Chapter 36

The Night at Twilight Falls

Time: 5:20 P.M.

Date: Unknown

The hero made his way up the stairs as far as he could go before they ended near the top of the tower. He turned around and looked down toward the tower entrance to see the dark beings beginning to get through inch by inch. There wasn't much time left. He had to think of something, but what?

He quickly thought things through then hatched an idea. The black dragon looked down to the tower rubble below then combined the elements of water and electricity. The deadly water erupted out of his mouth as it fell onto the tower floor below. Soon, the bottom floor was covered with water, not enough to even bury a paw but enough to let any dark being know that stepping in any water whatsoever was a bad idea. It would at least buy the hero a little more time than before.

The black dragon looked around the inside of the tower walls but he only saw barred windows. That was it! The windows! The hero flew up and hovered to the nearest one on his left and began using the element of ice on the bars. The frosted breath covered the bars and it began to show a light blue texture.

Then he heard the sound of something breaking downstairs. Right after that he heard the sound of someone getting electrocuted by the water trap he laid out for them. Definitely not much time left now.

The bars began to show a sign of freezing in them but it wasn't enough yet. The hero heard the sound of someone else getting electrocuted down below. He suddenly felt sorry for these dragons. Nothing could save them now. But if he didn't get out of the situation he was in, he was going to be the one who needed the saving.

The hero heard something down below making him look down. Dark beings were coming up the stairs now. He closed his mouth and slammed himself against the bars, hoping for them to shatter. He was only rewarded with a crack in each of them so he continued. He slammed himself harder this time. The bar's cracks broke in and the bars were leaning outwards. One more time, he made himself into a battering ram and the bars finally broke. The hero managed to fit himself through the window just as the dark beings made it to him. The hero was saved by luck and he was free.

But something else was going on. The hero heard a loud rumbling noise but couldn't tell what it was. Until he looked down. The ground was violently shaking meaning that there was another earthquake. He couldn't feel it for he was flying but could tell that this was the worst one of them all just by looking at the tower he just escaped. The earthquake was causing the tower to lean over. The hero didn't stop to enjoy the sight though. He only flew toward the portal back home, the black smoke that was looming in the desert.

Only moments after the earthquake ceased, the hero heard the sound of something crumbling behind him. He looked back long enough to see the tower collapse and crumble to the ground. Dust and dirt decorated the sight right afterwards as well as the booming sound of it all hitting the ground and destroying the stone wall that the tower fell on. It was the sight of victory as well as agony. Those infected dragons that were inside of the tower couldn't have survived something like that.

Then the hero spotted several electrical explosions underneath him as he flew. More than just several, a whole lot. It was the minefield he flew over earlier, either the earthquake set it off or debris and it was causing a chain reaction.

The hero avoided looking at it by looking up at the giant planet that loomed in the sky just above him. He knew that planet he was looking at was his very own home. The only was to save it was to destroy this dark planet for it was on a collision course and it looked like everything was going as planned. The dark planet was crumbling and soon it would be nothing but a memory.

But the black dragon noticed something bad. The black smoke, the portal, was dissipating. This, of course, certainly wasn't good at all and made the dragon speed up into a dive.

He was getting close to the portal already going as fast as he could. There wasn't much of the portal left. The hero closed his eyes and everything went white.

Present Day

Spyro sat on Cynder's couch, deeply in thought about asking her a certain question that was on his mind for quite a while now. He wanted to ask it but fear of how she would respond kept him back. He looked at the dead fireplace in front of him and sighed. He wanted to stay with Cynder more and his well thought out question was very simple.

The purple dragon was about to lie down until he heard a creak come from beside him. He looked over to see Cynder emerging from her bedroom. This was it, he had to ask her. The unanswered question would only continue to hold him back until he got it off his chest.

Cynder was about to walk into the kitchen on the other side of the living room when she heard, "Hey Cynder." It was low and it made Cynder stop in her tracks right behind the couch Spyro sat on.

Cynder lifted her two front paws and set them on the back of the couch for support while she looked down at Spyro, "What is it?" It sounded as if she somehow knew what he was going to ask.

Spyro turned around on the couch and sat on his folded legs underneath him. "I was wondering about something." He scratched the back of his head out of nervousness and continued. "You don't have to answer right away."

Cynder smiled, lowering her head even lower toward Spyro. The two of them were only inches apart. "Well what is it you want to ask me?"

