Love of My Life

by TARDIS1039

5 years after defeating Malefor, Spyro and Cynder have been living a quiet life full of love and peace. However when that turns upside down, they must reunite with loved ones and gain new allies to stop a threat not known to any realm in existence. (Full-length sequel to Crazy Little Thing Called Love) AU

6. Hammer to Fall (Part 2)

Hello and welcome to another chapter of Love of My Life. We're back at it with the romance and drama that the Artisan Valley has to offer!

Last time, Spyro had yet another nightmare concerning the cloaked dragoness only to find out that she's actually Glacia, Ignitus' thought-to-be-dead mate, and most shockingly his mother! Desperate for answers, Spyro seeks out Nurse Braya and eventually gets the truth out of her before confronting Ignitus… his father.

And what's with those cheetahs? They sure are up to something… Let's find out, enjoy!

(Chapter 5: Hammer to Fall, Part 2)

Everything changes…

(CYNDER's POV)

I'd never seen Spyro so shaken before…

Over the years we'd been dating, my boyfriend had faced Gnorcs, Grublins, other creatures, even my own father and he'd never reacted like this before… What Braya and Ignitus told him earlier must've really affected him. I don't blame him; I'd probably react the same way if I found out that my parents weren't just alive but hiding from right under my snout.

Spyro was wrapped around a blanket, clutching it tightly as he stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace with his bloodshot tear-streaked eyes. He didn't say much when he got home; all he could do was whimper into my shoulder. It was enough to wake Sparx up… I tried my best to explain what was going on. Even though I couldn't understand him, I knew he was as concerned for his best friend as I was.

Sparx and I were in the kitchen as Spyro sat quietly in the lounge. As I made cups of tea for Spyro and myself to calm our nerves, Sparx silently hovered near the door frame and observed what my boyfriend was doing… or wasn't doing in this case. He then turned to me and looked at me worryingly.

"I know… I'm worried about him too," I whispered to the dragonfly, my paws trembling slightly. "Best we can do for now is just be there for him… he needs both of us at the moment."

Sparx then gazed over to a blue envelope that was addressed to me and Spyro on the bench opposite me. After seeing what Sparx was looking at, I immediately sighed.

"One thing at a time, Sparx…" I muttered. The envelope was sent by Master Eon, which meant it wouldn't be good to share what he had to say, especially with Spyro's been through tonight.

Grabbing a tray from one of the cabinets below, I placed the cups of tea on the tray and grabbed it with my maw. I then began to walk slowly, Sparx buzzing behind me, towards the lounge, being extra careful that I didn't spill anything. Sometimes I wish that dragons were bipedal; it would make carrying things so much easier.

When Sparx and I approached the couch, Spyro moved his head around to see us and an instant look of relief was plastered on his face. Seeing the two creatures he trusts the most must've calmed him down slightly.

I placed the tray of tea on the coffee table opposite Spyro. "This should warm you up," I murmured.

Spyro smiled weakly and grabbed one of the cups of tea from the tray. "Thanks, honey…" he mumbled, cradling the warm mug in his paws.

I gently kissed his forehead and went to grab my tea from the tray before sitting close to Spyro, blowing the steam that my tea was emitting. Sparx, meanwhile, landed on the armrest Spyro was next to, ready to listen to our conversation.

"Spyro… tell me what's been going on," I said.

As much as Spyro was too anxious to say anything, he eventually adjusted himself so that he was facing me and began to talk.

He started to tell me everything: the dreams, the mysterious realm that he always found himself in, the mysterious cloaked dragoness that surprisingly turned out to be his mother, and what Nurse Braya told him earlier tonight. As he described to me all the events that transpired, I didn't dare to question or judge him.

All I wanted to do was listen, hear my boyfriend's feelings seep out of his words as he recounted everything. He sounded so upset, so afraid… I had never seen him so confused before. He hated change; he liked the way his life was going at the moment… then the sudden revelation of his parents came crashing down on him.

I couldn't relate to what Spyro was going through… not even close. I wasn't even sure that I would've reacted the same way he reacted. I would've been angry, sure… but other than that, I wouldn't have a clue what to do.

But I understood everything.… I didn't second guess or brush off anything that happened to Spyro. I guess that's what happens when you're romantically involved with the purple dragon; these out-of-the-blue things are bound to happen. The entire world seemed to revolve around Spyro… which wasn't exactly fair on him. Couldn't he just live a normal life free of life-altering changes?

He didn't deserve any of this. He didn't deserve to be lied to all these years, especially from his father.

After Spyro talked for at least half an hour, I took a deep breath. "Okay… wow, that is a lot to take in," I remarked, tapping my claws on my mug. I then looked at the purple dragon with concern. "How are you coping with this?"

"I…" Spyro murmured, stopping to look down at the ground. "I don't know… I'm so confused right now, Cyn. I feel so betrayed."

"I bet you are! You just found out who your parents were!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening. To others, finding out who your parents were would be exciting but not with us. If I ever found out who my parents were, I wouldn't be leaping with joy.

Spyro frowned. "But Ignitus of all dragons? It's just unbelievable… It almost makes no sense why he would hide this from me…"

I held onto Spyro's paw softly. "I'm sure he had an explanation," I muttered. "Maybe you should talk to him again..." she suggested.

Spyro immediately shook his head, his complicated feelings of anger and betrayal still fresh in his mind. "I can't…" he whispered. "I just can't… not right now."

"Why not? He owes you the truth, doesn't he?" I queried, raising an eyebrow.

"But how do I know that he's telling me everything!?" Spyro questioned frustratingly. "I can't trust that he'll tell me the full story!"

"He will…" I assured him. "You just have to give him time to adjust as well, this probably wouldn't be the way he wanted you to find out."

"That's just the thing, how long would it take until he actually told me for himself?" Spyro muttered. "He had eighteen years to tell me… yet he still said nothing."

"And you sure he didn't have a reason?" I then questioned. Surely Ignitus must've said something, it's unlike him to still keep a secret even after said secret was revealed. He was usually pretty honest with both me and Spyro.

Spyro again shook his head. "I stormed off before he could explain himself…" he answered, a hint of regret in his voice. "Although, he did say something about making a promise."

