if he rejected her again?
She remained motionless as the purple dragon paused on the top step, waiting for him to descend into the street before going out to meet him. He was looking up and to his left, where his parents and Sparx were hovering and speaking to him. She could hear their voices, but the general sounds of the city made it impossible to make out what they were actually saying, and she didn't move closer to find out. Spyro's expression was guarded as he spoke with the dragonflies, she noticed, but there was still a faint hint of gladness in his eyes at seeing them, though it was hardly anything at all.
A moment later she saw Nina move forward and rest a small hand on the purple dragon's cheek, and he offered a fleeting, forced smile at the corner of his mouth before she pulled back. Then Sparx gave a small wave, to which Spyro responded with a stiff nod, and together the three dragonflies flitted off down the street. Spyro looked after them for a moment, then turned his attention down toward the stairs and began making to descend them. Upon seeing this, Cynder rose to her feet, but then she faltered.
As Spyro walked down the steps of the infirmary, Cynder noticed with a stab of pain in her heart that he was moving with a very noticeable limp whenever he placed any pressure on his left foreleg. While he was walking, his mouth was drawn into a tight line and he winced slightly whenever he stepped with his injured leg, the limb clearly causing him a significant amount of discomfort.
I did that to him, Cynder thought sadly, and she turned her head away when she couldn't stand to see the purple dragon struggling on the steps any longer.
Spyro paused when he reached the street and Sirius and Faren moved out to greet him, and Cynder watched in silence as they exchanged a few quick words, Sirius and Faren appearing quite glad to see him out of the infirmary. Spyro, meanwhile, looked tense and impatient, as if he just wanted to part ways and be left alone.
I can't do this, Cynder thought to herself as a fresh wave of trepidation struck her. If he doesn't even want to talk to Sirius and Faren, how can I expect him to put up with having me following him around? Sparx would have been such a better choice for this.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed the two fire dragons beginning to depart, and a swell of what almost felt like panic shot through her when she realized that it was just her and the purple dragon left. She couldn't bring herself to move out to meet him, even as he turned to leave on his own down the street that would lead him back to his room in their residence building.
Then, while he was turning, he finally caught sight of Cynder standing frozen in the shadows of the buildings lining the far side of the street, and he immediately stopped and fixed her with a look that was mostly blank save for a small amount of surprise at seeing her. For a long moment Cynder simply stared back at him, feeling strangely similar to what she would imagine prey to feel like when spotted by a predator. After almost a full minute passed in which neither of them moved, however, she realized that she had no choice but to proceed.
With slow, tentative movements, she stepped out from the shadows and cautiously advanced across the street toward him. He watched her approach without speaking and without moving, his hard eyes boring into her and causing her to shrink in on herself, trying to make herself small to escape his gaze. When she was only a couple of feet from him she stopped and just stood there, struggling to hold his gaze.
"Hey," she managed to force out at length.
For several moments he didn't reply, simply studying her as she stood anxiously before him, wondering how he was going to react. In the silence she allowed her eyes to wander over his body. His bandages were gone, and she was pleased to see that his wounds had all completely sealed over at least, save for the poison burn on his foreleg where the scales were still raw and mangled-looking, and she doubted that they would ever look undamaged again. The other scars on his body had all faded considerably thanks to the gem treatments, however, even if they hadn't disappeared completely, and for this she was glad.
The silence between them continued to draw out in length, and with each second that passed Cynder grew more and more uneasy. She wanted him to say something, anything, but it seemed more likely by the second that he was just going to keep staring her down until she lost her nerve and fled.
Then, suddenly, he answered her, and his answer caught her off guard. He didn't yell. He didn't batter her with words, like she felt he was justified to do. Instead, his response was a single, gruff word.
"Hey."
Cynder blinked a couple of times in surprise before allowing a faint, relieved smile to appear on her muzzle. When he turned away to begin walking down the street she quickly fell into step beside him, and while the tension in his body was impossible to miss there seemed to be no hostility in his bearing.