Ten slow and quiet seconds passed until Spyro finally asked, "Can I come in and live with you?"

Cynder's smile quickly disappeared and she looked the other way. Spyro suddenly regretted what he just asked when he noticed Cynder's reaction. She backed down off the back of the couch and made her around it. Spyro turned back around on the couch to face the right way as Cynder sat down beside him. Cynder looked at his eyes the best she could but Spyro was looking down toward the floor.

"Sorry," Spyro quietly apologized.

"Yeah well . . . you should be Spyro. Why would you ask such a thing?"

Spyro went to answer but found that he couldn't. He didn't have anything to say at that point.

He only sighed as Cynder continued, "I thought you were already living with me."

Spyro perked up and looked at Cynder in the eyes, "You . . . you did?"

Cynder nodded, "Of course I did."

Spyro showed a little more happiness inside of him. He turned to Cynder and showed a slight grin, "Thanks Cynder."

She only smiled, leaned over, and the two of them shared a passionate kiss. Spyro leaned back as well and the two of them fell on top of each other, still sharing their love for each other.

The Next Day

Nearing 10 P.M.

Somewhere Beyond the Tathric Range

Things were going smoothly for the three adventurous humans. The managed to get through the swamp in one peace but not without running into some frogweeds and bulb spiders along the way. They were skillfully defeated by Rita's bow or Isaac and Frederick's sword. Frederick took out the most for Isaac wasn't as experienced. He was still learning at that ways of the sword but was skilled enough with one to defend himself.

They were near the outskirts of the swamp, camping for the night to pass on by. The three of them had been wading through water all day and were quite tired. It was hard to see the stars through the trees and clouds as they sat around the campfire, wasting the rest of the day away. The small orange tent was already set up, however they weren't quite sleepy yet. Tired, but not sleepy.

Frederick was reading bits and pieces of the black book Aruto gave him, Isaac was sharpening his sword with a carborundum stone. These stones usually had one rough side and one smooth side. The smooth side was so Isaac could set it on a hard surface while he used the rough side to sharpen the sword. Rita was studying the map trying to pinpoint where they were.

Frederick was a bit interested in the six spirit guardians. How they appeared unto certain dragons as signs of their future, was that their jobs now? But the white spirit guardian still remained a mystery. What did it mean?

The dragon that could change colors, the book never told his name nor his fate. Frederick read on how he flew for the portal but the book never told if he made it through or not. What became of him?

Meanwhile

Kali's Home

Cosmo backed up to the corner of his room as Kali approached him. Kali slowly made her way over to him, likely on purpose, and stopped right in front of his muzzle.

"Kali stop! I like you but aren't you taking this too far!"

"Oh come on," Kali softly replied. "You know you want me."

Suddenly Cosmo found himself kissing Kali. Cosmo was going to pull away, but couldn't for he realized something. He was enjoying it. It was something Cosmo wasn't expecting to be. It was warm and heavenly and Cosmo shut his eyes in delight. Kali's feminine scent caught Cosmo's nostrils as he breathed. It smelled so good and made him melt on the inside.

Then Kali pulled away, making Cosmo open his eyes. She was looking at him with a seductive smile then said, "Now just get on the bed and I'll do the rest. Trust me."

4:21 A.M.

Cosmo opened his eyes to find himself in his room. Everything was dark so he felt around himself. He was in the bed by himself.

"Some dream," Cosmo thought.

He looked over toward the window on his left to see the streets of Warfang lit up by the lamp posts on the side of them. Some of them were off though and the ones that were on didn't generate enough light to keep him awake. Even if they did, he could just throw a cover over the window and block it out.

Cosmo comfortably laid back down on his bed, only to find himself tossing and turning. The dream he had was making sleep nearly impossible at the moment. He wouldn't shiver at the thought of mating as he used to, but he still didn't prefer it. Or at least he thought he didn't. He heard some dreams came from a personal fear.

Cosmo looked up toward the ceiling under his blanket in thought. "Do I have a fear of mating with someone like Kali? Mating season is just around the corner after all." Cosmo found himself shaking his head afterwards, "What am I thinking? Me mating, that's funny." Cosmo peacefully sighed, "She is beautiful though. And if she kisses like she does in my dream then I wouldn't mind breaking a leg for her attention. Better not jinx myself though."