"Maybe they kept your parentage hidden in case my dad or someone working for him couldn't find out where you were," I theorised. "If one of their allies were kidnapped then they wouldn't know the connection between you and them…"

Spyro gave me an unconvinced look. "I don't know, Cyn… seems a bit far-fetched to me."

Sparx had also chimed in on his thoughts about this whole ordeal but since I couldn't understand him, it was all just buzzing noises to me. However, Spyro did roll his eyes at the dragonfly and didn't answer him back. Makes me wonder what he actually said.

Then we all went silent. As I was sipping my tea, I noticed that Spyro had a quizzical look on his face. It was as if he was contemplating something in his head, or mentally preparing to tell me something. Was he hiding something too? Did he know something that I didn't know before?

"You okay, sweetie?" I spoke up softly.

Spyro's eyes widened when he left his inner thoughts and darted around to face me. "Huh? Oh no… just thinking, really."

"About what?"

Spyro sighed. "If you just found out that your parents were alive somewhere… what would you do?"

I stayed silent for a moment. What would I do? For years, I always thought to myself that if my parents ever showed their faces then I wouldn't give two shits about them. After all, they abandoned me and left my egg to shiver in the cold rain outside of the Dragon Temple for who knows why.

I didn't want anything to do with them because they clearly didn't want to have anything to do with me. My life is what it is now… no matter how horrible my childhood was, no matter what Malefor put me through, it was still my life. I wasn't sure if Spyro and I would be a thing if I wasn't taken that fateful night… Maybe I might've loved him like I do now or I might've been like the Skylanders: a bully because of sheer jealousy.

So what would I do?

"I… don't know, Spyro," I eventually answered. "You know how I feel about my parents…"

Spyro stared back at the fireplace. "Yeah… I know. But wouldn't you want to know why they—"

"Left my egg outside on the doorstep?" I finished his sentence. "I'm not sure how someone could explain that."

My boyfriend stayed silent, unsure how to continue off from what I just said. But why was he asking about my parents? They've got nothing to do with Ignitus and Glacia; they had no idea who they were so why would it be Spyro's concern now? Unless…

I reassuringly placed my paw on top of his. "Hey… It's okay if you want to talk to Ignitus again," I murmured. "He owes you the truth after all…"

Spyro frowned. "But he lied to me, Cyn… I can't just forgive him instantly."

"I didn't say you had to forgive him," I said. "But you have to let him learn your forgiveness. I know deep down that you won't stay mad at him for long. You two have this relationship that won't break apart so easily."

Staring at the fireplace with deep thought, Spyro then gave me a weak smile. I wasn't sure if he forced himself to smile for my sake or if it was actually genuine. "Thanks, Cyn… for you know, listening and stuff…"

I smiled back. "Hey… I couldn't let you just sit here alone, crying your eyes out," I then gave him a small nuzzle on his cheek. "You know I'm always here for you, right?"

Spyro started to nuzzle me back. "I know… I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I did want to but—"

"But you wanted to know if it wasn't a one time thing…" I interjected softly. "It's okay, I understand. But just promise me that if you have any other dreams, please tell me alright?"

Spyro nodded. "I promise…"

Just as I was about to comfortably nuzzle Spyro some more, I heard someone's throat being cleared nearby. Both Spyro and I turned to see that Sparx was still sitting on the armrest, his bushy grey eyebrow raised.

"Oh, sorry Sparx," Spyro muttered to the dragonfly before turning back to me, getting up from the couch. "Maybe we should get some sleep…"

Both Sparx and I yawned in agreement. "Yeah… good idea. Are you going to be alright, Spyro?"

Spyro took a deep breath. "Oh yeah… I think I'll be alright. I just need time, that's all…" he murmured before slinking off to our room, saying nothing more except saying goodnight to Sparx. The dragonfly hovered next to me as we both stared at the purple dragon entering the bedroom. He looked so lost and broken.

Sparx then turned and buzzed something quietly to me in a concerned and sad tone. If only I could understand what he said… then sharing sympathy would be so much easier for the both of us.

I sighed sorrowfully. "Me too, Sparx. Me too."

(-)

Spyro managed to sleep through the remainder of the night without any nightmares. In fact, he never left our bed. I knew that because I felt his paws wrap around my abdomen as we went to sleep. It was like he was keeping me close; I was the only one that felt real to him. Our feelings for each other weren't manipulated or kept secret, they were legitimate… unlike all the lies that were unraveled after tonight.

I couldn't imagine what Spyro was going through at the moment and it hurt me that he was kept in the dark about his parentage from someone that he looked up to ever since he could walk. Even worse, that someone turned out to be his own father. His own father, for ancestors' sake!

What was Ignitus thinking? Keeping that hidden from Spyro for eighteen years? What was the point of raising him when you're not wanting him to call you 'dad'? I understand if you-know-who was responsible for keeping Spyro's parentage a secret but that asshole's been dead for five years! Five years and still Ignitus didn't bother to say anything after the war was over!

Makes me wonder... if Ignitus was so secretive, then did he know about what happened to my parents? Was that story about my egg being left on the Temple's doorstep all a lie too? Was I taken after being laid? Was my family looking for me? Did I have any siblings? Was I a twin? I don't know! This is so damn confusing!

I swear… if Ignitus had kept anything hidden from me, he was going to be very, very, sorry.

The next morning, I was suddenly awoken by the sound of Spyro's alarm. I lifted my head and stared groggily at the metal object through my stiff, tired eyes. Urgh, sometimes I really hated that thing… especially when I had to wake up in the middle of the night.

Looking through the curtains, I saw traces of dim light seeping past the fabric. It had rained all night and didn't seem to stop until I went into a deep sleep. As much as I liked the rain, I wouldn't want to get caught in that torrential storm.

With the alarm continuing to blare loudly in my face, I growled slightly at the machine and raised a free paw towards it. With minimal strength, I then slammed the top of the alarm. When my fist impacted the button on top, the alarm finally went quiet. My arm then loosened up and my paw flopped towards the ground… there, that'll teach it to wake me up early.

I squinted to see that the red text on the alarm read nine o'clock. Oh, guess it woke me up later. Luckily I didn't have work today otherwise I would be frantically getting ready right about now.

"Spyro?" I murmured, feeling the mattress behind me for any sign of my purple boyfriend. "Honey, you up?"