He said nothing, and Cynder didn't pressure him to speak. She simply offered him her support by her presence, and it warmed her heart a touch when he seemed to accept it. He hadn't forgiven her; that much was clear by the coldness in his posture and his eyes. Cynder had no doubt that it would be a struggle to regain his faith and mend things between them, and this caused a swell of sadness within her heart. But, at the same time she felt confident enough to think that he didn't hate her, and that helped reassure her at least a little.
For the moment, that was all she needed.
*.*.*
Two more days passed in relative peace in the city as the residents worked to rebuild, but it looked as if it was going to be quite some time before the scars from the battle that had ravaged the dragon capital could be erased. And while the citizens, both from Warfang itself and the refugees from the other cities, were beginning to relax after time passed with no signs of further danger, tension was still high.
Wherever anyone went in the streets, they were reminded of the hardships that had recently befallen the city, in the sights of rubble that was still piled in the streets, or in the damaged or crumbled buildings dotted throughout the city, or in the injured that walked Warfang's streets or the general air of uneasiness that followed most everyone about. It was especially pronounced in the centre of the city, where the guardians were most often seen, for they were clearly the most uneasy out of everyone. And also, that was where Spyro was.
After the first couple of days had passed, Cynder had been relieved that Spyro had accepted without too much argument the watchful presence of his companions as he gradually eased back into life in the city after the events that had nearly claimed his life. Most of the time it was Cynder or Sparx and his parents that stayed with him, but often enough it was Faren or Flash that accompanied him too. Once Hunter had even volunteered to spend a short while keeping the young dragon company.
Flash was clearly the dragon whose company Spyro welcomed most out of all of them, and this was a fact that stung Cynder bitterly, but she didn't protest and she didn't complain, instead giving her best effort to be supportive and comforting. At least, she told herself, he didn't resist her presence, and ever so slowly it seemed that he was beginning to allow himself to open up to her. It was hardly anything at all, just a few scattered words every now and again and nothing of any great importance, but it was a start.
On the third day, Cynder was once again keeping Spyro company, and she had suggested that they take a walk in the city since he had spent the days since leaving the infirmary mostly cooped up in his room, hardly moving at all, brooding in his enduring depression. She hoped that getting him out in the sunshine for a little exercise would help draw him out of his troubles somewhat, and after a great deal of pressuring he had finally relented. After a brief search they had found Sparx, Faren, and Flash, and all three had agreed to accompany them.
By midday their small group had been wandering the streets of the city for almost two hours, weaving through scattered garden squares and empty market streets, trying to keep off the main roads as much as possible. The city was busy those days, after all, with so many dragons from the other cities calling Warfang their temporary home, and suspicion surrounding Spyro was heavy.
The guards from both Warfang and the Eastern city had been constantly spreading the word of Spyro's innocence and that there was no reason for anyone to hold any animosity or suspicion towards him, but it was only to be expected that the citizens would be sceptical. Now, whenever he and Cynder crossed anyone in the street, the most common reaction was for Spyro to receive a wary glare before the onlooker would hurry off on their own way. Cynder worried that this was undoing her efforts at lifting his spirits by getting him outside, but for his sake she didn't make any mention of it and tried to simply put it out of her mind.
Shortly afterward they came across an open rectangular courtyard that sat more toward the eastern side of the city, with a fountain on the western edge and very gradually sloping downward from there, the decorative stone forming a set of large steps each about a dozen metres wide. A row of flower beds down the centre added colour to the various shades of golden brown that was so prevalent in the city, and low shrubs dotted the perimeter. Surprisingly, the space was empty of any other dragons or moles.
"Why don't we rest here for a bit?" Cynder suggested, turning to Spyro and noticing the slight air of weariness about his posture as he stood with his weight shifted to his right side to take pressure off his weaker leg.
Spyro glanced about the courtyard for a moment before giving a small shrug of his shoulders.
"I guess," he muttered.
