Chapter 53: The Rito Village

"This isn't safe at all!" Starflight called. "This is the opposite of safe. We might as well just hand ourselves to Queen Glacier."

"I'm right next to you," Glory stated while invisible, and grinned when Starflight lost a beat of his wings and had to flap harder to keep up.

Link chuckled at that. He remembered the times Midna spooked Cynder back at the temple by popping out of his shadow. Those times were few and far between, however. It wasn't just funny to see Starflight's reaction, but it was nice to know that Glory's camouflage was working splendidly.

Jambu had no problem with the heat. He glanced around at the endless empty blue as they flew north.

"Jumbu?" Glory asked.

"Still here," a small patch of the sky replied.

"You really don't have to come with us," Cynder stated. The tunnel was now half a day's journey behind them, but Jambu could make it back before dark.

"Nah," he replied. "This is better than sun time! I feel like I've been rolled in sunlight and stuffed with bananas. I bet the rest of the tribe would love to come through that tunnel and have their sun time on the sand."

"That would be a terrible idea," Cynder stated. "There is still a war going on. Not until there is peace would it be safe to do something like that. And with the Demon King's armies marching everywhere, things are worse."

Link nodded in understanding. "Besides, Ganondorf's foster mothers, Koume and Kotake, are evil sorceresses that serve Demise. They would most likely brainwash any RainWing that enters the desert into a monster of some sort."

Link glared as we passed over an enormous statue of a woman. It clearly resembled a Gerudo.

"Why did you glare at that statue?" Cynder asked.

"It's not a statue, it's the Spirit Temple," Link replied. "Ganondorf's foster mothers live there."

"We better stay away from that place," Cynder stated. Due to being an elemental dragon, Cynder was lying comfortably on Link's back. He had mass shifted to the size of an adult SkyWing. Her eyes widened as she smiled wickedly. She whispered something into Link's ear and he looked back at her, agast.

"Are you serious, Cynder?" he asked. "You can't be asking that question right now."

Cynder blushed. "I was just curious," she replied.

"I'll show you later," Link stated.

As they continued flying, the sun began to descend to the west.

"I wouldn't mind stopping for a nap, though," Jambu's voice said out of nowhere.

"There is no time for that," Glory stated. "Also, Jambu, it's not going to be like this the whole way. It's going to get really cold by tonight, and tomorrow we'll be in at the Hebra Region. Where it would be seriously freezing."

"And the blizzards up at Snowpeak are intense," Link added.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jambu replied breezily.

It was already colder than it had been at the tunnel entrance. Up ahead was a giant pillar of rock with a hole shaped like a heart in it. Small wooden platforms jutted out from the formation. It was a village.

"Look!" Sunny exclaimed. "A village! But the buildings are too small for a dragon."

Link smirked. "It is most likely the village of the Rito people," he stated. "They are birdlike creatures. They are a neutral party in the war. But sadly, due to the eating habits of a dragon named Volvagia, dragons are feared by any humanoid creature."

"But wouldn't an alicorn and his companions be welcomed?" Glory asked.

Link nodded. He could hear horns sounding.

All of a sudden, they were swarmed by a very large group of Rito. A lot of them were carrying bows.

"What brings you here?" a Rito soldier stated.

"I am Spyro," Link stated. "Son of Lady Luna, daughter of Hylia herself. My companions and I seek sanctuary from the war that wages between the dragon tribes at the moment."

"And he claims that I am Hylia's most recent reincarnation," Cynder added.

The soldier laughed. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Her Grace has never reincarnated out of being a Hylian before..." He examined Cynder. "However, I sense a divine aura within you, you must be who you claim to be." He smiled. "We welcome these dragons to our village."

The other Rito nodded before turning and leading them to a circular platform by the giant rock formation.

"Legends say that this pedestal hides ancient secrets," the soldier stated. "Sorry, but your weight might cause the wooden supports to the village to collapse."

The pedestal was a circular platform that glowed a vibrant orange along strange runes on the surface.

"That is understandable," Link replied. "Thank you."

The dragonets and Jambu curled around the platform and Cynder got off Link's back.

"Are you going to show me?" she asked.

"Once we get back to Faron," Link promised. "We don't want to interrupt the others' sleep, do we?"

"You do have a point," Cynder conceded.