Cosmo closed his eyes for a few minutes but still found that sleep was out of reach for the moment. The yellow scaled dragon pulled the blanket off himself and sat on the edge of his bed as he wiped the cold from the corner of his eye. He then stood to his feet and made his way into the living room and went for the kitchen. He walked past the mini bar and headed for one of the overhead cabinets on the left, opened it, and retrieved a short glass cup. He made his way to the sink beside the fridge and filled the glass half full of water out the faucet. He was about to take a sip when he noticed a figure his size walk into the kitchen.

"Can't sleep?" the blue dragoness asked quietly, making her way to Cosmo's side.

Cosmo took a sip of water then shook his head and swallowed, "I managed to get a few hours of sleep but . . . yeah . . . what you said." His voice was quiet as well. They didn't want to wake Isis up, who was sleeping in her cat like bed near the fireplace. "Can't sleep either?"

"Same as you," Kali replied. "I don't even feel tired or sleepy now."

"Me either," Cosmo added, taking another swallow of water then set the glass on the counter beside him. It still had a little less than half. "So now what?"

Kali thought as she grabbed Cosmo's glass and took a swallow of it's contents. "I'm thinking."

"What if I was sick?" Cosmo asked.

Kali looked down at the glass she was holding then said, "If you were then oh well. I don't mind."

Kali offered the glass back to Cosmo which he accepted. He took another sip then continued the conversation from before, "Thought of anything yet?"

"Actually I think I did," Kali replied with a smile. "Want to go to Twilight Falls?"

"Twilight Falls? That's a little ways away and it's 4 a.m." Cosmo indicated, drinking up the last bit of the water. He set the glass in the sink to be washed in the morning.

Kali shrugged, "Yeah, I just want to get out of the city."

"Alright, I'll go." The reply made Kali smile in happiness.

"You mean it?"

"Of course," Cosmo responded in a higher tone. He lowered it, remembering about Isis sleeping then continued, "I wouldn't let you go alone."

"Then we should leave a note for Isis just in case she wakes up and looks for us."

"Yeah that would be smart. It took me and Micha about an hour to get there and back. Of course, we went straight there and straight back and we didn't stay at the falls for very long."

Kali looked out of the window in front of her to see the same thing Cosmo seen earlier, "We might make it back before six then. If not then Isis will be fine. She's been by herself many times before."

"So when are we leaving?"

"Well, now I was hoping. Unless you want to grab a quick snack."

Cosmo declined, "Naw that's alright. Dinner was good enough for me."

Kali looked toward the exit and began heading there, "Alright come on. Just be quiet."

"What about the note?" Cosmo reminded.

"Note? Oh yeah. The stuff is in my room so I'll be right back."

Forgetting about the note so quickly made Cosmo smile. She could be forgetful at times but the important things she always remembered. Cosmo still remembered what element Kali knew. Shadow. She used it against him during their struggle the first time they met. He wished it was under better circumstances but it didn't matter now. She was on his side now and he was happy for it.

Kali was in her room, writing the note on plain white paper with ink and a quill on her dresser. Barely able to see in the dark, she carefully wrote,

Me and Cosmo went to Twilight Falls to pass the time. We should be back around seven.

It was simple and straight to the point. Kali knew Isis didn't really care much for details. She set the quill back in the small inkwell and waited for the fresh ink to dry. This only took a minute. When it was dry, Kali carried the paper with her two front paws while walking on her two back paws to Isis, reading the paper in the process to make sure the ink didn't run. She noticed Cosmo waiting at the door for her as she carefully set the note beside Isis. Satisfied, she made her way to the door where Cosmo slowly opened the door, letting her out, then slowly closed it back. It was a little cold out but Cosmo didn't mind. Kali didn't seem to mind it either.

The two dragons walked down the street a few meters until Cosmo said, "I didn't know you could walk on two legs."

Kali smiled at the compliment, "Yeah but I can't do it for a long time. My back legs would tire out."

"How long is a long time?"

Kali shrugged, "I don't know, an hour or so. Most dragons can stand on two legs but they mostly prefer four." Kali laughed at herself a short moment before continuing, "Why am I telling you this?"

Cosmo forced a grin in response, "Why indeed?"

Kali laughed a bit more then returned to her normal, serious but sometimes playful, tone. "Well, we should start flying. There's no way I'm walking the whole way there."

"Agreed," Cosmo said, taking off into the sky first. He gently beat his wings in one fluid motion, heading upwards as he did. He looked back to see Kali coming up beside him.