Cynder couldn't help but feel slightly discouraged when she heard the listless tone of the purple dragon's voice, but she said nothing as she watched him limp over to the edge of the fountain and settle on his haunches facing out over the courtyard, looking down at his wounded leg as if inspecting it. Then, slowly, the black dragoness moved over to his side and sat down as well. Faren sat on Spyro's other side, looking concernedly at the purple dragon, while Flash sat on the opposite side of Cynder, gazing curiously up at the fountain. Sparx settled down on the edge of the railing that ran around the fountain.
"How are you feeling?" Cynder asked Spyro. "Is your leg hurting much?"
"I'm fine," the purple dragon grunted in reply.
"You sure?" Sparx spoke up. "Because you've been looking a little rough for the past little while there."
"I said I'm fine," Spyro said more forcefully, and Sparx immediately recoiled.
"Whoa, okay big guy. I was just checking."
Spyro gave a tense sigh and turned his gaze away from his brother, staring out into the empty courtyard. Cynder glanced back toward Sparx, and the dragonfly gave a helpless shrug. Letting out a muffled, tense breath, Cynder turned away from Spyro for a moment. Her eyes settled on Flash, who was busy staring out at the city and looking like he was in a mild state of shock. She cleared her throat to grab his attention.
"So how are you adjusting to the city?"
Flash looked a bit uncertain about the question for a moment, and Cynder wasn't entirely surprised. In the short few times that she had interacted with him she had come to the conclusion that he wasn't a dragon that liked to get personal, but after a moment he seemed to push past his reservations.
"Alright, I guess," he grunted. "It's...different."
He looked up at the sky as he said this, and for a moment it looked as if he was almost daunted by the vast expanse of clear, open air. Cynder frowned in mild confusion, wondering what could be so unsettling about the sky—wasn't that where dragons were the most free and in their own element? But then she suddenly understood: he had spent his whole life in an enclosed cavern, secluded and sheltered, and now having nothing but open air above him must make him feel terribly exposed.
"It does take some getting used to," she agreed after a moment. "But I think you'll like it here." Then she paused, a new thought suddenly occurring to her. "That is, if you choose to stay."
Behind her she heard a rustle as Spyro's head jerked up, and she imagined that he was giving the white dragon a surprised look. Flash also seemed slightly caught off guard by the comment, and his brow furrowed in thought as he considered it.
"Do you think you'll stay here?" Faren asked him. "Or will you go back to your village?"
"I...I don't know," Flash said uncertainly after a pause. "I guess I never thought about it. There's nothing really left for me there, but..." He glanced around at the enormous city again. "I don't know. I've always wondered what Warfang was like from hearing stories, but I never pictured myself living in it."
"Well, I'm sure that if you did choose to stay the guardians would make sure you were well accommodated." Then a thought struck her, and she glanced back toward Spyro and Faren. "There are still empty rooms on our floor in the residence, aren't there?"
Spyro glanced up at her but said nothing. Faren, meanwhile, nodded.
"I think so," she said.
"Where have you been staying so far?" Cynder asked as she looked at Flash again.
The white dragon gave a small shrug. "A spare room in the temple."
"Well, we should ask the guardians about giving you a room in our building," Cynder said, addressing Spyro and Faren again. Then she added to Flash, "That is, of course, if you want."
Flash hesitated, but then he leaned over and met his gaze with Spyro's, and it seemed as though the idea of being closer to the only dragon he really knew in the city had a strong appeal to him. After a long indecisive pause he gave another small shrug of his shoulders.
"I guess."
Cynder allowed a small smile to flit across her muzzle. "Well, that's settled then."
Flash nodded distractedly before turning his gaze out over the empty courtyard, a guarded look about his expression as though he was afraid to show any real reaction to their conversation. A hush fell over the small group for a number of minutes, with only the distant background noise of the city and the soft burbling of the fountain breaking the silence. At first it was refreshing and calming, but when the silence began to feel depressing Cynder decided to try and start up another conversation with the mysterious young white dragon.
"So what have you been doing while you've been here?" she asked him. "I haven't seen you around very much."
Flash glanced at her sidelong uncertainly for a moment, but then a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he gave a weak chuckle.
