Both Cyril and Ignitus sprinted down the hallways in the dungeon, their hearts pounding in their chests. Not from exhaustion, but from fear. Spyro had just turned yet again, and who knows what he was doing now. Who was hurt, did he escape, was he heading towards the Sanctum again? Should they split up now and hopefully cut him off?
Neither Guardian knew the answers to these questions, which only made them more nervous. What were they going to do with the young dragon when they found him? That was another question that entered their heads. Would they just subdue him again or would it just be safer to put him down?
They both rounded a corner, and saw that at the end of the hallway were three mole guards, alongside a single fire dragon. Each mole had a spear pointed towards the bars, while the dragon seemed tense. His claws dug into the stone flooring, and his body was stiff. He was ready to pounce if he needed to, while smoke began to billow from the sides of his muzzle.
Both Guardians were slightly relieved to see this. At the very least it meant that Spyro was still in his cell. That wasn't any reason to celebrate, as this could change at any moment.
When they reached the group of guards, Cyril and Ignitus looked at the small dragon behind bars. Just like the previous guard had told them, Spyro had transformed again. His purple scales were a smokey black, and his eyes were pure white. However, much to the Guardians surprise, he wasn't actually doing anything.
Spyro snarled at the two new dragons before he continued his pacing. He walked from one end of his cell to the other, never taking his eyes away from the group of people that had gathered in front of his cell.
Ignitus leaned close to one of the moles and asked, "Has he done anything?" The mole shook his head.
"He was just sleeping when we saw him changing. Then he woke up and just walked around his cell, staring at us."
Fear was quickly being replaced by confusion. What was Spyro doing? Why hasn't he tried to escape yet? If he was anything like Malefor, then whatever that purple energy was should be strong enough to wound the guards and melt the bars. So why not use it? Was he waiting for something to happen or for someone?
Cyril stepped forwards, growing tired of just watching the purple dragon pace around. "Spyro, what do you plan on doing?"
Spyro just hissed back at the ice Guardian, and nothing more. He then jerked his head in a swift motion towards one of the mole guards who seemed a little nervous. The mole jumped a little from the sudden head turn. Spyro let out a mighty roar for someone his size and age at the scared guard. He then got into a fighting stance, and looked like he was about to try and attack the guard. Everyone jumped at that. In response, they steady their spears, while the dragons readied their elements.
Spyro took note of this, and calmed himself, returning to a more relaxed position. He then continued his pacing again. Ignitus relaxed himself a little before looking towards his blue friend. "Go find Terrador and Volteer. They might have learned something from their interview with him."
Ignitus glanced back at the purple dragon, who just glared daggers back at him. "I'm not sure what's going on right now. If he wanted to, he could have tried to escape long before we even got here. I think something is holding him back."
As though being challenged, a small purple light began to glow between Spyro's teeth, and everyone tensed up again. Witnessing everyone prepare their weapons again, Spuro relaxed once more, the glow disappearing from his mouth. He continued to pace around.
Cyril watched the purple dragon, beyond bewildered by his actions. He was making threats to hurt them, but made no actual attempt to escape. Why? Was he worried about getting hurt, or was Ignitus' guess correct? Was there some force stopping him from acting? Maybe Volteer or Terrador knew an answer to this. Without a word, he ran off to find the other two Guardians, leaving Ignitus and the guards to keep an eye on the purple dragon.
Spyro opened his eyes, and found himself in blackness once more. Just like last time, he felt this invisible embrace around him, cradling his body like a mother holding her newborn child. There was a relaxing sensation to it, and a part of him wanted to just lazily fall back to sleep. As though this unseen force could read his thoughts, he felt as though he was being rocked back and forth. A smile crept along his face, as he rather enjoyed this feeling of being held in a motherly grasp. His eyes grew heavy, and fluttered closed.
"Wait, what?"
His eyes shot back open, as the memories of the last time he was here came back to him. This was the same tender embrace as before, however while he was in here, his body was being controlled by someone else. Was it happening again? Was he about to hurt someone again?
"What do you want from me!" Spyro shouted into the black void. He heard no response.