Later

The trip was mostly filled with conversation about their favorite foods, fairies and other mystical creatures, and other random sort of stuff. Cosmo didn't know to believe in fairies or not so when Kali asked, he just shrugged. She also mentioned fauns but again, Cosmo didn't know whether to believe in them or not. They were mythical creatures after all.

They took a ten minute break around the halfway point in some sort of opening in the forest. Kali told him it was called the enchanted forest but she never said on how it was enchanted. Maybe it was just a name they came up with. The forest was filled with these firefly like bugs, but they looked a little bigger than fireflies. It was also filled with the singing of crickets and the howling of a nearby wolf. He sounded quite close but Kali didn't seem to be frightened at all by them.

When they returned back into the air, Cosmo began looking up into the starry sky. It was beautiful with the exception of a few clouds here and there to block out some parts. There was so many stars out and visible that the sky looked like a twinkling night show. He also looked up and saw several planets. Both near and far. Some disguised themselves as stars but the difference between a star and a planet is that planet's don't twinkle. The large planets that hung in the sky were also a sight to behold. There was only two but it was still wonderful. Cosmo asked Kali if there was life on any of those planets, she only shrugged and said, "Who knows? Maybe," and continued on flying.

Then they finally arrived after a one hour and ten minute flight. They made it twenty minutes earlier than he thought he would, but he didn't know that for he didn't have a clock to see.

The two of them were still flying, but the sight of Twilight Falls in the distance was unmistakeable. Kali led Cosmo from this point on, leading him toward the base of the waterfall. Cosmo thought she was heading for the same place he and Micha landed at, but she went toward the left side of the waterfall instead. They landed on some flat rocky part, a fourth of the way up the waterfall. The ledge was also kind of big, about twenty yards wide and ten yards long. The rocks were submerged in water but the two dragons could easily walk in it. Cosmo shivered for the water was cold but he quickly grew used to it and looked around his surroundings more carefully. They stood beside the waterfall in a place up the cliff wall where the water leaked out a bit. The rocks they stood on were slightly slick but Cosmo's grip easily held in place. There also that perfect view of the sky above them, even the clouds seemed to be off in the distance, away from Cosmo's point of view.

"It's been so long since I've last been here, " Kali said, making her way to Cosmo's side.

Both of them stood near the edge of the rocky cliff they stood on. Below was a river, which the waterfall formed, and it headed straight through the Enchanted Forest and into the Valley of Avalar. Twilight Falls was no doubt, Warfang's primary water source.

Cosmo heard her fine over the crashing noise of the waterfall below. "First time I've been here at night."

"Really?"

Cosmo nodded, "Sure is. I can see how they call it Twilight Falls now."

The two of them stood in the calm water and faced each other. Kali spoke with an obvious question, "Beautiful isn't it?"

Cosmo answered, "If I said no I would be lieing."

Kali smiled at the response. She looked down at the paw deep water below her and Cosmo looked back towards the sky. Kali fiddled with the water some, then splashed some on Cosmo. It wasn't much, but just enough to get his attention.

"Hey, what did you do that for?"

Kali only splashed more water on Cosmo but it was a little more this time. Cosmo wiped his face from water while Kali spoke, "Come on Cosmo. You gotta have some fun in that serious personality of yours somewhere."

Cosmo raised an eyebrow, "Fun? You don't think I can have fun?"

"Well you certainly haven't shown me," Kali replied, splashing more water on him.

Cosmo wiped his face off again and splashed some water on Kali for a change. But she only showed that same smile she shown earlier.

"Now you're getting it," Kali praised. In the meantime, she splashed even more water on Cosmo. He was getting quite wet.

"Now you are getting it!" Cosmo loudly mimicked. He kicked his front paw into the shallow water below, kicking up water at Kali. She tried to get out the way but still got wet. She looked over at Cosmo to see him laughing, "You're all wet!"

"I'm not the only one," Kali smirked. She ran toward Cosmo and splashed as much water as she could toward him. He was about to evade by going backwards, but he realized that he was standing in front of a cliff and that wasn't a great idea. By the time he tried running toward the right, he already gotten totally wet except for his dark gray underbelly.

"Gah that's cold!" Cosmo exclaimed. If he wasn't completely awake before he definitely was now. Kali laughed at how wet he was and Cosmo tried shaking himself dry. It sort of worked but he was still mostly wet.

"Poor Cosmo," Kali mocked. "All wet."