When I couldn't feel Spyro behind me, my eyes widened and I quickly darted around to see that there was no one with me. That was strange, Spyro doesn't usually get up before me. He usually wakes me up beforehand or just goes back to sleep until I woke up. So seeing that I was alone in our bed was just plain odd.

"Spyro?" I muttered quietly.

I gazed around the room and instantly saw that his red bandana was not hung up on the chair that my jewelry was also on.

My eyes widened. I felt light-headed, everything was starting to spin. Oh no. Oh shit, shit, shit. He can't have run off, could he? No, that's stupid… Why would he do that? I dunno, maybe because he thinks his life is a lie?!

Before my anxiety worsened, I jumped out of bed, put my jewellery on and strolled out my room. As I looked through every nook and cranny while I walked past the hallway, my breathing started to get heavier as the idea of Spyro being lost and alone drifted prominently in my mind.

Come on, you've got to be here! Please be here!

I then turned to look in the kitchen and immediate relief washed over my face. Spyro was sitting on his haunches by the stove, looking over a pan full of scrambled eggs. Sparx was also in the kitchen, floating on the opposite side of Spyro with a tired look on his face as he sipped a tiny mug of coffee.

The two caught sight of me standing in the doorway, Spyro beaming away when his eyes gazed into mine.

"Morning, sweetie!" he greeted, sounding happier than he was last night. Did he just forget about the whole 'Ignitus-was-his-father-and-lied-about-it' situation all of a sudden?

However his smile faded when he saw that I was on the verge of having a panic attack. After turning the heat off on the pan, he then raced towards me.

"Cynder… Are you alright?" he wondered.

I couldn't answer since I was too busy trying not to hyperventilate. Urgh, what was wrong with me?! Why does this keep happening to me whenever Spyro is missing or injured?! I was better than this!

Spyro placed a paw on my shoulder and began rubbing my arm gently. "Just breathe…" he whispered. "Everything's going to be okay…"

Listening to my boyfriend's soothing words, I closed my eyes and took big, deep breaths. Eventually my nerves started to calm down, my heart was slowly returning to a normal beat and I was becoming less shaky. I was glad Spyro was still in the house; who knows what might've happened to me…

"Thanks, Spyro," I mumbled, still feeling slightly shaken. "I don't know what came over me."

"What happened?" Spyro asked.

"Just something stupid… you weren't around so I overreacted." I answered honestly, blushing with embarrassment as I rubbed the back of my head. "Especially with what happened last night…"

Spyro looked sorrowfully as he wrapped one of his golden wings around me, noticing my sudden anxious mood. "Hey… I would never think of just abandoning you like that, even if everything is different now," he muttered softly. "Whatever happens, we deal with it together…"

"Promise?"

Spyro kissed me on the forehead. "Promise."

The two of us shared a quiet embrace for a few seconds, Sparx rolling his eyes in the distance as he sipped his coffee. We then separated and I briefly glanced at his scrambled eggs. "So, um, are you making breakfast?" I wondered.

"Oh yeah! I didn't get much sleep last night so I thought of no better way to say thanks for looking after me than to cook breakfast," Spyro replied, going back to the stove and turning on the heat again.

I gave my boyfriend a concerned look. "You didn't get much sleep? When did you wake up?"

"Around six o'clock-ish…"

My eyes widened. "You spent three hours cooking breakfast? How many eggs did you use?"

"Oh no, no. I only just started. I was just playing my game for most of the time, assassinating Templars to clear my head and stuff, until I got angry with it…" Spyro explained, waving his paws around in denial. "Anyway, what does the cooking expert think of my eggs?"

I walked over to the stove and leaned over to see the eggs. They weren't burnt or raw, they were soft and creamy. Just the way that I like them. "They look pretty impressive, I taught you well," I said.

"That you did," Spyro grinned. Strangely, his attention then snapped to something behind me. "Hey, what's with the envelope over there?"

I turned to see the unopened envelope on the kitchen bench. "Oh that? Master Eon sent it, I don't know what they are…" I answered.

Spyro's mood deflated as he picked the envelope, frowning as he examined it. "Master Eon sent this? When?"

I shrugged. "Yesterday, I think…"

"Hmm… I wonder what he wants," Spyro said, using one of his claws to carefully tear the top of the envelope.

As Spyro pulled out the contents of the envelope, I squinted my eyes to get a good look of what was inside. It was three slips of paper, a small golden border on the edge. Handwritten text was inked inside the border, I couldn't make most of it out due to the writing being so classical and fancy-like. Gross… who writes like that?

"What is it?" I asked as I saw Spyro look at the slips of paper with utter annoyance.

"Master Eon has invited us to the Skylanders' graduation tomorrow night…" Spyro murmured. "They even made one for Sparx as well."

At that moment, Sparx spat out the coffee that he had in his mouth and buzzed loudly in a surprised tone. I didn't understand dragonfly but I knew that he was saying something like 'What?!' You and me both, Sparx.

"Are you serious right now?" I queried, shaking my head disapprovingly. I heard from the Guardians that Eon was planning to invite Spyro to the graduation but I didn't think he went along with it after Eruptor caused Spyro's seizure a while back.

"Yup, it says our names right here in the middle," Spyro responded, moving the invitations in his hand slightly to show our names inscribed in the middle of the paper. "That's unbelievable! Why do I want to attend the graduation of the creatures that bullied me for years?! Does Eon not still realise that?"

I rubbed his arm in comfort, hoping the gesture would calm him down slightly. "Honey, it's just an invitation… you know you don't have to go right?"

Spyro sighed. "It's not that simple, Cyn…" He then handed me his invitation. "Here, read what it says…"

I grabbed the invitation from Spyro's paws and read through it, Sparx even flew over to read behind my shoulder. So far, no particular word or sentence seemed to pop out from the paper. All it detailed was that it was the Skylanders' graduation, it was happening tomorrow night and that it was taking place at the association's headquarters.

Then I stopped at a particular sentence which made me lose the minimal respect I had for Master Eon.

'It's a pleasure to announce that you, Spyro the Dragon, will be our guest of honor.'