"I'm good at not being seen."
"So I've noticed," Cynder replied wryly, recalling how he had appeared out of thin air beside her outside of the wall during the battle. "Have you just been staying by yourself?"
He shook his head. "No, Faren's been showing me around the city a bit."
This caught Cynder by surprise, and she turned a quizzical look toward the red dragoness.
"Really?"
Faren looked puzzled by Cynder's reaction, and in an uncertain voice she said, "Yeah..."
Cynder didn't quite know how to respond, surprised that Faren would take on such an initiative, but when she thought about it she couldn't help but allow a small smile onto her face when she realized that it seemed oddly appropriate. It was in a way fitting that the first dragon in the city Flash would begin to bond to besides Spyro would be one just as reserved as he was—albeit in a different way.
"Well there's a lot to see," Sparx commented, butting into the conversation, and Cynder turned a wry smirk down at where he was still reclining on the stone border of the fountain. "Even after how long they've been here, I'm still showing Mom and Dad new places. You should come along sometime, Spyro. I bet they would like a chance to spend a bit more time with the real you."
Spyro gave a stiff grunt of dry humour that wasn't really heartfelt, and that was the extent of his response. Sparx gave a sigh of surrender before trying a different tactic for conversation.
"So does anyone else find it a little weird how quiet it's been for these last few days?"
"Are you complaining?" Cynder asked teasingly.
"Pfft, as if," Sparx snorted, waving a hand. "But doesn't it bother you a little? I mean, when evil purple boy left he made it sound like he was going to be back."
Cynder frowned thoughtfully, and a tense silence fell over the group as they all thought about that night. Spyro, especially, went rigid, and a dark look came into his eyes, one that made Cynder uneasy.
"It does seem a little strange that he would give us this time to recover," Faren commented at length. "I mean, if he wanted to get to Spyro, the best time to try would have been a couple of days ago when he was weakest."
"But when he was the most closely guarded," Cynder pointed out. "I don't know. But I agree with Sparx. I don't like it."
"Meh, it's probably nothing," Sparx grunted nonchalantly, though Cynder could hear the masked tension in his voice. "All I can say is that I'll be happy if I never see that creep's purple hide ever—"
He was cut short mid-sentence when, without any warning at all, a loud CRACK! split the air in the courtyard, followed a split-second later by a bright violet flash of light. The four dragons and Sparx all gave startled cries and jumped before whipping their gazes around to the centre of the courtyard.
Cynder gasped and felt her blood turn cold with dread when a swirling mass of crackling violet energy that looked far too familiar formed a couple of metres above the ground, spreading outward until, only a couple of seconds after it had appeared, it formed an dark, vortex-like opening large enough for a dragon their age to fit through. A second, louder CRACK! suddenly echoed out through the courtyard and over the city, causing Cynder to flinch, and at that same moment a figure shot out from the opening and landed heavily on the stone about two dozen feet from their group. Then the portal collapsed and disappeared, a dull roar and crash echoing out over the city and into the distance.
A stunned hush that seemed unnaturally heavy filled the courtyard and the city beyond, and in that span Cynder felt her shock and surprise slowly being replaced by a deep, cold fury growing steadily within her. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared out at the purple dragon that stood before them, looking completely relaxed as he gazed back at their group with a dark smirk on his face.
"Oh, I just had to say it," Sparx groaned quietly, bringing a hand to his face.
The sound of paws thudding heavily against the cobblestone streets sounded from numerous alleys and side streets around the courtyard, and Nexus glanced about with an unconcerned expression as several dragon guards that had been keeping watch over Spyro from a distance charged into the open space, surrounding him. The purple dragon hardly reacted to their presence at all, appearing completely calm and confident in his superiority.
"What are you doing here?" Spyro snarled menacingly, and Cynder looked over at him to see that he had advanced a few steps away from the fountain and had settled into a battle stance.
Nexus looked back at him and, when he saw the other purple dragon's aggressive posture, he gave a low chuckle.
"Now is that any way to greet family?" he snickered.
