Dark Horizon

by Soulfire72

The Dragon Realms have finally settled into a new age of peace, and Spyro and Cynder begin new lives amongst normal dragons. However, when Spyro and his new friends discover the world's magic being devoured, Spyro's desire for the truth will lead him down a path from which he cannot turn away. Part 1 Complete!

32. Consorting

Chapter 31

Consorting

---

The days stretched into weeks, then into months. Spyro lost himself in the library, constantly requiring Ignitus' help to avoid wandering too far into the halls. While he did eat occasionally, going out to hunt the small animals that crept about, he barely felt hungry. After tracking time, normally he'd be losing an unhealthy amount of weight, but he didn't feel any different. There were enough mirrors and water reflections for him to see that as well.

He unconsciously sank into reading for his own enjoyment rather than searching for answers. Part of him didn't want to find them. The Aethereal was almost forgotten – his sleep clear of any visions or nightmares, and its dark, unwelcome presence. The moment he found something to go on or some lead, he would have to leave, and the threat of its intervention and visions would most likely return.

But he couldn't stay there forever. While he never had outright nightmares, his dreams often involved visions of Cynder, Sparx, and everyone else in Warfang he knew. He frequently woke up in tears.

Slowly, his dreams began to focus on another nagging thought. The final vision of the giant orc – of the underground city he'd still found no information about, but must surely exist. The city was in danger, if the orc's feelings were any indication… and he had no idea how much time it had. For all he knew, it could have already been destroyed, but by what? And wouldn't that be recorded in the book of time, even if it weren't directly related to dragons?

He still had too many questions, but he gradually focused on that vision. He shifted his attention over to the grublins and any settlements they might have had. The only records were from raiding dragons discovering them on their own, and they weren't entirely sure what they were looking at. Unfortunately, any records like this were set thousands of years ago, and Spyro could ill afford to check every underground cavern he found. And the places mentioned were so close to Malefor's former lair that they were likely assimilated into the army.

Still, when Ignitus relayed this information, some of Warfang's scouts were able to check the areas further out of his reach. However, there were only one or two such locations they could find, and the scouts found nothing but silent rock.

Spyro needed to find the grublins that were fleeing Malefor. Those he encountered on the most recent mission were the only recourse he had left. Since the only grublin that he knew had the information was dead, there was only one being they could think of that could give it.

Spyro spent an entire morning going over his plan in his head, and from the look Ignitus gave him as he approached, the Chronicler knew what he was planning the whole time.

'I would say it is too dangerous, Spyro…' – he sighed reluctantly – 'but I see no other course of action for you. My resources here have been of precious little help, and the future has offered no answers.'

Spyro nodded. 'I know, Ignitus. But I've put this off for too long. So...' – he paused and bit his lip anxiously – 'can it be done?'

His gaze focused on Ignitus' pendant. The Chronicler slowly closed his paw around it as he felt its warm glow.

'I believe so. Chroniclers of the past allowed a select few to use it, and only those they trusted. Its magic is not unlike that of the Pool of Visions.'

'So if it doesn't work, that would be the next option…'

Ignitus examined the purple drake worriedly. Despite Spyro's brave face, his voice quivered slightly and his limbs wobbled. 'I would be more concerned with getting out unscathed, young dragon, than what comes next…'

Spyro lowered his head. No matter what happened, he would be setting up events he might not have control over, and he could end up worse than after leaving Warfang. But…

'I know, Ignitus. I don't have a choice. If that city is still standing, and the grublins have answers – I have to do this.'

He pushed himself towards the central hourglass to stand before it, and Ignitus closed his eyes. His pendant glowed a bright blue, the necklace gradually hoisting itself up over his horned head and around Spyro's neck. Upon receiving it, he clasped it slowly, trying to read its energy – not unlike a spirit gem, he felt magic surge into his claw and back again.

'Talon? I'm going to need your help.'

The falcon glanced between the two dragons, and Ignitus slowly nodded. Talon flapped his wings and hopped onto Spyro's shoulder, and Spyro took a deep breath.

'How do I use it?'

'Just think of who you wish to speak to, and it will come. Though, if the Pool of Visions is anything to go by, it may take hours.'

Spyro gulped nervously. Bad enough I have to do this, now it would take that long to even try…

Talon squawked hurriedly, and Spyro tightened his brow.

'Right. Here I go…' He glanced to his right. 'Ignitus, if it gets too dangerous, get the pendant off me.'

Ignitus smiled. 'Be strong, Spyro. I believe you can do this. Trust your instincts.'

Spyro managed a weak smile back, returning to focus on the hourglass in front of him and closing his eyes. He let the pendant's magic flow through his joints, allowing himself to drift off, searching for the same sensation he had when the old Chronicler had contacted him years ago.

He soon lost all awareness of his surroundings. When he could no longer feel the stone floor beneath his claws, he panicked for a moment, the dark arena still fresh in his mind.

No. I'm tired of being afraid. I have to face this, or things will never change.

He focused on the image in his head, ignoring all distractions from his memory. Eventually, he felt another presence, and when it became aware of him, it slammed into his consciousness, its power temporarily overwhelming his awareness.

---

'So.' A distorted voice blared. 'You've come crawling back, young dragon. It seems I've had the last laugh.'

Spyro was able to focus and keep the presence at bay, if only due to his disdain.

'If I had another choice, I would have taken it.'

Malefor laughed, his mocking tone only building his disdain. 'You see that it's inevitable? The path of a purple dragon is fixed, no matter how you try to fight it… And so long as you do, you will be alone.'

'As opposed to destroying the world?' Spyro growled sharply. 'I need answers, and I don't need to hear your ramblings again.'

Malefor seemed impressed. 'I see your tongue's grown sharper since we last spoke.'

'Enough! I'm looking for the grublins.'

Malefor's voice shifted a little. 'Grublins? You've already found plenty of them.'

Spyro quickly searched Malefor's mind within a split second, but saw only the hordes of creatures bearing down on Warfang and other battles with his armies.

'No. The grublins that didn't join you.'

'Ah. So you wish to raise your own army? Perhaps I'll indulge your curiosity then… But why bother with those defects? Despite those you've already destroyed, there are still plenty willing to follow a purple dragon.'

'They attack on sight. Any information they might have had died when you took over.'

'Of course. Loyalty often leads to blindness… and in this case, the mind deteriorates to the point of a rabid animal.'

'So where are they?'

Malefor's presence seemed to press forward, and Spyro suddenly felt very exposed.

'For what purpose?'

'I… I'm not telling you.'

'Defiance. I expected as much.'

And then, Malefor's mind tore into his. The image of the Aethereal came up right in front of him, and he instinctively resisted. But several more images flew by as he squirmed in Malefor's mental grip.

'Hm… You seek to learn more about this dark power…?'

'Because… because I want to be rid of it!'

Malefor laughed again, though not as mocking as before. 'You should be curious. Eager. You've been granted a great gift, and yet you squander it.'

He continued to probe further. Spyro realised in a panic that he was going through his memories of Warfang.

No… He's looking for information about the walls, its defences and weapons…

He had to focus. He had to focus on one thing to get free. And it had to evoke strong emotion.

And then, images he'd seen before, which churned his stomach… the corpses piled in the Silent Plains. The names of the fallen. A constant stream of blood and death. Smashed eggs and dead hatchlings.

'You. This… this is YOUR FAULT.'

The string of images he conjured kept repeating, his disdain instantly rising into anger, which soon evolved into hatred.

'I will not help you kill more innocent people. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!'

He focused his hatred as if it was a burning blade, cutting through Malefor's mind in retaliation in an effort to break free. Malefor's presence faltered.

'Why!? Why did you do all this? HOW could you do all this?'

'I do not have to justify myself to you.'

'Oh really? From where I'm standing, you're trapped in the centre of the planet, and I'm not. I'm your only chance of destroying the planet. Or was all that talk about purple dragons a lie?'

Malefor's mind simmered with anger just below the surface, and he couldn't help but draw some degree of satisfaction.

'Tell me, or rot in there. Your choice.'

Malefor growled menacingly. 'I will rot in here regardless. However… all this death you witness… was because the foolish creatures of this world could not accept their fate. They resist, constantly, instead of allowing the inevitable to run its course.'

'Something isn't "inevitable" just because you say it is.'

'I know it is! It is the only way to restore this pitiful world!'

'Because of your power?'

'What else, whelp?'

'Or maybe you just can't stand it when you might be wrong. If your followers don't obey your every word, you destroy them. And so, because the world didn't follow your whim, you decided to destroy it, too.'

'Silence!'

Spyro forcibly conjured back the string of images.

'Look at this. You caused all this, and you say it's because they resisted? Your father was an Earth dragon. Of course living creatures want to survive. How can you not understand that?'

'They… deserved it…'

'Don't lie to me! Only the Ancestors and the dragons following them might have, but this has gone on for thousands of years! Just about everyone after this had nothing to do with what happened to you. And you still think they deserve it!?'

'You have no idea… You could NEVER understand what happened to me.'

'Maybe not. But do you think they would have wanted this? Your father? Mother? Family?'

'Do NOT speak of them.'