At that moment, I stopped reading. How could he do this to Spyro? This was such a pathetic way to force him to attend a graduation that he doesn't want to go to. Now there's going to be a lot of other creatures that go to the ceremony and expect an audience with the purple dragon. Spyro couldn't just be used like that… that was so unfair on him. Spyro had his own problems going on at the moment, he didn't need this as well.

"Yeah… I know." Spyro muttered, noticing my silence.

Sparx then muttered something towards him but Spyro just shook his head. "It's too late to back out now, Sparx…" he murmured in response. "As much as I really don't want to go… it seems rude not to."

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe what he was saying. "Spyro, these guys bullied you for years… are you seriously going to go to their graduation?!" I questioned.

Spyro frowned. "I'm going to have to, aren't I?"

I shook my head. "No… no, you don't, Spyro, you have every right not to go. You're going to be miserable all night!" I exclaimed, trying to make him see sense.

My boyfriend remained silent for a moment as a thoughtful gaze came over his face until his eyes widened with realisation.

"Who says I have to be there all night?"

I cocked my head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It says here that I'm the guest of honor and nothing else, right? It doesn't say I have to give out any rewards to the Skylanders or anything?"

I had a quick glance at the invitation. "Nope, just a guest of honor. What are you getting at?"

"Well, what if we go there for an hour or so? Just show our faces, abuse the power of the open bar and then leave when the ceremony starts…" Spyro started to explain. "And if somebody asks, we just say that Sparx is sick or something."

Sparx buzzed in retaliation, to which Spyro replied, "You're the oldest one here, they'll buy it more than if we said that me or Cynder was sick."

As the dragonfly soon nodded in agreement, I stroked my chin as I pondered Spyro's plan. "It could work… I could use my shadow element to cloak us."

"Precisely!" Spyro said.

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" I wondered, slightly damping the mood again. "You have to talk to some creatures…"

"Cynder, I'll be fine… it's only for an hour," Spyro assured me before tending to the scrambled eggs again and making preparations to dish them up. I was surprised that they hadn't burnt yet due to our lengthy conversation.

"I mean, what could possibly go wrong?" he then added innocently, causing me and Sparx to exchange concerned glances.

He had to say it, didn't he?

(-)

Tomorrow came by way faster than I wanted to. The rain had finally passed through and was replaced by gorgeous sunshine, although there was still a brisk autumn chill in the air. Not that we could enjoy it as dread radiated from our flat.

The Skylanders' graduation was approaching and neither Sparx, me, nor Spyro were looking forward to it. Despite the fact that we had a plan of showing our faces then leaving, none of us were prepared for what was to come during that hour or so.

I stood in the bathroom mirror, staring blankly at my reflection as I washed up for the party. The dress code was just simple and casual so I didn't have to worry about my looks too much, not that I do worry about what I look like anyway. It wasn't like I was trying to impress anyone; I wasn't that type of girl. Spyro loves me no matter what I look like and that's the most important thing.

Besides, I was more worried about something else at that moment…

Growing up, both Spyro and I never were quite comfortable with social occasions. Spyro was an outcast for most of his life and was always shut out whenever he tried to make a friend; he spent too much time alone that he was trouble with conversations. Besides the occasional question, he keeps quiet for most of the time until the topic changes to something he knows well enough to talk about. Sure, he's fine when he's with the Guardians or anyone else he's interacted with more than once. But with complete strangers, he just finds it so hard sometimes… and I don't blame him.

As for me, I was surrounded by a hostile environment. I had no one to really speak with and kept to my room most of the time when I wasn't training with Malefor. I'm pretty sure the Apes that inhabited my former father's fortress weren't exactly going to fangirl about a hockey mask-wearing serial killer alongside me, were they? Even when Spyro and I started dating, I couldn't exactly talk to anyone else about the horrors I had to live with for thirteen years… That would've been an instant mood killer if I brought that up.

And now we're getting ready to go to a party… a party we were suddenly invited to, mind you, but it was still a party. Kind of sounds intimidating for someone that hardly gets invited to these types of occasions.

"Hey, Cynder… you alright?"

I snapped back into reality and turned to see Spyro and Sparx standing outside the bathroom door. I noticed that Spyro's bandana was cleanier and neatly ironed; I guess he put some effort into looking presentable. Should have I polished my jewellery a little bit? Maybe do something with my face? I wasn't sure.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine…" I responded.

"You ready to go?" Spyro wondered.

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah… I was just washing up. Are you ready?"

Spyro sighed and looked at the other end of the hallway with a frown. "As ready as I can be…"

Noticing how uneasy he was getting, I gently placed my paw on top of his and gave my purple boyfriend a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay… I promise."

Spyro gazed into my eyes and returned a smile. "I hope so…" he muttered. "We should get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

So without any hesitation, Spyro, Sparx and I began to make our way to the graduation. The invitation said that the graduation took place outside of the association's headquarters, a place both me or Spyro would never step foot onto in our own free will.

The walk to the headquarters was a quiet one; none of us wanted to talk. It wasn't like we could chat about how excited we were to see the Skylanders graduate… because we weren't. The only reason we were going was because Master Eon used Spyro's celebrity status to ensure that he'll be there. What was the point of having Spyro attend? Was it some cruel last attempt to get Spyro and the rest of the Skylanders to bury the hatchet? Because if it was, this would not be the way I'd do it.

Eventually we reached the headquarters as evening dawned. The exterior of the headquarters was laid out with several tables draped in silky white cloth, while a vase of colourful flowers and a couple of small candles were placed on top. In front of the association building was a small black stage that had a wooden podium in the centre, along with a few chairs behind it, presumably where all the mentors are meant to sit.

Surrounding the tables were long lines of purple bunting, small yellow lights glittering in between them. Since the sun was just about to set, the lights weren't quite helping to illuminate the area just yet.

But most importantly, there was a makeshift bar area just to the right of the tables. My focus immediately shifted to it as I noticed a bartender mole preparing a cocktail for one of the attendees. Thank the ancestors… I was going to need a drink to get through this.

We approached a small queue where a dragon was holding onto a clipboard and letting creatures in one at a time. I hardly recognised anyone that was in front or behind us; some were dragons and the rest were either cheetahs, moles and the odd human here and there. Thankfully it didn't take long for us to get to the front of the line.

"Names?" the bouncer dragon grunted.