Scared that his body was under someone's control, he did his best to shake off the invisible arms that held him. Much to his own surprise, as he started to struggle, the feeling of being held left him. This wasn't without consequence, as now he felt like he was being watched.
He looked around, hoping to find who was staring at him, but he couldn't see anyone. No matter where he looked, all that was before his eyes was blackness.
"Who are you!" He was getting frustrated. What was this place, who was holding him? Why? What was going on? He felt a warm touch being placed upon his shoulder. It was soft and gentle, and somewhere inside of him, something told him that whoever this was, they meant no harm. And yet he still shook off this touch, jumping back away from where he once stood.
He growled, and lowered his body, readying himself to fight off whoever was around him. He felt the eyes looking at him again, and he felt somewhere inside of him a hurt feeling. Was this person saddened by his actions, or was he just imagining things?
His breathing quickened, and his body shook. What is going on? Who was with him? What do they want with him? What were they making him do? How can he wake up? Did he hurt people? Why are they doing this? Why can't they just leave him alone?
A pair of white eyes appeared in front of Spyro. It was faint, but along with the eyes, he could make out a faint outline of this person. It was an adult dragon, that was for sure, but he couldn't make out much detail of them. It was hard to tell, but they didn't look like a solid creature. Its body seemed to waver and flicker to and fro, as if a light breeze was blowing around smoke.
This dragon looked down at the purple dragon, his white eyes void of any emotion. With a bit of hesitation, the dragon reached out its paw towards Spyro. Though its arm shifted and twisted about, it looked a little shaky as well, as though nervous with what it was doing.
Spyro wanted to flee, but his body wouldn't move. Not because he was frozen with fear, but because he felt the invisible touch of someone holding him there. It wasn't a forceful grasp though. It was more like a giant, invisible, unmovable, hand that held him still.
This smoky dragon's paw was getting closer and closer to Spyro's face, making the purple dragon panic more. He pressed himself against whatever kept him there, pushing with all of his might, hoping that it would move out of the way. His breathing was spastic, and a part of him began to wonder if anyone of these breaths were going to be his last. There was a buzzing in his head, making him numb to any other sensation other than fear.
Closer and closer this creature's paw got. Time seemed to move in slow motion for the dragon. There was nothing he could do to stop it, nothing he could do to break free of this hold around him, nothing he could do to wake up from this horrible nightmare!
He tried breathing fire, hoping to deter the dragon in front of him, but his element never came when he called upon it. He tried again with ice, then electricity, and even earth, but nothing came from his maw. The thought of trying to slash at it never came to his mind. He didn't want to touch this thing, nor did he want it touching him.
This was it, this was where he was going to die. The creature's claw was inches away from him now, and his fighting was pointless. He didn't know what else to do, other than panic more. He was a dead man. He was never going to leave this place. He was never going to find out who owned that other heart beat, and he was never going to atone for hurting those people. Worse yet, he wasn't going to be able to say goodbye to Greven.
"STOP IT!" Spyro cried out, sounding utterly helpless. His eyes began to tear up, and he even started to cry. His body broke down, and he went limp. He would have fallen, yet the thing that held him down, was now the only thing holding him up.
Once again he felt a warm and motherly touch wrap around him, trying to give him comfort, but he didn't pay this any attention. His eyes were glued to this phantom-esk dragon before him.
It had retracted its claw, as though startled by Spyro shouting. For a moment, Spyro thought he even saw a hint of sorrow on its face. Just as quickly as the creature showed up, it disappeared without a trace.
He felt a small pressure on his back, as though the warm hold around him turned into a hug. Between his sobs, he tried to figure out what happened and what was going on. As far as he could tell, that monster did not touch him. What was going on?
Before he could really ponder over that question, he woke up.
Spyro jerked his head upwards, gasping as he did, his lungs begging for breath. The moment he lifted his head up, he felt a large paw being set on his shoulder, making him jump in fear. Spyro tried to scramble across the ground, wanting to get away from whoever touched him, only to find that it was difficult to move. He looked down at his paws and saw that he was bound. Looking back up, he saw an old fire dragon looking both confused and worried.