'And how are all these families any different? You lost yours, which just about broke you… and somehow, you use it as justification to inflict the same on so many others. You're despicable.'

Malefor only answered with a menacing growl, but Spyro continued.

'You've lost all respect for life that was instilled in you in the first place. You destroyed the Apes, even though you were sympathetic to them from the beginning. You've rendered so much of what you fought for pointless. And you want to do the same to the grublins.'

'I'll do the same to anyone who opposes me. Talking to you is pointless. As it was for all the others… It would be better for the world to be created anew than to slowly die as it is now. And as you'll find out, young dragon – I am not the only player here.'

'Wh-what?'

It was too late. Malefor retreated from his consciousness, the sudden emptiness leaving Spyro reeling as he attempted to orient himself. He pulled away, trying to feel his limbs moving again, and as he did, his vision came back into focus. He instantly swayed, however and the room before him swirled from dizziness.

'Spyro! What happened?'

Spyro stayed standing long enough to feel Talon's feet pricking into his scales.

'Talon… Did you… get it?'

He wasn't able to look, but Talon squawked affirmatively, and he managed to smile.

'Good…'

He attempted to take a step, but his limbs immediately buckled as he collapsed to the floor.

---

Sion came in and out of his shifts at the jail as time went on. He quickly moved on to guarding specific buildings and districts, as they were in relative safety compared to the walls. Every few weeks, though, he would be reassigned to the prison block, as it was still overall the most appropriate for his experience.

When he was assigned, he took to pestering the prisoners until they ate more, much to the mole's chagrin. While he got them to eat slightly more, there was still a concerning amount of leftovers despite his efforts.

He also tried to cheer the prisoners up, after confirming that he was allowed to try. At first he tried to engage them in conversation, but the gossip he spouted annoyed a lot of them. He gave up on that route and attempted to tell jokes. While he barely got any laughs, he could at least tell they were listening.

It was on the third day of the week that Sion thought up an idea as he studied Snotty's cell.

'Hey, Snotty? When was the last time you trained with Hunter? Since I started this job, I haven't seen you come out at all.'

The Skavenger's ears twitched as he frowned thoughtfully. 'Eh… Come to think of it, it's been a couple of months. Yeh actually see him swinging that sword around sometimes?'

Sion nodded. 'I saw him a couple of times near the falcon roost.'

Snotty shrugged. 'Well, if he doesn't need me help, no reason to bring me out.'

Sion shook his head. 'No, actually… I was wondering if you want to come out again. Just in general.'

The Skavenger stared at him for a moment, shaking his head and twitching his ears.

'Musta heard yeh wrong. You want to let me out? No tricks up yer wings?'

Sion snorted. 'I don't trick people. Too much work.'

Snotty continued to stare at him for another minute. 'I suppose there'd be no reason for yeh to trick me here.' He tapped his jaw with his hook. 'If yer serious, laddie, then I'd take that offer. 'Course, I don't have much hope you can convince those bigger Skylubbers to give yeh permission.'

Sion bowed his head thoughtfully. 'Yeah, good point. Do you think it'd be better if I asked them or Hunter first? He could make up something, or ask to train with you anyway.'

'Well, uh... It might sound better coming from the cat, honestly...'

Sion frowned to himself for a moment. 'Right. Is there anywhere you'd like to go in particular?'

Snotty stood a step back and gripped his chin, his beady eyes flicking around as if imagining the other parts of Warfang before his eyes.

'What about an armory? Where the skylubbers get their armor and everyone else stores weapons?'

Sion raised a sceptical brow. 'Why would you want to go there?'

Snotty twisted his snout miserably as he met his gaze. 'I miss me old girl. Can yeh blame me for wanting to look at other swords?'

Sion averted his gaze. 'Good point. Sorry.'

He frowned to himself as Snotty continued to watch him hopefully. How am I supposed to convince anyone to go along with this? Terrador and Volteer might be more open, same with Hunter, but Cyril and most moles would be against it. They'll all have to know, since the armoury is a public place. I see those little moles there all the time, and a lot of them treat the place like a museum. Actually, I haven't seen any of the displays further in... If I could go along...

He blinked with a start as Snotty started tapping his bars repeatedly.

'Ya might wanna look up, laddie.'

'...ion! Up here!'

His eyes were drawn to a black dragoness hovering above the prison entrance, along with a glowing dragonfly alongside her.

'Bronzie! Hunter's taking us to the Guardians!'

Hunter stood with folded arms below them, and Sion exchanged a nod with him before looking back up. 'What for?'

Cynder and Sparx shared a tired glance, before continuing on and Sparx calling over his shoulder.

'What do you think, genius? Something about Spyro!'

Sion blinked with an excited grin immediately following. 'Wait up!'

He glanced back at Snotty one last time. 'I should be able to ask them about it now.'

Snotty nodded thankfully, but kept a sceptical gaze. 'I won't hold me breath, but good luck, laddie.'

Sion hurried after Hunter, keeping to the ground until Hunter's agility became too much for him and taking off to follow close behind the group.

---

'Spyro did WHAT?!'

Solaris immediately prodded Sion in the leg with her tail blade, earning a yelp and a scowl. Cynder and Sparx turned their heads slightly as the guards outside the Great Hall peered in suspiciously.

'Calm down, Sion. He's fine.' Cyril sighed tiredly, as if he was convincing himself of that fact. 'Though I have to wonder just how far Spyro is willing to go...'

Solaris ignored Sion's glare and cleared her throat. 'It doesn't surprise me. We've explored all other avenues, so I think it was justified.'

Cynder shook her head, keeping her voice low. 'But we have no idea how this could affect him! I know what it's like to have Malefor squirming in my head. How can Ignitus be sure he's alright?'

Volteer glanced at the other Guardians, who lowered their snouts uncomfortably. 'We can't be sure. However, Ignitus oversaw the entire exchange, and the way he tells it, Spyro was able to resist Malefor's mind-probing quite well despite his age. In fact, Ignitus and I have a theory–'

Cyril sighed again. 'Volteer, this is not the time for your wild speculation.'

Solaris shook her head, drawing the Guardians' gazes. 'No, I want to hear it.'

Cyril rolled his eyes but Volteer smiled. 'Thank you, my dear.' He paused as Cynder and Sion raised their heads attentively. 'Spyro may have been able to resist Malefor's influence... because he's already got something in his head.'

Sparx frowned sceptically. 'Meaning?'

Volteer continued to smile, but didn't speak any further, instead looking at the young dragons who were thinking to themselves.

Solaris spoke up first. 'Are you saying that thing is... helping him?'

There was a long, stunned silence, with Sion and Sparx shaking their heads vehemently. Cynder was tempted to do the same, until she recalled how it looked at her. She found it hard to believe, but it had seemed ever so slightly... apologetic? Volteer finally spoke up after an awkward pause.

'Well, it's just a theory, as I mentioned. Though since Ignitus was somewhat inclined to agree –and also factoring in him being the Chronicler, it is a plausible theory indeed–'

Sion cleared his throat. 'So... what is Spyro doing now? Why did he have to go through all that trouble?'

The Guardians shared an uncertain glance, and Terrador spoke up.

'We... do not know yet.'

Solaris frowned. 'What? Spyro couldn't have done something that risky without getting something out of it.'

'Spyro hasn't actually woken up yet,' Cyril said guardedly.

'I thought you said he was fine!' Sparx exclaimed.

'Ignitus seems to believe he's just exhausted,' Terrador said, 'though the only reason given was that he foresaw him waking up, in... Twelve hours.'

Sparx looked off to the side. 'Oh, so now he can see the future properly...' He frowned to himself and lowered his voice. 'We could have used that before...'

Cynder narrowed her eyes and scanned everyone else firmly. 'So now what? Does Ignitus have any idea what will happen next?'

The Guardians collectively lowered their heads with grim expressions. Solaris followed suit, her muzzle clenched harder than usual.

Cynder, along with Sion and Sparx, watched them anxiously, as they remained silent. She soon focused on Solaris, suspicion entering her gaze.

'Solaris? Do you know something? I thought Ignitus only consulted the Guardians about this.'

Solaris shook her head slowly as the Guardians watched her. 'I do not know, but I can guess.'

Oddly enough, Volteer gave the blue dragoness an encouraging nod. 'Please, share your thoughts, my dear.'

Cyril shot him a dirty look as Solaris closed her eyes for a moment.

'Since Spyro was willing to speak to Malefor – something anyone with magic would know is dangerous – we can conclude that Spyro's reached a dead end with the actual knowledge he has access to. Considering that he has access to the Chronicler's library, there are only two possible outcomes for Spyro. Neither of them good.'

Sion gulped, while Cynder and Sparx stared at her anxiously.

'The first is that he failed to get anything from Malefor. Which would mean he has no viable means of figuring out how to deal with the Aethereal any time soon... if ever.'

Cynder raised her brow in realisation.

'The other is that he succeeded – and knows where to go next.' She met Cynder's eyes with a grave expression. 'Do you see where I'm going with this?'

Cynder lowered her head.

'He'll leave Ignitus. He'll... be in danger again.'