The three of us exchanged odd looks with each other. "Um… Spyro, Cynder and Sparx," Spyro muttered, gesturing to himself, Sparx and me.

The bouncer dragon took a minute to look through his clipboard in search of our names. I managed to have a slight gaze at the dragon's list of names; some were crossed off while others were not. I recognised some of the names like Altair, Thor, Magnus, Gavin amongst the others that I didn't recognise: Sheila, Bentley, James Byrd and Agent 9 to name a few.

Then four names suddenly made my eyes widen…

Terrador, Volteer, Cyril and Ignitus were all written down on the dragon's list, I guess the Guardians were also forced to come as well. Strangely, even though Terrador, Cyril and Volteer names were crossed off, Ignitus wasn't.

"Hey… The Guardians are already here," I whispered to Spyro. "Their names have been crossed off."

Spyro raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he mumbled before sadness went over his face. "Ignitus too?"

I shook my head. "No… his name hasn't been crossed off yet."

Spyro sighed. "He's avoiding me… great, just great."

"Or he wasn't up for attending…" I pointed out. "As I said before, he needs time to adjust as well. He's just taking a bit longer than you are."

"Maybe…" Spyro murmured, not sounding entirely convinced.

As Spyro and I finished our conversation, the bouncer dragon nodded in satisfaction and looked up towards us.

"Ah here we are…" the dragon said, placing a claw on our names. "You three are good to go through."

We all said our thanks and proceeded to enter the seating area. Many attendees had already claimed their seats and were busy chatting away, glasses in their paws. Since the ceremony wasn't due to start for a while and Spyro would be a chatting magnet if we sat at a table, we decided to go straight to the bar. No one was around at the moment so the bartender was busy cleaning the benchtop.

"Ancestors, I've been wanting a drink all day…" I muttered as we sat on the barstools.

"Yeah, me too," Spyro chuckled slightly.

Hearing our voices, the bartender turned around and leaned against the benchtop. "Hey there, what can I get ya?" he wondered.

"Just two martinis please," Spyro ordered. "One of them shaken, not stirred…"

"And could I make mine very dry, with olives, a lot of olives… Like, at least three olives," I chimed in. Very specific I know, but the olives just add to the flavour.

"And Sparx? What do you want?" Spyro turned to the dragonfly that was perched on top of his head.

Sparx chirped in response. "And water please," Spyro then translated. Wow, Sparx… such a buzzkill.

The bartender nodded and quickly got to work in making our martinis. Since we had our drinks made differently, the time it took to make them was slightly slower than usual. Spyro and I didn't complain; it was quite fascinating to see how the drinks were made.

As Spyro watched the bartender in awe, I noticed he looked much happier. It was like the Spyro I've always known: a purple idiot with that big dumb grin on his face. But something inside felt strange, as if something was telling me that it felt wrong to see him so happy so soon after everything that had happened lately.

Believe me, I wanted to see him happy as much as the next creature… but surely he wouldn't be so quick to just suddenly bury all the emotions he had with his recent revelation with Ignitus. But there he was… that same smile on his face when he saw me yesterday morning. I wasn't sure if he was just putting on a brave face or if it was something else entirely… I really hope he wasn't doing this for my sake.

After a couple of minutes, the bartender was finished with our drinks and soon started to pour them into v-shaped glasses. After he put the three olives into my martini, he moved on to Sparx's water, to which he grabbed a shot glass and filled it with the transparent liquid.

"Here you go," the bartender said as he placed our drinks in front of us. We thanked him and he soon returned to tending to the rest of the bar.

Spyro grabbed his martini and held it up. "Well, here's to the longest hour…"

"Cheers…" I chuckled as Spyro and I clinked our glasses together and downed them instantly. We both wheezed and snickered amongst each other as the liquid went down our throats. Yup… it was going to be one of those evenings.

"Shall we have another one, my dear?" Spyro then asked, shaking off the martini he just had.

I smirked. "Only if you can handle it…"

"What do you mean?" Spyro queried. "I can handle my drinks."

"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrow. "Do I need to remind you of what happened on my hatchday last year?"

Spyro went red. "Hey, you were drunk too!" he protested.

I nodded in agreement. "That's right, I was… but at least I didn't start singing Waterloo at the top of my voice."

Spyro rested his head against his paw, trying to hide his blushing. "Yeah… the restaurant was not particularly happy with us that night."

I smiled as more memories of that night resurfaced in my head. It was my eighteenth birthday and Spyro took me to a fancy restaurant that had just opened at the time. Since the legal age of drinking in the Artisan Valley was eighteen, Spyro and I decided to have our first drink together… but from what I remember, I think we went a tad overboard.

"Spyro! Is that you, my boy?" a voice squeaked from behind me just as we were about to order our second drink. For a minute, I thought it was Spyro doing an old man voice but when I turned around… I soon realised that wasn't the case.

A small dark brown mole was walking towards us. The mole was a bit taller than some of the moles I'd seen, probably a smidge taller than Nurse Braya. He had big bushy grey eyebrows, square-shaped glasses and wore a buttoned up white coat that was not so different to the one that Braya wore. Was this mole a nurse as well?

Accompanying the mole was a creature that seemed to be a mix between a human and a deer. Or perhaps a goat. The top half resembled a female humanoid with light brown fur and deer-like ears. The bottom half, meanwhile, had hooves instead of normal feet, complete with a small tail. She also wore a green dress that looked to be made from leaves, presumably ones from a massive tree.

The goat-deer-lady gave me a curious look when she laid eyes on me, as if she was trying to hide a deathly glare. Great… This conversation is going to be fun.

"Professor? Hey there!" Spyro greeted as the bartender was giving us our second martini glasses, getting up from his seat before turning to the deer-lady. "Elora, good to see you again…"

"Hey Spyro," Elora murmured. I noticed how nervous she looked as she gazed at my boyfriend. Her cheeks were a deep red and she was awkwardly grasping her other arm. "W-Wow, you've grown so much... You're so much mus-taller! I mean taller!"

I almost spat out my drink. Woah, woah, woah… what the actual hell was that? Was she about to say what I thought she was going to say? Sparx and I exchanged glances. The dragonfly just looked at me and simply nodded, as if he was telling me 'yup, this usually happens'.