"Spyro, relax, i'm not going to hurt you." The fire dragon spoke, doing his best to sound calm and relaxed.
In truth, Ignitus was just confused. When he got here, Spyro's scales had turned black, and he tried to threaten him and the guards. Then the young dragon paced around the room for a little while, and tried to scare them away a few times. Then he froze and passed out, the black smoke leaving his body soon afterwards.
Ignitus and the guards at the time were baffled, and were unsure if it was safe or not. Not wanting to waste the moment given to them, they unlocked the cell and walked in to bind Spyro's limbs once again.
Once that was done, Ignitus stood over the purple dragon and waited for him to wake up. There was so much that didn't make sense to the elder, and he needed Spyro to explain himself. Now Spyro was awake again, and he was panicking as though he were just traumatized.
"Young dragon, are you ok?" Ignitus took a step back, giving Spyro some more room, hoping that this would help.
Spyro's eyes darted around the room, as he tried to figure out where he was again, but his mind was buzzing too much for him to really grasp reality. His breath was quick, and nothing he did seemed to help relax him.
Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum
He heard the faint sound of the other heart beat in his head, but it was slower than normal. He couldn't explain it, but the heartbeat sounded sad for some reason to him. This only confused him more, however he managed to use this heartbeat as a tether back to reality. Despite his confusion and his distrust of it, this heartbeat was the only thing he could understand at the moment.
Slowly, his mind calmed down, and he began to process and remember things. He was still in the same jail, and he was still tied up. Coming to terms with this, Spyro relaxed a little, laying his head against the stone floor, taking this moment to just breath.
Ignitus waited a moment for Spyro to readjust to his surroundings before approaching him again. "Spyro, what happened?"
Spyro lifted his head back up to look at the large fire dragon. Ignitus noticed the fear in the purple dragon's eyes as he spoke. "I… I don't know."
add line here
Night had fallen in Warfang. For such a large city as it was, it became rather quiet when the sun set below the horizon. There were still the sounds of people going about their daily lives, heading home after work, or just enjoying a moonlit stroll, but for the most part it was quiet.
This was a perfect time for Cynder to enjoy her training in peace. She did her best to stay quiet as she opened up her front door. Though her mom was asleep, she was a light sleeper. She knew how much her mother hated her sneaking out to practice her elements, but Cynder needed to know. She wanted to learn, to grow stronger. If her mom wasn't going to help her, then what other choice did Cynder have?
Once she was outside, things became easier. Not many people were out and about over here, and even if there was, Cynder's black scales helped her hide in the dark. On top of that, if she truly needed to, she had her shadow element as well.
Tonight was like most other nights. She didn't run into anyone, as she walked along the stone path to a tiny spot she had discovered not too long ago since moving. Between two houses was an alleyway with several other houses blocking the other end, thus forming a somewhat large box. Why they left so much unused room when building this city, she wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to complain.
If she had to guess it was probably about ten feet all around, which wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. At the very least it kept most prying eyes away from her as she trained. None of the houses had windows that pointed out to the alleyway, so the people inside had to walk out if they wanted to see who was making noise. That was the only issue she foresaw. She had to always listen out for the sound of someone's door opening. Thankfully she had done this enough at her old home to be more aware of how loud she was being.
She stood in the center of her little arena, and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax, and focused her energy inwards.
Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum
The other heart rang in her head, and with it came the pulling sensation. She scrunched her face up into a scowl, as she wasn't able to center herself like she had hoped. With this feeling of being pulled going on, she wasn't sure if she could focus on anything else. She shook her head, hoping to drown out the noise and sensations if she just started her training.
Leaping up into the air as high as she could, Cynder noise dived towards the ground. Her snout never hit the stone below her, as instead her body disappeared into the shadows. A simple shadow element trick, but she had more of a reason to practice this ability.
As she stayed within the shadows, she could not breath. It was a strange sensation, running about within the shadows. It was almost like swimming through water, only the water was thick and was constantly trying to eject you out of it. She pressed her weight downwards, and began to run in circles till her lungs began to burn. Jumping out from that realm, she gasped for air. Standing still panting, she smirked a little.