Everyone watched her sympathetically, but silence fell on the group as they could offer no words of comfort.

Eventually, Volteer spoke up brightly, jolting nearly everyone in the Hall.

'Well done Solaris! It's encouraging to see how far your deductive reasoning has–'

Terrador's eyes widened awkwardly as he coughed to the side.

'Volteer!' Cyril snapped. 'This is not the time!'

Volteer stammered as the young ones looked on in bewilderment.

'W-well, I did not want the meeting to end on such a dour note...' Volteer steadied himself. 'After all, the second outcome is the more likely one. It means that Spyro made progress, and that he hasn't suffered lasting effects. It's the best news we could have hoped for.'

'We still don't know that,' Solaris countered.

Volteer sighed dejectedly. 'What else can we do, but trust Spyro to see it through?'

Sparx frowned as he spoke up. 'How about we do something! Can't you guys organize some scouts to find him and help?'

While Volteer and Cyril eyed the dragonfly sceptically, Terrador instead lowered his head. 'That... may be possible.'

'Huh?'

The young dragons looked confused as Terrador addressed Sparx directly.

'I have been thinking about that, to be honest. If we could observe his progress from a distance, without that creature taking notice...'

Cynder immediately stood up straight. 'Then... I...!'

She fell silent as the Guardians collectively shook their heads. Solaris narrowed her eyes as she watched them.

'I'm afraid not, Cynder,' Terrador said. 'I mean no offense, but do you think you'd be able to merely watch him from a distance? At this stage, we want to simply observe. Most importantly – should we send scouts, at what range can we stay before the creature detects our presence and attacks?' He lowered his head to examine Cynder for a moment. 'You've come a long way in your training, young dragoness, but we need the most experienced wind dragonesses possible – those who can escape it at a moment's notice. We are not willing to take unnecessary risks here.'

Cynder shook her head defiantly. 'But... that creature wouldn't attack...'

The Earth Guardian's brow rose in surprise as Cyril's gaze hardened. 'What do you mean, Cynder? Explain.'

Cynder hesitated as she realised all eyes were upon her. It took her a few seconds to recall the last time the Aethereal spoke.

'When I saw it in Spyro's body... it told me to "stay out of this."'

The Guardians exchanged wary glances, while Sion and Sparx continued to stare at her.

'Wh-what's that supposed to mean?' Sparx said with a quivering voice.

Solaris' expression barely changed as she spoke. 'What do you think it meant by that?'

'I just asked that...' Sparx managed to grumble after recovering.

Cynder tried to picture its eyes without flinching. 'It's hard to remember, but it seemed... upset. By me being there.'

Solaris narrowed her eyes even more as she looked away. 'Apart from its annoyed tone, I don't ever remember it being "upset". Upset, as in distress. Spyro obviously was at the time, but...'

Volteer's mouth opened a few times, but a few frowns later, he found he had nothing more to add. After another brief silence, Terrador cleared his throat.

'Regardless, Cynder, it is still too early to send you. If we had more information about the conditions under which the Aethereal may come out, we would consider sending you along with our scouts. As of right now, however, it would be more beneficial to send a small team first.'

'How about I go, then?' Sion piped up as he watched Cynder lower her gaze. 'I could keep up with them, and I–'

'Don't be ridiculous!' Solaris snapped before the Guardians could answer. 'You, of everyone here, would be at most risk! Even the toothpick carries more magic than you. It would have no qualms about skewering you, unlike the wind dragons.'

Sparx folded his arms and scowled while Sion frowned miserably.

'B-but...'

The bronze drake looked up at the Guardians with a pleading look, but they shook their heads much the same as they did for Cynder.

Solaris' brow furrowed even deeper. She felt something was off when they refused Cynder, and now again with Sion, even if the end decision was sound...

'There's another reason you won't send them... isn't there?'

The Guardians met her firm gaze for a moment, and Volteer was the first to falter.

'And here I was, praising your intellect...'

Solaris raised her brow expectantly as the others watched them with confusion. 'Well? Am I right?'

Cyril reluctantly lowered his head after another few seconds, but instead of answering, he asked his own question.

'Are you all aware of Warfang's current opinion on Spyro?'

The youngsters paused as the discussion's direction shifted. However, it took only a moment for Sion and Cynder to frown with their recent recollections.

'Some of them are afraid...' Cynder began, her anger quickly offset by sympathy. 'For different reasons than we are, I guess...'

Sion felt heat rise in his throat for a moment. 'But some of them go too far! They say they're afraid something like Malefor will happen again! That's stupid!'

His anger simmered rapidly as the Guardians' expression drooped tiredly.

'...Right?'

Cyril and Solaris' brows creased with disapproval, and the blue dragoness opened her mouth for a retort.

'No, Sion, it is not.' Everyone else glanced up with surprise at the Earth Guardian. 'It would not do for a soldier of Warfang to dismiss the populace's fears in such a manner.'

Sion stared at Terrador for a full second before glancing away. It was hard to tell if he was ashamed, angry, or both. Cynder narrowed her eyes slightly at each of the Guardians.

'You… don't actually believe it, do you?'

Terrador shook his head once. 'No, but at the same time, I…' – he glanced at the other Guardians – 'or rather, we understand why the populace might think that. After all, given what Ignitus has told us, previous purple dragons have never led full lives without significant conflict.'

Solaris nodded to herself. 'You could say purple dragons inherently cause conflict because of their power.'

'Wait a minute…' Cynder objected. 'We haven't told anyone in Warfang about the previous purple dragons. Why would everyone be scared of Spyro because of that?'

'Don't be too sure, Cynder…' Cyril spoke guardedly. 'Moles and Cheetahs may not be as long lived as we are, but that does not mean their memories are similarly short lived.'

Sion suddenly sighed heavily. 'Why do they only remember the bad things? Didn't the previous purple dragon die saving a group of moles?'

It took the group a moment to register what he just said.

'You… remembered that?' Solaris said, disbelief coating her muzzle.

He looked at her heatedly. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Cynder sighed and rolled her eyes. 'All that aside… what now? Until Spyro makes some more progress, I don't think we can do anything about Warfang itself.'

Terrador inclined his head. 'I've already spoken with the wind dragonesses. Nadina… has volunteered to go.'

Sion blinked several times before his jaw hung open.

'Seriously? You're sending your girlfriend for something as dangerous as that?!'

Terrador growled uncomfortably. 'I just said she volunteered…'

'Can't you send someone else?'

Cyril grumbled to himself. 'And this is why Guardians are discouraged from having relationships…'

'My personal feelings about it are irrelevant,' Terrador explained tentatively, 'as she is the best choice. She knows you all well enough for you to trust her word, but also has enough influence in Warfang for them to trust her as well.'

'Or she's not close enough to Spyro for others to doubt her?' Solaris restated.

'There's no need to be so negative, my dear,' Volteer began, 'but I'm afraid you have a point. She is just neutral enough to be selected.'

'At least tell me she's not going alone.' Sion pouted.

'Of course not,' Cyril answered sharply, and the younger dragons relaxed somewhat. 'We'll try to get Ralis or some other experienced scouts to go with her, with at least a team of four.' He snorted and shifted his wings. 'It's all a moot point until Spyro wakes up, and Ignitus informs us where he's going. Right now, only he and Talon, it seems, know their destination.'

'So…?' Sparx said slowly.

'So… you should all go back to what you were doing before,' Cyril said with finality. 'We'll send word when or if we get news from Ignitus.' After waiting for a second, and the young dragons still being lost in thought, he frowned. 'Well? Off you go.'

While the others reluctantly began to leave towards the opening main doors, Sion fidgeted in place, the three Guardians watching him curiously; though in Cyril's case, this quickly turned into an impatient frown.

'More to say, young drake? Out with it, then.'

Sion took a moment to meet Cyril's gaze, but braced himself and stood up straight.

'Is it… okay if Snotty is let out of his cell for a day? To look around the city?'

Volteer and Terrador's eyes widened, while Cyril coughed heavily.

'Come again? I am certain I didn't hear that right.'

Sion shook his head quickly. 'I mean, of course with an escort, but…'

The Guardians examined him collectively.

'What did he say to you?' Cyril asked.

Why does he sound so suspicious?

'Well, actually... I offered. And I figured, since he's been more than cooperative enough considering everything…'

Cyril narrowed his eyes down at the drake, making Sion fidget nervously. 'Perhaps you're getting too friendly with the Skavengers?'

Volteer dismissed Cyril's notion with a wave of his wing in front of the Ice Guardian, earning him an annoyed growl. 'You refer to the sentence reduction? Part of me feels rather guilty for that, but the moles had our claws tied in the end… After all, they suffered the Skavengers' crimes more than we did… Not to mention the Cheetahs and Prowlus stepping in–'

Cyril cleared his throat loudly as he pushed down Volteer's wing with a paw. 'Is there any reason we should grant his request? He is still a criminal, regardless of how compliant he may be.'

'Uh…'

Sion was at a loss for words. He scratched at his chin for a moment. I already said he's been cooperative enough…

'Perhaps look at it in another way, Cyril?'