Another snarl rumbled out of Spyro's throat, and his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Cynder could see the muscles beneath his scales bunching, as if he were ready to pounce at any moment, and when she looked into his eyes she was daunted by the hatred she saw in them. It was something she had never expected to see in him, yet there it was, burning with an intensity she had rarely seen in her life.
"I'm glad to see you're recovering well," Nexus continued, completely undeterred by Spyro's anger. "But that leg still looks a little rough."
He shot Cynder a dark smirk as he said those last words, and after her surprise passed she felt a swell of fury explode through her, and she snarled sharply before taking up a fighting stance beside Spyro.
"You had better leave before I tear you to pieces for what you've done," she snapped menacingly.
Her fury only deepened when she heard him laugh at her remark.
"Oh, relax, will you?" he snickered. "I'm just here to deliver a message. But if you'd rather try and take me on, I'd be more than willing to go along with it."
Cynder snarled again, and she tensed as she began drawing on her elemental powers, readying herself to dive into the shadows and attack the intruder from below. Beside her she could sense Spyro getting ready to attack as well.
Just before they could make their move, the sound of heavy wing beats reached them from the west, and everyone in the courtyard looked up to see the guardians and Sirius diving toward them, apparently having heard the sound of Nexus's portal. When they landed and saw the purple dragon in the centre of the courtyard, looks of shock and noticeable fear came over their expressions.
"Well, isn't this convenient?" Nexus smirked. "Now I don't have to worry about if the message gets delivered properly."
"Message?" Terrador repeated in confusion, even as he tensed his body in preparation for a conflict. "What message?"
"Yes, please, do share," Cyril growled. "Although personally I'm not sure you deserve the chance to speak."
Nexus merely shrugged. "Maybe, but I have a feeling this is something you want to know."
"Then get on with it," Cynder snarled.
"Alright, alright," Nexus said quickly, motioning with a paw defensively. Then he gave a large sigh. "Look, I'll make this quick. As we speak, my forces are subduing any last resistance at the village in the mountains. Every dragon in that village is now my prisoner."
Cynder jolted back in shock, and she heard several gasps from the guards and the guardians.
"What have you done to them?" Terrador demanded.
"Relax," Nexus said reassuringly. "As long as they're sensible, no one is going to be hurt. For the time being, at least, but then that's where you all come in. Specifically, you, Spyro."
"What do you want with me?" Spyro snapped.
"It's too much to explain right now, I'm afraid, but it will all make sense in time. This, however, means that we need a better place to talk without any..." He glanced around at the guards that had him surrounded and scowled. "...interruptions. So, getting to my point; I want you to come face me in the mountains. It would be preferable if you came alone, but let's be realistic here; that's not going to happen. So, I'm going to make this really simple for you all."
He turned his gaze toward the guardians, and as he did his expression darkened with a grim air of seriousness.
"I'm giving you all three days. Do whatever you want in that time. Gather an army. Prepare your forces. I don't care. But, if you're not at that village by the end of those three days, every dragon that I have prisoner will die."
The guardians gasped again, and Terrador especially looked horrified.
"You're a monster!" he exclaimed.
"You've forced my hand," Nexus growled bitterly. "I didn't want for it to come to this, but I'm starting to get desperate. If you don't want anything to happen to those dragons, I suggest you don't be late. After that, their deaths are on your heads."
He straightened, casting one last glance around the courtyard before his gaze settled on Spyro. A bitter scowl settled over his features.
"Don't keep me waiting, brother."
Then, before anyone could say or do anything else, another swirling portal suddenly appeared behind him, and in one hasty motion Nexus spun around and jumped through it.
With a rumbling crash, the portal collapsed and plunged the city into silence once again.
Behind Cynder, Sparx glanced about nervously before speaking in a small, tight voice.
"Now what?"
Ugh...I think I even confused myself having two Flash's in the same scene...Sorry about that X)
And oh boy, Nexus is at it again, but this time he's not fooling around. What's Spyro going to do?
Find out in the next chapter. Until next time...