She had just beaten her record for how long she could stay under there!
After giving herself a moment, Cynder looked upwards towards the starry sky. It was so beautiful to gaze at. She always felt a sense of endless possibilities when looking at the countless stars and swirls of dark colors that painted the canvas above her. However, star gazing wanted why she was here right now. She took a deep breath before a torrent of black fire shot from her muzzle.
She had to be careful when training. She didn't want to damage any of the buildings around her. They were people's homes after all. So any breath attacks would have to be pointed skywards. She watched closely as the dark fire dissipated into the air above her, leaving behind a dark haze, which blurred the untouched abyss that shined over her head.
Looking back down, Cynder twisted her wings, and buckled her legs. With a mighty leap, she spun her body and unfurled her wings, as she let the strong gust of wind she conjured lift her further up off the ground.
She spun in the air, her eyes shut as to not make herself dizzy from the spinning, till she felt the effect of gravity take hold once more. Opening her eyes back up, she saw the ground quickly coming closer. Just before landing, she spread her wings out, and made a weaker blast of wind catch her, letting her land without harm.
She wanted to move to her poison, however in her prior home, she found that hard to do without damaging the buildings around her. It wasn't extensive damage, more of a charde mark than anything. Still she didn't want to cause damages if she could avoid it.
There was one technique she discovered that she could do to further practice this element. She learned how to on accident one day at home when she was bored. She yawned, and nearly gagged herself by doing this. Worse yet was the damage this move did to her home.
She felt a lump in her throat, and it slowly began to build as it traveled up to her muzzle. Her body shivered as she opened her mouth and let a large green bubble drift out. As it floated there, Cynder was panting and had to take a moment to collect herself. This move didn't take a lot of energy to make, but it was a horrible experience to use.
When she was able to calm herself, she looked up back at the bubble she made. The more childish side of her wanted to just pop it, however she knew that would be bad. It was made completely out of poison, and if she wasn't careful, she could hurt herself.
Examining it for a moment, Cynder was rather disappointed by it. It looked smaller than what she could normally make. In fact now that she noticed, she was really sad by this, almost heart broken even.
"Wait, what?"
Cynder was confused, why would she be that sad about a stupid bubble? That doesn't make sense.
Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum
She heard the other heartbeat in her head again, but it sounded slower this time. It was as if whoever this heart belonged to was really sad about something. What that was, she had no idea. Now that she was paying attention to the heartbeat, she felt the pull against her chest again. This was growing really annoying.
Cynder used her wind element to force the bubble towards a corner where it popped. There was a small mark along that corner from when she had done this before. She wished there was a better way to dispose of these toxic bubbles, but she didn't have any other ideas on how to do that.
She left the alleyway and walked into the middle of the empty street. Between the moonlight and the stars, she could clearly see the large building that the heartbeat was directing her towards. She grimaced. What was over there that was so important? Why now? What changed?
She considered flying over and finding out, and yet she was still scared to do so. There was a lot she could be risking if she did.
Or was there?
She never gave it a lot of thought. She just assumed that if she did anything away from home without the company of her mother to help keep her safe, she would be risking her secret getting out. However so long as she doesnt use her elements then there wouldn't be any way they could find out. Not to mention she has seen people walking towards the Temple when she left for her nightly training before. Granted she didn't actually know if they were going to the Temple or not, but there was at least a reason to assume that the building was open at all times.
She felt the pull against her some more, but this time it was different. Ever since she started feeling this pull, she had resisted it. She was scared about what could be on the other end of this invisible rope.
But now, she let it tug on her. Her previous worries had been replaced with curiosity. What was over there that was so special? What was she about to find?
Having no more fear of what could happen, Cynder began to walk towards the Temple.
Wow, that was something wasn't it? What the hell is going on in this story? Well, I know what's happening, which I'm sure it's frustrating to some of you guys. Maybe you will find out soon, but who knows? What will Cynder do when she reaches the Temple? What will happen to Spyro and Greven? Will they ever find out who's heart they hear? You'll just have to wait and see.