Sion blinked in surprise as both Volteer and Terrador turned to the Ice Guardian with softer gazes. Cyril reacted to the Electric Guardian with a tired look.

'Fine… such as?'

'He is the current Skavenger leader,' Terrador rumbled, 'so we should grant him the deference he is due. After all, on our part, I feel like we failed him somewhat when we could not reduce the sentence despite him fulfilling his end of the bargain.'

Cyril glanced away sceptically. 'There was never an official agreement…'

Volteer shot him a calculating look. 'Well, it wouldn't do to have him as an adversary when he is released, would it? This could be beneficial in the long run, provided it is handled correctly.'

Sion raised a brow in confusion. 'So… you're thinking about it?'

Terrador and Cyril looked like they were about to answer, but Volteer continued, and they quickly realised he was talking to himself.

'Mhm, yes, the web of interracial politics is a tricky one to unravel, but if the moles and cheetahs could become involved, it will become beneficial for all parties, unless of course–'

'Volteer!'

The Electric Guardian flinched and blinked several times at the Ice Guardian.

'Wh-what?'

'Speak sense!'

After a momentary confused pause, Terrador continued.

'You mentioned moles and cheetahs, Volteer. Do you have something in mind?'

'Yes, actually… Though it would depend on where Snotty wishes to peruse.'

Sion was barely following. 'Huh?'

Terrador sighed. 'He means where Snotty wants to go.'

Sion blinked and smiled. 'Oh, right. Uh… the armoury, I guess?'

Terrador remained stiff, Cyril stared in shock, and Volteer smiled and nodded.

'Excellent choice! On his part, of course…'

'Have you taken a blow to the head?' Cyril objected. 'That's the last place I would trust Snotty to go! Even with an escort!'

Volteer shrugged after a moment of thought. 'Perhaps we could restrain him again?'

'You severely underestimate that pirate.'

'And you're too suspicious!' Volteer began to frown. 'He's done nothing since his capture! No attempts at escape. I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.'

Cyril sighed heavily, and both turned to study the silent Earth Guardian.

'Well, anything to say, Terrador? It's an impasse without your input.'

Terrador glanced towards Volteer.

'I can see why you might want a mole and a cheetah to go as well. Dragons have little interest in weapons, so if those three races might find some common ground…'

'You sound like you approve.' Cyril frowned.

'… But it still presents a risk. I suggest we give the other guests more thought. They would have to be willing to be in Snotty's presence, as well as influential enough among their people to make a difference…'

'So you'll do it?' Sion asked hopefully.

Cyril took one last look at his fellow Guardians before sighing heavily. 'Fine, fine… We'll figure things out. However, since this was your request, you'll be representing the dragons in this meeting.'

It took Sion a second to process those words.

'Wait, what?'

He felt their gazes fall away from him as they all began to circle around him towards the open doors, Volteer immediately running names off his tongue for potential candidates. The guards started to glare at him as he remained loitering, and he forced himself outside only to stare at the stone pavement under the sun in disbelief.

What have I gotten myself into?

---

A couple of days passed without any further news from Spyro. With his list of dragons, the scouts periodically went out on missions to search last known locations, but always turned up short – they had already searched known locations for survivors in the past year. Still, there was hope among the dragons now – especially for the Earth and Wind dragons, as they had thought all others of their kind were only in Warfang. Unfortunately, they were likely well off the continent, if they had fled the war as the commanders and Guardians predicted.

Sion continued his rounds as normal after letting Snotty know what was going on. While the Skavenger was initially concerned about the setup, he quickly came around after Sion made it clear it was the Guardians' idea.

'Long as I can get out for a bit, eh…'

Sion was more confused by the whole idea in the first place. In fact, whenever he thought back to the discussion with the Guardians – the talk about the other races, perception of who should and should not do things, and all politics in general – it all made his head hurt. He quickly stopped thinking about it, but remained uneasy despite his efforts meeting success. What he did understand was that he was saddled with more responsibility than he was expecting.

The evening after the meeting, he decided to ask Telsa for help.

'Did they say anything about what you're supposed to do?' She asked.

Sion thought for a moment. 'I guess it's just looking after them, and making sure they don't pick fights with each other?'

Telsa scoffed to herself lightly, raising her head from her books. 'If they were likely to pick a fight with each other, the Guardians would not have approved it in the first place.'

'Well, Cyril was still not happy…'

His mother sighed. 'That's no surprise. However – it sounds like a good opportunity for you to get into good graces with the moles and cheetahs.'

'Huh?' Sion tilted his head. 'Why would I want to do that? It's not like they're my enemies or anything.'

Telsa frowned and almost sighed again. 'It would create opportunities for you in the future, Sion, especially if you decide you want to be more than a guard or a soldier.'

'More than a…?' Sion resisted the urge to grip his head. 'Mom, you're hurting my brain…'

Telsa stifled a chuckle. 'Oh, I'm sorry, Sion…' She straightened up to gaze at him sympathetically. 'I suppose, with what happened with Spyro, and everything else, you would be under a bit of stress…'

Sion slowly shook his head. 'It's not really that, it's just… I don't know much about moles or cheetahs.'

'Maybe you could read up on their history? Surely the library would have something.'

Sion groaned loudly. That was the answer he did not want to hear.

'I've read enough books lately…'

Telsa simply shrugged and fell silent for a moment.

'Well… if it is too much for you, perhaps you could ask another, more experienced dragon to accompany you?'

Sion twisted his jaw with displeasure. 'I dunno… That'd just make it look like I couldn't handle it by myself.'

Telsa gazed at him for a while, and he met her gaze after a moment, just long enough to see a hint of remembrance before she closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. 'What is it with drakes…?' She said quietly.

'What was that?'

She looked away almost wistfully.

'Never you mind.'

---

Sion encountered Terrador the following afternoon after his daily rounds, finding him in the Nature district – newly named upon Volteer's insistence. Sion spotted the large dragon sitting on his haunches, calmly facing the central stone monument in the district's inner circle in a meditative pose.

'Terrador! Sir!'

The Guardian opened his eyes to look up at the young drake, and as Sion flew closer, the dragon was watching him expectantly. 'Sion. I was expecting to run into you at some point or another.'

Sion landed in front of him, narrowing his eyes curiously. The Guardian seemed on edge for some odd reason. 'How come you're here? It's weird to see you just standing around here instead of the Hall or chambers.'

Terrador inclined his head. 'I was just relaying the scouting mission to Nadina.'

Sion tilted his head slightly after a moment. 'Huh? Where is she now?'

Terrador did not meet his gaze.

'And how come you seem to be waiting for someone? Are you waiting for her?'

Sion soon realized Terrador was looking away in embarrassment, and slowly grinned.

'So… which one's her house?' He raised his head to look over the larger drake's shoulder. 'Is it that one?'

Terrador turned his head slightly to the sky-blue building behind him, and before he could respond, the front door opened, with Nadina pushing her body through. She had two saddlebags strewn on her flank and a smaller bag hanging from her mouth by its strap. As the door closed behind her, she glanced at Sion for a second before walking up to Terrador and gazing up at him expectantly. Terrador looked at Sion out of the corner of his eye for several seconds until Nadina cleared her throat, and he lowered his head, allowing her to slide the strap over his neck and horns.

Sion covered his jaw, suppressing his chuckles at the Guardian, whose wings were twitching uncomfortably, and had an ever so slight blush on his facial scales. While the Guardian kept his gaze focused elsewhere, Nadina smiled pleasantly despite Sion's amusement.

'Sion! I heard you're doing well in your training. You even seem to be handling the theory, which I admit was worried about for a while.'

'It was hard, but it's useful stuff,' Sion said. 'I guess I don't mind reading a little bit if they're important things.'

Nadina's smile fell a little. 'I'd say any knowledge is important now.'

Sion ignored her remark. 'So how come you're packing? And only three bags?'

'Wind dragons travel light,' – Nadina shifted her weight to a more comfortable position – 'and these are things I only got after arriving here. We didn't have the luxury of having possessions for a long time.'

Sion nodded slowly, quickly redirecting the conversation. 'So, are you moving out?'

Nadina glanced at Terrador again, shoulders falling tiredly as he remained silent.

'I don't see the harm in telling him.'

'You're too trusting, Nadina.'

She smiled. 'You do realise we are in broad daylight? Most dragons who saw you now could figure it out.'

'Yes, well… Those dragons respect privacy.'

Nadina widened her eyes and shifted her gaze to Sion in alarm, but he was snickering.

'Oh, I think I can guess where you're going. It would make more sense to move in with a Guardian than the other way around.'

There was an awkward silence for several seconds, as neither Nadina nor Terrador could find anything to say.

'So…' Sion continued, still grinning widely, 'have you two – you know…?'

Terrador cut him off with a loud cough mixed in with annoyed growls.

'Ahem… all that aside, did you need to speak to me, Sion? I do apologise for the abrupt assignment, so I imagine you have questions about that, correct?'

His urging tone caused Sion to refocus.

'Uh… yeah. About that… Do you really think I can handle it?'

Nadina gave a single glance between them. 'I'll… go get settled in. I'll be waiting.'