I knew that there were others that were interested in Spyro romantically, he told me so himself. But Spyro had known this Professor for a long time now… How long had that goat been looking at my Spyro in that way?!

"Um… thanks," Spyro mumbled, also taking notice of what Elora had almost said. "Anyway, how have you guys been?"

"Good, good. The university finally reached our autumn break so that gives me time to work on some of my experiments…" the Professor replied. "Although I have to say, this place wouldn't be the first place I wanted to spend my break."

Spyro rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I know the feeling…"

"Had to practically drag him out of his lab…" Elora added with a chuckle.

The Professor adjusted his glasses. "Yes, it's true… Elora was insistent that I attend. Said it would be good if I offered some of the smarter Skylanders a place in my classes."

I scoffed through my martini glass, Sparx snickering quietly to himself. Now that's some bullshit…

"And you, Elora? How's the family over in Fracture Hills?" Spyro then turned his attention to the goat-lady that was currently eyeing him up.

Elora blinked and darted her eyes to Spyro. "Huh? Oh yeah, they're fine. The Earthshapers are no longer bothering them, thanks to you…" she answered, putting her arms around her back. "Although the Alchemist hasn't stopped complaining about how many times he was bashed in the head…"

Spyro chuckled. "Hey… it wasn't my fault that he kept running around them."

"So, Spyro… I see you brought Sparx with you, and someone else as well," the Professor piped up, interrupting the conversation and squinting his eyes at me, trying to figure out who I was.

"Oh yeah, sorry… everyone, this is Cynder," Spyro said as he stepped off to the side to put me in their view.

I fake-coughed in response, noting that Spyro missed out on one particular detail.

"Sorry… My girlfriend Cynder," he corrected.

The Professor merely beamed. "Ah, so you're the famous Cynder that I'm always hearing about…" he said as he offered his tiny paw for me to shake. "Whenever we see Spyro, he always talks about you."

"Good things, I hope." I chuckled as I got down to shake the Professor's paw, flashing a playful glare in Spyro's direction. I then turned to Elora and offered my paw. "Elora, was it? It's nice to meet you as well."

Elora's eyes darted briefly at my paw for a second before she slowly shook it. "It's… nice to meet you too," she muttered, a look of jealousy lurking over her face. Wow… this girl did not seem glad to see me.

"So Cynder, what do you do?" The Professor wondered.

"I work part-time at the sandwich shop just in the centre of the Valley…" I answered, frowning as 'pleasant' memories of my job unwillingly came flooding into my head. "And it's… great."

The Professor smiled. "Ah… I know what you mean. Part time work is never fun, but at least you get paid right?"

"Yup, I'm only there for the money…" I smirked. "Well… that and the free food."

"Cynder wants to, eventually, have a job in a creative industry someday," Spyro chimed in, wrapping his wing around my shoulder. "Isn't that right, honey?"

I nodded. "Yup… I've taken up hobbies in cooking and the occasional musical instrument. But writing is where I'm sort of aiming for…"

As much as I liked to cook or play the piano and sometimes sing when no one was looking, writing just seemed… right to me. It was almost therapeutic, like every dark thought I ever had could be changed into something entertaining. Writing my thoughts out was better than counselling any day… not that I'd been to counselling or anything.

"Well, there's classes at the university that specialise in the creative arts if you're interested," the Professor mentioned. "Elora takes a painting course when she's not helping me out."

University? I never really thought of that… neither had Spyro. After all, those dreadful lessons I had with Cyril and Volteer when I was thirteen were all I had for an education, and the hobbies I do now was stuff that I taught myself. But an actual place of education? Full of other creatures? I wasn't sure what to think of that…

"Um… well, I'll think about it," I muttered, fiddling the grass around with my claws.

"Splendid," the Professor exclaimed, swinging his arm with glee. "Well, we better be off… the ceremony's about to start soon. A farewell to you, Spyro, and nice to finally meet you Cynder."

"Bye Spyro!" Elora spoke up. "Hope to see you around again sometime…" I couldn't help but see that her tail slightly swished from side-to-side when she said that. Wow, she wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.

"Bye guys!" Spyro waved them goodbye before turning to me with a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went well…" he then muttered as we returned to the bar.

I put my glass back on the countertop. "Yeah… I'm not sure how much longer I could take."

"You did very well; I'm proud of you," Spyro smiled as he stroked my back. "I know the whole 'talking-to-others' hasn't been easy for you."

"Let's just hope that no one else comes to talk to us…" I said, draining the rest of my martini.

As much as I tried not to think about it, I sincerely doubted that everyone wasn't going to leave us alone after our chat with the Professor and Elora. If the 'guest of honor' facade didn't attract anyone from the start, they'll certainly want to go talk to Spyro when they hear he's actually at the party… and I wasn't sure if I could handle that.

Like Spyro, I'm pretty comfortable around the Guardians and most of the Dragon Elders, like Alvar for example, but I wasn't sure what to do or say when it came to strangers. Even the customers at my job were a struggle; it was always small talk or even smiling and just saying 'yup' in response.

Once again, I can thank my what-I-call father for what was happening to me at the moment.

"Hey, Cyn," Spyro then suddenly spoke up. "Do you think you'll take up the Professor's offer? You know, go to uni and stuff?"

I sighed. "Honestly? I'm not too sure… Sure, it might be good for me but on the other hand it's not something I had planned for myself. I like it here; I wouldn't like to adjust to another realm again. I'm anxious enough as it is."

Spyro gently wrapped his golden wing around me again. "Well… whatever happens, I'll support you no matter what."

Smiling at his gesture, I leaned towards him and nuzzled him gently. "Thanks, honey…" I murmured. I would've probably kissed him on the lips but since we were in a public space, it would be awkward for the both of us. Moments like this should be shared in private; just imagine the headlines.

Spyro and I could've been sharing this nice embrace together for a few more minutes if the sound of someone calling out my boyfriend's name desperately didn't start to irritate me.

"Spyro!" a female voice called out. "Spyro, where are you?"

I groaned. "What now?!"

At the sound of his name, Spyro released himself from our embrace and turned around annoyingly to see who was calling him. When he laid eyes upon the mysterious voice, he immediately went stiff as his pupils started to dilate slightly. Was that fear I saw in his eyes?

"Oh shit…" he whispered as he exchanged worried looks with Sparx.