One of the Rito walked up to Link. "We would be honored if Her Grace would stay at the village itself," he stated. "The village's wooden supports would be able to support her feet."

Cynder looked at Link. "I'm not going anywhere without my mate," she replied.

The soldier looked between Link and Cynder, amazed. "How did you catch the heart of Her Grace, sir?"

Link shrugged. "I don't know..." he replied, giving Cynder a smile. "But she views me as her hero..."

Cynder smirked as she nuzzled her neck against Link's. "He saved me from the Dark Master," she stated.

The soldier looked worried. "I don't know if the village's supports would carry his weight, sir," he stated.

Link smiled. "I can easily assume a size that the supports will sustain my weight," he commented.

The Rito nodded in understanding as Link shrank to the size of an elemental dragon. Before he and Cynder took off after the Rito soldier, Glory peered over to them.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"The Rito offered Cynder to sleep in the village," Link explained. "Since I'm her mate, that invitation extended to me. If anything happens, just holler and we'll come running."

Glory nodded in understanding. "But what about the rest of us?" she asked.

He neared the RainWing. "They don't know about your ability to assume a humanoid form," he whispered. "Besides, I doubt Jambu knows how to do that anyway. You don't want your brother to vanish like Orchid did, right?"

Glory nodded in understanding. She curled up and fell asleep.

Link woke thirty minutes before dawn with Cynder curled up beside him. The sky reflected the color of his scales and glittered with stars. He could clearly see his breath. He knew clearly that it was nearing winter."

He nudged Cynder. "It's morning, Cyn," he stated. "It's time to wake up."

Cynder's eyes fluttered open. "You just ruined a perfect dream," she complained.

Link smiled. "I'm sorry Cynder, but we still need to find Mangrove before he does anything stupid or disappears like Orchid," he stated. "What was your dream about?"

"I don't know why I dreamt it, but it was about you completely swamped by other females," she admitted. "They were begging you to leave me and be their mate."

"That sounded like a nightmare to me," Link stated.

"I wasn't finished," Cynder replied. "At first, I thought it was a nightmare, but you refused their advances and Tsunami showed up and scared them away with threats of ripping their heads off for some reason.

"That was soon followed by us being swarmed by hatchlings," she replied. "There were at least a hundred of them. They were smiling at me. I doubt I'll live long enough to sire one hundred eggs, let alone fifty."

Link nodded. "The hatchlings most likely represent lives that will be able to live if the Dark Master is defeated. Let's get back to the others," he stated as he walked through out onto a launching platform. He stepped aside to let Cynder onto the platform first. "Ladies first."

Cynder smirked as she spread her wings and she crouched down. Suddenly, an updraft materialized around her. She launched into the air, the updraft carrying her higher than normal. The updraft remained when Link stepped up to the platform. He spread his wings and took to the sky. Cynder was waiting for him.

"What do you think of that, Spyro," she asked.

"I wonder why you didn't teach me how to do that?" he stated.

"A woman can't have their secrets, do they?" she joked.

Link shook his head. "It's probably a more difficult maneuver to implement," he stated. "I'm only beginning to learn how to use wind. I can understand your reasons."

Cynder smiled as they approached the pedestal where the others were sleeping. They could see Glory wriggling out from under Jambu. At least he blended into his surroundings well. He looked a little to the west and saw some strange lumps by a boulder. He spotted the gleam of a horn and the glint of steel.

Tsunami grunted in her sleep, softly growling. Link noticed that Starflight was already awake. He blinked at them rather groggily. Link and Cynder landed next to Glory.

"How was the village?" she asked.

Cynder smiled. "They were very hospitable," she stated. "Though they tried to drug me in order to study how dragons mate."

"The Rito were always curious about dragon reproduction," Link stated. "They also had a guardian deity named Valoo. He was actually a fire elemental, but he didn't mind. Good thing that they didn't dare to do it to any of you. They must have noticed that you were dragonets."

Glory smiled. "We have enough eggs to care for at the moment," she stated. "We don't want things to get out of control."

Glory flicked her tail toward Starflight and signaled that he should go back to sleep. Following that, she spread her own wings and hopped to the top of the stone pillar that the Rito called home to see what the land ahead looked like.

Link looked around and spotted a glimmer of black in the distance. It was a NightWing.