Terrador watched longingly as she took off, but quickly adopted his normal stoic expression.

'Well, Sion, all that is really needed is for you to keep an eye on Snotty. He will be bound, so he shouldn't cause much trouble.'

'What about the others?' Sion asked nervously. 'The mole and cheetah?'

Terrador's gaze softened. 'It is likely they will at least be people you know.'

'Huh?' Sion was relieved at first, but as he thought about it more, he felt a little disappointed. After what his mother said, he knew there would be little for him to gain from earning their favour if they already knew him. 'Won't that make it too… easy?'

Terrador frowned thoughtfully. 'Well… You have no real experience with negotiation or peace-keeping with other races. Unless you want another dragon to accompany who is more qualified? Regardless, it will be a useful learning experience.'

'Um… well, I guess it depends on who ends up going…'

Terrador nodded to himself as his gaze drifted away. 'Well, at least there is no hurry. We'll send for you if there are more developments, though it may be possible it could happen on that day. Just be ready.'

Sion nodded somewhat apprehensively. 'Okay, sir.'

Terrador's jaw twitched with amusement as he flew off after Nadina. Sion fought the urge to tail him and, with great difficulty, began to walk towards the Starlight Towers.

---

As he expected, Sion got almost nothing out of the books he found when he finally relented and tried to study the moles and cheetahs. Aside from Areth questioning his sanity when he asked, Sion could not absorb more than a few sentences at a time before it became gibberish. He quickly realised that history books were far worse for him compared to something describing how a Warfangian gate operated, as he was able to actually look at the object he was trying to understand. History, by definition, was not tangible, so he couldn't process any books about them.

Telsa encouraged him to keep trying at first, but Sion quickly got too frustrated to absorb anything useful.

Another couple of days went by, and a messenger mole arrived that morning, advising Sion to meet the Guardians in the Hall in twenty minutes. He set off at once, trying to ignore the pent-up anxiety from his failed attempts at studying history.

He went on foot as a result, hoping the exercise would pump him up for the meeting. It seemed to be working at first, as physical training was always relaxing in its own way.

He cleared the first city tier when he realised he was being followed. Loud claws scraped against stone, and when he bothered to turn around, Solaris was standing out in the open and watching him with an unreadable expression.

'Uh… You know, you're supposed to hide when this happens.'

The blue dragoness quickly scowled. 'Yes, well, I don't like hiding.'

Sion bit back his retort. I'm going to be late…

After a moment's thought, he shrugged and continued on. Solaris immediately followed behind, signalled by her continued scraping footsteps.

Sion didn't break his stride but looked over his shoulder curiously. 'Why are you following me?'

It took her a moment to answer. 'That's none of your concern.'

Sion snorted. 'Well, I guess it also wouldn't concern me if you decided to stab my behind or blow me up when my guard is down?'

Solaris ignored his chuckle, opening her mouth for a moment, but shutting it. Sion, in turn, narrowed his eyes.

'Is it because I stayed behind in that meeting while you didn't?'

Solaris continued to look away as she walked. 'Does it matter?'

'So it is!'

'Ugh…!'

Sion fell silent, but continued to face forward with a satisfied smirk. After another minute, Solaris sighed heavily.

'Yes, fine. I'm following you because I want to know what it is you're up to.'

Sion "hmmed" to himself. 'What if I don't want to tell you?'

Solaris shrugged. 'Fine. I'll just ask the Guardians.'

'Guh…' Sion flinched. 'How'd you know?'

'Are you telling me the dragons in the Grand Hall four days ago weren't the Guardians?'

Sion groaned. 'Ha ha. Very funny.'

Solaris smirked mockingly. 'I'd like to think so.'

They continued to walk in silence for a few seconds before Sion gave up.

'Well… I asked if Snotty was allowed outside of prison for one day. And somehow it's become this whole political thing that I'm now part of.'

'You? Politics?'

'Yeah, and that's why I'm kind of nervous.'

He cursed inwardly to himself for showing weakness, and immediately braced himself for her harsh scolding. Instead, her gaze drifted off briefly back towards the city.

'What races will be involved?'

'Huh?'

Solaris quickly frowned. 'Are you deaf? I said it pretty clearly.'

Sion quickly averted his gaze as he focused on the path ahead. 'Oh. Well, there's just moles and cheetahs, and they didn't mention anyone else, even after I talked to Terrador yesterday…'

Solaris fell silent, but remained in step with him. As he glanced at her curiously for a split second, she was furrowing her brow absent-mindedly as if in thought, but was able to follow him nonetheless. He was tempted to run as fast as he could just to mess with her, given her bulk, but he also did not want to get to the meeting too early.

When the pair arrived at the front gates yet again, they were greeted with a slight nod from the pair of Ice guards. Solaris met their gaze briefly, now snapped back to reality.

'Did you find a replacement?' The guard on the left posited to Sion.

Sion's jaw fell open for a moment before glancing at Solaris sideways. 'What?! Her? Don't be stupid.'

The other guard raised a curious brow at the blue dragoness. 'So why are you here, then?'

'To attend this "meeting," of course.'

Sion narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 'Really? I don't buy it. Plus there's no way you could've known before now.'

Solaris narrowed her eyes back. 'Why else would I follow you all this way?'

'I dunno, to annoy me?'

The guards shared a smirk, and Solaris's jaw twitched in the same manner. 'I suppose I consider that a secondary objective.'

Sion groaned impatiently and turned back to the guards.

'Are the Guardians here yet?'

'Oh, yes. They have company too…' He frowned for a moment. 'Good luck.'

Sion pondered that for a moment before the guards pushed open the doors. The pair quickly spotted the Guardians and several other smaller figures, though they seemed strangely quiet for having a political discussion between races. Snotty was bound and slightly off to the side, but his eyes shone cheerfully despite that. Sion initially smiled when he spotted the familiar faces of Hunter and Mason, but there was another cheetah that he was not familiar with. Given his disapproving scowl, he didn't look like he approved of the "meeting" in the first place. That, or the fact he kept shooting Snotty similar glares.

'Hm, must be Prowlus' influence…' Solaris muttered as they approached.

Terrador and Volteer almost seemed relieved as they spotted the pair approaching.

'Ah, Sion… and Solaris as well,' Volteer began as he walked toward them, a slight quiver in his voice made obvious by the Hall's echoes. 'If you both would be so kind and escort this group into the city, that would be–'

'Uh… don't you need to check something?' Sion said, tipping his head ever so slightly towards the blue dragoness beside him, who glared daggers back at him.

'Hm? What?'

Terrador cleared his throat as Volteer blinked obliviously. 'Solaris is free to do as she pleases, and I assume she's here to attend the meeting like you, Sion.'

'Especially since there's not much point to her following you otherwise.'

Cyril's sharp words instilled a frown on Sion and a satisfied huff from her. Snotty, similarly, snorted, while Hunter and Mason smiled stiffly.

Cyril, however, looked absolutely fed up. They could only guess that the other cheetah had argued extensively with Hunter and the others. He projected his voice deliberately, making the mammals –and Sion – flinch.

'Get these furballs out of here!'

Solaris watched the group with amusement as they collectively hurried out of the Hall, joining Sion as he took the lead. The gates shut behind them rather quickly.

Sion was the first to speak after the group had calmed down. 'What happened in there? Did we miss something?!'

Solaris studied the newcomer. 'More importantly, they didn't bother to introduce you. I assume you're attending as well?'

The cheetah nodded to her respectfully. 'My name's Stalton' – he quickly glanced at Sion – 'and we've met.'

Sion tilted his head as he squinted at the cheetah's face. 'Uh… we have?'

Stalton sighed. 'Kane fighting Snotty. Ring any bells?'

The drake's eyes brightened instantly. 'Oh yeah! He had that staff and awesome moves!'

Snotty coughed uncomfortably. 'And his kick really hurts, let me tell yeh.'

'Yeah, well, you deserved it.'

Everyone except Solaris eyed the red-maned cheetah with disapproval.

'Didn't you say some pretty unflattering things after that battle?' Hunter muttered accusingly. 'Even for a Skavenger.'

'Especially since he's kept his end of the bargain,' Mason continued, his glare more pronounced due to his smaller stature. 'Your remark displays rather poor taste.'

Stalton was surprisingly silent, averting his gaze. Hunter cleared his throat after a moment, soon noticing the awkward glances from the guards. 'Shall we go? The sooner we get to the armoury, the sooner this can be done.'

Snotty whined with disappointment. 'How'm I supposed to see all those weapons with that kinda attitude?'

Stalton frowned at him reproachfully. 'You shouldn't be allowed near the armoury at all, especially if you plan on stealing any.'

Hunter and Mason sighed heavily, while Snotty remained stiff. 'We've been over this,' Hunter said tiredly, 'taking him to the residential district or markets would create a public disturbance. There aren't many other options.'

Sion gripped his chin for a moment as he glanced over towards a certain building. 'We could always take him to the baths again…'

'No! Anything but that!'

Mason and Stalton stared at the panicked cheetah. Hunter quickly cleared his throat and straightened his ears. 'Nevermind. Let's keep going.'