Instantly, to my utter surprise, both Spyro and Sparx suddenly frantically climbed over the countertop and dived behind it. When the bartender heard the scurrying noises that my boyfriend made, his head darted around and his small face scrunched into a frown.

"Seriously, man… for real?!" the mole exclaimed.

"Sorry, it's only for a couple of minutes!" Spyro hissed as his golden horns and large amethyst eyes peered over the countertop, his dragonfly resting on top of his head.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked confusingly, wondering about Spyro's sudden change in behaviour.

"Hiding!"

"From who?"

Spyro used his tail to point behind me. "Her!"

I peered back to see a pink scaled dragoness, who looked like she was around our age, scoping around the tables in search of the purple idiot who was currently hiding behind the bar. Besides the odd pink scales that she was sporting, she had light pink wings and bright blue eyes. Around her neck was a locket of some kind; it was heart-shaped with a red ruby in the centre. The heart-shaped locket seemed to correspond to her heart-shaped spade that was on the end of her tail. Guess the girl really likes hearts or something…

Has Spyro met this girl before? Judging from the way he acted, he most definitely had. But why did he just scamper away? He wasn't that fearful around the Professor and Elora… What was the difference between this dragoness and the other two?

The pink dragoness wandered about the tables for a while until she eventually took notice at the bar, as if she just realised it existed. My eyes widened as she stared at me with interest, too much interest if you ask me, before she eventually started to stride towards me. Great… more conversation.

"Spyro…" I hissed, glaring at him. Spyro didn't say anything except looking apologetically at me with his eyes as he and Sparx slowly dipped out of view. Seriously? He did not just do that…

"Oh you ass—" I was about to mutter, before I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around to see that the pink dragoness was standing directly in front of me.

"Hi?" I said, going to reach for my martini glass until realising that I had drunk the rest of it a couple of minutes ago.

"Um, hey," The pink dragoness muttered. "Have you by any chance seen Spyro around, have you?"

My eyes briefly darted to behind the bar but thankfully the dragoness didn't notice. "Nope… never heard of him," I murmured, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

"Really?" the dragoness queried, her eyebrow raised. "The invitation said he'll be here. He should be purple, tall maybe… he's extremely handsome, has these amazing purple eyes that anyone could easily be lost in..."

I tried to not throw up as the stranger continued to list all of Spyro's features. Yes, Spyro was extremely handsome and he did have wonderful eyes… but that's not why I fell in love with him in the first place. It was down to his personality, his kind and friendly nature and the way the both of us just connect. Somehow, I didn't think this dragoness could see that…

"Any of that ringing any bells?" the pink dragoness asked after she finished expressing her attraction towards my boyfriend.

I shook my head. "Nope," I denied. "My guess is that he'll be hiding out somewhere…" That last part I said a bit louder so that Spyro could hear from behind the counter.

The dragoness seemed a bit weirded out by the way I answered her but decided to keep quiet about it. "Right…" she said. "So anyway, you got a name?"

Oh great, now she wanted to talk to me. Could she not read my body language?

"Um… Cynder." I answered reluctantly.

The dragoness eyed me up and down, examining what I looked like. "Your name is Cynder? Sounds more like a fire dragon name to me."

"My attitude makes up for it..." I mumbled.

"So… Cynder, what brings you to this party?" the dragoness then wondered.

Oh ancestors, I wanted this creature to leave. "I'm just here to get wasted… alone." Hopefully the emphasis on the 'alone' will make her go away.

Despite my uninvitating tone, the girl didn't seem to get the message. Instead her eyes narrowed for a second and then she smirked. "Ah, I see what this is about..."

"Somehow I hardly doubt that." I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes discreetly.

"You're waiting for Spyro too…" she then deduced, examining her claws. "Honestly, I don't blame you, but there's no way that Spyro would go for goth girls… no offense."

My eyes flared. What the hell did she just call me?! Also, what did she know about what Spyro wanted? I could see why Spyro was hiding from this girl; I wouldn't want to talk to this bitch if she's talking to me like that.

"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed, trying so hard not to claw her eyes out.

The dragoness shrugged. "You heard me, Spyro doesn't like goth girls… he likes more sophisticated and elegant girls."

"Well, you'll have a hard time trying to appeal to him then…" I shot back with a sly smirk.

At that moment, the pink scaled dragoness literally went speechless and gave me a death glare that was like daggers. How she was acting reminded me of that snobby rich girl from Slasher Camp Part VII, except she didn't have an axe in her head and wasn't thrown into the TV afterwards.

The wannabe Spyro-snatcher then slightly growled at me. "You did not just go there…"

"I just did."

"This isn't over," the bitch vowed as she slowly started to walk away. "I'll find Spyro before you do, that's not a promise… that's a guarantee."

As she stormed off, I smirked amusingly. Alright, I'll play her game… except for the fact that I've already won.

"Spyro… you can come out now." I called out.

My smirk faded as both Spyro and Sparx sprung up from behind the bar, that interaction with the dragoness recapping in my head over and over again. There was something about that girl that just disturbed me.

Never in the five years that I'd lived in the Artisan Valley have I ever been called a goth. I don't think anyone really cared about my appearance. There may be the occasional glance whenever someone passes by me in the street but nothing ever verbal. Was that how everyone saw me, even if they don't say anything? What about me was in any way goth? Couldn't be my scales because that'd be slightly prejudiced. My jewellery perhaps? I don't know, I just couldn't see anything different about me.

"Oh what a relief, I thought she'd never leave..." Spyro muttered happily as he walked around the bar and returned to his barstool. He then noticed how rattled I was and his tone immediately changed. "Hey, you okay?"

"Spyro, do you think I'm a goth?" I wondered.

To my surprise, Spyro answered instantly. "No… I don't think you are. But I wouldn't mind if you were though." He placed his paw on top of mine and stroked it gently with his thumb. "Don't let what Ember said get to you. You're pretty inside and out."

I would have blushed at Spyro's comment if there wasn't a small detail that he accidentally slipped out. "How did you know that girl's name?" I queried, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, we know each other," Spyro admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "It's a long story…"

"Is it now?" I murmured, raising an eyebrow. I wondered if there were any other girls that were secretly interested in him. "Are you two friends or something?"