"You aren't so bad yourself," Cosmo replied. He was surprised that neither he or Kali was shivering at the moment.

"I'm not as bad as you though," Kali pointed out. "So it seems you do know how to have fun."

"Of course," Cosmo said, kicking up more water at Kali. The sudden attack caught her off guard and to top it off, she was too close to get out the way. It didn't stop her from throwing up a paw to cover her face though. Kali looked at herself, she was all wet now, just like Cosmo. "Now we're even," Cosmo smirked.

Kali laughed, "That's funny. I remember getting you five times and you only got me four times."

Cosmo only kicked up more water at Kali, but she was expecting him to do that and was prepared. She ran off to the side making his attack miss, then she headed for the ledge and simply dove off the edge. Cosmo watched her spread her wings and glide all the way down to the base of the waterfall onto a grassy area on the right of the river. Kali looked back up at Cosmo was still looking downwards at her. He never did something like she did before. It kind of looked like fun in his eyes.

The yellow dragon could see Kali motioning him to come on down, so he did. He leaped off the edge and fell a little ways before opening his blue colored wings and he felt his fall come to a slow descent. He circled over Kali several times before safely landing beside her.

Cosmo found himself in a trance when he looked at Kali. Her wet blue scales seemed to reflect the moonlight and make her even more astonishing than before. Her tail was wrapped around her legs and she too was looking back at Cosmo, but not in the same way. It was then that Cosmo knew he had developed feeling for this dragoness that sat in front of him. This was it, he had to tell her. He didn't want to keep secrets from someone like her. He didn't know how she would react, but it had to be done before he let the relationship go on.

"Kali," Cosmo began, still looking for the words.

"Yeah?"

A few seconds past until Cosmo continued, "I need to tell you something about me. Something that only one being knows about."

Kali looked a bit worried, "Well, if you must."

Cosmo put a paw on his forehead and shook his head. He had to tell her the truth. If he waited, things could become disastrous. So he went on, despite his thoughts, "There's a reason why I never been to Twilight Falls before until the other day. Or how I've never been out the city, other than being in Velxtra Forest with you. And the same reason is why I didn't know moles built this city. Well . . . you see, I'm not from around here." Cosmo shrugged, "I'm not even from this realm."

"What are you talking about?" Kali asked, still dripping with water. Cosmo was dripping as well.

"I know this will sound crazy but . . . I used to be a human."

Cosmo closed his eyes, waiting to here some type of outburst come from the blue dragoness in front of him. He waited . . . but he never heard anything from her. Was she too shocked for words? Cosmo forced his eyes back open to see Kali a lot closer to him than she was before.

"What is this?" Cosmo quietly asked. "I thought that you would be . . ."

"Upset?" Kali finished. Cosmo nodded. He couldn't tell what she was feeling from the dull voice she gave out. Kali continued, "I'm not upset, I'm not even that surprised to tell you the truth. Before you ask, I'll explain. Before I kidnapped you that day in the cemetery, all Phantom would talk about was how different you were. How . . . unique. But Cosmo, I don't care about your past. If you thought that was going to get in the way then you thought wrong. Besides, you are a dragon. Do you enjoy being a dragon Cosmo?"

Cosmo looked at Kali straight in the eyes, "Yes, yes I do. Being a dragon is wonderful. It's better than being a human." Cosmo went silent before continuing, "Don't you feel a little awkward though?"

"Don't you feel awkward liking a female dragon?" Kali returned.

Cosmo shook his head, "No, I don't."

"Then there you go. From what I can tell, you are one hundred percent dragon. I don't know how it happened nor do I care."

Cosmo perked up at that statement, "Yeah, you're right Kali. I am one hundred percent dragon and proud of it."

Kali smiled, "Great!" Then she pounced on Cosmo like a cat, knocked him down under her. Cosmo got the breath knocked out of him and Kali only giggled at him. Cosmo laid down, trapped underneath Kali as she looked straight into his blue eyes while Cosmo couldn't help but look straight back into hers. He felt like he could do anything at the moment with Kali looking at him the way she was.

Then the two of them shared something remarkable. Just like in Cosmo's dream, they shared one blissful kiss. It felt so warm and Cosmo couldn't help but inhaling her scent. It smelled so wonderful and the kiss they still shared was something that Cosmo couldn't explain. When he left Kali's home earlier, he wasn't expecting all of this to happen so suddenly.