Mason and Stalton walked closer to Sion, eyeing the drake curiously as he grinned to himself. 'Would you… care to elaborate?' The mole asked quietly.

Sion "hmm"ed in an exaggerated manner. 'Well, it all started when–'

He yelped as he felt a sharp prod on his back leg, quickly met with Solaris' frown.

'That's Hunter's prerogative, not yours.'

What does that even mean?

Snotty's ears perked up at that, and hung back slightly to get within earshot, causing Stalton to back away slightly.

'Hey! What about me? It wasn't all sunshine 'n rainbows for me neither!'

Solaris redirected her frown to him instead. 'Having a bath when Skavengers pretty much have no similar luxury. How dreadful.'

Stalton smirked despite himself.

'It's that crab! All I remember is that yellah monster!' The canine pulled his arms inwards as he looked around warily, despite being able to see far over the stone pavements. 'Tell me it ain't still around!'

The group was silent for a moment, Mason tapping his head as he tried to remember.

'I think it was relocated back to the Avalar River,' Solaris said, 'after it was found polluting the drinking water here.'

'How do you know that?' Sion said, somewhat miffed. 'Were you even there?'

'There were notes in one of the incomplete bestiaries on it,' Solaris said shortly. 'Plus I read.'

The mammals subconsciously backed away from the dragons as they continued walking, Snotty's fear now forgotten.

'Hey, I read! In case you hadn't noticed, I've been going through training. And that involves studying, if you can believe it.'

'And if I don't?'

Sion puffed out his chest stubbornly. 'Ask me anything about how the city's defences work. I reckon I could tell you something you didn't already know.'

The group slowed down, but the dragons didn't notice.

'Alright, indulge me then.' Solaris paused for a moment to study the distant Snotty. Hunter and Stalton pushed Snotty forward ahead of the group while Mason remained behind to listen.

'Where is the mechanism to operate the north gate?'

Sion glanced briefly in that direction. 'There are two "mechanisms", actually, and they're located in closed-off rooms hidden on either side inside the gate.'

Solaris' brow rose momentarily. 'Hmph. What about the south gate?'

'They're pretty much the same there. The western gate is the one that has the wheels further apart, in the thicker parts of the wall, since it's more likely to be attacked with all that space out in front.'

Solaris stared at him in surprise for several seconds.

'You look like you did not know that…' Mason suggested teasingly.

'It… just took me a moment to remember.'

Sion's cheeks swelled as he fought to contain his laughter. That look on her face is priceless!

'There's also a hidden spot above the north gate where guards meet their mates in secret and–'

Solaris glowered at him in disgust. 'I do not need to know that!'

'Yeah, but you didn't know it. Therefore I win!'

'Who said anything about–'

Hunter cut them off with a loud tap of his sword on the wall next to him, the Cheetahs and Skavenger several metres ahead of them.

'I hate to interrupt, but we've arrived.'

Sion refocused his attention from the blue dragoness to study the odd building. When he was first shown around, he had a hard time believing it really was the armoury at all, as on the surface it wasn't anywhere near as big as the training dome or the bathhouse. However, since it was positioned on the second tier – just above the Fire district – most of it was situated underground. The visible building before them was merely the entrance: an unassuming, rectangular block of the same stone surrounding it, with an open stone archway and no doors. One archway on either side was the only source of light for the first level, which had several wall racks of arrows, spears and cannonballs. A lone fire Guard stood in the centre along one of the walls, acknowledging their presence with a nod but making no move to stop or question them, as he had been told of their arrival ahead of time. There was a faint glowing light in the level below; glowing crystals were used to keep the room lit at all times, but if more light was needed in a combat situation, there were torches and braziers available in the lower levels.

Snotty studied Hunter's blade with disapproval. 'Yer stick looks a bit blunt, Hunter. You haven't been skimpin' on yer training have ye?'

Hunter sighed as he slid it into the scabbard at his hip. 'The last week has been rather… difficult. I also have not practised for some time.'

Stalton regarded his sword gruffly. 'You could have asked me, you know.'

'No offense Stalton, but you're not good practice.'

Snotty snickered, but Solaris and Mason eyed the yellow cheetah with concern.

'Are you allowed to just talk to him like that?' Solaris questioned. 'Isn't he here because Prowlus requested it?'

Stalton averted his gaze as Solaris focused on him next. 'I… cannot take Prowlus' place in that manner, unfortunately. Hunter proved that last time I tried to train with him using blades.'

There was a moment of silence, and Hunter led the group down into the sparsely-lit building.

'Wait, so Hunter…' Sion piped up abruptly amidst the silence, 'you're pretty good now, right?'

The Hunter nodded reluctantly, while Solaris frowned.

'Thank you for stating the obvious.'

'So do you think you're better than Snotty now?'

Said Skavenger and Hunter shared an awkward glance.

'What is it with this bronze lad and all this "who beats who"? He asked yeh something similar last time.'

Hunter shrugged as he glanced around the dark corners of the room for a torch. 'Don't ask me. Besides, it is unrealistic to assume that after only one year I am somehow able to match a pirate who has used such things for years.'

Solaris cleared her throat as Hunter found a wall-mounted torch, and he backed off enough for her to light it with a tiny blue fire missile.

'Well, it sounds like you're better than Stalton, at least.'

Stalton frowned dejectedly in his direction. 'I started learning not long after Hunter did, you realise?'

Sion eyed the cheetahs with slight disappointment. 'What, so no cheetahs are that good with a sword?'

Hunter and Stalton exchanged an uncomfortable glance. 'Not in Warfang, no,' Hunter admitted. 'Shiall and Prowlus are far more experienced, but, well…' He scratched his ear sheepishly. 'Shiall has her own duties, and doesn't fight with the same weapon. Prowlus just said no.'

'Ugh, sounds like him,' Sion said.

'As productive as this conversation is…' Solaris said sharply, 'maybe we should get on with it?'

'Get on with what?'

She stared at the bronze drake. 'Are you brain-dead? This was supposed to be your assignment!'

'Oh yeah.' Sion scratched his snout in embarrassment. 'Snotty wanted to see the weapons, and…'

He looked around, and realised the size of the building, as half the room was still shrouded in darkness, the crystals only letting their eyes wander so far. After Solaris lit the torches of her own volition, however, there were many large barrels of arrows, with some marked with elemental sigils, but these were few and far between. Sion guessed they were elemental arrows, but he was slightly disappointed at how empty those barrels were compared to the rest.

'Well, that sucks. Ice arrows were very useful…' His smile fell for a moment before he studied the other sigils. 'Wait, it looks like there are fire and electric ones too, huh…'

Snotty had gotten closer as soon as the area was lit. 'Eh, too bad we prefer cannons to these arrows. Yeh skylubbers and moles wouldn't happ'n to have enchanted cannonballs too?'

Mason shook his head. 'Ours would not fit the Fellmuth's anyway. They are specially made for the wall defence cannons.'

Stalton hissed slightly. 'Are you sure you want to be revealing information like this to one such as him?'

Sion narrowed his eyes at the cheetah, but Solaris beat him to the punch.

'You do realise the purpose of this "meeting?" It will be impossible not to reveal information like this, given we're here to show him around. If you prove too disruptive to this purpose, we have the right to kick you out.'

Stalton widened his eyes in alarm for a moment, grudgingly folding his arms and falling silent.

'Really?' Sion asked, to which Solaris hastily drew a closed paw across her jaw at him. Thankfully, Stalton didn't catch the signal, watching Snotty as the Skavenger took interest in the many wooden stands of helmets and chest pieces. A lot of them were tiny, and obviously made for moles.

'I didn't think yeh moles could fight…' Snotty pondered as he knelt to get a closer look.

'We can't… yet,' Mason affirmed, 'as we are trying to incorporate some military training into our society. We have always regretted not being able to assist the dragons in their time of need when it comes to combat.'

'Are you… sure about that?' Sion asked guardedly. 'I mean, it's far more dangerous for you guys to fight compared to dragons.'

'Yes – and as a result, the dragons suffered far more than we did…'

Silence pervaded the room once again. Snotty looked around uncomfortably for several seconds before bumping one of the stands with his foot, the mole breastplate flying off with resounding clang.

'Wha–' Stalton objected with a start. 'Keep your feet to yourself! How do you intend to pay for any damages when you're a criminal?!'

Snotty smirked back mischievously. 'I dunno, how about community service?'

Hunter and Solaris sighed collectively, with Hunter going over to pick up the armour.

'Are we guides or whelpsitters?' Solaris wondered out loud.

'What's a whelpsitter?' Sion also wondered out loud.

'Ugh!'

Mason walked up to the stand as Hunter replaced it, squinting through his goggles. 'If our armour could be damaged that easily, we wouldn't have bothered.'

'So…' Snotty said with a bored tone, 'where are the swords?'

'Or the armour?' Sion said. 'Really good armour, I mean. Pretty much everyone, including me uses the normal stuff, but there's gotta be more in here…'

Hunter tipped his head back towards the stairs they came from, drawing attention to the darker level below, with the stairs coiling into a rectangular staircase. Sion and Snotty darted forward eagerly, but Solaris stopped them with a fanned-out wing.