"Would I be hiding from her if I was?"

"Fair point," I said. "So how do you know her?"

My boyfriend sighed. "We met when we were little… about five or six," Spyro started to explain. "It was at her dad's wedding, and she was the flower girl…"

"She was the flower girl?" I exclaimed, my eyes widening with realisation. "The one you had to dance with, right? You told me that when we went to Dragon Shores…"

"Yup, that's her," Spyro nodded. "When I first met her, all I wanted was to be her friend. Any idea of romance was out of the question… since I was, you know, young. But after the wedding, Ember just had this massive crush on me that never seemed to go away… it turned into obsession rather than love."

"Is that why you hide from her?" I then questioned.

"I have no choice… she makes me uncomfortable; all she's interested in is my status as the purple dragon," Spyro murmured with a frown. "I've tried to talk to her in the past but she's always in denial. Always thinks there's a future between us where there isn't."

Wow, for all these years, this Ember girl had been trying to get Spyro's attention? That's kind of sad if you think about it. Even sadder when you realise that she's only chasing after him because he was the purple dragon. If Spyro was just a normal dragon then she wouldn't have bothered with him. Spyro deserves better than that!

"Hey, is it alright if we just call it a night?" Spyro suddenly suggested, his mood soured.

I nodded, understanding why he wanted to leave all of a sudden. "Sure, let's go before anyone else sees us."

Thanking the bartender once again, Spyro, Sparx and I began to stealthily make our way to the exit. I couldn't be more relieved to leave a party early; I think I'd had enough socialisation for tonight. Thank the ancestors that the Skylanders were too busy with the celebration to annoy us; things would've gotten really ugly if they showed their faces.

But I couldn't take a sigh of relief just yet as we somehow accidentally bumped into a dragon that was talking to some of the other partygoers. For a split second, I thought it was some stranger that we haven't met yet. But as I saw the red scales and familiar horns, both Spyro and I froze.

It was Ignitus.

But when did he show up? When we got here not too long ago, his name wasn't crossed off. He must've arrived while me and Spyro were distracted by our conversations with the Professor, Elora, and that bitch Ember.

The question is… why did he turn up all of a sudden?

"Spyro? Cynder?" the fire guardian mumbled. "I didn't expect to see you two here…"

And nothing about his sudden revelation that happened two days ago? Typical. Still, we'd only just bumped into him so anything could change at this point.

"Well, blame Master Eon for that," Spyro muttered, a deep frown across his face. I felt him grab onto my paw and squeeze it lightly. That immediately told me that he was ready to burst at any moment, but was trying his best not to make a scene.

Ignitus noticed how distant Spyro was and turned his gaze towards me. "And how are you, young dragoness? It's been awhile since we last spoke," he muttered.

"Good, I suppose…" I responded. The last time Ignitus and I spoke was in the waiting room in the infirmary and it wasn't the most friendly of confrontations. I had also accused him of hiding stuff from myself and Spyro, saying that he and the Guardians should've known who Spyro's parents were from the start.

If only Ignitus and the rest of the Guardians were just honest from the start… then everything would be okay and this conversation wouldn't be as awkward as it is now.

"I take it you know…" Ignitus started to murmur.

"That you are Spyro's dad?" I finished. "Yeah, I've heard."

"Spyro, can we sit down for a second? There's so much I want to tell you," Ignitus suggested, gesturing to a nearby empty table.

"Sorry, but we were just leaving…" Spyro retorted harshly. "Sparx's not feeling well so… bye."

Without another word, Spyro scooched past Ignitus with Sparx and I following behind. A couple of seconds later, Ignitus quickly paced and circled around us so he was blocking our way out.

"Wait, Spyro… I really need to talk to you," Ignitus said calmly.

Spyro, however, was the opposite of calm. "Well, I don't!" he barked. "You've said enough already…"

"If you just let me explain…"

"Explain what?!" Spyro shouted. "Why you have been keeping this secret my entire life? How you have been lying to me about who my parents were? Frankly I don't want to know, everything was better with me not knowing anything at all!"

I tried to calm Spyro down, before I began to notice that some of the partygoers were gasping in fear and looking up towards the sky. Sparx and I exchanged worried looks and slowly looked to where everyone else was looking and our eyes widened with terror.

Thousands of arrows, engulfed in blazing hot fire, were rising from the sky before slowly curving towards where the ground was. I'd never seen anything like that before; there was enough arrows to potentially burn down the Valley… and kill hundreds in the process.

With the fire arrows soon approaching, I quickly shook Spyro's shoulder. "Spyro?! We need to get out of here! Like, right now!"

Spyro's head darted towards me. "Why? What's going on?" he wondered, noting the look of terror on my face.

"Look up! There's an array of fire arrows heading this way!" I exclaimed, annoyed that Spyro hadn't noticed the arrows already.

Believing me from my facial expression, Spyro soon darted around again and peered towards the sky. As his jaw dropped, Ignitus also gazed above to see the horror that was going to be unleashed. At this point, the fire arrows had managed to turn the sky red… blood red.

"Arrowstorm!" Ignitus bellowed to the partygoers. "Everyone, get to cover! NOW!"

Immediately Spyro used his earth element to surround himself, Ignitus, Sparx and I with a layer of thick rock. Meanwhile the rest of the partygoers were using the tables or even the trees nearby to protect themselves.

As the arrows got closer, Spyro dashed towards me and held me tightly while Sparx squeezed into our embrace. His wings were wrapped around us like a secondary shield… just in case his Earth barrier were to fall apart.

Not long after Spyro got a hold of me, the arrows started to rain down. I used Spyro's wings to shield my eyes so I couldn't see the terrible attack that was about to unfold…

Ooh damn, what's about to happen there? Not love and kindness, that's for sure! Hopefully all will be resolved when the next chapter comes out!

So we're about halfway through the story (since I've got 12-13 chapters planned) so I would like to thank everyone who has favored and followed this story so far as well as being patient in between updates. We've still a long road ahead of us.

Until then, look out for a new chapter of Eternal Darkness (a crossover between Marvel Comics and Spyro, for those of you who don't know) as well as a surprise Spynder one-shot set between the five year gap of CLTCL and LOML. So look out for that!

This is TARDIS1039, signing off… Allons-y!