'Hunter and I should go first; I'd rather not have another "accident" due to bad lighting.'

Snotty whined impatiently, as the cheetah and dragoness blocked him, but Solaris was able to light the torches below without delay. However, the ceiling was far higher above their heads, and the landing extended in all directions further than the first torch's light could reach. The faint crystal light marked the extent of their boundaries, and it felt as large as one of the main pathways in the residential district.

'I'm guessing this level has the dragon armour?' Stalton murmured quietly, not able to hide his awe.

'Wait a minute…' Snotty said as his beady eyes darted around. 'Why would yeh keep swords and dragon armour in the same place? I've never seen a skylubber even use a weapon!'

Solaris watched him with amusement. It seemed the idea of dragons using swords was somewhat unsettling to him.

'If I had to guess…' She answered with a thoughtful frown, 'it's because cheetahs and moles collectively don't use swords much, and leave the close range combat to the dragons.'

Mason nodded to himself. 'You would be right. We moles don't have the stature to use such weapons properly, which is why we're thinking about spears.'

'And we cheetahs,' Hunter continued, 'are more used to bows and small blades. You could call swords more of a recent luxury, what with the war's end.'

Snotty nonetheless rushed over to the rack of swords as soon as Solaris lit the torch nearby, though he was obviously disappointed by the limited selection, with his ears folded flat.

'Where's me ol' reliable blade? These are too thin and shoddy.'

Stalton hissed slightly. 'We cooperated with the moles to forge these new ones, you know.'

Snotty's expression didn't change. 'Still thin and shoddy. Yeh might wanna look up me ol' pals the lions. Of everything we stole from 'em, their swords were always top-notch.'

Sion scanned the wooden rack over the Skavenger's shoulder. 'If your sword isn't here, Snotty, it's probably being kept somewhere for prisoners. It is your sword, so I guess it wouldn't be right to just put it out for other people to use…'

Snotty bared his fangs slightly with a grimace. 'A good sword should be used! By the time I'm out it'll be all rusty and useless.'

'We keep all prisoner weapons well-maintained,' Mason said with reassurance.

'Eh, it's not the same…'

Sion quickly noticed the larger stands of dragon armour around them, fidgeting as Snotty remained sitting. 'Come on, don't you want to look at the dragon armour?'

'Not really, bronze lad…'

Sion groaned miserably as his eyes darted around and his limbs and wings began to twitch.

'What are you getting so excited about?' Solaris said. 'They wouldn't leave any enchanted armour out in the open… well, relatively.'

'Oh… yeah, I knew that.'

Under Solaris' doubting gaze, he grimaced uncomfortably. 'They… didn't tell me where the enchanted armour was. I guess I need to become a real soldier before they'll tell me.'

Solaris slowly shook her head. 'Actually… even then, they won't just give you enchanted armour. They only have several sets right now, and they're owned by the older soldiers. If you want enchanted armour, you're going to have to pay up.'

The group watched her curiously.

'Let's say I would want… a full set…' Sion asked curiously, but apprehensively. 'How much are we talking about?'

Solaris checked the nearest wooden stand, as if checking off a list inside her head. 'Hm, including the helmet, chest plate, two armplates as a bare minimum…' She went silent for several seconds. 'You would be looking at eight thousand rubies.'

'What?!'

Solaris continued to count in her head, ignoring Sion's outburst. 'Or three hundred and twenty amethysts, if that makes it easier to count.'

Sion groaned miserably, almost sitting down next to Snotty. 'You can't be serious…'

'And that's not even counting the enchantments. Or whether you'll get the flank and back legs coverings as well…'

'Stop crushing my dreams!' Sion lamented, but Solaris was clearly enjoying herself.

'What's the matter? Not enough saved up?'

'Are you kidding me?! I've only got a few sapphires stashed somewhere.'

'Well, I suppose that's another reason you should get some work as a guard.'

Sion raised a brow in confusion at her sincere tone. 'Huh?'

Solaris averted her eyes. 'Ahem… nevermind.'

'Is that right?' Stalton directed his question to Mason, who nodded slowly.

'Indeed… I'm impressed you know that much. We moles don't share our prices for such coveted items so easily.'

Solaris quickly frowned. 'Well, you wouldn't know it unless you lived in the Starlight Towers.'

'Come again?' Sion asked.

'There are moles who are…' She ground her teeth, 'very persistent to going around and selling random junk. Despite repeated threats, they kept coming back.' The mammals flinched as she hissed to herself. 'After all my time in Warfang, there was one thing that caught my attention…'

'They were selling enchanted armour?!' Sion exclaimed incredulously.

'Don't be ridiculous,' Solaris sneered, 'they wouldn't sell something so low in supply to dragon's doors. However, after I opened the door and questioned them–'

'You mean interrogated,' Sion said.

'–They began to give me prices, which I recorded. Of course, when I asked if they could show me their goods, they fled down the stairs, and I haven't seen them since.'

Sion sighed. 'That sucks, then. What if they actually had the real thing?'

'Don't be stupid. They were talking about upfront payments for delivery later, and then started talking about "payment plans" with no real specific dates on the actual armour itself. Then I threatened to eat them.'

Sion lowered his voice. 'And you wonder why they ran away…'

Mason stepped forward slightly as he studied Solaris. 'While you were right to believe they were scamming you, those prices are surprisingly accurate.'

'What about enchanted swords?' Snotty spoke up hopefully. 'They say anything about those?'

'And why would a dragon have any use for a sword?' Solaris barked back sharply, no longer finding the notion amusing.

'Yeh coulda just said "no,"' Snotty muttered dejectedly. 'So no enchanted swords at all?'

'Well…' Mason stroked his nose nervously, 'there is the matter of our excavations…'

'Huh?' Sion and Snotty responded quickly. 'Where?!'

The mole gulped as they stood up and towered over him with excitement. 'Well, we did find some horrid weapons from our trip to the Mountain of Malefor … escorted, of course.'

'Are you moles nuts?!' Stalton exclaimed. 'Of course you would need an escort; that place is–'

'Empty,' the mole cut him off. 'I'll have you know that the dragons monitored that place extensively, and we planned for months in advance before going. While most of what we found was shattered or useless, there were some still pulsing with magic. We keep them sealed away, however, as the Guardians don't want any experiments on them right now. A faraway facility is in the works, but it requires a dragon at least to understand the nature of their power.'

'Are you sure that's a good idea?' Sion asked, and Stalton glanced at him in surprise. 'I mean, I haven't heard anything good about the Apes, especially when they started using magic.'

Mason eyed him firmly. 'If we had more tools like these when Malefor returned, we would still have some of our older cities and fortifications. We need to take what advantage we can get.'

'If such a facility were to be established…' Solaris pondered, 'I may be interested.'

Mason shook his head. 'It won't be for a long time. We need to start some expansion back towards the dam before we can think about such a facility.'

Snotty's ears twitched repeatedly as if he was about to ask something, but he remained silent as the group approached the next staircase down, only to find a large sealed door glowing with magic.

'Could we go down there?' Sion wondered in his place. 'I'm guessing it's the next level down, but that stone door seems locked, I guess.'

Solaris maintained a stoic expression as she glanced back towards the rectangular staircase. 'We "could," as it has a magic seal that I could undo… but I won't.'

'Aw, come on, why not?'

'The dragons are considering this kid to be a soldier…?' Stalton muttered to himself.

'You're the guard-in-training,' she scolded. 'You tell me.'

Sion laughed nervously as she and Stalton continued to regard him coldly. 'I guess the dragons wouldn't like Snotty knocking over their armour?'

'It's a security breach!' Stalton sighed. 'Surely you would get in trouble with someone for bringing a criminal down there?' He looked off to the side. 'This is why I was against this…'

Sion examined Snotty somewhat apologetically. 'I guess that's true.' He exhaled heavily. 'I think that's it, then. Sorry, Snotty, but I guess that's all I'm allowed to do.'

'Eh…' Snotty scratched at his nose sheepishly. 'Thank yeh for this anyway.'

'Ahem.' Hunter blinked drearily as he stood up straight from leaning against the wall. 'Is it over yet?'

---

Stalton and Hunter volunteered to take Snotty back to the cells, as there would be another guard stationed at the prison district to admit him back to his cell. Sion would have gone with them, but was surprised by Mason requesting him to stay back as the rest left.

'Huh? You want to talk to me?'

Mason nodded silently, and motioned with his hand to follow. Sion walked with the slower mammal curiously, though thankfully they only went as far as a shaded corner by the stairs to the Fire District.

'So, I've heard you're training to be a soldier.'

Sion averted his gaze with embarrassment 'Uh yeah… I guess it's kinda obvious. I didn't really do a good job escorting you guys, though.'

'Well, Stalton would have handled that, anyway.' The mole cleared his throat. 'However, while you do have a ways to go, I would like to present you with an opportunity.'

'Huh?'

Mason quickly shook his head as the drake stared down at him with surprise. 'Don't misunderstand me, this is nothing immediate, but once your training is complete…'

He fell silent for a moment, tapping his chin thoughtfully. 'You remember me mentioning excavations? With escorts?'

'Oh yeah.' Sion nodded, before lowering his head in excitement to try and meet the diminutive mole's gaze. 'Is it true you guys went into the Mountain of Malefor?'

Mason nodded hesitantly.

'Wow you guys must be really brave! Or crazy! Or both! Even with escorts, that must have been pretty scary.'

Mason nodded again, somewhat impatiently. 'And that brings me to the point… would you be interested in work as one of those escorts?'

'Me?' Sion was taken aback. 'I'm not exactly what you'd call alert and aware, and if it's as dangerous as I think it is, it's a lot of responsibility…'

'Again, I'm not saying it's for anything coming up, but we do plan to go on more expeditions. There are a lot of underground ruins from before all this war business that we learn a lot from.'

'Why me, though?' Sion wondered self-consciously. 'I can't use magic or anything, and I'm not exactly professional either.'

'That's… actually my point.'

Sion stared at him.

'What I mean is, it can get awfully dark and intimidating in the depths, especially as weak as we are. While most dragon escorts do their job well, they… well they aren't the best conversationalists. They are often so focused on their job that they don't talk to us. Given your reputation as a gossip…'

He coughed as Sion's jaw opened slightly. 'Apologies, but the point is you like to talk a lot. That could do a lot for our morale on dangerous expeditions. If it helps, we generally like to hire two dragon escorts, if one can make up for the other's weaknesses, like the ones you mentioned already. If we get an Earth dragon, or a dragon physically suited to excavating, all the better.'

'Huh…' Sion wondered to himself, raising his head. 'That actually sounds like fun. Apart from the whole moles-could-die thing.'

Mason grimaced uncomfortably for a moment before the drake continued. 'How much does it pay?'

'Depends on how much we recover, but the average rate is five hundred rubies per day. Bonuses are given based on your performance, and how valuable our findings are material-wise.'

Sion's jaw dropped again. 'That sounds great! How often do you guys go on these expeditions?'

Mason tapped his nose again. 'Not often, I'm afraid. It takes a lot of planning, and obviously carries its risks. The last time we had one was six months ago, and we're at least another month away before we can think about another one.'

'So once a year, I guess?'

Mason nodded. 'That's a safe approximation, yes.'

Sion grinned. 'Sounds good. How would I sign up? When I'm ready, I mean.'

Mason directed his gaze up towards the Grand Hall. 'We've been relaying it to the Guardians and commanders, but I hear they're going to put up a billboard of some kind outside your training area. If such a thing was made, we may put up advertisements.'

'Alright, I'll keep that in mind.'

Mason then looked around. 'Maybe pass that on to your friend? She seems like a bright sort, so she might be interested in that job too, even if she's more suited to scholarly pursuits.'

'Huh? You mean Solaris?'

'Indeed,' Mason answered. 'She displayed a respectable knowledge of our trade. Enough to know when she's being scammed, too. Which is unfortunate, but it cannot be helped right now…'

Sion realised that Solaris disappeared without a word after they left the armoury. Knowing her, she probably went straight back to the library.

'She just left without saying anything…'

Mason bowed. 'I have to be going, but keep my offer in mind.'

Sion smiled and inclined his head back. 'Sure thing. It was fun, all things considered.'

Mason smiled back as he hobbled down the small steps adjacent to the dragon-sized ones.

Yeah, it was fun…

He realised that despite being annoyed at Solaris at first, the whole thing was more enjoyable with her there. Thinking back on it, he would have been far more anxious and uncomfortable without her around.

I should have thanked her… but…

He grimaced. The thought of sincerely thanking her was difficult to imagine. He sighed, too exhausted for today to think more on it.

Eh, I'll figure something out…

---

Spyro was quiet after he woke up. For several days he continued to browse the library as he already had done, even though he knew he had everything he needed to move on. Talon remained perched near the entrance, always watching him patiently, but expectantly.

Talon was ready to go, but he was not.

Guilt and apprehension squirmed within his gut when he tried to rest or sit still. He knew that the city – if it existed – was in danger, and every moment he tarried could bring its destruction closer.

And yet…

He couldn't escape the lingering sensation that if he left, something terrible would happen. Flashbacks to his last meeting with the Chronicler came to mind – only where his goal was clear last time, he had no idea what awaited him if he continued now. Especially since he was no closer to his original goal than when he began.

Ignitus remained silent on the matter. He felt he had no right to impose his will on Spyro anymore, as he might have placed far too much weight onto the young dragon's shoulders throughout his life, through no desire of his own. He knew that Spyro would accomplish nothing by staying, but at least he would be safe… though he wouldn't be happy. Neither of them would.

One day, they received a familiar visitor. Answering the scratching and tapping at the sealed stone door, Crimson hopped inside and ruffled his feathers, shaking some light moisture off his feathers.

'Spyro. There's a letter here for you.'

After a delayed silence, Spyro crept his way in, gazing at the letter attached to Crimson's leg. 'Did you tell the others about… what I did?'

Ignitus nodded sadly, and Spyro sighed.

Cynder… It must be.

He sat as he took the letter in his paws, staring at it without opening it.

'Spyro?'

The purple drake felt his chest constrict to the point where he had trouble breathing. He forced himself to open the letter, but his paws began to tremble as he read it.

---

Spyro, it's me. The last few months… have been hard. I realise that the friends I have around me, and knowing that you're somewhere safe, have made it easier than it would've been otherwise.

I heard what happened… I know you, and you wouldn't have done something so crazy if you had any other choice.

Since then, though, I haven't heard anything from Ignitus. Did you get what you needed? If you didn't, I'm sure you would have made it obvious to Ignitus. The possibility that you did… It scares me.

You remember what I told you? It feels so long ago, back at the temple on that mission… I was afraid something would find you, something dark – and it seems I was right. It's awful to be right at times like this…

The Guardians are planning to send some dragons to monitor you, but they wouldn't let me go. Since the city is on edge right now – when it comes to you – they felt it was better to send someone who wasn't so close to you. I get that they're the leaders of the city, but I can't believe they're thinking about politics at a time like this!

I need to find you. Just to see you. I don't care if I disobey the Guardians. The others don't know anything about this. And if you're scared of that thing inside you, hurting me… then I'll follow you, even if you don't know I'm there.

I don't know how I'll do it. Right now, I realise I'm ranting to myself as I write this, but I needed to do it.

We'll see each other again. I promise you that.

Cynder

---

Spyro quickly put the letter aside before any tears could fall. He buried his face in his paws.

Why… why did all this have to happen…?

He was confronted with the possibility that Cynder would now follow him. Despite their length of time apart, their bond was still strong. With Cynder's skills, she would have little trouble tracking him down, even if she had no idea where he was going. And if she found him here, if he didn't leave, there was the… tempting possibility that the two of them could stay in this sanctuary. And they would never leave.

'Young dragon?'

Spyro forced himself to calm down, and slowly lowered his paws to look up at the Chronicler, who only watched him sadly.

'Why, Ignitus?'

He didn't say any more than that, but Ignitus knew what he meant. From what Spyro learned about the previous purple dragons, there was a certain… tragic pattern. All of them were good and honourable dragons, but by their very existence warped the perception of dragons around them and caused conflict, even if they were against it from the very start. It started with Malefor and the Ancestors trying to use him as a tool of war, and the fear and stigma Malefor attached to the purple dragons kept causing tragedy every time they became sufficiently powerful.

'I… cannot answer that, Spyro. I do not believe any Chronicler could.'

Spyro looked away and stared at the floor in silence for a long time.

'I… didn't want to be the purple dragon,' he said quietly. He thought back to his childhood in the swamp with the dragonflies – his lost days of innocence. And then when he found out what he truly was, his life was never the same. 'I wish none of this had ever happened.'

Ignitus, after watching him for a while, spoke gently and warmly.

'So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. What they do have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to them.'

Spyro turned to look over at his former mentor, and met his gaze. There was something… familiar about those words.

He truly is the Chronicler now…

He slowly got to his feet, and after gazing at Talon, still perched by the entrance, steeled his gaze with renewed determination.

I can't sit here while there are those who might need my help. I can't let this… thing control me, either. I have to find a way to resist, and if I can do that, maybe I can go back… Either that, or it might just tell me what's going on.

Either way, I can't stay here. And if I could see Cynder, even just from a distance…

Ignitus, Talon and Crimson all watched in silence as Spyro gathered what belongings he had, strapping on his saddlebags, draping his cloak over his back and inserting his wings through it. Talon hopped down after him as he went for the entrance, turning one final time toward Ignitus.

'Thank you, Ignitus. It's good to know you're alive. I wish you could come with me.'

The Chronicler bowed his head regretfully. 'I do as well, but this is the duty handed to me, and so I remain here.'

They remained that way for almost a minute, with Spyro forcing himself to turn away lest he start crying.

I will return to see him again… I have to believe that. And I will Cynder again... and everyone else.

'Goodbye, Ignitus.'

A moment passed.

'Farewell, young dragon…'

And with that, Spyro approached the door and walked through as it slid open, and Ignitus continued to watch the young dragon and falcon walk on ahead as the stone door closed behind them.